Glimpses Into Heaven
Key Passage: John 14
Date: June 7, 2024
Your Bible is, if you would, John chapter number 14. John chapter number 14. As you’re saying, I appreciate Brother Ted filling in for us earlier. I enjoyed that. That’s great. And pray, Lord, for people ready to go wherever they can for the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t forget soul. And on Saturday morning, great, great time. The Saturday before Resurrection Sunday, it will be a great time to go out and tell people about Jesus Christ and how to go to heaven.
Meet here at 9:30 if you can help us with breakfast. That would be great. See, Brother Chip is trying to line that thing up for us. We can use help in the breakfast department on Saturday morning.
But John chapter number 14 tonight, and we’re just going to glimpse into heaven. Just a little bit. I don’t know if you’ll learn anything new about heaven or not tonight, but maybe get our minds, our hearts going that way. You know, the Bible says, set your affection on things above. And man, that old Corvette and Mustang and nice house—all that down here will get right in front of you, you know, and sometimes you forget about the real home up there.
So, just for a bit, I thought it would be appropriate. We just finished the life of Moses. Of course, he’s there with the Lord now. Brother Richards is with the Lord now. I thought it’d be just appropriate—it’s been a Wednesday or two, I think just two—focusing on heaven for a bit. Tonight, just some glimpses into it, and then next Wednesday about our new body we’ll have one day in heaven.
John chapter number 14 in God’s Word, and if you’re able, would you please stand just to show the Word of God respect? If you’re able, John 14, and we’ll start in verse number one. Very familiar passage. You’ll probably know much of it.
He says, “Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” Let me just say a word there. You don’t go to heaven by believing in God. That’s a wonderful thing, but you go to heaven by believing in the Son that God the Father sent. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. He who believes that the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. “For God so loved the world that He gave us the only begotten Son, that those who believe in the name…” You see it over and over again how clear Scripture is. That’s why a lot of times they don’t mind you praying in God’s name or something, but you mention Jesus—oh, that’s when the fireworks start. And you can judge a church; the first thing you look at is what they think or preach or teach about Jesus. Verse John 4 tells us that. And so it starts off: “You believe in God?” It’s a good thing, but “Believe in me,” Jesus said. “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.”
“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. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also.” Whether you go, you know, and the way you know.
Thomas saith, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?”
Would you read verse number six with me, or quote it with me, if you would, please? Here we go: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” Zoe was saying it up here. She must learn that in school. That’s a pretty good deal right there. That’s great.
And let’s pray. Would you pray that God just speak to hearts and encourage us a bit tonight? Father, Lord, these passing of people we love—Father, sometimes surprises us—but thank you that we know where they are, Lord, from his testimony that he accepted you as the Savior, Jesus. And then from your Scripture.
Lord, would you help us just get a little glimpse of heaven? Lord, you know, my mind and my heart get stuck on down here sometimes. Father, help us look beyond it, give us glimpses and a look into heaven tonight, and make our hearts pure and help us be more, more, oh, just servants for you because of it. And Lord, we thank you for what you do. We’re asking for this, Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
Would you notice that in verse number two right there? Verse number two, I want you to just notice a little word he used in that last part of that verse. Verse number two, he says, “I go to prepare a…” What’s the next word? Place. Place. Heaven is not just an imaginary place of the mind. It’s not, you know, we’re sitting on some clouds floating through the universe. Heaven is the actual, literal place. You’re about to go home? Oh, it’ll be an hour to have when we get out? No. But you’re about to go home, and you’ll go to your address, to your home, and you’ll unlock that door, and you’ll walk into your place. Heaven is an actual place.
You say, “Well, it’s just man-made.” No, it’s God-made, friend. We’re going to go to a place. He said, “I go to prepare a place for you.” It’s interesting. Hebrews, let me just read it for you, calls it a better country. Hebrews 11:16: “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”
You know, they’re trying to come to America by the millions. By the way, I don’t mind immigrants; now, the illegal part, I have a problem with. Amen. I got a big problem with just illegal—illegal immigrants, there’s a problem there, you know. But immigrants, I don’t mind. But people want to come to America by the millions, literally, around the world if they can. And why? I’ll be honest: I think it’s a better country. I think it’s the best country in all the world. Does it have problems? You better believe it’s got problems, but it’s the best country on the face of the earth, amen. It’s a better country. They’re trying to come here because it’s a better country. But, friend, let me tell you, heaven is a whole lot better country than even America. Praise the Lord, we won’t have to worry about D.C. in heaven. Amen. No crooked politics. I mean, Jesus Christ will be on the throne. Everything will be all right, and we won’t worry about the economy up in heaven, amen. I mean, I don’t know what CNN is going to do, you know. Well, I’m afraid there might not be there—a lot of them, I don’t know—unless they get saved, amen. But it’s a better country, heaven. I mean, we’re not living for here. Praise the Lord, we’re going home to a better country one day. It’s a better city.
Notice what he says back in John 14. Notice what he says there. He says, “In my…” What’s the next few words? Jesus calls it my Father’s house. How many of you lived in the same house from the time you were born to the time you were 18? Anybody live in that same house? Anybody live in that same house the whole time? Anybody like that? Well, we’ve got a couple of them. Anybody live in the same house the majority of the time from birth to 18, the majority of the time? How many lived in over 10 houses from the time of your birth? Me too, Fred.
But those people who grew up in the same house for years and years and years—something special about that. You know, it’s just a lot of memories. You come home, there’s a place of belonging. You come home, there’s a place of protection. You come home, and there’s provision. You come home, and you don’t have to put on airs; you’re just a little haven. You come home.
The thing I always remember: when I was in college, going to college just a little bit south of Chicago, in Hammond, Indiana, Crown Point, Indiana, where the college was. And I came from Florida all those times—that’s where we grew up a lot, born in Tennessee. But, man, at Christmas break—David, you may relate to this—I don’t know how they do it nowadays. Back in the day, everybody that was able to go home that day would have their cars packed, ready to go if you were able to leave at that time. Sometimes you had to stay and work a couple days more. The president of the Bible college back then, his name was Dr. Wendell Evans. He’d get up at the end of chapel. Chapel was dismissed for Christmas break, and he would sing, “Hide Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” And at the very end, he would just get real slow at the very end, and you know that very end, have you remember somewhere? Now, you know, he’d say, “Now!” And man, as soon as he said that, we just took off out of the chapel, had our cars packed. I never got one Christmas. I had about three or four guys riding in my big, fancy Toyota station wagon—Toy-Hoda! What about that? I was riding in style now, you know. And we had all kinds of guys in there, and we didn’t have room for everything. We had the luggage rack packed out. One guy wanted to bring his guitar home so bad, and I said, “All right, if you carry it.” And that crazy guy carried that guitar from Northwest Indiana all the way down to Florida that whole time.
But here’s the thing, man, that long trip—sometimes we would drive it straight because we just didn’t have much time for Christmas; we wanted to get home. It was 20 hours or something like that if you had to drop off a guy here or there. And, man, what a blessing! You know, get down in Central Florida, take the turnpike, and get over to Lake House Road where Mom and Dad lived that time—1792. Then you can’t remember the name of that road. You take that road at least down into the little subdivision there, and then up on the left is the house. And when you turn in that driveway, you’re like, “Man, home!” You know everybody inside there—Mom and Dad are inside there, little brother is inside there. Sometimes Mom would have cherry cream cheesecake made. Somebody say amen right there! Hallelujah! That’s enough to make a Presbyterian shout right there. I mean, whew! I mean, tie my hands behind my back, put that on top of my head—my tongue would beat my brains out trying to get to it. Amen. Man, it’s like you just hold. You don’t have roommates at home. No dorm roommates. Praise the Lord for that right there. Get sleep in your old bed in your Father’s house.
When you got saved, you’re born again. You became a child of God, born again. When you get to heaven, Brother Richard—he took his last breath around 9 a.m. Monday morning. And he took that last breath. The Bible says, “For a Christian, absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” I tell you what, he just kind of pulled in that driveway, if you will. “I’m with my Father now. I’m in my Father’s house.” Born into the family through the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus describes it: “My Father’s house.” Man, at home with the Lord.
Look, a couple other things he says about this saying. He says, “It’s my Father’s house.” I like that. Let’s keep reading here, John 14, verse number two. He said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” Now, I take the term “My Father’s house” as very broad. The Bible verses talk about it’s in the north and whatnot. The Lord’s in the north, and they even talk about there’s an empty space in the north of the universe. We’re not going into all that tonight. Very large place. Well, they don’t know exactly if that’s where heaven is or not. It’s amazing how what they say about those things changes over the years. Just amazing about it. I did a little Bible study in senior saints years ago. I just taught that class one Sunday, and even from that, oh, maybe six or seven years ago, to now it’s changed so much what they say. The Bible doesn’t change. That’s why I’m trying to be a little bit careful about all that stuff. But anyway, I take “My Father’s house” as very broad. I don’t know how big heaven is. “The Lord said, ‘Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool.’” Maybe that gives a little grasp of how big heaven is. But it says, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” I’m not saying every home is a mansion. I don’t know if every section of heaven is mansions. But it says, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” By the way, that’s one problem I have with these new versions: they take out “mansions.” Hey, don’t take my mansion from me, friend! We’ve been working for that mansion. Amen. “In my Father’s house are many mansions.”
And my wife and I went over to the Franklin, Brentwood area, you know, it’s a little bit wealthy. And we were riding over there to the store. On the way back, we were over in that section of town, and we saw a nice new neighborhood where they were building homes. I thought, let’s just pull over. We were just taking it easy one night, and we drove through that little subdivision—we’ll just say, the big, huge homes. And we thought, wow, I wonder how much they sell for. We were talking; one of us said, “Oh, $1.3 [million].” Tammy, I’m usually low. Tammy said, “Oh, it’s probably a million and a half.” Well, maybe something. So some of them you can look up. And Tammy was over there on the phone, and she looked it up: $3.5, $4 million for these homes. Wow. Yeah, that’s where that was. Wow. And those mansions are small compared to what’s in heaven. There’s nothing compared to what’s in heaven. I mean, the thing we were there for gold—that’s what they paved the street up in heaven with that right there.
“In my Father’s house are many mansions.” Now, you may be like this, and I get this. I’ve had people tell me, “Well, preacher, I don’t want a mansion. I love the woods. I love to be out in the country. Just give me a beautiful cabin house out in the country.” I get that. I always say, let me ask you: Who do you think made the country? Who do you think made the woods? The Lord did. And He made that beautiful country you love so much in six days. And since then, there’s been the curse and there’s been the flood. I think both of them messed up this old world. And He’s been preparing that place for 6,000 years. You talk about country, beautiful scenery, friend—my goodness. So I don’t know if your mansion will be in some neighborhood or out in some woods somewhere. Maybe you just want a cabin out there. I’m not sure. But He said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” That’s what He’s saying. Heaven—it’s a place. You’ll be at home. You’ll finally be, “I’m just at home.” And then He says, “I’m preparing.” What do you say? Let’s just keep going there. All right. He said that last part of verse number two, “I go to prepare a place for you.”
Let me just talk about that for a second. He knows what you like better than you know what you like. You ever meet somebody who says, “Well, I don’t think I like that,” but boy, I really do? Well, God knew if you liked it or didn’t like it way before you even knew. And He is specifically designing a place for you. He’s preparing a place for you. He created you, and He knows what you do and do not like. And He’s the one that’s preparing the place for you. Wow. “I go to prepare a place for you.”
Now, just heaven a little bit, John 14. Look over in Luke 16, if you would, please. Luke 16. We’re just trying to get our minds going towards heaven a little bit tonight. Luke 16. The last part of that chapter is about the rich man and the beggar, Lazarus. By the way, it’s not a parable. A parable never has a personal name in it. So tell the Jehovah’s Witness, no, it’s not a parable. Jesus never said it was a parable, and it has a proper name in there. That’s a real man. Two men: the rich man and the beggar, Lazarus. And it talks about the rich man. He wasn’t saved. When he died, he lifted his eyes, being in torment and in the flame, and he said, “Hey, send the beggar, let him dip his finger in water and touch my tongue,” so on and so forth. But I want you to notice how the beggar—the beggar was saved. He knew Jesus Christ as a Savior; he was saved. And I want you to notice how he got transported. Now, the Bible will say “Abraham’s bosom.” That was a little different location. When Jesus ascended, He took them home with Him. He’s sitting on the right hand of the Father. We discussed it not too long ago on a Sunday morning message. He’s on the right, and that will be with the Lord. Heaven’s there, if you will, in the north now.
Okay, but I just want you to notice the transportation. So Monday morning, when Richard passed, he stopped breathing. They tried to revive him for about 40 minutes. Probably at the beginning of that, he was already… Death is just separation when his soul and his body separated. Okay. And when that happened, when that soul separated from the body, he died—how did that soul get to heaven? The Bible gives us a glimpse into that. Luke 16, would you look at verse number 22, please? Luke 16 and verse number 22: “And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the what? Angels into Abraham’s bosom.”
You hear songs sometimes, and people talk about it. It just seemed like the angels were there. I just have physical eyesight. Sometimes I’ve heard people talk about it, and sometimes people are better than I, for sure, picking up on the spiritual realm. But you hear people talk about it. It’s almost like there was a holy hush when he finally or she finally died. It’s almost like the angels… I may have experienced a little bit of that feeling before. And those angels, they take that soul—they are the pallbearers of heaven. And they take that soul, and boy, it’s just boom like that, but then the absence of the body, and boom—and the angels are taking it to be with the Lord. I think it would be wonderful if we could see into the spirit realm. There are books about that. If you can see the spirit realm in some way, especially when someone takes their last breath and see the angels. I’ve done this several times. I had a whole lot, but I think at one time in particular, we gathered around someone as they were dying, and we sang “In the Sweet By and By.” And just at that time, I still remember—that’s been years ago—there was just a holy hush over that room. A little while after that, I can’t remember how much time elapsed at that moment. A little while after that, boom, that person is maybe just hovering around. And when that person leaves that body, boom, the angels are transporting that soul. That’s what it says over there: “And there with the Lord.” How does that happen? The angels. Maybe one day we get to heaven, we will have spiritual eyesight so you can see those things.
Now, here’s a little thing about it, just talking about heaven tonight. Look over in Matthew chapter number three. Matthew chapter three—this is Jesus when He was baptized. I want you just to notice something here. We’ll look at several passages about this thought about heaven tonight. Jesus getting baptized. When someone just run—I think there’s a bottle of water in the kitchen—just get me a water, please. We usually have one up here; it’s gone. And I probably need to exercise what it is, but I get dry mouth more than I used to. Amen. It doesn’t have anything to do with old age; don’t go there now.
But look at this. Jesus, He’s getting baptized. I want you to look at Matthew 3, and look at verse number 16. Matthew 3:16: “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were what? Opened unto him.” What’s interesting? The heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove lighting upon Him.
Look over in Acts chapter number seven. Thank you so much, Brother Garrett. Acts chapter number seven. This is Stephen. Stephen is being murdered for the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to see what he says here, just trying to give us some glimpses into heaven, making heaven real to us tonight. You know, many of you, like me, grew up in church and just heard it so long, you get numb to it. I’m trying to make heaven real to us tonight.
Look at Stephen there; he’s being stoned and he’s dying. Look at what he said. Acts 7, look in verse number 56. Acts 7:56: “And said, Behold, I see the heavens what? Opened. And the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.”
Look at Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10. It’s just Peter, and he’s having the dream. Remember, the Lord is opening the gospel to the Gentiles in a great, great way. He’s going to use Peter for that. And I just want you to notice this phrase again over in Acts chapter number 10. Acts 10, look at verse number 11, if you would. Acts 10:11: “The Bible there says, and I saw heaven what? Opened in a certain vessel descending unto him, as it were a great sheet knit at the four corners, let down to the earth.”
Look over in Revelation chapter number 19. Revelation chapter number 19. This is John the Revelator, and Revelation reveals Jesus Christ. He’s the Alpha and Omega, the end times. And notice what it says here. Revelation 19, look in verse number 11. Revelation 19:11: “And I saw heaven what? Opened. And behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True.”
Let me read for you just a passage from Ezekiel 1:1: “It came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.”
Now here’s the thing just getting to that: Heaven can be opened. Now, for the lost, it is closed. But heaven—heaven can be opened. Yes, many passages in the Bible. Because Brother Richard had accepted Jesus as the payment for his sin and his personal Savior, he knew it was no longer his works, everything he did—it was everything Jesus did. He knew that. He put his faith in that. He was fully assured of that. He had no doubt about that. Because of that, Monday morning, about 9 a.m., those angels got him, and heaven was opened. See, because Jesus, He is the Way; Jesus, He is the Door. Heaven’s open. Won’t it be a sad thing for those that have not put their faith in Jesus Christ? And the door’s closed. What is that thing? “Depart from me, I never knew you.” But heaven can be opened to them.
I think sometimes we can get a glimpse into heaven. Look over in Acts chapter number seven again, if you would please. We’ve already mentioned this. This is Stephen, one of the first deacons, and Stephen is being stoned. He’s being killed for Jesus, for preaching and teaching about Jesus Christ. He is full of the Holy Ghost. And I want you to see this. Acts chapter 7—I think this is very interesting. Let’s just read about it first, two different occasions in the Bible, and we’ll talk about it from there. Acts chapter 7, look at verse number 54, if you would. Verse number 54: “And when they heard these sayings, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.” Now, that’s violent people. I mean, these riots we had in America—I mean, kind of like that, but worse, baby. They’re biting the guy like a bunch of dogs. They’re gnashing on him with their teeth. They’re killing him. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, “Behold, I see the heavens open”—we just read about that—“and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.” Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, ran upon him with one accord, cast him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet whose name was Saul.
Remember later on when Saul was on the road to Damascus and the bright light? And he said, “Why do you kick at the pricks?” Pricking like cattle, you know, you prick him and you prod, and I’m trying to get him, “Come on!” And God had been pricking him; he had been convicted. Saul had been getting convicted. I think much of that conviction goes back to what happened right here. And when Stephen was dying, as he was dying, he could see into heaven. The heavens were open. Maybe he was kind of in between life and death; he was dying, and he could see into heaven. And Paul, you know, dying people don’t do that. The lesson is real. Why are you trying to fake your way out of this whole world? No, it’s reality at that moment for you. And Paul said, when I saw that guy dying, he was talking about this heaven, and he was looking into heaven. Heaven was opening, and I saw it, I heard it. I wonder how much that went through Paul’s mind over and over again. Man, I still remember that. He was bleeding out, and he died taking his last breath, and he kept talking about, “I can see into heaven.” Well, I think there was much of Paul’s conviction; he was kicking against that conviction.
Now, look over, if you will, in 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Years and years later, of course, we know Saul got saved, and God changed his name to Paul. God used him greatly. He started 20, 30 churches, and God used him to spread the gospel to our part of the world at that time. Great, great Christian. And Paul here, after he served the Lord for years and years, God is using him to pen these words. I want you to see this. Second Corinthians chapter 12, look in verse number one, if we have it. Verse number one: “It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago.” Wait a minute, time out for just a second here. I think Paul here is talking about himself, and I think we can kind of see that very clearly as we read on here a little bit. He’s being modest; he doesn’t want to get proud. God’s already kind of keeping him humble. But he’s talking about a man in Christ 14 years ago. Well, if you go back in Paul’s timeline, about 14 years ago, he’s in a city called Lystra. And in that city, Paul was the one getting tortured for Jesus Christ. They stoned him, and they picked up these big, huge rocks and just pelted him with it. Paul, in fact, they left Paul for dead. They thought, “That guy’s dead; nobody lived through that.” I always remember thinking—I’ve told it recently, but I’m going to tell it again anyway—possums are tough. Dixie had a possum last night, and she wouldn’t come inside the house. I told her, “Leave it out there and see that.” So, Dixie let it go. Amen. Come on, he came on inside. Anyway, all these side stories. I didn’t kill it, though; I left it alone. But anyway, years ago, before I had a dumpster, we had just regular trash cans out here. And one of those trash cans, a possum got inside of it and could not get out. And John, my son, he was about 12 or so at the time, I don’t know. We took big old rocks, man, we were just pelting this thing. He looked like he was dead. I won’t go into details of the blood and all that unless y’all really want me to now. And I said, “Man, John, he’s dead.” So we flipped the trash can over. Boom—that possum took off, man! He was still alive. That’s kind of like Paul. They thought he was dead; that’s how bad.
Watch what he says. Let’s keep reading here. He says, “It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory, yet I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago, whether in the body, whether he was still living, I cannot tell, or whether out of the body, whether he was dead, I cannot tell; God knows.” You know, they have a hard time, you know, clinically determining one of the dead. I’ve kind of changed that over the years—the brain waves and all that stuff. “Such a one caught up to the third heaven, and I knew such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell; God knoweth how that he was caught up into paradise”—heaven, if you will, the third heaven—“and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” A five senses—he just, just one of the senses he talks about. By the way, I think they’re just… it’s not just like now, you know, we hear something. I think it’ll be so much greater. You probably hear in Philly just—it’s just waves come over you. But he said, “Just what I heard, I can’t tell you about it. I just, there’s just no way I can do it.” And just one little… just one of the senses just told me. He said, “He said, heard and speak of words which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
“Of such an one will I glory; yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I should not be a fool, for I will say the truth. But now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.” He said, “I’m trying to do it in the third person so you don’t think greater of me, and I don’t want to get proud and lifted up and all that.” Well, look at the next verse: “Unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelation.” Now, look at it for somebody else that had the revelation. Why is Paul getting lifted up? Because it’s Paul. See? “Unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelation, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”
So here’s what I’m getting at: Twice we see in the Bible, Stephen when he’s dying, he gets a glimpse into heaven. Paul, when he’s dying, he gets a glimpse into heaven. And he said, the revelation—he said, “What I heard, I came to tell you about it,” and he said, “but it just lifted me up so much, God brought the thorn of the flesh to keep me humble.” See?
Now, sometimes we don’t have it much in our day and time. I think my personal fault is because so much morphine and medicine they’re on in our day and time. But back before there was so much of that, you’d hear more of these stories about, you know, Granny, that old dear saint. You hear me tell the story a lot of times about the man at Calvary Baptist Church in Lakeland, Farley, as a teenager there, he ran buses. He and his wife, if they were tired, they would take about four days out of the week and just visit their bus routes, literally. And they would have lists for bus drivers. And I swear they spent their last years, Brother Douglas, the last years of their life, he’d always had a baseball cap; he’d take it off when he came into church. Man, they ran so many buses, and so many boys and girls got saved through them. And when he was dying, he was lying in the hospital bed, hadn’t moved, hadn’t—you know, really wasn’t supposed to move. But as he was taking his last breath, old Dr. Buffett, the old preacher used to tell about, as he was taking his last breath, all of a sudden his arm just reached up like he was hugging somebody. Sometimes God gives us a glimpse into heaven when someone’s passing, like out to Stephen, what happened to Paul. I’ll be honest with you, I was hoping to get a little glimpse of that when my dad passed. God didn’t let it happen. Sometimes God gives you a little glimpse into heaven. Wonderful time. I think it’s just so much morphine and things; we don’t see it much nowadays, but you’ll hear those stories. And every once in a while, even in our day and time, we’ll get a glimpse into heaven.
D.L. Moody said this: He was on his deathbed, and he was awakened from sleep. And this is what he said: “Earth recedes. Heaven opens before me. If this is death, it is sweet. There’s no valley here. God is calling me, and I must go.” His son was there. His son said, “No, no, Father, you’re dreaming.” Moody said, “No, I’m not dreaming. I’ve been within the gates. I’ve seen the children’s faces.” A short time elapsed, and then the family said it just seemed like they were struggling with his last breath. And he said this: “This is my triumph. This is my coronation day. It’s glorious.” I have a chapter of a book, and it’s just saints that have died, and their last—saints are dying, they got glimpses up in heaven. And then some lost people as they were dying. Sometimes that little just transport, if you will, and God gives us a glimpse into heaven through that.
Let’s get a couple more thoughts; we’re done here. Look over in Matthew chapter number eight. We’ve got to hurry along here. Matthew chapter number eight. Maybe we won’t get all covered what we want to cover. We’ll just get this real quick, and then we’ll be done for the night. I want to get you out on time; I know you’re all busy. Matthew chapter number eight. Matthew chapter 8. Look at verse number 11. Here we’ll just get the thought real quickly here. Matthew 8:11: “I say unto you that many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down.” I want you to notice that. By the way, the context is to talk about the children of the kingdom—that’s the children of Israel. The Israelites will come and say, “I don’t want to go to heaven because they’re Israelites.” God said, “No, no, no, no. You don’t get to heaven by being a Jew; you get to heaven by Jesus, then spiritually born into the Jewish family.” That’s the context. But I want you to note what He says: “Many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”
I want you to notice that “sit down.” Any of you and your spouse said, “Well, what do you want to do for food tonight? You want to just go to fast food? You want to sit down somewhere?” You sit down for fellowship. One of the joys of heaven is those dear loved ones. I see Brother Glenn over there, and Miss Reith, of course, thinking about them. And one day, Brother Glenn will be able to sit down. And by that, I think the Bible really just gives us—and there’s more, we don’t have time to do it—but it gives us a glimpse. We’ll have fellowship with those people. We’ll be able to sit down. They won’t be so rushed, busy. I mean, we have all eternity, you know, but you can sit down and just fellowship with those loved ones. One of the big things, if we’re still living when Jesus comes back—First Thessalonians 4, we’re going to look at it if we have time—but those people, their souls He’ll bring with Him. Now, they had Christ arise first, see, their bodies, but we’ll meet them in the air. The big thing is to meet the Lord in the air, but we’ll come together with them to meet the Lord in the air. It will be a grand reunion day because part of the joy of heaven is those loved ones. We get to sit down with them, fellowship with them.
I remember going over at Dad’s house, and Dad was quiet in front of everybody for the most part besides witnessing. But man, you get along with Dad. I go over there and sit, and I’d be tired, and I’d settle on my couch, and Dad would just talk. Now, don’t tell everybody, but every once in a while, I kind of doze off, and I’d wake up, and Dad would still be talking. And, you know, I miss those days. Those were precious days. I wish I could sit down with my dad again and just let my dad talk. And I will one day. I’m going to sit down with him one day, and all those loved ones.
How many of you here tonight have someone that you say, “Preacher, I know they’re saved, and they’re already home in heaven”? Anybody? You’ve got someone? I’m just trying to see if everybody… Is everybody here tonight? I’m not sure. The majority, maybe every person here, I’m not sure. Maybe not one or two. Hey, one day, well, Brother Richard, he always has his stories. If he were here Sunday night or Wednesday, and he gets a hold of you, he’s going to tell you his story, Tom. Hey, we’ll sit down with him one day in heaven, just fellowship. That sweet fellowship. I thought about Brother Richard and Ms. Ruth. They’re not here tonight. But Moses used to come, and he was severely autistic, and he passed from COVID. He won’t have autism [in heaven]. He’ll be able to communicate that. Then we’ll sit down with Moses and just talk with Moses for a while. For a while, it will be a wonderful, wonderful time. One of the joys of heaven. In fact, the crown and rejoicing is for souls. Let me just read it for you. He says, “What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For are not ye my glory and joy?” Just talking about souls, especially when we get part of them getting saved, there’s just joy there, getting to see them there in heaven.
They say there was a queen years ago, and she was concerned toward the end of her life about an orphanage. In fact, they say she sold her jewels—I mean, a queen, in fact, her crown—she said, “I want to sell it all.” And she gave the money to start and found these orphanages. And after that was gone, she said, “I want to go visit those children.” She went; she visited those orphanages and saw all the children. And when it was over, she said, “I found my jewels.” And when you go to heaven, that’s where you find your jewels.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please?
You say, “Preacher, I’m going to heaven one day. I know I am because I remember the time I went to Jesus Christ for my salvation. I know I’m a born-again Christian. I know heaven’s my home because of the blood of Jesus, and I’ve accepted Him as my only way to heaven. I’m going to heaven one day.” If that’s you, slip to him—“Preacher, I’m going to heaven. I know that. I know that. I’ve settled that thing.” Good, good. God bless you. God bless you.
If you’re not sure of that, we’d love to be a help. We could just take a Bible, show you how you could know for sure heaven’s your home. It would be a wonderful, wonderful thing. It would be a great night when we’re talking about heaven for someone to accept Jesus as their eternal Savior. He’s settled on this thing of going to heaven one day. Maybe you’re here, you’re saying, “I need to get settled on that. I need to make sure heaven’s my home.” By the way, we don’t know what tomorrow holds. The Bible says, “Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” You say, “Preacher, I need to settle that. I need to make sure heaven’s going to be my home one day through Jesus Christ. I need to settle that.” Is that you tonight? You lift your hand up—anybody like that? Oh, He loves you. We want to settle that thing. We want to settle that thing.
We’re going to do a little different invitation tonight. I don’t know if you’ve ever done this in 24 years, but I’m going to pray. As soon as I finish praying, I’m going to ask the instruments just to play, just play softly. And instead of you coming down to the old-fashioned altar, I’m going to ask tonight, only tonight, that you go to one person at least and talk about that loved one you’re going to see in heaven. Maybe it’s a brother, maybe it’s an aunt, maybe it’s a loved one. Maybe it’s a son’s school teacher. Maybe it’s a mom and dad or grandma. Would you just—while the music is playing—would you just go to someone? Just go to someone. And I want you just to share, “I’m looking forward to seeing my dad. I’m looking forward to seeing my granny.” I’m going to sit down and just fellowship with them for a while. I think we’re going to drink sweet tea together, you know. But share that with one another.
Would you please stand? Would you please stand? Right there we have it. Would you please stand? We’re going to have a word of prayer. As soon as I say amen, our instruments will play. And I’m asking you—it’s a little different, I understand—we’ll be all right. And I want you just to go share with someone, at least one person. Go share with someone about that loved one you’re looking forward to seeing in heaven. Of course, the big thing is seeing Jesus. But let’s talk about those loved ones a bit tonight. We’re going to pray, and then you do that.
Father, would you encourage us with the home that is coming? Lord, make it real to us. Father, help us to truly walk by faith, knowing one day it will be sight. Encourage us, comfort us as we talk about these loved ones that are with you already. Bless this few minutes. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Would you find somebody? At least one person. Whether it be your uncle, your aunt, your brother, your sister. Find one person. That’s right. That’s right. Just find one person. Who are you looking forward to seeing in heaven?
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - Glimpses Into Heaven - Wednesday 03272024