A Home in Heaven

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INTRODUCTION: Georgia Baptist pastor and evangelist Abraham Marshall, late in life, sent this message to his friends: “Tell them that I am yet in the land of the dying, but am bound to the land of the living.” When asked to explain, he replied, “There is no death there, while all things are dying here.”

We who are saved by the blood know we are on our way to heaven, but we have questions about what heaven will be like. We wonder about our loved ones who have gone to heaven before us. Though we see as but through a glass darkly (1Corinthians 13:12), God’s word reveals to us several things about the land of heaven.

I.          WHAT IS DEATH?

A.       Death is the departure of the soul and spirit from the body

B.        Rachel – “And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died)…”

C.       Giving up the Ghost (Genesis 25:8, 17; Acts 5:10)

D.       Jesus (Luke 23:46)

II.        WHAT IS IT TO SLEEP IN JESUS?

A.       Refers to the Death of the Believer (1Thessalonians 4:13-15)

B.        Refers to the Temporary Nature of Death for the Believer – Lazarus

1.        Asleep (John 11:11)

2.        Dead (John 11:14)

3.        Not unto death (John 11:4)

C.       Refers to the State of the Body Only

1.        Those asleep in Jesus (1Thessalonians 4:13)

2.        Will God bring with Him (1Thessalonians 4:14)

III.     WHAT PART OF US IS WITH CHRIST?

A.       Our Spirit and Soul go to be With the Lord (1Thessalonians 4:14)

B.        We will be Present with the Lord (2Corinthians 5:8)

C.       We will be in a Far Better State (Philippians 1:20-23)

IV.     ARE WE THE SAME PERSON?

A.       Moses and Elijah Maintain their Identities (Luke 9:28-31)

B.        Abraham and Lazarus Maintain their Identities (Luke 16:19-23)

C.       We will Certainly Maintain our Identities

D.       But We will also be Like Christ (1John 3:1-2)

V.       WHAT DO WE KNOW?

A.       We will Evidently Know Each Other

1.        The comfort of meeting together (1Thessalonians 4:17-18)

2.        The comfort of David concerning his child (2Samuel 12:23) 

B.        We Know Perfectly what we Know (1Corinthians 13:12); though we do not know everything for that is an exclusive attribute of God

C.        We Evidently have Limited Knowledge of Earthly Events (Luke 15:10)

VI.     WHAT OCCURS AT THE RESURRECTION?

A.       Jesus Returns with Us (1Thessalonians 4:14)

B.        Our Bodies will be Resurrected and Glorified (1Corinthians 15:49-54)

VII.  WHO IS IN HEAVEN?

A.       In this Age, Only those who have Turned from their Sins and Trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour (John 3:16-18)

B.        Even Those in Hell Want you to be Saved (Luke 16:27-31)

CONCLUSION: English evangelist Rowland Hill (1744-1833) died in his 89^th year. Shortly before his death, he was heard singing the following hymn as he passed through the chapel:

            And when I die… receive me, I’ll cry,

            For Jesus has loved me, I cannot tell why;

            But this I can find, We two are so joined,

            He’ll not be in heaven and leave me behind.

 

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