Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
—2 CORINTHIANS 5:1
The last chapter in life can be the best.
—VANCE HAVNER
We never know at what stage, or age, we are living the last chapter of life. Some do not survive birth. Others are taken in their youth. Many are snatched from this earth in the prime of life.
I never thought I would outlive my wife of sixty-three years, my dear Ruth, who passed from this life of uncertainty to the place she was assured to see—the beautiful shores of Heaven and the blessed face of the Master she lived for and served. One of my saddest moments was when Ruth preceded me in death. I watched her suffer with dignity, with feisty humor, and with a gentle spirit ready to meet our Lord. She taught me so much about the last chapter of life. Knowing where she is, the One she is with, and the fact that I will be there with her soon are of monumental comfort to me.
When I preached my last stadium crusade in New York’s Flushing Meadows in 2005, I certainly did not dream that I would be living without Ruth two short years later. I truly believed that my declining health would not sustain many more years of life. In spite of the fact that we were apart for long periods of time over the span of six decades because of my intensive preaching schedule, I never contemplated living without Ruth. Throughout our marriage the telephone was about the only thing that came between us, and I was always grateful to hear her voice. Now to be without her in our home at Little Piney Cove would be more than I could bear if it were not for the fact that she left so much of herself behind. She oversaw the construction of our log house more than fifty years ago, and to this day, touches of Ruth are in every room. Missing her the past four years has taught me things I would have never learned, many from Ruth even in her absence. And because she wrote from the depths of her soul with strokes of her winsome personality, she still makes me smile.
This old house is empty now,
with mostly only me,
the trees are crowding up the hill
as if for company.1
This reflected her thoughts after all the children were gone, what is now called empty-nest syndrome. Ruth simply called it what it was: then and now. I watched how she transitioned from one stage of life to another with grace.
God designs transitions and provides the grace to embrace what follows. When Jesus prepared to leave His earthly dwelling to return to Glory, He told His beloved disciples, “I am going away. . . . If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father’” (John 14:28 NKJV). “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6 NKJV). And Jesus instructed them, giving them work to do: “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17), “Follow me” (John 21:19), and “Be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). He didn’t just abandon His disciples; Jesus guided them toward the work they needed to do for the Kingdom so the church would not suffer and the disciples themselves would remain focused on Jesus’ work even after He returned to the Father. How wonderful that the Lord did not leave the world void of His presence but sent His Holy Spirit to be our constant companion.
While I will never grow accustomed to life without Ruth, she would be the first to scold me if I didn’t look for God’s plan for the here and now. This was her realm. It would be easy to sit and reminisce about all that was accomplished during the years of public ministry. I am grateful, for I know that “such mighty works are performed by His hands!” (Mark 6:2 NKJV). But I also know that God has a purpose in everything, and He will guide us into whatever He has for us if our hearts, minds, and eyes are watching and waiting attentively.
In all my years traveling from coast to coast, from country to country, I seldom had time to watch television. That was then. Now my eyesight is failing, and watching television is difficult. Getting to church is not easy either. So I am thankful for those who faithfully preach the Word of God on television, where I can at least hear a good sermon from Scripture. I have been personally blessed by those the Lord is using to minister to the elderly who are no longer able to attend church.
I began listening to a telecast from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Dr. Don Wilton, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, began ministering to my heart through his messages, and I found myself looking forward to the next Sunday’s program. Some months later, I called to thank him for his ministry and invited him to my home. We enjoyed wonderful fellowship together. Since that time, he has graciously driven ninety miles from Spartanburg for a visit every week. We have lunch together and discuss everything from family to world events. But the most meaningful part of our visits is when we look into the Scriptures together and spend time in prayer. Often he shares a sermon outline he is working on and with enthusiasm asks for my thoughts. There have been times I have asked for his assistance with thoughts on various passages as I prepare statements and brief talks. It is a great privilege for me to have fellowship with a great teacher of Scripture and to feel a unity of purpose and desire to see others come to Christ. This is the work God has for all of His people—now.
DON’T LIVE WITHOUT HOPE
We were not meant for this world alone. We were meant for Heaven, our final home. Heaven is our destiny, and Heaven is our joyous hope. In reality not everyone agrees with this. “You are free to have your own opinion,” a young man wrote me recently, “but as far as I’m concerned once you are dead, that’s it. When we die we’re no different from an animal lying by the side of the road. The only life we’ll ever experience is the one we’re living right now. Life after death is just a myth.”
My reply came from the bottom of my heart. “Your letter deeply saddened me,” I wrote, “because it means you are living without hope—hope for this life, and hope for the life to come. Have you honestly faced how empty and meaningless this will make your life?” I then urged him to turn to Jesus Christ and put his life into His hands, for He alone can give us hope for the future. What would our lives be like without any hope of life beyond the grave?
Death is a reality, but death was not part of God’s original plan. When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them physical bodies, just like every other creature on earth. But one thing made them different: God not only gave them a body, but He also implanted within them a soul, a spirit, made in His image. He did this so they could know Him and become His friends, and because of this they were meant to live forever. God cannot die, and as the bearers of His image, they were not meant to die either.
But something terrible intervened, and that something was sin. Sin, like a lethal spiritual cancer, has infected the entire human race, and someday you and I will die. It may be soon, it may be far away, but someday your life will come to an end. At one specific point in time, the body you have inhabited your entire life will cease functioning and begin to disintegrate, and the words spoken to Adam will become true of you also: “For dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19). No wonder the Bible calls death “the last enemy” (1 Corinthians 15:26).
But is death really the end? Was the young man right when he said life after death is just a myth? No—absolutely not. The Bible tells us that although our bodies will die, our souls or spirits will live on—either in Heaven with God or in that place of endless loneliness and despair the Bible calls Hell, totally separated from God and His blessings forever. Jesus warned, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
THIS PRESENT LIFE IS NOT THE END
But how do we know this life isn’t the end? How do we know Heaven isn’t just wishful thinking on our part? God has revealed Heaven’s reality to us in various ways. For example, within each of us is an inner sense or feeling that death is not the end, that there must be something beyond the grave. Even if we deny it or ignore it, this inner yearning is still there—and it is universal. Where did it come from? The Bible says God placed it within us: He “set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Some point to the reports of people who claim to have been given a glimpse of Heaven, often as they were dying. While such accounts must be treated with caution, I have no doubt that it does happen on occasion; my own maternal grandmother had a vision of Jesus welcoming her into Heaven as she lay dying.
The final proof of Heaven’s reality, however, comes from Jesus Christ. Repeatedly He told His disciples not only that Heaven exists, but that someday they would go there. To Lazarus’s sisters He declared, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25–26). He promised His disciples, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you . . . that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2–3). The best-known verse in all the Bible underlines this truth: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
How can we know—beyond a shadow of doubt—that there is life after death? The only way would be for someone to die—and then come back to life and tell us what lies beyond the grave. And that’s exactly what happened when Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. It was the most unique and startling event in all history, and because of it we know that death is not the end, and we can be assured of eternal life. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
More than that, however, Jesus’ death and resurrection tell us that sin and death have been defeated forever. We do not need to fear the grave because by His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has opened Heaven’s door for us. The Bible says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3–4). These words, penned by the apostle Peter near the end of his life, are God’s promise to you and to all who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Yes, Heaven is real!
WHAT IS HEAVEN LIKE?
I don’t believe I have ever known a person (or at least a Christian) who did not want to know what Heaven is like—including me! This is not mere curiosity, however, like wondering about some place we have never visited. Instead we know that Heaven is our final home—the place where we will be spending all eternity. Why wouldn’t we want to know what Heaven will be like?
Admittedly the Bible doesn’t answer all our questions about Heaven. One reason, I’ve realized, is that Heaven is so much greater than anything our limited minds can ever imagine. Even if God answered all our questions about Heaven, we wouldn’t be able to understand them! The Bible says,
No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him.
(1 Corinthians 2:9)
Only in Heaven will we be able to grasp completely its endless glory and wonder and joy. Then, the Bible says, we “will share in the glory to be revealed” (1 Peter 5:1).
But even if the Bible doesn’t tell us everything we want to know about Heaven, it does tell us everything we need to know. And everything—without exception—that it tells us about Heaven should make us want to go there! (On the other hand, everything—without exception—that the Bible tells us about Hell should make us not want to go there.) What, then, is Heaven like? The Bible tells us at least five important truths about Heaven.
Heaven Is Glorious
We sometimes speak of a beautiful sunset or a warm spring day as “glorious,” but even earth’s most awe-inspiring nature is but a shadow of the glory of Heaven. When the apostle John was given a glimpse of Heaven’s grandeur, he barely could find words to describe it, comparing it to the most wondrous objects on earth—only far greater: “It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. . . . The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. . . . The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb [Christ] is its lamp” (Revelation 21:11, 21, 23).
Why is Heaven glorious? It isn’t simply because of its incredible beauty, overwhelming as that will be. Heaven is glorious for one supreme reason: Heaven is the dwelling place of God. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’ . . . They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 21:3; 22:4). Think of it: if you know Jesus Christ, someday you will be safely in God’s presence forever! I can barely imagine what that will be like—but it will be glorious beyond description.
Not only is Heaven glorious, but it is also perfect. This shouldn’t surprise us: since God is perfect, so, too, is Heaven, His dwelling place.
Why is this important? Because it reminds us that in Heaven everything imperfect will be banished. As the Bible says, “When perfection comes, the imperfect disappears” (1 Corinthians 13:10). Think of all the sins and evils that afflict us now: disease, death, loneliness, fear, sorrow, temptation, disappointment, disability, addiction, war, conflict, anger, jealousy, greed—the list is almost endless. But in Heaven all those will be banished! Every evil and sin will be destroyed; every doubt and fear will be removed; every disappointment and heartache will be healed. One of the Bible’s greatest promises about Heaven declares, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. . . . Nothing impure will ever enter it” (Revelation 21:4, 27).
The Bible tells us a final truth about Heaven’s perfection: in Heaven we will be perfect—and someday so will all creation. Sin will no longer have any power over anything—for sin and Satan will be bound forever, and we will become like Christ. More than that, in God’s time we will be given new bodies—perfect bodies like that of Jesus Christ after His resurrection, free from all the limitations and frailties of our present bodies. The Bible says, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
This is true not only for us but also for all creation. Sin has affected everything—not just us but the whole created world. Don’t ever take sin lightly; its destructive power extends to every creature and every object in the universe. This is a staggering thought. But the story doesn’t end there, for the Bible promises that someday the whole creation will come to an end, and it “will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). I can’t help but wonder if one of the things God will have us do in Heaven is explore the limitless treasures that will be part of His new creation.
When will this happen? When will Christ appear again? Devout Bible scholars don’t always agree on the details, but one fact is clear: someday Christ will come again to defeat all the forces of sin and evil and establish His supreme authority over the entire creation. Jesus Himself warned us against trying to set an exact timetable for His return: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32). In God’s time this present world order will come to an end, and Christ will return to rule in power and glory and justice: “In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).
The fact of Christ’s return should fill us with hope and joy and expectation. But Christ’s return also should remind us of another truth: when Christ comes again, He will judge the world with perfect justice. On that day, the Bible says, those who have rebelled against God and rejected His offer of salvation in Christ “will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:46). These are sobering words, and if you have never turned from your sins and opened your heart and life to Jesus Christ, I pray you will do so now, before it is too late. Don’t gamble with your eternal soul!
Not only will Heaven be glorious and perfect, but it also will be joyous. How could it be anything less? Its glory, its perfection—these alone would be enough to bring us unimaginable joy. But Heaven will be joyous for other reasons also. King David declared, “You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11).
Heaven will be a place of joyous reunion with all those who have gone to Heaven before us. I am often asked if we will recognize each other in Heaven—and my answer is always a resounding yes! Someday soon I know I will be reunited with all those in my family who are already in Heaven—and especially my dear wife, Ruth. King David confidently expressed this hope; after the death of his infant son, he declared, “Can I bring him back again? I will go to him” (2 Samuel 12:23). When Christ was transfigured and His Heavenly glory overwhelmed His earthly appearance, Moses and Elijah appeared from Heaven with Him in recognizable form (Matthew 17:1–3). The Bible tells us that in Heaven we won’t be isolated spirits, separated from each other and floating aimlessly around the clouds (as cartoons sometimes suggest). Instead we will be united together in Heaven: “We who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17, emphasis added).
Perhaps, however, you shrink back from this; you don’t look forward to meeting someone who has hurt you or someone you have hurt. Don’t worry about this, however. In Heaven they will be perfect—and so will you!
Heaven is joyous also because in Heaven all our questions will be answered. Life can be confusing, and every one of us has stood at the grave of a loved one or watched as a great evil seemed to be winning the day, asking, “Why, God? Why did You let this happen? Where are You? It doesn’t make any sense.” But someday all our doubts and questions will be resolved, and we will understand. Paul put it this way: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). As part of this we will be able to look back over our lives and rejoice in God’s goodness and grace to us.
In addition, Heaven will be joyous because all our burdens will be lifted—never to return. One of the Bible’s most comforting pictures of Heaven is that it will be a place of rest: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. . . . They will rest from their labor” (Revelation 14:13).
But the Bible tells us a final truth about Heaven’s joy: our experience of Heaven will express itself in joyous worship. The writer of Hebrews expressed it this way: “You have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven” (12:22–23). On this earth our worship is imperfect, incomplete, superficial—even dull or boring. It shouldn’t be this way, of course; joyous worship should be part of every believer’s daily experience as we focus on God’s greatness, goodness, and glory. But in Heaven our worship will be perfect because we will see our Savior face-to-face. Although it is often overlooked, one of the central themes of the book of Revelation is Heaven’s worship:
Then I heard every creature . . . singing:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!” (Revelation 5:13)
Heaven Is Active
“To be honest, I’m not even sure I want to go to Heaven,” someone e-mailed me not long ago. “It sounds so boring, just sitting around on a cloud doing nothing.” This is a serious misunderstanding of Heaven. In spite of the popular image, we won’t be sitting on clouds and strumming harps. Instead the Bible says we will be busy. God will have work for us to do! “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him” (Revelation 22:3). The difference is that in this life we get tired and weary, but in Heaven we will never get tired because we will have unlimited energy to serve Christ.
What will we do? The Bible doesn’t say exactly; if it did, we probably wouldn’t understand it anyway! It does, however, tell us that God will grant us the privilege of participating in Christ’s rule over all creation: “And they will reign [with Him] for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). We definitely won’t be bored in Heaven!
My longtime associate and Crusade song leader Cliff Barrows jokingly told me once that in Heaven I will be unemployed while he will still have a job. The reason, he explained (with a twinkle in his eye), is that in Heaven there won’t be any need for evangelists while the Heavenly choirs will still need someone to lead them. I assured him that I wasn’t worried about it because I was confident God would find something else for me to do. He might, I added, even change me into a choir director!
Heaven Is Certain
Heaven is glorious, Heaven is perfect, Heaven is joyous, and Heaven is active; but can we know—really know—that it is also certain? Can we know for certain that we will go there when we die and that it will be our eternal home? The Bible says yes!
Only one thing will keep you out of Heaven, and that is your sin. God is absolutely pure and holy, and even one sin—just one—would be enough to banish you from His presence forever. But Jesus Christ came to take away your sins by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. The Bible says, “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
As long as you trust in yourself—your goodness, your religious deeds, your inner hopes—for your salvation, you will never have any lasting assurance of your salvation. After all, how will you know if you have been good enough or religious enough? The answer is, you won’t.
But salvation does not depend on our goodness; if it did, we could never be saved, for God’s standard is nothing less than perfection. We can never be good enough because “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). Our salvation depends instead solely on Jesus Christ and what He has already done for us. Our faith and trust must be in Him, and not in ourselves.
Are you trusting Him alone for your salvation? If you aren’t, or if you are unsure, I urge you to turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith today and by a simple prayer ask Him to come into your life as your Lord and Savior. The Bible says, “This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11–12). Don’t let another day go by without Christ. Don’t doubt God’s promises about the certainty of Heaven, and don’t doubt what Jesus Christ has already done to save you by His death and resurrection. When doubts assail you (and the devil will be sure they will), remember this: If you have put your faith and trust in Christ, you now belong to Him. You have been adopted into His family, and you are now His beloved son or daughter. Because of this, the Bible says, nothing “in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). You are now part of His family—forever!
OUR FINAL HOME
It has been a great privilege for me to be an evangelist; my greatest joy has come from seeing people all over the world respond to the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. But on a personal level it has had its downside because I was away from home so much, sometimes for months at a time. But no matter how short or long the trip was, when I landed in Charlotte or Asheville, I knew I was nearing home. Home was a place of rest and peace; it also was a place of love and joy and security.
In a far greater way, Heaven is our home—our final home—our ultimate place of complete peace and security and joy forever. Here our homes are imperfect, even at best; sadly, for many people home may actually be a place of conflict and unhappiness. But this isn’t true of Heaven. When we belong to Christ, we know that when we die we finally will be at peace—for we will be home. Paul’s words to the Christians in Corinth apply to us as well: “As long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord . . . [but we] would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6, 8). Heaven is our hope, Heaven is our future, and Heaven is our home! I look forward to being home at last, and I pray you do also.
When life’s burdens press upon you or its pressures seem almost more than you can bear, turn your heart toward your Heavenly home: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. . . . Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever” (Psalm 23:4, 6 KJV). When your hopes and dreams fall apart or people disappoint you or turn against you, turn your heart toward your Heavenly home. And when the infirmities and struggles of old age threaten to overwhelm you, turn your heart toward your Heavenly home.
NEARING HOME WITH ASSURANCE
This is certainly what Christ did—before He departed His earthly life, His mind was on home and bringing us with Him: “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father” (John 16:28 NKJV). Jesus said to His disciples, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward” (John 13:36 NKJV), and “I go to prepare a place for you. . . . I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know” (John 14:2–4 NKJV).
My friend, do you know the way? Jesus told us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6 NKJV). No one ever grows too old to accept Christ’s forgiveness and enter into His glorious presence. When we look back over our experiences along life’s journey, we may have regrets about the choices we made, but remember, that was then . . . this is now. We may recall the times we have failed our families, but that was then . . . this is now. Some reading this book may say, “But I rejected Christ my whole life. It’s too late for me.” I say to you, my friend, that was then . . . this is now. The Bible’s promises were true then, they are true now, and they will be true forever. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2 NKJV, emphasis added).
For those who have received the most precious gift of Christ’s redeeming blood . . . you have reason to look forward to the glories of Heaven, for you will be perfected, you will be joyful, you will once again be active, and right now you can be certain that you are nearing home.