Will Sin Follow Me to Heaven?

 

Matthew 13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law breakers.

 I am thankful that I have had very little problem with unbelief or doubts in my years as a child of God.  

I know that some people struggle with doubts all their lives, but I have not.  

One thing, however, that has troubled me in recent years on a regular basis was the fear that the temptation to sin might follow us to heaven.   

After all, Satan was an angel in heaven when he sinned.  He and other angels were all cast out of heaven because of that sin.

So, if those angels had sin creep in while they were in heaven, in God's presence, then how much more easily might that happen to mankind? Even though I, as a believer in Jesus as my Savior, am assured of my place in heaven, I am still just a "sinner saved by grace" and I still can sin. I would hate to think that I must spend all of eternity with that potential.

That doubt has nagged at me in times of weakness, but this verse jumped out at me today.  

Jesus is telling His disciples that in the end of this earth, His angels will remove not only all unrepentant sinners but also all CAUSES of sin, so those causes of sin cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. 

And there goes my nagging doubt!!

No Prayer in Heaven

                                        

Isaiah 65:24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

 I have always thought of this verse in terms of prayer during my life here on earth.  In fact, that was the context in which I first learned this verse in Sunday school.  Of course, many other verses in the Bible tell us that is indeed true that God hears our prayers and answers them, sometimes almost before we finish praying.   

As I read this verse in its context in this chapter, however, I realized that there is another powerfully encouraging and exciting meaning to this verse as well.   

This passage is telling us about the future in heaven, in the new heaven and new earth that God has said He is going to create for those who follow Him.  God tells us through Isaiah that in the newly created heaven and earth "no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress" (v.19). In the new heaven and the new earth God's "chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands" (v.22).  "The wolf and the lamb shall graze together ... they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain" (v.25). 

Right in the middle of that context, this verse comes up: "Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear."  I will be “right there” in heaven with God.  No prayer will be necessary because I will be having constant, direct interaction with Him.  I guess you could say there will be no prayer in heaven!