Heaven
by Kevin Allen
October 4, 2020 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: John 14:1-3, Revelation 21:1-8, Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:8, Genesis 6:17, Genesis 2:7, Genesis 7:11, Genesis 11:4, Genesis 28:12, John 1:51, Deuteronomy 30:19, Isaiah 14:12-13, Titus 2:11-14, John 8:42-44, Matthew 16:19, Matthew 6:20, Psalms 50:10-12, Matthew 28:18, Mark 14:62, Mark 16:19, John 14:1-3, Luke 21:25-28, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Revelation 4:1, Revelation 21:1-2, Revelation 21:4-5, Revelation 21:10

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kevin-allen--heaven
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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John 14 verse 1 says: Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe you also and me. In my Father's house or many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. That where I am, there you may be. Don't have to be distant. Not far away. Don't have to worry about it. That where he is, that's where we get to be. I want to preach about heaven today.

Revelations 21. John penned what I just read as he was listening to Jesus talk. Those were first-hand account words. But as he's out on that Isle of Patmos — says he's, no doubt in my mind, reeling with: Why, God? Why here? Why now? — he begins to have his mind open up, and God begins to show him things to come. And he says: 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. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 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. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. Neither shall there be any more pain, for the things or passed away. Somebody ought to be taking a lap right now. And he sat up on the throne and said: Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me: Write these words that are true and faithful. And he said unto me: It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that the thirst of the fount of the waters of life freely. And he that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the murderers, and the whoremongers, and the sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part of the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

This message today is quite simple. It is for the church, and all that have a desire to be in the church. Because it's important that you're in the church, because the church is the bride. And it's the bride that he's coming back for. It's the bride that he loves. It's the bride that he gave his life for. It's the bride that is the church. For some to say they do not believe the Bible, they must not believe in heaven, because heaven is the key theme of the Bible. Now, some people say that we have enough to worry about down here, and I would agree: we got a lot to worry about. There's a lot of stuff going on. And I hope that you're praying. If wherever there was a day to pray, it's today. If ever there was a time when you need to be spending some — some need time, some time reaching out to God — it's today. I I don't know how much worse you need it to be, but it's plenty bad for me. I'm praying, and I wish you would pray too. But as I begin to study the scriptures and understand all that God has for us, it is becoming more and more apparent, and more and more important in my life as the days pass by, that I don't lose sight of the goal. It's not about having blessings down here. Far too often, what you and I call blessings is just junk. It's just junk. Look, houses — and call: God's blessed me with this, and God's bless this, this. That stuff's all going to burn up. It's going to go away. That's not the blessings. The blessings of God or righteousness and truth. Those things that can be destroyed — those are the blessings of God. These things out there, they're not blessings. They help life out. But don't get so captivated and caught up in what what is temporary and going to burn, and lose sight of the bigger fact. Yeah, we have some inconveniences down here. Paul called him light afflictions. If I remember when I get there, he and I — Brother Seismo — are going to have a conversation about light afflictions. But don't lose sight of this: it's not about what we go through, it's about where we're going to. I believe it's important to understand the end goal before I can make proper preparations for the now. And I'll be cautious: all those who seemingly make no plans for life, more often than not, you hit the mark every time. So I ask you, ladies and gentlemen: What are you aiming for? What are you aiming for in this life? Is it just to make a name for yourself? Is it just to have a certain status in culture? Is it to own a certain house, or drive a certain car, or wear certain clothes? Is it to have certain degrees? Is that your goal? Is that — is that all that you have in this life? Those things have purpose, they do. And I'm not against those things necessarily. But if that's all you're shooting for, your life is going to be hollow and empty, and you will not understand the purpose and plan by which God had created you for. But for those who have their mind on heaven, who understand: I may not always have what I want, but I know where I'm headed to. And it's not just here. This is just my temporary home. I'm just a passing through. Oh, but my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. There are things I don't like about life, but I have hope in something more than just the now — that one day those skies are going to split, the road's going to be caught up yonder, and I'm going to find my life written down in the Lamb's book of life. I want to talk to you about heaven today.

God created heaven. The very first place we read about heaven is in Genesis 1 and 1, for it says: In the beginning God created the heaven and earth. I'm a creature. I did not evolve from something else. I'm interested in anything that God has created, because if if God made it, it's good. Even if I don't understand it, it's still good. Genesis 1, and — and he called the firmament heaven, and the evening and the morning were the second day. Firmament simply means expanse, or the visible ark of the sky that you and I see. The heaven we see with our physical eye is the sky. But it's in heaven where eternal life will be. Genesis 6 verse 17: And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh we're in, is the breath of life from under heaven. And everything that is in the earth shall die. Under heaven, here on earth where you and I live, is the existence of everything that breathes. It was God who gave the breath of life. It is his, according to Genesis chapter 2 verse number 7. And if God gave the breath of life, he can also take it away. In the book of Revelations, we read about the breath of life. We read of a tree of life. We read about the water of life. We read about the river of life, and the book of life, and the spirit of life, and the crown of life. Evidently, once we get to heaven, we don't need that breath of life anymore. Breath is too fragile. It speaks to something that's temporary. Anybody ever had their breath knocked out of them? I remember being a scrapping husky ten-year-old boy — and I used the husky word on purpose. My girth had not had over exceeded my height at the time. I wasn't necessarily overweight. I was just under tall for the moment. I remember my neighbor had put in a nice swing set that had a set of those Olympic rings on the end of them. And I remember thinking to myself how awesome that's going to be. And I grabbed to hold them rings, and I began to swing back four — back and forth. About that third time I got out there, and my body was really extended, and I had reached the maximum capacity of
 my grip. And all of a sudden my hands just let go, and I remember sailing out into the wild blue yonder and landing flat on my back. It was the first time in my life I had ever had the breath knocked out of me. I thought I was dying. I remember jumping up and going — no matter what I was doing, I could not make air go in. It only seemed to go out. I didn't like that process very much. It wasn't something I would want to repeat in my life. Ever had the breath taken away from you? Yes, it happens. Why? Because it's fragile and frail. It's not — it's not a forever thing. Did you know that heaven is accessible? Genesis chapter 7 verse number 11 says: In the 600th year of Noah's life — that's a long time, by the way — in the second month and the 17th day of the month, the same day where the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. Oh, how I love it when the windows open up in heaven. Heaven is a place of doors and windows. Beings can go in and out. Judgments and blessings can be poured out. And people are able to look in and see out. Doors and windows, and entrances and exits, and openings and closings — that's what heaven is. But just remember that God's in charge of the traffic. It's not a revolving door where you can come and go at your leisure. Some people think that heaven is their idea, that they can go to heaven anytime they want. That's not what the Bible teaches. Even when Noah was built in the ark, he built the door, but God took charge of opening and closing it. It was God who determined who was allowed in and who was not. You see, because heaven is a restricted area.

Genesis chapter 11 and verse number four: And they said, go to, let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach up into heaven, and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered or brought up on the face of the whole earth. Mankind decided that they didn't want to repeat that flood business. They didn't like the fact that God had a little bit more control than they did. So they they devised a plan amongst themselves. And the word of God says they were going to succeed in their mission, and God come down and confuse the language so that people could not understand themselves. But their goal was to be self-sufficient, no need to be dependent on God. They launched into this project. They were going to bypass God. And I have a message for you today: You will never get to heaven some other way than what is prescribed in the word of God. Not by science, not by mathematics, nor human ingenuity. Not about talent, nor about politics, and money, or some other religion or spiritual discipline. Some people have this misconception that all religions are the same — they may take a different route, but we're all going to go to heaven. But it was Jesus Christ who said: I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me. Heaven, ladies and gentlemen, is all about Jesus.

Genesis 28 verse number 12: And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top reached up into heaven. And behold, the angels of God ascending, they descended on it. Jacob is having a moment where he has a revelation. God begins to show him things that are come. It was not Jacob's ladder to to climb, but it was simply he seeing a prophecy that was going to unfold many years later passed his life. It was a prophetic view of a day that was coming, in which Jesus would validate his own divinity. John chapter 1 verse 51: And he saith unto them: Verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God descending, ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. You see, heaven is all about Jesus. Getting there is all about Jesus. Living there is all about Jesus. Jesus is the ladder. He provides the interest of heaven and his own self. That's why we cannot refer to Jesus as just a good teacher, or just a prophet. He is more than a founder of a religion or a follower. You can read his teachings by so many — uh, or you can read teachings by so many other so-called religious leaders and spiritual leaders. You can read the teachings of Confucius, or or the doctrines of Joseph Smith, or you can even read about the prophet Muhammad. But there's something different about Jesus. Paul said this: he did not say that we — that we preached the teachings of Jesus. He said: We preached Christ and him crucified. That — because that's the truth. That's the revelation. That's the understanding of who he is. We teach this apostolic message of death, burial, and resurrection, repentance, baptism in the name of Jesus, and the infinite the Holy Ghost, evidence was speaking in other tongues. Jesus Christ, him crucified — hope to the most, in a stumbling block to others. Some don't understand that. The world thinks we've lost our mind. But I'm telling you: if you're going to go to heaven, you're going to go through Jesus Christ to get there.

Heaven is the legal force. Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse number 19: I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, both thou and thy seed may live. Heaven is more than an idea. It's more than a dream. It's it's more than a fantasy. It's more than some concept that came up inside a man after he had some bad pizza one night. Moses understood the reality of heaven. And so he established and understood how important it was that he called heaven to be a witness. That's how real it was. The closer you get to him, the deeper your relationship is with Jesus Christ, and heaven is just an understood. It's a part of the equation. You can't have one without the other. They go together. Heaven is free from all evil influences. Isaiah 14 verse number 12 says: How thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer's son of the morning. How Arthur cut down to the ground, which did us weaken the nations. For thou sent us in thy heart: I will ascend unto heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit up on the mount of the congregations, on the sides of the north. I must issue a warning: that there are some things that heaven does not have. It is free from sin. It is free from wickedness, evil, iniquity, rebellion, and transgression. Those things are not in heaven. When Lucifer was discovered that he had iniquity in his heart, he was vanquished forever — 186 000 miles per second, like lightning — he was cast out from there. Because there is no place for rebellion or sin in heaven. Yes, we have the grace of God through Jesus Christ while we live on — live here on this earth. We have things that we that we get to experience. But I'm going to tell you something. You've heard me preach this before, money, many times over my time of being the the senior pastor here. Grace is the most elastic word in all of Christianity. It's the most abused word in all of Christianity. As if I have the right to do whatever I want, whenever I want, because grace always covers over me. To have that kind of mindset is to misunderstand the scriptures and what the word of God is trying to tell us. Because in the book of Titus chapter 2, we have a good understanding here: For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men. Is anybody confused about who grace appeared to? Who did grace appear to? All right — either the word of God is true, or it's all wrong. So I have to believe that this grace has appeared unto everyone. Why? Because the word says it's appeared unto all men. I love grace. I'm thankful for grace. I need mercy in my life. I need it every day. I'm so thankful, when I get in my prayer time every morning, that when I get down on my knees and I cry out to him, what I am med with is mercy and grace. Because I need it in my life every day. I don't know what you face in your life, but there is not a day that goes by I don't need to cash in my check of mercy and grace. I have to have it in my life. It is a must. It is a need. It is a necessity to me. But don't you dare forget why grace is there. Don't forget why grace is there.
 Some of you think grace is only there as they get out of jail free card. Can pastor preach for just a minute? Because verse 12 says this: Teaching us. Now what's teaching us? Go back to verse 11. Verse 11 says: For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared in all men. All right. Verse number 12: Teaching us. Who's teaching? Grace is a teacher. Grace is a teacher. Grace is not my leverage to do anything I want. Grace is not my get out of jail free card. That's not my — grace is there. Grace and mercy isn't for me just to do whatever I want. But to understand grace, to live in grace, to have mercy applied to my life on a daily basis, is to understand that grace is teaching me something. What is grace teaching me? Denying ungodliness and worldly lust, that we should live soberly, and righteously, and godly win in this present world. At this present time: grace — I need it every day. Why? Because grace is teaching me how to operate, how to live my life, how to have the right attitude, how not to be offended, how to let love and mercy flow through me, how to be the proper amount of light and salt in this world, how to love people that are almost unlovable. Why? Because grace is teaching me. Grace is teaching me every day what it is I'm supposed to be doing every day. To understand grace and mercy is to understand I'm being held to a higher standard. Why? Because I'm being taught every day of my life. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself hey peculiar people. It didn't say weirdo. It didn't say some kind of freaking nature. Hey, we we misunderstand this sometimes. We almost embrace this as apostolic people: Well, there I am. I'm I'm peculiar. You're not peculiar. You're just weird. Don't you blame your personality quirk on being peculiar. Peculiar — you look it up, you spend some time studying it, you'll understand: what he's asking is for you to live in such a way that the world can't wrap their mind around you, yet they're drawn to you. They're drawn to you like a bug to a light. They can't figure it out. They can't get to all that you're doing inside of their little mind. They they think: Why would you die? There's no way I can live that life. I can't do that. You're being so held back. You're so legalistic in your approach. I'm not legalistic. I'm just trying to love God and be obedient, for all that he's done for me. Peculiar means I'm the right amount of light and the right amount of salt, that people may not agree with everything I do, but they can't deny that the presence and the power of God is on my life. Peculiar, because I'm not standing out for standout's sake, but I'm easily identified as someone who belongs to something bigger than me. Peculiar — peculiar is what grace will teach you to be. It'll open your eyes to a deeper level of dedication, where you don't focus on what you can't. Instead, you celebrate and worship what you can. You cannot — you cannot align yourself with the world, or the one in whom the world is trying to please, and expect a reward in heaven. The disciple of a leader shares the fate of the leader. And if you follow after this world, if you follow after what this world is trying to teach you, you will suffer the fate of its leader.

Chapter 8 verse 42: Jesus said unto them: If God were your father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear my word. Year of your father the devil, and the lust of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh the lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, you believe me not. After Satan was kicked out of heaven, after he was pushed away from the very thing you and I are going after, God took those keys to the things that he had access to. I know this because Matthew 16 and 19 says: I will give unto thee, Peter, the keys of the kingdom of heaven. He took them from Lucifer. You didn't understand what you had. You decided that you were going to sin, and you were gonna sit on the throne that belongs only to me. So I'm kicking you out, and I'm taking those keys. And then he looked at Peter and said: Peter, I'm gonna give you something. It wasn't a physical set of keys that it gave him, but it was spiritual truths that he put inside of Peter — the truth that he stood up on the day of Pentecost and preached, that foundational message that he preached that started the New Testament church. In fact, Satan doesn't have the key to his own house, because God gave one of his angels the keys to the bottomless pit.

Heaven is not for a distant future. It's a present reality. It should be a part of your life every day. You've heard me say this before, and I feel so important that I repeat it often: you have the ability to do a pre-flight check every day. You don't have to wonder: Am I going to go to heaven? You can get down on your knees and you can begin to pray. And you pray as the old-timers — you push, and you pray until you pray through. Pray through to what? Pray through into the Spirit, until you speak in tongues, because that's how you know that you're where you need to be. Pastor, are you telling me I have to speak in tongues every day? I'm going to tell you this: I don't miss a chance. Because there's some things that I don't want to risk in this life. I don't know about you, but I've had plenty of opportunities to fly in my life. And I'm happy, as I'm boarding the plane, and I happen to glance up in the cockpit, and then my boy's got the big books out, and they're going: So and so, check. So and so, so, check, check. So I'm happy with that. If they need to check it four or five times, I'm real good. You know, I may be in a hurry for a lot of things, but I don't want them to rush through that. You make sure every light's on, every switch is turned. Take your time. Because I'm not a big fan of dying. I like a lot of thrills, but I just soon skipped that one. I don't want to take any chance with eternity. Maybe you're just better than me. That could be the chance. I'm not a perfect person. I have my own little struggles I face each and every day. And it's because I know me, and I know what I face, and I know what I deal with, and I know my own stumbling blocks and the things that get me hung up in this life — I I believe in doing the pre-flight check every day. And I'm not opposed to having an afternoon flight check sometimes before I go to bed check. Because I'm not going to risk it. You risk it if you want to. See, I don't believe we have to have the near-death experience every time for me to pray through. And I'm afraid some people, the only spiritual moment you have is right before you're about to die. All of a sudden you're like: Oh, Jesus, forgive me. But to be living the way you're supposed to be living brings a joy, and a confidence, and a peace, and a hope inside, that that nothing this world has to offer can compare.

This past Wednesday night at First Church in Nashville, they were having a great service. Brother Duke — you mean, you know, we was here for years. We love Brother Duke. He's a good friend of mine. We we talk about once a week. And he he called me. He was excited because they had a few baptisms on Wednesday night. You know, Wednesday night baptisms for any pastors, always exciting. So he — we were talking. He said that they had a young lady there that had been attending with her husband, and she had not had an apostolic background at all. And you know, she she came like a lot of folks who come in. If you if you have been to a a church that's more reserved, sometimes we apostates can be a lot to handle at one time. Um, we can — Jason, you remember first time? I remember the first time you came. You tickled me to death, because the whole time we're worshiping, you're like —
 And yeah, we laugh, because we can be a lot. We we can. If you if you haven't been raised in this and around this, and all of a sudden you're like: The preacher's walking around. Why is he walking around for it? Or all of a sudden, in the middle of song service, somebody just takes off and starts running down the road. You know, when you see them first timers, they're like: Am I — do we need to go out the back exit? Did something just happen? Like, they don't know what's going on, because somebody got a little Holy Ghost moment and they head out. And if you hadn't ever been around this, you're like — I've had folks, and some of y'all even in this room, who have said: I headed out the back door, and I was not coming back. And here you are now. This young lady, she had a similar experience. They had had some really good services last few months, and there had been a lot of aisle running. She said — now, I missed the part — she got baptized Wednesday night. She'd come up out of the water. When they're just a few moments, she's speaking in heavenly language. God filled her. And then she got down the altar, and she just started praying. Man, she spent — people were always telling me, because he was actually texting me, and this is almost 10 o'clock on Wednesday night, he said: We're still here. I'm still praying. Man, I'm gonna tell you, you get a pastor motor going right there. Yeah, you're going. He said: But I got to tell you this. He said: We got done. We're sitting there just talking, and we're getting — he said: Literally, all I gotta do is cut the lights off. And she says: There's something I need to do. And he said: Okay, what are you gonna do? And she said: For the longest time, I could not understand while people took off and started running. She said: But I know now. And he said she took off running around that sanctuary. And Roy said — he said: She took off. I took off. I looked around. She goes: There's only like eight of us in there. He said: All eight of us are just running laps around the sanctuary. Why? Because there's something about when you finally understand that it's more than just me. It's not about me. The reason we worship, and the reason we are exuberant, is because we are thankful for what God has done. He found me, and he gave me a hope — a blessed hope of something better than this. And for the right now, he blesses me. But there's something much better than a right now. There's a heaven that's to come. And we get excited when we talk about it. It's a present reality we live in. Is Jesus your hope? Is he your hope of heaven? If he is, and you understand he has given us very specific details on how we are to live our life, and how we are to approach him: the repentance is a must. Jesus is the only way to forgiveness. The baptism in his name is a must. It's the only saving name. And I'll say this: anybody want to be baptized? We've got warm water and plenty of robes. Today is a great day to be baptized. To be filled with this Spirit is more important in heaven than the breath of life on earth. I'm going to say that again: To be filled with this Spirit, it's more important in heaven than the breath of life is there. How important is your next breath? How important, ladies and gentlemen, is that next breath of air? How important? The Holy Ghost is more important than that. It's more important to understand: I have to have it. It's a necessity in my life.

Heaven is the only secure place in the universe. Matthew 6 and 20: But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, we're neither mother nor wrote their corrupt. We're not talking about money. We're not talking about by those temporary things. We're talking about wealth here. Let me explain: there's a vast difference between money and wealth. A prince or a princess, as a — as a daughter or son of the king — they may not have a dime to their name. They may not have anything that they're affixed to their name, or a deed, or anything like that. But you would not say that they are poor. They are wealthy, because who their father is. There's wealth, ladies and gentlemen. You understand who your father is. How rich is our father? Father — Psalms 50 verse 10 says: But every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee, for the world is mine, in the fullness thereof. Matthew 28 18: And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying: All power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Jesus is what will make heaven for me, seeing him. Mark 14 62: And Jesus said: I am. And you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Mark 16 and 19 says: So then, after the Lord has spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and set on the right hand of God.

Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. John 14 verse 1: Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house for many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. There are no foreclosures on mansions in heaven. There are no liens. No back Texas. No no bad neighbors. Hallelujah. Praise God. Somebody take a lap right now. No threat of imminent domain. There is — well, there's a time, and the time is now, that you become excited about heaven. Some say those mansions aren't literal houses, they're just dwelling places. Well, you know what? I would rather have a dwelling place in heaven than a mansion here on earth. Now, I'm going to disagree with you. I spent quite a bit of time, so we can go toe-to-toe anytime you want to talk about mansions in heaven. I'm going to tell you: it doesn't matter to me. But I disagree with that crazy old song, "Just give me a cabin in the corner and glory land," because there ain't nothing in the scriptures about a cabin. Maybe you like cabins. Maybe your mansion will have log exterior. I don't know. But there's nothing in the book about a cabin. But it says mansions. At the interest of heaven — if you want to know what the entrance to heaven is going to be, it's going to be the rapture of the church. Luke 21 verse 25: And there shall be a sign in the sun, and in the moon, and the stars, and upon the earth the stresses of nations, with perplexity. The sea and the waves roaring. Men's heart filled them with fear, and looking after those things which are coming on earth, for the power of heaven shall be shaken. And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the cloud with the power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up. Lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. Ladies and gentlemen, those verses speak about where we are. Things are shaking. Prophecies are being fulfilled like never before. Don't lose sight of what's going on. Don't become comfortable with what you're living in, and what you're experiencing right now. Don't don't be happy that long as your little world's okay, and you got a little bit of money, and you have your health. Don't get satisfied living in Babylon. Don't miss what God's trying to do. Heaven — look up means look to the sky. Something's about to happen. First Thessalonians 4 16: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God. And the dead and Christ shall rise first. Then we which remain, are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Why are we going to be caught up together? I'll tell you this: the answer is simple. It's because we're the bride. We are the bride. Jesus is our bridegroom. What does the bridegroom do when he takes his bride to the new house? What does he do? He picks them
 up and carries them across the threshold. Do you understand? We're the bride. He's going to call us up together. We're going to be with him together. Why? Because he's taking us to our new home, to our new place, where we're going to be with him forever and ever and ever. Revelations 4 1: After this I look, and behold, a door was open in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was there, where the trumpet talked with me, which said: Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. Revelations 21-1: And I saw the new heaven and new earth, and the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there was no more sea. I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

As they get ready to close this today — and I'll bring this to an end — heaven will turn every sorrow into a distant memory. Every sorrow. Revelations 21 verse 4: And God shall wipe away all their tears from their eyes. There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, no crying. Neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he that set up on the throne said: Behold, I make all things new. New. We will pause for just a moment, because I want to say this: No more. No more. No more. Do you understand what I'm saying? No more. No more pain. No more sorrow. No more tears. No more suffering. No more heartache. No more pain. No more disappointment. No more loss. No more. No more. No more. It won't ever be authority. No more. No more will I have to deal with it. No more will I have to go through it. No more will I have to to get my mind around it. No more. Why? Because I'm in heaven. I'm in heaven. I'm in heaven. That's why there's no more in heaven. You might be thinking we have a lot of work to do down here before we think too much about what's going on to be over there. But it's the message of over there that gives me strength and courage down here. It's the message of over there. There are some days it gets tough. Ladies and gentlemen, it gets tough. And maybe it's not tough for you right now — that's okay. I'm thankful it's not tough for you right now. But there are some in this room who, I know, it's tough right now. It's hard right now. But no more over there. The word of God says: Encourage one another with these words. What words? The words of heaven. Heaven. Heaven. There are some in this place right now, you're dealing with pain. Your body does not have a moment where there is not pain. It's hard for you to even understand and comprehend what I just said when I said no more, because you can't remember the last time there was no pain. But not in heaven. Not in heaven. Some of you are dealing with loss in your life, and it's a lonely that you can't even put into words and describe. But I want to encourage you today: No more. Not there. Not there. Yeah, we have a little while longer here. But don't lose face. Don't lose hope. Not now. Not now. Oh please, not now. Not now. You got this far. Don't stop now. Don't quit now. Because there's no more over there, in heaven, in heaven. Let me encourage you, mothers and fathers, and grandmothers and grandfathers, saints, pioneers, pastors, faithful loyal servants: There's coming a glad reunion. We're going to see our loved ones. With every year that passes, I got more to go to heaven for than I had yesterday.

It's been too high a price paid for you and I to miss out on what he has prepared for us. My last verse: Revelations 21 and 10 says: And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain, and he showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. That's where I want to be. That's where I want to go. That's where my hope is. I have a few things in my life that some may view as valuable. But it pales in comparison to what I have there, to what I have there. That's where my hope is. That's where my trust is. And it's those things who get me through each and every day. But I know without any doubt in my mind that there are some that you can't say that with a surety today. So you're in a church, and any preacher worth of salt is going to have a moment to go to the altar. So I'm not going to pull any bait and switch on you. I'm telling you right up front: here comes the altar call. Now, to me, the altar — that's the best place in church to be. If you look at the word of God, everything great happened at the altar. So I'm inviting you right now. I'm going to pray. And at any time you feel, I invite you to come. Because I believe there's a peace that can only come from God when you know that you know, that you know that you know you're ready. So I encourage you to do a little pre-flight check and make sure. Will you pray with me? Bow your heads. Jesus. God, you've led us to this most special of moments today, where your word has been delivered, hope has been given. God, I'm thankful for the truth that is heaven, the place that you have gone to prepare for those who dedicate their life to you. Lord, it is my hope and my strength that gets me through each and every day. Lord, I know in my heart that there are those in this place that maybe don't have that same maturity. Maybe there's still some question. Maybe there's still some things that are not completely settled. God, I pray your presence would draw them right now. Bring them to a place where they can come, where they can check and make sure things are where they need to be, that they're right with you. Right now, I rebuke every hindrance in this place. Every bit of doubt be gone, in the name of Jesus. Let your Spirit draw them. Take us to where we need to be in you. In Jesus' name we pray.