Where’s Uncle Waldo?
Christopher Love once wrote, “When a mortal man speaks of that
eternal blessedness of the Saints in glory, he is like a blind man discoursing
about light which he has never seen, and so cannot distinctly speak anything
concerning it.”
To describe heaven and heavenly things would also be like an
attempt to describe a land where you have never been, but rely upon book
knowledge of the landscape, customs, rulers, etc.
This message is both of the preceding: it is about God’s divine perfection
in heaven brought down to illustrate our need on the earth. It is described by one who has no
experiential knowledge of the theme--only book knowledge taken from God’s Word.
The apology is for using a very small section of the book or
Revelation in order to give an extended illustration which, would likely not be
a part of our concerns in heaven--although, it is how many people picture
heaven. It shows more of how earthly
minded we really are, when we should be heavenly minded.
The primary passage we will consider amid our extended
illustration, speaks primarily of life in the new heavens and the new
earth. It is from Rev 21 and mentions
those two places. However, we find the
language of the verse held out as a comfort to God’s people in other places as
they long for a land wherein these things are to be found. The passage speaks of the New Heavens and the
New Earth, however, I believe the four main points in Rev 21 are found in the
experience of those in heaven in this age as well. There are many places in the
Old and New Testament where we could go to prove this. Isaiah 25:8 is one passage to be considered
in this context. “He will swallow up
death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke
of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.”
The major difference between being in heaven in this age and being
in the New Heavens and the New Earth in the age to come is this, believers in
this age in heaven are disembodied souls waiting for the redemption of their
bodies. They are like Elijah and Moses at the transfiguration. In the New
Heavens and the New Earth, believers will be fully glorified, the body will be
reunited to the soul to live in God’s glorious presence forever.
When we speak of Divine Perfection, we mean that God is complete
and perfect in himself. That what he
says is true and that what he does is just.
Whether we like what he says or does is another matter. But, we are creatures, he is the blessed
Creator. He is the Sovereign Ruler we
are but subjects. Moses declares to
God’s people, Deut. 32:4 He is the
Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and
without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.
We forget these basics about God and his character. All I intend to do this afternoon is to
remind you of God’s character and glory by applying these basic principles to
us. The aim is two fold: 1. To entice
you to be more heavenly minded as you live on the earth. 2. To give you a means
of comfort--no matter what may come.
Have you ever looked at one of those books intended to give joy to
children and frustration to adults, I mean, the where’s Waldo books?
On each set of pages their are an innumerable host of comical
characters doing everything from riding bikes to baking cakes, and somewhere in
the middle of all this is a man, with a long face, black-rimmed glasses, a red
and white striped shirt and a smile, that you are to find—he is Waldo.
Once, when I worked at Ligonier Ministries, I was helping to put
together an issue of TableTalk magazine on heaven. We wanted to have a
fictional piece about someone going to heaven and their experiences—as if the
words of mere humans could capture the glory of it all. But my suggestion was a
little different. I wanted to have someone write a piece about a little girl,
named Sara, who died, went to heaven and among all of the other wondrous things
and inhabitants, looks for her favorite Uncle, named Waldo.
The editorial staff looked at me in a weird way as if I had just lost
my mind, denied the faith, spoken heresy, accused them all of some gross
transgression, or something. They just sat there with the wheels turning. So I
continued.
Grabbing my Bible, I searched for Rev 21:4, where John was
receiving revelation about the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, as part of the New
Heavens and New Earth coming down out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. The glorious picture of what God has prepared for his own. In
verse 3, John heard a loud voice as part of this vision which said, Behold, the tabernacle [or dwelling place or
presence] of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be
his people , and God himself will be with them and be their God. Then John
goes on to see a microcosm of the work of God on his own as God makes all
things new. Verse 4 says, "And God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall
be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
Notice four things about our experience in the new Heavens and the
new earth, and as I said before, heaven at present, as we dwell with God and he
dwells with us:
1) No reason for tears
2) No more death and decay
3) No reason for sorrow, depression, or crying
4) No more causes of pain
Four elements that define much of life here on earth will be
completely absent in glory. There is much more to say about heaven, but let
these four suffice for now.
1) Even the best of friends, family and people at times give us
reason for tears. I get choked up more now than ever before.
2) Every day we experience the natural decay of our bodies and
inch closer to eventual death. I could eleborate elequently on this to nobody’s
edification.
3) We all get caught up with looking at life with eyes of this
world and we wonder how can so-and-so do that. Or we are amazed at the
wickedness in society around us or the apathy and complacency of Christians
about matters of soul and we find ourselves downcast. Among other things, we
experience things that bring sorrow, depression and crying into this veil of
tears.
4) Lastly, almost daily, if not hourly, there is something to
bring us various kinds of pain: Physical, emotional, even spiritual aches.
There are joys to life as we know it too. But they are often
swallowed up in grief. It is the universal experience of the godly. Even in Isa
53:3, as the prophet foretells of the suffering and glories of the Messiah it
is said that He too would be acquainted with grief. Our Lord Jesus Christ lived
like one of us. Tempted in all points, feeling our struggles, yet there is one
important difference, he was without sin--but, not without grief.
These four basic attitudes and actions will be absent and not
missed in heaven. They will be outside of the possible experiences of those God
redeems.
But by negation and inference we know the rest of the story. If
there will be no tears, death, sorrow or sickness, there will be whatever is
opposite to them.
What a glorious thought:
1) No reason for tears—there will be Joy and rejoicing
2) No more death and decay—regenerated life and full restoration
3) No reason for sorrow, depression, or crying—utter exaltation
4) No more causes of pain—glorified bodies, sanctified minds.
But what of that story about Sara and Uncle Waldo?
Everyone else in the editorial meeting still had these dazed looks
on their faces as I alone was getting excited about heaven. This is the story I
suggested to make a point often missed about the glory of heaven and the
glorification of those who dwell therein.
Uncle Waldo was very special to Sara. He would read her stories,
spend time with her, he was the only man who ever played dolls with her. And,
to a little girl that is very special. He was “the best” man in the world to
little Sara. He was very special. He lived with Sara’s family, because uncle
Waldo’s brother was Sara’s Daddy.
Sara’s parents brought her to church each week. It was a Reformed
Baptist Church so you know she heard the gospel, she realized that she, though
only a child, was guilty of sinning against a holy God. Aware of her sin as
never before, she found herself with the strange desire to trust that Jesus
alone could bring save her from sin in this life and bring her into fellowship
with God. She found herself strangely different in how she thought and what she
desired.
She became quite a different little girl concerned about others,
herself, and the things of God. Others noticed this transformation. But she
still loved Uncle Waldo. She would tell him about the stories in her Bible and
what Jesus did and who he was. Uncle Waldo just didn’t listen like he did to
other stories and he wasn’t as interested as when they engaged her other
childhood adventures.
On Saturday, Uncle Waldo was taken to the hospital in an
ambulance. This frightened little Sara very much. She prayed for Uncle Waldo,
when she was supposed to be sleeping. It was one of those times when she
thought the covert use of a flashlight under the covers was justified. On Sunday, at church, she asked every one she
knew to pray. She was so concerned for this special friend.
On Monday morning she finally heard the news that Uncle Waldo had
died. Sara told her Dad that she understood that it was right because God
“can’t do no wrong.” Sara missed Waldo but comforted her Dad. On Wednesday, the
entire family went through the funeral arrangements and the service where the
preacher from Uncle Waldo’s old church said wonderful things about Sara’s
beloved Uncle.
Sara thought of him often and missed his gentle and loving way.
Over the course of the next year, Sara adjusted well, as she realized more and
more about her Savior. And even in her youth she saw that what God does is
always right, no matter how hard it is for us to understand and he has spoken
the truth about all sorts of things.
Sara’s hope was in the Living God—growing and growing each day.
Sara was a joy to her parents, a blessing at church, a testimony
to her relatives (that put her parents to shame) and a little girl who was
growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many at church
were convicted by seeing her resolve—as a kid.
But Sara got sick. The affliction consumed her body, while her
spirit remained utterly committed to Christ, her body was racked with torment.
She died after only a few weeks. Her family mourned, her young friends didn’t
understand. Her funeral was a sober celebration of her life and entrance into
heaven. Earthly tears, but heavenly joys knowing that this little girl who had
grown so weak so quickly was now with her savior in heaven with:
1) No reason for tears
2) No more death and decay
3) No reason for sorrow, depression, or crying
4) No more causes of pain
Tied to this earth, we grieve and perceive it all to be
tragic. However, from the perspective of
the Divine Perfections, it is glorious.
A sinner has been saved and has entered heaven’s rest with:
1) No reason for tears
2) No more death and decay
3) No reason for sorrow, depression, or crying
4) No more causes of pain
Now, come back to reality for a minute before we get lost in the
illustration. When it says in Revelation
21:5, for the former things have passed
away." It is usually understood as referring to one of two things:
either the former things that were part of our old life or the former things
enumerated in verse four that will no longer be part of our experience in
heaven. Regardless of your take on that
phrase, suffice to say that our heavenly life will be vastly different that our
life here. We will not have the same
concerns and prejudices and petty sins that we enjoy here. Old things have passed away. I don’t think we will want to indulge our
carnal delights in heaven as we did on the earth. So much of the talk of heaven in Evangelical
Circles has to do with the inhabitants of heaven rather than the one who brings
us to inhabit heaven. People write books about their desire to go jogging with
this injured saint or to ask a theologian what he really thought. Those things are carnal impulses that I don’t
expect to be our concerns in Heaven. We
will be caught up in the wonder, adoration and praise of the Lamb who himself
is the light of the city. We will be in
his presence. We will be like him as
much as any finite mortal can be. But for the sake of our illustration, grant
me this one indulgence....
Back to little Sara in heaven.
Suddenly Sara in the presence of all the glory, with a depth of
insight never before experienced, she realizes something unexpected, that dear
Uncle Waldo is not there.
Think about it... What is
the reaction of a glorified little girl?
Think about it LITTLE MORE...
Her earthly expectation was that she would see Uncle Waldo when she
died. Uncle Waldo’s pastor said he would be there. Can’t we trust every pastor?
Here she is in heaven realizing that Uncle Waldo is not there, he is elsewhere.
If items numbered 1-4 are true, and she is now fully sanctified, what would her
reaction be?
A pressing question that demonstrates how tied we are to this
world and its way of thinking.
You see, this isn’t just about the fictional story. We need to
know how we will react to similar situations when Christ shall come or call us
home. And that ought to be the pattern we try to follow in our lives here and
now.
As I said, I don’t think we will indulge our carnal questions in
heaven, but if Sara realized there was no Uncle Waldo, what would her godly,
sanctified reaction be?
Four things:
Little Sarah can’t cry– wishing things were different, It says no
more tears, she now knows better than ever that God only does what is right. That is a reason to smile. God can’t do
anything wrong. It is on Uncle Waldo’s account And his alone that he isn’t in
heaven. He has been justly judged by a holy God for his sin. Too many want to
go to heaven in order to see a loved one who has died. Justification comes
through faith alone, not justification by death alone. The prevailing view of
Justification in the church at large is just that, justification by death. You
have heard it in funeral homes and from some trying to comfort others, “So and
so is better off now, they’ve died and gone to heaven.” It is even said of
those devoid of any Christian graces. THEY ARE NOT BETTER OFF. Out side of Christ they are of all men most
miserable and irrevocably so.
Justification comes through faith alone by grace alone given
freely to those who are regenerated by God’s Holy Spirit. It is all of grace,
as Ryle used the acrostic, God’s riches at Christ’s expense. Christ’s
righteousness on our account that God might see him and not our sin.
The joy of dwelling in the presence of God should be our
desire–then and now. In heaven, it will be far greater to bask in the presence
of the Lamb than even a favorite uncle, brother, father, wife, or even child.
Actually, I doubt if we would even be sidetracked by selfish desires of
searching for some earthly special person. Our glorified humanity will be
focused on praise and adoration of the one who has made these glories real, for
us through his death. The one who loved us and saved us from sin. To Him be the
glory forever, Amen.
If Sara, for the sake of illustration, or you, mourned the
realization of someone not being in heaven, this would be sorrowing. And verse
4 tells us that there is no sorrow. No reason to be downcast or depressed. So
what would be present if there is no sorrow? By inference and negation we must
look at the contrary idea.
Consider Isaiah 35:10 from the NIV:
and the ransomed of the LORD
will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown
their heads. Gladness and joy will
overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. The KJV & NKJV say they will obtain gladness and joy but the
NIV gives the proper sense of intensity to the phrase, they will be overtaken
with joy and gladness. And what happens to the possibility of sorrow and sadness?
sorrow and sighing will flee away. It
will, as a bird flies away quickly, or a deer bolts for the thicket, sorrow
will be gone, never to return.
2. Not a chance of sorrow.
The question that should be in your mind by now is this: Do you mean in heaven
we will rejoice that some we expected to be there are not? or to phrase it
theologically, Do you mean that we will rejoice that God is glorified in the
death and just condemnation of the sinners?
Yes! A sobering fact. It points out to us how tied to this
existence we really are. A preacher in the eighteenth century once scandalized
a church as the visiting preacher when he spoke on the theme, God Glorified in
the Torment of the Wicked. Is God, really? He surely is.
If our fictitious Sara was enabled to look down into Hell’s
furious fiery torments and see the suffering of her beloved Uncle Waldo from
her vantage point in heaven, if she could see with perfect sight all of the
torments of that dreaded place where her beloved uncle suffers, all she could
do is this: glorify her redeemer for her own undeserved salvation.
Let me repeat that: If she or any other inhabitant of heaven was
enabled to look down into the misery of Hell to see the torment and suffering
of the wicked, all they could do is this: glorify their redeemer for their own
undeserved salvation. No sorrow, no tears, but Joy that God’s righteous justice
has been served in harmony with the truth he had spoken. That thought alone should melt our stubborn
hearts to seek His mercy for those who remain outside of his grace.
This idea blows my mind. It makes me very uncomfortable. It made
me realize that I know so little about heaven and my perspective in the here
and now is too tied to this world. Let us pray that God would work His work in us
that we might be more heavenly minded. To see things from his perspective (as much as that is possible for mere
unglorified mortals) and then work to encourage each other all the more as we
see the Day approaching.
What if your special family member died? Are you sure that God
always does what is just and right? What
if your spouse died? Does your faith
point you to the widow’s God who alone can satisfy and look out for you or
yours? What if a child dies? Did God do what was right? What will be their experience in heaven? How should that heavenly perspective inform
us on the earth?
God is the only just and perfect being. He is divine perfection. He speaks the truth
at all times and does what is right and in harmony with his nature. He does not
define what is good, he is good no matter what.
This is the typical early 21st century response. Oh what a wonderful day, God is soooo good to
give us sunlight and flowers. You know,
God is good even if it rains and thunders.
We also say, What a nice providence--because it is something that
tickles our carnal delights. Every
providence is a happy one because of the one who brought it to pass. He knows what he is doing. We are so locked
into this world’s pattern of thinking.
May God deliver us before we get to heaven, that we might hallow him
before the world in the way that we live.
May his name be hallowed among us and may his will be done, on earth as
it is in heaven.
This idea that God alone is perfect doing what is right at all
times, also gives me great delight. By
myself, left alone to my own goodness, or lack thereof, I would get what I
deserve only to join Uncle Waldo in the flames of hell. But blessed be God that he gave me what I did
not deserve--he gave me his grace, a supernatural gift of faith, that I might
be saved. Saved from the power of sin
that held me in chains like an anchor sinking my soul to hell. He saved me from the power of sin that it
should no longer have dominion over me.
Not that I have been made perfect in any way. But, that the power of sin has been
broken. I see it for what it is and by
God’s grace can put sin to death more and more each day. He also saved me from the presence of sin as
he works sanctifying graces in me through the means of grace he has given in
the church and for me personally. And,
he saved me from the penalty of sin that was due to me. I owed a debt I could not pay. Jesus took the father’s torments upon himself
as he hung on the cross that I might never taste his wrath. The worst things in this life for the
believer are the only hell we will ever now.
The best things in this life are an empty taste of heaven for those who
will not believe.
We need God’s grace to make us heavenly minded, in order for us to
be any earthly good. Amen.
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