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SUBJECT: Heaven and Hell

I have no sermon tonight, but a meditation on worlds eternal. When we think about heaven and hell, we're prone to imagine worlds vastly different from our own.

They are different, of course. The horrors of this life do not compare to those of hell; the joys of heaven are much greater than any we've yet experienced.

The differences, however, are ones of degree, not of kind. Deep in his soul, the sinner feels the pangs of hell now. Believers sing

"Oh what a foretaste

of glory Divine".

Heaven and hell, in short, are but culminations of this world. The life we now have shall one day be perfected. The death others die daily, will then be complete. Let me explain.

It is the Lake of Fire, Chains of Darkness, and the Second Death. Terrible images, to be sure. But what do they signify? Three things come to mind:

Impenitence. The punishments of hell have no sanctifying effect on the sinner. Under frightful judgments, he "[does] not repent of [his] murders, sorceries, fornication, or theft". The tormenting lusts he knew in this life will not be relieved; they must haunt him forever. Think of an eternal itch, blood raw, but itching more with every scratch. "Evil men will wax worse and worse..."

Separation. Man was not made to live alone; it is his nature to seek company. Unable to find it, he becomes desperate, insane, suicidal. Think of the loneliest moments of your life--how awful they were! And yet, what is hell, but eternal loneliness? Full to overflow, it offers no fellowship to its inmates, but an alienation we cannot fathom. "Depart from Me!" are words no one can bear.

Wrath. The anger of God makes a strong man shudder. It brought the mightiest kings low; it reduced great cities to ashes; it ground Empires to fine dust. "Come behold the works of the LORD, what desolations He has made in the earth". Yes He has, but "The great day of His wrath...has not yet..."come". When it does, "Who shall be able to stand?" No one! The proudest heart will melt before His "consuming fire".

This is hell. Impenitence, alienation, wrath. Each of which the unbeliever now suffers in part. At times, he feels guilty and resolves to do better, but he does not. "The sow, having been washed, returns to wallowing in her mire". The cycle goes on and on, till he gives up hope and feels his heart harden into stone. He doesn't know the verse, but he confirms its truth: "The carnal mind is not subject to the Law of God, nether indeed can it be..."

His sin separates Him from God, himself, and others. He lives "without God and without hope in the world". Like the believer, he too is a "stranger and a pilgrim", but, unlike the Christian, he doesn't know where he's going. At home, he's not at home. Although he longs to go home, he chooses the paths that cannot lead there. Like a small child, lost in a huge store, the sinner feels a terror no words can properly communicate.

As for God's wrath, the sinner is under it now. "He who does not believe is condemned already...the wrath of God abides on him".

And so: In one sense, the unbeliever is going to hell; in another, he's already there!

Heaven is life. "God shall wipe away every tear...and there shall be no more death...for the former things have passed away". In the resurrection of Christ, death was dealt a mighty blow. But, though staggered, it's not quite beaten; "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death". Thus it has no "sting"; the grave no "victory". Life! Glorious life awaits us in heaven!

But it's not a new life, is it? It is the very life we have now in Christ! The life that awaits us in glory is the very same life we entered at our conversions.

Heaven is holiness. "Outside [heaven] are dogs, sorcerers, fornicators, murderers, idolaters, and whoever loves and makes a lie". Within its walls are saints--holy people--"washed in the blood of the Lamb" and renewed by the Holy Spirit. What holiness awaits the believer in heaven!

But again, the holiness we will then enjoy is not something different than what we now have. It's better, but not something else. We love we now feel for Christ, will then be perfected; our hate for sin, will then be absolute; our obedience will then be complete; our worship will then be full.

Heaven is fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. "And they shall see His face". Our eyes will be re-created and enabled to look upon that Blessed Face for the first time. But it won't be a stranger we're gazing upon, will it? It will be "This same Jesus". The One we met in this life; the one with Whom we had fellowship.

And so: In one sense, the believer is going to heaven; in another, he's already there!

Thus, the worlds to come are similar to ours; they're related to it in the same way that a fruit is related to a blossom or an adult to a child. In other words, those who chose sin and misery now will one day have their choice confirmed.

Those who seek the Lord now, will one day have "the desires of their hearts" fully met.

Let us pity the sinner more than we do. The life he has chosen will not only "land him in hell", it has put him there already. "There is no peace, says My God, to the wicked". As Jude says, we ought to be "pulling them out of the fire".

Let us never--ever--envy the wicked. The joys of his life are not real; he won't admit that, but he knows they're not. They are but fires burning in his heart and worms eating away at his soul.

Let us enjoy heaven now. Everything heaven promises, we now have in Jesus Christ. We have fellowship with God now; we have joy now; we have peace now! We have "the earnest of our inheritance".

Let us look forward to heaven when it comes. For the joys we now have in part, we'll then have in full.