There is a growing tendency to believe that all good people, whether or not they consider Jesus Christ to be their Savior, will live in heaven after they die on earth. In 1999 the public is almost divided on the matter: 53% agree, 40% disagree. This represents a significant change since 1992, when 40% agreed with this notion. Half of all adults (51%) believe that if a person is generally good, or does enough good things for others during their life, they will earn a place in Heaven.

Don't you think it makes more sense that we should ask God what his rules are about getting into heaven, rather than believing what we want to believe, because it seems right to us? Believing that we will be going to heaven because we are generally good people is as silly as you or me walking up to the Prime Minister's mansion and expecting to be able to walk in and sit at a special banquet he is holding for invited guests. Would you be let in on your terms? Or do you think that he would have the right to insist on whom he is letting in, and why he is letting them in? In the same way, God has the right to set the standard for the people who are going to enjoy eternal life with Him in the heaven that He created for his people! This only makes sense!

So what does God say? What is the standard He has set? He says, "Be perfect, as I the Lord your God, am perfect!" "Perfect" and "holy" both mean the same thing: "Have zero flaws!" One day, a man came up to Jesus and asked Him, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered him with a question, "What is written in the law?" The man replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and Love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus told the man that he had answered correctly! God demands nothing less than perfection, a perfect love for Him at all times, and a perfect love for our neighbor at all times! Keep on doing this at all times - show nothing less than a perfect love for God, your neighbor, your spouse, and your family, in your actions, words, and even thoughts! Jesus said, "Do this, and you will live!"

Have you done that? Do you still think that your life, actions, and thoughts are good enough to get you into heaven? Not according to God, they aren't! He says in the Bible, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." And "There is no one righteous, not even one." God is pretty clear on that - that no one has earned heaven by being perfect. But yet, 53% of people, including those who consider themselves Christians, believe that if a person is generally good, or does enough good things for others in their life, they will earn a place in heaven!

What do you think? If your car starts once every three tries, is it reliable? If your paperboy skips delivery every Monday and Thursday, is he trustworthy? If you don't go to work once or twice a month, are you a loyal employee? If your refrigerator stops working a day or two every now and then, do you say, "Oh, well, it works most of the time."? If your water heater provides an icy-cold shower every now and then, is it dependable? If you miss a couple of loan payments every year, does the bank say, "Ten out of twelve isn't bad"? If you give God 2 or 3 Sundays a month to think about Him, are you loving Him with all your "heart, soul, strength, and mind"? If you only have a few bad thoughts a day, and only about one or two actions that are hurtful to someone else per week, are you being perfect as God has commanded you? He tells us in his Word, "Whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles at just one point, is guilty of breaking all of it."

This is all pretty depressing, isn't it? Today we are talking about heaven. In fact, we are celebrating the fact that Jesus ascended there! How can you be sure that Heaven is your home? We haven't answered that yet, have we? We have only come to the solid conclusion that we don't deserve it. But our sermon text on Jesus' Ascension shares some good news with us, and tells us how we can be sure that heaven is our home!

How can you be sure that heaven is your home? First of all, That's what the Bible says! Look at our text: "He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Jesus explained to his disciples that God had a plan all along to make sure that heaven is our home. Right after Adam and Eve fell into sin, and doomed our chances of ever getting to heaven on our own merits, God announced that He would send a Savior to reverse what had happened there. Moses wrote about that in Genesis. God announced further through his prophets, like Isaiah, that this Savior would have to put all of our sins on himself and pay the price we deserved to pay. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." In the Psalms, God spoke more about how this Savior would not only have to be forsaken by God so we wouldn't have to, but also that He would rise again, as proof that we would have eternal life too: "Because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay."

Now Jesus explained to his disciples: It had always been written about me that I would have to suffer for your sins! I would take all your sins away, and suffer and die for them myself! I would be separated from my heavenly Father in your place, and I would give you the credit for the perfect life I lived, so that when God looks at you, He does see that perfect person He is going to let into heaven! You can't get there by your works! You get there only because I have forgiven you! You aren't perfect! You are forgiven! So in God's eyes, you are now perfect! You can be sure that heaven in your home because God says it is in the Bible!

You can also be sure that heaven is your home because That's where Jesus wants you to be! In verses 48-49 of our text, He told the disciples that their job would now be witnessing to others what Jesus has done for us all! Jesus wanted them to tell the world, so that everyone would know heaven awaits them because of his forgiveness! Jesus didn't want this kept secret! "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." Friends, Jesus, your Lord, wants you to be in heaven!

There is the story about the boy who had to go in for heart surgery: "Tomorrow morning," the surgeon began, "I'll open up your heart..." "You'll find Jesus there," the boy interrupted. The surgeon looked up, annoyed. "I'll cut your heart open," he continued, "to see how much damage has been done..." "But when you open up my heart, you'll find Jesus in here." The surgeon looked to the parents, who sat quietly. "When I see how much damage has been done, I'll sew your heart and chest back up and I'll plan what to do next." "But you'll find Jesus in my heart. The Bible says He lives there. The hymns all say He lives there. You'll find Him in my heart." The surgeon had had enough. "I'll tell you what I'll find in your heart. I'll find damaged muscle, low blood supply, and weakened vessels. And I'll find out if I can make you well." You'll find Jesus there too. He lives there." The surgeon left. The surgeon sat in his office, recording his notes from the surgery,"...damaged aorta, damaged pulmonary vein, widespread muscle degeneration. No hope for transplant, no hope for cure. Therapy: painkillers and bed rest. Prognosis:" here he paused, "death within one year." He stopped the recorder, but there was more to be said. "Why?" he asked aloud. "Why did You do this? You've put him here; You've put him in this pain; and You've cursed him to an early death. Why?" The Lord answered and said, "The boy, My lamb, was not meant for your flock for long, for he is a part of My flock, and will forever be. Here, in My flock, he will feel no pain, and will be comforted as you cannot imagine. His parents will one day join him here, and they will know peace, and My flock will continue to grow." The surgeon's tears were hot, but his anger was hotter. "You created that boy, and You created that heart. He'll be dead in months. Why?" The Lord answered, "The boy, My lamb, shall return to My flock, for he has done his duty: I did not put My lamb with your flock to lose him, but to retrieve another lost lamb." The surgeon wept. The surgeon sat beside the boy's bed; the boy's parents sat across from him. The boy awoke and whispered, "Did you cut open my heart?" "Yes," said the surgeon. "What did you find?" asked the boy. "I found Jesus there," said the surgeon.

As we celebrate Ascension today, you can also be sure that heaven is your home because That's where Jesus went to prepare your place! Jesus fittingly left his disciples visibly, while He was raising his hands and blessing them. He promised that He would always be with them in the meantime, and would return visibly some day in the same way he had left. He told them: "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." That promise is for you! That is something you can count on because Jesus has taken away your inability to be perfect when He died on the cross for you! So, you can be sure that heaven is your home! And the fact that Jesus Himself is preparing it for you assures you that you will want heaven to be your home! Can you imagine it?

William Dyke was a young man who became blind at the age of 10. Despite his handicap, he grew to be a very intelligent, witty, and handsome young man. While attending graduate school in England, William met the daughter of an English admiral. The two soon became engaged. Though never having seen her, William loved her very much. Shortly before the wedding, at the insistence of the admiral, William underwent special treatment for the loss of his sight. Hoping against hope, William wanted the gauze from his eyes removed during the ceremony. He wanted the first thing he saw to be his wife's face. As the bride came down the aisle, William's father started unwinding the gauze from around his head and eyes - still not knowing if the operation would be a success. When the last strip was removed, William looked into the face of his new bride for the first time. "You are more beautiful than I ever imagined," he said.

Like the young groom, though we have never seen Jesus, it will be worth the years of darkness to "see Him as He is." You can be sure that this amazing surprise waits you, because Jesus is preparing your place there as we speak! Because He loves you no matter what. Amen.

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