THE BELIEVER S EXPECTATION! II Cor. 5:8 absent from the body, and present with the Lord. In my own quiet time, I ve been studying the first three verses of Rev. 14, v.1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His [i.e. Christ s] and his Father's name written upon their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from out of heaven, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of a great thunder: and I heard as the sound of harpers harping with their harps: 3 And they sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. We are the most privileged people on earth! The Redeemed of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth, - this hundred forty and four thousand standing on the mount Zion, - are privileged to hear a sound from out of heaven so that every member of that glorious number waits with great anticipation v.12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. What a blessed hope we have that even transcends time, and stretches beyond the grave! This is the believer s expectation of glory and it will be fulfilled when we enter eternity and be with Christ forever! There is nothing that can soothe the pain of losing a loved one like knowing they have passed into the presence of God. Just a short time before he died, D.L. Moody was heard to say, This is my coronation day! Richard Sibbes, the Puritan, wrote, Through Christ death is become friendly to me. I m sure I ve told you about, - when I was a young boy, - being in a hospital room with perhaps about a dozen people or more around the bed of a woman who was dying, - she wanted to sing the old hymns of redemption. And as she was singing, she calmly and triumphantly passed into God s presence. Her body was weak and wrecked by illness, and yet in death she was going home in victory to her Saviour and Lord. When you read the writings of great saints on this subject of death you discover the note of victory in their words. You find them, - like Paul, - boldly confronting the last enemy, I Cor. 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law and then you find them praising the Lord, v. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 I trust we stand firmly upon God s Word and His promises, safe and secure in the knowledge that even in the face of death we are more than conquerors through him that loved us (Rom. 8:37). Some people don t like to think about this subject but it is the plain reality that none of us will be here forever and I Cor. 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. And the beautiful and wonderful knowledge that belongs to the people of God is that Satan may chase us right to the gates of death, but he must stop there for he cannot pursue us through them! Where the Christian is headed, the devil has absolutely no entrance! So, it is not a morbid subject when we approach it from Heaven s vantage point. When the Lord saves you He claims you for all eternity and death is simply the doorway into Heaven. It is my personal opinion that the more you prepare yourself for it, the more you will feel the Lord shaping you to receive it when the day of your departure from this world arrives. If you fill your mind with anticipation, your heart will eagerly await His call. Where did death begin? Death began with sin, Gen. 2:16 the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Death, therefore, is the consequence of sin. It is the judgment of God upon man s disobedience. But death was defeated! Where was death defeated? Death was defeated at the cross, Rom. 5:6 Christ died for the ungodly. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 being now justified by his blood, 11 we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Our hope as we face the last enemy is in Christ alone for He defeated death once and for all for every one of His Redeemed. What happens when you die? Let s consider the very basics When you die, your earthly body ceases to function. It is laid in a grave to eventually decompose, - it is going nowhere but into the ground. You will never ever need it again! Your present physical body will not be resurrected. The creaking bones, the constant pains, the inhibiting frustrations are all finished when the mortal body ceases to function.
3 What happens next? Let s look at II Cor. 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Here Paul is referring to his mortal earthly body when it eventually dies, - if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved In other words, said Paul, at present we are living in this earthly tabernacle but we know there is coming a day when our bodies will be dissolved, for they are not meant to last, they are merely temporary! At that point, I Cor. 15:44 It is sown a natural body [in the grave]; it is raised a spiritual body [in the soul]. Our earthly body does not go to Heaven; it is left behind and becomes no more, I Cor. 15:50 flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption but our soul enters the glorious presence of God, Lk. 23:43 Jesus said unto [the thief on the cross], Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise I Thess. 4:17 and so shall we ever be with the Lord. From that moment onwards we shall be present with the Lord forever (II Cor. 5:8). We ll never be parted from Him. Our souls will be sanctified wholly, cleansed completely and made perfect to His highest of standards, becoming in an instant the spirits of just men made perfect (Heb. 12:23). We shall be with Christ. We shall be before the throne and we shall see the Saviour and worship Him. All of our gaze will be transfixed as we view the many wonderful aspects of His most beautiful ministry (cf. Rev. 5). This was what Paul was groaning for He was groaning, - not in pain, but in eagerness and anticipation, - for Christ to return so he would be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven our glorious new body made for Heaven when this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (I Cor. 15:53). At death, we exchange the earthly house of this tabernacle, in anticipation of the building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. He spoke of it again in I Cor. 15:49, as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Yes, he was not groaning because he was unhappy He was groaning because He longed to see Christ, Phil. 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better He was groaning for glory!
4 Death, therefore, held no terror for him, II Tim. 4:6 I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. One by one God s people are being called home into His presence v.2 in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, We are looking forward, and waiting for the full number to be completed! Indeed, He has already put a down payment on every one of His people that guarantees them their future inheritance, - none of them will be lost (Jn. 17:12). The Guarantee, the Holy Spirit Himself, is Eph. 1:14 the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. In the language of Solomon, through Him, we are engaged to Christ, and we are waiting for the Bridegroom to come and take us, - His Bride, - to the great wedding-feast in Glory, Songs 4:6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. 7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. 8 Come with me, my spouse. And then He will take His Bride, - the souls complete and resplendent in her new glorified body, - and He will present her before His Father in Heaven, a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Eph. 5:27). She will be beautiful! She will be gleaming! Her smile will make His heart glad! And then, Songs 2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. In Heaven, He will sit her down at the table that He has prepared for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and she will be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints (Rev. 19:8). The air will be full of gladness and rejoicing and through everything she does she will be giving honour to her Husband (v.7). This new glorified body she receives is eternal, immortal and incorruptible wonderfully beautiful and suited perfectly to her new home in Heaven! At this present time, you and I are at home in the body, but the day will surely come when we shall be absent from the body the body will be left behind, lifeless and dead for we shall have no more need of it. At that time, we shall immediately and consciously be present with the Lord Ahead of us is Heaven, the home the Redeemer promised His Redeemed Beloved, Jn. 14:2 In my Father's
5 house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. Yes, we have Heaven s privileges already, as Paul wrote, He hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6), but in a far greater and glorious way He will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever (II Tim. 4:18). This is the believer s expectation. This is our promised and prized possession, - eternity in Heaven, our blessed hope! Isaac Watts wrote, There is a land of pure delight, Where saints immortal reign; Infinite day excludes the night, And pleasures banish pain. Why do God s people complain so much when we have such a glorious inheritance! The road towards it may be full with pain and heartache but surely, It will be worth it all when we see Christ. In conclusion, it is important to prepare for going on an earthly journey, but it is infinitely far more important to prepare ourselves for going to Heaven, Is. 64:14 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him! And surely the more of Heaven we cherish, the less of earth we covet, and the less of death we fear. When you book your holiday, you read the brochures and you try and find out as much as you can about your destination how much more we should be preparing and finding out and looking forward for our journey that will take us ultimately to Heaven! Yes, Heaven is a prepared place for God s prepared people. Thomas Watson wrote, in A Body of Divinity, You who are real saints, whose hearts are purified by faith, spend much time in musing upon those glorious benefits which you shall have by Christ at death. Thus might you, by a contemplative life, begin the life of angels here, and be in heaven before your time. Such is the privilege of the believer s expectation!