06.06 - Chapter 40 - Our Eternal Home

Chapter 40 OUR ETERNAL HOME Heaven is a Real Place for Real People The final state of the righteous is spoken of in various ways in the Scripture.

• Heaven is a place of eternal life. Matthew 25:46 "And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life."

• Heaven is a place of glory. 2 Corinthians 4:17 "For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory."

• Heaven is a place of rest. Hebrews 4:9 "There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God." Revelation 14:13 "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

• Heaven is a place of knowledge. 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 "Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away."

• Heaven is a place of holiness. Revelation 21:27 "and there shall in no wise enter into it any thing unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life."

• Heaven is a place of service. Revelation 22:3 "and his servants shall serve him."

• Heaven is a place of worship. Revelation 19:1-2 "After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God; for true and righteous are his judgments."

• Heaven is a place of sweet society. Hebrews 12:23 "to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven."

• Heaven is a place of communion with God. Revelation 21:3 "And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."

General Facts About Heaven

1. Heaven is the dwelling place of God. "Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory." (Isaiah 63:15) "And hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive." (1 Kings 8:30) 2. Heaven is described in different ways in the Bible.

• Heaven is called a Garden. "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise (lit. Garden of the Kings, (Luke 23:43)

Heaven is called The Kingdom Of Christ And Of God "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." (Ephesians 5:5)

• Heaven is called the Father’s house. Jesus said, "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." (John 14:2)

• Heaven is called a country. "But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." (Hebrews 11:16)

• Heaven is spoken of as a Paradise. "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. How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." (2 Corinthians 12:2, 2 Corinthians 12:4)

3. The wicked are excluded from heaven. "Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:21) "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." (Ephesians 5:5) "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" (Revelation 22:15) There is a land of pure delight, Where saints immortal reign;

Infinite day excludes the night, And pleasures banish pain.

~*~

Robert McCheyne A Red Cross attendant found a dying soldier on the battlefield during World War I. He was beyond all human hope yet his mouth was moving as he tried to speak. Tenderly, carefully, the attendant cradled the dying man’s head in his arms and spoke in his ear, "What is it? What are you trying to say?" And the dying man, with a peaceful smile on his face whispered, "The roll-call of heaven is being called and I am waiting to hear my name."

♦ 2 Corinthians 5:1 "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Heaven is a State of Conscious Existence ♦ Hebrews 12:14 "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"

♦ Revelation 21:27 "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life."

How Might we Get to Heaven? The Bible teaches that there is only one Door to heaven and that is Jesus Christ.

♦ John 10:9 "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The Blessedness of the Saved in Heaven

Robert Hall suffered much physical pain in life. "My chief conception of heaven is rest," he said to Wilberforce one day. And the great English statesman replied, "Mine, is love--love to God and to every bright inhabitant of that glorious place."

• Heaven is a place where nature is perfected. There is no sin nature in heaven (Revelation 22:14-16).

• Heaven is the dwelling place of the Son (John 3:13; John 6:38; John 20:17; Acts 3:21; Hebrews 9:24; 1 Thessalonians 1:10) • Heaven is the dwelling place of the redeemed (John 14:2-3; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Hebrews 11:10).

• Heaven is a place where there are a thousand things that the eye hath nor seen nor the ear has heard.

• Heaven is the hope and longing of the Christian. C.S. Lewis said, "If nothing in this world satisfies me, perhaps it is because I was made for another world. A Glimpse of Glory

"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 hear 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 crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." (Revelation 21:1-5; read all of Revelation 21:1-27 and Revelation 22:1-21) Oh that home of the soul, in my visions and dreams, Its bright jasper walls I can see;

Till I fancy but thinly the veil intervenes, Between that fair city and me.

♦ Psalms 16:11 "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for nevermore."

♦ Revelation 7:16-17 "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."