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Light Of His Word The Sermons of Pastor Mike Walls Freedom Baptist Church Used By Permission Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. |
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Light Of His Word The Sermons of Pastor Mike Walls Freedom Baptist Church Used By Permission Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. |
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HEAVEN- THE
PERFECT PLACE Revelation
7:16-17 Introduction:
I want
to preach about our home that we are looking forward to see. It
is a permanent place. Nothing will destroy it. No sin will
corrupt it so it is a pure place. Since the Lord Jesus is there,
it will be a precious place. Heaven is called a lot of things.
Some call it paradise. Some called the home beyond the blue skies.
I like to call it home. One day, we will be at home, home at last.
Home
at Last He's
Home at last! Oh say not he has died. His
soul has only crossed the swelling tide, And
Heaven's gates for have opened wide-- He's
Home, Home at last! A true
and valiant warrior of the Faith, Proclaiming
Christ e'en with his latest breath, Has
laid his armor down-- call it not death. He's
Home, Home at last! He
now beholds, with eyes undimmed by tears, The
face of Him who through the passing years Has
been his stay, dispelling doubt and fears. He's
Home, Home at last! And
though his going leaves a void within Our
lonely hearts, we can rejoice with him, His
race is run, Heav'n's glory he hath seen. He's
Home, Home at last! At
Home, with those on earth he loved so well, Who
now within the walls of jasper dwell, Oh
bliss beyond all mortal pow'r to tell! He's
Home, Home at last! Life's
sun for him has set-- but oh the glow That
long will linger o'er this world of woe, Because
he lived and labored here below! He's
Home, Home at last! --Avis
B. Christiansen
Heaven is that perfect place that will have perfect people, ruled
by the Lord enjoying the perfect love. I want to look at five
thoughts about this perfect place. I. IT
WILL BE A PLACE OF PERFECT WONDER. Have
you ever wonder about some things? One of the greatest about
Washington, DC is that you can look and look at the different sights.
If it does not strike a sense of wonder in you, I am not sure what
will. When we get to heaven, we will be on a sightseeing tour.
We will want to see all the sights that are around and the wonder
of the place. What am I going to see on this sightseeing tour? A. I
want to see the BOOK with my name in it. “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.” “And
I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured
with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers,
whose names are in the book of life.” It
was recorded there the day I was born again. My race, creed
or color did not place it there. My grandmother and her salvation
did not place it. The One who saved me on May 10, 1972 placed
it there. B. I
want to see the BOTTLE with all the tears. “Thou
tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they
not in thy book?” “He
that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless
come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” “My
friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.” God
saw that tear that flowed down your cheek. He saved it in a
bottle. We have all had heartaches. Until we die or the
rapture takes place, we will have sorrow. Children bring sorrow
and tears. Families bring sorrow and tears. Friends bring
sorrow and tears. Christians bring sorrow and tears. But
our Saviour has collected them. I
found this in Charles Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. “While we remain
in this vale of misery, God keeps all our tears in a bottle; so precious
is the water that is distilled from penitent eyes; and because he
will be sure not to fail, he notes how many drops there be in his
register. It was a precious ointment wherewith the woman in the Pharisee's
house (it is thought Mary Magdalene) anointed the feet of Christ;
but her tears, wherewith she washed them, were more worth than her
spikenard.” Abraham Wright God
is saving them for something. It may be a sweet smelling offering
to Him. Whatever reason, He saves them will be revealed to us.
Think of the tears of the times you shed while soul winning or hear
of a precious soul being saved. God saved those tears.
C. I
want to see the BRIDE dressed for the wedding. Revela “Let
us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of
the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” “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
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 shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.” We
as Christians are the bride that is adorned for her groom. In
most wedding announcements you find in the newspaper, you read what
the bride wore. It talks of the bride. Then at the end,
it is almost like a postscript, she married Old Whatsocallit.
When the bride comes down the aisle, everyone stands. But in
this wedding, everyone will stand when the groom comes. The
Blood of the Lamb of God will dress the church in a white spotless
garment that is typical of the washing away of her sins. D. I
want to see my BROTHER I’ve never seen before. “For
whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my
sister, and mother.” “A
man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend
that sticketh closer than a brother.” I
will get to see some of my heroes. Men and women like D. L.
Moody and Fanny J. Crosby. When we get to Heaven, there will
be many wonderful things to see: The Place, The Provision and the
People but none as wonderful as the Person, our Lovely Lord Jesus. II. IT
WILL BE A PLACE OF PERFECT WORSHIP. We
live in a time that has a lot of confusion of what true worship is.
I realize that I have almost worn this definition of worship out but
I have not found a better one. W. M. Temple, the British preacher,
defined worship like this: “For to worship is to quicken the conscience
by the Holiness of God; to feed the mind with the truth of God; to
purge the imagination by the beauty of God; to open the heart to the
love of God; to devote the will to the purpose of God.” The
place where is supposed to occur has been a debate that has went on
for thousands of years. It should have been settled when Jesus
was talking to the woman at the well. John 4:19-24 “The
woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our
fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem
is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her,
Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this
mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye
know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth.” When
the “worship” does not turn your mind to the Lord to see how high
and lifted up He is instead of how it makes you feel, so then it is
not true worship. True worship is not about how you feel.
True worship has to do with the Lord. Having
said all that, when we get to heaven, we will be involved in perfect
worship. There will not be any diversity in heaven. We
will have one theme. The theme will be Jesus. That is
perfect and also true worship. “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.
And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that
sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty
elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him
that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne,
saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:
for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and
were created.” III. IT
WILL BE A PLACE OF A PERFECT WIPING “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.” I
have wiped away many tears in my lifetime. I have wiped tears
from the face of loved ones. I have wiped tears away from my
own eyes. But tears still come back. One songwriter wrote
that a tear was a language that God understands. But when we
get home, God is going to wipe away all of the tears. It
is important to note when this event is going to take place.
It is on the heels of the Great White Throne Judgment. Revelation
20:11-15 “And
I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face
the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for
them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book
of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written
in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were
in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire.” Why
would God have to wipe away our tears after this event? There
will be our loved ones whom we failed to win to Christ who will be
thrown in the lake of fire. I don’t care how hard you are, you
will shed tears over that event. They may be tears of shame.
They will be tears of sorrow. You and I know by reading this
passage that there is no escape from the lake of fire. We may
not prevent this generation from going to hell but we must make it
hard of them. Jesus
will wipe all the tears because of the pain that we have had.
Jesus will wipe all the tears because of the partings that we have
had in this life. Jesus will wipe all the tears because of the
problems we have faced in life. No more tears are shed and it
will be glory for me and it will glory for you. IV. IT
WILL BE A PLACE OF A PERFECT WITNESS. “But
why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy
brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” “For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every
one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he
hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Every
thing that I have been preaching on this subject has been pretty upbeat.
But before we enjoy the joys of heaven as a corporate body or the
entire body of Christ, we will be standing before the Judgment Seat
of Christ. This judgment is not for sin. That judgment
was taken care of at the cross of Calvary with the death of Christ.
He was judged for my sins and the sins of the entire world.
The way to take part of this judgment that your sins is forgiven is
accepting Christ as Saviour. “But
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name” One
of life’s most glorious thoughts is that our sins have been placed
on the Lord Jesus and that we don’t have to go to hell. We can
have life eternal by accepting Christ as our Saviour. Once
we get home as the body of Christ, we will stand before the Judgment
Seat of Christ. It is also called the Bema Seat. We will
be answering for our life after we were saved. Each unconfessed
sin would be seen and heard by all. All our deeds, whether they
are good or bad, would be seen by all. Have
you ever looked at something and saw one thing and someone else looked
the same time and they saw something different. That is why
they are imperfect witnesses. It is said the least reliable
evidence in a trial is the eyewitness testimony. Christ
is the perfect witness. He sees all and can accurately reveal
all. “Neither
is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things
are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” He
will even be able to tell our motive for doing what we do. Some
do things for Christ for recognition. When they are recognized
for that deed on earth, they have their reward. Some do things
for Christ for money. They have their reward. If what
we do for Christ is for another motive other than for the honor and
glory of the Lord Jesus, we have our reward. How
will our deeds, motives and words be judged? That question is
pretty much answered in 1st Corinthians 3. 1st
Corinthians 3:12-15 “Now
if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the
day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the
fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work
abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If
any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself
shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” If
you were a king or some great dignity, would you want to give them
a gift of value or ashes? I venture to say no one wants to give
a gift of ashes but nice gifts. You and I are going to lay at
the feet of our Lord Jesus our works. If they are gold, silver
or precious stones or ashes is entirely up to us. Christ
will reveal all. I would not want to stay before God with deliberate
sin in my life. I don’t have to point out any particular sin
for we would never leave this section of the message. You and
I need to be honest before God and allow Him to point out these sins
if we don’t know. Psalm 139:23-24 “Search
me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see
if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” These
two verses are proof positive that God will show you the areas in
our lives that have sin in them. He will forgive them if we
confess them as sin. This is the time to try and excuse them.
One day the perfect witness will reveal them so we should rid ourselves
of them today so He will not have to do so. Conclusion:
All saved people are on their way to heaven. Heaven bound
with the hammer down! But what is awaiting us first? It
is that Judgment Seat of Christ. This will not be some picnic.
This ought to one of the thoughts that we have on a regular basis.
What opportunities of Christ did I miss for the Lord Jesus? What
souls missed heaven because I did not even give them a tract?
What should I have done for Christ? All this will be revealed
and more when I stand before Christ.
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