Heaven, Our Eternal Home

Transcription

1 Evangelistic Preaching Heaven, Our Eternal Home (John 14:1 6) J. Wayne Kilpatrick INTRODUCTION A. Text: John 14:1 6. B. A man built a mansion but only lived in it two days before dying. 1. This impresses us with the importance of laying up treasures in heaven. 2. This world is not our final home (Colossians 3:6; Matthew 6:19, 20). C. We can have a mansion worth more than any earthly estate, not for two days, or two years, or even two hundred years, but forever. D. Did you ever stop to think about how little the Word of God tells us about heaven? 1. It has much more to say about hell. 2. When it tells us about heaven, it mostly tells us about what will not be there. E. However, what we are told about heaven is tremendous! 1. [God] doeth great things past finding out (Job 9:10). 2. There are great things about heaven past finding out and wonders without number. 3. God has seen fit to reveal a few of the wonders of heaven to us. 4. Apparently He does not want us to know too much about that Paradise He has prepared. F. Notice Paul s statement at 2 Corinthians 2:4. G. But while God has purposefully withheld much information from us, the things He has revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever (Deuteronomy 29:29). H. In this message we will look into God s Word and consider some of those things which He has revealed about heaven. I. HEAVEN IS A LAND OF NO TEARS. A. This world is full of tears. 1. We find them at every turn of the road. 2. The sun might shine for us a little while, but soon the sun is gone, the shadows gather round us, and we are bound to shed our bitter tears. B. There are the tears of disappointment. 1. Things may look bright for us for a while, but then some blinding disappointment comes to rob us of our peace and bring sorrow to our hearts. 2. Moses spent much of his life with one great goal in view. a. It was his supreme ambition to take the children of Israel into the Land of Promise. b. Just when it seemed that he was going to realize the fulfillment of his dreams, the disappointment came. c. God took him up on a high mountain and gave him the first view of the land which was flowing with milk and honey. d. How his heart must have thrilled as he looked into Canaan with the hope that soon he would lead the children of Israel into their new home! e. Then God said to him, Moses, because of your disobedience, you will not be able to go into the Land of Promise. Your successor will lead Israel into its new home. f. As you see the tears course down the cheeks of the old patriarch, we realize that he was shedding tears of disappointment. 3. We shed tears of disappointment too. a. We are disappointed when we do not get the position we so earnestly desired. b. Disappointment comes when we do not receive the award we had hoped for. c. Our chidren did not live up to our expectations of them and we are disappointed. 4. How many of us have known the bitter taste of tears of disappointment? C. There are the tears of our shattered dreams. 1. We build our castles in the air only to see 1

2 2 them come crashing down to the earth. a. We dream our bright dreams that never come true. b. We have high hopes which never materialize. c. We look forward to great days which never dawn for us. 2. In the slums of London there lived a poor man and woman who had only one child, a boy. a. They made many sacrifices in order to give this son a good education. b. They sent him all the way through the university. c. He graduated from the university with high honors, majoring in chemistry, and on the day of his graduation he was given a position as a chemist in a great chemical plant. d. With the first money he made, he moved his parents out of the slums into a little rose-covered cottage on the edge of the city. e. Prospects like the rosy dawn gleamed forth for them, for their son had a splendid job. f. He loved them, and he was going to take care of them for the rest of their lives. g. One day there was an explosion in the chemical plant and the young man was made an invalid for life. h. Surely the little family must have shed the tears of shattered dreams. D. There are the tears of death. 1. Nearly as dark as any corner in hell is that corner in which we stand when sorrow comes, and our loved ones have been taken away. a. We sit in sorrow at their funeral. b. We put them away from the sight of human eyes, and we come back home to find a vacant chair. c. We long for the touch of a vanished hand, and the sound of a voice that is still. d. Certainly life seems empty, and our hearts are heavy as lead. 2. I have preached many funerals and have seen the strongest of men and women weep at the casket of a loved one. 3. Many families have been robbed of their sweetest human possession. E. Yes, this old world is full of tears. 1. But we thank God that there is a land where all tears are wiped away. 2. I wish I had the words of a flaming orator that I might paint such a picture upon the canvas of your imagination as to cause you to want to leave this sinful earth and soar away to be with God in heaven forever. II. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT HEAVEN? A. Heaven is a place. 1. Read John 14:2. a. I believe this. b. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. 2. Are you prepared for heaven? a. Are you a Christian? b. Are you walking in the footsteps of Christ? 3. John stood upon the Isle of Patmos and saw a great company of people in heaven. The angel said to him, These are they that come out of the great tribulation (Revelation 7:14). a. Our robes are filthy with the sin of this old world. b. They must be washed white in the blood of the Lamb if we are to enter heaven. 5. Yes, heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. B. Heaven is a perfect place. 1. Jesus is the great architect of heaven, and He is building a perfect place for us. 2. Listen to this description of heaven: Revelation 21:9 21. C. Heaven is a place where many people will dwell. 1. Some think very few will be in heaven. 2. I believe many people will be in heaven. a. Revelation 7:4 mentions 144,000. b. Revelation 7:9 refers to a great multitude which no man could number. 3. I want to be there too, don t you? D. Heaven is a permanent city. 1. For we have not here an abiding city, but we seek after the city which is to come (Hebrews 13:14). 2. Think of the many great cities of the past (Rome, Athens, Carthage, Sparta) that have either been destroyed or have lost their former glory. 3. Babylon, the great city of the Old Testament times, once had a population of two million, but now snakes and lizards crawl across its ruins. 4. It is true that we have no continuing city. a. Today we have New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Birmingham, Atlanta,

3 London, Washington, and other great cities. b. But there is no permanent city on this earth. c. These will one day be gone. 5. Thank God, the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, will abide forever and ever. 6. It is a permanent city. E. Heaven is a city of perfect residences. 1. We are contented down here in this world with some small place that we can call our own, but in that world we will have a mansion. 2. Why should we then be so particular about amassing a fortune in this world when we have everything good waiting for us in the other world? 3. A tent or a cottage, why should I care? They re building a palace for me over there. Though exiled from home, yet still may I sing. All glory to God, I m a child of the King. 4. Henry Van Dyke tells us a story of a rich man who sat down on Christmas Eve to count his possessions. a. Becoming a bit weary, he put his head down on the library table and went to sleep. b. He dreamed that he was in heaven walking down the streets with the recording angel. c. They went down one street which was filled with lovely and pretentious homes. d. Soon the man stopped in front of a beautiful residence and said to the recording angel, Who is so fortunate even in heaven as to be able to have such a home as this? e. The recording angel looked in his book and said to the man, This home belongs to your gardener. f. The rich man said, Certainly you folks have made a mistake. This man lived in a very poor cottage on my estate. This cannot be his home. g. But the angel answered, We make no mistakes in heaven. h. They resumed their walk, and soon turned down a very small street. i. Each home was smaller and less pretentious than the one before it. j. Soon the man stopped in front of a very small house and laughingly said, Who is so unfortunate even in heaven as to be forced to live in a small place like this? k. The recording angel looked in his book and said to the man, Sir, this is your home. l. I know you have made a mistake now, said the man. Down in the world I lived in the finest houses money could buy. I had a winter home, a summer home, a country home, and a town home. This cannot be my home. m. l. It is your home, said the angel. We make no mistakes in heaven. This home has been built out of the material you sent up here from the earth. 5. How much treasure are you laying up in heaven? 6. The reward which comes to you there is dependent upon the service you give to Christ down here. F. Heaven is a place of perfect music. 1. All of us love music; it thrills our souls and lifts us up to God. 2. Think of the best singing you have ever heard. 3. Do you know how big the chorus will be in heaven? 4. Notice Revelation 5: This chorus will be singing in perfect harmony the praises to the Lamb that was slain. G. Heaven is a place of perfect knowledge. 1. Read 1 Corinthians 13: There are many things I do not understand down here. a. Why is sin allowed to come into the world and break our hearts and blast our hopes? b. Why is a precious, useful loved one taken away and someone who is worth very little left in the world? 3. We shall understand it better by and by. H. Heaven is a place of perfect service. 1. The most miserable people in the world are those who are idle. a. They fill jails and asylums. b. They cause turmoil in the world. 2. Heaven is a place of perfect service. a. Those who inhabit hell will spend eternity in suffering, brooding over what might have been if they had only given their hearts to Christ. b. But those who go to heaven will bring their talents home to Jesus. I. Heaven is a perfect home. 1. Home is the dearest spot on earth, but you will never find one that is perfect. 3

4 4 2. We live happily with our loved ones, but one day a son goes away to college or to seek his fame, or a daughter marries and goes to another part of the country. 3. We go to our family reunions once each year, and we miss those who gladdened our hearts in other days. 4. Yes, our homes are often broken up down here, but they will never be broken up in heaven. 5. In the vocabulary of God there is no such word as good-bye. 6. Those who love God never part for the last time. 7. There are places now that are of interest to me because one of my loved ones lives there. 8. We go along without any thought of heaven until one day one of our loved ones goes over to the Eternal City. We are then linked to the throne of God by the silver cord of love and memory. 9. I believe we will know each other in heaven. The disciples knew Moses and Elijah. I believe we will have just as much sense over there as we do here. J. Heaven is a place of perfect rest. 1. We get very tired down here. 2. Often our bodies are racked with pain, and we are daily suffering the anguish of the flesh. 3. But in that day we shall find perfect rest. Suffering and sorrow shall flee away. 4. Philippians 3:21 tells us that when Christ comes our vile bodies shall be changed, and fashioned like unto his glorious body. 5. First John 3:2 says we shall be like Him. 6. Heaven will be far more wonderful if we have suffered in this present world. a. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward (Romans 8:18). b. For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). 7. Even Jesus looked forward to heaven. The Hebrew writer said, For the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. K. Heaven is a place where Jesus is. 1. If the golden streets, the crown, and the robe were missing from heaven, it would still be worth the struggle because in heaven we are going to see Jesus. 2. Just to be with Him and see His face is worth giving up everything. 3. There are many that we are eager to see in heaven, but first of all surely we will want to see Jesus, because He is the one who has made heaven possible for us. 4. Pat was an Irishman and a great Christian. a. Some years ago he sailed across the ocean and came to a new home in America. b. On the voyage to America, his little boy died, and was buried at sea. c. After he had been here a few months he received the message that his father had died back in Ireland. d. And yet one day, when someone asked him the question Pat, what are you going to do when you get to heaven? he answered by saying, I am going to spend the first 500 years just a-looking at the Lord Jesus. 5. Some years ago there was a great preacher who stood in his pulpit to preach about heaven. When he came to the climax of his sermon, he was overcome by his emotion and could not proceed further. He motioned for the people to leave the church and he started toward his study door. But before he reached the door, his will asserted itself, and he came back and leaned over the pulpit to finish his message. He said to the congregation, Some day I am going to die. I am going up to heaven and will walk down the golden streets. An angel is going to come up and say, Don t you want your robe that has been washed in the blood of the Lamb? I am going to say to him, Yes, I surely do want that robe, but first of all I want to see my Jesus. Then he said, I will walk down the street and meet another angel, and he will say, Look, don t you want your crown which is bedecked with many jewels because of the souls you have won to Jesus? and I am going to say to him, Yes, mighty angel, I do want that crown, but first of all I want to find my Jesus and fall down at his feet and thank him for saving a sinner such as I! 6. Surely everyone of us feels the same way. CONCLUSION A. Many years ago a minister visited with a fine young man who was a Christian. 1. This young man was very active in the

5 church. 2. The young man was quite ill, and knew he could not live much longer. 3. He and the minister talked about the heavenly city toward which he was going. 4. As the young man talked about death and heaven, the tears welled up in his eyes. 5. The preacher took a handkerchief from his pocket, reached over, and wiped the tears from the young man s eyes. 6. Then the young man smiled and, looking up into the preacher s face, said, The next time my tears are wiped away, they will be wiped away by the loving hand of my heavenly Father. B. Don t you want to live in the land of no tears? 1. Then you must make preparation for it. 2. There is only one way to prepare: Come to the Lord Jesus by obeying His will and serve Him here on this earth. 3. Put your life in His hand, and He will take you safely at last to the land of no tears. Copyright, 1984, 2003 by Truth for Today ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 5