I. INTRODUCTION
I invite you to open your Bibles, this morning to John chapter 14 and verse 1. John chapter 14 and verse 1. We’re going to be there in just a minute.
I said, “Please turn in your Bibles.” I hope you have one and that you have one with you. In Matthew 15:9 Jesus laments,
> Matthew 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
We never want to be found guilty of teaching the doctrine of men in this church. We want to preach and teach the Word of God as revealed in the Bible. So I invite you to check out what I preach. See if it is actually coming from the Bible.
Many of us have experienced the loss of a loved one in recent years, as a result there has been some talk and some questions about heaven.
Public-opinion polls show that most Americans not only believe in God but also anticipate some kind of heaven. According to a Newsweek Poll, 94 percent of Americans believe that God exists and 77 percent believe in a heaven. Among those believers, three out of four rate their chances of getting there good or excellent.
Christian author Phillip Yancey wrote, "Although [most] of us believe in an afterlife, no one much talks about it. Christians believe we will spend eternity in a splendid place called heaven . . . isn't it a little bizarre that we simply ignore heaven, acting as if it doesn't matter?” (Quoted in “A Ticket to Heaven” Rick Ezell, January 1, 2014, Lifeway).
Dr. Lee, that famous Baptist preacher from Memphis, was on his death bed and had been for some time. As he was waiting to be escorted to the other side, he slipped into a coma for a brief time. When he awoke, he said to Dr. Rogers, “I have preached on heaven many times, but it is so much better than I was able to describe.”
Is it any wonder?
> 1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Heaven is so much better than we can describe, or, according to the apostle Paul, better than we can even imagine.
Last week Landon sang the song for us, “I can only Imagine.” Well let me tell you my friend, heaven is so great a place that in our limited earthly experience we can only, vaguely, imagine how great it is and how great it is going to be.
This morning I would like to share some facts about heaven with you. Again, I can’t describe it completely, I can just briefly share some of the things the Bible tells us about this place we all hope to see.
II. FACTS ABOUT HEAVEN
1. Heaven Is A Real Place
First, I want you to know that heaven is a real place.
- John 14:1-3
In these verses Jesus tells us that He is going to prepare a place for us.
Heaven is a real place. It is not a state of mind. It is not a dream state. It is not a hypnotic dream state. It is a real place, prepared for us by a real God. Jesus said, “I am going to prepare a place for you.”
The word translated as mansion, or room, is the word Meno. It means room, or dwelling place, lodging, or abode. Regardless of how you translate it, each individual place will be prepared for you by Jesus.
I can look around and see what He prepared, what He created in just 6 days. Imagine what that place will be like.
Look with me please at 2 Corinthians 12.
- Read 2 Corinthians 12:2-4
Here Paul speaks of his journey to heaven. He says, whether in the body or out of the body I do not know.
Then in the next few verses he describes how he received a thorn in the flesh to keep him from becoming too proud, or exalted because of what he had seen.
Paul says, modestly describing it as a man, instead claiming the trip for himself, he says, “This man was taken to the third heaven.” Now what does that mean, the third heaven?
There are 3 heavens spoken of in the Bible, besides the new heaven. There is the heaven of the atmosphere.
Jeremiah 15:3 speaks of the birds of the heaven, or in some translations, the birds of the sky. The first heaven then is the atmosphere. It is the area the birds fly in.
The second heaven is the heaven the stars are in. The stellar heaven. Isaiah 13:10 talks about the stars of heaven. So the second heaven is the heaven the stars and galaxies are in.
The third heaven is the domain of God. The place of the angels. The place even now being prepared for us. It is a real place.
If you are a believer, a follower of Jesus Christ, some day you will go there with a resurrected body and you will need a place to rest your resurrected foot. So heaven is a real place.
2. The Saved Go To Heaven Immediately
Second, I want you to know that if you are a flower of Jesus Christ, immediately upon your death you will go to heaven. The saved go to heaven immediately.
There is no soul sleep. Your soul doesn’t wait in the grave for the resurrection to go to heaven. You go to heaven immediately upon your death.
- 2 Corinthians 5:6-8
We are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and present with the Lord.
While we live on the earth, we are contained within, and travel around in these bodies. But when these bodies die, we leave immediately to be present with the Lord, to be where He is.
The body waits in the grave for the resurrection, but the spirit goes immediately to heaven to be with the Lord.
Do you remember the account in Luke 23 where Jesus is crucified between 2 thieves? In verse 39, one of the thieves cries out to Jesus,
> Luke 23:39b - 43 Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”But the other answered, rebuking him: “Don’t you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment? We are punished justly, because we’re getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Do you remember the first Christian martyr? Do you remember when Stephen was stoned?
> Acts 7:56-59 He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him. They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
Stephen saw heaven opened, and he cried out to the Lord Jesus, “Receive my spirit.”
There is no waiting after death before you go to heaven.
In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul talks about his life, his mission, and his struggle. In verses 21-23 he says,
> Philippians 1:21-23 For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose. I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ—which is far better.”
I long to depart and be with Christ. Paul knew with conviction that as soon as he died he would be with Jesus.
My friend, heaven is a real place. Second, when a believer dies he goes to heaven immediately. Third, you will know your loved ones in heaven.
3. You Will Know Your Loved Ones in Heaven
You will know your loved ones in heaven.
I have been asked a number of times if we will know our loved ones in heaven. I believe the answer to that is a definite yes. There is nothing in scripture to suggest that somehow we go through a holy brainwashing where we forget everything and everyone before we get to heaven.
Honestly, I believe we will know people better in heaven than we have ever known them here on earth.
> 1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.
I will know more fully as I am fully known. I believe we will know each other better in heaven than we know each other now.
Do you know how the Bible described someone dying? It says, he was gathered to his people. In Genesis 25, it is written of Abraham,
> Genesis 25:8 He took his last breath and died at a good old age, old and contented, and he was gathered to his people.
In Genesis 27:12 it is written of Moses,
> Genesis 27:12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range and see the land that I have given the Israelites. 13 After you have seen it, you will also be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was.
You will be gathered to your people. You won’t be among strangers. You won’t be in a place where you don’t know anyone. You will be gathered to your people.
Do you remember when David sinned with Bathsheba? Bathsheba gave birth to a child and the Lord told David the child would die. While the child was sick, David fasted and prayed. Finally the baby died. David’s servants were afraid to tell David. They said, “If he won’t eat while the baby is sick, what will he do when finds out the boy had died?”
King David heard them talking and said, “The baby has died, hasn’t he?” They said “yes.”
David got up, washed his face, combed his hair and got something to eat.
His servants asked him why the change? David answered in 2 Samuel 12:22-23,
> 2 Samuel 12:22-23 He answered, “While the baby was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let him live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I’ll go to him, but he will never return to me.”
He can’t come back, but some day I will go to him. I will be able to see my child again healthy and whole.
Oh I look forward to that day. Gladys and I have a child we never met, that we will get to see in heaven one day.
I wonder, though the Bible doesn’t tell us, how old we will look when we get to heaven.
- Read Matthew 17:1-8
Ya’ll remember this account of Jesus and the disciples on the mount of transfiguration. That was a preview of heaven. Peter, James and John had never met Moses or Elijah before. They had lived thousands of years before, and yet somehow, in this setting, they knew who they were instantly.
You will know your loved ones in heaven.
One of my favorite memories growing up, was the family get togethers. We would get together with my mom’s people pretty regularly in Jacksonville, and they would all come down here for Thanksgiving.
We got together with my Dad’s people pretty regularly as well, but always on Christmas. They had a big old table in the dining room where they would set up a buffet. All of the adults would sit in there, and we grandchildren would be stuck at the kids’ tables, plural, in the other room. After all, there 20 something of us grandchildren.
I loved those get-togethers where we got to see family, cousins and such that we had not seen in some time.
In Matthew 8:11 Jesus says, “I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
There is going to be a family reunion in heaven around the banquet table. It’s going to be the biggest wing ding you have ever seen, and you will know your family there.
So when God told Moses, the man who’s mother had hidden him in a basket in the river for months, the man who’s mother had guarded him and who reared him for the first years of his life, when God told Moses to go into the mountains to be gathered to his people, God was basically telling him, “Go see your mother.”
We will know our loved ones in heaven.
4. There Will Be Stuff For Us To Do In Heaven
We often see heaven pictured as a bunch of people with wings and halos, sitting around on clouds, strumming harps. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like heaven to me. How boring would that be?
My word, I remember Gladys and I being stuck on the couch for a few days, watching TV while we had covid. I was nearly bored out of my skull. Sitting around strumming a harp doesn’t sound any better.
No. There will be things for us to do.
Do you remember in the Garden of Eden, before the fall, God told Adam and Eve to tend the garden. In other words, He told them to take care of the place. There was work to be done before the fall, before sin entered the picture. It is only sin that made work bad.
And by the way, Ya’ll don’t need to attend the next God and Garden meeting. I can tell you right now what Daisy is going to say. “Brother Gene said in heaven we are all going to be gardeners.”
Isn’t there something you enjoy doing that others would consider work? God created us to be creative and productive. He never created us to sit and do nothing.
I read a while back about a couple who had retired in their 40’s and who were spending the rest of their days playing tennis and collecting sea shells. No, God created us, He designed us to be productive, to be creative.
- Read Luke 19:12-18
Jesus is the Nobleman in this passage, and He clearly teaches that those who faithfully serve Him while He is away, will be given even greater responsibility when He returns.
Revelation 7:15 says that we will serve the Lord.
> 2 Timothy 2:12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;?if we deny him, he will also deny us;
Oh my friend, heaven will be anything but boring. The Lord will give us responsibilities and assignments in His kingdom.
Can you imagine working in a place with a Boss like Jesus? Can you imagine working in a kingdom with a King like Jesus who knows every citizen, Who knows every effort and every contribution you make?
Oh, there will be stuff to do in heaven. But it will be better than you can ever imagine.
> Revelation 7:15-17 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. The one seated on the throne will shelter them: They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any scorching heat. For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; he will guide them to springs of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
What a great place to work. What a joy it will be serving the Lord there.
5. There will be only good and no bad in heaven
> Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.
Can you imagine a place where there are no tears? A place where there is no death, and no grief, no crying and no pain. Heaven is that place.
- Read Revelation 21:19-21
The Lord here has heaven described as having Jewels and pearls and streets of gold. He uses these to describe for us the purity, the beauty, the cleanliness, and the holiness of that great city.
Heaven is a place of unimaginable beauty, where there is nothing ugly, dirty, or disappointing.
When I was in college, I took as many classes as I could, as quickly as I could. I finished my bachelor’s degree in 3 years. My mom asked why I was in such a hurry. I said I want to get this behind me so I can get one with life. My mom said, “Well, this is part of life.” I said, “No it’s not, it’s something I have to do before I can start life.”
I believe that’s what Paul is experiencing in Philippians 1:23 when he says, “I am torn between the two.”
Paul says, “I have work to do here, but I sure am looking forward to going there. I can’t wait to get this over with so I can go there.”
So many people regret death. Sure, I hate it when other people die. I miss their company, but I do not fear or hate my own death because what is waiting on the other side is so much better.
Oh, on the other side the pain is gone, the tears are gone, I will see my family and I will see my Lord.
> John 17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation.”
Can you imagine, in heaven I get to see my Lord! In heaven I get to see the Savior Who gave His life for Me, the Father Who sent Him for me, and the Holy Spirit Who dwells in me!”
The story is told about a patient who was just given some bad news at the doctor’s office. The patient was discouraged and downhearted because of diagnosis. In his grief, he asked his doctor if he knew what waited on the other side? The doctor answered.
Do you hear those claws on my door? Those are my dog’s toe nails. He’s trying to get in here. My dog had never been in this room. He has no idea what’s on those side of the door. All he knows for sure is that I am here. He loves me and that’s enough for him.
I don’t know everything about heaven. I don’t know what all we’ll do. I don’t know what all we’ll wear or everywhere we will go, but I do know this, my Savior will be there, and that’s enough for me.
Heaven is a great place. It is beyond our imagination, and there is only one way to get there, and that is through a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 14:6 Jesus says,
> John 14:6 . . . “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Sir, Ma’am, there is nothing you can do to get to this wonderful place apart from Jesus Christ. You cannot attend church enough. You cannot give enough. You cannot serve enough. There is nothing you can do to get to heaven apart from having a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Have you trusted in Jesus Christ? Have you made Him your Lord and Savior? Becoming a flower of Jesus Christ is not walking an aisle. It’s not praying a prayer. It is repenting of your sins and placing all of your hope and all of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Becoming a follower of Jesus Christ
> Luke 13:5 Expect ye repent ye shall all perish.
Admit that you have sinned
> Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the[a] glory of God;
> Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Believe in Jesus Christ
> Romans 10:23 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Confess your sins
> 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Ask Jesus to become the Lord of your life.
> Revelation 3:20 Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into him and dine with him and sup with him and he with Me.
Will you give your life to Jesus today?
Oh my friend, heaven is a great place.
If You Could See Me Now
Don Moen
Our prayers have all been answered
I finally arrived
The healing that had been delayed
Is now realized
No one's in a hurry
There's no schedule to keep
We're all enjoying Jesus
Just sitting at His feet
If you could see me now
I'm walking streets of gold
If you could see me now
I'm standing tall and whole
If you could see me now
You'd know I've seen His face
My light and temporary trials
Have worked out for my good
To know it brought Him glory
When I misunderstood
Though we've had our sorrows
They can never compare
To what Jesus has in store for us
No language can share
If you could see me now
You'd know the pain's erased
You wouldn't want me
To ever leave this place
If only you could see me now
