The Saints' Future Glory
Ephesians 1:18
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people...
Hebrews 12:23 (NLT)
You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect.
The Heidelberg Catechism, Question 1: What is thy only comfort in life and in death?
That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ, who with His precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and redeemed me from all the power of the Devil; and so preserves me, that, without the will of my Father in Heaven, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must work together for my salvation. Wherefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready, henceforth to live unto him.
Isaac Watts
How divinely full of glory and pleasure shall that hour be when all the millions of mankind that have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God shall meet together and stand around Him, with every tongue and every heart full of joy and praise! How astonishing will be the glory and the joy of that day when all the saints shall join together in one common song of gratitude and love, and of everlasting thankfulness to this Redeemer! With that unknown delight, and inexpressible satisfaction, shall all that are saved from the ruins of sin and hell address the Lamb that was slain, and rejoice in His presence!
Thomas Doolittle, The Mourners Directory, 1702
Yonder saints above in light, in life, in love would speak to you and say "You are in daily trouble, we in everlasting rest, and peace, and triumph; you are in the field, we have got the victory; you are in danger of sin and Satan, we are freed from them forever; you love unto out Lord and yours, is imperfect love, while ours wants no degree; you know not what we do know of God, and Christ, and Glory..."
Richard Baxter The Saints' Everlasting Rest
http://www.gracegems.org/book4/Baxter.htm
Look to heaven, man, there is your home and hope. You are immortal souls, made for God himself, to admire him, love him, serve him and enjoy him. O beg of God a heavenly light and mind to look often into heaven, and worldliness will vanish away in shame.
O blessed rest! When we shall rest from sin, but not from worship; from suffering and sorrow, but not from joy! When we shall rest with God; when we shall rest in knowing, loving, rejoicing, and praising; when our perfect soul and body shall together perfectly enjoy the most perfect God, who is love itself, who shall perfectly love us; who will rejoice over us with singing! (Zephaniah 3:17)
O that Christians were careful to live with one eye on Christ crucified, and the other on his glory!
John Bunyan Heart's Ease in Heart Trouble
Things to come are ours, all that glory to be revealed, that saints' everlasting rest that is prepared for the people of God, that crown of righteousness, of glory, and of life; that kingdom of glory, that unspeakable, that inconceivable state of happiness and blessedness which Christ our Lord hath purchased by his blood, all this is ours.
John Flavel On Keeping The Heart
Most men need patience to die; but a saint, who understands what death will introduce him to, rather needs patience to live.
William Gurnall The Christian in Complete Armour
Bid faith look through the key-hole of the promise, and tell thee what it sees there laid up for him that overcomes; bid it listen and tell thee whether it cannot hear the shout of those crowned saints...receiving the reward of all their services and sufferings here on earth. And dost thou stand on the other side afraid to wet thy foot with those sufferings and temptations, which, like a little splash of water, run between thee and glory?
Let thy hope of heaven master thy fear of death. Why shouldst thou be afraid to die, who hopest to live by dying!
We who now walk—like travelers in some bottom or low swamp—with our thoughts of heaven so overtopped by the world, that we hardly get a sight of that glorious city to which we are going from morning to night—and thereby lose much of the pleasure of our journey—should then have it in a manner always before us, as a joyful prospect in our eye, to solace us in the difficulties of our pilgrimage, and make us gather up our feet more nimbly in the ways of holiness when we shall see whither they lead us.
Thomas Manton By Faith
Sense is the light of beasts, reason the light of men, faith the light of saints, and vision the light of glory. In our immediate experience we cannot see beyond death. Faith must step in and believe in heaven though it is yet unseen. It strengthens us against the difficulties of our pilgrimage. Faith provides invisible supplies to endure visible dangers.
Stephen Charnock The Existence & Attributes of God on Psalm 48:14
Since God is eternal and he is our covenant God, we have an eternal possession. Though death will seize us by God's irreversible order, the immortal Creator will make even death a victory when he lands us in glorious immortality.
If God is your portion, all the riches of the covenant of grace that Christ has purchased with his precious blood, and all the good that an infinite God can give, you shall have. Death gives you your full portion. When fire burns up the world, you may stand upon the ruins and sing: "I have lost nothing, I have my inheritance, my happiness, and my God!"
Horatius Bonar The Night of Weeping: Or, Words for the Suffering Families of God
God's cure for worldliness is the bringing before us of another world, more glorious than that which He calls on us to forsake.
Thomas Case A Treatise on Afflictions
Afflictions make heaven appear as heaven indeed. To the weary, it is rest—To the banished, home—To the scorned and reproached, glory—To the captive, liberty—To the soldier, conquest—and to the conqueror, it is a crown of life, of righteousness and of glory—To the hungry, it is hidden manna—To the thirsty, the fountain of life—To the grieved, fullness of joy—and to the mourner, pleasures for evermore—In a word, to them that have lain upon the dunghill, and kept their integrity, it is a throne.
George Whitefield’s last sermon, the day before his death September 30, 1770
https://www.christianstudylibrary.org/article/george-whitefields-last-sermon
I go to a rest prepared; my sun has arisen … it is now about to set—no, it is about to rise to the zenith of immortal glory. Oh, thought divine! I shall soon be in a world where time, age, pain, and sorrow are unknown. My body fails, my spirit expands.
Octavius Winslow Daily Walking With God
Emerging from the entanglement, the dreariness, the solitude, the loneliness and the temptations of the wilderness, you shall enter upon your everlasting rest, your unfading inheritance, where there is no sorrow, no declension, no sin; where there is no sunset, no twilight, no evening shades, no midnight darkness, but all is one perfect, cloudless, eternal day; for Jesus is the joy, the light, and the glory thereof.
Soon will you be freed, entirely and forever freed, from all the remains of sin. Soon the last sigh will heave your breast, the last tear will fall from your eye, and the last pang will convulse your body. Soon, oh, how soon, will you see...Jesus who loved you, died for you, ransomed you, and loves you still! Soon you will fall at His feet, and be raised in His arms, and be hushed to rest in His bosom. Soon you will mingle, a pure and happy spirit, with patriarchs and prophets, apostles and martyrs, and with all who sleep in Jesus, who have gone but a little before you. See how they line the shores on the other side, and wait to welcome you over! See how they beckon you away! Above all, sweetest and most glorious of all, behold Jesus standing at the right hand of God, prepared to receive you to Himself! Jesus has gone before, to make ready for the glorification of His Church. “I go to prepare a place for you.” Oh sweet words! A place prepared—a mansion set apart for each individual believer! “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” A mansion in His heart, a mansion in His kingdom, a mansion in His house, for the weakest babe in Christ. The Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus! How sure is heaven! How certain the eternal happiness of every pardoned and justified soul!
C.H. Spurgeon "Our Last Journey"
To be prepared to die is to be prepared to live; to be ready for eternity is in the best sense to be ready for time. Who is so fit to live on earth as the man who is fit to live in heaven?
A.B. Simpson
I can see before me the time when we shall stand on heaven's shore and look back upon the years that have been, these few short years of time. May we cast ourselves at Jesus' feet and say: "Many a time have I faltered; many a hard fight has come, but Thou hast kept me and held me, thanks to God, who has given me the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ." Oh, when that hour shall come, may it be a supremely happy thought to look back over the trials and sacrifices of these days and remember, "I was there, and by the help of God and the grace of Jesus, I am here."
James Montgomery, “Servant of God, Well Done”, 1819
https://www.bartleby.com/294/9.html
The pains of death are past;
Labour and sorrow cease;
And, life's long warfare closed at last,
The soul is found in peace.
Soldier of Christ, well done;
Praise is thy new employ;
And while eternal ages run,
Rest in thy Saviour's joy.
Sir John Bowring Matins and Vespers: With Hymns and Occasional Devotional Pieces
There is a land, where everlasting suns
Shed everlasting brightness—where the soul
Drinks from the living streams of love, that roll
By God's high throne!—myriads of glorious ones
Bring there th' accepted offering. O how blest
To look from this dark prison to that shrine,
T' inhale one breath of paradise divine—
And enter into that eternal rest
Which waits the sons of God!
Remote from care, Remote from disappointment, to employ
Hours never-ending in the courts of joy,
And wear a crown of heavenly splendour there
With such a destiny, what earthly fear,
What earthly woe, shall cloud my spirit?
None. Forward, then, forward to the golden throne!
Why should our restless wishes linger here?
See from the clouds a smiling angel calls,
"Come hither, Christian!—Open is the door—
The path is strait—delay not—doubt no more—
Lo! thou art welcome to the heavenly halls."
Father—I go!—I hear th' inviting sound—
No more shall earthly objects dim my eyes—
Away, away the world's dull vanities!
I hasten on—to heaven—to Eden bound.
2 Peter 3:14
So them, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with (the Lord).
Chris Tomlin "I Will Rise"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa8w7mGug0c
Casting Crowns "Scars in Heaven"