Thousands came to faith in Christ through Moody’s meetings. As he approached the end of his life, he viewed Heaven as something to anticipate. Moody wrote:
Heaven
A story is told about a man who found out it was his time to go to Heaven.
He asked the Lord if he could bring just one thing. The Lord said, “No”. Finally after many requests the Lord said, “You can bring one thing.”
Happily, the man packed his suitcase full of gold.
When he arrived in Heaven the angels said, “Sorry you can’t bring that in here.”
He said, “The Lord said I could.”
“Okay,” they said. “By the way, what’s in there anyway?”
The man opened the bag, and they looked in. Then an angel said, “Oh. It’s pavement.”
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The following words are inscribed on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier: “HERE
RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD.”
If America remembers her unknown soldiers, think of the celebration that awaits countless servants of God who are relatively unknown on earth when they reach Heaven’s gates.
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I am home in Heaven, dear ones;
Oh, so happy and so
bright!
There is perfect joy and
beauty
In this everlasting
light.
All pain and grief is over,
Every restless tossing
passed;
I am now at peace
forever,
Safely home in Heaven at
last.
Did you wonder I so calmly
Trod the valley of the
shade?
Oh! But Jesus’ love
illumined
Every dark and fearful
glade.
The story is told of a Jewish woman in New York City who was approached by a Christian worker. He began to tell her of Christ and her need of salvation. He explained that she was a sinner and was going to Hell. She cried out, “I don’t believe in hell!”
“Why not?” asked the Christian.
“Because 6 million of my Jewish brothers and sisters were murdered at the hands of Adolf Hitler and his Nazis. I cannot believe they will all go to Hell!”
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One of the early explorers of South Africa’s ocean waters, Bartolomeu Dias, went around a cape on a stormy sea. His ship threatened to go to pieces, so he called the place the Cape of Storms.
But Vasco da Gama, who came later, changed the name to the Cape of Good Hope, for he saw ahead of him the jewels and treasures of India. You can call this a life of storms if you wish. But if you can see the glorious redemption of eternity ahead of you, you can call it what it is only in Christ—a life of good hope.
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When Dr. Broadus was a boy in a little town he was converted to Christ. He had been attending some meetings, and he went to one of his playmates, Sandy Jones, a red-haired, awkward chap, the next day and said to him: “I wish you would be a Christian. Won’t you?”
And Sandy said, “Well, I don’t know, perhaps I will.” And sure enough, after a little while, one night in the little church, Sandy Jones accepted God. Straightway he stalked across that little meeting house, held out his hand and said, “I thank you, John, I thank you, John.”
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One lovely moonlit night a grandfather and his small granddaughter went for a walk. The stars were magnificent. As the grandfather named individual stars and constellations, the granddaughter exclaimed, “Grandpa, if the bottom side of Heaven is this beautiful, just think how wonderful the top side must be.”
Source: Unknown
When John Adams, our second president, was living in Philadelphia he and Abigail befriended a boy of African descent named James Prince. The local school refused to allow him to attend. Mrs. Adams demanded that the boy be allowed to attend. She said, “Is this the Christian principle of doing unto others as we would have others do to us? I hope that we shall all go to Heaven together!”
Source: John Adams, David McCullough
The story is told that a man died and went to Heaven. He was met at the pearly gates by the apostle Peter who led him down the golden streets. They went past mansions after beautiful mansions until they came to the end of the street where they stopped in front of a shack.
The man asked Peter why he got a hut when there were so many mansions he could live in.
Peter replied, “I did the best I could with the money you sent us.”
Source: Unknown
In one of his books, A.M. Hunter, relates the story of a dying man who asked his Christian doctor to tell him something about the place to which he was going. As the doctor fumbled for a reply, he heard a scratching at the door, and he had his answer. “Do you hear that?” he asked his patient. “It’s my dog. I left him downstairs, but he has grown impatient, and has come up and hears my voice. He has no notion what is inside this door, but he knows that I am here. Isn’t it the same with you? You don’t know what lies beyond the door, but you know that your Master is there.”
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A Sunday school teacher was telling the story of the rich man and Lazarus. She said that Lazarus sat outside the rich man's gate covered with sores and begging for food. And that the rich man passed Lazarus without even seeing him. But when they both died Lazarus went to Heaven, while the rich man found himself in hell, which the teacher described most graphically. When she had finished, she asked the children, “Now which would you rather be—the rich man or Lazarus?” One little fellow answered, “I would like to be the rich man until I die and then Lazarus afterwards.”
“If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale, and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into heaven?” I asked the children in my Sunday school class. “NO!” the children all answered.
“If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into heaven?” Again the answer was, “NO!”
“Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave candy to all the children and loved my wife, would that get me into heaven?” I asked them again. Once more they all answered,“NO!”