IMAGINE HEAVEN Part 2

IMAGINE HEAVEN What is “imagination”? “Imagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability of forming new images and sensations when they are not perceived through sight, hearing, or other senses. Imagination helps provide meaning to experience and understanding to knowledge; it is a fundamental faculty through which people make sense of the world” – Wikipedia.com

IMAGINE HEAVEN While imagination can create evil, destruction, and total failure in our lives… Imagination can also help to create success and power! Imagination is a form of the word “image” There can be good and bad images Man is made in God’s image

IMAGINE HEAVEN God expects us to use our imaginations to view Heaven through the eyes of faith! How do we develop our imagination? We become as little children! Through our imaginations, we see Heaven as our home and not this world.

IMAGINE HEAVEN “But in reality, without knowledge, imagination cannot be developed.” Do you ever think of or imagine what Heaven will be like? We cannot imagine it without first understanding what the Bible says. How does the Word of God describe Heaven?

IMAGINE HEAVEN According to a recent news poll, 85% of people who believe in heaven but are not necessarily Christians believe that they will go to heaven. Even more surprising is the fact that 77% of people who claim no religious affiliation feel that they are good enough to go to heaven because they are a “good person.”

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHO WILL BE IN HEAVEN? Not everyone who professes Christ!

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven…” Matthew 7:21

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHO WILL BE IN HEAVEN? Not everyone who professes Christ! Not everyone who does works in the name of Christ!

“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:22-23

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHO WILL BE IN HEAVEN? Not everyone who professes Christ! Not everyone who does works in the name of Christ! Quite simply, those who do the will of the Father – Matthew 7:21

Matthew 7:21

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHO WILL BE IN HEAVEN? Those who do the will of the Father Those who are “doers” of the word

James 1:22-25 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHO WILL BE IN HEAVEN? Those who do the will of the Father Those who are “doers” of the word Those who have the right hearts

Matthew 5:8; 1 John 3:2-3 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHO WILL BE IN HEAVEN? Those who do the will of the Father Those who are “doers” of the word Those who have the right hearts Those who are holy

“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’”

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHO WON’T BE IN HEAVEN? “Everyday” people

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHO WON’T BE IN HEAVEN? “Everyday” people “Average” people

Revelation 21:7-8 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHO WON’T BE IN HEAVEN? “Everyday” people “Average” people “Many” people

Matthew 7:13

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHAT WILL BE IN HEAVEN? Great beauty

Revelation 21:10-11 “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.”

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHAT WILL BE IN HEAVEN? Great beauty Everything new

Revelation 21:1-2, 5 “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” “Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’”

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHAT WILL BE IN HEAVEN? Great beauty Everything new Many mansions

John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHAT WILL NOT BE IN HEAVEN? No more suffering

Revelation 21:4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHAT WILL NOT BE IN HEAVEN? No more suffering No more light or night

Revelation 22:5 “There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”

IMAGINE HEAVEN WHAT WILL NOT BE IN HEAVEN? No more suffering No more light or night No more sin

Revelation 21:27 “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”

IMAGINE HEAVEN In all, the Word of God tells us more about Hell than it does Heaven. However, it does tell us everything we need to know in order to imagine its greatness. Can you imagine being there? In two weeks, we’ll answer some of the questions that people have concerning Heaven using Scripture.

IMAGINE HEAVEN __________________, 2012 Part 2