please I believe the last time I was with you I'm not sure because I don't keep a record of what I say and where I've said it but I believe the last time I was with you I draw your do your attention to the fact that John fourteen follows three very wonderful verses maybe we could look at those verses again before we read the verses in John fourteen John eleven verse thirty three When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. This word troubled, so Mr. Vine tells us in his Dictionary of New Testament Words, is the Greek word which is associated with the shaking of the body. He groaned in the spirit and his body shook. He was troubled. Chapter twelve, please. Verse twenty-seven. Now is my soul troubled. Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father saved me from this hour. But for this cause. came I unto this hour chapter thirteen twenty one when Jesus had thus said he was troubled in spirit and testified and said verily verily I say unto you but one of you shall betray me have we noticed that in chapter eleven he was troubled in bodies In chapter twelve he was troubled in soul. In chapter thirteen he was troubled in spirit. Chapter fourteen. Let not your heart be troubled. Never let us forget that the one that said that is the one who knew trouble as no one else had ever known it. He has the right to say it. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be offered. May the Lord just add his blessing to the reading of his word. We do bless thee together for thy word. We thank thee again for the joy of Christian fellowship and here tonight in this place, from different areas, meeting brethren and sisters in Christ. Oh, we thank you. We ask now that thou will speak to us as we consider this so important and so wonderful of us. Speak to our hearts, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. I said yesterday that tonight and tomorrow we're going to speak on two subjects that are vitally linked together. I felt this evening I would like to talk with you just for a few moments about God's heaven. We're living in a day when so many things I have said about heaven. Some of them are based upon the scripture, some of them are not. There are those who profess to believe the scripture, who deny almost everything the scripture says about heaven. But tonight I want to talk with you, if I may, about God's heaven. And you well understand this, don't you? That if there are people who have difficulty about God's heaven, Those same people have difficulty about God's hell. And tomorrow night I want to talk about God's hell. It will be rather sober and solemn, but it will be true. But this evening we're starting, as it were, on the bright side of things, and we're going to look together very simply, and that's all I can do with this subject. Because the amazing thing is this, that we are not told very much about God's heaven. There are principles laid before us. There are statements made. But when it comes to detail, most of the things that we are informed about God's heaven are the things that are not there. You see, my Bible says there's coming a day when God will create a new heaven and a new earth. Well, I mean, if it's new, you wouldn't expect me to understand it, would you? Or it wouldn't be new. You would have lost its newness the moment I know about it. And so when it comes to that final state, when I have to deal with the eternal state in the Word of God, I find indeed that this is a subject that the word of God just hints at. But it does a little more than hints when it speaks about the abode of those who, from this scene, pass away. But it doesn't tell us a greater amount. Sufficient to remind you that God has to have a heaven. And God has to have a hell. He's got to it. Let me explain what's on my heart. My Bible leaves me in no doubt of the fact that if a man or a woman will ask Jesus Christ to be their Savior, God will give to them his Son. And Christ will take up his abode in our life. But God does not give a gift to take away. Men give gifts and then take them away, but not God. If he gives a gift, it is forever. And so when life's journey comes to its close, there has got to be a place where Jesus can be associated with his people, else God has broken his promise. He has not given us eternally his son. And in the same argument, if God says you haven't got to have my son if you don't want him, the decision is yours. I'm not going to press Jesus on you. I'm not going to say you must take my son as your savior. If God has given us a free will to say yes to Jesus Christ or no. If we say no to Jesus Christ, there has got to be a place eternally where Jesus Christ can't be found. Or God has spoken what he gave up, the free will. And whatever you may call that way, that has. But tonight, I want to speak, as I've said, about God's heaven. I want to say three or four very simple things. The first thing I want to say is that heaven is a place. Now, could I repeat that? Heaven is a place. I go to prepare a place. And God did not write the Bible to deceive us. There are many modern philosophers and even so-called theologians who suggest that heaven is a state. It's a state of mind. It's a state of conscience. It's a state of feeling. But the Lord Jesus did not say, I go to prepare a faith for you. He said, I go to prepare a place for you. The first thing I want to remind you is that heaven is a place. The second thing I want to remind you is that heaven is not only a place, but heaven is a prepared place. I go to prepare a place. Now, I am fully aware of the fact that my good friend, if I may use the expression, my good friend, Mr. Darby, says, that the Lord prepared heaven when he died on Calvary's cross for us. And that is true. Is that not the truth of the fourteenth chapter of John? The Lord Jesus, when he says to those disciples, I go to prepare a place for you, and when later one of them asked, where was the Lord going and so on, The Lord Jesus did not say, I'm going to Calvary's cross to prepare that place. And while it is true, on the cross he died that there may be a place for you and me, a place where the curse of sin would never enter, because he dealt the death blow to sin that never from this scene would it enter into the abode of God. He prepared the place when he died on the cross. There's nothing wrong with my theology, brethren. I'm quite aware of that. But I suggest to you, and I will in a moment or two, that he not only prepared a place when he died, but he went back to glory to prepare a place for us. I do not find it strange when someone says, what a wonderful place heaven must be. If God could make this world in six days, Whatever he's done in the two thousand years, he's gone back to glory. I don't find that strange at all. The third thing I want to say is that heaven is not only a place, and heaven is not only a prepared place. But are you listening? You young folks, heaven's a pleasant place. It's a pleasant place. Oh, we'll be dealing with that in a moment or two. We'll see some of the things that are there. I don't know if all the things that make life pleasant for you today will be there. I don't think they'll play American football up there, for instance. But I think we'll see it's a pleasant place. And we will find that it's not only a place, and it's not only a prepared place, and it's not only a pleasant place. But dare I suggest that, bless God, this is a perpetual place. It is a place where we will dwell and dwell eternally. First of all, then, heaven is a place. The first question every one of us that are interested in it asks is this, but where is it? Where is it? And the Bible gives us no doubt as to where it is. The Bible tells us it's up. It's up. you know speaking to a crowd of students in Cambridge some time ago I don't know how many years ago it was just after the Russians had put their first man up in space and you remember when he came back one of these atheistic Russians asked him if he'd seen God he'd gone up into the heavens have you seen God and with a sneer almost with his atheistic beliefs he said oh no he never saw God and he never saw any angels That didn't cause me a bit of bother. Not a bit of bother. All I said is, praise God, the Bible's true. My Bible says, without holiness, no man shall see God. And how would you expect a man who doesn't believe in God and spends his life trying to overthrow the pains of God? How would you expect him to see God if you can't see God unless you're holy? Oh, listen, my friend, there is a place where my God dwells. And my Bible tells me it up. Ephesians four says, He ascended up on high. Is that wonderful? He ascended up on high. Two Corinthians twelve says, He was caught up. He was caught up into heaven. Oh, I say. There, of course, the apostle is speaking of a man. We all presume he's speaking of himself. He says he doesn't know whether that man was in the body or out of the body. He only knows this, that this man was caught up, and he was caught up into the third heaven. All of us are aware of the simple facts of heaven. We know indeed that there is a heaven that we call the aerial heaven, the heaven where the birds fly, the heaven that we can behold came in as they hover around us, this aerial heaven. You have in Greensboro, I'm given to understand, you have a place where folk can go along and look through telescopes and see the stars. And we're not in the aerial heaven there because you can gaze through those telescopes and you'll never see a seagull out there. We're now in the starry heavens. We're in a realm beyond the aerial heaven. My Bible tells me there's another heaven beyond that. It's referred to as the third heaven. And Paul says that he or someone was caught up into the third heaven. So we say that heaven is up. When the apostle again writes to that church at Corinth in that fifth chapter and eighth verse of his second letter, he makes a statement and a very definite statement. He says, Absence from the body. At home, I like that word, don't you? Don't tell anyone. But I had six letters from home today. I was sorry the service started too early. I haven't been able to read them all yet. That's being honest, isn't it? But there we are. You know, they've come from home. We all love home, nobody. We love home. And Jesus was caught up into heaven. He ascended into heaven. And the apostle says, absent from the body, at home with the Lord. Could I ask you rather a personal question, though I hope won't upset you? You've got a house? Or have you got a home? You know, there are a lot of people who've got a house. It's not much of a home. I'm glad my Savior's got a house. Many nights, I'm glad you've got a home. A home. So this place is a house. And when the scene is over and all of life's work is ended, for those of us that love the Lord Jesus, it's to be absent from the body at home with the Lord. But it is not only a place, it is a prepared place. Now you prepare a place for someone, don't you? It is a prepared place, but prepared for whom? Who is this place prepared for? The Lord Jesus left us in no doubt. He said, Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. This place is prepared for those that believe in God. Those that I've already said have made a personal link with Jesus Christ and God has said, If you are going to trust my son, I'll give him to you forever. and it is a prepared place for those who believe in God. May I ask her, do you believe in God? Does you believe about God? Do you believe in God? Will you notice please that when the Apostle, or rather when the Lord, when the Lord said to Nicodemus, Nicodemus, You'll never see. You'll never enter. Unless you're born again. All this place is prepared for those who believe, for those that are born again. You're born again. No need for me to come to America and this part of it either, is there? And remind you the story of Uncle Tom's called Cabin. You know it better than I, don't you? Little Topsy. Put in the hands of Miss Sinclair, the educator. Look at her. What's your name? Topsy. Who is your mother? Never had a mother. Never had a mother? Of course you did. Who was your father? Never had a father? Well, you must have. Where were you born? Never was born? Just grew. Oh, isn't that it? There are some of you folk who've grown pretty big, haven't you? Never born? Never born again? Never trusted Christ? My friend, you'll never go to heaven unless you're born again. You'll never enter glory unless you've believed in God. Because this place is a prepared place, but it's prepared for people. And it's prepared for people who have trusted Jesus Christ. But it's not only a place and a prepared place that I said just now, it's a pleasant place. I like that. I'm not quite sure. I believe the Lord laid on my heart to talk with you about this this evening. But I think maybe one of the things that made me think about it was when we were along at Ben Lippon this year, I mentioned it there. A two folk came to me down in Ben Lippon and they were a bit concerned and they were really concerned and they said, Mr. Ford, I believe they had lost a lot. And they said, Mr. Ford, do you think we're going to know one another in heaven? and I was a bit taken back. That's no theological problem to me. I looked at them and said, No one another in heaven. Do you think I'm going to be a bigger pool in heaven than I am on earth? I recognized my friends from Augusta tonight. One of them looked at me, cheeky fellow. He said, I don't think you know me. I said, yes, I do. Hold up there. I'm glad you didn't say what I meant. There we are. But you see, you recognize people. You know. You know. Do you mean to tell me that if in heaven I'm going to know Moses and Elijah, and I will, the Bible says so, and I've never seen them, Peter and James have never seen Moses or Elijah in their life. But when the Lord was transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared with them, and they knew it. I'm going to know Moses and Elijah. I've never seen him enough. And I'm not going to know me, old mum. I'm not going to be a bigger fool there than I am here. Listen, my friend. There will be differences. Of course there will. There will be relationships that are no more. For the Bible says we neither marry nor are given in marriage. But there are angels of light. There are differences in different relationships. But we'll know one another and enjoy such a company as we've never had in our life. Never had in us. Heaven is a pleasant place. I want to say a few little things. This is how I remember them. I want to say heaven is a place of Unending day. Isn't that lovely? It's a place of unending day. Revelation twenty-two and verse five says this. There's no nightmare. Unending day. I'm glad of that. I'm glad of that. You see, when I get to heaven, there's one sure of it. I've never been weird. Now when night comes now, I'm glad it's time. I would say to my good friends with whom I'm staying. Good night. You know, that's my part then. Swap at times. Good night. I don't know what time they come to them. I don't ask for anything like that. But there it is. And away I go. It's night. And I'm weary. And I want to rest. But I wouldn't like to be in heaven and never get weary. find that night comes and all through the darkness I toss and toss and toss and concrete. I'm glad the day lasts forever because I never get weary. You know, Mr. Dentister, you'll be out of a job in heaven. You won't want you there. No decay there. No decay there. Oh, my friend, what a wonderful thing is it? To know that there's no night then, the unending day. But it's not only a place of unending day, it's a place of unfading light. Unfading light, Revelation, twenty-two and five also says, there's no candle. I like that. There's no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord, give us light. Oh, what a day that'll be. to be with he who in this scene lighteneth every man that cometh into the world. But in that scene, in the deeper, richer, full away, he will lighteth every one that comes to glory. What a joy that I say. By the way, is it interesting? He must have known that you folk live in Greensboro. He doesn't say anything about the heat. You know. Isn't that? I heard some of you folk grumbling. Because it was about eighty something or the other today. I don't know what you're doing Alaska. But I tell you in glory. It's unending light and unending light. Unfading light and unending day. But it's not only unending day and unfading light. But praise God. It's unsurpassed. George. unsurpassed joy in thy presence is fullness of joy isn't that wonderful not just joy but fullness of joy now God only tells us that if you were to ask me what is it that brings that joy I can only say well we'll be when Christ came to me when he will be joy But you know, I don't think we're going to sit up in heaven on a flowery white cloud with a pair of wings in our back, plucking a harp. I can't pluck a harp anywhere. I can't even play one of these banjos. I only know this. I only know that it's a wonderful thing to be with Jesus. But I think heaven's going to be occupied with doing more than that. His servants will serve him. There's some things we're going to do there, but God hasn't told us. Maybe He hasn't told us because some of us would say, cool, I couldn't do that. You know, like some of you singers. I could, oh, well, I tell you something, you'll sing up there. If you hear that, brother, I'm talking to you. Oh, you see, praise God when we get to glory. there's going to be joy. And I'm not certain what it is that's going to bring that joy apart from the fact that Christ is there. I know when speaking prophetically of that eternal day, the books in the Old Testament tell us this. The children shall play in the streets thereof. I like that, don't you? I mean, you just imagine a crowd of youngsters with a skipping rope in the eternal cities. Well, wouldn't it be grand? I'm glad heaven's not so sanctimonious and not so spiritually minded that we can't realize the joy there that we're entering this. I don't think I'm going to float around heaven with a halo around the head. I get headaches now. I don't know what I get then. I only know this. Praise God there. unsurpassed joy. And there's not only unsurpassed joy, but there's unceasing pleasure. Not only are we told in the words of the eleventh verse of the sixteenth Psalm that in his presence is fullness of joy, but in his right hand are pleasures forevermore. Pleasures forevermore. Not the pleasures of sin which are but for a believer. The pleasure that we will enter into and appreciate it But dare I suggest that this pleasant place is not only a place of unending day, and not only a place of unfading light, and not only a place of unscathed joy, and not only a place of unceasing pleasure, but oh, blessed be his name, it's a place of unpolluted atmosphere. There's no curse there. No curse there. When I think indeed of the atmosphere that's in this world today, or how polluted it seems to be, one of the curses of this thing is that men and women, they have to live in a polluted atmosphere. And I'm not just thinking of a dusty atmosphere. There's so much sin that pollutes, but there's no curse there. No curse whatsoever. And I've already pointed this out, but I want to say it again. It's a place of untiring service. His servants shall serve him, says Revelation twenty-two and three. His servants shall serve him. I'm looking forward to serving the Lord. I've been trying to serve him for many years, and I have to say this, that maybe I haven't served him as well as I should, that I try. God knows I try. But one day I'm going to serve him never before to enter into his presence. But may I draw to a close? May I remind you that God's heaven is not only a place. It's not only a prepared place. It is not only a pleasant place. But God's heaven is a perpetual place. His salvation is called an everlasting salvation. His life is called an everlasting life. And what God does is forever, the scripture says. Nothing shall be added to it and nothing taken away from it. And God doeth it that men shall fear. I like that, then, don't you? I like that. To realize that whatsoever God doeth, He doeth forever. And there is a place where you and I, away from this scene, will dwell with Him and with those that love the Lord. Eternal. May I ask? Wither than. I realize very much. I haven't been able to give a very great description of heaven. But as I pointed out at the beginning, I couldn't. I have not seen. Here have not heard. Neither have it entered into the heart of man things that God has prepared for those who love him. But he's revealed the truth of them by his spirit. And I thank God that one day, beyond this veil of fear, those that love the Lord Jesus will be with him. May I ask you this question? With a bat. If tonight God was to say to you, your journey's over, what would it be? Haven? Or hell? If you'll trust Jesus Christ, there can be heaven. If you'll say yes to him tonight, he says, he says, that him that cometh unto me, I shall in no one cast Please God will come to him. And come to him tonight. For his name's sake. Amen. Let's sing once again if we may. The hymn we've been singing night by night. Number two hundred and twenty one. Two hundred and twenty one. If you're tired of the load of your sins, Let Jesus come into your heart and swear. May I say this, that after a daily reading of the word of God of forty years before I came to know Christ in my face, I have come to this conclusion, that the truth of the Bible can be summed in these words, the place you give to Jesus Christ on earth. If you say yes to Jesus Christ here, you'll say yes to Jesus Christ here. You'll say yes to him. You'll say no to him. You'll say no to him. So if you're fired at the load of yourself, let Jesus come and be honest. First and last, verse two, two, one.