Sermon Illustrations on Heaven — page 5

Answer Me Truthfully - Is There A Heaven?

In a 1994 interview Marlo Thomas talked 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 stayed behind to do a memorial program on my father on The Donahue Show. 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. I said, 'Answer me truthfully. Is there a heaven?'

"And my darling husband, I'm not sure what he believes anymore said, 'Yes, yes, there is a heaven.' The need to hear that there is a heaven, and that the person you love is there, is very strong."

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You Are the Starting Pitcher

Two guys who were dying to know if there would be baseball in heaven. They made a pact with each other. The first one to die, he would try to come back and communicate to the other person whether or not there was baseball in heaven. Well, one of them dies; and sure enough the remaining friend one night hears a familiar voice, "Jim! It's Fred! 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, there is baseball in heaven. The bad news, you are the starting pitcher tomorrow night."

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Not A Destination

1 Peter 2

Our friends own this historic New England inn, and we've been privileged to be their guests there on occasion. We love to go there. It's in this quaint New England village with a lot of charm. Unfortunately, it's not real close to any major ski area or any other attractions. So hotel and motel owners do OK, but they seldom sell out. So you can understand why our friends, the innkeepers, and the other hotel owners in the area are pretty concerned about the news that a couple of major national motel chains may build in their town. There just doesn't seem to be enough demand for rooms there to match all that supply. In fact, one point my friend keeps making to the town fathers is this. He says, "This is a nice place - but this is not a destination."

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Not A Destination."

If you belong to Jesus Christ, you could look around your world right now and make that same observation. "This is a nice place - but this is not a destination!" See, once you've gotten a glimpse of eternity through your relationship with Christ, earth and earth-stuff should never look the same - never mean the same. This is not where we end up.

Now, in our word for today from the Word of God, Peter is talking to people who have lost a lot. Many have been driven out of their hometown and their immediate futures are up for grabs. And in 1 Peter 2, beginning in verse 9, Peter reminds them - and us - of who they really are and where they really belong. "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of the Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God ... Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires." The King James Version refers to us as "strangers and pilgrims in the world."

Well, however you say it, God's meaning is clear. This world is your temporary assignment from God, but this isn't home. This isn't a destination. It's a place you pass through. In the words of the old hymn, "This world is not my home. I'm just a-passin' through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue."

The problem is that too many of us are living as if this is a place where we're staying, not just visiting. You can tell by how much earth-stuff we're accumulating, by how much time and effort and money we spend on things that will last only a lifetime instead of an eternity. By how seldom we tell people about Jesus and eternity, by the advice we give our children on what kind of lives they should aspire to. Strangers and pilgrims don't fill their arms with all this stuff and then start settling down in a place they know they're in for just a short time. For us eternity folks, that's what an earth-house is, an earth-car, an earth-job, an earth-position - it's all for a very short time.

Which means some of us should be de-cumulating - simplifying our lives so we're living more like we're passing through than settling in. A good question might be, "How can I put my earth-stuff to work for the Kingdom of God? Are there people who have very little who need what I have so much of?" Our great satisfaction should be in our giving, not our saving. We should be teaching our kids to live for what will be important in heaven forever instead of on earth for maybe 70 years. And as you look around, remember that all the people in your world will end up in one of two destinations forever depending on what they do with Jesus. If you know where their real destination is, you won't let any earth-issues keep you from telling them about living forever.

Our getaway spot in New England is, as the innkeeper said, a beautiful place. It's just not a destination. There's a lot of beauty along the way on our earth-journey, but we're just passing through. Hold earth-stuff lightly - don't hold a lot of it. Remember that earth-struggles are, at most, only temporary inconveniences. Stand back and look at what your days, and your house, and your life are full of. Open everything up to your Lord. You don't want Him coming back some day and saying to you, "What's all this? This was not your destination."

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Halfway To Heaven

2 Corinthians 5:1

Halfway To Heaven

Read: 2 Corinthians 5:1-9

We walk by faith, not by sight. --2 Corinthians 5:7

My favorite gospel tract is called, "When I Think Of Heaven." It's written by Joni Eareckson Tada, who is paralyzed from her neck down because of a diving accident during her teenage years. Joni admits that thinking about heaven isn't always easy, especially since we have to die to get there, unless Jesus returns first! Yet God works through trials to help us focus our minds on heaven.

As one who lives, travels, and ministers in a wheelchair, Joni writes confidently about heaven: "There's not a doubt in my mind that I'll be fantastically more excited and ready for it than if I were on my feet. You see, suffering gets us ready for heaven. Heaven becomes our passion."

The apostle Paul knew that kind of passion. We groan for heaven, he said, not because we long to die, but because we long to really live, to be with our Lord forever (2 Cor. 5:6-8). But until then, "we walk by faith, not by sight" (v.7).

I recently heard about an elderly gentleman who was greeted in this way: "Nice to see you in the land of the living!" "Oh, I'm not in the land of the living," he replied. "I'm in the land of the dying. But I look forward to being in the land of the living soon when I'm in heaven." That man's heart is already there! Can that be said of you? --JEY

To see His face, this is my goal,

The deepest longing of my soul;

Through storm and stress my path I'll trace

Till, satisfied, I see His face! --Chisholm

The gains of heaven will more than compensate for the losses of earth.

Far More Wonderful Circumstances

Luke 10:20

A young woman who lay dying sought to console her father who was overcome with grief. "Dad," she said, "don't be so broken up. If I had received an offer of marriage from someone who was all you could desire for me, and whose station in life was far superior to mine, but who wanted to take me to live in a remote part of the world, don't you think you could have borne the separation, knowing all the advantages it would bring to me? But I am now being promoted to a situation incomparably beyond anything that could have happened to me in this world. Then why this reluctance to let me go? Our next meeting will be in far more wonderful circumstances, joyful, and everlasting."

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Philippians 1:19

Pulled In Two Directions

Read: Philippians 1:19-26

To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. . . . I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ. --Philippians 1:21,23

As Christians, we are pulled in two directions. We all want to go to heaven, but this life also holds great appeal. We are like the youngster in Sunday school who listened intently while the teacher told about the beauties of heaven. She concluded by saying, "Raise your hand if you want to go to heaven." Every hand shot up immediately--except one. "Why don't you want to go to heaven, Johnny?" "Well," he replied, "Mom just baked an apple pie for dinner."

Now, we don't need to feel guilty for having a strong desire to enjoy life. Marriage, a family, a fulfilling job, travel, recreation--these all have a legitimate appeal. But if the delights of our earthly home are so attractive that we lose sight of God's purpose for putting us here, something's wrong.

The apostle Paul had mixed feelings too. Although he believed he would be released from prison, he knew that he could possibly fall victim to Nero's sword. This created a conflict. He longed to be with Christ, for that would be "far better" (Phil. 1:23). He also wanted to live--not merely to enjoy life but because he was needed by his fellow believers (v.24).

Paul was pulled in two directions, and in both cases it was for the highest reason. What about us? --DJD

Tempt not my soul away--Jesus is mine;

Here would I ever stay--Jesus is mine.

Perishing things of clay, born but for one brief day,

Pass from my heart away--Jesus is mine. --J. Bonar

To make the most of your time on earth, always keep heaven in mind.

Poem - High Flight

The poem "High Flight" was written by John Gillespie Magee Jr., who was killed in the Battle of Britain at age 19. It was read by President Ronald Reagan at the memorial service for the Challenger astronaunts.

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,

I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long delirious, burning blue

I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace

Where never lark, or even eagle flew

And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

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Checked Through To Your Final Destination

John 10:27

If you've ever checked your suitcase when you're about to take a trip by airplane, you know what they do with our luggage. No, not lose it. Not usually. The ticket agent determines what your final destination will be, he prints out an adhesive sticker with that destination on it, and he puts it around your suitcase handle. And then you settle back in your seat, knowing that bag will meet you at the other end of the trip. With the millions of bags the airlines handle daily, it's amazing that most go straight to the right destination. Now there are some exceptions. Like the one I checked in Idaho about two weeks ago. Oh, I checked it through to my final destination - Newark, New Jersey. It's still floating somewhere out there in the Baggage Twilight Zone. Well, like I said, most of the time they get it to your final destination.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Checked Through To Your Final Destination."

If you belong to Jesus Christ, God has placed a final destination sticker on you! It says "Heaven." And I am happy to report to you that, unlike human delivery systems, God's record is 100% in delivering what is in His care to the final destination He promised. He's never lost one that was entrusted to Him.

Our word for today from the Word of God starts with John 10:27 - in a sense, your personal life insurance policy ... for eternal life, that is. Jesus says, "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand."

Jesus says, "I know the ones who are Mine, and I've put My final destination sticker on them. It says 'Eternal Life.' No one is going to get them away from Me. I won't stop until I've delivered them safely home." Isn't that awesome? Your getting to Heaven isn't up to you. That's what the Bible means when it says it is "not by works" but that it is "by grace you have been saved through faith." (Ephesians 2:8,9)

Now it may be that you have often questioned whether or not you really belong to Jesus - whether or not your final destination is Heaven ... whether that's really settled. Those recurring doubts could be for one of two reasons. One is that you really don't belong to Jesus. He's in your head, but not in your heart. Even though you have a lot of Christianity, maybe you've missed Christ! You know He died on the cross to pay the death penalty for the sinning you've done - that you need Him as your personal Savior. But maybe somehow you've missed that actual moment of commitment, when you stand at Jesus' cross yourself and say, "For me, Jesus. What you did here is for me. Right now I'm giving me to You."

I know I'm married because I know there was a time when I made a conscious commitment of my life to Karen. If you have committed yourself to Jesus, you should know you have. If you don't know you have, you probably haven't. And it's important you get it settled today - before your heart turns harder or you risk another day without Jesus.

The other reason you may not be sure of your final destination is that you've fallen for the devil's big lie. He knows that, based on your trust in Jesus Christ, God has put His "Heaven" sticker on you. Satan's lost you - so he's reduced to making you wonder if you're really going to Heaven. Your enemy wants you to spend your whole life wondering if you belong to Jesus instead of living like you do! Don't fall for it any longer!

If you're not sure there's been a time when you've begun your relationship with Jesus Christ, make sure today - once and for all. You can wonder if God has ever marked you for Heaven before today, but you'll know He did it today if He's never done it before.

Then, enjoy the trip each new day. Let your life be a living "Thank You" card to Jesus, joyfully obeying Him. You're in the hands of the One who has never lost one that is truly committed to Him - and He will deliver you safely to your destination in Heaven. After all, He paid your fare with His life!

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Heartbreak At the Gate

Luke 15:3

I was at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, waiting for my flight in the lounge of Gate B6. Me waiting for a plane in Chicago is nothing new. But what was noteworthy was what happened at that gate while I was waiting. Before the passengers from my flight could board, the incoming passengers, of course, had to disembark. I had not expected to see the unforgettable, emotional scene that unfolded as I watched.

It was shortly after the Gulf War had ended, and soldiers were coming home. Clustered anxiously around the end of the jetway were a boy in a Desert Storm t-shirt, a little girl, and a wife carrying a flag with a yellow ribbon attached, and a friend with a video camera aimed down the jetway. The wife was crying what must have been tears of anxious anticipation as her son was hanging on the corner of the jetway door, peeking down the tunnel. It was actually hard not to watch, and many people in the lounge were doing that just that - some were even wiping their eyes.

As more and more passengers streamed off the plane, the wife was fighting more and more to keep her composure. Then, as a flight attendant came out, the wife asked painfully, "Are there any more passengers?" She said, "Only a few." Moments later, as the last passenger left, that precious wife fell into a chair and melted into tears. I want to tell you, it was a heartbreaking moment. The anticipated reunion didn't happen. The one she wanted home hadn't come home.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Heartbreak At The Gate."

I can't help but wonder if there will be scenes like that at the gate of eternity, as we look to see if someone we love made it home. Jesus did all He could do to bring them home to Heaven. Now it's in our hands to do all we can.

Jesus talks about His extraordinary effort to bring lost people home in our word for today from the Word of God. I believe He wants us to join Him in the shepherd's role in this picture in Luke 15, beginning with verse 3. "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.'"

What's it going to take to have the people you care about in Heaven with you? Well, it's in this parable. First, you have to "leave" the comfort of the flock that's already in. If all we do is hang out in our Christian cocoon with our Christian friends going to Christian meetings, the lost people in our world will probably just go on dying. Then you have to "go after" the lost sheep. That means spending time with those lost people where they are, finding common ground, building bridges into their life, looking for, praying for opportunities to talk about the Savior who has changed your life. Going after those lost ones means praying aggressively for them by name and doing whatever it takes to bring them home.

And you go after that lost sheep until you "find it." This isn't some one-shot attempt to show them Jesus - it's a long-term, long-haul, never-give-up rescue effort. And, humanly speaking, the eternity of someone you know may hang in the balance - because you are their closest link to Jesus.

And by God's grace, at the gates of glory, some of those people you know will be there - because Jesus cared ... because you cared.

________________

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What's A Heaven For?

My pastor decided to pull a vacation surprise on his four children. "We're going to Junction City, Kansas," Peter told them. "It's where my dad used to pastor a church, and we can have lots of fun there." Meanwhile he made secret plans to spend one afternoon in Junction City, then drive on to enjoy the glories of Disney World.

Ever trusting, his children bragged to skeptical friends, "We're going to KANSAS for vacation. It's great!" All during the long drive from Denver to Junction City, Peter kept up morale by describing the wonders awaiting them: playgrounds, a swimming pool, an ice cream stand, maybe even a bowling alley.

After touring Granddad's old church, the kids were ready to check into a motel and go swimming when their dad dropped the bombshell. "You know something, it's kind of boring here in Kansas. Why don't we just drive to DISNEY WORLD!" Mom reached in a bag and pulled out four custom-made Mickey Mouse hats.

Peter expected his kids to jump up and down in delight. Instead, they complained: "Ah, who wants to get back in the van?" "What about the swimming pool? You promised!" "I thought we were going to go bowling!"

The great surprise had backfired. For the next few hours Peter sat behind the steering wheel and smoldered as his children expanded on all the advantages of Junction City over Disney World.

Never one to miss a homiletical opportunity, Peter turned this fiasco into a fine sermon illustration, quoting C. S. Lewis: "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea." In a letter to his friend Malcolm, Lewis added that "the hills and valleys of Heaven will be to those you now experience not as a copy is to an original, nor as a substitute to the genuine article, but as the flower to the root, or the diamond to the coal."

Yes, Peter said, our desires are too small. We stamp our feet and insist on a merry-go-round in Junction City when Disney World's Space Mountain lies just down the road.

This year is the one-hundredth anniversary of C. S. Lewis's birth, and among his many accomplishments was restoring heaven to a place of intellectual respectability. Before him, heaven was an embarrassment, a holdover of primitive wish-fulfillment, and Christians who took heaven seriously were accused of a "pie in the sky" mentality. Lewis himself admits to the nagging "fear that I was bribed - that I was lured into Christianity by the hope of everlasting life." Yet he went on to stress the sheer moral necessity of heaven and to paint a wonderfully imaginative portrait of it in THE GREAT DIVORCE.

Historically, every age before the modern assumed an afterlife - a good thing, since much of what we know about ancient civilizations comes from what they stashed in their tombs - disagreeing only on the particulars of how best to prepare. "I am the tadpole of an archangel," wrote Victor Hugo. Nowadays, we get much advice on becoming the best possible tadpoles, but little on how to prepare for metamorphosis.

Philosopher and theologian Dallas Willard tells the story of a woman who refused to talk about life beyond death because, she said, she didn't want her children to be disappointed if it turned out no afterlife existed. As Willard points out, if no afterlife exists, no one will have any consciousness with which to feel disappointment! On the other hand, if there is an afterlife, whoever enters that next life unprepared may experience far more than mere disappointment.

I have a theory that heaven will offer faithful Christians whatever they sacrificed on earth for Jesus' sake. My mountain-climbing friend who intentionally lives in a slum area of Chicago will have Yosemite Valleys all to himself. A missionary doctor in the parched land of Sudan will have her own private rain forest to explore. (Could this be why the New Testament commends poverty while portraying heaven in such sumptuous terms?)

Joy Davidman, wife of C. S. Lewis, came to agree with Saint Paul that if we are wrong about resurrection, "'Then we Christians are of all men the most miserable.' Because then, you see, the only real good would be the good things of this world - which Christians must often give up."

Lewis and Davidman spent only four years together before Joy died of cancer. I have no doubt that Lewis's own views of heaven were both tested and strengthened as he watched his wife's agonizing battle. The longing she had answered in him, he hoped, was but a foretaste of a time when all his longings would be fulfilled. The pain that wracked her body, he fervently believed, was like the pain of childbirth, a last loud announcement of new life aborning. Lewis saw belief in heaven not as wishful thinking, but as thoughtful wishing.

The Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno once tried out his theory of belief in God, but no heaven, on a rather simple-minded peasant. The peasant thought a minute and then replied, "So what is this God for?"

Death Is Just Crossing Through

At the funeral of a minister, a little child was seen skipping light-heartedly through the cemetery at dusk. Someone asked, "Aren't you afraid of this place?" "Oh no," she replied, "I only cross through here to get home." Death for the Christian is only a "crossing-through to get home." It is not ultimate and final death.

A Beautiful Christmas Evening

It was Christmas Eve. Six-year-old Mary Lou was walking down a dark city street with her father on their way to the children's service.

Her active little mind was filled with the wonders of the event she and her classmates were about to celebrate-the coming of the Christ Child from heaven to earth, to be born a tiny infant in a lowly stable.

Above them was the velvety blue-black canopy of heaven, Swiss-dotted (as it seemed to her) with an infinite variety of brilliant lights twinkling down to earth.

Her eyes were fixed on the shimmering tapestry above as she and her father walked, silently but thoughtfully, toward the lighted church at the end of the block.

Suddenly she looked up at her father and, with that rare insight peculiar to a six-year-old, observed: "Daddy, I was just thinking-if the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful, how wonderful the right side must be!"

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There was a little boy who came from an extremely poor family. He received no gifts at Christmas time, but he often looked into the store windows at the exciting things other little boys could have but he could not. One day he was run over by a car and taken to a hospital. One of the nurses brought him some toys - a troop of soldiers.

As he touched them, he said, "There isn't any glass between!" There is a glass separating us now from the things that many of our fellowmen enjoy in this life, even great honor and respect in the house of God, but the day will come when there will be no glass.

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How can we forget some of the final lines in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy keeps saying, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home." Most of us feel the same way. Man has always felt a fondness for that dwelling called home.

Adam and Eve were grieved when they were cast out of the garden of Eden-their home. Noah and his family listened as the waters covered their homeland. Moses left his homeland to follow the will of God for his life. Jesus found that a prophet was not without honor, except at home. The prodigal son knew that even as a servant, home was better than the pigpen.

We rejoice today as we round the corner to "our home." Whether it be a cardboard box in an alley, or a fine air-conditioned bastion of comfort in the stifling heat, we are glad to get home.

As temporary as the structures on earth are, our home in heaven will be permanent. God challenges us to live daily in preparation for that great eternal home that He is preparing for His children. It will be untouched by the elements of nature, unscarred by strife, pure, clean, and holy, and yes-IT WILL LAST FOR ETERNITY! Do you feel as good about the home God is preparing for you as the one that may be gone tomorrow? If we anticipate that home with joy, how wonderfully we will live our lives today! May God bless us unto that end.

Shall We Gather At the River?

1. Shall we gather at the river,

Where bright angel feet have trod,

With its crystal tide forever

Flowing by the throne of God?

Chorus

Yes, we’ll gather at the river,

The beautiful, the beautiful river;

Gather with the saints at the river

That flows by the throne of God.

2. On the bosom of the river,

Where the Saviour King we own,

We shall meet and sorrow never

`Neath the glory of the throne.

3. Ere we reach the shining river,

Lay we every burden down;

Grace our spirits will deliver,

And provide a robe and crown.

4. Soon we’ll reach the shining river,

Soon our pilgrimage will cease;

Soon our happy hearts will quiver

With the melody of peace.

[Alternate verse 2:

On the margin of the river,

Washing up its silver spray,

We will walk and worship ever,

All the happy golden day.]

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(untitled)

To the uninformed eye, a caterpillar turns into a completely different creature when it becomes a butterfly. If a child had never been instructed that one emerged from the other, he would not recognize them as being related. But the scientist knows that when a caterpillar changes into a chrysalis, the whole of its body material undergoes a complete transformation except for a central and essential nerve that controls its entire system. This is retained. Then why shouldn't our spirits have greater powers in the next life? Why should they not be able to repeat our likeness in a celestial and sanctified form, so that we shall be as easily recognized by other spirits in the next world as we are by other bodies in this world?

We Shall Be Like Him

1 John 3:2

There is one additional factor that will enable us to know Christ "as he is," and that is "we shall be like him" (1 John 3:2). Being like Him will make us sensitive to all that we have missed in our relationship with Him on earth. You may have had a close friend for years, yet never truly known him, just because you are radically different from him. But someone who has a real affinity of nature with him will be able to see in him what you have never seen; he is like him and sees him as he is. You must have the Christlike heart to see the Savior; and in heaven our hearts will be perfectly tuned to His.

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John Henry Jowett, prominent preacher of two or three generations ago, served as pastor of distinguished churches both in England and America. He used to tell of a stormy evening when he was entertained in the home of an English countryman. Sometime after nightfall, the hour came for him to leave, to catch his train back to the city. As he arose to go, his farmer host walked with him to the front gate. There the farmer gave him a lighted lantern, pointed to a light in the distance, and said, "Yonder light is Saddleworth Station; make for that. The lantern will keep you from falling into the ditch; but keep your eye on the glimmer in the distance."

In the daily walk of our life, sometimes in darkness or storm, we have to give a lot of attention to staying out of the ditch. We need to use the light, God's Word, to keep from falling in.

But there is something more. If we look carefully, in the distance we can see a glimmer. This is important; for the glimmer is the high goal, the object of the long quest, the Light that directs the course of our journey to heaven.

Friend, may you go from here today with a light for your next footsteps. But this alone is not enough: Never take your eyes off the glimmer that is in the distance.

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One Sunday morning a faithful Sunday school teacher was teaching her class of boys about heaven. She asked the question, "Where is heaven?"

And one happy boy replied, "It's in our home since my daddy became a Christian."

We're Marching To Zion

1. Come, we that love the Lord,

And let our joys be known;

Join in a song with sweet accord,

Join in a song with sweet accord

And thus surround the throne,

And thus surround the throne.

Chorus

We’re marching to Zion,

Beautiful, beautiful Zion;

We’re marching upward to Zion,

The beautiful city of God.

2. Let those refuse to sing

Who never knew our God;

But children of the heavenly King,

But children of the heavenly King

May speak their joys abroad,

May speak their joys abroad.

3. The hill of Zion yields

A thousand sacred sweets

Before we reach the heavenly fields,

Or walk the golden streets,

Or walk the golden streets.

4. Then let our songs abound,

And every tear be dry;

We’re marching through Emmanuel’s ground,

To fairer worlds on high,

To fairer worlds on high.

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Ready To Go Home

2 Timothy 4:6

Ready To Go Home — Read: 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. —2 Timothy 4:6

Because I have traveled widely in my ministry, I’ve had to spend a lot of time away from home. Although some hotels promise to make me “feel at home,” few of them achieve it. In fact, some make me wish fervently that I was at home!

During his final days on earth, the apostle Paul had a deep longing for his heavenly home. His thoughts turned toward the warm welcome he would receive from the Lord, “the righteous Judge” (2 Timothy 4:8). Although he was facing death, thoughts of heaven kept his spirit hopeful.

This reminds me of an old man and his grandson who were sitting on a dock late one afternoon. The two chatted about everything, it seemed—why water is wet, why seasons change, why girls hate worms, what life is like. Finally the boy looked up and asked, “Grandpa, does anybody ever see God?” “Son,” said the old man as he looked across the still waters of the lake, “it’s getting so now I hardly see anything else.”

Aging should be like that. Praying should come more easily. Communion with the Father in heaven should be as natural as breathing. Thoughts of seeing Jesus and going home should increasingly occupy our minds. That’s how we’ll know we’re ready to go home. — HWR

When, by the gift of His infinite grace,

I am accorded in heaven a place,

Just to be there and to look on His face

Will through the ages be glory for me. — Gabriel

As life’s shadows lengthen, thoughts of God should deepen.

The One Necessity In Being Heavenwards

A man may go to heaven …

… without health, without wealth;

… without fame, without a great name;

… without learning, without earnings;

… without culture, without beauty;

… without friends and without ten thousand other things …

But he can NEVER go to heaven without Christ

The Boldness of Hope

Romans 5:5

”Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5 NKJV)

The Boldness Of Hope

• hope…ashamed [disappoint] — Isa 49:23, 2 TIm 1:12, Ps 31:17 — does not put to shame, or disappoint

• because — the best reason for being confident of realizing the hope is that we have now the pledge or earnest — 2 Cor 1:22, Eph 1:13-14, 2 Th 2:16

• love…hearts — Gal 5:22 — this, the dawn of eternal life

• by…Ghost [Spirit] — Rom 8:14-17, 28 — hence the sense of God’s love is not a human fancy, but a Divine communication

• given…us — to reveal God’s love to us, seal it on our hearts, inflame our love to Him — 1 Jn 4:19, Ps 18:1, 146:8

Hope — W. Jay

I. How hope preserves from shame — that is, the hope of the Christian. Hope may cause shame by –

1. The insufficiency of its object — this is the hope of the worldling;

2. The weakness of its foundation — the hope of the Pharisee;

3. The falseness of its warrant — the hope, of the Antinomian.

II. The connection of hope with the love of God:

1. This love is the blessed proof of the Divine regard;

2. It characterizes the persons for whom eternal happiness is reserved;

3. It qualifies us for the glory which shall be revealed;

4. It is indeed the beginning and the foretaste of eternal happiness

God’s love in the heart — J. Bennet

This love is shed abroad in the believer’s heart by the Holy Ghost, given unto him. We shall inquire in what particulars this is so. Because –

I. The Holy Ghost is given to believers on the exercise of the faith to work this work within them.

II. It is the work of the Holy Ghost thus given to open to us the love of God.

III. The Holy Ghost thus given carries the love of God beyond our mere intellect into our inmost nature

Christian hope — Anon.

I. Its nature:

1. The magnificence of its object;

2. The purity of its motive;

3. The solidity of its basis.

II. Its effect — “maketh not ashamed” of –

1. Christ and His truth;

2. The reproach connected with Christianity;

3. Christian brethren;

4. Pious exertion in God’s cause.

III. The reason it assigns for this effect:

1. The strength of its evidence;

2. The fulness of that enjoyment with which it is connected.

A foretaste of heaven — Mr. Golding, who died in the 24th year of his age, a little before his death, when his brother said to him, “You seem to enjoy foretastes of heaven,” replied, “Oh, this is no longer a foretaste, this is heaven. I not only feel the climate, but I breathe the fine ambrosial air of heaven, and soon shall enjoy the company.” The last words which he was heard to utter, were, “Glory, glory, glory!”

“Teach me, O God, by Thy Spirit, the art of love! Love me, not only so as to convince me that I have abundant cause to love Thee above all, but love me so as to constrain me to it, by the attractive power of Thy goodness, and the insuperable operations of Thy omnipotent love!” — Baxter

“There are no tricks in plain and simple faith.” — Shakspeare

Heaven

Mark 9:4

I’VE LEARNED … that under everyone’s hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.

“Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’” Luke 23:43, NIV

When’s the last time you heard a sermon on heaven? If you’re like most Christians, you probably answered “a long time ago.”

So what exactly is heaven like? And why should you care? The short answer is that heaven makes our lives make sense. For example:

• Are you missing Christian friends and relatives who have passed away? You’ll see them in heaven. Just as the disciples recognized Moses and Elijah (Mark 9:4-5), so we’ll recognize our loved ones who have gone to be with the Lord.

• Do you suffer with pain? “And God himself shall be among them, and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

• Are you filled with grief and sadness? The psalmist cried out to God, “You fill me with joy in your presence; with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11).

• Do you live in the shadows of life? According to the Bible, heaven “does not need the sun or the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Revelation 21:23).

• Do you struggle with temptation? In heaven, the devil will no longer tempt you. He shall be “thrown into the lake of burning sulphur” and “tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).

• Do you sometimes feel distant from God? In heaven, we will behold God “face to face” (I Corinthians 13:12).

• Do you struggle to understand the ways of God? In heaven, you’ll understand much more clearly how “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28).

Heaven isn’t some airy place where we’ll play harps all day. It’s eternal bliss in the presence of God. What a message to take to our unsaved friends and neighbors!

It's the Way Home

Steve Reinhard tells a heartwarming story about a little girl who walked home from school every day. The quickest way home for her was through the town's cemetery. It was her favorite time of day. She loved to spend time there, watching the birds or throwing herself down on the grass to watch the clouds turning into different shapes overhead. Sometimes as she skipped around the grave stones, she would whistle a tune or sing a song. Other times, she liked to kneel down and read the names and dates on gravestones, and to glide her fingers across the engraved lettering. She particularly enjoyed those walks.

Her friends would ask, “Why do you walk through the cemetery after school?” “That's easy,” she would reply, “because it's the way home.”

In an ultimate sense, that is true, isn't it? There is only one way to our heavenly home, and it is always through the cemetery.

Picture someone in the doctor's office - and they have just been told they have a terminal illness. Their reaction probably would be, “What?!? Me?? I'm going to die?” Well, yes they are - and so am I - and so are you - and you - and you. Statistics reveal that one out of every one of us is going to die someday.

If a doctor gave me a terminal diagnosis, I don't know for certain what my reaction would be - but I would like to believe I would think, “Well, okay - that's as good a way as any to go” -- since I know that the way home is through the cemetery. And it doesn't have to be a fearful passage at all, this way that leads home. It is a trip we can actually look forward to with joy.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #24391]

Oh That Will Be Glory

1. When all my labours and trials are o’er

And I am safe on the beautiful shore,

Just to be near the dear Lord I adore

Will through the ages be glory for me.

Chorus

Oh that will be glory for me,

Glory for me, glory for me;

When by His grace I shall look on His face,

That will be glory, be glory for me!

2. When by the gift of His infinite grace,

I am accorded in heaven a place,

Just to be there and to look on His face

Will through the ages be glory for me.

3. Friends will be there I have loved long ago,

Joy like a river around me will flow;

Yet, just a smile from my Saviour, I know,

Will through the ages be glory for me.

[Tune: “The Glory Song”]

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Heaven On the Cheap, Guaranteed

Police in Edmonton, Canada, are investigating a man who sells “guaranteed admission into heaven” for $16.35 ($20 Canadian). The man's web site says the certificate works without “need for confessions or penance.”

It's “obviously a scam,” says detective Mark Johnson of the economic crimes unit.

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Edmonton Sun

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Original illustration at this number was added to HolwickID #204]

When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder

1. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more

And the morning breaks eternal, bright and fair–

When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore

And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there!

Chorus:

When the roll is called up yonder,

When the roll is called up yonder–

When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there!

2. On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise

And the glory of His resurrection share–

When His chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies

And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there!

3. Let us labour for the Master from the dawn till setting sun,

Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;

Then when all of life is over and our work on earth is done

And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there!

What A Day That Will Be!

1. There is coming a day

when no heartaches shall come,

No more clouds in the sky,

no more tears to dim the eye;

All is peace forevermore

on that happy golden shore–

What a day, glorious day that will be!

Chorus:

What a day that will be

when my Jesus I shall see,

And I look upon His face–

the One who saved me by His grace;

When He takes me by the hand

and leads me through the promised land,

What a day, glorious day that will be!

2. There’ll be no sorrow there,

no more burdens to bear,

No more sickness, no pain,

no more parting over there;

And forever I will be

with the One who died for me–

What a day, glorious day that will be!

Hooked On Heaven Lite

Who worries you most, Mel Gibson or Mitch Albom? Do you fear Gibson, the religious zealot, the man accused of narrow sectarianism and anti-Semitism, or Albom, the guy who writes sweet best sellers like “Tuesdays With Morrie” and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven?”

I worry about Albom more, because while religious dogmatism is always a danger, it is less of a problem for us today than the soft-core spirituality that is its opposite. As any tour around the TV dial will make abundantly clear, we do not live in Mel Gibson's fire-and-brimstone universe. Instead, we live in a psychobabble nation. We've got more to fear from the easygoing narcissism that is so much part of the atmosphere nobody even thinks to protest or get angry about it.

Albom is far from the worst of the schmaltzy shamans, but his fable “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” happens to sit at No. 3 on the Times best-seller list and pretty much exemplifies the zeitgeist. It's about an 83-year-old man who feels lonely, adrift and unimportant, and who dies while trying to save a little girl from a broken carnival ride.

He goes to heaven and meets five people who tell him that he is not alone and that his life was not unimportant. They reconcile him with his father, who had been cruel to him. They remind him of what a good person he was. He gets to spend time with his wife, whom he'd neglected and who died young. He is forgiven for the hurts he accidentally committed while alive.

All societies construct their own images of heaven. Most imagine a wondrous city or a verdant garden where human beings come face to face with God. But the heaven that is apparently popular with readers these days is nothing more than an excellent therapy session. In Albom's book, God, to the extent that he exists there, is sort of a genial Dr. Phil. When you go to his heaven, friends and helpers come and tell you how innately wonderful you are. They help you reach closure.

In this heaven, God and his glory are not the center of attention. It's all about you.

Here, sins are not washed away. Instead, hurt is washed away. The language of good and evil is replaced by the language of trauma and recovery. There is no vice and virtue, no moral framework to locate the individual within the cosmic infinity of the universe. Instead there are just the right emotions — Do you feel good about yourself? — buttressed by an endless string of vague bromides about how special each person is, and how much we are all mystically connected in the flowing river of life.

“Plagued by anxiety, depression, vague discontents, a sense of inner emptiness, the `psychological man' of the 20th century seeks neither individual self-aggrandizement nor spiritual transcendence but peace of mind, under conditions that increasingly militate against it,” Christopher Lasch wrote in “The Culture of Narcissism.” Lasch went on to call the therapeutic mentality an anti-religion that tries to liberate people from the idea that they should submit to a higher authority, so they can focus more obsessively on their own emotional needs.

Reading “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” is a sad experience because it conjures up a mass of people who, like its hero, feel lonely and unimportant. But instead of offering them the rich moral framework of organized religion or rigorous philosophy, instead of reminding them of the tough-minded exemplars of the Bible and history, books like Albom's throw the seekers remorselessly back upon themselves.

The flap over Gibson's movie reminds us that religion can be a dangerous thing. It can be coarsened into gore and bloodshed and used to foment hatred. But we're not living in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Our general problem is not that we're too dogmatic. Our more common problems come from the other end of the continuum. Americans in the 21st century are more likely to be divorced from any sense of a creedal order, ignorant of the moral traditions that have come down to us through the ages and detached from the sense that we all owe obligations to a higher authority.

Sure, let's get angry at Mel Gibson if he deserves it. But let's not forget that the really corrosive cultural forces come in the form of the easygoing narcissism that surrounds us every day.

[see also HolwickID #27236]

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The Holy City

Revelation 21:1

Sermon on the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21:1-8

THE HOLY CITY

=============

I. It is something we can dream about.

II. What is so new about it?

A. Disagreement whether universe is obliterated or reconditioned.

B. A different plane of existence.

III. A truly different city.

A. Community rather than individualism.

B. Intimacy of a wedding.

C. Incredible architecture.

D. Bad stuff is gone.

IV. The Holy City is only for the redeemed.

A. Intrinsically moral place.

B. Redemption comes by the blood of the Messiah.

V. Only God can make a holy city.

A. Failure of human utopias.

B. God's invitation to come to his city.

Our Forever Home

Night was falling and the weather deteriorating as I began the long drive home. The snow that had been falling lightly became heavier. Gale-force winds soon whipped it into a blinding curtain in front of my car. Only intense concentration and prayer kept me on the road.

As the 21/2-hour drive stretched to 3, then 4, my muscles ached and my eyes burned. Never had home sounded so good! When I finally walked though the doorway and collapsed in a chair, I felt great relief.

Sometimes our journey as followers of Christ is like that snowy drive. We struggle through long days of hard work and difficulty. When disappointment and sorrow come, our thoughts go to those wonderful passages of the Bible that describe our home in heaven. It heartens us to think of entering the Lord’s presence where we will abide forever.

C. S. Lewis wrote a wonderful allegory called The Chronicles of Narnia in which he describes the unicorn’s first glimpse of heaven. The unicorn exclaims, “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I’ve been looking for all my life.”

In a small way, that expresses how we will feel when we reach our forever home. — DCE

To run life’s grueling race, to win the lasting prize–

To finally succeed in this endeavor–

Look to the day you’ll gaze into the Savior’s eyes

And understand you’re home with Him forever. — Gustafson

Heaven’s delights will far outweigh earth’s difficulties.

An Everlasting Playground: Understanding the Nature of Heaven

Luke 10:20

Many people worry that Mel Gibson's brutal film about the crucifixion of Christ will bring out the worst in all of us. But NEW YORK TIMES columnist David Brooks is much more worried about Mitch Albom, the author whose sentimental story THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN has spent months on the bestseller lists [see #27020]. Albom, you may remember, wrote the runaway bestseller TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE.

“While religious dogmatism is always a danger,” Brooks writes, “it is less of a problem for us today than the soft-core spirituality that is its opposite. ... We've got more to fear from the easygoing narcissism that is so much part of the atmosphere nobody even thinks to protest or get angry about it.” He's right.

Perhaps the biggest indication of this religious narcissism, as Albom's book demonstrates, shows up in our ideas about heaven. For the most part, rather than being a place where God is worshiped and glorified, Albom's heaven, according to Brooks, is “an excellent therapy session” — a place where people from our past chat with us about the significance of our lives.

The therapeutic heaven isn't the only vision of the afterlife that we find tempting. As a book review in SLATE.COM points out, we also love the idea of a heaven where we'll experience unbridled luxury. Writer Adam Kirsch explains that this idea has been around for centuries, but a number of new books take it to unprecedented levels. For instance, according to the inspirational book A TRAVEL GUIDE TO HEAVEN, heaven is all about “having fun” in “the ultimate playground, created purely for our enjoyment.”

What the therapeutic heaven and the luxurious heaven have in common, Kirsch writes, is “their refusal of transcendence.” We tend to think of heaven as being all about us — the answer to all our questions, the end of all our sufferings, the beginning of endless fun and excitement, with what Kirsch calls a “cruise-director God” catering to our every whim.

It's true that God has promised that heaven will be a place of joy, where our tears will be wiped away forever. But in concentrating completely on these aspects, we've lost sight of what heaven is ultimately about. As Kirsch speculates, “Instead of angelic choirs, it now seems,” according to the present theories, that “we will be greeted in heaven by the sound of a billion voices, all talking about themselves.” When you think about that, our self-centered visions of heaven start to look pretty awful.

Compare this idea with C. S. Lewis's vision of heaven in his book THE GREAT DIVORCE, in which new arrivals must learn to want God more than they want their own sins, their own desires, or even their own beloved family members. Only then can they experience the joy that God has prepared for them.

As Lewis wrote elsewhere, “a ruthless, sleepless, unsmiling concentration upon self ... is the mark of Hell,” not of heaven, which is why the hellish violence of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST paints a clearer picture of heaven — that is, what it cost to bring us there and whom we should look forward to meeting when we get there — than all the syrupy therapeutic or luxury visions we can ever make up for ourselves.

FOR FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION:

• David Brooks, “Hooked on Heaven Lite,” New York Times, 9 March 2004. (Archived article; costs $2.95 to retrieve. Or call 1-877-322-5527 for a copy.)

• Adam Kirsch, “Paradise Lite,” Slate.com, 5 February 2004.

• David Kuo, “Gimme That New-Time Religion — a Play-Doh Jesus,” Los Angeles Times, 8 March 2004.

• S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (HarperSanFrancisco, 2001 edition).

• BreakPoint Commentary No. 020731, “As I Lay Dying: Worldview and Life's End.” (Free registration required.)

• BreakPoint Commentary No. 040116, “Say It Ain't So, Dave: Evangelicals and the Cultural Mainstream.”

• Richard John Neuhaus, As I Lay Dying: Meditations upon Returning (Basic Books, 2002).

• Mark Gauvreau Judge, “There and Back Again,” BreakPoint Online, 11 June 2002.

• M. Moore, “Knowing Scripture and the Power of God,” BreakPoint Online, 2 March 2004.

• Paul Vitz, Psychology as Religion (Eerdmans, 1994).

• Cathleen Falsani, “The Next Great Awakening?“ Chicago Sun-Times, 18 March 2004.

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She Might Have Been First Lady

One spring day a poorly dressed boy appeared at the door of Worthy Taylor, a successful farmer in Portage County, Ohio. The young man asked for work, and he was given a job of heavy chores around the farm. He slept in the haymow and ate in the farm kitchen. Jim worked hard, and in time he formed a strong liking for Worthy's daughter. Later this affection turned to love. When he asked for the daughter's hand, he was refused on the grounds that he had no money, reputation, or apparent talents. Jim took his few belongings, stuffed them into his carpetbag, and went away.

Thirty-five years passed. One day Mr. Taylor, now an old man, tore down his barn to make space for a new one. Far up on the rafters above the haymow he found where the hired farmhand Jim had carved his name - James A. Garfield. At that very moment James A Garfield was President of the United States.

Worthy Taylor's daughter might have been First Lady of the land. You have a far greater destiny: you deserve to be a citizen of "that better country" which Jesus is preparing.

Surrounded By Comfort

John 14:1

The Bible is clear that those who hear God's Word and believe in Jesus will have eternal life. Furthermore, the Scriptures tell us that we will spend that eternity with God in heaven.

The New Testament contains approximately 200 references to heaven, most of which are from the teachings of Jesus Himself. Obviously, the topic was quite important to our Savior; why, then, do we often fail to talk about it ourselves?

Sadly, one reason we ignore the subject is that we simply feel too satisfied here on earth. Maybe we think we have it pretty good-a loving family, a stable job, a nice home. Surrounded by such comfort, it can seem hard to imagine an even better place.

Other people, however, do not have it so easy here on earth. They are the ones who most easily grasp the concept of heaven. They are the individuals who live their lives in need, nursing the belief that heaven will supply all that they lack.

You see, it is rarely our desperation that makes it difficult to envision our heavenly home; rather, our success is often the greatest obstacle to a desire for heaven-where we belong. We can become so distracted by earthly things that we grow blind to the spiritual reality of eternal life. Why don't we think more about heaven? Very simply, it is because many of us don't want to go yet!

What in your life is obstructing the view of your heavenly home? Jesus has gone before us to prepare our eternal dwelling. Don't let anything dim your vision of the excellent future home awaiting you.

About Heaven

What is more beautiful than a bride? ... Maybe it is the aura of whiteness that clings to her as dew clings to a rose. Or perhaps it is the diamonds that glisten in her eyes. Or maybe it's the blush of love that pinks her cheeks or the bouquet of promises she carries.

A bride. A commitment robed in elegance. "I'll be with you forever." Tomorrow bringing hope today. Promised purity faithfully delivered.

When you read that our heavenly home is similar to a bride, tell me, doesn't it make you want to go home?

Father, we are glad to follow Christ. We have died to self. The life that we possess now is the life to come, not the life on this earth. With joy we look forward to all of eternity with you!

Live With Heaven In View

Ephesians 2:19

ALIEN CITIZENS Live with heaven in view What would it have been like to be E.T., stranded in an unfamiliar place where everyone looked different than you, spoke a strange dialect, and had no concept of your history or roots? While we might find a few friends and grow less bewildered by our surroundings over time, that urge toward home, the place where we truly belonged, would never leave us.

Scripture tells us that believers in Jesus are in a similar predicament in this world (Ephesians 2:19; 1 Peter 2:11). While our appearance or mannerisms might not suggest a radical disorientation, the truth is that this place, this existence of competing cultures and politics and worldviews, is not our true home.

Paul said it this way: "Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20). We live in a foreign land among a foreign people. We eat the same food, cry the same tears, hope for many of the same things. We love, we sweat, and we brood over discomforts. But we are ultimately not the same. We are aliens, and we are waiting for home.

Even if we are calloused to this reality, there are poignant moments where we are reminded of the truth. We have ecstatic times of joy, but soon life turns shallow -- for deep in our soul we know these fleeting moments never satisfy. We see the injustice and sorrow in the world around us, and something whispers strongly to us, "This isn't right. We weren't created for this."

We know we are aliens because our hearts turn toward home. Paul said we "eagerly await a Savior." Eager waiting is all about what might be and what will be. But it is also filled with disappointment over what could be and what is. To live as aliens, bound in this season to a world that isn't home, is to live with certain amounts of regret and certain amounts of disappointment.

But it is good. It points us toward home. As Moses said, "I have become an alien in a foreign land" (Exodus 2:22). -- Winn Collier

DESTINATION POINTS * What twinges have I felt, hints that this world is not my true home? * How does the reality of being an alien affect the way I use -- or abuse -- this world? * How does the reality of being an alien give me hope?

Live with heaven in view .

Preparing For the Inevitable

Matthew 13:41

A wise person will prepare for the inevitable. And the most inevitable thing in the world is our physical passing. We were not designed to live in our earthly bodies forever; rather, we are eternal beings with eternal purposes. With so sure an outcome, we must spend time on earth preparing for our eternal future.

If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, then you can be confident that you will spend eternity with Him in heaven. A common question for believers, however, is "What will we do when we get there?" We will praise God. Have you ever been passionately in love with someone-so much so that you could hardly think about anything else? That is how we will view God in heaven-as our ultimate source of love and companionship. Your relationship with Him will far surpass any "feeling" of love you have ever experienced. Far more than simply a feeling, it will be the outgrowth of a completely perfect union with your heavenly Father.

We will shine for God. In heaven, earthly limitations will be stripped away, allowing the glory of God within every believer to shine forth in jubilant brilliance. (Matthew 13:41-43)

We will reign with God. Do you understand how valuable you are to God? Romans 8:16-17 declares that we are not only His children, but also co-heirs with Christ! This means we will take part in all that the Father has set apart for His Son. Heaven is a reality for which we must prepare. Make the most of your eternity by getting ready for it today.

Prepared Place, Prepared People

2 Samuel 7:10

Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own … neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more. — 2 Samuel 7:10.

Does there come to us at times the sense that we are not wanted? Instead of enlargement is there “no room”? Let me tell you and myself, from God’s Word, that we are wanted. God wants us, His people want us, the unsaved world needs us, and there is a place appointed for us, a set place. And it is not any place, but the place. The Lord Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you.” And don’t put off the promise to the great beyond. It is here and now that He setteth the solitary in families. The same grace that shall meet us in Heaven beckons us to our “fitting place” on earth. It matters not high or low, prominent or obscure, fertile valley or exposed height, it is the place I am fitted to fill, and I am wanted in it.

Suffice it, if my ill and good unreckoned,

And both forgiven by Thine exceeding grace,

I find myself by hands familiar beckoned

Unto my fitting place.

Heaven Is Far Better

1 Timothy 6:17

As some friends and I were cruising down the channel at South Haven that leads out to Lake Michigan, we were looking at the names on the other boats. Some were creative and descriptive, such as Witt’s End, Last Resort, and Second Mortgage.

One name in particular intrigued me: Heaven Can Wait. As I thought about it, I felt that this boat’s name probably represents the feelings of many people, even Christians, whom God has blessed with wealth.

Some of us enjoy our homes so much that we would just as soon wait to get to our heavenly home. Our good lives are so filled with comforts and pleasures that we aren’t yearning for the delights of heaven. Besides, we’re so wrapped up with our friends and family here that we’ve lost the anticipation of joining the wider family of God that awaits us in heaven.

It’s great to have a good life here. God “gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17), but let’s not get so attached to it that we lose all interest in heaven. It’s a place with no tears, no sin, no pain, and no disappointment (Rev. 21:4)–and we’ll be with Jesus forever!

No matter how good our life may be here, heaven is far better. — DCE

I have a home in heaven above,

From sin and sorrow free;

A mansion which eternal love

Designed and formed for me. — Anon.

The pleasures of earth cannot be compared to the joys of heaven.

A Better Place

John 14:1

When death invades our lives, we need a sanctuary — a place of safety that gives us a glimmer of hope against an oppressive backdrop of sorrow. This was never more clear to pastor John Claypool than in the days following the death of his young daughter.

The Sunday after the funeral, Claypool told his congregation that he loved the promise in Isaiah 40:31 of renewed strength to those who trust the Lord. But on that morning his spirit was not soaring as an eagle, nor was he running. In fact, he said, he was barely walking.

Claypool did find strength and courage, though, to survive his loss in another passage — John 14. As he read about Jesus’ promise to believers that they will be with Him in heaven, Claypool began to find comfort. He was confident that Jesus had prepared a better place for his daughter — and that she was with the Lord. “The only thing that keeps me going,” he told his listeners, “is the promise that my daughter is in the arms of Jesus.”

Our Savior is preparing a better place for all who have put their trust in Him. It’s not just a future hope; it’s also a present reality–a reality that gives us the comfort we need to face the death of someone close. — JDB

The death of people whom we love

Brings sorrow and deep pain;

But if our loved ones know the Lord,

Our loss becomes their gain. — Sper

Our greatest comfort in sorrow is to know that Jesus lives.

Ticket To Heaven: Considerations On Our Final Destination

Luke 10:20

When you’re packing for vacation this summer, I recommend you take along: A TRAVEL GUIDE TO HEAVEN by Anthony DeStefano. It is a solidly orthodox, fast-paced, and fun-to-read book. Now, I was skeptical about this little book when it first came out, and I said as much on “BreakPoint.” I was afraid it would pander to our inborn narcissism. But then I went back and looked at it again and realized that I was wrong. The book is solid, and DeStefano builds his case for the wonders of heaven, relying only on biblical passages and church tradition.

Life on earth, as we know, has been marred by sin, but it is not the end of the story. And while most Christians acknowledge heaven, they have only a perfunctory or vague understanding of it.

When many think of heaven, they have visions of ethereal spirits dancing in their heads — spirits existing without anything to do but float in heaven. But the reality will be much different. When we die, our bodies and spirits separate, but when Jesus returns, our bodies will be resurrected, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth — what we refer to simply as “heaven.” So DeStefano explains, “Heaven is, at its core, not only spiritual, but material as well.”

It is important to note that other religions and cults promote dualism which devalues the body. Christianity, on the contrary, teaches that body and soul are equally important and that together they make us whole people. DeStefano writes, “[T]he very term, human being, illustrates the material and spiritual makeup of our identity.”

We can get a glimpse of what our transformation will be like from the Gospel accounts of Jesus after His resurrection. Jesus was not constrained by earth’s physical laws: Without opening a door, He suddenly disappeared (Mark 16:12 and Luke 24:16, 31). Like Christ, our bodies will be the same yet different. The difference is that in heaven, says DeStefano, “Our bodies suddenly become totally subservient to our wills.”

Just as it has been on earth, part of our worship of God will be to continue to work and create. DeStefano reminds us that work is good because God, the first worker, “programmed” us with the “need” to work. Work will be different from what we experience now because we’ll be free from the effects of the Fall. Some of us will have to find a different kind of work than we do today because there will be no more crime, sickness, or want.

And when heaven and earth are made new, we’ll spend time doing the things we like, such as hiking, painting, or singing. The earth will be transformed. Lambs will lie down with lions; orcas will cavort with seals. The things we had created on earth, but that now lie in ancient ruins, will be fully restored in heaven.

DeStefano reminds us that the Bible says we are complete in God because He “is beauty, power, truth, and life.” Our complete happiness will come from abiding in Him throughout eternity.

Through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the goodness of things on earth won’t vanish, but will be made whole.

All of this, of course, is a long way from the cartoonist version of heaven — that is, someone sitting on a cloud playing a harp. A TRAVEL GUIDE TO HEAVEN is an inspiring description of the real thing: the thrilling life that is to come in a new heaven and new earth.

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His Vocabulary Was Inadequate

Luke 10:20

Dr. R. G. Lee was one of the most famous and eloquent Baptist preachers of the early 20th century. Lee’s successor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, was Dr. Adrian Rogers. Dr. Rogers recalls, “Just before Dr. Lee stepped over into heaven, he had a vision of heaven. He had lapsed into a deep sleep, almost like a coma. Awakening, he reported that he saw into heaven. He said that in the vision he saw the Lord Jesus, he saw his mother, and he saw that golden city. When asked to describe what he had seen, this man, who more nearly than any of the rest of us had mastered the English language, said, ‘I can't describe it. My vocabulary is inadequate, and I never did it justice in my preaching.’”

I'll Fly Away

1. Some glad morning when this life is o’er,

I’ll fly away;

To a home on God’s celestial shore,

I’ll fly away.

Chorus:

I’ll fly away, O glory, I’ll fly away;

When I die, hallelujah, by and by, I’ll fly away.

2. When the shadows of this life have gone,

I’ll fly away;

Like a bird from prison bars has flown,

I’ll fly away.

3.

Just a few more weary days and then,

I’ll fly away;

To a land where joys shall never end,

I’ll fly away.

His Name Is Written

Matthew 10:3

And Matthew, the publican. Matthew 10:3.

In the minds of the Pharisees, Matthew’s name is linked with the worst of men, but Matthew alone of the Gospel writers describes himself as the publican. But Matthew does not tell us that he left all to follow Jesus. Luke tells us this. Though the Pharisees linked his name with the worst of men, it is enrolled among the most highly favored men, the “apostles of the Lamb”! The last place his name appears is in everlasting foundations of the wall of the tax-exempt City Foursquare (Revelation 21:14).

Oh! that beautiful city, with its mansions of light,

With its glorified beings, in pure garments of white;

Where no evil thing cometh to despoil what is fair;

Where the angels are waiting, Yes, my name’s written there.

Gone From My Sight

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says: “There, she is gone!”

“Gone where?”

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says: “There, she is gone!” there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: “Here she comes!”

And that is dying.

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Looking To Celestial Canaan

Numbers 10:29

We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you. — Numbers 10:29.

Travelling on the plain, I discovered Salisbury steeple many miles off but coming to declivities, I often lost it and found it, till at last I came safely to it, and took my lodgings near it. It fareth thus with us while we are wayfaring to heaven. Mounted on the Pisgah top of some good meditation, we get a glimpse of our celestial Canaan; but when either on the flat of an ordinary temper, or in the fall of an extraordinary temptation, we lost the view thereof. Thus, in the sight of our soul, heaven is discovered, covered, and recovered; till, though late at last, though slowly, surely, we arrive at the haven of our happiness. — T. F.

Yes, I need thee, heavenly city, my low spirits to upbear;

Yes, I need thee, earth’s enchantments so beguile me with their glare,

Let me see thee – then these fetters break asunder, I am free;

Then this pomp no longer chains me; faith has won the victory. — H. Bonar.

"Too Late"

There are no more melancholy words in the language than these. Too late! I have heard them uttered by a brother, as he hurried home to see a dying father, he arrived only to be told that he had breathed his last; and not soon shall I forget the agony they then expressed. Too late! I have known them uttered by a skillful surgeon, when he was summoned to the bedside of a dying man, and I have marked the sadness to which they have given birth. Too late! I have heard them uttered by an anxious crowd, as they stood gazing on a burning building and sadly saw the failure of those who sought to save the inmates from destruction. Too late! I have known them uttered by the noble crew of the lifeboat, when, as they put out to the sinking ship, they beheld her go down before their eyes, and "the frightened souls within her." But, oh! none of these circumstances are half so heart-rending as those in which the sinner who has despised his day must find himself when the terrible discovery is made that he is too late to enter heaven.

No Strife in Heaven

An old Scottish elder had been disputing with his minister at an elders' meeting. He said some hard things, and almost broke the minister's heart. Afterwards he went home, and the minister went home too. Next morning the elder came down, and his wife said to him, "Eh, Jan! ye look very sad this morning. What's the matter wi' ye?" "Ah!" said he, "you would be sad, too, if you had had such a dream as I've had." "Weel, and what did ye dream about?" "Ooh! I dreamed I had been at an elders' meeting, and I said some hard things and grieved the minister; and as he went home I thought he died and went to heaven. A fortnight after, I thought I died, and that I went to heaven, too. And when I got to the gates of heaven, out came the minister and put out his hand to take me, saying, 'Come along, Jan, there's no strife up here, and I'm happy to see ye.'" The elder went to the minister to beg his pardon directly, but he found he was dead; and he laid it so to heart that within a fortnight the elder himself departed. And I should not wonder if he did meet the minister at heaven's gates, and hear him say, "Come along, Jan! there's no strife up here." It would be good for us to recollect that there is no strife up there. Glorified saints have not strife among themselves; and we should love one another more in brotherly kindness if we thought more of heaven and more of our blessed Jesus.

-C. H. Spurgeon

Heaven A Prepared Place

A scoffing infidel, of considerable talents, being once in the company of a person of slender intellect, but a real Christian, and supposing, no doubt, that he should obtain an easy triumph in the display of this ungodly wit, put the following question to him: "I understand, sir, that you expect to go to heaven when you die; can you tell me what sort of place heaven is?" "Yes, sir," replied the Christian, "heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people; and if your soul is not prepared for it, with all your boasted wisdom you will never enter there."

284 Sermon Illustrations on Heaven