When We All Get to Heaven | Part 1

Without Jesus, nothing makes sense. Listen closely as Adrian Rogers is with us.

A man is ignorant of his past and afraid of his future. He lives somewhere in between mystery and misery. But when we know the Lord Jesus, we experience the sweetest fellowship on earth. If you have your Bible, turn now to 1 John chapter 3 as Adrian Rogers shares more about when we all get to heaven. We're making our way through this wonderful book of 1 John, this epistle written by the Beloved Apostle. We're calling this Bible study the sweetest fellowship this side of heaven.

But folks, we're going to move our fellowship right on up and right on over to heaven. Now, not everybody is enjoying life. As a matter of fact, to borrow a phrase from another, many are living lives of quiet desperation, a crust of bread, a corner to sleep in, a minute to smile and an hour to weep in, a pint of joy and a peck of trouble and never a laugh.

But the moan comes double. And this is life, wrote one. Not if you know Jesus. Not if you know Jesus. Friend, to know Jesus is life eternal. Jesus said I've come that you might have life and have it abundantly. I'm here to tell you that a rich man is poor without Jesus and a strong man is weak without Jesus and an educated man is ignorant until he comes to know the Lord Jesus Christ. But if you don't know Jesus, I mean if you don't have Christ, what hope have you? Ernest Hemingway was brilliant, gifted, but he took his own life. And he wrote concerning those of us who live here on planet earth, he said, it seems as if we are a colony of ants, A-N-T-S, ants living on the end of a burning log. That's the hope that people have without Christ, which is no hope at all. A French critic wrote this, the universe is indifferent. Who created it? Why are we here on this puny, muddy, spinning in infinite space?

And then he said, I haven't the slightest idea and I'm sure that no one has. Well I do, because I have the Word of God. I have Jesus Christ.

I have the Holy Spirit within me and you can also. You see, without Jesus, nothing makes sense. Man is ignorant of his past and he's afraid of his future.

So he's somewhere in between mystery and misery. But oh, if you only know the Lord Jesus Christ, you have the sweetest fellowship this side of heaven and then think of the fellowship when we all get to heaven. 1 John 3 verse 1, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, now watch this, the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Now there are three things I want you to think about today. I want you to think about the Christian dignity and I want you to think about the Christian destiny and I want you to think about the Christian's duty.

And they're all right here, so you can remember that. Now first of all, we're going to think about the Christian's dignity, what we are. Look at this verse again, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.

Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Do you know this word, what manner? What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us?

John says, look at that, behold it. I mean, look at it, what manner of love. Do you know what that word literally means? It is a Greek phrase which means something from out of this world. It literally means, what other worldly kind of love? What love not from this planet?

What indescribable, unknown quality is this love? Behold what manner of love it is out of this world that the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Now I hope that what caused John to say, behold it, consider it. I pray that will grip your heart today. Now folks, listen, we are not just called sons of God. We are sons and daughters of God. Now did that sink into you?

That may not sink into you. But friend, listen, if I am a child of God, I'm a royal blue blood. I'm a child of the King.

Just call me Prince Adrian. I am a child of the King and so are you. I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter 1 with me, if you will, for just a minute. Chapter 2, rather. And it speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look, if you will, in verse 10. For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things, that is, everything was made for him and by him, in bringing many sons into glory, that's us, many sons, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth, the word sanctified means to be set apart for God, for both he that sanctifieth, that's Jesus, and they who are sanctified are all of one.

Now what that means in plain English is that Jesus is in me and I am in Christ and we are one together. And then look at this next phrase, For which cause, now don't miss this, he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church while I sing praise unto thee. Hey, are you ashamed of Jesus? He's not ashamed of you. He's not ashamed to call you brother.

He's not ashamed to call you sister. He's here and we are sons of God. Listen, the Bible says they are all of one in this passage in Hebrews. That means we share the same nature. That means we are partakers of the divine nature. That means I am a blood brother of Jesus Christ. I am a blood brother, you are a blood brother of Jesus. He has my nature because he took human nature.

I have his nature because I have been born of God and we are sons, daughters of God and Jesus Christ is not ashamed to call us his brothers. Dear God, open our hearts today to understand this. If you could only understand, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God, next of kin to the Holy Trinity. Blood brothers with the Lord Jesus Christ. John 17 verses 21 through 23. Jesus is praying his great high priestly prayer and he prays, Father, that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee that they, us, talking about us, also may be one in us that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Now watch this. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one. I in them, thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, now watch this, and that the world may know that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Now how much does God love his son Jesus?

Well, let me ask you a question. Does he love Jesus more than he loves you? That's not what this says.

Now folks, you say, no, I can't take that in, but it is true. There's nothing you can do to make God love you any more than he loves you. He loves you as much as he loves his own dear son. Jesus prayed, Father, help them to know, help them to know that thou hast loved them even as you love me. You see, we are the sons and the daughters of God.

In Romans chapter 8 and verse 29, for whom he did foreknow, then he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he, God's son, might be the firstborn among many brethren. He's the firstborn son, but he's just the firstborn in a family of many brothers. We are brothers of Jesus, sons of God, literally.

And that's the reason Romans 8 says that God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Do you know what Abba, Father, means? It means Daddy, Father.

It's just an Aramaic diminutive. It means Daddy. You know, I love for my children call me Daddy.

That just blesses me. Now, when they may be formerly call me Father, and that's okay, but I like Daddy. And we have the spirit of God in our hearts, and I don't mean this irreverently, but we can speak to God and call him Abba, Father. Abba literally means Daddy, Father. And because of that, because I'm a son of God, because Jesus Christ is my brother, I have my Father's care. I'm not a beggar.

My Father's obligated to take care of me, and He will. That's the reason worry is so pagan. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6, verse 26, Behold the fowls of the air. They sow not, neither do they gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.

Are ye not much better than they? You know why Jesus is saying? What farmer would feed his chickens and starve his children? Now, friend, if God takes care of the birds of the air, come up here close.

I'm going to tell you something. If you are a child of God, God is obligated to take care of you. You say, then why don't I have more money in the bank? You don't need money in the bank if you've got God. Once I was young, now I'm old, yet I've not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread.

I want to ask you a question. Which would you rather have? A warehouse full of bread or a father who owns a bakery? Listen, that bread and warehouse can get stale and nothing better than fresh bread. Give us today our daily bread. If God feeds the foes of the air, don't you think he's going to take care of you?

Yes, he is. You see, behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Not only do you have the Father's care, but you have the Father's correction.

Why do you have trouble sometimes? Because God loves you. Did you know that God sometimes engineers your trouble? Put this verse down. Hebrews chapter 12 verses 5 through 7. And have you forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children? My son despiseth not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him, for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth. Every one of us have had dads and moms say, Son, daughter, I'm doing this because I love you.

I've often said my dad loved me far more than he loved my brother. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? Now, that doesn't mean God doesn't love us when he chastens us.

It means that God does love us. Here's a little boy playing out in the yard. He gets in the mud. He's covered with mud from head to foot. His father comes to the door and sees him and says, Son, you can't come in the house like that.

Come out here in the yard. And the father takes the garden hose and rinses that little boy off before he lets him come in. Now, it's not the son that the father is rejecting.

It is the mud. And sometimes God just has to hose us down, doesn't he? I mean, folks, it's not that he rejects us when he does that.

Actually, it's because he loves us that he does that. And then, you know, you have the fathers. Not only do you have the father's care and the father's correction, but you have the father's compassion. Oh, friend, I think of how I love my children.

I had a child one time that went through surgery, and I can remember taking that baby there and handing the baby over to the doctor and thinking, Oh, God, if I could only take the place of that child, I would gladly do it that the child might not have to go through that. As a father pitieth his children, the Bible says, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Oh, he cares for you. His heart is broken when your heart is broken, and therefore it ought to be easy to talk with him. You don't talk with him as judge. He is judge, but for you he's more than judge. You don't talk to him as ruler, he is ruler. You don't talk to him as king, he is king. But you talk to him as father.

God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, father. And you have the father's companionship. I'm never alone.

God is real to me. I don't say that braggingly. It would be strange if I could not say that.

I can be shut up alone with him, and he's never too busy to talk with me. You know, the phone, there's a certain tyranny of the telephone, and the phone rings, and you don't want to answer it, and you hate not to answer it. And sometimes when I will be just, work will be piled up like this, and the phone will ring, I say, oh. But I pick it up, and on the other end, somebody says, Daddy? I say, what do you want?

All the difference in the world. And if they say, Papa, friend, we'll talk for hours. Now listen, what is that? There is a relationship with Almighty God that is so wonderful. This is what John is talking about. Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. We have, folks, His care.

We have His correction. We have His compassion. We have His companionship. He is our Father. Christ is our brother. He's not ashamed to call us brother. We are a part of the family of God. That's wonderful.

You may think that He's forgotten you, but He hasn't. I heard about what the Indians do sometimes to bring a young boy from that passage of boyhood to young manhood. They take an Indian lad out in yesteryear, and they would put him out there in the forest where the wild animals were, and they would draw a circle and put that young Indian in that circle, and he would be told, you cannot leave this circle all night long.

You will stay out here by yourself. They gave him a little knife. That's all he had to protect himself with. And the little Indian boy would stand there in the middle of the circle, and darkness would fall, and he could hear all of the wild animals and the hoots of the owls and the howl of the coyotes and all of those things out there, and the little boy would just stand there in the middle of the circle and just tremble till finally, out of exhaustion, he would crumple on the ground and go to sleep, and when he would wake up in the morning and the sun would come up, he would see his father standing right outside that circle with a drawn bow. Your father's watching over you, friend. I want to tell you, he is there.

You may think that you're alone, but you're not alone. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. So, first of all, write down my dignity, what I am. I am a son of God. I am a royal blue blood.

I am next of kin to the Holy Trinity, and Jesus is not ashamed to call me his brother. Now, folks, that's pretty good. As a matter of fact, that's glorious. Now, here's the second thing, because it gets better. Not only do you see our dignity and what we are, but now notice our destiny and what we will be. Now continue to read. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

That is incredible. Now, what John is telling us is, first of all, there's some things we don't know. That ought to be very comforting to you to know there's some things that you're not supposed to know. You know, one of the ways to give a good witness for the Lord Jesus Christ, just to tell what you know, not what you don't know.

So many of us are afraid to witness because we're afraid somebody's going to ask us a question we don't know the answer to. Don't worry about it. Let me give you the perfect answer. Just say, I don't know.

Isn't that a good answer? You know, if you tell people that you don't know when you don't know, then maybe they'll believe you when you tell them you do know when you do know. When Will Rogers said that men don't show their ignorance by not knowing so much as they do by knowing so much that ain't so. And there's certain things that you don't know. And there are a lot of things about the future that you don't know.

And don't worry about it. These things have been kept from us on purpose. When the Apostle Paul was caught up into the third heaven, he saw things not lawful for a man to utter. Jesus said, I have many things to tell you, but you're not able to bear them. Daniel said, seal up the prophecy. It's for the time of the end.

There's just a lot of things. Folks, we don't know. What are we going to be like when we get to heaven? What are we going to look like? What age will we be?

What will we eat? You don't know. Don't even try to answer those questions. For in a four-year-old can ask questions nobody can answer except God. So don't try to explain everything that we're going to be like in our resurrection body.

I don't know. We have hints. There's some things we can't be dogmatic about, but friend, there's something we can be bulldogmatic about. That is, we're going to be like Jesus, and that's good enough for me. Now, it does not yet appear what we should be like, but we know that when He shall appear, we should be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Actually, there are three things that are mentioned here that we can certainly know. First of all, that Christ is going to appear. Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth. Now, He didn't say if He shall appear, but when He shall appear.

Christ is coming back to this earth. Now, it's like a great drama in two acts. In act one, there are five scenes. There's the birth at Bethlehem, scene one. Then there's the lad of Nazareth and the preacher of Galilee, scene two. In scene three, there is the preacher and the miracle worker. Scene four, there's the crucified Son of God. Scene five, there's the buried, risen, and ascended Christ. And then the curtain comes down. That's the first act in five scenes, and now we're waiting for the second act to begin. And Christ is now standing in the wings, getting ready to step back on the stage of human history. Only this is not a make-believe drama.

It is real. Jesus went to glory. He's coming back to glory.

He appeared once. He is coming back to this earth, literally, visibly, actually. Christ is coming again. He is coming again. Bank on it.

It is true. Jesus is coming again. And coming up tomorrow, we'll hear the second half of this important message. But maybe today you have questions about who Jesus is or what he means to you, how you can begin a relationship with God through Christ. Go to our Discover Jesus page at lwf.org slash radio.

You'll find resources and materials there that will answer questions you may have about your faith. Again, go to lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message in its entirety, call 1-877-LOVEGOD and mention the title When We All Get to Heaven. This message is also part of the insightful series Sweetest Fellowship This Side of Heaven. For that complete collection, all 11 powerful messages, call 1-877-LOVEGOD or go online to order at lwf.org slash radio.

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