Heaven

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1 Corinthians 2:8-9

Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.…

Every prophet who has stood upon the borders of a new dispensation might have uttered these words. Abraham might have looked forward to the Mosaic dispensation, &c., and have turned to his brethren who lived in the patriarchal age, and said, "Eye hath not seen," &c. At the close of the Levitical dispensation the prophets might have thus spoken of the coming glories. And now we stand on the borders of a new era. But persons are curious to know what kind of dispensation the millennial one is to be. Will the temple be erected in Jerusalem? Will the Jews be positively restored to their own land? &c. We cannot answer. "Eye hath not seen," &c. And this brings us to make the application of the subject to heaven itself.

I. WHAT HEAVES IS NOT.

1. It is not a heaven of the senses.

(1) "Eye hath not seen it." What glorious things the eye hath seen! Have we not seen the gaudy pageantry of pomp crowding the gay streets? We hear of the magnificence of the old Persian princes, of palaces covered with gold and silver, and floors inlaid with jewels; but we cannot thence gather a thought of heaven, for "eye hath not seen" it. We have thought, however, when we have come to the works of God, surely we can get some glimpse of what heaven is here. By night we have turned our eye up to the stars, and we have said, "If this earth has such a glorious covering, what must that of heaven be?" At another time we have seen some glorious landscape, and said, "Surely these grandeurs must be something like heaven." It was all a mistake — "Eye hath not seen" it.

(2) "The ear hath not heard" it. Have we not sometimes heard the sweet voice of the messenger of God when he has by the Spirit spoken to our souls! We knew something of heaven then, we thought. We have heard music, whether poured from the lungs of man — that noblest instrument in the world — or from some manufacture of harmony, and we have thought, "This is what John meant by the voice like many waters, and the voice of harpers harping with their harps." But we made a mistake. "Ear hath not heard" it.

(3) Others look upon it as a place where they shall be free from bodily pain, and where they will eat to the full and be satisfied. What a mistake! We can get no conceptions of heaven through the senses; they must always come through the Spirit.

2. It is not a heaven of the imagination. Poets let their imaginations fly with loosened wings, or the preacher weaves the filigree work of fancy, and you say, "It is sweet to hear that man speak; he made me think I was there." But imagination, when it is most sublime, and freest from the dust of earth, and kept steady by the most extreme caution, cannot picture heaven. "It hath not entered the heart of man," &c. Your imaginary heaven you will find by and by to be all a mistake.

3. It is not a heaven of the intellect. Men describe heaven as a place where we shall know all things, and their grandest idea is that they shall discover all secrets there. But "It hath not entered into the heart of man."

II. "HE HATH REVEALED IT UNTO US BY HIS SPIRIT." This means that it was revealed unto the apostles by the Spirit, so that they wrote something of it in the Holy Word. We think also that it means that every believer has glimpses of heaven by the influence of the Spirit. A Christian gets a gaze of what heaven is —

1. When in the midst of trials and troubles he is able to cast all his care upon the Lord, because He careth for him. Heaven is something like that — a place of holy calm and trust.

2. In the season of quiet contemplation, for the joys of heaven are akin to the joys of contemplation.

3. At. the Lord's table. You get so near the Cross there that your sight becomes clearer, and the air brighter, and you see more of heaven there than anywhere else.

4. When we assemble in our meetings for prayer.

5. In extraordinary closet seasons.

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