Greg Laurie - What We Will Do in Heaven? (11/08/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie teaches from Revelation 15 about what believers will do in heaven, describing our God-given homesickness for eternity. Heaven is a real place with glorified bodies, recognition of loved ones, worship, service, feasting at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and reunion—ultimately centered on being with Jesus forever in a perfected, productive existence.
GPS Stories and Bird Homing Instinct
Well let's turn in our Bibles now to Revelation chapter 15. Revelation chapter 15. And the title of my message is, What We Will Do in Heaven.
Quick question. How many of you have ever used GPS before? Raise up your hand. How many of you have been misdirected by GPS? Yeah. I have too. You know I am navigationally challenged. Okay. I get lost very easily and I have punched in the address and dutifully followed the directions. It tells me to turn left here to turn right there. And I can think of times where I know it is wrong and so I will get on the proper freeway because I recognize where I am. And then the GPS starts correcting me. Turn right at the next off ramp. Turn right at the next off ramp. And I don't know about your GPS but mine says, I told you. Turn right at the next off ramp. The other day it insulted me, you idiot. I had to go into the menu and like take out the denag feature. It was really weird. No I made that up.
But I actually read about a motorist. I think they were in Milwaukee that ended up on a snowmobile trail because they obeyed their GPS that led them in the wrong direction. They ended up stuck in the snow and had to call 911. The officer that responded said people shouldn't believe everything these things tell you. You know GPS can fail us.
But now think about the sophisticated homing instinct of a bird. A bird that God has created that seems to have better GPS than our latest technology. Consider a bird known as the Manx shearwater. These amazing birds nest off the coast of Wales. Scientists took a number of them and tagged and released them at different points around the globe to see whether they could find their way back home to the coast of Wales. In just twelve days all of the birds made their way back. And one bird in particular made it all the way from Boston traveling 250 miles a day from a place it had never been before to get back home. Now that is what you call a homing instinct.
There is another bird known as the Golden Plover. It is native to the islands of Hawaii. The Plover migrates during the summer to the Aleutian Islands some 1200 miles away. I guess the Plover feels, you know it is really hot in Hawaii in the summer. Too many tourists. Let's go to the Aleutian Islands. And so these birds fly 1200 miles away. When they arrive they mate. They lay their eggs. And their little fledglings are born. And then the parent birds fly back to the islands. And the little fledglings are left there to grow up. And then they instinctively know to make the same journey to a place they have never been before of 1200 miles. Now that is amazing. So the next time someone calls you a bird brain, take it as a compliment. A homing instinct to a place they have never been.
God has placed a homing instinct in you and I as well. And I believe it is a homesickness for heaven. We long for a place we have never been before. We are pre-wired that way. As we are told in the book of Ecclesiastes, God has placed eternity in our hearts. And so that is why we are talking about heaven together.
Belief in Heaven and Its Reality
Most Americans by the way believe in the afterlife. They believe in a place called heaven. Newsweek magazine did an article some time ago called Visions of Heaven that revealed 76 percent of Americans believe in heaven. And of those 71 percent believe it is an actual place. But after that the agreement breaks down because 19 percent think heaven looks like a garden. 13 percent think it looks like a city. And 70 percent don't know. But they did say even among those who said they didn't believe in it they sneakily wished there was one.
Well I have got good news. There is a heaven. It is a place. And as a matter of fact the Bible says heaven is a garden. Heaven is a city. Heaven is a paradise. It is worth noting that the Bible doesn't say heaven is like a garden or like a city or like a country. It actually describes heaven as those things. We need to think more of heaven as a place. Not a state of mind. Not some surreal mystical place that we just sort of float around in. It is a real place that we are headed to. As Jesus said in John 14, I have gone to prepare a place for you.
You see heaven is not an imitation of earth. But it is really the other way around. We often start with earth and reason up toward heaven. When we ought to start with heaven and reason back toward earth, heaven is the real deal, the eternal dwelling place of every follower of Jesus Christ. Earth is the copy, the temporary dwelling place.
C.S. Lewis wrote, and I quote, All the things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of heaven. Tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is I was made for another world. Lewis concludes, earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy but to arouse, to suggest, the real thing. End quote. Heaven is the real thing that we long for.
Questions About Heaven
But questions often arise and we wonder about heaven. What will our new bodies in heaven be like? For the Bible promises that there is one waiting for us. Will we know one another another when we get there? And then really the theme of my message. What will we actually do in heaven?
Let's deal with that first question. What will our new bodies be like? God is going to give you a brand new body. But it will not be unrelated to your existing body. Listen. The blueprint for your glorified body is in the body you now possess. It is already there. The blueprints for our glorified bodies are in the bodies we now possess. There will be a connection between the Greg of earth and the Greg in heaven. You see. And the same is true for all of us. Job said, in my flesh I will see God. Because the Bible promises that these bodies of ours will be resurrected again. And so there is a connection between the old and the new. Heaven is the earthly life of the believer glorified and perfected.
And when we get there to the other side our minds and our memories will be clearer than they have ever been before. 1 Corinthians 15 says, Our bodies now disappoint us. Do I hear an amen on that? Amen. But when they are raised they will be full of glory. They are weak now. But when they are raised they will be full of power. They are natural human bodies now. But when they are raised they will be spiritual bodies.
Now that means that our new bodies will in some ways be the same as our old bodies. But at the same time they will be different. Without question they will be radically improved. No more physical disabilities. No signs of age. No sinful tendencies.
Johnny Erickson Tada. You have heard of her. A courageous young woman who had a diving accident when she was a young girl years ago. And the result was she was left as a quadriplegic. And Johnny has sought to take this disability and use it as a platform to glorify God. And she wrote a book about heaven called Heaven Your Real Home. And she talks in her book about the new bodies that God will give us. And I think it is especially poignant when you think about what Johnny has had to endure. And here is what she says about our new bodies. And I quote from her, No more bulging middles or balding tops. Thank you, Johnny. No varicose veins or crow's feet. No more cellulite or support hose. Forget the thunder thighs and the highway hips. Just a quick leapfrog over the tombstone. And it is the body you have always dreamed of. Fit and trim. Smooth and sleek. End quote. Well said.
Our new resurrection bodies will resemble the resurrection body of Jesus Christ. You remember that Christ was crucified and He Rose again from the dead three days later. And we know that after His resurrection He was physical. You could touch Him. He ate fish, the Bible says. But yet He could appear in a room without using the door. And of course He ascended to glory. Now we wonder will we be able to do the same things. Well I don't know. But the Bible does say in 1 John 3, 2, Beloved, now we are the children of God. It has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know when He is revealed we will be like Him. For we will see Him as He is.
You are going to receive a new body. Jesus even said in John 14, In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you. Now sometimes we wonder if that is describing an actual house we will live in or if it is talking about our new body. The word mansion used by Christ in John 14 could be translated dwelling place. So it could be a reference to the new glorified body. Then again maybe it is talking about a house. Maybe we will live in homes in heaven. Who can stay?
It reminds me of a story of a New York cab driver who died and went to heaven along with a minister. By the way how many of you have ever ridden in a cab in New York City? Raise your hand. Okay you know, you wondered if you would survive it. Right? They drive fast and crazy. All right. Having said that so the New York cab he comes up to the pearly gates. He is greeted by Simon Peter of course who takes him and says, well I am in charge of housing up here in heaven. And I understand that you are a New York cab driver. And the man said yes. And he said, will you see that mansion over there on the hill? That is all yours. So off the New York cab driver went and the minister was feeling really good at this point. Because he thought to himself, now imagine, if a New York cab driver gets a mansion what am I going to get? A man who has dedicated his life to the preaching of the gospel. So he stepped up and Peter said, now I understand that you were a well known minister on earth. Yes, that is true. He said, well you see that shack down there in the valley? That is yours. The minister protested and said, now hold on. I am a minister of the gospel. Why is it that a cab driver gets a mansion and I get a shack? Peter said, well when he drove people prayed. But when you preached people slept. So... Now that is just a silly joke really. But there is a dwelling place waiting for us on the other side.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5, we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down, when we die and leave these bodies, we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human hands. So we grow weary in our present bodies and we long for the day when we put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. And I ask you, do you long for that day? Do you look forward to the day when you will see the Lord face to face?
The Brevity of Life
You know life goes by so quickly. Billy Graham was asked a while back what the greatest surprise of his life had been. And his answer was, the brevity of it. You know when you are young it seems like life goes on forever. I remember when I was in elementary school it seemed like each school day lasted months. I remember one of my teachers actually wrote in one of my report cards. I still have it. Greg spends too much time looking out the window and daydreaming and drawing cartoons. He will never amount to anything. And that is how I was in school. Daydreaming. Looking out the window. Watching the clock and wondering why it wasn't working. But then you get out of elementary school and junior high goes a little bit faster. Then high school. And then adult life. And then pretty soon you start remembering decades instead of years. And life just flies by. And you look in the mirror and you have now officially become an old person.
I started getting ARP Magazine delivered to my house recently. AARP Magazine. I didn't ask for that. I don't want it. But someone told me because of my age, which is 56, that I now qualify for a discount at the movie theater as a senior citizen. And guess what? I am taking advantage of it. Why not? But there are those telltale signs that you are getting old. You know you are getting old when you get winded playing chess. That is one of the signs of it. You know you are getting old when you try to straighten the wrinkles in your socks and then you realize you are not wearing any. You know you are getting old when your pacemaker accidentally opens the garage door. You know you are getting old when you bend over to tie your shoes and you wonder what else you can do while you are down there. That is so true, isn't it? You know you are getting old when you actually look forward to a dull evening at home. You know you are getting old when your mind makes commitments your body cannot keep. You know you are getting old when And someone calls you at nine o'clock in the evening and says, did I wake you? You know you are getting old when your ears are hairier than your head. Oh man.
See we often think of ourselves as a body that happens to have a soul. But the reality is you are a soul wrapped in a body. Let me explain. The real you is yes your body of course. But that thing that gives you spark and personality it is your soul that lives forever in the presence of God.
Recognition in Heaven
That brings us to question number two. Will we recognize one another in heaven? The short answer is yes. Absolutely. Why would you think that you would know less in heaven than you know on earth? See as I said earlier in heaven we are perfected. We are glorified. In fact it even says in 1 Corinthians we will know as we are known. There will be no more mysteries. No more questions. Everything will be resolved. You will know. You will know things when you are there in heaven.
You will still love your family and your friends. In fact it will be a stronger, pure, and sweeter love. There is no more a break in your love than there will be a break in your thoughts. Death breaks ties on earth but it renews them in heaven. And we will be the same people in heaven that we were on earth. We don't become a different person. I am still me. You are still new. But the perfected version of me. Without the flaws. Without the shortcomings. Without the sinful tendencies. Glorified in the presence of God. And we will know all things. The Scripture says.
You remember that Jesus appeared in the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and Elijah. Now how is it that anyone knew that it was Moses and Elijah? Do you think Moses was standing there with two commandments. You know just, hi, Moses. Recognize these. And Elijah is over there calling fire. Maybe they had little name tags. Hi. My name is Moses. You know what you are wearing. No. I don't think so. See even in their being called back from glory momentarily to appear with Christ they were recognizable as we will be when we get to heaven.
You will have the same thoughts and feelings and desires that you had on earth. But they will all be perfected. You will be you in heaven. You remember when Jesus Rose from the dead He said to His disciples in Luke 24, 39, it is I myself. It is me guys. Not a different Jesus. The same Jesus in a glorified body.
What We Will Do in Heaven
But that brings us to the question, what will we do in heaven? And the reason we ask this is we often have a concept of heaven as, well, kind of a boring place. And you are just going to sit around on clouds and strum harps and sleep. To some that might sound really nice. Yeah. It doesn't sound so great to me. So it is good news to know that there will actually be activities in heaven.
One of the things you will be doing in heaven is you will be worshiping. You will be worshiping God. And by the way that is why you were created to bring honor and glory to God. And I would think that in heaven we would all have perfect voices. How many of you have seen this video of this lady in England, Susan Boyle? All of you. On the YouTube it has been viewed millions of times. It is a TV show in England called Britain's Got Talent. And it is somewhat like American Idol though they have other things you can do like dancing and so forth. But so this woman comes up. Her name is Susan Boyle. She is, well how do I put it delicately, she is not an attractive woman. And very little is expected of her. In fact when she says she is going to sing a song they are snickering in the audience as though this woman for some reason would not be able to sing well. And then when she begins her selection from Les Miserables she sings so beautifully. The audience, the judges are stunned.
And I suppose in heaven we will all have beautiful perfect voices. No one will be going sharp or flat. We will harmonize perfectly as we sing the praises of God. In fact we read in Revelation 15, I saw before me what seemed to be a glassine mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and the number representing his name. They were holding harps that God had given to them. And they sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb. Great and marvelous are your works.
Maybe one of the reasons we can sing without hesitation in heaven is all of our problems are gone. All of our conflicts are gone. All of our sorrows are gone. All of our questions are answered and resolved. And one of the reasons we have a hard time worshiping on earth is we are not always in the mood. I am not in the mood to worship. I have a cold. Or I have this problem that is troubling me right now so I don't want to sing. Or we even sometimes become critics of worship. Well I didn't really like that worship set as much as last week. You know I felt it was a little too loud. Or it wasn't loud enough. Or I don't like that instrument. Or I like this other instrument. You know worship is not something we should critique. It is something we should do. And it is something we should do whether we feel like it or not. And that is why the Bible talks about the sacrifice of praise. Because there are times when praise is a sacrifice. I don't want to offer it but I offer it anyway because I know that God is in control. I know that God loves me. And I know that He is worthy of my praise. So I offer it up.
Because listen, worship is not about you. It is all about Him. And if we can get that in mind when we sing our praises to God it can make all the difference in the world. We will worship the Lord when we are in heaven. But we will not just worship all the time. Sometimes people have this idea that we are just going to lay there on our stomachs worshiping, worshiping. Well yeah we will do that. But we are also going to be busy. We are going to be doing our Father's business in heaven.
The Bible tells us in Revelation 7.15 that we are standing in front of the throne of God serving Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will live among them and shelter them. Then later, and we will talk about this later, when heaven comes to earth and the new Jerusalem we will be very busy in service to the Lord as well. But we will be serving God in heaven. Yes heaven is a place of rest. But I can only rest for so long. It will also be a place of productivity.
One wonders what the Lord has in store for us when we get there. We wonder if we will be able to finish some of the tasks that remain uncompleted on earth. Maybe you had dreams that were shattered here that will be fulfilled there. Sometimes we act as though everything and anything that can be done must be done while we are on earth. Now of course we do want to make the most of time on earth. But we don't determine when we are born nor do we determine when we die. But we have everything to do with that little dash in the middle. How we live our lives.
But here is what we need to also know is life does not end after life on earth. It continues on in heaven. Because what if a life is limited by disability or illness? What if a life is cut short through death and we think well that life was wasted. That is unfortunate. They never realized their dreams. Who is to say their dreams cannot be realized on the other side? Who is to say that God would not complete what He had started on the other side? It is frustrating because we meet some people who live long lives that are squandered and wasted. Sometimes people that live wicked lives. And then we see someone with so much promise and ability and gifting and then they die unexpectedly. And we think that is so unfair. But that is because we are putting all of our thinking into life on earth and not realizing that life goes on.
Listen. Death for the believer is not the end of life, but a continuation of it in another place. You will live forever. Don't forget that. Earth, it is It is like a stopover. It is a stopover. You know when you book a flight and you are going somewhere you have a stopover. And I don't like stopovers myself. Whenever I book a flight I try to get a direct flight. Because sometimes during stopovers things happen. Bad weather rolls in and you get stuck wherever. So I like to get from A to B as quickly as possible. But we are in this stopover, in this airport lounge if you will. And on the other side for us it is heaven. And it will come sooner than we may realize.
Eating and Feasting in Heaven
What else will we do in heaven? Well I will tell you one thing we are going to do. We are going to eat. We are going to eat. How many of you like to eat? Raise your hand. Good. Good. Good. How many of you don't like to eat? Raise your hand. Get out. No. You don't have to get out. I just don't understand you. Yes. We are going to eat in heaven. Revelation 19.9 says, These are the true words of God. I like the fact that the word supper is used. You know here in California we usually refer to that evening meal as dinner. In the south they call it supper. Right? Get ready for supper. Wash up for supper.
I heard this a lot growing up because for a good part of my childhood I was raised by my grandparents Stella and Charles. I called my grandmother Mama Stella and my grandfather Daddy Charles. And my grandmother she was from the old school of cooking. Mama Stella never saw a TV dinner. She never reheated anything. Everything was made from scratch. Every night fresh fried chicken. And the best fried chicken you have ever had. And then you know the string beans and the Black Eyed Peas and the okra and the collard Greens and all those southern goodies and mashed potatoes made from scratch I might add. And then her crowning achievement was the biscuit. I actually believe there was an anointing on my grandmother to make this biscuit. I have never had one as good since she went to heaven. And I am sure the Lord would employ her abilities in heaven at the supper of the Lamb.
But we will also be able to sit down with the great saints of old. Matthew 8 11 says, I tell you that they will come from the east and the west and take their place at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. I mean can you imagine that sitting at a table? Moses, excuse me, would you pass the manna? Elijah, my meat meat is a little undercooked. Would you get a little extra fire on it? Hey Lot could you pass the salt? Lot don't be so sensitive Lot. Come on. This is original material here folks.
But imagine being able to pick the brain if you will of a great man or woman of faith. You talk to Mary about having the Son of God conceived in her womb. Talk to Moses about seeing the Red Sea parted. Talk to Noah about the ark. Talk to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego about the fiery furnace. Did you guys use sunscreen? Talk to Daniel about the lion's den. The list goes on how amazing it will be.
Reunion with Loved Ones
But the great thing will be being reunited with loved ones. And for me of course that comes back to my son who I miss and I look forward to seeing. When Christopher was a little boy and I would carry him around he would point to things and ask me what they were. Because he was very little he didn't say, What is that? He just said, Sat. Sat. Point to a truck. Not a truck. Sat. That is a tree. Sat. That is another tree. Sat. That is a house. Sat. Sat. He has said it over and over and over. Really wear me out. Sat. Sat. Sat. Curious little guy. When I get to heaven he has been there ahead of me. And I will walk up to him and I will say, Sat. That is a sea of glass, Dad. Sat. Well that is an angel, Dad. When do we eat dinner? Any time, Dad.
But the main event of heaven is going to be Jesus. The main event of heaven is Jesus. We long for heaven but really what we are longing for is God Himself. And Jesus said, I will come back and take you to be with Me that where I am you may be also. Paul said, I desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better.
D.L. Moody wrote, and I quote, it is not the jeweled walls and pearly gates that are going to make heaven attractive. It is being with God. God will be there. You can ask Him anything. Tell Him anything. And hear everything that He has to say to you. You will have all the time in the world when you get to heaven. It is our future home. It is a place that we desire. The place we long for. We have a homing instinct for it. And it is going to be fantastic.
You know when I travel I miss home pretty quickly. Even when I leave California I miss California. You know I have discovered the rest of the country doesn't have a clue when it comes to Mexican food. I mean they just ruin it. I am not going to say where but South Dakota. That is the only place I have been recently so you could probably figure that out. And I tried Mexican food two times. Ah no. Not even close. But I get home and I long for American food. If you are overseas you long for your house. You long for your bed. And certainly you long to see your family. We all long for heaven.
Years ago Audio Adrenaline recorded a song called Big House about heaven. They sang it at one of our crusades years ago. Speaking of heaven they sang it is a big, big house with lots and lots of room. A big, big table with lots and lots of food. A big, big yard where we can play football. A big, big house. It is my father's house.
Stephen Curtis Chapman who was sung at our crusades and you all know who he is. had his little daughter Maria die one year ago. I remember when we were in New Zealand with Stephen and I had lunch with him and we talked for two and a half hours. Not about his music career. Not about any of the things you would think a person who has been successful in that field would talk about. All Stephen wanted to talk about was adopting babies from China. Because he was very involved in that. And one little girl he adopted was little Maria. And he was able to speed up the adoption process because Maria was born with a hole in her heart. And he loved her with all of his heart. And she was a member of his family. And he had one other young girl he had adopted from China as well. And you are probably aware of the tragic accident when Stephen's son accidentally hit the little girl and she was killed.
And as he was being interviewed on the Focus on the Family radio broadcast this week by Dr. Dobson, he talked about that event. And he mentioned a postcard that I had written to him that I never knew he had received. It surprised me when I heard him mention it. And he said that I had written him and said in this little card. that his little girl was going to be much more a part of his future than his past. And he said that encouraged him and that was great to hear. But he relayed a story that his wife told. when little Maria came to his wife Mary Beth and asked her about this place she had heard about in Sunday school. This big, big house with lots and lots of food. A big, big yard and so forth. And immediately Mary Beth recognized that little Maria was talking about that audio adrenaline song. So she said, Oh you mean we will play football? Yeah mommy that is the place. She said, Well that is a song about heaven. And little Maria said, Well I want to go there. And of course mommy said, Well one day later. Not anytime soon. But the Lord had prepared this little girl and that is where she is now in heaven. In that big, big house. In that big, big table. Now I don't know about the football part. But why not?
Heaven Prepared for Prepared People
Are you ready? Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. If I am going to take a trip, I have to book a ticket. I don't just walk down and board a plane. And in the same way if you want to be sure you are going to heaven you need the ticket. You say, Well how much will it cost? Well you couldn't afford it. But the good news is that Jesus Christ came to this earth and died on the cross for your sin and Rose again from the dead and in effect purchased your ticket for eternal life. Here is how you receive it. You just say, Lord I accept that gift that you have offered to me. I turn from my sin and I put my faith in you.
And I wonder if you have done that. Because listen to me now. You don't know when life is going to end. We all think we are going to live long lives and some of us will. And quite frankly some of us won't. So we need to be ready to go. The Bible says prepare to meet your God. Be ready. And then you know if the Lord gives you many years, fine. You live them for His glory. If He doesn't give you as many years as you had hoped for, that is fine because you will be in glory. The point is you are ready. But this is not something you put off.
And so here is how I want to close today. I want to be certain that you are ready to go to heaven. And if you are not certain I want to give you that opportunity as we close in prayer. If you are listening to this message you do not have 100% certainty that you will go to heaven when you die or that you would be ready for the Lord's return. Please respond to this opportunity I will give you. To say yes to Jesus Christ. Let's bow our heads for prayer now.
Father, speak to every person hearing this message. Help them to see their need for You. And Lord, help them to come to You and receive the forgiveness that You alone offer. Whatever we ask in Jesus' name.
While our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed. Maybe God has spoken to you. And you are not sure right now if you would go to heaven when you die. You are not certain that you are ready to meet God. But you want to be. You want to ask Christ to forgive you of your sin. You want to be ready to meet the Lord. If you want Jesus to come into your life and you want Him to forgive you of your sin. And you want to go to heaven when you die. And you want your guilt removed like Michael Franzese talked about. I want you to lift your hand up wherever you are sitting. And I am going to pray for you. If you want Christ to come into your life. God bless you. Just lift your hand up. Wherever you are sitting. Even if you are out in the amphitheater there. You lift your hand up. If you are up in the court building. You lift your hand up.
Now I am going to ask all of you that have lifted your hand to pray this prayer with me. Wherever you are. Out loud. And this is a prayer of asking Christ to come into your life. Pray this:
"Lord Jesus, come into my life. I know I am a sinner. I have broken Your commandments. I have fallen short of Your glory. But I turn from my sin today and put my faith in You. I want to go to heaven when I die. And I want to serve You with my life on earth. So I commit myself to You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen".