night there? How could there be night when the glory of God, that radiance splendrous, signifying both physical and spiritual illumination, shall be fully revealed? Who, after all, made the sun and moon? It was the One who is the Source of light, for “ God is light,” says John (I John 1:5), “ and in him is no darkness at all.” Just as a rainbow appears when the storm clouds have dissipated into nothingness, so, when the long night of sin and sorrow has flown away, God’s eternal and dazzling glory will shine forth unhindered and unhidden. Gaze into yonder burning ball of fire, the sun, on a bright day. Does the light'blind you? The blazing light of the sun is but the feeble flicker of a dying ember compared with the radiance of the glory of God! It will quickly chase the night away, and the night will never dare to return throughout eternity. God’s Son will also illumine that blessed day. The Lamb is the Light, or, as the Greek has it, the Lamp (luchnos). He is the Light-bearer, who dif fuses and displays the glory of the Father.8 Look about your house. How many lights and lamps do you possess? You will need none of them in heaven. He who is now the Light of the world will become the Lamp of heaven. Night, what does it signify? It stands for all that is sinful, morally and spiritually dark, all that is evil. “Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Dishonesty, debauchery, and drunken ness, sin and crime of every description, abound in the night, and are in keeping with the thought of darkness. For this cause, Paul exhorts the Roman believers: “ The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying” (Rom. 13:12-13; cf. I Thess. 5:4-9). No such exhortations will be necessary in heaven. There will be no night there. V. ALL OPPORTUNITY FOR REPENTANCE WILL BE MISSING IN HEAVEN An awesome solemnity pervades the words of Revela tion 22:11: “ He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” When we enter upon the eternal state, the destiny of every soul will be fixed, sealed. Those who are unjust will have to remain so throughout the unceasing ages. What a tragedy! Those who are filthy will be sealed in their moral uncleanness, for all opportunity to repent will be absent from heaven. On the other hand, it is a comforting truth that those who are righteous and holy will remain in that state forever. For the unsaved, all hope will have vanished. The gospel will, never be preached again, for evangelism will have become a thing of the past. If one finds himself in the condition of being unjust and filthy, it will be solely because he has rejected the justification which Christ offered, and the righteousnes with which He would gladly have clothed each sinner who would come to Him in faith. But then it will be too late. How hearten ing it is that today there is still time to turn in faith to Christ as Saviour! The last chapter of the last book in Bible, Revelation 22, contains in verse 17 an invitation to each reader: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Friend, many things will be missing in heaven. I hope that you will not be among them. 7 bid., p. 351. “William Kelly, Lectures on the Book of Revelation (London: G. Morrish, [n.d.]), pp. 479-80.
tossed to us who are drowning in despair. We are guilty of gross ingratitude when we refuse to be dug out of the pit which threatens to be our grave, when the Digger would set us upon a solid rock, and establish our goings (Ps. 40:2). But some may argue, A person can’t help it, can he, if he doesn’t believe on Christ? The answer is Yes! Belief is not merely intellectual; it is also volitional. We fre quently believe what we wish to believe. To fail to believe on Christ when the evidence of who He is and what He did for us is readily available, becomes an act of a stub born will. We can help it if we do not believe on Christ! Jesus declares in John 5:40, “ And ye w ill not come unto me, that ye might have life.” Similar to verse 8 is verse 27: “ And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” The first three parts of this verse are in contrast with the last part. Those who defile, who work abomination, and who make a lie are all contrasted together, as one group, with “ they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” The work koinon, defileth, refers to anything that is unhallowed, profane, or ceremonially unclean.'' If we do not belong to the category of those who work abomi nation or who make a lie, we at least cannot say that we are not among those who defile, if we are unsaved. For any and every sin would defile heaven the moment it entered there. All of us have sinned and come short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23). Unless that sin is removed by receiving the benefits of Christ’s redemption, we cannot enter heaven. The words translated “ in no wise” constitute a double negative in the original, and are most emphatic, admitting to no exceptions. All the unsaved will be missing in heaven. Who will enter there? “They which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Is your name written there? IV. ALL NIGHT WILL BE MISSING IN HEAVEN Full of comfort to the believer are the words of Reve lation 22:5: “ And there shall be no night therfe; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light. . . .” This is also the teaching of Revelation 21:23: “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” No
Mr. Paul Nevin is an alumnus of
the Talbot Theological Seminary.
He is presently continuing his studies in Texas at the Dallas Theological Seminary and at the same time assisting in work as a hospital
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