Amen. That's good, man. A little special for Jimmy Buffett there.
If you have a Bible, turn to Revelation 22. Revelation 22.
How marvelous heaven is. It's not some made-up, unrealistic, far-fetched fantasy. It's real.
Now, it's been exploited. It's been exaggerated. It's been caricatured in many ungodly and even more so unbiblical fashions.
But it's time we understand as much as we can through the evaluation of Scripture what heaven is like.
And we've been talking about what heaven has being the beauty and the fellowship and the worship.
But did you know that heaven is missing some things?
I want to share with you this morning what heaven does not have.
Revelation chapter 22, beginning in verse 1, it says this.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
through the middle of the city, also on either side of the river, the tree of life with its 12 kinds of fruit,
yielding its fruit each month.
The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it,
and his servants will worship him.
They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
And night will be no more.
There will be no light.
They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light.
And they will reign forever and ever.
I want to deal this morning with three broad categories that encompass a lot.
The first thing that heaven does not have, heaven does not have a place of worship.
It does not have a place of worship.
Heaven will be completely different than any place that we've ever been in any way,
and in every way, including worship.
In the Old Testament, after God used Moses to establish the law, the tabernacle was created.
The tabernacle was a curtained courtyard with a place for sacrifice,
a sacrificial place of worship in the midst of that curtained courtyard.
As the Israelites would wander in the wilderness, they would uproot that tabernacle,
pack it up, and take it with them,
following the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night of the Lord.
It was the central part of their camp.
The Bible tells us strategically how God told them to camp around the tabernacle.
It was literally at the center of their camp, and they would camp strategically around it.
It was the place of worship.
There is not one in heaven.
When the Israelites settled in Jerusalem, the temple was built.
It was the permanent replacement of the portable tabernacle.
It was the center of Jerusalem, and it was the place of worship.
But there will be no temple in heaven.
In the New Testament, the churches were formed, and houses of worship were in people's homes.
And as that changed over the years, they began building sanctuaries and would meet in sanctuaries.
That's what we worship in today.
But there are no sanctuaries in heaven.
Jesus speaks and exemplifies the need for private time with the Lord.
He spoke of the need of a closet of prayer.
He went alone to pray, and it is necessary in order for us to maintain our relationship with God the way it needs to be
for us to have a private time of prayer.
Corporate prayer is valuable and is needed.
Private prayer is required to get alone with God from others.
But there will be no private place of worship in eternity.
Hopefully, as Christians, we worship God all day long, every day, but we get serious about it when we come to the private place
or when we come into this sanctuary to worship.
In heaven, it will be serious worship all the time.
Now, not in the sense of one long, eternal worship service.
Some of you sometimes feel like you're in one, okay?
But give me a break.
It's not at all what it means.
No, in a very real sense, we will understand and live out what 1 Corinthians 10 verse 31 says.
And 1 Corinthians 10 verse 31 says,
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Revelation chapter 3 verse 22 says that in one sense, heaven does not have a temple or a worship spot,
but in another sense, God is the temple.
The point is this.
We will forever be in the unhindered, perfect, sinless presence of God.
Heaven has no place of worship because it is a place of worship.
Period.
You think about the most glorious experience you've ever had in worship,
whether that be personal or whether that be private,
whether it be personal and private or whether it be public and in a corporate setting.
The most powerful experience that you've ever had in worship.
It is just a nibble compared to the feast of eternity.
There's not a place of worship because it is a place of worship.
Heaven does not have, and I don't know how else to put this,
does not have an earthly atmosphere.
I struggle with how to say that because it does not fit with the others on the surface,
but I know of no other way to say it.
Scripture goes out of the way to share with us the difference.
Look at Revelation 21 verse 23 when it says this,
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it,
for the glory of God gives its light and its lamp is the Lamb.
In Exodus 33 through 34, God spoke to Moses,
and when God experienced the glory of God,
his face was radiant by the presence of God.
It glowed to such a degree that they were afraid of him,
and he had to veil it.
In the Gospels, the transfiguration of Christ is recorded,
and when heaven came down upon Christ,
his face, Matthew 17 verse 2 says,
shone like the sun,
and his clothes became as white as light.
Those are the closest illustrations on earth that we have of heaven.
But I want to be clear,
there'll be no sun,
and God will never leave the horizon,
so there'll be no night.
There'll be no moon,
no stars as well.
God will be as much in one place there
as he is in the other in heaven.
There will be no shadows.
How do I know that?
Because a shadow happens when something blocks light,
and nothing will block the presence of God in glory.
There'll be no evil.
There'll be no night.
It'll be completely secure.
The strong walls of heaven speak of its security.
The fact that the gates that never close are on those walls
speak of the availability that we have
to all come through Christ into eternity.
The gate is open.
But you know what?
Beyond that, there'll also be no calendars in heaven.
Can I get an amen?
There'll be no calendars in heaven.
The sun and the moon, the days and the nights
help us keep time,
but those things will be gone
because there'll be no time.
We will live in eternity.
Second Peter chapter 3 verse 8 tells us this,
that with the day,
excuse me, with the Lord,
one day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day.
What in the world does that mean?
Well, the primary purpose of saying that is
you need to be patient.
That's primary.
Let's think deep for just a moment, okay?
From time we get our chronology,
our before and our after,
there'll be no chronology in heaven.
There'll be no keeping time.
Now, how does that pan out?
Think about that for a while, okay?
Well, let's go back to that passage
when it says that with the Lord,
one day is as a thousand years,
a thousand years as one day.
I want to be clear about something.
I don't take that literally.
I don't think it's meant to be taken literally.
If you have some issue with that,
I'll tell you,
I don't have a problem with it being literal, okay?
I just don't think it is.
But let's just say it is.
And let's say that that is,
just for a moment,
just to get an idea of what we're talking about,
and that describes the timing of heaven of sorts, okay?
Well, if a day is like a thousand years,
that means that 40 years in this life
is like one hour to God in heaven.
So my grandfather died in 1979.
If he's not in glory, we're all in trouble, okay?
He loved the Lord.
That's approximately 40 years ago
based upon this formula of sorts.
If I die today,
and I don't plan to,
but don't worry about where I'm going if I do.
Based on this formula,
he'll get to heaven about an hour before I do.
Because 40 years is like an hour.
A day is like a thousand years.
Charles Spurgeon died about 120 years ago.
That's like three hours.
Now, again, I don't take this literally.
I don't mean that.
But I do want you to understand
that when somebody dies in the Lord,
I believe to be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord.
So they are there now,
but we're all going to get there
about the same time.
And the reason why I say that
is because we're talking about
if there is a chronology,
it's an eternal chronology.
It lasts forever.
But there is no sun.
There is no moon.
There is no way to keep time in heaven
because it's always light.
And so therefore,
what that teaches us,
it'll make your head hurt
when you think about it.
But the significance
and where it lands is this.
We'll never grow old.
Don't ever worry about being bored
with doing something in heaven
because you did the same thing too long.
It's not going to happen.
There's a Christian song
that I heard growing up by the title,
Look For Me.
And a couple in the church would sing it
and they'd say,
after we've been there a thousand years,
a million maybe two,
look for me because I'll be there too.
And as a child,
I thought,
am I going to have to talk to these people
for thousands of years?
My soul.
Oh, no.
That's not what it'll look like.
There's another old gospel hymn
that kind of says what it'll be like.
I think it's more appropriate.
It says,
When our work here is done
and the life crown is won
and all troubles and trials are over,
all our sorrow will end
and our voice will blend
with the loved ones who've gone on before.
Never grow old.
In a land where we'll never grow old.
Never grow old.
In a land where we'll never grow old.
If there's no sun,
no sky as we know it,
and there is no sin there,
then there'll be no pollution.
There'll be no aftertaste to the water.
No chlorine is needed.
Who cares about that?
Okay, well, look at something with me.
It's the first of what I read a little while ago.
It says in Revelation 22, 1 and 2,
it says this,
Then the angel showed me
the river of the water of life,
brightest crystal,
flowing from the throne of God
and of the Lamb
through the middle of the street of the city.
Also, on either side of the river,
the tree of life
with its 12 kinds of fruit,
yielding its fruit each month.
That's fascinating to me.
The leaves of the tree
were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 22, verse 2,
describes that tree
that I call
the fruit of the month tree.
Have you ever looked at a Harry and David catalog?
Best pairs in the world.
Unless you grow them
and then yours is the best.
But I'm telling you,
they are absolutely fabulous.
And if you look at the back
of those little catalogs,
you'll see what's called
the fruit of the month club.
Now, I've been familiar
with the fruit of the month club
for years.
And it's kind of fascinating to me
because every month
you get a box
of premium fresh fruit
brought to the house.
And I love fruit.
And so I get excited.
Now, they come up,
if you do 12 months,
they come up with some goofy stuff,
you know,
guava and papaya
and all that stuff.
But I mean,
it is fresh,
real,
good stuff.
I mean,
what a club
to be a part of
when they're bringing it
to the house.
Now, I looked that up
in preparation for this
and they got about
12 different clubs now.
It's hard to know
what they originally started with.
But I remember when it was
just the fruit of the month club,
you know.
I mean,
they just bring in the stuff
every month.
Heaven has a tree
that's even more grand.
And if you think heaven's
going to be a bunch
of white robes
roaming around
a gold-plated amusement park,
I got news for you.
You're a long way off.
My whole point,
and don't get lost
in my timing thing here,
my whole point is
it is beyond our atmosphere
and it is beyond
our imagination.
I don't think folks
that went on before us
years ago
are going to be ready
to give us a tour of heaven.
I believe they're going
to be standing around
the throne of God
giving praise and honor
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's my point.
Third thing is this.
Heaven does not have sin
or evil
or its results.
The second part of that passage
that I read speaks of this.
It says,
no longer will there be
anything accursed
but the throne of God
and of the Lamb
will be in it
and His servants
will worship Him.
They'll see His face
and His name
will be on their foreheads
and night will be no more.
There'll be no light
or lamp or sun
for the Lord God
will be their light
and they will reign
forever and ever.
Do you remember the curse?
when Adam and Eve sinned
enmity and evil came in
violence became a part of life
the pain
of blessing entered in
even childbirth became painful
after the curse.
tension started in relationships
thorn and thistles of the ground
began the need of hard work
and even death.
all of that happened
due to the curse
none of which
will be in heaven.
But not only that
the ramifications of sin
and of sickness
and of struggle
and of tension
and of death
none of that will be there.
Revelation 21 3 and 4
tells us that Christ
Christ is our comforter
our prince of peace
and He'll be there.
It says there'll be no tears
I believe that's what you read
a little while ago
there'll be no tears
there'll be no pain
there'll be no death
there'll be no mourning
there'll be no loneliness
there'll be no defeat
there'll be no dejection
there'll be no depression
there'll be no confession of sin
because there'll be no sin.
Has your heart ever broke
before God due to your sin?
If your heart has never broke
before God due to sin
it needs to break
before God due to sin
but it will not in glory.
There'll be no separation by death
no broken relationships
no jealousy
no enmity
no envy
no hatred
not only will the atmosphere
be radiant
but the atmosphere
will be too.
Revelation 21 1 says
then I saw a new heaven
and a new earth
from the first heaven
and the first earth
had passed away
and the sea
was no more.
Why in the world
does it say
the sea was no more?
It's very significant
may not be to you
but it sure was
to the first century Christian
because the sea
separated folks.
There was separation there.
They had seen drownings
they had seen storms
they didn't have
the meteorological predictions
that we do today
so they didn't get wrong forecast.
There was a fear
of the sea
because they knew
that when they sent people
out on sea
sometimes they never came back.
What happened to them?
There's no way we can know.
They didn't have sonar technology.
They didn't have the capabilities
to do all those things.
They just knew
that sometimes
people would
hit the sea
and never return.
It was fearful.
That may be why
the Lord repeatedly
dried it up
for them to cross
and to worship
to remove that fear
from them.
The sea became
a symbol
of sinful chaos.
Many myths
and legends
were built
around the sea.
But fear
of the sea
was definite.
It was real.
When John wrote
that there would be
no sea
he wrote
from the island
of Patmos
in exile
separated
from the believers
by what?
By the sea.
The sea
represented
separation
and chaos
and fear
and in many ways
the result
of sin.
Thank God
there will be
no more sea
in heaven.
Rest
not sleep
we won't need sleep
we'll just be able
to rest in the Lord.
Now you may be
like that little boy
that was in the balcony
of that old time church
that time.
Preacher was preaching
a sermon like this
and he said
how many of you
want to go to heaven
tonight?
hands went up
all over the building
that little boy
didn't raise his hand
how many of you
want to go to heaven?
Hands went up
that little boy's
hand didn't go up
preacher looked up
at that boy
and said
son
don't you want
to go to heaven?
The little boy said
yes sir
someday
but I thought
she was getting
up a load
I love to live
I don't care
to die
but when I do
I'll be just fine
what a place
is waiting
for us
we read
of a place
called heaven
it's made
for the pure
and the free
these truths
in God's word
he's given
how beautiful
heaven
must be
how beautiful
heaven
must be