By John Thiel, mp3

We are here to seek encouragement from the Lord, we seek His Word for therein lies the encouragement. Human beings in their learning of the Lord often fall short but the Word of God is sure, we can place our total dependence on that and we want to build our faith upon that which is written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, not that which is interpreted by fanciful theories of the scriptures. There are some wonderful fanciful things that people do become absorbed in and the subject we want to study here is this wonderful picture of the heavenly country. But we want to get it straight; we don’t want to live in a false hope, so we rely on the word of God once again.

The Science of Salvation

Romans 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. … 20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things [is] death. 22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Through the precious gift of justification and sanctification, we are made free from sin to become servants of righteousness. As it is expressed here, when we obey from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you, there are different forms of doctrine and the form of doctrine that is delivered to us is the form of doctrine that is based upon:

Isaiah 28:10 … line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:

That has been delivered to us through those who had been before us inspired by the Holy Spirit and it is written in the word of God. Our total dependence must be upon that form of doctrine, as it mentioned there. We had an opportunity to make a choice, being now made free from sin we become servants of God so that we may have fruits unto holiness, and the end everlasting life; we can chose that. Or, we can choose disobedience and following our own way, not submitting ourselves to that form of doctrine which was delivered unto us and then:

Romans 6:21 … the end of those things [is] death. … 23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sanctification and justification is through Jesus Christ, the ladder of Jesus Himself is the manner by which we gain this.

In the Bible every vital principle is declared, every duty made plain, every obligation made evident. The whole duty of man is summed up by the Saviour. He says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul … In the word the plan of salvation is plainly delineated. {FE 187.1}

I like the word “delineated”, as you study it, it is line upon line, delineated.

The gift of eternal life is promised on condition of saving faith in Christ. The drawing power of the Holy Spirit is pointed out as an agent in the work of man’s salvation. The rewards of the faithful, the punishment of the guilty, are all laid out in clear lines. The Bible contains the science of salvation for all those who will hear and do the words of Christ. {FE 187.1}

Are we tuning our mind here? As we are reading the scriptures, laid out before us is the labour, the work through Jesus Christ our Lord and the fruits thereof, the rewards; either the rewards of the faithful or the punishment of the guilty, these are all laid out in clear lines.

The Bible contains the science of salvation. {FE 187.1}

 Climbing the Ladder

The science of salvation, we are contemplating the subject of cause to effect, as it says:

Romans 6:23 … the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Cause to effect, a sound reasoning principle, and a science. Today we will explore the cause to effect, the fruit of holiness, the wonderful fruit of righteousness, the end of climbing the ladder of sanctification, the fruit, the result. There is the ladder:

2 Peter 1:5 … [you] add to your faith virtue …knowledge; 6 … temperance

And so on, right up the ladder until finally we will be like God because we will love like He loves, in verse 7:

2 Peter 1:7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

Then it continues:

2 Peter 1:8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make [you that ye shall] neither [be] barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. … 10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

Notice, “give diligence”, cause to effect. We are called upon to let the things of the ladder of faith, climbing through to the end result, that that would be something we would diligently engage in to finally come to the result of this. And what is the result?

2 Peter 1:11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

To gain an entrance into the everlasting glorious kingdom of Jesus Christ has a sequence of exercises to get there and as this ladder so clearly depicts, it’s a climbing exercise so that finally we will have an entrance into the kingdom of heaven. That is how it is ministered to us, it is a cause to effect, we must never lose sight of this because there are a lot of people who desire to enter the heavenly kingdom by just waiting for some magic to happen in their life. That’s never going to happen. God will do nothing more than what He has given us through Jesus Christ, that’s what it says, a gift of eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s an exercise of harmony with Jesus, the ladder was Jesus. This is very beautifully expressed here:

Let us serve God with all our capabilities, with all our intelligence. Our intelligence will increase as we make use of that which we have. Our religious experience will strengthen as we bring it into the daily life. Thus we shall climb round after round of the ladder reaching to heaven, {9T 194.1}

As we noticed there, intelligence must be exercised.

Our religious experience will strengthen as we bring it into the daily life. Thus we shall climb round after round of the ladder reaching to heaven, until at last we step from off the topmost round into the kingdom of God. Let us be Christians in this world. Then we shall have eternal life in the kingdom of glory. {9T 194.1}

It’s what we do here now that is going to usher us into the eternal world. Our meditation here is to do with a cause that will lead us into heaven, something that we do now that will reward us later.

[God] cooperates with man in every reformation made. Let us take hold with Him. Climb, climb, for your souls’ sake climb the ladder of progress. First ascend the lower rounds, and then climb, climb, climb; for the topmost round rests upon the threshold of heaven. Angels of God are ascending and descending that ladder of shining brightness. You can ascend round by round, round by round, and finally step off into the kingdom of glory. {2SAT 258.5}

Keep progressing upward, ever ascending higher and still higher. God will put it into your mind to do His will. He will give you strength and courage and hope and faith. You can reach the golden city. And when at last the gates are opened and the redeemed are welcomed in, you will see the King in His beauty, and He will greet you with the words, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” {2SAT 258.6}

Doesn’t that ignite in us a deep desire? “I want to be there.” As we have that desire to be there, we are told it is through a climbing, deliberate cooperation with the Father in heaven through Jesus Christ. Notice the wonderful consequence of that, here we identify again what we read in 2 Peter 1:11, “For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you”:

Colossians 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Very simply the scriptures say emphatically that we will receive the reward of climbing the ladder. But if we do not climb that ladder, if we become indolent believers then:

Colossians 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong.

There is no respect of persons with God. These are realities that if I’m going to be a servant of God I must search it out in the scriptures or else we will be imagining that we will go into heaven and that imagination is all a deception. We have a living truth to cooperate with through Jesus Christ. Here it is suggested in this scripture that the heavenly entrance is a reward, and when we use the word reward we immediately come to the understanding it’s something that comes as a result of trying hard, it comes as a result of “my work!” and there are many Christians that say, “John, you are preaching error here. You don’t have to work to gain salvation.”

Isn’t that what the modern ministries of today are teaching us? If we highlight what the word of God says that the heaven that we are going to is a reward, that means I’ve got to work to get there, but remember it is a gift through Jesus Christ. Many people only look upon the gift and not “through Jesus Christ”. It is a reward, but notice the way Sister White addresses this:

The Reward of Good Works

But are good works of no real value? Is the sinner who commits sin every day with impunity, regarded of God with the same favor as the one who through faith in Christ tries to work in his integrity? The Scripture answers, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” In His divine arrangement, through His unmerited favor, the Lord has ordained that good works shall be rewarded. {OHC 122.3}

Can you pick up the picture? The unmerited favor produces good works which are going to be rewarded.

We are accepted through Christ’s merit alone; and the acts of mercy, the deeds of charity, which we perform, are the fruits of faith; {OHC 122.3}

The good works that we do are what? The fruits of faith, which was the first round of the ladder, and it is the gift of Jesus which helps us to understand that.

… and they become a blessing to us; for men are to be rewarded according to their works. {OHC 122.3}

See how the chain reaction goes? The blessing of God causes me to do God’s will and that is a gift that He works within me through Jesus Christ, then I do the works that are as a consequence of my faith in Jesus Christ and I get a blessing from those works, because those works are works that lead from cause to effect, and the reward of those works is eternal life.

It is the fragrance of the merit of Christ that makes our good works acceptable to God, and it is grace that enables us to do the works for which He rewards us. Our works in and of themselves have no merit. {OHC 122.3}

Our works of themselves have no merit. Therefore we see this wonderful picture:

. . . We deserve no thanks from God. We have only done what it was our duty to do, and our works could not have been performed in the strength of our own sinful natures. {OHC 122.3}

Heaven is a reward for the saints who have relied heavily on grace. We have experienced how Jesus ignites in us a desire for doing good works, which we cannot do in our own strength but like Jesus through sanctification we are to learn of Him, to sacrifice self, so that we can obey all of God’s works and will, and through that avenue we will be rewarded for the works that we do. So we shall go into a Bible research in regards to the description of this reward. The question is, is it possible for you and me to actually understand and see the reward? We are going to be looking into heaven, which we’re going to enter as we get to the very top of that round, can we see it now? Is it possible?

Seeing the Reward

1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

I repeat this many times: if it would have stopped there, we would answer, “Well, it’s impossible to see and understand it.” But notice what it says in the following verse:

1 Corinthians 2:10 But God hath revealed [them] unto us

God has revealed it. How?

1 Corinthians 2:10 … by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

The beautiful things of heaven that God has prepared for us have been revealed to us.

Many have longed to penetrate into the glories of the future world … {HP 366.2}

Then she talks about how it is impossible for us to really grasp those things in our earthly eyes.

The imagination may summon its utmost powers in order to picture the glories of heaven, {HP 366.3}

If your imagination alone is going to be doing it, it’s going to be impossible.

The heavenly intelligences are all around us. . . . Angels of light create a heavenly atmosphere about the soul, lifting us toward the unseen and eternal. We cannot behold their forms with our natural sight; only by the spiritual vision can we discern heavenly things. Our human powers would be extinguished by the inexpressible glory of the angels of light. The spiritual ear alone can distinguish the harmony of heavenly voices. It is not Christ’s plan to excite the emotions by brilliant descriptions. . . . He has with sufficient distinctness presented Himself, the way, the truth …. {HP 366.3}

According to this, the only way by which we can comprehend the beautiful things that God has for us is through the spiritual eye and the spiritual ear. It is revealed to us by the Spirit. Our physical eyesight cannot see it and our physical brain cannot comprehend it, it can only be revealed. All the mysteries of God, the deep things of God, are revealed to us by the Spirit in His wonderful way of dealing with us.

Raised a Spiritual Body

Let us commence in seeking to behold in the spiritual eye and the spiritual ear. The first thing that we will experience as we step into heaven is what is written in regards to our body. We will seek to explore the precious inheritance of the saints.

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad.

Remember we are looking at the reward. We are going to receive the reward in our body, and what is written about our body and its connecting link with the eternal world that we are going to enjoy? What must we do with our body?

Romans 12:1    I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.

Our bodies are to be rendered to God as a living sacrifice, living.

Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God.

What are we to do with our bodies? We are to use them only for God.

1 John 3:2 … when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

If I have been like Him here on earth, with His body and my body being exactly the same, then when we see Him, at the end of it all, we will be like Him also in body.

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

If we will be faithful in our body here, with what we do with our body, we will receive a reward. What will we receive as a reward if we are faithful in our body?

Philippians 3:21 [the Lord Jesus Christ] Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

What happened to Jesus’ body? It was changed after He was resurrected, it was a changed body. As His body was glorious then, we will be changed into the same glorious body. That body is described in the following text. This is beautiful for us to engage our mind in, to actually appreciate what will be happening to my body, and the way it’s going to be functioning is quite different to the way it is here.

1 Corinthians 15:35 But some [man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

The same glorious body that Jesus had. He describes it, it says there are different bodies, there are the terrestrial bodies and there are the celestial bodies. He describes natural bodies, in nature, the celestial, the stars and the sun and so on, he describes all the different bodies, until the following verse:

1 Corinthians 15:42 So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

That new body that comes up and where our body is changed into is that glorious body of Jesus Christ, it is called a spiritual body. Now some people think, “Well that’s just an ethereal sort of nothing.” But don’t become deceived here, the scripture says, “There are celestial bodies.” it’s just that we don’t quite know what material they’re made of.

Our personal identity is preserved in the resurrection, though not the same particles of matter or material substance as went into the grave. … The same form will come forth … the same individuality …. {6BC 1093.2}

A much finer material will compose the human body, for it is a new creation, a new birth. (MS {6BC 1093.3}

We look forward to having a different body, a different material, it will function differently and yet it will still be you and me, just like Jesus, after His death and resurrection He was the same person but remember He was able to pass through shut doors, He was able to appear and disappear because His material body was different to the material that He had before, and so it is with us. When we receive a new body, now contemplate this beautiful possibility in your experience, you have a new body and you have eyes that will be different eyes to what you have now.

Eyes to Behold

What will you see with those new eyes? Those are the eyes that will be physical eyes; at the moment we are to use our spiritual meditational eyesight but then we will have physical eyes that will behold, what will they behold?

Isaiah 33:17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty:

Are you looking forward to seeing the king? We will have eyes that will be able to behold God and not be destroyed – because any man that looks upon God now, the scriptures tell us, will be destroyed – but then we will have eyes that will be able to cope with the vision of this bright glory.

Isaiah 33:17 … they shall behold the land that is very far off.

Today if you want to see Orion you need a telescope, and today they have more than just optical telescopes, they have radio telescopes; that tells you something. You can actually have an eye that has radio waves that can see, fascinating, isn’t it? Man can do things like that! What kind of an eye do you think God will create in us? We will see the land that is very far off. This is worthy for us to meditate about. Here is the appreciation of this kind of privilege, to have eyes and a new body that will see things differently than the way we see things today:

There, when the veil that darkens our vision shall be removed, and our eyes shall behold that world of beauty of which we now catch glimpses through the microscope; when we look on the glories of the heavens, now scanned afar through the telescope; when, the blight of sin removed, the whole earth shall appear in “the beauty of the Lord our God,” what a field will be open to our study! {Ed 303.4}

Do you know what that suggests? That which you now look upon through the microscope you will be able to adjust your eyes and be able to see with your bare eyes. That is something fascinating, to actually see what man has now used cameras to do, to go into the blood stream and see the blood vessels moving, and to see those little cells multiplying and all that sort of thing, the bare eyes will be able to see these sorts of things, the bare eyes will be able to look through the stars and see the country that is far off, the telescope eyes. We will have different material there, to be able to see into the universe, and what a field will be open to our vision, what a thing to look forward to.

You see, heaven is a real place; we look out there with our bare eyes now and what we might see through the telescopes of men is a planet that looks like it’s just an empty landscape, because our bare eyes can’t see anything more than that. But how do we know that there aren’t things there that the human eye cannot see? A land that is very far off, according to Isaiah, we will see.

The Country

Let us explore that land that we will see with our own eyes that have been renewed, it’s a country. It’s a country. As we study the scriptures like this, all this imaginary thing that the religious world has tried to play out before us, “It will be like little angels with wings that will float around on the clouds” and things like that, “and playing harps on the clouds.” That’s all that is described in many people’s minds. But here, by faith these people saw another country:

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of [them], and embraced [them], and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

If you are seeking this country you will be like them, you will be a stranger and a pilgrim here. This world is not our home; we have a country to move forward to.

Hebrews 11:15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that [country] from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better [country], that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

I love these words! They have to do with a relationship with God, which He is preparing us to enjoy eternally; we will be rewarded if we will be pilgrims and strangers in this land. This country that we live in, this globe, if we are not pilgrims and strangers here, we will not receive that reward. Can you see the reward concept? We have to get it straight here so that we will be rewarded there. If we are not pilgrims and strangers, then, as it says there, God will be ashamed of me; but no it says here:

Hebrews 11:16 … wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

A country and a city, beautiful meditation. It is the faithful people that are going to enjoy the life in that country, a living reality. We read it here:

Isaiah 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.

Can you see the description of a country?

Isaiah 11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Here is the land. There is a country in which people dwell. E.G. White saw this in her vision:

There the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God’s people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home. . . . {Mar 353.2}

There, “the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.” … There man will be restored to his lost kingship, and the lower order of beings will again recognize his sway; the fierce will become gentle, and the timid trustful. {Mar 353.3}

The City

A living reality, heaven and the heavenly country is a beautiful scene. What did he say? a city, God has prepared a city. The description that is given there is of that beautiful city that is a huge mountainous city. The distance from here (Perth) to Kalgoorlie square. Can you comprehend that scene? that beautiful city with its foundations of precious stones, with its gates of pearls, with its streets of transparent gold. Describe it in your spiritual eyesight as you read it there, read it carefully.

Revelations 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 Having the glory of God: and her light [was] like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12 And had a wall great and high, [and] had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are [the names] of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 16 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. 17 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. 18 And the building of the wall of it was [of] jasper: and the city [was] pure gold, like unto clear glass. 19 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; 20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 21 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. 22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light thereof.

Remember what Jesus said. Here are His words that He is going to prepare us a place, or rather that He has gone to prepare us a place in that beautiful city:

John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 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. 3 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.

There is the reward: a city, because God is not ashamed to call us His children. That city is there, it is a city made without hands; it is a city that is beautiful and realistic. I have come across some people that actually believe that that city isn’t literal; it’s a spiritual city; that is a contortion of God’s word. Jesus says, “In my Father’s house are many mansions and I am going to take you there.”

The Work of their Hands

There we have a country, a city, and eyes and a body that has been made for us to see it and appreciate it, and it is all a reward. We come to another one now, another detail, a reward. The people that, here on earth, are doing their work faithfully will be rewarded according to their works. Here is a parable of Jesus, and this is precisely the picture that Jesus, who was here on earth, went to a far country:

Matthew 25:14 For [the kingdom of heaven is] as a man travelling into a far country, [who] called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

That’s what the kingdom of heaven is. Jesus has given us His goods. Then you know the story, five talents, two talents and one talent. The one with five talents multiplied them into ten talents, and the one with two into four, but the one who only had one talent he thought, “Hm, I think I’ll put that in the earth and I’ll wait ’til he comes back.” and he didn’t multiply them. Now notice what Jesus says in this parable:

Matthew 25:20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, [thou] good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

He repeats that to the other one, but to the one that buried it He says, “Okay, you give your talent to the one that had the two and you miss out.” What is Jesus teaching here? When we get to that country, we will be engaged in the use of talents, and if we haven’t used our talents correctly here we will have no reward there to use our talents. We notice that in that city, in that heavenly kingdom that God has prepared for us, there is an economy:

Revelations 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

The kings and the nations will exercise their talents and multiply goods and bring them into the city. So what does that suggest to your intelligent knowledge and understanding? There is an economy there! There are people there to whom God said, “Now that you have been faithful in smaller things on earth you are going to be put into a position to continue to multiply and do things to bring into the city the glory of the nations.” …an economy. There is a cause to effect relationship in heaven as well. What you do faithfully you will produce, as it says, the kings, God will have kings there; He will have rulers, He will have different people fulfilling different roles. It is brought out very clearly here:

Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever [in that] which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. … 21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree [are] the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

The work of their hands … they have used their talents, they have produced and they will long enjoy the work of their hands.

Isaiah 65:23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they [are] the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

Reality … they shall not labour in vain. All their talents that they, that we use today appear as though, “Well what am I doing it for? It’s all going to be destroyed one day.” All the effort we put into it, all the talent of creativity that we exercise, “It’s all going be for naught.” But there we will exercise those and they will remain for us to enjoy. The glory of these things are all written of, they are beautifully expressed.

Work is constantly being done in heaven. There are no idlers there. “My Father worketh hitherto,” said Christ, “and I work.” We cannot suppose that when the final triumph shall come, and we have the mansions prepared for us, idleness will be our portion–that we shall rest in a blissful, do-nothing state. {Mar 350.5}

God designs that all shall be workers. The toiling beast of burden answers the purpose of its creation better than does the indolent man. God is a constant worker. The angels are workers; they are ministers of God to the children of men. Those who look forward to a heaven of inactivity will be disappointed, for the economy of heaven provides no place for the gratification of indolence. But to the weary and heavy-laden rest is promised. It is the faithful servant who will be welcomed from his labors to the joy of his Lord. {Mar 350.6}