There’s No Place Like Home
John 14:1-3 - Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled. You trust God, now trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”
There’s a common saying: “There’s no place like home.” My wife, Carollyn and I have had the privilege of traveling to a number of foreign countries on missions trips, and every time we are flying back on a 14hour trip or longer, one of us would always say, “I can’t wait until we get home.”
Jesus said, He is preparing a place for us in our Heavenly Father’s home. The home Jesus is preparing for us will be our final, eternal home.
Samuel Morrison was a missionary in Africa for twenty-five years. In the early 1900’s he was returning to the United States. It so happened, that he was traveling on the same ocean liner that brought President Teddy Roosevelt back from a hunting expedition in Africa. When the great ship pulled into New York harbor, the dock was lined up with people to welcome President Roosevelt back. Bands were playing, banners were waving, choirs of children were singing, multicolored balloons were floating in the air, flashbulbs were popping, and newsreel cameras were poised to record the return of President Teddy Roosevelt.
Mr. Roosevelt stepped down the gangplank to thunderous cheers and applause, showered with confetti and ticker tape.
At the same time, Samuel Morison quietly walked off the boat. No one was there to greet him. He slipped along through the crowd. Because of the crush of people to welcome the president, he couldn’t even find a cab. Inside his heart, he began to complain. Lord, the president has been in Africa for three weeks, killing animals, and the whole world turns out to welcome him home. I’ve given twenty-five years of my life in Africa, serving You, and no one has greeted me or even knows I’m here.”
In the quietness of his heart, a gentle, loving voice whispered, “But My dear child, you are not home yet!”
The Bible says we are created in the image of God and as one of the early church scholars said, “Our hearts are restless until we find rest in God.” St. Pascal said, “There is a God created vacuum in the hearts of man, that only God can fill.”
Our life on earth is only our temporary home. Our final home is in heaven. Today we celebrate the home going of ____________________
Jack often attended church, but it wasn’t until during his time of sickness that he took time to find the peace of God in his heart. A day came when he felt compelled to get his life and house in order. He talked to his adopted son, Josh, about Josh’s life goals. He asked Ruth about purchasing cemetery lots. His wife, Ruth, used God’s Word to help Jack pray and invite Jesus into his heart and life.
Jesus declared that whoever comes to him with child-like faith and a repentant heart, He will not turn away.
It’s not easy to lose a loved one, but we know that when our loved ones die with faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord we will see them again at the home God is preparing for them and us. God’s Word says, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”
Our Home in Heaven is a Wonderful Place.
Jesus said, “There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so I would tell you plainly. That where I am there you will be also.”
Our home in heaven is prepared for everyone whose heart is right with God. The Apostle Peter spoke of heaven in 2 Peter 3:11-13: “Since everything round us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! You should look forward to that day and hurry it along – the day when God will set the heavens on firs and elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God.”
Our home in heaven is more wonderful than we could ever imagine. The Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
John the Apostle wrote the Gospel of John, I, II and III John and also the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible.
John was put on the remote Island of Patmos as punishment for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose from the dead. When John wrote the book of Revelation he was probably 90 years old.
The risen Christ appears to John and gives him a revelation of hope of eternal life and the hope of an eternal home in heaven.
John wrote in Revelation 21:3-4, “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, ‘Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever.”
Think of it, “no more sorrow, or death or pain.” No more sickness, no more cancers. No more fighting, everyone will be at peace.
Assurance of Heaven
If you have Jesus in your heart, you have the assurance of eternal life in heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.” John 14:6
The Apostle John in I John 5:11-13 – “And this is the testimony God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does ot have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Jesus makes it clear that if you have Jesus in your heart you have eternal life.
The Bible says that Jesus knocks at the door of every person’s heart. All who humble themselves to listen and hear the knock and invites Jesus into their heart and life, Jesus comes in and forgives sin and gives eternal life.
Jesus gives us a choice to receive Him or reject Him. Jesus does not force His well into anyone’s life. Jesus said, He stands at the door of your heart and knocks. If you hear His voice and open the door He will come in. Rev. 3:20
We invite Jesus by confessing our sin and admitting that we are a sinner and need God’s forgiveness. Jesus can only forgive sin when we make confession and ask God for His forgiveness.
We invite Jesus into our heart and life by repenting of sin. Repentance means we turn from self-centeredness and turn to God.
We invite Jesus into our heart and life by asking him to personally come in and make our heart His home.
I recently listened to all seven Audio Stories by C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia – a total of 21 CDS. In the seventh story, The Last Battle, the characters who have lived in Narnia have completed their time and work there.
In the closing chapter entitled “Further Up and Further In,” Aslan, the lion who represented Christ, has come for them in order to take them home. They are headed away from Narnia and are about to enter Aslan’s land. But they are met with familiar scenes. One of the characters cries out: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, thought I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.”
Jack is now home at last.
John 14:1-3 - Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled. You trust God, now trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”
Today we celebrate the home going of a member of our family and our friend, Jack ______________.
Amazing Grace
