This is a message that is noteworthy! I don’t care if you take notes, electronically or by pad and paper, but it’s full of scripture and you’ll want to jot down the scriptures that speak to you.
Today, we have a blessed hope. We have a blessed assurance that when this jig is up, we have traded up! When we have taken our last breath It is not the end, but only the beginning for a Christian. Let’s consider the following quote from:
2 CORINTHIANS 5:8 KJ21 “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
For the first time in this chapter, Paul describes being in his future, eternal body with Christ as being “at home.” He is utterly convinced that it is where he is headed. And for the Christian today this is where we are headed.
Heaven is where we are meant to be forever.
Let’s consider 1 John 2:25 it says the following: “And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.”
This is the promise: When His truth (what we heard from the beginning) lives in us, then God lives in us. When God lives in us, we have a promise. In this kind of life, the promise of eternal life is real.
This is not mere immortality. Every human being, made in the image of God, is immortal, in the sense that our souls will live forever, either in heaven or in hell. So, eternal life doesn’t just mean a life that lasts for eternity. It describes the kind of life that God, the Eternal One, has in Himself.
The glory of our eternal life far outweighs and outlasts the suffering of earthly life.
That same faith, though, gives us courage. Knowing our eternal fate is secure gives us fearlessness to keep going in this life. It emboldens Paul to stay on the path God has called him to. He is not actively seeking death; we are not actively seeking death, but we are simply ready to go whenever God calls us home. Until then, he will keep working at what God has given us to do in the here and now.
Scripture describes our bodies as tents in 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 (CEV) Our bodies are like tents that we live in here on earth. A tent is temporary and is not permanent. Bible says our bodies are like a tent. Now if you make a tent and leave it there, pretty soon it will subside or sag, and the pins and screws will get loosened. Our current body is like a tent. Our beauty and strength fade away over the years, we may loose our eyesight and hearing abilities, our skin becomes wrinkled and energy will disappear pretty soon. When we are at a young age, we do not give a aging a seriously thought. However, when we get older, we will be more aware of the limitations and weaknesses of our bodies.
Do you know you can exchange your earthly tent to a permanent building?
But when these tents are destroyed, we know that God will give each of us a place to live. These homes will not be buildings someone has made, but they are in heaven and will last forever.
The Bible also describes our living and being on this earth as a pilgrimage.
1 Peter 2:11 A pilgrim is not a wanderer. And Psalm 119:10 says, “Don’t let me wander from the path.”
A pilgrim has a definite goal in mind. He or she may be passing through and he or she is traveling to a specific destination.
Upon the death of these bodies we are called up to meet the Lord.
Heaven was created for everyone, but unfortunately, not all will be going to heaven for eternity.
The goal of the Christian is to hear the following scripture:
Matthew 25:21 NKJV “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”
However, some will hear the following expressed to them:
Matthew 7:21-23N (New King James Version) “21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he whodoes the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have wenot prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
God has a prepared a place for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their propitiation for our sins. (1 John 2:2)
But He has also prepared a place for those who reject Jesus Christ.
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8
Now, for those who have gone on before us and for when we are called Heaven is a prepared place for God’s children. Let’s consider John 14:2-6 King James version says mansions, but here it’s stated as rooms.
John 14:2-3 (New International Version) “2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 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.”
We can’t imagine the beauty of this place, but this place is noted in scripture.
1. So, from the scripture, we just read, it indicated that there are many mansions.
2. There will be a city there. (Hebrews 12:22-23)
3. The throne room of God will be there.
Jeremiah 3:17 New International Version “At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.”
4. A great multitude of saints and Jesus are there.
“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9-10)
5. No hunger
6. No thirst
7. No tears
“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:15-17).
8. Walls of precious gemstones
Revelation 21:19-20 “19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.”
9. 12 gates of pearls
Rev. 21:21 “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.”
10. No fleshly desires, because their will we no flesh there
Philippians 3:21 King James Version “21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
11. No darkness. No night.
1 John 1:5
“This then is the message which we have heard from Him and declare unto you: that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”
12. No time
2 Peter 3:8 KJ21 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing: that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
13. No sin
(Revelation 21:27) There is no sin in heaven and there can be no sin in us. We’ll all be given a white robe (Revelation 6:11) to show we’re without sin
14. No suffering
15. No morning.
16. No crying.
17. No pain
Rev. 21 Verses 1 to 4He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; [4] he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. “
Let’s not be sorrowful. Let’s not be ignorant. Let’s be prepared. Let’s know the word.
Soon we will see all of our loved ones who have gone on before us because of the resurrection. If you do not like the word, resurrection, king James version says, caught up in the air.
Here is that scripture:
First, Thessalonians 4 Verses 13 to 18
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
See, there is a resurrection. There is a reason we can celebrate, though our hearts are heavy. God has a place prepared for his children, and we have hope through Jesus Christ that heaven is our eternal home.
We have a heavenly hope that those who are children of God, that have passed on, will be very reunited with us one day!
We are entitled to heaven, because God sent his only begotten son so that we can have victory over death. Therefore, let’s rejoice.
Now, we must watch for his coming. Luke 21 tells us the following:
Watch Yourselves 34 “But watch yourselves flesh your heartsbe weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 Forit will come upon all who dwell on the face ofthe whole earth. 36 But stay awake at alltimes, praying that you may have strengthto escape all these things that are going to takeplace, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Let’s not forget what we’re watching for! Check out this next scripture….
Luke 21:20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that it’s desolation has come near.”
Therefore, this is the message for today, there is coming a time that it’s going to be too late to accept Jesus.
2 Corinthians 6:2 King James Version “2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
Today is your day of Salvation!
Don’t be a fool, and expect to ask God to save you with your very last breath. You miss out on a more abundant life. You miss out on God’s blessings. There is nothing that you can give for a life’s experience with Jesus.
