Will There Be Sergeants In Heaven?
The toughest subjects to talk about are Heaven and eternity. This is because the Bible tells us very little. Actually, it talks more about Hell and money than it does about Heaven.
Why? The Bible is our instruction manual for this life. It teaches us how to know who God is, who we are, why we need a Saviour and how we should live until we die.
It is an eternal book (Matt 24:35), but it deals primarily with temporal issues. What went on in Heaven before Creation is only told us to help us understand who Satan is and what was involved in the creation and fall of man. Other than that what did God do? We have no clue because he did not tell us. We know angels were created at some point and that God has always been and the Trinity has always been one and in constant communion as they made plans for man and all creation.
Foreknowledge and the fact that God is in eternity past and eternity future as we are in today made it possible to formulate a plan of redemption and the ultimate passing away of this Heaven and earth into the new Heaven and earth. These things are very general in their revelation to us. Those who love details are very disappointed in these areas.
Deut 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. (KJV)
From the beginning, the only thing man has ever really wanted is what he cannot have. A plethora of trees in the Garden and what did our first parents just have to do? They had to eat from the one tree they were not supposed to have. God never meant that we should know evil. He was going to let us only experience good if we chose to trust Him with that secret. I sure wish that He could have kept that secret.
Since then humans have always wanted to know the unknown. In some ways, that has been good. We would not be in America and vaccines and other marvelous discoveries would have never been made if someone had not the itch to know something new. However, because we have the ability to desire to know good and evil too many have had the itch to know things God wanted us to be ignorant of forever and we have had much misery and pain because of it.
I say all that to emphasize that when we delve into areas that God has not given us a detailed revelation of we must take care not to speculate wildly or make demands of God to reveal His secrets. At times, He does reveal secrets. (Dan 2:22)
Acts 1:7-8
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (KJV)
At other times as Acts says, He says, "It is none of your business. (Vs. 7) Pay attention to what is your business and I will take care of the rest." (Vs. 8) If we were to do that, we would not have all the bogus date setting for His return and weird leaders taking folks to Garland, TX to meet Him.
When our jobs transfer us to a distant city or country, we have an advantage that we do not have with eternity. We can call the Junior Chamber of Commerce or an embassy and get maps, newspapers, guidebooks etc to help get a picture of where we will live. We can call our future coworker or boss and get a feel for the working atmosphere and clarification of our duties. We can take business language courses and study local customs and attire to make our transition into the new culture easier and faster.
We have an idea of the living conditions in Heaven or do we? Jesus tells us in John 14:2 that we will have a mansion. That word conveys to us a picture of an antebellum plantation or Bill Gates’ multi-million dollar home. The Greek word actually means an abiding or a place to stay. Some have suggested that these are apartments. Some may think them to be sometime like a motel room or a bed and breakfast. The campers among us may have it made. The ancient Hebrews lived in tents. Maybe He has many campsites to pitch our tents like the KOA. Whatever He has will be just wonderful, but I would not be looking for chandeliers and baby grand pianos.
We do know there will be a city, which lends more to the apartment theory, but does not prove it. It will be 12,000 furlongs on each of the walls which means the walls will encompass about 1,500 miles and they will be about 216 feet tall depending on how you reckon a cubit. (Rev 21:16,17) Man and I think Dallas is too big for me. It certainly will not be my dream town of 802.
We are told what the walls, streets and gates are made of and that the light will come from the Son and there will be a river. We know who will live there and who will not. Other than that, we know very little about the layout of the city itself. (Rev 21,22) The book ends with an evangelistic note. You might even call it an altar call. Then eternity starts and we have no clue what is going to happen.
Much of what we think about eternity comes from what we are now. We project the good things of life into what we will do in eternity. We think of meeting family members in Heaven and having family units. "The circle won’t be broken," we sing. Yet, we cannot have the same relationships because some circles will be broken. How can you have a family unit if important people in the family are not there? This would cause sorrow and we know there will be none. We will be one big family.
Christ said we would be like the angels and "neither marry, nor are given in marriage." (Matt 22:30) The issue was what if a woman had seven husbands in this life whose wife would she be. The Sadducees doubted the resurrection, but it is a good question even for those who believe in the resurrection. How would that work if we maintained something like an earthly family unit? There is no need for reproduction since there is no death. Therefore, there is no sex. That just bummed a few folks. One of the things that we find very important in this life is missing in eternity. Intimacy will be on a spiritual level and to such a wonderful degree that even the perfect sex life that Adam and Eve had before the fall would seem dismal and drab.
Will we be genderless? I have no clue. It would make sense to not have the reproductive organs if we are not going to reproduce. We will be perfected "us." So, if I am an imperfect male now, I expect to be a perfect male then and my wife a perfect female though we will no longer act in those roles. Angels always appear as males, but they are spirits and have no bodies. We will have bodies so we could look male and female. We just do not know. Will we all have bodies that look like a 33 year-old, which is when Christ died? We do not know.
I believe that we will still know our loved ones, but in a different way. Peter, James, and John knew Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. (Matt 17:1-4) That is pretty wild since Moses died and Elijah took that fantastic chariot ride long before these disciples were even a gleam in their Daddy’s eye. It is a reasonable assumption that we will know folks that we shared our lives with if they recognized men they never knew. However, it is a new life and a whole different world where relationships are not going to be the same.
This finally brings us to ranks or degrees. Again, this is how we think because this is how we are in this life. We all have our spot on the pecking order. Skill, degrees, or family of birth can dictate where we fall into that order. Some things we can change and maybe move up in the order, but others we cannot and that may limit our final place or highest rung on the ladder of success. Some folks enjoy wealth and others endure poverty. Some go down in history and others into oblivion. We even rank sins big and small or mortal and venial. Will some of us be generals and some privates? Will I belong to the NCO Association of Heaven? Will I get a battle field promotion to the officer ranks or be busted to private for eternity?
How about that mansion we are promised? Will I get one with lots of real estate or a smaller one on the other side of Heaven’s tracks? Maybe I will have to be a street sweeper the rest of eternity instead of being on the planning committee with the Apostles, R. G. Lee, or Billy Graham. Or maybe we do all jist sit ’round on the clouds playing harps and a singin’ fer eternity and I never get to sing melody and play 10 to the 400th power chair in the harp orchestra. First through twenty-fourth chairs go to the Jacob’s sons and the Apostles. If so, will I care and will everybody else look down his or her noses at me? Will I wear a scarlet D for Dummy (or Divorced) forever?
I do not think we really know and can not be dogmatic. I do believe in degrees of punishment in Hell. These folks are not forgiven, redeemed, nor conformed to the image of Christ. Everything about these folks is related to their works. They are getting their paychecks according to Rom 6:23. Some will get larger paychecks then others. They are appointed to wrath and judgment. We are not. All things will be passed away for us. They will remember everything and still have their old natures and everything that goes with it.
They are like their Father the Devil. The Devil will be cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years. (Rev 20:1-3) He will be bound but nothing changes about Him. He still thinks He can overthrow Christ when He is released a thousand years later. (Rev 20:7-11) Lost people will be bound for eternity, but there is no change in their heart. There cannot be since that takes conversion and the Holy Spirit’s influence in their lives.
We will not remember anything about this life. It will be gone forever. (Rev 21:3-5) We are to be conformed to the image of Christ. The only rank we definitely know is that we will outrank the angels though we were made a little lower than they were and that God is supreme. (Hebrews 2)
There are two schools of thought on this. Some definitely see that we will be placed in Heaven based upon our rewards and some of us will have a greater time in Heaven than the rest of us, but at least we are not in Hell. They use many passages in the Gospels to verify their point. The parable of the talents (Matt 25) and Luke 14:46-48 speaks of receiving few or greater stripes when the Lord shows up based upon knowledge and obedience are just a couple of them. Some that are used in the epistles I feel really pertain to this life and not necessarily related to our eternal state. (I Cor 3:8; II Cor 9:6)
This fits with our understanding of things in this life. If this is accurate, the way we achieve that rank or rewards is far different than what we are accustomed to here.
Mark 9:35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. (KJV)
Matt 10:41-42
41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. (KJV)
Jesus says in Mark that if you really what to be first then become last. You want to lead then become servants. Certainly not the way we understand the path to success. To do more for ourselves we are to do less for ourselves and do more for others.
He tells us in Matthew that different acts can receive the same rewards. We all expect a prophet and a righteous man to get rewards. They do big things for God. However, if I receive or welcome a prophet or a righteous man because of who they are, I get the same reward as them. Excuse me? That is truly unthinkable in our concept of things. He who does the most work best gets the biggest rewards. Not in the Kingdom of Heaven! Reward is pay and I get the same pay as the prophet just by respect, a meal, or some sort of support.
Even a cup of cold water to "little ones" because they are disciples gains a reward that cannot be lost. We often think the little ones here are children, but the word connotes one small not necessarily in size, but also in dignity. I think we have to go back to 9:36 to see who the little ones are He is describing. You and I fit into the multitudes. As far as the world sees us, we are little ones. We do not have much dignity as they count it. We have no wealth, power, or position. We may not have the ministry of a prophet or righteous man, but we are important to Christ.
I believe He was making sure that Christians did not just tend to the prophets. If someone gives us a cup of cold water or refreshes us in some way, they will receive a reward that they will not lose. When Peter was restored in John 21, who was he to feed? The very first ones were the lambs or the little ones. The big sheep came second. Feel like a little lamb? It is okay, cuz you are special to Him! Want a sure reward? Go refresh a lamb.
If we are going to be ranked according to our works, there are going to be some really high ranking folks that thought they were privates. Some folks who maybe thought they were far up the chain of command may only be privates or corporals. Some pastors and deacons are going to be really shocked when they see a poor old lady who prayed for missionaries and helped her elderly Christian neighbors wearing the same rank as them.
I am not dogmatic at this point, but I believe that most of the verses used by this school of thought may pertain to the Jews and our role in the millennial kingdom. Unbelieving Jews will answer to the Lord they rejected. All believers will reign with Christ during that time and there we will have cities to rule over and things to control. In eternity, as far as we know there is only one city. Wealth is meaningless. We will all sit at the Bema and receive rewards, stripes/suffer loss and possibly saved as by fire. (I Cor 3:11-15) That happens before the Millennium. After that, none of it may remain relevant.
The other school of thought on this is that since we are joint-heirs with Christ where do you get the difference in rank or glory? As we said, all things of this life are to be forgotten. How can we be any happier than anyone else can? We will all be in the same Heaven and have access to all the Son has. Where is the difference in glory? The only ones that may be different are the ones spoken of in Daniel.
Dan 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. (KJV)
They will have a different appearance, maybe. Will they have rank or more wealth or happiness than anyone else will? I do not think so. I am not sure that it is possible. There is no sorrow or remembrance of the former life so what would I have to be more or less happy than anyone else in glory? If I have access to everything, what would I lack?
Will there be order? Yes, God is a God of order. Will we each have different tasks? Yes. Will any of them be demeaning, degrading, or have less value? I do not believe so.
How will we be ordered? It is possible that the gifts we are given here are not only skills needed to complete the Body here. (Eph 4:11-13) They may also be embryos for what we will be in glory. We do not know. We may be ordered according to our perfected/glorified gifts. I have no clue what a preacher would do in eternity since there will be nothing left to proclaim and no one left to proclaim it to. Guess we will get some modifications or other gifts.
1 Cor 2:9 But 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. (KJV)
We are back at the beginning. God has not made it perfectly clear how things are going to be in eternity. We cannot comprehend what it will be like. If I am a private and y’all are generals, there will be no envy or anger over our position. No part of the body here is less needed. (I Cor 12) Will any part of Christ be any less valued or needed there? I think not.
All the things we think about here will mean nothing to us there. We will not only get glorified bodies, but hearts and desires as well. Like the song says, "It don’t matter at all where you played before. California is a brand new game." It won’t matter at all what we thought before. Eternity is a brand new game.
Whether you believe there will be sergeants in Heaven or that we will all be equals it does not matter. The Westminster Confessions says that the "chief end of man is to love God and serve Him forever." In whatever manner that is accomplished in eternity is unimportant.
What is important is that we get plenty of practice doing both here so that we can influence lives and "turn many to righteousness" and add to that eternal clan. God will take care of the sweet by and by. He wants to use us in the nasty now and now. If you are obedient and fruitful here you will be more than rewarded here and you cannot lose no matter whatever eternity holds. Go! Serve! Win!
