Would you please turn in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 11? Hebrews chapter 11, this is a passage that I referred to last week when we were looking at. The fact that God is a God who rewards his people. You will remember when we spoke about those rewards that they are not rewards of merit. It's not something that we deserve, but it's something that God graciously bestows. The good works that Christians do are rewarded by God, and not because those good works are so pure and deserve His reward, but because God is gracious. And in Christ, He rewards our good works even though they are tainted by our own sin. He still rewards them. But I want us to look a little bit more closely at something here in Hebrews 11. Verse 6, he says, without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. The Book of Hebrews is an extended exhortation to Christians to persevere in the faith. It was written to encourage these Hebrew Christians to persevere in their faith. They were undergoing great trials and sufferings for their faith in Christ, and they were being tempted to give up and turn back to their former life in Judaism. And so the writer to this book marshals one argument after the next to convince them to press on. Not to give up, not to go back to their former Judaism. And when he comes to this chapter, he not only continues to give some well-reasoned arguments, but he provides for us some flesh and blood examples of both men and women of whom, he says, the world is not worthy. Men and women who did persevere in the faith amidst great sufferings and trial, they didn't give up. They didn't turn back. And they went on to do great things in the name of the Lord. So this chapter has been called the Saints Hall of Fame or the Heroes of the Faith. But they were heroes of the faith to be sure, but they were men and women of like passions as we are. They put their pants on the same way we do or their robes on the way they did, but whatever they did, they were just like us in so many ways. But there are examples of those who lived and acted on the same great principle, which was faith. They weren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. They had their weaknesses and failings, but they were still men and women of faith. They believed in God and they believed that he was the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. He opens this chapter with this definition of faith, verse one. Now, faith, he says, is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Matthew Henry said, this faith is a firm persuasion and expectation that God will perform all that he has promised to us in Christ. He refers to again and again of the promises they had, the promises of God, they believed in God, just just as verse six says, they couldn't see him. But they believed in him, they could see his handiwork. Everywhere they looked, everywhere they looked, there was evidence that God exists, and they believed it. Now, you think of that expedition that's going on in Mars and that Mars rover. I don't know if you've seen some of the pictures, and it's quite interesting, isn't it? All the way in Mars. We've talked about Mars all of our life. We learned about it in grade school, and now they're on Mars, not people yet. But these machines and all this rover and they're making many discoveries and they're sending all kinds of information back to Earth. Well, can you imagine one day if this rover comes in along and it finds some tire tracks that aren't from the rover? Or what if they found a little building? Well, they would conclude that someone's been there. Somebody built that building. It's evident. Well, we can look around us and the Bible says the heavens declare the glory of God and the earth shows forth his handiwork. God is stamped all over his work. Paul tells us in the book of Romans that this evidence of the existence of God is not only of his actual existence that somebody is there, but it speaks of his eternal power and Godhead. It tells us things about God. It doesn't tell us everything, but it certainly tells us a lot about God, His wisdom, His power, His greatness. These things, He says, are clearly seen in the things that He has made. It's not one thing here or there, but it's something everywhere. All over is a display of God's handiwork. Everywhere you look, Yesterday at the workday, one of the children ran up to me with a little flower and it was a little flower. It was no bigger than the tip of your finger. And yet we took it and we looked at it real closely and boy, it was beautiful. It was magnificent. It was like the tiniest little daisy you've ever seen. But it wasn't quite like a daisy. It had all kinds of beautiful things about it. How beautiful, how perfect, how wonderful. Just that one little flower. And yet everywhere you look, Every blade of grass you pick up, if you began to look at it closely, you would see God's handiwork. Each little flower that opens, each little bird that sings, God made their glowing colors and He made their tiny wings. Yes, all things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, and all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all. You children, as you grow up, You have no excuse ever to say, I don't know if there's a God. You never have that excuse. You may say that, but you're not being honest. You're suppressing the truth, which is what Paul says in the book of Romans, that this existence of God is so clearly seen in creation that it leaves every man without excuse. But I don't see it, someone says, or it's inconclusive. Paul says that it's so impressively clear that men have to suppress the truth. And they suppress the truth in their own unrighteousness. They don't see it because they don't want to see it. It's there. Well, the writer to Hebrews says, he who comes to God must, first of all, believe that he is. And that it's worth it to follow him. You not only believe that God is, but you believe that it's worth everything to follow Him. That He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. It's worth it all. No matter what it costs, it's worth every bit of it. And He gives through this chapter many examples. He starts with Abel and Enoch and then Noah. And then He comes to Abraham in verse 8. And follow with me as I read beginning in verse 8. And we'll read through verse 16. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called out to the place with which he would receive as his inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going. God called him from the Ur of the Chaldeans. And He called him to leave his family and friends and his land. And he was to go to a place that God would tell him where he would go. It was the promised land. That was the inheritance. God promised him great things, that he would be a father of a multitude of nations and so forth. And he brought him there into the promised land. By faith, verse 9 says, he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he waited for a city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God. So here God brought him to this land, but he was waiting for something else. This land wasn't the ultimate fulfillment of his promise. That was his earthly inheritance, but that was a mere type of his heavenly inheritance. And it's the heavenly inheritance that I want us to consider this morning, because that's really the ultimate inheritance for the believer. It was Abraham's ultimate inheritance, even though he was dwelling in the land of promise. That was not his home. He was looking for something better. And as it goes on to say, if you look in verse verse 13, he's referring to these believers, these men and women of faith, including Sarah, that he just talked about here. But he says these all died in faith. not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. I understand this. It says when it says they they didn't receive the promises. Well, they received the promise from God, but they didn't receive the substance of the promise. They didn't receive what was coming to them, what God had promised. God promised it. They believed in God and they believed that he was the rewarder of those who diligently seek him, that one day he would give them the substance of the promise. And so here goes on to say, verse 14, for those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. The land of Israel was not their final home. It was a type, it was a shadow, it wasn't the substance. And then he says, and truly, if they had called to mind that country from which they came out, they would have had opportunity to return. If they thought back, oh, we had so much nicer back in our old homeland, or we missed the place where we grew up and we missed these, they would have opportunity. be tempted to go back, but they didn't do this. They believed in God. They believed that he was the rewarder of those who diligently seek them, and they maintain their faith. They persevered in that faith. Then verse 16. But now they desire a better. That is a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." And my argument, and I believe the argument of Hebrews, in fact the argument of the entire Bible, is that we have an inheritance that is unseen to us now, but is promised by God. And it's that inheritance which should motivate us and drive us to persevere in the faith. that God is and he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So we should persevere in the faith. We shouldn't give up. It should console us. It should comfort us, especially in times of difficulty and trial. And as he goes through these various illustrations throughout, he keeps coming back to this fact that, yes, they were suffering, but they were looking for something better, better than they can have right here and now. in this earth. Now, it's worth it to follow Christ, and I would agree that being a Christian here and now is better than walking in darkness and the darkness of the world. It's better. It's better to know the truth. It's better to have a clear conscience, to have peace with God right now, here and now. That is a blessing. We've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And yet the Bible says there is still a rest for the people of God. There is a home for the people of God. This is not our home. We're just pilgrims. We're just passing through. This is the ultimate promise throughout the Scriptures. Peter speaks of this inheritance that's undefiled, that doesn't fade away, that's reserved in heaven for us. And he tells his readers that and tells us that so that we will be inspired to press on. It is worth it to follow him. And why is it worth it? Because he has prepared a place for us, a home, a heavenly home. And that's why this home, this world in which we live, isn't really our home. Heaven is our home. It's our real home. And we want to be home. We want to be home even now. We want to be home. Well, why don't we think about heaven as much as we ought? Well, Edward Donnelly, in his book on heaven and hell, the biblical teaching of the doctrines of heaven and hell, he says several things, several reasons why we don't think about it as much as we ought. He says we're, first of all, too preoccupied with this present world. He uses an illustration of a taking a small coin. You could take a small coin, a dime, and you can hold it so close to your eye it'll block out the sun. That little tiny coin will block out that great and majestic sun. And that's what we do with this world. We look at the things of the world. The things of Earth have filled our thoughts, filled our thoughts so much that we have no room to think about our heavenly home. Another reason He says, at least in this Western world, is that we're too comfortable here. We have so many nice things here that we can't imagine leaving these nice things behind. But notice, they said it's a better country. It's a better and it's a far better. Paul says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, which is far better, far better than being right here, here and now. But he says that we tend to be too comfortable in this world. He says, because we are too comfortable in this world, we tend to forget the things that God has prepared for those who love him, he said. Also, the third reason, he said, is because we tend to think of heaven simply as and the inevitable next stage of our existence. We know that's coming. We believe it's coming. But it doesn't mean a whole lot to us. We believe that when we die, we'll go to heaven. And there's a certain comfort to that. But it should be far more than that to us. And he says the fourth reason is because it just doesn't appeal to us, this thought of heaven. He says here, when I was a little child, I had no desire to go to heaven, for it seemed to me to be a boring place. My vision was of a church service which went on and on and on for millions of years. I'm sorry. I love coming to church. I love being at church. But, you know, after an hour or two, you're ready to go home. I mean, we just can't take it. It's not as appealing to us. And we kind of think, how could heaven be That interesting if this went on for on and on and on and on and on. And part of that reason why it doesn't appeal to us is because of our remaining sin and corruption and so forth. But it should matter to us, it should mean everything to us. He says believers, he said, are much poorer, weaker and more troubled than we need to be because we don't think about heaven as much as we ought to. He says that that heaven in his word is primarily for his children's sake to help comfort us, to encourage and strengthen us, to make us more holy and to fill us with joy. The doctrine of heaven is revealed to shine light on your life and your life and mine here and now to enable us to be better people today and tomorrow. And we cheat ourselves if we do not make use of this wonderful teaching. It is an immense blessing to know much more about heaven. So we want to look at heaven and we want to think about heaven and talk about heaven. In fact, if you look over in Chapter 12, he speaks here in Chapter 12 of the of the race that set before us. And then if you notice in verse 18, he says, For you have not come to the mountain which may be touched and burned with fire to the blackness and darkness of the tempest speak. Tempest speaking of Mount Mount Sinai. He says, but you, he says in verse 22, have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn who are registered in heaven to God, to God, to the judge of all the spirits of just men made perfect and so forth. But he says this you're coming to this, this heavenly Jerusalem. That ought to be something in your thoughts. It ought to be in your thoughts continually. Now, we tend to think of that when someone is dying or if we or we're coming closer to death or getting older, we start thinking about heaven a little bit more. But I believe that he's arguing that we should be thinking of heaven right now all the time. If you look back in Chapter 10, in Chapter 10, he speaks of Verse 35, he says, therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. What he's saying, your confidence, that is your faith. Don't don't cast away your faith. They're thinking about leaving the Christian faith. He says, no, no, don't do it. Stop. It has great reward. What's that great reward, he says, for you have need of endurance so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. You may receive the promise, that promise is the promise of heaven. He said, you went through all kinds of suffering and difficulty. He says, you were made a spectacle by the reproaches and tribulation. Verse 33 and verse 34, you had compassion on me and my chains. You joyfully accepted the plunderings of your goods, knowing that you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. You know, how could people give up everything they had? How could they be willing to suffer so much? For so long, he says, because you knew that you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Now, when you're suffering, do you think about that? Maybe you're suffering persecution from others or you're suffering physically. Do you ever think, I have a possession in heaven that is so much better than anything I could enjoy on Earth? Does that actively come to your minds as you think of this? Well, it should. It should matter to you. And we're only more impoverished if we don't think about heaven as we ought. Turn over to John's Gospel, Chapter 14. Here we have the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't think you speak about heaven without referring to this passage. And here Jesus is comforting his disciples who are grieving and they're grieving greatly because he said he's going to be leaving them. What's going to happen to us? What's going to happen? It seems like our world is falling apart. We've given up everything to follow you. You remember that time when that rich young ruler was told to give everything he had to the poor and take up his cross and follow him. And he went away sad because he had great riches and the disciples were perplexed. And they said, we've left everything. We've left our homes and our jobs, everything. And Jesus was very quick to tell them that no one who's given up lands or fathers and mothers and so forth, no one who's given up these things will lose their reward. He says they'll have a reward in this life and in the life to come, eternal life. But here Jesus is comforting them and he says, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. He who comes to him must believe that he exists, that he is. Believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am you there you may be also. So he tells them here in the first place that this heaven that he's talking about, this place is an actual place. It's not a mere state of mind. It's a place, an actual place. I go to prepare a place for you. And he says that where I am, you may be also. Jesus ascended up into heaven bodily. An actual body was lifted up off of the ground and went right up into heaven. Before their eyes, it was a body, there's a place it has other bodies in there, there are others who have been brought there. before him. And there are angels there. It's a place. The souls of believers, when they die, they go to this location. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, Paul said. Then there's the resurrection of the body. Jesus speaks of that, that one day there will be a resurrection of all believers. The believers and unbelievers, hell is a place as well. Their bodies will be cast into hell, but the bodies of believers will be taken up into heaven. It's an actual place. Charles Spurgeon said our ultimate abode will be a state of blessedness, but it also must be a place suited for our risen bodies. It's not, therefore, a cloud land, an airy something or impalpable and dreamy. Oh, no, it will be as be as really a place as the earth is a place. It's a place. And Jesus said it's a large place. It's accommodating for all, many mansions or many dwelling places. Large enough to accompany, to accommodate a great number. In fact, a multitude, a great multitude that no man can number from every tribe and kindred and nation. It's a place. It's an occupied place. In the end, it will be occupied with every believer that's ever lived. Every believer. You imagine that Abraham that we just read of Abel, Noah, all of these others, Sarah, they'll all be there. Every saint of the Old Testament will be there. Every saint in the new will be there. Paul will be Paul is there and his body will be there one day. But it's a it's a very occupied place. But it's a home. Heaven is God's home. Jesus spoke in very intimate terms, didn't he? He said, in my father's house are many mansions. That's very comforting for us and enduring. I go to my father, my father and your father, he says. And when he spoke of his father's house, he was speaking of his home and our home. That's our home. It's not going to be a place where we feel like strangers. You know how you go someplace and you don't know anyone and you look around and you feel a little bit uncomfortable. No, this will be a home for us. Home is a place where we are loved and we are welcomed. We can be ourselves. We're not intruding. We're not strangers in a strange land. No, we belong there. It says that Abraham and these others, they considered this world not to be their home, that they were strangers in this world. But he says they're longing for a better place, a better home. When we're away from home, we want to be back home. There's no place like home. Heaven is a place where God dwells. It's his home. Now, we know God is omnipresent, and yet the Bible teaches that he has a home. It's in heaven. He manifests his glory there. Heaven is where Jesus Christ dwells, that where I am, you may be also. Remember what He told the thief on the cross? Today you will be with Me in paradise. Heaven is also a place where God manifests His glory. That's why heaven is sometimes even called glory. I'm going on to glory. Hebrews 2.10, He speaks of it as glory, bringing many sons to glory. That's what Christ does. been described as a place where God's glory shines perfectly, uninterruptedly, without a shadow or a blemish. We often have a very superficial and selfish view, a self-centered view of heaven, when we think it's primarily for our happiness. Now, I'll talk in a moment that heaven will be a happy place for every believer. But it's primarily for God's glory. People speak of heaven as being such a place, and they don't even mention God. Do they wonder who they're going to see? Are they going to see their brothers, their sisters, their mothers, those who have gone before them? Are they going to be able to do this activity or that activity? Well, they're missing the point. Heaven is God's home and heaven exists for God's glory. God's glory is not limited to heaven. His ultimate purpose in all things is to manifest His glory. But in heaven, it will be shining brighter than we've ever seen it before. It shines in some measure, even now the heavens declare the glory of God. But it's defaced by sin and it's because of our own blindness that we can't see it. But heaven is a place where God's glory shines most brilliantly. In fact, in chapter 17 of of John's Gospel, when Jesus is praying to the Father and he's praying for his disciples who believe in him and all those who would believe in him through their word, through their preaching. He says, Father, I desire that they whom you gave me may be where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me. That's the desire of Christ, that they would behold his glory. Remember when those select disciples got to see a glimpse of his glory there on the Mount of Transfiguration. They were so astounded. It was so delightful that they wanted to pitch tents and live there. Should we pitch tents and stay up on this mountain? No, it was just a glimpse, but there's coming a time when there will be uninterrupted glory. because it's a place where God dwells and manifests His glory. It's a place of unending praise. I appreciate what our brother said about the praises of heaven. What a good illustration that was, comparatively speaking, of our little group singing praises and going to this conference and hearing these great voices of many people. Well, that's nothing in comparison to what heaven will be like. Heaven will be greater. It will be a place of great praise. Read in the book of Revelation and they're praising Him and they're worshiping Him. They're singing a song. There's a lot of things we don't know about heaven, but we know this. We know it's a holy place. There's no sin in heaven. And that's a wonderful thing. No sin in heaven. There's no darkness. It's a place of light, a place of absolute purity. Revelation 21, 27 says, And there shall by no means enter in anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie. Nothing at all like that. You see, in heaven, we'll be finally and forever free from all sin. We'll be free from our own sin. John Newton said this alone is worth dying for. that our sins that plague us each and every day, the sins that we have to confess continually to God, the things I want to do, I don't do, the things I don't want to do, those are the things I do, this constant warfare in the believer that robs him so often of his peace, that will be forever gone. We'll love him with an unsinning heart. Can you imagine that? Loving God with an unsinning heart. We'll be free from our own sin, but we'll also be free from all the displeasing effects of the sins of others. Oh, we don't have to be grieved by what others are doing around us. See, we're all affected by sin. Some think that, well, what I do doesn't matter. I can do what I want to do. It doesn't affect anyone else. But sin affects everyone else. But heaven will be a place where will be the spirits of just men made perfect. And so it is a place of unending bliss and happiness. It's a happy place. It's happy because there's no sin there. Entering into this kingdom is called entering into the joy of the Lord. Psalm 16, verse 11 says, in your presence and God's presence is fullness of joy. And at your right hand, he says, our pleasures forevermore. You see, sin and misery go together like a hand in a glove. Where you find sin, you find misery. Someone has said, and the older I get, the more sense it makes. There's only three problems in the world. It's sin, sorrow, and death. Sin, sorrow, and death. And they're all related to sin. We die because of sin. There's sorrow because of sin. But there will be no sin in heaven. And that's what will make it a heaven. A heaven of heavens. Because there's no sin. Holiness and true happiness go together. And a Christian understands this. An unbeliever can't imagine not being able to do all the things and partake in all the vices that he loves so much. And they become a very part of his soul. Can't imagine parting with his sin. Doesn't want to part with his sin. But a believer wants to part with it. He's had some glimpses of what it's like to be free from sin, walking in the light as he is in the light and having fellowship with one another. He sees that his happiness there. Oh, but it'll make a saint truly and forever happy. J.C. Riles says, Suffice it to say that heaven is an eternal presence of everything that can make a true, that can make a saint happy and the eternal absence of everything that can cause sorrow. There'll be no more divorces, no more broken hearts, broken homes, no crying. Imagine that. Someone was telling me the other day of a certain preacher that that take out some keys and says, why do you have keys? Because of sin. Yes, sin. We have keys. We have to lock things up. Because people will steal it. In fact, in the passage that we looked at last week, where Jesus said that that that they have their rewards, speaking of those those self-righteous Pharisees who were doing things to be seen of men, they have their reward because you don't be like that. You do things under the eye of God, and he who sees in secret, God who sees in secret, will reward you openly. And then he goes right on to speak of laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven, not treasures on earth, treasures on earth where moth and rust destroys and where thieves break in and steal. All your treasures in heaven are not like that. There'll be no stealing. There'll be no decay. It would be a place of perfect happiness. It will also be a place where all outward afflictions and sorrow will be removed forever and ever. No sorrow. No more tears. We all suffer in this life. You think about those who suffer so greatly, so much more than others. And you wonder why. Why is this happening to them? Your heart goes out to them and it should. But what they should remember and what you and I should remember is that this isn't it. This isn't all that God has in store for them. It seems like it right now because they're living daily in that existence. But this is but a short time, a very short time in comparison to eternity. And those who are plagued with sorrows, whether they're physical sorrows or they're deprived of something, They're deprived of children, or they're deprived of a spouse, or they're deprived in so many ways. And you look at their life, and it seems so heartbreaking. Well, God has promised in His Word that He will restore, and He will repay anything and everything that we've lost in this world. And whatever we've lost in this world will be made up for us in heaven, just like The story that Jesus gave of rich man, the rich, rich man and Lazarus dying, the rich man had everything in this world, all the comforts of this life now in this world, while Lazarus was but a poor beggar, plagued with sores and poverty and a miserable existence here in this life. But in the life to come, everything has been changed. The rich man who had everything has nothing but torment, while Lazarus has the very comfort of being in the bosom of Abraham, which would have been a picture to the Jews of a place of perfect rest and joy. We can understand why some of God's people suffer so much as they do. Sometimes we almost feel embarrassed that God would allow such suffering in His own children And we can't reconcile their sufferings with his love for them. But he has promised us and promised them that whatever suffering you have right now, whatever loss you have now, whatever you've deprived of now. You will be repaid abundantly so much more than you could ever imagine that Paul says, I consider the sufferings of this present time and you can fill in whatever those sufferings are for you in the present time. The sufferings of this present time, he says, are not worthy to be compared with the glory that he will reveal afterwards. The glory that he has in store for you, his child. Oh, he knows you're heartbroken now. He knows your suffering is so intense that you feel like you're not going to make it. But he knows what he has in store for you. And you need to remember what he has in store for you. We'll be free from Satan's temptations. You'll be no longer walking about as a roaring lion seeking you may devour. He will be bound forever in that bottomless pit. Never, never to harass the nations again. No need to resist the devil that he'll flee from us, he's forever gone and banished from the presence of God's people. But the happiness of heaven will be the perfect fulfillment of our ultimate purpose in life, and that is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. What makes heaven heaven is that God is there. Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you that where I am, you may be also. That was the very thing that the disciples were grieving over, that he was going to be taken away from them. But he's promising them that where I am, you will be also in there forever. You glorify God and you enjoy him forever. It will be uninterrupted happiness and pleasures forevermore. I'm not talking about a pie-in-the-sky thing. This is a promise from Almighty God that He has prepared a place for His people, a better country, a better home. Anything this world has in its best day is not worthy to compare. But so many of us are facing trials and difficulties in our life now. And no trial for the present time seems to be joyous, rather grievous. And we know that God uses trials in our life now to sanctify us and make us more and more into the image of Christ. But there, there will be no more need for those trials. You'll be perfectly sanctified. You'll be made holy. You'll be made perfect. There'll be no need for trials in your life. He'll remove them all. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. You see, we think of the perishing, we want to tell people to believe in Christ so you won't be condemned. And that's part of it, and a big part of it. But don't forget the other part, that you might have eternal life. Don't be embarrassed by that. Don't let the skeptic and the fool say, oh, you're just looking for a pie in the sky thing. You're looking for the life hereafter like that's nothing. That is everything, my friend. That's where it's all heading right now, this day, it's heading in that direction. You want to make sure that you have that inheritance, that you have that heavenly home. And the only way you can have it is through Jesus Christ. Believing in Him. Trusting in Him. In writing to the Hebrews, the writer is telling them, don't leave Christ. He is the author and perfecter of faith. You need to fix your eyes upon Him. All of these blessings, this heavenly country is only coming because of Him. The promise of God All of the promises of God are in Christ, yea and amen. It's only in Jesus Christ. So Jesus, even in this passage here in John 14, as soon as He says what He's going to do, I'm leaving and I'm preparing a place that where I am, you may be also. And He turns and says, you know where I'm going and you know the way. And Thomas says, wait, we don't know. And so Jesus made it abundantly clear, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. That's the way you have this heavenly inheritance. And if you don't want to have anything to do with Christ, this inheritance is not for you. You have the sinner's payday, the sinner's inheritance, which is everlasting torment. Where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Oh, but Jesus Christ came into the world that He might bring us to God. That He might bring us safely to our heavenly home. Have you trusted in Jesus Christ? He is the way, the truth, and the life. Oh, won't you come to Him? Believe in Him. Children, don't think that you're going to heaven because you think your mom and dad are going to heaven. You need to trust Christ. You need to believe in Him. Don't say, I'll do it another day. You don't know what a day may bring forth. When you close your eyes in death, whether you're young or whether you're old, your fate is sealed. You can't change directions once you die. You need to believe in Him now. Today is the day of salvation, the Bible says. Now, right now, is the accepted time. You can't change anything after you die. So believe in him now. It's worth believing in him. Even aside from heaven, it's still worth believing in him. But don't underestimate the great reward that he has laid up for you. Paul said he's laid it up for me, but not only me, but all who love is appearing. Let's pray. Our gracious Father in Heaven, thank You that You have provided a place, an eternal place in the heavenlies, a building whose builder and maker is God. And You built this for Your own people, that they would dwell together with You forever in Your family, in Your home, with all of your blessings forever. Lord, thank you for this. And Lord, may this be more precious to us. Forgive us, O Lord, that we think so lightly or think so little of this heavenly inheritance. And may it be to us our great reward through Jesus Christ. In His name we pray, Amen.