So, we’re back to the parable of Lazarus and the Rich man, and if you look real closely, you’ll recognize that this parable reveals something about eternity. In fact, one of the first things you need to note, or you should note, is that these men, Lazarus and the rich man, they had physical bodies. They weren’t spirits. They had physical bodies. And this is something that — yesterday morning, I was amazed, not amazed, I shouldn’t say that — but a number of guys had no idea of the reality that in Heaven, you will have a physical, resurrected body. We’re not going to be these spirits floating around in the clouds like some people think. I mean, think about the Apostle’s Creed.

You know, sometimes I don’t think we pay much attention to the words, but it says, “I believe in the resurrection of the body”. That’s not talking about Jesus’s body. It’s talking about us. Now, there’s a lot of scripture that bears this out, and so I thought it’d be good for us to look at a couple of verses, that shows us that we will have physical, glorified, resurrected bodies. So, if you would turn to II Corinthians and go to chapter five, and we’re going to read verses one and two. In fact, Warren Lightfoot, would you read, go to chapter five, II Corinthians five and read verses one and two?

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens. For in this tent, we groan, longing to put on our Heavenly dwelling. (RSV)

You see what Paul is referring — some people don’t know this, but Paul sometimes, to make ends meet, would make tents. He was a tentmaker. It was kind of a trade basically that he developed because sometimes he didn’t have the financial resources and so he would go out and work as a tentmaker. And so, it’s not surprising that he would use an earthly tent to describe our bodies, because think about it. What is a tent? It’s an impermanent structure that’s going to wear out over time, just like our bodies. And when our bodies die, they’re going to be replaced by a permanent structure, a glorified body that will never pass away.

Now, we see this, Paul talks about it again in I Corinthians chapter 15. So, if you turn back to I Corinthians 15, and we’re going to read verses 35 through 38, and he uses a different metaphor to describe what will happen to us. Ben Patrick, how about reading that, would you? I Corinthians 15:35- 38.

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as He has determined, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body. (NIV)

Okay. Thank you, sir. Here, Paul is using a different analogy. He’s using an agricultural analogy or illustration. He’s saying basically our bodies are like seeds that must go into the ground and die before they become a glorious plant. Now, most theologians agree that the new glorified body we receive will be very similar to Jesus’s glorified body that you see after the Resurrection. So that’s the first, that’s something we all need to recognize, and I don’t know about you, but I think that’s good news that we will be, we will have physical bodies that will last forever.

Now, the second thing you notice in the parable is that both of these men retained their identities and some of their memory. Now, this is important because Eastern religion doesn’t believe this. You don’t have an identity, or I’ll put it this way. You have an identity for a very short period of time while you’re on this earth, because what happens, you get caught up in the endless cycle of death and rebirth — the idea or belief of reincarnation. So today you might be Sonny Culp, but when you die, you may end up being reborn and being somebody on the other side of the world. Or if you haven’t lived a good life, you may come back as your neighbor’s cat. I mean, that’s what they believe. And when that happens, you no longer exist.

I shared with one of the groups last week, and I don’t know that all of you heard this, but I remember I had a client who had an employee, and she was an older woman who contracted terminal cancer and was given, I don’t remember how long she had to live, and she had some really strange beliefs that were really tied into Eastern mysticism because she was convinced that, and she, this is the one thing that gave her hope that when she died, she was going to come back as a butterfly.

You know, you had, I guess nobody reminded her, but she first had to come back as a caterpillar then you can become the butterfly. But people believe that. And you see, Christianity repudiates that completely because Hebrews 9:27 says it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes the judgment. We die once. Now, this is significant. I think this is important to recognize. In fact, I would ask you to turn, if you would, to Matthew 17 and while you’re turning to Matthew 17, does anybody have any comments or questions?

                    Hebrews?

Hebrews 9:27. Matthew 17. Again, what we’re trying to do this week and particularly next week is to try to get a glimpse into eternity and what eternal life in God’s kingdom will be like, because most people, even most Christians are clueless, and you’ll see why this is so important to know and understand because it will shape your view of the future and it will impact the life you live on this earth. All right, are we at Matthew 17? Jimmy Ard, how about reading verses one through eight?

After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them, His face shone like the sun and His clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them, Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped Him and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my son whom I love; with Him, I am well-pleased. Listen to Him.’ When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground, terrified.  But Jesus came and touched them. ‘Get up,’ He said, ‘don’t be afraid.’ When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. (NIV)

That’s it. That would be interesting to experience that. And just to digress for a second, is what strikes me as Jimmy was reading that, I mean, here are three men who were going to be leaders of the early church, and you would think God might have a lot to say to them, but really, He gave them one simple instruction. And what was that? Listen to Jesus. Listen to Him. Isn’t he probably saying the same thing to us, today?

But the reason I wanted to read these verses is who basically shows up on the scene. Look at verse three. They literally see Moses and Elijah. Now think about Moses. Most people think Moses is a superstar, but Moses was still a man, just like us. In fact, he was not, he wasn’t a very good speaker. In Exodus four, he talks like this, Lord, I’m slow of speech, I’m not, you know — he wasn’t a real talented guy, and yet God did great and mighty things through him. But my point is, Moses — they’re just like us, they had been dead for centuries, but they’re still alive. They continue to have their identities. They’re not some unidentifiable spiritual being that’s out there. In Heaven guys, you will be you. And this is crucial because if you think about it, if you lose your personhood, life in God’s kingdom is meaningless. And also, our relationships with those who we hope to be reunited with would be meaningless. Any comment on this? Well, before we see what we proceed, I have a question. Are you looking forward to going to Heaven? Is this something that you really greatly anticipate?

I want to look at what Paul’s perspective on death and we’re not far from, in the book of Philippians chapter one. So, if you would turn to Philippians one. Now, if you remember, Paul was writing this letter from a jail, he was in prison, and the sentence of death really kind of hung over Paul most of his life as a follower of Christ. And look, he gives us a really good understanding of his perspective of death in verses 21, 22, and 23. Greg, would you read those for us? Philippians 1:21-23.

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. (NRSV)

Thank you. What is he saying? He says, for me to live is to live my life on this earth for Christ. But what does he say about death? To die is to gain. You gain when you die. And he’s, I mean, he’s just basically being honest. He said, you know, to remain on here in the flesh is important to bear fruit for God, but I much prefer to go and be with Him because it is far better. Now let me ask you this question. Why do you think most people, even most, why don’t most people share Paul’s perspective? Why do you think? Jim?

                (Jim) I think we are locked into the performance anxiety of the world; not to measure up to Judgement Day, (inaudible).

I hadn’t thought about that. You might be absolutely right. I mean, some people are wondering, am I really going to make it in? That’s why we’ve been doing this series, that we have this assurance of salvation because we’re saved by faith, saved by grace through faith, not as a result of good work. So, I don’t have to measure up. Anybody else? I think Jim’s right, because as we’ve said, if you don’t put your faith in Christ and you think that your works have something to do with your salvation, you’re always wondering, have I been good enough? Have I lived a good enough life to get in? That’s a scary thought. Any other reasons?

               (Unidentified audience member) Fear of the unknown.

Fear of the unknown and what’s really out there.

             (Unidentified audience member) I don’t think we’ve finished what we were supposed to do here, raising kids or whatever.

Yeah. I think that we talked about this yesterday and that’s, I think that’s a real biggie. Is this the thought of separation from those you love? Even though hopefully it’s just going to be a short period of time. It’s what someone said yesterday. It’s kind of like we’re on a journey and someone basically leaves and gets there before you do, but you’re all going to be there eventually. Hopefully, that’s going to be the case in your life and your loved ones.

But one of the reasons, I think, that we don’t share Paul’s perspective is that we really don’t understand the magnificence and the beauty of eternal life in God’s kingdom. We have a hard time imagining being better — just think about it — we have a hard time — this is hard to believe, and this just shows you kind of how foolish we are — but we have a hard time imagining it being better than the life we experienced here on this earth. And then you think about this life. It’s such a broken world that we live in and there’s so much pain. There’s so much sorrow. There are so many broken hearts and that’s the way life is in this broken planet we live on. Jesus Himself in John 16:33 says in this world, you will have tribulation. You will have pain because we live in a depraved world.

And Paul basically, Paul experienced all kinds of hardship. You read his letters. He was beaten. He was imprisoned. He went hungry at times. Paul got it. He understood. I want to share with you some words that are very powerful. This was an essay written by a woman whose name is Betsy Childs. And I don’t know whether she still works for Ravi Zacharias; she used to, and she would write essays that they would send out regularly. And she talks about this issue. She says, “We have no sense that allows us to accurately imagine what we have never experienced. Perhaps this is the one reason that Heaven is so hard for us to grasp. Some arrange elements of, or have ideas of these earth harps, these clouds, and these choirs into a cartoonist’s picture of eternity. Some visualize their favorite things in this life enjoyed without restraint. Others are overwhelmed by the idea of a future with no end, a concept, hard to envision, beyond the endless reflection in a three-way mirror. If your idea of having seems a little shabby, even to you, it is because you don’t know what you’re talking about. Heaven is like nothing we have ever experienced with our senses on this earth. Words fail us when we try to describe sight to a person who’s never seen or sound to a person who’s never heard. Those who can’t smell or taste have only a vague idea of what they’re missing. Sensations are not communicable in words, unless the person to whom you’re speaking has or has had the use of that sense. This is not because our senses are unreal, but because they are so profoundly real. The new Heaven and the new earth are likewise, profoundly real. Too real to be conjectured in our limited imagination. Until the day when eternity becomes the present, we must continue to approximate it with the best that our five senses have known. But one day we will have the senses to experience the fullness of God’s holiness and it will be unlike anything we have ever tasted, felt, heard, or conceived.”

And the apostle Paul tells us the same thing in I Corinthians 2:9. I know we’re jumping around a lot, but turn, if you would, turn back to I Corinthians 2:9.

          (Jim) Richard, one thing strikes me about death is the fact that Jesus did the reverse. He stepped down from Heaven (inaudible) described is beyond our imagination. He took on all kind of suffering so we could go be with Him.

Great point, Jim, great point. And that’s what I mean. That’s what II Corinthians 8:9, that’s kind of really what God says. “For you know the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake, he became poor so that you,” all of us, “through his poverty might become rich.” That’s exactly right. Anybody else?

All right; I Corinthians 2:9. Hugh, do you have it?

But just as it is written, things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him. (NASB)

You know what he’s saying there? He’s saying we cannot conceive what God has planned for us in the future. We can’t conceive of it. That’s the great thing though. The Bible gives us a lot of glimpses into what to expect and that’s kind of what we were doing this week and next week, because I think when you really grasp it, we were talking about this, all of our staff gets together, and we were talking about this yesterday, how, if we really grasp this as best we can, it will change everything as far as how we live today.

But before we go on, I want to read this. It’s a great illustration of what we’ve been talking about. It comes from a novel that was written almost a century ago by a French author, André Gide. And the novel was La Symphonie Pastorale, and the story is set in Switzerland in the 1890s and it involves a relationship between a Protestant pastor and a young girl who is blind. She’s been blind from birth.

The pastor regularly attempts to convey to Gertrude — that’s her name — the beauty of her surroundings, the sprawling alpine meadows, the vibrant display of flowers, the majesty of the snow-capped mountains. When he tries to describe a rolling expanse of blue flowers by comparing them to the color of the sky, he comes to realize she’s never seen a blue sky so how is she to appreciate the comparison. Words are the only tools the pastor has to convey a reality that he knows to be true. And yet he remains frustrated and deeply saddened because language alone can never adequately describe to Gertrude the beauty and wonder of the natural world. Language approaches the truth but can never adequately describe it. In the story, however, Gertrude receives wonderful, unexpected news. An eye specialist, after an examination, believes that her condition can be corrected, and her sight possibly restored. Three weeks after the surgery, Gertrude returns to visit the pastor, now able to see all the sites he had described to her in words alone. She tells him that when she was given a back her eyesight, her eyes were opened to a world more beautiful than she could ever have imagined. She had never dreamed in her world of darkness that the daylight could be as bright, the sky so brilliant, the universe so vast. The flash of reality and the new sensation that Gertrude experienced upon receiving her sight far exceeded the verbal description she had been given. The words of the pastor were insufficient to the task of describing the glorious world she could now see with her own eyes. In every human observation and subsequent description, there will always remain some discrepancy, however small, between that which is observed and that which is described. And that’s what the apostle Paul is saying here in I Corinthians 2:9. That nothing our eyes have ever seen nor our ears have ever heard, nor anything we’ve ever thought of or dreamed about can compare what awaits us in Heaven, God’s eternal kingdom. As we live on earth and consider life beyond the grave, in one sense, we are very much like the blind Gertrude. The only means we have for perceiving the reality of Heaven is words. As descriptive as they might be, words can never prepare us for the full radiance and wonder of what lies ahead.

Any comments or questions on this?

           (Unidentified audience member) (Inaudible) get a bunch of outdoorsmen …. (Inaudible) … I can only imagine … (Inaudible) … anybody’s ever spent the first night camping in Alaska or come floating down a river and coming to turn a corner and coming into a canyon or seen the sun come up from a deer stand. I mean, it’s just amazing.

I agree. I agree. And that’s kind of what we’re talking about here. Until you experience it. Words can only describe it, but they’re very inadequate in describing the actual experience

           (Unidentified audience member) While we’re talking about this, I don’t know if y’all read that thing Saturday after Sid…

About the ladybug?

           (Unidentified audience member) Yeah.

If y’all haven’t read that you need to. It’s a post and it’s, it’ll give you real chill bumps.

All right. I want to spend the balance of our time considering eternal life in the kingdom of God. And we’re given a number of great insights into this, and a good place to start is to recognize this. How does God want us to regard earthly life as we think about eternity? You remember what Jesus says to Pontius Pilate? You know, one of the accusations leveled against Jesus is that He claims to be a king and Pilate starts talking to Him about it, and finally Jesus says, yeah, I am a king, but My kingdom is what? Not of this world. There. I do have a kingdom and I am a king, but my kingdom is not of this world.

And so, he’s telling us, yeah, it does exist. And in the book of Colossians, in chapter three verses one and two, Colossians 3:1-2, let me read them to you real quick, the apostle Paul tells us, “Therefore, if you’ve been raised up with Christ,” in other words, if you’re a Christian, he said we should “keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” And then he says, “Set your mind on the things above and not on the things that are on earth.” What does he mean by that? He’s saying we should see our lives on this earth properly guys, because if you see your life on this earth properly, you will live much more wisely. You’ll live well because what you’ll recognize is that this life is a journey. It’s a really short journey. This is not our final destination. And Paul is saying, we need to have this perspective because the Bible is very clear, this life is a short pilgrimage to an eternal place that we have never traveled. And he’s saying we should be anticipating our arrival. We should be thinking about it.

Hebrews 11:13 says we should see ourselves as strangers and exiles on this earth. I Peter 2:11 says we are aliens and strangers to this world. But it really struck me guys, if you think about it, if we love this world too much, then Heaven is going to seem to be alien and strange. And I think that’s what’s happened. We are so wedded to this world and this life that the thought of Heaven, the thought of eternity frightens us. It’s strange to us. It’s alien to our being. That’s what C.S. Lewis says. “The Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have begun thinking less of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this world.”

Any comments on this? You with me?

                (Unidentified audience member) Yeah, Richard… (unintelligible) probably by our design too, our bodies, our souls are made of the things of this world and natural desires of things of this world, our focus is here. But I think it points to more like why we need to be led by the spirit because the spirit reveals to us the things of God and that we’re called to be in the world but not of the world.

Amen. Right on. Anybody else?

               (Unidentified audience member) Yeah. I heard a teaching that paralleled with this Ephesians 3:20, which that says that, now by the power at work within us, he is able to accomplish abundantly more than we could ask or imagine. This relates to your prayer life, thinking, you know, asking God for things, thinking about asking God what he would have to do. And the way this guy approached it, he said that he wants to do abundantly more than he could ask for or imagine. So, if you’ve ever thought of it spoke it, he wants to do more. He said, approach every day, basically He wants to surprise us.

That’s really good. That’s really good. Thank you. Anybody else?

You know, I think this is really important to know that Heaven is not, it’s described not just as a place and this is important, and I think you can appreciate it. It’s not described just as a place, but as a home, as a well-loved place. You know, when you travel, I remember, when I was a kid going to camp, the one thing you always really relish is going home because ultimately that’s kind of really where you belong. And in first, excuse me, II Corinthians 5:8, Paul says to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord. You see, our home is where we belong, you know, that’s where you are with your family. Heaven is referred to often in the scripture as the great city. I mean, it’s a city as a community of people. That’s what you read in Hebrews 13:14. The writer of the Hebrews says, “For here, we do not have a lasting city, but are seeking the city which is to come.” He’s talking about Heaven. If you read the book of Revelations, fifteen times, you see that the place where God will live eternally with his people, referred to as a city. So, Heaven will be a very relational place, which is wonderful because we thrive on relationships. We’re relational beings.

Now, based on what I’ve said there, therefore, really, there’s two ways you can approach this finite life that we live here on earth. The first way, and this is the way most people approach it because they really don’t know any better. And that is this world, this world right here, this is my home, and therefore, in the process, I allow it to capture all of my love and affection. I love this world more than anything else. And when that happens, you rage against death because death will take everything you have away from you.

And that’s why I think Paul tells us the worldly man loses heart. He despairs. And remember what he says, why? Because his body is decaying and you’re just watching it decay, but he says, there’s another approach, for the Christian life is a journey. We’re just like pilgrims. We’re not settlers. We’re merely passing through on a journey that leads to our permanent home, to the celestial city, which will be a community of God’s family.

And I think we need to stop really guys and ask ourselves; how do I really view life here on earth? C.S. Lewis says this is a really big deal. He says, if we really believe what we say we believe. If we really think that home is elsewhere and that life is a wandering to find home, why should we not look forward to the arrival?

One of the things that you’ll notice if you read the book of Philippians, Paul talks about finding the secret of real contentment and peace in life. He says, I found the secret, and I really believe part of the secret to finding real contentment and peace in life is to have the view that Paul had — for me to live is Christ but to die is to gain. Think about it, guys. I believe this is truly part of that secret — to be delivered from life’s greatest fear, which is death. Armand Nicholi, in his book, The Question of God, you know, the famous psychiatrist who teaches at Harvard Medical School, he says, this is the thing that paralyzes people. It’s what basically steals joy in this life is the fear of dying. And I believe this is a real obstacle for so many people to find contentment and peace in this life because they, let’s face it guys, we are continually reminded of our mortality. I don’t know about you, but the older I get, the more funerals I find myself going to. The more I look in the mirror, I see how much older I’m getting. You can’t get away from it. Plastic surgery will not do it.

I want to read to you a few words. Just the person that I think has such a great perspective on this and it’s shaped his life so much. And that’s C.S. Lewis, who ironically died the same day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Two weeks before he died, Lewis had lunch with a faculty colleague and friend Richard Ladborough. It became apparent to Ladborough that this would probably be the last time they would be together in a personal setting. And he made this observation. He said, I quote, “I somehow felt it was the last time we should meet. And when he escorted me with his usual courtesy to the door, I think he felt so too.” He said, “Never was a man better prepared to go.” A week before his death Lewis shared these words with his brother, Warren. He said, “I’ve done all that I was sent into the world to do. And I’m ready to go.” And his brother remarked, “I’ve never seen death looked in the face so tranquilly.”

Guys, this is what we’re looking for. This is a picture of a man who was truly liberated from the fear of death. Lewis had clearly entrusted his eternal well-being to a living Savior, the one who abolished death and brought life and immortality to life through the Gospel. Christ offers that same inner peace to anyone who is willing to surrender and say yes to His offer of forgiveness and eternal life.

Any comments or questions?

            (Jim) Larry Thompson sent an email out this week that said, most of the people that go through what I’ve just been through don’t survive. I guess God’s not done with me yet.

Amen. All of ya’ll know Larry? Anybody else? We only have a few minutes left and there’s an intriguing question that I’ll just I’ll bring up and that’s what we’ll look at next week, and the question that I think people wonder is, what are we going to do in Heaven? We got all this time. We’re going to be there for eternity. What are we going to do? Anybody have an answer? Well, if you, basically most theologians agree that if you look at God’s mandate for life here on earth, there are certain meaningful activities in His sight. And one of the things that you see is that what does He — you see this in the Old Testament, you see it in Genesis, see it throughout the scripture is one of His primary commands for humanity is that we are to be fruitful and productive. You see it in the Old and the New, I mean, think about the different parables that Jesus gives us, like the talents or the Minas. He expects productivity. He hates idleness. Now, as I was preparing this, I thought about, think about all of the occupations that are necessary because of the depravity of man. Think about that, and that’d be unnecessary. And so, I guess Warren, you and Jim will be out of jobs. We won’t need any lawyers.

               We’re going to be pushing brooms.

If you’re in the military. You know, you won’t need any defense contractors; they’re out of business. Policemen, not necessary. Physicians, psychiatrists, counselors — won’t need them. If you’re in the life insurance business, you’d definitely be out of a job. But someone, a very godly man said to me, he said, I am convinced that we will be assigned responsibilities that will be meaningful. And these responsibilities will be in alignment with the gifts and the abilities that we’ve been endowed with. But think about it. Work won’t stress you out. You won’t have to try to impress other people. You don’t have to fear failing. Then your work won’t be self-serving. It will benefit others and will ultimately bring honor and glory to God.

And next week, we’re going to look at, I think, two important features of Heavenly life that are very important and very powerful for us to understand, because I’m telling you guys, the more we grasp and understand this, the more it will shape our perspective on death, dying, and eternity. But I want to close by asking you this question. As we talk about Heaven, as we talk about eternity, do you believe it’s real? I mean, really? Do you believe in the reality of it? I mean, I think sometimes, as we’ve said, it’s kind of hard to really imagine this. And so, I want to close with this thought as we think about the reality of Heaven and what gives us that, why should we have that hope? What gives us that real hope of Heaven?

Rollo May, I love this story. Rollo May was a very famous therapist, and he wrote a book a number of years ago, titled, My Quest for Beauty. And the book described basically his lifelong search for beauty. And he went through that he had a psychological breakdown and went away and spent some time on this island called Mount Athos, which is really a peninsula in Greece that’s inhabited only by monks from the Greek Orthodox Church. And when he arrived there, he arrived right during Easter week, the week leading up to Easter and he went and celebrated Easter with these monks though he was not a Christian, not even sure he believed in God. He said he vividly described the deeply symbolic service with all the religious icons and incense which filled the air. During the service, the priest gave to each person present three wonderfully cut, decorated, Easter eggs. He then pronounced Christ is risen. Everyone in the service including Rollo May responded, “He is risen indeed”. And again, May was not a Christian, and yet, he was profoundly impacted by this experience. And then he asked a question that I think is of ultimate significance. He said, “I was seized then for a moment of spiritual reality.” And then he asked this question, “What would it mean for the world if He had truly risen? What would it mean to the world if He had truly risen? What would it mean? Everything, everything.”

I was just reading the other day where the apostle Paul in II Corinthians 1:9, he talks about that he was under the burden of facing death and he said, but I survived. And he said, what I learned God was trying to teach me not to trust in myself, but in the God who raises the dead. He says, we set our ultimate hope on the God who raises the dead. In fact, his actual word is, it says it is on He who we set our hope. So, what does it mean if Christ really rose? It means everything. It means he is the Jewish Messiah. It means the Bible is true. It means His words are true, that there will be a judgment and that there is a glorious kingdom of God. And we can rest on Jesus’ own words in John 14.

“I go and I prepare a place for you. And know this, that we will be expectedly waiting for your arrival.”