Communion with God and The Lamb

In this part of the sermon: The sermon begins with a prayer acknowledging human weakness in comprehending spiritual glories and asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate minds to grasp the substantial realities…

The muckraker from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is used to illustrate those who are so focused on the 'muck' of this world that they fail to see the glories of heaven, urging them to repent and flee to Christ.

Come, O come, blessed Holy Spirit, and take of the things of Christ and so bring them home to our hearts with power that we shall know that we are trafficking in realities, that we are not merely having our minds titillated with ephemeral notions, but, oh, may the substantial realities of the world to come break in upon us and so lay hold of us that we will never be the same. Because you have given us to see with eyes illuminated by the Spirit through the Word the great inheritance that has been purchased for us by our Lord Jesus Christ. And then for those poor earthlings who, like the muckrak...

2:02 - 3:25 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And whatever else this verse teaches us, it teaches us that the apex of blessing to those who are purified and sanctified by grace is nothing less than this direct s…

The Beatitudes are described as a 'divinely drawn picture of the character of the true sons and daughters of the kingdom,' clarifying that they describe those who have entered, not the way into the kingdom.

In Matthew's Gospel, chapter 5, a verse familiar to many of us, our Lord in giving this composite character description of the true sons and daughters of the kingdom of his grace, for that's what the Beatitudes are, they are a divinely drawn picture of the character of the true sons and daughters of the kingdom of his grace, for that's what the Beatitudes are, They are a divinely drawn picture of the character of a true son or daughter of the kingdom. They do not tell us the way into the kingdom. They describe those who have entered in the major lineaments of their character. And here the Lord...

6:22 - 7:39 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin then shifts to texts emphasizing immediate communion (John 14:2-3, 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Revelation 21:1-3, 22-23), showing that the central issue of heaven is being with…

A floating teaching among the Thessalonians about living saints being 'first-class' and dead saints 'second-class' at Christ's return is used to explain the context of 1 Thessalonians 4 and Paul's correction.

You see the emphasis. The emphasis falls not so much upon the mind being preoccupied with what are the dwelling places prepared, but the one who will take us to himself to be in those dwelling places. I go, and if I go, I will come to take you unto myself, that where I am, and now all the dwelling places, as it were, fade into the background, and the central issue is this, where I am, there you will be also. And again we see this emphasis in the great resurrection passage in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. The apostle is writing to comfort the grieving Thessalonians, and to comfort the grieving The...

16:20 - 17:33 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Now this does not mean we will be given the knowledge of an omniscient God. But what it is saying is, as fully as the mind of God comprehends all reality that an omniscient mind of deity can comprehend, so all that a hum…

The imagery of 'seeing through a glass darkly' in 1 Corinthians 13:12 is explained by comparing it to peering into a primitive metal mirror with an imperfect reflection, contrasting it with the clear, 'face to face' sight in heaven.

world and an attachment to Jesus Christ in faith. But all of that sight at its most intensive point of spiritual insight is according to this passage, and remember this is a man who was even caught up in the Bible. He was caught up in the Bible. He was caught up in the third heaven and heard things unlawful to utter. He said, we, I along with you, Corinthian believers, we see through a glass darkly or in an enigma. And one of the commentators writing on the imagery here has written as follows, our present understanding is like peering into a primitive metal mirror with its imperfect reflection...

25:06 - 26:07 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Now this does not mean we will be given the knowledge of an omniscient God. But what it is saying is, as fully as the mind of God comprehends all reality that an omniscient mind of deity can comprehend, so all that a hum…

Richard Baxter's analogy of a human looking down on a horde of ants is used to illustrate the vast difference in comprehension between creatures and an infinite God, even when our vision is perfected.

when the perfect is come, what will be the mark of our sight? Then, face to face, now I know in part, but then I shall know fully, even as also I was fully known. Now this does not mean we will be given the knowledge of an omniscient God. But what it is saying is, as fully as the mind of God comprehends all reality that an omniscient mind of deity can comprehend, so all that a human mind, cleared of all darkness and dullness, can comprehend in beholding reality, we shall know, even as we also are known, as God knows us accurately. So we shall know Him. We shall have a knowledge, a sight of Him...

27:01 - 28:21 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin suggests that this sight and communion will be ever-expanding due to God's infinite nature, leading to an eternal growth in knowledge and fellowship, which will be the…

Quotations from hymn writers ('all earth's flowing pleasures were a wintry sea' and 'the bride, eyes not the garment, but her dear bridegroom's face') are used to express the ultimate satisfaction found only in Christ's presence.

It will be an uninterrupted communion as opposed to the communion that we now experience. But it will be an expanding sight and communion. There will be nothing static in the sight of God in our communion with God. For being infinite, and we continually throughout the ages, of eternity being finite, we shall be able to grow in the knowledge of this glorious God. And though He continues to expand the capacities of our finite minds, He will never exhaust the riches of His own glory, for He is the infinite God. No wonder the hymn writers who contemplated this penned such words, as all earth's flo...

31:29 - 32:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of man-centered Christianity, which fails to make people heavenly-minded because it reduces God to a means to obtain 'goodies' rather than being the essential element and ultimate end.

The Queen of Sheba's exclamation, 'the half had not been told me,' is used to convey the overwhelming and inexpressible glory that believers will experience when they see Christ face to face.

Does it seem like a dream? It's not. And when we do, we will cry out with the Queen of Sheba, the half had not been told me. What will it be? I cannot begin to try to articulate it. I have felt like as though my tongue were three inches thick tonight, just trying to speak of these things simply from the plain text of the Word of God. But one sight, and then we shall see. And then we shall see.

40:05 - 40:38 Read in full sermon