Little things

Today, we live in a society where everything and everyone is open to criticism. This takes place even although we all know that no one is perfect, and often it takes place without a full knowledge of all the facts. How different it is with Jesus, the One who is perfect and the One who knows all the facts.

What is Jesus going to say to his people on the Day of Judgement? He will know every detail of their lives, including their failures. Yet, he will say to them, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' How will he be able to say that to them? It is true that all their failures have been forgiven. It will be true that most of them will not have achieved great exploits for him.

The answer may be in the fact that Jesus cares about little things, things so little that we and others may have forgotten that we did them. Little things such as giving a cup of cold water, speaking a word of comfort, sharing a spiritual insight, remembering someone in prayer, taking a few minutes to write an email or letter or make a phone call, and to do such things day by day as part of one's discipleship. 

Often we are in danger of being spiritually inactive because we cannot find space to do big things, or maybe we don't have the talents by which to do them. In such situations, we should remind ourselves who gives the space and who gives the talents. It is God in his providence. 

Maybe we have been given the space(s) and talent(s) to do little things. And if we use them, at the end of the day, Jesus will say to us, 'Well done,' and give us a far greater reward that we can possibly expect.

Arrival

One of the major problems caused by the pandemic has been crossing borders between countries. Sometimes, it is hard to get out of a country, and at other times it is hard to get in to a country. Even when a person manages to get into a country, he cannot be sure regarding what limitations he will face. In all cases, crossing borders is now much more complicated than it used to be.

There is one border crossing that we will all face and it will occur when we leave this world. For those who are crossing into the heavenly country, it will be a very straightforward and transforming entry. They will not be met by a junior official, and assigned a place in a queue. Rather they will be met by Jesus himself and he will introduce them to the life of their new environment.

When it came the time for Stephen to cross the border, things were dark on this side of it. The church was about to lose one of its most effective evangelists and organisers. But on the other side, things were bright. Jesus himself was standing, looking on and waiting to greet Stephen when he reached the border crossing. What a wonderful welcome he would have received from Jesus!

We often think of the various activities of Jesus in heaven. We contemplate his roles of prophet, priest and king because we know that they are comforting and uplifting to our hearts. No doubt, he will be engaged in fulfilling those responsibilities today. Another role he will be engaged in today will be that of Welcomer, greeting those of his people who will arrive at the ultimate border crossing. 

In his letter to the Philippians Paul assures his readers that to be with Christ is far better. Far better than what? It will be better than anything that can be imagined. Often, when a person crosses a border, it takes him a while to discover that his new location is better than his old. It will be very different when entering heaven. One second will be enough to reveal that it is far better, and the remainder of the time there will always provide evidence for that reality.

If I could tell how sweet will be His welcome

In that home whose wondrous beauty ne’er was told,

And tell you how He waits and longs to save you,

You would seek Him, and abide within His fold.

At home with God

One day we will leave this world. We are reminded of this fact frequently, and the passing of time is a personal pointer to it. Whatever else this world may be, it is not our eternal home. Recently, our congregation lost a valued elder when he joined the redeemed in the Father’s house after many years of service for the Master.

As I thought about his passing, my mind went to the words of the psalmist in Psalm 116:15: ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.’ At the very least, that verse tells us of divine interest in each believer’s moment of passing from earth to heaven. To us, a door was closing on his life; for him, a door was opening into an experience that Paul describes as far better. 

In other Bible passages we have descriptions of how believers experience their deaths. They reach the Father’s house, they arrive at the heavenly city, they live in the better country. The psalmist however focuses on how God, the infallible Assessor, estimates the occasion. He regards it as precious. 

Often, the insights of C. H. Spurgeon enable us to get the emphases of a biblical passage. Here is what he says on this text: ‘God the Father sees the fruit of his eternal love at last ingathered: Jesus sees the purchase of his passion at last secured: the Holy Spirit sees the object of his continual workmanship at last perfected: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rejoice that now the blood-bought ones are free from all inbred sin, and delivered from all temptation.’ 

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Heavenly joy

I was reading a sermon this afternoon by Duncan MacGregor, a minister in St. Peter's in Dundee during the nineteenth century. He was reflecting on heaven, and it is good to think about it.

During his sermon, he mentioned the verse, 'When his glory is revealed, ye shall be glad with exceeding joy.' He then expanded: 'Exceeding joy - joy without alloy, joy which eye hath not see, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived - joy ever increasing - never-ending joy - joy which, wave on wave, will flow for ever into the hearts of the ransomed.' That is something to look forward to.

He then spoke about John Milne, a minister who had recently died, and gave this description of him: 'One who has lately gone from us, and passed within the veil - an Enoch for close walking with God, a Nathaniel for simplicity, a John for lovingness, a Barnabas for tenderness, an Epaphrus for fervent labouring in prayer (with hand uplifted like Moses' rod), and a Boanerges for unflinching boldness in rebuking sin...' That is a testimony to have from others!

He referred to Milne because he had described the exceeding joy of heaven as follows: 'They are singing in unison and they are singing universally. No hands without a harp, no lips without a song: and no harp is unstrung, no lips are silent there. Could you approach the gate, you would hear sweetest music. They are feasting, they are rejoicing. The work is done, the fight is over, their wanderings are ended, they are all at home. Not one is lost, not one is wanting. There never was joy like this. As they look back, and think what they were; look down, and think what, but for grace, they must have been; look around, and see where they are; look forward, and think what they shall for ever be - it is joy, joy, joy! Each kindles and stirs up the other. "Oh, that will be joyful, joyful, joyful, when we meet to part no more."' That is what lies ahead for believers! 

Life in heaven

Sometimes my mind goes back to Christians I knew when I was young and who have long left this world. I know that they are in heaven, in the presence of God. I know that their souls are now perfect in holiness, that they cannot sin again, and they are fit for the presence of God in glory.

Recently, I have been preaching through the Book of Revelation. Difficult may be the word that comes to your mind, but actually the word that comes to mine is encouraging, and one reason for it being a very encouraging book is the many references it makes to heaven. 

Paul, in Colossians 3, instructed his readers to set their affections on things above, where Christ is, which is an exhortation to think about heaven. The apostle does not suggest that this task is only for those who are intellectually qualified for elevated thinking, although his words indicate the task is suitable for all who are spiritual.

So the exhortation by Paul and the pictures in Revelation and the recollections of my past led me to reflect on heaven. Since I had reached Revelation 14, verse 13 of that chapter pointed out to me what my old contacts, and numerous others, are doing now in heaven.

'And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them!”'

We are not told who the first speaker is, so I don't think it is profitable to try and guess. He states a beatitude, and since it is only conscious people who can enjoy a blessing his beatitude tells me that those in heaven are fully alert. They are not like what we often are, half asleep. Being fully alert continually means that they can take in details of their surroundings in heaven, and in particular they are conscious of Jesus. So those I once knew are interacting with the Saviour.

The first speaker also tells us that believers who have died are totally secure because they have died 'in the Lord'. They discovered the reality of the heavenly security when they died because, for them, death became the door into the presence of Jesus. They died in him and so found themselves with him. And it only took about a second of time. The phrase 'in the Lord', as we know, stresses the permanent union between believers and Jesus. For them, not only is it permanent, it is enhanced.

Then the Holy Spirit speaks about what is happening to them. I suspect he speaks about their experience because he is the one who enables them to enjoy it. He enables them to rest, which is not a reference to inactivity, but to peace inwardly and externally. There they are completely comfortable, at home, enjoying the presence of God and experiencing divine provision continually.

Moreover they keep being reminded of things they did on earth - their works follow them. While here, they prayed and laboured for the kingdom. Now they enjoy the consequences. They prayed for me and numerous others and from heaven they have a better vantage point for seeing the outcome of their activities on earth. Those actions, which are having such effects, they did not boast about when they were here. Very likely, they forgot about most of them very quickly, but the heavenly Recorder remembers them and ensures that such labours will bring about glory for him and comfort for them.

Life in heaven, the place of fellowship and fulfilment. Often in this life, the fellowship was broken and the hopes frustrated. Not over there - the life is very different. We should be thankful for the ways God arranges for his people to think about heaven. And all this will take place before the resurrection to glory.

Gathered to his people

The phrase ‘gathered to his people’ is a frequent description of the death of God’s people. It is used of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Aaron. It reminds us of a destination, of a community, of an active Gatherer who takes his people to himself. It gives to us a perspective about how to look at things, it is a reminder that God has a plan, and it is confirmation that death is not the end.

First, the phrase is a reminder that there is a shared destination. All those so described went to a place where people are. That is how heaven is usually depicted – it is a country (and a country is composed of inhabitants), it is a city (and a city is made up of citizens), and it is likened to a feast (and a feast is participated in by guests). The best-known description of the destination is the Father’s house (John 14:2) – and a house is full of rooms in which people dwell together.

Second, ‘gathered to his people’ is a reminder that there is a special people who share specific spiritual features and I would briefly mention four. First, they realise that they are sinners. Of course, there is a sense in which everyone is a sinner because they have broken God's law. But this people are taught by God that they are sinners, and this special teaching makes them do something about it.

So they trust in Jesus for salvation, by a simple act of faith accompanied by repentance for their sins. They hear about Jesus and what he did on the cross and they are drawn to him. Within them a love develops for Jesus and they become his glad followers. They become saved sinners.

The third mark of this special people is that they also become sojourners, travellers to a better country. They discover that this world is not their home, that they are only passing through. In their hearts, there is a longing for a better world.

How do they know they will get to a better world? They know it because they are aware that they are already the sons of God travelling towards their eternal inheritance. This inheritance they will share with Jesus. This leads us to think of the Gatherer.

Here we have one of the shepherding activities of Jesus. He is engaged in one of his tasks when he takes each of his people home. This is what he promised when he said that he would come personally for each of them. ‘I will come again and receive you unto myself.’ He gathers them into his fold.

Of course, Jesus was the shepherd who died on the cross for his sheep. He was the shepherd who led them through life. He is the shepherd who will, throughout eternity, lead them to the fountains of the water of life. And he is the shepherd who carries them across the Jordan so that they are safe in their final moments here, and who takes them into the great gathering centre. 

Many have been gathered already, and many more will yet be gathered.

Come to Heaven

There are different images in the Bible of believers. One of the common descriptions is that of travellers making the journey from earth to heaven. A passage that goes into detail about the journey is Isaiah 35. Initially, the prophecy concerned the return of the people of God from political exile that had come their way as a punishment for their departure from him. It is evident that the details of recovery go far beyond what was ever experienced by the Jews when they returned to the Promised Land. Instead the prophecy concerns those who are travelling to the heavenly Zion.

Isaiah reminds us, as we read his words, that we needed to be ransomed from a difficult situation. Usually, a person had to be ransomed from a form of slavery and in our case we had to be liberated from slavery to sin and Satan. God had punished us with that bondage because of our sins, but he himself provided the way to freedom by sending his Son to pay the ransom price of our redemption, which he did on the cross.

We enter that state of freedom by trusting in Jesus. When we do, we find ourselves on the road to Zion, a road on which many are travelling. Isaiah reminds us that the travellers are holy, happy and in harmony. All of them are holy (he says that the unclean cannot walk on this road); all of them are happy and show they are by singing on the journey (no doubt, they are singing about God and his grace); and all of them are in harmony because they are going to the same destination and looking forward to getting there.

When they reach the journey’s end, they will be welcomed and given a crown of joy. The crown is permanent (everlasting), prominent (all can see it on their heads) and personal (fits exactly). Moreover, it is abundant joy – the prophet uses two words (joy and gladness) to describe it. The prospect of future joy was one that Jesus thought about (Heb. 12:1-2) and we should think about it as well.

They leave two things behind when they reach the destination – sorrow and sighing. This is a reminder that the road to heaven is through the vale of tears. Like Paul, the travellers are sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. At the gate of the city, God will wipe away every tear and the travellers will know that they have arrived.

(Summary of sermon preached today on Isaiah 35:10: ‘And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.’)

What will happen at the resurrection?

I read recently a sermon on Psalm 17:15 called Awaking in Glory. The text says, ‘I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness,’ found in the KJV because the sermon was preached in Banff during the nineteenth century by the local Free Church minister, George Grant. In addition to having read that psalm on countless occasions, I have sung the metrical versions of the psalm many times, but never focussed so directly on the point being made by David as to what he will think at the moment of resurrection. So I was glad to read what Grant had to say about it.

So what things will make believers satisfied at that great, wonderful, future moment? Here are the items that Grant suggested. (1) The soul and the body of the believer will be united again, except then they will be perfect; (2) Finding himself positioned at the right hand of the Judge; (3) Hearing his name read out as one of the redeemed and discovering that he is now acquitted and accepted, and invested with the robes of immortality; (4) Inexpressible happiness as he hears the joyful welcome to enter, with others, into the Father’s kingdom; (5) Happiness too big for utterance when the crown is put on his head and the palm in his hand; (6) He is not only with the Lord, but like the Lord in outward glory and inward purity.

As Grant pointed out, ‘then indeed the glorified saint is fully satisfied with himself, his condition, his occupations, his company, and his prospects.’ The believer cannot do any of them perfectly in this life. Yet when that day arrives, ‘his prospects are now bright and glorious, without a cloud to darken his sky – a fear to trouble his mind – a temptation to ruffle his soul – the feeling of pain or disappointment to cause a sigh – a single want unsatisfied to excite discontent. The sting of sin is extracted, death and the grave are vanquished, there is fullness of joy, God is to the glorified all in all.’

Grant lived in an age when people thought a lot about the eternal world of glory because they lived as those who would yet be in it. They drank deeply out of that well of consolation and anticipated by faith their future experience of the presence of the exalted Jesus. And they remind us that we are only travellers to eternity and they still exhort us to think much about our destination.

Perhaps the most surprising statement in the Bible

In the letter of Jude, in verse 24, there is an amazing, future description of Christians: God will ‘present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.’ In that clause is mentioned their standing on that day: faultless, perfect in body and soul, a perfection that will be permanent. The clause also indicates their location on that day: the presence of his glory. This was God’s eternal purpose for his people. There is also a reference to their state on that day: with exceeding joy. The word for ‘joy’ that is used here means deep, strong joy. To summarise the teaching of this statement: they shall be like Christ, they shall be in the presence of Christ, and they shall share the joy of Christ. This future reality should help us find assurance in a variety of ways.

Firstly, it should give assurance in a world of change. The recipients of Jude’s letter lived in a world that had changed dramatically in that God had extended his kingdom to the Gentiles, and Israel would no longer be the main recipient of spiritual blessings. Changes were occurring in the political world too; it was now a criminal offence to be a Christian. We also live in a world of change. The last thirty years has seen the biggest upheaval in western society since the rise of the age of reason 250 years ago. We live in a world where rationality no longer governs the way people act – we are now in the world of experience, where anything goes as long as no-one else is harmed. There is no longer a sense of right and wrong. What a comfort to know that almighty God is in control and is above all the changes in the world, and that he will bring all his people to glory.

Secondly, it should give assurance in a church facing difficulty: Jude had written to warn of false teachings that were affecting the churches to which he wrote. False teachings and false prophets abound within Christianity today, and even true believers can be misled. What a comfort to know that almighty God is with us and can preserve us until that future, glorious day.

Thirdly, it should give assurance because of what we know of our own hearts. Within our hearts there are the roots of every possible sin. Although Christians have been forgiven, their sinful tendencies remain and indwelling sin has to be mortified. They have to grow in dedication to God and decrease in worldliness. What a comfort for them to know that almighty God is yet to perfect them!

Fourth, the guaranteed joy of that day should cause those who are not yet converted to trust in Jesus. He comes to such and offers them forgiveness of sin and a glorious future if they trust in him and depend upon him. Indeed part of the joy of heaven involves the people who will be there. It is wonderful to imagine all of us being there – it will be truly wonderful if all of us are there on that great day of rejoicing.

Heaven comes near

Heaven is brought near to us at different times. One frequent occasion is during a sermon when the preacher is enabled by God so to describe a spiritual topic that his presence is almost felt in a physical manner. Another occasion is the Lord’s Supper when the presence of Jesus becomes so real that we can sense that he is with us at the Lord’s Table. We would hope that the first type of occasion occurs frequently as we gather under his written Word and focus on what it says. And since he has promised to be with us at the second type, it is a reason for us to have it more frequently.

There is a third occasion when heaven draws near and that is when one of his people is taken there by Jesus at the end of their life. Heaven then comes close and says to us that Jesus has taken that believer to the eternal home, costly and lovingly prepared, and in which the people of God will dwell together forever. This year, as we come to its final month, is a time for us to reflect on among other things the wonderful fact that the Lord has taken home from our midst several of his people who served him here for many years.

There are other ways in which heaven draws near. But they, and the three we have mentioned, all remind us that each of us needs to ensure that we will get to heaven personally. Sometimes we may buy a bus ticket or a train ticket for ourselves and for someone else. We cannot do that as far as getting to heaven is concerned. Each of us has to get our own ticket. Where will we get one? The answer is that we get it by asking God to forgive us and to bring us to heaven.

One of the good things about getting to heaven is that we will get there punctually. Often when we travel by bus or train we look at a timetable and realise that we are not going to arrive on time. With regard to getting to heaven, we don’t need a written timetable to know when we are going to arrive. The fact of the matter is that each person who gets there arrives at the best moment possible for him or her.

A third aspect of reaching heaven is that we will arrive there publicly. On some occasions, when I have been on a train or bus, there has been hardly anyone travelling with me and the station has been empty when we arrive. That will not be the experience of heaven, either in travelling to it or arriving there. We travel there with others and when we get to the door of heaven we will discover that a large crowd is waiting to welcome us. Among the crowd and leading it as it praises God will be the Lord Jesus. And we will discover that heaven has drawn near forever.