Disappointed in Heaven?

Let's cut to the chase: not everyone is going to heaven. It's sad but nevertheless true. God does not lie. But did you know that some people who do go to heaven will be disappointed? This is also true!

First things first

First of all, nobody goes to heaven without believing in Jesus, that is, by faith alone in Him alone. It is written: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV).

These two verses reveal to us that nobody can buy their way into glory with money or by performing good works. Our works are our greater or lesser reward(s). Real faith results in good works.

So there is a time when we will be judged. Our time is ticking away.

Heavenly rewards

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10).

All of us believers will be judged not for our sins but for what we did after believing. Non-believers face another judgment that is not good.

The Bible scholar A. J. Gordon wrote, “I cannot think of a final divine judgment which shall assign the same rank in glory, the same degree of joy, to a lazy, indolent and unfruitful Christian as to an ardent, devoted, self-denying Christian.”

Wow. Spot on! How could we possibly believe otherwise? If we are pursuing self rather than good deeds for Jesus, how wouldn't a person who is faithfully working for Jesus not receive a better reward? Think about it: God's word states that there are degrees of heaven dependent upon our faithfulness to Christ in this life.

God's word also guarantees that when we finally get into heaven, we are all going to be thrilled and excited to be there, but some people will enjoy heaven more than others. How is this possible?

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:14-15, “If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

There it is. It's plain as day.

More truth

If we have spent our lives seeking as much pleasure and enjoyment as we are able, that is, living for the worldly pursuits, our works are going to be considered worthless in the ever-seeing eyes of God.

Yes, we will still be saved, but if we continue to pursue self and the things of this world, we are going to suffer a realistic, measurable loss. Satan cannot rob us of our rightful place in heaven, so he constantly seeks to keep us from enjoying heaven to its full extent.

There is going to be a lot of regret amongst some of us Christians in heaven. This is when we see others with better rewards that could have been ours had we been more obedient to Christ Jesus.

But there is the good news, too! We certainly do not have to enter into heaven with any regrets, because there is time right here and now to make a change in our lives. This is the exact time where we solemnly say, “LORD, I truly want to begin obeying You. I truly desire to put on the breastplate of righteousness so that I have no regrets when I meet You on that Day.” You see, obedience to God prevents the loss of our future rewards.