Are You Going Too?
Sixty years ago Simon and Garfunkel had a hit song, Scarborough Fair, in which the lyrics ask the question, “Are you going to Scarborough Fair?” I thought I’d use a little word play on today’s title.
Five years ago, I wrote a blog post with the title “Blameless With Great Joy.” It focused primarily on the joy of being forgiven and had only a brief statement about heaven. But recently, I’ve been reading about heaven in Scripture and other resources. As most of my life is in the rearview mirror, the prospect of going to heaven looms large and I’m excited to think it could be soon. No, I’m not in failing health and I feel great. I pray that God lets me stay until the Rapture. We’ll see.
When I read about all that is mine
because of my relationship (child of the King) with Jesus, I can’t help but ponder the joy that awaits beyond my death. The Bible paints a picture of heaven that is so far beyond my imagination—the new Jerusalem is a 1,500-mile cube—that I can’t comprehend it. Then add to that the light that emanates from God Himself, the translucent gems, the river flowing from God’s throne, the streets of pure gold, and the myriads of angels and you’ve got a display of majesty and splendor that earth has never seen.
In the last couple of decades, there have been many books written about heaven. The ones where the writer claims to have been to heaven and back made it through the creative process without comparing it to Scripture (the ultimate truth) which clearly states, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment (Heb. 9:27). Even Paul, who had been to the third heaven, said that he, “was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak”(2 Cor. 12:4). He didn’t talk about it or write a book or go on a speaking tour. Think about that in light of today’s commercialism.
The sad reality
is that these books are being sold by the millions, mostly to Christian audiences who are babes in Scripture knowledge and thus are gullible and susceptible to embrace the latest “revelation” that is lining the authors’ pockets with ill-gotten gains. These are the same people who can be led down any path Satan chooses because they’re not mature enough to use their only offensive weapon against his deceptive wiles, “the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12)…but not if it’s just sitting on a shelf.
In a book by John MacArthur titled,
The Glory of Heaven, John exposes some of the worrisome trends affecting society today:
“Given the rising tides of militant atheism, postmodern skepticism, biblical illiteracy, self-love, and gross immorality, what are we to make of the current interest in heaven? One thing is clear: it does not signal any significant upsurge of interest in what biblical revelation teaches about heaven. On the contrary, the data actually seem to indicate that lots of people are simply making up whatever concept of heaven pleases them.”
That statement is particularly apropos to one very popular book (among Christians), Heaven Is For Real, which, in its first 18 months of publication (late 2010), sold over 7 million copies. Christian publishers are also suspect in their core values as “At the moment, Christian booksellers are publishing and selling more books filled with false visions of the afterlife than all the commentaries and Bible reference works combined.” (MacArthur, The Glory of Heaven, Intro pg. 15. Emphasis added.)
It’s time for believers in Jesus Christ
to wake up, armor up, and speak up for the propagation of the gospel. If churchgoers are so caught up in the spread of false teaching, what hope do the lost have of hearing the truth? The publishing world is complicit in this deception by labeling these books non-fiction, implicitly saying that they are true. They are anything but. The glory of heaven is so far beyond our comprehension and even imagination, that in addition to the lies foisted on an unsuspecting, naïve, market, all of this genre of fictional books about heaven depreciates the true value of our future eternal home. None of them focus on the glory of God, which is heaven’s centerpiece. It’s all about them.
If this sparked your thinking about heaven, and you can’t answer “Are You Going Too,” ask, “How do I get there?” There is only one way. You must believe that Jesus Christ died in your place to pay for your sin and that nothing you’ve done is beyond His payment. Don’t wait another day. Your eternity depends on this choice. Click here for Steps To Salvation. Thanks for reading