The only thing that attracts the heart divinely toward heaven is the affections being set on the Lord Jesus Christ, who came from heaven as His home, and having died for us in infinite love and grace, returned to heaven again to make it our home.
When He was on earth He spoke to His disciples, in the simplest and directest manner, of His " Father's house" being their home, as it was His; adding, " If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also." Thus heaven becomes attractive just in proportion as our thoughts and affections are occupied with Him who has gone there, and has engaged in the end to bring us there in the power of that life which we have through Him and in Him. None has ever loved us like Himself; none has a claim to our confidence such as He has; none has ever proved Himself so worthy of it. I speak of trust, where all must be trust, and of the infinite moment of being able to say, " I know in whom I have believed," or, I know whom I have trusted. And supposing we have to pass through death, from which nature shrinks, to our Father's house and our heavenly home, He has gone the way before us, and has opened to us "the path of life;" as He said, with death before Him, " Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."
Moreover, there is " the Father," too, who, as revealed to us by the eon, becomes, by His infinite grace and goodness, the attractive object of our hearts; and it is in His house that the Lord Jesus is preparing a place for us. Knowing God and being " born of God," and so possessing a nature that can delight itself in Him, the Lord Jesus has laid the grounds of our eternal confidence in His presence, in that wonderful expression, " Go tell my brethren, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God."
Nothing so assures the heart as the certainty that we shall meet our God in heaven in this well-known relationship. Heaven, doubtless, has its own peculiar glories, far transcending all that is bright, and glorious on earth; still, it is the stake and interest that our affections have in heaven that make it attractive to our hearts. Heaven is the dwelling-place of God, " who has loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins;" and it is the home of the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the apostle says, " he has loved me, and given himself for me:" and so contemplated, it alone has power to draw the heart thither. No descriptions of an unseen world, nor imaginative pictures of heavenly enjoyment were ever found to attract the spirit from earth where Christ was not the center of its desires. Yet it is no uncommon thing to hear persons talking of heaven as their place, and of being there; but with the most this language means no more than that heaven is to be enjoyed when earth is done with-that this world is the place for the enjoyment of the body, and heaven will receive their departed spirits. Even believers, as to the great body of them, are Christians only in hope, and little better than Jews in practice. For heaven, when contemplated by them, is seen only at the end of life's dim vista, while earth is the place of their busy thoughts and schemes; and it is well if its transient interests and fading associations be not in truth the home of their affections. Too little place, it is to be feared, with regard to the most of us, is found in our creed for that article, " If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable"-and for its counterpart, " The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the SODS of God."
But " we are saved by hope;" and there is no thought more patent in the scriptures of the New Testament than that the Church and individual believers belong, by their very calling, to heaven, and not to earth. The present citizenship of the Christian, his πολιτευμα, is in heaven, as well as his future hope. When Christ was rejected from the earth, blessing on earth became impossible, (not God's "long-suffering" toward it, " which is salvation,") unless men were to be blessed there without God, or He should maintain them in happy possession of the inheritance after they had killed " the heir." When He is received, at His coming again, by Israel, the earth will indeed be blessed: " Then truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven." But when the darkness overspread the earth at the Lord's crucifixion, and the vail of the temple was rent, it was significantly taught that the earth was closed as to blessing, and heaven opened; and that he who would now be blessed must follow Jesus into heaven, " whither as forerunner he is for us entered."
Nothing can be more striking to a thoughtful mind than the contrast, which a perusal of the Scriptures will unfold, between the vailed condition in which heaven is presented in the Old Testament, and its unvailed state as presented in the New. To the Jew, for example, Jehovah was dwelling in the heavens, as Supreme Governor, there to maintain the right. He is seen walking in " the circuit of heaven," ready to deliver by His power, and presenting the ground of confidence to those who trust in Him on earth; for " a father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation." But there is no revealed present relationship with heaven, as now. Believers might look forward to it as their ultimate inheritance, as Abraham, who sought for a " heavenly country," and " looked for a city whose builder and maker is God." Still, in the Old Testament, God is presented in the height of heaven in the general aspect of the resource of those that dwell on earth.
But now believers, by virtue of redemption, and the revelation of God's purposes of grace in Christ, belong to heaven. It is not merely opened to them, so as to have the resources of their strength and confidence there, but their very life is there, and all their associations, as well as having " a hope laid up for them in heaven."
It is not indeed wonderful that there should be this contrast, if we reflect for a moment on what hangs on the marvelous fact of God's own Son having come down from heaven in the accomplishment of redemption, and in our nature returned thither again; coupled with the relationship in which this work places us toward the Father and the Son; and, it may be added, toward the Holy Spirit too. It is no wonder, amidst the wonders of infinite grace, that heaven should be opened to those on whom God has thus expended the affluence of His love, or that it should be presented as their only proper home.
However, it is the heaven of revelation, and not of imagination, that is needed to attract the soul toward it; though how much it may be the heaven of imagination that possesses our thoughts, perhaps few of us can tell. Still, there is the place where God's honor dwells; and there is the glory into which Christ has entered, and into which He will introduce us; and there is the attractiveness of the Father's house, though one cannot help seeing that Paul's heaven was " to depart and to be with Christ;" and the heaven he presents to the Thessalonians is, " so shall we be ever with the Lord."
But it may not be without its use, passingly to notice the notion of the Jews concerning three heavens, which is so far correct, for the scriptures speak, at least, of three. There are " the fowls of heaven," " the dew of heaven," " the clouds of heaven," " the winds of heaven," &c., which refer to the atmosphere that surrounds this earth-the aerial heavens. Then follow " the firmament of His power," " the sun and moon," and " the host of heaven"-the starry heavens. Lastly, " the heaven of heavens, which is the Lord's," or-" the third heaven;" if, indeed, the two designations can be thought to coincide. The lowest heaven is essential, in its influences, to this earth, as the rain, the dew, &c.; and the next heaven no less so, in its original order, as the lights of the firmament " the sun to rule the day," &c., " the precious things put forth by the moon," " the sweet influences of Pleiades," and " the bands of Orion," &c. These are, as it is expressed, " the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained." There is the glory of these heavens; though " Jehovah has set his glory above the heavens," and the Lord Jesus " ascended up far above all heavens."
The mind of man is naturally attracted by the displays of material grandeur and magnificence, and these are scattered with so profuse a hand in the out-lying fields of God's glory in creation, that philosophers often fail to see anything more glorious beyond. But the heart that is guided by divine revelation perceives the moral to prevail over the material, the nearer it approaches to the place where God's honor dwells. The books of creation and providence and redemption are ill read by him who perceives not in them that the end of all is the display of the moral glory, the character of, Him, "of whom, and through whom, and to whom, are all things."
If I turn to Rev. 4;5, I see heaven presented in its governmental character-the place of the throne; and here I see ranged around, the throne of Him who is supreme, the thrones of the elders who are crowned, and seated as a company of kings and priests. With the dignity of rule there is conjoined the ceaseless worship of Him who sits upon the throne; and the glow of adoration can never languish amidst the echoes of that solemn diapason, " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come!" But amidst the harps and golden vials and odors, and the myriads on myriads of angels which throng these heavenly courts, and join with the redeemed in the universal chorus, the eye instinctively rests on one whose presence and character alone form the spring of all this joy and praise. It is " the Lamb," standing in the midst of these elders and this countless multitude, whose presence quiets the heart amidst the overwhelming majesty and grandeur of the scene. Even amidst the bright and glorious symbols by which "the holy Jerusalem" is presented to our view, the symmetry of the city and its pearly gates, its glittering foundations and its golden streets, the nations of the saved walking in the light of it, and the kings of the earth bringing their glory unto it, there is one part of the description that alone fixes itself in the heart-" I saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof!" What meaning does this give to the expression, " Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light!"
In the close of Heb. 12, I think, I see not only a dispensational aspect of the position in which believers are set by the coming and accomplished sacrifice of the Son of God, but also the great constituents of the scene, in the midst of which their blessing will be found, when heaven and earth are linked together in millennial glory under Christ. It is said in verses 22-24, " Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels: to the general assembly, and church of the firstborn, which are written-in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect: and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel."
These are now, doubtless, the unseen realities of faith; but on this very ground it is certain that they will by and by become the embodiments of heavenly happiness and glory. " Mount Sion " is, in simple contrast with Mount Sinai, the symbol of the law, and is the compendious symbol and expression of heavenly grace. Grace is the necessary foundation, the preliminary of all blessing in heaven or earth; for it is the question of bringing sinners, and not righteous persons, home to God. But " God will give grace and glory." Glory, we learn, is the sure consequent and indissoluble result of grace. Hence it is said, " Ye are come," not alone, " to Mount Sion," but, " unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem;" and if Psa. 122 be here read, it will give the key to some apprehension of what, by the expression, is intended to be conveyed. In the Psalm it is the earthly Jerusalem; but here it is " the heavenly," and its glory, proportionally, is transcendent; for it is the metropolis, not of a single earthly kingdom, but of heaven and of the universe, and the place of its glorious throne. What the attractiveness of this " city of the living God," this " heavenly Jerusalem," is, we may catch, if we reflect that Jerusalem was the central point of meeting to all the chosen tribes of Israel, the scene of their holy solemnities. It was the gathering place of those joyous worshippers who were " glad when they said, Let us go into the house of the Lord;" for the crowning glory of Jerusalem was, that it was the place of the temple, where Jehovah dwelt enshrined. But of " the heavenly Jerusalem " it is said, " I saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it;" so that as now the church is " builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit," when it is transferred to the heaven of its destination, it will be so surrounded by the blessed presence of God and of the Lamb, that that 'very presence will be its temple.
But the heaven to which we are going is not an unpeopled solitude. " The heavenly Jerusalem" is not a cold array of solitary grandeur, where palaces untenanted and streets untrodden might awaken the thought of " a city of the dead." It is the great place of congress of the universe. " Myriads of angels" are there. It is " a general assembly."
" His state is various."
But within these ranks of angels, this " innumerable company," and nearer to the throne, is " the church of the firstborn ones enrolled in heaven." They are here presented in their own place, the place assigned them in the riches of God's grace, as the predestined heirs of this glory-the acknowledged citizens of this " city of the living God." On earth our Lord told His disciples to rejoice that their " names were written in heaven." And amidst the seductions and trials of this world, believers are admonished that their "citizenship is in heaven." This is presented as accomplished here; for it is the province of faith to see things as God sees them; though, at the same time, it may understand that what is first in counsel may be last in accomplishment. But what is heaven, or all the thronging hosts of angels and saints that people heaven, without the God whose presence alone gives its character to heaven? The effect of grace is to bring the soul to God, to find its resource in Him, to find life in His smile, and to know that " His lovingkindness is better than life." Besides, Jesus " suffered for sins once, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God;" and the effect of this now, through faith, is to give the soul a resting-place in God's presence, a home there, such as it can find nowhere else.
If, therefore, one were in heaven, the heart, amidst its throbbings of wonder at heaven's magnificence, and happiness, and glory, would still be saying, Where is God? I must go unto " God, my exceeding joy." It must be so. But it is added, " Ye are come.... to God, the Judge of all." He is here indeed presented in His majesty as the Supreme and Sovereign Arbiter of all. But He who judges, and awards to all their destiny and place, is no less the God who is the eternal spring of all the happiness that angels know, and the source of every stream of goodness that ever flowed to refresh this weary world; while to us He is " the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"-and that which follows, " God our Father," through Him.
But God surrounds Himself in heaven with more than we have seen; hence it is added, " And to the spirits of just men made perfect." The saints of former ages, who lived on earth before the development of the Church, which we have already seen, is in its place, in this " city of the living God." For let it not be supposed that, when these blessed constituents of heaven have ceased to be the molding powers of faith and hope, that they are destined to fade away like the deceptive colorings of a dissolving view. " The things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." Resurrection will place these " spirits of just men made perfect" in this blissful scene; but, as it is said with regard to the resurrection, " every man in his own order," so these saints of earlier days are seen in their " own order," (" God, the Judge of all," has so awarded it,) as " the church of the first-born," are found in theirs. It is of them who formed the cloud of witnesses, who had finished their course in faith, which we have yet to run, that it is said, " These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect."
But the complement of heaven's joy and heaven's attractiveness, is still, by no means full. Its center of unity, as the heaven of grace, cannot be wanting; as it would be if He were absent, or unseen, whose love and grace alone, and blood-shedding, have brought every poor sinner there. Jesus indeed is there; but He is there in special title, as in consonance with the immediate bearing of this scene on the faith of those who were especially to be stimulated and encouraged by it. " Ye are come.... to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant;" to Him who, in this title, links earth and heaven together in the grounds of blessing, joining the risen saints in heaven with the accepted worshippers of earth; for it is with " the house of Israel and the house of Judah" that this covenant will be made. Then will be accomplished the prophetic declaration, " It shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth, and the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel"-the seed of God.
But it is added, " To the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of Abel," which completes the link with earth again. " Mount Zion " was the starting point in the upward path to heaven; but from thence we have reached in our journey " the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem;" and have passed through the ranks of the " myriads of angels " that form a part of this "general assembly," up to the place of " the church of the first-born ones enrolled in heaven;" and have " come,"-Oh, wondrous thought! -" to GOD the judge of all."
Higher, even in heaven, in thought, it is impossible to go: and hence we must take a downward path. If "downward" may be used when it is only intended to show the range of that heavenly grace which can gather a church from amongst sinners " dead in trespasses and sins," and plant it in glory, " hard by the throne of God;" making "the last first and the first last;" apportioning, too, in heavenly glory, the place of all; and then, through Jesus, bending down to earth again, and presenting in the new covenant and " the blood of sprinkling, the point of contact with Israel, which is yet destined to see " days of heaven upon earth," amidst the bright scenes of millennial blessing; and in Israel's blessing there shall be as " life from the dead " to this poor world. Men, and especially. Israel, like Cain, had been guilty of the death of Him who came as the only righteous One, and in love had allied Himself to man; but whose blood is now heard, not in demands of vengeance on the murderers, crying from the ground, but in accents of mercy, where judgment and vengeance only were due.
But " the half has not been told." Completeness on such a subject, what pen can describe, though far more skillfully handled than his who presents this sketch? Still, the little that has been presented may set the heart athirst for more; though no skill in the descriptions of heaven is sufficient to raise the affections there. Attachment to Christ was the secret of such men's longing after heaven as Rutherford's, and the Lord grant that it may be ours.