Heaven Part Three Questions Regarding Heaven Pastor Jack Warren. Introduction. Thank Becca

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1 Heaven Part Three Questions Regarding Heaven Pastor Jack Warren Introduction Thank Becca Well, welcome to Chase Oaks. I m Jack Warren, one of the Pastors here. This is our third weekend in our four-part series titled Heaven. We have had two weekends now on Heaven and this series has generated more questions than any series I can remember. This week is a question and answer week. It s funny, the churches I grew up in rarely talked about heaven. I was always told that I should want to go to heaven, but I was never told why I should want to go to heaven. My image of heaven before this series was really skewed. It s time for a confession. I like life on earth. I like the outdoors. I love sports, relating with people, doing activities with my kids, going on vacation, date nights with my wife, serving people in need, and many more things about life on earth. My image of heaven was what Jeff referred to as the eternal church service. I like church, most of the time, don t get me wrong, but please not all of eternity. Whenever I was brave enough in the past to voice my thoughts on this, it was met with responses like when you re in heaven your desire will change and you will be more than satisfied in an eternal worship service. I am somewhat compliant so I decided since God made us and He is in charge, I m sure He knows what is best so I will leave it with Him and go along for the ride. After studying about heaven and the new heaven and new earth, I am now excited about heaven. God told us more about heaven than I realized. That s what we have looked at these last two weeks. Be sure to pick up the CDs of the last two weeks if you weren t here. Well, as I said, this series has generated a lot of questions. We thought we would address some of those questions this week. To get us started, I can answer some of your questions by giving you eleven things that we won t experience in heaven. I don t have a chapter or verse in the Bible for these, but I think these are safe inferences. #11 People using my name in vein - You don t know Jack. Hi-Jack Don t say that on a plane He s a real Jack (Donkey). #10 Hondas, Suzukis, and Yamahas #9 Politicians promising that under their leadership, everything will get better. #8 Pastors trying to sing. Jeff is a great communicator. Tyrone, Eric and Sean are great singers. #7 Bad weather forecasts, bad air quality reports, bad traffic reports, crime reports, bad news (can t imagine news like that). #6 Weight-loss commercials promising that you can lose 10 pounds in 10 days. #5 Alabama Jokes (Jeff joked about the Garden of Eden being Alabama. I too grew up in Alabama and I think he is either in major denial or was smoking something in those days). #4 Life insurance, health insurance, car insurance, home owners insurance, identity theft insurance, security systems, taxes, foundation problems (think of the margin that will create in our budgets).

2 #3 Lawsuits / divorce / custody battles / relational tension / and broken friendships. #2 Arkansas, Mississippi and Georgia jokes (why not New Mexico jokes or Wyoming jokes or North Dakota jokes). #1 My face displayed on two screens for 30 minutes. I m guessing that this top-eleven list addressed most of your questions on heaven, but just in case it didn t, I want to address eight commonly asked questions. We received about 100 questions over the last two weeks. So I have tried to synthesize these down to eight. At the end of our time, I will tell you about a resource that will give you more information on heaven than you can imagine. For each question, I want to give you one or two passages and a summarized response. Let s go to the screens for our first question. 2

3 #1 Is there a difference between heaven today and the New Heaven and New Earth? VIDEO This has been the most commonly asked question. For this series, Jeff has been talking mostly about the eternal state, the New Heaven and New Earth that God will establish. But in many ways, that is the last segment of the prophetic timeline. Heaven today is significantly different from the New Heaven. We don t know a lot about heaven today, but there are a few things we know. For example, we know that when we physically die we immediately join God in heaven. There s this passage that says absent from the body and present with the Lord and Jesus told the thief on the cross, today, you will be with me in paradise. We also know that people in heaven don t have their new resurrected bodies. There are passages, such as Revelation 6:9-11 that says martyrs in heaven are wearing clothes. So it is likely that we have some type of body that is also clothed but it s not the resurrected body. Let me give a quick timeline of prophetic events that mainly comes out of the book of Revelation, but also is based on a number of other New and Old Testament passages. For the theologians out there, we interpret scripture as pointing to a pre-millenial, pre-tribulational rapture. There are many other views on this timeline (pre-millenial, a-millenial, post-millenial, pro-trib, mid-trib, post-trib) and I will say that they are respectable, logical and also based on biblical text. Most of the debate related to the timeline centers around the timing of the tribulation and the millennial kingdom. That is all for another sermon series so let me give you a quick premillenial, pre-tribulational timeline. 3

4 Slide Present Day Rapture Judgment Seat of Christ Church Age In Heaven Tribulation Period on Earth 7 ½ Years Christ s Death & Resurrection Slide Millennial Great White New Heaven and Kingdom Throne Judgment New Earth 1000 Years

5 #2 Do people in heaven know what is happening on earth? Do they see everything that is happening? TEXT We are talking about people in heaven right now. Let me give two passages. Luke 15:7, 10 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. We know a couple of things about activity in heaven from this passage. There is rejoicing in heaven when a person trusts in Christ for salvation and this rejoicing is in the presence of angles. This doesn t exclude the possibility of human beings involved in this rejoicing. Another passage, Revelation 6: 9 11 says: When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. This passage shows that some people in heaven are well aware that Christian oppression is still taking place on earth. How much do they know and what do they see? We don t know. My Grandfather was very instrumental in my life. I remember two specific things about the way he lived his life. One, he read the Bible out loud every night with my Grandmother. Second, he spent the last five years on earth traveling with a revival team that went from city to city, partnering with churches in going to people s homes sharing their story of following Christ. People came to trust in Christ for forgiveness as a result of my Grandfather s actions. Now I know my Grandfather gets to celebrate when others put their faith in Christ. My Grandfather died of a bad heart condition, and I know he will get a good heart and be rewarded for his faithfulness in leading others to discover God s love and forgiveness in Christ. 5

6 #3 When we are in heaven, will we know everything? Will we learn in heaven? TEXT I Corinthians 13:12 says: Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. The key phrase I want to highlight is we will know fully. That word means to know accurately or clearly. Today, so many things are confusing and complicated, but that will change for us in heaven. We won t know everything because only God is omniscient (all-knowing). That is part of what makes God - God! However, we won t have inaccurate understanding or thinking. We will still be learning and discovering throughout eternity. Ephesians 2:6-7 says: And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. In the coming ages, He will continue to reveal the riches of His grace to us. Heaven will be a place of learning and discovery. God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth and we will have the joy of discovering new things in it for eternity. I love adventure. I love to bike and climb mountains and experience God s creation. With a new heaven and new earth, we will get to live an eternity of discovery. Revelation 21:5 says that God is making everything new. We will not only watch the Discovery Channel we will get to experience it! 6

7 #4 Will animals be in heaven? What about our pets? VIDEO According to the movie, All Dogs Go to Heaven, the movie title is misleading. Only some dogs go to heaven. Dogs like Golden Retrievers and Labs, dogs that don t bark excessively, dogs that don t weigh under 10 pounds, except for my daughter s dogs. Animals that won t be in heaven include cats and hermit crabs and dogs less than 10 pounds (confused with rats and cats). Actually, that is my twisted speculation. You are all hoping that I m not in charge of animal control in heaven. Let s see if scripture can help us here. First consider God s original creation. He placed Adam in Eden along with animals and charged Adam with naming the animals. Genesis 2:19 20 says: Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. Part of God s first creation before sin included all sorts of animals. God valued the animals so much that he let Adam name each one. It stands to reason that part of the restored heaven and earth will include animals. We at least know from revelation that there are horses in heaven. They are mentioned numerous times. We also know from Isaiah 65 that animals will be present in the millennial kingdom. It mentions wolves, lions and lambs. It stands to reason that if they were part of the original earth, if they are part of the millennial kingdom, they will likely be part of the new earth. As for our pets, I will leave you with this. One of the distinctions between humans and animals is that humans have spirits and animals don t. When pets die, they return to the dust. However, God could place your pet in heaven if he sees fit, as long as it s not a cat. Just kidding! 7

8 #5 What will our relationships be like? Will we be married? Will we have sex? Will we have friendships? Will we be reunited as families? VIDEO God made us to be relational people. He created Eve for Adam so that Adam would have someone to relate to and someone who he could talk to and share life with. I find it interesting that you hear some pastors tell singles that they should not look for a spouse or even desire one. They say God should be enough to satisfy your every need. What is interesting is that God doesn t see it that way. God created Adam and then said he needed a person who he could relate to. Marriage is a good thing, not a result of sin. It stands to reason that since we are relational beings (at least 99% of us are) that relationships will remain a vital part of heaven. In I Thessalonians 4, Paul comforted believers with the teaching that they would be reunited with them in heaven. He used this teaching to encourage them and comfort them. I will one day be reunited with my Grandfather. We will recognize each other. Now, about marriage. Matthew 22: reads: Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?" Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. So for the quick answer, we will have relationships, but we won t be married. Ephesians 5 teaches that marriage on earth foreshadows our relationship with Christ. Followers of Christ are referred to as the Bride of Christ, and the marriage that will be in heaven is our marriage to Christ. Now the question that Jeff said I would be answering Will we have sex in heaven? I remember being engaged to Susy and struggling with self control with the whole physical aspect of the relationship. I remember praying, dear God; please don t rapture us up to heaven yet. I m sure heaven is great, but I would like to experience this gift that you gave us. If we go to heaven now, we will not be able to experience this gift. Ok, that is my twisted thinking but it is really what I was thinking. It stands to reason that there will be sex in heaven since sex was created before sin entered the picture. However, it also makes sense that we won t be married in heaven so there won t be sex in heaven. Therefore, if my only choices are to say yes there will be sex or not there won t be, I would say that no, there won t be sex in heaven. There are all sorts of humorous things I could say here, but I leave you with this. Imagine or remember the best sex possible and heaven will be better. For further reflection on this Steve McPherson. He is our Pastoral Care Pastor and has lead marriage groups and he can clarify this much better than I am doing.

9 #6 What happens to babies who are aborted / miscarried / or have died at a very early age? Is there an age of accountability? VIDEO It is clear that we are born as people who do wrong. It is part of being a fallen human being. We see rebellion in our kids when they are only months old. So what happens when a baby dies? It s obvious that faith in Christ isn t an option, but it s also obvious that the only way for a person to spend eternity in heaven is to trust in Christ s work on the cross. So how do we reconcile these two points. Let s try. It s clear that God has a special love for children. Matthew 18: 1-4, 10 says: At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. Matthew 19: Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 21:16 Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read," 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?" It seems that children have a special treatment from God. He didn t say keep those little sinners away from me. He didn t say don t act like them. It stands to reason that his special treatment of children could include salvation. There is no passage that specifically teaches an age of accountability either, but there are passages that teach that people are without excuse because God has given them evidence of his existence. There is an assumption of an ability to process, something kids don t have. As King David grieved the loss of his newborn child he said in II Samuel 12:23, I will go to him, but he will not return to me. I believe David was consoling himself with the fact that he would see his son in heaven. 9

10 #7 Why should we be concerned about heaven? What difference does it make for our lives today? TEXT Let me briefly address this one. This question honestly surprised me, but it is consistent with teaching that I have often heard. I believe that we should be very interested in knowing what scripture says about heaven. Obviously, all scripture is inspired by God and it is profitably to study it. Let me give you several things that a good understanding of heaven does for us. 1. It gives us comfort that we will one day be reunited with Christ. John 14: It gives us motivation to persevere. Philippians 3: It gives us encouragement that we will one day be reunited with other Christ followers. I Thessalonians 4 4. It inspires us to invest in eternal rewards. I Corinthians 3 10

11 #8 Who will be in heaven? Can we be sure we are going there? VIDEO I John 5:13 says I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. God wants you to know, not just hope so. How can you know? John 3:16 says For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Who will be in heaven? Everyone who believes that Jesus Christ died to take away the penalty of their sin and trust in Him as their Savior. It is through faith alone that you can know you will be in heaven with God, your creator. Ephesians 2: 8-9 says For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. It is a gift, a free gift. You can t do enough good to earn it or enough bad to nullify it. It is God s gift to you. How do you accept it? Tell God that you know you need a Savior and tell him that you trust in Christ and His death on the cross to deal with your sin. When you take that step, you begin a relationship with God and His followers that will last for all eternity. Pray Next week, we want to address one more question. #9 What will hell be like? Who will be there? Are there different levels of hell? TEXT 11