Beautiful Heaven Quotes, Part 12

Beautiful Heaven Quotes, Part 12

Compiled by Grace Gems

O eternity! (James Smith, "The Way of Salvation Set Forth")
My soul is immortal--it can never cease to be. It is destined by the immutable decree of God, to exist eternally. O eternity! Who can conceive your dimensions! Forever--who can grasp the mighty idea! To exist forever--solemn consideration! Millions of ages as numerous as the stars in the skies, as the sands on the sea-shore, as blades of grass on the surface of the globe, as leaves which fall from the trees in autumn --are as nothing in comparison with eternity! But where shall I exist? How will I spend eternity? In happiness--or in torment? That will entirely depend upon the character, the state, the condition, in which I live and die. If I live in sin, if I serve self and Satan, if I die accursed--then I must suffer the due desert of my deeds. But if I savingly believe in Jesus, if I live unto God, if I die under His saving grace--then I shall possess and enjoy glory, honor and eternal life--and these forever! Let the solemn fact that you are immortal, deeply impress your mind. Try to realize the overwhelming thought: "I must live forever! I must live forever in unspeakable happiness--or inconceivable misery! My eternal state depends on my present state. If I live unconverted--then I must die accursed. I am lost, and once lost, lost forever!" O eternity! Tremendous sound! Incomprehensible idea! "Then they will go away to eternal punishment--but the righteous to eternal life." Matthew 25:46
What God will bestow upon His beloved people! (James Smith, "The Way of Salvation Set Forth")
Sin degrades as well as endangers. Sin is a crime--a fearful, abominable, inexcusable crime against a loving God! God's heart is love--but man's heart is enmity. God's conduct is kindness--but man's conduct is ingratitude. God's object is man's happiness--but man's object is the gratification of vile, base, and degrading passions! Man is a prodigal feeding swine, a slave working in chains, a criminal awaiting execution. Man is sunk, beyond description! He is debased, beyond expression; being more ignorant than the ox, more stupid than the donkey, and more contemptible than the worm! He talks of honor--but knows not in what it consists. Honor comes from God alone. He confers it as a matter of grace, on all who believe in Jesus. Is it an honor to be a son of God? Believers are the sons of God. Is it an honor to be a King? Believers are Kings and Priests unto God. Is it an honor to be a companion of the Prince of life? Believers are the companions of Jesus. Is it an honor to be the heir of God? Believers are the heirs of God. Is it an honor to be the bride of the Son of God? Every believer is honored to stand in this precious relation. But what shall I more say, for time would fail to speak of the honors, dignities, and blessings which are conferred upon the people of God! There are crowns, thrones, scepters, kingdoms, white robes, golden harps, and rivers of pleasure at God's right hand--which are provided, preserved, and will be conferred on every child of God. Yet we do not, we cannot, fully know here, what God will bestow upon His beloved people! His love is so vast, His purposes are so deep, His provision is so extensive, and His thoughts are so grand-- that it were folly to attempt to dive into, much less to set forth the honors which He has in reserve for His redeemed children! "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined-- what God has prepared for those who love Him!" 1 Corinthians 2:9
Those whom You have given Me (James Smith, "Food for Hungry Souls")
"Father, I want those whom You have given Me to be with Me where I am--that they may behold My glory!" Jesus will come again in His glory. He will come to consummate His marriage with His bride. He will then present her to His Father without spot--all glorious both within and without. He will satisfy her with His beauty, presence, and love forever! He will put her in possession of the promised inheritance--the kingdom provided for her from the foundation of the world. Then she will be freed from all sorrow, suffering, care, fear, and sin! Then she will behold His glory--and be glorified with Him forever! "Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!" Revelation 22:20
What kind of bodies will they have? (Islay Burns, 1888)
"But someone may ask: How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?" Many other questions, of deepest interest to the thoughtful mind, we might ask--but cannot answer. What precisely shall be the new conditions, capacities, abilities of our immortal body? In what respect shall it be the same--and in what respect unlike, our present earthly state? What new avenues of knowledge shall we possess? What new organs of perception? What new spheres of activity? What new springs of enjoyment? Shall there be music, poetry, art, science, deepening research, and advancing knowledge of the works and ways of God in Heaven--even as here on earth? Where shall the final dwelling-place of the redeemed be? Shall they be confined, as now, to one exclusive spot--to one single orb in the immensity of God's universe? Or shall they rather roam at large through all its wide domains--and tread freely and unrestrained, through all the streets of the fathomless city of God? Shall we still, then as now--only scan from afar, the course of the distant planetary orbs? Or shall we be permitted to visit them, and know all about them, and be at home in them--as in so many chambers of the Father's one majestic house? In what form or stage of their development shall the bodies of the blessed arise--as in youth, or in manhood, or in ripe old age? Shall the child of this world--be still a child in Heaven; or shall the child expand all at once in that wondrous transfiguration moment, into the fullness of its stature and perfection of its powers? Shall the old man be still an old man forever; or shall he be brought back to the freshness and strength of his manly prime? Shall we, in short, appear then--just as we were when death took us--and not rather as we were or might have been, at our best? Shall the great Architect of Heaven, create the true and perfect ideal of the life of His saints--or the restoration only, though in a glorified state, of their actual form here below? We cannot tell the answer to any of these inquiries. "Now we are children of God; and what we will be, has not yet been made known!" 1 John 3:2. It is enough, that God knows--and that He plans and does all things well. It is enough, that however high our conceptions of the unseen world, and however sublime our aspirations in regard to it--it will still be something far higher and grander than we could ever dream! "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined-- what God has prepared for those who love Him!" 1 Corinthians 2:9 It is enough, that there shall be a new Heaven, and a new earth, and that we shall be made perfectly fit to possess and to enjoy it! And above all, it is enough that Christ Himself shall be there, and that we shall be with Him, and "that we will be like Him--for we will see Him as He really is!" "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable--it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor--it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness--it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body--it is raised a spiritual body!" 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 Here, then, we must pause. With this glimpse of the glory to be revealed--grand, but incomplete--we must rest satisfied!
Surely there was no more royal moment in all of Christ's life! (J.R. Miller, "Daily Bible Readings in the Life of Christ" 1890)
"Today you shall be with Me in paradise!" Luke 23:43 This was the second saying of the Savior on the cross. Something touched the heart of one of the robbers--may it not have been the Savior's prayer for His murderers? He became penitent in his dying hour, and cried to Jesus for mercy: "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." Quickly from the lips of the dying Redeemer, came the gracious response, "Today you shall be with Me in paradise!" The words are full of meaning, of which only broken hints can here be given. Though in the agony of death Himself--Jesus could yet give life to a dead soul. Though draining the dregs of the cup of woe--He could give a cup of blessedness to a penitent sinner. Though His hand was nailed to the cross--it yet carried the key of paradise, and opened the gate to allow a repentant soul to enter. Surely there was no more royal moment in all of Christ's life, than this! The promise itself, tells us what death is for the believer. "Today you shall be with Me!" There is no long, dark passage, therefore, through which the freed soul must go to reach blessedness. There is no "purgatory" in which it must punished for its sins for many years--before it can enter Heaven. At once, the redeemed spirit goes into the presence of Christ! Paul teaches us the same truth when he describes death as departing to be with Christ; and says that to be absent from the body--is to be at home with the Lord. That same day, said Jesus--this penitent thief would be in paradise! We ought not then, to be afraid to die--if we are Christ's redeemed and holy ones. The words tell us also, what Heaven's blessedness really consists of. "You shall be with Me." Being with Christ--is glory! No sweeter, more blessed Heaven can be conceived of! We know but little about Heaven as a place--where it is, what it is like; but this much we know--that there, we shall be with Christ! Is not that enough to know? "I go to prepare a place for you!"
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon, "Jesus Affirmed to Be Alive" (#2016. Acts 25:18-19):
That pierced hand has taken hold of eternal bliss on the behalf of those for whom He shed His blood. Jesus is now in Heaven making preparation for our coming. What has to be done to make Heaven ready I am sure I do not know, though I have often tried to guess. Jesus says, "I go to prepare a place for you!" Heaven, when we get there, will prove to be the perfect place for us. It has taken Jesus all these years to make it ready for us. He that with a word made earth fit for created man, did not with a word make Heaven fit for His children, but went to Heaven Himself to see everything set in order for them. I think I hear Him say, "This will not do for My Beloved. There is something more needed. These fruits are not quite mellow enough, these flowers are not full bloom enough for My Beloved, whom I desire to entertain to the utmost of their capacity." Jesus now lives to keep Heaven for us and make it in all respects ready for us. "I go to prepare a place for you!" The paradise of love!
The following is by Jonathan Edwards:
There are many principles contrary to love, that make this world like a tempestuous sea. Selfishness, and envy, and revenge, and jealousy, and kindred passions keep life on earth in a constant tumult, and make it a scene of confusion and uproar, where no quiet rest is to be enjoyed except in renouncing this world and looking to heaven. But oh! what rest is there in that world which the God of peace and love fills with his own gracious presence, and in which the Lamb of God lives and reigns, filling it with the brightest and sweetest beams of his love; where there is nothing to disturb or offend, and no being or object to be seen that is not surrounded with perfect amiableness and sweetness; where the saints shall find and enjoy all that they love, and so be perfectly satisfied; where there is no enemy and no enmity; but perfect love in every heart and to every being; where there is perfect harmony among all the inhabitants, no one envying another, but everyone rejoicing in the happiness of every other; where all their love is humble and holy, and perfectly Christian, without the least carnality or impurity; where love is always mutual and reciprocated to the full; where there is no hypocrisy or dissembling, but perfect simplicity and sincerity; where there is no treachery, or unfaithfulness, or inconstancy, or jealousy in any form; where there is no clog or hindrance to the exercises or expressions of love, no imprudence or indecency in expressing it, and no influence of folly or indiscretion in any word or deed; where there is no separation wall, and no misunderstanding or strangeness, but full acquaintance and perfect intimacy in all; where there is no division through different opinions or interests, but where all in that glorious and loving society shall be most nearly and divinely related, and each shall belong to every other, and all shall enjoy each other in perfect prosperity and riches, and honor, without any sickness, or grief, or persecution, or sorrow, or any enemy to molest them, or any busybody to create jealousy or misunderstanding, or mar the perfect, and holy, and blessed peace that reigns in heaven! And all this in the garden of God--in the paradise of love, where everything is filled with love, and everything conspires to promote and kindle it, and keep up its flame, and nothing ever interrupts it, but everything has been fitted by an all wise God for its full enjoyment under the greatest advantages forever! And all, too, where the beauty of the beloved objects shall never fade, and love shall never grow weary nor decay, but the soul shall more and more rejoice in love forever! Oh! what tranquillity will there be in such a world as this! And who can express the fullness and blessedness of this peace! What a calm is this! How sweet, and holy, and joyous! What a haven of rest to enter, after having passed through the storms and tempests of this world, in which pride, and selfishness, and envy, and malice, and scorn, and contempt, and contention, and vice, are as waves of a restless ocean, always rolling, and often dashed about in violence and fury! What a Canaan of rest to come to, after going through this waste and howling wilderness, full of snares, and pitfalls, and poisonous serpents, where no rest could be found! And oh! what joy will there be, springing up in the hearts of the saints, after they have passed through their wearisome pilgrimage, to be brought to such a paradise as this! Here is joy unspeakable indeed, and full of glory -- joy that is humble, holy, enrapturing, and divine in its perfection! Love is always a sweet principle; and especially divine love. Love, even on earth, is a spring of sweetness; but in heaven it shall become a stream, a river, an ocean! All shall stand about the God of glory, who is the great fountain of love, opening, as it were, their very souls to be filled with those effusions of love that are poured forth from his fullness, just as the flowers on the earth, in the bright and joyous days of spring, open their bosoms to the sun, to be filled with his light and warmth, and to flourish in beauty and fragrancy under his cheering rays. Every saint in heaven is as a flower in that garden of God, and holy love is the fragrance and sweet odor that they all send forth, and with which they fill the bowers of that paradise above. Every soul there, is as a note in some concert of delightful music, that sweetly harmonizes with every other note, and all together blend in the most rapturous strains in praising God and the Lamb forever! And so all help each other, to their utmost, to express the love of the whole society to its glorious Father and Head, and to pour back love into the great fountain of love whence they are supplied and filled with love, and blessedness, and glory. And thus they will love, and reign in love, and in that godlike joy that is its blessed fruit, such as eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has ever entered into the heart of man in this world to conceive; and thus in the full sunlight of the throne, enraptured with joys that are forever increasing, and yet forever full, they shall live and reign with God and Christ forever and ever!
Listen! He calls you! (Richard Baxter, "The Saints' Everlasting Rest")
Then the King will say to those on the right, "Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew 25:34 See how the Judge smiles on you; there is love in His looks; the titles of Redeemer, Husband, King, are written in His friendly, shining face. Listen! He calls you! He invites you to stand on His right hand. Fear not, for that is where He sets His sheep. He takes you by the hand, the door is open, the kingdom is His and therefore yours. There is your place before His throne. The Father receives you as the spouse of His Son, and bids you welcome. Ever so unworthy, you must be crowned. This was the purpose of free redeeming grace, the climax of eternal love. O blessed grace! O wonderful love! This is that joy which was purchased by sorrow. This is that crown which was bought by the cross. Jesus wept, that now my tears might be wiped away. He bled, that I might now rejoice. He was forsaken, that I might have this fellowship. He then died, that I might now live. O free mercy, that can exalt so unworthy a sinner! Free to me, though costly to Christ!
No serpent of sin will breed there (Thomas Watson, "The Lord's Prayer")
"Nothing impure will ever enter it." Revelation 21:27 The kingdom of heaven excels all other kingdoms in holiness. Earthly kingdoms are for the most part unholy; there is a common sore of luxury and uncleanness running in them. Earthly kingdoms are stages for sin to be acted on. "All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth." Isaiah 28:8. But the kingdom of heaven is so holy--that it will not mix with any corruption. It is so pure a soil--that no serpent of sin will breed there. There, beauty is not stained with lust, and honor is not swelled with pride. Holiness is the brightest jewel of the crown of heaven. "Nothing impure will ever enter it." Revelation 21:27
Lured and dazzled, the worldling pursues the phantom! (John MacDuff, "Grapes of Eschol" 1861)
"In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11. FULLNESS of joy! Can that be said of anything on this side Heaven? There is a restless craving in the human bosom for something better than this world can give. There are aching voids; deep, yawning chasms in the soul of man, which the world and all its tinsel pleasures can never fill. Hope is ever gilding the future with the prospect of that happiness which the present denies. The worldling will cleave to the world as the center of its system. It holds its happiness to consist in "minding earthly things." Lured and dazzled, the worldling pursues the phantom! But each successive failure more painfully convinces him that all here is a delusion. Happiness, the object of his life search, is as far from him as ever! Only in Heaven will the soul will have, in the enjoyment of God, the perfection of bliss. All earthly bliss has its bounds and limits. In Heaven and in God's presence, that bliss will be unbounded. "In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11.
What is heaven? (Henry Law, "Holy Blood")
Heaven is one ocean of repose. No billow heaves. No storm affrights. No foe can enter. No change can cloud the calm expanse of the unruffled sky. But what is heaven, but to see Christ as He is; to gaze forever on His unveiled beauty; to sit with Him; to realize, that never for one moment can there be absence from Salvation's home? Heaven is heaven, because it is an eternal rest by the side of Jesus.
What could an unsanctified man do in Heaven? (J.C. Ryle, "Holiness, Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots")
"Without holiness, no one will see the Lord!" Hebrews 12:14 Most men hope to go to Heaven when they die; but few, it may be feared, take the trouble to consider whether they would enjoy Heaven if they got there. Heaven is essentially a holy place; its inhabitants are all holy; its occupations are all holy. To be really happy in Heaven, it is clear and plain that we must be somewhat trained and made ready for Heaven while we are on earth. We must be saints before we die--if we are to be saints afterwards in glory. We need the work of the Holy Spirit--as well as the work of Christ; we need renewal of the heart--as well as the atoning blood; we need to be sanctified--as well as to be justified. What could an unsanctified man do in Heaven, if by any chance he got there? No man can possibly be happy in a place where he is not in his element, and where all around him is not congenial to his tastes, habits and character. When an eagle is happy in an iron cage, when a sheep is happy in the middle of a lake, when a fish is happy on the dry land-- then, and not until then, will I admit that the unsanctified man could be happy in Heaven! The book of Revelation says expressly, "Nothing impure will ever enter it." Revelation 21:27 Suppose for a moment, that you were allowed to enter Heaven without holiness. What would you do? What possible enjoyment could you experience there? Now perhaps, you love the company of . . . the vain and the impious, the worldly-minded and the profligate, the reveler and the pleasure-seeker, the ungodly and the profane. There will be none such in Heaven! Now perhaps you think that the saints of God too strict and particular and serious. You rather avoid them. You have no delight in their society. But there will be no other company in Heaven. Now perhaps you think that praying and Scripture reading and hymn singing--are dull and melancholy and foolish; a thing to be tolerated now and then--but not enjoyed. You reckon the worship a burden and a weariness. But remember, Heaven is never-ending worship. The inhabitants thereof rest not day or night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty," and singing the praise of the Lamb. How could an unholy man find pleasure in occupation such as this? It seems clear that Heaven would be a miserable place to an unholy man! We must be heavenly-minded and have heavenly tastes in the present life--or else we will never find ourselves in Heaven in the life to come! "Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy." Revelation 22:11