Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1800
“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.” Revelation 7:16,17.
LET us think of this happiness, that we may be comforted in the prospect of it. All this is already enjoyed by tens of millions of the redeemed! Some of those who were very dear to us on earth, whose faith we desire to follow, are now forever with the Lord and this is their joyful portion—“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.” Our comfort lies in the sweet reflection that we are journeying to this goodly land! This Divine inheritance is ours—we have the seal of the Holy Spirit upon our title deeds—we have tasted of the grapes of its Eshcol and we already rejoice in the light and warmth of its celestial city to which we draw near! In a little time we shall be actually within the gate of pearl and shall know, in an instant, infinitely more of its glory than an Apostle could teach us here below. We are like one who has, in his hands, the guidebook of a country to which he is journeying—he finds in it fair pictures of the scenery of the land and the architecture of the cities—and as he reads each page, he says to himself, “I am going there! This is what I shall soon behold!”
It would be a wretched thing to have such a book in one’s hands and to be entering upon a lifelong banishment from home and the home country! Then would we have to say, “This was my country, once, but I shall never see it again. Fair are its skies and lovely are its vales, but my eyes shall ache in vain to gaze upon them. I am exiled forever from my own dear land!” It is not so with us who are believers in Christ—our faces are towards Immanuel’s land, the land which flows with milk and honey, and we have a portion among the blessed—a mansion is being made ready for each one of us and we have this promise—“Go your way till the end: for you shall rest and stand in your lot at the end of the days.” Rejoice, then, Beloved, for if your portion on earth is slender, if your condition here is sorrowful, if your trials multiply, if your strength declines, yet it is but a little while and He that will come shall come and shall not tarry!
Well does our hymn tell us that—
“An hour with our Lord will make up for it all.” We shall forget the pains of a long life in a half-hour of the vision of the Well-Beloved! Comfort one another with these words! Look before you. It is brightness beyond though it is darkness here. Anticipate your sure reward, it comes with all speed. I speak but the sober truth—it seems but a day’s journey from this spot to the heavenly highlands! It is so little a while since I was a boy and yet, in less space, I shall be with God! It seems but a few days to you who are aged people since you climbed your mother’s knee and yet, in far less time you will behold the face of your soul’s Bridegroom! Then all trouble will be ended and eternal joy will crown your head!
But I want you to do, this morning, and, by God’s Grace I think we shall accomplish it, a little more than receive comfort. I long that we may “sit together in the heavenlies” even now. It seems to me that this world, if Christians lived as they should, would become a nether Heaven. The true Christian life, when we live near to God, is the rough draft of the life of full communion above! We have seen the artist draw with his pencil, or with his charcoal, a bare outline of his picture. It is nothing more, but still, one could guess what the finished picture will be from the sketch before you. One acquainted with the artist could see upon the canvas all the splendor of color peeping through the dark lines of the pencil.
Now, I want you, today, to see “the patterns of things in the heavens.” We have much of Heaven here—at any rate, we have the Lamb who is the Glory of the Eternal City! We have the Presence of Him that sits upon the Throne of God among us, even now! We have, if not the perfect holiness of Heaven, yet a justification quite as complete as that of the glorified! We have the “white robes,” for, “the blood of the Lamb” has washed them even now! And if we have not yet the palm branches of final victory, yet, thanks be to God, we are led in triumph in every place—and even now, “this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” Therefore—
“I would begin the music here,
And so my soul should rise!
Oh, for some heavenly notes to bear
My passions to the skies.”
Our voices are not clear as yet—they are half-choked with the fogs and smoke of earth. They will be perfectly attuned before long! At any rate, let us go over the notes, and if we cannot reach to the full melody of the heavenly music, yet let us run up and down the scale and try some easy passages. Come, let us worship, adore and rejoice, as our departed ones are doing, and thus enjoy some of “the days of Heaven upon the earth.” That shall be my drift this morning, as the Holy Spirit shall instruct me.