Most of us who plan to take a trip to a foreign country go to the county library, or borrow some books from a friend, and begin to read about what we can expect when we arrive in that distant land.
As you know ______________ has recently taken a trip, and we are going to the Word of God to see what ________________ is now enjoying since she arrived in that glorious place. Every one of us has a desire to know more about this place called Heaven.
Illus: We are like the dad who was standing beside the coffin of his father, with his small son. The dad was trying to explain to his son that his grandfather had taken a trip to heaven. The son innocently said, “Is that why he is in that suit case?”
In the next few minutes, I want to talk to you about HEAVEN! There are several reasons why every child of God wants to know all they can about this wonderful place called Heaven.
(1) Every Child of God is going to spend ETERNITY in this glorious place.
WHY SHOULDN’T THEY WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL PLACE! But we also want to know about Heaven because-
(2) We have loved ones that have departed from this life, and our love for them constrains us to want to know where they have gone, and what they are doing.
But you know, the Bible does not tell us a great deal about Heaven.
Illus: Reinhold Niebuhr once said, "The Bible tells us very little about the temperature of hell, or the furniture of heaven."
There are reasons that God does not tell us a lot about Heaven. WHAT ARE THE REASONS?
(1) First, we could not comprehend it if the Bible did tell us about it.
For example, suppose we lived in the early days of America, when this nation came into existence, and someone told our ancestors that one day we would have:
• Cars
• Airplanes
• Trains
• Smart weapons
• Radio and Television
• Computers
• Telephones
• Fax machines
If a person could have foreseen those things, and tried to explain to our ancestors we would have those things, they would not have been able to comprehend it.
If man’s wisdom has been able to accomplish these unbelievable things, what do you think it would be for God, who has all wisdom, who created Heaven, to try to explain to us what Heaven is like? The language of man doesn’t have words to describe such a place.
Illus: In describing that glorious place, we would be like the little boy who came home to tell his mom about the girl he had just met. He tried to tell her about how pretty her eyes were, how pretty her nose, mouth, and hair was. But he was having a hard time finding enough adjectives to describe her beauty, and so he said, “Mom, you have just got to see her yourself so that you can see how pretty she is.”
That is the way Heaven is. What can we say about Heaven? EYES HAVE NOT SEEN, NOR EARS HEARD, OF SUCH BEAUTY.
It is too much for us to comprehend, so the Word of God does not tell us much about Heaven because we could not comprehend it if God did. God doesn’t tell us a lot about Heaven for another reason-
(2) If we could comprehend the beauty and splendor of Heaven, we all would want to go there, and there would be no one willing to stay on earth to do His will.
Illus: One little boy looked up on a dark night, and saw the stars that looked like they were set in velvet. He said, “Mom, if heaven is this beautiful on the backside, can you imagine how beautiful it must be on the front side.”
However, God does do something to show us the beauty of Heaven that we can comprehend.
WHAT DOES HE DO?
God uses precious jewels that we are familiar with to tell us about Heaven. Look at Rev. 21:18-21. “And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.”
These jewels are some of the most precious things on this earth, but in Heaven they will be no more than concrete blocks that we build our homes with.
Illus: You could take all the beautiful places in Rome, Spain, China, the Caribbean, America and around the world, and crowd all that beauty into one place, and it could not come close to comparing to this great place called Heaven, that God has prepared for those who have received Christ.
I am so glad that the Lord prepared a place called Heaven for us. We would be no better than the animals that live and die, if there were no Heaven. We want to know all we can about this glorious place.
Illus: In 1994, Marlo Thomas gave an interview as she told about the death of her dad, Danny Thomas.
She said, "When I got on a plane to go to my father's funeral, I was alone. Phil Donahue, her husband, stayed behind to do a memorial program on The Donahue Show. However, she said, “It was a mistake for me to be alone. I cried the whole way. Phil and I were both raised Catholic, but we're not so much involved with the church anymore. He is kind of a devil's advocate. But I called him from that plane that day. I was as fragile as an egg.”
She said to Phil, who is not known for his deep religious beliefs, “Answer me truthfully. Is there a heaven?” And he said, “Yes, yes, there is a heaven.”
The same need that Marlo Thomas had about her father, Danny Thomas, is the same need we have here today. We want to know, “IS THERE A HEAVEN?”
We know there is SUCH A PLACE, not because Phil Donahue said that Heaven exists, but because GOD’S WORD STATES EMPHATICALLY THAT THERE IS A HEAVEN.
WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS HEAVEN?
I. HEAVEN IS A REAL PLACE
Just like Columbia, South Carolina is a real place, so is Heaven a real place.
We want to know all we can about Heaven. What is it like? We want to know:
• Is there going to be any strawberry Ice cream there? Ice cream that we can eat as much as we want and not gain one ounce of weight?
• Will the air be filled with music from Beethoven and Mozart?
• Will there be any beautiful flowers, as we know them to be?
We all want to know everything we can about this great place where we are going to spend eternity.
Illus: When it comes to dying and going to this great place called Heaven, sometimes we are like the two fellows who loved baseball. To them baseball was one of the greatest things that God allowed to be placed on earth. They were talking with each other one day, and one said to the other, “DO YOU RECKON THE LORD WILL ALLOW US TO PLAY BASEBALL WHEN WE GET THERE?” They agreed that the one that went to this marvelous place first, would make every effort to return to earth and tell the other one if they had baseball in heaven. To make a long story short, one of them died, and true to his agreement he returned to earth and said, "Henry, this is Charlie, I've come back to tell you whether or not there is baseball in heaven. I have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that there is baseball in heaven. The bad news is that you are the starting pitcher in tomorrow night’s game."
Heaven is a REAL PLACE, but the problem with going to Heaven is that many do not know how to GET THERE.
Generally, when we travel and we do not know how to get to a certain destination, we stop and we ask people, and they tell us.
Illus: Have you ever noticed that many times in the South, when we stop for such information and we are instructed which way to go, we hear these famous words, “You can’t miss it!”
Then after about a half-an-hour or an hour later we are forced to reach the sad conclusion that either:
• We did not follow the instructions that were given to us, or…
• We received the wrong instructions to begin with.
Everyone here wants to go to Heaven, but some are not going to make it. Let me tell you why I say that:
• Some are not willing to follow the instructions of God’s Word.
• Some have received the wrong instructions and they are following them in every detail.
Illus: For example, listen to this interview with the actress Sophia Loren, who is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful woman who ever lived. I personally would put her in that category. However, she said, "I'm not a practicing Christian, but I pray and I read the Bible. It is the most beautiful book ever written. I should like to go to heaven; otherwise, it is not nice. I have not done anything wrong. My conscience is very clear. My soul is as white as those orchids over there; and I should go straight, straight to heaven."
But if this beautiful lady thinks she will go to Heaven because she prays occasionally, and acknowledges that the Bible is the most beautiful book ever written, she has been misinformed. The very book that she admires condemns her.
Listen, according to the Word of God, the only way anyone can go to THIS PLACE CALLED HEAVEN, is through Christ Jesus.
The Lord Jesus spoke of this in John 10: 7-9. “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I AM THE DOOR of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I AM THE DOOR: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
Perhaps someone is saying, “But I have been told if I did certain things, such as join a particular church, get baptized, tithe, and pay my bills, I would go to Heaven.”
IF THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD, YOU HAVE BEEN MISINFORMED. The Bible does not teach that.
God’s Word plainly teaches that in order to be saved, you have to go through Christ, who is THE DOOR. There is no other way!
HEAVEN IS A REAL PLACE. But we need to consider also-
II. HEAVEN IS A RALLYING PLACE
A RALLYING PLACE is a location where people meet. The home where this mother has lived, has been a RALLYING PLACE where the family and friends have met time and time again, but the new RALLYING PLACE IS NOW IN HEAVEN.
We have not lost __________________, we know where she is.
Illus: D. L. Moody said that one day you will be reading in the newspaper that D. L. Moody has died. He said, “Don’t you believe a word of it, I will be more alive then, than ever before.”
And I can assure you today, that _______________ is more alive now than ever before.
One of the great things about Heaven will be the people who will be there.
Illus: Have you ever thought about how nice some:
• Communities would be if certain individuals were removed from them
• Churches would be if certain individuals were removed from them
• Nations would be if certain individuals were removed from them
Heaven will be a place where all lying, stealing, child molesting, gambling, and evil of every kind will be excluded.
Heaven is a RALLYING PLACE where godly people gather and the ungodly will be excluded!
Heaven is not only going to be great because of the godly people that will be there. Heaven will be Heaven because the godly have rallied together around THE LORD JESUS.
Today people RALLY AROUND:
• Actors and Actresses
• Athletes
• Politicians
• Religious leaders
They will wait in long lines to just get a glimpse of these gods that they worship.
You can’t help but feel sorry for those who rally around such people, because some of them are the scum of the earth. But the ungodly RALLY around these gods they serve, in such numbers that they fill the largest stadiums and coliseums in this country. How foolish they are going to feel when they see the Lord Jesus in all His glory, and they have settled for these pathetic gods they have RALLIED AROUND!
Heaven is going to be filled with people who RALLY around the SON OF GOD. We all want to go to Heaven because we all want to see our LOVED ONES again, but the RALLYING will be around the LORD JESUS.
Illus: Henry Durbanville, in his book, The Best Is Yet to Come, tells the story of a man who was a born-again believer. He was dying and he was scared to death. He was scared of the unknown. One night his doctor visited him at home The doctor was a Christian, and the doctor felt helpless to comfort this man. He did not know what to tell him to ease his mind.
All of a sudden, the doctor heard a scratching and a whining at the door. He opened the door, and in bounded the doctor's dog, who had accompanied him on that house-call. And then the doctor thought, “I now know what to say to this man.” He went to the bedside and said, "My dog is here. I let him in. My dog has never been in your house before. He did not know what it was like in here at all. He just knew that I was here, so he wanted to come in.”
I can tell you that I am looking forward to Heaven. Not because I know a lot about it, but because my Savior is there, and that is all that I need to know. That is all that you and I really need to know.
Look at Philippians 3:20-21. “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
What are these verses of scripture talking about? They are talking about the time when we leave this life, and our souls go to Heaven.
Look at what the Lord told the thief on the cross when he accepted Him as His Saviour. Luke 23:43 “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
But in verse 21, Paul tells us that when Christ takes us to Heaven, we will be re-embodied.
Look at 1 Thess. 4:16-17. We read, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Then shall salvation be complete. ______________ is in Heaven with the Lord today, but one day she shall be given her glorified body like Christ’s glorious body, and she will forever be in that eternal home called HEAVEN, with all the other saints!
Conclusion:
Heaven is a wonderful place. It is:
I. A REAL PLACE
II. A RALLYING PLACE
Illus: Suppose the Lord appeared to you and said, “I want you to take six months, or a year, and I want you to draw up a set of plans, and put everything in Heaven that you believe should be there. That is, everything you think it would take to make Heaven a great place.”
Six months go by, and the Lord returns. He asks, “Did you do what I asked you to do?” You said, “Lord, I did the best that I could do.”
But the Lord said, “Before I look at your plans, I want you to first look at what I have planned.”
I am convinced beyond doubt, that if that were to take place, every one of us, seeing this wonderful place He has prepared for those who have received Him as Savior, would immediately take the plans they had and tear them up and say, “Lord, I had rather go with your plans.”
You see:
• The God who made the beautiful sunsets has created Heaven
• The God who has made the deepest oceans has created Heaven
• The God who has made the mighty waterfalls has created Heaven
• The God who has made the tallest mountains has created Heaven
Heaven is the most glorious place that a person can ever go to.
• If you miss Heaven you have missed it ALL
• You have missed the best opportunity of your life
You need to come to give your heart to Christ today.
You see, there are two kinds of people living on this earth.
• We have the homesteaders. This earth is the only Heaven they will ever have.
• We have the sojourners. They are the ones who recognize that this world is not our home. Our home is in that glorious place called Heaven.
Illus: Max Lucado tells a story about flying home to San Antonio one evening, and as the wheels of the plane hit the runway, he said all through the plane you could hear the unfastening of seatbelts. As the voice came over the intercom saying, “Please remain seated with your seatbelt fastened until the plane comes to a complete stop,” he said, “No one was paying attention.” People were already out of their seats, opening the overhead compartments, and getting their stuff out. Why? Because they were home. Their final destination was not that plane. They wanted to get off that plane, and get out, and get home with those they love. He said he didn't see any of the stewardesses having to struggle to pull people out of their seats, or people saying, “Wait a minute. I want to stay on the plane for a few more hours. The food is really good. These seats are so comfy, I want to stay.” No. They were home. They wanted to get off of that plane.
