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Heaven - Who Shall Enter In?Lesson # 59
Revelation 21:27
The church of God in this world is like the tabernacle in the wilderness. Within, it is lit up with the glory of God’s presence. We are the temple of the living God. God dwells in our midst. God the Holy Spirit resides in the hearts of his people. And the One Person who always attends the assembly of the saints is the Son of God, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Wherever two or three gather in his name, he is present with them (Matt. 18:20). Without, God’s church is guided and protected by the fiery and cloudy pillar of God’s eternal providence. As God led Israel in the wilderness, fed them, protected them, and defended them under the symbol of the fiery and cloudy pillar, so he leads, feeds, protects, and defends his church today. But outwardly, to all outward appearance, the church of God in this world is a common, unattractive, despised thing. Insofar as the nations were concerned the tabernacle was nothing but a crude tent. God was there, but they knew it not. The altar was there, but they had no use for it. The sacrifice of atonement was there, but they despised it. The mercy-seat was there, but they could not see it. All they could see was a poor, homeless people who had no place to worship but a crude tent, and a people who claimed to be the only true worshippers of God in the world. The faithful Jews would not worship at any other altar. They refused to acknowledge as brethren any who would not worship their God. They acknowledged only one way of salvation - Blood Atonement! For these things they were always despised, persecuted, and mocked by the world around them. The tabernacle in the wilderness was, in these ways, a symbol and picture of God’s church in this world. God dwells in his church. Christ Jesus guides and protects his church. But the world, and all the religions of the world, mock and despise the church of God. It will not always be so. There is a day coming when the tables will be turned. In the last day the Lord God will reveal his glory in his church and glorify his church before all the universe (John 17:22-23; Eph. 2:7). In Revelation 21:10-27 John shows us the glorified church of God in the last day. (Read Eph. 5:25-27). Christ loved his church, died to redeem it, sanctifies it, and will perfect and glorify it.
In the last day, the Lord Jesus will present his church, in all the resurrection glory he puts upon her, to the Father’s throne. And all the world shall marvel at his glory and grace revealed in his church. Look at John’s description of her glory. We shall be presented before the throne of God, before the adoring angels, before satan, and before the eyes of the damned as a virgin bride (v. 9), the city of God (vv. 10-11), a walled fortress (v. 12), a great, massive city (vv. 12-17), a perfect, complete city (v. 16), an indescribably wealthy people (vv. 18-21), a perfectly happy, satisfied people (vv. 22-23), and a universally honored, glorious church (vv. 24-26).
The church of God shall be the crowning glory of the new creation in eternity. "As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (I Cor. 2:9). No tongue can tell because no mind can conceive the glory that awaits the church of God in heaven’s eternal bliss. But some will never enter into the glory and bliss of heaven. "And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life." Heaven is an eternal state of perfect holiness into which nothing but perfect holiness can enter.
Here is A Very Solemn Fact - "There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie." Heaven will never be polluted by sin. God almighty is holy, righteous, just, and perfect. That which dwells with him forever must be holy, righteous, just, and perfect. In order for anything, or anyone, to enter heaven it must be perfect. Any lack of absolute, total perfection must forever exclude us from the presence of God. Perfect holiness cannot tolerate anything less than perfect holiness. When sin defiled Eden, Eden was forever destroyed because God will not tolerate sin. His law requires a perfect obedience from man and threatens any lack of perfection with death. And the law requires a perfect sacrifice for atonement. Even God’s own dear Son, when he was defiled with sin, was forsaken by God and slain! God requires perfection. Heaven is a world of perfection. Defilement, abomination, and deceit shall never enter into it. Sin shall never darken the kingdom of light or defile the City Beautiful.
It is not at all a matter of bigotry or harshness to declare that heaven shall never be defiled by sin. It is only a matter of righteousness and justice, to which every rational person must give assent. Everything in heaven, everyone in heaven, and everyone going to heaven is in full agreement with this decree - "There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth." We have seen what sin has done to the world of the angels, the physical world, and our fallen race. We would not see heaven ruined by it. The essence of heaven’s bliss is the total absence of sin in that blessed state. God’s saints are citizens of a land where there is no sin. We are going to an eternal world, where sin shall never be found. One of heaven’s greatest attractions and most cherished glories is total freedom from sin. There we shall enjoy perfect communion with, perfect conformity to and consecration to the Lord Jesus Christ. Should sin be permitted to enter, all would be ruined! Sin would forever disrupt the peace of heaven, destroy the joy of heaven, and defile the beauty of heaven.
This exclusion of sin from heaven is the exclusion of all who are sinners. "There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth." No person who defiles, no fallen spirit, no sinful man can enter the gates of the New Jerusalem. No tendency to sin, no thought of sin, no will to sin, no desire for sin can go to heaven. Were it possible for a sinner to go to heaven, he could never enter into the heavenly state. The essence of heaven is a condition, not a place. It is a condition of worship, holiness, and delight in God. If a sinner could get to the place of heaven, he still could not be in the condition of heaven. He would be out of his element. Heaven would be misery for a sinful man if he should enter it in such a condition.
Our own hearts give full agreement with this exclusion. "There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth." If I might enter into heaven as I am at this moment, as I write these lines, with my sinful heart and nature, it would be a horrible crime for me to do so, for my presence there would defile the city of God. Just as a leper would not and could enter the temple of God, lest he defiled that holy place and all who were there, no sinner shall be allowed to enter heaven. Just as we demand that those with a deadly disease be isolated from healthy society for the sake of the living, God demands that sinners be banished from himself and from his saints in heaven.
This exclusion of sin from heaven is the absolute exclusion of all who defile, make abomination, or make a lie. John is telling us that sinners of every kind must be forever excluded from the Paradise of God. "There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth." No evil thought, words, or deeds shall enter heaven. Those who enter the city of God must be free of these things. If we are defiled, in anyway, by sin, we cannot enter heaven. No unclean thing shall enter the Temple of God (Isa. 52:1). "There shall in no wise enter into it anything that worketh abomination." Abomination in Scripture usually refers to idolatry, the making of idols, the worship of idols, and the service of idols (I Kings 11:4-8). The most abominable thing in this world in the sight of God is false religion, idolatry. If a person’s religion is false, if he worship strange gods, he cannot go to heaven. Should anyone ask, "What is a strange god?" It must be answered, any god who wants to save, but lacks the power to save, any god who sends people he loves to hell, any god whose will is frustrated, whose purpose is defeated, whose power is limited is a strange god. "There shall in no wise enter into it anything that maketh a lie." All false prophets and false teachers, inventors and perpetrators of religious lies shall be damned (I Tim. 4:1-2; II Thess. 2:11-12). That is to say, those who invent and promote the religious lies of free will, works salvation shall be excluded from the paradise of God. "There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie."
In the light of these things, it must be concluded that no human being can, in his natural condition, enter into heaven. All who are without Christ are without hope (Eph. 2:11-13)."Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (I Cor. 15:50).
Without Christ there is no hope of mercy, no blood atonement, no righteousness, no eternal life, and no hope before God. Revelation 21:27 slays forever all hope of self-salvation (Jer. 13:9). Can a sinful man wash away his own sins? Can a dead man give himself life? Can a guilty man make righteousness for himself? If any of us are saved, we must be saved by grace (Eph. 2:80.
Even those who are saved by the grace of God must undergo a great change before we can enter into heaven. Many are of the opinion that God’s saints in this world get riper and riper for heaven in progressive holiness and sanctification until at last they are ready for heaven. But it is not so. Though we are made perfectly righteous before God by righteousness imputed and imparted to us before we can enter into heaven we must drop this robe of flesh in death. And our bodies must be transformed in the resurrection.
Yet, the Holy Spirit gives us a blessed word of hope. I know that nothing evil shall enter heaven, nothing and no one who defiles, works abomination, or makes a lie shall enter heaven. No one has the right to enter by nature. And no one can ever earn the right to enter. But there is hope. God has written a book of election, and all whose names are written in that book shall enter in. No one shall enter into heaven "but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life." I want to know one thing: Is my name written in that book? If it is, all is well. If it is not, I must be forever damned. Is my name written there? I know this, if my name is written there it was written there in eternity (Rev. 13:8) because of a covenant (II Sam. 23:5); and it was written there permanently. The Lamb’s Book of Life is a book of election, a record of redemption, and a promise of life. I take the liberty of writing in the first person because I want all who read these lines to apply what is here written to themselves personally. I am confident that my name is written in that blessed book. Are you? I have this confidence for only one reason. I trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Trusting Christ I have life (John 3:36); and by his grace, I have all that God requires for entrance into heaven (Col. 1:12 - 2:9-10). In Christ I have complete atonement for all my sins (Rom. 5:10). In Christ I have perfect righteousness. He is THE LORD MY RIGHTEOUSNESS. His righteousness is as truly mine as my sin was once his (Jer. 23:6; 33:16; I Cor. 1:30; II Cor. 5:21). In Christ I am assured of a glorious change. When I die, as I soon shall, I shall depart this world of sin to be with Christ in heaven’s world of holiness (II Cor. 5:1-9). And when my Redeemer comes again I shall be in the resurrection of the just because in him I am totally justified before God (John 5:28-29; I Cor. 15:51-58). If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you too shall enter into that glorious state called HEAVEN because, from eternity your name was "written in the Lamb’s book of life" by the very finger of God. God help you to believe!