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Heavenly Rest!
From Timeless Grace Gems
William Nicholson, 1862
"For you have not yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God gives you." Deuteronomy 12:9From Timeless Grace Gems
William Nicholson, 1862
Some knowledge of Heaven is necessary. Without this, we could have . . .
no desire after it,
no sympathy with it,
no preparation for it.
But our acquaintance with it here on earth, is very imperfect. After all the description of inspired truth, it does not yet appear what we shall be; it is a glory that is to be revealed. "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him!" 1 Corinthians 2:9.
It must have been cheering to the Israelites, amid the perils of the wilderness, to know that they were, under the guidance of God, gradually nearing the land of Canaan, where they would enjoy rest. The wilderness with its toils and privations, was unfavorable to Divine worship, and therefore Moses, in the preceding verses, tells them that on their arrival in the promised land, they would worship God without such inconvenience, verse 5-8.
So it is with Christians now; their worship, their spiritual enjoyment, are frequently interrupted by adverse circumstances; but when they come to "the rest," their worship will be pure and uninterrupted.
I. The Nature of Heavenly Rest. It is called "the rest and the inheritance."
1. It is a promised rest.
Canaan was promised to the Israelites again and again, and they were now going on to possess it, Genesis 35:12, etc.
Just so, Heaven is promised to believers, Hebrews 4:9, 11; John 14:1, etc. The Lord knows that his people cannot be happy in this world, so full of evil, and therefore he has promised, and provided for them a permanent rest. They are "heirs according to the promise;" "heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:7; Romans 8:17.
2. This rest is the purchase of the Redeemer, and the result of his mediatorial conquests.
The Israelites entered Canaan through the intervention of God. He rescued them from Egypt, conducted and guided them by his Omnipotence through the desert, and at length brought them to the land of promise. All was effected by Divine power.
Just so, believers are saved by Omnipotent grace. From the cross of Christ, they received their fitness for the heavenly inheritance! On that cross he became their surety, atoned for their sins, and procured for them a righteousness which covers all their natural deformity. He broke down the middle wall of partition, and gave access to God in Heaven. He spoiled principalities and powers, and triumphantly entered Paradise as the forerunner of his people; there he waits to receive them, and to crown them with glory. "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne!" Revelation 3:21. Glorious thought! My crown of glory was purchased by Christ's crown of thorns, etc. Revelation 5:12; 7:10.
3. It will be a rest from all evil.
(1.) From all temptation to sin. So long as man lives on earth, he has various incitements to sin. Enemies both external and internal, are all plotting his ruin, and instigating him to renounce his allegiance to Christ. How numerous are the sources of temptation:
the depraved heart,
worldly pleasures and amusements,
the pressure from friends,
the intoxicating cup as the relief of pain or calamity,
the evil heart of unbelief,
the lusts of the flesh, etc.
Yes, the child of God is constantly inhaling infected air! He living in an atmosphere impregnated with death — nearly every step is surrounded by some hidden snare. No sooner does he embark to the land of his Father in Heaven, than his frail bark is in danger of some hidden quicksand, or sunken rock, etc., etc.
But in Heaven there are . . .
no more incitements to sin,
no more snares set for his fall,
no more painful trials for his virtue,
nor evil examples to lead him astray.
There the eye shall never behold, and the ear never hear, vanity. The tongue shall never deceive, and the heart never misgive. The aged will never seduce the inexperienced, nor the oppressor bear down the weak. Poverty shall not tempt to injustice, nor wealth lead the possessor to forget God. Nothing shall exist there to excite sinful passions, nothing to awaken unhallowed desires.
The atmosphere of that region is healthful,
the language of that country is pure,
the conduct of its inhabitants is righteous.
There is nothing to hurt or destroy, in that holy mountain.
(2.) It will be a rest from all sin. A depraved heart is the fruitful source of all the misery existing in the world — the source . . .
of all defilement,
of all immoral action,
of all anguish and remorse, and
of exposure to endless ruin.
Were the heart pure, this world would be a paradise! Though believers are regenerated — yet sin frequently distresses them.
But in Heaven sin shall be done away. The emancipated soul shall be restored to the full liberty and purity of a son of God. "The spirits of just men are made perfect," and freed from all "spot or wrinkle" when they reach Mount Zion. Angelic natures may possess more enlarged and more exalted capacities, but not purer natures, than the glorified saints. All the remains of sin, and the dregs of corruption — are left far and forever behind.
No condemning conscience is found there,
no unhallowed appetites are found there,
no disordered affections exist there,
no vestige of evil is found there!
Every child of God is as pure as Christ is pure. He is as perfect as his Father in Heaven is perfect. Child of mortality, heir of corruption, what will be your feelings when you shall rest in Heaven from all the effects of sin?
"There the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest!"