Heaven — David Wilkerson

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Heaven as the Christian Hope

I want you to turn to John 14, if you will, please. How many are ready for a good word of rejoicing? How many are ready? Okay. John 14. Folks, I'm ready just to shout because God's faithful. I thrill at how God is going to bless this family more than it's ever been blessed.

That's not just throwing something out in the air. I believe that. Pastors believe that. And I know you believe that, too. I'm going to speak about heaven. Where's an amen here? Is that a good word or isn't it?

I asked Pastor Carter if he'd ever preached on heaven because I don't remember preaching on heaven. Maybe I did. I'd have to go over my figures. And at my age, I don't remember last week, let alone. I asked Pastor Carter if he preached on heaven.

He said, well, one time, years ago, I guess it was. And halfway through his message, he turned to me and said, I don't know much about this subject. I feel like I know less and less. I said, just go on.

You're doing all right. Pastor Neal has never preached on heaven. Have you preached on him? You don't know. I'll tell you why. There's not much in the Bible about it, about paradise. Jesus never sat down with his disciples and give them an eye view of what paradise is like.

You can hear Jesus say to the thief on the cross, today you'll be with me in paradise. He never sat down. Jesus never sat down with the disciples to give them a glimpse of the glories of heaven. Paul the apostle said he was in the third heaven.

The Hebrews believed that there were three layers. That was the atmosphere of the first heaven. That's where we breathe. And then there's a second layer of heaven. That's where the stars and the sun, the moon are.

And then the third heaven, that was where God was. Paul, taking up that Greek thought or Hebrew thought, said, I was taken up into the third heaven, and I saw, heard things that are unutterable, that can't be spoken or understood by human mind.

He said, if I tried to explain, I don't have words. I can't describe what I went on. But whatever he saw so moved him that from that time on, he wanted to go home. He wanted to be with the Lord. He thanked God for life.

He thanked God for ministry. But his heart was anxious to go to that eternal city, be with Jesus. Now, what's heaven like? I don't know. I can't stand here and give you. I've heard dreams and visions.

And one evangelist said he saw the mansion of evangelist so and so. And then there was a man there that was probably more honorable. And he said, well, yours was bigger. And then there was a man over here, really famous.

And he said, but yours was the biggest. Folks, that's not what heaven is about. The Bible gives very light. We do know that the throne of God is there. And we know that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the throne.

We know that multitudes are going to be there, which no man can number. We know that when we get there, we're going to be face to face with Jesus. And everyone there is going to have access, immediate access to Christ and the Father.

We're going to have access, the Bible says very clearly. We know that when we get there, we will not just suddenly come upon full knowledge. But all through eternity, we are going to learn more and more about his creation.

Folks, we're going to an amazing school. We're going to a place where we are going to be learning things that could not be contained by the human mind. We're going to have the mind of Christ that is unlimited.

And, folks, there is knowledge. And there is so much that he wants to tell us, not about the past. He will tell us all about redemption and all of those glorious things. But he's going to teach us about even the things to come, the assignments that we're going to receive.

Heavenly Service and the Scope of Creation

It's not going to be just sitting there and having church all day. The angels don't do that. The angels are ministers. Man, the angels came down and visited. They came to the earth. They did so many things.

The angel of the Lord camps around about them that fear him, lest they dash a foot against a stone. The reason that if the angels have that joy of ministering to the Lord, we're called kings and priests on that day.

Kings and priests. And that means that we're going to have assignments. That suggests to me that there may be worlds that we cannot comprehend right now. Worlds not to be conquered, not that need to be redeemed, but something glorious beyond anything we knew.

He said, in fact, the faithful servants were given rulership over kingdoms. Ten cities, five cities. And folks, there is a world out there that we cannot comprehend. We have a solar system here. It revolves around the sun, racing through space.

They say it's five billion miles in diameter. A blazing sun. But folks. Scientists and astrologists have found that this is one of the smallest of all the systems. There are other systems all one upon another with other suns.

Our sun and our solar system is the smallest sun in the universe. That they're out of this universe. You can't. There's no end to space. If you get on a spaceship and you were pummeled out there, there's no end.

You'd be drifting through eternity. There is kingdom. I mean, there is world. System after system after system. Endless. Staggering to the mind. This little earth. This little solar system. Where Jesus came.

This little earth. Twenty five thousand miles in diameter. I was reading a message of a godly Puritan pastor. He's trying to talk to his congregation about the limitless of time, the limitless of eternity.

Don't try to figure out eternity that God always was and always will be. There's no beginning. There's no end. You could lose your mind. Don't go there. But he tried to explain the limitless. And he said, consider the earth as a ball of sand.

Twenty five thousand miles in diameter. And every year, a little bird comes every thousand years. Every thousand years, a bird comes and takes away one grand, one grain of sand. And should he finish the job.

And I don't even think it could be estimated. Eternity would only started. Amazing. So much that we don't know and can't comprehend. Now, I can't tell you what heaven is like. I don't know what's there, but I can tell you what's not there.

The New Creation and What Will Be Absent

And I think the best way to understand heaven is to figure out what not what is not in heaven. Because he said he'd go make everything new. It's going to be the opposite of what we see here. So if we see the negative side, maybe the positive side will open up.

Now, I'm going to give you just the list I had. I had. I want to call it fun. I had. I just got happy listening. These things are not going to be in heaven. I had to get up and walk around. Now, you can add to this list.

This is going to be the simplest sermon you've probably ever heard. I think I've said that before. But let me just go down this list. There's going to be no see there, the Bible says. That's in Revelation, because Revelation 21 gives a glimpse into that eternal city of God coming down out of heaven.

See, there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth. Some think that it's just going to be purified by fire. God doesn't do this. It's going to be new. All things are going to be new. And he said there are going to be worlds without end.

And so when Jesus ascended, he didn't go to the third heaven. He went. The Bible said he went beyond the heavens of heavens. He ascended to the father. But see, the Bible says in Revelation 2, 21, one, and there was no sea there.

That means no more tsunamis. No more hurricanes. No more typhoons. No more hundreds of thousands dying from these upheavals coming from the sea. Scientists are now predicting on the West Coast or I mean, they're based there primarily that the greatest threat from the sea is about to come.

Secondly, there are no more handkerchiefs, no more tear glands. No more Kleenex. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Verse four. No more funeral parlors, no more caskets, no more cemeteries, no more dying.

And there shall be no death there. No SIDS, no sudden infant death syndromes. No more standing in front of caskets. No more sorrow. No more crying. No more mourning because nobody dies. You die once, you get resurrected, you never die again.

Now that's it. You know that. But Paul said, reminds yourself of it. And that's what we're doing this morning. Third, no more drugstores, no hospitals, no doctors, nurses, no more painkillers, no more ambulances, no more prescriptions.

For there shall be no more pain. You think of the mother and daughter we brought in from the Midwest. We got a letter and brought her in because her son, the mother's son, had the son was in such excruciating pain.

And for seven years, the doctors couldn't find it. They couldn't find it. And he was on heavy pain medication. And after seven years, because doctors gave up on him, he took an overdose and committed suicide.

And then remember the 15-year-old daughter that was here? We wheeled her around in a wheelchair. She, too. She was a dancer. She was a very brilliant student and was probably going to be a Rhodes Scholar and won many prizes.

And she, too, was in pain and undiagnosed. They can't diagnose. They don't know what it is. And a doctor said on a pain scale of 10, she's 14. And if they give her the pain medication necessary to touch her pain, it would kill her within three months.

And we still pray for that. But you know, one of these days, she's going to have a body that knows no more pain. Folks, that's when you begin to just take these words lightly. There shall be no more pain.

I remember when our granddaughter, 12-year-old Tiffany, with brain tumor, and I remember the cries of that little girl, especially in the last week. Her whole body would shake with pain. I had to lay over the bed and hold her feet.

And her dad had to lay on her arms to hold her whole body, the head to the feet, just trembling and shaking violently. And that's when, after she came out of the spells, I would say, Granddad, I want to go to be with Jesus.

She couldn't handle the pain. And then the Lord spoke to her, I want you to come home. There'll be no more. Now, she's home where there's no pain. That scripture means something to me. No more pain. No more fearful there.

No unbelievers there. No abominable thing. No murderers. No witches. No liars. Fearful because of murderers. Did you read in the paper that elderly couple the day before yesterday, when the heat factor was 105 here in New York City, and they were found dead, they had sealed the windows tight and the doors, everything.

And one of the neighbors had questioned me as they were doing it. They did it, and I don't know whether they left a note or not, because they were so afraid that they would be attacked. They were so afraid that someone would come and murder them or somebody would come and beat them up.

So they sealed themselves in and suffocated themselves. I picked up the paper yesterday, a pedophile who was caught by the law molesting a child. He just burned it out. I've molested 200 the day before yesterday.

And when you think of that, think of what the scripture is saying. No more murderers. No more pedophiles. None of these abominations in that new world. Oh, thank God. Day is coming when those things will no longer worry and fret the mind, especially of the elderly and mothers and fathers who have little children.

The Father's House and the Believer's Eternal Home

There are no moving vans in heaven. We'll never move again. I've moved over 19 times. I don't know how many times you've moved. Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled. In my Father's house are many mansions.

If that were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. I read of a woman who heard that from a preacher, and she said, if there are going to be numbers of people there, believers, and God's people, you can't number.

It's beyond numbering. She said, how will God have room for all these mansions, all these habitations? Folks, forget about it. Some call, some interpreters, some Bible editions call it dwelling places.

All I can tell you is that if Jesus is building it, something glorious. Don't think of brick and mortar because it's in another realm. It's a realm we can't understand. It's not a material thing. You see, in this new world, the bodies go through material things, go through solids.

Jesus walked through the walls of this body. And he said, our bodies are going to be like unto his. And he appeared to the disciples in a closed room. The door was locked or closed, and Jesus suddenly appears.

These new bodies, I don't know what the molecular structure is. I don't know how God's going to do it. But it's not a material thing. I believe it's going to be real in the terms of this new realm. And I believe it's going to be glorious.

And if you stop to think with Jesus, I'm going to prepare a place for you. Every one of us, there is an eternal home. And folks, if all it was that we see Jesus and had access to him all through eternity, that would be heaven enough.

But he says, no, I'm bringing you home so that you can live where I live. And I believe this with all my heart. I'm not too moved. I thank God if there are streets of such such kind of gold. But in that realm, that has to have another meaning because it's clear like clear glass.

It's something. There's something there. There's a river, no sea, but there's a river there called the River of Gladness. Evidently, when you drink of this, you get gladder than you were. Do you think there's any end to gladness?

Do you think you can reach a peak? I don't think you can reach a peak on anything in heaven. I think it's constant growth, constant revelation, constant joy, ever increasing. If it's ever increasing here, God, I don't want it to stop when I get to heaven.

Is this too simple for you? The point Jesus is making, this is home. I go and prepare a place for you and I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there, you may be also. And I believe Jesus is saying, I'm going to show you your place.

When you come, I'll be the one who takes you. To your place, there are no cripples there, no blind, no deaf, no wheelchairs, no hospitals. No decaying bodies. Bible said we're going to have new bodies in heaven.

Resurrection Bodies and the Transformation of the Saints

Paul, the apostle, has quite a bit to say about these new bodies. You know that. That's nothing new. When I say we're going to have new bodies, we all know that. We've heard it over and over again. But Paul, the apostle, had a lot to say about these new bodies.

He took much time in the Scripture, especially in 1 Corinthians, the 15th chapter. Some men, Paul say, will say, how are the dead raised up? In what form of body do they come? What kind of body are we going to have in the resurrection?

He said the body that goes into the ground is not the one that's coming out. The Scripture said the body that is sowed, in other words, the body that's buried in the ground is not the body which shall be.

For God shall give it a body that pleases himself. Our bodies are sowed, the Scripture says, buried, a natural body. And it's raised as a spiritual body. It's sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption.

It is sown in weariness. It is raised in power. The Bible doesn't teach that the Lord and the resurrection is going to go and find every tooth, every hair, and go to the sea. And all those who have been buried at the sea and find the bones and the remains and put it all back together.

He said that's not the body. Flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Flesh and bone cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Their graves are going to open. I don't know when, how, and where the Holy Spirit brings into being this new body, eternal, prepared for eternity, that is given a heavenly language that everybody will understand.

This body that can never corrupt, this body now that bears the image of the holy and the righteous. I don't know at what moment he does it. And I don't believe we can figure it out. But we do know that the resurrection out comes a new body, a glorified body.

In a moment, Paul said, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall sound, the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed. Hallelujah. In the twinkling of an eye.

Now think of it. Where this leads, all of the millions of the dead and dying children of all ages, all those children have died in Africa of AIDS. All the children who have died of diseases, all the children of all ages are going to be resurrected.

Heaven is not a place without children. That's that was the joy of Jesus. He said of such as the kingdom of God. What an amazing thought of millions upon millions of children who have been bombed to pieces in the wars.

All of the children that have died of various diseases and wasted away, resurrected with new bodies, fathers and mothers and loved ones. Some buried in sealed caskets, their bodies withered. My mother withered away to almost nothing.

A decrepit shadow of a woman on that day. My mother is with Christ now. You can take joy and comfort in that. I'm going to draw this to close just a minute, but I have no clocks in heaven. Times will be no more.

Time Will End in Eternity

No more wristwatches. John said that. And this is in Revelation 10 chapter. John saw an angel that appeared. He was standing on earth in the sea. And John said he raised a hand. And when he raised the hands, he swore by him that lives forever and ever.

And all created heavens and earth and all things that are in there, he raised his hand that there should be time no more. And suddenly time no longer exists. Not centuries, not decades, not months, not weeks, not moments, not seconds.

Times will be no more. Imagine just a great circle of maybe a rope, big circle. And that's eternity. No ending, no beginning. And God cuts out a little piece. And calls it time. Doesn't disturb the circle.

Circle comes back together and out of it. God gives human nature, gives it to the earth and gives it to us. This time. To with our own human will. To make the best of it. To learn to be like Christ. He gives it and then suddenly.

Time is cast aside. In heaven. You see, people wonder how how can God judge individually, open the book and read the life and all the things that have been done. There are millions and millions and millions of the judgment seat.

And how can how much time is it going to take? Well, folks, there'll be there'll be no time. There's no measurement in our time. It could take a million years and nobody. The time can't be considered.

No one feels time. Nobody recognizes time. It's not even an issue. So majestic that human mind can't conceive. Glory be to God. There shall be time no more. Paul sums it up with this admonition. You must earnestly desire this heaven, your new home and your new body.

He said earnestly desire. Who's going to heaven? Those who are under the blood, those redeemed by the finished work of the cross. But then Paul goes on. He said, my body, the church of Jesus Christ. You must earnestly, earnestly desire.

I read it to you. This is Second Corinthians five, twelve and eight. For we know that if we this earthly house of this tabernacle will be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.

For in this body we groan, but we earnestly desire to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. We earnestly look for that. Folks, this is just to remind you, these are the things that are not in heaven.

Those of the opposite. Everything is going to be contrary to this world. And I hope that gives you just a little more of. Scripture that can give you hope, I can't help believing in closing that. There's going to be a victory march.

The Victory March of the Redeemed

In glory. Paul speaks of a gathering. The angels are going to gather the elect from the four corners of the earth. And Jesus talks of the scripture, talks and Jesus talks about the victory. Paul talks about the victory.

And I can't believe that there's not going to be some great march. There's an old song, say, when the saints go marching in. I see this in my mind. I can't give you scripture for it, but I feel it in my spirit that there's going to be some great march.

And then the front of that march coming in to that eternal city. Into that new world will be these multitudes of children. All of these from all the ages. Now, when they sang in the temple, the Hosannas of Christ, could you imagine the sound?

And all these little orphans and all the others know that they now have a father. And they begin to shout, what a sound that will be. What a heavenly sound. All the voice of these children. I believe that in that march, then come the martyrs.

All of those who cried justice are now crying, holy, holy. Those who wanted justice because of the others are going to be martyred. Those that were beheaded in that parade. I can see them still putting their hand on their head.

I have a head. Those that were sauna. You say this is farfetched. Those that are sauna Sunday. Don't you believe that they're going to be rejoicing as they look at this new body in one piece? Can you imagine the praises of those who were burned into fires to ashes?

Imagine all of the shouts and the singing of the martyrs of all the ages. And then behind, even though these that are in are part of the Church of Jesus Christ, James, the main body of the Church of Jesus Christ, those that were drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, those who were bound by sin and set free and delivered the Church of Jesus Christ.

And meeting that parades, a little woman who gave two pennies into the offering when Jesus was there and say, this woman is given more than all the rich and all of those little beggars and all of those little widows have prayed.

All these little grandmothers that have given their pennies and their dollars and prayed and given themselves to prayer and seek in the face of God. Those widows and the poor and the mothers with their babies and children are going to come marching with the Church of Jesus Christ.

And Paul, the apostle, said, I was I was staggered at the sound I heard. He said, it's what I heard. He heard a preview of this singing and the praising and the shouts of God and folks, I can't describe it, but I.

If we are going to remember the joyful things and things of Christ that we enjoy here at Times Square Church, I want you on that day to remember what I'm telling you. If you think we shot here, if you think we praise God here to be a part of the eternal body of Jesus Christ of all ages, with all the prophets.

With all the. Moses and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Paul, the apostle, the. The disciples and all those of the First Church of Pentecost, the hundred and twenty in the upper room and man, it staggers the imagination, the company you're going to have, you and I in eternity to hear their stories.

Pastoral Prayer and the Invitation to Return to Christ

We stand, Lord, I hear the words of the apostle Paul. Earnestly desiring, earnestly. Yearning in this body, we groan, we groan at the pain, we we groan at all of these things, but Lord, in our hearts, don't let us lose that joy.

Don't let us lose that anticipation. We thank you. We're not looking for escape. This is not escapism. We're looking for that time, Lord, that we dwell in your presence, where we will be with you eternally, be able to minister to you.

Lord, I want you to heal hearts here that are groaning hearts now that can't even comprehend what I'm saying, because they're not looking that far ahead. They're just looking for tomorrow, just looking past this day, because what they've gone through this past week or these few days, it's been overwhelming.

This groaning Paul speaks of. Lord, I ask you to minister to them, minister to their spirits right now, we pray. Look this way, if you will. I didn't. I wasn't looking for a shout. I just wanted to remind you a little bit of the hope that you and I have.

But I just said this, and it's a key to what I want to say about this invitation. Upstairs in the balcony and those in the annex. You came to this church this morning, you may be visiting for the first time.

And you couldn't hear much of what I said today. Because of the condition and the problem that you're going through now. We can pray for you, and you can come forward with others that come. And we'll believe God with you, that the Holy Spirit will break through to your heart.

First of all, to remind you that God sees and hears you. He knows what you're going through. The eye is on you, the eye of God is on you. He knows your pain. He knows what you're going through. Others that are backslidden and cold towards Jesus.

And you want prayer this morning. And it's not just, well, I want to go to heaven. It's right now, I want to be covered by the blood of Christ. I want peace right now. I want something in the here and now.

I want the joy of Jesus back in my heart. I want you to step right out of your seat. And we're going to pray for you and believe that the Lord will quicken your spirit. And the Lord has made you a promise that he'll see you through and give you the grace to endure.

He'll give you the strength to endure. We don't count numbers. We don't look at the numbers. We're just interested in now that you not leave this civic service carrying the burden that you brought in.

That you lay it down. If you feel led of the Holy Spirit, if he's speaking to you, say, Pastor David, I need prayer this morning. I really do. I am going through a great trial that my spirit is groaning in me.

And others that just say, I need to come back. If you don't know Jesus as Lord and Savior, and you feel the Holy Spirit stirring your heart, you come out and join us here. And we'll pray with you that the Lord will make things right with you.

While they're praying, just step out of your seat, wherever you're at, and join us here. I'm not going to give a long speech. I'm just saying if my Jesus, our Jesus, is going to take you to a place with no tears and wipe away all tears, certainly he wants to do it now.

He wants to do it here and now. He wants to take away your pain, wipe the tears from your eyes, and give you peace. Isn't that what you want? It's peace of heart. If you have grown cold or worried to the Lord, all you have to do is say, Lord, forgive me and draw me.

All you have to do is ask. And then say, Lord, prompt me by your spirit to read the word so I can have resources and strength to follow you wholeheartedly. Heavenly Father, I pray now for everyone who's in pain.

I pray for everyone that's groaning in spirit. And I pray for those, Lord, that want to come back to their first love. And I pray, Lord, for those who might be here who need to just make a commitment, a public commitment.

I have not been serving Christ, but I want to give my heart to Jesus Christ now. And I want you to pray this prayer with me, first of all. Everyone here, pray it right out loud. Lord Jesus, I thank you that you know where I'm at.

You know what I'm going through. And I know you're faithful to your word. Will you come now, Jesus, and take my burden? I put this burden on you. By faith, I ask you to take my worries and my fears and restore to my heart peace and joy.

And give me more faith, simple faith, to put this in your hands and not try to work things out myself. Now, if you have been cold toward the Lord, or if you want to come to Christ now, he said if you confess your sins, he's faithful just to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

You pray this prayer with me now. This prayer is not the only thing that's going to save you. You have to follow through. You have to get in the word of God. You have to say, Lord, cleanse me and continue to call upon the Lord.

Break away from old friends that you know that are not walking with Christ. There's some things God expects of you. But will you now pray this prayer with me? Pray it public, not just in your heart. Pray it with a voice.

Lord Jesus, I'm coming to you now for a new heart, a new mind, and spirit. Forgive me of my sins, for my walking, the way I've been walking. Lord, cleanse me. I trust you and your word to renew my spirit.

Give me a new heart and a new mind focused on you. Thank you, Jesus, that you've kept your word to me. And today, you called me by your spirit, and I've responded. Now, thank you for keeping your word to me.

Thanksgiving for Heaven and the New Body

All right, God bless you. This has been hard, hard to preach about heaven. But God is honored, and God is here. How many believe that when you, those that have come forward, you're going to walk out of here without your burden?

Raise your hand. Raise it up. Make a confession before the Lord. I'm going to walk out of here without my burden. Lord, we give you thanks. Let's give God a thank offering now. Let's give him a thank offering.

Have you ever thanked God for the house he's building? Have you ever thanked God for a new house, a new body? Have you ever thought of these things that give thanks to God now? Could you raise your hand?

I'm not trying to work something. Could you just raise your hands and say thank you, Lord? Thank you for your blessing, not only now, but all through eternity. Lord, we thank you for what you have prepared.

We have a heart that we will anxiously yearn, earnestly yearn. Thank you, Jesus, for your grace and for your love. Thank you for heaven. Thank you for this earth, and thank you for heaven. Glory be to God.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. This is the conclusion of the message.