Heaven Part II

Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible…. 

John 14:1-3  ESV

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

² In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.  

Jesus statement introduces one of the primary truths about heaven.  It is a place of adequacy.  It is well said that riches is not possessions, but the absence of want.  The Psalmist can say, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

Along with food, shelter is a basic requirement.  Christ assures us our abode with God more than meets this need.  What the English Standard Version calls “rooms”, the King James Version calls “mansions.”  This residence will be spacious, beautiful, and most desirable.

In Rev. 21:3 ESV is the end statement made to God’s people in all His promises and provision for them. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  His promise is inclusive.  In Heaven His abode is among them.  And they experience the full benefit of the promised covenant relationship, “They will be His people”. 

Again in Rev. 21:4 (ESV) the promise of a complete joy is stated.  ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” All those experiences which bring us pain and sorrow are no longer existent.  God has wiped them away.

 

It is significant that we will experience these harrowing trials as long as this present sphere is our abode.  For those who deny these experiences in the lives of believers, these words form a difficult if not impossible hurdle to their teaching.

Rev. 21:22-24.  ²² And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³ And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,  This is one of the most beautiful statements in all of Scripture.  The believer in our day with the Scriptures so readily available has the privilege of reading Vs. 23 with delight and wonder.  Where else could be so desirable as this place where God the Summum Bonem of all that the soul can desire.  O, Saint of God read it over and over till you have memorized it.

The Lord God outshines the sun and the Lamb is the lamp.  How is this begun?  John 8:12 (KJV) ¹² Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.  This alone makes that final abode of all encompassing light a reality.

Again listen to that old Gospel song:

The Pearly White City

There’s a holy and beautiful city
Whose Builder and Ruler is God;
John saw it descending from Heaven,
When Patmos, in exile, he trod;
Its high, massive wall is of jasper,
The city itself is pure gold;
And when my frail tent here is folded,
Mine eyes shall its glory behold.

Refrain

In that bright city, pearly white city,
I have a mansion, a harp, and a crown;
Now I am watching, waiting, and longing,
For the white city that’s soon coming down.

No sin is allowed in that city
And nothing defiling or mean;
No pain and no sickness can enter,
No crepe on the doorknob is seen;
Earth’s sorrows and cares are forgotten,
No tempter is there to annoy;
No parting words ever are spoken,
There’s nothing to hurt or destroy.