Scripture Reading: John 14:1-12
Introduction:
Every once in a while I get homesick. Does anyone here know anything about being homesick? The past few weeks I’ve got to admit I have been just a little homesick for Momma. This doesn’t happen very often – not that I don’t love my Momma, but I am just not that kind of guy who is a Momma’s boy. However, the last few weeks I’ve missed my Mother.
I remember a time when I was at Penn View (college), that I got depressed because I missed my mother waking me up every morning I telling me that “I was ugly and my Momma dressed me funny.” This was just something that my mother and I often joked around about. No one else really understands this when I tell them, but I got to missing my mother when I thought about this.
Well, this morning I want to tell you about a place that I am far more homesick for than I am for Ohio. Every once in a while, I get homesick for heaven! Yesterday as I was out visiting with some different people I just got to thinking about how homesick I was to meet Jesus face to face. I am looking forward to that day! I am looking forward to the time when I can bow before Him and praise His name forever! I am homesick for heaven this morning!
D.L. Moody said, “The thought of Heaven has cheered the soul of many believers. Some say that we are fools to believe in Heaven. But, to deny Heaven is to deny Jesus, for He came from Heaven, it is to place our departed loved ones in the cold dark grave, it is to deprive millions of Christians of the greatest hope they have. To deny Heaven is equal to murder for it kills hope, to thievery for it robs joy, to slander because it calls God a liar.” Today, I would like to state for the record that I believe in heaven!
We live in a world that does not offer the child of God much hope or encouragement. With sin, crime and ungodliness abounding everywhere, it is easy to become discouraged, disillusioned and disappointed. That is why it is important for us to remember where we are going!
Allow me to remind you that this world is not our home and that we are just passing through. Philippians 3:20-21 says, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
Homecoming day is coming! This morning I want to talk to you about heaven for just a little while from this passage of Scripture in John 14.
I. The Promise of Heaven (v. 1-2)
Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told I go to prepare a place for you.” Jesus has promised heaven to those who follow Him! Heaven is a reality this morning! Jesus said so, and that is good enough for me! According to one poll I read recently, 78% of Americans believe in heaven. Well, I am glad to tell you, whether you believe it or not there is a place called heaven for those who are Christians!
Heaven is promised. Here in these verses of Scripture Jesus promises to give peace. He said, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” What a powerful promise! Jesus has promised that He can give us peace in life. It is a peace that never falters or fails. It is a peace that we can count on when hard times come. It is a peace that only Christ can provide.
Jesus gives us security in insecure times. The peace of Christ is firm when everything else falls short. It is a peace that penetrates our deepest pain. It is a peace that supports us in our greatest grief. It is a peace that comforts when nothing else can. It is a peace that brings us back to the state of living.
This is a peace beyond comprehension. Human understanding fails us, but Jesus never fails! There are times in life when things happen that we just do not understand. There are times when our human understanding fails us completely. There are times when we have questions that seemingly have no answers. But Jesus offers us peace. There is a greater peace that Christ has promised. It is a perfect peace and one that gives us strength when our strength is completely gone. This peace is gained by our trust in Christ. You can have this peace by placing your faith in Christ. Because I have placed my faith in Jesus Christ, He is able to give me peace in the midst of a world of trouble. We have the promise of heaven, and nothing does my heart better than to remember that this world will not last. I may have heart aches, and I may have troubles. This world can depress one very quickly when we get thinking about all of the evil and wickedness of our day, but we need to remember that heaven has been promised to those who trust in Jesus! When I read yesterday of how a lesbian pastor in the United Methodist church was acquitted and allowed to continue in the ministry even after getting “married” to her lesbian lover, my heart was troubled and rightfully so. When I see the moral corruption of our day, my heart is troubled. But, I am glad that there is a day that is coming when we shall see Jesus, and no longer will there be the evil and the corruption of this world – we will be in heaven.
We have the promise of heaven. Notice next that Jesus tells us about…
II. The Preparation of Heaven (v. 2-4)
Read v. 2-4 basically, Jesus was saying, ‘You don’t
need to get troubled in your heart about things; I am going to prepare a home for you in heaven.’
Jesus Christ is right now in heaven preparing a place for us to live with Him forever!
Have you ever wondered just what heaven is going to be like? I know that I have. Someone wrote a song that says, “I can only imagine what it will be like, when I walk by Your side...I can only imagine, what my eyes will see, when Your Face is before me! I can only imagine. Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still? Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing ’Hallelujah!’? Will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine! I can only imagine, when that day comes, when I find myself standing in the Son! I can only imagine, when all I will do, is forever, forever worship You! I can only imagine!
There is much about heaven that we don’t know and we can only imagine what it is going to be like. Imagine the best thing you can think about, the most beautiful place in the world, the most wonderful peace you’ve ever felt – now, that won’t even scratch the surface of what heaven is going to be like. 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.”
The Bible does give us a little picture of what heaven will be like. One of the most exciting and exhilarating aspects of the description is the realization that there won’t be heavy hearts in heaven. Rev. 21:4, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” If there was no other verse in Scripture to express to me the beauty of heaven, this verse, in and of itself, is enough to make me want to be there!
Sin will be out of the picture, there can only be eternal bliss. There will be no death there. “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54).
Heaven will be a place of unparalleled beauty. I am sure many of you have been blessed to see some truly wonderful sites in your lifetime. I have seen some beautiful places in my lifetime. I have seen the sun set over the ocean. I have seen Mt. Rushmore. I have seen a lot of places and there are a lot more I would like to see, and yet in all of this earths splendor and beauty, the beautiful things of this world pale in comparison to Heaven.
Mining companies still work in places where the yield of gold is just one ounce for one ton of worked dirt. It takes a lot of work to find gold on this planet because there isn’t much of it. If you melted down all of the gold that has ever been mined, it would fit into a cube measuring twenty yards on each side. Gold is so limited that the international monetary system is no longer based on gold but paper currencies like the dollar. In fact, the full gold standard only lasted from the 1870s to World War I. But what is scarce on earth is abundant in heaven. When John caught a glimpse of heaven he said, “The great street of the city was of pure gold” (Rev. 21:21). It’s another vivid reminder that what we frequently pursue and consider to be of greatest value is nothing more than pocket change to God.
Heaven is going to be a beautiful place. Jesus Christ
has spent the last 2,000 years preparing it!
A little boy who was six years old wrote a letter to God it said: “Dear God, My grandfather died this year, as you know. I felt very sad. Maybe you did not know. My grandfather likes ice cream a lot. Please make sure he is taken care of.”
Well, I don’t know if there will be ice cream in heaven but I do know that heaven is going to be a wonderful place!
Possible illustration: There is an old legend of a swan and a crane. A beautiful swan alighted by the banks of the water in which a crane was wading about seeking snails. For a few moments the crane viewed the swan in stupid wonder and then inquired:
"Where do you come from?"
"I come from heaven!" replied the swan.
"And where is heaven?" asked the crane.
"Heaven!" said the swan, "Heaven! Have you never heard of heaven?" And the beautiful bird went on to describe the grandeur of the Eternal City. She told of streets of gold, and the gates and walls made of precious stones; of the river of life, pure as crystal, upon whose banks is the tree whose leaves shall be for the healing of the nations. In eloquent terms the swan sought to describe the hosts who live in the other world, but without arousing the slightest interest on the part of the crane.
Finally the crane asked: "Are there any snails there?"
"Snails!" repeated the swan; "no! Of course there are not."
"Then," said the crane, as it continued its search along the slimy banks of the pool, "you can have your heaven. I want snails!"
This fable has a deep truth underlying it. How many people have turned their back upon God and searched for snails! How many a man will sacrifice his wife, his family, his all, for the snails of sin! How many a girl has deliberately turned from the love of parents and home to learn too late that heaven has been forfeited for snails!
Jesus Christ is right now preparing this place for those who have given their hearts and lives to Him! I don’t know about you but I am looking for to heaven!
Heaven is being prepared, are you ready? As the old saying goes, “Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people.” Which lead me to my last point, Jesus next tells us…
III. The Pathway to Heaven (v. 5-12)
What is the pathway to heaven? How do you get there? It is only through Jesus Christ! There are no other ways there! People will try to tell you that you can follow Buddha or Mohammed or whatever you chose, but Jesus said in verse 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” You can’t go to heaven without Jesus. Do you remember that song we sang as children “You can’t get to heaven without S-a-v-a-t-i-o-n”? Well, there is no salvation except through the blood of Jesus Christ! You may say that you can follow your own individual path to heaven, but let me tell you the only path that your own path will take you is straight into hell! Jesus is the only way to heaven.
So, are you on that path? Have you confessed your sins, believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and forsaken your sins? You had better if you want to go to heaven.
Years ago a man was searching his family roots and visited several cemeteries and read many inscriptions on the tombstones. There was one tombstone on which was engraved "Pause now stranger as you pass by; as you are now, so once was I. as I am now, so soon you will be. Prepare yourself to follow me
You must be prepared! The pathway to heaven is straight and it is narrow, but it leads to life everlasting! In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
One of the gates Jesus describes leads to the way of life. He calls it the narrow gate. He says that this gate is small, and the way is narrow. He also indicates that there will be few people who will find it. But it is the gate that leads to life.
The life of which He speaks is undoubtedly eternal life. So, what He is saying is that the path He describes is the way to Heaven. And this being true, we should understand the characteristics of this way.
One of the characteristics of this gate is that it is small. But it is a gate and while it may be small, we can thank God that it is not shut. You see, this gate leads to a way. When we find the gate we may enter the way.
Of course, Jesus Christ has opened up this way by His death on the cross of Calvary. His payment there for our sins made it possible for God to open the way of salvation for all of us. So we see that the way, while it is small, is nonetheless open to us.
Another characteristic of this way is that it is narrow. Jesus said that the way is narrow that leads to life.
Implied in the word narrow is the idea of exclusion. A broad way by definition includes more than a narrow way. In fact, Jesus not only teaches that the way is narrow; He also teaches that there is, in fact, only one way. In John 14:6 we read, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me." It should be clear that Jesus is not simply a way to God; He is the only way to God. This is the truth we find reiterated in Acts 4:12, where it says that, "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved." Someone has said that this gate is as narrow as the new birth. Indeed, that is true, for only the new birth brings you through this gate.
The fact that the way is narrow could also indicate that we must come alone and bring nothing with us. There have been commentators who have suggested that a turnstile should represent the idea of the narrow gate. When you come through a turnstile, you come alone and cannot carry baggage with you. This is the way we must enter the Kingdom. We enter, not in groups, but as individuals.
This gate and way is narrow because it focuses on God’s truth. Truth must be narrow. That is the nature of truth. Either a thing is true, or it is not. And a thing is true regardless of how one feels about it. Your opinion of truth does not determine truth. Whether you believe in the law of gravity doesn’t change the fact that when you jump off a building you will no doubt fall to your death. And it makes no difference whether you like the truth of God, it is still the truth.
A final characteristic of this way is that it is the way of the few. Jesus said that few are those who find it.
Perhaps there are few who find this gate because there are few who seek this gate. After all, Jesus told us that if we would seek, we would find. Perhaps it is because there are so many people seeking so many other things that more do not find this way. But the fact that this way is only found by the minority does not lessen the truth that only those who find this way will be given entrance into Heaven. Make no mistake about it. The reason why there are few who enter by this gate is that there are few who are willing to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven and that will live their lives for Him. And this, of course, is why Jesus exhorts us to enter by the narrow gate.
Conclusion:
Are you on your way to heaven? If you are you have reason to rejoice this morning! We are much too quite about the fact that we are soon to be going Home! Jesus Christ is coming, and He is coming soon! Even if He doesn’t come back in my lifetime, I am glad that one day I will meet Him face to face. I want to be ready, don’t you?
D. L. Moody told a story about two men who, under the influence of liquor, found their way to the dock where their boat was tied. The two men wanted to return home, so they got in the boat and began to row. Though they rowed hard all night, they did not reach the other side of the bay. When the gray dawn of the morning broke, they were in exactly the same spot from which they started. They had neglected to loosen the mooring-line and raise the anchor!
Mr. Moody used this story as an analogy of the way in which many people are thwarted in their striving for heaven because they are tied to this world. "Cut the cord! Cut the cord!" he would admonish. "Set yourself free from the clogging weight of earthly things, and you will be headed toward heaven."
Perhaps there may be some here this morning that need to cut the cord, to sin and this world, and set sail and follow Jesus. One day your reward will be heaven if you do.
Possible closing illustration: We are not home yet, but homecoming day is coming! Let’s be ready! Samuel Morrison was a faithful missionary who served twenty-five years in Africa. In failing health, Morrison returned to the United States. Also traveling home on the same ocean liner was President Teddy Roosevelt who had been in Africa for a three-week hunting expedition. As the large ship pulled into New York harbor, it looked as though the entire city had come out to welcome the President. Music filled the air, banners wafted in the wind, balloons flew to the sky, flashbulbs were popping, and confetti streamed down like snow. As Roosevelt stepped into sight, the crowd exploded in applause and cheers. It was truly a reception fit for a king. While all of the eyes were on the President, Morrison quietly disembarked and slipped through the crowd. None of the applause was for him and nobody was there to welcome him home. His heart began to ache as he prayed, “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.” He then felt the gentle touch of God and sensed the Spirit say, “But my dear child, you are not home yet!” What a joyous thought to realize presidential receptions pale in comparison to the heavenly homecoming that awaits every child of God.
