“A Picture of Heaven ”
Isaiah 25:6-9

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Fourth Sunday After Pentecost—June 28, 2020

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You are invited to follow along the sermon outline on the last pages of the bulletin as we consider today’s Old Testament Reading under the theme, “A Picture of Heaven.”

Sometimes people say that the Bible doesn’t tell us enough about what heaven will be like.  The classic response is, “The most important thing to know about heaven is how to get there.”  And it’s true, the most important thing to know about heaven IS how to get there. 

There’s the “ladder” theory of getting to heaven: Good works are like rungs on a ladder.  If I do enough, I will work my way up the ladder, and eventually climb my own way right into heaven.  But, God says that in his sight, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”  “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law.” 

There’s also the “scales” theory of getting to heaven: The bad things I’ve done are outweighed by the good things I’ve done.  But God says, “Be ye perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Then there’s the “comparison” theory of getting into heaven: I deserve to get into heaven because compared to others I’m not that bad.  But God says, “Whoever keeps the whole law and fails at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”  “There is no one is righteous, not even one.” 

You won’t get into heaven because you have earned it or deserve it.  In fact, what you have earned, what you really deserve, is death and eternal damnation.  “For the wages of sin is death.”

“But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus says.  “Trust in God, trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms. . .  I am going there to prepare a place for you. . .  I will come again and take you to be with me.”  That is how to get to heaven.  Heaven is a gift of God, through faith in Jesus Christ. 

Jesus has prepared a place in heaven for you.  With his perfect life, his death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead, Jesus paid for your sins and earned you a place in heaven.  “You know the way to the place where I am going. . .  I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  How do you get to heaven?  Trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior.

The most important thing to know about heaven is indeed how to get there.  But, that really doesn’t answer the question, “What will heaven be like?”  Have you ever tried to take a picture of something so large that you had to take two or three pictures, and then put them together into one big picture?  Each of the four verses in today’s Old Testament reading describes one aspect of heaven.  When you put them all together, Isaiah gives us “A Picture of Heaven.”

“On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.”  In ancient mythology people thought that the gods lived up in the clouds on top the highest mountains, such as Mt. Olympus in Greece and Mt. Fuji in Japan.  Isaiah uses this imagery of a mountain as God’s dwelling place to describe heaven.  But there’s something wonderful here in Isaiah that you won’t find in any pagan mythology: Heaven is not just the dwelling place of God; it is also the dwelling place of the people of God.  As Revelation says, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”

In ancient times fortresses and fortified cities were built on mountains, so the imagery of heaven as a mountain also symbolizes peace, safety, security.

“On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.”  Heaven is often portrayed in the Bible like a great feast, as Jesus does: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet.”  This great banquet is symbolic of an end to all deprivation, all hardship, all want.  As Jesus says in the parable, “I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”  Revelation says, “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.”  Psalm 23 puts it so beautifully: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. . .  Thou preparest a table before me . . . my cup runneth over.”

That is the first part of Isaiah’s picture of heaven:  God and his people, dwelling together, in perfect peace and contentment.  “On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.”

“On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.”  The most painful thing about life is death.  We try to convince ourselves that death is just the natural order of things, but deep down in our souls we know the real truth: Mankind was not designed to die.  Death was not part of God’s original plan.  Sin has brought death into our world, but God intended that we would live forever.  That’s why death is so shocking, so painful, so hard to accept. 

Revelation says that in heaven, “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  Death itself will die.  Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death . . .  Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? . . .  Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Death is only a temporary phenomenon; death itself will die.

Jesus promises, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in Me, even though he dies, yet shall he live.”  Those who trust in Jesus still go through physical death, but they do have eternal life.  At the moment of death, your soul will depart your body and go immediately to be with Jesus.  As Paul says in Philippians, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.”  At the Last Day your physical body will be raised up, reassembled and restored to life.  As the Lord says in Ezekiel, “O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them.”  And as Job says, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.”  Your physical body will be transformed into a perfect, heavenly body.  As Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “We will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” and in Philippians, “He will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”  Your resurrected, glorified body will be reunited with your soul, “And so we shall be forever with the Lord.”

That is the second part of Isaiah’s picture of heaven: Death itself will die and we will live forever.  As Jesus says, “They can no longer die; for they are like the angels.”

“On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.”

“The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.”

You parents know how heart wrenching it is to see your child cry.  That is how your heavenly Father feels about you.  Revelation says, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”  He will put an end forever to your tears of suffering and sadness, by taking away sin, the cause of suffering and sadness: “He will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.”  How is our sin removed?  Revelation says, “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  Our sin is removed by being covered over with the robe of Christ’s righteousness.  That is what the wedding clothes in the parable represent.  As John says, “The blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.” 

That is the third part of Isaiah’s picture of heaven:  God will wipe away every tear from your eyes, and there will be no more tears of suffering and sadness, because our heavenly Father will remove forever the cause of suffering and sadness.  “The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.”

“In that day they will say, ‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.’”  You may think of heaven as a solemn, somber place.  But the words “rejoice” and “be glad” in this verse mean a celebration.  “Let us rejoice” literally means, “Come to the party!”  Over and over again, the Bible portrays heaven not as a solemn, somber place but as a place of unending joy, unlimited pleasure, unimaginable happiness and glee.  Psalm 126 says, “Then will our mouths be filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy.”  Isaiah says, “They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”  And what is the cause all this joy?  “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. . .  let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”  As Psalm 126 says, “The Lord has done great things for us; whereof we are glad.”

That is the fourth part of our picture of heaven: Unending joy, unlimited pleasure, unimaginable happiness and glee.

Put these four parts together, and what is Isaiah’s picture of heaven?  Jesus summed it all up in one word: “You shall be with me in paradise.” 

God and his people, dwelling together, in perfect peace and contentment: paradise.

Death itself will die and we will live forever: paradise.

God will wipe away every tear from your eyes, and there will be no more tears of suffering and sadness: paradise.

Unending joy, unlimited pleasure, unimaginable happiness and glee: paradise.

“On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.”

“On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.”

“The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.”

“In that day they will say, ‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.’”

“A Picture of Heaven.”