Joy Everlasting — Basilea Schlink

Jesus Prepares a Place in Heaven

The Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary in Darmstadt, Germany presents Joy Everlasting. Jesus Christ encouraged his disciples by telling them about heaven, which awaits all those who love him. In the Bible, we read of one such occasion.

In my Father's house are many rooms, and when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. For the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary at their headquarters, Canaan, in Germany, and their friends from home and abroad, these verses have become very meaningful.

Let's join them this Easter as they celebrate a festival of heaven in the Herald Chapel. The chapel's seating a thousand is full to overflowing. In the chancel, heaven is depicted with its golden gates.

The central point is a mosaic of the Lamb of God, symbolizing Jesus, the King of Heaven. The orchestra swells majestic anthems, and the congregation with representatives from 30 nations are singing in their various languages the same song of love to God.

An atmosphere of radiant joy fills the chapel. In her talk, Mother Basilea Schlink, founder of the Sisterhood, shares with us the reason. It is a joyful assurance that we have an eternal home prepared for us in heaven.

The Beauty and Celebration of Heaven

What joy to know there's a place like heaven. Imagine if there'd only been some realm for the dead. How depressing. But to think there's a place like heaven, so full of beauty, so full of glory, the singing of saints and angels, and where festivals are celebrated.

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote about angels in festal gatherings. This means that festivals are celebrated in heaven. Imagine what it must be like when, for instance, a coronation festival is held.

Then all the overcomers gathered in heaven, thousands and thousands of them, will have crowns presented to them. They will bow down before Jesus, who is crowned with many crowns, and who has counted us worthy of wearing a crown, too.

Seeing Jesus Face to Face

How overwhelming to receive a crown from His hand, let alone to enter heaven and meet the Lord Jesus Himself. Recently I was saying that works of art depicting Jesus, however lovely they may be, don't appeal to me the way they used to.

I want to see Him for real. And that's something different. And what an overwhelming moment that will be when we see Jesus face to face. In the Psalms we come across verses expressing the longing of the heart to see the Lord as He is.

But to think that we really will see Him, as it says in 1 John 3, we shall see Him as He is. It's just unbelievable. However, there's a condition. The Bible says we are to purify ourselves so that we may be pure like Jesus in His loveliness and purity and heavenly splendor when we see Him with our own eyes, sinners that we are.

Union with Jesus and His Bride

And as I was just saying a little while ago, because it's such a lovely thought to bear in mind about heaven, isn't it wonderful to think that Jesus will walk with us, as it says in the book of Revelation, that is, through the golden city and the fields of heaven.

Just imagine what it will be like to be united with Jesus, us sinners. But it makes sense when we consider that the Bible says that Jesus will celebrate the wedding with His bride, that is, with all those who love Him dearly, as a bride loves her bridegroom.

These are souls completely devoted to Him. He means everything to them. He is their one and all. For His sake, they willingly give up everything, lose all they have, so long as they have Him and can be with Him above in heaven.

Worship and Honor in the City of God

What a wonderful sight that must be of the whole company of heaven, all those making up the city of God. And what is typical of the angels is also typical of the overcomers. They will bow down and worship before the divine majesty.

So all those privileged to enter the golden city will reverently bow and show honor to one another in love and respect, in the same way that God the Father honors the Son and the Son honors the Father.

Everything is marked by this reverence and graciousness, every movement and gesture. They will be, how shall I put it, so immersed in bliss and so overwhelmed that they'll sing and rejoice with all their hearts, hardly knowing how to express their love and thanks to the Lord Jesus worthily enough.

And oh, what thanksgiving there will be when they begin to give thanks for all that He has given us and for the greatest miracle of all, making us His own. Why me, we may ask. Coming from a non-Christian family, I grew up knowing nothing about Jesus.

Not until later did my parents come to a living faith, and so the privilege of being His own is something I can never praise Him enough for. I can only sing, for all eternity He is mine. For all eternity I belong to Him.

Everlasting Joy and the Home Jesus Prepares

For all eternity He grants us the greatest of all joys imaginable, far surpassing all else. In heaven He will make us so happy that if we didn't have new bodies and if our souls were not expanded, we would burst for sheer delight because it's all so wonderful.

So powerful is the joy we will experience when we go to be with Jesus in the City of God and make our dwelling there. And that reminds me of something else. Wasn't it loving of Jesus to make that promise?

I go, He said to His disciples, I go to prepare a place for you. For every one of us who has loved and followed Him along the pathway of the cross, the Lord Jesus goes through the Golden City. We can only use human terms.

He goes through the streets of the Golden City and personally seeks out a dwelling place for each soul, a home for us, something that is just right for us and where Jesus will reward us with glory in return for all the suffering we endured in our lives, all the pain and affliction we bore in union with Him and in complete dedication to His will.

And just as we become one with Jesus here by accepting our trials, so we will be one with Him in heaven, inseparably one with Jesus.

Jubilation, exultation, the heavens are singing and rejoicing. Praise and adoration be to you, the Lamb. Praise and adoration. Jubilation, exultation, the heavens are singing and rejoicing. Shine like a thousand suns in the full blaze of glory.

Myriads upon myriads of angels pay homage to you eternally. Praise be to you, our King.

Present Suffering and Future Glory

It's hard to believe we'll be with the Lord forever, isn't it? But the Bible says so. And so all our suffering is worth it, as the Apostle Paul writes. The sufferings of the present time are slight and momentary and short-lived.

They are not worth comparing with the immeasurable glory of heaven. They actually create for us glory and joy beyond all compare for all eternity.

Welch eine Kraft im Leiden, im Schmerzen oder nah dem Tode...

What tremendous power lies in the message of heaven for someone in pain or at death's door. Not for nothing, the Bible tells us, to set our minds on heaven, the things that are above. Heaven is our real home.

These few years on earth, you can count the decades on your fingers, are soon over. Hardly anyone lives to be over 100. Our time on earth passes by so quickly. Some may live to be 70, others 80 or 90, and then it's all over.

The Question of Our Eternal Home

And the question is, what did my life bring me? Eternity lasts forever. Where will I be then? What kind of dwelling place will I have? Will I see Jesus? Will I taste the glory which comes from suffering and affliction and which the Lord Jesus always spoke of?

Where will I be then? When we ask ourselves this, may our reply be, Oh, heaven, that's where I want to be. That's where real life will begin and not in the kingdom of death or in hell. Every morning when I thank Jesus for going to Calvary for us, I close with,.

And your sufferings opened up heaven for me. Heaven awaits us. The Lord Jesus awaits us. Heaven awaits us above. How He waits for the coming of a soul who loves Him and whom He has chosen and loves. And what a glorious homecoming that will be.

Then we won't just stand before the gates of heaven. They will swing open. Angels will be there. And if we have the honor, and this is something none of us can know for sure, of being received by Jesus Himself at the gates of heaven, it will be too wonderful for words.

And we'll say, Now I am home.

Nun bin ich zu Haus.

Nun bin ich zu Haus. Now I am home. Jesus spoke of the crown of life awaiting His faithful ones, the overcomers. For as it says in 2 Timothy, If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. Blessed cross, blessed suffering, preparing our souls for heaven, that we might inherit the crown of life.

The Invitation to Enter Heaven

Praise to the Lamb of God. Praise to our heavenly bridegroom who opened the way to heaven for us. Praise to the Lamb of God. Praise to our heavenly bridegroom who opened the way to heaven for us. In simple pageantry, the participants pass through the golden gates of the city of God depicted here in anticipation of the day when they go to their eternal home.

We'll be there, there. Soon we shall be there. Tonight, these people have had a foretaste of heaven. They look forward to living in heaven for all eternity. Can you say the same for yourself? Do you have in your heart the assurance of heaven?

Our sins and faults block the way to heaven for us. Only Jesus Christ can deal with them. For you personally, He died on the cross and rose again, opening the way to heaven for you. This is the meaning of Easter.

So come to Him. He is waiting for you to bring Him your sins. Yes, your whole life. If you would like to learn more about experiencing victory in your daily life, write for a free copy of Praying Our Way Through Life.

A videocassette of this program is also available upon request. Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary P .O. Box 30022 Phoenix, Arizona 85046. Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary P .O. Box 30022 Phoenix, Arizona 85046.