No Tears in Heayen

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. - Revelation 7:17

    The previous study was concluded by showing that among the many aspects of our heavenly inheritance with Christ, one thing that demonstrates incontrovertibly both the glory and equality of that inheritance to all God’s elect is the fact that there will be no tears in heaven. Every believer in this world has many things to make him weep; but in that world to which we are going, there shall be no tears. “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” In this world of sorrow and weeping believers are often found sighing for their heavenly home.

    “Oh, how I long to reach my home,

    My glorious home in heaven!

    And wish the joyful hour were come,

    The welcome mandate given!

    Oh, how I long to lay aside

    These worn out weeds of clay;

    And, led by my celestial Guide,

    To explore the eternal day!

    Oh, how I long to be with Christ,

    Where all His glory beams!

    To be from all my sin set free,

    And worship as I’ve dreamed!

    Oh, how I long to see His smile,

    To sit before His feet!

    Lord, grant me soon my heart’s desire,

    Soon, soon Thy work complete.”

    Charlotte Elliot

    Allow me to state my personal thoughts. I neither weary of life, nor weary of serving my Redeemer. The Lord has given me a much fuller and happier life in my years than most men ever have who live three times as long. My heart, mind, and strength are more fully engaged in and zealous for the service of Christ than ever before. Yet, my heart is fixed on better things still. I long to live fully in the presence of Christ. I long to serve my Master perfectly, without sin. This I know, “To die is gain. “ Therefore I have “a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.”

    What does heaven look like? Where is it? How big is heaven? What will we have when we get there? These are the questions about heaven which interest carnal religionists. I hope they are not your primary concern. Still, our minds need some idea of heaven. We need to know something about it. Though much more about heaven is hidden than is revealed, the Lord has revealed as much as we need to know while we are still in our earthly tabernacles of clay.

    Heaven is a real place. Our Lord Jesus is there in a real human body (Heb. 2:9; 10:12-14). All the dead in Christ are there (Heb. 12:22-24). The angels of God are there, too. Heaven is a place prepared by God and purchased by Christ for God’s elect (Matt. 25:34; Heb. 6:20). It is a place of perfect rest. It is a place of perfect peace. It is a place of perfect love. It is a place of perfect satisfaction. Yet, the fulness, the beauty, and the glory of heaven are things beyond the scope of human understanding or description. (2 Cor. 12:4). Heaven is not a place of carnal sense. It is not a place of human imagination. “Eye bath not seen, or ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God bath prepared for them that Jove him" (1 Cor. 2:9). Your highest, noblest, grandest, most spiritual thoughts about heaven fall far short of its reality. “Beloved, it doth not yet appear what we shall be” (1 John 3:2). Heaven is not a place of human intellect either, a place discovered, gained, or comprehended by man’s genius. The fact is, we do not know what the fulness of heaven shall be. However, of this one thing I am sure, there will be no tears in heaven. It is written, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. “This is one of the most delightful and comforting aspects of our heavenly inheritance to consider.

    There are tears now

    Without question, there is much weeping in the way to heaven. Experimentally, faith in Christ brings deliverance from all curse and condemnation, but not from pain and trouble. There are many things which believers suffer along with other men. God’s children in this world experience physical pain and sickness, financial losses, bereavement, domestic troubles, and disappointments. Ask Job and David if these things are not so. The most eminent men of faith and obedience are not exempted from trouble and sorrow in this world. Let no one dupe you into thinking that your troubles and sorrows here are an indication of God’s disfavor.

    In fact, there are many things which bring tears to our eyes which the world knows nothing about. Nothing troubles regenerate souls so much or so persistently as their awareness of their inward sin. Though every saint resigns himself to the rule and will of God his Savior. Yet, our unceasing lack of resignation is a constant cause of turmoil in our souls. Unbelief, wounded, injured pride, anger, rash speech, coldness of heart, and fretfulness are but a few of the things that every believing heart struggles with daily. Those who experience the grace of God have no difficulty understanding Paul’s language in Romans 7:14-24. We experience the warfare daily.

    There are even some precious tears which we shed here, that shall be dried on the other side of Jordan. Tears of repentance are bitter sweet things that we shall never experience, once we have no experience of sin for which to repent. Tears of sympathy will never more be shed when sickness, sorrow, and death are no more. Tears of concern will all be dried when we see all things as our heavenly Father sees them. Our longings for Christ’s presence, painfully delightful as those longings are, shall come to an end when we are forever with the Lord.

    The Father now dries our tears

    Even now our heavenly father does much to dry our tears. The life of a believer is not a morbid life of sorrow, even here. The Lord graciously does much to comfort our hearts in the midst of our troubles (Isa. 43;1-6). He gives us resignation to his will, faith in his providence, and reminds us of his gracious purpose. He causes us to remember his promises, blesses us with his presence, granting tastes of heaven on earth in seasons of sweet communion. Sometimes he floods our hearts with the knowledge of Christ’s love. When any thing that causes us pain has done the work for which it was sent, he removes the cause of our pain. Our Father never allows us to suffer anything unnecessarily. Even in the midst of great trials, troubles, and sorrows, he eases our burden by causing our hearts to be fixed upon the things of Christ (2 Cor. 4:15-18).

    The Father will dry our tears

    Then, when he brings us home, in heaven god will remove all tears from our eyes. Heaven is a place of sure, eternal, and ever increasing bliss. The source of that bliss is God himself.

    If God did not wipe away all tears from our eyes, there would be much weeping in heaven. We would never cease to weep over our past sins, were it not for the fact that the Lord God will then take away the cause of weeping, and show us that even our sins were overruled by his gracious and wise hand for our eternal good and his glory. Imagine what such knowledge shall bel. We would weep forever over unconverted loved ones and friends left behind, were it not for the fact that then we shall be fully reconciled to the purpose of God, seeing all things as he sees them. We would certainly weep forever over all the wasted opportunities we squandered in this world, did not our Father show us how he has used even our neglect to accomplish his purpose. How we would weep over the great and terrible price of our redemption, if we were not in heaven made to see perfectly the glory of God in the sacrifice of his darling Son. In that world of perfect love, we would weep much over our unkindness and lack of Jove to our brethren upon the earth, did not our heavenly Father wipe all tears from our eyes.

    What a great promise this is —. God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. He will remove every cause of outward grief. He will remove us from all sin and all sin from us. All fear of change shall be shut out. Every desire of our hearts shall be gratified. We will see Christ, be like Christ, love Christ perfectly, serve Christ unceasingly, worship Christ without sin, know Christ fully, rest in Christ completely, have Christ entirely, and enjoy Christ completely, perfectly, and eternally!

    Will you be among the happy company of the redeemed? Not every one will be among the people of God in heaven. No one deserves to be with Christ in heaven. Yet, many will be there. All who were chosen of God in electing love will be there. The purpose of God cannot be thwarted. All who are washed in Christ’s blood will be there. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage. The Son of God did not shed his blood in vain. All for whom he endured the travail of the cross, he shall see by his side in heaven. All who are clothed with his righteousness will be there. All who love his name will be there. All who believe Christ will be there. God has promised eternal life to all who trust his Son; and he will give what he has promised. “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?”