Gateway Church's Podcast
Heaven - Paradise Found - Part 1
what is it like in heaven hmm I don't know where I know that I don't know well there's trees and lots of clouds I don't know I don't know it's a little confusing I think it's huge it's probably um with our new church what it's gonna be like it's probably gonna be that big it really plus the parking lot yes and now the walls are made of just beautiful jewels and it's and the gate is just golden but diamonds on it and there would be a mansion just for you I think maybe there is gonna be lots of people coming out for walks just to see what God has made up there and heaven it's like kind of just a nice place maybe it's everything that you think about yeah those are good answers very good answers you notice how many of them said I don't know well that was the same answer we got from the adults last night you know I was watching the video so I took my six-year-old out to the back porch and we had you know right before dark and I said so tell me what what do you think about heaven she goes I don't know she says but I think you're gonna be there before me because you're older yeah thank you very much appreciate that you can go inside now go they always very encouraging where we're gonna start a new series today called heaven paradise found and in the next five weeks we're gonna take a great journey together and I mean this because the Bible is so full of details about heaven and I'm gonna try to open up the word to you in the next five weeks and show you some of these marvelous details about heaven so turn your Bible to Ecclesiastes chapter three because this is a foundational Scripture when we think about eternity and about what is next after death and it's normal for us to think that question it's not dark or foreboding to think about what happens after death because that's the reality is death and taxes we're not getting out of either one so what happens next is a good question to ask and Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 11 this is Solomon talking he says God has made everything beautiful for its own time and he has planted eternity in the human heart now put your hand over your heart if you will and I want you to repeat after me God has planted eternity in my heart it is okay to ask questions let's keep reading because he says that but even so people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end now this Scripture says two things number one we are going to think about eternity human beings are designed to think about eternity and it says a second thing you're not going to know all the answers there are more questions than answers however however there are a lot of answers in the Bible heaven is not near as mysterious it is not so mysterious as we've made it out to be and you wouldn't believe some of the questions that I get asked about heaven here's one that I get asked all the time will my pets be in heaven yours might but I have a few that I know are in hell of my own there is not enough grace for this cat that we once owned a second question I get asked is I got asked this the other day why does heaven have gates why is it in a gated community what kind of neighborhood is heaven in anyway it's a good question will we be married to our current spouse in heaven by the way Jesus answered that in Luke 20 and he said you will not be married to your spouse in heaven so enjoy it now while you're on the earth there's a better groom coming no for all you ladies know that the perfect groom is waiting for you in heaven will we have wings like angels in heaven will heaven be boring listen that is the number one question that unchurched people are asking right now that is the number one question will heaven be boring and the reason I think heavens will be boring is because all of their religious encounters to date have been boring and it's guilt by association honestly they think that that heaven's going to be a never-ending Sunday school class that never lets out with those felt things that you know the little things that you put on the felt board forever there's another question will there be any other music in heaven besides harp music I mean if you have some hot harp music right now playing in your car on the CD on your iPod and that's why people believe you see Satan wants us to believe he wants the world to believe that heaven is boring that it's a state of mind in fact a key religious leader of a mainline denomination recently said heaven is simply a state of mind he's telling his delegates he's telling the people that he oversees that heavens not a real place it's more of a state of mind and so recently you know I go to Starbucks and I pay five dollars it's fifty cents for the coffee and four dollars and fifty cents for the philosophy written on the side I don't know if you knew that or not but on the side of the Starbucks cup the guy named Joel Stein who's a columnist for the LA Times wrote something about heaven and somebody read this to you this is what the world saying says heaven is totally overrated it seems boring clouds listening to people play the harp it should be somewhere you can't wait to go like a luxury hotel or Texas they didn't add that maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the seventeenth century but heaven has to step it up a bit they're basically getting by because they only have to be better than hell listen I know you can get upset with Starbucks but the the point is that's a valid question that the world's asking they're asking it because the church has done such a poor job of marketing heaven we've done a terrible job of telling people what's going to happen in heaven you know when I grew up all the only thing I really heard about heaven is there was going to be a big throne and I was going to stand before it and give a count for everything I did I didn't know what was going to happen in the hundred billion years after that you know the sheep go this way or the right yeah the sheep go this way the goats go this way you know blessed are you and it's only I didn't know what was going to happen after that no one really explained to me what is heaven going to be like after you pass through the judgment well I may tell you something it's pretty exciting what's going to happen after that heaven is a thrilling place heaven is not boring and so the church has spent all of our time we spent all of our time telling people how to get to heaven and I don't think we should stop that by the way we should need to keep telling people that it's easier than you can imagine to get to heaven that the price has already been paid we need to share our testimony but you know if I'm an unbeliever and an unchurched person who's never really been in church these are good questions that they should ask well if I give my life to Christ and you say that I'm going to go to heaven I do agree that heaven does sound a little bit better than hell but can you give me more details about heaven and if as believers we look at them and say well it's a nice place it's going to be really bright all the time there's going to be some music there but what am I going to do how am I going to spend my time I don't know well am I going to have I think there's some houses up there I do know that there's a house and you're going to have a house but if we can't give them any more detail than that that's a really poor sales job I mean the radical Muslims right now are getting people to strap bombs around themselves and blow people up because they tell these martyrs these so-called martyrs that there's 70 virgins waiting for them in heaven here's what the radical Muslims have figured out heaven motivates people I believe as believers we've missed it heaven motivates people heaven motivates me and we shouldn't feel guilty about thinking about heaven being motivated by heaven many times we're called escapist if you think too much about heaven listen you're not an escapist you're realist heaven is a real place and I'm going to be there for a really long time with a really good God and I'm going to have a really good assignment there this is one of the reasons that I chose the Caribbean kind of theme for heaven because I believe heaven is going to be a paradise it's going to look a lot like whatever you consider to be paradise and to me I love the blue waters clear waters of the Caribbean I love going there with my family we've been there a few times and it's my favorite place on the earth it's paradise to me and when I think about heaven I've already asked the Lord if I can do enough good works that you just get a little tiny island out in the Caribbean and that'd be my spot for eternity I'd be so happy and so let's let's look at heaven let's look at what the Bible says about heaven first Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13 now this is a scripture that you hear a lot when you're at a funeral and it's a good time to read this scripture when you're at a funeral but it's for us right now as well it says and now brothers and sisters I want you to know I want you to keep that in your mind I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope God is saying that he wants you to know what happens next and the more you know about what happens next the more hope you will have now do you agree with that that the more we know about heaven the more we know about what happens next the more hope we will have right now that's what that scripture says and I'm telling you I need hope I want more hope I want to believe more I want to hope more and the more I know about heaven the more hope that I have right now now the reason that I chose this paradise theme also is because the word paradise is used three times in scripture three times it's all in the New Testament and on all three times the word paradise is used to describe heaven Jesus Paul and John all use the word paradise to describe heaven we're going to take a look at all three today but before we dive into those things can I ask you one question it's the same question I asked myself when I begin to study this topic are you willing this morning and in the next five weeks to lay aside any belief or opinion that you have about heaven that cannot be supported with scripture are you willing to honestly a lot of people's theology is based less on scripture and more on tradition or maybe one night you ate a lot of pizza and you had this weird dream about heaven and that's become your theology or some movie that you've seen you wouldn't believe how people have based their theology on heaven on things other than the Bible so I'm asking you would you lay aside any opinion that you really strongly have right now about heaven if you cannot support it with scripture because I took that challenge and I'm telling you I'm rad my thinking about heaven has been radically changed as I look at the word of God all right so let's look at the three times in scripture that the word paradise is used to describe heaven the first time John said that heaven is a paradise of trees heaven according to John is a paradise of trees now this is a significant okay go to Revelation chapter two verse seven John is getting this revelation I know when I told you to turn to Revelation some of the deep theological minds in the congregation said I know what you were thinking I heard it I mean I just caught it just like that you said now listen you can't take anything in Revelation literally it's all figurative language apocalyptic language because there's really there's two kinds of people there people who never read the book of Revelation are terrified of it are you only read the book of Revelation can we somehow agree that there's a balanced approach to the book of Revelation that yes a lot of the language in Revelation is figurative however there is more literal language in Revelation than we give it credit for and I believe John saw what he saw and he wrote it down literally okay Revelation chapter 2 verse 7 anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the spirit capital S Holy Spirit and understand what the spirit is saying to the churches everyone who is victorious will eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God the John's talking about heaven right he's talking about the place after death yet he says there's a tree of life there I wish there was another place in Scripture where we could find something about another tree it seems like that seems familiar to me that there's a tree alive that you can eat from well John goes into more detail in Revelation 22 Revelation 22 verse 1 he's having another encounter and he's seeing things in heaven again verse 1 and the angel showed me a pure river with the water of life clear as crystal flowing from the throne of God in of the Lamb coursing down the center of the main street can any of us relate to that in the last couple of weeks we've seen this I've had this exact same vision every day watching channel eight all right on each side of the river grew a tree of life on each side remember this so it's very important bearing 12 crops of fruit with a fresh crop each month and the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations now we don't know most theologians believe that what he was describing was a group of trees on each side of the river another row after row of trees but we know by reading this that there are at least two and that's very important that there's at least two you see in the book of Genesis if you read Genesis the story of the Garden of Eden if you've just started reading that let me tell you how it ends it doesn't end well when you begin to hear about the Garden of Eden sin came in that story does not end very well the enemy came and stole everything from us in fact the Bible says that he put two angels at the entrance of the Garden of Eden with flaming swords that no one else could ever go back there everything that God had designed the perfect earth the perfect utopian environment for a perfect people was destroyed because sin came into that world we lost it Genesis is the story of paradise lost but when we read the book of Revelation it's the story of paradise found and this is why I want you to catch today the reason that I believe there are two trees or more in this heavenly vision that John had is because everything we lost in the Garden of Eden is going to be given back to us and more everything that we lost there will one day be restored back to us in the final heaven the new earth the new Jerusalem that God's going to establish and it's going to be better than anything that was ever stolen from us there's going to be more than one tree of life and it says that these trees are on both sides of the river that they bear fruit every month they bear a new crop you know why they're bearing crops every month it's because you have to eat them it's fruit to eat this is not figurative language it's literally fruit that you're going to take from the tree in heaven and eat and people are going to eat so much fruit that you have to bear crop every month and even the leaves have a purpose it isn't this great there's no going to be raking and bagging of leaves in heaven even the leaves have a purpose those trees bear fruit all the time believes are used for things on both sides of the river see humanity takes a final lap one full lap Genesis paradise lost one lap around at the end in Revelation it's paradise found and restored back to us multiplied over and over again this is what we're going to explore in the next few weeks because I want you to know something heaven is going to be paradise a paradise of trees and fruit and things to eat your appetites you will be satisfied people said why is there food in heaven if we're never hungry hey I have an appetite even when I'm not hungry and every appetite every good appetite that you have will always be satisfied in heaven there's gonna be really good food in heaven in fact Jesus said he's gonna eat with us that's not figurative he said I literally will eat with you in heaven drink with you in heaven be with you in heaven heaven is a paradise of trees and then Paul when he describes heaven is paradise Paul says that heaven is a paradise of sounds heaven is also a paradise of sounds second Corinthians 12 this is a really confusing passage of scripture to most people when you read it second Corinthians 12 now in some of your Bibles it's going to say that he knew a man that had this vision most theologians agree most commentaries agreed that Paul was simply being humble that it was improper for him to refer to himself in the first person that he was referring to someone else but everyone agrees it was Paul that had the vision okay so know that as we read this because some of you gonna read a different version of the Bible that I'm going to read okay it says verse one this boasting is all so foolish but let me go on I kind of like that about Paul I said you don't like to brag but I'm on a roll right now so I'm gonna keep going let me tell about the visions and revelations I received from the Lord I was caught up into the third heaven 14 years ago now we're gonna I'm gonna tell you what the third heaven is later in the series okay that's very important for you to see you see how we kind of run through these things about heaven and we just repast it and we never stop to say well what is the third heaven there's a third one and so there's it's important for us to know what he's talking about and he said it's 14 years ago whether my body was there or just my spirit I don't know only God knows but I do know that I was caught up into paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be told they were so astounding that Paul took 14 years before he even brought it up again have you ever been in a concert I mean the best one you've ever been in in your life and it was over and you sat there and you didn't want to leave no one wanted to leave and so they call for the what they call that they call for the encore so they come back out and play again it could the reason they call for encores is no one wants to leave they want more and then after it's all said and done people just sit there and don't want to leave the stadium or that wherever you were and then you want to your friends call the one you offered the ticket to but didn't want to go because they didn't think it would be that great and they want to say well how was the concert and you want to do it justice because the best thing you've ever witnessed and you can't really describe it you can't come up with any words for it so you just say it was awesome it was the best thing but even when you say those words they seem so inadequate this is what Paul says Paul says I just heard something in heaven the sounds of heaven and I cannot describe them I can't even so why even try can't you imagine in 14 years he wanted to bring this up to like Barnabas or someone hey by the way I had something really weird happen last week but he didn't want to talk about it was so amazing so his founding and he couldn't even describe it so he just kept it between him and God until here because the Corinthians upsetting and so he worded it out and then it's all out in the open now and it was meant for us to know he heard words sounds he didn't try to explain it however John in the book of Revelation heard some sounds to Revelation 19 verse 6 so you're going to keep your finger in Revelation a lot in the next five weeks okay Revelation 19 verse 6 John also heard some sounds in heaven then I heard again what sounded like now again John's about to try to describe what he heard and he listened to what he does it sounded like a shout of a huge crowd no or are maybe it was the roar of mighty ocean waves John goes I don't I don't know it was more than that or maybe it was the crash of loud thunder and this is what they were saying he said I do know what they were saying I just can't tell you the sounds I was hearing was so amazing those are the three best explanations he could come up with those are the three best sounds he had ever heard in his life and so that was the best he could do but here's what they were saying hallelujah for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns let us be glad and rejoice and honor him for the time has come for the wedding feast of the lamb and his bride has prepared herself this is one noisy wedding have you ever been around a bride or a groom like a few hours before the wedding or the day of the wedding they're a mess I mean they're nervous they're talking that you know they're sweating bullets can you imagine millions and millions of people getting ready to marry Jesus himself how nervous and talkative we're all going to be how excited we're going to be the greatest wedding of all time and we're the bride and the groom is gonna step out and all of his splendor Jesus himself in heaven the very thing that he died for the very thing he created all of us far dressed completely in his very best gonna step out and we're gonna look at him for the first time and realize I'm gonna spend eternity with him it's gonna be a noisy place it's gonna be loud and exciting if you think for a moment that heaven's gonna be quiet and boring you're gonna be in the wrong place it's gonna be loud you're not gonna want to be by yourself you're gonna be a part of the event one event after another one feast after another one celebration after another it's not going to be boring it's gonna be an exciting place full of sounds that you've never heard before music and dancing and singing your creativity will always there'll be no boundaries on your creative ability you like your right songs down when you get to heaven you're gonna write song after song after song you're gonna sing music music you've never heard before you're gonna create music your creativity will continue and continue and continue and just when you think you've reached the absolute limits of your creativity you're gonna see something else about God and your creativity will grow more that's what happens going to be like and you'll be required to be creative in heaven you'll want to be creative in heaven heavens a place of sounds and music and dancing here's the third thing Jesus himself said that heaven is a paradise of great stories Luke chapter 23 is one of my favorite stories Luke 23 verse 39 Jesus is on the cross two thieves close enough to him that they can have conversation and hear one another now these now how many of you grew up and you saw these pictures of the three crosses and Jesus was in the in the middle of cross and he looked like he was really being crucified with nails in his hands and feet but it seemed like the two thieves were getting off pretty easy with ropes tied around their hands they were kind of just hanging out but that's not true the truth is all three of them were beaten flogged beaten by the soldiers all of them had their nails and nails in their hands and nails in their feet they all three were crucified the same way there was a common method of Roman crucifixion and all three of them were crucified so they're let all three of them were on the cross an absolute agony break trying to breathe trying to hold themselves up so they could breathe and keep stay alive but an absolute agony and then they had this conversation first 39 one of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed so you're the Messiah are you prove it by saving yourself and us too while you're at it in other words do something far me but the other criminal protests that don't you fear God even when you're dying we deserve to die for our evil deeds now this is a one of the first times in recorded human history that a criminal on the on his execution day actually confessed to the crime he said I did it I'm guilty I did I did everything they accused me of he says we deserve to die for our evil deeds but this man hasn't done anything wrong then he said Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom and Jesus replied I assure you today today you will be with me in paradise now the thief probably set there we don't know how much longer maybe one hour two hours three hours there wasn't long he died and he's in heaven can you imagine in the last two thousand years that thief walking around heaven and people coming up to him and saying what are you doing here and I want my watch back what are you doing here and I bet the thief is looking at the few of them and saying what are you doing here listen you're gonna be shocked surprised at who you see in heaven and that and there's gonna be people shocked and surprised that you're in heaven that I'm in heaven what people that haven't seen me in 20 years they go Brady what are you doing here so what are you doing here because we're all gonna have a story to tell here's the story the thief's telling I was guilty dead to right guilty and I was being led out to be crucified I've been beaten and scurged and I hear people shouting things that this guy in front of me they're calling him the Messiah he goes can you imagine how fortunate I am that the day that I'm crucified that they choose to crucify me right next to Jesus I'm being let out to die I know that I am not getting out of this deal I'm about to die can you imagine how blessed how favored I am that right next to me close enough for me to talk to is Jesus there is and I don't know what happened but it just seemed like that my eyes were opened suddenly and I realized it was it is possible maybe even probable that this guy could be the Messiah so I just I had nothing to lose it was time for me to be honest maybe for the first time in my life in fact I think it was the first time in my life that I was ever honest I said Jesus I'm guilty I'm guilty I did everything they accused me of but if there's any hope at all for me when you get into your kingdom could you just remember me see the thief didn't know what to ask for he just want to be remembered by God and there he is right next to Jesus maybe for that last couple of hours something strange happened in that thief life hanging on the cross maybe even though he was in excruciating pain maybe for the first time he had hope in his life a strange feeling came over him something different is in me and the thief says you know I wish I could have gotten off the cross I wish I could have went and told my mom and dad that I'm sorry for embarrassing them for shaming the family I wish I could have gotten off the cross and went and apologized to the people that I'd stolen from I wish I could have gotten off the cross and been baptized I couldn't do any of those things all I could do is say Jesus would you please remember me he says here I am you think you're surprised that I'm here have you seen this place yet I can't believe I'm here and we may all agree with that story about the thief but that's my story in heaven - gonna be your story in heaven you're gonna walk around heaven no matter how good you were on the earth you're gonna walk around heaven and it's gonna be such a spectacular place and we're all gonna have the same story I can't believe that I'm here I have people in heaven that I love very much and if tomorrow morning I walked out to my mailbox and there was a postcard there from most people my dad my uncles my grandparents that I know were in heaven you know what the postcard would say you're Brady it really is paradise can't wait to see you wish you were here and because I know they're in heaven and because I know what heaven is like to the best of my knowledge that gives me great hope for them comforts me and it gives me hope for my eternity and I pray for you this morning can I just pray for everyone in the room right now I don't know if you've lost hope about today or about tomorrow but there is hope in heaven I grew up and I heard people say this to me don't be so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good and I think that's a false statement I believe life on the earth is better when we're thinking about heaven the Bible tells us to long for heaven to pray for the return of Christ to dream about heaven I want you in the next five weeks just throughout the week throughout your day I just want you to start thinking about heaven it's a good place a really great place there's a great God they're waiting for you and you're gonna be there a really long time.