How Can You Know You’re Going to Heaven?

Turn with me to John’s Gospel, chapter 14 — that’s page 1664 in the Bibles at the back, if you’re using one of those.

And while you’re finding it: I don’t normally do this, but seeing it’s our last night here, I want to thank everyone who has come to these meetings. Thank you for coming. Everyone who has attended from this assembly, thank you so much. You’ve treated us far kinder than we deserve to be treated, and we appreciate it. The Lord bless you.

John 14:1:

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. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas said unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

I trust God will bless these six verses to us tonight, along with what you’ve already heard.

There are three things in this passage that you cannot afford to miss.

A Place Prepared for You in Heaven

I want to speak to you about heaven. Heaven. You can’t afford to miss heaven, because the only alternative to heaven is hell.

The Lord Jesus spoke about heaven. He called it “my Father’s house.” “I go,” he said. “I go.” He was going to heaven. He was on his way to the cross. The disciples didn’t understand that the way to heaven for him was the way of the cross.

You need to understand: the way to heaven for you is the way of the cross. There’s no other way.

“I go to heaven. I go to prepare a place for you.” It’s a wonderful thing — a place for you in heaven. Stop and think of that now. A place for you in heaven.

Are you going to heaven? Is there a place for you in heaven?

He was talking to men he had saved, and he said, “There’s a place for you in heaven.” Did they deserve that place? No, of course not. They were just sinners like you and I. And yet he said, “A place for you in heaven.”

So let me ask you: do you have a place reserved in heaven for you? Wonderful place. Wonderful thing, to know I have a place reserved for me in heaven. That’s what he said — for you. But let me ask you, is it for you?

Do you know the Lord Jesus? Do you have a place in heaven? That’s the question.

Many people do. A lot of people in this meeting tonight do, because the Lord Jesus prepared that place for us. He went to the cross. He paid the price to open the door to heaven for us who didn’t deserve it. And we heard his call: “Come unto me.” Why him? He’s the one who paid the price. He’s the one who prepared the place for you in heaven.

Jason’s Confidence: “I’m Going to Heaven”

A number of years ago, there was a little boy who grew up in the assembly I grew up in, in Boston, and he got leukemia when he was six years old. His name was Jason, and we were no relation. But before his mother and father were married, his father was one of my best friends. And because his father liked a girl named Martha, she was one of my best friends too. Then Jason came along, and he called me Uncle John. I wasn’t his uncle, but from the time he could speak, he always called me Uncle John. So Jason was a favourite little nephew of mine — though he wasn’t really a nephew.

When I got the news that Jason had leukemia, it felt like I’d been shot. I couldn’t believe it. I was devastated.

You know how I found out? He told me himself. He wanted to tell me, and he said, “It’s all right, Uncle John. I’m saved.”

I said, “But Jason, that’s still not very good.” “Yeah, but it’s all right,” he said. “What’s the worst that can happen? I go to heaven.” That, coming from a six-year-old, was kind of hard to take.

Well, he went through all the medical procedures — bone marrow transplant, everything. And when Jason was ten years old, his cancer went into remission.

He started to get healthy again. There’s a society called the Leukemia Society — I’d never heard of it before. There was a very famous man at the top of that society who was raising money for leukemia research. You may have heard of a man named Bobby Orr, who was a hockey player.

I knew of Bobby Orr, but I had never met Bobby Orr. He was famous for a flying goal that won the Stanley Cup — somebody tripped him and somebody checked him at the same time, and he was in the air, and the puck was passing him by, and he whacked it with his stick right into the net. They won the Stanley Cup, and that’s what Bobby Orr was famous for. Now I’m dating myself, but that was 1970.

Bobby Orr was the head of the Leukemia Society, and he wanted this little boy Jason to come speak at some of the fundraising suppers, since he was in remission.

Jason used to go with him, but he didn’t stay in remission — the leukemia came back, and he was pretty sick sometimes. Mr. Orr would call him up, and he’d say, “Mr. Orr, I can’t go tonight, I’m pretty sick.” Then he’d call him up a week later. “Yeah, I’ll go tonight.”

Jason used to speak at these fundraising dinners, and people loved him, because this little boy — just a tiny thing with a bald head, too small to stand at the pulpit, so he’d stand off to the side — would say, “Now listen, don’t feel bad for me. I do have leukemia, and I am dying, but I’m going to heaven.” And people would react like, “No, no.” He’d say, “No, I really am. I’m going to heaven. I know a lot of you don’t believe that, but I’m going to heaven.”

As Jason got sicker and sicker, I was visiting him one day, and in walked Bobby Orr. He was talking to Jason, and we were all talking there, and he said, “Jason, I brought you something — one of my hockey sticks, and I signed it.” That hockey stick, by the way, is worth a pile of money.

Jason said, “Thanks, Mr. Orr,” and had him put it in the corner. Mr. Orr said, “What? You want me to just stand it up in the corner?” Jason said, “Mr. Orr, where I’m going, they don’t play hockey.”

Mr. Orr said, “Jason, you talk like heaven is just the next room.” Jason said, “It is, sir. I’m going to heaven.”

That man walked out, so I followed him. He said to me, “John, I don’t understand it. He really believes it.” I said, “Mr. Orr, it’s true. It’s true. He really is going to heaven — and you can too.” He said, “He tells me that all the time. But how?” I said, “Because the one who owns heaven opened the door, and he said, ‘I’ve prepared a place for you. For you — you can go there.’” He said, “It’s so real to him. It’s just like he’s stepping through a door.” I said, “No, Mr. Orr — he’s already stepped through the door. He has Christ. He’s going to heaven. I am too, and you can too.”

The last time I saw that man, he was leaving the funeral, because Jason had gone to heaven. He was weeping like a baby, and he said, “Well, I know this — I have one friend in heaven.” I said, “No, Mr. Orr — you have two, because the Lord Jesus is there, and he’s a friend of yours whether you’re a friend of his or not. He says, ‘I’ve prepared a place for you. Don’t miss it.’”

Mr. Orr is five years older than me — he’s seventy-seven. He’s still not saved. God still has a place for him. I hope he doesn’t miss it. I hope you don’t miss it.

What It Cost Christ to Prepare the Way

“I go to prepare a place for you.” And in order to do that, it cost him everything he had. He gave his life. He shed his blood. He willingly suffered for our sins so that he might have a place for you. In order for the Lord Jesus to say this, it cost him everything. Don’t you miss it. Don’t you turn that down. There is a place for you.

He’s not willing — the Bible says it. God is not willing that anyone should miss it, that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Why? Because he paid so much. He paid so much for your place in heaven.

“I go to prepare a place for you.” My friend, he has made all the preparation necessary. Have you done anything about it at all? Let me ask you: are you prepared for heaven? You can be, through Christ.

Is Jesus the Only Way to Heaven?

But he not only spoke about heaven — everybody likes to speak about heaven. The next thing he spoke about, that you don’t want to miss, is this: he spoke about the way to heaven.

The way to heaven — don’t you miss that. Just because heaven’s there, and because he’s prepared a place for you there, doesn’t mean there are a million roads to it. There’s one road. There’s one way. And he said, “I am the way.” That’s why, at the beginning of this meeting, the same man said, “Come unto me.” He’s the way to heaven. He is the only way to heaven. And if you miss him, you miss the way.

So let me ask you: do you have Christ? To have Christ is to have the way to heaven. To know the Lord Jesus as your saviour is to be on the way to heaven. And if you do not have Christ, you’re not on the way to heaven. Sadly, you’re on the way to hell.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.”

He said to Thomas, “Ye know the way.” Not too many people want to admit they know the way. We like to hide behind, “Well, I’m not sure. I’m not.” No, no — you know the way. You’ve been coming to these meetings now, some of you, every night for two weeks. Thank you very much, by the way — we appreciate that. And some of you have been coming a lot longer than that. Some of you can go back years, hearing this message, and you’re still not saved. You do know the way. And you know there’s only one way.

What If Heaven Is at the End of a Dead-End Road?

I was on a Greyhound bus one time — don’t ever take a Greyhound bus from New Brunswick to Boston, it was a trip I’ll never forget. Anyway, there were a lot of people at the back of the bus, and I was about halfway, and I could hear this argument going on back there. They were talking about getting to heaven — there were five or six of them. I looked back a couple of times, and the conversation was getting pretty heated. Some of them were adamant that their way was the best way, and I was thinking, “Do I want to get involved in this?”

Finally, I got up out of my seat and went back, and I said, “You guys talking about the way to heaven?” They said, “Yeah.” I said, “Do any of you really know the way to heaven?” “Yes.” I said, “Okay, I heard all your arguments from up front there. I don’t think a one of you do.” They said, “Why do you?” I said, “Yeah, I’m going there.” They looked at me like I had three heads.

One girl spoke up. She said, “Nobody can know that.” I said, “Yeah, you’re wrong. I know it. And Jesus said so.”

I said, “Tell me your ways.” So they started telling me this and that. I said, “Sounds like there’s a million ways to heaven.” “Well, of course,” they said. I said, “But what if heaven is at the end of a dead-end road?”

And they went quiet.

I said, “It’s right at the end of one road.” Well, this one guy spoke up and said, “Well, then you’ve got to find that road.” I said, “Right — and if you don’t get on that road—” but he said, “No, not like that.” I said, “It is. Tell me — what’s beyond heaven?” “Oh, well, nothing.” I said, “Right. It’s the end of the line, and if you’re not on that road, you’re not going to make it.”

They said, “Well, how do you know?” I said, “Do you know where I live?” They said, “No.” I said, “Well, why don’t you argue with each other about how to get to my house?”

One of them said, “That’s stupid — we’ve never been to your house, and you’ve never been to heaven.” I said, “Yeah, but I know someone who has.” “Oh, nobody ever came back to tell us.” I said, “Yeah — somebody did.” He came from heaven to tell us the way to heaven, and he’s gone back to heaven. But that’s where he came from. Don’t ever let anybody tell you nobody ever came back to tell us. He came from heaven to tell us the way to heaven, and to open the door while he was here on earth, so that there’s a place for you in heaven. And the way to heaven is plain. It comes from the lips of the Lord Jesus himself: “I am the way. No man comes unto the Father but by me.”

Do you have Christ? If you miss him, you’ll miss the way.

Christ, Not Merely the Cross, Is the Way

Sometimes we point people to the cross, and rightly so. But the cross is not the way to heaven. Remember, there were three crosses there that day, and since then there have been hundreds, thousands of people who’ve died on crosses. There are millions of crosses in this world — people hang them around their neck, from their ears, on their buildings. The cross is not the way to heaven. Christ is the way to heaven. And he went by way of the cross. You need the Christ of the cross, not the cross without Christ.

“I am the way.” Do you have Christ? That’s the question now, isn’t it? Do you know Christ?

Paul says, “That I might know him” (Philippians 3:10). That’s where life is found. That’s where salvation is — knowing Christ, knowing the Lord Jesus as your saviour. He’s the way to heaven. So with all your beliefs and all your ways, let me ask you again, friend: do you know the Lord Jesus as your saviour? If you do, you know the way. If you do not, you do not know the way. Don’t miss it. Don’t miss heaven — but also don’t miss the way to heaven.

“I Will Receive You Unto Myself”

And then he said something very wonderful, strange, but wonderful. He said, “I will receive you unto myself.”

I want to talk to you about reception into heaven, because that’s the only way in. Nobody’s going to break in. Nobody’s going to work their way in. Nobody is going to be in heaven because they’re good enough to be in heaven.

Every single person who’ll be in heaven will be received by the Lord Jesus. “I will receive you unto myself.” Reception into heaven.

The Urgency of Being Received Into Heaven

Some people take this kind of, “Well, that’s all lovely, lovely.” But there’s an urgency to this that I want to stress tonight before I finish. There’s an earnestness that’s needed. There’s an urgency to being received into heaven. Make absolutely sure you’re on that list of those who will be received, because it’s a guest list. Every single person who’s going there has been invited, has received an invitation, and has responded in faith to the invitation given by the Lord Jesus. And he’s the one who will receive you. If you miss that, you will never get into heaven. Never.

You need to be in a hurry to trust Christ. You need to see that you can’t miss this opportunity. God has given you an opportunity to be received into heaven. Don’t miss it, friend. Others are going to respond — don’t you miss it, because the Lord Jesus said his Father’s house will be filled. And if you don’t take your place in heaven, somebody else will take it for you. “My house will be filled.”

A Story of Urgent Escape

Midsi Sanchez was twelve years old, walking home from school one day in California. She would be a woman of almost fifty today.

She was twelve years old. She and her brother were walking home from school, and Curtis Anderson pulled up beside her, opened the door, and said, “Girl, come here a minute.” She walked over to see what he wanted. He snatched her, pulled her into the car, and drove away. He was a known child predator.

He got down the road and shackled her — put handcuffs around her ankles, chained to the bar under the seat, the one you pull up to move the seat back and forward. He shackled her ankles to that bar with handcuffs.

She began to cry, so he slapped her, and they drove away. He abused the poor girl.

The next day, they stopped at a gas station, and he said to her, “If you scream or call out to anybody, I’ll kill you before anybody can come near.” She was petrified. But he went into the gas station and left her in the car — locked up, shackled.

And he made one mistake: he left the keys in the car. And on that key ring was a little tiny key that fit those handcuffs.

No sooner did the door close behind him at that gas station than Midsi made one frantic, absolutely urgent effort. As she watched that door, she grabbed the key, stuck it into the handcuff, and broke her legs free from the shackles. She opened the door just as he was opening his. He saw what was happening and started running. She ran right out into the middle of the street, and at the top of her lungs she yelled, “Help me!” A truck driver stopped, sized up the situation, opened the truck door, reached down, and pulled that girl into safety with one hand. She said, “Mister, he’s kidnapped me.” The truck driver took off — and Midsi still had the keys to his car. Smart girl.

People surrounded that man as he jumped in his car, only to find he had no keys. Curtis Anderson died in prison a few years ago, where he belonged.

I tell you that story for this: that girl saw one opportunity — one opportunity — and she took it. It took everything she had, and she made one mighty effort to escape for her life.

She didn’t sit there casually saying, “I wish somebody would save me.” No, she took the opportunity given. That’s the urgency that’s needed in the gospel.

You can see the urgency needed in a child who’s been kidnapped, can’t you? You’re almost breathing a sigh of relief — good for her, good for her. But what about you?

Are you going to sit there twiddling your thumbs when you need to make your move? Escape for your life. Flee to Christ. Respond to the invitation. Come — come unto me. It’s an urgent call. There’s a heaven for you if you respond. But if you don’t respond, there’s no reception.

Don’t Miss This Invitation

“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again to receive you unto myself.” Every single person who has responded to that call, every single person who has seen the urgency of God’s salvation and made their move to Christ and trusted him as their saviour — he’s going to receive them into heaven. That could happen tonight. A call from God — and it will disappear, received by Christ into heaven.

But what about you? You never responded — just way too casual about the whole business. You’re going to miss heaven. I trust there’s nobody here tonight who’ll miss heaven.

There’s an invitation. You heard it tonight. Respond in faith:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”

Matthew 11:28

There’s a place in heaven for you.