October 2, 2025 • 26 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Have you ever paused to appreciate the beauty and brilliance
of the earth God created? Imagine how much more splendor
He designed into our eternal home.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Today.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
On turning point, doctor David Jeremiah begins the new series
The Promise of Heaven with the look at how heaven
fulfills the longing in each of us to enjoy God's
artistry forever. To introduce his message, the Promise of Heaven.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Here's David, thank you so much for joining us. We're
in this new series on Heaven and reminded of that
night when Jesus with the disciples were discussing his future,
and he told his disciples he was going away, and
then he said this, He said, 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
(00:52):
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 you
might be.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Also.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
That's from the fourteenth chapter of the Book of John,
and that's the study we're going to take on today.
On this edition of Turning Point. Before we get started,
let me just remind you that the resource for the
month of October is this brand new, never before published book,
The Promise of Heaven. It's a Thomas Nelson book, which
you can get it from Turning Point for a gift
(01:26):
of any size. It is already making its way to
the bookstores this week. This is the week of its announcement.
Many of you partners got yours a little bit early,
but this book, I believe is a book for this
day and age. Studies have told us that more people
are interested in Heaven now than ever before, but there's
a lot of misunderstanding about it which we hope to
(01:48):
clear up in this book. You can get your copy
of the Promise of Heaven for a gift of any
size to Turning Point. Just ask for the book when
you send your gift, and we'll make sure you get it.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Right now.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
We're ready for the Promise of Heaven, John fourteen one
through six. Way back in nineteen sixty two, Brendan Grimshaw
accomplished something most people only dream about. He purchased his
own private island in Paradise. He bought a tiny spit
(02:23):
of the Saint Cheles Island in the Indian Ocean just
above Madagascar. The island called Mayen cost him ten thousand dollars.
Once the deal was done, the real work began. The
island had become overgrown with weeds and choked with invasive fauna,
and most days rats were the only animals that he
(02:45):
ever encountered. But Grimshaw was diligent and for decades he
worked his way across the one hundred and twenty thousand
square meters of his island, clearing trails, planting more than
sixteen hundred trees, bringing birds and tortoises back to the land.
Having never married, he developed a strong friendship with a
(03:07):
local man who helped with the restoration projects for decades,
and when Grimshaw's mother passed away in nineteen eighty one,
he invited his father to join him on the island
and they spent five wonderful years together before his father
passed away and was buried there. Brett and Grimshaw died
in twenty twelve, which means he spent fifty years in
(03:30):
dedicated service to his personal slice of paradise, and in
the years before his death, he received numerous offers to
buy the island for staggering amounts of money. There were
even rumors that a Saudi prince offered him fifty million
dollars for the deed to his island, but Grimshaw refused
these proposals, and he reached an agreement with the government
(03:54):
to turn the island into the world's smallest national park.
When his life came to Grimshaw was buried in a
small cave within his beloved island, and a small tombstone
reads Moyenne taught him to open his eyes to the
beauty around him, and to say thank you to God.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So take a good look around you.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
The God of the universe has enveloped you with never
ending beauty. Above your head every day is a swirling
mixture of clouds, cobalt, and a canopy of stars that
stretches two point five million light years into the depths
of the universe. Beneath your feet are meadows and grass.
(04:41):
Around you are trees, flowers, and sometimes mysterious patches of fog.
Birds wing their way through the pathless air, and the
spinning oceans rise and fall with the tides. What a
beautiful world. Sometimes the wonders of nature can lift your spirits.
When little el can. You may be worried or discouraged
(05:03):
right now, but God has designed his world to help you.
When we pause to feel the sunshine on our faces,
when we listen to the singing of the crickets at night,
or smell the fragrance of blooming lilacs, it lifts our
spirits like a tonic. Ecclesiastes three to eleven says God
(05:26):
has made everything beautiful in its time, and if that's
all the verse said, it would be pretty great. But
it goes on to say He has put eternity in
our hearts. Did you know that God has built our
world with his artistry, and He's placed inside of us
(05:47):
a desire to enjoy his creation forever. Despite its beauty,
our present world is marred with problems, almost all of
them caused by us. But even so, God's craftsmanship shines
through humanity's haze. Beauty and eternity. It's built into each
(06:09):
of our hearts. And that's the promise of heaven. And
that's why the Lord has filled the Bible with information
about our everlasting home. Whether we know it or not,
there is a heaven shaped vacuum in our heart that
we long to have filled This was clearly on the
mind of our Lord Jesus Christ on the final night
of his earthly life in the Upper Room with his
(06:32):
disciples around him. Here's what he said, Let not your
heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in
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
(06:52):
and receive you unto myself, that where I am there
you may be also. That was the promise that God gave.
The Savior of the world wanted to teach his friends
about heaven, and so we're going to listen to what
he said and take it apart today and put it
back together. The first thing we know about heaven from
(07:14):
the words of Jesus and John fourteen is that heaven
means believing in a person. If you believe in heaven,
you have to believe in a person. Jesus began his
words on a note of assurance. He said, don't let
your heart be troubled, and the Good News translation says,
(07:34):
don't be worried and upset. Jesus said believe in God
and believe in me. Also these words are for you.
Imagine the Lord Jesus Christ, standing here in all of
us strength and splendor, looking at you in this beautiful theater,
and saying to you, don't be worried and upset. Don't
be troubled. Today, in our culture, we seem to have
(07:58):
accumulated an armor of agents to help us combat anxiety.
You probably are using some of them even as I speak.
We have medications and therapies and breathing techniques and coping mechanisms,
and support groups and mindfulness exercises and religious rituals and playlists,
(08:19):
and medical professionals and psychological counselors, and any of these
used wisely, might be helpful. But on that long ago night,
amid the flickering torches up the upper room, the Lord
Jesus had only one recommendation.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
You know what. It was himself. He said, you believe
in God.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Believe in.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
So.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Our discussion of heaven and the mental peace it brings
to us always starts with a person, and the person
of Jesus Christ. Our relationship with him begins when we
acknowledge our failures, when we say.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
That we need him.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
And we open our hearts to him and trust him
as savior and Lord.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
But that's only the beginning.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
That's the beginning of our journey in believing in him,
trusting him, and leaning on him during the frightening times. Jesus'
words would be hollow without what happened to him. Three
days later, he arose physically and literally from the grave
following his crucifixion. His body was the same, but it
(09:28):
was different. He was recognizable, but he was now physically
equipped to live endlessly without aging and without deteriorating. This
is our single greatest biblical clue about heaven the risen
Jesus will be there personally. And here's something most Christians
don't know. He will be there in his humanity. He
(09:50):
will be there in his body, letting us know that
heaven is a real place. We will reside there with
him in our physical, resurrected bodies. And here's what the
Bible says, Jesus wants you there.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Here's the proof. Pick up a.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Bible or a New Testament. Turn to John fourteen sixty
in circle. Every time Jesus refers to himself using the
pronouns I me or myself, I'll not give you the
answer here, but I think you'll get the point. When
anxiety is near. What you need is not a therapy.
You need Jesus. You need the person of the Lord
(10:31):
Jesus Christ. Later on in the same chapter, Jesus said,
peace I leave with you.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
My peace I give to you, not as the world gives.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Do.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I give it to you.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
But let not your heart be troubled, neither let it
be afraid. So the first thing Jesus wants us to
know from John fourteen one through six is that heaven
means believing in a person. And we're going to talk
a lot about all of the things about heaven during
these days, but let me tell you something, most of
(11:03):
those things will fade into the background when you get
to heaven. The only thing you're going to think about
is seeing Jesus and having a relationship with him, because he's.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
The reason you're there.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
And you know what, not only does he provide for
us in the future of heaven, but he's the reason
we have any way of surviving in the world in which.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
We live today.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
If I didn't have Jesus in my life, I would
be filled with despair and agony and wondering what's going
to happen next. But he's what I know. He knows
the future. And while I don't know the future, I
know the one who does. And every day when I
speak with him and pray to him and read his
words in the scripture, a little bit of heaven seeps
(11:44):
into my heart even now. So first of all, heaven
means believing in a person. But secondly, heaven means believing
in a place. Now, I have to say this because
a lot of people that I've talked to over the
years thing that heaven is like a state of mind,
you know, Oh, this is heavenly. What they mean is
(12:06):
it's utopia. But Heaven in the Bible isn't some state
of mind. It's not some good feeling about the future.
In the Bible, Heaven is an actual place. Here's what
John's Gospel teaches us. In my father's house are many mansions.
(12:27):
If it were not so, I would have told you,
and I'll watch this. I go to prepare a place
for you. The word Jesus used is the Greek term
top us, from which we get our word topography. It
refers to a literal location. Jesus says that Heaven is
a literal district, neighborhood, region, or habitat. Hebrews eleven sixteen
(12:53):
calls it a heavenly country. Revelation describes it as a
vast capital city, refers to Heaven as Zion, where God dwells.
And during the course of these messages, we'll look at
all of those designations, but most of all, it's important
for you to know that Heaven is a place, and
(13:14):
he describes that place with my favorite term for Heaven.
Listen to this. It's the father's house. It's the father's house.
When Don and I were in seminary in Dallas, Texas,
we went to seminary from Cedarborough College where we were
students got married after college. Who went there to go
(13:35):
to a seminary, And believe it or not, we both
had jobs. You worked there and I had a job
plus going to school because you had to do that
in order to afford the seminary. And every once in
a while we get so homesick. We would leave after
work on Friday and drive one thousand and fifty miles
to Cedarville from Dallas to be there for maybe five
(13:56):
or six or seven hours because we had to turn
around and drive back. We had to be at work
on Monday. Why did we do that? We were enamored
with the Father's House. My mom and dad had a home,
and we'd known so many wonderful things there. Donald went
to college there, and we had a lot of meals
at the Father's House.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
It was home.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
In fact, when my parents got older decided to downsize,
I was mad at him for two or three years
because that was a special place. And you all know
what I'm talking about, the Father's House. And that's how
God describes heaven. Heaven is a place. What kind of
place is it? It's the Father's House. The Father's House
(14:37):
is where God lives. And there are many mansions there.
And the Greek word for mansion means a place to stay,
a dwelling, a home, But mansion is a perfectly good
word to describe any kind of place in Heaven. Is
a mansion compared to what we got down here?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Amen. The key word in.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
This section is Father, and the word Father occurs twenty
three times in this section of scripture.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
He's the one who brings peace and.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
Perspective and performance and permanence to our troubled hearts through his.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Son Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
In this comforting image of the Father's House, we come
face to face with closeness, intimacy, and everlasting heaven. Heaven
is not a feeling, it's not a fantasy. It's a
prepared place for a prepared people. We're going together there,
and we're going to congregate there, and we're going to
(15:32):
interact there, or we're going to enjoy our time. Jesus
said something really comforting. He said, I go to prepare
a place for you. He didn't just say heaven is real.
He said it's personal, a place for you, a place
for me. When you get there, what will happen in
the first few moments of your existence in heaven? You're
(15:54):
going to go. So that's what I've been waiting for.
It reminds me of something I read about in a
Swiss doctor's book by the name of Paul Tooygnier. He
wrote a book called A Place for You, and he
was a counselor and he believed that one of the
deepest needs we all have is to belong somewhere, to
(16:15):
have a place. In his book, he told a story
about this young man who had a rough life. His
family was unhappy. He never felt like he fit in
at home, and he even as he grew up, couldn't
connect with the people at work.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
He always just felt lost.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
One day, in counseling, this young man said, I think
the real problem is I'm just always looking for a place,
someplace to be. That's something that we all feel in
our hearts. We want to know we belong. We want
a place where we're wanted, where we feel at home.
And some people go their whole lives searching for that
(16:51):
and they never find it. But Jesus gives us this promise.
He says, to all of us who are Christians, y'all
have a place, a place. He's preparing it right now.
It's not just a house. It's your home. It's your future.
It's where you're going to be with Jesus and with
(17:11):
all of his followers. This will be our lasting home.
Remember we're not home yet, Remember the old spiritual this
world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. Well,
that's true. The Bible describes us as pilgrims and strangers
on this earth. We may have our own homes, even
(17:33):
beautiful ones, but they're only temporary because we're not here
for long. Are we just ask Edward Harriman. He was
a preacher's kid who dropped out of school to become
an errand boy on Wall Street in less than ten years.
He was a member of the New York Stock Exchange.
He later became one of America's leading railroad giants. He
(17:55):
was known as the King of the Railroad. Eighteen eighty five,
he purchased nearly eight thousand acres north of New York
City for his forever home.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Eight thousand acres and a mansion he called Arden.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
It was a one hundred thousand square foot mansion on
twenty thousand acres at the top of Mount Orama with
breathtaking views. The mansion, which is today an exclusive conference
center some of you may know about it, boasts wide corridors,
sprawling sitting rooms, sweeping courtyards, spewing fountains, and lavish bedrooms.
(18:36):
It's one of the largest private homes in all of America.
Harriman made certain everything about this house came from the
United States. The carved wood, marbles, painting, tapestry, sculptures, furniture,
even the Great Oregon in the gallery was made in America.
Harreman moved into his sprawling mansion early nineteen nine, and
(19:01):
he died there on September the ninth of the same year.
He was sixty one. He only enjoyed his mansion a
few months before death took it all away. Our earthly homes,
whether we live in a cardboard box or in a
sprawling estate, they're all temporary. Heaven is your forever home,
(19:23):
which you will enjoy in a resurrected body with a
glorious friend named Jesus Christ. So heaven means believing in
a person, and it means believing in a place.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
But it also means believing in a promise.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Jesus said, I go and prepare a place for you,
and I will come again and receive you to myself.
That where I am there you may be also within
the context of our Lord's impending death, his resurrection and
ascension the only logical interpretation of this promise in his
(20:01):
return and rapture of the Church. It's incredible to consider
how much the Lord wants to be with us. He
wants us to be where he is, he prayed in
John seventeen twenty four, Father, I desire that they also
whom you gave me, may be with me where I am.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
That they may behold my glory.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
I don't know that I ever realized that until recently
in studying the New Testament. How many times it says
in the New Testament that Jesus wants us to be
with him. Now, we want to be with Jesus. But
it's amazing Jesus wants us to be with him. It's
the desire of Jesus Christ to be with us. He
had many things to say on earth, and the Bible
(20:44):
has much to say. But some of the words are
true for us to accept. Some are prayers for us
to echo. Some are warnings that we should avoid, some
are words of reassurance. Their long passage is devoted to
the praise of God's glory. And Jesus's had a lot
to say about the ethics of life.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
About loving God and loving one another.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
But to me, the most wonderful category of biblical teaching
is the promises the Lord has made to us. They
represent the foundation of our faith. He said, I'm going
away to prepare a place for you, and I'm going
to come and get you and bring you where I am,
so that where I am you can be also. And
that's a wonderful truth. Someone has said, God makes a promise,
(21:30):
faith believes it, hope anticipates.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
It, and patience waits for it.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Of all his promises, the Lord's simple words that he
is preparing a place for us and will come again
and receive us and take us to be with him
for eternity. Well, I don't know there could be a
better promise than that. We all need our Lord's promise,
we need it badly, and we have it. Vanitha Rendel
Reisner has learned to rest on that promise. I'm going
(21:59):
to tell you of her. Read a sad story beneath
the contracted polio. As an infant, she was misdiagnosed. She
lived with widespread paralysis. Things began improving after she found Christ.
As a young person, she got a dream job in Boston.
She earned her MBA from Stanford, where she met and
(22:20):
married a classmate.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Then things unraveled again.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
She had four miscarriages and her son died from a
doctor's mistake. She was diagnosed with post polio syndrome, meaning
she would likely be a quadriplegic, and that's when her
husband betrayed her and moved out.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Through all this, Beneatha's.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Walk with God kept growing stronger and her faith deeper
into the Word, and she has been a testimony of
victory to many. She wrote a book. It's called Walking
through Fire. She simply put it like this. She said,
life is a journey, but only if there's a destination.
(23:05):
I'm on my way to my father's house, and I
absolutely cannot wait for the party. When I get there,
I will jog, run, sprint, race, and finally leap into
the arms of my Savior. She long ago discovered that
her suffering was temporary, and it was preparing her for heaven,
where there would be incomparable glory, far greater.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Than any pain she has ever known.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
People ask me all the time, why is it important
to study heaven, because we're not there yet. Heaven is
the anchor of your soul. The Bible says that. And
when you know that God has got this all worked
out and the plan for the future is definite and
there's no possibility that can fail that one day you're
going to be with Jesus somehow, the things you have
(23:50):
to go through down here are a little bit easier
to deal with because you know this is not forever.
God's got something better plan for all of us.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Heaven. What a wonderful subject. And it's not just a
mere idea. It's not an influence, it's not a force.
Heaven's a place and that place is occupied by a
person who's given us a promise. More about this on Monday,
when we continue our discussion about Heaven.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Don't forget.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
You can get a copy of this new book from
Turning Point. The Promise of Heaven gives you thirty one
reasons to get excited about your eternal home. You can
see with fresh eyes how Heaven has come near and
the forces of darkness don't stand a chance. Heaven has
already won, and you can find out about that and
how you can be sure you're going to be there
(24:43):
and what it will be like. Ask for your copy
of the Promise of Heaven when you send your gift
to Turning Point this month, and we'll see you on Monday.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Today's message from doctor Jeremiah came to you from the
Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Turning Point is also on radio and TV this weekend.
To learn where to find it, visit our website Davidjeremiah
dot org.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Slash Radio.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
That's Davidjeremiah dot org, Slash Radio, or call eight hundred
nine four to seven, nineteen ninety three ask for your
copy of David's new book, The Promise of Heaven thirty
one Reasons to get Excited about your eternal home. It's
yours for a gift of any amount. You can also
purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International,
(25:31):
and New King James versions, complete with notes and articles
from doctor Jeremiah's decades of study. We welcome your notes
of encouragement, so please write us at Turning Point pobox
thirty eight thirty eight, San Diego, California, nine two one
sixty three. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us Monday
as we continue the series The Promise of Heaven on
(25:52):
Turning Point with Doctor David Jeremiah
Have you ever paused to appreciate the beauty and brilliance
of the earth God created? Imagine how much more splendor
He designed into our eternal home.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Today.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
On turning point, doctor David Jeremiah begins the new series
The Promise of Heaven with the look at how heaven
fulfills the longing in each of us to enjoy God's
artistry forever. To introduce his message, the Promise of Heaven.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Here's David, thank you so much for joining us. We're
in this new series on Heaven and reminded of that
night when Jesus with the disciples were discussing his future,
and he told his disciples he was going away, and
then he said this, He said, 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
(00:52):
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 you
might be.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Also.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
That's from the fourteenth chapter of the Book of John,
and that's the study we're going to take on today.
On this edition of Turning Point. Before we get started,
let me just remind you that the resource for the
month of October is this brand new, never before published book,
The Promise of Heaven. It's a Thomas Nelson book, which
you can get it from Turning Point for a gift
(01:26):
of any size. It is already making its way to
the bookstores this week. This is the week of its announcement.
Many of you partners got yours a little bit early,
but this book, I believe is a book for this
day and age. Studies have told us that more people
are interested in Heaven now than ever before, but there's
a lot of misunderstanding about it which we hope to
(01:48):
clear up in this book. You can get your copy
of the Promise of Heaven for a gift of any
size to Turning Point. Just ask for the book when
you send your gift, and we'll make sure you get it.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Right now.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
We're ready for the Promise of Heaven, John fourteen one
through six. Way back in nineteen sixty two, Brendan Grimshaw
accomplished something most people only dream about. He purchased his
own private island in Paradise. He bought a tiny spit
(02:23):
of the Saint Cheles Island in the Indian Ocean just
above Madagascar. The island called Mayen cost him ten thousand dollars.
Once the deal was done, the real work began. The
island had become overgrown with weeds and choked with invasive fauna,
and most days rats were the only animals that he
(02:45):
ever encountered. But Grimshaw was diligent and for decades he
worked his way across the one hundred and twenty thousand
square meters of his island, clearing trails, planting more than
sixteen hundred trees, bringing birds and tortoises back to the land.
Having never married, he developed a strong friendship with a
(03:07):
local man who helped with the restoration projects for decades,
and when Grimshaw's mother passed away in nineteen eighty one,
he invited his father to join him on the island
and they spent five wonderful years together before his father
passed away and was buried there. Brett and Grimshaw died
in twenty twelve, which means he spent fifty years in
(03:30):
dedicated service to his personal slice of paradise, and in
the years before his death, he received numerous offers to
buy the island for staggering amounts of money. There were
even rumors that a Saudi prince offered him fifty million
dollars for the deed to his island, but Grimshaw refused
these proposals, and he reached an agreement with the government
(03:54):
to turn the island into the world's smallest national park.
When his life came to Grimshaw was buried in a
small cave within his beloved island, and a small tombstone
reads Moyenne taught him to open his eyes to the
beauty around him, and to say thank you to God.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So take a good look around you.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
The God of the universe has enveloped you with never
ending beauty. Above your head every day is a swirling
mixture of clouds, cobalt, and a canopy of stars that
stretches two point five million light years into the depths
of the universe. Beneath your feet are meadows and grass.
(04:41):
Around you are trees, flowers, and sometimes mysterious patches of fog.
Birds wing their way through the pathless air, and the
spinning oceans rise and fall with the tides. What a
beautiful world. Sometimes the wonders of nature can lift your spirits.
When little el can. You may be worried or discouraged
(05:03):
right now, but God has designed his world to help you.
When we pause to feel the sunshine on our faces,
when we listen to the singing of the crickets at night,
or smell the fragrance of blooming lilacs, it lifts our
spirits like a tonic. Ecclesiastes three to eleven says God
(05:26):
has made everything beautiful in its time, and if that's
all the verse said, it would be pretty great. But
it goes on to say He has put eternity in
our hearts. Did you know that God has built our
world with his artistry, and He's placed inside of us
(05:47):
a desire to enjoy his creation forever. Despite its beauty,
our present world is marred with problems, almost all of
them caused by us. But even so, God's craftsmanship shines
through humanity's haze. Beauty and eternity. It's built into each
(06:09):
of our hearts. And that's the promise of heaven. And
that's why the Lord has filled the Bible with information
about our everlasting home. Whether we know it or not,
there is a heaven shaped vacuum in our heart that
we long to have filled This was clearly on the
mind of our Lord Jesus Christ on the final night
of his earthly life in the Upper Room with his
(06:32):
disciples around him. Here's what he said, Let not your
heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in
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
(06:52):
and receive you unto myself, that where I am there
you may be also. That was the promise that God gave.
The Savior of the world wanted to teach his friends
about heaven, and so we're going to listen to what
he said and take it apart today and put it
back together. The first thing we know about heaven from
(07:14):
the words of Jesus and John fourteen is that heaven
means believing in a person. If you believe in heaven,
you have to believe in a person. Jesus began his
words on a note of assurance. He said, don't let
your heart be troubled, and the Good News translation says,
(07:34):
don't be worried and upset. Jesus said believe in God
and believe in me. Also these words are for you.
Imagine the Lord Jesus Christ, standing here in all of
us strength and splendor, looking at you in this beautiful theater,
and saying to you, don't be worried and upset. Don't
be troubled. Today, in our culture, we seem to have
(07:58):
accumulated an armor of agents to help us combat anxiety.
You probably are using some of them even as I speak.
We have medications and therapies and breathing techniques and coping mechanisms,
and support groups and mindfulness exercises and religious rituals and playlists,
(08:19):
and medical professionals and psychological counselors, and any of these
used wisely, might be helpful. But on that long ago night,
amid the flickering torches up the upper room, the Lord
Jesus had only one recommendation.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
You know what. It was himself. He said, you believe
in God.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Believe in.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
So.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Our discussion of heaven and the mental peace it brings
to us always starts with a person, and the person
of Jesus Christ. Our relationship with him begins when we
acknowledge our failures, when we say.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
That we need him.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
And we open our hearts to him and trust him
as savior and Lord.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
But that's only the beginning.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
That's the beginning of our journey in believing in him,
trusting him, and leaning on him during the frightening times. Jesus'
words would be hollow without what happened to him. Three
days later, he arose physically and literally from the grave
following his crucifixion. His body was the same, but it
(09:28):
was different. He was recognizable, but he was now physically
equipped to live endlessly without aging and without deteriorating. This
is our single greatest biblical clue about heaven the risen
Jesus will be there personally. And here's something most Christians
don't know. He will be there in his humanity. He
(09:50):
will be there in his body, letting us know that
heaven is a real place. We will reside there with
him in our physical, resurrected bodies. And here's what the
Bible says, Jesus wants you there.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Here's the proof. Pick up a.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Bible or a New Testament. Turn to John fourteen sixty
in circle. Every time Jesus refers to himself using the
pronouns I me or myself, I'll not give you the
answer here, but I think you'll get the point. When
anxiety is near. What you need is not a therapy.
You need Jesus. You need the person of the Lord
(10:31):
Jesus Christ. Later on in the same chapter, Jesus said,
peace I leave with you.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
My peace I give to you, not as the world gives.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Do.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I give it to you.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
But let not your heart be troubled, neither let it
be afraid. So the first thing Jesus wants us to
know from John fourteen one through six is that heaven
means believing in a person. And we're going to talk
a lot about all of the things about heaven during
these days, but let me tell you something, most of
(11:03):
those things will fade into the background when you get
to heaven. The only thing you're going to think about
is seeing Jesus and having a relationship with him, because he's.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
The reason you're there.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
And you know what, not only does he provide for
us in the future of heaven, but he's the reason
we have any way of surviving in the world in which.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
We live today.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
If I didn't have Jesus in my life, I would
be filled with despair and agony and wondering what's going
to happen next. But he's what I know. He knows
the future. And while I don't know the future, I
know the one who does. And every day when I
speak with him and pray to him and read his
words in the scripture, a little bit of heaven seeps
(11:44):
into my heart even now. So first of all, heaven
means believing in a person. But secondly, heaven means believing
in a place. Now, I have to say this because
a lot of people that I've talked to over the
years thing that heaven is like a state of mind,
you know, Oh, this is heavenly. What they mean is
(12:06):
it's utopia. But Heaven in the Bible isn't some state
of mind. It's not some good feeling about the future.
In the Bible, Heaven is an actual place. Here's what
John's Gospel teaches us. In my father's house are many mansions.
(12:27):
If it were not so, I would have told you,
and I'll watch this. I go to prepare a place
for you. The word Jesus used is the Greek term
top us, from which we get our word topography. It
refers to a literal location. Jesus says that Heaven is
a literal district, neighborhood, region, or habitat. Hebrews eleven sixteen
(12:53):
calls it a heavenly country. Revelation describes it as a
vast capital city, refers to Heaven as Zion, where God dwells.
And during the course of these messages, we'll look at
all of those designations, but most of all, it's important
for you to know that Heaven is a place, and
(13:14):
he describes that place with my favorite term for Heaven.
Listen to this. It's the father's house. It's the father's house.
When Don and I were in seminary in Dallas, Texas,
we went to seminary from Cedarborough College where we were
students got married after college. Who went there to go
(13:35):
to a seminary, And believe it or not, we both
had jobs. You worked there and I had a job
plus going to school because you had to do that
in order to afford the seminary. And every once in
a while we get so homesick. We would leave after
work on Friday and drive one thousand and fifty miles
to Cedarville from Dallas to be there for maybe five
(13:56):
or six or seven hours because we had to turn
around and drive back. We had to be at work
on Monday. Why did we do that? We were enamored
with the Father's House. My mom and dad had a home,
and we'd known so many wonderful things there. Donald went
to college there, and we had a lot of meals
at the Father's House.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
It was home.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
In fact, when my parents got older decided to downsize,
I was mad at him for two or three years
because that was a special place. And you all know
what I'm talking about, the Father's House. And that's how
God describes heaven. Heaven is a place. What kind of
place is it? It's the Father's House. The Father's House
(14:37):
is where God lives. And there are many mansions there.
And the Greek word for mansion means a place to stay,
a dwelling, a home, But mansion is a perfectly good
word to describe any kind of place in Heaven. Is
a mansion compared to what we got down here?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Amen. The key word in.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
This section is Father, and the word Father occurs twenty
three times in this section of scripture.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
He's the one who brings peace and.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
Perspective and performance and permanence to our troubled hearts through his.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Son Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
In this comforting image of the Father's House, we come
face to face with closeness, intimacy, and everlasting heaven. Heaven
is not a feeling, it's not a fantasy. It's a
prepared place for a prepared people. We're going together there,
and we're going to congregate there, and we're going to
(15:32):
interact there, or we're going to enjoy our time. Jesus
said something really comforting. He said, I go to prepare
a place for you. He didn't just say heaven is real.
He said it's personal, a place for you, a place
for me. When you get there, what will happen in
the first few moments of your existence in heaven? You're
(15:54):
going to go. So that's what I've been waiting for.
It reminds me of something I read about in a
Swiss doctor's book by the name of Paul Tooygnier. He
wrote a book called A Place for You, and he
was a counselor and he believed that one of the
deepest needs we all have is to belong somewhere, to
(16:15):
have a place. In his book, he told a story
about this young man who had a rough life. His
family was unhappy. He never felt like he fit in
at home, and he even as he grew up, couldn't
connect with the people at work.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
He always just felt lost.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
One day, in counseling, this young man said, I think
the real problem is I'm just always looking for a place,
someplace to be. That's something that we all feel in
our hearts. We want to know we belong. We want
a place where we're wanted, where we feel at home.
And some people go their whole lives searching for that
(16:51):
and they never find it. But Jesus gives us this promise.
He says, to all of us who are Christians, y'all
have a place, a place. He's preparing it right now.
It's not just a house. It's your home. It's your future.
It's where you're going to be with Jesus and with
(17:11):
all of his followers. This will be our lasting home.
Remember we're not home yet, Remember the old spiritual this
world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. Well,
that's true. The Bible describes us as pilgrims and strangers
on this earth. We may have our own homes, even
(17:33):
beautiful ones, but they're only temporary because we're not here
for long. Are we just ask Edward Harriman. He was
a preacher's kid who dropped out of school to become
an errand boy on Wall Street in less than ten years.
He was a member of the New York Stock Exchange.
He later became one of America's leading railroad giants. He
(17:55):
was known as the King of the Railroad. Eighteen eighty five,
he purchased nearly eight thousand acres north of New York
City for his forever home.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Eight thousand acres and a mansion he called Arden.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
It was a one hundred thousand square foot mansion on
twenty thousand acres at the top of Mount Orama with
breathtaking views. The mansion, which is today an exclusive conference
center some of you may know about it, boasts wide corridors,
sprawling sitting rooms, sweeping courtyards, spewing fountains, and lavish bedrooms.
(18:36):
It's one of the largest private homes in all of America.
Harriman made certain everything about this house came from the
United States. The carved wood, marbles, painting, tapestry, sculptures, furniture,
even the Great Oregon in the gallery was made in America.
Harreman moved into his sprawling mansion early nineteen nine, and
(19:01):
he died there on September the ninth of the same year.
He was sixty one. He only enjoyed his mansion a
few months before death took it all away. Our earthly homes,
whether we live in a cardboard box or in a
sprawling estate, they're all temporary. Heaven is your forever home,
(19:23):
which you will enjoy in a resurrected body with a
glorious friend named Jesus Christ. So heaven means believing in
a person, and it means believing in a place.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
But it also means believing in a promise.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Jesus said, I go and prepare a place for you,
and I will come again and receive you to myself.
That where I am there you may be also within
the context of our Lord's impending death, his resurrection and
ascension the only logical interpretation of this promise in his
(20:01):
return and rapture of the Church. It's incredible to consider
how much the Lord wants to be with us. He
wants us to be where he is, he prayed in
John seventeen twenty four, Father, I desire that they also
whom you gave me, may be with me where I am.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
That they may behold my glory.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
I don't know that I ever realized that until recently
in studying the New Testament. How many times it says
in the New Testament that Jesus wants us to be
with him. Now, we want to be with Jesus. But
it's amazing Jesus wants us to be with him. It's
the desire of Jesus Christ to be with us. He
had many things to say on earth, and the Bible
(20:44):
has much to say. But some of the words are
true for us to accept. Some are prayers for us
to echo. Some are warnings that we should avoid, some
are words of reassurance. Their long passage is devoted to
the praise of God's glory. And Jesus's had a lot
to say about the ethics of life.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
About loving God and loving one another.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
But to me, the most wonderful category of biblical teaching
is the promises the Lord has made to us. They
represent the foundation of our faith. He said, I'm going
away to prepare a place for you, and I'm going
to come and get you and bring you where I am,
so that where I am you can be also. And
that's a wonderful truth. Someone has said, God makes a promise,
(21:30):
faith believes it, hope anticipates.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
It, and patience waits for it.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Of all his promises, the Lord's simple words that he
is preparing a place for us and will come again
and receive us and take us to be with him
for eternity. Well, I don't know there could be a
better promise than that. We all need our Lord's promise,
we need it badly, and we have it. Vanitha Rendel
Reisner has learned to rest on that promise. I'm going
(21:59):
to tell you of her. Read a sad story beneath
the contracted polio. As an infant, she was misdiagnosed. She
lived with widespread paralysis. Things began improving after she found Christ.
As a young person, she got a dream job in Boston.
She earned her MBA from Stanford, where she met and
(22:20):
married a classmate.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Then things unraveled again.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
She had four miscarriages and her son died from a
doctor's mistake. She was diagnosed with post polio syndrome, meaning
she would likely be a quadriplegic, and that's when her
husband betrayed her and moved out.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Through all this, Beneatha's.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Walk with God kept growing stronger and her faith deeper
into the Word, and she has been a testimony of
victory to many. She wrote a book. It's called Walking
through Fire. She simply put it like this. She said,
life is a journey, but only if there's a destination.
(23:05):
I'm on my way to my father's house, and I
absolutely cannot wait for the party. When I get there,
I will jog, run, sprint, race, and finally leap into
the arms of my Savior. She long ago discovered that
her suffering was temporary, and it was preparing her for heaven,
where there would be incomparable glory, far greater.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Than any pain she has ever known.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
People ask me all the time, why is it important
to study heaven, because we're not there yet. Heaven is
the anchor of your soul. The Bible says that. And
when you know that God has got this all worked
out and the plan for the future is definite and
there's no possibility that can fail that one day you're
going to be with Jesus somehow, the things you have
(23:50):
to go through down here are a little bit easier
to deal with because you know this is not forever.
God's got something better plan for all of us.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Heaven. What a wonderful subject. And it's not just a
mere idea. It's not an influence, it's not a force.
Heaven's a place and that place is occupied by a
person who's given us a promise. More about this on Monday,
when we continue our discussion about Heaven.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Don't forget.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
You can get a copy of this new book from
Turning Point. The Promise of Heaven gives you thirty one
reasons to get excited about your eternal home. You can
see with fresh eyes how Heaven has come near and
the forces of darkness don't stand a chance. Heaven has
already won, and you can find out about that and
how you can be sure you're going to be there
(24:43):
and what it will be like. Ask for your copy
of the Promise of Heaven when you send your gift
to Turning Point this month, and we'll see you on Monday.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Today's message from doctor Jeremiah came to you from the
Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Turning Point is also on radio and TV this weekend.
To learn where to find it, visit our website Davidjeremiah
dot org.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Slash Radio.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
That's Davidjeremiah dot org, Slash Radio, or call eight hundred
nine four to seven, nineteen ninety three ask for your
copy of David's new book, The Promise of Heaven thirty
one Reasons to get Excited about your eternal home. It's
yours for a gift of any amount. You can also
purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International,
(25:31):
and New King James versions, complete with notes and articles
from doctor Jeremiah's decades of study. We welcome your notes
of encouragement, so please write us at Turning Point pobox
thirty eight thirty eight, San Diego, California, nine two one
sixty three. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us Monday
as we continue the series The Promise of Heaven on
(25:52):
Turning Point with Doctor David Jeremiah
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