When I think of the atrocities in the world, like the genocides of the 20th and now the 21st century, it makes me want to live my short life on earth with as few regrets as possible. Germans killing Jews during World War II (6 million); Turks killing Armenians, 1914-1915 (1.5 million); the Khmer Rouge killing Cambodians, 1975-1979 (2 million); Saddam Hussein’s troops chemically killing Iraqi Kurds, 1987-1988 (100,000); Serbs killing Bosnian Muslims, 1992-1995 (200,000); Hutus killing Tutsis, 1994 (800,000); Stalin killing up to 60 Million in his ruthless reign of terror; Each year for the last 5 years 46 million babies killed – per year, that’s 126,000 per day worldwide. Over 50 Million preborn children have been terminated in the USA alone since the 1973 Roe Vs. Wade decision. Very easily I could go on with many more of these man-made disasters.
Add to this the suffering owing to natural disasters like the tropical storm in November, 1970 that killed about 400,000 people in Bangladesh, or the earthquake of Gujarat, India in January, 2001 that killed 15,000; or the AIDS epidemic that since 1981 has claimed the lives of nearly 30 million people, with another 39 million currently estimated to be HIV positive. Then add to all this, the sadness and pain and eventual death of your own family.
I don’t know about you, but when I think on these things, it makes me tremble at the prospect of living a trivial, self-serving, comfortable, middle-class, ordinary, western world, untroubled Canadian –life. Life is short and eternity is long. Very long. It is a long time to regret a wasted life. My uncle Dave used to say, “Evil prevails when good people do nothing.”
Do you think there will be regrets and sadness in heaven? I do! In spite of the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 8 that speak of an ever-increasing, unspeakable joy in the age to come, purchased by Jesus Christ. I am aware of promises like Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” For sure this does not rule out “tears of joy,” but I believe it does not rule out “tears of regret” either.
Why do I think this? I have eluded to this truth in a previous message on what happens when we die, and I’m not going to repeat that message but I do want to review just for a moment this one point. I do that because many Christians are startled by the suggestion that their might be sadness or tears of regret in heaven. Let me rehearse just a little of my logic and biblical foundation for thinking this way.
I do not see how we will be able to worship Christ and sing the song of the Lamb without clear memory of the glorious, saving work of Jesus Christ and all that it involved. According to Revelation 5:9, the saints will sing “a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.’” Ransomed from what? Will we have forgotten? This song and this memory will make no sense without the memory of sin. And the memory of sin will be hypocritical without the awareness that it was our sin that Jesus died for, and it was sin that caused the unfathomable suffering on earth.
It is inconceivable to me that we will remember our sin for what it really was, and the suffering of Christ for what it really was, and not feel “regret” for the way in which we chose to live our lives. I’m sure that part of our joy in the grace filled celestial atmosphere, will be the remembrance of our unworthiness. Jesus said, “He who is forgiven much, loves much” (Luke 7:47). There – we will know more about the amount we’ve been forgiven. But this does not mean we should sin so that grace may abound (Romans 6:1). The holiest here will be the happiest there. Our regret will not ruin heaven. I believe the bible teaches that initially there will be a complexity of mingled joy and sorrow for many believers who enter heaven. In 1 Cor. 3 we are instructed to build our lives with materials that will not perish when they are tested by fire at the judgement seat of Christ. In verse 15 we understand that the works of many will be burned up! They themselves will only enter heaven, as by fire. That sounds like regret to me! Maybe a few tears that you didn’t have the “Well done thou good and faithful servant,” kind of entrance into heaven.
In 1 John 2:28 it says, “Abide in Him that you not be ashamed at His coming.” That word, “ashamed” sounds like the language of tears and regret to me.
Not convinced yet? Think about the story Jesus told in Luke 16 about Lazarus and the rich man. Jesus never wasted a single word and this story is an important lesson for us to learn about what happens after we die. The rich man in hades, has great sorrow, regret and torment. He can see across the chasm to paradise and recognizes now, how foolish he was in life. On the other hand, Lazarus is able to see what he left behind and is able to see into hades.
I have a serious question for you. Are you listening? Here’s the question: If you like Lazarus can see what you left behind and you can see who ends up in hades, do you think you might shed some tears of regret and sorrow? I think so! After the thousand year millennial reign of Christ, God will finally wipe away every tear of regret, of shame and sorrow.
All of this leaves me more concerned as I get older, that I not throw away the one short life that I will have to look back on in eternity. Just think of it! You have one life. One very short life, then an eternity to remember. Don’t the atrocities of this world and the inconsistencies of your own life in the midst of it all defy your logic and your comprehension? Should what we observe in the world and maybe even more, what we observe of the person in the mirror make us run to Jesus Christ for the saving power he offers? Isn’t the sickness and suffering we see in the world and our own personal pain the very tool and implement in the hand of God that ought to turn us to the only one who can lift us above it all and take us to a place of eternal refuge and safety? What does it mean to be “Safe in the Arms of Jesus.”
Does it make sense to you that we should live our lives in preparation for Heaven, strategizing with all of our energy, devotion and sacrifice to deal with sin and bring relief from suffering. Francis Schaeffer posed the question, “How then shall we live?” I submit, we need to live in the light of a short life and a long eternity, a troublesome start and a triumphant eternity.
The angels from their thrones on high,
Look down on us with wondering eye,
That where we are but passing guests
We build such strong and solid nests,
And where we hope to dwell for aye
We scarce take heed a stone to lay.
Sunday School teacher, Tom Evans decided to do a survey with the kids at he school where he taught during the workweek. He interviewed children of different ages asking them what they pictured when they thought of heaven.
Eric – Age 8 “It’s a place where there’s lots of money laying around. You could just pick it up and play with it or pass it around. I think I would buy a basketball and play basketball with my great-great-great grandmother.
Scott – 7 says, “Heaven is way up there (pointing up) and you can look down and you can see all the circuses that are on in the world for free, except you have to ask God for permission first.
David – 7 “Heaven is really big and everyone sits around playing harps. I’m not sure I want to go. I think harps are dumb and I already have to practice the piano.
We can get some very strange ideas about heaven but I want to tell four things about heaven that we all need to know.
1.) Heaven is real. The greatest teacher of all time, the Lord Jesus had a great deal to say about both Heaven and Hell. Both are real places and the only two eternal destinations for every human, past and present on the planet. You’ve heard me teach before that there are a number of heavens in scripture. The first heaven is the atmosphere that surrounds earth and we get our rain from heaven. (Deut.11:17; Deut.28:12; Acts 14:6) The second heaven is the universe beyond our atmosphere where the stars of heaven are located. (Ps.19:4-6; Is.13:10) The third heaven is the dwelling place of God that Paul managed to get a small sneak preview of. (Ps.2:4; Matt.5:16) In 2 Cor. 12:2 we see that what Paul saw was beyond human description. He saw unspeakable things – things of such beauty and glory that he could not describe. Anyone interested in trading places? Heaven is real and none of us know when we will go there!
The story is told of Lambert who arrived at the pearly gates ready for his interview with St. Peter. As St. Peter went through the questions on his clipboard he came to the question,
“Have you ever done anything really brave and selfless in your lifetime?”
Lambert smiled with assurance and said, “Yes, I believe I have at least one instance you might be pleased with.” “And what was that?” asked St. Peter.
One day I was walking along the street and I came across a group of motorcycle thugs that had surrounded an elderly lady and one of them was attacking her in an attempt to steal her purse. I ran to them and wrestled her from the grasp of a huge burley bearded brute. I then kicked over the first Harley in the line up of motorcycles which, like dominos knocked them all over one by one. I did this to distract them while I put the lady into the hands of another passer-by who had slowed his car to see what was going on. I then turned back and took the whole bunch of them on in a tooth and nail fight. I got off some terrific punches, but I also took some really hard blows. I managed to kick the ringleader where the sun doesn’t shine and when he doubled over I caught him with a hard uppercut to the chin.
St. Peter was very impressed with the details of this story! “Tell me,” he said, “When in your life did this take place?” Lambert looked at his watch and responded, “About 25 seconds ago.”
While that story is clearly a work of fiction – Heaven and GLORY beyond our wildest dreams is not fiction. Are you GLORY BOUND? “O that will be, glory for me, glory for me, glory for me, when by His grace I shall look on His face. That will be glory, be glory for me.” Heaven is not only real.
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Heaven is Regal. What is the definition of regal? According to Webster’s Dictionary it means designed for a king. Having to do with royalty. Jesus said, “In my father’s house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you and if I go I will come again and take you to be with me that where I am you may be also.” John 14:2&3 The King of kings is building a home for you. When your name is signed into the Lambs Book of Life, because you have repented of sin and asked Jesus for his gift of eternal life, as a side benefit your name also gets signed on a deed. You have an eternal mansion, designed and built by the one who gave his life for you. Now that’s an incredible exchange! You give him your sins, your burdens, your cares, your concerns and he gives you freedom from guilt, freedom from justice and punishment, eternal life in an eternal mansion he has made for you. What a trade. Anyone interested in making that trade? I remember as a 16 year old having gone through a couple of years of pretty overt rebellion to what my parents had taught me. I remember being so miserable inside and unhappy and finally having it dawn on me one day that I was miserable because I was walking away from the truth and walking away from what I really knew to be right. The Holy Spirit would not leave me alone! I was under conviction for my sin and when I gave my life to Christ one Wednesday evening in the summer of 1968, I knew a great release and an new joy in the great exchange I had just made. Not only was I at peace for my life here, but my eternal destination was settled. So heaven is real. It’s regal and …
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Heaven is for Royalty. None of it is yours if you do not have your name in the register of heaven. John wrote in his gospel, chapter 1 verse 12, “But to as many as received Him, to them he gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name.” In Rev. 1: 5&6 we read, “ Unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us Kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and forever.”
Listen friends, you cannot and will not spend eternity in heaven unless you are a part of the Royal family. If your Father is a King and you are his child that makes you a __________________? You must be a child of God, adopted into his family. He wants you, but you must decide. He offers this incredible exchange, ….this awesome trade and isn’t it amazing that though He makes all these incredible, indescribable, unspeakable offers … in the final analysis, it’s up to you.
Your record of good works won’t allow you in. You won’t be judged on a balance scale with the hope that your good works outweigh your bad. You won’t get into heaven because you had a Christian parent or were baptized as a baby. You won’t get in because you were generous with your resources. You can’t buy your way in to heaven. Someone has said, money is an article which may be used as a universal passport to everywhere except Heaven, and as a universal provider of everything except happiness.
Face it friend, you are like me. A pilgrim, and a pauper without any eternal hope if it were not for the King who left his throne and his mansion in glory to come and offer the great exchange.
His righteousness robes for your filthy rags
His cleansing for your guilt
His death for your life
His riches for your poverty
His health for your sickness
His peace for your problems
He offers it all to you here today, but you must be the one to receive or none of it takes effect. Heaven is a wonderful eternal home but it is not your home if you do not take the needed steps of faith and obedience. So, heaven is real, it’s regal, it’s for royalty and ….
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Heaven is a Reward:
We’ve all seen reward posters, right? If Jeff Sallan’s, or Willie Cober’s, or Elwin Schultz’s, or Lester Cober, or Andrew Sallans, face were on a poster, and underneath it said, “Wanted dead or alive!” What would be a good amount to offer as a reward? Now, understand that this reward would be for bringing to the one who offered the reward that particular fugitive from justice.
Trust me folks, there’s a divine poster with you on it. How many of you believe we all face a day in which true JUSTICE will be levied on you and on me?
Listen carefully friend. There REALLY, REALLY is a reward. You really, really are wanted but the difference between this offer and the ones you are familiar with from the movies or the bulletin board at the post office is this: No one can claim the reward but you – the one on the poster. The divine poster says, “For reward, you must turn yourself in.” You must respond to the one who offers the reward. Heaven is part of the reward for those who’ve turned themselves over to Jesus. Have you turned yourself in to Jesus. Has your name been entered in the register of heaven? Do you bear the name of Christ or Christian legitimately?
An engagement ring that fell into the sea off the coast of Sweden in 1994 miraculously found it’s way back to its owner two years later. The ring was consumed by a mussel that turned up in a load of shellfish caught by fisherman, Peder Carlsson. Carlsson was able to return the ring to its rightful owner because the woman, Agneta Wingstedt, had her name engraved on the inside. If we bear Christ’s name we know that we will be returned to him one day. (Parade Magizine, Dec. 26th, 1996)
Listen friends, if you are centred on this world, with all of it’s strife, turmoil, pain and grief you will never rise above it.
C.S. Lewis said, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth throw in. Aim at earth and you will get neither.” If you read history, you will find that those Christians who did the most good for this present world, were precisely those who thought most about the next.
Five boys were playing in the woods one winter day. They decided to see who could make the straightest set of tracks in the snow. They were very, very careful to put one foot directly in front of the other, but when they had crossed the clearing and looked back, one track was crooked, one was curved and two were sort of zigzagged. Only one set of tracks was straight. When that boy was asked how he had managed to keep his tracks straight, he said, “I never looked at my feet. I picked out a tree across the clearing and fixed my eyes on that spot and walked straight towards it. If we are to walk a straight and narrow path we must get our eyes off ourselves and fix our gaze on the author and finisher of our race, Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, please help me to live this life fully aware of the importance of the next life. I ask you to forgive me for not considering you and your plan every day and making the most of what you would have me do here on earth. Help me to live for you from now on. In Jesus name, Amen.