The Activity of Heaven

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A future for you, for me, beyond our imagination. Verse 13 of Revelation chapter 14. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, write this, we certainly want to know what heaven is like. We're going to spend eternity there because of what Christ has done for us. But we also wonder, what will we do in heaven? After all, eternity is a long, long time. So what are we going to do throughout all eternity?

That's the point of this message. We're going to answer that question. Number one, we are risen. And that sets us up for everything else. The fact that we are risen. Blessed are they who die in the Lord. The Lord is key to everything. And His cross and resurrection is the key to eternity. That unlocks the door to eternity. Without the resurrection, the Apostle Paul said we are of all people most miserable.

Certainly heaven would just be a dream or a desire way beyond us were it not for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's what we celebrate every day. It's Easter every day.

It's the Lord's day when we come together to celebrate the risen Christ. We are here because Christ is alive. And He is risen. And because Christ is alive, we are made alive. Now, when Christ came out of the grave, He had a real body.

It was a resurrected body. But the disciples recognized Him. He ate with them. He spoke with them. They touched Him. He touched them.

They embraced because they knew it was Jesus. He had a real, the resurrected body. The Bible says, when we see Him, we will be lost.

Like Him. For we will see Him as He is. And therefore, we will not be disembodied spirits. No, we will have real and resurrected bodies. Our bodies will be like the body of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We will live. We will not have angel bodies. We are in Christ and we are different than the angels. We don't become like the angels.

We are like Christ. And when you get to heaven, you will have this brand new body alive. And it will be a total makeover. It will be a brand new body. You say, what kind of body is it going to be?

I'm glad you asked. Because they were asking that same question in the New Testament and Paul spoke about it. In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 35 says, someone will ask, with what kind of body do they come? So skip down to verse 50, the entire chapter is about this, but this zeroes in on it. He says, I tell you this brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery.

So some of this is a mystery. But he goes on to say, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall all be changed. For this perishable body, that is this physical material body we have now, this dying, must put on the imperishable. And this mortal body must put on immortality. And when the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the statement that is written death is swallowed in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting?

That would be a good place for an amen. That's a victory shout because we will be given brand new bodies. But you will still be you. You're not going to be another you but the you of you. The part of you that is made by God for eternity. But it's still going to be you. It's going to be a total you. It's going to be a transformed you. And while it is a mystery, there's one thing we do know. We will be like Jesus.

That's the goal. To become more and more like Christ. And you will be in the risen state of your being and you will be better for it if everything about heaven is better, far better, much better. And so will your body be better because as we learned in the study of the revelation, He's making all things new. And that's a good thing because we know our bodies are breaking down because we're dying, we're aging. This human spacesuit that we're in will one day go.

It's a perishable item. But our redemption includes the resurrection of our bodies. It includes not only the redemption of the soul but the redemption of the body.

Turn to Romans chapter 8 verses 21 to 23. That the creation itself will be set free from its bondage. All of creation is under the curse, the bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom or the glorious liberty of the children of God.

I love that. The glorious liberty, the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. Since the fall, since sin entered the planet and people's lives, even creation is cursed and is groaning. Mother earth is in the pain of childbirth. One day even the heavens and the earth will be recreated and redeemed. But verse 23 says, and not only the creation, but we ourselves, that is the Christian who have the first fruits of the spirit. We groan inwardly as we await for the adoption of sons.

It's like that thing when you get out of the chair, you make that sound your father used to make when you get up. We groan not only physically but inwardly as we wait eagerly, the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. So our bodies will be healed and whole, redeemed and renewed, risen in the presence of Christ.

No wonder it's called this glorious liberty. We will live in liberty from sin and death. It will be a brand new world without decay, without disasters to destroy things. It will be paradise restored. And this groaning globe and Christians who are crushed under the curse of sin, it will be a brand new beautiful day. But then perfection and power, we will be like Christ. No more pain, no more paralysis, no more limitations. Now the glorious liberty by which we are made free in Christ.

All the chains are gone. We are risen and we will live in these risen bodies. So having said that, we are not only risen in the Lord, but we are now rejoicing. Back to chapter 14 verse 13, we are rejoicing now. The Bible says rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.

But then, oh how we are going to celebrate. Because I view heaven as a graduation, it's also a celebration as well as a coronation. But the scripture says blessed are they who are in the Lord when they die, who are believers and followers of Jesus. Blessed are they. The Psalm has said, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Nothing humanly precious about death. But in the sight of the Lord, in the Lord, precious and beautiful and blessed are they who die in the Lord. Now the word bless, Makarios in the Greek New Testament, was used by Jesus in the Beatitudes. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you. Blessed are the poor and so on. Blessed are the meek. That word blessed is a word which means wholeness and completeness, completely fulfilled.

But most simply put, it's a word and accurately translated happy. Blessed, happy are they who die in the Lord. Psalm 16 11 at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Precious, known in the path of life, your presence is the fullness of joy. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Why? Because death is now defeated.

Absolutely. You'll be on your feet dancing because death is defeated. It is a victory dance. There will be lots of high fives in heaven. And of course, therefore we look forward to being there because the pleasures there are beyond any human pleasures we could possibly experience.

Pleasures forevermore. You know why heaven is so full of joy? It's because of Jesus.

Jesus is no pale sanctimonious recluse. Jesus was the life of the party. His first miracle at Cana of Galilee was the life of that party.

He changed the water into wine and celebrated that wedding. He said the oil of gladness is with me more than my companions. In other words, the oil of leaping and laughter is in the Lord. He said near the cross, my joy I give to you. Who talks about joy in the face of a cross?

Jesus. For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the pain, despising the shame. He said this joy, this everlasting joy I give to you. So our joy is in Jesus. We will be set free from our old, tired, worn out, weary bodies. We will now live without inhibitions, without distractions, without anything being taken away from us, but now given to us. Can you imagine the worship of heaven?

Because that will be a great part of our joy to worship Jesus. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, the activity of heaven. Even in life's heaviest moments, the promise of heaven holds out an encouraging hope for you today. And when you understand what your future with God will be like the burdens of the present fill lighter. That's what pastor Graham's book heaven is all about.

And it's why we want to get a copy into your hands today. Heaven is our thanks for your gift to help share the truth of the gospel to more people around the world. So call now to request your copy of heaven when you give. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you could shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is JackGraham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, the activity of heaven. Now, I need to say that especially some of you men are thinking, really? We're just going to sing in heaven all day long forever? No, heaven is not going to be a long, boring church service.

I've been in a few of those, the kind you think will never end. But can you imagine in the presence of Jesus, heaven being boring? So in my mind, here's the way I think about this. There's a throne in heaven, and around the throne of God are the saints and the angels, and we will join in the song of angels, the song of the saints in worshiping God. Truly it will be an endless hallelujah to our King.

But we'll have other things to do. There will be service for the Lord, and there will be banquets, and there will be adventures, and all the rest. And so I don't believe that we're all going to be around the throne in the new heavens and the new earth, in the countries and the cities of the new heaven and the new earth. But what's going to happen is that reverberating through the kingdom of God, atmospherically, there will be praise to God.

These everlasting praises to God. And you'll just be drawn in. You'll be in your neighborhood, hanging out with your friends, and you'll hear the songs coming from the throne, and you'll say, let's go. Nobody will have to push you to church.

Nobody will have to wake you up to get there. You'll say, let's go to church. Let's go to the throne. Let's worship God. And we'll be around the throne of God on our feet, on our faces. We'll be worshiping God forever and ever. Worship will be the very air we breathe.

You got that? It will be in the very atmosphere to worship God. You won't be looking at your watch or looking at your cell phone to see how long is this going to last. You won't be standing there with your hands in your pocket. You'll be hands lifted high, praising God and worshiping Him. You'll be on your knees giving thanks to God forever. That's rejoicing.

And so much more. And so let's worship God. The Psalmist said this so often. Psalm 89, I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord.

What? Forever. So we will be rejoicing. And we will be resting. Verse 13 of Revelation 14 says this, and they will rest from their labors. Resting here, think of the word, substitute the word there, peace. Jesus said, come unto me, all you that labor in a heavy laden and I will give you rest. Rest for your soul. It is soul rest. It is rest from the pressures and the pain and the stress and the distress of life. Rest for your souls. This is the rest, resting from our labors. In other words, we will be in our resurrected bodies and therefore we will be at perfect rest in Him. Nothing left to keep us in distress, but we will be in perfect peace. The peace that we all long for in heaven.

Now it doesn't mean in our resting that we won't be serving because the scripture says His servants there serve Him day and night. I can assure you that heaven will not be boring. Heaven can't be boring because Jesus is present.

Jesus and His life, His beautiful, wonderful presence. And yes, there's going to be fun in heaven and laughter in heaven. Martin Luther said, if you are not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there. There's plenty of laughter in heaven.

Contrast that to the shrieks and the horrors and the cries of hell separated from God. We will be in the presence of God. Sure there's going to be laughter. There's going to be eating. There's going to be dining. There's going to be banqueting. The Bible talks about the kingdom of God being a banquet, being a feast.

It's not a funeral, it's a feast. We will be the servants of God. We will have jobs and occupations.

It's the ultimate upwardly mobile career path. And one final thing, we are rewarded. 13th verse of Revelation 14 says at the close, and their works do follow them.

Their works follow them. Clearly, according to the Scriptures, our works do not get us to heaven, lead us to heaven. For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast. There'll be no strutting, no swagging in heaven.

I'm here because I deserved it. No, it's not of works, lest anyone should boast. So we are not saved by works, but verse 10 of that same Ephesians 2 goes to say, but we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. So our works don't get us to heaven or gain heaven, but our works follow us to heaven.

The Bible talks about crowns, the righteous, the crown of righteousness, the crown of life, the crown of glory and others. Now I know some people say, don't. You know, I'm not motivated by rewards.

Yes, you are, unless you're working free, you probably are. There will be an eternal compensation. The rewards, the crowns, that should motivate us to know that we're accountable. John said, little children, abide in him, Jesus, that when he appears, you may have confidence and not be ashamed at his coming. Some are going to be ashamed, going out into eternity with wasted lives. The apostle Paul at the judgment seat of Christ says that some, their works will be just wood, hay, and stubble. And when the fires of discernment and judgment come, they'll be wiped away. And some will have only the charred embers of a wasted life to put in the nail scarred hands of Jesus.

That won't be enough, that won't work. Again, not saved because of your works, but saved unto good works and we're all called and commanded to serve God. Jesus spoke in Matthew 5, great is your reward in heaven.

He said, don't lose your reward when I come again. Matthew 5, 12, rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. Matthew 9, 41, for truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.

Even a cup of cold water, just a small thing in Jesus' name will break on the shores of eternity. And one last one, Hebrews 6, 10, for God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints as you still do. You think God's going to overlook your work?

You're working hard? He knows. It's headline news in heaven when you do something in Jesus' name. Our aim according to the scripture is to please Him. Paul said, I make it my aim to please God. That's the holy ambition. I press onto the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ.

We're passionately pursuing and pressing on and that is to please Him, to hear the words, well done, good and faithful servants. Stephen heard those words when he was dying at the hands of evil men stoning him. He looked up into heaven and he said, I see Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And in my own mind when I read that passage in Acts chapter 7, Jesus standing when Stephen is entering heaven, I see Jesus. God bless you Stephen. I bless you Stephen.

Come on in. I applaud you. We live for the applause of heaven, don't we? For the applause, for the approval, for the appraisal of Jesus in our lives and therefore we live for Him knowing that in heaven it will be worth it all when we see Christ. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, the activity of heaven. No matter what struggles you're facing today, you have hope in the promises awaiting you in heaven and God calls you to share that hope with others today. That's why we want to encourage and inspire you today by sending you Pastor Graham's book, Heaven. This exciting book takes you straight to scripture to help you see all that awaits you in the life to come and how it impacts your life today.

You'll find hope for today and courage to share that hope with others. So don't wait to request your copy. Heaven is our special thanks for your gift to help boldly proclaim God's word through PowerPoint. So request your copy when you call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800 795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is JackGraham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? It was Martin Luther, the reformer, who said that to preach Christ is to feed the soul. And that's why every message we share on PowerPoint is built upon God's word, grounded in God's truth, and centered in Jesus Christ. It is our goal at PowerPoint to introduce people to faith in Jesus Christ and then to help us all grow together as we walk with Him, as we follow Jesus.

Jesus is life for the soul and His word is truth forever. That's why I want you to enjoy more of our messages from PowerPoint on our sermon library at JackGraham.org. I literally have hundreds if not thousands of messages that we've preached over the years that God has used in a great way in people's lives.

And you may be a pastor, you may be a Sunday school teacher, you may be a Christian who wants to grow and grow more in your faith, you may be a small child. But these resources, these sermons, messages that we've preached over the years will help you as you walk with the Lord. The PowerPoint sermon archive is available and I promise you it will feed your soul and help you follow Christ every day. And listen, it's absolutely free.

It's absolutely free. Because of the generous giving of PowerPoint partners, we are able to make these resources available to you absolutely free. So visit our sermon library today at JackGraham.org.

That's sermonlibraryatJackGraham.org. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book, Heaven as Our Thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about the unimaginable beauties you'll experience in heaven. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.