Forecasting Heaven

In a world clamoring for information, a reliable source is a valuable commodity. Important decisions are often based on forecasts:

• A local weatherman predicts rain, and we change our weekend plans.
• A stockbroker predicts a bull market, and we invest our funds.
• Politicians forecast a better future, and we cast our votes.

Sometimes weather forecasts turn out to be wrong, and we get rained on. Sometimes money managers miscalculate, and investors lose money. We absorb these losses and move on.

But what about eternity?

The source we choose to listen to will dictate the most important path our life can take. With eternal life at stake, absolute reliability is essential. Yet, much of the world seems comfortable taking its chances on the unreliable information that secular culture approves.

Who is reliable? Who can predict a person’s eternal destination? The truth is—forecasting who goes to heaven is humanly impossible. Nobody can judge a human heart, and Christians are wrong to even try.

Unfortunately, believers sometimes fail in this area in two distinct ways:

1. Condemnation: We judge a human heart by telling a person they are heading to hell.
2. Silence: We judge a heart by assuming a person won’t listen, prompting us to refrain from sharing the gospel at all.

Jesus tells us that the gates are wide and the road is broad for those walking toward eternal destruction, a reality that should break our hearts. He also warns us of false teachers—those who misrepresent Christ and teach things that tickle human ears and stroke our human pride. We are naturally prone to messages that tell us we can somehow be righteous enough on our own.

It is human pride that prompts us to walk the wide, popular road. To break that pride, God uses prophets to share the power of his message and help lead lost souls through the narrow gate.

Prophets exist today, but they do not wear long, hooded robes predicting the end is near, nor do they try to calculate the second coming of Christ based on current events. Prophets today are simply believers in Christ who specifically point to the promises God has given us in his Word.

Just as he did in the Old Testament, God uses modern prophets to remind people that the Lord is reliable, that he keeps his promises, and that we can take him at his Word. Like a seasoned meteorologist forecasting a severe storm, God’s deep love and concern prompt him to send repeated messages of warning amidst life’s daily distractions.

Regrettably, people are too caught up in this world to seriously consider their eternal destiny. They reject God’s promises not because they have investigated them, but because they feel they don’t have time to hear them.

While the only way a person can truly believe is through the power of the Holy Spirit, the role of the evangelist is simple. We are called to be God’s messengers—to gently tap a distracted person on the shoulder and ask them to briefly consider an invitation to a banquet. We are simply asking them to taste and see that the Lord is good.

God is calling on prophets today to share the most reliable, purest information that comes from a perfect source: His Word. The proclamation of the gospel is not a forecast, but an invitation to repent and receive eternal life in heaven.