John 14
I graduated from Screven County High School in 1964 and immediately left Screven County to join the Air Force. It’s been over 50 years now and I’ve traveled many places and lived in several states and even outside the United States. I’ve seen lots of beautiful sights and tasted many different foods. I’ve met so many wonderful people. And if I live to be a ripe old age, I will probably move around some more and taste more foods and meet more wonderful people.
But no matter where I go, nothing will ever be able to match the feeling I get when I go home. There’s no place like home. The sofa is softer, the bed is firmer, the shower is higher, the smells are sweeter, and the embraces are more tender.
Most of us would have to agree that there is no experience that can match going home after a long trip. Now, there can be, for most of us a couple of homes that we love. Many of us have our childhood homes that will always be special to us. Maybe the old home is no longer there. The land might have been cleared and a new building erected. Maybe all the timber has been cut. Maybe it is much different now than it was then, or maybe it hasn’t changed in years.
Home, Sweet Home!
It doesn’t matter. It’s still home. That’s the home that many of you came to today. It’s where mom and dad lived or still live. It is a very special place indeed. Most of us, however, have married and established homes of our own. Places where memories are created almost daily. This too is a very special place.
I always loved the sound of one of my children yelling, “Daddy’s home!” That announcement was once followed by them running and giving me a hug, but they’ve outgrown that. Sometimes Joni meets me at the door and welcomes me home. If you could bottle those feelings and sell them, you could get rich overnight. That is a wonderful feeling. Don’t you think that heaven is much like that? I can’t wait! If I can feel so welcomed and so wanted in an imperfect world, through an imperfect child, in an imperfect house, what must heaven be like – a perfect kingdom, through a perfect Father in a perfect mansion! WOW!
This is what Jesus was trying to convey to his disciples in John 14. Jesus was announcing that He must go away, but they were not to worry. He assured them that He was going to do some house remodeling and room additions for their heavenly occupancy. When He was done, He would come and get them and welcome them to their heavenly home. Let’s read it together.
(READ JOHN 14) Like the disciples, there are some things about our heavenly home you and I need to know.
Our heavenly home is real!
Bertrand Russell, the 1950 Nobel Prize winner for literature, wrote concerning the heavenly end to life, “There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere; only triviality for a moment—then nothing.” John Lennon’s 1971 song Imagine contains the words, “Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try; No hell below us, above us only sky; Imagine all the people living for today.” Still, others have suggested that heaven is a state of mind, a figment of the imagination, a land of fairy tales.
Is heaven a myth? A fantasy? A wish? A non-existing place? A state of mind? Absolutely not!
Heaven is a real place. We have Jesus’ word on that. He told His disciples not to worry about death, not to worry about their heavenly residence, and then gave them a reason, “In my Father’s house are many mansions (or rooms); if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you”
Heaven is a real place for real people. Just as there was a house of brick and mortar or wood or siding, and just as there were real people who came to the door to greet you, so it will be when we step inside the pearly gates of our heavenly home. It’s a real place with real people.
Our heavenly home is resplendent!
The book of Revelation could be entitled the Book of Homecoming, for in it we are given a picture of our heavenly home. John’s descriptions of heaven will take your breath away.
“Then I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed up for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev. 21:1-4)
God pulls back the curtain and allows the weary apostle John to peek into the homeland. When given the task of writing down what he sees, John chooses the most beautiful comparison earth has to offer. Our heavenly home, John says, is like “a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” What is more beautiful than a bride? Especially my bride? When I read that my heavenly home is similar to a bride, I tell you, it makes me want to go home!
This world is in a mess
The world I woke up to this morning couldn’t be described as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. The world I woke up to this morning is filled with murder and disease that separates loved ones and leaves us lonely. But in our heavenly home, there will be no more murder or disease that separates. The world I woke up to this morning is filled with pain and sadness because families are divided by divorce and the rebellion of children.
But in our heavenly home, there will be no more sadness. The world I woke up to this morning is filled with pre-born infant killing and we call it freedom of choice. It’s filled with homosexuality, and we call it an alternate lifestyle. It’s filled with explicit sex on TV and internet screens, and we call it freedom of press or expression. But in our heavenly home, there will be no more sin—nothing that defiles.
Our heavenly home is a beautiful place for beautiful people. It is more beautiful than we could ever imagine. We couldn’t begin to put it into words. When asked, “What is heaven like?” R. G. Lee replied, “Heaven is the most beautiful place the mind of God could conceive, and the hand of God could create.” When you look at this world, stained by innocent blood, smudged with selfishness, and splattered with sin, doesn’t it make you want to go home?
Our heavenly home is ready!
I’ve heard horror stories from fellow ministers about driving long distances to get to the Southern Baptist Convention, fighting with their children all day, surviving the interstate experience arriving at their hotel exhausted and ready to crash only to find out their reservation did not get entered in the computer or the hotel was overbooked or for some other reason their room is not ready. I have a fear of that happening with our family as we travel to a convention or go on vacation. We enjoy our membership in a “timeshare” type vacation plan because we know our room is always ready. We always hear the reassuring voice telling us our room is ready and they have been expecting us.
Our heavenly home is ready. It is a prepared place, but only for prepared people. The Father has been expecting us. Jesus said, “I am going to prepare a place for you. 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.” Jesus has gone ahead to make things ready for us. The carpenter of Nazareth who must have built many a home in His day has gone to build a mansion for you and me. Jesus has done everything necessary for us to be with Him in this heavenly home, even die on the cross. We will live in our heavenly home, not because we hope so, but because He loves us and has made preparations for us. Heaven is ready, are you?
I don’t like to drive!
One of the things I hate most about taking a long trip, other than the long trip, is packing. We always start packing the night before because we’re afraid we won’t have time to do all the packing the next day. Our mental checklist is reviewed to make sure that everything is packed, and that we are ready to get up the next morning and finish up so we can leave on time. We dare not wait too late. Preparations always must be made before the day of departure. Are you packed? Are your affairs in order? Have you made the necessary travel arrangements? Have you booked your flight for your heavenly home? Not only is our heavenly home real, not only is our heavenly home resplendent, not only is our heavenly home ready, but…
Our heavenly home is restricted!
Carl Sandburg was once asked whether there were any bad words. He replied that he was aware of only one: “Exclusive! Belonging to exclusive clubs, living in exclusive communities.” Well, it may come as a surprise to some, but heaven is a restricted neighborhood. It is an “exclusive” place. But its exclusion is not a matter of race or face or place, it is a matter of grace. Everyone is welcome, but only those who put their faith and trust in Christ may enter.
When it comes to entering our heavenly home, there is only one way, one plan, one road, and one option. Jesus made it abundantly clear, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is the way. Without Him, there is no homecoming. Because of sin, we are separated from God. We are hopelessly and helplessly lost. But Jesus has provided a way—a map to our heavenly home. Jesus is the truth. Without Him, you cannot know God. Sin blinds us to the truth. But in Christ, we find a full picture of him. Jesus is the life. Without Him, you cannot grow in eternal life. Apart from Christ, we are dead in trespasses and sins. But Jesus is the source of life. He who has Jesus has life now and forevermore.
I’ll Fly Away
One day I’ll take my flight to glory. I’ll go through the necessary checkpoints and arrive at the entrance to the gate. The gatekeeper will ask if I have my “passport”. I’ll show him my passport and he’ll check the book where everybody’s name is written down. He will look for the three words that will gain me entrance into my heavenly home. If he finds those words, he will stamp them on my passport—“trusting in Jesus”! Only one thing is needed for entering our heavenly home: Trusting in Jesus. And if we are trusting in Jesus, we need not worry. Entrance is guaranteed. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” I can’t wait to get there and have the gate opened and hear my Heavenly Father say, “Welcome home!”
I’ve wandered far away from God, now I’m coming home.
The paths of sin, too long I’ve trod. Lord, I’m coming home.
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