Who You’ll Find in Heaven
Hebrews 11:8-16
A minister dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly Gates. Ahead of him is a man who’s dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket and jeans.
Saint Peter turns to the first man and asks, "Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven?"
"I’m Joe Jones, and I was a taxi driver in New York."
Saint Peter consults his list. He smiles and says to the man, "Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter into the Kingdom."
When it’s the minister’s turn, he stands erect and booms out, "I am Joseph Snow, pastor of New Covenant Tabernacle for the last 37 years."
Saint Peter consults his list. "Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter into the Kingdom," he says.
"Just a minute," says the minister. "That man was a taxi driver and he gets a silken robe and golden staff. How can this be?"
"Up here, we work by results," says Saint Peter. "While you preached, people slept; while he drove, people prayed."
In last week’s message about heaven there was a quote from John Newton that went like this:
“When I get to heaven, I shall see three wonders there: The first wonder will be to see many people there whom I did not expect to see; The second wonder will be to miss many people whom I did expect to see; the third and greatest of all will be to find myself there” (John Newton)
Those words set me thinking about what I’ve pictured heaven to be like. Who will be there? What will they be like? I have to admit that my visions of heaven have been a lot like my experiences here on earth. In other words, I’ve not generally imagined the folks I’ll find in heaven as looking anything different than you people here this morning.
But if we truly consider it we might find things different than what we have come to expect. After all, the very first missionaries and evangelists didn’t look exactly like us either.
Outward appearance is relative to our experience. In other words, if you’ve spent time living in close contact with people different than you, your picture of who you might find in heaven may likely be different. The truth is that appearance has nothing whatsoever to do with the question. But the Bible does give us some clues as to who we might find when we reach our heavenly destination someday. Let’s take a look at them.
Read Hebrews 11:8-16
The people we’ll find in heaven will be those who were…
1. Looking Forward to the City
Verse 8-10
Pastor Tim got a new toy this week. He probably doesn’t want me to talk about it because he’ll face some dire consequences. But I love to put his feet to the fire, so here we go.
There’s a part of Tim that’s directionally challenged. Just recently he was attempting to find a particular office in the suburbs of Chicago when he missed his turn. Had he been in possession of his recently purchased GPS device it could have given him directions to get back on track. Tim was looking forward to a city, but he just couldn’t find it!
Most of the times, if you’re going to find something you have to be looking for it. While many of us have had things fall into our lap through coincidence, dumb luck or God moments, that doesn’t often happen.
So it is with finding ourselves in heaven. In fact, I’d say that will absolutely be the rule. That’s a survey I’ll have an eternity to take: “Excuse me sir, but how did you find your way to heaven? You say you were looking for it? That’s what I thought.”
Don’t fool yourself for a moment. Not one person is going to spend an eternity in the presence of God just by dumb luck or against their own will. Except in the greatest instances of God’s grace where someone gets a moment or two just prior to death in which to make a quick confession, if you haven’t been looking for heaven prior to the end, you won’t suddenly find it after the end has come!
The writer of Hebrews said that Abraham was, “looking forward to the city.”
They tell me that the key to your retirement, in terms of being financially prepared – is looking ahead. The earlier you start the better position you’ll be in when retirement comes along.
Would it be safe to apply that principle here? Someone once said that the retirement plan for believers is “out of this world.” You could say that the earlier you begin your planning spiritually the better position you’ll be in when eternity comes.
People we meet in heaven will have been looking for the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
They will also have…
2. Admitted They Were Strangers Here
Verse 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
Due to what some have deemed a “Southern” accent, for several months after to moving to Rock Falls I heard the local equivalent of “You ain’t from around here, are you boy?” It’s a funny thing, but when you look or act or talk differently than everyone around you, they naturally assume you’re a stranger!
One of the keys to finding our way to heaven is the simple act of admitting the honest truth: we are in fact strangers here.
Abraham serves as an example for all God’s people; we must realize that we are only traveling through this world on our way to our true home in heaven. This is not our homeland, but foreign territory.
Christian Rock Band Petra said in one of their songs from a million years ago, “We are not of this world…” That’s a fair summation of what we’re talking about.
Why is that so important? Because our home is always calling out to us, drawing us to go there.
I recently gave Sara a hard time because her granddaughter Kaitlyn went off to college this fall but came home to visit – get this – over the Labor Day weekend. I think she’d been there about a week and a half!
But truth be told, when my wife and I were college students we took every opportunity to get home from Springfield, Missouri. Don’t get me wrong. Springfield is a beautiful town and I love the opportunity to go there for a visit. But especially that first year it was not home. We were strangers there, unfamiliar with everything about it. So we drove home at Thanksgiving – and let me tell you that from the end of August until the fourth week in November seems like it will never end. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break, and probably a couple of weekends in between. All because home was calling out to us in a big way.
Let me tell you, if you’re not looking out toward eternity and you have all your hopes pinned on what this life has to offer, heaven is never going to look all that appealing to you. You might talk a good game about getting serious with God somewhere down the road, but it will never happen. But admit that you’re a stranger here and things on the other side of this life will begin to look a lot sweeter to you. Count on it.
People we meet in heaven will have admitted they were strangers here on earth. They’ll also be…
3. Longing for a Better Place
Verse 14-16
Although their timing was a bit off, the men who spent most of 3.5 years with Jesus understood this clue. They were used to living in a country where Roman soldiers and rulers told them what to do. They were taxed – by their countrymen – so those same soldiers and rulers could live better than they themselves did.
When Jesus started talking about the kingdom of Heaven they naturally expected that it would be a better place than the place they had lived in so far. As a result they were excited for that kingdom to make its appearance right away!
Difficulty in this life has a way of making believers in Jesus Christ hope for something better – a place where there’s no more sickness and death, a place where every need is met, a place where fear and failure have no place.
We discovered last week that’s a place called heaven. When we get there we’ll find a perfect, eternal life with bodies that don’t break down due to sickness or disease.
The people we’ll find in heaven understood clearly that while this earth would hold many disappointments and hurts along with its joys, there was a place called heaven that would be better in every respect – the completion of what life on earth was always meant to be. That knowledge gave them hope, kept them moving ahead, and helped them finish the race here.
People who are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. People who have admitted to being strangers here on this earth. People who are longing for a better place than the one we live in. Why will we find those kinds of people in heaven? Because setting your sights on heaven gives you strength and encouragement to continue when you feel like giving up. And they didn’t give up.
Colossians 3:1-4
One of the easiest ways to short-change yourself as a Christian is to believe in Christ but not look forward to the place where you’ll meet him “in the flesh”.
Heaven is that place. It ought to be your goal, the promise that keeps you kicking to the finish line when the going gets tough.
One preacher shouted to his congregation, “All who want to go to heaven please stand up.” All but one man stood up. The preacher was surprised and asked the man still sitting down, “Do you really not want to go to heaven?” The man replied, “Oh, yes, pastor, some day I want to go to heaven; I just thought you were getting up a load to go today!”
We’re not going to back the bus up to the door this morning, but if you want to go to heaven, let me tell you how to get there when the time is right for you:
Admit that you’re a sinner in need of God.
Believe that Jesus died and rose again for your sins.
Confess Jesus as Lord of your life.
If you’d like to do that this morning I want you to come right down here so that I can pray with you today.
As they’re coming, if you’re already a believer in Jesus Christ but the Holy Spirit is prompting you today to focus more clearly on heaven, I want you to come right over here in the altar and allow God to place that desire right into your heart as we begin to sing.
