Randall Caselman Bella Vista Church of Christ 09/08/2013 A.M. What We Believe About Heaven Revelation 21.1-7, 22-27 and 22.1-5 We continue our series on Systematic Theology... We have two more lessons... • Today... What We Believe About Heaven... • And next Sunday... What the Bible Has to Say About Hell. First this morning… We believe Scripture to teach… Heaven is real. Examine with me some of the scriptures that affirm life-after-life in heaven... Job… One of the oldest books in the Bible poses this question in rhetoric... If a man die will he live again?... Of course the answer is yes. David speaks repeatedly of life being forever... Everlasting life. Psalm 21, 23, 121, & 123. Daniel 12.2 says... Those asleep in the earth will awake… Some to everlasting life and some to everlasting contempt. Jesus... In the great sheep and goat judgment of Matthew 25 states that some would be given everlasting punishment while others will be granted... Everlasting life. In John 14 Jesus says... In My father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you… I will come again so that where I am there you may be also. Peter believed in heaven... In I Peter 1.4 he speaks of... An inheritance... incorruptible and undefiled that fades not away… reserved for us in heaven. Paul in II Corinthians 5:1 writes... For we know that if this earthly dwelling... This earthly house... This earthly tabernacle… Be dissolved we have a building of God… a house… a home not made with hands... eternal... ETERNAL in the heavens. The Book of Revelation repeatedly speaks of Heaven as a utopian existence with God… with Jesus… the angels… AND the saved of all ages… Past… Present… and Future. There is no doubt that the Bible teaches us that beyond this life... immediately beyond the grave, we will be resurrected either to... • Eternal life in heaven… Or eternal condemnation in hell... • Eternal joy… Or eternal torment. We believe Heaven is an eternal EXISTENCE. Ecclesiastes 3.11 in our modern speech translations has Solomon saying that... God has placed eternity in the heart of all mankind. God has placed a desire for Heaven... a desire to live forever within each of us. Man has always held on to the hope of heaven... something better than this life... A paradise existence that lasts forever. Why is that? Because God has set life after life within the human heart. Some people argue that our hope of Heaven is a direct result of our Judao-Christian culture. This is not true. Even if we look outside of our Judao-Christian heritage we find this instinct... this longing in every major civilization… • In the Babylonian, Persian, and Egyptian cultures they had a longing for life-after-life. The pyramids are ancient relics from this belief. Why did the Egyptians spend so much time and effort in these giant structures? Because God placed eternity in their hearts. • The Greeks and Romans had a place in their culture for an eternal destiny. • Look at our Native American. Even though removed from the ancient civilizations by two major oceans... Half a world away from the… Asian… African… and European cultures... Yet when our Pilgrim Fathers arrived, they found a strong belief in life-after-life. Why was that audience?... Because God had placed eternity in their hearts. You see... This is the way He made us. Of course the entire concept of eternal life is beyond our understanding. Ever try to comprehend how long forever is?... How long is eternity?... Try it!! I remember as a child a preacher giving this illustration of eternity... If you had a stainless steel ball the size of the earth... and a hummingbird came every ten-thousand years and just touched its wing once on its surface... When the ball was worn away... Eternity would be only beginning. You see, we can’t comprehend eternity... because we have little to reference it to. There are no mile posts... No handles... we can get hold of. Time... in no way... really equates to eternity. It’s like measuring the distance to a star in millimeters or inches. We believe Heaven is an actual place… Again in John chapter fourteen, Jesus is found saying… I go to prepare a place for you… I will come again so that where I am… There you may be also. Jesus speaks of Heaven a prepared place. In Acts 1.11… The angels witnessing His ascension said… This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven… will come in the same manner as you’ve seen Him go. I think a similar conclusion can be drawn from the narrative of Stephen’s death. Just before he died… Being filled with the Holy Spirit… He gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God… With Jesus standing at the right hand of God. With these verses in mind… how can we conclude that Heaven is not a place? No… We may not be able to give the exact location… Its qualities may not be totally perceived by our natural senses, but it’s clear that there is a place of God’s dwelling… And that after judgment… the righteous will join His Heavenly host. We believe Heaven defies Human comprehension. Paul says... Eye has not seen... Ear has not heard... Neither has it entered into the mind of man what God has in store for us in heaven. Scripture lets us know that heaven is... Beyond our imagination... Beyond our comprehension. Describing eternal life... Heaven... is a lot like asking a boy of 16-18 who is head-over-heels in love with the prettiest girl in school to describe his feelings. Well, it’s... Ah... Well... Boy!... Well! He searches for words... handles... guideposts... tools… with which to describe a feeling… an experience… a relationship. We can’t describe love. Can you describe how you feel toward... • Your spouse... • Your children... • Grandkids... • Or parents? The same is true of Heaven. Even when New Testament writers like John attempt to describe the joys of heaven they fall far short, don’t they? Streets paved with pure gold… transparent as glass. Do you see the problem? Gold is not transparent. You cant see through your wedding band. John is trying to describe something beyond our imagination... Beyond our comprehension. Jesus in John 14 says... In My Father’s house are many mansions. Does God live in a house? Is our place in heaven a mansion? No!... Jesus is simply describing the grandest thing our human mind can comprehend. The Holy Spirit is attempting to communicate... • Celestial... • Spiritual... • Heavenly... Joys using a terrestrial... Material... Earth bound language. OK… Let’s examine how the Holy Spirit describes Heaven… First... He contends Heaven is a city. Hebrews 11.10 and 12.22… along with Revelation 21 refer to heaven as a city. Remember in Hebrews 11.10 Abraham is said to have been... Searching for a city whose founder... Creator and maker is God. In 12.22 Heaven is referred to as the city of God. Our text says heaven is… a holy city... A new Jerusalem. YES... I understand that the new Jerusalem is symbolic of the church... But heaven is the church fully realized. Life in the church is only a shadow of what Heaven will be like. No!!... Heaven is not a city with streets... curbs... gutters... parks... alleys... multistory buildings… The idea from the Holy Spirit is a community of believers. • Heaven is a fellowship of the redeemed... • Heaven is A family of the saved. The Holy Spirit is speaking of relationships... Not inanimate objects... Not things! You see, Heaven is best described by relationships… togetherness… One anotherness.. When our forefathers traveled west, why did they settle in communities? Why is it that we live in a community?... Bella Vista… Bentonville… Rogers… etc?... • For protection. • For the services... • For the provisions provided... • For social fellowship... Togetherness. God created us for togetherness... One anotherness. In Heaven... the city of God... the omnipotent creator of the universe is our protector. The provisions include eternal life... provided by the tree of life and the river of life. He is the LIGHT and LAMP of that city. The fellowship includes living with God and the saved of all ages. • What a fellowship!! • What a community!! • What a city!! That’s where I want to be... How about you? Secondly… Heaven is a home. In John Chapter 14... Jesus says... Heaven is a home... A place in the Father’s house. The Greek is mone (mon-ay)... A mansion... An abode... Literally the Greek means a dwelling place. In John 14.23 this same word is translated abode in our K.J. Bibles. Jesus says... If anyone loves Me… he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him… and we... (The Father and I)... will come to him and make Our... (Mone)... Home... (Our abode)... with him. Now don’t look for a two-story Cape Cod style house on the ocean... A rambling ranch style home... A log cabin in the woods... Or a penthouse apartment. Here it is church.... Heaven is not a house... But a home. There is a world of difference... Isn’t there? When we move, we go house hunting. We want to know how well the house is built, so... we examine... • The roof... We want to know if the floor joist and rafters are on 24… 28… 36 inch centers. • We try the plumbing... • Examine the foundation... • We check the furnace... and the heat pump. It’s just a house... floor... ceiling... four walls... a roof. But we move in... paint... paper... put up pictures... The children and grandchildren come. At Thanksgiving the whole family is there... Then Christmas... New Year’s... Spring... Summer... Fall... Winter. Memories are made... Problems are solved... Joys shared... In time, the house becomes a home. Home is where the loved ones are. There is security... Home becomes a refuge. There is a sense of permanence. When in the army and for years afterward... When asked for a permanent address... I give them mom and dads address... Thats home... A permanent place. Revelation 21.25 tells us Heaven is eternal… It never fades away. John says of heaven... The gate... The door is never shut. Home is where we are accepted as we are... HOME IS WHERE THERE IS A sense of belonging. While mom and dad were living, I was always accepted at the farm. • There were two older people there who were always glad to see me. • I belonged there... at home there... because I was Arthur and Gladys son. • I was always welcome... regardless of whos there... or whats going on there. • I didnt have to dress up... or change anything... I was accepted just as I am. • I can go to the refrigerator... and put a spoon in the cold pot of brown beans... sample them and nobody tells me... You cant do that. WHY... Because I am accepted... I belong there... Im their son. God wants us to know that… in heaven… we will be at home. Always welcome... Always accepted... Because were sons. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying… Now the tabernacle of God… The dwelling of God is with men… And He will live with them. They will be His people… And God Himself will be with them and be their God.... They will see His face…And His name will be on their foreheads. At home with God... That’s where I want to be... How about you? Heaven is a place of joy and happiness. In Matthew 25.21 Jesus said... Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things… I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your Masters… WHAT?... your Masters happiness… Come share in the Joy of your Lord. Sometimes heaven is best described by what is not going to be there. Revelation Chapter 21... Verses 4 & 5 • He will wipe away our tears. • Therell be no more sorrow. • No more crying. • No more death. • No more mourning. • No more pain. The old order of things are passed away... Behold all thing are made new. Indeed... Heaven is a state of endless joy... Peace... And happiness. Heaven is sinless. Heaven is a place... A life... An economy... where sinning is over. This is symbolically represented by white robes. In heaven there will be no more sin... No guilt... No more shame. In heaven we will have a clean conscience... made permanently clean by the blood of the lamb. Church... We must know that sin is responsible for all that’s bad in this life... • All the pain... sorrow... sadness... • All our troubles... trials... • All of lifes ugliness is the result of sin... Either our sin... or the sin of others... going all the way back to Adam. But in heaven there is... • No more sin. • No more remorse. • No more regret. • No more guilt. We will be... • Sinless... • Shameless... • Blameless... Forever. Truth will have set us absolutely free. There will be no sin and no consequences of sin. Nothing... NO THING... No one… impure or unclean will ever enter Heaven’s gate. Look at 21.27... There shall by no means enter it anything that defiles... or causes an abomination or a lie... But only those who are written in the Lambs Book of Life. Sin and sinners will not be in heaven... only those who have had their robes washed clean by the blood of the lamb. I want to be one of those... dont you?... OF COURSE! Heaven is a presence with God. We will meet him face-to-face… Revelation chapter 22... Verse 4. I want you to think of the most awe inspiring sight you’ve ever seen... The Grand Canyon... The Tetons... The painted desert... They Royal Gorge... The Garden of the Gods... The Redwood Forest of the Northwest... The Pacific at sunset... A beach on the Atlantic at sunrise... • Listen... If we gasp in awe at His creation... at His handy-work in this world, what will it be like to see Him face-to-face? • If we shudder in the shadow... Think about what will happen when we see the reality of God and what He has prepared for us in heaven. Again Paul says... Eye has not seen... Neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has in store for us at home forever in heaven. Finally... We note that heaven is attainable. Jesus said... I go to prepare a place for you... I will come again... so that where I am there you may be also. Thomas said... Lord... We dont know where you’re going... How can we know the way? Remember what Jesus said... I am the way... I am the truth... I am the life... No man comes to the Father... No one goes to Heaven… Except by Me. Peter says... We can make our calling and election sure. John Says… My little children… I write you these things that you may know that you have eternal life… We can know!! The Book of Revelation appears to be written to tell us that... HEAVEN IS FOR... • Those who keep on keeping on. • Those who walk in the light as He is in the light. • Those whose names are in the lambs book of life. • Those washed in the blood of the lamb. Someone has said… heaven is God’s word for home. We also have a saying in our generation that Home is where the heart is. In order to live in heaven we must pay the supreme price... Giving our heart to Jesus. QUESTION!!... Where is your heart? You see... • We can’t have our hearts firmly planted in this world... Die and have our soul in His world. • How we live is how we die. • How we die is how we spend eternity. Remember what Jesus said in John 14.23... If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word... and My Father will love him... And We will come to him and make Our home with him. Jesus is saying... You give me a home... a place of abode in your heart... in this life... And Ill give you a HOME in my world... In heaven... In the Fathers house. QUESTION!... What do we need to do this morning to guarantee us a home in Heaven? Perhaps we need to become a child of God by accepting Jesus for who He is... By Accepting... His way... His truth... His life... As the only way to heaven… By faith… Repentance… And baptism. Perhaps others of us need to make something right… • With God… • With family… • With someone in the church… • Or others. Maybe we need the prayers of the church to help us maintain our salvation by walking in the light of God’s truth. There is no doubt that... God has providentially extended our lives... Providentially brought us together one more time... Giving us one more opportunity... to make things right with Him... So that heaven can be our home. Don’t turn Him down as we stand and sing together.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 23:23:53 +0000
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