60 Seconds – Heaven

An old saint was asked, “Would you like to live your life again?” “No,” he answered, I’m too near home!”

Billy Graham wrote, “Heaven is a place of complete victory and triumph. This is the battlefield; there is the triumphal procession. This is the land of the sword and spear; that is the land of the wreath and crown.”

In 1 Peter 2:11, God’s people are referred to as “sojourners and pilgrims.” “Sojourners” refers to a person living alongside of someone else. It speaks of a temporary home. The word “pilgrims” is the translation of a word literally meaning, “to live alongside of the natives in a foreign land.” Christians are living in the midst of an unsaved society in territory ruled over by Satan, the god of this age. The believer’s true home is in Heaven.

In John 14:2, Christ promised, “I go to prepare a place for you.” Referring to this verse, Arthur W. Pink expressed, “The glories and blessedness of Heaven are brought before us in the New Testament under a variety of representations. Heaven is called a ‘country.’ This tells of its vastness. It is called a ‘city.’ This intimates the large number of its inhabitants. It is called a ‘kingdom.’ This suggests its orderliness. It is called ‘paradise.’ This emphasizes its delights. It is called ‘Father’s house,’ which speaks of its permanency.”

An old rabbi lived over a grocery store on the lower East Side of New York. In front of the grocery was a sign reading: RABBI RABINOWITZ IS UPSTAIRS. When the old rabbi died, after a long dedicated life, he left no money, even for his burial. He had never demanded payment for any service he had rendered to the members of his tiny congregation. When he was buried, his friends wanted to put up a memorial or stone on his grave. They had no money for an expensive tomb-stone, so they set up over his grave the very same sign that hung in front of the grocery. It served as a beautiful epitaph: RABBI RABINOWITZ IS UPSTAIRS.

“Christ is the way, our Bible’s the roadmap, and heaven our destiny!” (Peter Marshall).