CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

- Heavenly Things -

Letter 3, August 11, 1851, (see also MAR 245; 3SM 260-61)

     I saw the exceeding loveliness and glory of Jesus. His countenance was brighter than the sun at noonday. His robe was whiter than the whitest white. How can I describe to you the glories of heaven and the lovely angels singing and playing upon their harps of ten strings?...

     I saw that we sensed and realized but little of the importance of the Sabbath to what we yet should realize and know of its importance and glory. I saw we knew not yet what it was to ride upon the high places of the earth and to be fed with the heritage of Jacob. But when the refreshing and latter rain shall come from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power, we shall know what it is to be fed with the heritage of Jacob and ride upon the high places of the earth. Then shall we see the Sabbath more in its importance and glory. But we shall not see it in all its glory and importance until the covenant of peace is made with us at the voice of God, and the pearly gates of the New Jerusalem are thrown open and swing back on their glittering hinges, and the glad and joyful voice of the lovely Jesus is heard, richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, bidding us enter.

     I saw that we had a perfect right in the city, for we had kept the commandments of God, and heaven, sweet heaven is our home, for we have kept the commandments of God.

Letter 62, July, 1886,

     I walked quite frequently to the king's palace [in Oslo, Norway,] and in his broad and extensive gardens. They are very beautiful grounds, but I let my mind dwell upon the purified new earth, where all things would be made new, and there would be no more curse. How happy the thought that I was the daughter of God, a member of the royal family, a child of the heavenly King, an heir to the pure and holy everlasting kingdom.

     I love to see everything that is beautiful in nature in this world, and think I would be perfectly satisfied with this earth surrounded with the good things of God, if it were not blighted with the curse of sin. But we shall have a new heavens and a new earth. John saw this in holy vision and he says, "I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them, and be their God" [Revelation 21:3].

     Oh, blessed hope, glorious prospect! "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son" [verse 6]. I am, I hope, waiting and watching for the appearing of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven.

     We have no time now to talk of unbelief, or to enshroud our souls in an atmosphere of doubt. Jesus loves us and wants to make us happy....

     If I know my own heart, it is to do the will of God to the very letter. I am willing to be a pilgrim and a stranger here, for I am seeking a city whose builder and maker is God. It is only a little while that we shall have to work, and we want to do our work with diligence. We do not want to follow our inclinations or our pleasure, but just do the will of God and wait for His salvation and the final reward. I have peace and joy in my Saviour. I am looking to the great beyond, and, if the Master says, "Well done," I shall be entirely satisfied. I love Jesus; I love to do His will. I ask not position or honor or ease or convenience. I want to labor together with God, practicing self-denial and self-sacrifice, and be a partaker with Christ in His sufferings, that I may be a partaker with Him of His glory....

     We should study how to render to God the most perfect service by constantly seeking to reach perfection....The Christian life is compared to the life of a soldier, and there can be no bribes presented of ease and self-indulgence. The idea that Christian soldiers are to be excused from the conflicts, experiencing no trials...is a farce. The Christian conflict is a battle and a march, calling for endurance. Difficult work has to be done, and all who enlist as soldiers in Christ's army with these false ideas of pleasantness and ease, and then experience the trials, it often proves fatal to their Christianity....

     It is time that men and women have some true idea of what is expected of a true soldier of the cross of Jesus. Those who serve under the blood-strained banner of the Prince Emmanuel are expected to do difficult work which will tax every power God has given them. They will have painful trials to endure for Christ's sake. They will have conflicts which rend the soul. But if they are faithful soldiers they will say with Paul, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Manuscript 27, March 16, 1901, (see also GH 40-42)

     You are the children of God. He has adopted you and He desires you to form characters here that will give you entrance into the heavenly family. Remember this, you will be able to bear the trials which you meet here.

     In heaven there will be no color line, for all will be as white as Christ Himself. Let us thank God that we can be members of the royal family.

Manuscript 70, July 16, 1903,

     Soon we shall be in our promised home. There Jesus will lead us by the side of the living stream flowing from the throne of God, and explain to us the dark providences through which He led us to perfect our characters. There we shall see on every hand the beautiful trees of Paradise, including the tree that bears twelve manner of fruit, one kind during each month of the year. There we shall behold with undimmed vision the beauties of Eden restored. There we shall cast at the feet of our Redeemer the crowns that He has placed on our heads, and, touching our golden harps, we shall render praise and thanksgiving to Him that sitteth on the throne.

Letter 84, March 5, 1907,

     "Let not your heart be troubled: Ye believe in God, believe also in Me. [I am the brightness of the Father's glory, the manifestation of His love, the channel by which His mercy comes to you, and by which your prayers rise to Him]. In my Father's house are many mansions" [John 14:1, 2].

     The word here translated "mansions" means "permanent abodes"--habitations that are not removed like tents, but which permanently endure for the family of the redeemed. The Father is there to gather His children to His paternal arms and bestow upon them His everlasting love.

Manuscript 15, April 26, 1909, (see also Ev 45-46; WM 72-73, 77-78)

     In preparation for the coming of our Lord, we are to do a large work in the great cities. We have a solemn testimony to bear in these great centers. But in our planning for the extension of the work, far more than the cities alone must be comprehended. In out-of-the-way places there are many, many families that need to be looked after in order to learn whether they understand the work that Jesus is doing for His people. Those in the highways are not be neglected, neither are those in the hedges; and as we journey about from place to place, and pass by house after house, we should often inquire, "Have the people who are living in these places, heard the message? Has the truth of God's Word been brought to their ears? Do they understand that the end of all things is at hand, and that the judgments of God are impending? Do they realize that every soul has been bought with an infinite price?"...

     What a reward awaits the winner of souls! When the gates of that beautiful city on high are swung back on their glittering hinges, and the nations that have kept the truth shall enter in, crowns of glory will be placed on their heads, and they will ascribe honor and glory and majesty to God. And at that time some will come to you, and will say, "If it had not been for the words you spoke to me in kindness, if it had not been for your tears and supplications and earnest efforts, I should never have seen the King in His beauty. " What a reward is this! How insignificant is the praise of human being in this earthly, transient life, in comparison with the infinite rewards that await the faithful in the future, immortal life!...

     When you enter within the gates into the city, and the crown of life is placed upon your brow and on the brow of the very ones you have worked to save, they will cast themselves upon your neck, and say, "It was you that saved my soul. I should have perished, if you had not saved me from myself. You had to take a good while, but you were patient with me and won me to a knowledge of the truth." And then, as they lay their crowns at the feet of Jesus, and touch the golden harps that have been placed in their hands, and unite in praising and glorifying their Redeemer, and they realize that theirs is the great blessing of everlasting life, there will be rejoicing indeed. And oh, the thought that we may be instrumental, under God, in helping to show men and women the way of salvation, while living on this earth!

     If you give your heart to God, if in humility you take up your appointed work and remain faithful, at last you will hear the words, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" [Matthew 25:34]. Is not this sufficient reward? In that happy world there will be no more temptation, no more sorrows. In your earthly life you have labored together with God, you have so lived that your righteousness has gone before you, and the glory of the Lord has been your reward.

Manuscript 69, 1912, (see also 7ABC 34, 47-48, 156, 184, 254)

     With joy Moses saw the law of God still honored and exalted by a faithful few. He saw the last struggle of earthly powers to destroy those who keep God's law. He looked forward to the time when God shall arise to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and those who have feared His name shall be covered and hidden in the day of His anger. These acknowledge the relation existing between the Father and His law. Only by the merits of Jesus Christ is man exalted and enabled to keep God's law acceptably.

     Again Moses looked and saw the covenant of peace made with God's commandment-keeping people when He spoke from His holy habitation, shaking the heavens and the earth by His voice. Moses saw that God is the hope of His people, while the despisers of the law, those who had crucified Jesus Christ afresh, bowed and groveled at the feet of the saints in fear of God's voice. He saw the countenances of the saints lighted up with glory, and beaming upon those around them as the faces of himself and those who were with him shone when the law was given on Mount Sinai. The commandment-keepers, those who had honored the law, were glorified. At the appearing of Christ in splendor and glory, they were translated to heaven without seeing death, rising with songs of triumph to enter through the gates into the city, into the land of Eden....He saw the earth purified by fire and cleansed from every vestige of sin every mark of the curse, and renovated and given to the saints to possess forever and ever. He saw the kingdoms of the earth given to the saints of the Most High. No impurity, nothing to mar their peace and happiness, was in the earth made new.

     In the new earth the prophecies that the Jews applied to the first advent of Christ will be fulfilled. The saints will then be redeemed and made immortal. Upon their heads will be crown of immortality, and joy and glory will be pictured on their countenances, which will reflect the image of their Redeemer.