TEXT

“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).

THESIS

Heaven is a Divinely prepared place and God has provided for men to receive it.

INTRODUCTION

1. God created man in His own image (Genesis 1:26).

A. God is not flesh but rather Spirit (John 4:24).

B. God is eternal (I Timothy 1:17).

C. The flesh of men is dust and shall return to the dust (Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 12:7).

D. The spirit of man never dies, he lives on (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Matthew 22:32).

2. The ever-living spirits of men must have a home.

A. Both the righteous and unrighteous shall not remain on this earth (Luke 16:19-31).

B. All shall come forth from the graves (John 5:28-29).

C. The righteous have considered themselves but sojourners in this life and yearn for a Kingdom to come (Hebrews 11:13-16).

3. The city which those righteous pilgrims sought is Heaven.

A. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people.

B. Heaven is a pure place for a pure people.

C. Heaven is a precious place for a precious people.

DISCUSSION

I. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people.

A. Heaven has been prepared by God (John 14:1-3; Titus 1:2).

B. God’s Word teaches all men how to be prepared.

a. Eternal life is in the Son of God (I John 5:11).

b. One gets into the Son by obeying the Gospel (Galatians 3:26-27).

NOTE: Salvation is also in the Christ (II Timothy 2:10). Salvation and eternal life are one and the same. Salvation is in the church Acts 2:47). Therefore, one cannot reject the Church of Christ and gain Heaven.

II. Heaven is a pure place for a pure people.

A. Heaven is a place of absolute purity (Revelation 21:22-27).

B. The Gospel calls us to pure lives.

a. We become pure through obeying the Gospel (I Peter 1:22).

b. The pure shall see God (Matthew 5:8).

c. Only purity is accepted before God (James 1:27).

III. Heaven is a precious place for a precious people.

A. Heaven is worth more than all the world (Matthew 16:26).

B. God’s people are precious in His sight (Psalm 116:15).

a. Psalm 37:31-33.

b. I Peter 5:7.

c. Hebrews 13:5.

C. God has shown how precious by giving His only begotten Son (John 3:16)

John Rose

...In the thirties and the forties and the fifties and the sixties the church grew. It is reported that we were the fastest religious group in America. We believed and preached and taught the distinctive gospel. We believed and taught that God has but one soul-saving plan for all men, and that to that plan all responsible persons are amenable. We believed and fervently taught that everything we do, in word or in deed, must be done in the name of the Lord. We emphasized the importance of having Bible authority, we respected Bible authority, and we spent a lot of time studying and stressing “how God authorizes.” We believed and preached that the church must be PURE: pure in DOCTRINE, pure in WORSHIP, and pure in LIVING. We believed and preached and practiced “church discipline” as the Bible demands. We believed and preached and practiced the importance of personal, individual evangelism - and through faithful, consecrated Christians reached thousands with the gospel…

Roy Deaver

Heaven – What It Is

My Old Church