“A PLACE CALLED HEAVEN” - 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… I go to prepare a place for you… I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
As a preacher, I’ve stood more than once at the bedside of Christians on their way home. For a Christian, death is not something to fear - it is the door to an eternity with God--the place that Jesus said he went to prepare a place for us, that where He is we might be also. There was a famous Southern Baptist preacher named Dr. Robert G. Lee—you may have heard of him; one of his sermons, “Payday Someday”, was considered one of the greatest sermons of the 20th century. When R.G. Lee was 91-years old and on his deathbed, there were several godly men present, among the four men was Billy Graham. As the men sang and prayed around the bed of this dying preacher, he suddenly opened his eyes and the first person he saw was Billy Graham. When Graham leaned down to talk to him, Lee put his hands on Graham’s face and pulled him down toward him. Then he asked Billy, “Have you won the world yet?” Next, Lee said something those four men would never forget. He said, “I saw heaven. I saw Jesus. I saw my mother. I have preached on heaven many times, but I never had the vocabulary to adequately describe it. I never did justice to heaven in my sermons.” He died not long afterward.
Dr. Lee was the author of a “A Place Called Heaven”, a classic—yet even he said, “I never did it justice.” We are limited—Dr. Lee was limited, I am limited, you are limited. Could it be that what made Lee so anxious to get the world won to Jesus was the fact that he had just seen Jesus in heaven and wanted everyone else to have that indescribable experience?
The Bible tells us more about what will not be there than what will be there; but it tells us enough to leave us in breathless wonder. Paul was “caught up… into the third Heaven,” and he heard “unspeakable words… not lawful to declare.” Some things the Lord has kept as a sacred secret. But He has not kept secret this: Heaven is real, prepared, and personal—“a place for you.”
Many talk about Heaven. The Gallup people once found that most Americans believe in Heaven; fewer believe in hell; almost none think they are going there. There’s an old gospel song that says, “Everybody talkin’ ’bout Heaven ain’t going there.” I remember a prominent man—former governor, presidential contender—standing straight with that silver hair and saying, “If You’ve got anybody up there, You ought to let me in.” Not one word about the grace of God. Not everybody talking about Heaven is going to Heaven.
When I read John 14, I hear the language of home. Not a fog or a feeling, but a house with many rooms, a table where the family gathers - I picture my own family of seven sitting around our dinner table holding hands - a place where you are expected and wanted. Scripture says that to be “absent from the body” is to be “present with the Lord.” Jesus told a dying thief, “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.” David, who buried a child, said in faith, “I shall go to him.” And Paul, honest about life’s conflicts, still sighed, “I have a desire to depart, and to be with Christ.” The body will await its resurrection; the spirit of the redeemed goes straight to Jesus. That is not poetry; that is promise.
There have been several books written on the subject of heaven, told by people who had died for a time, then come back to life. Their stories of going to heaven are remarkably similar. Their details differ, but the notes harmonize with Scripture: an overwhelming sense of being known and loved, a light more alive than the sun, seeing loved ones who had died, beauty that seems to sing, colors they do not have names for, and—above all—a Person at the center whose presence settles every fear. Some speak of a border and of being told, “Not yet.” These type of stories echo what the Bible tells us, they help us imagine what the Word already declares. “In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Only the redeemed are going to Heaven. You have to be Heaven-born to be Heaven-bound. “Ye must be born again”—born from above. Revelation says those there “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Not “dyed-in-the-wool Baptist”—washed-in-the-blood Baptist. Not membership. Not goodness. “Written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
Now don’t get the idea that heaven is some sort of a gaseous, nebulous state of mind or a cloud where we all strum on harps for eternity. No! Heaven is a real place. One day you’ll go there in a resurrected body and you’ll have to have something toyou’re your resurrected foot on. Heaven is a real place; it is somewhere on God’s map.
The saved go to Heaven immediately upon death. Listen to this Scripture, II Corinthians 5:6-8, Paul says, “Wherefore, we’re always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body,” your body is a house, you live in it, “we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord,” that is, His literal presence, “for we walk by faith and not by sight. We are confident that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” The saints go immediately to Heaven upon death. In Acts 7:56-59, when Stephen was stoned and martyred for his faith, he looked up and said, “I see Heaven, I see Jesus on the right hand of the Father.” And then he prayed, “Father, receive my spirit.”
Some ask, “will I
know my loved ones?” Yes! When Moses died, here’s what God said to Moses, “Get
thee up into the mountain and die in the mountain and be gathered unto thy
people.” Now Moses’ mother, that mother that made him that little ark. He
said, “Moses, go see your Mama. Get up into the mountain; be gathered to your
people.” Abraham knew that he was going to have a family reunion. Genesis 25
verse 8, “Then Abraham gave up the ghost,” that is, he yielded up the spirit,
“and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to
his people.” Listen to what the Bible says about Isaac. Genesis 35 verse 29,
“And Isaac gave up the ghost and died and was gathered unto his people, being
old and full of days, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.” Listen to what
the Bible says about Jacob and his family reunion in Heaven. Genesis 49 verse
33, “And when Jacob made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet
into the bed and yielded up the ghost and was gathered unto his people.” Now
his body is still somewhere in the grave, but he gathered with his people. He
is with his people. That’s what Jesus talked about, a family reunion in
Heaven.
You know, we’re going to help our God rule the vast universe. Paul said in Second Timothy 2:12, “If we suffer with Him, we’ll also reign with Him.” Here’s a great verse I love from the book of the Revelation, chapter 7 verse 15. The Apostle John had a glimpse into glory, and he saw the servants of God and here’s the way he described them, “Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple.” “They serve Him day and night.” The greatest joy that I have is serving the Lord. What a privilege to serve the Lord. Sometimes I wish I could serve Him better.
Heaven will be a place of absolute
perfection beyond what we can imagine. We know what will not be in heaven: “There
will be no more tears, no more sighing, no more crying, no more dying, no more
pain, for the former things are passed away.” What is Heaven? Heaven is the
presence of all that is good. Present, Heaven is the absence of all that is
bad.
A man dreamed that he died, and he
came to the portals of Heaven, and he knocked on that pearly gate, just a
dream, and a voice within said, “Who is it that seeks entrance into Heaven?
What is the password?” And the man said, “I’m a moral man.” “Well, what is the
password into Heaven?” “Honesty.” And the voice within said, “Depart from me,
ye that work iniquity, I never knew you.” Another knocked at the portals of
Heaven. The voice within said, “Who is it that seeks entrance into Heaven, and
what is the password?” This man said, “I am a humanitarian.” “What is the
password to Heaven?” He said, “Love, charity, good deeds.” And the voice from
within said, “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you.” Another
knocked. “Who is it that seeks entrance into Heaven and what is the password?”
“I am a religious man.” “What is the password?” “Religion. Baptism. Church
attendance.” The voice within said, “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I
never knew you.” Finally a fourth man knocked at Heaven’s portals. This is all
just a dream. But the voice within said, “Who is it that seeks entrance into
Heaven and what is the password?” And the man on the outside said, “I’m a
Christian. I’ve given my heart to Christ. I’ve been born again. In my hand no
price I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling.” And the voice within said, “Open
wide the gates and let him in, ‘For of such is the kingdom of Heaven.’” Have
you ever done that? Have you ever said, “Lord, I’m not trusting my honesty, I’m
not trusting my charity, I’m not trusting my religion! Lord Jesus, thank You
for dying for me. I trust You.” You do that, and I promise you on the authority
of the Word of God, you’ll be Heaven-born and you’ll be Heaven-bound.
Let’s pray: Father God, I pray today
that many will say an everlasting, “Yes,” to Christ and be saved. Now, let’s
get it settled right now. I want you to pray this prayer after me, “Dear God,”
just pray it right now, “Dear God, I’m a sinner, I’m lost, I need to be saved,
I want to be saved. Jesus, You died to save me, You promised to save me if I
would trust You. I do trust You with all of my heart. Come into my heart,
forgive my sin, save me, Jesus. I trust You to do it right now. Thank You for
doing it. In Your name I pray, Amen.”
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