Heaven and the Life to Come

The Christian's Crown

Have Christians a crown? O, yes; but they do not wear it every day. They have a crown, but their coronation-day is not yet arrived; they have been anointed monarchs; they have some of the authority and dignity of monarchs, only they are not crowned monarchs yet. But the crown is made. God will not have to order heaven's goldsmiths to fashion it in after-time: it is made already, hanging up in glory. God hath "laid up for me a crown of righteousness."

Heaven an Inheritance

"The inheritance of the saints." So then, heaven, with all its glories, is an inheritance. Now, an inheritance is not a thing which is bought with money, earned by labor, or won by conquest. If any man hath an inheritance, in the proper sense of that term, it came to him by birth. And thus it is with heaven. The man who shall receive this glorious heritage, will not obtain it by the works of the law, nor by the efforts of the flesh; it will be given to him as a matter of most gracious right, because he has been "begotten again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead;" and has thus become an heir of heaven by blood and birth. They who come unto glory are sons; for is it not written, "The Captain of our salvation bringeth many sons unto glory?" They come not there as servants; no servant has any right to the inheritance of his master. Be he never so faithful, yet is he not his master's heir. But because ye are sons—sons by the Spirit's regeneration—sons by the Father's adoption—because by supernatural energy ye have been born again, ye become inheritors of eternal life, and ye enter into the many mansions of our Father's house above. Let us always understand, then, when we think of heaven, that it is a place which is to be ours, and a state which we are to enjoy as the result of birth—not as the result of work. "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." That kingdom being an "inheritance," until ye have the new birth ye can have no claim to enter it.

The Sleep of Death

"The sleep of death"—what is this sleep? We know that the surface idea connected with sleep is that of resting. The eyes of the sleeper ache no more with the glare of light or with the rush of tears; his ears are teased no more with the noise of strife or the murmur of suffering; his hand is no more weakened by long protracted effort and painful weariness; his feet are no more blistered with journeyings to and fro along a rugged road; there is ease for aching heads, and overtaxed nerves, and heavy hearts, in the sweet repose of sleep. On yonder couch, however hard, the laborer shakes off his toil, the merchant his care, the thinker his difficulties, and the sufferer his pains. Sleep makes each night a Sabbath for the day. Sleep shuts to the door of the soul, and bids all intruders tarry for a while. So is it with the body while it sleeps in the tomb. The weary are at rest: the servant is as much at ease as his lord. No more the worker leans on his spade, no more the thinker props his pensive head. The wheel stands still; the shuttle is not in motion; the hand which turned the one and the fingers which threw the other are quiet also. The grave shuts out all disturbance, labor, or effort. The toilworn believer quietly sleeps, as does the child weary with its play, when it shuts its eyes and slumbers on its mother's breast. O! happy they who die in the Lord; they rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. We would not shun toil, for though it be in itself a curse, it is, when sanctified, a blessing; yet toil for toil's sake we would not choose: and when God's work is done, we are too glad to think that our work is done too. The mighty Husbandman, when we have fulfilled our day, shall bid His servants rest upon the best of beds, for the clods of the valley shall be sweet to them. Their repose shall never be broken until He shall rouse them up to give them their full reward. Guarded by angel-watchers, curtained by eternal mysteries, resting on the lap of mother earth, ye shall sleep on, ye heritors of glory, till the fulness of time shall bring you the fulness of redemption.

Foretastes of Heaven

Is it possible for us to know anything whatever of our heavenly home? Is there power in human intellect to fly into the land of the hereafter, where God's people rest eternally? Our inquiry is met at the outset by what seems a positive denial: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." If we paused here, we might give up all idea of beholding from hence that "goodly land and Lebanon;" but we do not pause, for, like the apostle, we go on with the text, and we add, "But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit." It is possible to look within the veil; God's Spirit can turn it aside for a moment, and bid us take a glimpse, though it be a distant one, at that unutterable glory. There are "Pisgahs" even now on the earth, from the top of which the celestial Canaan can be beheld; there are hallowed hours in which the mists and clouds are swept away, and the sun shineth in his strength, and our eye, being freed from its natural dimness, beholds something of that land which is very far off, and sees a little of the joy and blessedness which is reserved for the people of God hereafter. By the Holy Spirit there is given to them, even now, in seasons of blissful communion, such experiences, joys, and feelings, as seem to bring heaven down to them, and make them able to realize, in some faint measure, what heaven itself must be.

Near Home

The best moment of a Christian's life is his last one, because it is the one which is nearest heaven; and then it is that he begins to strike the key-note of the song which he shall sing to all eternity. O! what a song will that be!

The Way to Heaven

There is no way to heaven, whatever thy hopes may be, but through Christ: there is no way to the gates of pearl but through the bleeding side of Jesus. These are the gates of paradise—these bleeding wounds. If thou wouldst find thy way to God's bright throne, find first thy way to Jesus' cross; if thou wouldst know the way to happiness, tread in that path of misery which Jesus trod. What! attempt another way? Art thou mad enough to think that thou canst rend the posts, and bars, and gates of heaven, from their perpetual places, and force thy way by thy created strength? Or dost thou think to purchase with thy riches and thy gold a foothold in paradise? Fool! what is thy gold, where streets are made of it, and where the gates are solid pearl?—where the foundations are of jasper, and the walls whereof are precious gems? And dost thou think to get there by thy merits? Ah! by pride fell the angels, and by thy pride thou fallest. Heaven is not for such as thou art. But dost thou say, "I will leave my wealth, after I have gone, to charities; I will build a hospital, or feed the poor?" Then let men pay thee: thou hast wrought for them, let them pay the debt; let them rear the stony pillar, and set thine effigy upon the top thereof. If thou hast wrought for thy country, let thy country pay thee what they owe thee. But God—what does He owe to thee? Thou hast forgotten Him; thou hast despised His Son; thou hast rejected His gospel. Be thou warrior, statesman, patriot—let men pay thee; God owes thee nothing; and all thou canst do, if thou comest not in the right way through Jesus Christ, who lived and died, and is alive forevermore, and hath the keys of heaven at his girdle, will not bribe Him to admit thee to His palace.

The Hope of Heaven

Believers are not only to be with Christ, and to behold His glory, but they are to be like Christ, and to be glorified with Him. Is He glorious? So shall they be. Is He enthroned? So shall they be. Does He wear a crown? So shall they. Is He a priest? So shall they be kings to share His dominion, and priests to offer acceptable sacrifices forever. Mark, that in all Christ has, believers participate. They are to reign with Christ, and have a portion of His joy; to be honored with Him, to be accepted in Him. This is heaven indeed! If you have this hope, I beseech you hold it fast, live on it, rejoice in it.

"A hope so much divine, May trials well endure; May purge your soul from sense and sin, As Christ the Lord is pure."

Live near your Master now, so shall your evidences be bright; and when you come to cross the flood, you shall see Him face to face, and what that is only they can tell who enjoy it every hour. But if you have not this bright hope, how is it that you can live content? You are going through a dark world to a darker eternity. I beseech you stop and pause. Consider for a moment whether it is worth while to lose heaven for this poor earth. What! pawn eternal glories for the pitiful pence of a few moments of the world's enjoyments? No, stop, I beseech you; weigh the bargain ere you accept it. What shall it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul? What wailing and gnashing of teeth shall there be over the carelessness or misadventure by which men lose such a heaven as this?

To be with Christ

"To be with Christ." Who can comprehend this but the Christian? It is a heaven which worldlings care not for. They know not what a mass of glory is crowded into that one sentence: "To be with Christ." But to the believer the words are a concentration of bliss. Take only one of the many precious thoughts the words suggest—the sight of Christ. "Thine eye shall see the King in His beauty." We have heard of Him, and can say, "Whom having not seen we love." But then we "shall see Him." Yes, we shall actually gaze upon the exalted Redeemer. Realize the thought. Is there not a heaven within it? Thou shalt see the hands which were nailed to the cross for thee; thou shalt see the thorn-crowned head, and with all the blood-washed throng, shalt thou bow with lowly reverence before Him, who bowed in lowly abasement for thee. Faith is precious, but what must sight be? To view Jesus as the Lamb of God through the glass of faith, makes the soul rejoice with joy unspeakable; but oh! to see Him face to face, to look into those eyes, to hear that voice—rapture begins at the very mention of it! If even to think of it is so sweet, what must the vision be when we shall talk with Him, "even as a man talketh with his friend"—for the vision of Christ implies communion. All that which the spouse desired in Solomon's Song, we shall have, and ten thousand times more. Then will the prayer be fulfilled, "Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth: for Thy love is better than wine." Then we shall be able to say, "His left hand is under my head, and His right hand doth embrace me." Then shall we experience the promise, "They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy." And then we will pour out the song of gratitude, a song such as we have never sung on earth, tuneful, dulcet, pure, full of serenity and joy, no discord to mar its melody; a song rapt and seraphic. Happy day, when vision and communion shall be ours in fulness—when we shall know even as we are known!