TEXT: Revelation 21:1-8/22-22:5
OPENING: KNOWING HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN R.Digest 2/84 p. 153 From Bishop Fulton J. Sheen’s autobiography "Treasure in Clay."
I stopped to ask a few boys for directions to the Town Hall where I was giving a lecture. They told me where the Town Hall was and then asked, "What are you going to do there?"
"I’m giving a lecture on heaven and how to get there. Would you like to come and find out?"
"You’re kidding," one boy said. "You don’t even know the way to the Town Hall."
There’s a song that goes: "Heaven is a wonderful place, filled with glory and grace - I want to see my Savior’s face, Heaven is a wonderful place... I want to go there"
"Us News and World Report" commented on a 1990 survey which indicated that 78% of Americans believed in heaven - and believed they were going to get there.
APPLICATION: The picture we see in Revelation describes why going to heaven is such an exciting possibility.
ILLUS: When my boy Jonathan was 2 1/2 years old, he found a J.C. Penney "Wish Book" in the house and began carrying it around with him everywhere he went. He’d ask me to "read" it to him. The pictures alone excited him.
Now, imagine how he would react if I took him to a "Toys R Us" store, opened the doors and said, "Jonathan, we’ve come into an inheritance that includes everything in this store. It’s all yours."
That would be heaven for him.
In Revelation, the Angel is telling us - Heaven is a wonderful place - you want to go there. AND when you go there, the description you find in this Book is only an inkling of what you’ll receive.
But, there are some mysteries about heaven.
I. Mystery #1 - We’re already in heaven.
ILLUS: (true story) During a sermon a preacher stated that money wasn’t important in the afterlife, because in heaven, there is no money. A woman overheard one parishioner whisper to her mother, "Did you hear that, Mom? we’re already in heaven."
Believe it or not, it’s true. We’re already there. Ephesians 2:6 tells us "God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus."
It may not be a tangible reality… but it is a spiritual reality.
Physically - you still face loss, heartache, tears, pain.
BUT you ARE in God’s presence right now.
ILLUS: The brilliant scientist Sir Isaac Newton said that he could take his telescope and look millions and millions of miles into space. Then he added, "But when I lay it aside, go into my room, shut the door, and get down on my knees in earnest prayer, I see more of Heaven and feel closer to the Lord than if I were assisted by all the telescopes on earth."
II. Mystery #2 - For a place that is to be our eternal home - the Bible says surprisingly little about it.
What you find here in Revelation chapters 21 and 22 is the most detailed "description" of Heaven in the Bible.
Streets of Gold
Gates of pearl
Walls of jasper.
And we told that the walls are 12,000 stadia long and wide (1400 miles each way).
AND the wall is 1400 miles HIGH.
ILLUS: The Sear’s Tower in Chicago is 1454 FEET tall. It would take over 50 Sear’s Towers to reach the height of that wall.
Because Revelation Prophetic, there are many of us who view this terminology as being symbolic (there are those who don’t agree… BUT they have a right to be wrong).
If the descriptions we’re given in Revelation are symbolic imagery, why might God describe it that way? Possibly because we’ve never seen heaven - or anything remotely like it. The word pictures the angel gives in this text give us something to pin our imaginations on.
ILLUS: It’s kind of like explaining to a little child what a roller coaster is when they’ve never seen one before. You could tell them it’s like a train, or like a slide. The description might be inadequate, but it will give the child an idea of the fun that awaiting them inside the park.
Whether the angels words are symbolic or are an actual depiction, there’s one comfort that’s easy to visualize and easy to embrace. Heaven will be a place of
NO tears
NO death
NO mourning
NO crying
NO pain
Everything will be bright, new, refreshing, pure.
When Paul refers to his vision of heaven in II Corinthians 13 he simply says he heard things that were "inexpressible."
III. All that is great. But, the most exciting thing about heaven is this: You and I won’t be there alone - God will be there.
ILLUS: Ever been to a great even or a concert all by yourself. I once attended our church’s yearly get together - the North American Christian Convention at Indianapolis all by myself. I thought it would be a great adventure. No commitments, free time galore. Fun… BUT it wasn’t fun. I was lonely. I didn’t know anybody, and noone knew me. Nobody had the time to spend with me or talk with me or walk with me.
One of the greatest treats of Paradise is described in the early chapters of Genesis. We’re told there that God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. He didn’t just create them and put them in their garden and forget them. He spent time with them. That’s what Heaven will be like. He’ll spend time with each one of us.
V. There’s only one question left to answer - what’s it going to take to get to heaven?
I could say - "Faith, repentance, confession, baptism, and a faithful Christian life."
And I’d be right.
But there is something that’s more important for us to do to get into heaven.
In Matthew 13:44-46 Jesus told us:
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."
What’s Jesus saying? He’s saying that Heaven is for those who have a burning desire to have nothing else in there lives. I WANT TO GO THERE…and nothing less will do
CLOSE: George W. Truett, a well known preacher was invited to dinner at the home of a very wealthy man in Texas. After the meal, the host led him to a place where they could get a good view of the surrounding area.
Pointing to the oil wells, punctuating the landscape, he boasted, "Twenty five years ago, I had nothing. Now as far as you can see, it’s all mine." Looking in the opposite direction, at his sprawling fields of grain, he said, "That’s all mine." Turning east toward huge herds of cattle, he bragged, "They’re all mine too." Then, pointing to the west and a beautiful forest, he exclaimed, "That too is all mine."
He paused expecting Dr. Truett to compliment him on his great success. Truett, however, placing one hand on the man’s shoulder and pointing heavenward with the other, simply said, "How much do you have in that direction?" The man hung his head and confessed "I never thought of that."
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES:
Gaining Heaven’s Glory – Rev. 21:1-8
Escaping Hell’s Fury – Heb. 6:1-8
The Resurrection: Cold Theology or Hot Reality – Heb. 5:11-6:3
Going Beyond Repentance – Heb. 5:11-6:3
My Faith Looks Up – Heb. 5:11-6:3
