Sometimes it seems more frequently than we like or more quickly than we would prefer to celebrate the life of loved ones leaving their earthly home and going to their new home in heaven. Several years ago after a short span of time in which we lost about a dozen church members, it was suggested in jest that perhaps I had been making heaven so attractive that some of our congregation were going their more quickly than we would prefer.

With this in mind and following up on the choices we looked at last Sunday I would like to direct our thoughts to the choice of heaven today, focusing on various aspects of this choice.

First of all

The Choice of

I. What?

What is heaven? Just how wonderful is this place. How would you describe this place? Very few of those who get a glimpse of this fantastic place stay on earth to tell us about it. However, we don't have to go there before we know anything about it.

Various words are used to refer to heaven: The future dwelling place of the righteous, the dwelling place of God, the Holy habitation, the kingdom of Christ and of God, the Father's House, a Heavenly country, and mansion, a rest, paradise, eternal dwelling place, a new heaven and a new earth, the Holy City, New Jerusalem, an incorruptible inheritance, the City of the living God, etc.

The Apostle John describes a scene in heaven in Revelation 4 as a scene of worship. The Lord seared upon the throne was compared to precious stones and there was a rainbow around the throne. Before the throne was like a sea of glass, like crystal. Also around the throne were 24 thrones for twenty four elders clothed in white garments with golden crowns on their heads. Praises and thanks were being expressed to the Lord,

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." ⁹Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

As the Lord comes to dwell among His people He shall wipe away tears and put an end to death, mourning and pain. In the Spirit John was shown the Holy city having the glory of God. Foundation stones of the city were adorned with every kind of precious stone. Each of the gates of the city was a single pearl. The street of the city was of pure gold and transparent like glass. The Holy City does not need the son or the moon to shine because the glory of God has illumined it and its lamp is the Lamb of God.

II. Whether or Not?

God has made the choice of what heaven is and has laid out some entrance requirements. Whether or not we live in preparation for heaven is our choice.

One of the references to heaven that I mentioned a few moments ago was the future dwelling place of the righteous. This may lead us to questions, "Who are the righteous?" Do we choose to be righteous?" The Bible speaks of our righteousness being as filthy rags. Our own righteousness will not gain us entrance into heaven. Try as we may, we are not good enough. Christ was the only human being who was righteousness enough. We must confess our sin, our unworthiness, and trust in Jesus and His righteousness. This is how we make this critically important choice. We take on the righteousness of Jesus Christ to know our future will be in the dwelling of the righteous.

If you have sincerely placed your trust in Jesus Christ as your personal savior you have made the choice for heaven. You and I are then ready to go there in the righteousness of Jesus Himself. While apart from Christ we are not good enough, we are to seek God's help to live to please Him until we go to our home in heaven. This leads to the next choice... the choice of…

III. When?

God has determined the first choice of what heaven is. The critical choice for us is whether or not we are willing to do what God requires so that we will one day go to heaven. The choice of when that I am speaking of here is not when we choose to follow Christ. I am speaking of when we go to heaven. For the most part this choice should be in God's hands.

Certainly God has given us the responsibility to take care of the bodies that He has given to us. We can choose to eat healthy foods, exercise, and avoid unhealthy substances and practices. We may seek prayer and medical assistance when health problems arise. However, regarding the choice of when, this choice should primarily be God's choice.

In a Scripture we read form Paul's letter to the Christians at Philippi I believe that Paul was longing to go to heaven. He wrote:

²¹For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²²If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ²⁵Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,

IV. Whom With?

This final choice I mention this morning is related to Paul's question of when. I choose to live in this li9fe in such a manner that many more will also make the choice for heaven, including family, friends, and those I may not personally know.

Do you know if persons with whom you wish to spend eternity have made the choice of heaven, receiving God's gift? Have you visited with them about this important matter? Sometimes when I am visiting with persons whose loved one has recently died there seems to be assumption that their loved one has gone to heaven. I hope this is true, but when some of these persons did not seem concerned about worshipping God while they were living, I wonder if they made the choice to worship Him in eternity.

Conclusion

The Choice of

1. What? God has determined
2. Whether or Not? It is our responsibility to receive.
3. When? This should be primarily in God's hands.
4. Whom With? What a privilege we have to share the gift of heaven!

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