Heaven Is!
John 14:1-6
With the same voice with which Jesus spoke life back into dead ears,
He stabilized His troubled disciples with the words of John 14: 1-3: " 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 you.
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again
and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
Heaven Is Real.
Heaven is as real as any city or country on the face of this earth.
Jesus said, " I go to prepare a place for you."
If Jesus said that He went to a place, then it is sure and certain that He went to a definite place.
Heaven Is A Prepared Place.
Jesus said so, and that settles it.
That establishes the complete truth of it.
Heavenly mansions are being made ready by the Lord Jesus.
Heaven is beyond description.
Simple words and expressions are always used to describe heaven.
Heaven is a beautiful place...
Heaven is a holy place - no sin there.
Heaven is a happy place - no tears there.
"And God shall wipe all tears..." Revelation 21: 4.
Heaven is a place of perfect music.
"Again I looked, and I heard angels, thousands and millions of them!
They stood around the throne and sang in a loud voice: 'The Lamb who was killed is
worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, and strength, honor, glory, and praise!' "
(Revelation 5:11,12)
Heaven is free from all the former things of earth.
There will be no disappointments, no despair, no defeat, no divorce, no disease.
There will be no want, no worldliness, no worries.
There will be no sorrow, no clouds, no night, no bitterness, no anguish, no remorse,
no sighs, no sad laments, and no broken hearts.
There will be no more death!
There will be no death-bed scenes.
There will be no coffins, no funeral homes, no grave yards.
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth
were passed away: and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be
with them and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things
are passed away. " Revelation 21: 1-4.
" No chilling winds, or poisonous breath
Can reach that healthful shore;
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death
Are felt and feared no more.
My heavenly home is bright and fair:
Nor pain nor death can enter there;
It's glittering towers the sun outshine
That heavenly mansion shall be mine. "
Heaven is home!
Home brings to our hearts the sweetest and tenderest memories and thoughts.
Heaven is our real home!
Earth is not our home.
We are just traveling through this earth.
We are just pilgrims here.
We are going to our real home prepared for us by our Lord Jesus.
Many never have a home upon this earth, but all who will place their faith and trust
in Jesus will have a heavenly mansion.
Heaven is love.
All hatred, animosity, and strife will be gone.
Heaven will be filled with love.
Many will never find love on this earth, but they will find real love in heaven for all eternity.
Heaven is eternal.
All the homes we build here on this earth will rot and decay.
Here our homes need repair, but that need will never occur in heaven.
Here the age of our houses is limited, but our house in heaven is eternal.
Heaven is Jesus!
The question is often asked, " Where is heaven?"
A simple answer is: "Heaven is where Jesus is!"
This answer is very accurate because the Bible tells us that when we are absent from
the body, we are present with the Lord.
Wherever heaven might be located in God's vast universe, of this we can be sure
-- it is with our Lord.
I wonder if the realization of seeing Jesus face to face ever really grips us.
We sing of the Lord and we hear His name proclaimed in sermons again and again.
Are we really conscious of the fact that one day, as a child of God, we are going to see
our Saviour face to face.
We are going to see Jesus !
" It will be worth it all
When we see Jesus
Life's trials will seem so small
When we see Christ
One glimpse of His dear face
All sorrow will erase
So bravely run the race
Till we see Christ. "
Heaven is a place of sweet reunion!
"Friends will be there I have known long ago;
Joy like a river around me will flow;"...
All our loved ones who have died in Jesus are waiting for us.
Billy Graham tells of sitting at the bedside of his dying grandmother when he was ten years old.
He said that he watched her as she came face to face with her dead husband and Jesus Christ.
He said, " As long as I live, I'll never forget that spectacular incident.
I was sitting at the bedside of my grandmother as she lay dying.
The room was dark, but suddenly it filled with light.
It was a startling experience.
The window shades were drawn and the light was switched off, yet the room lit up.
My grandmother sat up in the bed which she had been unable to do for days.
Then, her face flushed with color."
" I see Jesus!" she declared with a loud voice.
" He has His arms outstretched toward me."
Then she uttered the name of her husband, Ben, who had died several years earlier
after losing an arm and an eye in the war.
" I see Ben," she said, her face beaming with life.
" He's whole again. His arm and eye have returned -- I'm coming, Ben!"
"With those words, my grandmother slumped over and died,
and the room returned to darkness."
What a day of reunion that will be!
We will never have to say goodbye to our loved ones in Christ again!
We will be with them soon - of that we may be certain.
There is a place called heaven!
Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people!
Heaven belongs to God.
It is God's heaven.
God has spelled out in the Bible the requirements on how to enter heaven.
God has declared that there is only one way to enter heaven, and that is His way.
It is foolish and futile for people to try to reach heaven by any other way.
No one can reach heaven by fasting, by reciting prayers, or counting beads.
No one can make it into heaven by human sacrifice, by giving money to priests,
pastors, or churches.
No one can qualify for heaven by baptism, church membership, or by community charities
-- or by any other effort of "works" on their part.
It cannot be done!
THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN IS GOD'S WAY,
AND GOD'S WAY IS THROUGH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST!
Jesus said, " I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man can come to
the Father but by me." (John 14: 6)
Be sure and certain that you have your reservation in heaven for this is the most important
reservation that you will ever make!
Life is so short and uncertain and death is sure to come!
So, we must make sure that our destiny is heaven and not hell.
How sad it would be if you missed heaven!
How sad it would be if your loved ones missed heaven!
How sad it would be if your closest friends missed heaven!
If you have never received Jesus as your personal Saviour - you can invite Him
into your heart right now!
Don't delay!
Don't wait another minute!
How tragic - if today would be your last day on earth, and you put off this most important decision.
What if this were your last chance to receive Jesus!
Don't you realize that "... all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3: 23)
Romans 6: 23 says, " For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
You can receive God's gift.
God's gift is His Son, Jesus.
" For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3: 16)
If you will believe -- that is if you will trust in Jesus -- God will give you a life that never ends,
and your name will be recorded in the Book of Life in heaven and you will never die!
Is your name written in the Book of Life?
If it is -- you will live with Christ and the saints of God in heaven forever.
If it isn't - how horrible!
"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
(Revelation 20: 15)
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
DON'T TURN AWAY!
This is the most important decision you will ever make!
What about your family!
"Are all the children in?
The night is falling!
And the storm clouds gather in the threatening west;
The lowing cattle seek a friendly shelter;
The bird flies to her nest;
The thunder crashes; wilder grows the tempest,
And darkness settles o'er the fearful din;
Are all the children in?
Are all the children in?
The night is falling!
When gilded sin doth walk about the street,
Ah, at last it biteth like a serpent!
Poisoned are stolen sweets.
O, mothers! guard the feet of inexperience,
Too prone to wander in the paths of sin!
Oh, shut the door of love against temptation!
Are all the children in?
Are all the children in?
The night is falling!
The night of death is hastening on apace;
The Lord is calling: Enter thou thy chamber,
And tarry there a space.
And when He comes, the King in all His glory,
Who died the shameful death our hearts to win,
Oh, may the gates of heaven shut about us,
With all the children in!"
A preacher of years ago, Dr. Biederwolf, tells of a railroad engineer who was addressing
an audience of railroad men:
" Men, I can't even begin to tell you what Jesus has meant to me.
Years ago, on every night when I would finish my last run, I would pull open the whistle
and let out a blast just as I came around a curve.
And I would look upon a small hill, where there stood a little, white cottage.
And there would be a little old man and a little old woman standing in the doorway.
I would lean out of the old cab window, and we would wave at each other.
And as my engine would go shooting into a tunnel, the old couple would turn and go inside,
and the old woman would say to the little old man,
'Thank God, father, Bennie's safe at home tonight.'
But at last the day came when we buried mother.
Then each night as I came around the curve, and blew the whistle,
the little old man would be at the door, and I would wave to him and he would wave back.
Then as my train shot through the tunnel, he would go slowly into the cottage and say,
' Thank God, Bennie's safe at home tonight.'
But by and by the time came when I buried my father also.
Now when I finish my run, and I still pull the whistle and let out a blast -- there are no
dear ones to welcome me home.
But when my work on earth is done, and when I have made my last run,
and I have pulled the throttle and the whistle for the last time, I will draw near to
heaven's gate -- I know I shall see that same little old couple waiting there for me.
And as I go sweeping through the gate, I will see my dear old mother turn to my dear old father,
and hear her say, ' Thank God, father, Bennie is safe in heaven at last! ' "
Do you have dear ones waiting for you in heaven?
Are you going to be there?
Oh, I hope so!
"When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound
And time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there!"
Will you be there?
Trust Jesus!
Pray in your heart right now to God to forgive you of your sins and pray that Jesus
will come into your heart and He will!
He will write your name in the Book of Life.
Then -- tell somebody, tell everybody -- and then find a church where you can grow
as a Christian and learn more about your wonderful life!
Sermon by Dr Harold L. White
