Heaven Awaits, Part 2

Part 1

Dr. Reagan: Go ahead Terry.

Terry James: Well, again, I learned that it’s instantaneous, when we die, we are instantaneously in the heavenly sphere. I didn’t see Jesus myself in my visitation, but I know that it just wasn’t my time to stay. And so Paul said, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So instantaneous transportation to that heavenly realm is a sure thing. People can depend on it. And, again, Heaven is something that God has prepared for us that no one really understands. But we can trust because of what Paul said that we will have wonders beyond anything we can imagine. That Jesus Christ is, you know, He’s the creator of the universe. And we’re to be joint heirs with Christ. And that doesn’t mean just that you don’t have a little piece of God’s inheritance, and I’ll have a piece and somebody else will have it, it means we all will share exactly the inheritance of Jesus Christ.

Tim Moore: Amen.

Terry James: That’s amazing, and that’s something to really look forward to.

Dr. Reagan: What I would emphasize is that we need to realize that there is a reality of Heaven and Hell; there’s a real Heaven, there’s a real Hell. And those things have, Satan has tried to erase those. For example, let’s take Heaven the invasion of eastern religions into the United States has really impacted even Christians into believing that Heaven is some ethereal place, that maybe Christians become angels, or something of that nature, and that we’re disembodied spirits. And also it’s amazing how many Christians, Christians in polls confess that they believe in reincarnation. This all comes from the impact of eastern religions. It’s all sort of, you know, etherealized. And then, of course, Hell, almost 50% of Christians don’t believe that there’s a real Satan. And the liberal churches erase the very concept of Hell. They say, well, Hell is just the bad things you experience in this life, and that’s all there is to it. But, you see on the TV all the time, people joking about Hell. Hell is a big joke. You know, I remember when Willie Nelson celebrated his 80th birthday, they had this tremendous list of people who were, paying tribute to him. And almost every one of them would say, “Well, Willie, we, you know, we had a great time here, but we’re going to have a better time in Hell. We’ll just have a big party in Hell.” And this went on and on and on, people just make fun of it. It’s a joke; and it’s a reality.

Tim Moore: It is a reality. I think too many Christians even have most of their information from the culture, from media. They even think about, the hereafter as Casper the friendly ghost floating around. And yet Jesus said in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” Do you believe this? And that is the crux of do we believe the Lord? Of course, Paul said in Philippians 3, our citizenship is in Heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so if my citizenship is in Heaven, if I know I will never die, then I don’t dread stepping into eternity. But it also informs what I’m anticipating in terms of the Lord’s coming again. So how does all this understanding of Heaven and the hereafter play into our recognition of the end times?

Dr. Reagan: Well, it should play into it in the terms of how we live. You know, if there’s not going to be a judgment and people go either to Heaven or Hell, then life is a farce. It’s a joke. It’s we’ve got to be held responsible for what we do in this life. And God’s going to do that. People tend to think of God as the cosmic teddy bear who’s going to be big, and warm, and soft, and furry, and He’s going to wink at our sins and say, “Well, I know you didn’t do very well, but you did better than the guy down the street from you. So come on into my kingdom.” Such a God doesn’t exist.

Tim Moore: No.

Dr. Reagan: I mean, I was, my wife and I traveled to Santa Fe a lot, and when we do, we always attend the Calvary Chapel there that Skip Heitzig Albuquerque, they televise his sermons. And he made a comment about Heaven that really shook me one day. I mean, it was really good. He said, “Heaven is not for good people. Heaven is for saved people.” And he said, “You know, the biggest lie of Satan is you can work your way to Heaven.” And so many people believe that, even Christians believe that. There are churches that basically teach that, that you got to work your way to Heaven, you got to do this, so many this and that and so forth and all these things and maybe, maybe you’ll get there.

Nathan Jones: That was the conversation I had when Terry asked me to write to foreword to “Hereafter” I talked about my experience at the barbershop and speaking to a young woman who was giving me a haircut. And she had all these cultural reasons why she was good enough to get into Heaven. But so let’s nail it here right now, maybe, Terry, you can start first. How do you get into Heaven? What is the way and only way to get into Heaven?

Terry James: Well, you hear all these, you hear all these statements, from people who are interviewed on the street sometimes they ask, “Are you going to go to Heaven?” And they’ll say, “Well, I think so.” And then they, “Why?” And they say, “Because, you know, I’ve done more good than I have harm.” Like there is a balance scale of some sort there that God puts us on. And so, the only way to go to Heaven is, Jesus said it Himself in John 14:6, he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” And this is important. “No man, no person comes to the Father except through Me.” That’s why He came to die on the cross. And He came to be the lamb, the sacrificial lamb that takes away the sins of the world. And that is the only way. And, no matter what other religion there is, they haven’t had a so-called deity who has come back from the dead, in front of all of the witnesses that anyone could ask for, and have been proven to be the resurrected Christ. And so all these other religions, all religions are false religions except for the Christian religion, because Jesus Christ is at the center of it.

Nathan Jones: Excellent.

Dr. Reagan: Robert Jeffress, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, sums it up very well. He says, “Every religion in the world except Christianity, it can be spelled do. Only Christianity says done. Jesus did it all for us on the cross. There’s not anything we can do except put our faith in Him. And when we do, we will be born again, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, sealed for eternity and for living forever with God.

Tim Moore: You know, I think too many Christians, dismiss even discussions about Heaven. They say, oh, if you’re too heavenly minded, you’re no earthly good. And my response is no, if you’re too earthly minded, you’re no heavenly good. In other words, if you don’t have this eternal perspective of what lies ahead as a motivation, as a means of keeping our focus on Christ and serving Him in this life, recognizing that the sufferings are not worthy to be compared to what lies ahead, then we’ve become so entrenched in what’s happening in our mundane, worldly lives that we are not looking forward to our Blessed Hope. Terry, you use a quote of C.S. Lewis who asked in a question, “Who talks most about escapism? Jailers. Is it escapist for a baby to wonder about life outside the womb? Is it escapist for someone on a long ocean voyage to wonder about landfall? Is it escapist for the sea to dream of the flower? If it is escapist if and only if Heaven is a lie, I should say, those who call Heaven escapism are presupposing atheism.” And our Lord has given us so many glimpses, because our minds can’t contain all the wonder that lies ahead, that we should encourage one another with what lies ahead. Brother, I know you’re going through a trial now, but the Lord has prepared a wonderful place for you instead of focusing downward. If our gaze was upward, I think we would all be more joy filled and anticipatory of what is coming.

Terry James: And that’s why Bible prophecy is so important, because Jesus said, “When you see all these things beginning to come to pass then look up and lift up your head for your redemption is drawing near.

Dr. Reagan: Amen.

Terry James: And that’s so important. Now, if prophecy is again the absolute proof of the veracity of God’s Word and the truth of it, because it has been proven time, and time, again through intensive study that prophecies have come true. Just to give you one example is a prophecy of Jesus said, you know that Jerusalem and the Temple was going to be destroyed. Well, that’s what happened in 70 AD. And, Zechariah the prophet said that Israel was going to be a burdensome stone, a cup of trembling to the whole world. That’s where we are right now beginning to see that prophecy come to pass. So, again, looking up, the prophetic Word is why I’m dedicated to the prophetic, the whole Word of God, but the prophetic Word of God in particular is because it proves the veracity of God, and you can you can give that as evidence to people.

Tim Moore: Amen.

Dr. Reagan: The last words of Jesus on the cross was, “It is finished.” And it was finished. And there’s not anything that we can do to add to it. And yet people will teach, well, you’ve got to go to purgatory, for example, and suffer for a while. That is a blasphemy of the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus is completely sufficient for the forgiveness of sins.

Nathan Jones: It purifies us from all sins.

Tim Moore: So, gentlemen, just this very morning, I got word that a friend of mine has gone to be with the Lord, and that happens from time to time. I rejoice over his homegoing. And yet, even as he’s transitioned into that state of being in the presence of the Lord immediately, in his intermediate body, because his glorified body will not be given to him, or any of us, until we are resurrected as the Lord comes again. So what awaits in the hereafter, not just in this intermediate state, but what will saints be involved in? We’re told that because we trust in Jesus, we are joint heirs with Christ. So what is our inheritance and what awaits us in the time of the end when Jesus comes for the rest of the church and then, of course, when He comes again to reign on the earth? One glorious thing I’m 85, so this is really a glorious thing, I’m going to receive a new glorified body.

Tim Moore: I thought you were as good as you get.

Dr. Reagan: I’m not going to have hips that hurt, knees that hurt, and hay fever and all this stuff. I’m going to get a glorified body that’s going to be an immortal body, and I’ll never have pain and suffering again. And that is very important.

Tim Moore: 29 years old, I believe, as I said last week, Dave. Terry?

Terry James: And sight, I will have eyesight again.

Tim Moore: You’ll have eyesight again.

Dr. Reagan: I’ll have hair.

Tim Moore: Because you will be able to see the Lord. Well, is there any more important vision that you can have next?

Terry James: The next sight I see it will probably be His face, yeah.

Tim Moore: Amen.

Nathan Jones: Well, that that bears the question, okay, so we know how to get saved, put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ. We’re ushered into Jesus presence by the angels in Heaven. We’re now after the Rapture, we’re in our resurrected bodies. We’ve got our young bodies again. Awesome. So there’s three things, at least, that happened during the Tribulation. Can you guys explain what we will be doing? Because I think that’s what most people wonder, we get there, okay, now what?

Tim Moore: What am I going to do?

Nathan Jones: Am I going to worship all day long, every day? Which kind of sounds boring. Or, what are the three things that happen during the Tribulation time period while we’re in Heaven?

Terry James: Well, I think first of all, most people, a lot of Christians have that opinion that you would be sitting through some interminable sermon, and hear that loud praise music repeated over and over for, you know, and that’s not very, something we really look forward to, at least in my, of course, my crass opinion. But, yeah, what will we be doing in the Tribulation period? I think, well, Chuck Missler used to say, “We’ll look over the mezzanine and see what’s going on Earth.” I don’t know about that.

Nathan Jones: Probably not.

Terry James: But, what we’ll be doing in the Tribulation era, I believe, and David can probably correct me on this, but I think we will be first of all, we will be before the Bema Seat of Christ.

Dr. Reagan: Amen.

Terry James: The judgment seat of Christ. And we will be given rewards for how we’ve conducted life as Christians here on earth following our salvation.

Nathan Jones: So, it’s a reward judgment, not a judgment for salvation.

Terry James: That’s right, the lost won’t be at that judgment, but all saved people will be. And then at some point now I’m a little bit confused on this myself maybe, but to the supper table of the Lamb. In other words, the Bride of Christ will be there and we’ll have a big, joint supper and so forth. And, now, David, you could probably correct me there because you’ve probably done more study on that than I have. But will that be in Heaven or will that be on earth?

Dr. Reagan: We’ll be in Heaven.

Terry James: Okay.

Dr. Reagan: Yes.

Terry James: Okay, that’s what I thought.

Dr. Reagan: It’s going to be the Bride, the Church celebrating their union with the Bridegroom.

Terry James: There you go.

Dr. Reagan: And when we finish that, and I think incidentally, the first time I went to Louisiana and I ate, shrimp etouffee, my eyeballs rolled back in my head, and I decided that’s going to be on the menu at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb.

Tim Moore: And hummingbird cake for dessert, I think.

Dr. Reagan: And I think at the end of that feast Jesus is going to stand up, and say, “Let’s go, buddy.” We’re going to break from the Heavens with Him. We’re coming back with Him. We’ll see Him when He lands on the Mount of Olives. We’ll see Him when He speaks a supernatural word and all of the Antichrist and his forces are destroyed. And we’ll be there to yell and sing “Hosanna!” Every time I sing a song that has Hosanna in it I get goosebumps all over me because I know I’m preparing for that day when we’ll see him coronated as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Wow, what a day that will be!

Terry James: And can you imagine when that foot touches down on the Mount of Olives and the entire world starts to regenerate into something more pristine.

Dr. Reagan: Well, you see when I was growing up the church, it was an Amillennial church, and they taught that we were in the Millennium now, which makes no sense. And then they said that there’s not one verse in the Bible even implies Jesus will ever put His feet on the earth again. And when I was 12 years old, I discovered Zechariah 14, and it says, He’s coming back to the Mount of Olives. It says when His foot touches the ground, there’s going to be an earthquake. And so, I took it to my pastor and I said, “What does that mean?” And he read it, and he read it and he read it. Finally, he turned to me and he put his finger in my face and he said, “Son, I don’t know what this means, but I’ll guarantee you it doesn’t mean what it says.”

Tim Moore: Well and we know that we’re going to reign with Him, so as He’s reigning for a thousand years, and that’s a promise to Jesus Christ. My problem with the people who discount the Millennial Reign of Christ is they rob our Lord of the promises, the prophetic promises given to Him.

Dr. Reagan: And it robs Israel of all the promise.

Tim Moore: Want to rob Israel, want to rob the earth, the creation itself of promises. You know, God has made promises that are not just for me. It’s not just all about me. A lot of the promises are for Christ, and so I want Him to receive the glory and honor that He’s always been due, when every tongue confesses, every knee bows. And yet we will reign alongside him during that thousand year reign. Nathan, I think you made a great point, even about the elders in a rotating sense. And you wonder, how can there be enough countries and cities and states for us to reign over? But we may be in a rotating basis. The point is, we’re going to be emissaries and co-heirs, co-reigners, or regents with the Lord as He reigns from Mount Zion, and as we affect His rule all around the world.

Nathan Jones: I mean in the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom you think we’ll be helping the Lord set up this kingdom on this earth and all that’s involved. But as the children who were born of the Tribulation Saints multiply, you know, it’s estimated maybe 20 billion people by the end of the Millennial Kingdom. I think we’re going to be very, very busy.

Dr. Reagan: I want to discuss something that he said, and that is that when we are raptured, we’re going to be judged, each one of us of our works, not to determine our eternal destiny, but to determine our degrees of reward. There are going to be all kinds of rewards handed out.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, share about that.

Dr. Reagan: You know my personal pastor is a man named Glenn Meredith, and he has studied this in great detail. In fact, he spoke at one of our annual conferences. And he emphasized the fact that we’re going to get these incredible rewards, different crowns, maybe different types of robes and so forth. And he emphasized that these are going to be eternal rewards, they are not something we just get once and throw at the feet of Jesus, but we’ll do that repeatedly. We will have these forever. And he said, you’ll be able to look at a person and on their reward, you’ll be able to just by looking at them, you say, oh, you were an evangelist. Oh, you were a missionary. Oh, you were a pastor. And you’ll be honoring them. And he said, well, when I teach that, people say, well, wouldn’t that make us jealous? He said jealous? We’re not going to have jealousy, we’re not going to have a sin nature.

Tim Moore: Celebrate with one another.

Dr. Reagan: He said you’re going to be proud of them, just as you were proud of a child that wins an award. You’re not going to be jealous of your child.

Tim Moore: I’m reminded of throwing our caps in the air at graduation at the Air Force Academy. You made sure your name was in your head if you wanted to get back. So, we’ll have our crowns, perhaps with our name in them. But, people say, what do I need a crown for? And my point has always been when they say, all right, saints, gather round we’re going to cast our crowns at the feet of the Lamb. I don’t want to be empty headed.

Dr. Reagan: There you go.

Tim Moore: And so I’ve been accused of that in the past. But I want to have a crown to cast, and yes Dave I think we’ll get it back to do it over, and over, and over again.

Terry James: And by the way too, I’m thankful that I won’t be judged against a Billy Graham or somebody else. I’ll be judged for what Terry James was given to do. Did I do what I was supposed to do? That’s the kind of rewards we will receive.

Tim Moore: Yes, the talents.

Nathan Jones: It’s because the rewards are not based on what we achieved, but what the Holy Spirit achieved through us.

Dr. Reagan: That’s why I encourage people to really study spiritual gifts, find out what their spiritual gifts are. You know, it may be a gift of hospitality. Did you use that to advance the cause of Christ? It may be a gift of administration, did you use that to advance the cause of Christ? Whatever gift you’re given, use it to advance the cause of Christ.

Nathan Jones: Well, what is it when Revelation teaches that we will be given new names on a white stone, supposedly marble? I’m I not going to be Nathan Jones anymore? Well, I have a new name?

Dr. Reagan: I think you will get a new name. I think it’ll be related to your spiritual walk here on this earth. I tell people, I say, you know I think some of them will be named Grace. Some maybe named love. All different types of names. Don’t get a name that says wishy washy.

Tim Moore: I’ve been named Tim for many years, by my parents, but my favorite name, which, my grandchildren call me is Saba. And so that that name has special meaning because it said out of love, by little ones who gather at my feet on a regular basis. And I think when the Lord gives me a name, it will be one that I will treasure.

Dr. Reagan: He loves to change names. He changes names all through the Bible at significant spiritual points. And I think we’re going to get new names.

Nathan Jones: Well, that’s good, because could you imagine how many Dave’s there would be in Heaven?

Tim Moore: Yeah, unique names. So, here’s a counter to all the joy that we’ve been talking about. And I can’t wait. I mean, I get excited right now to say, Lord, take me now. And whether He takes me individually or gathered us collectively at the Rapture, I am ready to go home. But there may be some watching today who hear about this joy that we are expressing, and they don’t have that same sense of anticipation. As a matter of fact, they don’t have the assurance of the blessed hope of knowing that they would go to be with the Lord. And so we have to be very clear, if you don’t already know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then the wrath of God abides on you instead of the grace, mercy, and forgiveness for your sins, there is only wrath awaiting you. And that is a future that is too horrific to even contemplate, let alone wish upon anyone, including our worst enemy. So, gentlemen, how can we advise those who do not yet know Christ as Savior to flee into His loving arms and escape the wrath that is to come on the entire world and those who have rejected Him?

Dr. Reagan: Well, God is going to deal with sin, period. And there’s only two ways that God deals with sin. Everybody knows John 3:16, but very few know John 3:36.

Tim Moore: That’s what I just prefaced.

Dr. Reagan: John 3:36 is from a sermon by John the Baptist. And in that sermon, John makes, this particular point, he says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Every person right this moment has either the grace of God abiding on them, or the wrath of God abiding on them. And it is a terrible thing to have the wrath of God abiding on them. To move from wrath to grace you put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. But he’s got to deal with and it’s either Heaven or Hell. You had given a quote from C.S. Lewis. I have a quote from C.S. Lewis.

Tim Moore: Yes, you do.

Dr. Reagan: He was listening to a young preacher sermon on the subject of God’s judgment on sin. At the end of the message, the young minister said, “If you do not receive Christ as your Savior, you will suffer grave eschatological ramifications” After the service, Lewis said, “Did you mean that any person who doesn’t believe in Christ will go to Hell?” “Precisely,” the young man said. And then Lewis said, “Then say so.”

Tim Moore: Then say so. Dave, you have another great anecdote, you tell about a woman whose sister died and the family gathered, and there was some degree of mourning, but the sister was comforting even those who were gathered to mourn her sister, a young lady you’d met at a church when you were preaching. And then the brother showed up and he was distraught. And the sister grabbed him by the throat, threw him up against the wall, and said, “Don’t weep for your sister. Weep for yourself. She’s in Heaven with the Lord. But if that were you on the table, you would be in Hell.” And folks, I think that there is no less dramatic point that we can make that you should not be grudge the joy that we have, or bemoan the fact that you don’t have it. You should flee from the eternity that awaits you, if you have rejected Christ and have the same joy of looking forward to going home to be with our Lord and Savior. Terry, any thought from you?

Terry James: Yeah. You know just as Paul said, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those that love Him.” Now, can you imagine God also has put in His Word that He prepared Hell for the Devil and his angels who fell, and that’s total rebellion. And that’s what you are in if you are not in Christ, you are in rebellion against God. Can you imagine the kind of punishment that must be in the Lake of Fire that was prepared for the Devil and his angel, we know what kind of, the things the devil spreads and his punishment is going to be horrible. And everyone who is not in Christ is going to be in that Lake of Fire. So, that’s something to keep in mind.

Tim Moore: So, Nathan, just for the sake of being very clear for our audience, would you tell someone viewing today that doesn’t yet have the joy that we obviously have, looking forward to our home going, how they can have the same joy and knowing our Blessed Hope?

Nathan Jones: Absolutely. Well, Jesus loves you. He loves you so much that He came to earth as a man and died brutally on the cross for your sins. Then He beat death by being resurrected from the dead. So He did all the work that’s necessary to get to Heaven. But we must put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Accept that free gift in order to be applicable to our lives. If you feel the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart right now, then reach out to Him in faith and in repentance, pray, Lord Jesus, I know I’m a sinner. I know I’ve rebelled against You. Please forgive me. I love You and I want you to be the Lord and Savior of my life. Jesus Christ will forgive you of your sins. The guilt will be cleansed and washed away, and you will inherit eternal life in Heaven.

Closing

Tim Moore: To paraphrase Joni Eareckson Tada we’ve only provided a knothole peek at the shining realities awaiting us in Heaven. We simply don’t have time to exhaustively examine all that is revealed to us in the Word of God.

Nathan Jones: Well, thankfully, Dave Reagan and Terry James have presented a tremendous overview of what followers of Christ can look forward to while warning unbelievers to flee from the wrath to come, and before it’s too late.

Tim Moore: We cannot stress too strongly that the eternal peril that every person who has rejected Christ lives under and no one can know how long they have to turn to Christ, repent of their sins, and accept His free offer of salvation. If you are watching right now, you don’t know if you will live through this week or even this day, your life could end this very hour. And lest you are tempted to put off a decision, know this, if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. Failing to embrace Christ is the same as rejecting Him with everlasting ramifications.

Nathan Jones: Well, thankfully for all who have trusted in Christ, we can look forward to our home going with great anticipation. Whether Christ comes for us in the Rapture or we go to Him upon death, we lose the world, yet gain Heaven and the eternal life that comes with it. And that is why we can die with a smile on our face.

Tim Moore: We pray before every episode of Christ in Prophecy that our conversations will bless you and glorify the Lord. Our prayer today is that you are encouraged. If you are a Christian, you can face the uncertainties of this life, including the inevitable reality of death, if the Lord tarries with the courage that comes from confident hope in our blessed hope. And if you are not yet a Christian, our urgent prayer is that you muster the courage to humble yourself and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Confess your sin and sinfulness and trust in Him only for your eternal salvation. Lord willing, we will be back next week for another episode of Christ in Prophecy. Until then. In the name of Him who defeated death and promised, because I live, you also will live. Godspeed.

End of Program