What Is Hell?

 

What Happens When We Pass? - 2

WHAT IS HELL?

… based on Luke 16:19-31

This past Monday I got a phone call from Courtney Hughett,

who is the editor of the Brown County Democrat.

She wanted to know if I was the Pastor @ Bear Creek Church.  I said I was, 

& she asked if I knew Blake Wolpert?  I acknowledged that Blake was a good friend & part of the Church.  “Well, he wants to run a full-page ad.”

I said, “okay, what about?”

“Well, he wants to invite everyone to Bear Creek Church on Sunday.  

He says that ‘Pastor Rande is going to have a hell of a sermon.’”

I said, “no, no, no, no, no, no, my sermon topic is going to be, ‘What Is Hell?’”

Anyway, we’re in the 2nd week of a series on “What Happens When We Pass?”  Last Sunday we learned that Heaven is an actual place.  

Scripture teaches that it’s pretty & pain-free, a populated place of plenty,

a place that’s purposeful & prepared by Jesus for those who love Him.

We also learned that eternal life begins for us the moment we come to faith, 

it starts right then.  And if Jesus isn’t our Lord & Savior, then we’re living in eternal alienation, which is eternal death. And if nothing changes on our part,  we will die & face eternal judgment. (The Revelation 20:15)

We discovered that people have all kinds of non-Scriptural ideas of what they imagine Heaven is going to be like.  

That’s also true when we come to the topic of Hell.  

It’s incredible the ridiculous comments that some people idly make.

Interestingly, while over 79% of Americans believe 

in Heaven, only 52% believe in an actual Hell.

I remember clearly what was probably my 1st theological discussion.

I was in the 6th grade & in the library of Keith School.  

And one of my classmates, Fred Burggraf, said, “I don’t believe in Hell!”

“Why?” I asked.

“Well,” said Fred.  “God is our Father.  Right?  And we’re His children.  Right?  Can you imagine a father sending his children to Hell?”  

So, when my Mom came to pick me up that afternoon, I proudly announced, “I don’t believe in Hell,” & proceeded to “enlighten” her.

When we got home my Mom handed me the Bible, 

& patiently explained that not everyone is God’s child,

but only those who have come to faith in Jesus.  

Then she had me turn to John 8, & told me to begin reading at verse 42.

“Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘If God really were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God & now I am here.  I did not come on my own authority, but he sent me.  Why do you not understand what I say?  It is because you cannot bear to listen to my message.  You are the children of your father, the Devil, & you want to follow your father’s desires.’” 

(John 8:42-44)

So, according to Scripture, Fred’s understanding was completely wrong, frighteningly wrong.  And yet, the vast majority of people accept his logic.  

How could a good God send someone to an awful place like Hell?  Or maybe even a better question, could a good God even allow a place like Hell to exist?  

It seems so inconsistent with what we imagine the God of love to be.

This morning we’re going to broach this subject. 

Jesus often taught using parables … an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.  One of His most interesting parables is about a rich fool, who has obviously never given eternity & “What Happens When We Pass?” a fleeting thought.  

So, listen now as I read the words of Jesus, 

as recorded by Luke, to us who have gathered here for worship. 

Within our hearing comes the Word of the Lord …

“There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day.  There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man’s door, hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man’s table.  Even the dogs would come and lick his sores.  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven.  The rich man died and was buried, and in Hades, where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side.  So he called out, ‘Father Abraham!  Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!’  But Abraham said, ‘Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things.  But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain.  Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to us from where you are.’  The rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father’s house, where I have five brothers.  Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain.’  Abraham said, ‘Your brothers have Moses and the prophets to warn them; your brothers should listen to what they say.’  The rich man answered, ‘That is not enough, father Abraham!  But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.’  But Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.’” (Luke 16:19-31)

Jesus said … “Heaven & earth will pass away, 

but my words will never pass away.” (Mark 13:31)

May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion, to His glory and to our edification. Amen

If you’re driving to Chicago on Route 65,

about 35 miles north of Lafayette & 50 miles south of Merrillville there is a huge sign on the side of the road …

HELL IS REAL.

Over the years I’ve seen it dozens of times,

& it always is a grim reminder … Hell is real.

And it’s certainly not a place to joke about, which is often the case today.  We see the Far Side cartoon.  In the 1st frame there’s a sign, 

“Welcome To Heaven” & Peter’s passing out harps.  In the 2nd frame,

“Welcome To Hell” with Satan passing out accordions.

Hell is a lot worse than Lawrence Welk music.

And then there are the flippant comments like the one Mark Twain made, “I’ll take Heaven for the climate, & Hell for the society.”

Well, we’re going to see this morning that Hell is not to be taken lightly.  Hell is not going to be fun.  It’s the ultimate punishment.  

Hell should be avoided at all costs.

And let me say here also … that when someone is told to “go to Hell” … 

I can’t imagine a more awful vow.  And in a very real sense,

that may be the worst kind of profanity.

So, how can a good God send someone to an awful place like Hell?  

Or why does a good God allow a place like Hell to exist?

Let me begin by saying that Hell was not created by God for humanity.  

Hell was prepared by God for the Devil & his demons.  

Jesus makes that clear when He teaches about The Final Judgment.

“Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil

 & his angels!” (Matthew 25:41) 

That’s why Hell was created.  Hell was made for the Devil.

Having said that … God doesn’t send anyone to Hell; people end up there because of choices they’ve made.  And it’s pure grace that a good God is good enough to warn us that we can end up there too.  And not only that, but He has done everything possible to prevent that from happening to us. 

(2 Peter 3:9)

“God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, 

so that everyone who believes may go to Heaven & have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Now if we’re really going to understand Hell, we must grapple 

with the existence of Satan.  So, who is he?  And why is he?

Satan is “the evil god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) Jesus said that Satan is a liar. (John 8:44) Jesus said he is a deceiver. (The Revelation 20:8) Jesus said he is a murderer. (John 8:44) And even though he is a deceiver, make no mistake about it; Satan’s main objective is not to deceive us, but to destroy us. 

(John 10:10)

He’s identified with various names:

• “the accuser of believers” (The Revelation 12:10) 

• “an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14)

• “our enemy” (1 Peter 5:8)

• “the Destroyer” (The Revelation 9:11)

• “Satan” (Matthew 4:10)

• “the Devil” (Matthew 4:1)

• “the ruler of the spiritual powers in space” (Ephesians 2:2)

Scripture also provides some insights as to Satan’s origin.  

Ezekiel writes words of God …

“You lived on my holy mountain & walked among sparkling gems.  

Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. … So I forced you to leave my holy mountain ….  

You were proud of being handsome, & your fame made you act like a fool.  Because of this I hurled you to the ground.” (Ezekiel 28:14-17)

Jesus was referring that event when He said,

“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18)

The prophet Isaiah writes … 

“King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven!  … you have been thrown to the ground.  You were determined to climb up to heaven & to place your throne above the highest stars.  You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble.  You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds & be like the Almighty.  But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead.” (Isaiah 14:12-15)

Bible scholars believe that Satan was the “bright morning star,” 

the anointed angel.  He was above all the other angels, & was given,

as were the rest of the angels, free will.

Bible scholars believe Satan oversaw the worship of Heaven & all of creation, everything that God had made.  He was beautiful & wise.

But he wasn’t satisfied with all that, he wanted to be God.     

When we recognize that about Satan, we’ll understand his devices & his desires.  He wants everybody to be worshiping him instead of God.  He wants everybody to worship his beauty, his brightness, his wisdom.  But that’s the essence of sin. (Genesis 3:5) It’s putting self in place of Almighty God. (Exodus 20:3)

That was the 1st evil thought … the 1st independent thought in the universe & it was sinful.  And that’s where the greatest fall occurred.  

Satan wanted to place his throne above the throne of God.

We think about the fall of humanity, (Genesis 2:17) & what a great fall that was.  But there was an even greater fall.

It was the fall of Satan from the highest Heaven to the lowest Hell. 

We wonder, “If God is good, where did the 1st evil thought come from?”  

It was self-born.  Satan was all caught up with himself.  

“You were proud of being handsome, & your fame made you act like a fool.”

His preoccupation with his own “greatness”, 

while ignoring his dependence upon his Creator, was his downfall.

One more thing … the Devil doesn’t reign in Hell.  That’s a totally false understanding.  He’s not running around with a pitchfork giving orders.

He’ll have no power there.  He’ll be tormented in Hell.

We read of the Final Judgment …

“Then the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire & sulfur, where the beast & the false prophet had already been thrown; & they will be tormented day & night forever & ever.” (The Revelation 20:10)

And then, what must be one of the most terrifying verses in all of Scripture 

“The smoke of the fire that torments them goes up forever & ever.  

There is no relief day or night.” (The Revelation 14:11)

So, is Hell real?  The answer is yes.

Scripture definitely teaches its’ existence.

Actually, the cross makes no sense if there’s no Hell.  If there wasn’t such a terrible place Jesus would never have left Heaven to die on the cross to save us.  Jesus, more than anyone else in Scripture, taught about Hell, & used graphic images to describe it.

 “Those who should be in the Kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness, 

where they will cry & gnash their teeth.” (Matthew 8:12)

“If your hand makes you lose your faith, cut it off!  It is better for you to enter life without a hand than to keep both hands & go off to hell, to the fire that never goes out.  And if your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off!  It is better for you to enter life without a foot than to keep both feet & be thrown into hell.  And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out!  It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with only 1 eye than to keep both eyes & be thrown into hell.  There ‘the worms that eat them never die, & the fire that burns them is never put out.’” (Mark 9:43-48)

Talk about the seriousness of avoiding it!

In a speech to the National Press Club, Ted Turner said … 

“Heaven is going to be a mighty slender place.  And most of the people I know in life aren’t going to be there.  There are a few notable exceptions & I’ll miss them. (laughter) Remember, heaven is going to be perfect.  

And I don’t really want to be there ….  Those of us that go to hell, which will be most of us in this room; most journalists are certainly going there. (laughter) But, when we get to hell, we’ll have a chance to make things better because hell is supposed to be a mess.  And heaven is perfect.  Who wants to go to a place that’s perfect?  Boring … Boring.” (laughter)

Ted Turner passed back on May 6th.  I shudder to think of him 

standing before Almighty God & having those words played back to him.

Hell is nothing to joke about.  Picture being in complete darkness.  

All alone.  No sight.  No sound.  Horrible smells.  No touch. Nothingness.  Think about what that would be like for an hour … a day … a month.  

How about forever?  It sends chills down my spine.

I’ve heard people over the years say when they’re experiencing a very difficult time that they’re “going through Hell” … but that’s not true.  

No matter what horrible thing we may be struggling with, 

(& I’m not being insensitive to that), 

our lowest days on earth will seem like a vacation compared to Hell.

It’s been said that the pain of Hell is not so much caused by the presence of evil as from the absence of good.  Darkness is not dark because of the presence of darkness, but because of the absence of light. 

In other words … Hell is total separation from God.  

And it’s what Jesus experienced while hanging on the cross.

“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”

“My God, my God, why did you abandon me?” (Matthew 27:46)

It was in that moment that Jesus experienced Hell.

And we acknowledge that when we say in The Apostles’ Creed, 

“He descended into Hell.”  Jesus did that so we wouldn’t have to.

Jesus also implies that there are degrees of punishment in Hell.  

Of some people He says,

“They take advantage of widows & rob them of their homes … 

their punishment will be all the worse.” (Mark 12:40)

Even so, Hell is a horrible place, a bad place; it’s not a place anyone should want to go.  It’s not a place we should want anyone to go.  

It’s a place of great pain, of quenchless thirst, a bottomless pit.

Every description of Hell in the Scriptures describes suffering.  

Even in this short parable that we just read the word “pain” is used 4 times.

It’s agony & torment.

“The rich man called out, ‘Father Abraham!  Take pity on me, 

& send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water & cool off my tongue, 

because I am in great pain in this fire!’”

That ridiculous misconception that we often hear … “Hell won’t be so bad; 

I’ll be there with all my buddies.”  Is the rich man having fun with his friends? … No, he’s all alone.  He’s not saying, “Boy, I can’t wait for my 5 brothers to get here.  We’re going to have a grand old time together.

He’s expressing concern for them.  He wants someone to warn them.

Our choices in this life have incredibly altering consequences for the next.

That’s something that always concerns me.  I’ve done a # of funerals over the years for non-believers.  And at the wake I hear comments like …

“He/she is finally at peace.” … Really?

The great theologian C.S. Lewis once saw a gravestone with the words

… “Here lies an atheist – all dressed up & nowhere to go” … 

& Lewis quietly remarked, “I bet he wishes that were so.”

Nobody has to go to Hell.  

Jesus offers the free gift of eternal life in Heaven. 

One day, when Vice-President Calvin Coolidge was presiding over the Senate, 

one Senator angrily told another to go “straight to hell.”

The offended Senator complained to Coolidge as presiding officer.

Coolidge looked up from the book he had been leafing through while listening to the debate & wittingly replied, “I’ve looked through the rule book …

you don’t have to go.”

And neither do any of us.  

Jesus has provided the way to get into Heaven … the ABC’s.

A … admit your need

B … believe Jesus died for you

C … commit yourself completely to Him

D … depend upon His promises

For better or worse, we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.  

About 8,350 people die on an average day in the U.S.  That equals roughly 348 deaths every hour, 6 every minute, & 1 death about every 10 seconds.

At some point each one of us, & every person we know will become part of that statistic.  What happens then?

So yes, Hell is real, but so is Heaven.  

And it awaits all of us who have come to faith.  Thanks be to God.

MARANA THA

 

WHAT IS HEAVEN GOING TO BE LIKE?

from the desk of . . .

Rande Wayne Smith

D.Min., Th.M., M.Div.

 

 

 

WHAT IS HEAVEN GOING TO BE LIKE?

… based on The Revelation 22:1-5

On 25 August 2026 Dolly Rebecca Parton passed.

I’ve been a fan for over 50 years, & I’m sad to think that the world no longer has one of “the good guys” to bring joy & peace & love.  Now, as I said, I’m a fan, & I’ve heard on numerous occasions, her testimony, so I know where she is.  And apparently lots of other people know too, because there have been Facebook posts from every spectrum of society acknowledging it.  

 

With that in mind,

I thought it might be good for us to think about our own death. 

So, what I’d like to do over these next few weeks is ponder that subject.

 

• Today: “What Is Heaven Going To Be Like?”

• Next Sunday: “What Is Hell?”

• Then: “The Final Judgment”

• Then: “The Judgment Seat Of Christ”

• And concluding with: “Some People We Won’t BeMeeting In Heaven”

 

So, let’s begin … what is Heaven going to be like? …

I’m confident that each one of us has, at some time, asked that question.

 

Throughout the years I’ve overheard a # of people, 

especially around funerals, offer some suggestions.

& let me tell you … there are some pretty strange ideas out there.

 

​Somebody has said that what we believe about Heaven tells us more about ourselves than it does about Heaven.  Think about that. … What we believe about Heaven tells us more about ourselves than it does about Heaven … because we’re projecting our own desires & wishes & images & perceptions.  “I would like Heaven to be ….  In Heaven I want to be doing ….”

​That could reveal some pretty interesting things if we ever wrote down what we expected would happen in Heaven.  We could learn a lot about ourselves & what is really “god” in our lives. (Luke 12:34) Many thoughts have absolutely nothing at all to do with the reality of what Jesus called Heaven.  

Is Heaven like an endless Sunday?  Worshiping forever & ever?  

Is it a big golf course?  Is it a family reunion?

 

​A recent Harris Poll reported that 90% of Americans believe in some kind of Heaven.  Now most people, when they think about Heaven, can be put into 1 of 2 groups. There are those who believe in a God-centered Heaven, 

& there are those who believe in a self-centered/family centered Heaven.

(This is a heaven centered on my family & my friends.) (Matthew 10:37)

 

And as I’ve listened to people, the vast majority fall into this 2nd group.  

And the reason for this is quite simple … most people are self-centered or family-centered here on earth.  And if we’re not centered on God here … then why project anything into the future where God is concerned?

 

But if we live with our lives centered on God here, (Exodus 20:3)

then we’ll think in terms of God in Heaven … of seeing Jesus … & being with Him.  Those who love the Lord long to go to Heaven because Jesus is there.

 

So, we can imagine that people who don’t know much about God, or could care less, aren’t very excited to think about Heaven, let alone, want to go there.

 

​The Apostle Paul was certainly thrilled at the prospect of it. He said, “I want very much to leave this life & be with Christ, which is a far better thing.” (Philippians 1:23)

 

Now he was writing to new believers, so he added …“For your sake, 

it’s probably more important that I remain alive, but … if you’re asking me personally, I think it’s far better to be with Jesus. And I can’t wait!”

 

​What does he mean … “far better”?  Far better than anything that this world can offer us.  Paul believed that because he was God-centered.

“For what is life?  To me, it is Christ.  Death, then, will bring more.” 

(Philippians 1:21)

​

A heaven that has nothing to do with Jesus 

is a heaven of a person’s own imagining.

And that has nothing at all to do with the Heaven that Scripture describes.  

For the Heaven that we read about in the Bible is centered on the Lamb who was slain … & the worship of God Almighty, & His Son, Jesus Christ.

(The Revelation 5:12)

 

Jesus said to His followers, “I am going to prepare a place for you. …

And after I go & prepare a place for you, I will come back & take you

to myself, so that you will be where I am.” (John 14:2-3)

Jesus & us.  Us & Jesus.  That’s what Heaven is all about.

 

Heaven is a prepared place.  Jesus describes it as getting a room ready 

for us. Jesus is preparing a room for me in His Heavenly Home!

 

​So, listen now to Good News, as recorded by John ofhis revelation from God on the island of Patmos, to us herein Brown County.

Within our hearing comes the Word of the Lord …

 

​The angel also showed me the river of the water oflife, sparkling like crystal, and coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb and flowing down the middle of the city’s street.  On each side of the river was the tree of life, which bears fruit twelve times a year, once each month; and its leaves are for the healing of the nations.  Nothing that is under God’s curse will be found in the city.

 

​The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him.  They will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.  There shall be no more night, and they will not need lamps or sunlight, because the Lord God will be their light, and they will rule as kings forever and ever. (The Revelation 22:1-5)

 

Jesus said … “Happy are those who hear 

the word of God & obey it!” (Luke 11:28)

 

May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplatingthe mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion, to His glory and to our edification. Amen

 

There are other passages in Scripture that describe Heaven, 

but this is a great one.

​I would love to have been standing behind John’s shoulder as God opened the door of Heaven … & peaked inside. I try to imagine what He saw.  

Well, that’s what the Scriptures allow us to do here.

 

Heaven is not only a prepared place; it’s a pretty place.

 

John gazes upon this scene, & then struggles to try to describe it for us …

the fruit, the river, the combination of colors, the limitless perfect harmony of everything he sees … we just have to let our imagination run wild.

Heaven will be an incredibly beautiful place.

 

As I was driving past the overlook to get here this morning,

I thought of how beautiful that will be next month when the leaves turn.

People will come from all over to take in that view.  Scripture describes Heaven with a myriad of colors, many we have never seen or even imagined.  

Heaven will be an awesome place to gaze at.

 

​It’ll also be a place of plenty.  2/3’s of our world is malnourished.  We sit here with our stomachs full, whilebillions of people endure a compulsory fast.  Well, Heaven, as it’s described here, will be a place of plenty.  With trees that symbolically bear different kinds of fruit to satisfy our hunger.  

Scripture teaches that those who live there shall hunger no more.

(The Revelation 7:16)

 

And there will be pure water, living fountains of water.  

Again, we simply turn our facets on & expect that.  

And if it isn’t pure we’re on the phone to complain.  

But most of the world doesn’t have the opportunity to drink pure water.

 

I have a friend, Dave Carwell, who is a missionary in Haiti.

He’s told me how people in Haiti bath in the same water that is drawn to drink … & do everything else in it as well.  He described a manhole in the street where people went to draw water.  It was a sewer!  Are you visualizing this? Here’s a hole in the ground in the middle of the street where people go & get water to cook, bath, & drink.  And we think, “that’s absolutely gross” … & it is.  But that’s our world.  So, no wonder John describes clear, 

crystal, pure water … the river of life.  And for many in ourworld …

that’s something to really look forward to.

​½ of the world needs to know that when they get to Heaven, they will have pure water to drink.  They will be satisfied. (John 4:14) They will be experiencing something that absolutely defies their imagination because … they’ve never known anything like it here on earth.  That’s Heaven!  If defies our imagination because we have nothing we can possibly compare it to.

 

It’s a pretty place.  It’s a place of plenty, of satisfaction.  

Heaven is a place that is permanent.  It’s builder & maker is God.

(The Psalms 146:6) There’s a stability about Heaven … or it wouldn’t be Heaven.

 

What I also love about this passage is that it describes all kinds of things that I don’t like to do down here that I won’t have to do up there.

 

I hate keeping track of my keys.  I won’t have to lock upthe house anymore.  

I must do it here because we have crime & violence.  We have to lock our homes, our cars.  We must lock the Church!  In Heaven we won’t have to lock up anything. We won’t have to lock our room in the mansion.  

We can leave our rooms open because there will be no crime.

 

​We will never be attacked.  Every woman who has ever been raped shall never be raped again.  She will never be abused.  She’ll never be robbed or mugged.  (FYI … here’s another difference between us & Islam.)  Muslims have doubts about women even being in Heaven, except for the wide-eyed whores or maidens who will be present for man’s pleasure.

 

We won’t hurt each other either anymore … physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, relationally.  We won’t be putting each other down,

because there won’t be any sin. … 

(Now this is where the Baptists say “Amen!”) … This is good stuff!

 

In fact, Scripture reports that nothing that is defiled will enter in. (1 John 3:2) Think of the Garden of Eden, & multiply it by a million billion trillion …

& that’s Heaven.

 

​We won’t pay health insurance anymore.  We won’t lose our hair because of chemotherapy anymore.  We won’t have a bad back anymore.  

We will never have another toothache or a splinter.  No more aches & pains.  No more medicine!

​We won’t do all the things that have come to us as a matter of course because we live in a sin-sick universe … because there was a fall, 

& the world itself fell with the sin of humanity. (Romans 8:21)

We won’t commit anyone to a hole in the ground anymore.

 

All the funeral directors will be out of work.  And so will us preachers.  

And so will the medical Drs.  There won’t be any hospitals or sickness or death. (The Revelation 21:4) We won’t say “goodbye” anymore.  We won’t be lonely.

All of that is in the final chapters of The Revelation.

 

But above all … we will see God’s face.  On the last night of His earthly life Jesus prayed for us. “I’m praying not only for my disciples, but also for those who will believe in me because of their message.” (John 17:20) You understand, He was praying for us, & everyone else who has come to faith because of the witness of the disciples down through the ages.  

 

What did Jesus pray for us?

“I want them (us) to be with me where I am, so that they (we) may see my glory.” (John 17:24) Imagine what that’s going to be like!

 

I love the song, “We Shall Behold Him.” Listen to the words as Laura sings it.

The sky shall unfold … Preparing His entrance

The stars shall applaud Him … With thunders of praise

The sweet light in His eyes, shall enhance those awaiting

And we shall behold Him, then face to face

We shall behold Him, we shall behold Him … Face to face in all of His glory

We shall behold Him, yes we shall behold Him … Face to face, our Savior & Lord

The angel shall sound, the shout of His coming

The sleeping shall rise, from their slumbering place

And those who remained, shall be changed in a moment

And we shall behold Him, then face to face

We shall behold Him, o yes we shall behold Him … Face to face in all of His glory

We shall behold Him, o yes we shall behold Him

Face to face, My Savior & Lord … We shall behold Him, our Savior & Lord

 

​I love Roman history, & so 1 of the places I wanted to see when we were in England was Hadrian’s Wall.  This is a stone wall that goes across northern England that the Romans built in A.D. 122 to keep out the barbarians from the north, i.e. Scotland.  

So, we saw that & the Roman fort at Corbridge.

Now I’m walking through this fort that was built 1,900 years ago, & at one point I just sat down & gawked at it for 15 minutes. I was enthralled by a bunch of stones, for Heaven’s sake!  I can imagine my 1st year in Heaven, just sitting there gazing at Jesus!  We will behold His face!  We will be eternally occupied.  We’re not going to be on fluffy clouds playing harps.

 

There will be work to do, & we’ll talk about that in the coming weeks.  

What we need to know now is that Heaven will be far, far, 

far better than anything we’ve ever experienced here on earth.

 

And that’s something we’ve got to begin recognizing at funerals.  

If the person who passed was a believer … they’re not in a worse place …

they are in a far, far, far better place.

And once we accept that it’s better for them, & if we truly love them

(1 Corinthians 13:4-6) … then that’s where the comfort & healing begins.

 

So, how do we enter Heaven?  Well, Scripture teaches that there are gates, 

many gates.  John, in fact, sees 12. (The Revelation 12:12)Multiple entrances leading into Heaven … in the sense that people “from every race, tribe, 

nation, & language” (The Revelation 7:9) (not every religion) … will be there.

People from the 4 corners of the world (Luke 13:29)

will enter Heaven through these 12 gates.

 

John witnesses this.  The gates are described as pearls. (The Revelation 21:21) (This is where we get the idea of “pearly gates” by the way.)

 

And these openings cannot be gatecrashed.  We cannot demand an entrance.  

We cannot buy our way in.  We cannot push our way in.  There’s no chance that we can force our way into Heaven by anything good we have ever done,

by the times we’ve come to worship, by the amount we’ve read in the Bible, by the prayers that we’ve prayed, by money we’ve given. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

None of that is going to make the gates fly open for us.

 

Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross, is what it takes. (Ephesians 1:7)

God’s hand is on the latch, & we depend totally on Him to open the door.

 

When our time comes, we can know that our place 

has been purchased if we’ve come to faith. (The Acts 16:31)

That’s why Jesus came to earth.

What did John the baptizer say when he 1st saw Jesus?  

“The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”(John 1:29)

 

So, Heaven’s a pretty place, a pleasing place, a place of plenty,

a permanent place, & it’s prepared by Jesus for those who’ve been purchased by His blood.  Again, the words of the Apostle Paul …

“For what is life?  To me, it is Christ.  Death, then, will bring more.”

 

I’ve shared with you my experience with my Mom when she passed.  

I was holding her hand & Jesus came.  (John 14:3) She was “born” by death into a whole new experience … more real than this one.  

This is the “dream” right now, & one day we’re going to “wake up” to reality.

 

The act of dying itself is a terrible thing, a dreadful thing. (1 Corinthians 15:26)

But we can endure the pain if we truly believe that death is the process to being “born” into eternity … which is a far, far, far better thing.

 

​One of the neat things that many hospitals have started doing is over the loudspeaker play a lullaby tune when a baby is born.  It’s a reminder that in the midst of whatever pain & suffering is going on in other parts of the hospital, there is joy & new life.  There have been times when I’ve been with someone in their final moments of life, & I’ve thought that the tune “I’ll Fly Away” should be played when they pass reminding everyone in the hospital that someone has just been “born” into Heaven & eternal life.  

 

​I thought as I was preparing this message, how presumptuous I was even with the title … “What Is Heaven Going To Be Like?”  

How can I possibly even begin to imagine this awesome place?

 

​Heaven is a little bit like twins in a womb, & one of them gets born & the other isn’t born yet. And the one who is born tries to describe what it’s like to the one who hasn’t been born.  Impossible … right?

“It’s wonderful!  I’m breathing with lungs!”

“What do you mean … breathing with lungs?”

“And it’s all light!”  “What do you mean … all light?”

“And there are people like me, only all grownup here!”

“What do you mean … people like you?”

 

​It’s impossible, & yet we try.  Heaven is the other side of the tunnel.  

And when we get there, we will find all the people who have loved Jesus.

The Apostle Paul writes, “We know that as long as we are living in these bodies, we are living away from the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:6)

 

I remember exactly when the reality of that statement hit home to me.  

Actually, it was one of the building blocks in my own pilgrimage of coming to faith.  I was 12-years-old & I saw Denny Brown’s dead body.  

Denny had been sitting right beside me in S.S.  

And we were behaving like any 2 12-year-old boys. Laughing.  Joking.  

Fooling around.  2 hours later he was killed in a car accident.  12-years-old!

 

​And as I stood there at Robinson & Lytle Funeral Home & looked at his dead body, with the Bible he had received in our Confirmation Class, lying across his chest, I realized that Denny was no longer living in the “casing” that lay in that casket. 

 

​So, where was he?  Where did Denny go?  Paul writes, “We know that as long as we are living in these bodies, we are living away from the Lord.” 

Well, if he was no longer living in that body … he must now be living with the Lord.  What comfort there is if we’re truly certain of that reality!

 

​I remember when my Dad passed, & at the wake I wasstanding next to my Mom, holding her hand.  And for the 1st time, I guess, was exposed to the incredible things that people say when they come & look into a casket … 

mainly because they don’t know what to say.  So instead of not saying anything, which is what people should do, they say something stupid.

 

Well, one lady came & looked down at my Dad & said … 

“there he is, there he is, there he is.”

 

And my Mom looked at me, & looked into the casket, 

& looked at this lady, & said … “there he isn’t!”

 

I’ll never forget that.  My Mom said to this lady,

“If I truly believed that ‘there he is’ … I’d be gone.  No, he’s with Jesus.”

 

My Mom believed that Jesus Christ was the resurrection & the life (John 11:25) for her husband.

​The word that’s used, “Stop making my Father’s house(οἶκον) a marketplace!” (John 2:16) when Jesus cleared the Temple, is the same word that He uses when He says, “There are many rooms in my Father’s house.”

(John 14:2) Jesus is using the image of the Temple, 

which is also found in The Revelation, as a picture of Heaven.

 

​Heaven is like the Temple.  The earthly Temple when it was built had many courts & chambers & walkways.  And no matter how many worshippers were there … it was never crowded.  There was room for everyone.  

That represents, in a tiny way, the spaciousness of our Heavenly home.

And when our spirit leaves this body … that’s where we’re going.

Jesus assured the criminal on the cross,

“I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me.”(Luke 23:42)

 

Physically we may be unconscious, but we never stop being spiritually alive.  And the spirit that is safe in the hands of Jesus Christ is safe indeed.

(The Psalms 121:7)

 

Heaven is a people place, & the follower of Jesus will be with Christ, 

& with everyone else who loves Him.

 

What is Heaven going to be like?  Close your eyes, & visualize this …

 

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God & of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city.  On each side of the river stood the tree of life, 

bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.  

And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be any curse.  The throne of God & of the Lamb will be in the city, 

& his servants will serve him.  They will see his face, & his name will be on their foreheads.  There will be no more night.  They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.  

And they will reign forever & ever.

 

MARANA THA