'Your will be done on earth,' stern
and glorious, yet through an open
doorway in this great state room we
catch a glimpse of a glorious,
colourful, sunlit conservatory or
garden room, a glimpse of what is
yet to be; a glimpse of heaven. And
beyond that heart-stirring glimpse
lies heaven itself, the whole
garden; a place of incredible beauty
and peace; a place where we can walk
at ease with our heavenly Father.
'Today,' said our Lord to the
penitent thief, 'you will be with me
in Paradise.' Paradise is the garden
of God.
The Lord teaches us to pray that our
heavenly Father's will might be done
here, on earth, as it is done in
heaven. Here, we long to see God's
name honoured and yet see it so
often trodden underfoot. We long to
see God's kingdom come and yet see
the fulfilment of our prayers so
often frustrated or long delayed. We
long to see eyes opened and hearts
set on fire for God, and yet see
them dulled and blinded by
preoccupation with wealth, pleasure
and care. We long to see God's will
done and yet find a clash of wills,
our own as well as the determined
will of godless folk around us.
Here, we pray, live and battle that
the glory of heaven might be seen.
There, it is seen in all its
fullness.
For our encouragement and
strengthening our Lord turns our
eyes and thoughts heavenward where
his name is honoured, where his
kingdom is complete and where his
will is done perfectly, willingly
and with joy. He teaches us to pray,
'Father, may it be like that on
earth.' He gives us hope. He gives
us a note of praise. He lifts our
eyes, in the middle of the prayer,
to catch the wonder of heaven -
where our heavenly Father is, and
where his will is perfectly done.
This heavenly note is there to stir,
challenge and refresh us as we pray.
It is a moment of praise, a shaft of
sunlight, a turning of our eyes away
from the struggles of earth to the
glory of heaven.
We are very much rooted and grounded
in this present world. It is very
hard to think of heaven, and yet the
Bible, throughout, is very 'heavenly
minded'. It is constantly reminding
us that our citizenship is not here,
but in heaven.
Where is heaven? When the astronauts
of the former USSR first broke free
from this earth's atmosphere, they
took the opportunity to score a
point for atheism by declaring from
space that there was neither God nor
heaven to be seen. And yet, they
really only shot down an 'Aunt
Sally'. They destroyed a false
picture. God, who inhabits eternity,
is outside of time and space. We
have not broken out of time and
space by breaking free of this
earth's atmosphere. That is,
relatively, only a small step. God
is outside of the whole universe
which is all part of time and space.
Heaven is a different realm;
eternity, where God is, is not
limited by time or space.
Another very basic question is: Who
will be there? Matthew begins the
prayer with the phrase, 'Our Father
in heaven.' God, our heavenly
Father, is there. He is there, says
the apostle John, with the Lamb, the
Lord Jesus. Together they share the
throne and around the throne are
innumerable heavenly beings who do
his will gladly, willingly and
joyfully.
Destined to join them - and this is
awesome, wonderful and almost beyond
our comprehension - mere human
beings like ourselves. This is our
heavenly Father's great purpose on
earth. He is calling out men, women
and young people from every nation
and tribe to be his own people here
and now and ultimately to be with
him, where he is, in heaven.
Disciples have a destiny, says the
New Testament, to rule over angels
who are themselves the very
messengers of God.
Who will be there? Sadly, there are
those who will not be there. For
where God is, in his very presence,
there will be nothing ungodly,
unholy, or impure. In the light of
this, who can stand accepted before
God? The very disturbing fact is
that not one of us has a natural
ticket for heaven. Our only hope is
in God our heavenly Father who of
his mercy has made it possible for
us to be made perfect and acceptable
before him. Here lies the heart of
the Christian message. It is God's
amnesty for fallen men and women, an
acceptability before God that is not
our own but given to us - given to
us at the price of the cross of the
Lord from heaven.
It is those who respond to our
Father's mercy in the Lord Jesus who
will be there in heaven. It will be
those to whom he has given the right
to be his sons and daughters. The
mark, the guarantee of those who are
citizens of heaven is the Holy
Spirit of God at work within us;
opening our eyes to see the kingdom
of God, bringing us into that
kingdom, enabling us to live for God
and changing us little by little
into Christ-like people.
In Charles Wesley's words:
'Changed from
glory into glory,
Till in heaven we
take our place'.
This process of being changed is the
Holy Spirit's marvellous work in the
life of a disciple. A changed life,
an increasingly godly life, is
evidence of the Holy Spirit's work
and is the seal of our citizenship
of heaven. Of course, the opposite
also applies. Religious interest or
religious talk without changed
habits of living, stand as a
terrible warning sign.
We all want to be citizens of
heaven. The other place, the
alternative, is to be shut out from
our Father's presence and is at all
costs to be avoided. It is described
in scripture only in the most
terrible terms of suffering and
loss, ruin and endless regret. It is
described in terms of men and women,
loved and made in the image of God,
yet who have turned their back on
God or lived in this world as if
they were not answerable to him. By
doing so, they have missed their
true destiny and calling to be the
sons and daughters of our heavenly
Father, citizens of heaven.
How do the apostles
speak of heaven?
'I heard a voice from heaven,'
writes St. John, 'saying to me,
"Write this: From now on blessed,
happy are those who die in the
Lord."' Those who die 'in the Lord',
who die in true faith, are happy,
are blessed. And we will never feel
the force of that word 'blessed'
until we say 'how much to be envied'
are those who die in the Lord. They
are most to be envied because they
are God's own people destined to be
with him where he is.
As disciples we are children of
earth, and yet our true citizenship
is not here but in heaven. We pass
our time here as pilgrims, but we
are passing through. It is for this
reason that we must not bind
ourselves too closely with the
things of this world. We are here
about our Father's business but our
destiny is to be with our Father in
heaven, to be with our Lord, to be
with the saints in glory. We will
take our place at the great feast,
in the fellowship, the oneness, the
unity of love, understanding and
purpose that is heaven. There, not
here, is our home! The apostle Paul
was torn as he wrote to the church
at Philippi, he wanted to continue
to encourage them and yet he longed
'to be with Christ which is far
better.'
Once we have grasped such a picture
of heaven, we will see why 'to die
in Christ' is of all things most to
be envied. When we truly see it, it
will directly affect the way we live
here and now. It will affect our
living and it will affect our dying.
It will affect the way in which we
come to view the dying of our loved
ones. It is always terribly hard to
let them go. When a loved one dies
we are shattered, torn apart. God
has set us in families and among
friends with bonds of love and
companionship that are so strong
that in grief we are left absolutely
desolate. And yet, if we have really
taken hold of the fact that it is so
enviable, such joy, to be with
Christ; that it is a journey
completed, a race run, that our
loved ones in Christ have now
reached home, then, surely, there is
no greater comfort for those of us
who are left. It is right to weep,
our loss is terrible, but not for
them, for they are at home with the
Lord. They are safely in his hands.
The Lord has taken them to be with
him where he is.
Such a grasp of heaven will also
affect our approach to our own last
day. Of course we are built, as
human beings, to hold on strongly;
to live. And yet if we really have,
as the apostle Paul had, an
understanding of heaven, a real
longing to be with Christ, an
assurance of a welcome home by the
mercy of God, then there will come a
time when we know that there is no
longer need to cling on to this
life; a time when it becomes right
to put ourselves in his hands to
take us home. We can look forward to
being with the Lord.
Visiting Tom, a man in a Manchester
hospital, the conversation turned to
heaven. Tom was dying and knew it.
He was only expected to live a few
days. Suddenly, Tom was praying,
putting into his heavenly Father's
hands his own departure. It was very
wonderful. Something of the glory
and wonder of heaven shone through
that prayer. It was unforgettable.
Here was a man ready, prepared. He
knew that to be with Christ was far
better and he longed to be there.
He, too, was torn with loved ones at
hand and yet he knew that his time
had come and that to be with the
Lord was far better.
Heaven. Take hold of it strongly. To
be with the Lord is far better. When
it comes to the day of dying, those
who die in the Lord are most to be
envied.
The apostle John tells us that
heaven is the place of freedom,
freedom from oppression, freedom
from suffering. Tom himself had
suffered much, as so many do,
disabled and living with pain. Now
he was on the doorstep of freedom
from the suffering that had been his
lot in this life. We are mortal and
we live in a fallen world where
sickness and suffering form the
backcloth of our human existence,
particularly in our closing years.
By God's grace the science of
medicine can help us marvellously.
Given grace to accept our situation,
we can rise above suffering with
great courage and patience.
Sometimes, by the goodness of God,
there is physical healing here and
now. But the ultimate victory,
complete freedom, is not found here
but in heaven.
Again, in this life the world
presses hard, sometimes very hard
indeed. We have fellow disciples
even now hounded, threatened,
persecuted or shut up in prisons and
labour camps under oppressive,
atheistic or fanatically religious
regimes. There are many occasions in
both Old and New Testaments which
speak of godly people and how, on
occasion, the ungodly will hate them
and deliberately delight in crushing
them and pouring scorn on their
faith. We may be scorned and ill
treated here but in heaven the world
can no longer cause us to suffer, we
will be free, there will be no more
tears.
Here on earth we are dogged with
weaknesses and with great
temptations. Paul, too, knew the
weakness of the flesh. 'The things I
long to do, I fail to do and the
things I long not to do, I find
myself doing.' That is the nature of
this earthly life. But in heaven -
freedom. And freedom, also, from the
limitations of this earthly body,
from the limitations of time and
space. Here there are things that we
long to do, but because of our
personal limitations or
circumstances just cannot do. There,
we will be able to do his will with
perfect freedom.
Then in heaven there will be rest.
The apostle John writes, 'They rest
from their labours.' John was almost
certainly for a time a slave
labourer in the mines of the prison
island of Patmos. He knew about the
sweat and toil of this earth. John
encourages us to think of heaven,
not in sentimental terms of floating
about on clouds playing harps(!),
but as our Lord taught us to think
about it in this prayer. It is a
place of freedom from pressure, a
place of creative rest and
exhilarating activity, where God's
will is done perfectly, gladly and
joyfully. This is worship in the
fullest sense. There will be
singing, but not just singing. It
will be singing coupled with service
as we are freely about our Father's
business. His will done perfectly,
in heaven.
Then there will be joy. 'In your
presence,' says the Psalmist, 'there
is fullness of joy.'We will be 'with
the Lord', and with those whom we
have loved and lost awhile. We will
understand then with new insight all
that has passed. Here we wrestle in
a fallen world with many hurts and
hardships; there we shall see, as
has been so well put, the beautiful
side of the tapestry of life. Here
we struggle, seeing only the ends
and agonised knots; there, will be
joy, fullness of joy, the joy of
home.
Here, we run a race. Here, we fight
a battle. There, in heaven, is laid
up an inheritance, a reward, a joy,
a homecoming, and most prized and
glorious of all, the crowning words
of the Lord Jesus Christ, 'Well
done, good and faithful servant,
enter into the joy of your Lord.'
Sing then, from the heart,
with John Newton,
'Let the world
deride or pity, (. . . for
it will!)
I will glory in
Thy name.
. . .
Solid joys and lasting treasure,
None
but Zion's children know'.
'Father, in our tears and battles,
lift us, we pray, in hope and in
praise to see the glory of heaven.
Show us afresh that our citizenship,
and the citizenship of all those on
whom you have set your love, is not
here but with yourself in heaven.'
References
Paradise - Luke 23:43
Citizenship in heaven - Philippians
3:20
The throne of God and of the Lamb -
Revelation 22:3
'From every nation' - Revelation
5:9&10
A destiny to rule over angels - 1
Corinthians 6:3
'Blessed . . . are those who die in
the Lord' - Revelation 14:13
'To be with Christ' - Philippians
1:22&23
Hated, 'for my name's sake'- Matthew
24:9, Matthew 5:10-12
See also, Apocrypha, Wisdom of
Solomon 2
'The things I long to do' - Romans
7:15
'They rest from their labours' -
Revelation 14:13
'Fullness of joy' - Psalm 16:11
'With the Lord' - 1 Thessalonians
4:17 & Philippians 1:23
A race, a fight and a crown - 2
Timothy 4:7&8
'Enter into the joy of your Lord' -
Matthew 25:21&23
Questions
1 Our heavenly Father's will done on
earth in the way in which it is done
in heaven. To what extent does that
thrill and inspire you?
2 Does our culture, interest or
position lead us to naturally assume
that we have a 'ticket for heaven'?
Should we assume it?
3 What is the trustworthy seal or
guarantee of our citizenship of
heaven?
4 Should and does the picture of the
loss and ruin and endless regret of
men and women having missed their
true destiny fill you with horror?
Does it motivate you to action as it
did so many of the great missionary
pioneers?
5 God's own people are most to be
envied. Why?
6 How will a firm hold of the
disciple's citizenship of heaven
affect our living, our dying and our
reaction to the deaths of those we
love?
7 'Sickness and suffering form the
backcloth of our human existence.'
Hard though such a statement is,
does it help us to understand our
world and our circumstances and help
us to ask, 'Why not me?' rather
than, 'Why me?'
8 Do we care as we should for those
who suffer because they are
disciples of Christ?
9 We know so little about heaven,
but do the New Testament references
to homecoming, rest, joy, freedom
and 'well done' encourage and
strengthen us to face the battles of
earth?
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