I believe this is how it will be in heaven. We may not know everything about a person, but we will be able to identify who they are. This will allow for some wonderful fellowship and some glorious reunions.
One thing you can be certain of is that believers will worship in heaven. Revelation tells us of the worship that will happen around the throne. Here is one instance. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
And they cried out in a loud voice:. The Bible is not clear on how much we will worship or for how long, but the worship in heaven will be the purest and sweetest worship we have ever experienced. People from every nation and language gathered around the throne, offering worship to our God.
Just the thought of that causes joy to leap in my heart. That is one song and choir you definitely want to be part of. The best part of the worship is that you will be able to enjoy God's presence without the hindrance or influence of sin. Truly, that will be an awesome day. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. One of the things that you don't often think about when you consider what believers will do in heaven is that we will continue to serve.
The Bible is not clear about the capacity that we will serve, but you don't have to worry; it won't be drudgery. If you have experienced serving with joy, that will only increase in heaven. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
While the Bible is clear about us reigning and ruling with Christ, it seems like this is during the time when Jesus establishes his millennial kingdom on the earth. Confession and repentance reveal the access to restoration. The way to cover our sin is to uncover it by confession.
Richard Sibbes. I rejoice at Your Word as one who finds great treasure. Earlier this year, a volunteer for a charity in Arizona was going through books donated for a sale. Someone had used a knife to cut a hole in the middle of the book. Perhaps it would help to think of it in those terms.
Use your imagination to see every word of Scripture turning to gold as you read it. Think of every promise as a precious stone. See the words about Jesus in the Gospels as sparkling like diamonds. Visualize your daily Bible study time like a miser running his hands through a chest of gold. The treasury of Scripture will enrich your mind, refocus your goals, replace your doubts, and redirect your path—but only if you read it and heed it.
Start today! To get the best use out of [the Bible] for daily life,…Give it the best and freshest, not the most tired and dull, hour of the day. Kimber in The Sunday School World , I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside.
Peter wrote his final letter shortly before his execution. Life is full of hardships and heaviness. We have the promises of God to help us in difficult days, and we have the Holy Spirit within us.
We have a purpose for being here—to refresh the memory of others regarding the things of the Lord. Goodbye hardship and heaviness. Goodbye trials and troubles. Hello Jesus! Hello heaven! Hello golden streets, glorified bodies, endless days, and the fresh air of New Jerusalem! During difficult times, the hope of eternity gives us strength.
A tent or a cottage, why should I care? Whether we realize it or not, it is part of our past, and it will be part of our future. The moment we resolve to stand strong and walk away is when temptation grows most intense. That is why Scripture is of paramount importance. Consider these verses:. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it 1 Corinthians But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full—grown, brings forth death James — He listed them in verses 7— They are idolatry, immorality, infidelity, and disloyalty. To think our temptation is unique is to believe a lie. The apostle James argued that if temptation becomes serious, it is because we have allowed it to do so. Temptation is not sin; yielding to temptation is. There is always a righteous choice to be made if we are willing to seek it.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. That event is a beautiful example of the willingness of God. In writing about the timing of the Day of the Lord the end of the age , Peter says God is waiting for all who will be saved to come to Him. The question is never whether God is willing but whether man is willing.
God is far more willing to save sinners than sinners are to be saved. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. The church in Corinth was an undisciplined church, and he was letting them know that even though the culture around them was in flux, their faith in Jesus Christ needed to remain focused and sure. It is true for us today also. How can we remain steadfast in our faith and avoid the pressures of this ever-changing world?
As our lives center on God, giving priority to hearing His voice and reading His Word, we become bolder in sharing our faith. When we find a man meditating on the words of God, my friends, that man is full of boldness and is successful. Dwight L. Marine litter is a huge ecological problem. Fish become entangled in discarded fishing nets and lines, with bellies full of plastic debris they have swallowed.
Such images are in stark contrast to the pristine beauty and glory of Eden as presented in Genesis. And that mandate extends to our personal life as well. Paul writes that we belong to God and we are to glorify Him with our care and use of our body.
Even on earth, the only people who are never bored are lovers. Secondly, we will not hurt or be hurt. But there will be no more hurting or sickness or pain in heaven. Thirdly, we will not hunger or thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. Fourthly, we will not mourn or cry.
Once again, I believe this means we will not mourn or cry in a negative way, that is, crying from hurt or from pain. It is very possible we will still shed tears of joy or laughter or tears of emotion welling up from deep experiences of beauty in heaven. Here on earth when we trust Christ as Savior we are saved first from the penalty of sin.
Then as we grow in Christ we are saved more and more from the power of sin. But in heaven we will be saved even from the very presence of sin. We will not sin, and we will not even desire to sin. That is victory indeed! We will not sin, and therefore, we will not die. We have looked at Isaiah 65 a number of times this morning and its various descriptions of the new heaven and the new earth.
This verse gives us a description of heaven in earthly terms. It does not mean that we will just live longer in heaven but still eventually die. Rather it is a poetic way of saying we will indeed live forever in the new heaven and new earth. Will we just sit around on clouds paying harps all day?
We will worship, we will fellowship, we will serve, we will work, we will rest and we will rule. We will not be bored, we will not hurt or be hurt, hunger or thirst, mourn or cry, sin or die. Heaven is a perfect place designed for perfected people. Sin and all its consequences will be completely removed. We will enjoy all of the good things God intended and none of the bad things that resulted from sin. Hell will be a lonely place full of pain, weeping and regret.
Heaven will be full of worship, people, family, friends, laughter, creativity, productivity and joy. Basically, heaven is going to be a blast. So where would you rather be? Christ offers you heaven. He offers you salvation even today. You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this message provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and that you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction.
For any web postings, please link to the sermon directly at this website. Please include the following statement on any distributed copies: By Ray Fowler. Hello and welcome to RayFowler. If you are new here, be sure to subscribe by email or feed reader so that you don't miss any future posts.
You can also check out the Top Posts page to get a feel for the site. Thanks for visiting! Feel free to hit the comments button on any post and join the discussion. The idea of working in heaven is foreign to many people. Yet Scripture clearly teaches it. When God created Adam, he "took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it" Genesis Work was part of the original Eden.
It was part of a perfect human life. God Himself is a worker. He didn't create the world and then retire. Jesus found great satisfaction in His work. We'll also have work to do, satisfying and enriching work that we can't wait to get back to, work that'll never be drudgery. God is the primary worker, and as His image-bearers, we're made to work. We create, accomplish, set goals and fulfill them—to God's glory.
In Scripture, God is said to enjoy, love, laugh, take delight and rejoice, as well as be angry, happy, jealous and glad. To be like God means to have and express emotions.
Hence, we should expect that in heaven emotions will exist for God's glory and our good. We know that people in heaven have lots of feelings—all good ones. We're told of banquets, feasts and singing.
People will laugh there Luke Will we cry in heaven? The Bible says, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes ; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying or pain" Revelation These are the tears of suffering over sin and death, the tears of oppressed people, the cries of the poor, the widow, the orphaned, the unborn and the persecuted.
We might, though, shed tears of joy. Can you imagine joy flooding your eyes as you meet Christ, for example, and as you're reunited with loved ones? I can. God alone is omniscient. When we die, we'll see things far more clearly, and we'll know much more than we know now. But we'll never know everything. In heaven we'll be flawless, but not knowing everything isn't a flaw. It's part of being finite.
Righteous angels don't know everything, and they long to know more 1 Peter They're flawless but finite. We should expect to long for greater knowledge, as angels do. And we'll spend eternity gaining the greater knowledge we'll seek. Scripture gives no indication of a memory wipe causing us not to recognize family and friends. Paul anticipated being with the Thessalonians in heaven, and it never occurred to him he wouldn't know them. In fact, if we wouldn't know our loved ones, the comfort of an afterlife reunion, taught in 1 Thessalonians , would be no comfort at all.
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