Dogs Don’t Go to Heaven
Text: Revelation 22:12-17
I. When we want to illustrate a point, we often will search through life around us to find something similar. It is especially good if the audience understands the example
A. Those points make a lasting impression on us because we are familiar with the illustration
B. Thus Jesus’ illustration of a woman cleaning house just to find a misplaced coin stays with us, or his illustration of a man with two sons: one rude and refused to do what he was told, but later changes his mind and the other who tells his dad what he wants to hear and then doesn’t do it, causes us to say “I know someone just like that.”
C. I’m a dog owner and love my pet. There are numerous characteristics that make him enjoyable, but I must admit that there are some habits that dogs have that are not good.
II. Dogs in the Bible
A. Dogs were domesticated early on, usually for guard duty - Job 30:1
B. The problem is that there were no leash laws, dog catchers, or humane societies to deal with stray dogs.
1. Ancient cities often had packs of stray dogs wandering the streets living off the refuge dumps, ready to eat anything they could find that was edible - Psalm 59:14-15
2. In times of war, they would appear in the aftermath - Psalm 68:23; I Kings 14:11; Jeremiah 15:3
C. So while they had uses, people generally did not like dogs.
1. They would throw stones or swing sticks at a growling dog to shew it away - I Samuel 17:43
2. Stray dogs can turn at any time - Matthew 7:6
D. So referring to a person as a dog was an insult
III. Why there are no dogs in heaven - Revelation 22:14-15
A. Laziness
1. A guard dog who doesn’t bark is worthless - Isaiah 56:10-11
a. It refers to leaders who do not sound a warning - Ezekiel 3:17
b. Those who do not tell others they have sinned - Isaiah 58:1
2. Children of God are to be diligent - Hebrew 6:11-12
B. Dogs tend to be greedy - Also Isaiah 56:10-11
1. Dogs will wolf down their food rapidly
2. It is a reference to leaders who run after gain - I Peter 5:2
C. Dogs have disgusting habits
1. If a dog eats something that disagrees with him or gulps it down in too big of a chunk, he vomits it back up
2. What is disgusting is that he will often eat it again. A dog doesn’t realize that if it wasn’t good the first time, it isn’t going to be better the second time.
3. That becomes an illustration - Proverbs 26:11
a. Foolish people act just like dogs. They repeat the same mistake never stopping to think there is a reason why it was a mistake in the first place.
b. Peter used it for the same purpose - II Peter 2:22
(1) Some people leave sin to turn around and return to it
(2) A dog who vomits feels better, but then returns to what made him ill
(3) For some we show the way to righteousness and how to purge sin from their life and then when they are feeling better they go right back into sin.
D. Dogs have unbridled lusts
1. Unneutered male dogs are disposed to mate with anything anywhere. They have no restraint
2. Thus people who show no restraint and abnormal sexual practices are called dogs - Deuteronomy 23:17-18
a. A man who sells his body for sex, what we call a homosexual today, is referred to as a dog
b. The point Moses is making is that God will not accept offerings from wicked people - Proverbs 15:8
c. Offering worship to God doesn’t give license to sin. That is the “come on line” the harlot gave the naive young man - Proverbs 7:14-15
d. Ill-gotten gains don’t bring honor to God when given to Him
E. Dogs can turn on you
1. Matthew 7:6 - Even if you feed a stray and it accepts your food, it doesn’t mean he won’t bite you
a. Some people are like that. They are friendly as long as they getting something from you, but they will quickly turn on you if they see a benefit to themselves
b. Those people aren’t worth giving what is holy and good.
2. People who bite and devour each other - Galatians 5:15
a. It comes from a focus on personal pleasures - James 4:1-4
3. It can refer to false teachers - Matthew 7:15
a. Such as Alexander who turned on Paul - II Timothy 4:14-15
b. So the warning to beware - Philippians 3:2
F. Dogs will run in packs acting worse in a group than when alone
1. David’s prophesy about the Christ’s death referred to the mob as a pack of dogs - Psalm 22:16, 20
2. Because they are in a pack, they let someone else do their thinking, which ultimately means no one is using their heads
3. Each wrong emboldens the others to do greater wrongs - Proverbs 1:10-16
IV. There are no dogs in heaven - Revelation 22:14-15
A. God’s people are sheep - Psalm 100:3-5
B. Where will you spend eternity?