The Lord Jesus one day during His last week on earth, was talking to a group of Sadducees. They too didn’t believe life after death – Heaven and the resurrection of the body. I can only guess what they expected to hear after they asked about “the resurrection.” The more that I think about their question, the more I lean toward the idea that this family of one bride for seven brothers, was entirely fictitious. I may be wrong, but it really doesn’t matter. When they spoke about “the resurrection,” they may have been thinking of their misconceived idea. But when I think about the resurrection, I usually put it into the context of what follows – Heaven. “In Heaven, whose wife shall this woman be?”
What we know about Heaven, I’m sure, could fill a book – a very, very small book. Despite what we think we know, the Lord has not told us a great deal about what follows our resurrection. Often, what we think we know sometimes doesn’t hold water. For example we all know that Heaven is up. As Jesus ascended, the disciples were “looking UP steadfastly into Heaven,” when an angel said, “Why stand ye gazing into heaven, this same Jesus which is taken UP from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven.” So we say that Heaven is “UP.” But “up” to a man in Jerusalem is precisely the opposite direction to the man living in Spokane. Where is heaven? I’ll tell you where heaven is: it’s the place where the Saviour is. John W. Peterson early in his career as a Christian hymn-writer wrote a song called, “Over the Sunset Mountains.” It isn’t in our current Hymnal, but I know it, and perhaps some of you do as well. Just after it was written, he took it to his publisher who said, “This song has great potential, but let me make some suggestions. “Leave out the name of Jesus and enlarge on the idea of heaven.” Peterson picked up his manuscript and left the man’s office. There is no heaven without the presence of the Saviour.
For a few minutes this morning, let’s put the things of earth aside and think about the Christian’s future home. The Bible declares that there is a prepared place for the saints of God. If it were not so the Lord Jesus would have told us otherwise. For direction in our meditations, let’s think about some of the surprises that we’ll find there. If those Sadducees ever get a glimpse of that place, they will certainly be surprised.
I think that one of those surprises will be its contrast with earth.
And this will be a great problem with those Sadducees, because they were so thoroughly secular. And isn’t this the general tenor of our society today – “Heaven is what you make of your life on earth.” But just as nothing on earth can be compared to Hell, nothing on earth can be compared to Heaven. II Corinthians 12:4 hints at this comparison – while caught up into the third heaven, Paul heard unspeakable words, unlawful to be repeated on earth. Some of the differences between Heaven and earth are so great that they can’t yet be mixed together.
Years ago, the “U.S. Catholic” magazine took a poll among its readers to gather their opinions about Heaven. It turns out that it is a great place for a picnic. Heaven has a kind of sylvan atmosphere, where it never rains. It has grassy fields with a beautiful river running though it. But then there are the streets of gold, and diamonds as big as boulders. It will be a place of painlessness, tearlessness, and the concerts of heavenly angels uninterrupted by the coughs of its auditors. “Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? When someone isn’t interested in what God’s revelation says about the resurrection, anything goes.
The scriptures say, “eye hath not seen or ear heard neither have entered into the hearts of (God’s people) what things God hath prepared for them that love him.” So stretch your imagination as far as it will go – I mean that. Pull it, and push, it and excite it and pray for it. And then whatever your imagination can suggest about Heaven – forget it – because it will have fallen short of what Lord has prepared. The Heavenly city will not be like Post Falls, Spokane, Seattle, or even Vancouver. For example, the mansions which Christ has gone there to prepare will not be filled with marital bliss. And our time will be spent in as yet unconsidered ways. Heaven is incomparable to earth.
Another surprise will likely be the size of Heaven.
But I don’t refer to the square footage of either the country or our mansions there. But rather I’m thinking about the population and residents. There are a lot of well-meaning people who think that just about everybody will get to Heaven. That poll among Roman Catholics which I mentioned showed that 98% of the respondents thought that they would end up eventually in Heaven. That includes the Corleone family from the God-Father, and the leaders of today’s drug cartel families. If these ideas are true then we will have tens of billions of neighbors there. But the fact is, it’s really hard to know what the eventually population will be.
There is reason to believe that the actual number will be relatively small. Certainly these Sadducees, who deny that there is an Heaven, there is a resurrection, that there is a soul – these people will not spend eternity enjoying the Lord’s blessings. Our Lord Jesus said, that there is a broad easy road leading to destruction with every lane clogged with commuter traffic. On the other hand the narrow road, through the strait gate, carries relatively few pilgrims in comparison. Christ Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto God the Father but by Him.” So can that Mormon with his corrupted and imitation Christ, live beyond his resurrection? Can that Jehovah’s Witness, who denies Jesus is Jehovah be there in Heaven? Will those Sadducees and Pharisees who hate Christ be a apart of the blessed of Christ?
The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection or of Heaven, but the Pharisees believed both. But then on the other hand, those Pharisees couldn’t picture anyone in who didn’t toe their doctrinal line. Of course, they hadn’t read Revelation 7:9-10 – “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” This scripture doesn’t say that there will be billions and billions of human souls around God’s throne. Never-the-less, it does speak of a huge throng – large, but not as large as some expect..
As Mr. Newton said, we will probably be surprised at ourselves in Heaven.
Picture the man first introduced to us as Saul of Tarsus. He was not a Sadducee, but rather a Pharisee of the Pharisee. He probably had no doubt that one day he would be standing next to the true Messiah in the Millennium. Where is he now? Not the Millennium, but in Heaven, near to the side of Christ Jesus. And how did he get there? Not by any means that he had previously imagined. He was saved by grace. Similarly, it is very likely that there will be a few former Sadducees – former unbelievers – participating in the resurrection of the just. And upon what grounds? Entirely because of the grace of God. At first the man denied that Heaven will ever exist and then within a few short years – there he is by the grace of God.
And in what condition will it be? Will he be married, surrounded by a dozen wives and hundreds of children as many of the Mormons believe? The Bible indicates that there will be changes to these vile bodies before we enjoy Heaven’s glory. We will be rid of our tiredness, our pain, and probably our wrinkles and our superfluous poundage. We won’t have to shave, put on hand lotion, Cover-girl make-up, or even Cover-boy. We probably won’t have to brush our teeth, use dandriff-treatment shampoo, or eczema medication. We shall have abilities unknown to us today, such as strength, wisdom and perhaps special abilities to travel. And Heavenly society will be quite different. “For in the resurrection, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God.” George W. Truett one time the pastor at First Baptist of Dallas, was once asked, “Will we know each other in heaven?” He replied with, “We won’t really know each other until we get to heaven.” In fact we probably won’t even know ourselves until we reach that place.
There will be changes in our attitudes and desires. Obviously, the Lord refers to one of them in His answer to His adversaries here. Our first thought will not be of our spouse and our children; our first thought will be of our Saviour. I can’t say that there won’t be quilts and quilt guilds in Heaven, but I’m reasonably sure that there won’t be any stamp clubs. And it won’t be the gold and pearls of Heaven that will interest us, but the Lord Jesus. So, test yourself: Are you ready to give up your earthly joys? And how do you look at death? Is death a departure from this life? No, no, death is an arrival in eternity. Paul said, “To be absent from the body is to be present with Christ.”
Another surprise, I’m afraid will be the size of our Heavenly safety deposit boxes and checking accounts.
In Matthew 6:20 the Lord said, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” Let’s say that one of the Sadducees who were confronting Christ that day was quite wealthy. He had been convinced that Heaven is something that you create for yourself on earth, and that if Jehovah has any blessings for the children of Israel, they are to be enjoyed right now. So this man had amassed quite a fortune, which he was using for his personal pleasure. But then as death neared, fear neared as well, so he started looking into the Old Testament scriptures. And eventually his eyes fell upon the promises of God in Isaiah, and through them he came to understand that Jesus of Nazareth really was – is – the Messiah, the Son of God. Let’s say that this rich Sadducee was regenerated by the grace of God shortly before he died. In the resurrection, how wealthy will he be? Not so much.
I read the story of a rich Christian woman who died and went to heaven. As she was lead about the streets of gold she was finally brought to her Heavenly mansion. It was small, but fabulous. Not knowing what to expect, the woman was delighted. But then from her second storey window she looked out across the street and saw her old gardener entering a mansion three times the size and beauty of her own. She wondered to the angel guiding her, if the man worked in that great mansion. The angel replied that it belonged to the old gentleman. “But how is it that he has so much more than me?” Her guide told her that their mansions were made of the materials that they had sent ahead from earth. She had been so faithless and unfaithful, that her mansion was of relatively minimal value. While her old servant had deliberately served Christ with all of his heart his entire life. One had her rewards in earth and the other had his sent on ahead into Heaven.
Heaven will be entered by every single sinner who has ever been bought by the blood of the Lord Jesus. Every one of those residents will have been born again, having repented before God and submitted to the Saviour in faith and love. But the Bible indicates that there will be rewards in glory based upon our service, surrender and steadfastness on earth. It will be a place where cross-bearers become crown-wearers, and where the cream comes to the top. Some pastors think that they will have many rewards, when in fact they will have but a few. And many everyday Christians, who have humbly, and selflessly served Lord in their limited ways, will be deluged with His awards.
Are you going to be surprised at your rewards in Heaven? When we all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, will we be ashamed? I know that we shall be ashamed to some degree.
Our fifth surprise will be about the kind of people who pass safely through the resurrection.
As Jesus hung on the cross with his bones aching and his heart breaking, He gave a Heavenly pass to a man, who just might not be accepted in the average Baptist church. The man was a criminal and probably a murderer. But today, he is with Christ in glory, and you are not. In Heaven there will be a lot of farmers but a whole lot more formers. There will be former whores; like Rahab. There will be former thieves like the man on the cross and thieves of the legal variety like Matthew and Zacheus. There will be former murders like King David and Saul of Tarsus.
Praise God for I Corinthians 6:9-11 – “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
Of the many other possible surprises one more will be the people who will not be in Heaven.
In this area, some things will not be surprises at all. We could recite a long list of wicked people and open unbelievers, so we will not be shocked not to find them after the first resurrection. “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. son. 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.” We will not be surprised at many who are not in heaven.
But there will be a lot of folk expecting other folk who claim to have tickets, but who will be no shows. In 1987 my family was moving to New Mexico through Arizona, and we thought that we’d visit Grand Canyon. Little did we know that to enjoy the trips, and some of the sights we would have had to make reservations a year or more in advance. And even motel accommodations and places to park our camping trailer, reservations were required. The key to enjoying all that was there was in reserving ahead. And the same is true of heaven. Except that it’s not we ourselves who make the reservation – it is Christ Jesus, the Saviour. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will pass through the first resurrection and enjoy the Lamb’s eternal life. And only those who repent of sin and put their dependence upon Jesus’ shed blood, prove themselves to have their names in that most precious book. Those who inherit heaven have already got Heaven in their souls while on earth.
I understand that the Greeks had fable about some giants who got to heaven by putting mountains on top of mountains. That is our only way as well – Mount Zion is reached by putting Mount Calvary on top of Mount Sinai. Calvary is the place where Jesus’ saving blood was shed, covering the sins which were shown to us on Sinai. The Pharisees believed very strongly in Mount Sinai – the law, but they rejected the cross of Calvary. These Sadducees were in the process of denying Calvary while already denying Sinai.
There will be lots of surprises in Heaven, don’t let one of them be your own absence. Are you resting in the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice for sin? Are you in love of the Saviour? Is your faith for eternity, for Heaven, for resurrection in the Saviour? Or do you err, “not knowing the scriptures or the power of God” to save your soul?