Advertise Your Business or Website at HomewithGod
Advertise Your Business or Website at HomewithGod
By George W. Sinquefield
John 14:1 through John 14:6 (KJV)
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 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. 3 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.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
We as Christians need to spend far more time in thinking about the future than about the present. We need to think more about our home in Heaven than about our home in this world.
Dr. Wayne Ward, over the Baptist Hour said, "Every high and holy spiritual goal in this life is pointing toward Heaven. All spiritual values will be brought to completion there. We were created for fellowship with God -- but we do not yet know what fellowship really is, until it is fulfilled in His presence."
A. C. Archibald states that when he started in his ministry, he decided that instead of singing and speaking about matters of eternal life, he would challenge his people to attack the vice and the slums of his city. He soon learned that he had made a mistake. He learned that people will do more to clean up the vice and corruption in this world if they keep their eyes upon the world to come. He said, "If men take their eyes off the eternal heritage, the things of time seem to lose their sweetness, and this world becomes a prison house. This sense of Heaven is like a secret warmth which man carries with him into the coldest environment."
C. S. Lewis put it well when he said, "The Apostles . . . who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."
Another reminds us that: "Only he whose vision is enriched by the glories of the future has eyes to discern the glories of the present." Permit me, please, to make the words of Dr. Herschel Ford mine, "I wish that I had the words of a flaming orator that I might paint such a picture upon the canvas of your imagination as to cause you to want to leave this sinful earth and soar away to be with God in Heaven forever. Since I cannot do this, I will simply give you some simple facts about Heaven."
I. Heaven Is A Place.
Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you."
Some insist that Heaven is only a state or condition. But we ask where will the multitude who are in that state (saved condition) dwell. Will they exist in a vacuum? We have a body here and we'll have a body there, a glorified, spiritual body, like the post-resurrection body of our Lord. Jesus is preparing a place for us.
When an honored and loved guest is coming to our home, preparations are made which are designed to meet his tastes and his liking. The books that will appeal to him are laid out on the table; the flowers which are his favorites are set about the room. And yonder Jesus in loving care is making ready for our coming. He is arranging a place, your place to fit your needs and desires.
Someone has said, "Jesus was a carpenter on earth and when He went away to be the architect of Heaven, we can be sure that He'll build a perfect place for us.
Who is better able to prepare a place of transcendent beauty than our Lord? It was He who spoke and the universe came into being. It was He who planned the lofty mountains and fruitful valleys, It was He who painted the sunsets in all their glory."
Is Heaven a literal city? I hear some of you saying, "But surely you do not think that this is the description of an actual city, -- this is not to be taken literally, but figuratively and symbolically! This surely cannot refer to a real city!" To this we have only one answer: Taking it literally, presents no problem, while if we begin to spiritualize, we are in a maze of difficulty which no one could possibly answer. Why not take this description literally as God has given it to us? If man can build great cities, why cannot God build greater? If God could create a universe, countless billions of light-years in extent, He certainly can make a city which is only a mere fifteen hundred miles in cubic measure. To build this city of gold, garnished with all manner of precious stones, with gates of huge pearls is no problem to the Almighty who made the entire universe. If it is not a literal city, then why did Jesus Himself say: "I go to prepare a place for you." and "if it were not so I would have told you." Jesus is saying, "What I tell you is so or I wouldn't tell you."
II. Heaven Is A Large Place.
Please permit me to share with you the words of another. In Rev. 21:16 it states that Heaven is about 12000 furlongs square -- 1500 miles square. Someone has figured it out -- if we started at Jacksonville, Florida, and went north to New York City, then west to St. Paul Minnesota and then south to Galveston Texas and then east to Jacksonville, Florida we would have an area just about the size of Heaven.
We must remember two things. Revelation was written in symbology. It is known as apocalyptic literature. And, too, these are poor human figures. Heaven is surely much larger than this.
Another has put it this way. If we take these dimensions which are given here by the Holy Spirit (and there is no reason whatsoever why they should not be literal dimensions), then it would mean that if this city were placed on the earth, it would reach from Boston to Miami, from Buffalo to Denver and tower fifteen hundred miles up into the atmosphere. If we allow one apartment, 50 feet by 50 feet, and ten feet high (which is quite a spacious apartment) it would provide over ten thousand large apartment for ever square mile and over five million apartments for ever cubic mile. This would mean that the entire city, divided into apartments, 50 by 50 by 10, would accommodate nearly twenty thousand trillion apartments for the saints of God. I merely mention these facts because skeptics have often pointed out there will not be room for all the saints of God upon this earth when we consider all the billions who have been redeemed from all the ages. However, the answer is in this wonderful structure which God Himself has so graphically and vividly described for us in the Book of the Revelation.
Surely this must have been part of what Jesus had in mind when He said, "In My Father's house are many mansions." (Many dwelling places) "if it were not so, I would have told you,".
I preached one Sunday morning on Heaven and I said that no one knows how many will go there. After the service a man who thought he knew it all, differed with me. He said, he knew how many would be there. I told him that many college and seminary professors would like to know. He quoted Revelation 7:4. "And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand." That, he said, is how many will be in Heaven. I asked him to read verse 9 of that same chapter which states, "After these things I looked, and behold a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and palm branches were in their hands."
Some people think that only members of their church or denomination will be there. According to the Bible, if one is trusting his church or his denomination to get him there -- he will not be there himself. The Bible teaches that only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life will be there -- only those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. What does this mean? It means that those who have been given the new life in Christ, who have been born again by the Holy Spirit's power, will be there, Heaven is not composed of all the church members, or all the so-called Christian nations, or a certain favored race -- Heaven is the fellowship of those who have been redeemed by faith in Christ.
III. Heaven Is A Beautiful Place.
In Revelation 21 and 22 John tries to tell us of the beauties and wonders of Heaven but that which John saw could not be described by the tongue of man. He talks about streets of gold, gates of pearl, precious stones, etc. These are symbols and are beautiful when interpreted. "The City of God" speaks of a community of fellowship. The "Walls of the city" announce safety against all foes. The "pure river clear as crystal" declares pure and endless joy that flows from heart to heart. The "white robes" speak of the sinless glory of all the inhabitants of Heaven. The "Crown and the Palms" disclose the immeasurable spiritual wealth of Heaven. The "song and harps" reveal the endless gladness and rejoicing which constitute the Heavenly state.
Most of us have a rather vague concept of Heaven. It is necessarily so. We can understand new things only in terms of something we already know. Thus, for instance, we have difficulty telling someone what an exotic tropical fruit tastes like. How can we describe it? It does not taste like an apple, a pear, a tomato, or anything else. To know how it tastes, one must taste it.
Imagine trying to describe a sunset to someone born blind. He has never seen a glow, a light, or a fire, and does not know red from black or green Our terms are but empty words to him. Thus Heaven is indescribable. It is not like anything we have already known or experienced. It is a new realm beyond our comprehension.
Heaven is so glorious that human language cannot adequately portray it. Even though the apostle John described the Heavenly city in Revelation 21 and 22, our finite minds fail to comprehend the full splendor of what he saw. But someday we who know the Lord will actually dwell in and fully appreciate the glories of that magnificent place.
A Jewish legend tells us that, during the famine in Canaan, Joseph ordered the wheat chaff be thrown upon the waters of the Nile. The purpose of this was that as it drifted others would see and know that there was food above. Into this life God has put much beauty, love, and joy that we might see a sample or a bit of what Heaven is like. As we think of the best that we have seen here, we are to realize that it is but a sample and fore taste of Heaven.
Dr. Roy Mc Claim said, "One thing is certain, if earth has all this beauty to accommodate the flesh in its passing fancy, what will Heaven be like which is prepared for the permanent duration of the soul? Suffice it to say that since it is of God's own creation it will confound the wildest imagination of man."
Years ago I read in The Western Record, the splendid Baptist denominational paper for Kentucky, a sermon by George W. McCall of Dallas, Texas. The sermon was entitled "Heaven, the City of Many Wonders." Dr. McCall used this illustration which I believe vividly presents the thrill that will someday be ours when we first behold Heaven"s beauty:
A millionaire bachelor in one of our western cities wanted to get married but said, "If I marry one of the girls who knows me, I am afraid she would marry me for my money and not because she loved me." So he fell upon this unique method of getting a wife: He went east and took employment as a laborer in a great factory which employed young women. It was not long until he fell in love with a beautiful working girl and after the romance of courtship, they were married. Then he said to her: "I want you to go out west and visit my people." She was thrilled at the chance to such a honeymoon trip. When they reached his home city, there was drawn up at the depot a fine limousine driven by a uniformed chauffeur. He led his bride out to this fine car and asked her to get in. She felt this was putting on extravagant airs, but said nothing. The car was whisked down a splendid avenue and pulled up before a great mansion. "Here is where we will stop." Her heart almost stopped, for she thought how short their stay must be at so expensive a place. After he had closed the door behind them, he told her all the truth -- that this was his home and now her home. She was indeed amazed and oh how amazed we'll be when we view the beauties of that great city. In Heaven beauty has reached perfection. Dr. Biederwolf tells us of a little girl who was blind from birth and only knew the beauties of earth from her mother's lips. A noted surgeon worked on her eyes and at last his operation were successful, and as the last bandage dropped away she flew into her mother's arms and then to the window and the open door, and as the glories of earth rolled into her vision, she ran screaming back to her mother and said, "Oh, Mama, why didn't you tell me it was so beautiful?" And the mother wiped her tears of joy away and said, "My precious child, I tried to tell you but I couldn't do it." And one day when we go sweeping through those gates of pearl and catch our first vision of the enrapturing beauty all around us, I think we will hunt up John and say, "John, why didn't you tell us it was so beautiful?" And John will say, "I tried to tell you when I wrote the twenty-first and twenty-second chapter of the last book in the Bible after I got my vision, but I couldn't do it."
Three little girls were looking into a show window, and a man nearby listened to their conversation. Two of the girls were describing everything in the window to a third girl. They told her about the dolls, the trains, the teddy bears. You see, the third little girl was blind. The man who was looking on said to himself, "It's no use, girls, you will never be able to describe all the beauty and color in the wonderful window."
John must have felt this way and I do too when I try to tell others about Jesus and Heaven. John must have felt as Marco Polo, the famous Venetian explorer as he lay dying. He was urged to recant and withdraw the stories he had told about the glories of China and the Far East. He replied, "Recant? I tell you, it is more wonderful than anything I have told."
"Heaven -- the most beautiful place the wisdom of God could conceive and the power of God could prepare." -- Lee
A father and mother in Dallas, Texas lost all three of their children when the New London school blew up, killing hundreds of children. The dead bodies were carried to perhaps a half dozen different towns near by. This father and mother went from one town to another searching for their children. They found the two oldest girls. As they hurried on their sorrowful quest, blinded by their tears looking for their son, the mother said, "Maybe Sonny is alive. He loved flowers so much. Maybe he had gone to the woods to gather flowers." He had not. They turned back a sheet and found him. The big, brave father sank to the floor. The mother was strengthened for the terrible ordeal and she sought to comfort her husband. She had gathered a bunch of flowers for "Sonny Boy>"J She put them in his motionless hand and said, "There, now you have some flowers." Then she took hold of her husband's arm and said, "Dear, Sonny is now where the flowers are always in bloom."
Only a few men have been privileged to get a glimpse into Heaven while still on the earth and in each instance they were overcome and overwhelmed by the vision. Isaiah caught a glimpse of it and was utterly confounded and cried out, "Woe is me! For I am undone." (Isaiah 6:5)
Stephen caught a little glimpse just before he entered Heaven itself, and that glimpse of Heaven with Jesus standing there, transformed his whole being and we read of him: "And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him (Stephen), saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." (Acts 6:;15)
Peter had a glimpse of Heaven when he saw the great sheet descend but evidently was not able to look inside.
John, the apostle, had two glimpses of Heaven. Once when the door was opened in Revelation 1 and he fell down as one dead; and then again when the door was opened in Revelation 19 at the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus.
Only one man in the Bible apart from our Lord really knew what Heaven was like. This man was the apostle Paul. He knew the glories of Heaven first hand for he had been there and returned. He tells us about it in his second letter to the Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 12:2 through 2 Corinthians 12:4 (KJV)
Paul speaks in the third person as if he were describing the experience of someone else, but there is no doubt that he really refers to himself. Very likely this was his experience when he was stoned at Lystra on his first missionary journey. He tells the Corinthians that this happened "above fourteen years ago>" The date of this letter was about 60 A.D. The episode at Lystra occurred in 46 A.D. fourteen years earlier. Some believe Paul was killed at that time, that he could not possibly have survived such a stoning as the Jews practiced as the means of execution. They believe Paul was actually raised from the dead. Paul makes it doubly plain that he does not know whether he was in the body or out of it.
Now what reaction did this experience have upon him? His vision was so wonderful that God almost had to tie him down upon the earth to keep him there. He knew what Heaven was like and he wanted to go there.
Philippians 1:21 (KJV)
2 Corinthians 5:8 (KJV)
A woman asked a Bible scholar this question, "Why does the Bible not tell us more about Heaven?" He said, "If God told us more about Heaven we would be so anxious to go there that we would not be able to do our work as it ought to be done. We would get so homesick for Heaven we could never be happy here.
A doctor was visiting an elderly woman who was dying in her poor home. Because of her surroundings, he was greatly surprised to hear her whisper, "Praise the Lord." So the doctor leaned over and said to her, "How can you possibly praise God here in a poor house?" She responded, "That's easy. I just keep thinking about the move into my Heavenly mansion." She rejoiced because a wonderful home in the "Father's house" awaited her. You and I who have trusted Jesus and have been saved by His grace have the same assurance. We can look beyond all our troubles in this life to a life where there are no troubles.
III. Heaven is a place of beautiful music and singing.
Izaak Walton said, "O LOrd, Thou Who hast provided such music and beauty for sinners on earth, What hast Thou in store for Thy saints when they arrive in Heaven?"
Billy Sunday had choirs which numbered two thousand voices. What a thrill, we're told, to listen to them sing. We're told that the choir in Heaven will consist of one hundred million voices all in perfect harmony, everyone singing praises to the Lord.
Revelation 5:9 through Revelation 5:12 (KJV)
And you will note that they're praising the Savior for the salvation He has provided.
Revelation 7:10 (KJV)
A preacher stood firm for the atonement of Christ against the critics of his day. When he came to the end of life a friend commended him for his stand. The preacher said, "I am going now to a place where the atonement is no longer a subject of controversy, but Heaven's theme song." Yes, in Heaven we'll sing about the death of Jesus, of His precious blood that cleanses from sins.
Dr. Wayne Ward said, "We were made for song and praise to our Creator and Redeemer; but we do not know what praise and singing is until we sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Our whole beings will praise Him, unmarred by sin and selfishness." As someone said, when we go to Heaven we'll be "Through with the doubters and gone to be with the shouters."
A fine Christian man was always singing on his job. A neighboring worker said to him,"You always seem exceedingly happy. How can that possibly be?" He replied, "I am always happy. I have a good reason to be. I am a child of God, and on my way to Heaven."
We who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior are saved from sin and assured of a home in Heaven. We have so much to sing rejoice, and shout about. The Bible admonishes us to do so.
Luke 10:19 through Luke 10:20 (KJV)
Romans 5:1 through Romans 5:2 (KJV)
Philippians 3:1 (KJV)
Philippians 4:4 (KJV)
1 Thessalonians 5:16 (KJV)
1 Peter 1:1 through 1 Peter 1:6 (KJV)
In Heaven they're praising the Lord Who, through His blood saves us and gives us a home in Heaven. We too need to sing more and more about the death of Jesus and His blood that was shed for the salvation of lost souls. Many of our great hymns proclaim the glorious gospel. God has used these great hymns to bless the hearts of His people and to draw the lost to Him. Hymns such as:
2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third Heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. 11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in Heaven.
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
16 Rejoice evermore.
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
I don't care much for these little choruses that some are using instead of the hymns. I attended a church service which was opened with one of these. The rest of the time before the sermon, was spent in making announcements and promoting the activities of the week. Not one hymn was sung. Needless to say I left feeling robbed. It would have been so good, at least to me, to have sung a couple of hymns. I say again, we need to sing more and more about the precious blood of Jesus that was shed for the salvation of lost souls.
IV. Heaven Is A Prepared Place For A Prepared People.
When Pepper Martin was the hero of the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals, he was asked, "What was his greatest ambition in life?" He replied, "To go to Heaven." Do you want to go to Heaven? You can if you are willing to permit Jesus to prepare you.
David Wilson said, "No man will go to Heaven when he dies who has not sent his heart thither while he lives."
D. L. Moody was once traveling to a city and a lady was in the same car going to the same city. When they arrived, Moody immediately got a room in the hotel. The lady couldn't get one so she asked Mr. Moody how he managed and he said, "It was easy enough. I just telegraphed before that I was coming to have a room ready for me."
There was a Universalist one time who believed that everyone was going to get to Heaven. He had his little daughter come to him one day and say, "Daddy, did you read in the paper about that mean man who killed those two little girls?" "Yes, honey," he said, "I read about those two little girls being killed. Why?" "Well, Daddy, when those two little girls died, where did they go?" The man replied, "They went to Heaven," and she went away seemingly satisfied. But in a few minutes she came back, looking very puzzled. "What is it, dear?" the man asked. "Daddy, when they took that mean man and put him in the electric chair for killing those two little girls, and they strapped the electric band on his head, and then pulled the switch -- Daddy, where did he go"" And the father replied, "Why honey, he went to Heaven; that's the only place there is to go." And that little girl looked down very thoughtfully for a few seconds. The father asked her what was the matter. "Daddy, listen," she said "if those two little girls went to Heaven when they died, and if that mean man that killed them went to Heaven too -- , Daddy, won't he kill them again?" I tell you, beloved, that question ought to put a stop to every bit of Universalism taught tonight that all are going to be saved. God has a place to punish sinners.
The society in Heaven will be a select one. This old world wouldn't be such a bad place if it weren't for the people we have to tolerate. Here we have to put up with the backbiters, the gossipers and the meddlers in other people's business.In Heaven there will be none of that. Here we have to tolerate the sneering skeptic and the good-for-nothing infidel; in Heaven we won't have to. Here we have to put up with booze drinkers and the dirty gang who sell the rotten stuff; in Heaven we won't. The smell of whiskey and beer will never taint its pure air. There won't be any smoke or dirty amber on the streets of gold. Here there are dirty cheats, gamblers and liars; they won't be in Heaven.
"The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murders, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death." (Rev. 21:8.
If God permitted you to go to Heaven unprepared, you'd be miserable. You'd be as much out of place as a hog would be in your living room.
A Scottish evangelist once charged that some Christians were expecting entirely too much of death. They expected that death would transform them immediately into fervent spiritual-minded, mature Christians. Said he; "What makes you think that you'd be happy in Heaven when you can't even stand a good warm prayer meeting on earth?"
The story is told of Dean Stanley, who offered to take two soldiers around Westminster Abbey, seeing they had come too late for the official guide to conduct them through the historic shrine. Dean Stanley explained all he knew about the noble people whose names were inscribed on the wall and tablets, and in brass letters on the floor. As the soldiers were about to pass out of the gates, the saintly Dean said, "Now, lads, you may never do anything great enough for your country to keep your names in remembrance carved here in Westminster, but I can tell you of a greater honor than that of having your name in this old Abbey, that is of having it written in the Lamb's Book of Life."
Is your name written in Heaven? It will be if you accept Jesus as your Savior.
Dr. Pierce Harris, a Methodist minister, tells of an experience he had on an airplane some time ago. As he returned to Atlanta from one of his many outside engagements, on a commercial airliner, the pilot announced that they were having trouble with the landing gear. He tactfully told the passengers that they would circle the airport for a while and attempt to make repairs. After a while he spoke again, saying, "We are about ready to attempt landing. If all goes well, we should be on the ground at the Atlanta airport in about sixteen minutes." A very solemn looking man across the aisle from Dr. Harris leaned over and asked very anxiously; "What did he mean, 'If all goes well'?" Dr. Harris replied, "I think he means that in sixteen minutes we'll be in Heaven or Atlanta, Georgia." The anxious fellow passenger replied,"Boy I sure hope it's Atlanta, 'cause I've got a ticket for Atlanta." Jesus is our ticket to Heaven. Have you gotten yours?
An old Scotch minister said, "I care not if I am living or dying; if I live He will come and be with me, if I die, I will go and be with Him." Can you say that? Jesus is preparing Heaven and He will prepare you for Heaven if you'll let Him.
John 14:6 (KJV)
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
