Forever by Paul Tripp

I've really been enjoying reading slowly through Paul Tripp's new book Forever. As with all of his books, this one is excellent. It is a fresh look at how our belief in eternity should impact our everyday lives.  It is a massive call for perspective in our lives. It is easy to lose perspective in our busy schedules. This book helps with setting our minds on things above. I strongly encourage those suffering to read this book. Tripp does a  fantastic job pointing us to the purpose and meaning of suffering and encouraging us to put our hope in the God of forever.  Put this book on your reading list.

I'm not right on everything

"We should strive to hold our beliefs with a charity and kindness that won't embarrass us in heaven."

-Josh Harris, Dug Down Deep, p. 229.

To Be With Christ is Much Greater Better

In Philippians 1:23, Paul expresses his desire to depart from this life and be with Christ. The reason: because Christ is far better than anything or anyone.

Here is some of Spurgeon's meditation on this verse: “That bare thing, just to be with Christ is all the heaven a believer wants. The angels may be there or not, as they will, and the golden crowns and harps present or absent as may be, but if I am to be where Jesus is, I will find angels in his eyes, and crowns in every lock of his hair; to me the golden streets shall be my fellowship with him, and the harpings of the harpers shall be the sound of his voice. Only to be near him, to be with him — this is all we want. The apostle does not say, “to be in heaven, which is far better: “no, but, “to be with Christ; which is far better,” and he adds no description; he leaves the thoughts just as they are, in all their majestic simplicity. “To be with Christ; which is far better.”

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross...Forever

I've been using Nancy Guthrie's new book, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, to help me preach the gospel to heart.

The title of this book has me singing the old hymn by Fanny Crosby that I haven't sung in a long time.

However, I'm troubled by some of the words of this popular old hymn.

I like this line:
In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;

Yes, we will glory in the Cross forever!

I don't like this line:
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

What? Does that not contradict the other line?
What does "till" mean? Let the cross be my glory "until" I don't need the Cross anymore?
The implication of "till" is that there will come a point when the Cross is no longer my glory.
So, does "ever" in the first line mean "while I'm still alive on this earth"?

Friends, we won't even know what it means to really glory in the Cross until we find rest beyond the river. Heaven will be the realization of Galatians 6:14. There will be only one boast reverberating through the halls of Heaven:

"Worthy are you (Lamb of God)...for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation..." -Rev. 5:9

In Heaven, there will be a deep realization that we don't belong there.
In Heaven, there will be a deep realization that all this was purchased for us by the blood of Christ.
In Heaven, there will be a deep realization that everyone else there (from all nations) is clothed in the garments given to them by Christ.
In Heaven, there will be a deep sense of gratitude for what Christ accomplished on the Cross.
In Heaven, there will be much glorying in the Cross of Jesus Christ.

I'm reminded of these quotes by Jim Elliff:
“One is taken aback by the emphasis on the cross in Revelation. Heaven does not “get over” the cross, as if there are better things to think about…Heaven is not only Christocentric, it is cruci-centric, and quite blaring about it."

“When we are prone to think of the cross in a diminutive way, forgetting its grandeur, its accomplishment, its power, then remember what the angels think of it all and what we will see and sing at a future date when things are clearer.”

So, sing this hymn; just sing it with an understanding that "till" should actually be "especially when."

Jesus, keep me near the cross,
There a precious fountain
Free to all, a healing stream
Flows from Calvary’s mountain

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day,
With its shadows o’er me.

Near the cross I’ll watch and wait
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand,
Just beyond the river.

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

Heaven is...Where Christ is.

Among the things I said Sunday morning from John 14:1-14:

-We will not have mansions in Heaven.
-The Word of Christ is the cure for the troubled soul.
-Gluttony does not all of a sudden become holy in Heaven.
-If you do not trust in Jesus, you will go to Hell.
-Prayer exists for the glory of God.
-Heaven is...where Christ is (go ahead and say this out loud drawing out "is"; its got a memorable ring to it).

Surely at least one of these statements makes you want to listen for yourself.

The Slain Lamb of Revelation 5

Revelation 4-5 is a majestic description of what is going on around the throne in Heaven.

-Christ is the One who invites and ushers John into Heaven (4:1).
-Christ is the only One worthy to take the scroll and open its seals (5:5, 7, 9).
-Christ is the lion of the tribe of Judah (5:5).
-Christ is the root of David (5:5).
-Christ has conquered (5:5).
-Christ is centrally located near or on the throne with the Father (5:6; 3:21).
-Christ is the slain Lamb (5:6).
-Christ is standing victoriously (5:6).
-Christ has seven horns with seven eyes (5:6).
-Christ ransomed people for God by His blood (5:9).
-Christ ransomed people from every nation for God (5:9).
-Christ has made these ransomed people a kingdom and priests to our God (5:10).
-Christ is worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing (5:12).
-Christ crucified is the center of worship in Heaven (chapter 5).

“One is taken aback by the emphasis on the cross in Revelation. Heaven does not “get over” the cross, as if there are better things to think about…Heaven is not only Christocentric, it is cruci-centric, and quite blaring about it.” –Jim Elliff

“When we are prone to think of the cross in a diminutive way, forgetting its grandeur, its accomplishment, its power, then remember what the angels think of it all and what we will see and sing at a future date when things are clearer.” -Jim Elliff

John 14:3: "...To Myself..."

We are memorizing John 14 together as a church. You can see our plan (1 verse a week) on our website.

I was struck a few weeks ago by something I had never seen in John 14:3:
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."

Notice how Jesus saturated this verse is:
Who is going? Jesus
Who is preparing a place? Jesus
Who is coming again? Jesus
Who is taking us to himself? Jesus
Why is Jesus coming again to take us to himself? That we may be where He is.

Christian, what else matters today? Jesus is coming and Jesus WILL take us to himself. I don't care to be taken anywhere else. Jesus, just take me to where you are. Wherever you are is where I want to be.

Heaven is sweet because it is where Jesus is.

Joy's Eternal Increase

One of my all-time favorite sermons is now available to watch on video. Dr. Sam Storms talks about Jonathan Edwards' view of Heaven. Breathtaking!

Centrality of the Cross in Eternity

“One is taken aback by the emphasis upon the Cross in Revelation. Heaven does not ‘get over’ the cross, as if there are better things to think about; heaven is not only Christ-centered, but cross-centered, and quite blaring about it.” -Jim Elliff

Heaven

Did you see the Barbara Walters special on Heaven Tuesday night? I usually don't bother with television at all, but since I have been sick, I thought it would be a good use of my time. I wrote out an entire review of it as I watched but my laptop mysteriously deleted it all. God is sovereign over deleted posts!

Since I cannot remember everything I wrote, I will just raise the one issue that affected me most deeply.

First of all, why don't they interview people like John Piper, Al Mohler, or C.J. Mahaney for these "specials"? I don't feel like the evangelical response and understanding to the questions about Heaven was very well represented.

The evangelical they chose was Ted Haggard. In fact, I think they called him the "pope" of evangelicalism because he is the president of the National Association of Evangelicals.

He said some good things, BUT, the general feeling that he left with America is that there may be another way to get to Heaven besides being born again. He said that the only "sure" way is through Jesus, but those in other religions will have to work that out on their own. His advice was to trust Jesus because we know for sure that we can get to Heaven through Him. In other words, there could be many roads to Heaven but why not take the known one?

This saddens me. For obvious reasons.

Bonus thoughts: In all the talk about Heaven (2 hour special) not once was the glory of God and the joy of His presence given as a reason to want to go to Heaven. All the "Christians" talked about seeing loved ones and eating a lot in Heaven.

They should have talked to Randy Alcorn who has written the book on Heaven.