Evangelism Every Day

O For The Robe Of Whiteness

You could be in heaven by the end of the day.

The Bible says there are two ways this could happen to you as a Christian:

#1. You could die! Although Christians are promised eternity, we are not promised tomorrow. Our life on this earth is just a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes (James 4:14). We know that at the moment of death our soul will be absent from our body but at home in the presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-9). We are told that to depart and be with Christ is far better than this life (Philippians 1:23).

But that is not the way I am praying you will get to heaven:

I am rooting for a different route than death:

#2. Jesus could come to get you! This is through the doctrine of the rapture.   All of the believers who are alive will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Jesus has promised he is preparing a place for us and he will come again to take us home to be with him (John 14:1-3). In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, we could be changed to be like our Lord (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). He will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body (Philippians 3:21). In this moment of joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, we will obtain the outcome of our faith, the full salvation of our souls (1 Peter 1:8-9).

Everyone in a long distance relationship longs to be with the one they love. So, why do so few Christians today long to be with Jesus?

This Sunday at our new church plant, Compass Bible Church here in Huntington Beach, we preached on how the Thessalonians were waiting for Jesus to come from heaven. This was our first time to preach on the Maranatha mindset we are called to have as Christians that says “Come, O Lord!” because we want to be with our Lord and Savior more than this life.

As Christians our hearts should echo one of the last verses of Scripture:

Revelation 22:20 ~ “He who testifies to these things (Jesus) says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”

Last year I had the privilege of preaching through the book of Revelation. While I was studying the book, I came across an old hymn written by Charitie Lees Smith. She is most famous for her hymn, Before the Throne of God Above, which has recently been redone and become popular within the church once again. Charitie lived in Ireland in the 1800’s. She was born as a pastor’s daughter. I picture her running on the hillside with long, flowing red hair like an older version of my daughter Emma. In 1859, as Charitie was coming of age there was a revival in Ireland. Inspired, Charitie wrote a hymn called O For The Robes of Whiteness. In this hymn you can hear the beautiful heart of a young woman who wants to go to heaven:

O for the robes of whiteness

O for the tearless eyes

O for the glorious brightness

Of the unclouded skies

O for the no more weeping

Within the land of love

The endless joy of keeping

The bridal feast above

 

O for the bliss of dying

My risen Lord to meet

O for the rest of lying

Forever at his feet

O for the hour of seeing

My Savior face to face

The hope of ever being

In that sweet meeting place

 

I immediately shared this hymn with my good friend Ryan Pierce, who I have the privilege of serving the Lord with. Ryan has written his own worship songs and I asked him to put this old hymn to a new melody. Not only did he do that, he even added a little harmonica! Together we wrote a chorus that summed up what we were learning from Revelation in our old high school ministry of True North:

 

Someday I’ll see the Lamb

I hope to see you there my friend

Shining in his glory before the throne

 

Someday I’ll see the Lamb

And there my soul will stand

With joy I have never known before the throne

 

As you can see from the video at the top of this post, Ryan sang this song for this first time at our new church on Sunday.

I pray it will encourage many Christians the best is yet to come in heaven.

And you could be there by the end of the day!

 

Click on this link to download an mp3 of the song!