Articles
Hoping For Heaven
Hoping for Heaven
We hope for heaven. Why do we so hope?
We hope because of the promises Jesus gave to men on earth.
· To the thief on the cross:
o And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise. – Luke 23:43
· To Thomas:
o In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. – John 14:2
· To those on the Mount:
o Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. – Matthew 5:12
We hope because of the promises the Holy Spirit gave to men of God.
· Paul:
o Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. – II Timothy 4:18
o For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. – Colossians 1:5
· Peter:
o Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. – I Peter 1:4
· Hebrews:
o Knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. – Hebrews 10:34
While in this life we gain a taste of the heavenly gift (Hebrews 6:4-5) we yearn to feast at the eternal table in the presence of our Lord. We therefore labor that we may be accepted of Him and rejoice at His appearing.
- Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. – II Corinthians 5:6-8
- Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing. – I Timothy 4:8
This world holds no lasting pleasure for us, and we are as strangers and pilgrims journeying on towards our true home, the city made without hands. We wander on through the wilderness being guided by our God until at long last we reach Jordan’s banks, and trusting in our Lord we step in the water’s edge confident that we shall cross over upon dry ground. God-speed, my dear brothers and sisters.
Andrew R. Lehmann
