(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

there the famous part of the beginning of chapter 14 where the Bible says let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me 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 that where I am there ye may be also. What I want to preach about this morning is the subject of heaven now when people think of heaven and hell it's probably a lot easier to get a picture of hell in your mind right away just to know exactly what's there exactly what it's like just because there's so much detail in the Bible on hell and the Bible talks so much about hell in fact a lot more than it talks about heaven it's really easy to get an image and a picture of what hell's going to be like but when it comes to heaven probably your average person or your average person in church this morning or person that's saved doesn't really know a whole lot about what heaven is like maybe they just haven't thought it through very much or maybe they just have a totally wrong idea just because they kind of just imagined it a certain way so I want to preach this morning on what the Bible says heaven is like now one of the things that the Bible really emphasizes about heaven is that heaven is about being with Jesus Christ it's about being with God that's who we're going to be with in heaven that's why Jesus said here in verse 2 in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you and by the way I'm glad I have a King James Bible this morning it says in my father's house are many mansions in the NIV it says in my father's house are many rooms now I you know I like a mansion a lot better than a room you know that the NIV readers have been downgraded to something like a Motel 6 or something where you just get a room you know but I like the mansion a lot better and so you know the Bible says I I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you so it says he's going to prepare a place for us somewhere and he says and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also so us going to heaven is about going there to be with him he's preparing a place for us so that we can go there to be with him now a lot of people will teach a doctrine that says you know the people who are saved aren't going to go to heaven like sometimes you'll be out knocking doors soul winning and you'll ask somebody hey if you died today do you know for sure that you're going to heaven and they'll say well I don't want to go to heaven or I'm not going to heaven I'm going to live on this earth have you ever had people tell you that and they're always Jehovah's Witnesses or Jehovah's false witnesses and they always are on this doctrine that says you know you don't go to heaven as a believer well that's a false doctrine because the Bible says in my father's house are many mansions and he said I'm going there to prepare a place for you that where I am ye may be also how do you get there because they teach only certain people are going to go to heaven and so forth no how do you get there he says right in the next verse he says in verse 4 whither I go ye know he's saying you know where I'm going and he says the way you know he's saying you know how to get there so Thomas is a little confused by that Thomas saith unto him Lord we know not whither thou goest and how can we know the way so he's saying well I don't know where you're going he said well it's my father's house where I'm going how can we know the way Jesus saith unto him I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me therefore anybody who believes on Jesus Christ that's the way to get there and there is only one way to get there and it's through Jesus he said no man cometh unto the father but by me the father's in heaven that's stated many times in scripture he's saying you go through me and you get to the father and in my father's house there are many mansions that's where there will be a place prepared go to Philippians chapter 1 be a place prepared for you so going to heaven is about going to a special place that's prepared it's a mansion and a mansion is just a really lavish rich dwelling place where you can be there in order to be with Jesus Christ go to Philippians chapter number 1 verse 21 here's proof that believers don't just lie on the ground as the Jehovah's false witnesses teach waiting for a resurrection no they go straight to heaven according to the Bible we saw it in John 14 but look at it in Philippians chapter 1 the Bible reads in verse 21 for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain but if I live in the flesh this is the fruit of my labor yet what I shall choose I want not for I am in a straight betwixt two look at this now having a desire to depart and to be with Christ so he defines dying as departing to be with Christ not as laying in the earth he said I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you so he said there's two options either I'm going to live or die he said in verse 21 to live or to die he said to live is to abide in the flesh he said to die is just to go depart and to be with Christ so when the believer dies he's not really dying he's just departing to be with Christ the body does die but the soul departs to be with Christ and so that proves again we know Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father so in John 14 he said if you go through Christ you're gonna be with the Father where is he at in heaven here it says you're gonna be with Christ where is he he's in heaven so there's not a whole lot of details about heaven go to Revelation chapter 7 there are not as many details about heaven in the Bible as there are about hell but one of the major things that comes up over and over again is just that we're going there to be with Christ we're gonna see the Lord Jesus Christ we're gonna be with him and that but secondly I want you to see this in Revelation 7 the Bible teaches that in heaven we will be serving him constantly day and night we will serve him we will not be sitting around doing nothing floating on a cloud or whatever you know people having their idea I remember I talked to a girl one time when I was a teenager and she said when I get to heaven I'm gonna have my own snowboarding hill I'm just gonna snowboard all day every day you know well I don't think it's just a choose your own heaven you know I guess it's exactly how you want it in your own mind no the Bible teaches we're gonna be serving him now that's a good thing because it's gonna get boring if we're just up there just sitting around doing nothing so he's gonna have works for us to do he's gonna have labor for us to do the Bible says therefore we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him whether we're present in the body or absent from the body we labor we serve him get used to serving him now by the way because you're gonna be serving him for a long time look at Revelation chapter 7 the Bible read this is that the the rapture has taken place and I'll read for you the famous rapture passage while you're looking at Revelation 7 it says for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and again this is what is emphasized and so shall we ever be with the Lord we'll go to Revelation 7 this is where that has just taken place the rapture just took place it says in verse 9 after this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues so this is everybody who's ever been saved the dead in Christ also those who are alive and remained under the coming of the Lord everybody's caught up every nation every tribe every language is represented in this huge multitude no one can number it because of so many millions and millions of people and it says they stood before the throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands we can get a few things about heaven from that right there number one we're going to be clothed we're up in heaven we're going to be wearing clothes there will be people of all nationalities okay that are represented and notice it doesn't show them segregated out like you know different sectors you know it's just a whole throng of people all nations tongues tribes and so forth and then notice they have palms in their hands what's a palm? not talking about the palm of their hand they have palms in their hands now this is a basically a palm tree so basically they have tree branches of palm trees in their hands so look at verse number 10 and cried with a loud voice saying salvation to our God which stood upon the throne and under the Lamb so they're shouting that's what it means to cry out and all the angels stood round about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts and fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped God saying Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever Amen and one of the elders answered saying to me what are these which are arrayed in white robes and whence came they? where did they come from? and I said unto him sure thou knowest and he said to me these are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb therefore are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them they shall hunger no more neither thirst anymore neither shall the sunlight on them nor any heat for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them under living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes so we can see more from this in verse 15 it says that they serve him day and night in his temple so the Bible again says we'll be serving him day and night the next thing we can see is that we will hunger no more neither thirst anymore now some might interpret this as oh you're never going to eat or drink but that's not what it says it says we'll never hunger or thirst that means we're not going to go without food or go without drink and that's proven in verse 17 because it says for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them so there is going to be a feeding taking place and shall lead them under living fountains of waters so there will be food and drink in heaven and it's going to be a perfect place God will wipe away all tears from our eyes and look at this talk about the best of both worlds now I love living in Phoenix because I consider it like a paradise I mean you got palm trees you got sunshine you got blue skies but see in the summertime it's just really really hot but the rest of the time of year it's great like today it's January and what is it seventy-some degrees outside sunshine blue sky perfect weather about half the year and then the other half the year is like an inferno but you see in heaven it's like the best of both worlds because the Bible says neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat so it's not going to be too hot in heaven but you still have the palm trees I mean it's an exact perfect balance okay of a nice beautiful paradise and the Bible calls heaven a paradise but without the extreme heat it's like basically here's what it's like it's like being in Phoenix in January that's just how it always is in heaven so we're getting a little taste of it on earth right now I'm just kidding but anyway the Bible teaches we will be eating and drinking let me give you some more scriptures on eating and drinking go to Psalm 78 Psalm 78 so we're going to be with Jesus Christ forever we're going to be a special mansion that he prepared for us specifically so that we could be there with him we're going to be in a great multitude of other believers we're going to be serving him day and night we're going to have works to do and we're also going to be fed and given crystal clear water to drink and so let's look at more on eating now I'm going to show you some scriptures that prove that we're going to be eating in heaven that we're not just going to stop eating first of all in Psalm 78 the Bible says in verse 24 and it rained down manna upon them to eat remember this is when the children of Israel were eating the manna when they came out of Egypt and it says had given them of the corn of heaven man did eat angels food he sent them meat to the full so the Bible says that when they ate the manna they were eating the corn of heaven and they were eating angels food so therefore the angels eat therefore there is food up there that people in heaven eat this is probably what was being quoted in John 6 when the the Jews said to Jesus in John 6 31 they said our fathers did eat manna in the desert as it is written he gave them bread from heaven to eat and he says that man was eating the angels food that's what the angels ate up there okay and then also go to luke 24 if you would luke chapter 24 and while you're turning there I'll read for you what one of Jesus's followers said this guy was listening to Jesus preach and Jesus told about the parable of the great supper how God had had laid out a parable about a man who laid out a great supper and invited people and they would come and eat of the supper and so forth and and one of the guys who's sitting there at that in that same time period said and when one of them that sat at meat with them heard these things so this is a guy that's sitting down eating with Jesus he said unto him blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God and Jesus didn't correct him he just went on to talk about the story about God preparing a great meal and so forth and inviting people to come to that meal the Bible calls it the marriage supper of the lamb it takes place in revelation chapter 19 it says the marriage of the lamb has come and the supper is there now where did I return chapter 24 is that where I had your turn all right look at verse 37 this is when Jesus has risen from the dead he appears unto his disciples so he's already been resurrected into his glorified body into his uh his body that's newly resurrected it says in verse 37 but they were terrified and affrighted and supposed that they had seen a spirit and he said to them why are you troubled and why do thoughts arise in your hearts behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me have and by the way this proves the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ he didn't just come up as a spirit or something like that no he physically rose again from the dead it even says in verse number 40 and when he had thus spoken he showed them his hands and his feet so he showed them the holes in his hands the holes in his feet he said I have flesh and bone now some people will say well you know flesh and blood should not inherit the kingdom of God did he say I have flesh and blood no he said I have flesh and bone and so the body that was resurrected Jesus Christ not a flesh and blood body but a flesh and bone body a physical body okay now the blood is the life the bible teaches right now the life of the flesh is in the blood okay but see uh the life of the flesh is in the blood but but in the spiritual body the spirit is going to provide the life it's a spiritual body it's not a natural body it's a spiritual life but it is a body and it is flesh and it is bone now just to prove that point further that he wasn't just some kind of a spirit or that we're not going to be resurrected just as a spirit look at the next scripture it says in verse 41 and while they yet believed not for joy and wondered he said to them have you hear any meat so Jesus first of all he shows them in the holes in his hands and his feet they still just can't believe it because they're so happy you know they just can't believe for joy and they're wondering they're amazed Jesus decides to prove the point further he's already showed him his hands and feet said look i'm not a spirit i have flesh and bone but then to take it a step further he says okay i'll eat something you know i mean how's the spirit going to eat something okay and so he says have you any meat and they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and then honeycomb and he took it and did eat before them so he's showing them look see i'm eating well the bible says that one day our body he says he shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorified body in Philippians 3 20 according to the working whereby he's able even to do all things unto himself the bible says that our body will be fashioned like unto his glorified body and so we see that his body was a body that still ate food and drank and so we will eat and drink as well when we get to heaven because we'll have a similar body not only that go to matthew chapter 8 so so far we've seen that we'll be with christ we'll serve him constantly we will eat and drink we will be in a great multitude of the believers and so forth there are going to be palm trees and palm branches look if you would at matthew 8 11 jesus is speaking and he says and i say unto you that many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with abraham and isaac and jacob in the kingdom of heaven but the children of the kingdom talking about the kingdom of israel the earthly kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth he's referring to the fact that a lot of gentiles that are going to be saved and a lot of jews that are going to be unsaved and they're going to be cast out into hell and then the gentiles are going to be hanging around with abraham isaac and jacob but what i take from this is that when we're in heaven we're going to be able to fellowship and talk with the believers that have gone before us including bible characters now that's going to be pretty cool isn't it think about saying when you get to heaven you're going to get to be with jesus you're going to be shouting these praises to god in a huge congregation or a huge church of people you're going to be up there you're going to be eating and drinking bread in the kingdom of god and not only that you're going to be sitting down with abraham isaac jacob another place when jesus says the same thing in luke he talks about abraham isaac jacob and all the prophets imagine how great it's going to be to get up there and meet these characters and you know how you picture people a certain way and then they look totally different i know i have a lot of business contacts in today's world a lot of your business contacts you just talk to them on the phone and you never actually see them and so you'll talk to somebody for years i mean literally you talk to somebody for years and then you meet that person and you're like oh and they look completely different than you expect you know you picture uh you picture maybe a big hefty guy it's a little skinny guy you're like huh you picture a blonde hair guy they have brown hair because a person's voice does not tell you what they look like you can't tell but you think you can and so i have all kinds of business contacts that i talk to every week and i picture them a certain way in my mind and then you meet them and it just shatters that image you're never right you're never even close and so you think you know what moses looked like or you think you know what david looked like or and you know whoever your favorite bible character who do you want to meet when you get up there somebody tell me who do you want to meet who elijah yeah what's what's he looked like you know well we know he was a hairy man vial says he was hairy and so who else has somebody that you want just call it out to me joseph esther all right uh you know whatever all the different names you know it's funny i asked that i was talking to my kids about this i was telling them yeah we're gonna get up there and see the bible characters and john said i want to meet legion now i'm thinking like legion but he was talking about that guy who was filled with all the demons and when he said his name was legion he wasn't talking about his name he said he was legion because it was the demons that the devils that were talking because there were so many devils possessing this guy he said my name's legion so john meant that he wanted to meet that guy because remember the guy got saved jesus cast out all devils and the guy got saved and so i was thinking about when we get to heaven it's probably going to be a big long line to go talk to noah and abraham and isaac you know everybody's going to be a big long line to get to esther and joseph and and uh john the baptist and then there's going to be you know john my son john said legion it's like really you want to see me son you're not going to have to wait in line long for that one oh man so yeah but isn't that going to be great it's going to be fun to see all the different characters and me ask them things and talk to them about the experiences they had you know clarify stuff about what happened in this story what happened in that story so you get to meet all these bible characters the bible says we're going to sit down with abraham isaac and jacob the king we're just going to sit down with them just like we could sit down i could sit down with you today and we could talk you're going to be able to sit down and talk to noah just sit down and talk to joseph sit down and talk to whoever you want isn't that a great uh that's going to be cool that's going to be fun it's going to be exciting not only that go to hebrews chapter 12 so we're going to get to see jesus we're going to get to see all our favorite bible characters we're going to be eating and drinking you know the food's going to you know it's not going to be some partially hydrogenated soybean oil like you know genetically modified food you know it's going to be some really good food now you want to talk about organic you know there's there's no pesticides in heaven okay and so it'll be perfect food and that'll be good uh not only that but what we think of as heaven a lot of times we think of what the streets of gold the gates of pearl and so forth what that's talking about is the the heavenly jerusalem or the new jerusalem that's a city in heaven that's not really the whole heaven but that is part of it because that city is located there right now the heavenly jerusalem the new jerusalem i'm going to show you that in the bible later that city's going to move down to this earth more than a thousand years from now we're talking when there's a new heaven and a new earth and that city will descend down and and come down to this earth but right now it's up in heaven so when we go to heaven we'll be there let me show you that hebrews chapter 12 verse 21 the bible reads and so terrible was the sight that moses said i exceedingly fear and quake but jeer come unto mount zion and unto the city of the living god the heavenly jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels so what's the city of the living god the heavenly jerusalem to the general assembly and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven and to god the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect and so we see right there that the heavenly jerusalem is the city of the living god so the reason it's called the heavenly jerusalem is up in heaven it's not the jerusalem on this earth right now go to galatians chapter 4 i'll show you that galatians chapter 4 so i'm just going to kind of show you a few scriptures on what the new jerusalem is that way we can look at a description of the new jerusalem and see that we're talking about things that are in heaven it says in galatians chapter 4 verse 25 for this agar is mount sinai in arabia now you remember mount sinai is where moses got the 10 commandments and answer it to jerusalem which now is which is in and is in bondage with her children so the jerusalem that we know of today the earthly jerusalem that now is is in bondage with her children why because jesus christ said if you uh if you continue in my word then are you my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free the jews told him hey we were never in bondage to any man and he told him oh yes you are in bondage because the thing is that the children of israel today over in the uh so-called promised land over in the uh the nation of israel they don't believe in jesus christ and therefore they are in bondage just like every other unsaved person you say oh they get a free pass because they're jews no way john the baptist dealt with that he said think not to stay within yourselves we have abraham to our father don't even think for one second that that's going to get you anywhere he said think not to stay within yourselves we have abraham to our father for i say to you that god is able to be stones to raise up children unto abraham so god can call god says that the gentiles if they believe in christ are abraham's seed the children of abraham and he looks at those people and says you're your father the devil because you you don't believe in christ you believe in in anti-christ you believe in a false messiah you know they don't believe in jesus christ now i'm sure there are some people in jerusalem that believe in jesus christ and there are some jews that believe in jesus christ they are the remnant you know of the believing remnant but but as a whole the city of jerusalem on this earth is not free it's in bondage because of unbelief in jesus christ but look at what he says but jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all so right there there's another jerusalem up in heaven jerusalem above the heavenly jerusalem okay and that is where our citizenship is go to revelation chapter three revelation chapter number three and then we're going to go to revelation 21 but look at revelation 3 verse 12 the bible reads and i saw i'm sorry revelation 312 him that overcometh will i make a pillar in the temple of my god and he shall go no more out and i will write upon him the name of my god and the name of the city of my god which is new jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from my god and i will write upon him my new name go to revelation 21 revelation chapter 21 is where we see this new jerusalem come down the heavenly jerusalem the new jerusalem it's also called the holy jerusalem it says in verse 2 of chapter 21 and i john saw the holy city new jerusalem coming down from god out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband verse 9 and there came unto me one of the seven angels which have the seven vials full of the seven last plagues and talk with me saying come hither i will show thee the bride the lamb's wife and he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that great city the holy jerusalem descending out of heaven from god and he begins to describe it having the glory of god and her light was like unto a stone most precious even like a jasper stone clear as crystal so when we get to heaven we're going to see this city right away it's already up there waiting for us later it's going to come down but the bible says in verse 21 12 it says and had a wall great and high and at 12 gates and at the gates 12 angels and names written there on which are the names of the 12 tribes of israel it says in verse 14 and the wall of the city had 12 foundations and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the land and he had talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall thereof and the city lieth four squared the length is as large as the breadth and he measured the city with the reed 12 000 furlongs the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal you say what is a furlong 12 000 frogs that's 1500 miles that's a big city so this is a huge city up in heaven 1500 miles so think about how it span almost halfway across the united states this is a massive city up in heaven you say why is it so big you know i mean it's this huge 1500 miles one city and it's 1500 miles high because it's big enough for everybody that's ever been saved to be able to go there you know and it just shows that god wants people to be saved and he created a huge place for them to be i mean this is all the people who've been saved throughout history and they're going to need a little bit of room in this place so it's 1500 miles square and then the bible says in verse number uh 18 it says the building of the wall of it was of jasper and the city was pure gold like unto clear glass and the foundation of the wall of the city foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones and he lists all the precious stones there verse 21 and the 12 gates were 12 pearls every several gate was of one pearl and the street of the city was pure gold as it were transparent glass and i saw no temple therein for the lord god almighty and the lamb are the temple of it and the city had no need of the sun neither of the moon to shine in it for the glory of god did lighten it and the lamb is the light thereof and the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it and the kings of the earth to bring their glory and honor into it so this is a pretty amazing place a golden city with streets of gold gates of pearls now that's not all of what heaven is but that's a part of what heaven is that's a place in heaven is this gigantic city now not only that but we see uh go to matthew chapter 6 we see that heaven is a place of private property not a communist utopia paradise now a lot of people think that you know oh we get to heaven we're all going to share everything and no one will own anything and and we'll all just be equal and we'll all have the same stuff no wrong totally wrong couldn't be any more wrong heaven is a place where you have your own stuff private property i don't know about you but i like having my own stuff you know everybody says like oh equality equality you know i don't really like equality very much i mean think about it if everybody's equal then nobody's the best or nobody has more than somebody else they say oh that's it bad i think that way no because everybody runs in a race only one person wins and the bible says run that you may obtain run to win run for the crown you see we like to win a race not just okay we're gonna have a big race everybody and then we are well how do we do who won well you're all equal what that's not cool i mean oh we play a board game for three hours and it's like well who won oh we're all equal i mean i'd rather lose than be equal at least i know where i stand you know what i mean and plus wouldn't it be a bummer you work your whole life you serve god you break your back and then you get to heaven and some guy who just basically believed on jesus christ and then never went to church you know you believe on jesus christ he never went to church he never did any soul winning he never read his bible he just lived the way of the world and then you're both the same mansion same thing everybody's the same you know you say well you're just wrong no you know what if i were if i felt that way and god said hey you're all going to be equal i'd just say okay whatever god knows best but that's not what he said he never said that anywhere because look at matthew 6 this is one example he says in verse 19 lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also so if i was to be a lay up and treasure and somebody else isn't going to come and take it away from us now here people steal your treasure and you know sometimes they even call it sharing or communism or whatever but they come and take your treasure away from you god says well if you lay it up in heaven nobody's going to take it away from you it's yours now look at mark chapter 10 there's a lot of scriptures on this i'm not just uh pulling this out of my head you say everybody's going to be equal in heaven okay well here's another verse for you while you're turning to mark 10 it says in matthew 519 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 so let me ask something if everybody's equal in heaven then how come a guy who breaks god's commandments is going to be called the least and he says but whosoever shall do and teach them the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven so is everybody going to be called great in heaven no there'll be some that are greater than others and some that are lesser than others okay uh you say well i don't like that well you know so what i mean yeah you know there's only one heaven the other option's not very good it's kind of like let's see do i want to go to hell or do i want to go to a heaven where i'm not equal with everybody yeah okay i'll take heaven i'll put up with it you know i can't have my equality my my uh social and financial equality it's not biblical okay when you run a race you run to win some people are better than others at certain things you know we all have different talents there are people who are better than me at certain things i'm not going to go around saying that's not fair we're all the same it's like well no you're better than i am at that you know and maybe i'm better than you at something or whatever maybe you're better than me at everything okay that's just the way life is but it's not about equality when we get to heaven there's going to be a difference if you keep god's commandments that's when he'll call you great you blow off and say god's commandments don't matter and teach people that you don't need to obey them and that and that they're just optional and that they're just you know well you know we're free in christ just do what you want to do it you know when you get to heaven and you lived your life that way you're going to be called mr least for the rest of eternity and that's not a good name to carry around with you you're going to have or you can lay up treasure in heaven and have all kinds of treasure be called great and everything like that uh where did i have you turn anybody turn there all right verse 21 it says then jesus beholding him loved him and said to them one thing thou lackest go thy way sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come take up the cross and follow me so he tells this guy hey if you sell stuff and give it to the poor you'll have treasure in heaven it's not just well and if you don't do it you'll still have treasure in heaven no the more you are generous with others and the more you give and the more you help people and the more you keep god's commandments the more souls that you win to christ the more treasure you're gonna have in heaven that's what the bible says go to first peter chapter one first peter chapter number one uh it says in verse three blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again that's like born again begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead to an inheritance what's an inheritance something that you received from your father right let's say your father passes away you receive his money his inheritance well god the father is going to allow us to inherit all things he that overcometh shall inherit all things and i will be them a father he shall be to be a son we are joint heirs with jesus christ as children of god we will inherit the kingdom of god we will inherit with christ and the bible says there's an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fated not away reserved in heaven for you so there it's reserved up there in heaven for you an inheritance treasure a good name being called great versus being called least so it's not a utopia for communists now the you know they're not you know carl marx is burning in hell anyway so he doesn't really have to worry about this you know lennon and lennon and trotsky they don't have to worry about this okay because they're not even there anyway they're burning in hell but it's not going to be a place where it's just everybody's equal now a lot of people will say this well it's not fair you can just believe on jesus christ and go to heaven it's true you just believe on jesus christ you're going to heaven it says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life but here's the here's the other side of that anybody who believes on christ is going to heaven period say well then why serve god well one one i mean there's a lot of reasons why to serve god but one of them is that you want to have some treasure up there when you get there you don't want to be called least because guess what you're only living on this earth for a short time our life is but a vapor that appears for a little time the advantage of the way 60 70 80 years 90 years you're done but you know what you're going to be up there for a really long time and then you're going to be for all eternity living on the new earth here with the heavenly jerusalem come down you're going to be there for a really long time and so you're going to want to have that treasure you're going to want to have those crowns you're going to want to have that that legacy of what you did on this earth with your life because only one life so soon has passed and only what's done for christ will last and so that's something to think about but not only that it's a paradise go to second corinthians chapter 12 second corinthians chapter 12 here's another verse the bible teaches of course that the angels are in heaven right talks about the angels of heaven and big throngs of angels around the throne here's an interesting verse while you're turning to second corinthians 12 the bible says in matthew 18 10 take heed that you despise not one of these little ones for i say to you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven so the bible talks about you say is it true that there are guardian angels but that is a biblical concept because the bible teaches that uh first of all he said that the angels and uh hebrews chapter one he said but under which the angels said he at any time sit on my right hand until i make thine enemies thy footstool are they not all ministering spirits set forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation and then the bible says in matthew 18 10 where i just read that the that that the little children he said that the little saved children there he said don't despise them because their angels do always behold the face of his father which is in heaven so basically up in heaven there are all these angels and basically the angel that's maybe assigned to let's say you know my son or your daughter you know they always basically behold they basically have an audience with god they can speak to god and they can tell god and say hey you know i need to go mess this guy up because you know he's saying this or that one so that's interesting that all the angels are in heaven and we see that that's where they get their marching orders they basically behold god's face and he gives them instructions and he basically sends them out with their marching orders and their mission and so forth that's an interesting thing look at second corinthians chapter 12 verse 2 it says i knew a man in christ above 14 years ago whether in the body i cannot tell or whether out of the body i cannot tell god know it such a one caught up to the third heaven and i knew such a man whether in the body or out of the body i cannot tell god knew it how that he was caught up into paradise so where did it say he was caught up in at the end of verse 2 the third heaven where does it say he's caught up in in verse 4 into paradise caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which is not lawful for a man to utter now paradise the word paradise in the bible is used three times only three times one time is when jesus said to the thief on the cross today shalt thou be with me in paradise the second time is where it's used right here where he said he was caught up into paradise up into the third heaven then in revelation 2 7 it says to him that overcome it will i give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of god so that tells us three things about paradise right there number one it's where the saved go because the guy who believed on christ he went there the other thief that did not believe in christ he did not go there okay he went to hell and so number one we see from the first mention of paradise that's where a saved person who believes on christ is going to go when they die to paradise the second thing we see is that it's equivalent to the third heaven it's equivalent to heaven paradise is heaven because he said he was caught up to paradise he was caught up to heaven same place same event same direction going up to heaven and then the third mention we see is that him that overcome it which is those who believe in jesus christ according to first john chapter five he said will i give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of god so the tree of life that was in the garden of eden with adam and eve is now located in heaven and when you go to heaven as a saved person you will eat of the tree of life you will eat of the fruit of the tree of life so there's a tree there and there's fruit growing on the tree and you're going to eat the fruit off the tree that right there is is uh evidence of the fact that heaven is not just a golden city but rather it's a place of of plant life as well we talked about this on wednesday night when i was preaching on genesis chapter one where it showed how god made the plants before they were in the earth okay and so there were plants up in heaven and so forth there's the tree of life there were palm trees for the palm branches you know uh it's basically not just a total concrete jungle you know and thank god for that now you say well what exactly does it look like what exactly is it like i don't know what it's like but i will say that you know i'm giving you everything i know here you know we're going to be with christ we're going to be eating and drinking uh there's a city there but we can kind of figure that it was probably in a lot of ways heaven in some ways it's probably similar to the garden of eden in a lot of places because god seems to have a pattern of taking stuff that he does on heaven that's perfect and then recreating it upon this earth like for example the tabernacle that moses built the big tent where they would worship the lord in the old testament in the tent that tabernacle was based upon a literal real tabernacle that exists in heaven according to hebrews chapter 9 and i'm not going to turn there for sake of time but in hebrews 8 and 9 the bible talks about how jesus christ took his blood into the holy place in heaven in the tabernacle in heaven and sprinkled it on the ark of the covenant in heaven okay so when moses built the tabernacle he was told to build it according to the pattern that was showed him in the mount and in the mount he was showed images of the tabernacle in heaven and the bible is really clear on that if you read hebrews 8 and 9 you'll see it very clearly that there is a physical literal tabernacle in heaven and that they pattern that tabernacle on earth after the tabernacle in heaven so it appears that after god created the whole earth okay on day six he planted a garden in eden in day six and that's where he put the man and he set up this garden and he he started forming animals out of the dust of the ground and showing them to adam and then he formed eve and out of the rib that was taken from adam and so forth you know if you look at the similarities with the garden of eden we think of garden of eden as a paradise even though the bible doesn't use the word paradise but it did have the tree of life in the midst of it it was a place of rivers and and the bible talked about gold there and the bible talks about uh fruit and trees and so forth and and that that's probably what heaven's like because we know there's a river we know there's there's uh the tree of life and so forth and we know it's called paradise so that pretty much gives you a little bit of a feel i think part of the reason why the bible doesn't really go into great detail about what heaven looks like it's probably just hard to describe i mean i know god can do anything but the bible says that for example uh the man who was caught up into paradise he heard words that it was not lawful for a man to utter your unspeakable words okay you say what's an unspeakable word you know but we don't know because we're not there obviously it's on a higher plane than we are so when we get there it's probably going to be more amazing than anything we can imagine so it's probably if god took the time to describe it in words in the bible it probably would not do justice to it you know we'd probably read about it if god described it to us and we just wouldn't really understand what it's like or be able to picture it because the bible says i have not seen nor ear hurt neither have entered into the heart of man the things that god's prepared for them to love him and so god has prepared some great things for us some wonderful amazing things that are so great we could probably not even comprehend it we could try to compare it and say oh maybe it's like you know yosemite or maybe it's like hawaii or maybe it's like this paradise that we know but truth be told it's going to be so far beyond that that we just have to wait to see when we get there now he goes into more detail describing hell just because he really wants to send a strong message don't go there okay whereas with heaven it's we're going to be pleasantly surprised when we get there another thing let me just finish with this last point go to luke chapter 15 luke chapter 15 this is one of uh several scriptures i could show you so what's it going to be like in heaven you know are we gonna have are we gonna have food we're gonna have food you know are we gonna have a place to live yeah we're gonna have a mansion are we gonna have our own stuff or do we just have to share everything are we gonna have some of our own stuff oh we're gonna have some of our own stuff is everybody gonna be equal everybody's the same no no we're all gonna be different you know there's gonna be different rewards the bible says behold i come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be so yes salvations by faith alone but guess what rewards are based on your works don't do any work well guess what you're going to be up there and you're going to have a mansion with a few empty rooms in it you know and i'm going to have all the furniture and everything that somebody else might have okay so we're going to have our own stuff absolutely all right is it going to be just totally devoid of plant and animal life no it's not because the bible talks about there are horses in heaven the bible talks about how there are the four beasts around the throne a beast is an animal you know there are all kinds of other creatures and life besides just human beings there's going to be angels there's going to be animals there are going to be plants and so forth those type of things are going to be there you say well what is heaven is it like a planet is it round like the earth is round i mean that's possible you know probably i mean if i had to guess it probably is round like the earth is round because it seems like things on earth are patterned after things in heaven in a way it's almost like a lot of the things that go on in earth are mirrored after the way things are in heaven it's just heaven is a perfect place the bible says thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven you know and you have a city relocating from one to the other you know it's very possible that heaven is somewhat of the earth in many ways except just a totally perfect version we have cities we have trees we have fruit we have water we have food we have church services we have work to do we have all these elements but in heaven is a perfect place where you know here thieves break through and steal your treasure there they don't so is it a planet i don't know you know do we know exactly what it's like i would say it's probably as similar to the earth you know but who knows if god doesn't really describe it to us we have to just kind of go with what he said it's going to be but whatever it is it sounds pretty cool so far you know that it doesn't have to be exactly the way we want it to be or think it's going to be and uh the last thing i wanted to show you here is in luke chapter 15 let me find my place here luke chapter what verse did i tell you which verse it's going to be all right where in the world stop everything i gotta go through all my notes here and find this did i say luke 15 though there it is all right luke 15 7 it says i say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over 99 just persons which need no repentance now that verse tells me right there that the people in heaven are aware of what's going on on this earth in some level right because the bible talks about you know a sinner repenteth and there's joy in the in heaven okay and the bible talks about how we're compassed about what's so great a cloud of witnesses and those witnesses that it describes are the basically the believers who've gone on before us listed in hebrews chapter 11 in that faith chapter that they are basically witnessing abraham jesus said abraham rejoiced my day he saw it and was glad jesus said abraham saw my day so somehow those in heaven are aware of what's going on on earth and there are a lot of other passages we could turn to in revelation where it talks about people in heaven observing what's going on on the earth and knowing what's going on on the earth so i don't know to what degree or to what extent but when you get you say what do i expect you know let's say i and hopefully this doesn't happen but let's say you know i get in a horrible car accident today and today's the day and i die physically what's going to happen to me well instantly your soul will be carried to heaven because the bible says to be absent from the bodies to be present with the lord second corinthians chapter five and so you will go to be in heaven in a perfect place and you'll be in a place where you'll be with jesus christ you know all the other details we don't really know we told you what we know but you'll be in that perfect place and you will still be able to be kind of aware of what's going on on this earth behind you you can kind of know what's happening you know in between in between visiting with uh with abraham isaac and jacob and king david and king solomon you know in between that you'll go okay so what's going on down on earth you know it's how how faithful were baptists doing you know they're still oh they've gone liberal now you know they got some new pastor he's uh he's preaching to niv or whatever so anyway it's an exciting place to be it's it's exciting so look lay up not up for yourselves treasures upon earth lay up for yourself treasure in heaven because i guarantee you the stuff you're going to have in heaven is way better than the stuff you're going to have on this earth period and so the bible says set your affection on things above not on things on the earth let's bow your heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for loving us and preparing a place for us and preparing us a mansion where we can be with you for all eternity and and how exciting that's going to be to sit down with abraham isaac and jacob to be with you to eat and drink in the kingdom of god and to rejoice with you and to see you face to face and we thank you so much for giving us that privilege none of us deserves heaven but it's been given to us by grace and we're thankful for that and please just help us to live our lives realizing that this earth is not our final home and no matter what happens on this earth this is not our final home we're going to be in heaven for for a long long time and we're going to be on the the perfect earth with the the heavenly jerusalem for a long long long time help us to live our life in that way with eternity in view not just the the short life that we live and to lay up our treasures they are not on the earth in jesus name we pray amen