Mm. It's natural to be excited about going to heaven. But after you get there, have you ever wondered what you'll do? Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah shares his thoughts on how your eternity will be spent, starting with the list of things you won't find in heaven.
You might just be surprised as David continues the series, Escape the Coming Night with his message, What Will We Do in Heaven? You know a lot of people think that heaven is going to be a place where we do nothing. But the Bible does not teach that. The Bible teaches us. There will be robust activity in heaven, and we will be totally involved in worshiping and serving our Lord and ministering to each other.
Heaven will be a place of incredible activity. And I have a chapter in a book I just wrote on heaven called Why Heaven Won't Be Boring. Heaven Will Not Be Boring, I promise you that. We're going to talk about what we will do in heaven today in just a moment as we continue. Our study of the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 21.
What will we do in heaven? You know, I haven't said much about this in recent days, but Turning Point has a very good study library on the book of Revelation. And as we come to the end of this series, I want to remind you about it again. We have four study guides. We have all of the audio, we've captured all the audio of the teaching of this book, and it's all organized.
And then there's a full-length contemporary commentary on Revelation called Escape the Coming Night. And all this material is available from Turning Point. The best way to get at it is to go to davidjeremiah.org. There on that website, you will see how to get that material. And it might be useful to you as you lead the small group or teach a Sunday school class or just for your own personal benefit and instruction.
We did it for you. We want to take advantage of it during the closing days of this series. Right now, let's answer this question. What will we do in heaven? When we last studied the concept of our future home, we were introduced to the exquisite beauty of the holy city.
We viewed the Pearly Gates. The foundations of precious stones, the streets of gold. We're going to learn about our occupation in heaven. What will we do for eternity?
Sometimes heaven is referred to as a country. And when it is referred to as a country, I always think of its vastness. A bitch. huge circumference.
Sometimes when heaven is referred to, it is referred to as a city. As we did last time, whenever I think of heaven as a city, I always think about the many inhabitants that live within it.
Sometimes in the Bible, heaven is called a kingdom. And whenever that is mentioned, I always think about how it's going to be orderly and how it's going to be organized.
Sometimes heaven is called paradise. And when I think of paradise, all I can think of is beauty. Maybe one of the isolated islands of Hawaii. The beauty of heaven. But my favorite term for heaven is the father's house.
That means more to me than all of you other terms because when I think of that, I don't think of vastness or inhabitance or beauty or orderliness. When I think of the father's house, I think of closeness and intimacy and permanency. Heaven, according to John chapter 14, is the father's house. It's the place that Jesus is preparing for us now.
so that some day he may take us to be with him. Forever.
Now, in order to understand all that is going to be ours by way of occupation in heaven. It is important for us at the beginning to talk about some of the things that will not be there. In fact, I've listed six things that won't be in heaven. And you might want to just write these down. They're kind of interesting to think about.
Six things that you will not find in heaven.
Some of them we've touched upon already just in our description of the holy city. First of all, the Bible tells us, and we've already learned this, that there won't be any sanctuary in heaven, there won't be any temple in heaven. Did you ever think about that? There won't be church, there won't be a church building or a sanctuary in heaven.
Now, if you have your Bibles, you will find this in chapter 21 of the book of Revelation. And verse 3, and we're going to look at two other verses along with that. Chapter 21, verse 3, and I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. Look at chapter 21 and verse 22. John is looking now at the holy city, and he says, And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
And then look at chapter 22 and verse 4. And they shall see his face and his name. Shall be in their forehead. We come to church today. Because as we come to this place and we congregate, We worship God in our music and we listen to the word of God that teaches us about God.
And our purpose in coming here, one of our many purposes, is that we might be drawn closer to Him. That we might see him lifted up and we might come into fellowship with him in a much more intimate way. But there will be no need for that in heaven. Because we will have a kind of personal, intimate fellowship with God Himself. And a building would just get in the way.
A building would tear down the intimacy. We will be able to know as we are known, and we will be able to see and to fellowship with God. And frankly, that's what makes heaven a reality when you boil it all down to the least common denominator. It's not the streets, it's not the gates, it's not the foundations, it's not the angels, it's not all of the beauty that we so often talk about. Heaven is heaven because God the Father is there and Jesus Christ is there, and at last all of the barriers will be removed, and we will be able to know and fellowship with them in a way that we cannot possibly comprehend.
with the frailties that are upon us in this life.
So when you get to heaven, there won't be any sanctuary. Number two. When you get to heaven, there won't be any sun, S-U-N. And in chapter 21 of the book of Revelation, in verse 23, we read: And the city had no need of the sun. Neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
Way back in the beginning of eternity, God said, Let there be light, and there was light. But there was light before God said that, for God is light, and he always has been. When light came into this world by the creative word of our Lord, We understood it and understand it by virtue of the faculties of eyesight. Throughout his entire ministry, On this earth, Jesus Christ continually said to his disciples, I am the light of the world. When he was getting ready to leave this earth, he said to his disciples, Just a little while, and the light is with you.
And then after he was gone, We are told that we are the light of the world. We are an imperfect light, are we not? Because we're just reflectors. We're not the actual light, we just reflect the light. But there's coming a time in eternity future When there won't be any need for reflectors, because we will all be encompassed with the light of the Lamb of God.
There will be no need for a sun, and there will be no need for a moon, because the Bible says there's never any night in eternity, it's all daylight. It's all sun. Those of us who live out here on the West Coast, we're a little bit more prepared for that than some of the folks I know in other places. But in heaven, there'll never be a cloudy day. There'll never be any night.
You say, won't that get boring? No, no, it won't. The brilliance of the light of our Lord. will just flood the city and there'll be no sun. in heaven.
Let me give you a third thing. There'll be no sickness in heaven. No sickness. The older we get, the more that sounds exciting to us. And I just think it's so great to ponder the day when all of the sickness and pain and sorrow and disease has been removed.
And we read about this in the twenty first chapter and the fourth verse. And this is what it says: God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death. Neither sorrow nor crying. Neither shall there be any more pain. For the former things are passed away.
No more pain. Do you know sickness is a whole bag that carries in it all kinds of problems?
Sooner or later it touches us, either individually or people that are close to us. hearing problems. One of these days their ears are going to be opened. And people who sign are going to be out of work. The people whose eyes have been blinded.
We'll be able to see. Those who are lame will walk. every kind and imaginable disease, will be taken away. and then all of the inconveniences that go with sickness. No hospitals.
No doctors. No nurses. No medicine, no drug stores. And I have to ask your forgiveness to share with you one other thing that there won't be because there's no sickness. I just have to read this to you.
I was sitting here minding my business. kinda letting my mind go slack. when in comes a nurse with a bright sunny smile and a gown with a split down the back. Take a shower, she said, and get ready. and then jump into this sack.
What she's really talking about was the gown with the split down the back. They're coming to do some tests, she said. They're gonna stretch me out on a rack. with nothing 'twixt me and the cold, cruel world but a gown that split down the back. It comes only to the knees in front, in the sides, there is no lack.
But by far the greatest shortcoming is that Blumen split down the back. Whoever designed this garment for humor had a great knack, but I fail to see anything funny about a gown that split down the back. I hear them coming to get me, the wheels goin' clickety clack. I'll ride through the halls on a table in a gown with a split down the back. When I get to heaven, I'll make me no odds If my robe is white, red, or black, The only thing I ask is please give me one with no split down the back.
Amen.
So, when there's no sickness in heaven, you get rid of all the stuff that surrounds it, right? None of those problems. You know We laugh about that, but all of the inconveniences of sickness, it's really not much fun, is it? Many of you have been to the doctors, been to the drugstore. I won't even ask the question, but if I asked how many of you are on some kind of medication for something, a great majority of you would raise your hands.
Well, the Bible says in heaven that's all gone. No sickness. Perfect health. Wow. Let me share with you.
Number four, there's no sadness in heaven. It says in verse 4, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. and there will be no crying nor sorrow. In fact, that's the second time that he made that promise. You probably have forgotten about this, but if you go back to chapter 7, of Revelation.
Revelation chapter 7 and verse 17. you will discover that he had promised this once before. Before the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them into Living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Let me ask you a question. Is it true that there will be no tears in heaven?
I used to sing a song and the song was No Tears in Heaven. But that's not really true because if there are no tears in heaven, There are no tears to wipe away. When does this take place? I've shared this with some of you before. We're past the millennium.
We're into the eternal state. And God shall wipe away all tears. Every time I think about that, I'm reminded that though there is no judgment for sin at the judgment seat of Christ, I think there will be tears. for wasted lives, for wasted opportunities. For broken vows for unkept promises for lives that have been far less than what God wanted them to be.
I'm not the only one who thinks that's a possibility. That there will be tears during the millennium, there will be tears during the rest of the tribulation period, but before we enter into eternity, the Bible says God is going to wipe all tears away. and throughout eternity there will be no sadness. No crying.
Okay. our tear ducts will dry up. There will be no tears in heaven. after he wipes them away. You know, there are 30 references in the Bible.
to sorrow and sorrowful And in every one of these passages, it is always a picture of grief and pain and distress and travail. The word translated sorrow in Revelation 21 and verse 4 is the same word translated by the word wailing or mourning other places in the Bible. There are many who are mourning and in heaviness of heart, but thank God there is coming a day where sorrow will never ever again. Approach us. for in the eternal state is forever banished.
One writer that I read said this. There are no stone cutters chiselling epitaphs in glory. There are no wreaths on the mansion doors in the sky. There are no graves on the hillsides of heaven. There are no obituary columns in the newspapers.
There are no funeral processions over the streets of gold. There is no Sadness in heaven. Can you think of what life would be like without that? Mm. Number five.
There will be no separation in heaven. No separation. There will never be any farewell parties. You will never have to say goodbye to someone. Who is going to leave and go to another place, and you won't be able to fellowship with them because, as we've already learned, we'll be in our resurrection bodies, and all we will have to do is think about being in the presence of that person, and we will be able to be transported.
into that place. There will be no separation. In fact, the picture of the separation, I believe, is a real one. If you'll go to chapter 21 in verse 1, there's a very interesting phrase which we have already interpreted in its literal sense, but it has a symbolic significance as well. In chapter 21, verse 1, it says, And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.
Hmm.
Now We understand that there isn't any C in the eternal state, and we understand why. But think about this for a moment. When John wrote this. John was on the lonely isle of Patmos. He was separated by water.
From everybody and everything that he held dear. He was sent there to die of starvation and exposure. And across the waste of that sea were those that he loved. There was the church of Ephesus, and all the friends and the saints of the household of faith. And as John looked out and saw that sea, that sea represented to him the separation between him and everyone he loved.
I can see him now. Looking out. and pondering a day. when that would never again be true for him or anyone else. John could say that in glory there will be no more separation.
Separations are hard. If you want to get a picture of separations, go to the airport. I spend more than a little time in airports, and airports are either very happy or very sad places. If you stand there waiting for a flight, you will not ever catch a flight that you don't see people there weeping. Mom has come to visit.
She's only been able to stay for two or three weeks. The little one has just come along and.
Now it's time for her to go back and... There is the daughter There's the little baby. And there are the tears. The separation. Can you imagine an eternity?
Never having to face the pain of being separated from those that you love. Then let me give you number six. There will be no sin in heaven. No sin in heaven. Let me read to you again chapter 21 and verse 8.
But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars. shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Look at verse 27 in the same chapter. and there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And then one other verse, chapter 22 and verse 3.
And there shall be no more. Curse. Sin is gone. It's been forever obliterated. Because of Adam's sin, there was a curse upon all creation.
Genesis chapter 3, verses 17 through 19. But in heaven, there will be no more curse. How different life will be without sin. In this life, we are shocked every day by the tale of sin. We read the newspapers, and sometimes we just can't hardly imagine that that kind of sin is rampant in a so-called civilized country.
There are the derelictions of sin that we see all around us, and crimes now in high places, and even in religious places.
Some of these sins make the story of Sodom and Gomorrah seem like a Sunday school picnic. But no matter where we turn, we are faced with stealing and lying and deception and adultery and fornication and murderers and crime in its every form. But in heaven these foul stains will be forever gone. And it will be a life part from any evil or sin. For the thousands and thousands of millennia that roll on in the eternal state, never will there be a dirty word spoken.
Never will there be an angry word spoken. Never will there be a filthy thought or a dishonest act or a broken relationship. For in heaven There is no sin.
Now, you know, I don't even have to tell you what we're going to do. After I've already told you what's not going to be there. I mean, that's good enough right there. I mean, that is an overwhelming thought to be in a place like that. And most of us aren't even plugged into that yet because we can't comprehend it.
I mean, we have never had anything that approximates it, we have nothing to which we can compare it.
So it's very difficult for us to even get into it.
Now in that setting with those things absent Here are three things that we're going to do.
So for those of you who thought it was an eternal HARP LESSON Here's good news. The first thing that I think we will do when we get to heaven. is we are going to sing. We're going to sing. Isn't that neat?
All of you who are into music, and all of you who wish you could be. We are going to sing. The book of Revelation contains more songs than any other book of the Bible, except the book of Psalms. There are 14 songs in the book of Revelation. And I thought it would be good just to get a picture of what's going to happen when we get to heaven if we just go back and read one little section that has several verses of songs in it, chapter 19, beginning at the first verse.
The section of the book of Revelation from which the hallelujah chorus has been taken, and many other great hymns of the faith that we sing today. I just want to read these eight verses. After these things, I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Hallelujah. Salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous are his judgments.
For he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with their fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Hallelujah, and her smoke rose up forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen, hallelujah. And a voice came out of the throne saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah!
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready, and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. One of the appointments of heaven is the marriage supper of the Lamb. And uh The Bible tells us just enough about that to make us intrigued and anxious to experience it, which we shall all do.
Tomorrow we will take part two of what we will do in heaven. And then on Thursday and Friday, we're going to take a step back and ask ourselves this question: what should we do until then? We're going to learn what we're going to do when we get to heaven. But we're also going to learn what to do until we get to heaven, and we'll do that on Thursday and Friday. If you haven't already done so during the month of July, we've made available a brand new book.
From Turning Point called Vanished. It's our first ever fiction book, and I think you'll find it intriguing, inviting, and helpful. I hope you'll get your copy of it. Send a gift to Turning Point of any size and just say, send me Vanished, and it'll be on its way to you. And we'll see you right here tomorrow.
For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's series Escape the Coming Night, please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected, our monthly Turning Points magazine and our daily email devotional. Sign up today at davidjeremiah.org slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio or call us at 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David's exciting new novel Set in the End Times.
Vanished. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International and New King James Versions, available in several handsome and resilient cover options. Get all the details when you visit our website davidjeremiah.org slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio.
This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue the series Escape the Coming Night on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
