not revealed. However, we shall not grow tired in it. One has said, “ I often grow tired in the Lord’s service, but not of it.” The fatigue is due to this body of humiliation. But in the coming day we shall know no limitation o f weariness. We shall have our glorified bodies, which are discussed at length in I Corinthians 15:35-54. The Christian’s glorified body will be glorious, powerful, honorable, incorruptible. Our resurrection bodies will be like the resurrection body o f Christ (cf. I John 3:2; Phil. 3:20, 21). That our Lord’s body was real, even as ours will be real, is seen in His words, “Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet” (Luke 24:39, 40). Yet the fact that His body knew no limitation is evidenced by His vanishing out of their sight. Neither will our bodies be subject to the limitation with which we are familiar in this life. Beloved, we shall never grow weary. We shall mount up with wings as eagles; we shall run, and not be weary; and we shall walk and not faint. In this glorified body we shall render perfect and con tinuous service, and our service will be wholly to the glory o f our wonderful Lord. IS THERE AN IN TERM ED IATE STATE ? The question may be asked: “Does a believer go immediately to Heaven at the moment of death ?” The Lord said to the believing thief on the cross, “ Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). When the stones were crushing the life from the body of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, to him the heavens were opened, and he saw his Saviour “ standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). He then cried out in joyful certainty o f being at once with Him: “ Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” The Scriptures plainly teach that the passing of the redeemed spirit from the body does not for one moment arrest consciousness, but that, immedi ately one is “absent from the body,” he is “ present with the Lord” (II Cor. 5 :8 ). This text disposes of a whole brood of unwholesome, unscriptural sur mises, theories, fears, and doubts: “ Absent from . . . present with.” There is no room here for the theory o f soul-sleeping or of purgatory. And, beloved, this teaching is in accordance with all the Scriptures. There is, for example, no waiting in order to receive salvation: “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). Consider another illustration. A poor beggar, covered with sores, dies at a rich man’s gate. The body is hurried away to the potter’s field, no doubt, but nothing is said o f the body, because the Lord is THE KING'S BUSINESS
But in that heavenly city, there will be no temple, for if I may so speak, the whole city is a temple: “The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” There will be no need of any build ing to enclose the divine presence and to exclude any individual, for continually the redeemed ones will be aware of their function and privilege as worshippers. Then, too, in Heaven there will be continual praise. A great multitude is pictured in Revelation 7:10 as standing before the throne of God, crying with a loud voice, “ Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” In the coming day, we sinners saved by grace shall glorify the Lord as we ought, because we shall understand fully, as we cannot now, what it means to be saved and how much we owe to our Redeemer. Robert Murray McCheyne must have had this thought in mind when he wrote: “ When this passing world is done, When has sunk yon glowing sun, When we stand with Christ in glory,
Looking o’er life’s finished story, Then, Lord, shall I fully know — Not till then—how much I owe. “ When I stand before the throne, Dressed in beauty not my own, When I see Thee as Thou art, Love Thee with unsinning heart, Then, Lord, shall I fully know — Not till then—how much I owe. “When the praise o f Heaven I hear, Loud as thunder to the ear, Long as many waters’ noise, Sweet as harp’s melodious voice, Then, Lord, shall I fully know — Not till then—how much I owe. “Even on earth, as through a glass Darkly, let Thy glory pass, Make forgiveness feel so sweet, Make Thy Spirit’s help to meet, Even on earth, Lord, make me know
_______ Something o f how much I owe.” _________ In Heaven there will be also continual service. This is clearly stated in Revelation 22:3: “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and o f the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.” The sphere o f this service will not be limited to the earth during the millennial reign of Christ, but to the whole created universe. The church will reign with Christ over the earth for a thousand years, but she is also linked with all of God’s creation as a co-heir with Christ. Ulti mately, the service o f Christians will extend to the whole created universe. What the character of this service is to be is 26
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