When persons are taken from the earth, and hid from our view, it is said they are gone to heaven. Hence it is said, that Elijah went by a whirlwind into heaven, 2 Kings ii. 11. And it is also said of Jesus that "while he blessed them he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." Luke xxiv. 51. But it is the destination of the Saints that we have to do with; and on this I would remark, that there are many glories, and man will be judged according to his deeds. "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for as one star differeth from another star in glory, so also is the resurrection." 2 Cor. xv. 41, 42.
It would not comport with my object at the present time to enter into the whole of the details of this subject. I would briefly remark, however, inasmuch as I am now talking of man's body, that there is a place called "Paradise," to which the spirits of the dead go, awaiting the resurrection, and their reunion with the body. This was an old doctrine of the Jews. Paul, too, "was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words." 2 Cor. xii. 4. John says, "to him that overcometh will I grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev. ii. 7. This Paradise, however, is not the place for resurrected bodies, but for departed spirits: for Jesus said to the thief on the cross, "To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Luke xxiii. 43. Two days after this, and after the resurrection of his body, Mary was looking for the Lord, and he appeared to her: he said to her "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father; and to my God, and your God." John xx. 17. We learn here, then, that Jesus went to Paradise, with the thief on the cross, in spirit; but that he had not been with his body to his Father.
We will now speak of heaven, as a place of reward for the righteous. Daniel, in speaking of the resurrection, says, "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Dan. xii. 2. Jesus says, those who have forsaken all and followed him, "shall inherit everlasting life" Matt. xix. 29.
There is also a Book of Life spoken of. Paul speaks of some whose names were written therein. Phil. iv. 3. John also refers to the same things: he says "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life." Rev. iii. 5. Again, John, in speaking of the New Jerusalem, says, There shall not enter into it anything that worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Rev. xxi. 27. From this it would appear, that those who obey all the commandments of God, and have their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life, shall finally enter into the New Jerusalem. Jesus again says, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am sat down with my Father in his throne." Rev. iii. 21. This, then, is the heaven, as far as I can conceive, that people expect to go to.
We will now try to find out its location. Above we have noticed that the saints are to have everlasting life, that they are to be with Jesus, and also in the New Jerusalem. We have now to enquire, Where Jesus's kingdom will be, and Where will be the place of the New Jerusalem. Daniel says, "I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Dan. vii. 13, 14. Here, then, we find Jesus coming to establish a kingdom. Where is that kingdom? The Scriptures say, that all nations, languages, and tongues shall serve and obey him. Where do those nations, languages, and tongues exist? The answer is, on the earth. We will next enquire, Where the saints will be. Daniel says, in the 27th verse, "And the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High." Here, then, we find Jesus reigning under the whole heaven with his saints, and all nations, dominions, and powers, serving him. I noticed above, that those who overcame would be with Jesus, and with him have everlasting life. Zechariah speaks of a time when there will be a great assemblage of people against Jerusalem; after God's ancient people, the Jews, shall have been gathered there, and the Lord himself shall come forth to their defence. He says, "Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof, toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal; yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one." xiv. 3, 4, 5, 9. Here we find that Jesus is to come, and all his saints are to come with him. And that the Lord is to be King over all the earth. The question again arises, Where will Jesus reign with his saints? the answer is, upon the earth. Again, we will refer to the revelations of John. He says, "I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God .... and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years," Rev. xx. 4. And if we wish to know Where they will reign, we will again let John speak: "For thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. And hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth." Rev. v. 9, 10. It is not necessary to quote more on this subject; it is so plain that he that runs may read. I know that there are those who will tell us that this is not the final destination of the saints. I would here remark, that a great many events will take place in regard to the renovation of the earth, which it would be foreign to my subject at the present time to detail. I would state, however, that when the earth shall have become pure, if people suppose that they will then inhabit a heaven, not on the earth, they are mistaken; for if we have the good fortune to have our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and to enter into the New Jerusalem, we shall in that very New Jerusalem have to descend to the earth. Methinks I hear persons saying, What! shall we not, then, stay in heaven? Yes—in heaven; but that heaven will be on the earth; for John says, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were past away (purified by fire and become celestial), and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away." Rev. xxi. 1-4. Here, then, we find man's final dwelling place is the earth; and for this purpose it was first created, and it never will fulfil the measure of its creation until this shall take place. Nor will man ever attain to the end for which he was created, till his spirit and his body are purified, and he takes his proper position on the earth.
The prophets of God, in every age, have looked forward to this time; and while many considered them to be fools, they were laying for themselves an eternal foundation: they looked with scorn upon the gaudy baubles that fascinated foolish and corrupt man: they could not yield to his chicanery and deception; but with the fear of God before their eyes, and a knowledge of the future, they stood proudly erect, in a consciousness of their innocence and integrity; despised alike the praise and powers of men, endured afflictions, privations, and death; wandered in sheep skins and goat skins, destitute, tormented, and afflicted, for "they looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Heb. xi. 10. Hence Job says, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." xix, 25, 26. Man naturally clings to this earth; there seems to be something inherent in his nature that draws and binds his affections to the earth; hence he strives all that lays in his power to possess as much land as he can reasonably obtain; and not always honestly, but wars have been waged for the acquisition of territory, and the possessions of the earth. But what avails it all without God! So far from benefiting man, it is an injury, if obtained by fraud; for he has got to pass that test which none can avoid. And if circumstances here give him the power over his brother, when he leaves this world and appears before God, he goes to be judged for that very act of oppression; and the thing that he so anxiously desired to obtain in this world is his curse in the next. An honourable desire for property is not wrong; but no man can have a lasting claim unless it is given him of God. Lands, properties, possessions, and the blessings of this life, are of use only as they are sanctified, and have a bearing on the world to come. There have been hereditary laws established in England, and I believe in other countries, securing landed possessions to the eldest son, or heir. This has originated from the above feeling; and partly from the customs of the ancient Israelites, as recorded in the Scriptures; and families through this means seek to perpetuate their names. They may do this for a season; but if man rightly understood his true position, he would have a brighter object in view. The Scriptures tell us, "that every good and perfect gift comes from God;" that a man can receive nothing but what is given him from above. Men have conquered, and taken, bought and sold, the earth without God. But their possessions will perish with them; they may perpetuate them by law for a season to their descendants, but the Saints of God will finally inherit the earth for ever, in time, and in eternity. Abraham held his possessions on a very different footing from the above. The Lord appeared unto him, and made a covenant with him, and said, "And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger. All the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession." Gen. xvii. 8. This covenant was an eternal one; yet Abraham did not possess the land, for Stephen says, "he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on." Acts vii. 5. And Paul says, "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Heb. xi. 8-10. Here, then, we find land given to Abraham by promise, a land that he did not possess; but he will do so, "for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." He looked forward to the redemption of his seed, the establishment of the kingdom of God, and the inheritance of those blessings eternally. If any one doubts this, let them read the xxxi. chapter of Jeremiah, and the xxxvi. to xxxix. chapters of Ezekiel; wherein it is stated that Israel is to be gathered to their own land, that it is to become as the Garden of Eden, and to be no more desolate. Ezekiel speaks of the resurrection of the dead, and the coming together of the bones, flesh, sinews, and skin, of a living army; of the uniting of the nations of Judah, and Israel, in one; and in consequence of the great development of the powers of God, the heathen would be filled with astonishment; and finally, that God's tabernacle should be planted in their midst for evermore. Then let them read from the xlvii. to the last chapter of Ezekiel; and they will find an account, not only of the restoration of the Jews, and ten tribes, but that the land is actually divided to them by inheritance, in their different tribes, according to the promise made thousands of years before to Abraham. In the 13th and 14th verses of the xlvii. chapter, he refers to this, and says, "Thus saith the Lord God, This shall be the border whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions. And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another; concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers; and this land shall fall unto you for an inheritance." Thus we find that the promise unto Abraham concerning territory will be literally fulfilled. Again, I would refer my readers to the fourteenth chapter of Zechariah. I would then turn their attention to the sealing of the twelve tribes mentioned in the seventh chapter of Revelations, where there are twelve thousand out of every tribe sealed; and then ask, Where are these to reign? The answer is, on the earth; together with those who have "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, out of every nation, and kindred, and people, and tongue." Jesus says, "Abraham saw my day and was glad." What! was he glad to see his people scattered, dispersed, and peeled; Jerusalem trodden under foot, the Jewish nation, temple, and polity destroyed, and his seed cursed upon the face of the earth; or was it the second coming of Jesus, when they would be restored, Satan bound, the promises made to him, and to his seed fulfilled, and misery and sorrow done away; for according to the testimony of Paul, "all Israel shall be saved." Abraham's views concerning land and possessions were not the same as those entertained by men in our day; they were not only temporal, but eternal; and if the world was under the guidance of the same God as Abraham, they would be governed by the same principle; and anything short of this is transient, temporary, short lived, and does not accomplish the purpose of man's creation.
I cannot conclude this subject better than by giving a quotation from P. P. Pratt's "Voice of Warning." "By this time we begin to understand the words of the Saviour, 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.' And also the song which John heard in heaven, which ended thus: 'We shall reign on the Earth.' Reader, do not be startled: suppose you were to be caught up into heaven, there to stand with the redeemed of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, and join them in singing, and to your astonishment, all heaven is filled with joy, while they tune the immortal lyre, in joyful anticipation of one day reigning on the earth; a planet now under the dominion of Satan, the abode of wretchedness and misery, from which your glad spirit had taken its flight, and as you supposed, an everlasting farewell. You might perhaps be startled for a moment, and enquire within yourself, Why have I never heard this theme sung among the churches on earth? Well, my friend, the answer would be, because you lived in a day when people did not understand the Scriptures. Abraham would tell you—you should have read the promise of God to him, Gen. xvii. 8, where God not only promised the land of Canaan to his seed for an everlasting possession, but also to him. Then you should have read the testimony of Stephen, Acts vii. 5, by which you would have ascertained that Abraham never had inherited the things promised, but was still expecting to rise from the dead, and be brought into the land of Canaan to inherit them. Yes, says Ezekiel, if you had read the xxxvii. chapter of my Prophecies, you would have found a positive promise that God would open the graves of the whole house of Israel, who were dead, and gather up their dry bones, and put them together, each to its own proper place, and even clothe them again with flesh, sinews, and skin, and put his spirit in them, and they should live; and then, instead of being caught up to heaven, they should be brought into the land of Canaan, which the Lord gave them, and they should inherit it. But, still astonished, you might turn to Job; and he, surprised to find one unacquainted with so plain a subject, would exclaim, did you never read my xix. chapter, from the 23rd to the 27th verses, where I declare, I wish my words were printed in a book, saying, that my Redeemer would stand on the earth in the latter day, and that I should see him in the flesh, for myself, and not another; though worms should destroy this body! Even David, the sweet singer of Israel, would call to your mind his xxxvii. Psalm, where he repeatedly declares that the meek shall inherit the earth for ever, after the wicked are cut off from the face thereof. And last of all, to set the matter for ever at rest, the voice of the Saviour would mildly fall upon your ear in his Sermon on the Mount, declaring emphatically, 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.' To these things you would answer, I have read these passages, to be sure; but was always taught to believe that they did not mean so, therefore I never understood them until now. Let me go and tell the people what wonders have opened to my view, since my arrival in heaven, merely from having heard one short song. It is true, I have heard much of the glories of heaven described, while on earth, but never once thought of their rejoicing in anticipation of returning to the earth. Says the Saviour, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; if they will not believe them, neither would they believe, although one should rise from the dead.'"[A]
[Footnote A: Pp. 48-50. Seventh Edition; Liverpool: F. D. Richards. This is an excellent work, and well worthy of any one's perusal.—J. T.]
Chapter VI.
Man's Accountability to God.