THE HAPPY HOME
CONTEMPLATED–BEING WITH CHRIST IN GLORY
"Father, I will that they also whom you have given me, be with me where I
am." John 17:24
"So shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thes. 4:17
"In those blest regions of delight,
Where Jesus is unveiled to sight,
No mortal tongue can e'er express
The ransomed sinner's blessedness.
What mortal pen can describe the glowing beauties of Emmanuel's land! What
mortal tongue can express the blessedness of the saints, when gazing upon
the heaven-bright glories of Emmanuel's form, and dwelling forever in his
glorious presence, under the resplendent beams of the Sun of righteousness!
This is what the eye has not seen; what the ear has not heard; what the
heart of man has never conceived. But yet this blessedness awaits all the
saints, and will abide with them through the incessant flow of eternity's
immeasurable ages. O, happy thought!
Dear Christian reader, Christ has, in his infinite love, now gone to prepare
a place, an endless happy home for you; but he will come again, and receive
you to himself. He will not always leave you in this valley of tears. No–
when this short life is ended, you will "depart and be with Christ;" you
will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Christ will bring you to his
Father's house, where his glorious presence is enjoyed without a medium. He
will welcome you to the mansions of glory, to the kingdom of heaven. "Come,
you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world." "Don't be troubled. You trust God, now trust in
me. There are many rooms in my Father's home, and I am going to prepare a
place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When
everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be
with me where I am."
Thus spoke our Savior before he left this world- before he ascended to
heaven from Mount Olivet. But there is a day coming, when that same Savior
shall break through the clouds of heaven; "when he comes to receive glory
and praise from his holy people. And you will be among those praising him on
that day, for you believed what we testified about him."
Job obtained a glimpse of this day. He starts forward on the wings of faith,
and beholds through the lapse of many ages the divine form of his Redeemer.
He sees him with his very eyes. "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer
lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has
decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I
will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!"
Christ shall come again, to gather his children home, to that place which he
has prepared for them. Then shall the word of command, issued from his
blessed lips, go forth: "Gather my saints together unto me, those that have
made a covenant with me by sacrifice. "For the Lord himself will come down
from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and
with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will
rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and
remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air and remain with him forever. So comfort and encourage each other with
these words." Then shall we be ever in his presence, where there is fullness
and pleasure forever.
It is Christ's presence that will make the very heaven of happiness, the
very center of felicity. It is being with Christ that will constitute the
purest, brightest, noblest heaven. What would heaven be to the saints, did
they not enjoy the presence of Christ? It would be no heaven to them, though
they were surrounded with the glories of the New Jerusalem. O Blessed Jesus!
may we be going up through this wilderness world, leaning upon you; walking
by faith; loving and serving you; and may we finally be brought to behold
your glorious face in the realms of light, in the paradise above, and be
ever with you.
"What is the world, but grief and care!
What heaven, if you are absent there!
Your glorious face illumines the sky,
And sheds ecstatic joys on high."
It is in the presence of Christ, that we will participate in those pleasures
which are at God's right hand. "In your presence is fullness of joy: at your
right hand, there are pleasures for evermore." Oh! to be ever with the Lord!
What human mind can comprehend the blessedness of such a state? Christ knows
this blessedness; and how fervently he prays, "Father, I want these whom
you've given me to be with me, so they can see my glory. You gave me the
glory because you loved me even before the world began!" This prayer will be
answered. We shall soon be with Christ. We shall soon behold his glory. Then
shall we see Him as he is; even Him who loved us, and washed us from our
sins in his own blood; who died on Calvary for us; whose blessed hands, and
side, and feet were pierced for us; and whose precious blood flowed so
freely to wash away our sins– to Him be glory forever!
Oh! blessed sight. Then shall we gaze forever upon the uncreated glory of
Emmanuel, shining forth in full unclouded splendor. Then shall we behold the
glory of that blessed Redeemer, who left the regions of bliss, to assume
mortal flesh and die for us. Then shall we see with our very eyes, him who
was crucified for us on Calvary; but, oh! we shall see Him shining with
inconceivable glory.
The glory of Christ will attract the eyes of all the redeemed, and he will
be forever "admired in all those who believe." "The Word was made flesh" and
the glory of God shall shine through that flesh, making that blessed body
more glorious than a thousand suns!
The saints shall dwell forever in the presence of Emmanuel. Thrice happy
they, who are to spend eternity in beholding his radiant glory, and in
encompassing his throne with everlasting songs of salvation! Then shall it
be proclaimed through the heavenly mansions, "Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people; and
God himself shall be with them, and be their God."
In heaven, the saints will enjoy the society of the Lord himself; which is
the perfection of happiness. Says Christ, "Where I am, there shall also my
servant be." O! to be ever near Him; to see Him as he is; to be like him; to
behold his glory; to have that glory revealed in us; to praise Him eternally
in the mansions above! What a happy home will this be! "Yes, dear friends,
we are already God's children, and we can't even imagine what we will be
like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like
him, for we will see him as he really is."
Oh, to be like the blessed Jesus; to see him in glory! What heart would
desire more? Then shall we commence to tread with our elder Brother, and
adorable Redeemer, the ceaseless circuit of eternity. Then shall the wonders
of his love be incessantly unfolded before us- causing new songs of praise
to ascend from our enraptured souls, to him who sits upon the throne. Who
can express the delights the saints must feel, when they look into the face
of Christ, and there read his tender love to them!
But oh, how completely engulfed in the abyss of infinite love, and lost in
wonder and praise, must our souls be, when we gaze upon the scars which mark
the hands and feet and side of our blessed Savior, and there read the
immensity of that love which made him die for us! "And I beheld, and lo, in
the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the
elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain." In those blessed regions, where
He is unveiled to the sight of mortals, Jesus will gladden our hearts with
perpetual joy, and love us with an everlasting love.
It is the privilege of believers to be with Christ; to spend eternity in his
presence; to gaze forever upon the Sun of Righteousness, shining in his
meridian splendor. That sun will never set in the "new heavens." His beams
will always irradiate the city of our God, our happy dwelling place.
Christ's presence will make "our Father's house" a glorious home, a happy
abode, a blessed habitation. Where he is, there will heaven be. His glorious
presence will illuminate the abode of the blessed, the realms of everlasting
day. And, believer when you come to dwell in those blissful mansions, his
presence, his companionship, his love, and his celestial voice will cause
your enraptured soul to rejoice; and eternity will be spent in being with
him, and in beholding his glory.
"Oh! to hear that voice speak ineffable peace and consolation to your soul;
to see Him as he is, whose glory infinitely surpasses all objects of nature
and of art; to see those dear hands, and feet, and head, whose wounds in
suffering for you will be more brilliant and beautiful in your eye than the
topaz of Ethiopia: yes, to have his glory revealed in you; to be perfectly
like him, and to reign with him: what a heaven will this be! Then your
unbounded desires, which the whole creation could not limit, shall be
satisfied with the full fruition of immortal love. You shall be refreshed
with the emanations of uncreated life and joy, and shall drink at the
fountain-head of pleasure. You shall mingle with society the most pure,
perfect and lovely, whose glory is only surpassed by that of Him who sits
upon the throne. You shall dwell with kindred spirits, in everlasting
harmony. Your employment shall combine all the excellencies of ease,
delight, and perpetuity. You will have nothing to do but to worship and
serve God, and shall have ability to worship and serve him forever."
What a happy home will heaven be, where we shall be ever with the Lord! How
happy will the saints be, when they come to dwell in that heavenly home– in
that glorious palace, where "He that sits on the throne shall dwell among
them;" where "the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them,
and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes."
Of that celestial city, in which the saints are to make their eternal home,
it is said, "the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his
servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be
in their foreheads."
The saints, in heaven, shall see Christ with their bodily eyes. We shall see
Him, who loved us, and gave himself for us. "Now we see things imperfectly
as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.
All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know
everything completely, just as God knows me now." Yes, we shall behold His
glorious face, and be fully satisfied with his immortal love.
We hope shortly to exchange the trials and afflictions of this valley of
tears- this suffering, dying world, for the glories of eternity; and be
forever with the Lord. Then will we be done with transitory life, with grief
and care. Then will we drink of affliction's bitter cup no more, and death
itself will have lost its power over us. Then shall we be lodged in the
regions of immortality, and be forever with the Lord.
And when ten thousand times ten thousand years have rolled away; when ages
countless as the stars which deck the midnight sky have run their extensive
round, it may be said that we are, as it were, just beginning to be forever
with the Lord; that we are just beginning to behold his glory, and to look
into that wonderful counsel of love, that glorious plan of salvation, which
will be our theme of meditation, of wonder, and of praise through the
ceaseless ages of eternity. Then shall we know the joy of being with Christ.
Then, there shall be no more separation between Christ and his people– they
shall then be brought near him, and abide with him forever.
"O glorious hour! O blest abode!
I shall be near and like my God!
And flesh and sin no more control
The sacred pleasure of the soul."
It will be Christ's amazing love that will then fill our hearts with joy
unspeakable and full of glory. It will be the brighter manifestation of that
love which will cause our souls to overflow with ecstatic joy, as we dwell
in the presence of Emmanuel, and surround his throne, and behold his glory.
Then shall we be better "able to comprehend with all saints what is the
breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ,
which passes knowledge." Then shall we "be filled with all the fullness of
God." Oh! the infinite love of Christ, that he should bring sinners to
glory, to dwell in his presence, to spend eternity with him! "So shall we
ever be with the Lord."
"By faith I see the hour at hand,
When in his presence I shall stand
Then will it be my endless bliss,
To see him where and as he is." John Newton