Love One Another

Dr. Ryan Rush | John 14:1-5

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

When I was growing up and the baseball playoffs were about to start, we heard one name quite a bit on TV. It was Reggie Jackson. Remember Reggie Jackson? And his nickname was Mr. October. And the reason they called him that is because he played his very best baseball in the postseason. And during an interview one time, they said, How is it that you keep elevating your game in the postseason? He said, Well, during the regular season, all I'm thinking about is preparing for what's to come. He says, I always have my eyes on October. And in that way, I think we're supposed to be Mr. and Mrs. October's. We're supposed to have our eyes on something in the future, something better in eternity. That's what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about eternity. You know, in Ecclesiastes, Solomon says, He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has put eternity in their hearts, or he's put eternity in the hearts of men, it says that you can go anywhere in the world, anytime in history, and we have a sense that this is not the end. And that's because God put that there. There's something about us that knows that this is not the end. And we ought to think about it more. Well, we're going to do that today in one of the greatest promises that Jesus has made. Would you turn in your Bibles to John chapter 14 right now? John 14. As you're turning, I'd remind you, we're right in the midst of 250 consecutive hours of prayer for our nation. There are those who are praying even right now for their hour. Thank you to all of you who've already participated. I've heard some great reports about those prayers. If you have not yet participated, you can still sign up today in the foyer and be a part of the remaining prayer right through the 4th of July. And it also reminds you that we're going to culminate the 4th of July weekend on Sunday the 5th. And I hope you'll make it a part of your plans here. I'm going to share a message that God has put on my hearts from Proverbs chapter 14. Righteousness exalts a nation. And I think it's an important message right now. So I hope if you're in town that you'll plan to be with us. I want to say good morning to those who are watching online. I was reminded this morning from one of our ladies. She said, You know, at Oak Park Residential facility here at Wonderful Senior Living Place in Katie, she said, every week they have a little theater room and they all gather in there, they crowd in and they watch the live service. So I gave them a shout-out in the last service and got some texts back from people who are there. It's so cool that all over the place people are taking in God's word from this way. So if you're somewhere else, you're gathering with some other people, let me know. I think that's so awesome that God continues to uh uh allow us to multiply the message of the gospel other places. Well, John 14. Jesus is about to go, of course, to the cross and then to rise again and to ascend to heaven. And his disciples are trying to get their minds around this, they're very concerned. And Jesus gives words of comfort that I've probably shared as much as any in funerals through the years, maybe besides Psalm 23, is this passage right here? This is what he says to them. Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you? If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way to where I'm going. So Jesus is talking to troubled disciples, and he comforts them, not with the promise that things are going to get better and that their problems are going to go away. You notice that? He promises them and brings them comfort about a place. He's talking about heaven. And the same promise is available to us today. Circumstances may be difficult, but this is not the end. We're going to talk about eternity. But before we dive into this particular passage, we need to understand that Jesus said right at the beginning the first step is to believe in him. You see that? Believe in God, believe also in me. The pathway to heaven goes through Jesus. There is no other way. And that means that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ receives forgiveness because Jesus has paid the penalty for our sin. We all deserve judgment because of our sin, but Jesus is made a way. And so those who reject the offer of grace, you just need to know the Bible says those people will spend eternity in a place eternally separated from Him. In the Bible, it's called hell. It's not a popular teaching, but it's here. But the good news is listen, you don't have to go there. Because Jesus has made a way for us to be forgiven. And that's the promise of heaven here. We miss judgment because sin is paid for. God has something better for us. Now, for Christians, you know, Colossians 3.2 tells us our minds should be focused on the things above where Christ is. Where is Christ? He's in heaven. And I think we don't talk about heaven maybe enough or think about it often enough. It was Warren Wearsby who said for the Christian, heaven isn't simply a destination, it is a motivation. I think that's true. So now that we've settled who gets there, let's talk about what heaven is actually like. I want to share a little bit about heaven today. Three truths from this passage about heaven. Here's the first one. Heaven is a dynamic place. When I've used the word dynamic, it's a fancy way to say that heaven is changing. It's not static. If I go to a restaurant and I order my meal and it all comes at once, you might consider that a static meal. It might be good. But if you go to a really fancy restaurant, it might have four or five courses, and that you call that a dynamic meal, right? Because you receive one and say, oh, this is so good. And here comes the next thing. Oh, that's fantastic. And the next and the next. That's a better description of heaven here. Jesus uses the word twice in his promise, prepare. Do you see that? And when Jesus says he's going to prepare a place, I don't believe that Jesus is in heaven right now with a tool belt building you a house. He doesn't need 2,000 years to build heaven. He created the heavens and the earth in six days. He's good. So what does he mean by prepare? It means there's a dynamic nature to heaven. It's there and it continues to develop. And so, first of all, he's telling his disciples, I go and prepare a place. He's saying what's coming very soon. He said, I'm going to the cross. He's saying, I'm going to die, and I'm doing that to make a way, and then I'm going to rise from the dead, defeat death, and I'm going to sin. I'm going to prepare a place for you. But I think there's more to the story when you look at the whole of Scripture. He's saying, even heaven is being prepared right now. Not because God is having a hard time building, it's because it's in his eternal plan as it relates to this place. Part of heaven, listen, part of the reason heaven's not completed is part of heaven is where you're sitting right now. It's on earth. Did you know that? Let me show you from scripture. Revelation 21 speaks of a new heaven and a new earth. It says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Heaven and earth are going to get a massive makeover after Jesus returns, and we'll be we'll be a part of that, but earth will be a part of heaven. It might surprise us, but it shouldn't. The scripture says it over and over that this world has a deadline and it's going to be recycled. Consider Matthew 24, 35. Jesus says, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. We usually zero in on that last part. The word of God will last forever. But he also makes it clear, heaven and earth are going to pass away. There's going to be something even better to come in the future. It's the reason why the Lord taught us to pray, uh, Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So if you say, okay, there's a new heaven to come, so where do we go when we die? And the answer is heaven. Say, well, that doesn't make any sense. Sure it does. It's like Air Force One. You probably saw in the news we just got a new Air Force One. Which plane is Air Force One? It's whatever plane the president's on. It doesn't matter the plane. The plane is Air Force One because of who's on Air Force One. Heaven is heaven because Jesus is there. That's what makes it heaven. And so there you go to heaven right now. We know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So it's not as though you die and you just wait and you're in soul sleep, and then one day you wake up and we're all in the final heaven. No, you're in heaven right now. How do we know? Luke 23, 43, Jesus says to the criminal on the cross, and he said to him, Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. What day? That day. The criminal's with him right then in paradise. And so there's a place called heaven right now at this moment. And some people get confused about the stages of heaven. You don't need to fully understand all the details, but you do need to know that there's a process in place that's really exciting. That dynamic state of heaven indicates we're never going to run out of discovery or relationships during that time. So let me just walk through, if you're taking notes real quickly, what heaven looks like over the stages. First of all, we have life on earth. We come to faith in Christ, we still have eternal life right now on earth. And that lasts for just a flicker. It's crazy how many people only focus on that part of life. It would be like knowing you're going on a massive trip for years in this amazing place, and you spend all your time planning for the car trip to the airport. I mean, it makes no sense when you understand what's to come. And then we have paradise with the Lord. Jesus calls it paradise, it's heaven with the Lord. And then Jesus is coming again, first to gather the saints with him. It's often referred to as the rapture of the church, uh, but whatever you call it, it's spoken of in 1 Thessalonians 4. And here we also see evidence because he told his disciples, watch, if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. Notice he doesn't say, I'm gonna come again and take me to yourself, so that where you are, I may be also. No, he's this is not speaking of him coming to us yet. He's bringing us to him. Christ will one day then gloriously return to earth as king of kings, and he's gonna reign for a thousand years. After that, there'll be the final battle with Satan and his angels, and they will be defeated at last, cast into the lake of fire, and finally we'll experience the new heaven and the new earth for eternity. That's what's coming. So when we say we'll live forever in heaven, we're talking about a dynamic place. I love that. Kind of puts to rest this whole idea that some people have that heaven's gonna be uh sort of a boring place. You don't get that from the Bible, you get it from other religions, and some of you from cartoons, right? You remember that? The guy playing the cloud or the harp on the cloud. That's not from the Bible, okay? Nowhere in the Bible does heaven sound boring. It's constantly full of discovery. When I go to the Holy Land, I've been 15 or 16 times now. I love to tell people the reason I love to go is I love watching your eyes when you get off the bus and seeing those places for the first time. It's the most amazing thing. You've thought about it, you've studied it, and you get to see it with your own eyes. It's the greatest thing. And it's just adventure after adventure after adventure like that. And every time you go back, it's different because now they have all these new archaeological discoveries every year. It's just like heaven. You have a dynamic place. Heaven is a dynamic place. Let me tell you another truth here. Heaven's also a majestic place. A majestic place. He says, I'm going to prepare a place for you. Now, obviously, that place you just automatically think, but you need to understand when he says place, he's talking about a physical location somewhere that we can't fully understand with our minds. But we're not talking about an idea or a dimension where we float around or a time that we'll be ghosts back here on earth. We're going to be in a place with Jesus, a literal place, a majestic place. And the Bible gives us just a taste of how remarkable it's going to be. God Himself is the builder of heaven. And when God builds it, you can be sure of two things. It will be incredible and it will be eternal. Heaven's going to be so majestic. And the greatest things our minds can think about right now don't even come close. I'm convinced. Some of you have lost loved ones in recent years, or it doesn't matter how many years, and you long to see them again. I'm going to give you a description of where they are right now. I'm going to give you a description of anyone who knows Jesus of where you can be someday. It's extraordinary. Let's look at Revelation 21, 2 through 5. Listen to this. I also saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride, adorned for her husband. And then I heard a loud voice from the throne. Look, God's dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. Grief, crying, and pain will be no more. Because the previous things have passed away. And then the one seated on the throne said, Look, I am making everything new. So when you walk through heaven, it'll be spectacular. C.S. Lewis put it this way: the hills and valleys of heaven will be to those you now experience not as a copy to an original, but as a substitute to the genuine article, but as a flower to the roots or the diamond to the coal. Look it out. Verses 15 through 18 of Revelation 21 describe the capital city of heaven, the New Jerusalem. Says, the one who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out in a square, its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at twelve thousand stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal. And then he measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which the angel used. The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold, clear as glass. Let me just give you some perspective here in our imperial measurement, all right? That's equivalent to 1,500 miles, high, long, wide, deep, tall, everything. It's a cube. That's the distance, 1,500 miles from Maine to Florida. The International Space Station orbits the Earth 250 miles above the Earth. So if you ever want to do space travel, go to the capital city, New Jerusalem, and it's six times that height. There are 3.375 billion cubic miles of space that will be in the New Jerusalem, the capital city. If there's a floor every mile, let's say the ceilings are a mile high, then you'll have more uh more than 50 times the width of the uh the earth's surface in that place or the the uh the surface on the in heaven in the capital city. Over 30 billion people have lived, it's estimated, since the beginning of time, uh since God created the heavens and the earth. You could fit all of them if they were all in heaven. They're not gonna be, but if they were, they could fit on the first floor easily. That's the capital city. Have you ever imagined heaven with a city? The Bible talks about it. Hebrews 11:10 gives us a hint. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Now don't think about the city life that you've known. Think about a perfect city. No potholes, no traffic, no letters from the HOA, no crime. Everybody loves everybody. There's art, there is music, there is barbecue. These are my people right here. Walls of jasper. It speaks of jewels: verdant, greens, blues, reds, violet, other colors maybe we haven't seen yet. I'm colorblind. And so I really look forward to being in heaven and see these colors you describe. It doesn't mean I don't see color. I just can't discern the colors, but I have a theory. When we get to heaven, I think we're gonna find that all of us are pretty much colorblind compared to the colors we get to see when we get there. Well, what happens when you leave the city limits and you go into the country? It's awesome too. Heaven is described multiple times by Jesus on the cross, 2 Corinthians 12 by Paul as paradise. We just think of another kind of synonymous term with heaven, but paradise in the first century would be used to describe the garden of a king, a garden. If you look at the specific instructions given to Israel in the Old Testament for the tabernacle and then the temple, you'll see that it's very ornate, but you'll also see that all through the design are depictions of a garden of blossoms and branches and buds and petals. And it shouldn't surprise us because that's where God dwells with his people. When God made Adam and Eve, he placed them in a beautiful garden to dwell with them. That's what we do. Now, all these things become important when we read in Hebrews 8:5. These, the tabernacle and temple, serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. As Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern, the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain. So it shouldn't surprise us that when we get to heaven, we'll have incredible nature. Think of heaven as the most incredible garden you can possibly even get in your mind. There'll be natural beauty beyond our wildest dreams. Some people think it's clinical. No, it's incredible, it's natural. If you love nature, you'll love heaven. Yes, there'll be animals. Romans 8.21 tells us that a part of the redemption will be for the earth here. So of course the animal kingdom will be redeemed at that time and a part of there. It'll include earth and all that we see will be even better and beautiful. It'll be natural, it'll be amazing. Lannon and I love the mountains. I found that people generally are either mountain people or beach people. We're very much in the category of the mountain lake people. That's where we find our refreshment, right? We love to see the majesty of the mountains. I don't know how you can look at the peaks of the mountains without just being in awe of the God that made them. We love to take pictures, we'll send to our friends, but the reality is it's nothing more disappointing than getting back and looking back at your pictures and say, that didn't capture what we saw at all. I mean, there's just no way to really understand it until you see it with your own eyes. You ever felt that way? I think that gives us kind of a glimpse of what's what's taking place here. God has given us this little view, like a snapshot of what heaven's like, but it doesn't even come close. The scripture is the brochure. Heaven is the reality to come. That's what's coming for us, do you see? And of course, the reason heaven is so majestic is not because of the city or the architecture or the nature or the trees, it's because of the one to whom we will worship, bring worship. That's what changes everything. So before we finish our tour of heaven, let's just take go to the throne room. And there's Jesus. Revelation 5. Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands plus thousands of thousands. And they said with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say, Blessing and honor and glory and power be to the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever. Imagine their worship taking place around the throne. Imagine the millions of angels serving the Lord. Imagine millions upon millions of believers worshiping that will one day include you. Lifting up the name of Jesus. Worthy is the land. Heaven is a dynamic place. Heaven is a majestic place. But I want to share one more truth about heaven that I just love. Heaven is home. There's an old song that says, I'm kind of homesick for a country where I've never been before. Remember the old Squire Parson song? And you say, How can you be homesick for a place you've never been before? It's because you were shaped, you were made for that place, not this one. And so when we understand that, it helps us to realize how we can be homesick. For another world, but that's exactly how it should go. We get a clue in verses two and three with two phrases that tie together beautifully. In verse 2, Jesus says, many rooms. See that? And in verse 3, he says, so that where I am, you may be also. He speaks of the Father's house. Those go together really important because what we're seeing is that he's not talking just about his home. He's saying his home will be your home. The phrase many rooms has been translated, some of the older translations is what? Many mansions. You've heard that, right? And uh it's become a lot of songs through the years. I've got a mansion just over the hillside. And uh that's that's beautiful, but it's I think it's been misinterpreted, misread for so long that people have the wrong idea. I can't promise you that you're gonna have a 7,000 square foot home on the golf course in heaven. I don't know that. But what he's saying is actually way better than that. Maybe, maybe your home is gonna be that big, but the idea is the word is dwelling places. And what he's saying is so much sweeter than a mansion. When I go to Israel, I go to the town of Capernaum, especially, you look at the ancient ruins there, and you kind of get a sense of how the neighborhoods went, and you recognize that it was not unusual if there was room in the town for them to build onto the home. So let's say you have another child, will you build another room, or maybe they get married, then you're gonna build onto that house and you have the larger home. This is actually not unusual in a lot of parts of the world today where they'll just build up, you'll see other stories. So somebody gets married and they have a family, so you have several generations in one home that dwell together because they're family. And I think that's what Jesus has in mind. It's something so much more intimate than a mansion. He's saying, In my father's house are many rooms, and I'm going to prepare a place, a dwelling place for you. In that house, we're gonna be with the Father. We're gonna be in that place because heaven is our real home. I love to travel, and uh, it doesn't matter how great the destination is. Some of you have been there when you travel to other places around the world, and uh you get to that last two days, and you just want to be home, you know, and you start thinking about Whataburger, barbecue, fajitas, you know. I want my own pillow, I want to sleep in my own bed. I just want to be home. Christians in the earlier days referred to this idea of uh as pilgrimage. We think of pilgrims around Thanksgiving, but pilgrim is actually a biblical word. Listen to Psalm 84, verse 5. Happy are the people whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. A simple definition of a pilgrim is somebody traveling through a country that is not his home. We're supposed to be pilgrims. I'm so grateful that I get to live in a nation that survived 250 years and doing its very best to live out biblical principles so that we can experience freedom here. We'll talk about it next week. But you realize that our real citizenship is in heaven. John Bunyan wrote the words to an incredible story in a British prison called Pilgrim's Progress. A hundred hymns have been written about pilgrimage, right? This whole idea, this concept that this is not home. I've been thinking about one in particular all week. It's just been resounding in my head. This world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. 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 anymore. Our oldest daughter had a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes when she was five years old, and uh she's now in her 30s and doing great. We're so proud of her, but uh, it's a challenge in that every day of her life since she was five years old, she's had to pay attention to what the body would normally do, and her pancreas cannot do to have the insulin that she needs, to uh have the nutrients that she needs and all these things. And so it's a constant battle, multiple blood tests a day, uh injections of insulin several times a day. It's been different technology through the years, but you know, just good old shots starting out. And when you're five years old, that's a lot. Riley's living her best life. She's she's been able to do so much more than we ever imagined with that diagnosis. We're so proud of her. That's a lot for a kid to carry. And when she was six years old, just a few months after her diagnosis, on a particularly tough day, we just couldn't get it right. The blood sugar goes high than low. She was miserable. And after an injection, another blood test, six-year-old Riley came and sat on my knee, and she said, Daddy, will there be diabetes in heaven? And I got to give her some really good news. No, baby. There's no diabetes in heaven. There's no pain, there's no disease, there's no heartache, there's no separation. Heaven's gonna be full of joy and expectation and transformation and love. We're gonna have friendships there, discoveries there. Jesus is there. I was talking to my friend Brianna Goff after the last service. Brianna uh said, enjoyed the sermon, and she's such an amazing lady. Uh Brianna's been in a wheelchair her whole life. And I said, Brianna, what are you looking most forward to when you get to heaven? And Brianna said, I look forward to running. I said, I love that. She said, She has dreams about running right now. And I said, Let me make a deal with you. When we get to heaven, you find me and let's go on a run. And here's what Brianna said. I don't think you can keep up, Pastor. That's heaven. The greatest thing about heaven, though, isn't the lack of pain. As great as it's going to be to have all those reunions, it's not that, it's not the city or beauty, it's that Jesus is there. And because Jesus is there, that is home. If you come today and you know you've never trusted Jesus or you're not sure about that, why would you wait another moment without receiving the gift of grace that changes everything? I pray that today would be that day. And for those who know Jesus today, shouldn't the knowledge of heaven, what's to come, pretty much change everything about how we live today? About how we share, how we love, how we communicate, how we relate to others, how we work, how we give, how we celebrate, how we grieve. Everything should be different. Because this is not the end. Let's bow together, church. God, thank you for the promise of heaven. Lord, forgive us so often keeping our eyes downward and forgetting that this is not the final chapter. I pray that if there's a man or woman who come today and does not know you, that today would be the day of salvation. Heavenly Father, I pray for all of us, Lord, that we would live differently because of eternity. Pray this in Christ's name.

unknown 30:39

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

Hey, Pastor Ryan Rush here, and I just want to thank you for being with us in Kings Among the Line today. What an honor. But I'll tell you what it'd be even better. We'd love to see you get connected with the physical church in the days ahead if you haven't already. And that means maybe if you're local in the Western area, we'd love to see you again.