The Barrier: What Defiles Cannot Enter Heaven

"There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth" (Revelation 21:27). This is no arbitrary decree, but a solemn declaration to which all holy spirits give their willing assent—an ordinance whose justice even the excluded themselves shall admit.

First, the royal and divine corporation of the glorified Church of God cannot be ruined by defilement. God forbid that "her light, which is like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal," should ever be dimmed by the breath of sin. Evil cannot enter the kingdom of God, for the very essence of the bliss of the glorified Church depends upon evil's exclusion.

Consider the impossibility within sinful persons themselves: the sea cannot rest because it is the sea, and the sinner cannot be quiet because he is a sinner. Our own hearts forbid such entrance. When plague-laden ships arrived at ancient quays, people cried, "Burn those rags! Keep them away from the people!" So we cry: "Great God, forbid that anything that defileth should enter into Thy perfected Church!"

Within that city, no tendency toward sin, no wish, no desire for the unclean shall be found. Not even a sinful thought can be conceived there. Mark well: no untruth can enter—"neither whatsoever maketh a lie." Nothing erroneous, hollow, or pretentious can be smuggled through those gates of pearl. Only truth dwells with the God of truth.