WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:07.020 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 00:00:07.020 –> 00:00:16.540 To contact us call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website at www.OpenTheBible.org 00:00:16.540 –> 00:00:17.760 Let’s get to the message. 00:00:17.760 –> 00:00:19.280 Here is Pastor Colin. 00:00:19.280 –> 00:00:25.940 Please have your Bible open at Revelation 7 as it’s been read to us as we come again 00:00:26.660 –> 00:00:30.280 this marvellous subject of heaven. 00:00:30.280 –> 00:00:33.520 We’ve asked the question, How can I be sure of heaven? 00:00:33.520 –> 00:00:37.660 And we saw the answer from the story of the thief on the cross. 00:00:37.660 –> 00:00:42.880 He turned to Jesus, he asked of Jesus and he trusted in Jesus. 00:00:42.880 –> 00:00:50.820 And to the person who turns and asks and trusts, Jesus says, You will be with me in Paradise. 00:00:50.820 –> 00:00:55.439 And then last week we asked the question, what will it be like in heaven? 00:00:55.439 –> 00:01:01.000 What is the experience of our Christian loved ones immediately after death, for those who 00:01:01.000 –> 00:01:03.900 are already in the presence of the Lord? 00:01:03.900 –> 00:01:06.919 We saw four answers to that question from the Bible. 00:01:06.919 –> 00:01:14.239 They are with Christ, they are fully conscious, they are actively engaged and they are eagerly 00:01:14.239 –> 00:01:16.279 waiting. 00:01:16.279 –> 00:01:22.820 What they enjoy in heaven is better by far than anything that we know here on earth. 00:01:22.820 –> 00:01:26.540 But the best for them and for us is still yet to be. 00:01:26.540 –> 00:01:29.599 They are waiting for the resurrection of the body. 00:01:29.599 –> 00:01:33.260 They are waiting for the gathering of the entire family of God. 00:01:33.260 –> 00:01:35.559 They are waiting for the new heaven and the new earth. 00:01:35.559 –> 00:01:42.339 And all that lies in the future for them as it does for us. 00:01:42.339 –> 00:01:48.000 Now today we come to the subject of relationship and particularly the question will we know 00:01:48.000 –> 00:01:49.720 one another in heaven. 00:01:49.760 –> 00:01:54.440 I think that’s probably the question that I’ve been asked about heaven more often than 00:01:54.440 –> 00:01:55.599 any other. 00:01:55.599 –> 00:02:01.080 And so we are going to attempt a clear answer from many scriptures a little later in the 00:02:01.080 –> 00:02:03.519 message today. 00:02:03.519 –> 00:02:05.559 The outline is simply this. 00:02:05.559 –> 00:02:09.320 We are going to look at the joy at being at home in heaven. 00:02:09.320 –> 00:02:15.539 We are going to look at the joy of being together in heaven and we are going to look at the 00:02:15.539 –> 00:02:18.740 joy of being with Christ in heaven. 00:02:18.759 –> 00:02:22.000 So if you have your Bible open at Revelation chapter 7. 00:02:22.020 –> 00:02:27.899 We begin there at verse 9 with the joy of being at home. 00:02:27.899 –> 00:02:36.500 After this John says, I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number. 00:02:36.500 –> 00:02:40.300 Now, what a great scene this is. 00:02:40.300 –> 00:02:47.740 John sees a vast crowd, a great multitude he says, and they are in the immediate presence 00:02:47.740 –> 00:02:49.619 of Jesus. 00:02:49.619 –> 00:02:56.279 They are standing before the throne and they are standing before the Lamb. 00:02:56.279 –> 00:03:00.860 Notice that those who are in the presence of Jesus, as John sees them, they are dressed 00:03:00.860 –> 00:03:05.699 in white robes, which of course speaks of complete purity. 00:03:05.699 –> 00:03:13.639 There is not the hint of a stain of sin upon them, there is not the whiff of a temptation 00:03:13.639 –> 00:03:16.800 anywhere near them. 00:03:16.820 –> 00:03:20.759 And they have palm branches in their hands. 00:03:20.759 –> 00:03:25.580 Palm branches, of course, in biblical times were symbols of victory. 00:03:25.580 –> 00:03:31.100 And here are these people and they are celebrating complete, total, utter, and lasting victory. 00:03:31.100 –> 00:03:38.380 There are for them no more battles, no more struggles, no more wounds. 00:03:38.380 –> 00:03:40.100 Complete and total victory. 00:03:40.100 –> 00:03:43.919 And they ascribe this victory not to themselves, but to God. 00:03:44.240 –> 00:03:52.259 And the salvation they seek belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. 00:03:52.259 –> 00:03:59.000 So obviously their experience is very different from what we experience here. 00:03:59.000 –> 00:04:03.619 Think about it, when you become a Christian, you give your – Jesus Christ gives you a 00:04:03.619 –> 00:04:06.580 new heart, a new heart I will give you. 00:04:06.580 –> 00:04:09.759 God puts His Holy Spirit within you. 00:04:09.759 –> 00:04:13.539 But you live this life in the body. 00:04:13.580 –> 00:04:19.880 And therefore living a truly Christian life as we try to pursue that is a battle all the way. 00:04:20.920 –> 00:04:25.779 It’s a battle for us in this world because we live with the baggage of remaining sin 00:04:25.779 –> 00:04:29.320 that’s never completely gone in this life. 00:04:29.320 –> 00:04:34.200 We live with the pain of a fallen world in which God is so dishonored and righteousness 00:04:34.200 –> 00:04:42.820 despised and where evil and violence cast a shadow over all that is good. 00:04:42.820 –> 00:04:47.339 We are constantly against the pull of the flesh in this world. 00:04:47.339 –> 00:04:52.640 It may change the direction of the pull as you move through the course of life. 00:04:52.640 –> 00:04:57.779 The pull of the flesh may be, at one point, more in the direction of lust, and at another 00:04:57.779 –> 00:05:02.540 time more in the direction of greed, and at another time, more in the direction of laziness. 00:05:02.540 –> 00:05:08.540 The pull of the flesh may change its direction, but the pull never ends and the battle never 00:05:08.540 –> 00:05:10.779 goes away. 00:05:10.899 –> 00:05:17.320 And then we have our enemy, the Devil, though He cannot ever finally succeed against us, 00:05:17.320 –> 00:05:20.100 will never give up trying. 00:05:20.100 –> 00:05:26.339 And so, in this world, we are always living a life of repentance and of faith. 00:05:26.339 –> 00:05:30.760 Repentance because we are never beyond the place of being aware of our own sins and our 00:05:30.760 –> 00:05:36.279 failures, and faith because we have to walk by faith and not by sight. 00:05:36.359 –> 00:05:38.540 And we do this with the help of the Holy Spirit. 00:05:38.540 –> 00:05:41.899 And because God has put a new heart within us. 00:05:41.899 –> 00:05:46.779 But the Christian life, to pursue a truly Christian life in this world is a struggle 00:05:46.779 –> 00:05:49.500 all the way. 00:05:49.500 –> 00:05:55.799 But what we’re seeing here in Revelation and chapter 7 is that it will not always be so. 00:05:55.799 –> 00:06:01.399 John sees believers in the presence of Jesus and they’re not struggling at all. 00:06:01.399 –> 00:06:04.519 They are celebrating victory. 00:06:04.519 –> 00:06:07.260 They’re waving palm branches. 00:06:07.260 –> 00:06:11.200 There isn’t the hint of a stain of a sin upon them. 00:06:11.200 –> 00:06:14.660 There isn’t the whiff of a temptation near them. 00:06:14.660 –> 00:06:20.459 Their long struggle is over and their battle has been won. 00:06:20.459 –> 00:06:28.600 And so now they are at home verse 15, therefore they are before the throne of God and they 00:06:28.600 –> 00:06:32.059 serve him day and night in his temple. 00:06:32.059 –> 00:06:38.440 And he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 00:06:38.440 –> 00:06:45.459 That last phrase, shelter them with his presence, literally translated means that he, God, will 00:06:45.459 –> 00:06:48.399 spread his tent over them. 00:06:48.399 –> 00:06:50.480 A beautiful picture. 00:06:50.480 –> 00:06:56.279 You imagine this vast piece of canvas and here is the almighty and he’s shaking it 00:06:56.279 –> 00:06:57.279 out. 00:06:57.519 –> 00:07:01.640 He floats now down over all of the people of God. 00:07:01.640 –> 00:07:05.959 So that nobody is outside and everybody is inside. 00:07:05.959 –> 00:07:08.959 It is the most beautiful picture of inclusion. 00:07:08.959 –> 00:07:13.559 He will spread his tent over all of his people. 00:07:13.559 –> 00:07:20.239 It’s a wonderful way of saying you’re at home here, this is where you belong. 00:07:20.239 –> 00:07:26.440 Try and think about the time or the place in your life where you would say you felt 00:07:26.440 –> 00:07:28.739 most at home. 00:07:28.739 –> 00:07:30.820 Where you were most yourself. 00:07:30.820 –> 00:07:34.980 Where is that? 00:07:34.980 –> 00:07:37.040 When was that? 00:07:37.040 –> 00:07:45.119 Wherever and whenever it was or is, what you experience when you feel most completely at 00:07:45.119 –> 00:07:52.559 home is just a little foretaste of what you experience in the presence of the Lord. 00:07:53.019 –> 00:08:00.179 And that’s very important, because some of us struggle to feel at home in this life. 00:08:00.179 –> 00:08:03.160 Some don’t feel completely at home in their work. 00:08:03.160 –> 00:08:07.779 You are doing this job, and you say, I’m not sure it’s really me. 00:08:07.779 –> 00:08:11.660 I’m not sure I’m really a fit for this. 00:08:11.660 –> 00:08:16.600 I’m not really sure that this is what I was made for. 00:08:16.600 –> 00:08:20.559 Some don’t feel completely at home in the church. 00:08:20.559 –> 00:08:26.640 Some don’t feel completely at home in their own families, and some don’t feel completely 00:08:26.640 –> 00:08:31.640 at home in their own bodies. 00:08:31.640 –> 00:08:40.099 But if you are in Christ, the day will come when you know that you are completely at home, 00:08:40.099 –> 00:08:48.400 God will spread his tent over you, and you will say, ah, now this is where I belong. 00:08:48.419 –> 00:08:51.539 I was made for this place. 00:08:51.539 –> 00:08:56.440 This is where I was always meant to be. 00:08:56.440 –> 00:09:00.580 And to be at home means of course that you will truly be yourself. 00:09:00.580 –> 00:09:05.539 In fact in heaven, you will say, I’m more myself now and here than I have ever been 00:09:05.539 –> 00:09:07.719 in all of my experience before. 00:09:07.719 –> 00:09:14.760 So much of what went before wasn’t really me, it somehow attached itself to me. 00:09:15.179 –> 00:09:19.659 Now that I am here, I am a home, I am myself. 00:09:19.659 –> 00:09:23.520 And for that reason you will be able as it says here to serve the Lord as you always 00:09:23.520 –> 00:09:24.760 wished you could. 00:09:24.760 –> 00:09:29.960 Every Christian really wants to serve the Lord but we struggle with so many difficulties 00:09:29.960 –> 00:09:35.599 and tiredness and jadedness and discouragement, but here they served the Lord day and night 00:09:35.599 –> 00:09:40.219 you see the significance of that, there’s no tiredness, no jadedness, no running low 00:09:40.219 –> 00:09:43.400 that’s happening there in the presence of the Lord. 00:09:44.299 –> 00:09:49.659 Ligon Duncan, an esteemed pastor, college president, Christian leader, has a wonderful 00:09:49.659 –> 00:09:52.200 comment on this. 00:09:52.200 –> 00:10:00.380 He says, I have no idea what it is like to live with a heart that is wholly given over 00:10:00.380 –> 00:10:01.380 to God. 00:10:01.380 –> 00:10:06.619 See what he’s saying, there’s always that tension, always that struggle in the human 00:10:06.619 –> 00:10:09.000 heart, even the redeemed and the renewed heart. 00:10:09.000 –> 00:10:15.000 I have no idea what it is like to live with a heart that is wholly given over to my God. 00:10:15.000 –> 00:10:22.840 I have not lived one second with that kind of heart, but one day I will. 00:10:22.840 –> 00:10:30.479 Think how much you will enjoy your own heart being wholly given over to God. 00:10:30.479 –> 00:10:38.359 You are a hint of a stain of a sin upon you, and not the whiff of a temptation around you, 00:10:38.359 –> 00:10:43.979 and Satan unable to get his hook into your heart ever again, 00:10:43.979 –> 00:10:51.099 because nothing in you is drawn to anything that is his. 00:10:51.099 –> 00:10:58.840 You will never be out of sorts, you’ll never have that experience of a sort of mood settling over you. 00:10:59.059 –> 00:11:00.380 And you know what that’s like? 00:11:00.559 –> 00:11:02.539 It’s sort of a mood settles over, and you say, 00:11:02.539 –> 00:11:05.500 Where in the world did that come from? 00:11:05.500 –> 00:11:11.559 You’ll never have that kind of an experience again, you will be at peace with yourself. 00:11:11.559 –> 00:11:17.900 You will be at peace with all your brothers and sisters made perfect by Jesus Christ. 00:11:17.900 –> 00:11:25.539 And you will be at peace with God, and you will be at home, 00:11:25.619 –> 00:11:31.760 The joy of being at home in Heaven. 00:11:31.780 –> 00:11:37.200 Secondly, the joy of being together in Heaven. 00:11:37.200 –> 00:11:40.659 The joy of being together in Heaven. 00:11:40.659 –> 00:11:42.059 Verse 9. 00:11:42.059 –> 00:11:49.979 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, 00:11:49.979 –> 00:11:54.039 From every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages 00:11:54.039 –> 00:11:59.539 Standing before the throne and before The Lamb. 00:11:59.539 –> 00:12:01.859 Now I want you to notice something important here. 00:12:01.859 –> 00:12:09.000 That the distinct identity of every person in this vast crowd is maintained. 00:12:09.000 –> 00:12:16.739 They are specifically from every tribe and every nation and every language. 00:12:16.739 –> 00:12:19.559 Here is something very wonderful. 00:12:20.000 –> 00:12:26.700 The distinct individuality of every one of Christ’s children in heaven is preserved. 00:12:26.700 –> 00:12:34.059 But what makes us different no longer divides. 00:12:34.059 –> 00:12:38.739 There isn’t a hint of conflict, there isn’t a hint of tension in this vast crowd from 00:12:38.739 –> 00:12:41.219 every tribe and nation and language. 00:12:41.320 –> 00:12:49.239 Surely in the presence of God in heaven God’s people out of many will be one. 00:12:49.239 –> 00:12:56.820 Now friends, this speaks directly to the question, will we know one another in heaven? 00:12:56.820 –> 00:13:01.900 Now I want to give you the one word sort of bottom line answer to that and then to support 00:13:01.900 –> 00:13:02.900 it from the Bible. 00:13:02.900 –> 00:13:05.020 Will we know one another in heaven? 00:13:05.020 –> 00:13:07.080 Answer, yes. 00:13:07.080 –> 00:13:17.059 You will be you, I will be me, we will be made perfect like Christ, we will all reflect 00:13:17.059 –> 00:13:24.140 the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ but each of us will reflect his likness through our 00:13:24.140 –> 00:13:28.659 own unique individuality. 00:13:28.659 –> 00:13:33.599 God never made two snowflakes exactly alike and he certainly never made two Christians 00:13:33.599 –> 00:13:35.159 exactly alike. 00:13:35.520 –> 00:13:42.039 He has made us distinct in our reflection of his likeness in creation and that distinction 00:13:42.039 –> 00:13:48.380 and that individuality will continue to all eternity among the redeemed of the Lord in 00:13:48.380 –> 00:13:50.640 heaven. 00:13:50.640 –> 00:13:55.520 For sure we shall know one another in the resurrection. 00:13:55.520 –> 00:14:02.119 The disciples recognized Jesus in his resurrection body. 00:14:02.159 –> 00:14:07.520 But even before that, we have good reason to believe that the same will be true for 00:14:07.520 –> 00:14:14.440 believers now, even in advance of the resurrection body in the presence of the Lord. 00:14:14.440 –> 00:14:21.979 And to that end, I want to offer to you seven scriptures today that all point to our knowing 00:14:21.979 –> 00:14:29.280 one another in heaven, all make clear identity, individuality and relationship in heaven. 00:14:29.380 –> 00:14:34.700 Seven scriptures, all of them for sure point to knowing one another in the resurrection 00:14:34.700 –> 00:14:41.880 and some of them point to believers knowing one another immediately after death. 00:14:41.880 –> 00:14:46.440 So having been asked this question so many times, now when someone asks me the question 00:14:46.440 –> 00:14:49.859 will we know one another in heaven, I’m going to say, there are seven scriptures that answer 00:14:49.859 –> 00:14:53.020 that, it’s all on the internet, you can just download the message. 00:14:53.020 –> 00:14:59.239 I want you to get this and for it to be settled in our minds because if there’s one great 00:14:59.299 –> 00:15:04.460 purpose for this series, it is to heighten our anticipation of heaven. 00:15:04.460 –> 00:15:08.820 Why would it be that the Son of God would give all that he did to open the gates of 00:15:08.820 –> 00:15:13.099 heaven for His people and that there would be a relatively low level of anticipation 00:15:13.099 –> 00:15:18.760 among God’s people with regards to actually going there, that would be very strange. 00:15:18.760 –> 00:15:24.640 And we are given glimpses of what lies ahead in order to encourage us in the battle now 00:15:24.840 –> 00:15:31.520 to press on in anticipation of the joy that is yet to be. 00:15:31.520 –> 00:15:36.340 So I’m gonna try and make the case here, as someone tries to make a case, I’m gonna call 00:15:36.340 –> 00:15:40.859 witnesses, and I have seven witnesses from the scripture, and the first one I want to 00:15:40.859 –> 00:15:44.000 call David and his son. 00:15:44.000 –> 00:15:48.559 That is from 2 Samuel chapter 12, verse 23. 00:15:49.299 –> 00:15:56.419 Now as most of you know, King David had a little boy, who died in infancy. 00:15:56.419 –> 00:16:00.679 David had prayed much that God would spare his life, the boy died, and when the little 00:16:00.679 –> 00:16:11.059 boy died, David said, 2 Samuel 12 and verse 23, I shall go to him. 00:16:11.059 –> 00:16:17.159 He’s not coming back to me, but I, king David says under the inspiration of the Spirit of 00:16:17.400 –> 00:16:26.599 God I shall go to him. Now think about this, there is more here than David saying, I will 00:16:26.599 –> 00:16:37.719 go to heaven when I die. No David says, I will go to the boy. I will see him, I will 00:16:37.719 –> 00:16:46.559 be reunited with him in heaven, and there are many parents who have gone through the 00:16:46.880 –> 00:16:55.619 great grief and sadness of losing a child in infancy, and here is a wonderful assurance 00:16:55.619 –> 00:17:05.680 for every Christian parent who loses a child. David says, I shall go to him. 00:17:05.680 –> 00:17:11.239 C.H. Spurgeon points out very beautifully from the story of Job, you remember Job lost 00:17:11.239 –> 00:17:19.199 everything and his children died, lost all of his cattle and money and terrible, terrible 00:17:19.199 –> 00:17:21.239 devastation in chapter 1. 00:17:21.239 –> 00:17:29.400 When you get to the last chapter of the book of Job, God restores to Job double all that 00:17:29.400 –> 00:17:30.400 he lost. 00:17:30.400 –> 00:17:34.839 And if you look at the first and the last chapter, Job has double the cattle, he has 00:17:34.839 –> 00:17:40.099 double the sheep, he has double the money. 00:17:40.099 –> 00:17:43.979 But at the beginning of the story, he had seven sons and three daughters. 00:17:43.979 –> 00:17:48.040 And at the end of the story, we’re told not that he was given double of that, but 00:17:48.040 –> 00:17:55.280 simply that he was given by God seven sons and three daughters. 00:17:55.280 –> 00:17:58.459 And Spurgeon asks this question. 00:17:58.459 –> 00:18:07.219 Why did God not give Job double the children, when he got double the cattle and double the 00:18:07.219 –> 00:18:09.880 money and double everything else? 00:18:09.880 –> 00:18:12.400 And here’s his answer. 00:18:12.400 –> 00:18:19.319 God regarded the children who had died as being Job’s still. 00:18:19.319 –> 00:18:27.859 He does have double now in the presence of Jesus. 00:18:27.859 –> 00:18:32.959 Witness number one, David and his son. 00:18:32.959 –> 00:18:38.060 Witness number two, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 00:18:38.060 –> 00:18:44.219 And here we’re looking at Matthew 8, verse 11, where Jesus says, I tell you that many 00:18:44.219 –> 00:18:52.660 will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in 00:18:52.660 –> 00:18:54.459 the kingdom of heaven. 00:18:54.459 –> 00:19:00.119 Now, notice again, this is very important, distinct identity. 00:19:00.119 –> 00:19:05.619 Abraham is Abraham in heaven, not someone else, not some kind of a composite figure. 00:19:05.619 –> 00:19:08.439 Isaac is still Isaac, Jacob is Jacob. 00:19:08.439 –> 00:19:12.640 They retain their distinct identity. 00:19:12.640 –> 00:19:18.619 They do not become in heaven nameless, anonymous spirits. 00:19:18.619 –> 00:19:25.260 Abraham is enjoying the company, think of this, of his own son and of his own grandson 00:19:25.260 –> 00:19:26.599 in the kingdom of heaven. 00:19:26.599 –> 00:19:29.500 Clearly this is in the resurrection. 00:19:29.500 –> 00:19:33.739 Jacob is enjoying the company of his father and of his grandfather. 00:19:34.060 –> 00:19:38.339 Three generations of the same family and there they are together according to the word of 00:19:38.339 –> 00:19:40.459 the Lord Jesus. 00:19:40.459 –> 00:19:42.819 And notice what they are doing here in the resurrection. 00:19:42.819 –> 00:19:47.219 They are reclining at a table. 00:19:47.219 –> 00:19:49.680 They are eating and they are drinking. 00:19:49.680 –> 00:19:55.040 You have identity, you have relationship, you have conversation, you have sharing a 00:19:55.040 –> 00:19:56.040 meal. 00:19:56.040 –> 00:19:57.300 Three generations of the same family. 00:19:57.300 –> 00:20:00.339 Jesus said it. 00:20:00.420 –> 00:20:04.339 And Jesus says many will come from the east and the west to join them. 00:20:04.339 –> 00:20:05.339 What’s he saying? 00:20:05.339 –> 00:20:08.260 That is the joy into which every believer will be brought. 00:20:08.260 –> 00:20:15.660 That same joy that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will experience in the resurrection. 00:20:15.660 –> 00:20:19.739 Along the same lines, Jesus and the disciples. 00:20:19.739 –> 00:20:21.599 Matthew chapter 26, verse 29. 00:20:21.599 –> 00:20:27.079 52 I tell you says Jesus, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until the 00:20:27.079 –> 00:20:35.939 day when I will drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. 00:20:35.939 –> 00:20:40.439 Now notice the same clarity, here’s Jesus and he’s sitting with the 11 disciples, Judas 00:20:40.439 –> 00:20:42.599 has gone out. 00:20:42.599 –> 00:20:49.119 And they’re sharing the Lord’s supper on earth and he says now I’m going to drink it with 00:20:49.119 –> 00:20:51.819 you in heaven. 00:20:51.819 –> 00:21:00.040 So these disciples will be named and they will be known in heaven, distinct identity 00:21:00.040 –> 00:21:03.780 and the sharing of this supper with Jesus. 00:21:03.780 –> 00:21:06.979 Witness number four, Moses and Elijah. 00:21:06.979 –> 00:21:09.859 Here is Matthew chapter 17 and verse 3. 00:21:09.859 –> 00:21:18.099 We’re told that the Transfiguration that behold there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking 00:21:18.099 –> 00:21:19.500 with him. 00:21:20.219 –> 00:21:26.520 Now, friends this is particularly fascinating because Moses and Elijah appearing at the 00:21:26.520 –> 00:21:34.819 Transfiguration clearly did not have and do not have, even now, the resurrection body. 00:21:34.819 –> 00:21:41.199 Remember, that even now, Jesus is the only one in the entire universe who has the resurrection 00:21:41.199 –> 00:21:43.020 body. 00:21:43.020 –> 00:21:46.520 Everyone else is waiting to receive it when he returns in power and glory. 00:21:46.520 –> 00:21:48.319 Moses and Elijah, where are they? 00:21:48.339 –> 00:21:54.219 They are in heaven with the rest of our believing loved ones and they are fully conscious, they 00:21:54.239 –> 00:21:59.319 are with Christ, they are actively engaged, but they are eagerly waiting for the resurrection 00:21:59.319 –> 00:22:04.260 body that they do not have yet and which they will get when Christ comes again in glory. 00:22:04.260 –> 00:22:07.819 So when they appear on the Mount of Transfiguration, what are they? 00:22:07.819 –> 00:22:10.300 They’re spirits. 00:22:10.300 –> 00:22:12.739 Souls made visible. 00:22:13.599 –> 00:22:20.760 In the same way as the angels were made visible to the shepherds on the night that Jesus was 00:22:20.760 –> 00:22:25.780 born, or the souls in Revelation and chapter 6 that we looked at last week were made visible 00:22:25.780 –> 00:22:35.359 in the vision that was given to John, even without the resurrection body Moses and Elijah 00:22:35.359 –> 00:22:41.099 were known, they were recognisable. 00:22:41.939 –> 00:22:47.939 Now how did Peter and James and John know and recognise that it was Moses and Elijah? 00:22:47.939 –> 00:22:50.959 I have absolutely no idea. 00:22:50.959 –> 00:22:53.319 Somebody said to me in the break that they probably had name tags on. 00:22:53.319 –> 00:22:57.260 I don’t think that is a very helpful suggestion. 00:22:57.260 –> 00:22:58.260 I have no idea. 00:22:58.260 –> 00:23:03.979 But what I do know is that the Bible makes clear that Moses and Elijah were known. 00:23:03.979 –> 00:23:08.420 And therefore I do not have to understand the mechanics by which that happened in order 00:23:08.599 –> 00:23:15.459 believe that if they were known, even in advance of the resurrection body, then the fellowship 00:23:15.459 –> 00:23:20.760 of knowledge and of full identity is something that is given to believers in the presence 00:23:20.760 –> 00:23:25.660 of Christ immediately after death and not only in the resurrection body when Christ 00:23:25.660 –> 00:23:28.140 returns. 00:23:28.140 –> 00:23:34.380 And I think going to witness number five that is reinforced further by Hebrews chapter 12 00:23:34.380 –> 00:23:37.420 and verses 22 and 23. 00:23:37.560 –> 00:23:43.500 Here the writer to the Hebrews reminds us of the great truth that the church worshiping 00:23:43.500 –> 00:23:48.420 on earth is always at one with the church worshiping in heaven. 00:23:48.420 –> 00:23:52.979 And he speaks of the church in heaven as the spirits – so he’s talking about how 00:23:52.979 –> 00:23:57.819 they are right now, not yet the resurrection body – the spirits of the righteous made 00:23:57.819 –> 00:23:58.819 perfect. 00:23:58.819 –> 00:24:02.920 That’s the souls of believers in the presence of Jesus. 00:24:02.920 –> 00:24:06.380 Now what does he tell us about what’s going on for these loved ones in the presence of 00:24:06.400 –> 00:24:07.520 Jesus now? 00:24:07.520 –> 00:24:13.619 He says this, that they are in the assembly of the first born. 00:24:13.619 –> 00:24:20.520 In other words they are gathered, the spirits of the righteous made perfect, gathered, and 00:24:20.520 –> 00:24:25.180 they’re in this great celebration is what is depicted for us here. 00:24:25.180 –> 00:24:29.000 Gathered means community. 00:24:29.000 –> 00:24:32.479 Community means relationship. 00:24:32.500 –> 00:24:37.819 Relationship means identity and knowledge. 00:24:37.819 –> 00:24:44.099 Witness number 6, Paul and the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 2, 19. 00:24:44.099 –> 00:24:50.500 The Apostle says to these believers, What is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before 00:24:50.500 –> 00:24:52.859 our Lord Jesus at his coming?” 00:24:52.859 –> 00:24:57.420 What’s going to be our great joy when he comes? 00:24:57.420 –> 00:24:59.319 And his astonishing answer is this. 00:24:59.319 –> 00:25:04.239 Is it not you? 00:25:04.239 –> 00:25:07.599 So you read the two letters that we have in the Bible that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. 00:25:07.599 –> 00:25:13.000 There’s a very, very special and deep bond between the Apostle and these folks. 00:25:13.000 –> 00:25:16.800 Had been right from the beginning where this particular church was planted. 00:25:16.800 –> 00:25:21.760 They had gone through so many difficulties. 00:25:21.760 –> 00:25:24.400 And the Apostle is saying, you know, you’ve been my joy. 00:25:24.400 –> 00:25:29.199 Just serving with you has been my joy on earth and you’re going to be my joy in heaven. 00:25:29.339 –> 00:25:33.119 That’s what he says. 00:25:33.119 –> 00:25:36.739 Jonathan Edwards therefore makes this wonderful comment. 00:25:36.739 –> 00:25:43.719 The special affection that the Saints have in this world towards other Saints who are 00:25:43.719 –> 00:25:49.540 their friends will in some respect remain in another world. 00:25:49.540 –> 00:25:50.859 Beautifully stated. 00:25:50.859 –> 00:25:56.160 As Jonathan Edwards, the special affection that the Saints have in this world towards 00:25:56.199 –> 00:26:02.359 other Saints who are their friends will in some respect remain in another world. 00:26:02.359 –> 00:26:08.780 Says Paul, just the relationship that we have had together is the joy of my life, he says 00:26:08.780 –> 00:26:13.479 to these folks, and it’s gonna be a joy to me forever and forever in Heaven. 00:26:13.479 –> 00:26:14.920 You will be a joy to me. 00:26:14.920 –> 00:26:19.180 We will be a joy to each other. 00:26:19.180 –> 00:26:26.079 Spurgeon quotes a pastor by the name of John Ryland whose wife, Betty, asked him a question, 00:26:27.079 –> 00:26:31.839 John, she said, will you know me in Heaven. 00:26:31.839 –> 00:26:42.040 Betty, he replied, I have known you well here and I shall certainly not be a 00:26:42.040 –> 00:26:44.560 bigger fool in Heaven than I am right now. 00:26:44.560 –> 00:26:49.560 I will certainly know you there. 00:26:49.560 –> 00:26:58.140 Christians who knew and loved each other on earth will know and love each other 00:26:58.140 –> 00:27:04.280 in Heaven. And you always bring your strongest witness last if you’re making 00:27:04.280 –> 00:27:09.319 a case of course and here I think is the strongest witness of all it is the 00:27:09.319 –> 00:27:14.319 reunion of believing loved ones that is spoken of beautifully and specifically 00:27:14.319 –> 00:27:20.900 in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4. Paul is speaking here verse 15 about the day 00:27:20.900 –> 00:27:25.260 when the Lord will descend from Heaven with a cry of command with the voice of 00:27:25.260 –> 00:27:29.619 the archangel with the sound of the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ 00:27:29.619 –> 00:27:38.400 shall rise first. And he says this then we who are alive verse 17 who are left 00:27:38.420 –> 00:27:45.619 will be caught up together with them. That’s with the ones who have gone 00:27:45.619 –> 00:27:50.420 before into the presence of the Lord we will be caught up together with them 00:27:50.420 –> 00:27:54.479 They’ll come with him. The souls of those who are already with him, they’ll come 00:27:54.479 –> 00:27:57.859 with them, they’ll receive the resurrection body. We will go up with 00:27:57.859 –> 00:28:04.459 them and receive that same marvelous gift. And so we shall always be with the 00:28:04.520 –> 00:28:10.579 Lord therefore encourage one another with these words. Now just think about 00:28:10.579 –> 00:28:20.839 this. The whole point of this passage why it was written was to bring comfort to 00:28:20.839 –> 00:28:27.819 believers who grieve the loss of a loved one. We’re not to grieve like those who 00:28:27.819 –> 00:28:33.660 have no hope. That’s how the passage begins. Paul is writing to believers who 00:28:33.660 –> 00:28:39.939 are grieving over the loss of their own friends, their own children, their own 00:28:39.939 –> 00:28:47.719 parents, their own loved ones. And the grief of these believers is not about 00:28:47.719 –> 00:28:54.819 death in general. The grief of these believers is about the death of their 00:28:54.819 –> 00:29:01.300 loved ones in particular. And Paul writes under the inspiration of the Spirit of 00:29:01.319 –> 00:29:07.579 God to bring comfort to them in regard to their particular loss. And here is 00:29:07.579 –> 00:29:13.400 the comfort that he offers them in their sorrow. He says we will be caught up 00:29:13.400 –> 00:29:21.000 together with them to meet the Lord in the air. Who is the 00:29:21.000 –> 00:29:29.160 them? Believers in general? Well, yes, for sure, but the whole point here is that he 00:29:29.160 –> 00:29:33.920 is referring to the loved ones who are now in the presence of the Lord in 00:29:33.920 –> 00:29:37.920 particular. The whole point for these Christian believers the comfort is not 00:29:37.920 –> 00:29:41.479 just that we’ll be generally with all believers, but that we will be with the 00:29:41.479 –> 00:29:48.000 ones whose loss we are grieving, that we will see them again. That is the comfort. 00:29:48.000 –> 00:29:55.020 He’s saying if we may put it in a phrase Christians never say a last goodbye 00:29:55.300 –> 00:30:01.839 because ahead of us is this reuniting in the presence of the Lord Jesus and so 00:30:01.839 –> 00:30:05.979 when we grieve we do not grieve as people who have no hope because this is 00:30:05.979 –> 00:30:11.900 the hope that is ahead of us. This is the comfort towards which we pray. So there 00:30:11.900 –> 00:30:15.739 you are there’s the seven witnesses the scripture says you know everything 00:30:15.739 –> 00:30:19.680 should be settled by two or three. I’ve given you seven that’s more than enough 00:30:19.920 –> 00:30:26.939 for me and I really hope it is more than enough for you as well. Our hope is not 00:30:26.939 –> 00:30:35.760 an anonymous existence somewhere out in the Stratosphere it is a shared life 00:30:35.760 –> 00:30:46.119 with people we love made perfect in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and 00:30:46.420 –> 00:30:52.880 the clearer that is to us, the more there will be a hastening in our own minds and 00:30:52.880 –> 00:30:56.939 our own hearts towards the day when faith will be turned to sight and all 00:30:56.939 –> 00:31:01.540 that is promised and all that Christ went to the cross to gain and to win for 00:31:01.540 –> 00:31:12.339 us will become ours. The joy of being at home in Heaven, the joy of being together 00:31:12.439 –> 00:31:19.959 in heaven, and here’s the very last thing just briefly the joy of being with 00:31:19.959 –> 00:31:30.859 Christ in heaven. Verse 17 the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their 00:31:30.859 –> 00:31:40.900 shepherd and he will guide them to springs of living water and God will 00:31:41.219 –> 00:31:49.760 wipe away every tear from their eyes remember Jesus said to the thief today 00:31:49.760 –> 00:31:59.500 you will be with me in paradise with me and this will be our focus next week but 00:31:59.500 –> 00:32:04.339 let me just say this today that the greatest joy in heaven for a Christian 00:32:04.339 –> 00:32:13.199 believer is the joy of being with Jesus Christ who is our Shepherd on earth 00:32:13.199 –> 00:32:20.239 will be our Shepherd in heaven and he will be the one who leads us into the 00:32:20.239 –> 00:32:26.420 Springs of living water in other words heaven is not some kind of independent 00:32:26.420 –> 00:32:29.739 life where we’re kind of let loose and hey everyone go and do their own thing 00:32:30.040 –> 00:32:33.699 take your fancy it is a shared life in which Christ is 00:32:33.699 –> 00:32:40.760 leading all of his people into ever-increasing joy, and we have focused 00:32:40.760 –> 00:32:47.199 today on the important question will we see our believing loved ones in heaven 00:32:47.199 –> 00:32:52.920 and the answer to that question is yes but here’s the bigger greater and more 00:32:52.920 –> 00:32:58.979 important question will Jesus Christ see his believing loved ones in heaven and 00:32:59.500 –> 00:33:05.140 the answer friends to that question is yes as well remember when Jesus was 00:33:05.140 –> 00:33:11.280 going to the cross and preparing for all the agony that lay ahead he prayed to 00:33:11.280 –> 00:33:17.859 the father and his words are recorded in John 17 and in verse 24 of that amazing 00:33:17.859 –> 00:33:26.599 chapter he prays this father I desire that they whom you have given me may be 00:33:26.599 –> 00:33:36.680 with me and that they will see my glory. Here’s what I’m going to the cross for 00:33:36.680 –> 00:33:44.719 Jesus says I want all my believing loved ones all that you have given to me all 00:33:44.719 –> 00:33:56.439 who put their trust in me I want them to be with me and to see my glory friend 00:33:56.439 –> 00:34:01.979 the greatest assurance that you can have of heaven is that Jesus Christ wants you 00:34:01.979 –> 00:34:07.839 there he went to the cross to get you there he lives at the right hand of the 00:34:07.839 –> 00:34:13.020 father to bring you there and when you arrive in heaven you are going to see 00:34:13.020 –> 00:34:23.899 his glory. John puts it this way when we see him we shall see him as he is. You’ll 00:34:24.139 –> 00:34:30.040 see his glory. You’re not going to see him like a baby lying in the manger. 00:34:30.040 –> 00:34:35.020 You’re not going to see him sweating as it were great drops of blood as he was 00:34:35.020 –> 00:34:40.959 in the garden of Gethsemane. You’re not going to see him writhing in agony with 00:34:40.959 –> 00:34:45.639 the hair of his beard pulled out from his chin and spittle running down his 00:34:45.639 –> 00:34:52.560 face affixed to the cross in the agony of his suffering. You are going to see 00:34:53.120 –> 00:35:01.639 him as he is, that is risen and triumphant and victorious. As Isaiah the 00:35:01.639 –> 00:35:08.560 Prophet puts it, we will see the king in his beauty. That is why we will have 00:35:08.560 –> 00:35:14.020 pam branches in our hands. That is why we will say with all of the redeemed 00:35:14.020 –> 00:35:21.979 salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. 00:35:22.979 –> 00:35:30.959 I end with a beautiful story, a true story about a man by the name of 00:35:30.959 –> 00:35:40.199 William Montagu Dyck. When William was 10 years old, he was blinded in a severe 00:35:40.199 –> 00:35:47.379 accident and despite his disability, very bright guy, he went to University, 00:35:47.379 –> 00:35:53.139 graduated with very high honors and while he was at school he fell in love 00:35:53.139 –> 00:35:57.300 with a daughter of a high-ranking British naval officer and the two of 00:35:57.300 –> 00:36:06.719 them became engaged. Shortly before the wedding, William had eye surgery. It was a 00:36:06.719 –> 00:36:12.340 kind of frontier operation at the time and there was some hope that it might 00:36:13.000 –> 00:36:18.239 his sight, though he knew that if it failed, he would remain blind for the 00:36:18.239 –> 00:36:25.600 rest of his life. After the operation, William’s eyes were swathed in bandages 00:36:25.600 –> 00:36:32.879 and William insisted on keeping the bandages on his face until the day of 00:36:32.879 –> 00:36:40.800 the wedding. If the surgery was successful, he wanted the first person he 00:36:40.860 –> 00:36:47.919 saw to be his new bride. Well, the wedding day arrived, guests assembled to witness 00:36:47.919 –> 00:36:53.719 the couple taking their vows. William’s father and the doctor who had performed 00:36:53.719 –> 00:36:58.719 the surgery stood either side of the groom, whose eyes were still covered 00:36:58.719 –> 00:37:04.860 with these bandages. The organ trumpeted the traditional wedding march in the 00:37:04.860 –> 00:37:09.479 cathedral, the bride walked down the aisle to the front of the church.As 00:37:10.300 –> 00:37:15.479 soon as she arrived, the surgeon took a pair of scissors out of his pocket.” I 00:37:15.479 –> 00:37:23.060 mean, can you imagine this? “…and begins cutting away these bandages from William’s 00:37:23.060 –> 00:37:29.459 eyes.” You can imagine the tension that filled the room, the congregation holding its 00:37:29.459 –> 00:37:35.000 breath as they waited to find out if William could actually see the woman he 00:37:35.199 –> 00:37:43.679 loved who was standing right next to him. And as he stood face-to-face with his 00:37:43.679 –> 00:37:48.860 bride, William’s words echoed right throughout the cathedral. 00:37:48.860 –> 00:37:50.800 You are more beautiful than 00:37:50.800 –> 00:38:01.760 I had ever imagined. One day the bandages from our eyes will be removed and you 00:38:01.899 –> 00:38:10.540 the savior as he is and faith with all of its struggles will be turned to sight 00:38:10.540 –> 00:38:21.260 for you. And when you see his glory it will be greater than you ever imagined. 00:38:21.260 –> 00:38:30.479 Father, hasten the day when our faith will be sight. And until that day for the 00:38:30.840 –> 00:38:35.159 person who is enduring darkness and struggle and pressure and disappointment. 00:38:35.159 –> 00:38:44.860 Strengthen us in faith. Help us to press with greater vigor on after you. 00:38:44.860 –> 00:38:49.479 Strengthen us we pray with the hope, as we fix our eyes on Jesus and set our minds 00:38:49.479 –> 00:38:55.800 on that which is above and that which is yet to be. And let us live for your glory 00:38:56.520 –> 00:39:02.320 day when we see face to face the one who we have loved and trusted and walked 00:39:02.320 –> 00:39:08.100 with heart to heart. And then rejoice in the presence of Jesus with all of your 00:39:08.100 –> 00:39:13.199 people forever and forevermore. Amen. 00:39:16.699 –> 00:39:21.100 You’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 00:39:21.199 –> 00:39:26.399 To contact us call us at 1-877-OPEN- 365 00:39:26.399 –> 00:39:30.899 or visit our website OpenTheBible.org
