What You Don't Want to Hear About Heaven & Hell

This clip entitled "What You Don't Want to Hear About Heaven & Hell" is taken from the sermon "Jesus the Narrow Door" preached by Pastor Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill Church as part of the ongoing series, "Luke: Investigating The Man Who Is God" For more information about this current series, visit http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke
and for more audio and video content visit marshillchurch.org

Violence in Heaven (Matthew 11)

http://www.macarthurcommentaries.com ... And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. (Matthew 11:12)

Even if a man has outstanding character and an outstanding calling, he must also have opportunity in order to reach the potential of his greatness. John the Baptist entered the scene of history at precisely the right time—according to God's own plan, prediction, and provision. After 400 years with no word from the Lord, Israel was expectant; and until Jesus began His own ministry, John was the focal point of redemptive history. He was the culmination of Old Testament history and prophecy.
But John generated conflict wherever he went, because his message upset the status quo. With his call for repentance, he stirred up a hornet's nest among the religious leaders and even with the king. Everywhere he moved there was reaction, and often even violence, which eventuated in his being arrested, imprisoned, and finally executed.
From the days of John the Baptist until now (which had been a relatively brief period of time, perhaps eighteen months), the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. Everywhere he went, John evoked strong reaction....
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Will Earthly Memories Exist in Heaven? (Revelation 21:4)

And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4)


Heaven will be so dramatically different from the present world that to describe it requires the use of negatives, as well as the previous positives. To describe what is totally beyond human understanding also requires pointing out how it differs from present human experience.

The first change from their earthly life believers in heaven will experience is that God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (cf. 7:17; Isa. 25:8). That does not mean that people who arrive in heaven will be crying and God will comfort them. They will not, as some imagine, be weeping as they face the record of their sins. There is no such record, because "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1), since Christ "bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed" (1 Pet. 2:24). What it declares is the absence of anything to be sorry about—no sadness, no disappointment, no pain. There will be no tears of misfortune, tears over lost love, tears of remorse, tears of regret, tears over the death of loved ones, or tears for any other reason.

Another dramatic difference from the present world will be that in heaven there will no longer be any death (cf. Isa. 25:8). The greatest curse of human existence will be no more. "Death," as Paul promised, "is swallowed up in victory" (1 Cor. 15:54)...

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Caught Up to the Third Heaven (2 Corinthians 12)

From John MacArthur:
"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows—was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. (2 Corinthians 12:2--4)


Paul had received many visions in his life, six of which are recorded in Acts (9:3--12; 16:9--10; 18:9--10; 22:17--21; 23:11; 27:23--24). He had also received the gospel he preached by revelation (Gal. 1:11--12). But the vision he was about to describe was the most amazing and remarkable of them all. With characteristic humility, he related it in the third person, writing, I know a man in Christ. Obviously, Paul was that man, as verse 7 indicates.

The vision took place fourteen years before the writing of 2 Corinthians, which was in late a.d. 55 or early a.d. 56, putting it sometime between Paul's return to Tarsus from Jerusalem (Acts 9:30) and his commissioning by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:1--3). Little is known about that period of Paul's life except that during it he ministered in Syria and Cilicia (Gal. 1:21). God may have granted him this personal experience to steel him against the suffering he would experience on his missionary journeys. Having been given a glimpse of the heaven that awaited him, he could face the most relentless and severe suffering that dogged every day of his life. Now, after fourteen years of silence, Paul was apparently relating the vision for the first time..."
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What Will Heaven Be Like?

From http://str.typepad.com

Dennis Prager spoke on his radio show Tuesday about how he has no idea what will happen in heaven because we can't know anything about it. But there is one thing we can know. The main thing. We will rejoice in seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and be in perfect fellowship with the one, true, beautiful, just, righteous, merciful, good God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--whom we will worship forever and ever.

That is the most important thing about the afterlife, and it's what will make heaven heaven. Every other detail is incidental.

This may sound like a terrible eternity to you. No one wants to spend eternity worshiping someone he doesn't love and honor, and no one will have to. Those who reject the offer of peace from the true God will be sent away. But I pray and work every day to tell you the truth about God's existence and character in hope that you will catch a glimpse of the God you're missing, want to be with Him, accept the forgiveness He offers through the payment Jesus made to completely remove the guilt that separates you from Him, and then join those of us who say now of the future, "We rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

It's no wonder that many of you do not want to worship, let alone be with, the kind of God you've assumed we're proclaiming. But seeing the truth about God changes everything, as David Brainerd (writing in the mid 1700s) describes:

Then, as I was walking in a dark thick grove, unspeakable glory seemed to open to the view and apprehension of my soul. . . . [I]t was a new inward apprehension or view that I had of God, such as I never had before. . . . I stood still, wondered, and admired! I knew that I never had seen before anything comparable to it for excellency and beauty. . . . My soul rejoiced with joy unspeakable to see such a God, such a glorious Divine Being; and I was inwardly pleased and satisfied that He should be God over all for ever and ever. My soul was so captivated and delighted with the excellency, loveliness, greatness, and other perfections of God, that I was even swallowed up in Him. At least to that degree that I had no thought . . . at first, about my own salvation, and scarce reflected there was such a creature as I.

Thus God, I trust, brought me to a hearty disposition to exalt Him and set Him on the throne, and principally and ultimately to aim at His honor and glory, as King of the universe.

Eternity Is Better than Heaven

Listen to Piper talk about the difference between Heaven and the resurrection (7 min).

What Will We Remember in Heaven?

By: John Piper @http://www.desiringgod.org

A friend wrote me and asked a question about Isaiah 65:17, which says (in the NASB), “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.” He asked, “Do you think this verse means that when we go to Heaven, there will be absolutely no memory of the former Heavens and Earth? If so, do you think this could also mean that all remembrances of this life will go away?”

Here is what I wrote back:

No, this verse does not mean there are no memories at all in heaven and in the age to come.

Two reasons:

1) Notice the parallel between "former things" in verse 17 and "former troubles" in verse 16. Verse 16 says, “He who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes.” The close parallel between “former troubles” in verse 16 and “former things” in verse 17 make me think that “former things” does not mean all things, but things that, if we remembered them would trouble us. And we will not be troubled in the age to come. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

2) The book of Revelation says that in heaven we will sing the song of the Lamb and of Moses (Revelation 15:3), which is a song about past history. So if we are going to sing about the great works of God in history we can’t forget them.

But here’s a catch. The crucifixion of the Lamb was one of the troubles of the world. It was horrific. So it seems to be in the class of things that should be remembered no more—it was so full of pain.

So my conclusion is: What we will forget and what we will remember is not a simple class of bad and good. Rather we will forget and remember things in accord with what will maximize our enjoyment of God. If remembering something enhances our worship, we will remember it. If it would hinder our worship we will forget it.

As an analogy consider this. In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul says, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” So Paul seems to commend “forgetting” the past. But in Ephesians 2:11-12 he says, “Remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh...were at that time separated from Christ.”

So again, as I try to discern what should be remembered and what should be forgotten, I answer: Remember whatever deepens your love to Christ and zeal to obey, and forget whatever would paralyze your will to follow him with joy.