12-CHAPTER TWELVE: A STUDY IN HEAVENLY MANSIONS
CHAPTER TWELVE: A STUDY IN HEAVENLY MANSIONS
ONE of the most important and beloved passages in God’s Word is what John said in his Gospel in the fourteenth chapter and the second and third verses: “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. And 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”; and another is what he said in Revelation 21:2 : “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
John is God’s writer on love and heaven. No other inspired message has given so much joy concerning the heavenly home. His words have cheered millions of heaven-facing Christians.
Christ is the architect, the builder of our eternal mansions. He announces that one of His main occupations at the Father’s right hand is preparing mansions for His people. He says in the above quoted Scripture that there are many mansions, which He is going to finish and furnish. He promises to come back for us and take us with Him to these mansions, where we will dwell together forever.
CHEERING THINGS John tells us many cheering things about our heavenly home. For our comfort let us itemize some of them:
- He says His Father, who is also our Father, has a house, a home of many mansions.
- It seems that He is preparing for a large company and will have plenty of room for all.
- He says these homes are mansions. That would indicate great comfort and beauty as well as plenty of room.
- He indicates that there is no rent to be paid and no taxes to be kept up, no trouble with a landlord.
- He takes precaution not to deceive us about it. He says, “If it were not so, I would have told you.”
- He gives the credentials of His divine authority to guarantee the statement that He makes about housing His people.
- He is going to make it into a place or home for His own people. He says it is a city, a new Jerusalem, and that there will be no sin there. The righteous only shall walk its gold-paved streets and highways.
- He says He will come back to us and receive us unto Himself and pilot us home. He guarantees this by the power of His own resurrection life.
He says, “As I live, ye shall live also.” There is no question in the minds of God’s faithful, expectant people about the Savior’s return and His ability to take us home.
He did take Enoch and Elias home, leaping the Jordan of death. Moses reported to Christ and the Apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration, and these are three messengers of Christ’s ability to make a home and come back to get His people. If the war lords can fill the heavens with fighting and bombing airplanes, and if Christ by one word can call to His right hand legions of defending angels, surely God will have aircraft enough on the morning of the resurrection to take all His people home; and the Saviour will be the pilot and captain of the greatest aircraft cavalcade that ever filled the stratosphere with their shouts of praise.
He is going to let us live with Him throughout the endless, sorrowless eons. He is not only our Saviour here and will be our guide home, but He will be our companion there. We will never attend any funerals in heaven and never hear a sad word of farewell.
Jesus seems to hold out heaven as a remedy for heartbreak here. He wishes His people to be expectant, hopeful, patient and love-longing until He comes. Some day the glorious march will begin, and the stars of glory will join together in the triumphant hallelujahs of the great march.
JOHN’S DESCRIPTION OF HEAVEN
John says: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; 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” (Revelation 21:1-2).
“And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:1-5).
And in chapter Revelation 21:16 ff he says:
“And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”
Let us see if we cannot frame this immortal picture of our heavenly home. We have here some bold outlines of this new Jerusalem, and we are entirely dependent upon Scripture. Vivid imagination and fervid speculation are untrustworthy as we review this city which we seek and the mansions our Saviour is building for us. He is an experienced architect and builder. We can trust Him. He has not revealed much of its beauty and richness, but what He has said charms us and the angels in fondest anticipation.
Look at just what John tells us in these great passages of Scripture.
- It is a city, a new city, a heavenly Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven. Its beauty is compared to an adorned bride just ready for the marriage.
- It is coming, an approaching city. Its arrival will be announced by unnumbered angels and the spirits of the redeemed.
- It is the tabernacle of God, where He and His people will dwell together forever.
- It will be a tearless city, a city without a death, no graves, no tombstones, a sorrowless city, with all former things passed away.
- The Alpha and Omega, the Redeeming Lamb of God, will sit on its throne.
- The sparkling fountains of everlasting life will refresh its beautiful parks and streets.
- It will reflect the glory of God. Its light will be like a stone most precious, like jasper, clear as crystal.
- Angels will guard the gates of its holy walls, which have twelve foundations.
- The city is of jasper, a city of pure gold, like transparent glass.
- The foundations of its walls are burnished with precious stones.
- It has no temple, for the Lord Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it,
- It has no sun, no darkness, for the glory of the Lord lightens it and the Lamb is the light thereof.
- The nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it.
- The ransomed of the Lord shall be there with everlasting joy upon their heads.
- There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles nor worketh an abomination or maketh a lie, but only they whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
- The pure river of the water of life flows out from the throne of God and the Lord, producing the twelve manner of fruits, the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations.
- There shall be no more curse there.
- The throne of God and the Lord will be there.
His servants shall see His face and serve Him. And they shall reign forever and forever.
The Lamb says, “Behold, I come quickly,” and John says, “Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.”
Now, this is a mere glimpse, a mere parting of the curtain that veils the future from us, opened to us by the divine hand, a look into the home that Christ is building for us. How worthily we ought to live here and how faithfully we ought to serve such a Saviour, who is building these mansions for us and interceding in our behalf, that finally we may reach this home through the power of His blood and love!
~ end of chapter 12 ~ <http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/>
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