Bruce Collins, Evangelist

Mark 14:14-16
“Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”‘ Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.” So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.

Often when we travel, people invite us to their homes. If we have never been there before, they tell us how to get there and what to expect when we arrive. My experience is that there is a COIK fallacy in the directions given. The COIK fallacy says that directions are Clear Only If Known. That is they are perfectly clear to the person giving the directions but quite frequently they are not so clear when we are following the directions. Often when we arrive at the house that we think is our destination we say, “That looks like the place.” Sometimes the place that we are looking at is the place and sometimes it is not.

When the Lord gave directions, they were easy to follow because he sent a man ahead to lead the disciples to this upper room. When they arrived, everything was just as they had been told. There was no COIK fallacy.

The Lord has invited us to a place where we have never been before and He has given us written directions as to how to get there. The place where we are invited is called THE FATHER’S HOUSE. We read about that place in John 14:2. Our instructions for getting there are given in verse 6. No one comes to the Father except through the Lord Himself. We must trust Him if we are going to have access to His Father’s house. The Lord has prepared a place for us by dying at the cross of calvary. He has sent the Holy Spirit into world to guide us so we won’t get lost. But when we get to the Father’s house, what will the Father’s house be like? I believe it will be just like He has told us.

In Luke 15 we read about the Father’s house in the story of the prodigal son. It was a place where a sinner who repented was received with joy while a righteous son who believed he never did anything wrong would not enter. For the prodigal, it was a place of rejoicing. It was where he got a kiss, a robe, a ring, shoes and a party. It was a happy place for the son who knew he didn’t deserved to be there, but it was a sad place for the son who thought he had been cheated out of the reward that he deserved because he had tried so hard. From a natural stand point, I understand what the elder son felt. The problem is that he didn’t understand that he didn’t always obey either. He had been asked to join the party by his Father and “he would not.” He didn’t realize that he also was rebellious, but his rebellion was of a different kind than his brother’s.

I often wonder what heaven or the Father’s house will be like. Will it be like we expect? It appears to be a vacation wonderland in Revelation 22. I know we will enjoy good company because the redeemed of the Lord will be there. There will be good conversation because we will be talking about the Lord and the wonderful things that he did in our lives so that we would be convinced of His love and end up in that place. Best of all the Lord will be there.

I believe that whether we end up there by the avenue of death or whether we end up there because of the rapture, the Father’s house will seem like home to us. When the disciples got to the upper room they “found it just as He had said to them.” When we get to heaven, I believe we will also find it just as He has said to us.

Bruce Collins