If you were going to take a trip to a place where you had never been, what would be the first thing you would do? I think that I would find a road map and chart my rout as carefully as I could. As I traveled, I would check often to see if I was on the right road. I certainly would not just start driving, not knowing which direction to travel. I wish to talk to you about a place that I have never been, but I want to go and plan to go some day. That place is heaven. Many people in the world today and perhaps even some who will read this article are trying to get to heaven, but they haven’t really given thought as to which way they are supposed to be going.
The word heaven is mentioned over 550 times in the Bible. Scores of other times it is implied. There are three basic uses of the same Hebrew word. It can mean the earth’s atmosphere, such as in Genesis 7:11 where the windows of heaven were opened and it rained 40 day and 40 nights. It is used to describe the dwelling place of the Sun, moon and all the stars of heaven. The word is also used to describe the unseen abode of God. This dwelling place of God is the subject I wish to talk about today.
The heaven where God dwells is the longing of every child of God. Did you ever yearn to go home to see loved ones or get really homesick? The fact that God dwells in heaven and that His Son Jesus Christ is there also, is enough reason to want to go there. Most people who believe in God and heaven think they would like to go there. However, they want to go on their own terms and pay their own way. People who do not enjoy Christian worship and fellowship in the truth would not enjoy heaven. The fascination of it all would soon ware off. God meets with His people in the assembly now, yet most people are not interested unless there is some carnal activity going on. Heaven will be all about God and His glory and not the gratification of the flesh. The hope of every true child of God is to, one day, go to heaven and be in the presence of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, [I say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Matthew 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Heaven is where the Lord Jesus Christ is today. See Acts 1:9-11. I sincerely pity those people who have hope in this life only; they are most miserable. 1 Corinthians 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Here’s a very important question: do you expect to go to heaven? If you do not expect to go, would you like to go? And if you expect to go, how do you expect to get there? What transportation will you use? There are two roads which are marked “The Way To Heaven.” The problem is, they go in opposite directions. One is a very wide road which is smooth and straight and the other is narrow and bumpy. Which of the two roads will you travel? You cannot go both ways. One road is named “Law Road” and the other is called “Grace Street.” Only one of these roads will lead to heaven, which by the way is not popular and which seems the most unlikely and the other leads to hell and destruction. The road leading to hell and destruction is the road most traveled and the most popular. The wide and popular road is a broad road with plenty of light and lots of places to stop off and indulge in sin. Most people who want to go to heaven want to take the broad road which has many side roads.
The Bible gives the road map for both heaven and hell. If you want to go to heaven, you cannot take the road which leads to hell. Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life, John 14:6 and there is no other name under heaven whereby you must be saved, Acts 4:12. I’m going to heaven and I’m inviting you to go with me. The tickets are not sold, they are free to anyone who wants one. They are obtained by faith in the shed blood and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. johnpruitt@frontiernet,net
