Reality of heaven and the hazardous path to it Part 1

(GB Message)

Before commencing the series of lectures on this subject, I would like to advise you to honestly introspect and see how prepared you are to enter into God’s heavenly kingdom. This self-examination is essential in order to understand these lectures and derive maximum benefit.

The first step is to see how controlled are your earthbound affections.

The next important step is to carefully examine and see how you are affected or influenced by the following:

The terror of death: People from denominational church backgrounds have developed in them dreadful thoughts about heaven due to association of thoughts with funeral houses. In such churches, only during funeral times they talk about heaven. When I went to visit my dying sister, my daughter or son-in-law suggested that we sing a song about heaven. A Pentecostal pastor who was also present, felt that it was too soon to sing such a song, and suggested another song to sing. We, in this church have overcome such a feeling considerably. Nevertheless that association of thought is not that easy to erase from the mind of many. I hope this series of talks will help many to overcome such gloomy thoughts altogether.

The magnitude of earthly affections and the power wielded by the prince of this the earth: The earth is the residence of Satan as he is its prince with so many non-christians treat him as their gods and goddesses. This earth and everything in it is full of his dirty influence and power.

That is why we have the warning, “For all that it is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world”, 1 Jn 2: 16.

Another command to note is found in the preceding verse “Do not love the world, or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him”, 1 Jn 2: 15.

Besides these verses, here is a great announcement by God, “And the world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God abides for ever. Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour”, 1 Jn 2: 17-18.

The earth and everything in it are anti forces, against the interests of the true believers. Satan is also the author of the prosperity gospel, preached by well-known preachers like Dhinakaran and Hinn. The followers of that gospel are often prosperous, truly blessed by Satan. Sooner or later this heaven will turn to be hell to them. Let us never, never aspire for such prosperity.

The devil, a hungry roaring lion seeking to devour stray believers: In the light of the following verse we can see the precarious situation of true believers surviving in this earth.

“And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world… woe to the earth and the sea; because the devil has come down to you having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time”, Rev 12: 9, 12.

Does the Bible not also teach in Mat 16:18 that the gates of Hades cannot prevail over the church? If this be the case, why then, you may wonder, is the individual saint so vulnerable to satanic attack. An individual saint is vulnerable to satanic attack as long as he stays an individual saint. He gains formidable strength when he comes in close association with an anointed church. That is why the command “Not forsaking our own assembling… all the more as you see the day drawing near”, Heb 10: 25. Satan does not like to see saints in close association with the church.

We shall do well to weigh them carefully and consider how they can be overcome. Engrossed as we are in matters of this earth (some too much so, some moderately so, few very lightly so), it is difficult to discern this fact. An example from travelling with heavy luggage may make this point clearer.

In India we have porters in railway stations to carry our luggage. Not so in western countries. Nearly 50 years ago, I embarked from a ship with all my luggage and had to catch a train to London. I had to use an overbridge to reach the platform on the other side of the track to catch a London-bound train. I had something like three heavy suitcases and several other very heavy bags. I managed to hook them all to my shoulders, neck and arms and hands. The fifty odd steps up, and the same number down, are etched indelibly in my memory, for it took ages to move from one painful step to another.

In the mean time I missed several trains, each stopping for 15 seconds or so. At long last I reached the platform. A train pulled into the station. I knew that I had very little time to board and hurried to transfer my luggage to train. Scarcely had managed to put all my luggage onto the train, the whistle blew. I found that I could not lift my feet to board; I was far too exhausted; the train began to move. Helplessly I threw myself prostrate on to the floor of the train and then crawled in. Two men in a compartment kindly pulled me up. That was the blessing my beloved luggage offered me, suitcases and bags that I had so lovingly packed and brought with me all the way from Tambaram in Madras!

Today I am reminded of the first verse of Hymn No. 28 in our Tamil hymnal that ends with the thought: ‘In order that your spirit may ascend to heaven smoothly, jettison your heavy load of goods.’ Sooner or later we will all have to leave this earth. It is high time that we started seriously pondering over these matters, and preparing ourselves, before it is too late.

Materialism is not a problem for secular people. Their motto is ‘Hoard material things using whatever means–cash, credit card, etc. and eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ Unfortunately, when they do die, Satan will be awaiting their coming to accord a welcome to the lake of fire.

We can’t be sure if Christians are entirely free from the tendency of materialism. Instead of setting their affections on things above, a large number of them tend to attach themselves to the things of this earth. It is not too easy to discern between materialism and the minimum essential things needful to exist in this earth. This is therefore a fertile area for Satan to cause a wedge for believers to inculcate wrong attitudes and gradually cause to become materialistic. This is a difficult hurdle that we have to overcome. It is all too easy to become absorbed in temporal things and neglect what is eternal. We do want to curtail our spending and live simply, but our circumstances give us very little time and energy to spend on godly pursuits and cause unexpected expenditure too. We have discussed our helplessness many times; true as this is, we have to seriously introspect and ensure that we have systematically raised our hue and cry unto God.

But during this series of meditations I wish to concentrate on explaining the surpassing glory of heaven and its eternity, comparing it to the wretched life in which we must live with much involvement. Let us remember what we learn, never losing sight of them in our day-to-day lives with all our work, anxieties, and responsibilities.

Many are absorbed in preparing for the future, and saving for a rainy day. This does have its place and is not totally unnecessary. Nevertheless, it will be useful to remember that all these things will totally perish and they lack any lasting value whatsoever. Along with this fact, we have to consider God’s advice in this matter one by one. Each one is expected to consider (with the help of the Holy Spirit) together with one’s own conscience and take decisions appropriately.

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth”, Col 3: 2. This may be a very common and familiar verse. The problem about it with regard to the question of honest interpretation. Only the Holy Spirit can guide us individually and appropriately. Those who advocate the prosperity gospel would certainly interpret it in their own way. Blessed are those who can weigh it dispassionately and strictly under the guidance of the word of God, not forgetting to seek the help of the Holy Spirit.

In this series, let us first carefully, and objectively, consider what the Bible means by this verse, without mixing individual situations, and then seek God’s assistance for help in managing individual problems arising out of it. Rather than being in tune with and conforming to the word of God we are tempted to mould the word of God to fit our individual peculiar problems. Such a step may have fatal consequences spiritually.

Many godly men feel that the church does not really have heaven on its mind. On the other hand it tends to be self-indulgent, self-centered, weak and materialistic. Our problems, circumstantial or of our own making, consume too much of our thoughts, and if we are not careful, we will tend to base our concept of heaven on our own fancy and not on the word of God, or we may avoid thinking about heaven altogether. In this series, I have proposed to discuss heaven and the afterlife based purely on the Bible. I hope it will inspire you just the same way it has inspired me to seek the things which are above. I am grateful to Lord Jesus for these thoughts. I am also thankful to John MacArthur who has motivated me to undertake this study.

I believe, rather strongly and firmly, that every Bible-based thought and fact about heaven is truly precious to the Elect.