Sermon Tone Analysis

*I Believe in Heaven* \\ \\ 1 Corinthians 2:9 \\ \\   \\ Introduction: \\ I remember back in my first church in Clarkfield,Mn I was give a wall hanging and painted on this where the words “ The pay isn’t great but the retirement benefits are out of this world” This morning I want to talk to you about home.

I want you to open your minds with me this morning and let your imagination paint a picture of Heaven.

Let’s get a vision of this wondrous place as a reality and not just some faraway destination.

Let us rejoice as we look forward to going there to be with our God.

\\ A. There is no possible way that I can explain to you the awesomeness of Heaven and there is little spoken about it because our minds can not comprehend such a place \\ B. There will be no Alliance people in heaven, no Pentecostals, no Presbyterians, no Anglicans, no Catholics, no Methodists.

All man given labels will be left outside, and only those who have had their sins cleansed away and forgiven by Jesus Christ will be admitted.

\\ C. Spurgeon said, "When a mortal man speaks anything of that eternal blessedness of the saints in glory, he is like a blind man discoursing about the light which he has never seen, and so cannot distinctly speak anything concerning it.

He also said "In a way it is akin to a man writing a travel guide for a land he has never visited or seen.

It is to attempt to describe the indescribable with words which cannot come close to expressing the glory of heaven."

\\ D. But I pray that with what is spoken about Heaven that we can get a small picture of it’s glory \\ E. Heaven is a mystery but we know it is real by the word of God and the fact that the human spirit longs for an afterlife.

\\ a.

Most religions in almost all the cultures in the world throughout all of time have some belief in some kind of Heaven \\ b.

This longing is the longing of the eternal spirit that God created to live forever.

\\ c.

It is kind of like the young boy who was flying a kite and he flew it so high that it flew out of sight.

Someone asked him “where it is” and he just pointed up into the sky and they asked, “how do you know?” \\ And he answered I know it’s there because I can feel it’s tug.” \\ I know Heaven’s there because I can feel its tug on my soul and I long to be there, and like John the revelator wrote in Revelation, so I say, “Come Quickly, Lord Jesus.

Come Quickly.”

\\ 1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV) \\ 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him \\ John14:1 (KJV) \\ 1Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

\\ John 14:2 (KJV) \\ 2In 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 14:3 (KJV) \\ 3And 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.

\\ Revelation 21:1 (KJV) \\ 1And 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.

\\ Revelation 21:2 (KJV) \\ 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

\\ Revelation 21:3 (KJV) \\ 3And 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.

\\ Revelation 21:4 (KJV) \\ 4And 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 21:5 (KJV) \\ 5And 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 21:6 (KJV) \\ 6And he said unto me, It is done.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

\\ Revelation 21:7 (KJV) \\ 7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my sons

 

I Believe in Heaven \\ \\ I.

The Bible calls Heaven a Mystery

\\ A. In the days of Alexander the Great, the Greeks originated the first group of “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.”

This group is composed of monuments remarkable for their splendor and~/or size: \\ i. Pyramids of Egypt \\ ii.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon \\ iii.

Temple of Diana at Ephesus \\ iv.

Statue of Jupiter in Athens \\ v. Mausoleum of Artemisia in Asia Minor \\ vi.

Colossus of Rhodes—bronze statue of the sun god—105 feet high \\ vii.

Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt \\ B. Seven Wonders of the Modern World include \\ i. Golden Gate Bridge \\ ii.

St. Sophia \\ iii.

Leaning Tower of Pisa \\ iv.

Taj Mahal \\ v. Washington Monument (555 ft.

high) \\ vi.

Eiffel Tower (984 ft.

high) \\ vii.

Mt Rushmore \\ C. Seven Wonders of the Natural World \\ i. Grand Canyon \\ ii.

Rio de Janeiro Harbor \\ iii.

Iguassu Falls of Argentina \\ iv.

Redwood Trees \\ v. Mt.

Everest \\ vi.

Nile River \\ vii.

Northern Lights \\ D. We could go on and on, talking about the wonders of science, transportation, communication, and medicine.

The beauty in this world that God has made holds such mystery and unexplainable awesomeness \\ E. But as wonderful as these all are, we can turn to the Book of God and find something more amazing than all of these—heaven!

\\ i.

There is nothing more Amazing, beautiful or intriguing as Heaven \\ F. C.S. Lewis said, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.”

\\ J.

We know Heaven to be the reward for those who have remained faithful.

\\ i.

Here are some various names for Heaven given in the Bible.

\\ (a) Christ calls it his “Father’s house” \\ (b) It is called “paradise” \\ (c) “The heavenly Jerusalem” \\ (d) The “kingdom of heaven” \\ (e) The “eternal kingdom” \\ (f) The “eternal inheritance” \\ (g) The “better country” \\ K.

We know that the builder of Heaven was God and it is prepared and waiting for us.

\\ i.

According to the Bible, Heaven is 15,000 miles square or roughly half the size of the United States \\ ii.

It is plenty big enough for all God’s children the Bible says, Heaven has “Many rooms and many mansions.”

The group Audio Adrenaline has a song called my father’s house... \\ In the song they begin by saying that they do not know what kind of house we live in... big or small~/nice or rundown~/whether we have a mom or dad -- but no matter what kind of "earthly" house we may have they try to encourage us by telling us about their father’s house... It’s a fun song...

The chorus goes like this: \\ \\ Come and go with me to my father’s house \\ It’s a big big house - with lots and lots of rooms \\ With big big tables with lots and lots of food.... \\ A big big yard were we can play football \\ It’s my father’s house...

\\ iii.

In my Father’s House I’ll have a mansion in Glory \\ 1. that is completely furnished complete with Lazy boy and all \\ 2. with a refrigerator full of food that will never ruin \\ 3.

With a game room, a dining room, a living room, \\ 4. With a big Hot Tub with crystal clear Water \\ 5. and one day I am going there, one day I am going home.

\\ iv.

That is something to get excited about.

I may not have much here.

I may not have much money, I may not have many nice things but I got some in Heaven waiting on me.

I am laying up my treasures in Heaven \\ \\ II.

The Beauty of Heaven \\ Revelation 21:18 (KJV) \\ 18And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

\\ Revelation 21:19 (KJV) \\ 19And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.

The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; \\ Revelation 21:20 (KJV) \\ 20The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

\\ Revelation 21:21 (KJV) \\ 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

\\ Revelation 22:1 (KJV) \\ 1And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

\\ \\ A. This gentleman had died in his sleep and the angel came to pick him up.

The man said let me get a few things and the angel watched as he stuffed 10 gold bars into a bag.

The angel took him to Heaven and Peter was minding the gate and asked “what is in the bag?”.

The man showed him and Peter started laughing hysterically.

\\ The man looked at the angel confused and asked “what is he laughing at,” and the angel shrugged and said he is just trying to figure out why you brought pavement to Heaven.

\\ B. In our minds we can not even fathom a city like this.

Any words that we have can not properly describe Heaven because in our eyes we have never seen anything that could compare.

\\ a.

Also no one has seen it.

I cannot begin to explain to you the beauty of Niagra Falls because I have never seen it so I can not give you an adequate description \\ C. The word rendered “glass” in this place occurs in the New Testament only here and in Rev. 21:21.

It means, properly, “anything transparent like water”; \\ a. as, for example, any transparent stone or gem, or as rock-salt, crystal, glass \\ b.

Here the meaning is, that the golden city would be so bright and burnished that it would seem to be glass reflecting the sunbeams.

\\ c.

The appearance of the city would be like the sun setting and the reflection of its beams from thousands of panes of glass \\ gives it the appearance of burnished gold.

\\ d.

There could be nothing more beautiful than a city made of entire transparent gold with the light of God shining through.

\\ D. It will be the perfect city \\ a.

No graffiti \\ b.

No smoke \\ c.

No messes \\ d.