Welcome to Grace to You, featuring the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. I'm Carl Miller.
Now Fred, as you probably have already heard, John went to heaven about two weeks ago, and with the leadership here at Grace to You considering what would be appropriate to air, John's series on heaven topped the list. It's one of John's classic studies. Today's lesson is from that series that walks you through what Scripture says about the eternal home that John is enjoying now and the home that awaits you if you're a Christian.
So now, to learn more about that amazing heavenly home, follow along as we continue John MacArthur's study simply titled, Heaven.
Now, Scripture has much to say about rewards, and I don't want to get into an entire message on the matter of rewards, but let me just read you a few scriptures. Daniel 12:3. And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.
Now, what he is saying there is very simple. If you lead many to righteousness, you will shine like the stars forever and ever. Your reward, then, is predicated on the faithfulness with which you proclaimed the message of righteousness. All of those who have wisdom will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven. And what Daniel is saying there is that how you function in this life with the wisdom of God, how you function in this life with the proclamation of God's message will determine how you shine in the eternity to come.
In the New Testament, 1 Thessalonians. Chapter, and there's so many scriptures. I don't want to get tied down to too many. 2:19, he says, For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of exaltation? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming?
For you are our glory and joy. Paul says, Part of the reward we're going to have in heaven is going to be the reward of seeing those who are there because of our faithfulness. That will be part of our reward. Part of our reward, mark this, is not only serving, but joy. Just the joy of seeing folks who are there because we were faithful will be part of our reward.
An important part of our reward. And again, I emphasize it's not something you wear, it's something that you experience: greater service, greater responsibility, greater joy. That's essential. In understanding this whole matter. In 1 Corinthians 9:25, Paul says, We will receive.
not a perishable wreath. Or a perishable crown, but an imperishable one.
Now, mark that thought. What that means is that when we receive our reward, it will never ever die. Athletes who have won great victories. or receive great honors, know the thrill. In my own athletic career, I know what it is to win a big game, to win a bowl game, to win an award, to receive some recognition, national recognition, or whatever it is.
You know what it is to watch an athlete ascend the top stairs to receive the gold medal in the Olympics? That moment, that moment of ecstasy, that moment of exaltation is but a moment.
Well, if you can put that into heavenly terms, heaven will be forever enjoying that maximum moment of thrill. Never diminishing, never ever subsiding, never going away, you'll be on the victor stand receiving the gold medal to the adulation of the living God forever and ever and ever and ever. That will be your ongoing, uninterrupted, unending experience. You will be receiving that crown which never fades, never perishes. There's never a morning after.
Just continued joy and exaltation.
Now the Bible promises a crown of life and a runner's crown and all of those things. All of those are capacities of service or simply refer to eternal life. The crown of life, I believe, is eternal life. The imperishable crown is in a sense eternal life. The crown of joy, that's eternal life.
But it's eternal life filled with joy and glory and privilege. for service. Paul writes in 2 Timothy. Chapter four, you know this verse, a familiar one, verse eight. He says, in the future, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness.
Which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day, not only me, but all of those who love his appearance. What's the crown of righteousness? That's eternal righteousness. The crown of life is eternal life. The crown of joy is eternal joy.
The crown is not something you wear. I say it again. It is something you experience. Eternal life, eternal joy. Eternal privilege to serve.
Eternal blessedness That's the reward. Peter writing in 1 Peter 5. I think you probably remember verses 2 and 3. He says, Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily according to the will of God, and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness, nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples of the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
What is that? Eternal glory. The crown of life's eternal life. The crown of rejoicing's eternal rejoicing. The crown of glory is eternal glory.
The imperishable crown is that reward which is forever. And so we will then serve. And our service, I believe, eternally will be predicated on our faithfulness here and now. I really believe, people, that the way we live now is determining the capacities for service. In the days that we spend in eternity, not days really, but in the eons that we spend in eternity.
In Revelation 2:26, it says, He who overcomes, who keeps my deeds until the end. Get that? To him, I will give authority over the nations, and he shall rule them. In other words, what you do now determines what the Lord's going to use you to do then. That's right.
Revelation 2.26.
So what we do now. determines The capacity For future reward, listen to Revelation 22, 12. Behold, I'm coming quickly. My reward is with me. Listen, to render to every man according to what he has done.
Did you get that? Your capacity for eternal joy, eternal glory. Eternal reward is related to what you have done. Gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, stubble. What are we going to do in heaven?
We're going to worship. We're going to rain. We're going to serve. The capacity for our reigning will be related to how faithful we were with our responsibility and stewardship here. The capacity of our service will be determined by our faithfulness to serve here.
The crown of life will be proportionate. To our obedience here. We will enjoy eternal life to the maximum of our capacity, but that capacity will be determined by our life here. The crown of rejoicing will be eternal rejoicing in a capacity determined by the faithfulness we exhibited here. The crown of glory, the same thing.
So we are at this particular point in time doing things in this life to serve the living God as priests that will affect. our capacity to serve him in eternity. That ought to motivate your heart.
Sometimes people will want to be encouraging and say you need to slow down and do less, but if you look at it like this, it's the opposite, isn't it? We really ought to spend ourselves to the maximum here so that we can have the fullest capacity throughout eternity to give glory to the great God and our Father. and the Lord Jesus Christ. Fourthly, Yeah. This is something else that we will do in heaven.
It's not really what we do, but it's got to fit in somewhere, so I'm going to put it here. We will be continually refreshed by Him. Let's call it rest. We will rest in heaven. We will rest in heaven.
Hebrews 4 talks about entering into rest. There is a rest for the people of God. Jesus said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly, and you shall find rest for your souls. One of the promises that the Lord has given to those who believe in his Son is that we will know rest, rest from our labors, the labors to try to find God, as it were, on our own, the rest from works, righteousness, but not the rest from duty. In Luke 13, 29 says we'll recline at a banquet table.
We went into that earlier in our series. That doesn't mean we're just going to sit around all the time. And in Hebrews 3 and 4, when it talks about the rest that is there for the people of God, it means that we will never be weary, it means that we will never be weak. It means that we will never be unfulfilled. It means that we will never be interrupted.
It's a unique kind of rest. Look at Revelation 14 while you're there, verse 11. The smoke of the torment goes up forever and ever, and this is speaking of those who were judged in the Time of the tribulation. And there Judgment is without rest, obviously. But on the other hand, verse 12: here's the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may what? Rest. From their labours, for their deeds follow with them. Rest.
Rest. 2 Thessalonians 1, 7. calls it relief. Relief. It says that when Jesus comes, he gives relief to the afflicted.
Relief, rest. What does that mean? It means spiritual rest. It means rest from weariness and weakness. There'll never be any hunger.
There'll never be any thirst. There'll never be any weariness. There'll never be any heat to tire us out. That's the eternal Rest. Doesn't mean we don't serve.
We reign, we serve in unceasing duty, coupled with perfect rest. Can you handle that? Put it this way. The more you serve, the more rested you become. The more you serve, the more refreshed you are.
You see, it's not the law of thermodynamics that we call entropy that causes everything to disintegrate won't be in effect. And so there will be no debilitating forces. The more you serve, the more you fulfill your purpose, the more you are refreshed. No energy will ever be expended. Did you get there?
You'll never expend any energy. You'll never pant. You'll never be out of breath. You'll never slow your step. Credible thoughts.
Perfect rest, perfect rest. The great Puritan pastor Richard Baxter wrote, and it's worth listening to these words: rest. How sweet a word is this to mine ears. Methinks the sound doth turn to substance, and having entered at the ear, doth possess my brain, and thence descendeth down to my very heart. Methinks I feel it stir and work, and that through all my parts and powers, but with a various work on my various parts.
To my wearied senses and languid spirits, it seems a quieting, powerful opiate. To my dulled powers, it is spirit and life. To my dark eyes it is both I salve and a prospective. To my taste it is sweetness. To mine ears it is melody.
To my hands and feet it is strength and nimbleness. Methinks I feel it digest as it proceeds and increase my native heat and moisture. And lying as a reviving cordial at my heart, from thence doth send forth lively spirits which beat through all the pulses of my soul. Rest not as the stone that rests on the earth, nor as these clods of flesh shall rest in the grave, so our beasts must rest as well as we. Nor is it the satisfying of our fleshly lusts, nor such rest as the carnal world desireth.
No, no. We have another kind of rest than these. Rest we shall from all our labors, which were but the way and means to rest, but yet that is the smallest part. O blessed rest, where we shall never rest day or night, crying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of Sabbaths. When we shall rest from sin, but not from worship, from suffering and sorrow, but not from comfort.
Oh, blessed day, when I shall rest with God, when I shall rest in knowing, loving, rejoicing, and praising, when my perfect soul and body together shall in these perfect things perfect. Perfectly enjoy the most perfect God when God also, who is love itself, shall perfectly love me, yea, and rest in His love to me, as I shall rest in my love to Him, and rejoice over me with joy and singing, as I shall rejoice in Him. End quote. Rest. Rest.
Rest. Finally, and this one staggers me. Turn to Luke 12. Luke 12. Verse 35.
He says Be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps alit. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast.
so that you may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.
Now follow. Blessed are those slaves whom the master shall find on the alert when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will gird himself to serve and have them recline at the table and will come up and wait on them. Stop at that point.
Now that's incredible. There's one other thing we're going to experience in heaven. You ready for this? The Lord Jesus Christ. Serve.
Yeah. The Lord Jesus Christ will serve us. Blessed are those slaves whom the master shall find on the alert when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will gird himself to serve and have them recline at the table and will come up and wait on them. Are you ready for this?
There's another thing that's going to happen in heaven. Forever and ever and ever and ever. God, the Son, will render service to the redeemed. Is that an unbelievable thing? Jesus here takes the human imagery of a great Lord returning to his palace.
His slaves are there waiting. Everything is prepared. They have been faithful to their Lord. And upon his arrival, he calls for a wonderful gathering together. He doesn't seek to get some rest.
He doesn't say to his slaves, Well, I want to go to sleep for a while. I've had such a long journey. He says, No, I want you slaves to sit down, and I'm going to serve you a meal out of gratitude for your service to me and your preparedness when I come. The Lord doesn't seek to rest. He doesn't seek to retire for the night.
He changes his slaves into kings and he makes a feast for them. And astoundingly, he doesn't order other servants to serve them. He does it.
Now, I said a few moments ago that we don't serve each other in heaven, but we get served by the Lord Himself. It's a fantastic thought. The heavenly Lord Himself forever and ever serves us. When he comes and finds that we have been faithful, he will serve us forever. Is that a motivating Truth.
How could heaven have a greater blessedness than that? How wonderful to think of worshiping him forever, of reigning with him forever. How wonderful to think of serving him forever. Of resting in that service forever, but wonder of wonders beyond all that to imagine that He will serve us forever. Yet it shouldn't surprise us.
He washed the disciples' feet because he loved them. John 13. And he will love us perfectly then too. And he will serve us.
Well, when you think about heaven, it's something, isn't it? Thomas Watson said, a true saint every day. takes a turn in heaven. His thoughts and desires are like cherubim flying up to paradise. End quote.
It makes sense to look toward heaven, beloved. It makes sense. It makes sense to set your affections on things above. when we realize what heaven is all about. I want to close with a little list of personal inventory, and I want you to get this because this is the conclusion to the series.
What is the benefit of looking toward heaven? Benefit number one. It is evidence of genuine salvation. It is evidence of genuine salvation. Are you preoccupied with heaven?
That's a good indication. You're saved. Is that where your heart is? Do you long to be in the heavenlies? Do you long to commune with God?
Do you lay your treasure up in that place? Do you have your affections set on things above, not on things on the earth? Looking toward heaven is evidence of genuine salvation. A heart set on heaven is a heart set on God, and a heart set on God is a heart God has changed. The truest evidence of saving grace may be a heavenly attitude.
Secondly, Looking toward heaven is important because it is the motive to the highest excellence of Christian character. It is the motive to the highest excellence of Christian character. Nothing can compel you to be what God wants you to be more strongly than the truths about heaven. If you understand about the inheritance and the rewards and the glories and the joys and the privileges and the capacities of heaven, and you understand that Christ Himself will serve you forever out of gratitude for what you have done, that is the most compelling reality. To drive you toward the highest excellence of Christian character.
That is the hope that purifies, John said. That purges the heart. Communing with the Lord of heaven, traveling there through prayer and meditation and devotion purges the heart and motivates toward obedience. Thirdly, The benefit of looking toward heaven is that it's the truest path to a life of joy. It is the truest path to a life of joy.
If you want to be miserable, just get your focus here in this world. If you want to be joyful, get your focus on heaven. David said, the light of God's face gladdens the heart. We rejoice in hope, and we can endure any suffering in the light of glory, said Paul. The eternal weight of glory, far beyond anything we suffer in this life.
Fourthly, Looking toward heaven is the best preservative against temptation and sin. It is the best preservative against temptation and sin. Why? A heavenly mind does not stoop to the depth of evil. A heavenly mind does not stoop to vanity.
A heavenly mind is not a victim of sensual impulses. A heavenly mind is a heavenly mind, not an earthly one. And when you set your affections on things above in Colossians 3, you will, says Paul, mortify them the deeds of the flesh. You'll slay them. Satan's attempt in temptation and sin is to set his traps to catch us with our mind on the earth.
But you show me a believer whose mind is on heaven, who longs for full righteousness and the presence of God, and I'll show you one who is not an easy prey to Satan. Fifthly. Looking toward heaven maintains the vigor of spiritual service. Looking toward heaven has the benefit of maintaining the vigor or the energy of spiritual service. Listen to me.
If you run slow in the Christian race, and if you work very little in Christian service, and if you're unfaithful in rendering to the Lord that which is due to him, it is because you have little regard for the promised prize. Did you get that? Because if you had proper regard for the heavenly prize, you would be compelled and. Spiritual service. Sixth.
The benefit of looking toward heaven is also that it honors God before all. It honors God before all. What do I mean by that? Simply. When your heart is set on heaven, you demonstrate your love for God.
You demonstrate that you exalt God. Your faithful service gives to the people who see you a high view of God. That he is not only all-demanding, but he is all-worthy. You live in a heavenly sphere and you are honoring the exalted God. You live in the mundane mud and muck of the world and you're dishonoring God by saying, This is more important to me than He is.
If you live your life looking toward heaven, You honor God before all who see your life. And you say what a God you serve.
So worthy of your best. Finally, The benefit of looking toward heaven is that it repays God. It repays God. You say, what do you mean it repays God?
Well His heart is always set on us. Why shouldn't our heart always be set on him? Yeah. His heart is always toward us. Why shouldn't our hearts be always toward him?
And by the way, There's nothing in this world worth setting your heart on, is there? Personal inventory. What are the benefits of looking toward heaven? Number one, it's the evidence of genuine salvation. Look at your life.
Look at your life. Are you constantly looking toward heaven? Is the hunger of your heart the things of God, communion with God, the realities of eternity? That's evidence that you're a Christian. If it isn't there, the evidence isn't there.
Secondly, If you're looking toward heaven, that's the motive to the highest excellence of Christian character. When you commune continually with the living God, When you have a hope of eternal heaven, that purifies your life. That purges your heart. Is that true in your life? Are you so set on heaven that your life is pure?
It is also the truest path to a life of joy. Are you experiencing joy in your life? Or when you do inventory, are you constantly depressed, down, dour, sort of sour through life? That's because you have lost your joy because your face is stuck on this passing world. Fourthly, we said that looking toward heaven is the best preservative against temptation and sin.
If you're finding yourself continually falling into Satan's traps, it's because you're preoccupied with the things here rather than the glories of God. Fifthly, we said that looking toward heaven maintains the vigor of spiritual service. If you have trouble being faithful, being diligent, giving your all in serving Christ, it's because you are having little regard for the promised prize. It doesn't matter to you that God has promised you eternal reward. That's not as important to you as whatever trivia you're doing here.
And sixthly, looking toward heaven means you're honoring God before all. If you live that kind of life, the people watching you are going to say, He must serve some wonderful God. She must serve some wonderful God to so totally give. his or her life to him. And finally, How could we not be preoccupied having our hearts set on God when God's heart is always set on us?
Looking toward heaven repays God. The psalmist said, I'll be satisfied when I awake in Die. likeness. When I awake in thy likeness, will you be satisfied with anything less than that? If you will, then you don't understand the attitude of living a heavenly life.
perspective. What would satisfy you? What would really satisfy you? Anything less than being like Christ misses the point. Let's bow in prayer.
Blessed Father, thank you for these wonderful days in which we have studied this. The incredible theme. Thank you for the hope of heaven. Lord God, help us. to get our focus where it ought to be.
Help us to be constantly looking. Ford heaven. giving evidence of our salvation. Being motivated to the highest excellence of Christian character, following the truest path to joy. Being preserved against sin, maintaining the vigor and energy of our service, honoring you and repaying you.
for your constant affection and love toward us. Father, help us to examine our own hearts. That we might so live as to be obedient. to the hope of heaven. To be compelled in the anticipation of the things you have for us, for Jesus' sake.
Amy. You're listening to Grace to You, featuring the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. I'm Carl Miller.
Thanks for being here today. If you've not already heard, John is rejoicing in glory at this moment. He went to heaven about two weeks ago. Although we grieve John's death, as believers we don't grieve as those without hope. And that's because we look forward to the glory that awaits Christians.
And to help encourage you about all that awaits you if you're in Christ, we want to send you a booklet written by John titled The Truth About Heaven. It's yours free of charge. Ask for the free booklet when you contact us today. The phone number here is 80055 GRACE and the web address is gty.org. Again, request a free copy of the truth about heaven.
Call 800-55-GRACE or go to the website gty.org.
Well, as we've spent a couple of weeks remembering John's life and legacy, perhaps you've been reminded about how John's ministry has affected your life. If so, we would love to hear that story. Let us know how John's teaching has impacted your life. Write to Grace to U, Post Office Box 4000. Panorama City, California, 91412.
You can also send your letter by email to letters at gty.org. That address again, letters at gty.org. Also, we have a special phone line where you can record your story and pass along your condolences to John's family. The number for the remembrance mailbox is 661-261. 295-6288.
Again, reach the remembrance line at 661-295-6288. And now for all of us here at Grace to You, I'm Carl Miller. Thanking you for joining us today. Be here again next time for another half hour of Unleashing God's Truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.
