Mansions in Heaven!

By David Brandt Berg, Dec. 21, 1980

JESUS SAID, "IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS." (Jn.14:2)--And although I've used the expression myself and I've talked about those mansions in Heaven and how some people are only going to get a cottage and other people are going to get a lot more, and there is a lot of room in that big City, I don't know that each residence is going to need a lot of acreage!

When we think of a mansion, what do we think of? -- A big huge house, right? Well, what is each one of us going to need with a big huge house all to ourselves?--I'd be kind of lonesome myself! I'd rather have you all living There with me! So, even if there are big houses, none of us really take up very much room, do we? Even now when we live in big houses, we all have separate rooms and apartments and so on.

And that, some Bible interpreters and translators agree, is what the word translated as "mansions" in our New Testament means.--It doesn't mean large quarters, but something more like many different quarters. One translator claims that the modern equivalent would be apartments--commodious, no doubt, even luxurious apartments.

After all, how much room do you really need?--When you don't have to cook anymore, wash dishes anymore, eat anymore--you can eat if you want to, but you won't have to--etc.! We'll have our supernatural, miraculous, new bodies which are both spiritual, or can be material--can materialise or dematerialise, can travel with the speed of thought and have powers that even the angels have yet to learn!--No traffic problems, we'll just fly through each other!--Through walls, doors, people, anything!--With a body like that, who even needs an apartment!

But if you really want and ask the Lord for a farmhouse, I'm sure He'll try to oblige. But you might have to take it outside the City, out in the country somewhere, and your neighbours wouldn't be quite as congenial, because all the saved are going to be living inside the City, and there are going to be other classes outside! So you'd sort of be living in a lower-class neighbourhood and you might not particularly like your neighbours! But inside we'll all be saved and love the Lord and will be receivers of our reward. Praise the Lord! (Rev.21:27)

THAT'LL BE OUR LAST MOVE, PRAISE GOD! That's one move when we won't have to worry about baggage or luggage or what clothes to wear or take with us.--We won't have to do any packing, we won't have to do any loading, we won't have to do any shipping or buying tickets or boarding trains or planes, and we won't even need a passport or a visa--we've already got it, thank the Lord!

You've ALREADY got your passport, visa and ticket Home, thanks to Jesus, and there's nothing you have here that you'll need There, except what has already been sent in the way of souls and those who will follow. praise the Lord? Isn't that wonderful? Won't that be a relief? All you'll have to do is just shut your eyes and you're on your way! Amen?

DEATH for a CHRISTIAN is NOT death! Jesus said, "He that believeth on Me shall never die!" (Jn.11:25,26) You won't even know what death is like, you'll just be passing on, like going through a door or through a tunnel.--Many who've come back say it's kind of like going through a tunnel with Light at the other end, even brighter than the sun, yet it didn't hurt their eyes! And what a reception committee!--Either the Lord Himself or one of His angels, and your best friends and loved ones who have gone on before! You're going to get to see all of them! They'll welcome you There and guide you and introduce you and show you the ropes and show you around and help you to get settled!

He's gone to prepare a place for you, that where HE is, there YOU may be also! (Jn.14:2,3) But if you expect to have some lofty, fancy, huge villa on Main Street or something, you might be disappointed!--But I doubt it. I think when you see what He has for you there, you'll agree that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him!" (1Co.2:9)--Things you didn't even imagine could be so beautiful and so wonderful, and I'm sure you'll be quite satisfied with your quarters--even if it's only one room or a small apartment!

I'M REMINDED OF THE OLD TALE ABOUT THE RICH WOMAN WHO DIDN'T DO VERY MUCH FOR THE LORD and got to Heaven and passed all these beautiful mansions where other Christians were living, and finally got down to the seedy side of town where the shanties were. As the angel was leading her to her home, through the gate of a little tiny hut, she said, "I'm used to very fine quarters and very luxurious accommodations! What's the big idea of giving me this little shack?"

The angel said, "Well, you know, our abodes up here are built of what was SENT on BEFORE, and you didn't send very much!"--In other words, she hadn't given very much, she hadn't helped the poor much, she hadn't done much for the Lord, she hadn't sent very many materials ahead. So he said, "This is all we've got!--This is all you sent." Whereas others had sacrificed and given everything for the Lord and lived their whole lives for Him and helped many others, and great was their reward in Heaven! (See 2Co.9:6.)

"For they that turn many to righteousness shall SHINE as the STARS of the firmament FOREVER!" praise the Lord? (Dan.12:3) But others "shall be raised to everlasting shame and contempt"--even though saved! (Dan.12:2) What a shame!--To be forever ashamed of how little you did for the Lord and others, how little material you sent ahead, and be held in everlasting contempt by others who did their best for the Lord.

IT'S NOT A CLASSLESS SOCIETY! In fact, it's a very class-conscious society in Heaven! There will be all kinds of grades and levels of reward, just like there will be all kinds of grades and levels of punishment in the other place--wherever or whatever it is. Jesus Himself said that some would be beaten with few stripes, their punishment will be light and short, but others who deserved it would be beaten with many stripes, long and hard. (Lk.12:47,48)

There's the same SALVATION for us ALL, in the same City, but apparently there's going to be differences in the section of town you live in. After all, this life and nearly everything in it is a type or foreshadowing of the spiritual or the hereafter.--And if cities here have nice sections and not-so-good sections, believe it or not, Heaven will too.--But don't misunderstand me, even the worst neighbourhood of Heaven will be better than the best neighbourhood of the fanciest town on Earth!

So one of these days you're going to own a "mansion" that isn't going to cost you anything!--No upkeep, no expense, absolutely nothing except what it's already cost Jesus and it will be commensurate with your works on Earth--what you already paid for it down here.

There are some things that you're paying for here, right now, that you're not going to receive till you get There! Whatever you have There you will have already sent ahead, in the way of souls won, victories won, battles won and rewards won for your service here! You're going to get most of it over There! Praise the Lord!

ONE OLD PREACHER I KNEW USED TO SING AN OLD SONG, "I'M GOING TO TAKE MY VACATION IN HEAVEN," because he never got one here. Well, I wouldn't be too sure about that! From what I've seen of the spirit world, it's a pretty busy place!--Especially right now! Of course when this job is done, why, maybe we'll all take a vacation for awhile, There.

But as long as we have this World to still worry about or to govern or to run, I wouldn't say it's going to exactly be a vacation, because it's going to be a job! It says we shall rule and reign with Him on the Earth! (Re.20:6)--Ruling and reigning and governing, no matter how powerful you are or supernatural, is still a form of work!--Even the angels are ministering spirits, serving, working, ministering to others. (He.1:14)

You're going to have LOTS of work to do in the afterlife, but it's going to be a lot easier, thank the Lord! There'll be no sorrow, no sickness, no pain, no weariness, no death, no more tears, no more crying! (Re.21:4) That's certainly going to make things easier, huh? Praise the Lord! Amen?

So don't let it worry you, it's not going to be THAT hard in Heaven or the Heavenly City or the Millennium, but you're going to have something to do to keep you busy.--You'd be unhappy if you didn't! Wouldn't it be ridiculous if, after being so busy here, you wound up in Heaven with nothing to do but sit on a cloud playing a harp for a thousand years?--Much less all Eternity! I think you'd really get bored!

After all, THIS is just your SCHOOLING for what you'll have to do when you're a grad and you start getting your postgraduate course, to prepare you for perhaps even greater work in the Hereafter! We know we're going to have work to do during the Millennium helping the Lord to run the World, but what kind of work is that going to prepare us for, I wonder?--Maybe after we've had a little experience running this Earth, the Lord's going to invite us to help Him run the whole Universe!

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