SERIES: Heaven and Hell
A Place Like No Other
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Introduction: I think I stirred up a few hornets’ nests last Sunday. Several of you talked to me this week and asked some hard questions. I’m going to try to deal with most of them during this series, but I want to say up front that I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I stated last week that the Bible speaks unambiguously and clearly about heaven and hell. And it does–about their existence and about the basic nature of the afterlife. But I don’t want to imply that we have all the answers we would like.
Someone asked, “Will I be with my spouse in heaven?” (I don’t know if that was asked out of a sense of hope or despair; I assume the former), and “Will my baby who died be full-grown in heaven?” One child asked me if his dog who recently died would be in heaven. I’m not sure I can answer those questions with any degree of certainty. When I cannot give you Scriptural support, I will make it clear that I am giving you my own opinion. Together I hope we will learn more than we knew before.
Today I want to deal with the nature of heaven and hell. What are they like?
Heaven is out of this world.[i]
There are three different uses of the term “heaven” in the Bible. The first is the atmosphere which surrounds the earth. It is spoken of frequently in the Bible as the source of rain, snow, lightning, clouds, hail, birds, etc.
The term “heaven” is used also of outer space, if you will. God created the sun and moon and stars and galaxies, and the Bible tells us that they are not to be worshiped in any way (Exodus 20:4, Ezekiel 8:16), nor are they to be used to decipher the future (Isaiah 47:13, Jer. 10:2).
But it is the third use of the term “heaven” that we are primarily concerned with in this series–the third heaven or the abode of God. God said, “I dwell on a high and holy place….” (Isaiah 57:15). The third heaven is often described with earthly terminology (how could we understand it any other way?), like tabernacle, sanctuary, house, temple, or throne, but it is clearly unlike anything on our present earth. Only one human being other than Jesus has been there and returned, and the account of his visit is stunning. Turn with me to 2 Cor. 12, where the Apostle Paul reveals in the third person an experience that happened to him:
(2 Corinthians 12:2-4) “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.”
He then goes on to say that God gave him a thorn in the flesh to keep him from becoming conceited because of the incredible revelations he received.
What Paul refers to as “inexpressible” (because he can find no words to adequately convey the infinite beauty), the Apostle John is not so reticent to describe. John, of course, was not actually caught up to the third heaven, but he did receive a vision of the New Heaven and New Earth that will replace the present atmospheric and celestial heaven and earth at the end of the Millennial reign of Christ. On the New Earth, the focal point is the New Jerusalem, which will apparently be the principal home of believers during eternity, though they will not be restricted to it. I assume the New Heaven and New Earth will merge with the present abode of God, the Third Heaven, for the throne of God is in the New Jerusalem.
When it comes to describing heaven, I think it is helpful to think both of what is missing and what is present. It’s amazing how often in Scripture heaven is described in terms of what will not be there. I think that’s because there are so many things in this world that trouble us, and God wants us to know that all such things will be absent from heaven.
What will be missing in heaven?
Let’s read our principal text, Revelation 21:
(Revelation 21) “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long (a 1500-mile cube, mind you). He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man’s measurement, which the angel was using. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
From this description, several things are missing from heaven:
No more rebellion. In verse 1 the Apostle John says, “there was no longer any sea.” The term “sea” in Scripture almost always stands for the rebellious nations. In heaven there will be no more wars, no more broken treaties, no more threats, no more terrorism, no more tyrants. It’s easy for us to see an application here to the likes of Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, but what defines a nation as rebellious is its attitude toward God, and I wonder if the USA might qualify as just as rebellious as Iraq or Libya–perhaps more so when one considers the unique spiritual opportunities we have had.
No more tears, death, mourning, crying, or pain. That’s what verse 4 tells us. Tears are an inevitable part of this life. From the child mourning the death of a parent to the woman weeping because of a failed marriage to the teenager crying because of rejection by her peers–multiply those tears by a million, and you still are not close to the volume of tears shed every single moment in this hurting world. But in heaven, He who wiped away our sins will also wipe away our tears. I think that means God will give us an explanation for the sorrow we experienced on earth so that we will not have to cry anymore. Someday you’ll know why your child died so young. Someday you’ll gain insight into the incredible pressures that caused a loved one to take his own life. Someday we’ll know why God allows the wicked to persecute the righteous. Not now, but someday.
That which produces the most tears, of course is the great enemy—death. Many of you have experienced the death of a loved one recently. Almost every week now, some member of our church family loses a mother or father or nephew or spouse or child. When one sees death in every Prayer Focus it reminds us that death is part and parcel of this world in which we live. But in heaven there will be no more funeral services, no more tombstones, no more tearful good-byes, no more gut-wrenching loneliness.
Of course, there is plenty of mourning, crying, and pain that is not related directly to death. Every time a child is abused, every time racial prejudice robs a person of his dignity, every time cancer or Parkinson’s or AIDS ravages a body, there is sorrow. I think, too, of the millions who suffer from depression, sometimes so severe that they view death as relief. But in heaven there will be no self-condemnation, no emotional pain because of rejection, separation, or abuse, no debilitating illnesses, no handicaps.[ii]
In verse 22 we see the next thing that is missing from heaven:
No more temple. John says, “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord god Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” Today our worship is largely localized, in fact more than it should be. We find it easier to focus our minds and hearts on the Lord when we are in church, surrounded by fellow-believers and the symbols of our faith. But in heaven there will be no need for symbols, for we will have the reality.
Some have puzzled over the absence of a temple because John himself earlier in the Revelation (11:19) speaks of God’s temple in heaven during the Great Tribulation. In fact, Ezekiel spends 7 chapters describing the restored temple and its ordinances. But what is useful for the martyrs during the Tribulation and for the saints during the Millennium, is apparently no longer necessary when the eternal state is ushered in.
Then the next verse tells us that there is …
No sun or moon. When we get to heaven, the planets created by God to give light to the earth will have outlived their purpose. God Himself is the light of heaven. Verse 23 says, “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” In the last chapter of Revelation, verse 5, we read further, “There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the lord God will give them light.” God’s glory is all the illumination the Redeemed need.
No more impure, shameful, deceitful actions or thoughts. Look at verse 27: “Nothing impure will ever enter the New Jerusalem, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful….” I frankly don’t know whether there is more sin in our society than there was 50 years ago, but I know one thing for sure–it is a lot more out in the open. We are inundated with impure and suggestive advertising, entertainment, literature, clothing, music, etc. I’ve never heard or seen Howard Stern, but I have read about him, and it’s astounding that a reprobate like that can attract a sufficient following to get on major media outlets. It’s hard to believe that within the lifetime of some here this morning Rhett Butler first scandalized society by saying “damn” on the movie screen! We’ve come a long way, baby! But in heaven all impurity, shamefulness and deceit will be absent.
No more curse. The book of Genesis indicates there has been a curse on this earth since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. Insects, weeds, moles, fungus, and a thousand other enemies keep the soil and plants from being fully productive. But, according to Rev. 22:3, in heaven there will no longer be any curse. As a result, the trees will bear twelve crops of fruit, one each month. Now I don’t know whether that’s literal or figurative, but I do know it’s predictive of a return to the days of Eden, perhaps even better.
No more hunger, thirst, or unbearable heat. In Revelation 7:16 it is said of the tribulation saints, “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.” Many of us have never experienced true hunger or thirst. Virtually universal air conditioning in our country today ameliorates the heat threat that was part and parcel of the lives of Middle Eastern dessert dwellers. But those who have experienced it to some degree can better grasp the point John is making.
So far, all I’ve discussed is what is missing in heaven. But we need more information about it than simply what isn’t there. So, consider with me…
What will be present in heaven?
Complete transformation of all that is earthly.
Transformed bodies. Heaven is looking better all the time, isn’t it? Some of us didn’t have great bodies to start with, and as we get older, they have a way of reminding us of our mortality. I have had a bad disc in my neck for the past eight years. I have scars on my face, my chin, my shoulder, my knee–reminders of horses and ladders and vaporizers and my lifelong accident-proneness. Some of you have chronic diseases. One guy who shall remain nameless recently told me he was diagnosed with furniture disease–his chest has dropped into his drawers. But others have much more serious issues, like cancer and Parkinson’s and osteoporosis and heart problems.
In heaven we will all have transformed bodies. We could profitably spend several weeks studying the great Resurrection chapter, 1 Cor. 15. But just consider a couple of verses, 42ff:
(1 Corinthians 15:42-44) “Here’s what the resurrection of the dead will be like. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”
But just as important as transformed bodies are …
Transformed minds. I used to have a world-class memory, but an accident five years ago changed all that. Just as troubling as what I forget is what I remember. I remember wrongs done to me; I remember sinful images I have seen and wish I hadn’t. I remember my failures and stew about them. But in heaven this mind will be transformed, according to 1 Cor. 13:12: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known.”
Transformed environment and society. The age-old argument between nature and nurture will never be resolved, but it’s obvious that the environment in which we live is not a godly one, nor is it an asset to godliness. But Jesus challenges us in Matt. 6:20 to “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.”
In addition to a total transformation of all that is earthly, in heaven we will see…
Total justice and righteousness. “Life isn’t fair.” If I heard that once from my parents, I heard it a thousand times. If I’ve said it once to my own children, I’ve said it 10,000 times. Life is not fair. We get terribly exercised about the many times when we have been short-changed, passed over, mistreated, neglected, and downright cheated. In our hearts we have an innate longing for fairness. In heaven we’ll experience it. 2 Peter 3:13 calls the new heaven and new earth “the home of righteousness.” It will be righteous and just and fair because its inhabitants will be righteous, and its King will be righteous.
Total joy and happiness. In His Upper Room Discourse Jesus predicted as much, saying to His confused disciples, who were already grieving over the imminent loss of His presence with them, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (John 16:22) Some people I know seem almost afraid to be happy. If they relax and take in the joy of being alive, they fear someone may disappoint them and their hopes will once again be dashed, so they prefer to be miserable. That will never happen in glory. The joy will be lasting.
Something else that will be present in heaven is …
Perfect rest (but without laziness). Do you ever suffer from insomnia? Do you experience exhaustion, no matter how much sleep you’ve had? In heaven there will be perfect rest. Listen to Heb. 4:9-11: “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest.” And in Rev. 14:13 we read these words: “And I heard a voice from Heaven, saying, ‘Write, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.’”
In a couple of weeks we’ll be talking about the occupations of the inhabitants of heaven, and we’ll learn that redeemed saints are anything but idle. Their work, however, will be satisfying, not exhausting.
Total beauty and infinite value. The description we are given of the Heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, in Rev. 21 and 22 is almost more than we can assimilate. Its streets, its gates, is foundation, its size, its materials are all painted in the most amazing terms possible. I haven’t focused much on the streets of gold or the pearly gates, because frankly I’m not sure they are literal. I don’t want to shock anyone, but I’m not certain whether such terms are meant to be interpreted literally or figuratively. What John is trying to do is to express in finite human language the infinite splendor that is heaven. In his culture, streets of gold may be the best he could do. But let me assure you, if there aren’t literal streets of gold, it’s going to be even better.
But the single most important characteristic of heaven is its …
Complete Christlikeness and Christ-centeredness. In fact, Heaven and the person of Christ are tied together at every point in the Scriptures. Christ was an inhabitant of Heaven before His incarnation. At the time of His first advent He came down from Heaven. He ascended back into Heaven after His death and resurrection. He presently resides in Heaven at His Father’s right hand, serving as our advocate and intercessor. And of course, He will someday return from heaven in the same manner that His disciples saw Him go into heaven.
Jesus will also be the focal point of the New Jerusalem. In Rev. 22:3, 4 we read that “the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” The wicked will bear the mark of the beast, but we will have the mark of the Savior.
Friends, when your child is full of fear, what does he want most? Does he want an explanation as to why his fear is ungrounded? Does he want to know the door is locked? Does he want soothing music? No, what he wants most is his mom. If mom is there, the fear is gone. That is why Jesus comforts His disciples in John 14 with the words, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me.” That says it all.
Now obviously I have not left much time this morning to discuss what hell is like. There’s a reason for that. The Bible does not have nearly as much to say about the physical description of hell. That is probably why Dante felt compelled to fill in the blanks. Most of what the Bible has to say about hell is a warning against ending up there, rather than what one might call “geographical landmarks.“ But we are not without some information.
One can say without any fear of contradiction that …
Hell is a sad and lonely place.
Like heaven, hell is an actual place, not just a state of mind. It is …
A place of punishment and conscious torment. This, of course, is the most difficult issue for the modern mind to accept, but there is no other way to read the Bible. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, Jesus says of the rich man in verse 23, “In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’“
Torment and agony are terms that are frequently used in descriptions of hell. Some of the passages we read last week spoke of weeping and gnashing of teeth, a lake of fire, and outer darkness. There will be pangs of conscience, anguish, and despair.
Now the very fact that a lake of fire and darkness are contradictory images, at least to our experience, should tell us that the point of these terms is probably not to give us a literal physical description of hell. Fire, as we know it, produces light, so how can the lake of fire be a place of outer darkness? I personally do not think we should overly emphasize the imagery of hell any more than we do on the imagery of heaven. It’s not the streets of gold that make heaven so attractive–it’s the presence of Jesus. And it is not the lake of fire that makes hell so hideous–it’s separation from God for all of eternity. But the symbols must mean something, and I don’t see how one can read anything in the symbols other than the fact that hell is a place of punishment and conscious torment.
A place of separation. Imagine one minute after you die finally coming to the realization that you have failed forever to fulfill the very reason for which you were created–to know God and to enjoy Him forever. That is how the Scriptures paint the state of the unbeliever. In 2 Thessalonians 1 Paul is trying to comfort those who are experiencing terrible persecution for their faith, and he writes,
“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.”
It’s that phrase, “shut out from the presence of the Lord” that fascinates me. The unsaved will finally realize that God is exactly Who He said He was all the time–a righteous, holy God full of goodness, mercy, and justice–but they will be shut off from all communication with Him, all fellowship with Him, and all joy with Him for all of eternity. That may be the worst thing about hell.
A place of regret. Not infrequently I hear people say jokingly that they’re looking forward to hell because all their friends will be there. Their friends may be there, alright, but there will be no fun, no laughing, no getting drunk together, no horsing around–only regret. It has been said that full and uninhibited employment of our creative capabilities is the essence of happiness, while the possession of capabilities that one is barred from using is the essence of misery. Calvin Linton writes,
“The victim of a stroke who continues to possess consciousness without the capability of expressing it in word, motive or response is properly the object of our intense compassion. To multiply the anguish of such a condition by the knowledge that it exists only as the consequence of one’s own determined, implacable choice, and then to add to that the element of eternity, is to see the true disaster that hell is.”[iii]
A place of easy access but no exit. Entering hell is easy enough. A person doesn’t even have to do anything uniquely wicked–just what he’s always done, that is, pursue life without regard to the claims of Jesus Christ. That’s why Jesus warned His listeners in the Sermon on the Mount about the easy access: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
Once a person experiences death without Christ, all hope is lost. Hebrews 9:27 says that “man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” If you have put your hope in reincarnation or purgatory or a second chance, or if you are somehow thinking God is going to make a special provision for you, you are leaning on a broken reed. God already made special provision for you when He sent His Son to Calvary, and if you refuse to bow the knee to Him now in worship, you will someday bow in utter defeat.
Friends, I don’t know much about the furniture of heaven or the temperature of hell, to quote Reinhold Niebuhr’s rather sarcastic words from last Sunday. But from just what we have seen today, all of us should be greatly motivated to make sure our eternal destination is heaven and not hell. You can be sure. In John 5:24 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” Have you crossed over?
DATE: November 8, 1998
Tags:
Heaven
Hell
Torment
Regret
[i] Heaven is certainly out of this world in terms of the “world system,” but I am not sure it won’t be located, at least in part, on this planet we call earth. The Scriptures speak of a “new heaven” and a “new earth,” which undoubtedly implies a reversal of the curse that sin brought into our world.
[ii] Erwin Lutzer, One Minute After You Die, 91-94.
[iii] Citation lost.