My dear readers,

(Extracts from “HEAVEN – a place, a city, a home” by E M Bounds in RPG December 1991, Edited by Dr SH Tow)

1. IN HEAVEN JESUS REIGNS (Hebrews 1:1-14)

In Heaven our Lord Jesus sits enthroned "on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb 1:3). For thus saith the Lord, "The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool ..." (Is 66:1). There our Lord, the Second Adam, bearing the body He had acquired on earth sits glorified as our forerunner, "the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom 8:29). "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead ..." (Col 1:18).

In Heaven our Lord occupies the highest place of honour, "angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him" (1 Pet 3:22). We see Jesus receiving the highest glory – not in the imagination; but in Heaven. And Heaven is a place. There our Lord has gone on before us, to prepare us a place. This is an amazing prospect, that Heaven has room for you and me who come to Jesus, who follow in His steps. He, the Second Adam, has triumphed over the adversary of our souls and by His victory has opened a way for Adam's race to have a part in His glory.

Jesus is our leader and forerunner, our "trail-blazer." He wants us with Him, to see and share His glory. Listen to His prayer: "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which Thou hast given me ..." (Jn 17:24). His business is not to receive honour merely for Himself. He is in Heaven to prepare a place for you and me - if we belong to Him.

The question is: do you belong to Jesus? Have you been to Him for cleansing in His precious blood? If so, your place in Heaven is assured. There, as the Lord has promised we shall reign with Him. But while on earth we must be prepared to suffer for Him. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him ...” (2 Tim 2:12). Are you surprised? There are more surprises - in Heaven!

THOUGHT: "If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him".
PRAYER: May I learn to bear my cross of suffering with patience.

2. HEAVEN SHINES WITH GOD’S GLORY (Revelation 4:1-11)

No splendour on earth approaches Heaven's. John the Apostle on the isle of Patmos was given a glimpse of it. Borne on angel wings, "in the spirit", John was carried to a great and high mountain, and shown "that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal" (Rev 21:10,11).

From his mountain top perspective, John saw the dazzling beauty and unspeakable glories of the Holy City. Words cannot fully describe the grandeur of that view, the ecstasy of the experience, and the magnificence of God's Heaven. Now we savour the words, and visualize faintly in our mind's eye, but one day we shall see in person for ourselves what makes Heaven glorious.

John saw the great city, holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. "The glory of God" - what do we understand by this? Who can tell? None on this side of eternity can say more than a few feeble words with "earthling language." God's glory cannot be described. Our vocabulary fails us. Now we see dimly as in a glass (2 Cor 3:18); then we shall see Him, face to face. Then it shall be revealed, not now.

But now we yearn and long for God with holy desire. David, the man after God's own heart, had this high ambition: "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple" (Ps 27:4). It is the "beauty of the Lord" that makes Heaven glorious, that makes Heaven dazzle and outshine the sun.

THOUGHT: One day we shall share in His glory (2 Cor 3:18).
PRAYER: Lord, help me to glorify Thee in this life, now.

3. THE ROAD TO HEAVEN IS NARROW (Matthew 7:13-27)

A lady of means and very gifted in worldly business disdained the narrow way of Heaven. She made light of the Gospel, scoffed at the reality of hell, saying, "If there are few who take the narrow way, there must be few in Heaven. It must be very lonely there! In hell I shall have many friends and no lack of company. No Heaven for me, please!" How far removed from the truth was this lady.

If only men and women would see what the Apostle John saw, perhaps they would think again. What did John see? In the Apocalypse (Revelation) John was given a sight of Heaven “... 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" (Rev 7:9,10).

Praise be unto our great Triune God, by whose salvation grace we shall gain a place in Heaven, together with the multitude of the redeemed which no man could number, Thank God that He included us. Thank God that He enabled us to walk the narrow way, together with the other "few that find it". But the few from each situation, each society, each age and generation, over the millennia will become in Heaven a very great company of believers which no man could number.

Tell it, then, to those who are seeking. Gather them in from the highways, tell it on the mountain, give them the Gospel offer. "Enter in at the strait gate ... Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life" (Matt 7:13-14) Encourage them! Woo them! Tell them of Heaven and the great multitude which will be there. Enter in at the strait gate, and escape the wrath to come.

THOUGHT: "Broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction."
PRAYER: Lord, keep me ever in the narrow path.

God bless you, dear readers.

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,
Dr SH Tow, Founding Pastor