These seventeen chapters are all about heaven and this is the best book I have ever seen on the subject. As I read the fifth chapter, “Heaven: The Place of Satisfaction” my heart was blessed, indeed.
Pastor Fortner does not tell us how easy it is for everyone to get to heaven. Many appear to think they can crawl through the eye of a needle! They imagine they will make it to the front row of heaven yet their lives give little encouragement to hope they know anything of the grace of God or the God of glory.
Instead, the author has been very careful to point out God’s absolute sovereign grace in the salvation of his chosen people, while insisting it is the equally absolute responsibility of all men everywhere to repent of sin. Most religious teaching today makes it easy for people to live in sin and yet believe they have a right to heaven when they die. Pastor Fortner reminds us it is not so.
I was impressed while reading this book at the many references to the Holy Scriptures. Again, it is common in our day, in many quarters, to ignore, ‘Thus saith the Lord’. But how can one write of heaven and not hear what ‘the LORD, the God of heaven’ has said about it? Brother Don has not been guilty of this! He has been careful to show from the Scriptures how the Lord Jesus Christ is both the only way to heaven, and the fulness of heaven to his Bride. No blood, no salvation! No salvation, no heaven!
You will find in the following pages not merely a series of chapters on the subject of heaven, which doubtless would be useful enough. It is certainly a superb exposition of the subject of heaven, and also how God saves sinners in preparation for it. But you will find the book deals, too, with all aspects of a believer’s attitude towards death, the confident assurance of joy to come, and many helpful scriptural comforts for the experience of dying.
I look forward to obtaining a finished copy of Going Home for my own benefit and recommend everyone purchase a copy and read it for themselves. I believe this book will prove to be very instructive for ministers of the gospel, and those involved pastorally with the Lord’s people. It will be most helpful, too, to God’s saints who live with eager expectation in hope of eternal life with God our Saviour in our heavenly home. Oh, the glory that awaits all of God’s blood-bought children!
Earnie W. Lucas
