In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s progress Christian and his traveling companion Faithful have opportunity to stay in the Delectable Mountains. There they are refreshed from the labors of their journey by the delights of the land and the teaching they receive from ‘the Shepherds.’
Before they embark again down the mountain side, they pause at one of the mountain peeks and gaze off into the distance. There in the far off haze they are able to catch a glimpse of a city. Though very dim to the eye, they can make
Before they embark again down the mountain side, they pause at one of the mountain peeks and gaze off into the distance. There in the far off haze they are able to catch a glimpse of a city. Though very dim to the eye, they can make
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2 Corinthians 12:1-4
"I know a man in Christ who was caught up to paradise."
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out some of its great ramparts, the heights of some of the glorious buildings, and they can even make out some of the sparkling brilliance of the land.
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They find themselves readied for their trek because they have just witnessed from afar the Celestial City, their final destination. They are set to travel because the land they desire has been set before them in plain sight (though yet still somewhat murky to the physical eye).
Each Sunday we have the opportunity to gather together here for worship. This is, in all reality, our “Delectable Mountains.” It is a place where we are refreshed for our travels into another week. The Shepherds here seek to offer you truth to build you up and get you ready for your pilgrimage.
And on this day, I hope that we might pause at the peek and gaze off to our final destination. It is my desire today that we catch a glimpse of the Celestial City.
The passage before us today is a remarkable one. It is Paul’s personal witness to heaven. God had granted to Paul athe unique privileged of actually having gone into the very inner regions of heaven. And in this passage we have his eye witness testimony to some of what he experienced there.
And while he had originally used this as a verification of his apostolic credential, we have encapsulated here a few words that we can use to encourage our weary souls to persevere in our faith. By these words we may “set our minds on things above, where Christ is.”
And this morning I’d like us to note 4 things about Heaven from Paul’s experience. The first thing being that Heaven is for real.
I. He gives witnesses to its reality
In this passage Paul is boasting, of course. He is, in an awkward way, trying to show off and give something of a testament to the fact that he is more an apostle and has more credentials than the imposters there at Corinth. And he boasts of the fact that he’d had been given this wild experience of having gone into the very inner recesses of heaven itself.
He says he was given a vision and revelation. The word revelation there is the word apokolupsis, which means to make known or uncover. It is a secret that God reveals. And Paul’s saying I was able to peek behind the curtain, as it were.
Then in verses 2-3 he uses the word “caught up.” Now, he doesn’t remember if it he was there physically, or just spiritually—as an out of body experience, but he says he was taken there. He was placed right there in the midst of heaven.
So what we have here is an eye witness account. This is a personal testimony to the reality of heaven and its existence.
The transaction here referred to is very remarkable. It is the only instance in the Scriptures of anyone who was taken to heaven, either in reality or in vision, and who returned again to the earth and was then qualified to communicate important truths about the heavenly world from personal observation. Enoch and Elijah were taken to heaven; but they returned not to converse with people…
Lazarus was raised from the dead, and many of the saints which had slept in their graves arose at the death of Jesus, but there is no intimation that they communicated anything to the living about the heavenly world.
Of all the million who have been taken to heaven, not one has been permitted to return to bear his testimony to its glories; to witness for God that he is faithful to his promises; to encourage his pious friends to persevere; or to invite his impenitent friends to follow him to that glorious world.
I find Barne’s words interesting, and I think they have some application to the different books that have been published lately on the topic of heaven—in particular those books that have recount personal trips to heaven or experiences someone has had who has gone to heaven and come back. One of those books is even called, “Heaven is for real.”
I will say that I don’t put a lot of stock in such books. I’m not going to enumerate the reasons why. I merely want to point out that heaven is something we take by faith.
A reminder that God’s promises are true. There is a hope for the righteous. We have here are testimony to the fact that the Lord has prepared a place for us. We do not have to doubt its reality. We don't even need others to confirm it for us. If all of what God has revealed in Scripture were not enough to verify its reality, God has already given us here a perfect revelation--a first hand account-- of the distinct factuality of its existence. And a direct confirmation that Christ, by His blood, has most certainly given you eternal life in it.
And so we can have encouragement in knowing that God’s promises are true. And we have here a testament to the fact that this world, with all its miseries, is passing away.
II. He gives witness to its location
Part of the reason that we can say that heaven is for real is because it truly is a place. It has a distinct locale, just as much as this room does or your home does. The only difference is that heaven does not have an address here in this world.
Paul says that he was taken up to the “third heaven.” This is, you might say, the zip code we can use in pinpointing where exactly the celestial kingdom is. The ancient Jews thought of the whole realm of the heavens as consisting of different layers. And there were three of them, to be exact.
The first level would be that which is just above us and extends up a couple miles. It consists of the atmosphere, the clouds, and the blue stuff we normally call the sky. It’s that area where planes fly around and might be regarded as the little bubble that encompasses the earth that makes living here possible.
The second heaven consists of everything beyond that, which we typically see at night. We’d probably call it outer space. It is that area above the earth’s atmosphere, which contains the sun, moon, and stars. Really, it encapsulates the rest of the physical universe.
The third heaven is that region that is beyond that. This third heaven is the spiritual world which is beyond the physical dimension of the universe in which we live. I like what Calvin says on this notion of the third heaven,
The term heaven, taken by itself, denotes here the blessed and glorious kingdom of God, which is above all the spheres, and the firmament itself, and even the entire frame-work of the world. Paul, however, not contenting himself with the simple term, adds, that he had reached even the greatest height, and the innermost recesses.
Now, what I’m saying is that even though this is a real place, you can’t get on a space shuttle and put it on overdrive to eventually get there. It isn’t like that. And perhaps that’s why a lot of people have a hard time accepting its reality. They can’t bring themselves to believe in an alternate dimension that transcends the physical world.
But as Christians, this is part of our worldview. We understand that there is more to the universe than mere physical realities. It may not be a place that we can see now with our eyes, but it is a place. It has been revealed to us by God and we accept it by faith.
And we know that heaven is a real place, because the bible speaks of it so frequently.
You may remember that Solomon, during his early years as king, dedicated the temple. And when he did, he prayed to God and acknowledged that the highest heaven could not contain Him. Solomon was talking about this third and highest heaven.
Then we read of others, like Enoch and Elijah, who have been taken up to heaven. Of course, this includes Jesus too. In the book of Acts we read that Jesus ascended into heaven. He was taken up into the sky and hid by a cloud. And we are told that he is going to come back some
Certainly, we could give more examples throughout scripture. But here we merely verify the reality of heaven. It is truly a place and it is just as real as this room. It might have a different nature. We acknowledge that it is a spiritual dimension (as opposed to physical).
And, ultimately, we are reminded that this eternal place is our place. It is the place to which we as Christ’s people shall go when we die. When we end our journey on this planet, we will be relocated. We won’t just go into some sleep mode and awake on the day of resurrection. We know that after our bodily demise we will enter into heaven immediately and find ourselves in the presence of God.
III. He gives witness to its splendor
The excellency of the place is noted in a couple different ways. First, we can refer to what we just talked about; this idea of a third heaven.
A. Third heaven – highest and most excellent place
The various commentaries almost all testify to the fact that the idea of the third heaven is expressing the idea of the highest and most excellent heaven. If you occupy the highest point in a building, it is sometimes regarded as the best place. The penthouse is typically the highest and most luxurious room in all the structure. It offers the best view and best accommodations.
And we can recognize that heaven certainly is the highest and most blessed place. It is the best living space that one can have, this side of the consummated kingdom which Christ will bring at the end.
But Paul also gets at the splendor of heaven by the use of the word “Paradise.”
B. Paradise
He uses that word in verse 3 to further describe the third heaven. This word, paradise, is interesting. It isn’t used that frequently in the NT. But each time it is used it refers to heaven. You may remember that Jesus said to the one thief on the cross who repented, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” When he said that he was referring to heaven, and he was giving the thief a little comfort as to what to expect. His mode of existence was going to radically change in a matter of minutes.
Due to our common parlance, the word paradise conjures up in our minds palm trees and cool, tropical lagoons, and maybe even some colored drinks with funny little umbrellas. And our understanding isn’t too far-fetched. The word paradise though is a Persian word. It merely means garden. If you are familiar with the hanging gardens, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. That was a paradise.
Of course, the LXX uses the word paradise in reference to the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:4). And from that we understand that heaven is a restored Garden of Eden. Adam & Eve not only had a lush environment, which no doubt boasted the best fruits and vegetables, they lived in perfect harmony with each other and with God. Part of what made it a paradisaical environment was simply the peace that characterized it. There was beauty, joy, good food, and every other sensation imaginable that promoted happiness.
And we can expect heaven to be a place of lush grandeur, a paradisaical experience. We can take the best places we’ve been to on earth and try to see them as little expressions of what that world will be like.
But of course, that’s not going to do any real justice to the true and ultimate nature of heaven. I say that these experiences we may have are little expressions of heaven, but really, they are poor expressions and won’t even begin to compare to what it is really like.
And I think that the rest of this passage really gets at that. I’ve said that it is the highest and most excellent place, it is a paradisaical place. Paul also notes that it is a place that is simply rapturous.
C. Rapturous – in the body or out of the body, I do not know.
It is funny to read this passage. Because Paul says twice that when he was taken up to heaven, he doesn’t even know if it was “in the body or out of the body.” He says, “God knows”, but he himself can’t even remember.
Now, I don’t put a lot of stock in the various stories people tell about having an outer body experience. Their tales may be true, it may not be. But we know that Paul had this experience.
And I believe that what Paul is trying to communicate is something of the wonder of heaven. We need to understand that what he experienced in that place was so fascinating, so radical—so amazing—that he didn’t even take note of his personal condition. Was he physically present, or was it merely just his soul that had the pleasure of having being there?
It is like maybe you go out with some friends and there’s some big party or parade that’s going on. And you’re so caught up in having such a good time that you don’t realize you forgot your jacket. It is freezing cold, but you don’t even notice it because of all the fun that you’re having. There are lights flashing, music blaring, people all around you are laughing and telling stories. And you’re soaking it all in, and don’t even realize how cold you really are because you’re just so preoccupied with everything else.
I think that is what Paul is saying here. What I witnessed there was so wonderful, I didn’t even know if I was actually in my body or not. I was so enraptured with the glorious things that I was beholding, that I didn’t take note of my own condition at the time.
And then there’s that line at the end, where he says I heard things that cannot be told or “unutterable things.” Some of the commentators say that this means that Paul couldn’t even describe it if he tried. The sounds that penetrated his eardrum were so fantastic, so incredibly remarkable that he couldn’t possibly attempt to explain them.
All this is to say that we cannot begin to imagine how wonderful it will be.
I’ve mentioned before Jonathan Edward’s book, “Heaven is a world of love.” His thesis in that book is that heaven is a place where perfect love is constantly experienced. It is a world of pure and unbroken love. Everywhere you look there is nothing but love. Angels shower you with love, the people around you are constantly peppering you with love. Then, of course, there is God’s divine love. His being, being the very embodiment of love, sheds forth streams of infinite love and floods every corridor with its staggering degrees of warmth and charm.
No doubt, that was something of what Paul experienced. And if it was, it is no wonder he didn’t take notice of himself. It is certainly understandable then, why he couldn’t even begin to express what he really experienced there. That and that alone is hardly anything with which we are familiar in this world. The idea of love is a principle concept, of which we barely have any experiential knowledge. The concept is beyond our comprehension, let alone our ability to give adequate verbal expression.
And though we cannot fully grasp what heaven is like, what we have here is something that perks our interests. It makes us long more for it. The mere scent of heaven that we are given by these small descriptions, should make us more inclined to have it.
IV. He gives witness to very little.
When you really look at these four verses, what you find is that there is not much that is said about heaven. As a matter of fact, Paul says at the end of verse 4 that he’s not allowed to talk about it. He was forbidden to speak of the things he saw.
And really, when you look at the scope of this passage, you find that there is more mystery than clarity in what Paul says. A passage like this probably makes you ask more questions than it does giving you answers.
And I will admit that there’s not much to build a sermon on here.
This is where we must remember that the secret things belong to God. God blessed Paul above measure. He was given the special privilege of gaining more knowledge, perhaps because he was to do so much and suffer more than most men. A greater vision was given to the one who had greater misery so that he could continue to have the greater ministry.
And I like again what Albert Barnes says. He says that we might not believe it if we were told about it. Some things sound so radically outrageous that we’re just skeptical. Barnes gives the example of a Dutch ambassador who met with a king from Thailand. The ambassador talked about how sometimes the water in the Netherlands becomes so hard you can walk on it (ice). And the king, who had never seen ice before, said, “I have often suspected you to be speaking falsehoods, but now I know you are a liar.”
Paul has already talked about some rather fantastical things. There is already enough tough stuff for us to believe. If he let that cat out of the bag on this one and tried to express the incomprehensible things he witnessed, would we believe him? Barnes basically says we might write him off as completely mad. We might think he’s downright loony.
As I have said, the secret things belong to God, the things revealed belong to us. While this hasn’t been a full blown examination of what Scripture says about heaven, it has revealed enough. There is enough to fill our souls with a greater longing. There is enough to encourage us to persevere in faith throughout life, especially when we meet with trials and difficulties.
Most especially, there is enough stated here that should encourage us to turn to Christ if we have not yet done so. The unutterable excellencies of that place are only for those who, as you see in verse 2, are in Christ. Those who live in sin and do not repent will never have opportunity to experience them. They will have their own
But those who have put their faith in Christ, we can say this: We might not know much, but we will know soon enough.
Each Sunday we have the opportunity to gather together here for worship. This is, in all reality, our “Delectable Mountains.” It is a place where we are refreshed for our travels into another week. The Shepherds here seek to offer you truth to build you up and get you ready for your pilgrimage.
And on this day, I hope that we might pause at the peek and gaze off to our final destination. It is my desire today that we catch a glimpse of the Celestial City.
The passage before us today is a remarkable one. It is Paul’s personal witness to heaven. God had granted to Paul athe unique privileged of actually having gone into the very inner regions of heaven. And in this passage we have his eye witness testimony to some of what he experienced there.
And while he had originally used this as a verification of his apostolic credential, we have encapsulated here a few words that we can use to encourage our weary souls to persevere in our faith. By these words we may “set our minds on things above, where Christ is.”
And this morning I’d like us to note 4 things about Heaven from Paul’s experience. The first thing being that Heaven is for real.
I. He gives witnesses to its reality
In this passage Paul is boasting, of course. He is, in an awkward way, trying to show off and give something of a testament to the fact that he is more an apostle and has more credentials than the imposters there at Corinth. And he boasts of the fact that he’d had been given this wild experience of having gone into the very inner recesses of heaven itself.
He says he was given a vision and revelation. The word revelation there is the word apokolupsis, which means to make known or uncover. It is a secret that God reveals. And Paul’s saying I was able to peek behind the curtain, as it were.
Then in verses 2-3 he uses the word “caught up.” Now, he doesn’t remember if it he was there physically, or just spiritually—as an out of body experience, but he says he was taken there. He was placed right there in the midst of heaven.
So what we have here is an eye witness account. This is a personal testimony to the reality of heaven and its existence.
The transaction here referred to is very remarkable. It is the only instance in the Scriptures of anyone who was taken to heaven, either in reality or in vision, and who returned again to the earth and was then qualified to communicate important truths about the heavenly world from personal observation. Enoch and Elijah were taken to heaven; but they returned not to converse with people…
Lazarus was raised from the dead, and many of the saints which had slept in their graves arose at the death of Jesus, but there is no intimation that they communicated anything to the living about the heavenly world.
Of all the million who have been taken to heaven, not one has been permitted to return to bear his testimony to its glories; to witness for God that he is faithful to his promises; to encourage his pious friends to persevere; or to invite his impenitent friends to follow him to that glorious world.
I find Barne’s words interesting, and I think they have some application to the different books that have been published lately on the topic of heaven—in particular those books that have recount personal trips to heaven or experiences someone has had who has gone to heaven and come back. One of those books is even called, “Heaven is for real.”
I will say that I don’t put a lot of stock in such books. I’m not going to enumerate the reasons why. I merely want to point out that heaven is something we take by faith.
A reminder that God’s promises are true. There is a hope for the righteous. We have here are testimony to the fact that the Lord has prepared a place for us. We do not have to doubt its reality. We don't even need others to confirm it for us. If all of what God has revealed in Scripture were not enough to verify its reality, God has already given us here a perfect revelation--a first hand account-- of the distinct factuality of its existence. And a direct confirmation that Christ, by His blood, has most certainly given you eternal life in it.
And so we can have encouragement in knowing that God’s promises are true. And we have here a testament to the fact that this world, with all its miseries, is passing away.
II. He gives witness to its location
Part of the reason that we can say that heaven is for real is because it truly is a place. It has a distinct locale, just as much as this room does or your home does. The only difference is that heaven does not have an address here in this world.
Paul says that he was taken up to the “third heaven.” This is, you might say, the zip code we can use in pinpointing where exactly the celestial kingdom is. The ancient Jews thought of the whole realm of the heavens as consisting of different layers. And there were three of them, to be exact.
The first level would be that which is just above us and extends up a couple miles. It consists of the atmosphere, the clouds, and the blue stuff we normally call the sky. It’s that area where planes fly around and might be regarded as the little bubble that encompasses the earth that makes living here possible.
The second heaven consists of everything beyond that, which we typically see at night. We’d probably call it outer space. It is that area above the earth’s atmosphere, which contains the sun, moon, and stars. Really, it encapsulates the rest of the physical universe.
The third heaven is that region that is beyond that. This third heaven is the spiritual world which is beyond the physical dimension of the universe in which we live. I like what Calvin says on this notion of the third heaven,
The term heaven, taken by itself, denotes here the blessed and glorious kingdom of God, which is above all the spheres, and the firmament itself, and even the entire frame-work of the world. Paul, however, not contenting himself with the simple term, adds, that he had reached even the greatest height, and the innermost recesses.
Now, what I’m saying is that even though this is a real place, you can’t get on a space shuttle and put it on overdrive to eventually get there. It isn’t like that. And perhaps that’s why a lot of people have a hard time accepting its reality. They can’t bring themselves to believe in an alternate dimension that transcends the physical world.
But as Christians, this is part of our worldview. We understand that there is more to the universe than mere physical realities. It may not be a place that we can see now with our eyes, but it is a place. It has been revealed to us by God and we accept it by faith.
And we know that heaven is a real place, because the bible speaks of it so frequently.
You may remember that Solomon, during his early years as king, dedicated the temple. And when he did, he prayed to God and acknowledged that the highest heaven could not contain Him. Solomon was talking about this third and highest heaven.
Then we read of others, like Enoch and Elijah, who have been taken up to heaven. Of course, this includes Jesus too. In the book of Acts we read that Jesus ascended into heaven. He was taken up into the sky and hid by a cloud. And we are told that he is going to come back some
Certainly, we could give more examples throughout scripture. But here we merely verify the reality of heaven. It is truly a place and it is just as real as this room. It might have a different nature. We acknowledge that it is a spiritual dimension (as opposed to physical).
And, ultimately, we are reminded that this eternal place is our place. It is the place to which we as Christ’s people shall go when we die. When we end our journey on this planet, we will be relocated. We won’t just go into some sleep mode and awake on the day of resurrection. We know that after our bodily demise we will enter into heaven immediately and find ourselves in the presence of God.
III. He gives witness to its splendor
The excellency of the place is noted in a couple different ways. First, we can refer to what we just talked about; this idea of a third heaven.
A. Third heaven – highest and most excellent place
The various commentaries almost all testify to the fact that the idea of the third heaven is expressing the idea of the highest and most excellent heaven. If you occupy the highest point in a building, it is sometimes regarded as the best place. The penthouse is typically the highest and most luxurious room in all the structure. It offers the best view and best accommodations.
And we can recognize that heaven certainly is the highest and most blessed place. It is the best living space that one can have, this side of the consummated kingdom which Christ will bring at the end.
But Paul also gets at the splendor of heaven by the use of the word “Paradise.”
B. Paradise
He uses that word in verse 3 to further describe the third heaven. This word, paradise, is interesting. It isn’t used that frequently in the NT. But each time it is used it refers to heaven. You may remember that Jesus said to the one thief on the cross who repented, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” When he said that he was referring to heaven, and he was giving the thief a little comfort as to what to expect. His mode of existence was going to radically change in a matter of minutes.
Due to our common parlance, the word paradise conjures up in our minds palm trees and cool, tropical lagoons, and maybe even some colored drinks with funny little umbrellas. And our understanding isn’t too far-fetched. The word paradise though is a Persian word. It merely means garden. If you are familiar with the hanging gardens, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. That was a paradise.
Of course, the LXX uses the word paradise in reference to the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:4). And from that we understand that heaven is a restored Garden of Eden. Adam & Eve not only had a lush environment, which no doubt boasted the best fruits and vegetables, they lived in perfect harmony with each other and with God. Part of what made it a paradisaical environment was simply the peace that characterized it. There was beauty, joy, good food, and every other sensation imaginable that promoted happiness.
And we can expect heaven to be a place of lush grandeur, a paradisaical experience. We can take the best places we’ve been to on earth and try to see them as little expressions of what that world will be like.
But of course, that’s not going to do any real justice to the true and ultimate nature of heaven. I say that these experiences we may have are little expressions of heaven, but really, they are poor expressions and won’t even begin to compare to what it is really like.
And I think that the rest of this passage really gets at that. I’ve said that it is the highest and most excellent place, it is a paradisaical place. Paul also notes that it is a place that is simply rapturous.
C. Rapturous – in the body or out of the body, I do not know.
It is funny to read this passage. Because Paul says twice that when he was taken up to heaven, he doesn’t even know if it was “in the body or out of the body.” He says, “God knows”, but he himself can’t even remember.
Now, I don’t put a lot of stock in the various stories people tell about having an outer body experience. Their tales may be true, it may not be. But we know that Paul had this experience.
And I believe that what Paul is trying to communicate is something of the wonder of heaven. We need to understand that what he experienced in that place was so fascinating, so radical—so amazing—that he didn’t even take note of his personal condition. Was he physically present, or was it merely just his soul that had the pleasure of having being there?
It is like maybe you go out with some friends and there’s some big party or parade that’s going on. And you’re so caught up in having such a good time that you don’t realize you forgot your jacket. It is freezing cold, but you don’t even notice it because of all the fun that you’re having. There are lights flashing, music blaring, people all around you are laughing and telling stories. And you’re soaking it all in, and don’t even realize how cold you really are because you’re just so preoccupied with everything else.
I think that is what Paul is saying here. What I witnessed there was so wonderful, I didn’t even know if I was actually in my body or not. I was so enraptured with the glorious things that I was beholding, that I didn’t take note of my own condition at the time.
And then there’s that line at the end, where he says I heard things that cannot be told or “unutterable things.” Some of the commentators say that this means that Paul couldn’t even describe it if he tried. The sounds that penetrated his eardrum were so fantastic, so incredibly remarkable that he couldn’t possibly attempt to explain them.
All this is to say that we cannot begin to imagine how wonderful it will be.
I’ve mentioned before Jonathan Edward’s book, “Heaven is a world of love.” His thesis in that book is that heaven is a place where perfect love is constantly experienced. It is a world of pure and unbroken love. Everywhere you look there is nothing but love. Angels shower you with love, the people around you are constantly peppering you with love. Then, of course, there is God’s divine love. His being, being the very embodiment of love, sheds forth streams of infinite love and floods every corridor with its staggering degrees of warmth and charm.
No doubt, that was something of what Paul experienced. And if it was, it is no wonder he didn’t take notice of himself. It is certainly understandable then, why he couldn’t even begin to express what he really experienced there. That and that alone is hardly anything with which we are familiar in this world. The idea of love is a principle concept, of which we barely have any experiential knowledge. The concept is beyond our comprehension, let alone our ability to give adequate verbal expression.
And though we cannot fully grasp what heaven is like, what we have here is something that perks our interests. It makes us long more for it. The mere scent of heaven that we are given by these small descriptions, should make us more inclined to have it.
IV. He gives witness to very little.
When you really look at these four verses, what you find is that there is not much that is said about heaven. As a matter of fact, Paul says at the end of verse 4 that he’s not allowed to talk about it. He was forbidden to speak of the things he saw.
And really, when you look at the scope of this passage, you find that there is more mystery than clarity in what Paul says. A passage like this probably makes you ask more questions than it does giving you answers.
And I will admit that there’s not much to build a sermon on here.
This is where we must remember that the secret things belong to God. God blessed Paul above measure. He was given the special privilege of gaining more knowledge, perhaps because he was to do so much and suffer more than most men. A greater vision was given to the one who had greater misery so that he could continue to have the greater ministry.
And I like again what Albert Barnes says. He says that we might not believe it if we were told about it. Some things sound so radically outrageous that we’re just skeptical. Barnes gives the example of a Dutch ambassador who met with a king from Thailand. The ambassador talked about how sometimes the water in the Netherlands becomes so hard you can walk on it (ice). And the king, who had never seen ice before, said, “I have often suspected you to be speaking falsehoods, but now I know you are a liar.”
Paul has already talked about some rather fantastical things. There is already enough tough stuff for us to believe. If he let that cat out of the bag on this one and tried to express the incomprehensible things he witnessed, would we believe him? Barnes basically says we might write him off as completely mad. We might think he’s downright loony.
As I have said, the secret things belong to God, the things revealed belong to us. While this hasn’t been a full blown examination of what Scripture says about heaven, it has revealed enough. There is enough to fill our souls with a greater longing. There is enough to encourage us to persevere in faith throughout life, especially when we meet with trials and difficulties.
Most especially, there is enough stated here that should encourage us to turn to Christ if we have not yet done so. The unutterable excellencies of that place are only for those who, as you see in verse 2, are in Christ. Those who live in sin and do not repent will never have opportunity to experience them. They will have their own
But those who have put their faith in Christ, we can say this: We might not know much, but we will know soon enough.