My dear readers,

(Extracts from “HEAVEN – a place, a city, a home” by E M Bounds in RPG March 1992, Edited by Dr SH Tow)

1. HEAVEN A PRIZE TO BE WON (Philippians 3:7-14)

Who knows the ecstasy and supreme satisfaction of winning the victor's crown but the Olympian athlete? But victory is not gained in a day or by a life of ease and comfortable prosperity. Heaven's prize demands no less. It must be won by costly sacrifice, by painful and long striving. It demands single-minded discipline; it cans for unwavering pursuit. "He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord" (James 1:6,7).

How do you prize your heavenly Home? Do you hold it in highest esteem? Has it so captivated your imagination that you can say, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed" (Ps 57:7)? Abraham caught sight of the Heavenly City, the better Country, and thereafter his life was never the same again (Heb 11:13-16). Paul, having been caught up to the third heaven (2 Cor 12:1-4), wrote: "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ" (Phil 3:7). His one deepest desire was "to be with Christ (in heaven) which is far better" (Phil 1:23). For Christ and Heaven he counted all but loss.

Dear reader, have you, like Abraham and Paul, set your sights on Heaven, and fixed your heart on this glorious heavenly home? Do you see Heaven as the one great object that is worth striving for? How is your striving? The Apostle sets us the example: "But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:13,14).

He who wins Heaven needs no other prize!

THOUGHT : In the light of 2 Cor 4:17, the Great Prize is only "a moment" away.
PRAYER : Lord, help me to press toward Heaven.

2. IN CHRIST DEATH BECOMES HEAVEN’S GATEWAY (1 Corinthians 15:20-32)

Men fear death as children fear the dark. It is the "King of Terrors" which no mortal can avoid for long, for life is short and death is sure. It is our "Enemy Number One". Death is an unwelcome visitor to every home. He calls uninvited and without prior notice. Even now he may be on his way to your home. Does this prospect trouble you? What safeguard or protection do you have against this dreaded foe?

In all history no man has survived the inevitable encounter with death except Jesus, the Son of man. This is the best news for dying men like you and me. This is the heart of the Christian Gospel, the good news that Jesus has brought hope to us, the sons of Adam. Wicked men put Him to death, but God raised Him up again the third day. This fact of history substantiates the Christian message.

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept ... For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive ... For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (verses 20, 22, 25, 26). In Christ we who believe and trust in Him have the victory over death: we shall share in His resurrection, the resurrection of life (Jn 5:28,29).

Life! What life, but life with God in our eternal Home! In Christ, the grave has lost its terror, death has lost its sting. With gratitude we say, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Pet 1:3,4).

THOUGHT: The hope of Heaven dispels the gloom of the tomb.
PRAYER: Thank Thee, Lord, for rising for me.

3. "Christ died for us" Rom 5:8
(Extracts from Daily Remembrancer by John Smith, Edited by Dr SH Tow, 24 January)

OUR LORD DIED FOR US WHEN WE WERE YET SINNERS! What an unspeakable blessing is this! Let us seriously consider it tonight. Christ died, Jehovah's only begotten Son, the fountain of life and blessedness, the centre and source of all excellence and glory. Jesus, who united the divine and human natures in Himself, died: died for us as our Friend, who bound us to Himself by covenant, who stooped for us from heaven to earth, whose love was stronger than death. He died for us, the objects of His love and His Father's choice; died for us though we were sinners, ungodly, without strength and rebellious. He died for us, the head for His body, the surety for the debtors He had undertaken to set free, the Redeemer for captives He was pledged to deliver, the Husband for His beloved, fallen bride, the Shepherd for the flock entrusted to His care, the Servant of the Father, who came to do His will and maintain His honour. He died for us to redeem us from death, to raise us to eternal life, to restore us to friendship with God, to fit us for holy service, that we might be crowned with glory at last. Let us live for Jesus who died for us.

Christ bore our sins upon the tree,
To seek and save the lost He came;
There was He nailed to set us free
From death and everlasting shame;
The captive flock from hell was freed
And ransomed when their Shepherd bled.

God bless you dear readers.

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