1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9 we read, God has created us for eternity. Heaven is mentioned 550 times in the Bible just by that name alone. But heaven is also mentioned by other names. It is called the better country, which the prophets sought after. It is described as the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Our Lord Jesus Christ 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 not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Heaven is a real place. Jesus said he goes to prepare a place for us, and the word for place in Greek is topos, the word from which we get topography and typology, the writing and the study of places. The Bible distinguishes between three different types of heavens. One heaven is referring to the air where the birds fly. The second is referring to space where the stars shine. And third, paradise, which is God's home. We read in Psalm 100, "...enters gates of thanksgiving and is caught with praise." Well, atheists have always campaigned vigorously against heaven, against the very concept of heaven, because it goes against their whole atheistic worldview. They're wanting to create their communist utopia on earth, and a creator would require accountability for ethics. After the Russians sent their first cosmonaut into outer space, they used Yuri Gagarin for propaganda, sent him around the schools in the Soviet Union to give speeches saying, I've been into space and I can assure you there is no heaven and there is no God. Well at one school, a young girl, a brave young Russian girl, stood up and said, but Comrade, the Bible says only the pure in heart will see God. Now recently this cosmonaut undertook a far more significant journey than a space voyage. They lowered his body into the grave and by now he'll know there's a God, but whether he'll get much time to see heaven we don't know because we don't know whether he'll turn to God before the end of his life. But we do know that the premise of his propaganda seems more and more ludicrous with more that we discover about the universe and how vast the universe is, and considering the extremely small area that this cosmonaut travelled through between the Moon and Earth. His assertion that there is no heaven and there is no God seems more and more ridiculous and beluckly. There's one appointment not one of us will be able to miss. There's one appointment not one of us will be able to be late for. The Bible says in Hebrews 9 verse 27, it is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment. So that is an appointment we all have. There's nothing more certain than death and there's nothing as uncertain as the time of dying. We should therefore be ready at all times for what may come to us at any time. Somebody in the crowd urged the Lord Jesus to help him obtain a better inheritance from his brother. And the Lord responded with a warning in Luke 12, watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed. A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Jesus then told him this parable. There was a rich man, a productive man, who had plenty. He had power, he had prosperity, he had possessions, and he could live for pleasure. Take your ease, eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, you fool, this night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will those things be which you have provided? This is how it will be for those who store up things for themselves but are not rich towards God. This man was productive. He had plenty of possessions. He had power and he had prosperity and he could live for pleasure. but he was unprepared for eternity. He had no greater pleasure or purpose than accumulating wealth and living for pleasure, and the Lord calls him a fool. It is a foolish thing to fail to prepare for eternity. We plan and prepare for even the shortest journey. If we fail to prepare for eternity, then we are foolish. Even today, to come to this location, if you haven't been here before, you would need to check the map and want to be sure that you didn't get lost. And I did go way past and get to the bridge and realized I've definitely missed this house. You want to know where you're going. You want to look at a map. You want to get directions from someone who's been there before. You want information. Psalm 14, verse 1 says, the fool says in his heart, there's no God. They are corrupt. The deeds are vile. There's none who does good. The rich man was living like a practical atheist. He's living as if God did not exist. Proverbs 9 verse 10 has been quoted over many a university entrance. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But this man did not fear God. He did not even seem to think about God. That is foolish. Proverbs teaches those who do not choose to fear the Lord, the waywardness of the simple will kill them and the complacency of fools will destroy them. The rich man was a fool because he was unprepared for eternity. Each one of us should constantly be ready to die and face God's judgment because death can strike any one of us at any moment. The rich man, this parable, was a self-centered fool. Eleven times in these few verses, the man says, me, myself and I, like the new Trinity. He was a self-centered fool. He was purposeless. He was a godless fool. He was unprepared for eternity, therefore he was doomed. Our Lord Jesus warned us in Matthew 6, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there, your heart will be also." It is so important for us to live in the light of eternity. Joy is the serious business of heaven. The real question is not, has a place been prepared for us? The question is, are we prepared for that place? Will your name be called? Is your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life in Heaven? Helga certainly is. She lived with an eye to eternity. She is a great joy in our livings and fellowship and there was many a time that she rebuked me for some opinion of mine and challenged me and on occasions got me to change my perception on historical and other issues because she is so well read and so thoughtful and she is so confident in her convictions. Helga is an asset for any friendship and any congregation. She is so well-read, so well-traveled, so thoughtful, and she had a backbone of steel. Her convictions were like iron. She could not be bent or made to compromise if she was convinced of something. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father but by me. Jesus is the way. We are lost. He is the way. We are deceived. Here's the truth. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. Here's the life. Jesus is the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to Father but by Him. Well, what will heaven be like? We are told there will be no more hunger or thirst, no more sorrow, crying, death, or pain, no more night. The Apostle Paul wrote, we know that if I earth the house, this tent is destroyed. We have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. In heaven we will enjoy reunion with loved ones who've gone ahead, we read. We will experience glory, the presence of God, divine comfort, the tree of life, communion with God, coming into possession of the treasures we have sent on to heaven while on earth. We cannot take it with us. There is no trailer or U-Haul on a hearse. There's no pockets in a shroud. You can't take it with you, but you can send on ahead by investing in eternity, by investing in God's bank, by investing in the kingdom of God, by investing in the lives of others. As Helga did, she invested in other people's lives. She was generous, she was thoughtful, she was a good friend. And she loved God and loved God's kingdom. You can send on your treasures ahead of you, but you cannot take it with you. In heaven, we will experience gain. We will be with Christ, which is far better. We will experience perfection. Safety from the second death, authority of the nations, the morning star. Christ says he will confess our name before the Father and before the holy angels. We will experience the waters of life. We will have glorified bodies. Our senses will be greatly enlarged in their capacities. We already know that compared to some other creatures in the south, we are almost deaf and blind. Even the best eyesighted human being is nothing compared to the eagle. An eagle can see 12 to 20 times better than the best human eyesight. If an eagle could read, you could put a newspaper three football fields away and at 300 metres the eagle could read the newsprint. That's how good their eyesight is. Some eagles have telescopic sight, even have ultraviolet capabilities as well. And they've got these inbuilt goggles which move, they're like windscreen wipers from front to back. But when they're plummeting, to protect the eyes, they put on these transparent goggles. Can you imagine God's design these eagles so well? As they're plummeting down at 280 kilometers an hour, their eyes are protected by the transparent membrane that comes over the eyelids to protect them. And they can see through it. Just extraordinary attention to detail God has put into these creatures. They are the are owls who can actually hear a mouse's heartbeat at 20 feet. Now, we are almost deaf compared to some of God's creatures. You think of the sound that our dogs can hear. They're so much more able to hear a wider range of sounds than we can, too, and a wider range of smells. I think the average dog can discern between about 2,000 different smells. We'd have trouble going beyond about 20-odd. And the amazing detail you can see of God's creation. Imagine when we, with our eyesight and hearing problems and other ailments, are relieved from these earthly infirmities and restrictions. Can you imagine if we are able to enjoy beautiful music today which thrills our heart? Imagine when we're not limited to such a small range and scale. Imagine when we have perfect hearing on every level. We have perfect eyesight. Compared to the eagles, We are almost blind. What will our life be like in heaven when our vision is enlarged, when we have perfect resurrected bodies? Imagine the incredible intellectual stimulation of inhabiting a sinless universe. Our fallen human minds can barely comprehend what tremendous intellectual adventures we will have in eternity. Even the greatest geniuses barely use 4% of their intellectual potential now, it is believed. Nobody can estimate how little is used by the kind of people who vote for the EFF and so on. But even geniuses, they say, barely use 4% of their intellectual capacity. Imagine all sorrow and aches and pains and grief and selfishness and malice and temper and pride and deceit and darkness. Imagine all that's removed. If we can enjoy beauty even in this fallen world, even under the burden of sin, imagine what indescribable beauty will be enjoyed in the paradise of God. And God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor sighing. There shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away. You will go out and join. You'll be led forth in peace. We do not know when and we do not know under what circumstance our lives will come to an end here on Earth. But we do know that when we die, we will stand before Almighty God, our Creator, and we will have to give an account of our lives to Him. What we have done with our time, our talents, and our treasures, our opportunities, Do not be amazed at this, Jesus said. A time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good will rise to life, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. If you are prepared to die, then you aren't prepared for anything. Until you're free to die, you're not even free to live. It should be our business every day to prepare for our last day. If we take care of our life, God will take care of our death. In the Bible, in Ecclesiastes 7 verse 2, We are told it is better to go to a funeral than to go to a party. Actually it says that. It's better to go to a funeral than to a party because the living should always be reminded that death waits for us all. It puts things into perspective. There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven, a time to be born and there is a time to die, we read in Ecclesiastes 3. Being mindful of death should make us serious and sober and industrious and conscientious. You only have one life. It will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. We need to work out our priorities in light of eternity. We need to invest our time and our talents and our treasure into things that really matter, the things that are going to last for eternity. The people of God, the kingdom of God, the creatures of God, the word of God, these are what are ultimately important and will last for eternity. We should be investing in eternity, which our Lord says can bring a hundredfold return. There's no bank on earth that can offer you a 10,000% return on your investment. God says he can bring 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold. 100-fold, that's 10,000%. I know that my Redeemer lives, and that on the last day he shall stand on the earth. In the light of eternity, knowing that you and I will one day stand before God and have to give an account of our life's journey, even of our thoughts, even of our motives, even of every word ever spoken, We need to renew our life's work, our family relationships, and our habits and our activities. One day we will stand before mighty God where he will judge men's secrets, where he will judge all the harsh words, when God will judge man's work impartially. Jesus said, but I tell you, men will have to give an account on day of judgment for every careless word you've ever spoken. So then each of us will have to give an account of themselves to God. So imagine, in eternity, Can you imagine standing in the shadow of the throne of God? Do you think any of us will be thinking, I should have watched more TV? Or, I was too generous, I was too gracious, I was too forgiving. I should have held on to that grudge for longer. In the light of eternity, do you think any of us will regret praying too much, studying God's word too much, being too generous, investing too much in friends and family? Or do you think we'll be regretting that we didn't do more, much more? If you knew that you were going to die a year from now, and some people have had that, you've got a year to live or six months to live, and we had this case a couple of times in my life where my wife was given a time, they said you've got so many months to live because of cancer, It makes you re-evaluate everything when you know your time is short. Now the doctors can often be wrong, thank God they are often wrong, but nevertheless, sometimes although they might be wrong as far as the timing goes, it's not wrong for us to prepare to re-evaluate our lives so that we can put our affairs in order, so that we can end the race, keep the faith with a clear conscience, and step into eternity without regrets. We need to be ready at all times for what can happen at any time. So the question is, are you ready? Those who sow with tears will reap with joy. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Helga could say that, can you? For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Let us pray. Our loving Heavenly Father, you who did not spare your beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, but gave him to redeem us by his death on the cross, comfort and support us who mourn here before you. Let us not doubt your love, but bring us through our sorrow to a fuller knowledge of your divine wisdom and purpose, and that all things work together for good for those who love you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, your heart went out to the widow of Nain, who had lost her only son, and you restored him to her. You were deeply moved by the grief of those who mourned over Lazarus's death. You wept and you restored him to life. Have compassion on your servants in our loss and grief. Be to us a very present help in trouble. Give us eyes of faith that we may see that the eternal God is our refuge and that underneath are the everlasting arms. We ask this in Jesus Christ's name, amen.