Luke 10:16-24
SERMON – I want to go to Heaven
I have a lot to be thankful for.
I was born to a single woman in 1944.
If the ‘Abortion Act’ had been passed 20 years earlier
I might not be standing here.
I was adopted by good, caring people
and was brought up as a Roman Catholic,
so always believed in God and had good moral values.
I started work days after my 15th birthday and had employment until I was 65
apart from the 4 years I was at university
and still do the occasional paid Supply Teacher work
and when I went to university there were no fees to pay
and I even received a government grant that I could live on.
I have never known serious illness
or been the victim of a serious crime.
I had one good wife until she went to be with the Lord
and He led me to another good one who is here in church today.
My children are happily married
and have good jobs
and I have two healthy and bright grand children.
What more could anyone ask for?
God has blessed me in many ways.
Ask yourself this question:
If Christianity was only about God looking after us in this life,
would that be enough?
In other words, if the Bible said absolutely nothing about the after life,
would we still be here this morning?
I hope the answer would be ‘Yes’.
There are two main views about what happens when we die,
both based on Jesus' words on the cross to the dying thief in Luke 23:43.
"I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise", or
"I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise";
The difficulty is that there are no commas in the Greek text.
According to one view saints go to heaven immediately after they die,
and unrepentant sinners go straight to hell.
This leads some people think the saints are UP THERE
possibly looking down on us right this minute,
while they float along gold-paved streets
strumming the Hallelujah Chorus on their harps
while dressed in golden sandals and white robes.
On the other hand there is the view that “heaven” is only the dwelling of God,
and the angels,
while all who have died, good or bad, saints or sinners,
are asleep until the Day of Judgement,
when all who belong to God
will be given a beautiful and immortal resurrection body,
and will live for eternity on a renewed and perfect planet earth,
living as God originally intended, and in His presence.
This view is supported by Ecclesiastes 9: 5
where it says "The living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing", implying a form of unconsciousness.
According to this view, the souls or spirits of those who died believing in God,
like Samuel, are asleep in what the Bible calls Sheol or Hades,
or The grave or Abraham's Bosom,
until the Day of Judgement and the resurrection,
while the souls or spirits of those who did not know God, the "unsaved",
sleep away from God until the End of the World
when they will be raised to judgement, and everlasting punishment.
In Daniel 1:22 it says: "Those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”.
Jesus himself said (in John’s Gospel chapter 5: 28-29):
“The hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice
and will come out – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life,
and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation”.
This is the same message of the Parable of the sheep and the goats.
On the day of judgement the sheep will be rewarded
and the goats will be punished.
I would not argue about which view is correct,
because it doesn't matter whether we "go to sleep" when we die,
or "go to heaven",
because heaven "up there" is only temporary.
Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after his resurrection,
but the two angels in Acts 1 verse 11 did not tell the disciples
that one day they would follow Jesus up into the sky.
What the angels said was “Men of Galilee,
why do you stand here looking into the sky?
This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven,
will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven”.
Revelation 21 tells us about the real “End” reward,
which is eternal life in a New Jerusalem
which will come down from heaven upon a regenerated earth’,
after the end of this age, Jesus' second coming, and the day of judgement.
According to Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel chapter 24
and Paul in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 13-18
at the Second Coming of Christ all Christians who are alive
and all Christians who are asleep, that is, dead,
will rise to join him in the sky, until the Day of Judgement.
This ties in with Jesus' words in John 6:40:
"My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him
shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day".
On that Day, all who are not counted among God’s children
will burn in the Lake of fire mentioned in Revelation chapter 20 verse 15.
The only thing that is not clear is whether the punishment goes on for ever
because the fire never goes out,
or whether the souls of the unsaved will be annihilated
in a fire that never goes out.
Theological debates are fine at Westfield House and Bible Colleges, etc,
but we do not have to worry whether heaven is immediate or eventual,
because by having faith in God’s grace and by repenting from our sins,
and believing that Jesus has the words of eternal life,
we can have the assurance that we will be counted among the sheep,
not the goats, and that’s all that really matters.
We know from Genesis chapters 1 and 2 that when God created earth
it was a beautiful place, with no sin, no weeds, no pain, no suffering
and no death, and God walked the earth.
He looked at what He had created and He was very glad (Genesis 1:31).
That was how things would have continued to be
if Adam and Eve had not sinned,
but Revelation completes the circle and tells us that at the end
everything will be like it was in the beginning, perfect.
Adam and Eve did not live in heaven, they lived on earth,
and the saints of God will not spend eternity “up there”, but “down here”,
but it will be a very different “Here”,
it will be the Paradise that God intended His people to live in.
According to the Creed, we should believe in the Second Coming of Jesus,
when he will return in glory, not as a baby,
but as a King to gather up His subjects,
who are all the true Christians who have ever lived.
When Jesus comes back he will bring heaven to earth
and we will spend eternal life on a renewed Earth,
an Earth with no wars, no sin, no crime,
no famines, floods or earthquakes;
an Earth where we can see, touch and talk to God
and every “Saint” who has ever lived,
and we will never be cold, hungry, tired, sick, or dead, ever again.
In Revelation 21:5 Jesus said “Behold, I am making everything new”
and Paul makes it clear in 1st Corinthians 15
that this includes our bodies or forms, as well as earth and the whole of Creation.
In John’s Gospel chapter 14 verses 2 and 3, Jesus told his disciples:
“In my Father’s house there are many rooms;
if it were not so, I would have told you.
I am going there to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back
and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
Jesus’ Father’s house is in heaven at this very moment,
but Revelation makes it clear that after the Day of Judgement
that house, the Holy City, the New Jerusalem,
will come down to earth, and everything not of God will be destroyed.
Paul in 1st Thessalonians 5:2 said the “Day of the Lord will come
like a thief in the night, and in his 2nd Letter chapter 3, Peter added
"when that happens, everything that is not of God shall be burned up”.
So, if Christians "go to heaven" when they die, that "heaven" is only temporary,
because once the Judgement is over
and the Devil and his demons have been destroyed
this earth will be re-created
and we shall live on it along with God,
and everything and everybody will be perfect, for ever.
Our bodies will not be like these ones, but better.
Lazarus died and Jesus brought him back to life, in his same body,
and that was the case with Jairus’ daughter and the widow of Nain’s son,
but this will not be the case with us.
According to Paul in 1st Corinthians 15, we have a new body,
and be totally new creations.
We will be transformed.
We will have shapes or forms and be recognisably human,
but we shall not be subject to aging, hunger,
cold, wear and tear or any form of pain
and certainly not ever again be subject to death.
Jerusalem will be the centre of the world
but God's people, made beautiful and immortal
will live in different parts of the earth just as we do now
most probably in communities or particular circles of people.
Given that we will be there for eternity,
it seems likely that eventually we will meet most of the Bible characters
or other Christian ‘greats’ or “saints” who were saved by faith.
Imagine bumping into Abraham, David, Peter or Paul
and enjoying the company of Martin Luther,
or hymn writers such as John Wesley,
or great preachers such as Charles Spurgeon.
Jesus said there would be no marriage in heaven
but there will be the joy of resuming relationships
which were special to us on this earth in an atmosphere of perfect love.
Imagine answering the door and finding a long-lost friend
or family member there;
a miscarried or cot death baby will be reunited with its mother.
John Lennon urged us to ‘imagine there’s no heaven’,
but I think it’s much better to imagine what heaven will be like,
but it will be here, not up in space somewhere.
What will we not see in heaven?
Many things, such as hospitals, courts, prisons, sin and death.
There will be no money; no profiteering; no exploitation or unfairness.
Everyone will co-operate and collaborate, share and treat each other right,
because we will all be brothers and sisters,
and best of all there will be no sin.
Obviously mortal humans cannot know all the answers
and Jesus, while he revealed much,
said there were things he could not talk about
because we would never be able to understand,
but it’s going to be good
and it’s going to be ours,
because Jesus has the words of eternal life.
All we have to be sure of is that our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life,
for it says in Revelation 20:15 that anyone whose name was not written in it
will be burned up in the lake of fire.
We can be sure of our place if we believe Jesus’ words in John 6
And elsewhere in the Gospels,
that he, and he alone, has the words of eternal life.
Although we might not be able to work out exactly what form eternal life will take,
we can be assured that it is going to be good,
and it is going to be ours,
not because of our power or goodness, as Jesus said in John 6:63,
but because of his saving death.
So, as I said at the beginning,
I thank God for this life, my home, my family, my church.
But I believe in heaven and that it will be better than anything this world could offer.
God is there;
Jesus is there;
the angels and saints are there;
and there is no suffering or evil or death there.
So, when the time allotted to me by God is up
I want to go to heaven.
It is certainly going to be much better than the alternative
which my sins would cause me to deserve!
Amen, and the peace ………….
