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Ceres SDA Church

Anil Kanda

Heaven’s Glimpses

Today's topic is going to be about heaven glimpses of heaven We're continuing with our series and we're coming down to the end tonight is the last meeting And I really want to advise you please come on out be blessed We have a concert at 530 That would be an awesome thing to be a part of as well.

The person who's doing that, she's actually blind.

And she's going to be sharing some wonderful music from her experience.

Speaking of that, I'm going to ask you a question right now.

And if you are brave, please raise your hand.

Can you please describe to me a certain color?

I want you to describe to me the color magenta.

Who thinks they can describe to me the color magenta?

Okay, someone please describe to me the color, color teal.

Alright, you guys are doing Very, very good.

Now I'm going to ask you another question.

If I was born blind, please describe to me the color red.

Some of you guys are naming colors to me.

If I am blind, please describe the color red to me.

I wonder what blind people are seeing in their mind as you're attempting to describe to them the color red.

You know, I was watching a video this week and it was about this blind person who was making a remark about how people love to describe colors to them when they have no sense or concept of what those colors actually look like.

And this particular blind person was remarking how some people will do senses to describe to them But it still doesn't define colors to them They essentially live in a world where they don't have any definitive concept of what colors are They have senses and feelings and maybe they may have some kind of tactile touch, but there is no reference point for those colors.

You know, ladies and gentlemen, A Lot of time we think about heaven and We come up with all these sort of concepts But the truth of the matter is we're so far off about what heaven really is like And so we'll come up with these phrases and these thoughts and these words and we're just saying this is what heaven's like But in reality we are so far off people in heaven are probably just like oh my goodness The angels are probably remarking they are so far off You know, I was actually preaching at a prayer conference not too long ago, and I was asking people, what is going to be your favorite thing about heaven?

And some people were talking about the animals, the brand new animals at their ride.

And you know, 1 person talked about, you know, getting wings and taking a giant line and flying off with him somebody was talking about how they'll be able to eat the most delicious fruit and Then at the very end of it.

I said to them it sounds like most of you just want to go to Disneyland and That is the truth of the matter Most of us when we're attempting to describe heaven We're using earthly concepts that you can probably find in some amusement park Ladies and gentlemen, God is calling us to re-evaluate our concepts of heaven because we're going to spend all of eternity there.

And when we look at God's word, we're going to find some very deep things about heaven.

A lot of people are all about heaven's descriptions, but they miss heaven's dynamics.

All about heaven's beauty, but heaven's behavior is far from them ladies and gentlemen God wants us to understand what the Bible says about this beautiful place that we're gonna be spending all the eternity in.

All right, everybody the Bible says in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9 something very powerful.

See nor ear has heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those Who what?

Love him in other words There is nothing that we have actually seen on earth that we can use as a reference point to describe what heaven is all about Just think about it We have some wonderful pictures up there and we have this sort of concept of what we may think heaven looks like but the Bible says I have not seen nothing that compares to this place Nor has no ears.

They've ever heard anything that can describe what this is all about In fact, when you read 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 Paul gets a vision of heaven.

He comes back and he says look I heard things that I cannot even tell you about He even goes as far as says it's not even lawful for me to talk about it Eyes have not seen nor ears have heard now watch if nor have entered into the heart of man in other words in the Imagination of mankind just think about how zany some of your imaginations are Mine is really zany and I come up with some of the most Unusual concepts but the Bible says there has nothing that nothing has ever entered into the heart of man that could even come close to conceiving an accurate picture of what heaven is all about and That's why Paul speaks so emphatically and he says I have not seen nor ears heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who what Love him.

The Bible says this that God is preparing for us a beautiful city Hebrews chapter 11 verse 16 says this, Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their what?

Now there's a little bit of information that's given to us about this city.

The Bible describes the length and the breadth of this city.

And when you take a good look at what it says in Revelation chapter 21, it describes the city approximately 375 miles long on each side, the size of several states.

Now many of you guys are thinking to yourself when you look at something like this.

Wait a minute Are you telling me all the redeemed are gonna fit in there?

Absolutely, and here's the sad part of the story that there's still gonna be room left over That there's still gonna be a lot of room left over.

Ladies and gentlemen, God is wanting to fill all of heaven.

And as we begin to come to a more accurate understanding about heaven, we're going to be learning some wonderful things about what takes place at the Second Coming.

You know, this week I did a funeral for Mary Yarbrough.

And that morning when I was giving a little homily about this, I was really impressed with a thought that never really occurred to me prior.

Whenever we talk about the Second Coming we usually quote 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 16-17, for the Lord himself will descend from where?

With the voice of an archangel with the trumpet of God and then it says and the dead in what?

This is so awesome when you think about it in other words God is not just simply stating stating Well, here's the sequence in which I'm going to be doing things When I come back rather he is stating his first priority when he comes back and you know what that is the resurrection of the dead Now just think about this God has been missing a lot of people You think about many of the righteous who are gonna be alive during that time They still have a present active communion with God But many of the people that have passed away like Adam or Abraham who was even the friend of God God misses him and That's why his very first priority when he comes back.

I miss that brother The Bible says he was the friend of God God misses his friends And that's why we need to understand something so beautiful that when Jesus comes back it says in Philippians chapter 3 verse 21 He will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body According to the work in by which he is able to Even to a subdue all things to himself first Corinthians chapter 15 tells us we will get brand new bodies Can you say amen to that?

Now there's a lot of misunderstanding about these brand new bodies a lot of people think to themselves.

Wait a minute Does that mean we're not going to be able to identify 1 another that we're just going to be different ladies and gentlemen We need to understand something God will preserve your identity Amen He will preserve your Identity part of the remarkable things that we will enjoy in heaven is brand new bodies a brand new brain But the mind itself will still be intact In other words if your mind is changed ladies and gentlemen, you're no longer you Does that make sense?

And if you're no longer you, then you're no longer the person God's trying to save.

And I will get a brand new body and a brand new brain, praise the Lord, but my mind he will still keep intact that my identity He will still keep intact if I lose my identity.

I am no longer a no candor Now a lot of people say wait a minute, but I don't want to be thinking about all the horrible things that take place Well, ladies and gentlemen here's something that you need to truly understand.

The Bible says we will recognize Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And if we can recognize them, we will recognize each other.

But what will be done away with the Bible teaches this that there should be no more pain in other words We have 2 almost categories of memory.

We have a what we may call and I'm being very general right now an intellectual memory We know all things that happened in our past and we have what's called a basic like emotional memory Where we still carry certain feelings based upon Certain things that have taken place in our life.

So a lot of the pain that we have Experienced we will not forget the events that might have led to that but there will be an emotional healing of those things And this is wonder what the Bible says in it.

This is so powerful I can't even articulate it as good as this every power will be developed every capability increase the grandest enterprises will be carried forward the loftiest aspirations will be reached the highest ambitions realized and Still there will rise new heights to surmount new wonders to admire new truths to comprehend fresh objects to call forth the powers of body and mind and soul.

Heaven begins to become more exciting, more real, more actual in our minds when we begin to realize that part of eternity we will be developing and growing more and more and more into the likeness of God.

I talked about this verse in Matthew chapter 8 verse 11.

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Heaven’s Glimpses

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