Heaven
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Shepherd Me
“Heaven”
September 8, 2019
Introduction
Today, we are concluding our series, “Shepherd Me.” In this series, we have been looking at .
Read Text
Today, we come to the end of verse 6.
Illustration: A pastor and a taxi driver both died and went to heaven. St. Peter was at the Pearly gates waiting for them.
'Come with me', said St. Peter to the taxi driver.
The taxi driver did as he was told and followed St. Peter to a mansion. It had anything you could imagine from a bowling alley to an olympic size pool.
'Wow, thank you', said the taxi driver.
Next, St. Peter led the pastor to a rugged old shack with a bunk bed and a little old television set.
'Wait, I think you are a little mixed up', said the pastor. 'Shouldn't I be the one who gets the mansion? After all I was a pastor, went to church every day, and preached God's word.'
'Yes, that's true. But during your sermons people slept. When the taxi driver drove, everyone prayed.'
The last phrase in is all about Heaven. In verse 6, the House of the Lord equals Heaven. In , God’s throne room in compared to a temple. So, the house of the Lord equals Heaven. This last phrase in is all about Heaven.
This morning, we want to look a three questions related to Heaven. What is Heaven like? How do I get to Heaven? What is my eternal destiny.
1. What is Heaven like?
Illustration: Most common questions by kids and most begin with why?
Why is the sky blue?
How much salt is the ocean?
Why do I need to eat vegetables?
Why do I have to do chores and homework?
Why do I have to go to school?
Why do people get sick?
Why do I have to clean up my toys?
Why do I have to go to bed?
Why can’t I stay up as late as you?
Are there more leaves in the world or blades of grass?
Daughter: "Mum, why's your tummy big?"
Mum: "That's because I'm expecting a baby."
Daughter: “Where's the baby?"
Mum: "Inside my tummy!"
Daughter: (Looking totally shocked) "OMG you ate the baby?"
One of the most commonly asked spiritual questions is this: What is Heaven like? We have all kinds of questions about what Heaven is like?
Questions about Heaven
Will I recognize people, our loved ones in Heaven?
Will I know everything when I get to Heaven?
Will we all be equal in Heaven?
What kind of bodies will we have in Heaven?
What age will we be in Heaven?
Will there be animals in Heaven?
Will we have fried chicken and KK doughnuts in Heaven?
What language will I speak in Heaven?
Will I get bored in Heaven?
Can I have the Saints Super Bowl banner to keep in my mansion in Heaven?
What is Heaven like? We have lots of questions.
Most of our questions about Heaven are self focused? (Repeat Questions Above). Most of our questions about Heaven are self focused. The focus of Heaven is not us. The focus of Heaven is God. We see in that Heaven is the very dwelling place of God. In , we see that God is worshipped in Heaven day and night. the Bible speaks of rewards or crowns that we will receive in Heaven. In Revelation, we see that we throw our crowns at the feet of Jesus. He is worthy not us. The focus of Heaven is God.
William Barclay: For the Christian, heaven is where Jesus is. We do not need to speculate on what heaven will be like. It is enough to know that we will be forever with Him.
Spurgeon: There cannot be heaven without Christ. He is the sum total of bliss; the fountain from which heaven flows, the element of which heaven is composed. Christ is heaven and heaven is Christ.
What is Heaven like? It’s all about God. The focus of Heaven is God. What is Heaven like? It is more glorious and splendid than we can imagine.
(NKJV) The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
(NKJV) The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
No human explanation can do Heaven justice. For centuries, preachers like myself have tried to teach and explain verses that we just read from the book of Revelation. But not preacher does Heaven justice.
I had a picture of Dr. Lee up there. Dr. Lee is in heaven. I visited Dr. Lee, former pastor of this church, many times at his bedside. Just before he died, he lapsed into a coma, and had a vision of heaven. He came back. This is what he said. He said, “I’ve preached on heaven many times, but I never did it justice.” Now, if there were ever an eloquent and a gifted preacher, it would be Dr. Robert G. Lee. If he had any great sermon—and he had many—his sermon called ‘A Place Called Heaven’ was a classic, but he said, “I never did it justice.”
What is Heaven like? It’s more splendid and glorious than we can imagine. No human explanation does Heaven justice. Heaven is all about God. The focus of Heaven is God.
2. How do I get to Heaven?
72% of American believe in Heaven. Most people believe that a person can get to Heaven by living a good life. But that’s not what the Bible teaches.
(KJV) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one …
(KJV) But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;
We have a sin problem. We are covered in sin. The one thing that can keep us out of Heaven is sin.
Illustration: Playing in mud at Chris Bane’s house
God says, “You are not getting into my house as long as you are cover in sin.” Sin can’t be washed out by water. Sin can only be washed away by the blood of Jesus.
(NKJV) But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Jesus has done the heavy lifting. Jesus died in our place on the cross. Jesus died so that our sins could be washed away. Jesus died so that our sins could be forgiven.
So, we must put our faith in Jesus.
(NKJV) So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved …
We must repent.
(CSB) When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what should we do?”
(CSB) Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
I want you to go back to . You might want to underline or circle the word, “dwell.” The word really speaks to how we dwell in Heaven. The word “dwell” actually means to repent. Repentance is simply getting our sins right with God by confessing and seeking forgiveness for our sins. Repentance is about making a 180 from our sins and start living for God.
We started this point by saying that most people believe that living a good life will you get you into Heaven. Getting into Heaven only comes through Jesus.
(NKJV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
3. What is my eternal destiny?
There are only two possible answers to the question: Heaven or Hell.
What is your eternal destiny? Is it Heaven? Have you put your faith in Jesus? Have you got your sins right with God?
What is your eternal destiny? Is it Hell? There is an attempt in our culture to erase Hell. But the Bible is very clear. Hell is real, and it is reserved for those who do not put their faith in Jesus.
The ending of confronts us with our eternal destiny.
What is my eternal destiny.