In the sermon 'Questions About Heaven' by Scott Brown, the speaker delves into various questions and topics concerning heaven, particularly focusing on the description found in Revelation 21 and 22. The sermon emphasizes the inerrancy and sufficiency of the Bible, urging listeners to approach scripture with humility and to use it to interpret itself. The speaker addresses 12 specific questions about heaven, including the nature of emotions, relationships, and hierarchy in the afterlife. He discusses the idea of a 'new heaven and new earth' as a regenerated and physical realm, using metaphors to explain spiritual truths. The sermon also tackles the intermediate state for both believers and unbelievers, the role of animals in heaven, and the concept of time and feasting in the afterlife. A significant theme is the importance of bringing heaven's perspective into earthly life, encouraging believers to live with a heavenly mindset and to find joy and fulfillment in God's creation.

Chapter 21 and find verse one, Revelation 21.1. I'll be reading the first nine verses and then jump to the next chapter and read verse six in the following chapter. This is the inerrant all-sufficient sweeter-than-honey Word of God. Revelation 21 1. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no more sea then I John saw the holy city new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God, 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. 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. And he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall Inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son 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 that is the introduction to this long section on heaven go to chapter 22 verse 6 then he said to me these words are faithful and true and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show his servants the things which must shortly take place.

Let's pray. Oh father you've gathered us into your house and you have set holy words in front of us. You've laid out a banqueting table of songs and readings that have been so precious and so encouraging and so thrilling to my soul, Father, I thank you. And now, you've promised to meet us here, and we're here to come to you for worship and prayer and fellowship to be instructed in the ways in which we should go and so Lord now come and equip the saints for the work of the ministry set the devil to flight oh Lord comfort the brokenhearted and save the lost. Amen.

Please be seated. So we we have finished with the exposition of the text of Revelation 21 1 through 22 5, the longest description of heaven in the Bible. It really is a remarkable section. Horatius Bonner said this, of these two last glorious chapters, we can say you have kept the good wine until now. That's so true.

And over the months I've been asked many questions about Revelation, mainly by children by the way, and some adults and some of the questions haven't been answered with too much detail in the expositions and that's what I plan to do here this morning. I'm hoping to go through 12 questions. Here they are if you have an outline in front of you. Number one, will believers in heaven experience sorrow for those in hell? Number two, will we be ourselves?

Number three, will we relate? How will we relate to others? And is there a hierarchy in heaven? Number four, will we know people as we knew them on earth? Number five, will we have emotions?

Number six, and there's a typo in number six that I made. Is there an intermediate state for believers, not unbelievers? And the next is, is there an intermediate state for unbelievers? Number eight, in Job, Satan went up to heaven to talk to God. If so, how does that fit with Satan being thrown down, as it says in Revelation?

This was asked by an eight-year-old in our church. Number nine, will animals be in heaven? Number 10, will pets we had on earth go to heaven? Number 11, is there time in heaven? And number 12, will we eat and drink in heaven?

So I'm gonna try to cover those here in rapid fire. But these words are faithful and true. One of the great things about being in the book of Revelation is you can't read it without going all over the Bible To try to understand the metaphors and the realities that are there But the Bible tells us everything about heaven that we need to know there are many we have lots of questions Some of them many of them are debatable, but we've been given everything we actually need to know in the Bible even though we're left with some unanswered questions. And, you know, one of the problems with interpreting Scripture, and particularly in Revelation, is that everything that we want to know hasn't been revealed to us in the Bible. Our questions though should never cause us to doubt the word of God, just because we have questions.

Think of the questions we have about the natural world and science and physics and things like that. They're just vast areas of knowledge we just are not, we don't know and we are discovering as God reveals. But we exist in a world where we will have questions. That shouldn't discourage us or make us think, well, the Bible's not relevant to me because I can't have all my answers to all my questions. Now, there's also, as we engage these questions, there's a hermeneutical principle here that I think is very important, and that is that scripture interprets scripture.

A hermeneutical principle is a principle that guides us for how to interpret the Bible. And of course, so hermeneutics is sort of the, I'm gonna call it a scientific art of interpretation. The Bible is a connected testimony. I saw a graph this last week that had 340, 000 connections connected by arcs from the Old to the New Testament. It was astounding.

But the Bible is a unit. And it's always a mistake for a Christian to read a verse out of its context and not understand the testimony of the Bible. Verses are beautiful and helpful, but they actually exist in a context of the whole testimony of God. This is why for years and years, we've just encouraged our people to read through the Bible every year with your family so that they get to see the arcs and the connections that God has embedded in his word. This is the doctrine of sola scriptura, scripture alone.

Scripture interprets itself. And the word of God is living and active and it's mightier, it's sharper than a two-edged sword and it interprets not only the world but it also interprets us and it shows us who we are. It's just so wonderful. And the scriptures are harmonic. They, they, everything is harmonizable in scripture.

You may not be able to harmonize it all in your own fallen mind, but it is all in harmony. You know, the problem, The problem with understanding scripture is not with scripture. Well, it's because that we see through a glass darkly. Our knowledge is limited, our spiritual sensitivities are limited, and so we should always expect that that's a reality. And so we should always come to scripture with humility and grace just knowing that God has given his word and it is inerrant, it is all sufficient.

Well, and it is also sweeter than honey. So I want us to just be careful to be satisfied by not knowing everything. And many of these questions cause actually more questions. And many of the questions that I've been asked are debatable matters. And so, I don't believe I'm giving you the final word on these matters, but what I do plan to give you is a sense of the arc of connections of scripture to these matters that we find in Revelation and the questions that are connected to them.

One of the difficulties that we've all encountered in dealing with Revelation over these last two and a half years is how much is figurative and how much is literal. That's always a big question. And well, we do know that it's a new heavens and new earth. It's a regenerated earth. The terminology of the regeneration of the earth is the same kind of terminology that we encounter in the regeneration of the soul.

And there's a renewal. And so it is a new heavens and a new earth. So it is physical. And we also encounter many metaphors. For example, one of the most prominent ones in this section is that the city, the New Jerusalem, is people.

It's the people of God. And the precious stones, well, the precious stones are the people. So the metaphors are there, and my perspective is that the figures, the metaphors, they point to physical realities and spiritual realities somehow at the same time it's very much like life today there are many There are many physical realities that we experience also as spiritual realities. The Lord's Supper is one of them. We partake of a physical bread and fruit of the vine, but there's also a spiritual effect on us as well.

So, and there are a couple of takeaways that I wanted us to really understand, and I think our congregation understands these things. I can hear this understanding in the prayers and many of the conversations. And I've just become convinced of two things about heaven. And the first is God did not intend heaven to be on the back burner of our minds, Something to worry about later. I think many many of us including myself.

I think you know had felt You know heaven was kind of something out there, but in these chapters. We have so many pictures These last two chapters of the Bible give incredible detail Here Richard Baxter the love of the end is the poise and spring that sets every wheel going. I hope that's true with us. That heaven comes down in this congregation. J.I.

Packer, it is the heavenly Christian that is the lively Christian. It is the strangeness to heaven that makes us so dull. It is the end that quickens all to the means. And so I think that there's tremendous relevance in understanding heaven. Jesus made it clear that heaven is made to have an impact on the earth, that God is present.

God who is in heaven is present with this church. And even when the church gathers, the church gathers and prays, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This is a pattern of corporate prayer. This is how the church is designed to pray. On our prayer meetings, one time I was told by someone who had stopped going to the prayer meetings.

I stopped going because I don't get anything out of it. And I thought, this is really symptomatic of a very individualistic view of Christianity and maybe even a narcissistic view of the Christian life. And it's very typical of the modern evangelical, they just wanna get something out of something. And of course there's much to get from the word of God. But in prayer we're doing something greater.

When we gather, we really are bringing the kingdom of heaven down to earth. The church gathers together to do that together. Whether you get anything out of it or not, it's meant for that. And so we ought to think about just the importance and the power of prayer. You know, I have read quotes by Spurgeon and Richard Baxter and all kinds of other theologians and particularly Puritans that say that heaven must be in you if you plan to go to heaven.

That God really desires the heavenly vision to be incorporated. Paul said, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. And So the heavenly vision is given to us for our joy and for the power and really effectiveness in this world. So the first thing that I've just wanted to really communicate is that heaven should be in the forefront of our minds. Secondly, my experience is that most people have vague ideas about heaven.

And after walking through Revelation 21 and 22, these are not fuzzy ideas. Now, they are many of the metaphors, but they really are very clear ideas. God didn't intend for us to have fuzzy ideas about heaven, and I think most of the people in our congregation are less fuzzy about it today. Many people think of heaven as sort of a ethereal, ghost-like, otherworldly place, but it isn't. It's like the earth and, you know, God has given us the earth to be like a magnet to heaven and a foretaste of heaven.

And this really struck me particularly like a freight train when we were in chapters four, five, and six, and seven, where you had all these pictures of heaven, you had creatures around the throne, and the creatures are fantastical. But then I thought, wait a minute, the creatures on earth are fantastical too. You have creatures on earth that have a thousand eyes. So heaven is not, it's not other, when you see those fantastical creatures, wait a minute, we've seen fantastical creatures all over the place on the earth. So heaven is not a, we shouldn't disconnect it from reality.

And so that's what we've experienced in these chapters. And then when we got to chapter 21, particularly when we were in the introduction in the first nine verses, it occurred to me, everything that's pictured in heaven is on the earth right now. You know, the sea, the city, the bride, the adornment, the tabernacle, the tears wiped away, all these things are on earth as well. And God has given us these things, even our tears, to remind us of heaven. And you have, you know, a lamb and you have bowls and a mountain, all these things we're very familiar with.

And the reason is that heaven is meant to come down to earth. So I wanna try to answer some of these outstanding questions. Many of these questions are really, they really draw out the reality of what it means to have a new heaven and a new earth, a regenerated heaven and a regenerated earth. So the first question is, will believers in heaven experience sorrow for those who are in hell? So I do not think that believers will be sorrowful in heaven for those who are in hell and there are several reasons.

Now I think that you know there's sort of a mixture of tender heartedness in believers but also there's a way that we minimize rebellion in our own lives. We really minimize what it means to turn away from God, and so we might have a sort of a wrong sense of compassion. But I'm gonna give you five considerations. First of all, in Isaiah 66, 24, the saints in the new heavens and in the new earth, and that's the context of Isaiah 66, they seem to have a view of those in hell and Here's the verse 24 verse 24 and Isaiah 66 and they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have Transgressed against me for their worm does not die in other words. They are in hell And their fire is not quenched.

They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh. This is a picture of believers looking somehow, somehow, and having a sense of hell. Second, in Revelation 18 20, there's a voice from heaven where John is told to rejoice over God's vengeance against the unbeliever. Rejoice over her, this is Babylon and the harlot. O heaven and you holy apostles and prophets.

In other words, you apostles and prophets, you people of God rejoice, for God has avenged you on her. Third, in Revelation 19, one and two, John hears rejoicing for the judgment against the prophet. Hallelujah, salvation and glory and honor and power belong to our Lord. Why? Because he has avenged her with the blood of his servants, shed by her.

Hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever and ever. And here you have a great multitude in heaven. You have the elders and the creatures in heaven all actually praising God for those who've been cast into hell. Fourth, in Deuteronomy 32 verse 12 and in verses 42 and 43, God reminds his people to rejoice because the rejection of God was like Sodom and Gomorrah and bitter and gall and like the serpents and he tells them to rejoice. He says, rejoice, oh Gentiles, with all his people, for he has avenged the blood of his servants and render vengeance to his adversaries.

He will provide atonement for his land, for his people. The fifth reason is that believers actually embrace the doctrine of predestination, which holds that God has predetermined the ultimate destiny of the individual, either for salvation or damnation. Believers believe that God glorifies himself both in the salvation of sinners and the damnation of the wicked. God glorifies himself and is praise worthy because he has done such a thing. And that's because believers are convinced that God is good, that God is wise, that God never does anything wrong.

He would never do anything wrong. He would never be unmerciful to anyone. He would only do what is good. And the doctrine of predestination really breathes that whole fact. We, and those who are in hell, they lived in defiance toward God.

They said no to God day after day. They heard preaching. They saw the glory of the heavens. They had individuals sent to them. Most people in America all their life long, and the gospel was present and they rejected it.

And maybe they spurned appeals from their father or their mother or their friend. Or maybe they sat in church for years and had the gospel preached, but they were still hardened, and they were hardened all the way to the end, and they were defiant to God who loved them and resisted him. So, in heaven, we will not disagree with God. We won't be thinking why did God do this. We will rejoice in God's wisdom while we're on the earth though.

Our hearts will grieve for the unbeliever. Our hearts will cry out to the unbeliever. Our hearts will have compassion on the unbeliever, but that won't be the case when all is said and done. Question number two, will we be ourselves? I believe I believe we will be ourselves.

Our bodies will be our bodies in the resurrection. Is The Bible makes it very clear that your body is resurrected. And then your body is, you're regenerated. You have a new body. And all the details of this, You know, will your body look just like your earthly body?

I don't know. Some people say it will. If you're short or tall, you know, you'll be short or tall in heaven. What age will you be? I have no idea.

I read one really prominent theologian say we'll all be about the age of 30. Well, who knows? I don't know. But heaven is not a disembodied state. After the resurrection, our bodies will survive for all eternity.

And this is so critical when you understand the various world views. You know, in Hinduism and Buddhism, the individuality is obliterated. Not in Christianity. Individuality is not obliterated. In heaven, I wanna give you five considerations on this question.

First, in Job 19 27, Job tells us that he himself, and he repeats it, will see the Lord. He says, after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I will see God." And then he says, whom I shall see for myself. It's very clear. And my eyes, okay, he has eyes, shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me.

Joe believed that his own body he would be himself. The second consideration is Jesus was himself in his resurrected body. He possessed a physical body. In Luke 24 39, Jesus was himself after the resurrection. Third, in heaven Lazarus is still Lazarus in Luke 16 25 but Abraham said son remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and you are tormented Lazarus is Lazarus on earth as it is in heaven number four Matthew 8 11 Real people with real names will gather with a real God in heaven.

Matthew 8, 11. And I say to you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. I don't think this is ghosts sitting with one another. I think it's people. I think it's really Abraham and really Isaac and really you and really me.

The fifth consideration, Luke 15, 47, four through seven. There's actually in heaven rejoicing over different persons, different individuals. I say to you that likewise there shall be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 just persons who need no repentance. You have one, you have 99, these are individuals, and they are gonna be found in heaven. Augustine actually believed that our bodies on earth would be like our bodies in heaven.

You know, for example, for example, here's possibly an example. Kelly Jennings will be able to outrun you, not only on earth, but also in heaven. How about that? Number three, how will we relate to others? And is there a hierarchy in heaven?

Well, in Matthew 8, 11, it appears that we will sit with these various people and these various people have names. Even in the Mount of Transfiguration, you have Moses and Elijah. I believe we will be relating with people somewhat like the Mount of Transfiguration. Moses and Elijah appeared with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration in their resurrected bodies, their reassembled bodies. Also, it's very important, I think, to understand that the relationship of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is a relationship of unity and love.

It's a relationship of collaboration. It's the perfect picture of a family. It is the family in heaven. And we will be like him. We will be like Jesus Christ with one another and with God.

And one of the marvelous things that I know we all look forward to is that in heaven, we will be free from all the different things that hinder our relationships on earth. Aren't there so many fleshly, worldly, selfish, narcissistic hindrances that afflict our relationships on earth and they're with us every day, those will be suspended. That's how you relate with one another. All of the jockeying, There will be no betrayals, there will be no bad feelings about one another. That's why Jonathan Edwards said it like this, heaven is a world of love.

That's the kind of relational life that we will have. And Edwards even believed that individuals in heaven would retain their memories of earthly lives, including their experiences and relationships, even their sins, but they will be rejoicing in the greatness of the mercy of God for what he has rescued them from. There will be no marriage or being given in marriage. Who knows how all that works. All I know is that if Deborah's there, I'm going to be chasing her around.

But there's no marriage in heaven. And I think the reality is that whatever exists is so much more wonderful than even the greatest and most intimate picture that you can experience on earth. It's better. It will be better. You won't be disappointed in it.

And of course, another related question is, is there hierarchy in heaven? Are there are there people with more authority and things like that? And I think that there that they're they're likely is a hierarchy in heaven. First of all, in God's created order, there is a hierarchy throughout creation. God designs different roles for different people on earth.

He actually puts the husband as the head of the wife on earth. Everyone is not the same. Paul told the Corinthian church that everybody's not, they don't have the same ministry, they don't have the same effect. God doesn't give the same authority to every person. He doesn't give the same jurisdiction to every person.

And I think that implies that in heaven there will be a hierarchy. Also, there seems to be different rewards for the ways that we lived on the earth, but none are deprived of the grace of the full-blown grace of God. No one will be disappointed in that. We also know that there's a hierarchy among the angels. Some angels have different roles compared to others.

Some angels seem to have more authority than others when you read the Bible. We've read a lot about angels in Revelation. We've seen it right there in this book. Fourth question, will we know people as we knew them on earth? And I would just say, there's a pretty broad testimony of commentators and spiritual forefathers who believe that the bonds of love and friendship are not dissolved in heaven.

But everything is deeper, everything is more profound. Everything is more satisfying. And 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 through 18, we learn that Jesus will bring those who died with him to heaven and it says, we will always be with the Lord. We will always be with the Lord. We will always be with the Lord.

You, me, and everybody else who loves the Lord. You and those that you've known, we, we will be with the Lord. And then the apostle says, therefore comfort one another with these words. Isn't that, it's comforting to know that there will be familiarity. I do believe there will be familiarity.

You know, just looking at the faces here, I'm just thinking, what will it be like to be with you in heaven? What a remarkable thought. Five, will we have emotions? The fifth question, will we have emotions? My answer is yes, but most probably more powerful emotions than you've ever known.

More pure emotions than you've ever experienced. Three considerations. First, the redeemed will experience the fullness of God's love and peace and there will be no more pain and no more sorrow and your tears are wiped away and that must have some effect on a resurrected body. Imagine, just imagine for a moment. All your life, your emotions have jerked you around.

Your emotions were built by all kinds of experiences, some of them bad, some of them you need to get past. But imagine that your emotions will finally be pure. Your emotions will be consoled, made happy. They won't terrorize you like they did in the earth. They won't make you discouraged like they did on the earth.

You know, God will finally heal all of your emotions. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Well, the second consideration is that when you read Revelation four and five and six and seven, you cannot miss the outpouring, the massive outpouring of emotions in heaven these creatures these people these apostles these elders these angels in heaven they see the unadulterated beauty of God and they just can't get over it. And you have all, they're saying, holy, holy, holy. They're saying, Lord, you are worthy.

What did you do to us? It was so wonderful. The outpouring of emotions in the testimony of the pictures of heaven, just in Revelation alone, are really astounding. They say, for you were slain. You've redeemed us to God by your blood and they say worthy is the lamb who was slain Blessing and honor and glory and power and wisdom and strength.

They just can't get over it. They can't find enough words to say it because he's so wonderful. There will be emotions in heaven, emotions like you've never known before. You know, all of us really want to rejoice in the Lord. We really want to be happy, don't we?

But on earth, you know, our happiness is condemned by different things. Not in heaven. You will have emotions. A third consideration, Revelation chapter six, you find, remember the picture of the martyrs that are under the altar? The final resurrection has not come, yet they, but they are, and they're crying out to God, and there's this heartfelt longing for justice.

They are in heaven, and they're saying, how long, oh Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. Well, these are people who were killed and they are in heaven and they have emotions. So I think that yes, we will have very profound emotions and our emotions will be finally healed. But in the meantime, God is healing our emotions here by our understanding of the word of God, our bringing our emotions into line with the word of God, by accepting the authority of God's word about the way we feel about things, the way we think about things. God is renewing our minds.

He's transforming our whole thinking. So this happens on earth. Your emotions will finally be healed in heaven but they're be they ought to be being healed every day on the earth. The cleansing should continue to go through the power of the word of God. That's why it's so critical that you're in the word every day to go get your emotions adjusted.

Number six, is there an intermediate state for believers? Your outline says unbelievers, that's a typo, I'm sorry. It was my fault. Is there an intermediate state for believers? Let me just say that there are three states of being described in the Bible.

And every person in the world will experience all three states of being. This is one thing about the Bible, it tells you the way that life on Earth in eternity is structured. There is the present state, that's us right here. Then there is an intermediate state, and then there is the final state, which is launched at the resurrection of the living and the dead on the last day. And in Revelation 21 and 22, however, is only focused on the final state.

And In the present state, we experience the presence of God. We experience the rivers of water of life given freely to him who thirsts. We experience that in the present state. And in the intermediate state, we experience paradise. This is classically drawn from Luke 23, 43, where Jesus speaks to the thief and he says, today you will be with me in paradise, paradise.

The final judgment, the final resurrection is not taking place. And so believers are transferred to what people call the intermediate state. It's not a Bible word, but it describes what is described in what's pictured in the Bible. In Philippians 1.23 is another manifestation of this where the apostle Paul said that he desired to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. That's before the final judgment.

In St. Corinthians five verse eight, Paul says that he was confident and pleased, rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. This is the intermediate state. And believers, spirits, experience rest in the intermediate state in Revelation chapter six. This picture of those martyrs under the altar, it says it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer.

So there is rest in the intermediate state before the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is not the same thing as the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory where you have time to improve yourself and to build up more merit. In Revelation chapter seven verses 13 through 17, we find another picture of the intermediate state of believers. These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and wash their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple.

For the lamb is in the midst of the throne, He will shepherd them and lead them to fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. So I believe that in their intermediate state, tears are also wiped away from your eyes in a very similar way. And Then you have the eternal state. That's a very clear demarcation of the final judgment.

Matthew chapter 24 is the classic passage. In Hebrews 9, 27, we read, it is appointed to man once to die, but after this, the judgment. And then in 1 Corinthians 15 is a classic section on the resurrection of the dead and we read these words I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and shall be changed. That's a picture of the final state just like we've seen in Revelation 21 and 22. It's all about the final state not about the intermediate state.

And what's the difference between heaven and the intermediate state? It's an excellent question. My perspective is that since the intermediate state is paradise, it's not a downgrade from the new heavens and the new earth. It's something like it, where there's rest, where there's the presence of Jesus Christ, where it is paradise. But we're not told very much about it.

So I I think there We don't know what it all entails. That's okay. Don't worry about it. God is in control Number seven is there an intermediate state for unbelievers? For unbelievers yes, there is and I'll give you several reasons In Revelation chapter 20 verses 13 through 15, there's a distinction between death in Hades and the eternal state of unbelievers.

And the scene in Revelation 20 verses 13 to 15 is a scene where unbelievers who died and they are in death, they are consumed in death in Hades and then they are delivered up to the final judgment. They're delivered up to the final judgment from their intermediate state in death and Hades. So the unbeliever when he dies before the final judgment is in a place of torment already and then they are finally their bodies are delivered up and they are judged each one according to his works then death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire so this holding tank death and Hades in the intermediate state of the unbeliever, that is thrown into the lake of fire. In 2 Peter 2, 9, Peter is saying that unbelievers are reserved in their state of torment until the final day of judgment. That's the intermediate state.

So the dead don't go out of existence as unbelievers into nothingness. They go to what is called Hades or the grave and it's a time of torment before the final judgment. Question number eight, from an eight year old. In Job, Satan went up into heaven to talk with God. If so, how does it fit with Satan being thrown down as It says in Revelation It's a great question.

I Had to study that well there therefore there for situations in the Bible where Satan is thrown down. And by the way, in the Job passage, which was referred to here in Job chapter one, verses six through 12, John Calvin, he argued that the Satan in Job one is a fallen angel, hostile to God, accusing Job because Satan and his demons are accusers of the brethren. And he was limited in his ability to afflict mankind. Satan's power always has been, always will be limited by God's sovereign power. He can only act within his limits.

And this was, this satanic being was accusing Job. Now, there are many different facets of Satan being thrown down. In Ezekiel chapter 28, it's Satan's fall from heaven and the language is being thrown down from being glorified to being profane. Another picture is in Luke chapter 10 verse 18 when Jesus sent the disciples out to preach and they came back and they said, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. And it's a picture of God's authority over the devil.

Another instance of Satan being thrown down is Revelation 12, nine, where Satan is thrown down from having access to heaven and he is restricted from the earth, seemingly momentarily or for a short period of time. And then finally in Revelation 20 verses one through three, Satan is thrown into the bottomless pit. So there are various ways that Satan is described as being thrown out of heaven. One way that Satan is thrown out is that at the resurrection, the power of sin and death was broken. And we are told, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

This is another way that Satan is disarmed in the world. He's in a sense thrown down. In John's vision in Revelation, he saw Satan being thrown down or neutralized and finally thrown into the lake of fire in Revelation chapter 19 verses 19 through 21 and God Describes himself as ruling with a rod of iron against the forces of darkness. You don't need to be afraid of the forces of darkness because greater is he that is in you. And so Satan is thrown down, being thrown down, is an indication that he has no final authority.

He has no omnipotent power. He's not omniscient and he's outdone and He was disarmed at the cross and The devil and his angels they understand that they know their days are numbered Number they say to Jesus have you come to torment us before the time, they're afraid. So I think there are various ways that Satan is thrown down that are described in the Bible. Next question, number nine. Will animals be in heaven?

Will animals be in heaven? I take my reading of scripture that there are things in scripture that indicate that animals are part of the new heavens and the new earth. Now First, God created animals and he said they were good. We just sang a song that actually stated that very thing. He created the creatures and pronounced them good.

And there's a way of thinking about the new heavens and the new earth that you find in the stream of writing of commentators over the years and they say that when God created something that was good, he doesn't destroy it, that it is good. It's good, it's everlastingly good. So that's a proposition that many have made. You might just think about that. Would God destroy something that he said was good in his creation?

But animals, of course, they appear all over the Bible. They are wondrous creatures. You know, people have always loved animals and pets. It's a good thing even in even in 2nd Samuel 12, 3 when Nathan the prophet told a parable to David to convict him of his sin, he talks about this poor man who had a little lamb and he nourished it and He grew up together with him and his children, and it ate his own food, and this is horrific, and drank from his own cup, and lay in his bosom, I'm not recommending this. But he's telling this, but I think he's just reflecting a reality that people love their animals, And this poor man loved his animal.

And then, of course, you know, the idea is that David went and killed it and took it for himself. But animals appear in Revelation. I think that because God is restoring, He is recreating and regenerating that the things on earth will be seen in heaven, including animals. I think that they, well there are a lot of questions. Will the extinct animals be in heaven?

I don't know. I don't know. In Revelation 19, you see horses. In Revelation 4, 2 through 8, you find creatures around the throne of God. They're full of eyes in front and behind.

They're remarkable creatures, and they have a face of a man, a lion, a bull, and an eagle all in one. That really sort of stopped me in my tracks in Revelation. I thought, Well, we see really remarkable creatures on the earth as well. This shouldn't surprise us. It says, each of the four living creatures had six wings, was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings, and day and night they never stop saying holy, holy, holy.

Now these closely resemble Ezekiel's vision in Ezekiel chapter one, verses five through 25. Another indication may be, and I'm not sure about this, Isaiah speaks of animals. You know, when I was preaching through Isaiah many years ago, where it talks about the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid. One of the things that is very clear in Isaiah is many times the animals are actually figures of people and it's it's very clear in the text and I Thought well, maybe you know this means you know the people who are like wolves Will stop being like wolves and they'll be more like lambs. And I think that's a distinct possibility that some of the animals in the Bible are actually figurative of people.

We know that, you know, bad people coming to the church are called wolves. So these illustrations hold for sure. They are correlated with people. And so you find that in Isaiah 11, six through nine, and you also find it in Isaiah chapter 65. And it is true that the gospel does transform the wolf and turn that person into a gentle lamb.

It is true that God does that. But in heaven, perhaps even the literal wolves and the lambs will get along, that's possible. That's a difficult question. But I do think that there will be animals in heaven because it's a new heavens and a new earth with trees and rivers and fruit and mountains and most likely animals. But there's another question.

Will our pets that we had on earth go to heaven? So I've already said I believe that animals will be in heaven. But there's a different question in that do animals who existed on the earth go to heaven? From the earth. Do they go to heaven?

Is there an intermediate state for animals? Maybe is another way to pose this. Another way a question asks is, well, do animals have souls? By the way, the worship of animals has taken the world by storm. Twenty years ago, there was a poll that was taken.

Forty-three percent think their pets go to heaven when they die. Forty-three percent of Americans think their pets are going to heaven. That's really interesting. 40% say that, fewer people say that it's reserved for people only, okay? Pet cemeteries are exploding.

Everywhere you turn, there's either a pet cemetery or a pet daycare or a pet vet or something like that. I mean, animals are overtaking humanity here. And it's just such a remarkable movement. And it's actually a move in a paganism in the world. Mormons believe that your pets are going to heaven.

Joseph Smith believed that animals have spirits, I'm quoting him, and through the redemption made by our Savior they will come forth in the resurrection To enjoy blessing and immortal life Pope John Paul the fourth said paradise is open to all God's creatures And of course, you know many years ago there was a movie that came out called All Dogs Go to Heaven. Well, what about bad dogs? Do bad dogs go to heaven? Martin Luther said to his dog, it is reported, this might not be true, but it's said that Martin Luther talked to his dog and he said, be comforted that little dog, thou too in the resurrection shall have a little golden tail. I think he was joking.

Do animals go to heaven or hell when they die? Well, I think, first of all, the Bible doesn't address this directly, but I wanna consider three things. First, there's no evidence that animals are created in the image of God. Man is created in the image of God. Secondly, man is superior to the animals.

There is an absolute distinction between humans and animals. In Genesis 1, 26, we read that man is made in God's image, and man has dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth, and every other creeping thing that creeps on the earth. There's an utter distinction between man and animals and to see it blurred today is so astounding to me. You know even in New York, there's a big debate on whether what did what did how to humanely get rid of all the rats. Animals, animals lack understanding and the intelligence that people have.

Psalm 32, nine, Do not be like the horse or the mule without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle. There's a distinction between man and animals. Third, animals are for food. Animals are for food. So Genesis 9, 2 through 3, where we read that they are given for food.

Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you I Have given you all things even as the green herbs But you shall not eat the eat flesh with its life. That is its blood So animals are given for food Even that precious little lamb in the prophet Nathan's story was for food. Fourth, Animals in the Bible are used for sacrifice, for sin. They're actually, animals are used by God to picture the devastating impact of sin that only by the shedding of blood can man's sin be atoned for. That sin is so bad, something must die.

And it's the animals that die. Fifthly, the plan of salvation was designed for man, not for animals. Jesus died to save his people from their sins. We are saved by faith and part of being saved is repentance from dead works and I just don't know how even the baddest dog is gonna repent of its dead works. Humans bodies will last forever and that's not true for animals.

Let me read you something I read by John Piper. To the 15 year old or the 35 year old or the 85 year old lady who just lost her cat, I would say it is spiritually perilous to cultivate a love for an animal that has such a prominent place in your heart that you think you need him for eternity. I think that really reflects the doctrine of animals in the Bible that is so radically overwhelmed today in this paganized world that we live in. You know at the same time there's nothing wrong with appreciating your animals and finding joy and astonishment and then Proverbs 12 10 says that the righteous man regards the life of his animal. And so be good to your pets, enjoy your pets.

They're beautiful. They're remarkable. They are made by God. God said that they were good. And they inspire awe.

You know, think of the intelligence of a dog. It's just, it's very inspiring. Cats, not so much. So here's the bottom line. I don't believe that an animal's soul outlives its body if they have souls.

I don't believe our pets will be resurrected. I believe that animals will be in the new heavens and new earth, But our pets on earth will not be resurrected to everlasting life in heaven. That's my perspective Number 11 number 11 is there time in heaven? Is there time in heaven? Yes, I believe that time is part of the created order God will continue to govern time in Buddhism They know of no resurrection and they teach that time will be extinguished but Christianity is solidly based on historical eras and a resurrection of cosmic dimensions that has impact on all eternity in space and in time.

The Bible teaches that time goes on forever. We dealt with a passage that seems to say something different earlier on and I won't go back into it, but the universe does not exist in a steady time freeze. In fact, I mean, astronomers are telling us that the universe is ever expanding and things are millions and billions of light years away and keep and the universe is actually expanding and actually in time. But let's talk about Ephesians 2. I want to give you just several coordinates here.

Ephesians 2.7 he speaks of the ages to come that he made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness in Christ Jesus. Second, Revelation 7 15, The beings around the throne will quote, serve him day and night unquote, in heaven. Day and night in heaven. Third, in Revelation 22, one through five, you have the tree of life yielding its fruit every month. Does that mean that there is a moon that governs month to month?

I don't think time is abolished. Fourth, in the intermediate state, the martyrs have a sense of time and they say how long oh Lord and they are told to wait a little longer and they are in they are in paradise. Fifth, in Isaiah 66 22 through 33 this is about the new heavens and the earth. The whole context is that verse 22, for as the new heavens and the new earth, skipping down to the next verse, and it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, that from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come and worship before me, says the Lord. Sixth in Revelation 8.1, we see evidence of another marker in time.

It's that famous verse, there was silence in heaven for a half an hour. A half an hour in heaven? They mark the time in heaven somehow with a half an hour? Is it figurative? Is it literal?

It's a difficult question. A seventh in 2 Peter 3, 8, Peter refers to the passing of time that God is patient and That God has designed an unfolding future Where he says but beloved do not forget this one thing That with the Lord one day is a thousand years and a thousand years as one day Now a friend of mine suggested to me that eighth number eight singing exists in heaven and Music is time related And you There's a beginning and there's middle and there's meter and you can even have a metronome to mark your time. In singing, well there's a lot of singing going on in heaven. Well who knows Exactly. There's this text in Revelation 10.6 that there should be time no longer in the King James Version, but it really should have been translated, no more delay.

It's like that in the New American standard and the New King James and the ESV, the language is that there should be delay no longer. In other words, time has run out. I don't think it means, I don't think that verse means that there's no time. So will there be space and time? I'm throwing my hat in with John Newton.

When we've been there 10, 000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first began. Time is a gift of God. Use your time well on the earth. Time will go on. Number 12.

For those of you who are getting antsy because this sermon is so long, I have one more point and then a conclusion. Okay. If you can suffer with me just for a moment, lest we have to just put this into next week and we'll stay interminably in the book of Revelation. The problem with preaching through books and getting to the end is you never want to leave them. It's like when you're in that season of infatuation with the girl who became your wife and you just didn't want to leave her presence.

I feel that way when we get to the end of every book of the Bible, I don't wanna leave, it's so precious. Okay, will we eat and drink in heaven? Again, We're faced with the relationship between the figurative and the physical. You know, when we come to this matter of eating and drinking in heaven, some suggest that it's a non-physical, spiritual feast, exclusively with God for all eternity, where the believer experiences the fullness of his love and it's like a feast and they argue that the references to feasting and banquents in the Bible were strictly metaphors for spiritual abundance and joy that would be experienced in heaven and others suggest that there may be a literal aspect of the idea of feasting and drinking in heaven and they argue that since the redeemed have bodies in heaven that they may still have physical senses, sense of taste, and maybe even needs, maybe even needs for sustenance. There is after all a tree that bears fruit every month.

Is that just figurative? You decide. But let me give you some illustrations of this because we're very used to the idea of the physical and the spiritual existing together here on earth. And maybe one of the most prominent examples of that in the church is the Lord's Supper. It's both physical and it's spiritual.

And I expect it'll be similar in heaven. You have these physical elements and they engage the sense of touch, the sense of taste, the sense of smell, and even the sense of perception in your eyes. The beautiful thing about the Lord's Supper is that it wraps your whole physical being into recognizing a spiritual reality. So we're already used to physical and spiritual things being mixed in this world, in the Lord's Supper. And then the Lord Jesus in Luke 22 says, he took the cup and gave thanks and said, take this and divide it among yourselves, for I say to you, and get this, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom, again, until the kingdom of God comes.

Jesus is gonna be drinking in the kingdom of heaven with his resurrected body, and he'll be with his people, with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Mark and Joe and Sally and everybody else who knows him. That's what I think. The Baptist Confession speaks of this, both physical and spiritual elements of it in chapter 30 from paragraph one. It is a confirmation of the faith of believers in all the benefits, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him. So the taking of the Lord's Supper is actually meant to stimulate our spiritual growth and for and to remind us of the gospel And and we and we do it until he comes and then we apparently continue to feast in heaven And so you have it's it's both vertical communion with God and horizontal communion with one another in the Lord's Supper So it's a physical thing.

It's a spiritual thing and it's also a relational thing in the church because we we take it together The second indication of this is in Matthew 8 11. I read this earlier, I say to you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Most people think that means to feast. Third, in Revelation 22 you have trees that bear fruit every month. In Isaiah 25 verse 6 there's a picture of the worship of God and you have a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wine on the leaves, a fat full of marrow and well refined wines on the leaves.

I think this is a picture of heaven. Fifth in Jesus's resurrected body, he ate food in Luke 24. Peter reports that after the resurrection, Jesus was with a small group and he ate and he drank in his resurrected body with them. He ate fish in his resurrected body. Number six in Revelation 19, 19, you have this, or in 19, nine, the marriage supper of the lamb.

Is that just figurative? Or is it like, is it like what we experience, the physical and spiritual today? That's what I think it is. I think it's both physical and spiritual. I think it's both metaphorical and it's both, and at the same time, physical.

Well, there you have it, 12 questions. I realize that a lot of these answers draw other questions for sure, but I think we can be satisfied with not knowing everything. Trust the Lord. There's much that we don't know. But we know quite a bit.

We know enough. We've been given all we need for life and godliness. And we don't need to fret about what we don't know. So all of this to say to a local church, let's live in light of heaven. Let's bring heaven down.

Let's fix our eyes on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. At the same time, enjoy the blessings that God has given you in this earth and quit saying this world is not my home and say this home is astounding and it points me to heaven. I'm gonna enjoy every bit of what God has provided and to take it by faith and to see the beauty of the Lord every day as I walk around and as I begin to see the people of God as the precious stones, as a holy city, to treat one another the way that God treats his people. We saw how God exercises his authority over his people. He blesses them immeasurably, and it ought to be the same with us, to be saturated with heaven.

One final thing, you know, the things of this earth are satisfying, but we all know that they're not satisfying enough. They're not perfectly satisfying because they make us actually long for more. The reason we want more is because we were made for more. And you are promised more in heaven. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Make your heart a little piece of heaven. Make your household and your children's life a little piece of heaven and make this church a little piece of heaven. Bring heaven down. Let's pray. Father, your word is true and it's deep and it's wide and it's high and we thank you for catching us up into all these good things giving us four tastes of them and then giving us a fulfillment of them all in your own time.

Pray God that you would make us patient for that time and that our longings would all be fulfilled in you here on earth. Amen.