Ten Truths About Heaven
A Funeral Sermon¹
By Myron Wells
Lemon Grove, CA

Life's mysteries will be over. Things we don't know now, we'll understand. Our minds will grasped all the knowledge of heaven. We'll store more information than a million CD ROMs. We won't have to ask, "Why? Why did Agnes Wells have to suffer with forgetfulness, disorientation, and all the symptoms of Alzheimer's the last 13 years of her life?"

Introduction

Did you hear about the twin boys conceived in their mother's womb? As the weeks passed and they developed, their awareness grew - and they laughed for joy. "Isn't it great that we were conceived?" they said. "Isn't it great to be alive?"

Together they explored their world. When they discovered their mother's cord that gave them life, they sang for joy. "How great is our mother's love, that she shares her own life with us."

As the weeks stretched into months they noticed how each was changing. "What does it mean?" one asked. "It means that our stay in this world is coming to an end," the other answered.

"But I don't want it to," the first one said. "I don't want to leave. I want to stay here always."

"We have no choice," the other answered. "But maybe, just maybe, there is life after birth!"

"How can that be?" the first asked. "We will shed our life cord and how is life possible without it" Besides, we have seen evidence that others were here before us - and none of them have returned to tell us that there is life after birth. I'm afraid this is the end!"

And so, the one fell into a deep despair, saying, "If conception ends in birth, then is the purpose of life in the womb? It is meaningless!"

His last days in the womb were filled with uncertainty and fear. Then finally the moment of birth arrived - and as the twins passed into their new world, they opened their eyes - and cried with joy, for they saw the face of their mother and father - and they saw the beauty and joy of the new world - and what they saw far exceeded their fondest dreams.

I don't know who originally wrote that parable, but I think it captures the truth of our journey from this life to the next, and I believe it is a fitting metaphor of the Christian's transition from earth to Paradise.

Today we have sung about heaven, that new world that all who have made Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior are soon going to transition to. I don't know about you, but one of my life objectives is to get there! Do any of you old timers remember the name Pepper Martin? Who was he? He was a baseball player who played for the Cardinals and was the MVP of the 1931 World Series. He was also a believer. Once a reporter asked him, "What is your chief ambition?" Pepper Martin answered, "My chief ambition is to get to heaven!" Amen, Pepper. It's mine, too.

Permit me to share 10 quick truths about Heaven...

I. Heaven Is A Place Set On High.

Heaven is the dwelling place of Almighty God - and it's somewhere out there beyond the reaches of our solar system. Scientists are excited about the possibility that at one time primitive life existed on Mars. Boy, are they in for a surprise. There's life a lot further out in space than Mars - for Yahweh our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ - and all the hosts of Heaven are out there - somewhere - maybe through the black hole. Anyway, heaven is a place set on high.

Psalm 26:15 is a prayer. It says, "Look down from Heaven, your holy dwelling place." King David sang, "He reached down from on High and took hold of me." (2 Samuel 22:17) Isaiah 33:5 declares that Yahweh "dwells on High." And 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ff. says that at the end of time "The Lord Himself will come down from Heaven." and we will be caught up together "in the clouds...to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord."

There is something magnificent about high places. I like to look down from them and I look forward to heaven. It's a place set on high.

2. Heaven Is A Place You Can't Buy.

Dee Kissinger is a successful real estate lady in our congregation - and she can tell you how to get a place in heaven for free - but she can't sell you one. Jesus paid the price - and almost 2000 years ago He said He was going to get it ready for us. In Revelation 21:6 He says, "without cost." Heaven is a place you can't buy.

3. Heaven Is a Place For the Eye.

Don't you love 1 Corinthians 2:9? "No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, no mind has conceived - what God has prepared for those who love Him."

It's an awesome picture as God gathers up things we are familiar with and uses them to transmit to our finite minds aspects of the beauty of the Holy City - He speaks of gates of pearl, streets of gold, a foundation of a variety of precious stones, and a river resplendent as crystal. I don't know about you, but I don't want to miss it - and I look forward to beholding its beauty. Heaven is a place for the eye.

4. There Just Might Be Some Pie.

Lining the river is the tree of life loaded with its eternal fruit. Adam and Eve lost the privilege of eating of it, but it bears fruit every month. My mom used to make some pretty good cobbler, and I look forward to sitting on the patio of her heavenly mansion and eating some of her pie made from the fruit of the tree of life.

5. You'll Never Ask Why.

Life's mysteries will be over. Things we don't know now, we'll understand. Our minds will grasped all the knowledge of heaven. We'll store more information than a million CD ROMs.

We don't have to ask, "Why?" Why did Agnes Wells have to suffer with forgetfulness, disorientation, and all the symptoms of Alzheimer's the last 13 years of her life?

And why did it have to start afflicting her just as Dad was ready to retire and do a bit of traveling? Why? Why couldn't she have had her mind to the very end?

We won't have to ask "Why?" Why did Judy Malone, the young woman, a friend of ours, a preacher's wife and mother of two children who need her - why did she have to suffer so and finally die of cancer? Why? And why were some of you born with handicaps that you've struggled with for a a lifetime? It doesn't make sense to us? Why?

But in heaven we'll never need to ask "Why?" We'll understand. Life's mysteries will be over. "The secret things will be revealed." You won't need to ask "Why?"

6. It's A Place You Won't Fry.

The lake of fire and brimstone is reserved for the Devil, his angels, and all those who are in his camp. Lemon Grove, the city I preach in, right next to San Diego, advertises itself as the city with the best climate on earth. Heaven will be more like Lemon Grove than like blistering hot Yuma, Arizona. It will be the "perfect climate" for all eternity. I don't want to live in a place that's a million times hotter than the Mojave Desert in August - and I don't have to because the Lord Jesus Christ is my Savior! I have no intention of seeing hell. I want to go to heaven - it's a place you won't fry.

7. It's A Place That's Not Dry.

Even though three-fourths of planet earth is covered by water, and even though Revelation 21:1 says that there "is no longer any sea," Revelation 22:1 describes the loveliness of "the river of water of life," as it pours forth from the throne of God and the Lamb. Revelation 21:6 speaks of "The spring of the water of life" and both the river and the spring are more than adequate to completely quench our thirst, quiet our hearts, and thrill our souls. Heaven is not a desert. It is irrigated by God.

8. It's A Place You Won't Sigh.

We've done some of that this past week as we watched our mother die. Even more so, for the last couple of years, my mother did a lot of it. She continually sighed. She was worn out and her body was tired. In heaven there will be none of that. Mom has sighed her last sigh. I want to go to Heaven because it's a place you won't sigh.

9. It's A Place You Won't Fry.

When I received the phone call from the nurse at Twin Oaks Care Center that my mother was hemorrhaging and dying - and to come quickly - and I was in San Diego and she was in Sweet Home, Oregon, a song, an old country song she used to sing when I was a child, started running through my mind. Maybe you've heard that old song. It says,

"Please, Mr. Conductor, don't put me off the train.

The best friend I have in this world, Sir, is waiting for me in pain.

She's expected to die any moment, and may not live through the day,

And I want to bid Mother goodbye, Sir, before God takes her away."

God, in His graciousness, allowed all three of us kids to make it to her bedside. W grew up singing in our house, and we stood around her bedside and we cried and sang - we sang old hymns. She was in a coma-like state, but 30 minutes before she died, she opened her eyes, was alert, knew who we were, but was too weak to talk. Through our tears we sang for her again, told her we loved her, and told her what a good mom she had been. About three minutes before she died, her eyes looked heaven-ward. It was obvious she was seeing something we weren't. Shortly thereafter she was gone, and we both cheered her arrival in heaven and sobbed at our loss. We cried - and we've cried a lot since then. It's ok. Jesus cried too - but in heaven we won't cry anymore. It's a place you won't cry. God will brush away the tears from our eyes.

10. It's A Place You Won't Die.

Turn in your Bibles to Revelation 21:4 and let's read together verses 4-8.

4 and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." 5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." 6 And He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 "He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part {will be} in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (NAS)

No sighing, no crying, no death. No hospitals, no cemeteries, no hearses. It will be life with all its associates - joy, laughter, praise, love, happiness, and eternal ecstasy.

Why do I want to go to heaven? Because its a place set on high. It's a place you can't buy. It's a place for the eye, and I really like pie. I'll never ask "Why?" I won't have to fry. And there I won't sigh, nor cry nor die!

But, you don't just stumble into heaven. And you can't get there based upon your good works or your good looks. It's a prepared place for a prepared people. It's a place God has reserved for all who have loved and accepted His Son. Today we invite you to make your reservations by surrendering your heart and all your being to Jesus Christ.

John 3:36 says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (NIV)

One day while wandering through beautiful, old Mt. Olivet cemetery which overlooks Lake Washington above Renton, Washington, I came across an epitaph that made me stop and ponder. It was a sermon in four lines. It said,

Remember me as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I,
As I am now, so you will be,
Prepare yourself to follow me.

Choose life. Choose eternity. Choose heaven!

Special Note: This message was preached by Myron Wells in Sweet Home, Oregon, at the funeral of his mother, Agnes Wells, a dear saint whom we miss very much. Myron's father, Claude Wells, served the churches many years as an evangelist, then later as an elder in our congregation. Claude continues to reside in Sweet Home. Myron preaches in Lemon Grove, California, near San Diego. [Back]

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