Let's pray. Father God, thank you for this opportunity to come and hear your words being preached.
Please bless the message. Please bless, Pastor. Please help us to keep distractions to a minimum so that we may keep our eyes, excuse me, our ears and our hearts open to your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen. All right. Well, we're there in Revelation chapter 21. Keep your place there. We're going to come right back to it. But please go with me to the book of 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, I'm sorry, 2 Corinthians chapter number 12.
2 Corinthians chapter number 12. If you start at Matthew, you got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter number 12.
And we are in the third part of a series entitled The Afterlife. We're studying what comes after this life. What happens after we die.
And we began the first week, a couple of weeks ago, with a sermon entitled Preparing to Die. We talked about on this earth we must live with eternity in view.
And the only way to end your life without feeling like you've wasted it is to live for the afterlife. Last week we talked about our glorified bodies.
And if you're saved, the Bible says that God will give you a new body. This corruptible will put on incorruption and this mortal will put on immortality.
Today we're going to be talking about what heaven will be like. And there in Revelation 21, we get a very clear picture, one of the clearest pictures of heaven.
And we're going to go through that here in a minute. But I want you to notice something in 2 Corinthians chapter number 12. If you're there, look down at verse number 1.
2 Corinthians 12, 1 is an interesting passage because the apostle Paul is speaking about someone and possibly speaking of himself who had an out of body experience.
You've heard of these out of body experiences, right? Where people come out of their body and they see heaven and things. Well that actually happened in the Bible.
And it's not, you know, what you're thinking of in the movie you watched and I'll show you that in a second. But look at 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse number 1.
The Bible says this, it is not expedient for me, doubtless to glory. He said, I don't have anything to boast about or brag about. He said, I will come to visions and revelations.
He said, I've seen visions, I've had things revealed to me of the Lord. Notice verse 2. He says, I knew a man in Christ. Now, I tend to think that he's probably talking about himself.
There's debate about that and I don't think it really matters either way. But he says, I knew a man in Christ about 14 years ago.
Now notice what he says there in parentheses. He says, whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the body. He says, I cannot tell God knoweth.
So notice he says, whether in the body or out of the body. He says, I'm not sure if this or something happened in the body or if this happened out of the body.
He's talking about an out of the out of body experience. Look at verse 3. I knew such a man whether in the body or out of the body. I cannot tell God knoweth.
Now, like I said, we don't know who he's talking about. I tend to think he's probably talking about himself. And you don't have to turn there, but just if you want to jot this down, you can refer to this later.
In Acts 14 and verse 19 through 20, we are told of a story where Paul, because of his preaching, gets dragged out of the city and the Bible says that they stoned him.
And supposing he had been dead, they left him outside of the city. The Bible tells the disciples stood round about him just looking at his, at his, what they thought was his dead body.
And of course he rose up and he came into the city the next day and of course he continued on with his ministry. This may be a reference to that.
When they suppose that he was dead, he might have actually been dead, you know, and gone up to heaven for a little while and he speaks of these things.
Look down at verse 2 again. And again, if you disagree with that, that's fine. It's not a big deal. 2 Corinthians 12, look at verse 2.
I knew a man in Christ about 14 years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the body I cannot tell God knoweth.
But I want you to notice what he does say about this guy. He says, such in one, notice what it says, caught up to the third heaven. Do you see that?
Where it says he was caught up to the third heaven. Now look down at verse number 4. How that he was, notice what it says, caught up into paradise.
He was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
I want you to understand that here he says there was a man, he said, I knew a man whether it was in the body or out of the body. He said, I cannot tell.
Which that makes me think he's talking about himself because, you know, if you saw a man and you can't tell whether you saw him in the body or out of the body,
he's saying, you know, I can't tell whether I was in the body or out of the body. But he says, this guy, whoever it is, was caught up to the third heaven.
And then in verse 4 he says he was caught up into paradise. And, you know, let me just make this statement for our dispensational friends out there.
Dispensational theology teaches that, you know, in the center of the earth there's a place called paradise or Abraham's bosom and it's like this nice part of hell.
And if you've never heard of that, you know, don't worry about it, okay. Just thank God that you've not been exposed to such stupid theology.
That in the middle of hell there's a nice place where people go. But, you know, but they call that paradise, you know.
And by the way, that's close to, you know, maybe they get that from the Catholics with their purgatory.
But listen, the Bible says here that he was caught up to the third heaven and then he was told he was caught up into paradise.
You know what that tells us? Paradise is heaven, alright. It's not in the center of the earth. It's not Abraham's bosom.
And again, I'm just throwing it out there for those of you who have been exposed to that.
But before we get into this idea of heaven, I want you to understand a couple of things because it says the third heaven.
And, you know, you may be asking yourself like what is that? You know, there's more than one heaven.
Now I want you to understand what he's talking about. Go with me to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 1.
I'm going to try to go through this as quickly as I can just to lay the foundation.
I feel like I can't preach a sermon on heaven without explaining this. But go to Genesis chapter number 1.
And do me a favor, I know Genesis is easy to get to. It's the first book in the Bible.
But make sure you can get to Genesis quickly because we're going to be going back and forth between Genesis and Revelation a lot in this sermon.
I got a lot to cover so we're going to do the best we can to go through it.
Genesis chapter 1, look at verse number 1. Notice what the Bible says.
In the beginning God created, I want you to notice when God created the world, the very first verse of the Bible says,
In the beginning God created the heaven. You see the two words there, the heaven?
I want you to notice the word heaven there is singular, okay?
Now the modern Bible translations that are corrupted have added the word, the letter S there to say the heavens.
That is not heavens but that is incorrect. And that is absolutely wrong.
And you know we can talk more about that after the service if you like.
But he says, In the beginning God created the heaven, singular and the earth.
Alright, so the first thing God does is He creates the heaven and then He creates the earth.
This is, you say what is this heaven referring to? This is what Paul is talking about, the third heaven.
This is where God lives. This is where God resides.
Now I want you to notice there are other heavens. Look at verse 6.
Look down to verse 6. For sake of time I am not preaching through Genesis but look at verse 6.
And God said, Let there be a firmament. You see that word firmament?
In the midst of the waters and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, I want you to key in on that word, alright?
That is our key word for a couple of minutes.
And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament and it was so.
Now notice verse 8. And God called the firmament heaven. Do you see that?
Now look, again because you can go to some theology book and they are going to tell you the firmament is all sorts of weird things.
At Verity Baptist Church we believe the King James Bible is God's inspired, preserved word.
We allow the Bible to define itself and according to the Bible in verse 7, Genesis 1 verse 8, the Bible says that God called the firmament heaven.
Alright? So when you see the word firmament, we are just talking about heaven.
And the evening and the morning were the second day. Skip down to verse number 14.
Just for sake of time, I am not preaching on creation but look at verse 14.
And God said, Let there be light. Now the light he is referring to are the sun and the moon.
You will see that here in a second but notice what it says.
And God said, Let there be light in the firmament of heaven. Do you see that?
So God puts light. So in verse 1 he creates the heaven, singular, and the earth.
And then we read, he goes on to create something he calls the firmament and then he calls that heaven.
Are you following what I am saying?
Here is why you say, Well why is it wrong for the modern Bible versions to add the word ass, the letter ass to chapter 1, to verse 1 of chapter 1.
Here is why.
Because you can't say God created the heavens, plural, and the earth when he doesn't create the firmament until verse 6 and it's the second day.
Do you understand that? On the first day he created the heaven and the earth.
On the sixth day he created something he calls the firmament and then he tells us that he called the firmament the heaven.
Now in verse 14 we saw that he created light in the firmament of heaven.
What is the purpose of these lights? Notice, to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years.
And let them be for lights in the, notice, firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth and it was so and God made two great lights.
The greater light, are you starting to figure out what these lights are? I'll give you a hint.
The greater light is the sun, okay, to rule the day and the lesser light is the moon to rule the night.
He made the stars also. Are you following what I'm saying?
Now here's what he says. He says he made these lights for signs and for seasons and for days and for years in the firmament of heaven.
He puts these two great lights in the firmament of heaven. Where is the sun and where is the moon?
In heaven, obviously the Bible tells us that, but where is it? I'm just saying if we were away from the Bible, it's in space.
What you would call outer space, right? Here's what you need to understand.
There is the heaven where God resides, the third heaven where his throne is and we'll see that in Revelation.
But then there's a second heaven which is what you and I would call outer space.
It's where the stars are. It's where the sun is. It's where the moon is.
Notice verse 17, and God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth.
That's what the sun and the moon does.
Go down to verse number 20, just for sake of time. Verse 20, notice what he says.
And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that hath life.
So he's starting to create animals. Notice what he says.
And the fowls, what's a fowl? It's a bird.
And the fowls that may fly above the earth in the open, what?
Firmament of heaven. Now let me ask you, where do the birds fly?
In the sky. Do they fly up where the sun is? No.
That's outer space. They can't survive out there, right?
They just fly in the sky. Here's what I want you to understand.
There's another heaven which is where the birds fly, where the fowls fly.
So there's the heaven, the first heaven which would be the sky, the atmosphere.
Then there's a second heaven which is what you and I would call outer space where the sun and the moons are.
And then there's a third heaven where God resides. You say, why is this important?
It's important because you've got cults today like the Mormons who will teach that like,
there's a first heaven for certain people, the second heaven for certain people, the third heaven.
The better Mormon you are, the closer you get.
Look, that's not what the Bible teaches.
I mean, that makes a nice science book or theology book or whatever.
That makes a nice Bible college class, but that's not what the Bible teaches.
God says there are three heavens. You say, what are they?
The sky where the birds fly, the space where the sun is, and then there's the third heaven.
Which is where Paul was caught up.
Look down at verse number four. I'm trying to go through this fast because I just want to lay this foundation
because I feel like I can't preach on heaven without explaining this.
Genesis chapter two, look at verse four. Notice the difference.
Genesis 2, 4. Because remember Genesis 1, 1 said what?
In the beginning God created the what? Heaven.
Singular. And the earth.
Then we go through the creation story.
He creates the sun and the moon. He placed them in a place that we call outer space.
He calls that heaven.
And then he creates the birds and he has them fly in what we call the sky and he calls that heaven.
You've got the first heaven, the second heaven, the third heaven.
Notice Genesis chapter two and verse four.
These are the generations of the, notice the change in your King James Bible, of the heavens, plural. Do you see that?
Why does he say heavens, plural now?
Here's why he says heavens, plural, because now there's multiple heavens.
Now in Genesis 1, 1 there's only one heaven.
But then he goes through and creates the other heavens.
Now he says these are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, plural.
Do you see that?
So I want you to understand, you say why did you teach all that?
Okay, go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
I just want you to understand the Bible refers to three different heavens.
One's the sky, one's space, one is where God resides.
When Paul talks about a man that he knew about fourteen years ago, whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell.
He says he was caught up to the third heaven, then he says he was caught up to paradise.
That is a reference to what you and I, when you and I normally talk about heaven, we're referring to the third heaven, where God resides, where believers go when they die.
And I just want you to understand that.
Go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
Now let me say this.
Heaven, and talk about the third heaven where God resides, from here on when I'm talking about heaven, that's what I'm talking about, just so you know.
Heaven is not something that can be easily described.
In fact, the Bible tells us that.
2 Corinthians 12, look at verse 4, because notice, this guy comes back from the third heaven.
Whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell.
He has this outer body experience, he goes to heaven, he comes back, notice what he says, 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 4.
How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, and was told to write a book called 90 Minutes in Heaven.
Is that what it says?
And was told to make a movie called Heaven is for Real. Is that what it says?
You know, you say, pastor, do you believe in outer body experiences?
You know what, I actually do, because the Bible refers to one.
You say, do you believe that that 90 minutes in heaven thing is real? Absolutely not.
You say, well, how can you not think it's true?
Here's why, when Paul goes to heaven, he says, what I saw was so unspeakable, he said, I couldn't even talk about it.
He said, it was not, notice what he says, verse 14.
How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
He said, the things I saw were so wonderful, they were so grandeur, they were so amazing, it was not lawful for me to utter.
He said, I couldn't, so here's the thing, somebody says, I went to heaven and came back, and you ask them, what was it like?
And they're like, I can't even describe it to you, it was so wonderful.
They say, it's not even lawful for me to utter those words.
Then maybe we're talking about someone, but when somebody says, I went to heaven, read my book,
put me on New York Times bestseller list, that person's probably lying to you.
Okay, because when somebody in the Bible goes to heaven, they come back, they don't write a book about it.
In fact, Paul wrote most of the Bible, and he says, I can't even explain heaven.
He said, I can't even tell you about it.
He said, the things which God, he said, they were unspeakable words.
Alright, you're there in 2 Corinthians, I know I messed some of you guys up with your stupid movie, and that's fine.
Okay, I'm not mad at you.
1 Corinthians 2, look at verse 9.
Here's the thing about the Bible, it'll mess you up.
It'll mess up your Bible college degree, it'll mess up all your movies you watch, it'll mess up all the Christian things that you actually start reading in the Bible.
1 Corinthians chapter 2, look at verse 9.
Let me give you another verse just to prove it to you.
1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9, but as it is written, notice what the Bible says, but as it is written, notice what it says, I have not seen.
He said, you've never seen anything like this, nor ear heard.
He said, you've never heard anything like this, neither have entered into the heart of man.
He said, you've never even thought about the things which God had prepared for them that love him.
Okay, so here's what I want you to understand.
I'm going to attempt to preach a sermon to you about heaven, but I want to begin with the understanding that it is humanly impossible to describe heaven.
And God doesn't give us a lot of insight into heaven.
I'm going to show you everything I could come up with in scripture about heaven, but I want you to understand that it's not something that we can clearly see on this side of heaven.
You're there in 1 Corinthians 2, go to 1 Corinthians 13 real quickly.
We're almost done with the introduction, we're about to jump into the sermon, right?
1 Corinthians 13, look at verse 9.
I want you to understand something about prophecy and times, future events, things outside of this world.
1 Corinthians 13, 9, the Bible says this, for we know in part and we prophesy in part, but we know in part and we prophesy in part.
Look, I believe everything the Bible says about prophecy.
I believe Matthew 24.
I believe the rapture is post-trib, pre-wrath.
I think the Bible is really clear about that.
I don't think you can argue that away.
But you know, be real careful about getting too detailed into prophecy because Paul, who was given revelations, Paul who I believe got a chance to go to heaven,
Paul who wrote most of the New Testament said, we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away with.
He said, right now we know in part.
He said, one day when that which is perfect is come, when Jesus Christ come, then what's in part will be done away with.
He says, when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Look at verse 12, for now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.
We sang that song, what a moment.
When we stand face to face in His embrace.
He said, for now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.
Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known.
So I just want you to understand when it comes to these things, we do the best we can with what the Bible has given us, but don't get too carried away.
Don't go write a book and make a movie because you're probably lying.
Revelation 21, look at verse 1, the love of money is over all of you.
I'm just throwing that out there, not trying to offend you.
You're like, I thought the sermon was about heaven this morning, you're supposed to be nice.
I know, it just doesn't ever work out that way.
Revelation 21, we've got to move quickly, we've got a lot to show you.
Number 1, let's talk about the description of heaven.
How does God describe heaven?
Revelation 21, look at verse 1, the description of heaven, look at verse 1.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem.
You need to understand this about heaven.
Normally when we talk about heaven, what we are actually referring to, which is part of heaven, is the new Jerusalem.
You don't have to turn there, but in Galatians 4-26, the new Jerusalem is referred to as the Jerusalem which is above.
Okay, we're talking about the heavenly Jerusalem.
Now notice what he says, verse 2.
I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Skip down to verse 16.
We read the whole chapter in this context before the sermon started, but look down at verse 16.
And the city life four square.
You see that term four square?
Okay?
You know what a square foot is, right?
A square foot is like a foot that's the same in the length and the width.
When he talks about four square, he's talking about a cube, alright?
Three dimensional.
Notice what he says, verse 16.
And the city life four square and the length is as large as the breadth.
Okay, the breadth is talking about the width, it's talking about the city.
He says the length of the city is as large as the breadth of the city or the width of the city.
And he measured the city with the read 12,000 furlongs.
The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
So he says this city has a length and a width and a height that are equal.
And he tells us there are 12,000 furlongs.
Now I didn't go through and research the measurements, alright?
So I'm just going to tell you, most people seem to believe that we're talking about 1,300 to 1,500 miles.
Now, you can say that and think to yourself like, oh okay, well that's pretty big.
Think about how big that is.
I didn't look this up, I should have.
Who knows just right off hand how long the United States of America is?
The US, how long is it?
3,000 miles.
So think about a city that's length is half of the United States of America.
It's that long.
And it's that wide.
And it's that tall.
You say, how's the city tall?
I don't know, I've never been there.
It's hard to describe.
But it's three dimensional.
It's a cube.
You know, and he said, notice what he said, look at verse 16.
The city lies four squares and the length is as large as the breadth.
And he measured the city with the read 12,000 furlongs.
The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal, verse 17.
And he measured the wall thereof and hundred and forty and four cubits according to the measure of a man that is of the angel.
And the building of the wall was of jasper.
He begins to explain the walls and the beauty.
The city was pure gold.
Imagine a city that's made out of complete gold, pure gold.
The city was pure gold.
Like unto clear glass.
We are told today that the color in gold is actually the impurities.
And that when you can get completely pure gold, it's clear.
And the Bible tells us here that the city was of pure gold, like unto clear glass.
Look at verse 19.
And the foundation of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.
The foundation of the city was all these precious stones.
The foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third kaltadoni, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprysis, the eleventh jason, the twelfth amethyst, and the twelve gates.
Notice verse 21.
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls.
Remember hearing about the gates of pearl?
Now I want you to understand something, okay?
We're usually taught that, you know, the gates have these pearls, or the gates have, you know, pearls on them, or these gates of pearl.
But I want you to notice what it says, verse 21.
The twelve gates were twelve pearls.
Okay?
It's not that the gates have pearls on them, the gate is a pearl.
Now we're talking about a city that is as long and as wide as half of the United States, that's a pretty big pearl.
Okay?
That's making up that gate.
And I'd, you know, I'd hate to see where that thing came from.
But it says the twelve gates were twelve pearls, every several gate was of one pearl.
And notice what it says.
And the street of the city was pure gold.
Streets of gold, remember hearing about that?
As it were, transparent God.
So here's how the Bible describes heaven.
It describes it as this holy city, this huge city that's four square.
And it's as long as it is wide as it is tall, you know, to the best of our guess, 1300, 1500 miles.
It's got all sorts of precious stones as a foundation.
The city itself is made out of gold, transparent, like glass, pure gold.
And it's got pearls for, twelve pearls, twelve ginormous pearls for twelve gates.
That's how God describes the city.
So we look there at the description of heaven.
But let me show you the distinctions of heaven.
You're there in Revelation 21, look back at verse number four.
You say, what do you mean by the distinction of heaven?
It's what makes heaven unique from earth.
What are the characteristics that make it different?
Revelation 21, look at verse four.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
We'll talk about that next week.
And there shall be no more death.
Notice the Bible says that in heaven there's no death.
No funerals, no burial plots, no one dies.
Neither sorrow.
What's sorrow?
It's distress, grief, sadness.
You ever had sorrow?
You ever been depressed?
The Bible says there's no sorrow in heaven.
He says there's no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying.
Now the word cry in our King James Bible is not necessarily weeping,
although it can be associated with weeping.
Crying, weeping is like, you know, tears are coming out, you're crying.
Crying can be used as shouting, but when it's connected to sorrow,
it talks about like wailing with anguish.
I mean, you know, children, it doesn't take much for a child to go from happy-go-lucky to just wailing, you know.
But it takes a lot for most adults, I will say.
Some of you, maybe not.
But it takes a lot for like a grown man to just get to the place where he is wailing out loud.
I mean, something extremely tragic must happen.
God says in heaven there'll be none of that.
No death, no sorrow, no crying.
No shouting for anguish.
Neither shall there be any more pain.
Imagine a place with no pain.
Tylenol, Advil, ibuprofen, all out of business.
Never have a headache.
Never feel any pain.
And, you know, that's silly, but there are some of you that deal with very much pain in your bodies.
Because of disease, because of sickness.
You go through painful things and God says, what makes heaven distinguish from earth today,
or what makes it different or unique, is that on earth there's death.
On earth there's sorrow.
On earth there's crying.
On earth there's pain.
He says in heaven, New Jerusalem, none of that.
So no death, no sorrow, no crying, no pain.
Look down at verse 25.
Revelation 21, look at verse 25.
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day.
Notice what it says.
For there shall be no night there.
Do you see that?
This is a place with no night.
The sun never goes down.
No sleeping.
I don't know what you're going to do with your mansion.
Some of you are so upset about, you know, pastor, I will have a mansion in heaven.
Well, you're not going to sleep there.
There's no night.
Okay, I'm not mad at you if you want a mansion.
I want a mansion too actually.
But, you know, there's no night.
You say, well, what is that about?
Well, you know, in the Bible if you study the word night,
the night is generally associated in Scripture with two things, fear and sin.
Think about it.
When do people get drunk at night?
When are most violent crimes at night?
When do people get violated and raped and murdered?
Usually it happens at night.
When are you scared?
Usually at night.
Most people aren't afraid.
You're at the park, it's a beautiful sunny day and you're just like,
I'm so afraid.
But you walk in that same park in the middle of the night, you may be scared.
Night is associated with fear.
It's associated with sin.
God says, there's coming a day when there shall be no night.
Verse 26,
And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth.
Nothing will come in that defileth.
Neither whatsoever worketh abomination.
No homos in heaven.
Hey, God says they're an abomination.
I'm just trying to help you out there.
Neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie.
Here's what he's saying, no sin in heaven.
No sin.
You know why?
Because sin is generally what brings sorrow, crying, pain, death.
The wages of sin is what?
Death.
He said there's no sin, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Look down at verse, go to chapter 22, look at verse 3.
Chapter 22, look at verse 3.
Chapter 22, verse 3.
Notice what it says in Revelation 22, 3.
And there shall be no more curse.
You see that word curse there?
There shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it.
And his servants shall serve him.
Alright, so I want you to notice there's no curse in heaven.
Now you say, well what is that curse referring to?
Keep your place in Revelation 22.
Go back to Genesis chapter number 3.
And let's look at the curse.
The curse is associated with sin.
We just said there is no sin.
So because there is no sin, God says I remove the curse.
You say, what is the curse?
Revelation 3, look at verse 16.
I'm sorry, Revelation 3.
Genesis 3, verse 16.
I meant to say Genesis 3, keep your place in Revelation.
We're going to come back to Revelation a lot.
Go to Genesis 3.
Genesis 3, look at verse 16.
Remember when Adam and Eve sinned?
And after they get found out, the Bible says in Genesis 3, verse 16, notice what it says.
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly...
He just got done telling the serpent, you know, you're going to crawl on your belly.
And in verse 16 he says, unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy...
Notice this word, sorrow.
Remember in heaven there's no sorrow?
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.
See, part of the curse of sin, ladies, your part of that is that God said, I'm going to multiply your sorrow and your conception.
He said, in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.
When you give birth to a child, there's so much pain there.
And so much, you know, and that's part of the curse.
And God says in heaven, you're done with that.
Now, you say, what does that mean?
I'm not 100% to be honest with you.
I think what it means is there's no giving birth in heaven.
And for some of you, you're like, yeah, that's great, I'll take that.
You know, that's good.
I know my wife's right about there right now.
She's like, heaven, sounding sweeter all the time.
But multiply sorrow and thy conception in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children.
And notice what he says, and thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee.
Ladies, did you know part of the curse?
You know all those verses about submitting to your husband?
That's part of the curse.
Hey, in heaven, you don't have to listen to that guy anymore.
In heaven, there's no... on earth, men ought to lead and women ought to submit.
But in heaven, that curse is gone.
Some of you are like, I can run for president in heaven?
I mean, go ahead, I think all the votes are going to go to Jesus.
But, you know, do what you want.
But in heaven, the curse is removed.
Multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, gone.
Thy desire shall be to thy husband, gone.
And he shall rule over thee, gone.
Verse 17, and unto Adam he said,
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it.
Notice, here's our word, curse.
You see that?
Cursed is the ground for thy sake.
Here's our other word, in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground.
For out of it was thou taken, for dost thou art, and unto dost shalt thou return.
Here's what he says, in heaven, I want you to understand, in heaven we will work.
We still work.
We serve God.
But in heaven, the curse of work is gone.
Any of you guys ever felt like you're out there working, trying to build a business, trying to build a church, trying to do whatever you know.
God is, and you just feel like everything is working against you.
You know, God says, hey, that's gone.
See, because before sin, Adam had to work in the garden of Eden.
But there weren't thorns and thistles.
He wasn't sweating.
It was easier.
You say, I don't really understand that.
I don't understand it 100% either.
I'm not going to lie to you, okay.
I'm not going to turn this sermon into a book that I'm going to sell.
But, you know, I went to heaven and I saw.
So here's the thing, the curse is gone.
And of course, you see at the end there in verse 19, for out of it was thou taken, for dost thou art, and dost shalt thou return, referring to death.
That's gone.
The curse of sin is gone.
So in heaven, there's no curse.
In heaven, there's no sorrow.
In heaven, there's no death.
In heaven, there's no pain.
In heaven, there's no cry.
In heaven, there's no sin.
So we saw the description of heaven and we saw the distinction of heaven.
Let me explain to you the diet in heaven.
What are we going to be eating in heaven?
Go to Psalm 78.
If you open your Bible just right in the center, you're more than likely to fall in the book of Psalm.
Psalm 78, look at verse number 24.
We will eat, okay.
I don't know that we'll be sleeping, which I know for some of you is like, man, that's what I spend most of my day doing.
You know, so you're going to have to find something else to do.
But we will be eating in heaven.
Psalm 78, I'm just joking, all right.
Don't get mad.
Psalm 78, look at verse 24.
Psalm 78, verse 24.
Notice what the Bible says.
Psalm 78, verse 24.
And had rained down manna upon them to eat and had given them of, notice, the corn of heaven.
You see that?
Manna comes from heaven.
He says he gave them corn from heaven.
I don't know if there's corn in heaven or if manna is some sort of a cornbread.
Maybe they're having a chili cook-off.
I'm not sure.
But it's from heaven, all right.
You know, manna upon them to eat and had given them the corn of heaven.
Look at verse 25.
Man did eat angels' food, for he sent them meat to the full.
Remember, God provided food for the children of Israel in the wilderness.
And he said, what did he do?
He went to the angels' cafeteria, grabbed a bunch of manna and corn and stuff and dumps
it down to earth and gives it to them to eat.
But I want you to notice, in heaven, the angels are eating.
We saw Jesus in his glorified eating.
We will be eating in heaven.
And the diet will be a little better than it is here on earth.
Go back to Revelation 21.
Let me show you something interesting.
Revelation 21.
Let me make this distinction again.
Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face, right?
Now I know in part, but then shall I know, even as also I am known.
I'm not here to tell you.
Everything I'm going to tell you right now is exactly the way it's going to pan out,
okay?
But I want to show you what the Bible seems to indicate.
Something I see in Scripture is kind of interesting.
The diet in heaven may be associated to our eternal or everlasting life.
We talk a lot about eternal security around here, right?
Once you're saved, you're always saved.
You'll never lose it.
He that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life, right?
We talk about everlasting life, eternal life.
But how is it that we actually have that eternal life?
Because we saw last week that in heaven, we'll have glorified bodies,
but they're not like robot bodies, right?
They're still flesh and bone.
They still have DNA like this body does.
How does God keep that body alive?
It may be associated to the diet plan in heaven.
You say, what are you talking about?
Revelation 21, look at verse 6.
And if I'm totally wrong about this, then, you know, I'm human.
Revelation 21, look at verse 6.
Revelation 21, 6.
And I'm open to any of your ideas as well, but look at what the Bible says.
Revelation 21, 6.
And he said unto me, it is done.
I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.
I will give unto him that is a thirst.
I want you to notice what it says here.
I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Do you see that?
Of the fountain of the water of life.
The Bible says there's a fountain of water of life in heaven.
Water that gives you life.
Now, you know, I wish it said the fountain of Coke, okay?
Because, you know, I like Coca-Cola's.
But it says water, all right?
The water is good for you too.
You're there in Revelation 21.
Go to Revelation 22.
Look at verse 1.
Revelation 22, verse 1.
Notice what it says.
Revelation 22, verse 1.
And he showed me a pure river of water of life.
He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
The Bible says in New Jerusalem, in heaven, you have the throne of God and proceeding out of the throne of God will be this pure river of water of life.
Clear as crystal, you know, he says this river of life.
It's a fountain of water of life is what he said in Revelation 21, 6.
Go to Revelation 22.
Look at verse 17.
Revelation 22, verse 17.
Notice what it says.
Revelation 22, verse 17.
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
And let him that heareth say, Come.
And let him that is athirst come.
And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.
See all these references to the water of life?
The fountain of water of life, the river of life.
Now it's not, Revelation is not the only place that this is mentioned.
Jesus actually spoke about this fountain.
Go to John chapter number 4.
Let's look at it quickly.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
Now you can say, well I think that's all figurative speech.
Maybe it is.
I don't know.
I'm of the belief that when something's figurative in the book of Revelation,
God tells us he's figurative.
He says it's like ass.
Or, you know, he'll give us a hint that this is not exactly what you're,
he's just describing it.
In John chapter 4 and verse number 10, the Bible says this.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
Remember Jesus speaking to the woman at the well?
And he's given her the gospel and we won't go into all of that.
But notice what he says because I'm already running out of time.
John 4, Luke, verse 10.
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God.
Now what's the gift of God?
The gift of God is eternal life.
That's what the Bible says.
And we'll see it here in this text even.
If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee,
Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him,
and he, talking about himself, would have given thee living water.
You see that?
He said, I would have given you living water.
And later on he talks about the fact that it will give you everlasting life.
Go to John chapter 7.
Look at verse 37.
There's another reference from Jesus.
John chapter 7.
You're there in John 4.
Just flip a few pages over to John chapter 7.
Look at verse 37.
John chapter 7, verse 37.
John 7, 37.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood up and cried.
He's not crying like wah, he's shouting, he's preaching.
Cried, saying, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow.
Notice, rivers of living water.
Say, what is that referring to?
Look at verse 39.
But this spake he of the Spirit.
See, the source of the rivers of living water inside of you is the Spirit.
You've got eternal security.
You know why?
Because the Spirit of God indwelling you.
On Saturday, I forget if it's Saturday or Friday, Brother Matt was preaching about,
we're sealed with the Spirit of promise.
Our salvation is the Holy Spirit of God inside of us.
You say, well, that's the springs of life inside of you.
Yeah, but in heaven, the river comes forth from who?
The throne of God.
The Holy Spirit.
So we'll be drinking water in heaven out of the river of living water and there's a connection there to eternal life.
You say, well, that's kind of weak.
That's why I started with that one.
Let's go once a little stronger.
Go to Revelation 2.
Look at verse 7.
Not only is there a springs of living water, a fountain of living water.
And it's funny because, you know, today you've got all these, you know, not today necessarily,
but we've got all these stories and these myths of people in the past wanting to seek out, you know, the fountain of youth.
You know, that may be, that may have, someone might have got that idea from the book of Revelation
because God says there's a fountain that will keep you alive.
And you can drink from it and you'll live forever.
Revelation 2.
Look at verse 7.
Notice what else is connected to this river of living water.
Revelation 2.
7.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Revelation 2.
7.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life.
Remember that?
The tree of life.
Where is the tree of life?
Which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Oh no, Pastor Jimenez, you made a mistake by not going to Bible college.
Don't you know the paradise in the middle of hell?
Well, look, the Bible tells us that where the tree of life, that's where it's in the midst of the paradise of God.
But where is the tree of life?
Is it in hell?
Well, I'll show you where it is.
Revelation 22.
Look at verse 2.
Revelation 22.
Verse 2.
Maybe you made a mistake by reading a bunch of books written by men instead of reading the Bible.
Revelation 22.
Look at verse 2.
Revelation 22.
Look at verse 2.
The Bible clearly tells us that where the tree of life is, the tree of life is in the midst of the paradise of God.
We already saw a verse that's called the paradise of God or paradise.
He called it the third heaven.
But now he tells us also paradise is where the tree of life is.
Where is the tree of life?
Revelation 22.
Look at verse 2.
In the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river.
What river?
The river of life that proceeds from the throne of God and in the midst of the street of it
and on the other side of the river was there, notice, the tree of life.
So where's the tree of life?
At the throne of God.
Where's the throne of God?
In heaven.
Not middle of the earth.
Not Abraham's bosom.
I'm just trying to, you're beating a dead horse.
The horse needs to be beat.
Okay?
Which bear twelve manner of fruit and yielded her fruit every month.
And the leaves of the tree, don't miss this.
Okay, so you've got the tree of life.
The tree of life bear twelve manner of fruit.
You know, you've seen a tree bear pears and apples and oranges, right?
This tree gives you a different fruit every month.
You know, one month it's apples, the other month it's something else.
You know?
It's interesting.
The tree of life which bears twelve manner of fruit and yielded her fruit every month.
And notice, don't miss this.
The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
You see that?
So there seems to be a connection here.
Where you eat of the tree and it heals the nations.
You eat of the tree of life and it keeps you alive.
The tree of life springs forth from the source of the river of life.
It's all connected.
Look at verse fourteen.
Revelation twenty-two.
Verse fourteen.
Revelation twenty-two.
Look at verse fourteen.
Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life
and may enter in through the gates into the city.
See, you've got to get right to the tree of life.
It's not just accessible to anyone.
You've got to enter into the city to eat of the tree of life.
You've got to enter into the city to drink of the waters of the river of life.
It's all connected.
So there may be a connection.
Maybe it's all figurative speech.
If it is, that's fine.
But there may be a connection to our actually living forever in heaven to the diet that
we'll have in heaven.
The water we'll be drinking and the fruit we'll be eating that will keep us in a state
of everlasting life.
Let me give you one more thing.
Go back to Genesis chapter two.
Genesis chapter two.
Because if you remember in the garden of Eden, there was two trees in the midst of it.
Genesis chapter two, excuse me, Genesis two, look at verse eight.
Genesis two, look at verse eight.
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden.
Remember the garden of Eden?
And there he put the man whom he had formed.
And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight
and good for food.
So he made all the trees and also he made the tree of life, notice, also in the midst
of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now Adam and Eve were told they could eat out of every tree except one.
Which one?
The knowledge of good and evil.
Adam and Eve were allowed to eat of the tree of life in the garden of Eden.
I think God put the tree of life there to keep them alive forever.
To keep them in paradise on earth forever.
But there was one tree they weren't allowed to eat.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Of course you know the story.
Satan comes and tempts them.
He comes in the form of a serpent.
Tempts them to eat of the tree of life.
Notice that's where the curse comes in, all of that.
Notice what God says.
Genesis three, look at verse number twenty-two.
Remember they eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
God gives them the curse.
He tells the serpent, we already saw those verses.
He makes a woman to be in submission under a man.
He gives her pain for sorrow.
He makes a man work hard for his labor.
By the way, let me say this.
The Bible teaches that the will of God, Paul said,
I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house,
give none occasion to the adversary to be reproached.
The Bible teaches that God's will for a young lady is to grow up,
get married, have children, and be at home with her family.
And you say, well that's so unpopular today.
I don't care if Hillary Clinton becomes the President of the United States.
I'm never going to stop preaching that.
That's what the Bible says.
Young ladies, God's will for your life is not for you to be the next President of the United States.
God's will for your life is for you to marry, bear children, guide the house.
You're so old-fashioned.
That's what the Bible says.
And you will be in the will of God and you will be happy and content if you follow His mode.
And here's what I think is funny.
Ladies, you can't get rid of the pain.
You can't get rid of the childbearing.
So today, we've got this whole society of misled women who say,
oh no, no, no, I'm going to take the punishment that God gave me and have children
and I'm going to take the punishment that God gave Adam and go work.
And guys are just sitting at, you know, these stay-at-home dads are just like, go for it, honey.
You have the pain.
You have the babies and you bring it.
You're getting duped, ladies.
I don't know how else to say it.
Make that guy go work.
And when he comes home sweaty and tired, say, there you go, Adam.
So anyway, I don't know why we were talking about that.
But go, where were we?
Revelation something, right?
No, Genesis 3, look at verse 22.
Genesis 3, look at verse 22.
Notice what it says.
Genesis 3, verse 22.
And the Lord God said, behold, the man is become as one of us, to no good and evil.
Now notice what it says.
Notice what God says.
And now last.
He says, unless, unless he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever.
You see that?
God says, hey, in the garden of Eden, they ate of the tree of God's evil.
They sinned.
He said, no, let's get them out of the garden of Eden just in case Adam gets a good idea and goes and eats of the tree of life and then he'll live forever.
Because what keeps you alive according to God is the tree of life.
The river of life.
It's connected to eternal life.
So what does God do?
Look at verse 23.
Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken.
So he drove out the man and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life.
So there seems to be a connection between the tree of life.
It may be figurative.
Jesus talked about the water springing up within you in reverence to the Holy Spirit.
I understand Proverbs says, you know, that he that when the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that when it sows his wife.
I get all that.
I'd encourage you to study that on your own.
But here's what we've seen so far.
We saw number one, the description of heaven.
We saw number two, the distinctions of heaven.
We saw number three, the diet in heaven.
Let's just real quickly go to Revelation 21, talk about the demographics in heaven.
Who's going to be in heaven?
Who will be the people that will be there?
Who are we going to spend eternity with?
We'll do this as quickly as we can.
Revelation 21, look at verse 27.
Some of you are offended.
You came to a church service about heaven and you're going to leave offended.
You know, really that is a talent, okay?
To be able to preach a sermon on heaven and still offend you.
Revelation 21, well some of you are easily offended.
Revelation 21, look at verse 27.
Revelation 21, verse 27.
Notice what it says.
Who are going to be in heaven?
Revelation 21, verse 27.
And there shall no wise enter in anything that defileth,
neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh lie.
Remember, there's going to be no sin in heaven.
He says there shall in no wise enter in.
But, he says, here is what shall enter in,
he says, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Who will be in heaven?
Saved believers.
We're going to be in heaven with other believers in heaven.
The Bible calls it a church.
We're going to be united together with other believers.
Look at Revelation 5 and verse 9.
Revelation 5 and verse 9.
And they sung a new song saying, thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof,
for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by the blood.
Notice what he says.
Out of every kindred and tongue and people and nations.
God's will was for people to unite under the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's why he said that the house of God should be called the house of God to all nations.
One thing I love about our church and some of you don't know, you know,
a lot about different churches because all you ever known is Verity Baptist Church.
One thing I love about Verity Baptist Church,
I've grown up in independent fundamental Baptist Church my whole life.
This is the most diverse church I've ever been a part of.
I mean, I grew up in church and I'm not trying to offend you or whatever.
I grew up in churches where literally, I mean, you know, our family went there and I was the darkest guy there.
You know, and it was kind of awkward sometimes, you know,
but I love the fact that our church has different nationalities, different people, kindreds, tongues, you know,
because you say, well, why do you want the church to be like that?
Because that's what heaven is going to be like.
You know, that's why, you know, we should be against these ideas of like,
we're just going to have a church here for white people and have a church for black people and have a church.
I understand separating based on language.
You don't speak the same language, obviously, but you know what?
Church ought to be for everyone.
Everyone ought to be welcome.
All kindreds, all nations, all tongues, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.
And that's what heaven is going to be like.
So if you've got a problem with it, you know, you're going to have a problem with heaven.
Because in heaven, all believers of all nations from all of time will be there.
That's why we need such a big place, 1,500 square feet by 1,500 square feet because all believers will be there.
But not only that, who else will be there?
Go to Matthew chapter number 8.
Matthew chapter number 8.
We've got to move quickly.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
Matthew chapter 8.
Look at verse 11.
Matthew chapter 8.
Look at verse 11.
Matthew chapter 8 and verse 11.
Matthew 8 and 11.
And I say unto you that many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with, notice,
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
The Bible says that in the kingdom of heaven, we will sit down with Abraham and with Isaac and with Jacob.
You don't have to turn there, but in Hebrews 12.1, the Bible says,
Wherefore seeing were also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.
Hebrews 12.1, that great cloud of witnesses is referring to all of the Bible characters mentioned in Hebrews 11.
Which if you know Hebrews 11, it's a huge list of all these Bible characters and all the great things that they did.
So here's the thing.
In heaven, we're going to be with other saved believers that we don't know anything about.
We're going to spend eternity getting to know each other and fellowshiping each other.
But you know what?
We're also going to be with Bible characters that we do know pretty well.
I mean, won't that be cool in heaven to walk up to Abraham and say,
Hey, can I shake your hand?
I spent 17 weeks preaching about you.
Did you know that, Abraham?
On Sunday nights.
The summers weren't that great.
You know, I mean, meet Isaac and meet Jacob and meet Samson and meet, you know, whoever.
Peter and get to know.
We're going to be there with other believers we know nothing about.
And then we're going to be there with all sorts of believers we do know about.
And we're going to learn, you know, everyone we've read about in the Bible.
I mean, imagine meeting David.
Imagine meeting, you know, Noah and Bible characters like that.
It's going to be a great time in heaven, you know, getting to know everybody.
But of course, you know, who else will we see in heaven?
You're there in Matthew.
Go to John.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
John 14.
John 14, look at verse 1.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
John 14, verse 1.
We're almost done.
I know I'm going quickly, but I got a lot to cover.
If you're not able to get all the notes, we have these sermons online.
You can review them if you'd like.
John chapter 14, look at verse 1.
Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me, is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking.
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.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself.
Notice what he says.
That where I am, there you may be also.
You know the great thing about heaven is that we'll be there with other believers that we know nothing about.
And we'll be there with some Bible characters that we know a lot about.
But we'll also be there with Jesus Christ.
I mean that will be amazing.
To meet the Lord Jesus Christ.
To be where he is with him.
Go back to Revelation 21.
Revelation 21.
And let me show you someone else we'll meet in heaven.
And we'll be with with heaven.
Something that's unique about heaven.
This is probably the most unique thing about heaven.
The most unique thing about heaven is what I'm going to show you right now.
Revelation 21 and verse 1.
And I saw a new heaven, a new earth.
For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.
And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is, don't miss this, with men.
And he, God, will dwell with them.
And they shall be his people, don't miss this, and God himself shall be with them and be their God.
Not since the Garden of Eden has man dwelt with God.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam walked with God in the garden.
And sin entered into the world.
The Bible says that our sins and our iniquities have separated us from God.
And, you know, throughout the Bible, the Bible tells us, I wish I had the verses, I could go through and show you the verses.
I'm running out of time, but throughout the Bible, the Bible tells us that God is invisible, that we can't see him.
No one's seen the glory of God.
We've gotten, you know, we've seen a little bit of his glory here and there.
You know, when they dedicated the temple, the Bible says that the glory of God came down and filled the temple.
That was just a little bit of the glory.
Remember, Moses asked God to see him?
And God said, Well, I can't let you see me, because if your human eyes see me, you're going to die.
And God said, I'm going to put you on this rock, and I'm going to cover you with my hand,
and I'm going to walk by and I'm going to, you know, move my hand.
This is in the Bible.
I'm going to move my hand long enough for you to see my backside.
Moses got to see the backside, just a glimpse of the glory of God.
But men have never seen God.
We've never seen God.
We saw the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh.
But the Bible says in heaven that we will see God.
We will walk with God.
We will dwell with God.
We will fellowship with the God of the universe.
We've seen glimpses of him here and there, but we will see him for who he is.
So we saw the description of heaven, the distinctions of heaven, the diet in heaven, the demographics of heaven.
Let me finish up with just a couple of thoughts.
Go back to Matthew, Matthew chapter number 6.
Matthew chapter number 6.
Let me show you a couple of things about heaven.
Heaven is not as disconnected from us as you might think.
And in fact, we can be connected to heaven right now.
Matthew chapter number 6.
Look at verse number 19.
Matthew chapter 6 and verse 19.
Notice what the Bible says.
You know these verses.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, where thieves break through and steal.
I think I forgot to show you this verse earlier, but here's another characteristic of heaven.
Things don't break down.
There's no corruption.
He says on earth there's moth and rust that doth corrupt and thieves break through and steal.
Verse 20.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
In heaven, nothing gets corrupted.
Nothing gets break down.
You don't have to wax your car.
You don't have to do maintenance on your home.
And thieves don't break through and steal.
There's no taxes in heaven or thieves in heaven or whatever.
But here's what I want you to see.
Look at verse 20.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
Do you know that you can be laying up in treasures in heaven right now?
It's in heaven.
The city, 1500 square, you know, 1500 length, 1500 wide, 1500 high, you know, pure gold, you know, no pain, no sorrow, no death, no sin.
You say we can lay up treasures right now.
God says don't, Jesus says, don't lay up treasures upon the earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal.
He says but lay up treasures in heaven.
He said you can send them ahead.
That's what he said.
Go to Matthew 19.
Look at verse 21.
Matthew 19, verse 21.
Matthew 19.
You're there in Matthew 6.
Matthew 19.
Look at verse 21.
Matthew 19, verse 21.
Matthew 19.
And it seems to be connected to your finances.
I'm not preaching on finances this morning.
You're offended enough.
But look at what it says.
Matthew 19.
Look at verse 21.
Matthew 19, verse 21.
Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, notice, and thou shall have treasure in heaven and come and follow me.
Jesus said you can have treasure in heaven.
He said lay up for yourself treasures in heaven.
Go to Matthew 19.
Look at verse 21.
Here's the question I want to ask you.
Are you living with heaven in mind?
Because your heaven will be connected.
Your heaven is connected.
Heaven is connected.
My heaven, your heaven, our heaven is connected to the way we live our lives here on earth.
And you can have treasure and you can have rewards and you can have all sorts of things in heaven that you can send ahead.
Now you can't earn rewards in heaven once you're in heaven.
You can't lay up for yourself treasure in heaven once you're in heaven.
You've got to do all of that here.
And here's what I want you to understand.
In heaven, not everyone is equal.
Not everyone's the same.
It's not like we're going to get to heaven and everyone's just the same.
We're all the same.
No, no, no.
Matthew 19.
Look at verse 21.
Notice what Jesus said.
Matthew 19, verse 21.
Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, I'm sorry, did I say Matthew 19?
Did I say Matthew 19?
I meant for you to go to Matthew 5.
Matthew 5, 19.
I apologize.
Matthew chapter 5 and verse 19.
Matthew 5, 19.
We already saw Matthew 19.
Matthew chapter 5.
Look at verse 19.
Notice what the Bible says.
Matthew 5, 19.
Notice what Jesus said.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments.
Okay.
So you're one of those people that says, ah, it doesn't matter.
That's not a big deal.
I know the Bible says I can't, fill in the blank.
I know the Bible says I shouldn't fornicate, I shouldn't drink, I shouldn't whatever, but I'm just going to do it anyway.
Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so.
The pastor that gets up and says, you can drink in moderation.
You don't have to read the Bible.
You don't have to go soul-willing.
You don't have to tithe.
You don't have to do this.
You don't have to do that.
You know, here's what God says.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whosoever shall do, shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
You know what?
You say, well pastor, I don't understand.
Why you got to preach all these things about women staying home and you got to preach all these things against alcohol and you got to preach about this and you got to preach.
Why do you have to preach all that?
Because I don't want to get to heaven and have Jesus call me least.
Hey pastor least, teaching men to, you know, break the commandments.
Maybe you'll be least, but I want to be great.
I want rewards.
I want God to say, hey, this person followed my commandments.
They did what I asked him to do.
If he was a preacher, he preached it.
He didn't want it on the message.
He said it the way it was.
You say, why do you live that way?
I live that way on earth.
Say, but pastor, don't you know when you preach against the home house, the protesters come, the media shows up and they make you seem like you're, here's the thing.
I don't care what they call me on earth.
I'm worried about what they call me in heaven.
Amen.
They call me least on earth.
I could care less.
This earth is going to burn up.
Let them have this earth.
Are you living your life for heaven?
Colossians chapter 3 is the last place we'll look at.
Colossians chapter 3 verse 1.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1st, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.
Colossians chapter 3.
See the problem with most pastors today, they're living for earth.
They want their wealth on this earth.
They want the praise of men on this earth.
They want all their rewards on this earth.
That's why people compromise and they quit and they don't take the stand because they got to keep their nice little job and their nice little retirement fund.
You know what?
Live for this earth but this earth is going to burn up.
And the things of this earth will corrupt.
You ought to live your life for heaven.
Colossians 3, look at verse 1.
Colossians 3 verse 1.
What have we done right here?
Colossians 3 verse 1.
If you then be risen with Christ.
If you're saved and you're resurrected, you get that glorified body.
If you then be risen with Christ, notice what it says.
Seek those things which are above, where Christ is on the right hand of God.
Set your affection, set your love, your desire, set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Here's a question I have for you.
How are you living your life on this earth?
Is it for this world?
Is it for the things of this world?
Is it for the pleasures of this world?
Because it's not worth it, the 70, 80 years you live on this earth, it's just not worth it.
But there's coming a day when we'll be going to a place called heaven.
It's a beautiful place.
You'll live there forever.
You'll live there for eternity.
No pain, no sorrow.
But your treasures, your rewards, your, the greatness and the things that you do for God
will all be measured to how you lived on this earth.
So be very careful, be very careful to not fall in love with the things of this world.
Be very careful to not set your affections on the things of this world.
That's what he says.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where dust and moth doth corrupt,
where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor dust doth corrupt, where thieves do not break through and steal.
And then he says this, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
See, your heart is in the things of this world.
And it's going to be a waste of your life.
I don't want to re-preach the first sermon about preparing to die.
But we ought to live, we ought to live, we ought to live with heaven in mind.
That's why I have to now pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word.
I know that there's no way that I gave justice to heaven.
I mean, there's no way to describe the greatness of heaven.
You've given us a glimpse into glory.
And, Lord, I just pray you'd help us to have enough faith to sometimes have to suffer on this earth a little bit,
to sometimes have to put up with pain and persecution and reproach on this earth for a little bit.
And, Lord, I pray you would help us to live our lives with heaven in view.
We love you in your precious name. I pray. Amen.