Heaven (A Funeral Sermon)

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.”