Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

Hey podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast.

To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes.

Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day. This Bible teaching program on today's edition.

Speaker 3

Of Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

Many people, even Christians, have fallen for the myth that heaven is going to be a place of perpetual boredom, populated by boring people, and nothing could be further from the truth.

Today, as we continue our series A Place Called Heaven, we're going to attempt to answer the question, what will we do in heaven?

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory, author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know the Bible teaches that heaven will be a paradise where all believers will live forever in the presence of God.

Yet many Christians are almost dreading their future in heaven because they're worried that it'll be boring. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress reveals what our eternal home will really look like.

But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates.

Speaker 3

Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. In just four months from now, we'll be embarking on the adventure of a lifetime on the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska. The dates are 6-13-20. This isn't just any vacation. It's a thoughtfully designed Christian journey where believers can travel together while experiencing one of God's finest masterpieces. Alaska's pristine wilderness showcases the Lord's incredible artistry through towering glaciers, majestic wildlife, and breathtaking coastal beauty. This leisurely one-week vacation promises to refresh your soul.

So check out all the details at ptv.org, and then, just before we begin today's message, I'll remind you that I've written an inspirational book called *Encouragement from a Place Called Heaven*. Looking back on the past few years, I think you'll agree that the convergence of multiple crises made our heads spin. Well, I'm convinced that our entire perspective will be transformed when we spend a couple of minutes reflecting on our eternal reward. Reach out to us today and request a copy of *Encouragement from a Place Called Heaven*. A padded, hardbound copy is yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

After you're finished reading my book, I'm sure you'll think of someone who's suffering through a season of loss. This is the perfect gift to give them. I'll say more about my book and other opportunities later on. Right now, it's time to address another question in our series about *A Place Called Heaven*. I titled today's message, "What Will We Do in Heaven?"

Speaker 2

At a dinner party, guests were discussing the subject of heaven and hell. But Sam remained unusually quiet. The dinner hostess, not wanting him to feel left out, said, "Sam, do you have any thoughts about heaven and hell?" Sam replied, "I try to offer no opinion when it comes to heaven or hell because I have friends in both places." Samuel "Sam" was Samuel Clemens, whom we know as Mark Twain. Mark Twain had many observations about the subject of heaven and hell. In fact, in one speech, Twain joked in a comment that seems very appropriate today. He said, "This election makes me think of a story of a man who was dying. He had only two minutes to live. So he sent for a clergyman and asked him, 'Where is the best place to go, heaven or hell?' The minister told him that each place had its advantages: heaven for the climate, hell for the company."

Such a tongue-in-cheek comment is built upon a lie that many people have embraced about heaven. Many people, even Christians, have fallen for the myth that heaven is going to be a place of perpetual boredom, populated by boring people. And nothing could be further from the truth. Today, as we continue our series "A Place Called Heaven," we're going to attempt to answer the question, "What will we do in heaven?" Have you ever wondered about that? That's what we're going to talk about today.

Science fiction writer and atheist Isaac Asimov said, "I don't believe in the afterlife, so I don't have to spend my whole life fearing hell or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse." Is heaven going to be a boring place? People who believe that do so because they have embraced three popular myths about God, heaven, and eternity. Let's look at those myths for just a moment and see what the scripture says.

First of all, some people believe that God is a cosmic killjoy. When they think about God, they think of Him as being a perennial party pooper and they think of Satan as being the life of the party. Those who have come to that conclusion are absolutely convinced that heaven must be as dull as watching paint dry, and hell must be as exhilarating as a NASCAR race. But neither is true, and both of those conclusions are based on a flawed understanding of both Satan and God.

Have you ever had the experience of being stuck at a dinner party seated next to a really boring person? You know, going to hell and spending eternity with Satan is like having that kind of companion. Did you know there's nothing interesting about Satan? Nothing at all. Nothing creative about him. He never created anything; instead, he ruined everything. He is a perpetually boring person, completely unoriginal. Contrast that to God. If you want to know how exciting God is, just look around you at everything that God has created. Everything we live in and watch is good, beautiful, enjoyable, refreshing, fascinating, and exciting because it's created by someone who is all of those things.

A second myth people have about heaven is that heaven will be monotonous. You know, the fact is, no matter how good something is, we get bored with it after a while, don't we? So we think, even as good as heaven is, if we do the same thing over and over again, it has to be boring. But the truth is, monotony doesn't have to be tedious and boring. G.K. Chesterton explained why. I want you to listen to this; it was such a great insight. He said, "A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce, and therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, 'Do it again.' And the grown-up person does it again until he's nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exalt in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exalt in monotony. It is possible that God says, 'Every morning do it again' to the sun, and 'Every evening do it again' to the moon. It may be that God has the eternal appetite of infancy. For we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we are."

Isn't that an interesting thought? The only reason things seem monotonous to us is that we live in bodies that grow tired. But in heaven, we'll have none of those limitations. We'll be like children saying to the Father, "Do it again, Dad, do it again."

A third myth people have about heaven, and the reason they think it is boring, is they believe heaven is going to be one long and unending church service. Now, I remember not long ago we had a guest preacher here, and he stood up and said, "You know, these Christians who can't sit through a two-hour church service, how are they going to stand eternity when all we do is worship God forever and ever and ever?" That's what heaven's going to be—one long worship service. And you all were as quiet as you could be. One guy in the back said, "Amen," and that was about it.

I mean, let's be honest. The idea of heaven being one long church service is a yawn fest for most of us. But the reason we feel that way is we really have a misunderstanding of what worship is going to be like in heaven. Yes, the fact is, in heaven, we are going to be worshiping God like we've never worshiped Him before. Worship will be a central activity in heaven, but it won't be our only activity in heaven.

You know, the Garden of Eden is a template for what the new heaven and the new earth is going to be like. God placed Adam and Eve in the garden before they sinned, and God said, "You're gonna have perfect fellowship with me, but you're not gonna sit around and worship me all the time. I've also given you work to do." In fact, He said in Genesis 2:8, 15, "You are to cultivate the garden and keep it." There were two primary activities in heaven: worshiping, but also working. And the same is going to be true for us.

Let's look at each of those two activities in depth. First of all, heaven will be a place of indescribable worship. You know, just think about one of those worship experiences you've had where you were moved to the very innermost parts of your being and you felt so connected to God. Think about those great moments of worship in the past you've experienced and multiply it by a million. That's what heaven is going to be like—the worship we engage in. Because in heaven, we'll actually see Jesus face to face. No experience will match that.

If you want to get an idea of what that experience is going to be like, look at Revelation 5, verses 11 and 12, where John describes the worship we will experience in heaven. He said, "Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living creatures and the elders. These are the representatives. This is the church. This is you and I, the elders, the church. And the number of them was myriads of myriads, thousands of thousands, literally ten thousands upon ten thousands, millions of people surrounding the throne."

And notice verse 12, saying with a loud voice—underline that word, loud. And what will they say? Much like what the choir said today: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive the power and the riches and the wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." They praised with a loud voice.

Just a few years ago, the fans of the Seattle Seahawks football team set a world record as the loudest fans in NFL history. On December 2, 2013, during a third down defensive stand against the New Orleans Saints, the Seahawk fans produced an ear-splitting 137.6 decibels. Now, to let you know how loud that is, that would be exactly the same as standing 100 feet away from a roaring jet engine. In fact, the sound of those fans was so loud that it triggered a minor earthquake beneath the stadium. Now that's the kind of worship we're going to have in heaven.

In Isaiah 6:4, Isaiah said, "And the foundations of the temple trembled." The foundations of the temple trembled at the voice of the angels of Him who called out in worship to God. We're going to have loud, exuberant worship. Now, occasionally I have people say to me, "Pastor, why does everything have to be so loud in our worship services? Why can't we have quiet moments of reflection? I'd like us to build some quiet moments of reflection in our worship services." You know why we don't do that?

Look, quiet moments of reflection are great for your personal worship with God. But in the Bible, when God's people get together, they are never quiet. Show me one time in the book of Revelation where they have quiet, reflective worship. No, it is a time of celebration and praise, and that's what it's going to be like in heaven. Tens of millions of people are going to be worshiping. A loud crowd and a loud voice is going to be what heaven is like.

But is that all we're going to do? Is heaven going to be a time of unending worship? Well, the answer to that question is yes and no. It all depends on how you define worship. If you define worship as a formal time of God's people getting together to praise God, then no, that's not all we're going to do in heaven. But you know, in the Bible, worship is more than just formal times.

When we assemble together, in 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul said, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." There is a way of going through the day, conducting our work, getting stuck in traffic on Central Expressway, sitting down for a meal, relaxing. There's a way of living where God is always a part of your existence. And that's really what worship in the broadest sense is.

I didn't put it on your outline, but I want you to jot down this definition of worship: Worship is the continual awareness of gratitude toward and submission to God in everything we do. Let me say it again: Worship is a continual awareness of gratitude toward and submission to God in everything we do. And in that sense, yes, we will worship God continually in heaven, just as we should be doing here on Earth. Heaven will be a time of indescribable worship.

But there's a second thing we're going to experience in heaven. Heaven will also be a place of enjoyable work. "No, Pastor, please tell me it's not so. We're going to be working in heaven?" I'm looking forward to floating around on that cloud, plucking the harp. You're telling me we're really going to work in heaven? Before you rebel at that idea, follow with me on a couple of things, and I think you're going to feel a lot better about this when we're finished.

First of all, remember, God is a worker. God didn't just create the universe in six days and then go into retirement. He took a day off, but that's all He took off. In John 5:17, Jesus said this about God: "My Father is working until now, and I myself am working." God's a worker. And not only that, secondly, God created man to be a worker. You and I were created in the image of God, and therefore we too were created to be workers.

In Genesis 2:15, God gave this assignment to Adam: "Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden to cultivate it and to keep it." You know, many people believe that work is a curse from God, that it was a punishment for man's sin against God. That's not true. Genesis 2:15 takes place before the fall. In Genesis 3, in his original form, man was created to work.

Now, it's true, after the sin of Genesis 3, work became harder for us. It became more tedious. But work itself has never been a curse. It is a privilege God has given us because we are created in His image. Now, God put Adam and Eve in the garden. Even though Eden was perfect, it was not self-sustaining. God basically said, "I'm gonna give you this slice of paradise called Eden, but you have a responsibility to cultivate it." That is, you're to till the soil, you're to plant the seeds, you're to harvest the crops. And it's the same thing with us.

God is a worker. He created us to be workers. I have a friend who says that when he was growing up, occasionally on Saturdays he might sit down on the sofa and watch television for a few minutes. And if his father came through, he'd look at his son and say, "Get off that couch! What do you think you are, an international playboy?" My friend said, "You know, I grew up always afraid to sit down on the couch on Saturdays or watch TV because my father was a worker, and he wanted me to be a worker as well."

Well, that's true for all of us. Our Father is a worker, and He didn't create us to sit around doing nothing. He created us to work as well. Now, that also underscores what is wrong with this idea that we have in America of retirement. You know, we get this idea that we're just to beat our brains out for 30 or 40 years, working as hard as we can, neglecting our family, accumulating a big pile of money so we can spend the last 20 or 30 years of our life doing nothing but entertaining ourselves. That has never been God's plan.

There's never a period of time, of decades, where you're not supposed to be doing anything except entertaining yourself. God created us all to be workers. Now, that doesn't mean you have to stay at the same job forever and ever. It doesn't mean you might not retire from a profession you've been in. But you need to replace that time with doing something productive—working in the church, furthering the kingdom of God, doing something that makes sense.

By the way, a lot of reasons people don't give like they ought to to God's work is they think, "Well, I've got to save all this money up so I can spend my time doing nothing later on." That is not God's plan. We're to all be involved in doing something productive, and it's going to be that way in heaven. If God wants us to be workers on earth, He wants us to be workers in heaven as well.

And it's true, you know, some of us are going to be out of work and find another job. Policemen are, lawyers are, doctors are, preachers are going to be out of work. All the earth is going to be filled with the knowledge of God, so there's nothing left for us to do. So we'll try to find something else to do. But don't be surprised, the majority of you, if your work in heaven isn't an extension and expansion somehow of your work right here on earth.

Then you're saying, "Wait a minute, Pastor. Working for an eternity? That sounds more like hell than heaven to me." I want you to think about your job right now. What is it that makes it unpleasant? I would imagine it would be, "Well, I just get so tired." We all get tired, don't we? Or maybe it's a strained relationship you have with a co-worker or with your boss. Or maybe it is the government regulations that just seem to keep piling up that make your work harder and harder and harder.

The reason our work is hard is because we live in a sin-cursed world. But in Revelation 22:3, it says, "In the new heaven and new earth, the curse of sin will be removed." In heaven, we'll be able to perform our work in bodies that never grow tired. We'll never have strained relationships; we'll have perfect relationships. We won't be overburdened with regulations. We won't be fighting against an uncooperative environment. All of those things will be removed, and we'll experience the work that God intended for us to enjoy.

What is it that we'll be doing? What will our work entail? Two words I want you to write down. First of all, our work will involve cultivating—that is, taking what God has created and making it even better. For example, cherries are good; cherry pie is very good. We all like avocados, but we really like guacamole salad, don't we? I mean, that's part of cultivating—taking what God has given and improving upon it. But there will also be a work of creating—that is, as human beings, God has given us the ability to create something out of nothing. For example, God said to Adam in the garden, "I've made these animals. I want you to come up with names for them."

Speaker 3

The names for them.

Speaker 2

I want you to think up imaginative names for these animals. And so Adam uses creativity to name the animals. Today we see man's God-given creativity at work. The invention of the automobile, the jet airplane, and the iPhone are all testimonies to a God-given creativity. Why do we think in heaven that won't be present as well in our lives? We'll use the gifts God has given us. Some people will write books, other people may produce music, and other people may produce movies. There's no telling how God will use our creativity in heaven.

Now, I said that our work in heaven will be an extension, possibly, of our work here on earth. How do you know what your life work should be both on earth and in heaven? My friend Bob Beal has a great question you ought to ask and answer for yourself sometime. Bob says, if money and education were not a factor and you could do anything in the world you wanted to do, knowing you wouldn't fail, what would you do?

Speaker 3

There's so much more we need to cover on today's topic, answering the question: what will we do in Heaven? And just before I turn things over to David, I'm eager to remind you that I've written an exclusive gift book that's designed to lift your spirits and to help you focus on the glory of your eternal home. It's called *Encouragement from A Place Called Heaven*.

Without question, historians will write thick volumes about the era in which we live because of the chaos and confusion so prevalent today; we can hardly believe the absurdity of it all. Well, I'm convinced that when you read what the Bible says about your forever home, it'll radically transform the way you view any discouragement that comes your way. As we face the realities of our broken world, we often reach out for something to hold onto, and the greatest hope we have is the promise of Heaven.

Ask for a copy of *Encouragement from A Place Called Heaven*. It's yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. In fact, when you respond today, I'll also include a brochure that's perfectly suited for your entire family. It's called *What Seven World Religions Teach About Heaven*. By reviewing this brochure, you'll see how the biblical teaching on Heaven measures up against some of the false ideas presented by other walks of faith.

Thanks for giving generously to Pathway to Victory. What you and I accomplish together through this partnership reverberates in the halls of Heaven forever. God is using your gifts to bring men and women all over the world into His eternal family. Here's David with all the details.

Speaker 1

When you support the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, you're invited to request a copy of the book from Dr. Robert Jeffress called *Encouragement from A Place Called Heaven*. To request your copy, call 866-99-9296 or visit online@ptv.org. You can also support this ministry by texting PTV to 78800, and when you give $75 or more, you'll also receive both the CD and DVD teaching sets for *A Place Called Heaven*, plus the original bestselling book by that same title. To request the complete package of resources, call 866 or visit ptv.org. If you'd prefer to contact us by mail, write to P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. Again, that's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, TX 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. Join us again next time when Dr. Jeffress continues to answer the question, "What will we do in heaven?" That's Tuesday here on Pathway to Victory. *Pathway to Victory* with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here.

Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His word. To become a Pathway partner, go to ptv.org/donate or you can follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Oh, and one last thing before we go. Have you reserved your spot yet for the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska? You've been hearing me and Dr. Jeffress mention it. So what are you waiting for? Just picture yourself on the deck of Holland America's elegant Koningsdam and stepping out on deck to witness nature's grandeur. It's beautiful. These moments in God's creation will deepen your faith in powerful ways. It really will. Experience five-star dining, luxurious staterooms, and visit iconic ports like Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. We're also bringing along our own Christian entertainment. You'll love it. Seats are filling up, so book your spot today at ptv.org.