Sermon Tone Analysis

There is plenty of proof

Psalms 102:19 “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high,

from heaven he viewed the earth,

The New International Version.

(2011).

().

Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

We know from Scripture that heaven is a real place.

Are there sufficient Bible verses to tell us what heaven looks like?

Are the images of angels and the saints playing harps while lying on the clouds an accurate depiction of heaven?

Can we know for sure what heaven will be like?

Everyone wants to know about heaven and everyone wants to go there.

Though most of us are not in a hurry to pass away, we all have questions about it.

The only things we can know for certain about heaven are things revealed in the Bible.

Everything else is speculation and hearsay.

We also know from Scripture that there is only one way for us to see heaven and Jesus is Christ is the one and only access to it.

There is no other way possible to go to heaven but by the Son of God.

While the Bible tells us everything we need to know about heaven, there are a number of things that many believers don’t know.

1.

A place in heaven is being prepared just for us

Jesus did, indeed, promise that He left the earth to go and prepare a place for those who would eventually follow Him to heaven.

The Bible tells us,

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When King David says, “And I will live in the house of the Lord forever,” he’s saying that God has prepared a place for him in heaven.

On that point, the Bible is unmistakably clear.

As Christians, we are right to find comfort in that promise.

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am” .

The New International Version.

(2011).

().

Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.).

When King David says, “And I will live in the house of the Lord forever,” he’s saying that God has prepared a place for him in heaven.

On that point, the Bible is unmistakably clear.

As Christians, we are right to find comfort in that promise.

When King David says, “And I will live in the house of the Lord forever,” he’s saying that God has prepared a place for him in heaven.

On that point, the Bible is unmistakably clear.

As Christians, we are right to find comfort in that promise.

Eben Alexander is a neurosurgeon at Harvard.

He thought everything had a scientific explanation including out of body experiences until in 2008, when he slipped into a coma for 7 days after contracting bacterial meningitis.

During that time, he had an out-of-body experience of his own, he reports was a visit to heaven.

He describes a place with beautiful butterflies and flowers, with souls dancing and angels flying above.

It was full of bliss, and there was a comforting and cherishing love from the Creator.

There was nothing to fear.

There was no pain and there was nothing that one could do wrong in that realm.

He came away from that experience knowing that we are all eternal spiritual beings and we are all loved.

Colton Burpo is the son of a minister who almost died with a burst appendix.

While on the operating table, he states he was taken to heaven and saw Jesus, had angels sing to him and met family members he never knew including his great grandfather and a sister whom he never knew about who had died due to a miscarriage.

In response to his son’s story, his father Todd Burpo writes, “Over and over, I kept asking myself, ‘How could he have known (all those things)?’

But…(then) I had another question: ‘Could this be real?’”

The Bible tells us,

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” ().

As God’s people, we should long for heaven.

When we do, this pleases our Lord who has prepared a place there for us.

We should be ever-motivated by the anticipation of heaven.

Heaven and all that it represents should be a central object of our attention in this life.

Our hearts and minds are to be continuously set on these “things above” where Christ is in heaven, not on “earthly things.”

We Will Have Work to Do

Not Everyone Will Enter

In the book of Matthew, Jesus reminds us that not everyone will enter heaven.

Jesus said,

We Will Have Work to Do

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

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We are taught in the Bible that in eternity many people will seek to enter heaven, but will be stopped and turned into hell instead.

Most religious people die with an expectation of God letting them into heaven, but it doesn’t work that way.

You have to enter into heaven God’s way, which is through Jesus Christ.

We Will Have Work to Do

The idea of working in heaven is foreign to many people.

Yet, the Bible clearly teaches it.

When God created Adam, He “took the man and put Him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” ().

Work was part of the original Eden.

It was part of the perfect human life.

God Himself is a worker.

He didn’t create the world then retire.

Jesus said,

“My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working” ().

Is heaven real?

Recent polls suggest that nearly 80% of all Americans believe there is a place called heaven.

There are many stories today of those who have had near death experiences and seen heaven for themselves.

Heaven too will be a place where we serve and work.

Revelation mentions this several times; how we will be serving God.

That is why God gave us work to do in the garden.

We Will Still Experience Emotions

We Will Still Experience Emotions

The Bible uses the word heaven 532 times in the Bible.

The Hebrew word for “heaven” is shamayim and is plural meaning “heights,” “elevations.”

It is found in the first verse of the Bible.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” and in “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

In Scripture, God is said to enjoy, love, laughter, take delight and rejoice, as well as be angry, happy, jealous and glad.

To be like God means to have and express emotions.

Therefore, we should expect that in heaven emotions will exist for God’s glory and our good.

We know that people in heaven have lots of feelings – all good ones.

We’re told of banquets, feasts and singing.

People will laugh there.

The Bible says,

2.The Ascension of Jesus is the ultimate proof

2.The Ascension of Jesus is the ultimate proof

When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them.

While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

Luke 24:50-51

The New International Version.

(2011).

().

Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

I love the old story of the rich man who, on his deathbed, asked God to allow him to bring his earthly treasures with him when he came to heaven.