Heaven 1 Regrets And Rewards Series

Heaven 1 Remorse and Rewards

- Read Revelation 21:1-7

Driving to Memphis and back, the Lord gave me a number of points about heaven I believe He wants me to cover. Funny, I don’t usually alliterate, but almost all of the points He gave me at the time begin with the letter R, and this morning I would like to cover 2 of those R’s with you.

First, verse 4 of the passage before us this morning says that God will wipe away all of their tears.

Can you imagine? A time when there will be no more tears?  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

He will wipe away our tears, the tears caused by death. The tears caused by grief. What a joyous time that will be when He wins away every tear. I’m looking forward to that time. I’m looking forward to that day, when our heavenly Father wipes away all of our tears. Oh, but between now and then, before He wipes away those tears, there will be some events which cause our tears to flow in the first place, and one of the reasons I believe He will need to wipe away our tears, is because between now and then there is going to be a time of regret. There is going to be a time of remorse.

Some people have the mistaken idea that when we get to heaven that everyone will be the same. That heaven will be some kind of communist utopia where everyone is the same and everyone has the same thing, and everyone functions just the same. Nothing could further from the truth.

Do you remember when John the Baptist was arrested and imprisoned? Not very long before he was beheaded, John sent a couple of messengers to Jesus to ask if He was the One to come or if he should look for someone else?

Jesus responded by praising John the Baptist. Jesus talked about what a great guy he was, and then Jesus said, in verse 28, “I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John, but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

He who is least in the kingdom of God. Evidently, in heaven, we will not all be the same. We will have different responsibilities. We will have different rewards, which I will cover in a few minutes, but we will also have different regrets, which cause us to cry in the first place, which cause tears the Father will have to wipe away.

Turn with me please to the book of Romans. Romans chapter. Romans chapter 14 and beginning in verse 10.

- Read Romans 14:10-12

Each of us will give an account of himself to God. Each of us will giver an account of himself to God.

Turn to someone new you and tell him, “You will give an account to God.” Each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Listen my friend. What I am about to say is very important. I want you to understand this very clearly. Are you listening? If you are listening say amen. “What you do in this life is going to affect you for all of eternity. What you do in this life is going to impact you for all eternity.”

How many of you, after finishing school, wished to had paid more attention and learned more? How many of you wish you had made some better financial decisions earlier in your life because of some of the consequences you are having to deal with today?

How many of you wish you had made better decisions about some relationships earlier in your life, because of the impact those relationships and friendships have made on your life?

I believe most of us have some things we wish we could undo or redo because of the impact those decisions have made on us for the remainder of our lives.

What I want you to understand this morning is that, the things you do in this life, and the decisions you make in this life, and the priorities you have in this life are going to follow you all eternity.

There are no do overs. This life, however long or short it may be, is just preparation for what is coming next and the decisions you make right now, the priorities you have every day are going to have an impact on your life for all eternity.

Is heaven going to great? Yes.

> 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 Boasting is necessary. It is not profitable, but I will move on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows. I know that this man—whether in the body or out of the body I don’t know; God knows— was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a human being is not allowed to speak.