| Back to Home Page | Back to
Book Index |
Heaven
Heaven
A man who has a layover at
an airport does not go into the bathroom
frown at its decor
and start
redecorating! Why? Because he doesn’t live there. He has a home in another
place. While he is away he will get by with only what he absolutely needs
to
have more money with which to furnish his permanent home.
Why do we Christians work
hard at trying to make our life in this world more comfortable? This is just
the airport and we are in transit. We should spend our energy on enhancing our
eternal reward
and not worry so much about the bare walls in the airport
restrooms. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Heaven
W. A. Criswell
the beloved
pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas
was once asked
“Will we know each
other when we get to heaven?” His answer: “We won’t really know each other
until we get to heaven.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Heaven
William M. Dyke was a young
man who became blind at the young age of ten. Despite this handicap
he grew to
be a very intelligent
witty and handsome young man. While attending graduate
school in
As the bride came down the
aisle
William’s father started unwinding the gauze from around his head and
eyes-still not knowing if the operation would be a success. With the unwrapping
of the last circumference
William looked into the face of his new bride for
the first time. “You are more beautiful than I ever imagined
” he said.
Like the young groom
though we have never seen Jesus
it will be worth the years of darkness to “see
him as he is”(I John 3:2). ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Heaven
”There are a lot of
questions the Bible doesn’t answer about the Hereafter. But I think one reason
is illustrated by the story of a boy sitting down to a bowl of spinach when
there’s a chocolate cake at the end of the table. He’s going to have a rough
time eating that spinach when his eyes are on the cake. And if the Lord had
explained everything to us about what’s ours to come
I think we’d have a rough
time with our spinach down here.” – Vance Havner
Heaven
”When I get to heaven
I
shall see three wonders there: The first wonder will be to see many there whom
I did not expect to see; the second wonder will be to miss many people whom I
did expect to see; the third and greatest of all will be to find myself there.”
– John Newton
In my first film series
"Focus on the Family
" I shared a story about a 5-year-old
African-American boy who will never be forgotten by those who knew him. A nurse
with whom I worked
Gracie Schaeffler
took care of this lad during the latter
days of his life. He was dying of lung cancer
which is a terrifying disease in
its final stages. The lungs fill with fluid
and the patient is unable to
breathe. It is terribly claustrophobic
especially for a small child.
This little boy had a
Christian mother who loved him and stayed by his side through the long ordeal.
She cradled him on her lap and talked softly about the Lord. Instinctively
the
woman was preparing her son for the final hours to come. Gracie told me that
she entered his room one day as death approached
and she heard this lad
talking about hearing bells. "The bells are ringing
Mommie
" he
said. "I can hear them."
Gracie thought he was
hallucinating because he was already slipping away. She left and returned a few
minutes later and again heard him talking about hearing bells ringing. The
nurse said to his mother
'I'm sure you know your baby is hearing things that
aren't there. He is hallucinating because of the sickness."
The mother pulled her son
closer to her chest
smiled and said
"No
Miss Schaeffler. He is not
hallucinating. I told him when he was frightened -- when he couldn't breathe --
if he would listen carefully
he could hear the bells of heaven ringing for
him. That is what he's been talking about all day."
That precious child died
on his mother's lap later that evening
and he was still talking about the
bells of heaven when the angels came to take him. What a brave little trooper
he was!
Focus on the Family
September
1993
p. 3.
We know very little about
heaven
but I once heard a theologian describe it as "an unknown region
with a well-know inhabitant
" and there is not a better way to think of it
than that.
Richard Baxter expresses
the thought in these lines:
My knowledge of that life
is small
The eye of faith is dim
But it's enough that
Christ knows all
And I shall be with him.
To those who have learned
to love and trust Jesus
the prospect of meeting him face to face and being
with him forever is the hope that keeps us going
no matter what life may throw
at us.
James Packer
Your
Father Loves You
Harold Shaw Publishers
1986.
As I get older
I find
that I appreciate God and people and good and lovely and noble things more and
more intensely; so it is pure delight to think that this enjoyment will
continue and increase in some form (what form
God knows
and I am content to
wait and see)
literally forever. In fact Christians inherit the destiny which
fairy tales envisaged in fancy: we (yes
you and I the silly saved sinners) live
and live happily
and by God's endless mercy will live happily ever after.
We cannot visualize
heaven's life and the wise man will not try to do so. Instead he will dwell on
the doctrine of heaven
where the redeemed will find all their heart's desire: joy
with their Lord
joy with his people
and joy in the ending of all frustration
and distress and in the supply of all wants. What was said to the child --
"If you want sweets and hamsters in heaven
they'll be there" -- was
not an evasion but a witness to the truth that in heaven no felt needs or
longings go unsatisfied. What our wants will actually be
however
we hardly
know
except the first and foremost: we shall want to be "always...with
the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:17).
What shall we do in
heaven? Not lounge around but worship
work
think
and communicate
enjoying
activity
beauty
people
and God. First and foremost
however
we shall see
and love Jesus
our Savior
Master
and Friend.
James Packer
Your
Father Loves You
Harold Shaw Publishers
1986.
Anonymous writer
about an
American tourist's visit to the 19th century Polish rabbi
Hofetz Chaim:
Astonished to see that the
rabbi's home was only a simple room filled with books
plus a table and a
bench
the tourist asked
"Rabbi
where is your
furniture?"
"Where is
yours?" replied the rabbi.
"Mine?" asked
the puzzled American. "But I'm a visitor here. I'm only passing
through."
"So am I
" said
Hofetz Chaim.
Christopher News Notes.
We are very shy nowadays
of even mentioning Heaven. We are afraid of the jeer about "pie in the
sky
" and of being told that we are trying to "escape from the duty
of making a happy world here and now into dreams of a happy world
elsewhere." But either there is "pie in the sky" or there is
not. If there is not
then Christianity is false
for this doctrine is woven
into its whole fabric. If there is
then this truth
like any other
must be
faced
whether it is useful at political meetings or no.
C.S. Lewis in The
Problem of Pain.
We are afraid that Heaven
is a bribe
and that if we make it our goal we shall no longer be
disinterested. It is not so. Heaven offers nothing that a mercenary soul can
desire. It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God
for only
the pure in heart want to.
C.S. Lewis in The Problem
of Pain
Christianity Today
p. 46.
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.
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."
Daily Bread
July 31
1992.
There is an old legend of
a swan and a crane. A beautiful swan alighted by the banks of the water in
which a crane was wading about seeking snails. For a few moments the crane
viewed the swan in stupid wonder and then inquired:
"Where do you come
from?"
"I come from
heaven!" replied the swan.
"And where is
heaven?" asked the crane.
"Heaven!" said
the swan
"Heaven! have you never heard of heaven?" And the beautiful
bird went on to describe the grandeur of the Eternal City. She told of streets
of gold
and the gates and walls made of precious stones; of the river of life
pure as crystal
upon whose banks is the tree whose leaves shall be for the
healing of the nations. In eloquent terms the swan sought to describe the hosts
who live in the other world
but without arousing the slightest interest on the
part of the crane.
Finally the crane asked:
"Are there any snails there?"
"Snails!"
repeated the swan; "no! Of course there are not."
"Then
" said the
crane
as it continued its search along the
slimy banks of the pool
"you can have your heaven. I want snails!"
This fable has a deep
truth underlying it. How many a young person to whom God has granted the
advantages of a Christian home
has turned his back upon it and searched for
snails! How many a man will sacrifice his wife
his family
his all
for the
snails of sin! How many a girl has deliberately turned from the love of parents
and home to learn too late that heaven has been forfeited for snails!
Moody's Anecdotes
pp. 125-126.
If I find in myself a
desire which no experience in this world can satisfy
the most probable
explanation is that I was made for another world.
C.S. Lewis
Mere
Christianity
New York
Macmillan
1960
p. 119.
The caricature of heaven
as an eternity of idleness has no basis in Scripture. Instead
the N.T.
conception unites the two thoughts of being with Christ and of service for
Christ. This blending is definitely set forth in the last chapter of Revelation
where we read of 'those who serve Him
and see His face." Here the life of
contemplation and the life of active service are welded together as being not
only compatible
but absolutely necessary for completeness. But remember that
if there is to be service there
the exercising ground is here. I do not know
what we are in this world for unless it is to apprentice us for heaven. Life on
earth is a bewilderment unless we are being trained here for a nobler work
which lies beyond the grave.
Alexander Maclaren in Liberating
Ministry From The Success Syndrome
K Hughes
Tyndale
1988
p. 153ff.
I once led a man to Christ
who loved the sunny country of common sense
but he could not put up with the
mysteries of godliness. He kept shoving common sense at me
while I kept trying
to show him that the mysteries held the meaning of faith. One day he said
"Pastor
you know this new eternal life I have -- well
I've been thinking
about it. What are we going to do all day long for eternity?" "We'll
praise the Lord
" I said. "Forever - for ten million years! --we're
going to stand around and praise the Lord?" "Well
yes
" I said
although heaven was beginning to sound like cable television. "For
millions and millions of years?" he said. "Couldn't we just stop now
and then and mess around a while?" I kidded him about his "dumb
questions
" but I have to admit similar questions of my own at times. How
meager our understanding of praise -- and heaven!
Calvin Miller.
A little girl was taking
an evening walk with her father. Wonderingly
she looked up at the stars and
exclaimed; "Oh
Daddy
if the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful
what
must the right side be!"
Charles L. Allen in Home
Fires.
If you read history you
will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just
those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased
to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.
C.S. Lewis
Mere
Christianity.
One day when George
MacDonald
the great Scottish preacher and writer
was talking with his son
the conversation turned to heaven and the prophets' version of the end of all
things. "It seems too good to be true
" the son said at one point. A
smile crossed MacDonald's whiskered face. "Nay
" he replied
"It
is just so good it must be true!"
Philip Yancey
Disappointment
With God
Zondervan
p. 97.
As Marco Polo
the famous
Venetian traveler of the 13th century
lay dying
he was urged by his
detractors to recant--to withdraw the stories he had told about China and the
lands of the Far East. But he refused
saying
"I have not told half of
what I saw."
Source Unknown.
In Valladolid
Spain
where Christopher Columbus died in 1506
stands a monument commemorating the
great discoverer. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the memorial is a
statue of a lion destroying one of the Latin words that had been part of
Spain's motto for centuries. Before Columbus made his voyages
the Spaniards
thought they had reached the outer limits of earth. Thus their motto was
"Ne Plus Ultra
" which means "No More Beyond." The word
being torn away by the lion is "ne" or "no
" making it read
"Plus Ultra." Columbus had proven that there was indeed "more
beyond."
Source Unknown.
Two things will surprise
us when we arrive in heaven: who is there and who is not.
John Hannah.
A widely respected man
known as "Uncle Johnson" died in Michigan at the incredible age of
120. Perhaps his advanced years could be credited in part to the cheerful
outlook that characterized his life. One day while at work in his garden
he
was singing songs of praise to God. His pastor
who was passing by
looked over
the fence and called
"Uncle Johnson
you seem very happy today."
"Yes
I was just thinking
" said the old man. "Thinking about
what?" questioned his pastor. "Oh
I was just thinking that if the
crumbs of joy that fall from the Master's table in this world are so good
what
will the great loaf in glory be like! I tell you
sir
there will be enough for
everyone and some to spare up there."
Source Unknown.
Here in this world
He bids us come;
there in the next
He shall bid us welcome.
John Donne.
An unknown author once
said
"As a boy
I thought of heaven as a city with domes
spires
and
beautiful streets
inhabited by angels. By and by my little brother died
and I
thought of heaven much as before
but with one inhabitant that I knew. Then
another died
and then some of my acquaintances
so in time I began to think of
heaven as containing several people that I knew. But it was not until one of my
own little children died that I began to think I had treasure in heaven myself.
Afterward another went
and yet another. By that time I had so many
acquaintances and children in heaven that I no more thought of it as a city
merely with streets of gold but as a place full of inhabitants. Now there are
so many loved ones there I sometimes think I know more people in heaven than I
do on earth."
Source Unknown.
In one of his lighter
moments
Benjamin Franklin penned his own epitaph. He didn't profess to be a
born-again Christian
but it seems he must have influenced by Paul's teaching
of the resurrection of the body. Here's what he wrote:
The Body of B. Franklin
Printer
Like the Cover of an old
Book
Its contents torn out
And stript of its
Lettering and Guilding
Lies here
Food for Worms
But the Work shall not be
wholly lost:
For it will
as he
believ'd
Appear once more
In a new & more
perfect Edition
Corrected and amended by
the Author.
Benjamin Franklin.
In one of his books
A.M.
Hunter
the New Testament scholar
relates the story of a dying man who asked
his Christian doctor to tell him something about the place to which he was going.
As the doctor fumbled for a reply
he heard a scratching at the door
and he
had his answer. "Do you hear that?" he asked his patient. "It's
my dog. I left him downstairs
but he has grown impatient
and has come up and
hears my voice. He has no notion what is inside this door
but he knows that I
am here. Isn't it the same with you? You don't know what lies beyond the Door
but you know that your Master is there."
A.M. Hunter
Christian
Theology in Plain Language
p. 208.
Following a campaign speech
a young man rushed up to Senator Everett Dirksen and said
"Senator
I
wouldn't vote for you if you were St. Peter!" Dirksen eyed the young man
for a moment
then said: "Son
if I were St. Peter
you couldn't vote for
me
because you wouldn't be in my district."
Source Unknown.