Directions To His House

Issues – September 2010 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Directions To His House

He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. 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. – Mark 14:13-16 NKJV

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 often 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 they are not so clear to the one attempting to follow them. Often when we arrive at the house that we think is our destination we say, “This looks like the place.” Sometimes it is the place, and sometimes it is not.

When the Lord gave the above 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 can read about it in John 14:2. Our instructions for getting there are given in 14:6. No one comes to the Father’s house except through Jesus. We must follow His directions and trust Him if we are going to get there. He has prepared a place for us by dying on the cross of Calvary. He has sent the Holy Spirit to guide us so we won’t get lost (Jn. 14:16- 19,26).

In Luke 15 we read about the Father’s house in the parable of the prodigal son. It was a place where a sinful son who repented was received with joy, while his righteous brother who believed he never did anything wrong “would not go in” (Lk. 15:28). For the prodigal son, it was a place of rejoicing, where he got a kiss, a robe, a ring, a pair of shoes and a party. It was a happy place for this son who knew he didn’t deserve to be there, but it was a sad place for the older son who thought he had been cheated out of what he had worked so hard for.

From a natural standpoint, I understand how the elder son felt. The problem was that he didn’t understand that he too was disobedient. He had been asked by his Father to join the party, but he refused. He didn’t realize that in doing so he too was rebellious, but in a different way than than his brother.

I often wonder what heaven or the Father’s house will be like. Will it be what we expect? I believe we will enjoy good company because all the redeemed will be there. There will be good conversation because we will be talking about our Lord and the wonderful things He did in our lives to convince us of His love that brought us to that place. But best of all, our Savior will be there.

I believe that whether we go there by the avenue of death, or by the uplifting rapture (1 Th. 4:13-17), the Father’s house will be 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 also will find it just as He has said to us (Jn. 14:4,6).

Until then, we should remember that He has told us the way, and has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us there.

By Bruce Collins