Longing For Heaven

Introduction

So, heaven. What exactly is our hope? In the Beatitudes, Jesus talked about great is our reward in heaven. He spoke of heaven as a treasure to those who would pursue the qualities of the Beatitudes. And so that’s what we’re longing for. That’s what we’re anticipating at the end of this journey. But what exactly is it that we are anticipating? And I want to ask this. Are we longing for heaven? I know we want to go to heaven. Is it just the simple? We got two alternatives. We know the Bible talks about heaven and hell. And so, let’s see. That’s not a hard decision, is it? Don’t want this one. What this one sounds pretty good, at least from what I know about it. Is it simply the better of two alternatives?

I’m not sure that’s going to produce the kind of longing that we ought to have for heaven. I think there’s a significant challenge here that is unique to our times and culture. If we lived in a place and lived in a time where our lives were mostly consumed with toil and sweat and labor, spending all of our energies almost daily just trying to make ends meet and survive, just making sure that there was food to eat and clothes to wear. If we lived lives like that, I believe that when the Bible talks about heaven as it does, that there would be a greater longing. So my challenge tonight is speaking to a people of great affluence. And that means, if you don’t know what that word means, that we’ve got stuff, we’ve got money, we’ve got wealth.

And in our Advil, caffeine, Energizer Bunny world, where we can go and go and go and have fun and seek out entertainment, maybe not on a daily basis, but certainly every week. And go to Disney World right and left. I had to get Disney World in there. Maybe it’s a challenge for us. When we have access to so many avenues of pleasure and fun-filled times, to truly appreciate what God’s offer is because of the backdrop of our affluence.

I think these are some of the most relevant verses to your circumstances and my circumstances. And I realize there’s a varying degree of wealth even within this assembly tonight. But again, even if you’re on the lower end of that scale, you’re probably a lot better off than most of the world. As we’ve been seeing in some of these reports that we’ve been given over the last several months of how people live in other parts of the world.

I know there are people that have more than you, and you drive by their houses all the time, and you see their cars all the time. But verse 17 applies to us all.

Not to be conceited or to fix their hope. That’s the real problem. That’s the danger. That’s the pitfall where we fix our hope on these things, on the uncertainty of riches. What if our democracy goes up in flames? Like really soon? Like the election is scaring me to death. What if that happens? Could we be talking about the uncertainty of riches very soon? But instead of that, he says, fix your hopes on God. And there’s the lesson. Really, I’m done at that point because, folks, that’s heaven. Right there, that’s it. Fix your hopes on God, and then this as the outgrowth of that, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

And that’s everything else that’ll attend being with him. So he says, instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. I want to talk to you about why you should take hold of that which is life indeed, and why you should not fix your hopes on the short-lived pleasures of this world, on the uncertainty of material things, the temporary nature of material things, but you should instead fix your hopes on God and fix your hopes on heaven where he dwells.

Enter into the joys of your Lord. What’s that place going to be like? Hmm. Wait a minute. Before I get to that, let me introduce you to some things that I talked about last week in regard to our lives in the world, to not be of the world, to focus on things above and fix our hopes on things above, and tell you, I forgot that verse. 2 Peter 3 and verse 13. I noticed when we were clicking to the invitation song, ah, I forgot 2 Peter 3.13. I forgot a verse this morning, too. Hate it when that happens. The 1 Peter 4.11 passage that says, if any man speak, let him speak as it were the utterances of God. And anyone who serves, we often stop right there, anyone who serves, do so by the strength that God supplies.

His indescribable gift. God giving us strength for service. Depend upon him. 1 Peter 4.11. Okay, now add to that. 2 Peter 3.13. We’re looking for a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. We talked about this crooked and wicked world in which we live, and how that we need to hate the evil around us, but we’re longing for a place where there is only right. Where there is only good. And of course, that does apply to our subject tonight. And so the other slide you didn’t see, at least if you saw it, you saw it very briefly. That we need to raise our sights, as we are not of this world. We are aliens and strangers here, and we anticipate what is coming. Okay, so what is it exactly?

1. Revelation 21: A Relationship, Not a Place

Is there a description of heaven in the Bible? And you say to yourself, there absolutely is, and it’s Revelation chapter 21. Oh, yeah. The pearly gates and the street of gold. We think about that too. And this description in Revelation chapter 21 of this dazzling massive city. I mean, the size of this city, I haven’t always focused on that. 1,500 miles in every direction. Now, I’m going to tell you that’s a big city. Houston’s big, but it’s not that big. This is a massive city. But what is the description there? Is he really showing us God’s surroundings as this city is described? May I first suggest that the picture that John sees, and that’s what the book of Revelation is a bunch of pictures that John is seeing.

The picture that he sees, this dazzling city with its pearly gates and street of gold that is coming down, comes down out of heaven in this vision. And prior to that, just prior to that vision unfolding, John is told, come and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And I know this goes against a lot of the songs that we sing, but sometimes songs get it wrong. That the description that we’re given in Revelation chapter 21 of this perfect city is not a description of a place. It is instead a description of a relationship. A relationship with God, who is in the center of Revelation is that despite all of these attacks from without, despite this persecution where Christians are dying and being martyred for the cause, that there isn’t a single thing that can penetrate this relationship with God or sever it.

There is no force of man that can put a dent in this relationship with God. It’s an impenetrable city. There is no outside force that can assault it successfully. And this city, which symbolizes this relationship between God and his people, it says, what about it at the end of chapter 21? It says, nothing unclean or anyone who practices abomination shall ever come into this city. And he says, the nations shall walk by its light. These people in union with God, in fellowship with him, a fellowship that no man has the power to sever or to break, even though they kill Christians. That relationship continues. And those who see what that city is really all about and want to be a part of it and want to partake of its living water, they can come in if they desire.

And that’s really what’s going on in chapter 22 when he says, outside are the dogs and sorcerers, outside of what? Outside of that city. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and immoral persons, but the spirit and the bride say, Come into the city. And let him who wishes take the water of life without cost. Now, some of you go, well, I’ve never heard that view of Revelation 21. Well, just think about it. I’m not asking you to embrace everything I’ve said, especially if it’s the first time that you’ve heard it. But I want to tell you, he’s showing them the bride, the wife of the Lamb. So I would suggest to you that’s not the description. I’m going to talk more about the pearly gates in the street of gold here momentarily.

2. John 14: An Abode With God

As I talk about John 14. Okay, maybe that’s it, because Jesus says to his disciples, in my father’s house are many mansions. And I go to prepare a place for you. So, okay, then the description of heaven is a place where everyone gets his or her own personal mansion. And there’s that song, right? I grew up singing the song. Mansions over the hilltop. I don’t think it made the cut in the new songbook we have. But the line I remember in that song, and I know you all know all you older folks remember it, I want a gold one that’s silver lined. I’m not sure that feeding a materialistic self-serving view of heaven is really the right idea. I don’t believe that’s even the idea in John 14.

In fact, the New American Standard says, in my father’s house are many dwelling places. Not using the word mansions. In fact, that word monet in the Greek that is translated mansions in the King James, only used one other time in Scripture in John 14 and verse 23. And I should have looked at the King James rendering of that, but I’m just going simply with the New American standard here, where Jesus says, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him. That’s the word abode is the idea. There’s a home with God. And we sing that, oh, for a home with God. That’s really the concept of this word.

That we would have an abode with God, and that’s the good thing. That’s the truly rich thing, as I’ll get to again in just a moment. So the idea is, and this is what should have comforted the disciples, and let not your heart be troubled, ultimately, you’re going to be with me. Where I am. Okay, Tony said, what you’re telling me is the Revelation 21 is not describing heaven. Not in the sense of a place, yes, in the sense of the relationship that will exist there between God and his people. And that John 14, when it’s talking about mansions, isn’t really talking about everybody having their own 10,000 square foot place to live in glory. Here’s a verse that I would instead recommend. If we’re thinking about what’s it going to look like when we get there, I like the words of Elijah in Job 37 and verse 22, when he says, Out of the north comes golden splendor, around God is awesome majesty.

So let me just tell you. I don’t know what your personal quarters are going to look like in heaven. Now, I want to tell you better make sure you have some quarters there. But I don’t know what your personal quarters are going to look like, but I’m here to tell you. Have you ever checked into a hotel and it was less than what you thought it was going to be? I went into a hotel, what fairly new hotel, and it had one of those closets where it has the glass mirror door in front of it. It had a big crack running from one end to the other. It’s like, how is that going to be okay? And I go over to this dilapidated chair. At least you could have replaced the chair.

You couldn’t even sit in it. And it was like somebody had eaten crackers in my chair. Had anybody cleaned this room? I went down to the desk. I said, I’m going to need another room. I’m not saying that. I wondered about the whole hotel. Okay, so let’s imagine you go to the hotel of your dreams. And it’s just, oh wow, this is better than home. This is great. Rarely is it better than mine. But it’s, you know, we live well. I wish I could take my bed with me on the road. But it’s it’s let’s say it’s better than anything you have at home, and you and you, wow, this is great. May I suggest to you that your reservation in heaven is going to be far more than you could ever dream.

3. The Focal Point of Our Longing: The Presence of God

How is God going to describe the surroundings of a spiritual place, the presence of a perfect and awesome God, other than Job 37, 22? I mean, around God is awesome majesty. It really defies description. Let me tell you what should instead be the focal point of our longing. And this really should be the thing we long for more than anything else. When you arrive in heaven, I want to suggest to you that it’s not about whether or not there are literally pearly gates, and there won’t be, because that’s a material thing, it’s a spiritual place. The thing about heaven, I think, is described in 1 Timothy chapter 6 in a verse we didn’t read. The one two verses prior to the text that we read in verses 17 through 19, when it says this about God.

Actually, it’s one verse prior, verse 16, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, which no man can see or has seen, he says, to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. That’s what heaven is all about. It’s about being in the presence of the most awesome person forever. A better description of heaven in the book of Revelation is actually chapters four and five. When we are, when John gets pictured one who is beautiful, sardius in appearance, sitting on the throne, and the 24 elders and the four living creatures bowing before the throne and praising him and the Lamb that’s pictured in chapter 5, and everyone is giving honor to the Lamb. Do you want to know what heaven is going to be like? Revelation 4, Revelation chapter 5 is a better picture of that.

A few of us were given the opportunity a few weeks ago by Chip Porter, who was a member here when I first moved here, but as soon as he heard I was coming, he moved to Minnesota. I mean, I’m here for like three weeks, and Chip’s gone. But Chip gave us the opportunity to go see his sister, Lori Line play a concert here in Houston. I know some of the others that got invited would love to have come, but your schedules did permit. So here are the Berkness and Sherry and me and the Bakers at this Lori Line concert. And so I’m looking around. There’s only about 50 people there. This is pretty cool. We had our own personal display of her piano magic, is all I can call it.

And I’m sitting there the whole time going, wow, this lady is incredible. And I texted Chip later, and I said, man, she is talented. What happened to you? You know? He took that pretty well. And so she’s playing, and I’m really impressed with what she can do on a piano. And then at the end, she gets up, she has a piece of paper, and she asks everybody in the audience to tell her your favorite song. And so she starts writing down these audience. I didn’t know I was at that point. I said, what song was all? Sherry had two or three. So she starts writing down all these songs from the audience. Now, this isn’t planned. She has no idea what people are going to say.

And so she goes back to the piano after getting all these songs and starts whipping all of this up into a medley. All these songs that people are suggesting. I gotta tell you, I was sitting there, I don’t know if the Baker saw this or the Berkers, I was sitting there going. I could not believe that she could do that. And Chip said, yep, different show every night. And so I thought about that in preparation for this lesson. I think that’s what heaven is going to be like, but to a greater degree. When we arrive in the presence of God, it’s going to be gaped open mouth continually as we look upon our awesome God. Whom we could not even possibly gaze at while we are in the flesh for whatever reason.

But that we will be in his presence. And oh, it’s going to be absolutely beautiful. You know, I don’t think we’re going to need houses like we do on earth. You know, we have to have bedrooms where we need to find our repose at night. Heaven’s not going to be like that. You know when you wake up in the morning, hopefully, ideally, you’re refreshed and energized. Well, at least it’s better than 10.30 or 11 o’clock at night when you’re really whipped and tired. When you’re just really in it. Can you imagine being perfectly energized and feeling 100% all the time? And in the presence of a perfect person. We will be so awed by the presence of our God, so overwhelmed by the experience that we will not desire to be anywhere else.

Ever. You know, sometimes I desire to be other places, don’t you? Than where I am. And for some of you, I know it’s the next trip to Disney World. We’ve talked about that. I already mentioned that once tonight. Let’s get it in again. The next trip to Disney World. I can’t wait to do that. Excited about that. Somebody’s going next week. But when we’re in heaven, there’s not going to be some other carrot out there that’s tempting us to want to go there or to do that. We’ll be there. There’s nothing better than. In fact, there’s not only nothing better than this, there’s not anything close to this. And we’ll think about, well, we did have pretty cushy lives on earth, but it’s nothing like this.

Don’t let these cushy lives that we live now. I know we sweat a little and toil a little. But it’s nothing compared to where we’re going. Don’t fix your hopes on what is now. The focal point of heaven is not a place and how beautiful it is. Oh, it will be. We’re talking about the presence of the perfect person. But that’s not the focal point. The focal point of him who sits upon the throne. And let me just let me just say this. If our view of heaven is where we, you know, we’re floating on the clouds, and we each have our own personal servant or two or ten, and everything is serving me and serving me and serving me, we’ve missed the point of heaven.

4. An Inheritance Imperishable, Undefiled, Unfading

I’m not sure that heaven is the place for us. So that it can all be about me and my pampering and my indulgence. It’s about serving him first. His bond servants shall serve him. That’s the nature of this. He’s the great one. We’re the small one. He’s the perfect one. We’re the flawed one. And we have been allowed to be in the presence of this holy and magnificent God, not just for a day, but for eternity. Immortality. God has brought immortality to light through the gospel. I can’t talk about heaven without talking briefly about 1 Peter chapter 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to his great mercy. He’s caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

And you know what follows that, right? To an inheritance. Now, has anybody ever received an inheritance? I haven’t. Well, wouldn’t you like to be in some rich uncle’s will? Okay, that’s the concept here. To receive an inheritance. Look, as Christians, we’re in the will. The mother load is coming your way. That’s the best way I know how to describe it. We have an inheritance. And he goes on to describe it. It is imperishable. I love these single words that are used to describe what is heaven going to be like. It’s an inheritance which is imperishable. That word is also used called incorruptible in some translations. It’s only used of things that are spiritual, interestingly enough. It’s not used of anything that is material or physical. That word in Scripture, God is incorruptible.

1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 17. His word is incorruptible. 1 Peter chapter 1. The only incorruptible things are spiritual. So why would you fix your hopes on that which is corruptible when you can fix your hopes on that which is incorruptible and imperishable, like going to heaven to be with God. It is immortal and enduring. It is imperishable. And this is the part I really like. Okay. Imperishable means, hey, you ain’t never seen anything like this. It’s going to blow a day at Disney World away or a week or two weeks. It’s imperishable, but it is also undefiled. I like that. There isn’t anything that can tarnish it. Or make it less.

Nothing can ever tarnish it. The excitement, the exhilaration, the thrill, the feeling of this is the greatest existence ever that never goes away in heaven. Eternity. That concept is bigger than my mind can handle. There’s not going to be an end to it ever. And I start thinking about that. I think I’ve told this story before. While I was in upper division at Florida College, me and my roommates just started talking about eternity. And after about 30 minutes, we were just so blown away in our minds. We couldn’t even go to sleep at that point. You start thinking about eternity. We can’t put our minds around that. An existence that never ever. Okay, 10,000 years, 10,000 years, 10,000 years, it just keeps going and going. Forever.

But you know what’s cool about this? Not only are you in the ultimate position, the ultimate condition, in the presence of the ultimate person, it never tarnishes. Never. It’s just as exciting the first day that continues. Forever. Undefiled. And it will not fade away. It’s always as vibrant as the first moment that you were there. And God’s expecting you.

Conclusion

About the Lord is my light. I believe that was the one. That says, Oh, to behold the Lord in his beauty. This shall I seek. That’s the proper longing for what is coming. To behold the Lord in His beauty. And if we are so blessed to receive the mercy of God at the last great day. I’ll tell you this. All the striving that we’ve done, all the battles against temptation, all the services that we’ve attended, all the Bible classes we’ve prepared for, all the instruction that we subjected ourselves to in the teaching of the Word of God, and all that is meant in our lives, the focal point of worship throughout our lives, all of the toil of the road will seem as nothing.

It’s another good phrase. In a song that we sing. Nobody looks back from heaven and wishes that they would have changed something. Oh man, I expended too much effort to get here. Nobody says that in glory.

Nobody says that. Regrets are for people who are lost in eternal torment, not for people in heaven. When by his grace I shall look on his face. Oh, that will be glory. Be glory for me. Glory. That’s a concept that’s difficult for us to grasp, also. In heaven is glory. Everything around God is glorious. He is glorious. And if we miss this place, this person, and being with him forever, we will have missed absolutely everything that means anything. Are you in Christ? Have your sins been cleansed by his blood so that you can have the hope of being in his presence forever. We sing to encourage your faithful response. Let’s stand and sing.