Subject: SOME THINGS HEAVEN IS NEEDED FOR
Text: Revelation 22:14: "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
Ever since Jesus arose from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and took His place at the right hand of God, the Christian life and the Christian hope have been closely related to the Eternal City whose Builder and Maker is God. Multiplied numbers of the redeemed across the centuries have stood on this earthly shore and cast a wistful eye to Canaan's fair and happy land where their possessions lie. In the last chapter of the Bible we find John saying, "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city," and we say "Amen!" Blessed indeed are those who do His commandments and have right to the tree of life and enter in through the gates into the Eternal City! Down through the centuries, Christians have travelled the earthly pathway with the glorious hope that when their travelling days here are done, they might enter the Celestial City and have an eternal abiding place in the mansions of the everlasting kingdom. Down through the centuries, Christians have thought about Heaven, talked about Heaven, sung about Heaven, and wondered in their hearts what Heaven is like and who will enter into it.
Many of the thoughts we have had about Heaven, however, have been along the line of what kind of place it is and who will go there and whom we will know there, with perhaps not as much attention being given to the purposes of Heaven as we should. In 1 Corinthians 15 where the Apostle Paul goes into some detail about the life immortal, he sets forth two questions that are sometimes asked: "How are the dead raised up?" and "With what body do they come?" He deals with the "How" and "What". Our subject this morning has to do with a third question: not "how?" or "what?" but "why?" Not how does a person get to Heaven; not what is Heaven like; but why is there a need for Heaven at all? What are some of the purposes of having another place beyond this world where life might go on? Why is there need for the place called Heaven in the great plans of God for the human soul?
Clarence Darrow, the famous and unbelieving lawyer of a former generation, seemed to think that the idea of immortal life was absurd. He said that "No life is of much value, and every death is but a little loss" and the most satisfactory part of earthly life, in his opinion, is the time spent in sleep when one is not aware of one's existence.
George Bernard Shaw, the well-known English writer, also not a Christian, seemed to think that there was no need for a place like Heaven where the soul might live on forever. He is quoted as saying that he could scarcely imagine any greater calamity than that "this 'thing' called Shaw should go on forever pouring forth thousands of plays and newspaper articles."
Well, brilliant though Clarence Darrow and George Bernard Shaw may have been in terms of intellect and earthly knowledge, they were sadly ignorant about many of the deep truths of life and the things of the spiritual realm. In the great plan of God, Heaven is not a place where lives of little value continue to trifle with things of little worth throughout the unfolding ages of eternity. Nor is Heaven a place where unbelieving writers go on forever pouring out little plays and articles ad infinitum, littering the halls of eternity with the products of their own little imaginations. Nor is it simply a place for those who have known each other here on earth to wander around forever saying "howdy-do" to each other, renewing old acquaintances, and spending the everlasting ages in talking about what they did while here on earth.
Heaven is more glorious and wonderful than the tongue of mortal man can describe. It was created by God for a purpose - yes, for a number of purposes. Let us think together just now not so much about what Heaven is like or who will go there, but about some of the needs that it will meet. Let us think about some of the things that will take place there and some of the experiences that await those who have Heaven for their eternal home.
Well, one thing that it is needed for is as a place where life can be brought to fulfillment and brought to completion.
Of course when we start thinking about a place where life can be fulfilled and completed, our minds immediately turn to thoughts of those who, from a human viewpoint, we think of as having gone to premature graves before having the opportunity to live out their lives here on earth. We think perhaps of those whose lives were cut off in infancy or in the days of youth or early adulthood, or of those who were handicapped by physical or mental infirmities, or of those whose environments were such that it took practically all of their efforts to keep body and soul together. There are many, many people born into this world who, from the human viewpoint, never have the opportunity to live out a full life here, much less attain to the age of three-score years and ten.
We need to keep in mind, however, that from God's viewpoint, a life that may appear to us to have been cut off prematurely may actually have accomplished the purpose it was placed on earth to do. From the human viewpoint it would appear that Jesus' earthly life was cut off before He had the opportunity to live it out to completion since He was crucified while still a rather young man. Yet, from God's viewpoint, though Jesus was here on earth for a rather short while, He still fulfilled His earthly task and accomplished what He came to earth to do.
When I say that Heaven is needed as a place where life can be fulfilled and brought to completion, while I have in mind in part those who seem to be short-changed here on earth, I am referring mainly to the great and tremendous fact that in a very real sense the eternal purpose for which life was created is never fulfilled completely here on earth. All of us must look beyond this earthly life for the fulfillment and the completion of our lives. We make a great mistake if we think that we can complete the task for which we were created within the limited span of a few brief years here on earth. We make a great mistake if we think that once we come to the end of the pathway here, we have attained all we shall ever attain, travelled all that we shall ever travel, and completed all the tasks we will ever be given.
While it is true that we determine the eternal destiny of our souls while here on earth; while it is true that we apparently make whatever contribution to our fellowmen here on earth we will ever have the opportunity to make in their earthly lives; and while some things are either completed here on earth before we leave or else are apparently left undone forever, yet the final goal of life is set not in this world but in the next. Life, for the Christian, finds its fulfillment not here but in eternity, not on earth but in Heaven.
Here in this world, as the Bible states clearly, our knowledge is limited. Our sight is limited. Our environment is limited. Our abilities are limited. Now we know in part. Now we see through a glass darkly. Now we walk by faith, not by sight. And while we would not underestimate the tremendous importance of the earthly life, yet we need to keep in mind that what is begun here looks to the other world for its final fruition and completion.
Brother E. A. Bingham, a saintly Christian minister, before going to his eternal home remarked to me one day that he had about come to the conclusion that it requires a whole lifetime here on earth to develop a fully mature Christian character. That is of course something that we might hold differing opinions on, but let us think of this: suppose a person seeks God early in life and then spends sixty or seventy years or more in growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus and in service to Him and does develop into a fully mature Christian character. Has he or she then attained all that God made an immortal soul capable of attaining? Has he or she then fulfilled all of the purposes he or she was created to fulfill? Are mature Christian characters developed here on earth and then forever fixed in that condition with no possibility of further growth in grace and no further work to do for the Lord? To ask these questions is to bring to mind almost at once the thought that no matter how rich and full a life may be on earth, it is only a small part of what God has in store for His children, that no matter how much we may have behind us, it is small in comparison to what lies before us!
Here we are entrusted with the unrighteous mammon, the material riches of things temporal. If we are faithful, in the world to come we will be entrusted with the true riches. Here we are entrusted with a few things. If we are faithful in our stewardship, in the world to come we will be made ruler over many things. Here we have some opportunities to serve the Lord. In the world to come, if we are Christians, we will have even greater things to do for Him than the few years of earthly life permit.
I like the story of the elderly minister who, when he retired from serving appointments, enrolled for some classes in a seminary. Day after day he sat with the young theological students in the classes, studied his lessons, wrote his assignments, and took his examinations. It was a bit unusual to see an old, white-haired man, sitting as a student with them, and some of the students wondered why he was doing what he did. Finally, one day someone asked him why, with his active ministry behind him, he was once again going to classes. His face brightened at the question, and there was no hesitation in his answer. He said in effect: "Why, don't you know that there are going to be a lot of people who get to Heaven just by the skin of their teeth, people who die soon after their conversion or who, for some other reason, know very little about the Lord Jesus and the Christian life? Perhaps Jesus will want me to take some of them and teach them, and I am trying to get myself better prepared for the work I may be assigned to do in Heaven!"
We are misled if we think that whatever we do for the Lord here on earth is all that we will ever have the opportunity to do for Him and all the growth in grace that we ever do is what we do here on earth. Earthly life is too short for the fulfillment and completion of an immortal soul.
Victor Hugo was one of the truly great writers of all time, I suppose. When in his 70th year he wrote, "Winter is on my head, and eternal spring is in my heart. The nearer I approach the end, the plainer I hear around me the immortal symphonies of the worlds which invite me... For half a century I have been writing... but I feel that I have not said the thousandth part of what is in me." Are the great thoughts which stirred the soul of Victor Hugo which time kept him from expressing to lie buried throughout the ages of eternity? I think not.
Keats, the great poet, died when he was only twenty-two years of age. Raphael, the famous artist, died at age thirty-seven. And so it goes.
Are the years of earthly life to be spent in developing abilities and capacities for Christian work and worship only to have them flung on the trashpile of time because a body of flesh gives way and must be dropped by the way? Are those who spend a lifetime here on earth in becoming good soldiers of the Cross and followers of Christ to simply lie down on flowery beds of ease and use none of their abilities for the glory of God in the world to come? Are those who are born of the Spirit but who die before attaining spiritual maturity to remain as babes in Christ forever? I think not, and God's Word indicates not.
A mighty oak tree does not develop from a small acorn in one season. Before the mighty oak reaches completion of all that it is capable of, the little shell from whence it started its growth has long since withered away and decayed in the ground. And you can depend upon it that the immortal soul will be sailing on towards the fulfillment of great purposes on the distant seas of eternity ages after the little fleshly husk in which it entered this world has withered away and returned to the dust from whence it came.
Heaven is needed as a place where life can be fulfilled and completed. The Scriptures tell us that if we are Christians the time will come beyond the earthly life when instead of knowing only in part, we shall know even as we are known; instead of seeing through a glass darkly, we shall see face to face; instead of walking by faith, we shall walk by sight; instead of being immature and faltering Christians, we shall be like Christ; instead of being entrusted with the unrighteous mammon, we shall be entrusted with the true riches; instead of having only a few things under our control, we shall be ruler over many things, and shall be given greater tasks to do than we ever had while here on earth.
Another thing that Heaven is needed for is as a place where those who served the Lord here on earth can come into their eternal inheritance and receive the reward of their labors.
Jesus said plainly that His Kingdom is not of this world, and the Christian who looks to this world for all of his rewards is apt on occasion to be disappointed. There are of course rewards in Christian living here in this world. The Christian life, with all of its difficulties in an unfriendly world, is still a better, happier, more rewarding life in the here and now than the life out of Christ. Jesus told us that no one would give up anything here for His Name's sake without gaining more in this present world than he or she gave up.
Yet the kingdom of Christ is not of this world, and it is in the world to come that His servants are to receive their greatest rewards.
If we want our pay to be supremely in the things of this world, lowly Christian service is not the pathway. If a person is concerned primarily about making money, becoming a missionary is not the way to do it. If a person is concerned primarily about getting rich in material things, the Christian ministry is not the customary route to take. If a person wants to become a millionaire, feeding the hungry and clothing the destitute and helping those in trouble is not the normal pathway to take. If one's main interest is to pile up money in the bank or to gain the popularity of the crowd or to become famous in the eyes of the world or to attain high political office, the way to do these things is not to follow Him Who held title to no land or house, had only one robe, carried no pocketbook, had no bank account on earth, and had not even a place to lay His head. It is not in this world but in the world to come that Christians are to look for the great rewards of serving Christ.
You remember, perhaps, the story of the late Dr. Henry C. Morrison's arrival back in this country from one of his preaching tours around the world some years ago. He was one of the greatest pulpit preachers in the world in his day and spent most of his life in dedicated service in trying to take the Gospel to the mission fields as well as here in our country. Yet, like Jeremiah and Amos and the early Christians, there were times when he was not appreciated as much as he should have been and when the financial rewards were rather small.
On this particular occasion, he arrived at New York harbor from one of his trips on the same ship and at the same time as "Teddy" Roosevelt who was returning from a hunting trip in Africa. Literally thousands of people swarmed to the dock to greet Roosevelt, and he came down the gangplank with the crowds cheering and a band playing. But there was not a person there to greet Dr. Morrison, though he had been on a trip to save immortal souls while Teddy Roosevelt had only been to Africa to shoot dumb animals. Dr. Morrison came down the gangplank alone, with no one there to welcome him; went to the railroad station and bought a ticket to Wilmore, Kentucky, where he lived. When the train pulled into the station at Wilmore, there was still no one to greet him, as even his friends did not know he was coming. He said that as he took his heavy suitcases in his hands and started walking up the sidewalk towards his house, Satan spoke saying, "Aha! See how they greet the men of the world, and you - one of God's preachers - without a single soul to greet you." He said that in the loneliness of his heart there could have been a hurt, but God whispered, "Yes, but Henry, you are not home yet!"
No, Henry wasn't home, and none of God's children are at home in this world. But in time Dr. Morrison did go home, and there were angels in the multitude of the heavenly host that welcomed him. And one by one God gathers His other children home, as the song puts it so well:
"Up to the bountiful Giver of life; gathering home, gathering home!
Up to the dwelling where cometh no strife,
The dear ones are gathering home.
"Up to the city where falleth no night, gathering home, gathering home!
Up where the Saviour's own face is the light,
The dear ones are gathering home.
"Up to the beautiful mansions above, gathering home, gathering home!
Safe in the arms of His infinite love,
The dear ones are gathering home.
"...never to sorrow, never to roam,
God's children are gathering home."
Yes, God's children are gathering home; and when they get there, they will find a welcome such as Teddy Roosevelt never experienced on this earth; they will find a mansion; they will find a crown; and they will receive the rewards of their labors for Christ while here on earth.
Jesus told us not to lay up our treasures here on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal; but to lay up our treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. And again and again in the Scriptures we read that it is in the world to come that we shall each be rewarded according to our works.
Heaven is not only a place where that which was begun here on earth comes to fulfillment and completion; it is also a place where those who love the Lord come into their inheritance and receive the rewards of their labors for Christ.
There is also needed a place of comfort for God's children who have travelled long and difficult pathways of sorrow and heartache, grief and pain, persecution and destitution, loneliness and bereavement, while here on earth. We think sometimes about some of the things some of the early Christians went through, especially when we let our minds dwell on passages such as Hebrews 11:35ff where we read about those who were tortured, those who had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings and bonds and imprisonment. "They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." In this cruel and unjust world where there is so much sin and wrong-doing, only God Himself knows how many there are who have travelled pathways of sorrow and pain and who have gone to their graves with broken hearts, not so much perhaps because of their own difficulties as because of tragedies in the lives of their fellowmen whom they loved.
Yet you have heard many times the expression, "Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal." That is indeed true. Not only are we told in God's Word that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us; but we also read in the 7th chapter of Revelation about the time coming when those who came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
In the 21st chapter of Revelation, John talks about seeing the new heaven and the new earth and the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven. He said he heard a great voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain..."
Heaven is a place where those who have gone through trouble, tribulation, and woe here below for Jesus' sake and who have perhaps left the earthly life with sorrow in their hearts and tears in their eyes, shall come into the place where God Himself is the great comforter, and where He, Himself, wipes away every tear from every eye.
In addition to all of these things, however, and perhaps far more important than any of them, there is needed a place where God can be worshipped and glorified as He ought to be.
In one of the old catechisms, the question is asked, "What is the chief end or duty of man?" What is the purpose for which we were created? And the answer given is, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever."
When we turn to the Book of Revelation and begin to read about what goes on around the Great White Throne and about the worship of the One Who sits upon the throne, it is something that thrills the soul!
You and I talk sometimes about great experiences here on earth, but you know and I know, when we think about it aright, that the greatest experience we can have here on earth, above all others, is the experience of actually being in a spirit of worship with a sense of the immediate Presence and reality of our God! The great times are the times when we sense His Presence and get out of our little shells and out of the circle of our own little concerns and desires and actually worship God in Spirit and in truth worship Him from the depths of our souls, with something of the spirit of those who, gathered before the throne of God, cry out, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come ... Amen! blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever! Amen!"
But if you feel like I do about it, you feel that your worship here of God is very inadequate. Wonderful and inspiring though the hymns may be, and glorious though the services of worship here may be from time to time, after it is all over, I still have the feeling that I have not yet worshipped God as He deserves to be worshipped. I have not yet glorified His Name as His Name deserves to be glorified. And I realize that
"Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought...
" but how good it is to think about the fact that
When I see Him as He is,
I'll praise Him as I ought!"
Heaven is a place where God is worshipped and glorified as He deserves to be! It is where those who love Him may be in His Presence, may fellowship with Him and with one another and may glorify and enjoy Him forever and forever and forever, while the ages roll on, glory to His precious Name!
Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
"Brief life is here our portion,
Brief sorrow, short-lived care:
The life that knows no ending,
The tearless life is there.
0 happy retribution!
Short toil, eternal rest;
For mortals and for sinners
A mansion with the blest!
"There grief is turned to pleasure,
Such pleasure as below
No human voice can utter,
No human heart can know.
And now we fight the battle,
But then shall wear the crown
Of full and everlasting
And passionless renown.
"And now we watch and struggle,
And now we live in hope,
And Sion, in her anguish,
With Babylon must cope.
But He whom now we trust in
Shall then be seen and known,
And they that know and see Him
Shall have Him for their own.
"The morning shall awaken,
The shadows shall decay,
And each true-hearted servant
Shall shine as doth the day!
Yes; God, our King and Portion,
In fulness of His grace,
We then shall see for ever,
And worship face to face.
"0 sweet and blessed country,
The home of God's elect!
0 sweet and blessed country,
That eager hearts expect!
Jesus, in mercy bring us
To that dear place of rest;
Who art, with God the Father,
And Spirit, ever blest."
- Bernard of Cluny