Chapter 3
HEAVEN IS A PLACE OF PERFECT INHABITANTS
As to their number, listen to this; "I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude,
which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before
the throne, and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried
with a loud voice, saying,
Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And
all the angels stood
round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell
before the throne on their
faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen; Blessing, and glory, and wisdom,
and thanksgiving, and
honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen."
There is in this record a stern rebuke to narrow sectarianism. What
a multitude up there in
the heavenly country! Thank God!
There is also in this record the fact of conscious personality there.
"What are these?" The
answer is that they are from the earth, and they came up out of great tribulation.
The character of the multitude is also stated. "White robes," which
signify purity of
character, fullness of joy. Bridal attire is white. "They washed their robes,"
the washing of
regeneration; "and made them white," the cleansing of sanctification, "in
the blood of the Lamb."
Through the atonement of Jesus Christ they were enabled to appropriate its
benefits to the extent of
"the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost."
What a holy company! God will be there. Jesus Christ our Redeemer and
Saviour will be
there. Stephen in the hour of death, looked up steadfastly into heaven,
and said, "Behold, I see the
heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." The
Holy Spirit will be
there. An innumerable multitude of angels will be there. All the saints
of all the ages will be there.
Why, there will be an army of Christian martyrs alone amounting to the millions.
My precious
father will be there. I shall see him again, for I am bound for that beautiful
city. One of the first
things I expect to tell him when I get there is how much I have appreciated
him. He did not leave
me riches, but he did leave me an inheritance in Christian character for
which I shall always praise
God. My dear mother is near the river. She will soon be there. What a great
heritage is a good
mother; a true, humble, hard working woman was mother; nothing was too hard
for her to do for us;
no suffering and hardship too great, if only she could help her children.
She will soon be in that
country and enjoy her eternal rest. God bless my mother! I have some brothers
and sisters over
there. Then, there will be those whom I have been enabled under God to help
prepare for that
place. I shall present them in that day. One recoils to even suggest this,
but having been called by
God to preach His gospel, I know there are those whom He has helped me to
help. Thank God!
"When I enter that beautiful city
Far, far from earth's sorrows and care,
I want to hear somebody saying,
It was you that invited me there.
"When at home in that mansion eternal,
And the saved all around me appear,
I want to have somebody tell me,
It was you that invited me here."
"A little girl in a family of my acquaintance, a lovely and precious
child, lost her mother at
an age too early to fix the loving features in her remembrance. She was
beautiful; and as the bud of
her heart unfolded, it seemed, as if won by that mother's prayers, to turn
instinctively heavenward.
The sweet, conscientious, and prayer-loving mother's child was the idol
of the bereaved family.
But she faded away early. She would lie upon the lap of the friend who took
a mother's kind care
of her, and winding one wasted arm around her neck, would say, 'Now tell
me about my mamma!'
And when the oft-told tale had been repeated, she would ask softly, 'Take
me into the parlor; I
want to see my mamma.' The request was never refused; and the affectionate
sick child would lie
for hours, gazing on her mother's portrait. But
'Pale and wan she grew, and weakly
Bearing all her pain so meekly,
That to them she still grew dearer,
As the trial hour grew nearer.'
"That hour came at last, and the weeping neighbors assembled to see
the child die. The
dew of death was already on the flower, as its sun of life was going down.
The little chest heaved
faintly, spasmodically.
"'Do you know me, darling?' sobbed, close in her ear, the voice that
was dearest; but it
awoke no answer. All at once, a brightness as if from the upper world, burst
over the child's
colorless countenance. The eyelids opened, and the lips parted; the wan
cuddling hands flew up, in
the little one's impulsive effort, as she looked piercingly in the far above.
"'Mother!' she cried, with surprise and transport in her voice and
passed with that breath to
her mother's bosom.
"Said a distinguished divine, who stood by that bed of joyous death,
'If I had never
believed in the ministration of departed ones before, I could not doubt
it now'" (Quoted from "Man
All Immortal," by Dr. Clark, pp. 209-212).
After looking at her husband's picture, then with a far-away look of
mingled rapture and
awe, Mrs. Fletcher exclaimed, "I see him! I see him! Hark! What is that?
I thought it was the rustle
of angel's wings.
There is, however, another side to this question. In the same Sacred
Record, in the same
chapter, where God describes the characters who will enter and enjoy that
heavenly home, He
enumerates and describes the character of those who will not enter, nor,
in consequence, enjoy that
glorious place.
Here it is: "The fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable,
and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their
part in the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone." In the twenty-seventh verse, it says,
"And there shall in no wise
enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination,
or maketh a lie; but
they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." In the next chapter,
chapter twenty-two, and
verses fourteen and fifteen it reads, "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. For without are dogs,
and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever
loveth and maketh
a lie." "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire."
In view of this, may we suggest that you take up the question of the
hymn writer:
"Is my name written there,
On the page bright and fair;
In the book of Thy kingdom,
Is my name written there?"
It is not so much, what church record it is in as whether it is in
the Lamb's book of life.
