Nope, Not in Heaven
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:9 Date: 21 February 2010
Purpose: To share what will be absent from Heaven. Things that will not be there and for this we can rejoice and look forward to Heaven
We have been studying a fantastic study on Monday evenings here at the church. The study is from Dr. David Jeremiah entitled, “Escape The Coming Night” This study covers an in depth study of the Book of Revelation and it has been a wonderful awakening for myself.
In lesson 41 of our study we learned about what will, and will not, be in heaven according to the scriptures. I felt that this was very insightful and something that I wanted to share with the congregation. This morning I am beginning a two part series about what we will find in heaven. Today we start by talking about what is not is heaven. There are several things that we will not find in heaven but for today I have chosen just a few to talk about.
Illustration: Dr. Jeremiah tells of an illustration about a little girl that was
born blind. The only beauty she knew came from her mother’s descriptions, flowers in spring, trees in fall, snow in winter, ocean in summertime the girl could only imagine. At 10 years of age, she had experimental surgery to help her see. She wore bandages for several weeks until that glorious moment of truth came… the bandages were removed and she could see!! The girl ran to the window and stood breathless, “mother, why didn’t you tell me it was so beautiful?”, “I tried to, but words just wouldn’t suffice!”
How can we properly describe something that you cannot put into words because of its greatness? Words alone just don’t do it.
1 Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"
*RELEASE CHILDFREN FOR CHILDREN’S CHURCH*
In heaven there will be an absence of everything and anything that breaks the heart, burdens the soul, and grieves the spirit. These are the things that will not be there, these are the no’s of Heaven. And we find out that not only are these negatives not in heaven, but that there will be some glorious things there in place of the negatives. Everything that rejoices the heart, refreshes the soul, and lifts the spirit will be there!! Wow, isn’t that great news?
I. There Will Be No Sickness or Sadness In Heaven.
Revelation 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
A. No more crying, sighing, or dying! No hospitals or graves! And Satan will not
be able to get a passport. He will be in the bottomless pit. All the fallen angels will be chained up.
1. There will be no aging, wrinkles. Nothing will ruin, rot, or rust. There will
be no thirsting, or hungering. No itching, no blindness, no deafness, no diabetes, no cancer, or heart attacks, or scars, no witchcraft, no drugs, no alcohol, or tobacco! No divorce, child abductions, accidents, and Hey, no more Snow and Ice, AMEN!
Illustration: 5 year old girl had never stayed the night w/ a friend before/was nervous, but gave it a try/she did fine during the daytime, but when it got dark she got nervous in a strange place/ friend’s mother perceived this: “honey, are you getting homesick?”/with childlike innocence she replied, “no ma’am, I’m getting here sick!”
2. And the more you may go thru down “here”, the sweeter heaven will be for
you! Romans 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not
worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
3. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us.
4. Some call it heaven, The New Jerusalem, some call it The Pearly White City,
Some call it Glory, and some call it “home”. I for one call it home and even though I have never been there, I am home sick in this world.
B. Just think of it, there will be no more Mondays, No more Bad days!
1. We are told that our tears will be wiped away, there will be no sadness in
heaven.
2. But we need to remind ourselves each day that the world we live in is not
heaven. We live in an imperfect world as with imperfect people. If that is hard for you to believe, then may I suggest look into a mirror because we are all imperfect in many ways. Yes God created us in His image but we are not God.
3. We read in John 16:33 33"I have told you these things, so that in
me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
4. We are to expect that this world is to bring us sadness and I too believe
that if we stand firm and keep our faith throughout our lives in this world, we will see the victory with Jesus.
5. He lived as us, with the same temptations, with the same problems, with
the same sadness that many of us face today. Jesus also “Overcame this world” He went through the fire and this is our hope and goal as well.
Illustration: In 1991, a fire raged through Oakland, CA destroying a number of houses in its path. One of those homes belonged to a pastor. His home was totally destroyed, reducing most of the family’s possessions to little more than burnt ashes. But one item did survive intact: a small porcelain rabbit figurine.
The next Sunday, the pastor took the item to the pulpit and explained his recent loss. Holding up the small figurine, he noted that it was the sole surviving keepsake from the fire, it alone survived the flames.
Why, he asked, would this small item escape damage when nothing else did?
He smiled and said: "Because it had already been through a fire once as the maker was molding it to be what He wanted it to be."
When we accept the fact that sadness here on earth is a part of God’s plan then we can allow God to work in our suffering.
Illustration: God can use our pain to strengthen us as a metal worker uses fire to refine gold and silver and burn off impurities in those metals. The metal worker puts the metals into the furnace and exposes them to the fire. The heat from the fire melts the silver or gold into a liquid and the impurities float to the top and are skimmed away. The resulting metals are purer and more valuable because they’ve been ‘refined.’
6. The sadness that we feel each day in this world may just be a part of being refined and preparing us for something much better. There will be no sadness in heaven, and this is something to look forward to!
II. There Will Be No Separation or Sin In Heaven.
A. When we get to heaven we will never be faced with being separated from our loved ones ever again. No more goodbyes, no more sorrow.
Illustration: Serving in the United States Army for 11 years brought with it several times of separation. I can still remember and feel the pain of each separation. Every time I left the kids and said goodbye, not knowing if it was my last goodbye, if I would ever see and hold them in my arms again. The pain was and is still great.
1. It’s very hard to say goodbye. It’s tough to be separated from our loved
ones. There is much pain and sorrow being separated.
2. In heaven we will be reunited with our loved ones that we lost in the
past. We will see those that inspired us to be the men and women of God that we are today. Those that gave us love and guidance, we will see them and never have to say goodbye again!
3. Think about being united with family that you never even met or knew of
here in this life. I personally am excited to meet my Grandfather for the first time. He passed away before I was even born, when my father was a young child, he passed away from M.S. My hope is that he is there waiting for us to be re-united with him.
4. I also think of those in the future. I know that I will see my Great, Great,
Great, Great Grandchildren some day in Heaven. And I can only imagine about the celebration that we will have when we have our reunion in heaven.
B. And there will be no sin in heaven.
1. In Revelation 22:14-15 14"Blessed are those who wash their
robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
2. We are told that there are no sinners in heaven. Only those who have
chosen to be forgiven their sins will enter heaven.
Illustration: What would it look like if each of us had to step on a scale in order to get into heaven. Something to measure how good we were on this earth. A "Good-O-Meter" to see if we can get into Heaven, but only one person is good enough to get in:
VIDEO: “Good O’ Meter”
- Jesus is the answer, not us. It’s because of God’s loving grace that we may enter into heaven. If we are thinking that we can make it in because of our good deeds or because of our church attendance, or because of how great we are. Then we are only fooling ourselves. It is because of Jesus and Jesus alone that we are able to enter into Heaven.
3. This is not because they have never sinned. ALL have sinned. They are
able to enter because they accepted God’s offer of forgiveness for their sins.
4. We need to also look at Revelation 22:3 3No longer will there be any
curse.
5. You see, when Adam sinned, all creation fell under a curse resulting from sin.
Genisis 3: 17-19 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your
wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You
must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through
painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will
produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of
the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until
you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust
you are and to dust you will return."
6. Jesus redeemed us from this curse. Some theologians refer to Him as the “Second Adam”. As Jesus was able to pay the price and redeem us from our sins.
7. Because Jesus died on Calvary, we enter heaven free from the ability to sin, from the tendency to sin, and the penalty to sin.
Conclusion:
Can you imagine what our world would be like without sin? A place with no Sickness or Sadness, a place with no Separation or Sin. Our world would be quite different wouldn’t it? I believe this is one area that all countries would agree on. I am sure all of the world would love to live in a world such as that.
It is our job as Christians to share that this world that we speak of his real and it is obtainable.
Heaven is real and heaven is wonderful. It is a place in which we belong. It is our home and it is our hope that all may receive all of the riches that Heaven offers.
Don’t take my word for it. Take God’s Word for it.
