MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
TEXT: John 14:1-3; 2 Cor. 12:4; Psalm 14:2, 139:8-10; Ecc. 3:11; Deut 6:15; 2 Chron. 2:6, 6:21; Rev. 5:13, 21:4, 23, 25, 27; Luke 13:28-29; Matt.17:4; 1 Cor. 15:51-54; Job 19:25-27
It’s a beautiful day in Flint Ridge, & I’m so glad to enjoy it with you who are here. As most of you know, ever since Covid started, we have been broadcasting our Worship Service on Facebook & Right Now Media.
And we have been told that people are watching our services in CA, CO, TX, MO, here in OK & AR, & maybe in a few other places as well.
But this morning I want to direct my message to Gene Mefford. This week I received a call from Marti, Gene’s wife, telling me that Gene had reached a crisis point, & was asking me to pray for him. So, on their speaker phone, I prayed & then passed the information on to my wife, who passed it on to our prayer chains.
The good news this morning is that the crisis is past – that our prayers were answered. That is why I direct this message to Gene, & to all those who may need its encouragement today.
As I begin I want to say that I adapted much of this message from an excellent sermon by Jeff Strite, a preacher in Indiana.
For those of you who are following our series of sermons & S.S. lessons in The Story by Randy Frazee, we are in Chapter 26, titled “The Hour of Darkness.”
And in this chapter we come to Jesus in the Upper Room where he has just told the Apostles that one of them will betray him & that Peter will deny him 3 times before dawn. In the midst of all this, Judas leaves the Upper Room, & the rest of the Apostles are left bewildered by what Jesus has said.
So, as recorded in John 14:1-3 (NIrV), let me read to you some of the words of comfort that Jesus said to them. It is one of my favorite passages in the N.T.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe in me also. There are many rooms in my Father’s house. If this were not true would I have told you that I am going there?
“Would I have told you that I would prepare a place for you there? If I go and do that, I will come back. And I will take you to be with me. Then you will also be where I am.”
Did you notice that I read, ‘There are many rooms in my Father’s house”? In the KJV it says, “many mansions.” Other versions say: “many abiding places” or “dwellings” or “resting places” or “homes.” In our modern day it could even include the idea of “apartments” or “condominiums.’
The original Greek word in which most of the N.T. was written means “dwellings” or “abodes.” So where did the translators of the KJV get the idea of translating it as “mansions?” That’s not wrong, but let’s understand what Jesus was saying.
ILL. A little boy got on the elevator with his father at the Empire State Building. They were going to the observation deck at the top & view New York city. As the elevator ascended the boy watched the signs flash as they went by the floors: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70.
The farther up they went, the more nervous the boy became. Finally he looked up at his dad & said, “Daddy, does God know we're coming?” (Leighton Ford, "Hope for a Great Forever," Preaching Today, Tape #96)
I. GOD KNOWS WE’RE COMING
This morning, we’re going to talk about heaven, & the first thing I want to point out is that God knows we’re coming, & there is a place prepared for you & for me.
ILL. There are many people who want to go there. In fact, almost every religion has some concept of what heaven is:
“It’s been called Paradise, Utopia, Nirvana, Asgard, Valhalla, Zion, New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God, a happy hunting ground, the sweet by & by, with streets paved with gold, walls made of jasper, pearls & all kinds of precious jewels.” (Adapted from Joseph Phillips)
And the reason Heaven is so universally believed in is because Ecc.3:11 says God “has set eternity in the hearts of men…”
God has placed in us the idea that there has to be more than just here! There has to be a place where God rewards those who love & obey Him, & a place where God punishes those who don’t!
II. WHAT WILL HEAVEN BE LIKE?
So what will heaven be like? We don’t know. The Bible doesn’t tell us much. In fact, the Apostle Paul says “… he was taken up to paradise. He heard things there that couldn’t be put into words.” (2 Corinthians 12:4 NIrV)
ILL. Other religions have very explicit descriptions of heaven. The Koran has a detailed description of paradise – it’s a place filled with beautiful “female companions” (It’s all about the guys. Women get to tag along, but heaven, to Muslims, is a very male type of place).
And much of Muslim teachings about paradise are based on stories Mohammed told about a miraculous journey he supposedly had there.
Buddhism has as many paradises as there are Buddhas. In addition, various gods & goddesses inhabit a series of heavens all their own. (Time 3/24/97 pg. 78)
I could go on about different religions & their descriptions of heaven, but Christianity says comparatively little about heaven outside of some statements about what will be & won’t be there.
And you have to expect that because no matter what you & I may think of heaven our imaginations are a pathetic shadow of the reality of what it’s going to be like. But God does give us images - word pictures - that help us have an “inkling” of what Heaven is like.
III. WHAT WON’T BE & WILL BE IN HEAVEN
So I don’t know exactly what heaven will look like, but I do know what won’t be - & what will be there.
Revelation 21 tells us what won’t be there: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain...the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light...
“On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there...nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Revelation 21: 4, 23, 25, 27
“No death, no sorrow, no crying, no pain,” no people who hurt you or make you feel insecure or threatened. There’ll be a lot of things missing from heaven - things that we experience here on earth that are frustrating & make life uncomfortable & dangerous.
One poet spoke of heaven this way:
No dust, nor rust, no rats, no rot - no raucous rock, no potent pot.
No growing old with weakened sight - no dentures slipping when you bite. No bombs, no guns, no courts, no jails - where all succeed & no one fails. All tell the truth, they state only facts - no wars, no debts, no income tax.
According to this dream of mine, in Heaven no one stands in line. And there are only smiling faces, & lots & lots of open spaces."
So that’s what won’t be there. But what will be in heaven? What can we expect? Well, there will be a lot of singing & worship there.
Revelation 5:13 tells us, “… every creature in heaven & on earth & under the earth & on the sea, & all that is in them, were singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne & to the Lamb be praise & honor & glory & power, forever & ever!’
There are some people who’ve heard about that & think that all this worship & singing will be boring - but it won’t be.
ILL. Have you ever gotten up one morning, turned on the radio & heard a song that just made you want to bounce with the music? You begin to sing along & maybe even dance around? You just can’t help yourself because that song makes you feel so good.
That is what worship in Heaven will be like! The songs you’ll hear & the worship you’ll experience will so fill you with joy & excitement you’ll wish it would never stop. It won’t be boring in heaven. Every time you turn around – you’ll practically run into something new & exciting.
And, heaven will not only not be boring – there will be a lot of famous people there. Jesus said we will “see Abraham, Isaac & Jacob & all the prophets in the kingdom of God… People will come from east & west & north & south, & will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.” Luke 13:28-29
We’ll see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Matthew, Mark, Luke & John, Paul & Peter - & on & on. And can you imagine the stories they’ll be able to tell?
I’d love to hear Noah tell about building the Ark, & about spending an entire year on that boat with all those animals. I look forward to Jonah explaining what it was like to be swallowed by that giant fish, & hearing Peter talk about walking on the water.
And I really believe we’ll learn how God created the world; how Moses received the 10 Commandments, & even some things not mentioned in the Bible: what God did behind the scenes as He worked in the lives of men & women down through the ages.
And you’ll not just see famous people - you’ll see people you’ve known - people you’ve loved & cared about while you lived here on earth.
Do you remember when Jesus took Peter, James & John up on the mountain & Elijah & Moses appeared to them? Now Moses & Elijah had lived centuries before - but Peter knew who they were.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters - one for you, one for Moses & one for Elijah.” Matt. 17:4
Just think, if Peter could recognize Moses & Elijah (who he had never met) we can count on being able to recognize our loved ones who have died as Christians. But they will be a little different than how we remember them. And so will we.
Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:51-54 (NIrV): “Listen! … We will not all die, but we will all be changed. That will happen in a flash, as quickly as you can wink an eye. It will happen at the blast of the last trumpet.
“Then the dead will be raised to live forever. And we will be changed. … Then what is written will come true. It says, ‘Death has been swallowed up. It has lost the battle.” I’ll be able to recognize you, & you’ll be able to recognize me but we will have changed. Once we reach heaven - we’ll live forever!
IV. WHERE IS HEAVEN?
But where is heaven? I don’t know. However, the Bible does speak of heaven as UP. Now, we’d think that’d be obvious, but skeptics have attacked that for years.
They’ve scoffed & asked “Where exactly is this heaven of yours? Is it up in the stratosphere somewhere? Is it on the outskirts of our solar system? Is it in a distant galaxy - or on the other side of the Universe?”
ILL. Back in the 60’s there was a Russian Cosmonaut, Major Titov, who mocked our faith. He had just returned from his trip into space & scoffed that he hadn’t seen God while he was there. Someone who heard about that joked: “Well, if he’d stepped out of his capsule without his space suit on he would have seen God!”
But I suspect that’s not the point. I suspect God uses this idea of heaven being UP as a word picture to tell us about Himself & about heaven.
You see, UP really isn’t where God dwells. He’s everywhere. Solomon asked: “Who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain Him?” 2 Chron. 2:6
And David noted: “If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me...” Psalm 139:8-10
God is everywhere! But the Bible still talks about God being UP in heaven. Now why would it do that? Well, here are 3 verses that I think illustrate “Why?”
Psalm 14:2 “The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.”
2 Chron. 6:21, King Solomon prays, “…listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place (the Temple). And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.”
Deut. 26:15 “Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us…”
This idea that God is looking down from heaven is there to help us understand that God is able to see & hear everything we do & say, & to look into our hearts & lives & yet bless us all.
It doesn’t really matter where Heaven is. All that matters is that we realize how powerful God is, & how wonderful eternal life can be.
And a lot of the imagery about heaven in Scripture is like that. They’re word pictures. Revelation speaks of gates made of a single pearl & streets made of gold that’s so pure you can see through it.
Now I suppose there could be a pearl so huge you could use it for a gate & gold could be so pure it would be transparent, but I’m convinced these are descriptions that God uses to impress us with the beauty & awesomeness of heaven.
And I believe God uses such imagery because there’s nothing here that would even begin to prepare us for what heaven will be like, because Heaven will be so different from anything we’ve ever experienced here on earth.
V. WE WILL SEE GOD!
But most wonderful of all, we will see Jesus & God in all their glory! That will make all the wonders of heaven seem pale by comparison. That will be even more important to us than family, friends, or even meeting all those famous people.
Job 19:25-27 says, “I know that my Redeemer lives, & that in the end … I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes - I, & not another. How my heart yearns within me!”
That is just an inkling of what it will be like when we see Jesus, & we see God. All they will have to do is just look at you - & you will know it’s been worth it all.
ILL. The story is told of the days when doctors visited their patients at home. It was obvious the patient didn’t have long to live, & as the doctor was about to leave, the sick man called out, "Doctor, I’m afraid to die. Can you tell me what lies on the other side?"
The doctor was very quiet for a moment & then said, "I don’t know." "You don’t know? You’re a Christian & you don’t know what is on the other side?"
The doctor’s hand was on the handle of the door, & on the other side was this sound of scratching & whining. And as he opened the door a dog ran into the room & jumped & eagerly licked his face. It was the doctor’s dog. He’d brought it with him on this visit. Suddenly the Doctor realized how to answer his question.
"Did you see what my dog just did? He’s never been in this room before. He didn’t know what was in here. He
knew nothing except that I was here, & when the door opened he rushed in without fear.
“I know very little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing: I know my Lord is there, & that is enough. And when the door opens, I’ll pass through with no fear, but with joy & gladness.”
Gene, one day that joy & gladness will be yours. And to all those who heard this message, you can share in that joy too.
Realize that you have sinned, yet God still loves you. Repent of your sins, accept Jesus as your Savior & make that known by following his example & command in baptism. Will you decide today? He is inviting you to come just as you are.
And if you have already done that someplace else, but now live here, will you come to share with us in the service of our Lord? Why delay? We invite you now.
INVITATION HYMN
