Chapter 3
Heaven Is A Place Of Perfect Inhabitants
As to their number, listen to this; “I beheld, and, lo, 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. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen; Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.”There is in this record a stern rebuke to narrow sectarianism. What a multitude up there in the heavenly country! Thank God!
There is also in this record the fact of conscious personality there. “What are these?” The answer is that they are from the earth, and they came up out of great tribulation.
The character of the multitude is also stated. “White robes,” which signify purity of character, fullness of joy. Bridal attire is white. “They washed their robes,” the washing of regeneration; “and made them white,” the cleansing of sanctification, “in the blood of the Lamb.” Through the atonement of Jesus Christ they were enabled to appropriate its benefits to the extent of “the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.”
What a holy company! God will be there. Jesus Christ our Redeemer and Saviour will be there. Stephen in the hour of death, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” The Holy Spirit will be there. An innumerable multitude of angels will be there. All the saints of all the ages will be there. Why, there will be an army of Christian martyrs alone amounting to the millions. My precious father will be there. I shall see him again, for I am bound for that beautiful city. One of the first things I expect to tell him when I get there is how much I have appreciated him. He did not leave me riches, but he did leave me an inheritance in Christian character for which I shall always praise God. My dear mother is near the river. She will soon be there. What a great heritage is a good mother; a true, humble, hard working woman was mother; nothing was too hard for her to do for us; no suffering and hardship too great, if only she could help her children. She will soon be in that country and enjoy her eternal rest. God bless my mother! I have some brothers and sisters over there. Then, there will be those whom I have been enabled under God to help prepare for that place. I shall present them in that day. One recoils to even suggest this, but having been called by God to preach His gospel, I know there are those whom He has helped me to help. Thank God!
“When I enter that beautiful city Far, far from earth’s sorrows and care, I want to hear somebody saying, It was you that invited me there.
“When at home in that mansion eternal, And the saved all around me appear, I want to have somebody tell me, It was you that invited me here.”
“A little girl in a family of my acquaintance, a lovely and precious child, lost her mother at an age too early to fix the loving features in her remembrance. She was beautiful; and as the bud of her heart unfolded, it seemed, as if won by that mother’s prayers, to turn instinctively heavenward. The sweet, conscientious, and prayer-loving mother’s child was the idol of the bereaved family. But she faded away early. She would lie upon the lap of the friend who took a mother’s kind care of her, and winding one wasted arm around her neck, would say, ‘Now tell me about my mamma!’ And when the oft-told tale had been repeated, she would ask softly, ‘Take me into the parlor; I want to see my mamma.’ The request was never refused; and the affectionate sick child would lie for hours, gazing on her mother’s portrait. But
‘Pale and wan she grew, and weakly Bearing all her pain so meekly, That to them she still grew dearer, As the trial hour grew nearer.’
“That hour came at last, and the weeping neighbors assembled to see the child die. The dew of death was already on the flower, as its sun of life was going down. The little chest heaved faintly, spasmodically.
“‘Do you know me, darling?’ sobbed, close in her ear, the voice that was dearest; but it awoke no answer. All at once, a brightness as if from the upper world, burst over the child’s colorless countenance. The eyelids opened, and the lips parted; the wan cuddling hands flew up, in the little one’s impulsive effort, as she looked piercingly in the far above.
“‘Mother!’ she cried, with surprise and transport in her voice and passed with that breath to her mother’s bosom.
“Said a distinguished divine, who stood by that bed of joyous death, ‘If I had never believed in the ministration of departed ones before, I could not doubt it now'” (Quoted from “Man All Immortal,” by Dr. Clark, pp. 209-212).
After looking at her husband’s picture, then with a far-away look of mingled rapture and awe, Mrs. Fletcher exclaimed, “I see him! I see him! Hark! What is that? I thought it was the rustle of angel’s wings.
There is, however, another side to this question. In the same Sacred Record, in the same chapter, where God describes the characters who will enter and enjoy that heavenly home, He enumerates and describes the character of those who will not enter, nor, in consequence, enjoy that glorious place.
Here it is: “The fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.” In the twenty-seventh verse, it says, “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” In the next chapter, chapter twenty-two, and
verses fourteen and fifteen it reads, “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
In view of this, may we suggest that you take up the question of the hymn writer:
“Is my name written there, On the page bright and fair; In the book of Thy kingdom, Is my name written there?”
It is not so much, what church record it is in as whether it is in the Lamb’s book of life.