Quote from Forum Archives on May 21, 2002, 7:33 pm

Posted by: balderman <balderman@...>

"LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM-LOOKING FOR A CITY"

HEBREWS 11:8-10

INTRO: Heaven, the mere sound of the word fills the Christian heart with

anticipation. In 1991 a Gallup poll showed that 78 percent of

Americans expect to go to heaven when they die. However, many of

them hardly ever pray, read the Bible, or attend church. They admit

that they live to please themselves instead of God. I wonder why these

people would want to go to heaven. Hebrews 11:10 tells us of
Abraham, "For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose

builder and maker is God." When it says, "Abraham looked for a city"

that does not mean he was out searching, trying to find a city. It

means he was anticipating going to that place.

Abraham was a pilgrim. He lived in tents. He knew that on this earth

"..we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." (Hebrews

13:14). All of God’s dear saints are pilgrims just passing through this

old world on our way home. 1 Peter 2:11 exhorts us, "Dearly

beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly

lusts, which war against the soul." The hymn writer put it this way:

"This world is not my home, I’m just a passing thru,

My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue;

The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,

And I can’t feel at home in this world any more…"

There is much confusion about Heaven. Malcolm Muggeride,

journalist and author, said, "from the time I was a boy, I had a sense

of being a stranger in this world. I always felt there was a world

beyond this to which I am moving." Wilber Smith, a fine Bible scholar

said, "How very little has been written on the subject of Heaven."

Even though there are many things about Heaven we will not know

until we get there, there are some things we do know from the

Scripture. What are these things? Let us look at these today.

WE KNOW:

(1) IT IS A PLACE

JOHN 14:2—"In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were

not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

A. IT IS A REAL PLACE. It is just as real as this world is real. It is not

some figment of the imagination. But it exists.

ILLUS: When John R. Rice, famous evangelist, now enjoying Heaven,

wrote an article on the subject of Heaven, someone called

attention to the fact that he has spelled it with a capital "H".

He replied that he meant for it to be spelled with a capital. He

then said, "You would not spell america, with a small a.

America is a country, and so is Heaven."

Jesus said Heaven was real. Warren Wiersbe said, "Christ speaks of

Heaven as a real place, not merely as a state of mind. He pictured

Heaven as a loving home where the Father dwells." (1)

B. IT IS A REVEALED PLACE. It is a place that has been seen. Two men

in the Word of God were given a glimpse of that place in this life.

Stephen saw it in his dying moments. In Acts 7:56 Stephen says, "…

Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the

right hand of God." Imagine the glorious sight! There will be no

difference between the vision of Stephen and the actual experience of

God’s glory for any believer. We shall all behold every sight in Stephen’s

vision and much more. In a moment’s time, in the twinkling of an eye,

the genuine believer will pass from this life into the next world

immediately, never tasting or experiencing death. (Preacher’s Outline and

Sermon Bible, New Testament 6, Acts Commentary) John, while exiled on

the Isle of Patmos, was privileged to see it. John describes for us what

he saw in Revelation 21:1-2—"And I saw a new heaven and a new

earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and

there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,

coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her

husband."

C. IT IS A REMARKABLE PLACE. There are some beautiful and amazing

sites to behold in this world. But with our frame of reference there is nothing in this world to which we can compare the glories of that

wonderful place. 1 Corinthians 2:9 tells us, "..Eye hath not seen, nor

ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which

God hath prepared for them that love Him." Man cannot so much as

think of them, much less conceive them with his senses.

ILLUS: A little girl was walking with her daddy under a starlit sky.

After several moments of silence, she remarked, "Father, I've

been thinking. If the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful, just

imagine what the right side will be!" ---Christian Endeavor

World

Heaven is a PLACE. It is REAL, has been REVEALED, and is REMARKABLE. But also…

(2) IT IS A PREPARED PLACE

HEBREW 11:10—"For he looked for a city which hath foundations,

whose builder and maker is God."

JOHN 14:2b-3—"..I go to prepare a place for you. And If I go and

prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you

unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

*Abraham looked for a city. Oliver B. Greene in his commentary on

Hebrews writes, "How did Abraham know about the city of God? There is

not one word about it in Genesis. Abraham knew about the Holy City in

the same way that Abel knew about the blood sacrifice, in the same way

that Noah knew the flood was coming: God spoke to him! The only way

Abraham could have known about the city was for God to tell him about it.

He believed God, and therefore he looked for ‘THE city…whose builder and

Maker is God." (2)

*Heaven is a prepared place. Notice two things:

A. PREPARED BY WHOM? Jesus said in John 14:2b, "I go to prepare a

place for you." How did Jesus prepare a place? He went to the Cross

in our place and rose the third day so that we might have a right to have

an inheritance that fadeth not away. 1 Peter 1:3-5 tells us, "Blessed be

the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his

abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the

resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible,

and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who

are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be

revealed in the last time." I go to prepare a place for you--to obtain for

you a right to be there, and to possess your "place." (Jamieson, Fausett &

Brown Bible Commentary).

B. PREPARED FOR WHOM? Do all people go to Heaven when they leave this life? NO! Notice Jesus’ words in John 14:1—"Let not your heart be

troubled: ye believe in God, BELIEVE ALSO IN ME." Place your confidence

in God, and in me as the Mediator between God and man, (John 14:12-

14); and expect the utmost support from God; but expect it all through

me. (Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible). Heaven is a prepared

place for a prepared people. Christ "the Carpenter" (Mark 6:3) is

building a heavenly home for all who have trusted in Him. And He will

return to receive His own to Himself…How can sinners ever hope to get

to Heaven? Through Christ! (3)

ILLUS: Despite the efforts of evangelists, parachurch ministries and

local churches, the percentage of American adults who are born

again Christians is no different now than in 1982, according to

a study by the Barna Research Group. The study found that

34% of all Americans can be identified as born again--that is,

they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, and

say they will go to heaven because they have confessed their

sins and accepted Christ as their savior. Among those surveyed,

62% said they had made a personal commitment to Jesus

Christ that is still important in their lives today. However,

among those who have made a commitment to Christ, only 55

percent believe they will go to heaven because of accepting

Christ as their personal savior (the basic belief in the "born

again" movement)...Most of those surveyed said they would go to

heaven because of living a good life, or obeying the 10

commandments, or because all people will go to heaven. Others

who said they had made a commitment to Christ said they were

unsure about what will happen to them after they die. Reported

in Inland Northwest Christian News, March, 1990, p. 3

ILLUS: A person may go to heaven-

without wealth

without beauty

without learning

without fame

without culture

without friends

But no one can go to heaven without Christ.

Heaven is a PLACE. It is REAL, REVEALED, and REMARKABLE. Heaven is a PREPARED PLACE. PREPARED BY GOD and PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE. But also note…

(3) IT IS A PERMANENT PLACE

1 THESSALONIANS 4:14-18—"For if we believe that Jesus died

and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will

God bring with him. 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. 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: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

*In this life:

A. THE WORLD IS CORRUPTING. Day by day this world is decaying. Everything down here will one day be destroyed and pass into oblivion.

In Revelation 21:1 John says, "And I saw a new heaven and a new

earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and

there was no more sea." 1 Peter 3:10 tells us, "But the day of the

Lord shall come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass

away with great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,

the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." The

earth and all man's creations. That the world shall come to an end

seems to be written in its very constitution. A slight change in the

constitution of the atmosphere, or the decomposition of its water would

wrap it in flame. Science finds the elements of final dissolution in the

relations of the earth and sun. According to the ratio of increase in two

centuries the would will not have resources to feed its population. In a

few hundred years the coal resources of the world will fail. These and

many other facts point to a necessary and inevitable change. (The

People’s New Testament Commentary)

B. THE WORLD IS CHANGING. This is a changing world! Things change.

Ways of doing things change. People change. We are young for a short

while then before we know it we are old.

ILLUS: We live in a time of unprecedented discoveries, many of which

tend to make life longer and living more comfortable and

enjoyable. But with change and progress the inexorable law of

change and decay also operates. Strange that so few in this

world prepare for the inevitable. -- L. Nelson Bell. Christianity

Today, Vol. 1, reprinted Vol. 40, no. 10.

The world is CORRUPTING and the world is CHANGING, but thank God…

C. HEAVEN IS INCORRUPTIBLE AND WILL NOT CHANGE. The crown of

glory, though worn for millions of ages, will not be dimmed; the golden

streets will lose none of their lustre; the flowers that bloom on the

banks of the river of life will always be as rich in colour, and as

fragrant, as when we first beheld them. (Barnes’ Notes on the New

Testament)

ILLUS: Note how our inheritance is described in 1 Peter 1:4. It is most

descriptive, an astounding picture of the new heavens and

earth that are coming and of our life in God’s new and eternal

world.

"To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that

fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4).

1.Our inheritance is "incorruptible". The word means that
it cannot perish; it does not age, deteriorate, or die; it does

not have the seed of corruption within it. Matthew Henry

points out that everything on earth changes from better to

worse, but not our inheritance. It is perfect and incorruptible.

It never changes, and it shall never cease to be the most

perfect inheritance and gift imaginable (Matthew Henry’s

Commentary, Vol.6. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell,

p.1005.).

2.Our inheritance is "undefiled". The word means that it cannot

be polluted or defiled, dirtied or infected. It means that our

inheritance will be without any flaw or defect; it will be

perfectly free from sickness, disease, infections, accident,

pollution, dirt—from any defilement whatsoever. There will

never be any tears over what happens to oneself or over the

damage or loss of some possession.

3.Our inheritance does not fade away. It will last forever and
ever. The splendor and beauty of it all—of life and of all the

positions and possessions which God shall give us—none of

the splendor and beauty shall fade or diminish whatsoever.

Nothing, not even our energy and bodies, shall wear out or

waste away.

4.Our inheritance is in heaven; it is reserved there for us. It is

actually being held there by God for us. God is simply waiting

for us to finish our task here on earth and to come to Him.

Then He will give us our inheritance. Note a critical point: the

persons who are to receive the inheritance are those who have

received the mercy of God, been born again, and are trusting

the resurrection of Jesus Christ to cover their resurrection (1

Peter 1:3). (Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible, New

Testament 12, 1 Peter-Jude Commentary)

HEAVEN IS A PLACE, A PREPARED PLACE, A PERMANENT PLACE, and a…

(4) IT IS A PERFECT PLACE

REVELATION 21:4—"And God shall wipe away all tears from their

eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor

crying, neither shall their be any more pain: for the former

things are passed away."

A. IT IS PERFECT IN ITS CHARACTER. In Revelation 21:4 and 22:3 we

see eight "no mores" which tell us that Heaven is a perfect place:

1. "NO more tears." This will be one of the characteristics of that

blessed state, that not a tear shall ever be shed there. How different

will that be from the condition here--for who is there here who has

not learned to weep? (Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament) In this

life there are tears from the cradle to the grave, but PRAISE GOD in

Heaven, "NO MORE TEARS"!

2. "NO more death." Death is the lot of every man. As Hebrews 9:27tells us, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after that

the judgment." But in Heaven there is no more death. How different

from earth, where death is so common; where it spares no one;

where our best friends die; where the wise, the good, the useful, the

lovely, die; where fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, sons,

daughters, all die; where we habitually feel that we must die.

Assuredly we have here a view of heaven most glorious and

animating to those who dwell in a world like this, and to whom

nothing is more common than death. In all their endless and

glorious career, the redeemed will never see death again; they will

never themselves die. They will never follow a friend to the tomb,

nor fear that an absent friend is dead. The slow funeral procession

will never be witnessed there; nor will the soil ever open its bosom

to furnish a grave. (Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament)

3. "NO more sorrow." In Job 14:1 we read, "Man that is born of a

woman is of few days, and full of trouble." Sorrow is an inevitable

part of our earthly existence. Since Adam’s fall in the garden man

has had sorrow. There is not a person who has lived or who lives

now that has been happy every day. But in Heaven "Joy

unspeakable and full of glory"!

4. "NO more crying." The word "crying" here means "wailing, intensegrief." But in Heaven we will enjoy the bliss and presence of our

Lord throughout Eternity! He will be the object of our love and

praise!

1. "NO more pain." No sickness, no disease, no surgery, no calamity.

All of these a result of sin according to Genesis 3. But note also:

6. "NO more sea." (Revelation 21:1). The sea is the type of perpetual

unrest. Hence our Lord rebukes it as an unruly hostile troubler of

His people. It symbolized the political tumults out of which "the

beast" arose, (Re 13:1). As the physical corresponds to the spiritual

and moral world, so the absence of sea, after the metamorphosis of

the earth by fire, answers to the unruffled state of solid peace which

shall then prevail (Jamieson, Fausett & Brown Bible Commentary).

7. "NO more night" (Revelation 22:5). It will be a world of perfect

Light. The Lord will be the Light thereof. All the darkness that exists

here will be dissipated there; all that is now obscure will be made

light.

8. "NO more curse." (Revelation 22:3). The curse shall be no more;

that is, the terrible curses originally denounced against human sin

in the days of Adam's transgression (Gen. 3:14-19) shall now be

removed forever. (Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament)

B. IT IS PERFECT IN ITS CHRIST. The Lord Jesus Christ will be the glory of Heaven.

ILLUS: In an article title, "Are We Ready for Heaven?" Maurice R. Irwin

points out that only 34 percent of the American people who call

themselves Christians attend church at least once a week. He

says, "We sing, 'When all my labors and trials are o'er, and I am

safe on that beautiful shore, just to be near the dear Lord I

adore will through the ages be glory for me.' However, unless

our attitudes toward the Lord and our appreciation of Him

change greatly, heaven may be more of a shock than a glory."

Our Daily Bread, July 31, 1992

ILLUS: Various indeed are the ideas and conceptions of God's people

about that new home of theirs they're to flit into at the term day

of earth's removing. "What do you think heaven is?" asked

Wilberforce, the Christian statesman of Robert Hall, the

Christian preacher. "Well, heaven is rest."

Ah, Robert Hall was a great sufferer. In the ruthless grip of an

internal disease, writhing hours of the acutest agony were his

daily lot. Rest, rest, for that poor, wracked, pained body of his,

to him was heaven. Said Wilberforce, "I think of heaven as

love;" a happy home had he; a life large, generous and free from

distress was his; the very image of bliss was his "ain fireside,"

and as he looked around it and caught the bright reflection of

that cozy dancing fire on the gladsome looks of the dear home –

- loves, he naturally thought, why, heaven is just "this present

transplanted, purified, glorified, and made eternal; love with the

loving, my home! It's true. There are many, many facets on that

gem of the universe that catch, each a different ray of the

sunlight of God, and each ray is beautiful and glad and healing

to our blear and reek-filled eyes. There's the touch again of the

"vanished hand," there's the sound again of the "voice that is

still," there's the light-up again of the dear old faces that faded

away in the chill gloom of the grave, there's life from the dead

by yon crystal sea. Ay, but statesman and preacher alike were

agreed with the Apostle on the fact that the highest, the chief,

the one crowning attraction of heaven was "to be with Christ."

"In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I

would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go

and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you

unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." "Father, I

will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me." "To

him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne."

"Oh, heaven without my Saviour

Would be no heaven to me;

The pearly gates were darkness,

And dark the crystal sea!" -- J. Robertson.

By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."

(5) IT WILL BE A POPULATED PLACE

LUKE 13:29—"And they shall come form the east, and from the

west, and from the north and from the south, and shall sit

down in the kingdom of God."

REVELATION 7:9—"After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude,

which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and

people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the

Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands."

A. THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF ROOM (REVELATION 21:16). The

capitol city measures 1500 miles in every direction. Twelve thousand

furlongs each way, each side, which is forty-eight thousand furlongs in

the whole compass, or fifteen hundred German miles. Here is room

sufficient for all the people of God--many mansions in their Father's

house. (Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible). The

city will be set up on the new earth. We have no idea how big the earth

will be. Perhaps millions of miles. The image before the mind is, that

the numbers of the redeemed will be immense. (Barnes’ Notes on the

New Testament)

B. THERE IS PLENTY OF ROOM FOR YOU. Friend, Jesus died on Calvary’s Cross for you sins so that you could one day spend eternity

with Him and those who know and love Him. Are you prepared to meet

God?

ILLUS: How Do You Get Into Heaven? This question will bring a variety

of answers. A confusion of views is evident in the following

sampling of opinions gathered for the Radio Bible Class

program 'Sounds of the Times':

- "God wouldn't send you to hell." (New York)

- "I'll cross that bridge when I get there." (Boston)

- "You have to believe in God." (Miami)

- "There is nothing I can do about it." (New York)

- "I don't dare say that I know I'm going." (Los Angeles)

- "Keep the Ten Commandments." (San Francisco)

- "How I live my life...being kind to other people." (Boston)

- "Jesus gave His life for my salvation." (Los Angeles)

- "I couldn't care less." (Boston)

- "Be a good person." (Gainesville)

- "I feel I'd go to hell." (San Francisco)

Can we know? Or is one idea as good as another? The Word of

God tells us that we can have a definite answer. It's the answer

that focuses on Jesus Christ. Acts 16:31 emphasizes, "Believe

on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." Ephesians

2:8-9 tells us, "For by grace you have been saved through faith,

and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works,

lest anyone should boast."

Jesus Christ announced that whoever believes in Him will "not

perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Romans 5:1

reminds us that we can be qualified for heaven by faith in

Christ.--Kurt E. DeHaan

CLOSING: Abraham looked for a city that had foundations, whose Builder and

Maker was God. Well, he surely found it. It cost him a lot, but it

was a paying proposition. Wonderful city! It has twelve gates, and

at the gates twelve angels. On the east, three gates; on the north,

three gates; on the south, three gates; and on the west, three gates.

The gates shall not be closed by day; so they are never closed, as it

is an eternal day. There are plenty of gates. We can enter if well

prepared.

But the gates are well guarded by the angels. Nothing that defileth

shall enter into the city. It is quarantined against sin. It is a holy

city for holy people. In this city there are no more tears, pain,

sorrow, or death. There are no hospitals or graves. The inhabitants

never say, "I am sick." They never grow old.

Here the river of life flows, and the tree of life bears twelve kinds of

fruit and yields her fruit every month. God's servants serve Him,

and they see His face, and His name is in their foreheads. It is

the city Abraham set out to find and, thank God, he succeeded. It

is the place Christ went to prepare for His own, and from which He

will come again and receive us unto himself. It is our eternal home.

Christ is the only way to it. May we not miss it at any cost!--William

Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

Friend, Have you by faith made your reservations for that city? If

not, you can today (Romans 10:9-10, 13). If you have made your

reservation, Are you living with anticipation of your Heavenly

Home?

NOTES: 1. Warren W. Wiersbe. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New

Testament. p. 249.

2. Oliver B. Greene. The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews.

p. 464.

3. Wiersbe. p. 249.