The book of Revelation talks a lot about Heaven and the end times.
Revelation is written in 3 parts –
The third part is the good news . It begins with Jesus’ return: He’s coming back with two purposes, the first is for his wedding and the other is for a battle!
Many people ask , why wasn’t Jesus married ? But he’s going to be!
You can say, what ? Jesus’ wedding ?
The Bible is a romance , the story of a father looking for a bride for his son.
God the father is looking for a bride for his son, Jesus Christ !
We are the bride and there is going to be a wedding.
Every romance ends with the wedding and they live happily together !
We are his bride and he’s coming back to marry us!
We are engaged to Christ and soon to be married, but an engagement can be broken !
Title : Desiring and living for Heaven
Paul the apostle (2 Corinthians 12:2-4) said he went to the third Heaven . What is the third heaven ?
- The first heaven is the atmosphere – is what your eyes can physically see when you look up to the sky!
- The second heaven is where the stars , the Sun and the Moon , the galaxy and all planets are
- The third heaven is where God , Jesus and all spiritual creation and the angels are.
2 Corinthians 12:2-4 (if you read the bible you’re gonna see that Paul is speaking about himself)
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.”
Paul said : I was taken up into the third heaven and I saw and heard things that are unspeakable , that cannot be spoken or understood by the human mind .
Whatever he saw in heaven moved him so much, that from that time on , he wanted to go home ! He wanted to be with the Lord !
He was thankful for his life , for his ministry but his heart was anxious to go to eternity with Jesus !
What is heaven like ?
What is the picture you have about heaven ?
Many Christians don’t read the Bible and have a secret fear about heaven: heaven is boring !
They have images of golden harps, clouds, and angels.
Heaven is like an eternal choir practice !
Or playing the harp all day seated on the clouds.
And to some people, that sounds more like hell than heaven.
Heaven is going to the sky when you die, and for many people that sounds completely uninteresting.
1 Corinthians 2:9 “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him”
You cannot conceive how exciting heaven is with your human mind !
Let’s see what the bible says about heaven.
We know the Throne of God is there , and we know that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the throne !
We know that multitudes are going to be there , which no man can number (Revelation 7:9)
We know when we get there we are going to be face to face with Jesus and every one there is going to have access to Christ and the Father
We know when we get there we are going to learn more and more about his creation. In heaven I think it’s constant growth, constant revelation, constant joy ! If every bit of progress here brings us joy can you imagine what heaven is like?
My friends, we are going to an amazing school. We’re going to a place where we are going to be learning things that could not be contained by human mind.
We are going to have the mind of Christ that is unlimited!
He’s gonna teach us about the things to come and the assignments that we are going to get !
It’s not going to be just sitting there and having Church all day !
That means we’re going to have assignments! The bible says we are going to serve God
Paradise in heaven is for a short period of time !
Revelation 21:1-3
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.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”
1- New heaven and new earth , no more sea ,
2- I saw the Holy City, coming down , out of heaven!
3- John heard a great voice – Behold , the tabernacle of God is with men !
He will dwell with men , not men with Him and God shall be with them !
Is this boring ? Heaven coming down !
There in fact faithful servants were given rulership over kingdoms, ten cities , five cities.
Revelation 21 gives a glimpse into that eternal City of God !
There’s going to be a new heaven and new earth ! All things are going to be new , and He said there is going to be a World without end !
Now I’m gonna give you a list of what you are not gonna have in Heaven
Revelation 21:1 – There was no more sea !
That means no more tsunamis, no more hurricanes, no more typhoons, no more hundreds of thousands dying from this actions from the sea !
Revelation 21:4 “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.””
no more tears , no more tissues, no more Kleenex !
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes !
No more funeral parlour, no more funeral ceremony, no more cemeteries , no more funeral expenses, no more funeral benefit or funeral grant ! No more dying! There shall be no death there !
No more Cancer , no more AIDS , no more infant death syndrome, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more mourning , because nobody dies !
You die once , you get resurrected and you will never die again !
No more drugstores, no pharmacies , no hospitals , no doctors , no nurses , no more painkillers, no more wheelchairs , no more ambulances, no more HSE , no more GP , no more prescriptions, for there will be no more PAIN !
Do you remember how many nights you didn’t sleep because of your pain?
Many times you saw your wife , your children in pain and you could not do anything.
Some of you lost your children , your mother , father and many of them passed away in pain ! But there shall be no more pain !
There is going to be no more fear there , no more unbelief, no murders , no lies. We don’t need to be afraid of murderers anymore,
I read this sad news on Irish Time news paper in 21st February : a six-year-old girl in Scotland was abducted, raped and murdered !
Many people in many countries are afraid that someone will come, steal all their things, beat them up and murder them.
When you think of that and think of what the scripture’s saying : no more murderers , no more pedophiles , none of these abominations in that new world !
Thank God , a day is coming when those things will no longer worry fathers and mothers who have little children!
✅ There are no moving vans in heaven ! 😄
We will never have to move houses again !
How many times have you moved ?
John 14:1-3 Jesus said
““Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms (many mansions) ; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
Jesus said : Do not let your heart be troubled , I go to prepare a place for you !
Jesus said I’m going to prepare something glorious ! Heaven is not boring !
After his resurrection Jesus walked through the walls and he said our bodies are going to be like his.
He appeared to his disciples in a closed room. The door was locked and suddenly Jesus appears!
I believe our body is going to be glorious!
Jesus said : I’m going to prepare a place for you ! Every one of us ,there is an eternal home !
✅ The bible says the streets were made of Gold ! It was clear like clear glasses
Revelation 21:21 “The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.”
The point Jesus is making is that he’ll go and prepare a place for you and he will come again and receive you to himself. Jesus says: that’s where I am and there you’ll be also.
I believe Jesus is saying I’m going to show you your place when you come home !
✅ The bible says we’re going to have new bodies in Heaven.
As soon as we die our spirit goes to Heaven but the bible says that one day our bodies are going to be resurrected !
In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 talks about our new body !
1 Corinthians 15:52
“in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
He says what kind of body we are going to have !
The body that goes into the ground is not the one that’s coming out , for God shall give us a body that pleases himself !
Our body goes to a grave and we get a new spiritual body. Flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God ! This new body can never be corrupted, this body now bears the image of the Holy of the righteous!
There are no cripples , no blind , no wheelchair, no decaying bodies !
I don’t know at what moment he will do it and we cannot figure out
We do know that out of the resurrection comes a new body , a glorified body !
This means that all the millions of dead and dying children of all ages , all those children that died in Brazil , Middle West, Africa, of Aids , all the children that died of diseases , all the children of all ages are going to be resurrected!
Heaven is not a place without children . That’s the joy of Jesus He said that children are the kingdom of God !
All children that have died will be resurrected with new bodies.
One day we are going to be with our father , mother , our loved ones who passed away!
You can take joy and comfort in that !
✅ There will be no clocks in heaven 😀
There will be no more wristwatches, no more time anymore, there will be no more nights ! (Revelation 22:5)
Suddenly time doesn’t exist anymore: no centuries , no decades, no months, no weeks , no seconds , time will be no more .
Just so you can imagine, eternity is like a circle , no ending, no begging !
God gave us life on earth for you to make the best of it , to learn to be like Christ and the way you use this time will determine where you are going to spend eternity.
2 Corinthians 5:1-2, 8, 10 KJV
1 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad.”
You must earnestly desire this heaven , your new home and your new body!
You should desire to live for heaven , to live for eternity!
People sometimes talk about living the best life they possibly can right now.
Many people, even Christians think they can make the best life possible for themselves here on earth
But this is only possible if we’re going to hell. If hell is your future, your best life is now.
But if you’re saved, your best life is still to come.
Who’s going to heaven?
Those who are under the blood and were redeemed by the work of the Cross of Christ ! Those who were born again repenting from their sins!
✅ In heaven there will be multitudes of children , all little orphans and now they know they have a father
✅ That day we are going to see all martyrs, those that were beheaded because of Christ !
In that day they will put their hands on their head and say : I have a head !
Can you imagine everybody rejoicing because we have a new body !
Can you imagine the praises of those who were burned alive !
✅ Those who were drug addicts , alcoholics, prostitutes , those who are bond by sin and set free and delivered !
✅ The true Church of Christ will be there !
✅ That woman that gave away 2 pennies and Jesus said she gave more than all the rich.
✅ Those poor widows who prayed and sought the face of God . Grandmothers who have given away their money and given themselves to prayer and fasting .
My brother and sisters we can enjoy our time here in church.
I want you remember on that day what I’m telling you today: If you think we’re loud here , if you think we praise God here , there is certainly no comparison of how heaven is going to be like !
If what we have here is something amazing, we can only imagine how heaven is going to be like !
To be a part of an eternal body of Jesus Christ of all ages , with all prophets, with Moses , Abraham, Isaac, Jacob , David , Jeremiah , all the apostles , disciples
Can you imagine you and me in eternity?
Heaven is ready for you, are you ready for Heaven?
The preparation for our heavenly trip home needs to be made in advance.
We dare not wait. It may be too late. We don’t want to be left behind.
Preparations have to be made before the day of departure.
Are you all packed? Are your affairs in order?
Have you made the necessary travel arrangements?
Have you booked your flight for your heavenly home?
Our Heavenly Home Is Restricted
Everyone is welcome, but only those who put their faith and trust and served Christ may enter in.
You must earnestly desire this heaven , your new home and your new body!
You should desire to live for heaven , to live for eternity!
Invest your life , your time in God’s kingdom because your best life is still to come !