Beginning nearly fifty years ago, I spent nearly three years attending Bible school. I should make it clear – I didn’t attend seminary; it was a Baptist Bible school. It was not designed to train theologians – or even thinkers. Its purpose was to generate little clones of the denominational leadership. It was intended to churn out “soul-winners” and “church-builders.” And for the most part, it accomplished its goal.
Once I graduated and began actively serving the Lord, it was obvious that I would have to unlearn things. For example I was taught to hate God’s sovereign grace and hundreds of scriptures in the process. But through Bible study, I came to understand that salvation from sin was God’s work, not mine. And so I had to learn Biblical evangelism, replacing the psychological sales technics I was taught. Ie., I was told that the best way to lead sinners to Christ was to trick them into thinking positive thoughts. “Do you want to go to Heaven when you die?” Of course you do. “Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?” Of course you do. “Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross?” Of course He did. “Have you ever told a lie?” Of course you have. Repeat after me – “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.” “Now don’t you want to go to Heaven?” Of course you do. This may be an over-simplification, but some of you have been to that spot where my teaches took me
Let’s consider that question: “Don’t you want to go to Heaven when you die?” 95% of humanity wants Heaven, Nirvana, Valhalla, the happy hunting grounds, the Elysian fields, or some place equivalent to them. Nobody really wants to go to hell when they die, even though I have heard some people say that. The problem with 95% of those 95% is that they have no idea what the Biblical Heaven and Hell are. To them Heaven is the happy hunting ground or a place where Baptist preachers can’t bother them. Of course, we want Heaven when we die.
In the light of that desire, let’s think, once again, about that glorious place. But this time, I’d like to approach that land from the north – from the opposite direction. I have a somewhat contradictory message for you this morning – Five Negative Thoughts about Heaven
First, NO SINNERS ALLOWED.
The last time I preached from this chapter I probably provided a disclaimer. There may be people who claim complete and absolute understanding of these chapters, but I don’t. I see is a great deal of mystery here, and I think it was probably designed by the Holy Spirit. There is no question that the Bible speaks more about the nature of Hell than it does about Heaven. And when it speak about the saint’s heavenly future, it is often hard to understand. The preaching of Hell can be more dogmatic and uncompromising – we have clearer revelation. The colors of Hell and the Lake of Fire are vivid. But Heaven is given to us only in outline form, and we are left to use our imaginations for the colors.
But clearly Revelation 21 and 22 are telling us things about the future – about eternity. For the lack of a better word we can call all of this “Heaven.” I realize there is information here about the New Jerusalem and the New Heaven and New Earth. I know that a lot of smart people wrangle over the boundaries of each of these kingdoms. But for summary purposes, we can lump them together and summarize them with the word “Heaven.” And despite the cloudiness of many of these verses, there are some very bright lights. For example, verse 27 is so bright that it hurts our eyes. It basically it says that Heaven is place for “saints” – there will be no sinners allowed. “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
I heard a statement the other day which I thought was significant. The man said, “God is meant to be worshipped.” Most people think of Jehovah in contexts other than simple worship. Even many Christians think of Him as the omnipotent benefactor. When David exhorts us to sing God’s praises, it is usually from a context of the Lord’s beneficence. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” so we set aside a yearly day of Thanksgiving. Don’t we think of God as the “Great Physician,” the “Saviour,” the “Water of Life,” and “Light of the World?” But that man was right – God is meant to be worshiped, before being beseeched or besought. There is a sense in which everything He does is for the purpose of His glory. God created this world for His glory. God permitted sin in a fashion that would ultimately bring Him glory. Certainly God saves sinners for His glory. And then God’s saints are blessed in the glory brought to our Saviour. And as time reaches its conclusion that purpose will become all the more intense.
And to put it bluntly – sinners cannot directly glorify God. Dogs cannot sing like birds. Mud cannot make kitchens clean. Tornados cannot build temples to the glory of God. And even though God can accomplish whatever He chooses with whomever He chooses, generally speaking sinners cannot properly glorify God.
Picture a time line with me: Eternity past is a single line, beginning far beyond our range of vision. It is a single line, because nothing exists but the eternal God. Then God created people, and the single line becomes more and more and more lines. After a while there is a widening band of people passing through time. But then as time comes to an end, and eternity beyond time begins to loom, there is a tiny gate. God, because He is God, has chosen to permit no sinner through that gate – that bottle-neck. The Saviour once said, “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” “There shall in no wise enter into (Heaven’s eternity) anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie.”
And herein is the problem – Every honest heart has to admit to being sinful in the all-seeing eyes of the holy God. A person might argue about degrees of sin and who is the greater sinner. But it remains – “there is not a righteous man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.” There are no sinners permitted into God’s Heaven, and every human being is a sinner. Post Falls, we have a problem.
That brings us to my next point – There is NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.
I suppose it has changed, but it used to be that the epitome of the “American Dream” was to own a home. Most of us that means putting money down and making mortgage payments for thirty years. A part of the “American Dream” used to be that we’d work long and hard to own a house of our own. It used to be that there was no free ride, no welfare, no lottery fever and no “Habitat for Humanity.” Unfortunately, that “American Dream” makes it hard for some people to grasp God’s free grace. Nevertheless, Heaven is a place where no purchase is necessary – there is no mortgage; no payments.
Most of us adults have stored away in the backs of our minds the principle that there is no free lunch. Someone always has to pay the tab. When the Powerball Lottery “awards” someone with a 100 million dollars, there have already been a 100 million people who have spent a hundred dollars each to pay that tab. And the man who wins has probably already given away a $1,000 or more over the last ten years. There is no free lunch; someone has to pick up the bill.
And even though no sinner can buy, rent or lease any property in heaven, someone has had to pay. No sinner has enough money, resources, charm or self-righteousness to earn a mansion in Heaven. And yet someone has had to pay the price. The Lord Jesus once said to a few of His disciples, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Nine times out of ten, when we hear John 14:2 – without actually picturing it, we picture Christ in His Carhartt coveralls, with a heavy tool belt around His waist, and wearing a hard hat. Off He goes to build a heavenly dwelling place for each of His disciples. But I remind you that this was while He still ministered and taught the Word of God to those disciples. How did He go to prepare us a mansion in Heaven? Not in work clothes, but in near nakedness. Not with skinned knuckles and a few bruises, but with thorns through His scalp. Not with nails driven into 2x4s, but with nails driven through His hands and feet. There is a moat around the New Jerusalem, and it is filled with the blood of the Son of God. “There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins. And sinners plunged beneath that flood, loose all their guilty stains.”
There are no sinners allowed in Heaven, but ironically, only sinners are invited. How do they get from ungodly sinner to invited saint? By passing through the blood of Christ. “What can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus.” If you have never deliberately, purposefully, humbly bathed your soul in the sacrificial blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are still under the penalty for your sins. You are unfit to enter the eternal presence of God; you are barred from Heaven. There is no other way – none – nada – but the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
A third thing I’d like you to see about Heaven, we’ll call: NO RUNS, NO HITS, NO ERRORS.
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” I’ve been a part of several weddings in one fashion or another. It is proverbial that the bride is beautiful in her white gown bedecked with flowers. And the fact is – in many cases she really is; it is not just a cliche. Part of that beauty is in her eyes. Look into the eyes of that bride, and what do you see? There are hopes and dreams of a new life, and in some cases dreams of a perfect life. Dreams of happiness, despite the prospects of penury. Dreams of joy despite the likelihood of pain. There is nothing wrong with dreaming of a perfect world.
The problem of it all is that it’s a “pipe dream.” You are probably familiar with the phrase “pipe dream.” Are you familiar with its origin? It appears to have been coined by a Chicago newspaper reporter in the late 18th century. To him a “pipe dream” was the result of smoking opium. A “pipe dream” is as real as smoking marijuana or snorting coke. And “pipe dream”s often end up being more like “pipe bombs.” And that is because most human dreams are beyond our powers to fulfill.
But when God dreams, there is fulfilment and reality. Jehovah, too, pictures a perfect world – that means a world without sin – verse 27. And where there is no sin there is also no suffering or sorrow – verse 4. Where there is no sin there will be no sinners to tempt us to sin. Where there is no sin there will be no doubts, no unbelief, no disbelief. Even though Heaven will not be a place of inactivity, it will be a place without toil. Sweat on the brow is an indirect effect of sin. In Heaven there will be no pulled or strained muscles, no aching backs, no blurry eyes. There will be no weeds in the gardens of the millennial kingdom, or the eternal kingdom. Every tree will produce its own fruit in its own season. There will be some sort of manna in abundance every morning. No dog bites, bee stings or bear attacks. Without doubt, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
A fourth negative point out heaven is that there will be no MIDDLE MANAGEMENT.
One of the Bible’s many profound statements is found in James 1:17 – “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” What does that mean to you? To me it means that when the boss gives a raise, it is due to the will of God. That man is just the instrument of the Lord’s blessing. The boss should be thanked, but the Lord should be worshipped. When pansies bloom in the flower box in front of the window, it is of the Lord. When the dentist repairs a tooth, it is the Lord blessing His creature. When some medicine alleviates our pain, it is of the Lord’s wisdom. How many of us have come up on an accident on the road. If we had arrived just a few minutes earlier we might have been involved in that wreck. That, too, was of the graciousness of the Lord.
“‘EVERY good gift cometh down from the Father of lights.” And that is true whether or not the Lord used a doctor, dentist or dictatorial boss. More often than not, the Lord uses somewhat ordinary means to accomplish His will, but it is still His will. A miracle, on the other hand is the Lord’s intervention in such a way that He by-passes the middlemen. Miracles these days are rare, but not unusual. We all can think, for example, of medical problems which have disappeared before the physicians could work their cures. A neighbor sat in our living room yesterday and positively declared that God miraculously healed her husband of septic cellulitis. There have been needs in most Christian’s lives which were met inexplicably – without the help of any human being – middlemen.
Well, it appears that Heaven will be a place where the Lord will forever RETIRE the middlemen. We will we not have to be plumbers, electricians and librarians in order to bring home enough heavenly currency to buy food. Why will there be no pain? Because there will be no disease? That will not be due to medical science. In the New Jerusalem, there will be no need of the sun, for the Son of God will replace it. In Heaven we will move up to the “miracle level” of existence. Heaven appears to be a place of the continual, direct intervention of the Lord. In fact it will be so common that “intervention” and “miracle” will be unnecessary becoming forgotten words.
And one other thing, Heaven will be a place of NO TIME OUTS.
“And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
Consider the eternality of God. I have very little difficulty contemplating the self-existence of the Lord. That God has always been is a little more difficult to my mind, but I get it. Everything else that I see has a beginning somewhere and somehow. I look at many of our children, and I can remember their births. But Jehovah never had a beginning and He will always continue to be.
And joyfully, those to whom He gives life will continue for ever well. Many of our children, whose births we recall, have been given eternal life. That is not a philosophical idea; it is the revelation of God, which I believe through God’s gift of faith. Even I have been given the gift of eternal, un-ending life. If calendars will be permitted in heaven, there will be a year 2016 with a hundred zeros behind it. And every single one of the saints of God will be there to enjoy all the miraculous new things of that year. As long as God exists the promises of God shall exist. And the promise stands – that sinner who has become a child of God by faith shall forever be with the Lord.
Conclusion:
I said earlier that there is much mystery in these chapters. But I also said there are some bright and unmistakable lights. One undeniable and unconfusing statement is found in 21:8. “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” It is impossible to twist and mutilate the general meaning of these words. It might take a dictionary to understand the full meaning of a couple of these things But the impact is understandable to all of us.
Standing opposite to Heaven is a lake called “The Second death.” It is as real a lake as Coeur d’Alene, or Newman Lake, or Lake Pend Oreille. It is more real than Coeur d’Alene’s Silver Lake. But the waters of this lake are unlike any in which you’ve ever navigated or bathed. The waters of the Second Death consist of flame. Elsewhere we learn that they are scorching, blistering and tormenting. But the victims of this drowning will never die under these waves. Their torment will be as eternal as the bliss of those in Heaven.
Please compare the last verses of chapters 21 and 20. “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” Read those words again: there shall in no wise enter into Heaven any sinner, but there is a way for the sinner to become something else. The Bible says, “If any (one) be in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away.” If you will humbly acknowledge and turn from your sinfulness. If you, by faith, will trust what Christ Jesus accomplished on the cross. Then the promise of God is sure: He has forgiven you of your sins. He has taken you as one of His children. He has declared you a saint and “righteous” in His sight. “Do you want to go to Heaven when you die?” Then repent and trust Christ Jesus.