Dr Greg Bahnsen - Difficult Doctrines: Heaven (Part 4)

This recording has been released into the public domain by the Bonson Institute, where we aim to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Welcome back to our course on difficult doctrines of the Bible. In this class session, we're going to be looking at that difficult doctrine, heaven. And our theme passage for the course has been Isaiah, chapter 55, beginning at verse 6. I'd like to read that for you as we get underway. Isaiah 55. 6. Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. The Bible teaches us in many ways that God's thinking is not the same as ours. Sometimes we have conceptual problems with doctrines like the Trinity, and we have to admit God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts, even as he is higher than us. Sometimes we have emotional difficulties with the Bible, like the doctrine of hell, and we have to learn to bow our heart and our mind to God and recognize that only he can tell us what he is like, and we have to submit to him, his thoughts being higher than ours. God is not regulated by what we think. God is not regulated by our understanding, by our expectation of anything. In this class session, we come to a doctrine, however, that is not too dreadful for us or too conceptually strained. We come to a doctrine that just seems to be too good to be true, and that is the doctrine of heaven. For this particular lesson, let's look at John 14, John 14:1 6. Hear God's word. Jesus says, let not your heart be troubled. 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. For I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you unto myself. That where I am, there ye may be also, and whither I go, ye know not the way. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, how know we the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one cometh unto the Father but by me. And thus far. The reading of God's Word. You know, sometimes we are brought to the place where we have to believe a particular biblical doctrine because of the authority of God. Speaking in the Scripture and the authority of God there is seen as something that is, well, somewhat, maybe overbearing, pushy, something of a ramrod that says, you've got to believe this. I have the authority to tell you so. But we should recognize that the authority of God's Word is not simply something hard and pushing on us when we have this kind of mental, emotional resistance. But the Bible's authority is also a great assurance to us and a great comfort to our hearts. Because I have to tell you, knowing what is going to be coming up in this lesson, that it would be very easy for us to say, oh, this cannot be. This is just a figment of my imagination. This has just been created by my hopes and wishes. This is just wishful thinking. And so not only with a doctrine like the Trinity or predestination or hell, do I have to submit to God and say it's true because you say so. But what a comfort that I can now say also with something that seems too good to be true. I don't have to worry that it's just me projecting this, that God by his own authority assures me of the truth of heaven. Heaven is not some kind of bogus incentive used by God, some kind of fake way of giving us consolation or some fake way to bring about compliance, you know, in us. Sometimes parents lie to their children. I don't think anybody in this class would do that. I hope not. But I do know parents that sometimes will offer things to their children, knowing that they're not going to be able to come through, realizing that that kind of incentive will help their children settle down or do what the parent wants them to do, what have you. God is not like that. God is not some kind of a overindulgent parent who doesn't have a lot of integrity and says, well, here's what it's going to be like. So now in this life, you be compliant with me. You go along with my wishes for your life. No God's word can be trusted. In fact, if God's Word cannot be trusted, no word can be trusted. The authority, the veracity of Scripture is foundational for any intelligibility for human communication. Those of you who have had apologetics from me know how we argue that, that it's only because of God's revelation that any human communication can make sense at all. It's only because of the truth of God. That there can be any other truth known by man as well. But you see, this is not merely an apologetical insight, not simply something to be used as a tool in defending the faith. This is also a great counseling reassurance and especially a reassurance to myself when I stop and think about this veil of tears that we often go through in this world. It'd be very easy to convince myself that what God is saying is just too good to be true, to convince myself that it's just the figment of my imagination. I've dreamed this up. But God's word can be trusted. The doctrine of heaven is for real. So what is it that we're talking about? We talk about heaven. You know, there have been some great literary treatments given to this subject. I can't hope to compete with them in this one lesson, or any number of lessons for that matter. You think of Dante, who wrote the Paradisio as part of his trilogy about hell and purgatory in heaven, have just the beauty of the language and the imagery that is used for paradise there. Or of John Milton's Paradise Lost, where he describes not only man's fall, but what will be gained by man and also what heaven is like. And it'd be wonderful to be a poet of such epic proportions as Milton, be able to describe that for you. The Puritan preacher Richard Baxter wrote a book entitled the Saint's Everlasting Rest, which runs over 460,000 words. So there's a lot that could be said about heaven. But, you know, for all of the glorious things that have been written about heaven, all that could be said for all of the promise that is there about heaven and God's word, there have been men who repudiate it. They repudiate the doctrine of heaven. And in fact, even some who profess to be Christians have repudiated the doctrine of heaven. Let me begin with an example. Outside the church, though, Karl Marx repudiated the doctrine of heaven because he said it's this worldliness that's really important, that religion becomes the opiate of the masses. When people start thinking about a life beyond this one, they should really be paying attention to what's happening now and taking care of their economic situation and not be distracted by the opium of religion and the hope of heaven. Lenin, following him, said that heaven is cheap consolation for the masses. You know, the masses get put down by their capitalist overlords, and the cheap consolation that they accept from the church is the hope of heaven. And the reason the doctrine of heaven is taught according to Lenin, is to give you some reason to resign yourself to the exploitation that you're undergoing by those who rule over you. And so Marx and Lenin had no place for heaven. They repudiated it altogether. The American philosopher Alfred North Whitehead spoke of the doctrine of heaven and said, there is nothing more appallingly idiotic than the doctrine of heaven. Here's a philosopher in his sophistication and his rational accomplishments who knew much better. And he said it was just appallingly idiotic to believe in heaven. A number of years ago at the Harvard Divinity School. Now we're in the circle of those who profess some form of Christianity. Willard Sperry said, if we cannot have heaven save at the price of hell, then we will forego the hope of heaven. So here's a theologian teaching at Harvard who says, who taught at Harvard many years ago who said, if the price of heaven is that we have to believe in everlasting damnation, then we're just going to give them both up. It's just not worth it. Another Christian writer, B.H. streeter, said that the heaven of Sunday school is a place that the plain man does not believe to exist and would not want to go there when he dies. And so again, ridicule heaped upon the traditional Christian understanding of heaven. What it's all about. Neo orthodox theologian by the name of Rudolf Bultmann said that heaven is not merely inapprehensible by any rational process, but also totally meaningless. Boltmann said, any modern man cannot believe in something as meaningless as the doctrine of heaven. And so here we have a glorious doctrine. Many in the history of Western civilization have written great literary treatments about it. And, and on the other hand, we see that many have repudiated the doctrine, wanting nothing to do with it. What are the alleged difficulties here? Why is the doctrine of heaven such a difficulty? What are the problems? I think there are probably four reasons why people find the doctrine of heaven difficult. The first, perhaps the most obvious one, is the exaggerated imagery that is often used with respect to heaven. You know, people hear that kind of exaggeration. They hear this kind of these figures of speech which are taken literally by some Christians and they find it ludicrous. The biblical figures of speech that we find are not intended to give us an eyewitness account of what heaven is like. For instance, speaking of the new heavens and the new earth, where there is a new Jerusalem, the streets of the new Jerusalem are paved with gold. We are taught, well, you know, you can make cartoons out of that. You can make this seem very silly, but I think all of us realize that what we find in our streets and what goes into them is not of high quality, expensive material. And so the Bible tells us, but the most expensive mineral, you know, if gold is the streets of the New Jerusalem, then how much greater is the city itself? It's a figure of speech, when understood by, that really helps us to exalt God and to anticipate great things in his presence. But it doesn't mean to tell us literally what's going to be walked upon in the New Jerusalem. Unfortunately, sometimes Christians take the imagery of heaven so literally and portray it to others that we come under ridicule for it. This great exaggerated imagery. Of course, the worst of all is the picture, which is not biblical at all. But so many people think that heaven as angels, you know, we're going to be like angels floating around on clouds. That's not just taking figures and speech literally, that's embellishing the Bible. The Bible doesn't teach that kind of thing. And yet that's, you know, you ask a cartoonist, draw a picture of heaven, that's the first thing that comes to their mind, it seems like. So the first problem with heaven is the exaggerated imagery taken literally when it shouldn't be, or embellished when it oughtn't to be. A second problem with the doctrine of heaven that people have is the location. Where is heaven? The Bible, when it speaks of heaven, speaks of it being upward or beyond the sky. Likewise, the Bible sometimes speaks of hell downward. People think of hell then as being in the center of the earth. And so people want to know about this. Are we supposed to really believe in a three story universe? You know, heaven up here, earth right here, and then hell below or in the center of the earth. And is that supposed to be understood? And where exactly is heaven? Well, if I might spend just a minute or two doing some philosophy with you, let me remind you that wherever heaven is, it is, until the resurrection, a place of disembodied spirits, okay? It's a place where the spirit, soul, mind, heart, personality of man goes to be with God. And if you think about it, that which is immaterial about man, our minds, our hearts, our spirit, whatever, that which is immaterial doesn't literally have location at all. Does makes sense to say my body is exactly, you know, 20ft from this point and 10ft from this point. But we don't speak of a person's mind or a person's soul being 20ft from a pole or 10ft from a wall or something like that. Because that which is not physical is not located in space at all. It may be indexed to my body. It may very well be that my mind is expressed through a body. But the fact of the matter is that that which is not physical is not spatial. And if it's not spatial, then it isn't located. Now, what does this have to do with the problem when people say, where is heaven? If they're asking, where is the place, the spatial location of disembodied spirits? And as a matter of fact, disembodied spirits don't have location just because there is no body, then the question has no answer, does it? And so the Bible speaks to us in figures of speech to help us to be clear about this. It doesn't mislead us. After all, it's not as though we're going to accidentally have some kind of, you know, rocket trip past Mars looking for heaven and say, oh, well, we thought it was up. That's what the Bible taught. I mean, people aren't going to make that kind of mistake. The Bible speaks to us in this way to help us understand, but it's not to be taken literally. A third reason people have difficulty with heaven is that they don't want to hold to any kind of ultimate antithesis in this world, any kind of fundamental conflict of principles or conflict or separation between people. They don't believe in any antithesis. They would really like all the world to be one. You know what I'm thinking of here? Those of you who grew up in that era. You remember John Lennon's famous song, imagine? Imagine is basically a hymn for socialism. But Lenin realized that his socialist utopia, his vision for socialism, would really be impossible as long as we had any traditional Christian conceptions of the world. And so in this song. Let me read the lyrics for you here. He says, imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky. Imagine all the people living for today. We'll go on here, but let me expound the first verse of this wonderful hymn. Imagine there's no heaven, no hell below us. You see no antithesis between heaven and hell. The only thing above us is sky. This world is all there is. So imagine all the people living for today. Now there will be no ultimate separation in the human race between heaven and hell. Another verse. Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too. Imagine all the people living life in peace. You See, we would be at one and we would have harmony. If we just get rid of religion, that draws distinctions, if we get rid of countries with their boundary lines and so forth. Then another verse goes, imagine no possessions. Oh, John Lennon, no possessions. Exactly. Forgive me. Imagine no possessions. I wonder if you can. No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man. Imagine all the people sharing all the world. And so you can see in this particular illustration that the doctrine of heaven is offensive if you want to unify all of reality. There are no countries, no religion, no heaven, no hell, no possessions. Everybody owns everything. And you just live for it today and we'll all be at peace. Well, if we were in an apologetics course, I'd be glad to savage that thinking for you. It's really ridiculous. But I just want you to understand that's another reason why people don't want heaven, because as the one alleged theologian said, then we'd have to have hell too, and we don't want to have that kind of antithesis or distinction. And then I think a fourth reason people have difficulty with the doctrine of heaven is that it often seems to them a very irrelevant doctrine. Heaven is, as it's sometimes said, pie in the sky. Right, Pie in the sky, by and by. Just what does that have to do with the here and now? How does that have any practical import or significance for us? Christians are sometimes said to be so heavenly minded, they're of no earthly good. And so people want to get rid of the doctrine of heaven because they think it's just irrelevant. It just disengages us from this world and any good that we might do there. What does the Bible tell us about the doctrine of heaven in Philippians 1:21? I think we find a good place to begin our discussion. In the course we have a class on the doctrine of hell, another difficult doctrine. In that particular class I talk about Hebrews 2:15 and the fear of death that all men have. We spend our entire lives apart from Christ with a fear of death. And that makes it all the more amazing that in Philippians 1:21, Paul's testimony is for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Scripture says men live in the fear of death. And yet Paul can say in Philippians 1:21, for me to die is gain. How can Paul say that if he didn't understand the biblical doctrine of heaven? Let's ask ourselves what heaven is. First of all, heaven is not the sky. The Bible sometimes uses the word heaven for the sky. In Genesis 1:1 we read that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth right there. The heavens is not God creating the place where he exists. It's God creating that which is above the earth, the sky. As we would put it in Hebrews 4:14, the author of that epistle tells us that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, and that's a reference to the ascension of Jesus Christ, that he on the clouds left this earth. He passed through the sky, through the heavens. But heaven as we are referring to it, is not the sky that's above the earth. It's in a sense beyond the sky. Or better. It's something that's in another realm altogether. Heaven is not simply the sky above us, but it is another realm. And particularly the Bible teaches us it's the dwelling place of God. In your Bibles, look at First Kings 8:30 in the Old Testament book of First Kings, chapter 8 and the 30th verse. Here, at the prayer given the prayer of dedication for the temple of God we read, and hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place. Yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and when thou hearest forgive, heaven is the dwelling place of God. Acts 7:48, 49 But Solomon built him a house. Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands, as saith the prophet. The heaven is my throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet. What manner of house will ye build me, saith the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? God may have had a temple built where he would dwell in the midst of his people. But his true dwelling place, his eternal place of rest, is heaven itself. Again in the Old Testament, Psalm 102:19, Psalm 102:19. For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary from heaven did Jehovah behold the earth. Here we are told that the dwelling place of God is a sanctuary, and God looks down. Again, speaking metaphorically for our understanding, God looks down from heaven upon the earth. He dwells there in heaven. What is the opening line of the Lord's Prayer? Jesus taught us to pray this. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. So the Bible teaches us in Old and New Testament both that heaven is where God dwells. It's sometimes called a sanctuary, sometimes called a throne. In Hebrews chapter 8, verse 2, and you can also look at Hebrews 9:11, you'll see a reference to where God dwells as the true Tabernacle, the true tabernacle. Here the word true is not being used over against false or bogus fake, but rather the tabernacle on earth is a reflection of the archetypical, the original pattern or tabernacle that is found in heaven. So that is the original, it is the full reality that is the true tabernacle in heaven. And then what was built on earth was to be a shadow or a reflection of that, or what was built on earth was to be modeled after the true tabernacle that is in heaven. Or of course, how can we forget the words of Isaiah 6:1, 2, 3. They really should be read, they're so glorious, talking about the dwelling place of God. Isaiah 6 the first three verses in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and said, holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And so the Bible shows us the dwelling place of God in heaven. It is the true tabernacle, the true sanctuary, and in it he he is enthroned. And the seraphim sing of his glory and holiness continually. In Matthew 5:34, Jesus refers to heaven as being the throne of God, and earth being his footstool. And the Psalmist in Psalm 23:6, the Shepherd Psalm says that he will dwell in the house of the Lord, the house of Jehovah forever. And so over and over again in the Bible, then we have heaven referred to as God's dwelling place, his house, his temple or tabernacle, his throne room, or the very throne itself. A third thing I want you to know about heaven as the Bible presents it to us. Not only is heaven something in another dimension than the skies above us, and it's secondly the dwelling place of God. But thirdly, Christ tells us in John 14 that he prepares mansions for his people in heaven. Jesus says, I go to prepare a place for you. If that weren't true, I would have told you, in my Father's house are many mansions. And someday we're going to be with him and he's going to grant to us these mansions. Basically, Jesus is telling us, I think, two things about heaven. First of all, he tells us it's going to be much better than anything we can imagine. Mansions. Any of you live in a mansion? I Suppose there might be some who are taking this course by tape. Some people live in mansions. I don't know many of them, but even those who live in mansions probably tell you they can do better. Jesus tells us he's going to prepare a mansion in the place of the way in which we live now. We're going to live in mansions of glory. But more importantly than the imagery of the mansion that he uses is that Jesus says that he goes to prepare a place for us, that where he is, there we may be also. That's the most important thing about heaven, according to the teaching of the Bible, is that someday we will be with Jesus and be with him forever. Turn with me to Hebrews the 12th chapter, verse 24. Actually, I want to read the verses leading up to verse 24 as well. But it's verse 24 that gives us such a glorious insight to the nature of heaven. Hebrews 12 tells us in verse 22, but you are come unto Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels. We've already been introduced to all this in the biblical imagery we've seen thus far. And the author goes on and to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. And then verse 24, the climax, and to Jesus. And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling. He says, you've come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God. You've come to innumerable hosts of angels, to the general assembly of the firstborn, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus. When we go to heaven, then we'll be with Jesus. He says, I go to prepare a place for you so that you will be with me. Fourthly, the Bible teaches us about heaven that it is entered immediately by those who are believers in Jesus Christ upon death. In Luke 23, verse 43, as Jesus is hanging upon the cross, we see one of the thieves, one of the malefactors who was being hung with him. Come to faith in him, and Jesus promise to that dying thief is this day you will be with me in paradise. He doesn't say many years from now or after the resurrection. He says, today you will be with me in paradise. You know what Seventh Day Adventists do with that verse? You know, they don't believe that there is existence or conscious experience of God between death and the Resurrection. They believe in soul sleep. And yet Jesus says, although this man's body will be dead today, he will consciously be with Jesus in heaven, in paradise. And so Seventh Day Adventists say, well, what Jesus is saying is that it's on this day that he says this to the thief. It's not on this day that it'll enter heaven. Jesus says, this day I say unto you, you shall be with me in paradise. And so Jesus is reminding him, I guess, that he's speaking today about this. You see what rationalizations people run to to escape the clear teaching of God's word. Next time I call you and talk to you on the phone and say, and today I'm telling you this, you know, now Jesus says, today you're going to be with me. And where you're going to be is Paradise. In Philippians 1:23, we've already looked at this passage where Paul says for him to live as Christ and to die is gain. He says that if he is to depart, he will then be with Christ, which is far better. And so the Bible tells us that after death, believers enter into the presence of God and especially the presence of their Savior, Jesus Christ. Perhaps the best known text teaching I.e. 2nd Corinthians 5, verse 8. Turn in your Bibles to 2nd Corinthians the fifth chapter, and we'll read just the eighth verse. Paul says, we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Isn't that a comforting way to put it? If heaven is the house of God and Jesus has gone to prepare mansions for us here, Paul says, we will be at home with the Lord absent from the body. Our bodies will be laid in the grave and will decompose unless Jesus comes before that happens. But we will not decompose. We will not be annihilated. That will not be the end of conscious existence for us, but rather passing into the very presence of God at home with the Lord. The entire Bible is concerned with this theme of being with God. You know, in the beginning, God created Adam and Eve, and they walked and talked with God in the garden. They were with God. He dwelt with them. And when they fell into rebellion and sin, what's the first thing they did when they heard the voice of God walking in the garden, they fled. Now there's alienation between God and man. It doesn't dwell together. In fact, God cast them out of the garden and he even posed a flaming sword and cherubim that man will realize he cannot come back into Eden, into paradise, into the presence of God, because sin has set him aside. But then God calls the people to himself. Abraham is known as the friend of God. God appears to Abraham and speaks to him. And then God calls Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. And God goes with his people. Remember that he dwells in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. And he directs his people where to go. And then he gives directions for the building of the tabernacle. And the most important thing about the tabernacle is the holy of holies, where there is a throne set, the ark of the covenant with the lid and the cherubim. And God is seated there on the mercy seat in the very midst of his people. God with us. But of course, man cannot approach the presence of God. Only the high priest can go into the holy of holies. And only he can go in once a year, on the day of atonement. And so dreadful was coming into the very presence of God that the veil of the temple that separated the holy place from the holy of holies had woven into it a picture of cherubim, a reminder that Eden, paradise had the flaming sword and the angels of God threatening man with judgment if he dare approach God. And God said if anybody came into his holy presence, he would be struck dead unless he followed his instructions exactly. Only the high priest, only on the day atonement, and only with the blood of sprinkling. The Jews were so superstitious about that that when the high priest went in, he tied a rope around around his ankle and it trailed out underneath the veil, so that if God struck him dead, they would have some way to get the corpse out without someone else going in and being struck dead by God. Yes, God was in the midst of his people, but they could not approach him. And the prophets begin to tell of a day when God himself will come. He will actually be the Savior, and he will dwell with his people. Micah says, the one who is of old, the eternal one. Isaiah says, God himself, mighty God is going to be born as a son. And so we read in the New Testament, finally, that the Messiah, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, comes as the word of God incarnate among men. Now God dwells in the very midst of his people, but not that they would be judged and pushed away, but that Jesus might invite men to himself. And do you remember what happened when Jesus died upon the cross? That veil of the temple that separated men from the holy of holies was torn in two as God's outward symbol of the fact that the death of Jesus had made it possible now for men to come to his holy presence. The book of Hebrews says that therefore we don't stand back with fear and trembling, but we go boldly into the presence of God, because we have a high priest, Jesus, who has passed through the heavens and now intercedes for us. And what does Jesus promise? Jesus promises this day you will be with me in paradise, back to Eden. He promises his people mansions of glory are waiting for you. That very thing that man lost when he fell into sin, dwelling in the presence of God, has now been restored and one day will be made eternally the case. What is heaven? It's the presence of God, entered immediately upon death by believers. It is the very presence of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that angels will be there. Luke 2:15 speaks of the angels of heaven and a number of other texts that I could speak of as well. Hebrews 12:22, we just read speaks of innumerable angels. But Hebrews 12:23 says that saints will be there too. Just men, the spirits of just men made perfect. And what will it be like? Well, the Bible has got to use pictures from our ordinary life that will give us some idea. In Hebrews 11, it's called a secure city. Hebrews 11:10, Abraham looked for a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. In Revelation 19, it's a wedding feast. In Matthew 8:11, it's a banquet. And what do people do when they get into a place of security where they're safe and protected, and then they celebrate a wedding? They have a banquet. They're pretty glum, right? Pretty fearful, right? No. Now they can take it easy and they can enjoy themselves and they can rejoice before God. That's what the Bible wants you to know. You're going to go to the very throne room of God, dwell in a mansion that Jesus has prepared in his very presence, and there feel secure and so that you can rejoice before the Lord, your maker. People want to know sometimes, what are we going to do in heaven? Well, the Bible tells us a little bit about this. I can't dwell on it a great deal. I should note, however, first of all, that according to Hebrews 12:23, that when we go to heaven, we're made perfect. That's worth taking a few minutes to thank God and to praise God in itself, isn't it? That God isn't going to take us into his presence as clunky and as inconsistent as polluted and as sinful as we are, he's going to perfect us. We're going to be all that we were meant to be now in the right sense, and we're going to obey him perfectly, and our hearts will be made perfectly fit and appropriate for his presence. When we go to heaven, we will finally pass away from this existence where we not only know despair and discouragement and pain and sorrow, but all the more shame and guilt for our sin. And we will be made perfect as we come into his presence. Revelation 19. The first eight verses tell us that those who are in heaven worship God. I like to tell people, if you don't enjoy going to church, shouldn't plan on going to heaven, because it's going to be like a long church service. The only problem is most church services don't come anywhere close to being the kind of joy in the presence of God and the kind of holy praise that is really worthy of his name, that we'll know when we get to heaven. We're going to worship God. In Revelation 7, 14, 15, the Bible tells us that those who are in the presence of God serve Him day and night. We're going to worship him, and we're also going to serve Him. We're going to be active doing things. In fact, Revelation 21 tells us that when Jesus returns, there will be a new heavens and a new earth. And it's described as a garden and it's described as a city. And the idea is that it's going to be something similar to what we know now in this life that we have. But it's going to be a place where righteousness dwells. Isn't that what Second Peter chapter three tells us? We look for a new heavens and a new earth wherein righteousness dwells. It's going to be a world somewhat like we know, but it's going to be a world without any sin. All that's going to be put away as we serve God and worship him day by day. And According to Hebrews 12:23, which we've alluded to already, it's going to be a place of fellowship. In the Old Testament, heaven was understood as a place where you were reunited with your family. Jacob looked forward to the fact that when he passed away that the day would come when Joseph would join him. David, in a very touching passage, prays that he will come to his Son who has died in infancy. The Bible says it's going to be a place where our fellowship is renewed, where we are reunited with those that we love. That belong to us in the family of God. And so heaven sounds like a wonderful place to me. But you know what? There's more. It's even better than what I've described you say. How can that be? Well, the Bible tells us that we're not simply looking to a situation where our souls, to use the common way of speaking, leave our bodies and go to heaven and dwell with Jesus until he returns again. That is only a temporary kind of an intermediate situation. It's going to be glorious and wonderful, worth looking forward to. But that is nothing in comparison to what God ultimately has in mind for us. As I've already said, second Peter 3:13 promises that there's going to be a new heavens and a new earth wherein righteousness dwells. The day is coming when God will raise our bodies from the tomb, and then we will live in the presence of God, body and soul together for all eternity. I want you to hear how John describes that glorious situation. Revelation 21. The first five verses John says, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth are passed away, and the sea is no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. The first things are passed away. And he that sitteth on the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said, right, for these words are faithful and true. The day is coming when God is going to remake the universe. Some people think that means he's going to purify the universe that now exists. Others think that physically this universe will be done away with and another one will be created. To be honest with you, I don't think it makes any difference. The point is that it's going to be a new heavens and a new earth renewed by God, wherein righteousness dwells. And in that situation where we dwell with God, the Bible says he will wipe every tear from our eyes and there will be no more pain and no more sorrow. We look for a new heavens and a new earth wherein righteousness dwells. And what's even greater about the new heavens and the new earth than the intermediate state of heaven that we've been talking about is that our bodies are going to be raised and we'll dwell with God physically forever. In John 6, verse 40, notice what our Savior tells us John 6 at the 40th verse. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone that beholdeth the Son and believeth on him should have eternal life. And I will raise him up at the last day. Jesus promises that if we belong to him, we'll not simply go to heaven after we die this day you will be with me in paradise. In John 6, verse 40, notice what our Savior tells us John 6 at the 40th verse. For this is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son and believeth on him should have eternal life. And I will raise him up at the last day. Jesus promises that if we belong to him, we'll not simply go to heaven after we die this day you will be with me in paradise, he told thief. But he will also on the last day raise our bodies from the dead. And so in that glorious eighth chapter of the book of Romans, let's read verses 18 to 23, Romans 8 beginning at the 18th. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us. Ward for the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the spirit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, namely the redemption of our body. Oh, it's glorious that we have been saved in terms of our internal life, our souls or our persons, if you will. It's glorious that we'll be with Jesus even though the body goes into the grave. But the Bible teaches us that we're looking forward to the redemption even of our body. And the whole creation is groaning and travailing together, waiting for that day as well. When there's a new heavens and a new earth and the curse of sin has been removed. We'll have new bodies. And when I have a new body, I will no longer have an artificial valve in my heart and scars on my body. I no longer struggle with asthma and other problems that keep me from doing What I want to do, I'll have a glorious body. And more importantly, I'll have a body that always serves the Lord and his purposes and can no longer die. In First Corinthians, the 15th chapter, Paul speaks of this glorious hope of the bodily resurrection. Verse 20. But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order. Christ the first fruits, then they that are Christ at his coming. When Jesus comes again, he's going to raise me. He's going to raise all those who believe and trust in him from the dead. And then, continuing our reading at verse 42, so also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. My body will go into the ground in their decay, but will be raised in incorruption, sown in dishonor, raised in glory, sown in weakness, raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. I live now in a natural body, someday in a body that the Holy Spirit will bring from the dead, and so empower that will no longer know corruption and weakness and sin, death. And then, continuing in verse 52, Paul tells us that Christ will come back and we will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. You see, the day is coming when we will not only no longer sin against God, not only have every tear wiped from our eye and all sorrow taken away, but we will be given back our bodies incorruptible. And in that day, the glorious declaration will be death. Even death has been swallowed up in the victory that has been procured by Jesus Christ for us. And you know what will happen then? The Bible says that we will be made like him. Philippians 3:21, chapter three of Philippians at the 21st verse. There we read of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to that working whereby he is able to subject all things to Himself. Our humble, our humiliated bodies will one day be made glorious like his own. The apostle John puts it this way in First John 2:1. And when we see him, we'll be made like him, our bodies incorruptible and glorious, and our souls no longer willing to sin, but made perfect in holiness. This is a great, great, wonderful teaching of God's word. As we go through this life again, with all of its difficulties and setbacks and sorrows and disappointments, all of its shame and its guilt, what a glorious doctrine to know that the day is coming that my Savior will receive me to Himself, and that even better than that, although I will dwell with him until he returns, that when he returns, my body will be raised from the dead and glorified, made like unto him. And then I'll live in a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. Now, some people think, but Dr. Bonson, that that's, you know, out there in the future. Doesn't that just play right into the hands of those who say it's pie in the sky, it's irrelevant, you know, just by and by. Well, actually, the Bible has more to teach us about heaven than what I've been laying out for you. As glorious as this is, the Bible says we experience heaven already. Right now we have a down payment and a small taste, a foretaste, if you will, of the great glory that is going to be ours when we enter heaven. As we've already seen in Hebrews the twelfth chapter, the Bible says that we have come to heavenly Jerusalem already. We're in the presence of God, in the presence of the angels and the Spirit of just men made perfect, and in the presence of Jesus. When Paul speaks of us In Hebrews the second chapter, verse 6, he says that we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. He looks upon us as already spiritually united to our Savior and enthroned with him in the heavens. Or in Philippians 3, verse 20, he tells us that our citizenship in heaven, not in the future, but right now, I'm already a member of that kingdom and a citizen there, seated with Christ on a throne. Come to the heavenly Jerusalem. In John 5:24, Jesus says that those who believe in him have eternal life. Right now, as a present possession. I'm going to enjoy eternal life eternally, naturally enough. But that eternal life has begun now in my heart of hearts. In Ephesians 1:13 14, which I think I should read for you. Paul tells us that we already have a down payment of the inheritance that God has prepared for us. Ephesians 1:13. In whom you also, having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest, a down payment of our inheritance unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of his glory. The day is coming when we will inherit the promised land, when we will know not only heaven, but the new heavens and the new earth, the inheritance of God's people. But here Paul tells us that we have a down payment of that God has said, I'll allow you to start experiencing that right now. I'll give you an assurance and a guarantee of the glory that will follow, because I'll put this in your heart right now. And how does he do that? By the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Now what did we say heaven is? It's the presence of God, isn't it? And if God gives us his Holy Spirit to be present with us and to seal us unto the day of salvation, then you see, he's already given us a foretaste and a down payment, an earnest and guarantee of what is yet to come. And so heaven is now. But I wouldn't want you to take that in a heretical way, as though there isn't something future. I mean, I've been teaching that something much better than what we have now is coming. But my point is it's not pie in the sky by and by, it's something that's begun now. God dwells with me now he lives in me now he gives me eternal life to experience now. And yet, as Hebrews 11:16 says of those who were the faithful of the Old Testament, we read, but now they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. As wonderful as the presence of God is now we still are looking for a better country than what we know now. We're looking for heaven, our mansions in glory, and finally for the new heavens and the new earth. Is that irrelevant? Does that make no difference to us? Now, I would like to end this class period by suggesting to you a handful of very significant implications of the doctrine of heaven as we've presented it in this class. If you believe what I have taught you, you believe what the Bible says about heaven and about the new heavens and the new earth, then you should, according to Scripture, abandon hope in anything but in christ. Notice what 2 Peter 3:11 says. 2 Peter 3:11, seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? But according to his promise, we look for a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. This world cannot be the Christian's ultimate hope. This world cannot be the Christian's ultimate value. This world doesn't offer us our final assurance. In fact, we must give up everything in this world, ultimately, in comparison to our hope, Christ. Our scale of values must be changed. Our priorities must change. If you believe in heaven, then you must live like a heavenly person, like a heavenly citizen, like somebody who's going to be changed when Jesus comes. And so you want to prepare yourself now. You're not going to be looking to the things of this world as your final joy and hope. You're going to be rather putting your hope in the new heavens and the new earth wherein righteousness dwells. And another corollary of this from our reading, is that we should be ready to meet Christ at any time to confront him face to face. That isn't so popular these days for preachers to tell people, you ought to live your lives, and so you might meet Jesus tonight, or he could come right now and you wouldn't be ashamed of yourself. But I think there's something very biblical about that. It's very appropriate. We know that Jesus is coming and he's going to change us. And so we ought now to be preparing for that change and not living in sin in a shameful way. We ought to be living in a way that he'd be pleased when we meet Him. And so the doctrine of heaven, the doctrine of the new heavens and the new earth, also motivates us to work toward the purity of Christ in our lives. We look at what Christ is like, and we want to be more like him, because what, we're going to dwell with him for all eternity. Another implication that's very practical about the doctrine of heaven is that our labor is not in vain in the Lord, 1 Corinthians 15:58. Seeing that these things are true, then you ought to be steadfast and unmovable. Paul says, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, my guess is if you're anything like me, you don't always have that confidence. You probably see a lot of things you've done for the church or in Christian circles or in your own private Christian life. And you say, boy, that was a waste. Boy, that didn't come off very well. Or you look around you and you sometimes get so discouraged and say, oh, people so despise Christianity in the church. We're not making any headway. We're not going anywhere. We're on the losing side here. Well, all of those thoughts, you see are going to be turned around if you believe the doctrine of heaven and the new heavens and the new earth. Because Paul says, believing these things, you know, and you should be steadfast in your labors, because they are not futile, they are not in vain. God is using them to build his kingdom and to prepare us to be with him forever. Another implication, I think, from the doctrine of heaven comes from recognizing that God is going to give out not only degrees of punishment on the final day, but degrees of reward on the doctrine of degrees of punishment. The classic text proving it is Luke 12:47 and 48, the gospel of Luke in chapter 12, verse 47, Jesus teaches us in that text. And that servant who knew his Lord's will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes but he that knew not and did things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes. And to whomsoever much is given of him shall much be required and to whom they commit much of him will they ask the more. And so there are going to be few stripes and many stripes, according to the opportunity and the information that people have when Jesus comes back in judgment. But it's also the case that when Jesus comes back in judgment, that Christians are going to know degrees of reward. First Corinthians 3:12 15 teaches us this. Paul says, but if any man builds on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble each man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in and the fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved yet so as through fire so you can build with gold and silver and costly stones, or you can build in your life in your service of the Lord, wood, hay, and stubble. And when the fire of judgment comes, some people's work is going to survive, and is going to shine all the more and be purified others will be consumed not that they will be. Paul makes it real clear he's not talking about being sent to hell here, but nevertheless, the work they did was of such minimal value that it's destroyed in the assessment and judgment of God. So there will be degrees of judgment, but there will also be degrees of reward. Now, people are going to ask, naturally, and I have to answer this before we end, well then, doesn't that mean that when we get to heaven, we get to the new heavens and new earth after the final judgment, that some people are going to be dissatisfied. They're going to be kind of disappointed. You know, they'll be sitting way down the banquet table and say, I sure wish I was up there, you know, with Paul. Whereas Paul said he was the worst of sinners and so he didn't look on it that way. But I know Paul's a lot better than me and Peter and a bunch of other people that are alive today too. And so when they get to heaven and get all those great rewards and I get to heaven and so obvious to everybody, you know, what a real loser as a Christian I was, and I'm not going to be very happy. Well, I don't think the Bible wants you to believe that any of us, regardless of how we are assessed in the final judgment, are going to be coveting the position of others, are somehow disappointed. And so how can I account for the fact we won't be disappointed? I would suggest that the way you live your Christian life now is in a sense, developing a capacity for God, a capacity for enjoying God. And so that when we finally pass through the final judgment, those who have developed by the holiness of their lives a greater capacity for walking with God and enjoying him are going to have that capacity fulfilled. Those who have a lesser capacity are still going to be filled to the full for their capacity. So they will feel no lack, no disappointment or discouragement where they want to covet others. But still there will be greater and lesser capacities. Kind of like light bulbs. You know, you go to the store and there are 15 watt light bulbs and 25 watt light bulbs and 60 watt bulbs and 100 and 150 and 200 and all the rest. But you know, when you plug a light bulb in, they all burn to their brightest. And the day is coming in the glory of heaven and the new heavens and the new Earth where all of us are going to burn to our brightest as light bulbs. But some of us are going to be 50 watt Christians and some are going to be 200 watt Christians, some are going to have A greater capacity for enjoying God. There will be degrees, but there will be no disappointment. I hope that little homey analogy helps you a bit. The last thing that I want to tell you about the doctrine of heaven is that the rewards that are spoken of should be an incentive to us to serve God and to be more Godly. Now notice Matthew 6, 1921, Matthew 6, 1921. Here Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, through nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. I think that's such an appropriate note on which to end our lesson about heaven. Where our treasure is, that's where our heart will be as well. Jesus says, don't be laying up for yourself, ultimately accomplishments and treasures and so forth on this earth, but rather be living in such a way that you're laying up treasure in heaven for yourself. It is not wrong to look forward to God honoring that. A life that is pleasing to Him, a life that wants to walk with Him, a life that is holy. And so will you take God at His word? Will you assure your heart the next time you're depressed, when you're down, when you think it's all for nothing, when it's futile, when you're ashamed of your sin? Will you assure your heart that God can be taken at his word, that he doesn't think the way you do, when you accuse yourself and when you get depressed and when you think it's all for nothing? God's thoughts are above your thoughts. Will you accept his comfort? Will you accept his incentives to live in a way that pleases him because someday you're going to be with him forever? In 1986, the USA Weekend magazine published a newspaper poll, and the heading was really humorous to me, the explanation as well. But here's what the heading said. 72% say they'll go to heaven. Many say friends won't. But you know, that should surprise you that 72% are convinced they're going to heaven because they have no reason to have that confidence. I'm really sure that there are many people who think they're going to go to heaven because they have no realistic assessment of how God looks upon their lives and how badly they are in need of a mediator, how much they need the Savior, Jesus Christ. 72% say they'll go to heaven what assurance do you have that you will? If you haven't fled to Christ for salvation, you have no reason to think that God will accept you. Because God will not grade on a curve. God will grade according to his holy and unchanging standards. And the only hope, therefore, that any of us have is for the one who lived up to those standards and then offered his life in the place of us who should be punished for our sin. The assurance we have, unlike the 72% of the poll, the assurance we have is that Jesus loves us. And if we believe in him, we have eternal life now and the day is coming when he will raise us from the dead. But you know, if we do have that assurance, it should also bring humility. The newspaper headings say 72% say they'll go to heaven. Many of their friends won't. But it isn't our place to sit around judging who's going to go and who's not going to go to heaven and say, oh, I don't think God will take him, and so forth. It's our place to be humble before God and thank him for his grace and try to become agents of that grace and ambassadors for Christ that people might really know the way to heaven. And this is one thing I'll tell you as a sinner who is happy that his Savior is going to make it possible to go to heaven. For all the other things that people may tell you about it, I can tell you for sure when we get to heaven, they're going to be singing Amazing Grace there. Let's pray. Lord, we do thank you for your Amazing grace. It is sweet the sound of it, to know that although our lives ought to be alienated from you and separated forever, that you have nevertheless made provision that we would live again, that our shame would be taken away, that our guilt would be covered, and that we would live before you and that we would enjoy that life now because of Christ, that we would have the Holy Spirit as a down payment on our inheritance, that we would begin to enjoy heaven and to know that Christ one day will take us into his very presence and perfect us us that we might live before you. We look forward to the mansions that have been prepared for us, and even more, we look forward to the redemption of our bodies as well for the day in which Christ will return and there will be a new heavens and a new earth. Please help us to abandon all of our hope in this world. Help us to give up those priorities that are set on this life and help us to look forward to that which will be eternal and enduring, that which will be righteous and good, that shall never end. We thank you for the hope of heaven. We thank you for the assurance it gives our hearts and for the incentive it offers our lives. Help us, Lord, to put our hearts there in heaven, that we might receive treasure when we see you. For we pray in Jesus name. Amen.

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