Naylor Community Christian Church
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to Revelation 4:1-11
Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and there before me
was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to
me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place
after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in
heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the
appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled
the throne. 4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated
on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of
gold on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and
peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are
the seven spirits of God. 6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked
like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living
creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first
living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a
face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living
creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its
wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“ ‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and
thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the
twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him
who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
-- this
morning, we are continuing our Afterlife Sermon Series -- our look at Heaven,
Hell, and everything in-between -- we should be finishing up this series next
week -- and I hope you have gotten something out of this -- more importantly, I
hope this series has inspired you to go out and reach others with the good news
of Christ because we know that heaven and hell are real and we want everyone to
join us in heaven and not in the Lake of Fire
-- finally, after all of the
discussions about Sheol and Hades -- about Hell and the Lake of Fire and the
Great White Throne judgment -- we are finally getting to the part that all of
us long for in our hearts -- for the next two weeks, we’re going to be talking
about Heaven
-- so, let’s get right into it
-- back in
2010, a book came out called, “Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding
Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back" -- they later made a movie based on
the book that starred Jennifer Garner
-- the book and the movie relate
the story of Colton Burpo, a four-year-old little boy who supposedly died and
went to heaven and then came back to tell his story
-- Colton's
story begins with emergency surgery after a ruptured appendix -- the doctors
weren't sure Colton was going to survive, but thankfully, he did -- a few
months later, Colton began telling his father about going to heaven and about
the people he met there -- and his father wrote down everything that Colton
told him
-- Colton
said as he was going up to heaven, he looked down and saw his parents praying
for him in the hospital -- he kept going up, and once he got to heaven, he was
immediately greeted by relatives who had died before he was even born -- he
told his father he had a conversation with his great-grandfather and met a
sister who had died in a miscarriage
-- he said he saw Jesus come riding
up on a rainbow-colored horse, and he met John the Baptist and the angel
Gabriel -- he said everyone in heaven had wings and halos, just like all the
angels -- and that heaven was filled with little children who had either died
in utero or as an infant and who continued to grow at a normal rate once they
went to heaven -- he said he saw God the Father on His throne, and Jesus, and
the Holy Spirit, who Colton described as being bluish and transparent and hard
to see
-- so, what
do you think? -- Colton’s description of what he saw sounds exactly like what
we have been taught our whole lives through stories, through movies and TV
shows -- through paintings -- and even in Sunday School -- Colton’s description
of heaven seems to fit pretty closely with what most people believe about heaven
-- we’ve
talked about this a little already in our study -- the popular conception of
the afterlife is that when we die, we will go to heaven to be with Jesus and we
will become angels or like angels -- if Colton’s description is right, then
we’ll all have wings and halos and harps
-- but
before we read and believe the accounts from Colton’s book or one of the other
many books that tell about near-death experiences and before we watch movies or
TV shows like “Heaven is for Real," we really should turn to the Bible and
see what it says about heaven and the afterlife and whether these stories agree
with what the Bible says is true
-- remember
my direction to you during this study -- be a good Berean -- follow the example
of the Bereans in Acts 17:11 who examined the Scriptures to see if what the
Apostle Paul taught was true -- do the same with any spiritual teachings you
happen to come across -- as John wrote in 1 John 4:1, “do not believe every
spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false
prophets have gone out into the world.”
-- so,
that’s what we’re going to do this morning as we begin our study of the
doctrine of heaven
-- just to
let you know, we're going to be going to be jumping around a great deal in the
Bible this morning -- I’m going to be giving you verses, but not diving deep
into them in this message -- so, I’ll give you a list of all the scriptures,
but I want you to go and read these in context later today or later this week
to see for yourself what God is saying in these verses
II. Is Heaven for Real?
-- so,
first, let’s answer the question, "Is Heaven for Real?" -- is heaven
a real place?
-- of
course! -- we’ve talked about that already -- it’s part of our foundational
beliefs in the church -- heaven is the place where God is -- even though we
tend to look around us and think that our country has drifted away from God,
81% of Americans still say there is a God, and almost 75% of all Americans
believe in heaven
-- the
Bible certainly teaches that -- if you look at the very first verse in the
Bible, you see there is a heaven -- Genesis 1:1 -- "in the beginning, God
created the heavens and the earth"
-- at the beginning of time, God
created heaven -- and in almost every book of the Bible, we see a reference to
heaven -- Colton is right -- heaven is real, there is no doubt about that
-- now before
we move on, I want to point out something that has confused a lot of people --
if you notice in Genesis 1:1, it says that "God created the heavens"
-- plural -- and in many places throughout the Bible, we see references to
"heavens" -- plural -- more than one heaven -- and then over in 2
Corinthians 12:2, Paul talks about being caught up to the third heaven -- about
being carried to Paradise
-- so why
does the Bible talk about heaven in a plural sense? -- why so many references
to “heavens” and not just “heaven?”
-- it has to do with the way the
Israelites understood and used that term -- the Israelites recognized three
heavens -- three spheres or planes that existed above the earth
-- the
first heaven is the atmosphere -- the air we breathe -- the place where clouds
are -- or, if you’re in New York City, the place where all that smoke from the
Canadian wildfires is -- this is the first heaven
-- the second heaven is what we
call space -- the place where the heavenly bodies reside -- the sun and the
moon and the stars -- the planets -- the galaxies -- the universe -- this is
the second heaven
-- the third heaven, that Paul
talked about, is what we normally think of in our day when we hear the word, “heaven”
-- when Paul talked about being caught up to the third heaven or to Paradise,
it appears from the context of that passage he was not referring to Hades, the
temporary abode of the dead, but to the place where God lives -- the place
where we find the throne of God
-- so
that's why the Bible refers to heavens in a plural term -- it’s because the
Jews recognized three separate heavens -- the atmosphere -- space -- and the
abode of God
-- so,
Heaven is real -- the Bible confirms that --
III. Does God Live in Heaven?
-- let's
move on to the next question: "Does
God live in heaven?" -- according to Colton's story, when he went to
heaven he saw God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit -- so, what does the
Bible say? -- does God live in heaven?
-- sure He
does! -- now, we know that God is not confined to any one place -- He is
omnipresent -- He is here with us and in us and all across this world and the
universe and the spiritual realm, all at the same time -- but Scripture does
teach that when we die, we will go to a specific place called Heaven, where we
will find God and reside with God -- that is the third heaven that the Jews
believed in -- that the Apostle Paul was referencing
-- Scripture is consistent in its
teaching that God resides in heaven -- all the way back in the Book of Genesis,
we see references to God being in heaven -- Genesis 21:17 -- "God called
to Hagar from heaven" -- Genesis 22:11 -- "The Angel of the Lord
called out to him [Abraham] from heaven"
-- same
thing in the New Testament -- in Matthew 5:16, Jesus told us to let our light
shine before men, that they might see our good deeds and praise our
"Father in heaven." -- in many references in the gospels, Jesus
referred to our Father who is in heaven -- we even see that in the Lord's
prayer -- "Our Father, who art in heaven..."
-- so, yes,
God lives in heaven -- that is where He has chosen to reside and that is where
His throne is -- Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 6 that he saw the Lord seated on His
throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple -- over
in Revelation Chapter 4, John was caught up to heaven and saw God seated on His
throne
-- look
back at Revelation 4:1-5
Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and there before me
was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to
me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place
after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in
heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the
appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled
the throne. 4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated
on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of
gold on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and
peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are
the seven spirits of God.
-- so, the
Bible does teach that the Father resides in Heaven, just as Colton said
-- and we
know that Jesus is in heaven, too -- John describes the Lamb being before the
throne later on in the Book of Revelation, which is consistent with other
passages in the New Testament
-- in Acts 1, we read of the
ascension of Jesus from the Mount of Olives up to heaven-- and in Acts 7:55, we
read, "But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw
the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God" -- and in
Ephesians 1:20 it says Christ was raised from the dead and seated at the right
hand of God in the heavenly realms
-- so, both
God the Father and Jesus are in heaven -- the Bible tells us that -- however,
there are not any clear references to the Holy Spirit being in heaven -- at
least at the present time
-- we know the Holy Spirit is part
of the Trinity -- He is God -- He is the third person in the Godhead -- so in
that sense He is in heaven because God is in heaven
-- and we know that the Holy Spirit
has resided in heaven in the past because Jesus told His disciples in John 16:7
that it was good for Him to leave this earth, because when He ascended, the
Father would send the Holy Spirit down to be our Counselor and Comforter
-- in order to send the Holy Spirit
down, that implies the Spirit was previously in heaven -- so, the Spirit has
been in heaven in the past -- He is with us now, indwelling all believers and
reaching out to us in this world in other ways through His prevenient grace as
He ministers to us and calls unbelievers to come to a saving knowledge of
Christ
-- however, we don’t know for sure
if the Holy Spirit still resides in some form in heaven at this time or not -- in
verse 5, John refers to seven lamps around the throne, which he says are the
seven spirits of God or the seven-fold spirit -- we see similar references
throughout the Book of Revelation -- but we’re not sure if this is referring
specifically to the Holy Spirit or some other aspect of God’s character and
nature
-- but one thing is clear -- the
Holy Spirit is never described as having a body of any type or of being in a
form that we can see with our earthly, physical eyes-- so this part of Colton's
story breaks down a little -- because he claims to have seen the Holy Spirit
when he was in heaven
-- also,
Colton's description of the throne room of God does not match what we see in
Scripture -- in the Bible, there are two accounts of people being caught up to
heaven and appearing before the throne of God -- Isaiah in Isaiah Chapter 6 and
the Apostle John in Revelation 4 -- and both of their accounts are remarkably
similar
-- look at
the rest of John’s description of the throne room here in Revelation 4,
beginning at verse 6-11
6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like
a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living
creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first
living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a
face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living
creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its
wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“ ‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and
thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the
twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him
who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
-- John’s
description of worship before the throne of God is very similar to that of
Isaiah -- just like in Isaiah, John describes the throne room of heaven as
being filled with worship led by the Seraphim -- the Seraphim are a class of
angels that have six wings -- they are covered with eyes in front and in back,
and have different faces -- one has the face of an ox -- one the face of a lion
-- one the face of a man -- and one the face of a flying eagle -- and both
Isaiah and John describe them as flying around and crying out in a loud voice,
"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty"
-- the
throne room is described as being filled with smoke -- and John adds that peals
of thunder and lightning came from the throne
-- none of
this is mentioned in Colton's book, which is hard to believe -- I would think
this would stand out to anyone who went to heaven -- that we certainly would
notice four living creatures with six wings, covered with eyes, and leading
worship around the throne -- both John and Isaiah mentioned this in their
accounts when they had their visions of heaven, but Colton doesn’t, which is
suspect
IV. Our Bodies in Heaven
-- let's
move on to our bodies -- Colton said that everyone in heaven had wings just
like the angels -- and that's a common belief of most people -- that when
someone dies, they go to heaven and become an angel -- or at least, they get
angel wings
-- we see
that in one of our most loved Christmas movies -- "It's a Wonderful
Life" -- Clarence is an angel who is sent to help Jimmy Stewart so he will
get his wings -- and remember the line from the movie, "Every time a bell
rings, an angel gets his wings"
-- the only
problem with this -- and with Colton's story about everyone in heaven --
including the little children -- having wings like the angels is that not all
angels have wings -- in fact, according to the Bible -- out of the four types
of angels we know of -- angels, archangels, seraphim, and cherubim -- only the
seraphim and cherubim have wings -- the other two don't
-- in the
accounts of angels appearing to people in the Bible, they are never described
as having wings -- in Luke 2, when the angels appeared to the shepherds in the
fields outside Jerusalem, there is no mention of wings -- when the angel
Gabriel appeared to Daniel in the Old Testament, and then to Zechariah, John
the Baptist's father, and to Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the New Testament --
no mention of wings
-- when
Mary Magdalene and the other women visited Jesus' tomb on Easter morning in
Luke 24:4, they were startled by the appearance of two men with clothes that
gleamed like lightning -- no wings
-- so what
about us? -- when we die and go to heaven, will we get wings? -- no where in
the Bible are we told that people are going to get wings when they die and go
to heaven
-- as we’ve
discussed earlier in our study, we will be given a new body when we go to
heaven -- Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:49 that our new bodies will bear
the likeness of the resurrected Jesus -- our bodies will be imperishable --
immortal -- and physical
-- think
about what Jesus' resurrected body was like -- Jesus was not a spirit -- He was
not a ghost -- He was flesh and blood -- He didn't have wings, and we won't
either -- after the resurrection, He talked with His disciples -- He ate with
His disciples -- He touched His disciples and let them touch Him -- and our new
bodies will be like His -- we’ll talk more about the reason for this when we
finish up our Afterlife Sermon Series next week
-- so, Colton's
story about seeing people in heaven with wings is not biblical -- it does not
line up with the biblical account -- not for the angels -- and, definitely, not
for people who have passed away and who have gone to be with the Lord
V. People in Heaven
-- let's
look at one more part of
--
-- that
brings up two questions, the first of which we have partly answered -- what
will our bodies look like in heaven? -- will we be present in heaven at the age
at which we died or will we be given a body at a different age?
-- Colton
said both in his story -- his little sister was brought up to heaven as a
miscarried baby and grew from that point on until she was a little girl about
his age when he went there -- his great-grandfather, however, was not an old
man, but instead was a young man in the prime of his life
-- so, what
does the Bible say about our ages when we get to heaven? -- will we be the same
age in heaven as we are when we die? -- well, the Bible doesn't say anything
about this -- the Bible just tells us that we will be given a new body -- as
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, this new body will be imperishable and immortal
-- but he doesn't tell us how old we will appear to be when we are in heaven
-- over in
Revelation 7:9, when John sees the multitudes that appear before the throne of
God in heaven, he doesn't mention how old they were
-- so, we
really don't know -- the Bible is silent on this account -- and this is true
whether we're considering if there will be infants and children in heaven or if
everyone is going to be the same age -- if we have a new body, will we all
appear as young adults in the prime of our lives?
-- the
Bible simply does not say -- I think the assumption that is made by most
believers that we will be given the body of a young adult is based on the story
of the creation of Adam and Eve -- it is obvious from that account that Adam
and Eve were created as adults -- they were not infants -- they were not
children -- they were created as adults and placed in the Garden of Eden -- we
can assume from this that our resurrected bodies will be the same -- but that
is not stated in Scripture -- we simply do not know
-- the
other question
-- once
again, the Bible really doesn't tell us a whole lot on this account -- the
closest thing we have is the story of Lazarus and the beggar from Luke 16 -- Lazarus
recognized and knew both the beggar and Abraham and was able to speak to
Abraham in Hades
-- that is
the only reference we have in the Bible about people knowing others beyond the
grave
--
personally, I think we will know each other after death -- but I cannot back
that up with a scriptural reference -- as he was dying, Stephen saw Jesus
standing at the right of hand of God and knew Him and recognized Him -- and we
know that Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration
and Peter, James, and John recognized them even though they had never seen them
before -- so I believe we will recognize and know each other in heaven
VI. Closing
-- so,
let's bring this home -- what does all this mean?
-- I think
the big take-away from all of this is that we have to be careful in accepting
non-Biblical accounts of the afterlife -- whether that’s heaven or hell
-- in most cases, these accounts of
near-death experiences or of people going to heaven and then coming back to
life to tell about it don’t line up with what the scriptures tell us, just like
we’ve been talking about
-- Heaven is a real place -- it is
the place that believers go when we die -- but it’s not the place that Colton
described to his father -- it’s not a place of billowy clouds and people with
angel wings and it’s probably not a place filled with people of all ages, from
infants all the way to senior citizens
-- Colton’s book and the movie that
was made based are just another example of the many false teachings about
heaven that you can find today
-- in
Revelation 13:6, John writes that the Beast -- the Antichrist -- is empowered
by Satan to "blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place
and those who live in heaven"
-- this is why
there are so many false teachings about heaven -- it’s part of the plan of
Satan -- this verse tells us that Satan leads the antichrist to attack God by
slandering God's name, God's people, and God's dwelling place -- heaven
-- by
slandering heaven, Satan has been able to take God's most wonderful promise to
us -- His promise of the kingdom to come -- of life everlasting filled with
wonders and excitement and rest -- and turn it into a parody of disembodied
saints with wings floating on clouds and sitting in church all day
-- and, by
convincing the world that everyone is going to heaven regardless of what they
believe, Satan is keeping people away from the truth of the gospel -- he’s
keeping people from turning to Christ in repentance and for the forgiveness of
their sins -- he’s keeping people on the broad way that leads to Hell
-- that is
his goal -- that is his purpose -- but knowing this, our response -- our goal
and our purpose -- should be to stand against false teachings, to share the
good news of Christ, and to point people to the truth about heaven, hell, and
everything in-between
-- the reality of heaven is so much
greater than what we imagine, because heaven is where we will be in the very
presence of God and we will be able to see our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus --
where we will know Him in a way we haven’t been able to before
-- so, when someone asks you about
books like Colton’s or movies or TV shows about near-death experiences, use that
as an opportunity to talk with others about what heaven is really like and what
the Bible says about heaven and, more importantly, how we get to heaven in the
first place
-- so, I'm
going to leave you with that -- as we close, let's join together in prayer to
pray for those in our world who are being led astray through false teachings --
and let's pray that God would open their eyes and remove the veil Satan has put
before them so they might come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ
-- let's
pray
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