The Happiness of Being With Christ, Preferable to Continuance on Earth # 1

The Happiness of Being With Christ, Preferable to Continuance on Earth # 1

"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body - and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8).

When the path of the traveler is very rough and dreary, it is natural that he should ardently long for home. So it is sometimes with the Christian pilgrim on earth. When trials abound, and sorrows press him down - he longs to reach his Father's house above. "Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest!" This was the case with the Apostle Paul, whose afflictions, trials, and duties were very heavy. (2 Cor. preceding verses).

Sometimes too, faith and hope are in lively exercise; the Christian, like Moses, from the top of Mount Pisgah, beholds the promised land afar off, and then he ardently longs to enter the purchased inheritance.

But the Apostle was governed by the will of his Saviour, "So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it" (2 Cor. 5:9).

1. The Believer's Happiness in Heaven Consists in Being Present with the Lord.

Christ now dwells in Heaven. After His resurrection, He ascended to that magnificent abode. "I ascend to my Father, and your Father.."(John 20:17; Acts 1:11; Eph. 4:8, 9).

There He sits at the right hand of God in a state of glorious exaltation (Acts 2:33; 5:31; Phil. 2:9).

1. To be present with the Lord, implies fitness of association. And what fitness is required? Holiness, purity, similarity of spirit, spiritual relish and desires for holy and heavenly exercises. (Rev. 17:14-17.) Christ effects this by regeneration; and the good work he has begun - He will perform and finish. Hence the Apostle says, (1 John 3:1-3; Eph. 5:25-27).

2. To be with the Lord, implies a consciousness of His presence; "present with the Lord" We shall be with Him in that Heaven - our eyes will behold him there!

Job dwelt upon this truth with pleasure, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes - I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:25-27).

So did David, "And I - in righteousness I will see Your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing Your likeness!" (Psalm 17:15).

"They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads!" (Rev. 22:4).

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am!" (John 14:3).

In this world, His presence is spiritual; we walk by faith, and not by sight. How different it will be to see Him as He is,and behold Him face to face!

3. To be with the Lord, implies an immediate perception of His glory. "Father, I want those you have given Me to be with me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory you have given Me because you loved Me before the creation of the world!" (John 17:24).

How wonderful, how efficacious, how rich, will His love then appear! His glory will be seen in the magnificence and immortality of His dwelling place; beauty and glory of angelic attendants; salvation of His people, so rich, so complete and eternal; provision He has made for their enjoyment through the countless ages of eternity!

4. To be with the Lord, implies to enjoy His special favor. "For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Rev. 7:17).

Jesus will behold His people through interminable ages, as the travail of His soul, the fulfillment of His sufferings, and the gems in His crown of glory.

"To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God" (Rev. 2:7). He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death" (Rev. 2:11).

5. To be with the Lord, is to praise Him. "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!" (Rev. 19:1).

6. To be present with the Lord, is to dwell with Him forever. "They shall reign forever and ever" (Rev. 22:5).

Christians are present with the Lord immediately after death.

To be present with Christ, is preferable to Continuance in life. The enjoyment of Christ's presence in Heaven will be uninterrupted... no satan to harass us, no sin to tempt us, no evil heart of unbelief to cast us down, no bodily afflictions to sorrow us... The enjoyment of His presence will be eternal.

Application:

1. This preference arises from that confident assurance which saints have of a better state, "to be absent from the body - and to be present with the Lord!"

2. The subject affords great comfort under the loss of relatives and friends. They are present with the Lord. As the faithful, they are not lost, but only gone before us. 

3. Is our piety anything like that of the apostles? Are we so weaned from the world as to be willing to be absent from the body - and to be present with the Lord?

~William Nicholson~

(The End)