Thank you so much for leading us.
If you have your Bibles, turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
1 Thessalonians chapter 4, when we think of heaven,
our curiosities run wild.
And as we wonder what it'll be like,
and we try to figure it out,
and we have a tendency to embellish the things
that we're most concerned about.
Sadly, what I've noticed over the years
is people focus so much on the physical beauty
and the materialistic aspects
that they often miss the spiritual
and the worshipful reality of heaven,
which is the greatest part, by the way.
Heaven's not just about the walls of jewels
and the streets of gold.
Near as much as it is about the fulfillment of God's kingdom,
about the opportunity of believers to see him face to face
and to worship at the feet of Jesus.
Now, we still have our curiosities,
and I want to deal with one today
that I often am asked,
and that is, what will we be like in heaven?
What will we be like in heaven?
Let us never let our imagination
leave the Bible
and its revelations behind.
The only evidence that we have of heaven on this earth
is from the word of God,
and it may not answer every question that we have in our mind,
but it answers all we need to know.
And so I want to talk this morning about
what we will be like in heaven,
and I hope this morning is more than just a,
more than just giving you curious facts,
but instead to see the Lord of heaven,
to sense his glory,
and to allow him to move in our individual lives.
1 Thessalonians chapter 4, beginning in verse 13,
it says,
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers,
about those who are asleep,
that you may grieve as others do who have no hope.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so through Jesus God will bring with him
those who have fallen asleep.
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord
that we who are alive,
who are left until the coming of the Lord,
will not perceive those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven
with a cry of command,
with the voice of the archangel,
with the sound of the trumpet of God,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up together with him in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air,
and so we will always be with the Lord.
And my favorite verse of this impactful passage
is verse 18 when it says,
Therefore, encourage one another with these words.
My friend, this is not all there is.
Thank God.
And if you are a child of God,
you have a lot to look forward to.
And I want to talk about that this morning
because we're describing this morning
what we will be like in heaven.
It is simple to explain,
yet complex to understand.
It's a concept that we can try to imagine,
yet one that we have never seen,
and one that we'll have a hard time grasping.
To state simply,
what will we be like in heaven?
Well, we'll be perfect.
We'll be perfect.
Did you catch that?
Do you understand that?
I don't think we understand that.
But the Bible helps us understand it
as best as we can.
There are several ways we'll be perfect in heaven.
One is our salvation will be perfect.
Now, salvation is made up of three processes.
It begins with conversion or regeneration.
That's when we give our hearts and lives
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we surrender our lives to follow Him.
We convert from running our own lives
down the wide wrong path,
as Christ put it,
and give all that we have over to God
to walk in His less traveled right path.
That is a heartfelt commitment on our behalf
and a promise on His behalf.
And my friend,
if that has never happened to you,
you have an open invitation today,
not only from me,
but more importantly,
from the Lord Jesus Christ
to surrender your life
to the Lord Jesus today
and allow Him
to regenerate you,
to convert you,
as He put it,
to be born again.
Once that happens,
the second stage of our salvation
is the sanctification process.
And sanctification is the process
of our Christian life.
It is in our salvation,
we are declared holy.
He has set us apart.
That's what that word means.
Don't mean perfect.
It means set apart for His purposes.
And as He sets us apart,
He begins a process in our lives
to help us to walk
and be more like Him,
to be made more holy.
Chuck Swindoll wrote a book years ago
called Three Steps Forward
and Two Steps Back.
That kind of describes the Christian life.
We begin to progress
and then we have setbacks in our lives.
But you know,
if you go three steps forward
and two steps back,
that's a step of progress.
And the job of the sanctification,
what we need to be doing
in our sanctification
is growing in the Lord,
becoming more like Him.
And then one day,
there'll be glorification.
Now some folks may look like
they've reached glorification,
but they haven't yet
if you're still walking around with them, okay?
And that is the perfecting
of our salvation.
That completes our salvation.
In Romans 8, verse 30,
it tells us that
whom God has justified,
thank God,
He's also glorified.
Justify means who He's made right.
That's done through conversion.
The glorifying speaks of the perfecting.
And it's the promise
that we will be made perfect
in eternity.
As 1 John 3, 2 says,
we shall be like Him
for we shall see Him as He is.
Now, as far as being perfect
in our salvation,
I want to make sure
you know two truths today.
One is,
if you're here this morning,
you're not there yet, okay?
You are not perfect
in your salvation.
Don't pretend to be.
We know better, okay?
Preach done said it.
You ain't perfect.
You're not there yet.
We are frail human beings
in need of a Lord and Savior
every day.
We are not there yet.
We are not perfect.
The second truth,
if you're a child of God today
and have given your heart and life
to the Lord Jesus Christ,
you will be perfect.
You will be.
The perfecting of our salvation
is the completion of our salvation,
and that happens in eternity,
and that only comes in eternity.
If we die before the Lord returns,
our souls will go to heaven.
Upon His return,
we'll be unified again with our bodies.
That is what 1 Thessalonians 4 speaks of.
However, our bodies won't be
like they are here.
Our bodies will be perfect.
How can we know
what our glorified heavenly bodies
will be like?
Well, there's some evidence in Scripture,
some things that I've touched on
in the last few weeks
that I'll hit again quickly.
And it comes from a few descriptions
in the Bible
of the post-resurrection body of Christ.
Luke 24 tells us
about the glorified body of Christ,
that He could be touched
and He could be handled.
He was not merely a fathom or a ghost.
In Luke 24, verse 39,
He said,
See my hands, my feet?
That is, I myself.
Touch me and see.
For a spirit does not have flesh and bones
as you see that I have.
He looked human.
However, when He was on the road to Emmaus,
they never questioned His humanity.
They knew He was human,
but they were slow to recognize Him.
They didn't quite recognize Him.
In that glorified body,
He ate real food with His friends.
Yet He passed through solid walls
or through a locked door.
Hello?
It's a little different.
He could appear in ways
in which His identity
was not immediately known.
He could suddenly appear
and disappear out of nowhere.
We see no evidence of that
in the Gospels before the resurrected body.
And He ascended into heaven
in bodily form.
And my friend,
that is as close on earth
as we can understand
of our heavenly existence.
Now, how much of that applies
to us and our future?
I don't know.
Let's be honest with you.
I don't know.
But Paul said this.
In Philippians chapter 3, verse 21,
he says this.
But our citizenship is in heaven.
And from it,
we await a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will transform our lowly body.
How many of you feel like
you got a lowly?
No, you don't have to say it.
Will transform our lowly body
to be like his glorious body
by the power that enables him
even to subject all things
to himself.
In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 1,
Paul calls our body
an earthly tent,
but shares that we will have
an eternal house in heaven,
not built by human hands.
And I want you to listen
to this passage.
It's in 1 Thessalonians chapter 15.
It's 42 through 44
and 50 through 57.
Listen to this.
So it is with the resurrection
of the dead.
What is sown is perishable.
That means what you put
in the ground when you die.
What is raised is imperishable.
It is sown in dishonor.
It is raised in glory.
It is sown in weakness.
It is raised in power.
It is sown a natural body.
It is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body,
there's also a spiritual body.
He goes on to say in verse 50,
I tell you, brothers,
flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God,
nor does the perishable
inherit the imperishable.
Behold, I tell you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed.
Now let me clarify something real quick,
okay?
Because he refers to this sleep
a couple of times.
Do not believe that when somebody dies,
that their soul rests with that body
that you put in the casket
and that you put that body and soul
in the ground.
No, no.
The body lays there for a time.
But the soul is in the presence of the Lord.
The apostle Paul said to be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord.
I'll give you further evidence in future days
about the instantaneous nature.
As I called it a few weeks ago,
one minute after you die,
and I'm just giving you about 59 seconds of grace
because I really believe that when your eyes close in death,
they'll open in eternity,
whatever that may mean for you.
So the reality is,
when he says sleep here,
don't ever believe that one that passes away is sleep.
They're not talking about the soul.
Soul sleep is a heresy.
Not at all.
It's that body that's resting there.
But he says, listen,
we shall not all sleep.
We shall all be changed.
Because in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet,
for the trumpet will sound
and the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we shall be changed.
For this perishable body
must put on the imperishable,
and this mortal body put on immortality.
But thanks be to God
who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank God
that he takes care of us
and will provide for us
and gives us
the victory.
Our bodies will be
made perfect.
Not only that,
but our minds will be
perfect.
Our minds will be perfect.
In 1 Corinthians
chapter 13,
verse 12,
Paul put it
so well,
he said for this,
for now we see
in a mirror dimly,
but then face to face.
Now I know in part,
but then I shall know fully,
even as I am fully
known.
Now when it says
that
we will know fully,
I don't believe that's
speaking of
perfect omniscience.
I believe that's what it speaks of,
because I believe there's evidence
of other ways.
And let me assure you,
you will not turn into gods,
as some cults
say you will.
It does mean
that we'll know things
on a much more
comprehensive level
than we do here.
In other words,
our minds will be
as complete
as we could ever
desire.
Therefore,
the questions that you have
about heaven,
if you ever say,
you know,
when I die
and I get to heaven,
I'm going to ask,
let me tell you
my personal opinion.
No, you ain't.
You're going to be so caught up
in the atmosphere
of being in the presence
of the Lord,
I believe the questions
that are digging
at you today
will be answered
instantaneously.
I believe you'll
know.
I believe the questions
you have about this life
that sometimes nobody
can answer for you.
I believe if you're
a child of God
and you die
in the Lord instantly,
there'll be answered.
There'll be no more ums.
There'll be no more confusion.
There'll be no more
forgetting,
no more ignorance,
no more needing
to walk by faith.
Hello?
We'll know it then.
We'll walk by sight.
Our minds will be
made perfect.
The fourth thing is
our love
will be perfect.
If I told you
I had seven points
this morning,
when I started
it had scared you to death.
But we more than
halfway there.
Our love
will be perfect.
Now when we look
at 1 Corinthians 13
we see a pattern
of love to live by.
However,
we cannot fulfill
that completely.
It is the goal
to set forth.
We should not
forgive our,
we should not
excuse ourselves
from some that
we're not so good at.
We ought to work
harder at it.
Do more for it.
However,
we won't fulfill
it completely.
Much like the
examples of Christ
in our lives,
we won't fulfill
those things.
1 Corinthians 13
13 closes out
the love chapter
saying this,
Now faith,
hope,
and love
abide.
These three,
but the greatest
of these
is love.
love.
Why is love
the greatest
of that?
Because it's
the one
that is eternal
that's there.
Because you see,
our faith
will be fulfilled
when we see
Him face to face.
Our hope
will be met.
Our love
will be made
complete
and be
perfect.
Thank God.
Our love
will be perfect.
Fifth thing
is our
joy
will be
perfect.
The Christian
has the opportunity
in this life
to live
in the joy
of the Lord.
However,
that joy
is not
perfect.
That joy
is not
perfect.
Sin,
sorrow,
discouragement,
loss,
worry,
all that stuff
gets in the way.
But that
will not be
the case,
thank God,
in eternity.
in the account
of the beggar
Lazarus.
There's a couple
of Lazarus
in scripture.
The account
of the beggar
Lazarus,
he was comforted
when he went
to heaven
after he lived
a tough life
on earth.
And in the same
way,
thank God,
there'll be no
more sin,
there'll be no
more sorrow,
there'll be no
more discouragement,
there'll be no
more worry.
Matthew 25
verse 23
says that we
will be invited
to come and
share our
master's happiness.
In other words,
we will be
welcomed into
the joy
of the Lord.
Our joy
will be perfect.
Now I think
you ought to
practice that
here,
okay?
But it ain't
going to be
perfect
until we see
him face to
face.
Listen,
our relationships
will be
perfect.
Not only
will the
relationships
that we know
on earth
be enhanced
by sinlessness,
but we'll
know those
in heaven
that we
didn't know
on earth.
If Peter,
James,
and John
recognize
Moses and
Elijah at
the
transfiguration,
if Lazarus
and the rich
man were
known in
eternity,
then so
shall we
be.
Jesus said
in Matthew
8 verse
11 that we
should sit
down together
at the
feast in
eternity.
And unlike
some of those
sit-downs that
you're a part
of now,
there'll be no
family squabbles
in glory.
You know?
There'll be no
bickering at the
table.
Thank God
there'll be no
politics in glory.
No talk of
that.
Nothing to
divide.
We won't even
get tired of
each other.
Our relationships,
thank God,
will be
perfected.
But not only
that, but our
worship will be
perfected.
You know why?
To put simply,
we'll see him
face to face.
We'll see him
face to face.
1 Corinthians
13 verse 12
tells us that
we shall know
him like we
can't hear.
We'll know
him.
It says,
for now we see
in a mirror
dimly, but then
face to face.
Now I know in
part, then I
shall know fully,
even as I
have been
fully known.
We will
enjoy unhindered,
no longer
clouded by
sin,
separation,
ignorance,
all those
things.
The greatest
delight that we
will ever
experience in
heaven, the
greatest delight
will be seeing
him face to
face as we
reign with
him.
Revelation 22
verse 3 through
5 says,
forever we'll
reign with
him.
Now how do
you respond to
all that?
Well, 1 Corinthians
15, Paul
describes the
resurrection.
He describes the
glorified state,
and he closes out
with this, his
purpose for
sharing it.
In 1 Corinthians
15 verse 58, he
says this,
therefore my
beloved brothers,
talking about
today folks,
be steadfast,
immovable,
always abounding
in the work of
the Lord,
knowing, thank
God, that the
work, that in the
Lord your labor is
not in vain.
What difference
does it make?
It ought to make a
difference today in
how we live.
Fanny Crosby wrote
some of the greatest
hymns that's ever
been written.
I'm not going to
sing, don't panic.
But she wrote a
hymn, and it says
this, when my life
work is ended, and I
cross the swelling
tide, when the bright
and glorious morning I
shall see, I shall know
my Redeemer when I
reach the other
side, and his smile
will be the first to
welcome me.
I shall know him, I
shall know him, and
redeemed by his side,
I shall stand.
I shall know him, I
shall know him by the
prints of the nails in
his hand.
Fanny Crosby was born
blind.
She never saw a thing
in this life.
How wonderful it must
have been to know that
the first thing that she
would ever see would be
the smile of the Savior
welcoming her into
eternity.
And the same is true
for you.
You shall see him like
you never have.
And you shall see you
like you never have.
What difference does that
make in our life today?
Well, my friend, if
there's never been a
time in your life when
you've asked the Lord
Jesus to forgive you, to
cleanse you, that you've
asked him to remove the
sin in your life and
acknowledge the fact that
you've done wrong, if
that's never happened to
you, thank God today's the
day of salvation.
And if you ask the Lord
Jesus to forgive you of
your sins, to come into
your life and save you, I
thank God today he'll do
it.
He's the one that gives
you the passion to do
it.
He's the one that came to
you.
You just respond to him in
obedience.
I want to be clear.
If that's never happened to
you, and you were to slip
into eternity today, it's not
a threat, it's just the
truth.
If you were to slip into
eternity today, you would
forever be separated from
the Father.
Forever.
Hell's just as real as
heaven.
If you've never given your
heart and life to the Lord
Jesus Christ, come today, I'd
love to guide you in that
process.
Maybe you're here and you
have done that privately, but
you've never told anybody
about it.
You've never made that
public.
And Scripture tells us that
the way we do that is to
acknowledge that just the
way that Christ gave us an
example.
He didn't even need it, but he
gave us an example of being
baptized as a believer.
If you've never acknowledged
your faith in Christ publicly
by baptism, I encourage you
to come this morning.
We'd love to line that up.
We're not going to do it
right now.
We'll love to line that up in
the days ahead.
Maybe God's drawing you to
this church, and you know this
is where you are to serve.
We'd love to guide you in that
process.
I encourage you to come.
Or maybe you just got stuff
going on.
You're just burdened about
stuff.
You just got weight in your
life that you need relief
from.
I'd love to pray with you.
Or you can come to these
stairs and make this your
altar and just lift that up
to the Lord.
You can do it where you are.
I'll never ask you to do
anything more than what God
tells you to do.
And I'm going to try my best
never let you be satisfied
doing anything less than what
God tells you to do.
Just obey him today and
trust him.
Lord Jesus, I love you and I
thank you for your love for
us.
And I ask, oh God, today that
you'll guide us to simply
follow your will, to simply
do what you tell us to do,
dear God.
I'm thankful for an eternity
that we can rest in when we
leave this place.
But until we do, dear God,
help us to live for you.
Help us to make the decisions
that please you.
Guide us today.
Right now to be obedient to
follow your will and your way
in our hearts and lives.
We love you dearly.
Thank you for the privilege.
In Jesus' name, amen.