Sermon #1561 Miscellaneous Sermons
Title: Going Home
Text: Isaiah 35:10
Subject: Heaven
Date: Sunday
Morning –
Tape # Y-12a
Introduction:
For the past several weeks,
my heart has been much upon home and going home. So, today, that will be my
subject. I want to talk t you about ― going home. Our text will be Isaiah 35:10.
(Isaiah
35:10) "And the ransomed of the
LORD shall return, and come to
I want us to think and meditate for a little while
about going home to God our Savior, about heaven and the things awaiting us
there. May God the Holy Spirit give us grace to put everything else out of our minds. Let us, O Lord our God, set our hearts on things
above this hour, for Christ’s sake. Set our hearts now upon heaven, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Keep from our hearts and minds the
things of the earth.
Let us now focus our hearts and minds on our
all-glorious Savior and on the everlasting joys of heaven with him. My reason
for preaching this message is that our hearts may long for those glorious
mansions that are yonder provided for us by the Lord Jesus.
Divisions: I will give you my message in
five points:
1.
A brief description of heaven.
2.
The employment of God’s saints in
heaven.
3.
The excellence of heaven.
4.
Six questions I must have
answered.
5.
Six great struggles I have with
regard to heaven and going home to my God and Savior.
I.
Let me first give you A brief
Description of Heaven according to my own limited
understanding of divine revelation.
A.
Heaven is a
place of rest without rest.
This is clear from Hebrews 4:9 and Revelation 4:8.
(Hebrews
4:9) There remaineth therefore a rest to
the people of God.
(Revelation
4:8) And the four beasts had each of
them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and
they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which
was, and is, and is to come.
B.
Heaven is a
place where the soul is always satisfied yet never satisfied.
The psalmists says, and we
say with him, “I shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy likeness!”
There we shall always see God in Christ. Yet, we
shall ever want to see more of Him. We shall always embrace Him, yet want to
embrace Him more; always feed on Him, yet want to feed on Him more. In heaven
there is both satisfaction and hunger. Heaven is full of mysteries.
C.
Heaven is a
place where joy and love eternally flow into our souls, while admiration and
praise eternally flow out to our God and Savior.
All the saints' language in heaven is, “Hallelujah!
Praise to the Lamb who sits on the throne.” O what shall it be to be taken
within the gates of that blessed city to hear that heavenly music? What shall
it be to enter into that rest in which we shall never rest from Immanuel’s
praise? What will it be to be satisfied with that great satisfaction that ever
hungers and thirsts for Christ without lack of satisfaction?
II.
Second, think for just a few minutes about the employment of God’s saints in Heaven.
There are five things that constantly occupy God’s
saints in heaven: (1.) admiration, (2.) praise, (3.) joy, (4.) love and (5.)
gazing upon blessed face of the incarnate God, our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lamb who died, the Lion who reigns, the God who is, who was, and
who is forever!
There is not one look there that is not fixed on our
precious, all-glorious Redeemer, ― not one movement of the tongue that is
not spent in commending Him, ― not one step of the feet that is not bent
on following Christ, ― not one stir of the hand that is not occupied in
unfolding Christ, ― not one thought that is not filled with Christ,
― not one desire that is not taken up with loving Christ!
What makes heaven such a blessed, lovely
home? Is it not Christ, who is precious to
our hearts? The Lamb is its light of that place (
Do you see what I am saying? – Heaven is that everlasting world of light, adoration, holiness, perfection and ceaseless worship to which God’s
saints are rapidly moving. If you only knew, the charms of that place would
make you long to join us there in eternity. All the three persons of the
Blessed Trinity cry, "Come up hither!” “Come up here to us who are
here." All the angels and saints cry, "Come up here to us who are here."
Will you be taking up your lodging there? Only if you are made clean every wit, totally
righteous, holy, and without blame before God by the blood and righteousness of
Christ, only if you are robed in the spotless garments of salvation and
righteousness by faith in him.
·
What makes
heaven sweet?
(Revelation
7:13-17) And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in
white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I
said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These
are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are they before
the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that
sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16 They shall hunger no
more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any
heat. 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed
them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes.
·
What makes heaven desirable?
(Revelation
14:1-5) And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb
stood on the
(Revelation
14:13) And I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from
their labours; and their works do follow them.
·
What makes heaven glorious?
(Revelation
21:1-8) And I saw a new heaven and a new
earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was
no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they
shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their
God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there
shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon
the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for
these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life
freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his
God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the
abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and
all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone: which is the second death.
·
What makes heaven exciting?
(Revelation
21:22-27) And I saw no temple therein:
for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple
of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it,
and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them
which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do
bring their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not
be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they
shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27 And there
shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither
whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they
which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
III.
Next, let me direct your
thoughts, as best I can in this feeble frame, to The Excellence of Heaven.
We know that heaven is a pleasant place. But what
makes it pleasant, except that it is a place covered over and filled with the
Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley?
What a great sight John had when the angel talked
with him and said, “Come up hither, and I will show you the Bride, the
Lamb's wife,” and carried him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed
him the holy city, the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:9-10).
(Revelation
21:9-10) "And there came unto me
one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last
plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride,
the Lamb's wife. (10) And he carried me away in the spirit to a great
and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy
What is it that makes heaven such an
excellent place? It is the soul-satisfying
vision of God that we have there in the person of his dear Son, our Mediator,
in all his glory! There we shall see God face to face! It is written, “They
shall see his face!” What could be more excellent and glorious? What could
be more rewarding and honoring? What could be more joyous and satisfying?
Here we see Christ dimly, as “through a glass
darkly.” There we shall see Him face to face. What
will be the Bride's thoughts when Christ first takes her in His arms? Who can imagine such things? – “This is my Beloved! – He has brought
me now into his banqueting house! – His banner over me is love!” ― O
what shall our thoughts be when Christ takes us into His arms? I think we shall
fall apart! O what shall it be to be with Christ in heaven?
IV.
Now, here are six questions I
must have Answered.
As I meditate upon the excellence and glory of
heaven, I cannot help asking these six questions of my Savior. I hope you will
be asking them as well, as I relate them to you.
A.
The first is this: ― Shall this tongue, that has so often taken my Savior’s name in vain and so often polluted
the holiness of God, ever be made like the tongues of angels, to express the
greatness and glory of Christ?
B.
The second question is this:
― Shall these eyes, that have been the windows through which so many sins have come into my
soul, ever see the Spotless One who sits on the throne of glory?
When I see Christ I would blush to look Him in the
face, were it not for the fact that he has declared “sorrow and sighing
shall flee away!” When we see His face, His transforming face, where shall
we turn our eyes? A sight of Christ will make us eternally wonder. Do you not
groan, my brother, my sister, for the sight of Christ? – Soon, we shall see him
as he is!
C.
The third question is this:
― Shall these ears, that have listened to so much foulness and enjoyed so much vanity, ever
hear those songs above?
We must hear either the eternal shrieks of the
damned in hell or songs the choirs of heaven. O how sweetly they sing! For now comfort yourselves with this: ― the day is coming when you shall no more hang your harps on the
willows because you are in a strange land, but you shall eternally cry out,
"Worthy is the Lamb! All praise to Him who sits on the throne!"
D.
The fourth question is this:
― Shall
these feet of mine, that have pursued endless
vanity and folly, ever follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth?
E.
The fifth question I ask is this:
― Shall this heart of mine, which has been house of many idols, ever be made the unrivalled
dwelling-place of my Savior?
F.
The last question I ask is this:
― Shall these
hands, that have been the instruments of so
much evil and iniquity, ever embrace and hold that matchless Holy One who sits
yonder on the throne?
O what will we do when we first get Christ in our
arms? We might well imagine that our first day in heaven will be the most
glorious. But that shall not be the case. Though we have never seen our Husband
before, the longer we are with Him in heaven’s glory the more we will love Him
and the more we will know his love for us!
What will we discover in glory? There is no outcast there, no desertion, no unbelief, no
misunderstanding of Christ, no questioning His wisdom, no doubts about His
ways, no misinterpreting of His will, and no displeasure with His purpose. When
we go through the gates of the New Jerusalem we shall pass over the graves of
desertion, and jealousy, and unbelief, and all our idols, and we shall never
return to them!
What a pleasant day that will be when
faith and hope shall yield themselves to love and sight.
· Faith and hope are our attendants here, but love and sight shall be our
eternal attendants above.
· Faith and hope fight the battle here, but love and sight will sit at home
and divide the spoil in heaven.
· Faith and hope embrace Christ through the veil, but love and sight
embrace Him face to face.
· Soon, we will leave both faith and hope, but we shall never weep for
leaving these dear, blessed companions.
· One more thing we will forever leave
behind when we leave this world is repentance. ― I heaven we will have nothing to repent of!
V.
Here are
six great
struggles I have with regard to heaven and going home to my God and Savior.
A.
I have a
constant struggle here with sin, unbelief, hardness of heart, indifference, and
spiritual ignorance. I confess, with Agur, “Surely,
I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. I
neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy” (Prov 30:2-3).
Still, I am comforted with this: ― As soon as
I enter the gates of that blessed city all my clouds shall dissipate
immediately. I will never again have a wrong thought of God throughout all
eternity. Then, I will begin to say to myself, "Is this me, the ignorant
and brutish man?"
B.
I am often under
much desertion. I never try go to my God in prayer but
that I find an absent God, a hidden Christ, and a quenched Spirit. Often, more
often than not, I cannot even speak to Him in prayer, but only groan before Him.
Still I find comfort in this: ― There is no desertion in heaven. There are none in glory
land who cry, “How long, Lord, wilt thou hide thy face from me?” (Psa
13:1). This is almost too much for this sinful soul to grasp, but it is a
blessed fact. (I cannot tell you how I rejoice in it!) ―In heaven, I will
never again find it hard to speak to my God. ― I will never again grow
weary of serving Him. ― I will never again find it difficult to worship
and praise and commune with my Beloved!
C.
I must also acknowledge this
fact. (I do not want to pretend that things are different with me than they
really are! I want to be honest. I don’t want to be a hypocrite!) ― I sometimes struggle hard with assurance. ― I sometimes
question whether I will go home to heaven with Christ when I leave this world,
or perish in hell.
How I wish it were not so, but I am often like
“’Tis a point I long to know,
Oft it causes anxious thought,
Do I love the Lord or no,
Am I His, or am I not?”
Perhaps the struggle itself is horribly evil.
Perhaps I should never have the struggle. But I do, and it is real. I often
have terribly painful questions concerning the reality of my faith. Oh, how I
long to trust Christ perfectly! Completely! Without doubt! Without unbelief! But, even with regard to these things,
my God gives me great consolation and hope. ― It is not the measure of my faith, or
the quality of my faith, or the evidences of my faith that gives me hope, but
Christ, the solitary Object of my faith! ― Oh, what comfort there is for
my soul in this! There will be no more doubting and unbelief in heaven. When I
cross over the threshold of Heaven’s Gate, I will bid everlasting,
"Farewell” to all unbelief, doubts, and question!
D.
I have another, painful
complaint, a bitterness in my soul that is well nigh
unbearable. ― My love for Christ is so horribly little
that I often fear I have no love for Him at all.
Yet, bless God, honesty will not allow me to say,
(Horrible thought!) I do not love him. Oh, no! When I hear my
Savior say, “Lovest thou me?” I hang my head with shame, but
confess, “Lord, Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love Thee.”
(1
John 4:19) "We love him, because he
first loved us."
I take great comfort and delight in this: ― Soon, I will love my Savior perfectly! As soon as these eyes are closed in death, as soon as I have gasped my
last breath in this weak, mortal, sinful frame, I will love Him who is
altogether lovely as he ought to be loved!
E.
Here is another terrible, heavy
burden in my soul, a burden from which I find no relief in this world, a burden
that makes me a little anxious to go home. ― So long as I am in this world, I know that
I will never prevail over my many idols, and get them forced out of my heart. I flee idolatry constantly, but can never leave it altogether behind. I
struggle to keep myself from idols; but find the struggle a constant, uphill
battle.
Still, when I think of going home, when I think of
heaven, I find comfort, even in the face of this. ― All
my idols will be slain before I get home. In one day, at once, all shall be
slain as I behold the Lord Jesus standing at the right hand of God to receive
me. My Savior demands all my heart, and deserves it. Blessed be His name, soon
He shall have it! In heaven’s glory there will be no rival in my heart’s
affections to Him!
F.
And I have another great struggle
in my soul: ― I fear that I
know very little, if anything, of true prayer. Prayer is often found on my lips; but I often question whether prayer
is ever found in my heart!
In heaven, when I get home, I will never again have
this struggle. Then, I will never again have need of prayer. All my soul’s
desires shall be fully satisfied at once. Then, I will see…
· My God and Father glorified.
· My Father’s will fully performed.
· His kingdom come.
· My Savior satisfied.
· I will forgive even as I am forgiven.
· I will love even as I am loved.
· And I will be like him, when I see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).
(Psa
17:15) "As for me, I will behold
thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy
likeness."
(1
John 3:1-3) "Behold,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
(2) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear,
we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (3) And every man
that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
Application
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the three
persons of the Blessed Trinity, are each crying out, "Come up here to us
who are here!" And the joys of heaven, if they had a tongue, would cry
out, "O come up here!" And that sweet and blessed transcendence in
the face of Christ cries out, "Come up here!" Does not your soul’s
need cry out, "Go up there!"?
Some of us may be in eternity before long; and that does not matter much
either, for eternity is sweet if we go to heaven. I remember a word in Job (
Someone once said, “Death is Christ's messenger to bring you home, sent
to you either with a letter of commendation to speed you on or with a love
letter in his hand to make you shout for joy. O, therefore, let us love Him and long to be with Him.”
Take one more look at our text, and I will send you
home rejoicing, my brothers and sisters in Christ, at the prospect of going
home.
(Isaiah
35:10) "And the ransomed of the
LORD shall return, and come to
·
All the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to
·
All shall return with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads!
·
All shall, upon their return, find joy and gladness!
·
“And sorrow and sighing shall flee away!” ― Oh, happy,
happy, blessed day! Soon, “sorrow and sighing shall flee away!”
(Revelation
21:1-5) "And I saw a new heaven and
a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and
there was no more sea. (2) And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband. (3) And I heard a great voice out of
heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them, and be their God. (4) And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
(5) And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful."
Amen.