Watching the film, “Heaven,” produced by the Billy Graham organization reminds me of the words of the Apostle John: “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain . . . no temple . . . does not need the sun or the moon . . . there will be no night there . . . nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful” (Rev. 21:4, 22, 23, 25, 27 NIV). “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst” (Rev. 7:10 NIV). John ran out of words to adequately describe heaven. So he, like we often do, was forced to describe what heaven is like by speaking of what won’t be there. I am struck by the number of truths about heaven stated in the negative. Heaven is the place of no more.

Consider this:

There will be no more colds, no more cancer. No blindness. No eyeglasses. No braces. No wheelchairs. No false teeth. No bald heads. No hearing aids. No crutches.

There will be no more hospitals, no assisted-living facilities, no long-term care homes. No paramedics. No CPR. Doctors have to find a new job, they aren’t needed anymore. Aspirin gone, accidents over, heart attacks banished, AIDS a distant memory. In heaven no one grows old and feeble.

There will be no more second-class citizens. No prisoners, no slaves, no homeless people. Rejection will be no more. No failures. No handicapped people. No marginalized people. No homes for abused women and children.

There will be no more denominations. No theological differences, no church creeds, no sectarian worship. There will be no churches. Pastors, preachers, Bible teachers, evangelists, faith healers will have to find new occupations.

There will be no more second-hand knowledge. No need for books, or authors, or poets, or philosophers.

There will be no more fear. No locks on doors. No bars on windows. No alarm systems.

There will be no more night. No darkness, no gloom, or terror, or dread.

There will be no more suffering. No disease. No heartache. No damaged bodies. No tiredness. No hurt. No pain. No mourning. No crying. No funerals. Funeral Directors will have to find other work. No death. No cemeteries.

There will be no sin. No defilement. No violence. No crime. No greedy politicians. No drug pushers. No child molesters. No gossips. No slanders. No bitterness. No need for forgiveness.

There will be no more regret. No remorse.

There will be no more goodbyes. No more saying goodbye to a loved one as their body is lowered into the grave. No more seeing our children grow up and leave us for some distant place. No more saying farewell to dear friends. No more broken friendships and broken marriages. No more misunderstandings that grow into bitter disputes.

Heaven is so indescribable that they only way to fully understand it is to go there. It’s like trying to describe the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone to someone who has never been there. Words fail you; pictures don’t do it justice. Eventually, you have to say: “Well, you’ve just got to go there.”

Once in heaven, earth will have lost its attraction. The thought will hit us: Why did we spend so much time trying to make our stay on earth more comfortable and more extensive when we have the eternal rapture and indescribable delight of heaven awaiting us?

If you have not seen the film, “Heaven,” it will be shown Sunday at Greer First, 202 West Poinsett Street, Greer, SC, at 8:45 AM, 11:00 AM, and 6:16 PM.