The Best is Yet to Come: Heaven Bound

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Sign up at harvest.org. Heaven is a place where tragedy turns to triumph, sadness turns to joy, disability turns to ability, handicaps will be gone, mental and physical disability is banished and there'll be joy. It's an understatement to say heaven is a place where we all want to go. And today Pastor Greg Laurie helps us make sure we're heaven bound. Heaven is a happy place. Heaven is a hopping place. Heaven is a joyful place. See, as Lewis said, joy is the serious business of heaven. Well, we're going to get serious today and talk about the joy and relief we'll experience the moment we take our last breath on earth and our first breath of heavenly air. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie is presenting his final message from our Revelation series. If you missed any part, you can catch up online or get Pastor Greg's new commentary on the book of Revelation.

Go online to harvest.org. Heard a story about a very wealthy man who was near death and he just wanted to take some of his possessions to heaven. So he asked God, could you make an exception? I know we can't take it with us but could you make an exception and allow me to take one suitcase with me to heaven filled with whatever I want to take?

The Lord said, all right, I'll make an exception for you. So shortly after that the man died and arrived at the pearly gates and he was met by Peter. Peter knew of the arrangement this man had already made with God and Peter said, could I check with you what you brought in your suitcase? And the wealthy man said, sure. And Peter looked inside. The man closed it up. A little bit later someone came up to Peter and said, I have to ask you, we heard about this guy who brought a suitcase to heaven. Tell us what was in the suitcase? Peter said, it's the funniest thing.

This guy brought a suitcase filled with asphalt. You get what I'm saying, right? Because the Bible says the streets of heaven are paved with gold. So we're talking together about heaven which is a real place waiting for us. It's not some mysterious atmospheric realm of smoke and mirrors.

No. It's a real place for real people. To do real things. In the final two chapters of Revelation John uses the word city 11 times in specific reference to heaven. Again, heaven is a real place for real people.

Everything we're going through right now is preparing us for that day. Don't forget Jesus said to his disciples, I go to prepare a place for you. By the way, the night that our Lord delivered those words was a night like no other.

All the disciples could see that Jesus was heavy of heart. Then He dropped the bombshell that one of them was going to betray Him. And He identifies Judas Iscariot as the betrayer and says to Judas, whatever you do, do it right now. So Judas leaves the room and Jesus says to the others in John chapter 13, the time has come for me the Son of Man to enter into my glory and God will receive glory because of all that happens to me and God will bring me into His glory very soon.

But you cannot come where I am going. Peter protests, what is going on here? He looks at what Judas just did. He said, listen Lord, though all of these disciples deny you, I will never deny you. Jesus says, well since you brought it up, not only will you deny me, you will do so three times for the rooster has crowed twice. So everything is unraveling before the eyes of the disciples. Judas has betrayed our Lord. Peter is going to deny our Lord.

They are thinking, what is going on? And it is against the backdrop of that alarm and panic that Jesus then says these familiar words recorded in John 14. Let not your hearts be troubled.

Neither let them be afraid. 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 you may be also. Thomas is not understanding what Jesus is talking about. Jesus goes on to say and where I go you know and the way you know.

Thomas says, actually we don't know what you are even talking about. Jesus then of course says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me. The apostle John was there with the eleven that night. John would often write of how he would lean on the chest of Jesus. Probably so he would not miss a single word. Now as we look at John he is banished to the island of Patmos. Presumably he is there all by himself. Maybe he is thinking back to this night when the Lord gave those words. Sixty years have passed. And now John has actually had a personal glimpse of this place that Jesus has talked of.

I go to prepare a place for you. John has seen it. John has been catapulted into the future. And he has seen eternity. He has seen heaven. He has seen hell. He has seen the tribulation period.

The antichrist. He sees angels. He sees demons.

He sees everything. And now here are the closing words of the apostle John in Revelation 22. Look at verse 1. And he showed me a pure river of water of life. Clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

And in the middle of its tree on either side of the river was the tree of life which bore twelve fruits each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations and there will be no more curse. But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his servant shall serve him and they will see his face. And his name will be on their foreheads and they will need no night there. They will need no lamp nor light of the sun for the Lord God gives them light and they shall reign forever and ever.

Powerful words. So Revelation 21 gives us a glimpse of the new Jerusalem from an outside perspective. Here in chapter 22 we go inside to see what is actually waiting for us. John's description of heaven is actually getting clear. He has described it as a kingdom. He has described it as a city.

Now he describes it as a garden. In the first chapters of the Bible we see paradise lost when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. The final two chapters of the Bible describe the paradise that God has created for us in heaven. Now if you are taking notes here is a few things we learn about heaven from what we have read.

Number one. Heaven and the new earth are a place of satisfaction. Heaven and the new earth are a place of satisfaction. We will want for nothing. All of our needs will be met. Our thirst will be quenched because verse 17 says let him who thirst come and whoever desires let him take the water of life freely. Number two. Heaven and the new earth are a place of sufficiency.

Sufficiency. Look at Revelation 22 too. In the middle of its tree on either side of the river was a tree of life which were 12 fruits. In each tree yielding its fruit every month the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Now remember because of the sin of Adam and Eve they and all of humanity was banned from the tree of life because they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

I wonder if when we get there we'll meet Adam and Eve and we can ask why did you have to eat of that forbidden fruit. You wonder what these fruits are. You know there's certain fruits I favor. Certain fruits I don't love.

Comquots. Don't get those. Don't like those. Oranges.

Take them or leave them. Apples. Kind of like them. But I'll tell you I love peaches. I love nectarines. I love plums. I love cherries. I love berries. I love bananas but I don't like them too ripe. When I see someone eating an overly ripe banana it kind of grosses me out. I like them when they're not quite green but just starting to get yellow. But we all have our favorite fruits and I especially love the fruits of summer.

But here's what's interesting. The leaves of this tree are there for the healing of the nations. The Greek word used there for healing is therapeutic.

You can probably imagine what English word we get from that. Therapy. There's therapeutic value in these leaves.

Not that we'll get sick in heaven but there's this life-giving power in the trees that are there. Why is it that all the things that taste good are not good for you. At least taste good to me. I've already told you I love hamburgers. I love all Mexican food. I love pasta, pizza, etc.

Those things they're good to eat but if you eat too much of that food you can gain a lot of weight. Well I think in heaven we're going to have tasty delicious food. I think I can say authoritatively there will be no kale in heaven. In fact it's been revealed to me that is the main food of hell.

No I'm joking. But we're going to have these trees that are there for the healing of the nations. And the curse is gone.

Verse three. There'll be no more curse. The curse brought sickness. The curse brought aging. And worst of all the curse that came upon humanity after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. The worst part was death itself. And this is something that affects everyone.

As I've often said. One out of every one person's will die. Three people die every second. 180 people die every minute. 11,000 people die every hour. You see that's like the most depressing statistic I've ever heard. I know.

But it's true. On any given day 250,000 people are entering into eternity. But now we read death is gone. Heard a story about a mom and her little boy who were walking along the beach. And they came upon a dead seagull lying in the sand. A little boy said, mommy what happened to the seagull? Wanting to protect him from the harsh realities of death. She said, well honey the little seagull was sick. And so God took him to heaven.

And the little boy still looking at the bird lying on the sand said, well then why did God throw him back to the earth? Well death will be gone. The curse of death will be gone.

We won't even talk about it anymore. Hey I hope you're enjoying this series that we're doing on the book of Revelation and I'm very excited to tell you about a brand new book that we have just released simply called Revelation a Book of Promises. I'm going to tell you how to get your own copy at the end of the program but if you can't wait just go to harvest.org to find out more about getting your copy of this brand new book. This commentary on the book of Revelation called Revelation a Book of Promises. And now back to our study. Here's the surprising thing.

Number three. Heaven and the new earth are a place of service. Heaven and the new earth are a place of service. Look at verse three.

His servants will serve him. Yes heaven is a place of rest but I can only rest for so long. Pretty much every day I take a short nap.

I probably shouldn't admit this but usually after lunch I'll maybe fall asleep for 12 minutes. And then I'm revived. Now I'm ready to get back out and do things. And so there's going to be opportunities in heaven and the new earth. There's going to be things to do. You artists get ready. God's going to utilize your creative abilities. You people who are mechanical there'll be a place for you as well. You singers and vocalists and instrumentalists get ready because God's going to use all of your skills in the afterlife.

And it's going to be a fantastic time. And you wonder if we might be able to finish some of the tasks that remained uncompleted on earth in heaven. You wonder if dreams that were shattered here will be ultimately fulfilled there.

Point number four. Heaven is a place where tragedy turns to triumph. It's a place where tragedy turns to triumph. Sadness turns to joy. Disability turns to ability.

Handicaps will be gone. Mental and physical disability is banished and there'll be joy. Heaven is a happy place. Heaven is a hopping place. Heaven is a joyful place. The psalmist says, in your presence there is fullness of joy and on your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. C.S. Lewis said and I quote, joy is the serious business of heaven end quote. I cannot agree more.

Listen to this. You're going to laugh in heaven. Do you like to laugh? I love to laugh. I actually like to make people laugh as well. And we're going to be laughing in heaven. Luke 6 21 says, God blesses you who are hungry now for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now because the time will come when you will laugh with joy.

The book of Revelation reminds us we win in the end. The other day I did a post on all my social media accounts. I'm on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.

You ought to follow me. And I asked this question of the folks out there. I said, what are you looking forward to the most when you get to heaven?

Here's some of their responses. A man named Joey wrote me and said, and some of these are pretty sad I have to warn you. But also mixed with confidence and trust in God.

Joey wrote these words. I'm looking forward to dancing with my 11 year old daughter. She left this earth so unexpectedly. I miss everything about her. Her smile, her laugh, her kind spirit, her joy. The way she would call me Papa. I can't wait to see her sweet face again. And I promise when I get to heaven, writes Joey, I'll never let her out of my arms.

Jada, he says to his daughter, Daddy loves you so much. We will dance. We will sing.

We will play hide and seek. You will be forever Daddy's little girl. Joey you're going to see Jada again. Kimberly writes, she looks forward to seeing her grandparents again in heaven and thanking them for praying for her and meeting her son Jacob who died when she was four and a half months along in her pregnancy.

She says, I'm sure they've all played and laughed till they cried together. Mike writes these words, in heaven I'm looking forward to a new body. I know that sounds selfish but I've been paralyzed for 35 years and my health has been declining in the last four years. I'm ready to be whole and complete with our Lord. Mike you'll get that new body that God has promised you.

Sandy writes these words. This is a surprising one. I'm looking forward to meeting my baby that I aborted at the age of 17. I hope you quote this in your sermon because I think it's something a lot of women need to hear. I love to share my story.

The story of pain and deep remorse but ultimately a story of the forgiveness and healing that only God can give. Can I say a word about that? Are you a woman who is pregnant and you're contemplating an abortion? Can I just say to you, do not do that. You're taking the innocent life of an unborn child. Say well Greg the child was conceived out of wedlock.

Guess what? I was conceived out of wedlock. And think well my mother carried me to term and that child deserves to live and if you can raise that child then put that little one up for adoption. There's plenty of families out there that would love to adopt a child. But this girl's being very honest and she's saying it's a story of pain and deep remorse.

But let me say this. If you are a woman who has gotten an abortion ask God to forgive you of that. And rest assured in this truth that Sandy has brought to our attention. You'll be reunited with your child again if you've put your trust in Christ. Bob writes I'm 83 years old and the thing I'm looking the most forward to in heaven is being with the son that I lost just before his seventh birthday.

This literally killed me then. Then he says you're aware of the pain writing to me because our son went to be with the Lord 13 years ago. He says but the Lord gave me life again and a few years later I invited Jesus to take it over. Bob also writes I'm an artist and I'm looking forward to the beauty of heaven. Oh Bob it's going to be more beautiful than you can even imagine. Carly writes I'm looking forward to seeing my baby girl Emma Lee in April of 2020. I was 40 weeks pregnant when we found out sweet Emma no longer had a heartbeat due to her umbilical cord accident.

I was induced and she was born the next morning. We had to say hello and goodbye for now to our first born daughter that day. Heaven now feels so much closer.

I can't wait to hear Emma say mama for the first time. It's true when you have a loved one that's close to you die heaven is closer isn't it. Les writes my wife died four and a half years ago and I miss her so much.

We were married for 36 years and 11 months. We started going to your church in 1984 and I still go. That's great Les. But when I get to heaven I want to meet Jesus first and then find my wife and take her hand and take a 100 year walk and just talk. You'll see your wife again Les. And finally Edna. I save Edna for last because I found what she said a bit humorous. I'm looking forward in heaven right said now so I can wear one outfit.

She doesn't like to change clothes apparently. Wearing one outfit never crying again being reunited with my friends and family. I dream of kneeling at the foot of Jesus laying my head in his lap and thanking him and rejoicing that the sorrows of this world are over. Oh yes these are sad but hopeful because they're all putting their faith in Christ. Pastor Greg Laurie with good reassurance about the loved ones waiting for us in heaven. Today's message is titled the best is yet to come and you're listening to a new beginning. If you'd like to share this encouragement with a friend or listen again yourself find this program online at harvest.org.

Again the title is the best is yet to come. Now in tandem with our studies of revelation here on a new beginning Pastor Greg has just released a brand new book on revelation that takes us even further. You know Pastor Greg there's a lot of symbolism in Bible prophecy. You've studied the subject a great deal.

Yes. How much of that symbolism do we know for sure what it means and how much is open to interpretation where godly people do disagree? Well I think it's very important to understand Bible prophecy.

There are constant exhortations to understand these things. Jesus when he was speaking of an event called the abomination of desolation said let the reader understand. In the book of Thessalonians Paul writing to the believers there he says brothers I would not have you be ignorant. Then he went on to talk about the rapture. So we don't want to be ignorant we want to understand and the very word revelation means to unveil.

Now there are different ways that we can view these truths and I think godly people can and they do frankly disagree on some of these things. Now my position is I believe that there is an event called the rapture that could happen at any moment. I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture. Now the tribulation period is last seven years starts with the emergence of antichrist.

It ends with the return of Jesus Christ. I don't believe we as Christians will go through the tribulation period. I believe we'll be raptured before that time comes. Now that belief alone will affect you in the way that you live because if you believe you could be caught up to meet the lord in the air and you see the signs of the time showing how close the tribulation period could potentially be you realize if the tribulation period is close then the rapture of the church is even closer. So I could use the illustration of seeing Christmas decorations up and you know they go up so early now don't they what is it August or something and say I can't believe Christmas decorations are up well guess what if I see the decorations for Christmas going up it says this Thanksgiving is coming. You say no Greg it says Christmas is coming. No I know but if Christmas is coming Thanksgiving is coming even sooner because Thanksgiving precedes Christmas doesn't it? So the point of it all is if I see signs of the times out there telling me that the tribulation period is coming then that means that Jesus is coming even sooner for his church. That belief alone will affect you in the way that you live and I talk about that and a lot more in this brand new book that I've just written called Revelation A Book Of Promises. It's hard cover. It's a thick one. This is going to be a resource that you'll keep at home and hopefully you'll consult it again and again and my prayer and my hope is it will help unlock this great book the final book of the bible the only book of the bible I might add it has a special blessing promise to the person who reads hears and keeps the words of it and I want you to get this book I've just written simply called Revelation A Book Of Promises and we'll send it to you for your gift of any size and here's Dave to tell you more all right well thank you very much it's a brand new commentary from Pastor Greg hot off the press more than 400 pages in length if you've been less than clear on your understanding of last day's events you need to get this resource hey Dave let me jump in really quick and not only are we offering this new book Revelation A Book Of Promises but we have this really cool graphic bookmark that we have put together that gives you a timeline of end times event so you probably wondered okay I know I've heard about the rapture and the tribulation period and the anti-christ and the second coming what happens when well this very beautiful little visual bookmark sort of lays it out for you that's included in the book you're talking about right now yeah that's right it comes automatically so get in touch with your donation today and we'll thank you with a copy of Revelation A Book Of Promises and time is running out we can only mention this a short time longer you can write us at a new beginning box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300 that's a 24 7 phone number 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org well next time Pastor Greg offers more deep encouragement from his final message in the final book of the bible join us here on a new beginning with pastor and bible teacher Greg Laurie thanks for listening to a new beginning with Greg Laurie a podcast made possible by harvest partners helping people everywhere know God sign up for daily devotions and learn how to become a harvest partner at harvest.org