The Progress of the Pilgrim
One of the primary truths of John Bunyan’s classic book, The Pilgrim’s Progress, is that while many who call themselves Christians are settled in the world under different ideas and names, the true Christian is a pilgrim. He is one progressing with all effort on the way to the Celestial City, which is Heaven. At one point in the dialogues, Hopeful asks Christian a question: “When do you find yourself in your most wholesome and most encouraging, vigorous spiritual state?” Christian’s answer is: “When I keep thinking of the place to which I am going.”
In that simple point of dialogue, Bunyan emphasizes the fact that a vigorous, powerful, and strong spiritual life can be achieved only by those who often contemplate the place to which they’re going. Bunyan understood the present power of heavenly hope and anticipation; it is that power alone that can help us overcome all the discouragements and trials of the troublesome journey of this life. As one song says: With our hearts in heaven, here on earth may we fruitful be. Thinking of our future and being preoccupied with it can make our life here truly joyful and vigorous. That is what Paul also prays for in Ephesians. I believe our whole church would be transformed if we became heavenly-minded people. But I know that while I try to lift your minds every week, you go back, and your soul cleaves to the dust. The Holy Spirit alone can make us heavenly-minded.
The Architecture of Eternity
In our series, Looking Unto Jesus, we started from pre-creation and went to the Second Coming, the General Resurrection, and the Final Judgment. Now, we have started to look at the eternal state. It is a difficult subject because we cannot grasp the glory of heaven in our current state. Imagine a man who has lived in a slum all his life and has never seen anything but a hut. If you wanted to explain a grand city like London or New York to him, how would you do it? In the same way, this world is like a slum compared to heaven. That is why scripture writers either stay silent, like Paul, who said he went to the third heaven but could not speak of it, or they use negative language like Peter: “unfading, imperishable, undefiled.” John uses symbolic language because people like us have low tastes; the only joys we know are eating well, spending money, or owning a house and car. How can someone explain a heaven that has infinitely higher joys? Our understanding is as yet too carnal to appreciate the eternal bliss of heaven.
Imagine talking to that man from the slum: “What is big for you on this earth? One hundred acres? Your eternal home’s outside garden is this whole universe!” What is big to us? The price of gold makes us tense. But in heaven, the roads are made of gold—not 22-carat gold, but the purest gold, clear as a mirror. Do you know precious stones? Diamonds or pearls? In heaven, those things are scattered on the road! The Bible lists stones like jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, and amethyst. You might scratch your head at these names, but they are used as “enameled imagery” to describe what is unspeakably precious, exceeding in value, permanent, and glorious. Though we are not yet in heaven, just as the Israelites sent spies to survey the Promised Land, we can use Faith and Hope as our two spies to get a “Pisgah-glimpse” of our eternal home, the true Canaan.
To understand this with my small mind, I use the model of Solomon’s Temple—the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place—as an illustrative framework to describe the escalating eternal blessings of heaven. We saw that after judgment, the Lord transforms this earth and universe into a New Heaven and a New Earth, rid of all curse and vanity. In our model, the Outer Court begins with this large garden—the billions of galaxies of the new universe.
In the Outer Court of Solomon’s temple, there were two primary items: the bronze altar for sin offerings and the “Bronze Sea,” a massive basin of water for priests to wash and cleanse themselves. The primary purpose was cleansing before entering God’s holy presence. My “Outer Court” study will have five steps, like the bronze altar, removing five negative effects of sin. Then, after washing in the Bronze Sea, we enter the Inner Court.
The Five Steps: What is NOT in Heaven
Let us climb the steps. As we ascend, you should see more of heaven through the eyes of your heart.
Step 1: No More Curse (Rev. 22:3) Welcome to a world with no curse. You have never seen such a world. From the time you were born, you have lived in a cursed world. Our life is cursed by original sin. Did you face pressure at work last week? Tension to finish tasks or worries about earning bread? That is the Adamic curse: “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.” In heaven, there is no such pressure. Is your body getting older? Is your health decaying? That is the curse: “For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” That curse is gone. Arguments in marriage, bitterness, or the headache of disobedient children—these are effects of the Fall. Heaven removes them all. Imagine a landscape without a single vestige of the curse.
Step 2: No More Night (Rev. 22:5) There shall be no night there. This tells us that all the physical and mental weakness we feel now will vanish. In my new resurrected body, I will not feel one bit of tiredness. Here, we need the night to rest and refresh. But in a way, night is a waste of time—we spend a third of our lives sleeping! In heaven, we will be occupied with intense, ecstatic activity, yet never feel weary. With every intellectual faculty developed and every power sanctified, we will unveil new wonders and explore new spheres of service. Like the Divine Watchman who neither slumbers nor sleeps, we shall be girded with power that knows no limit. Study will not exhaust us; activity will not weary us. We shall need no repose.
Step 3: No More Hunger or Thirst (Rev. 7:16) They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore. We may not feel this deeply in our generation of plenty, but think of the saints and missionaries who perished by hunger and thirst. Paul testified, “We both hunger and thirst.” Many believers have suffered poverty for the sake of Christ. Heaven compensates for all that. There will be fullness of satisfaction from the Tree of Life.
Step 4: No More Tears (Rev. 21:4) God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. In this world, tears are the language of sorrow. This world is a valley of tears; we enter it crying and leave it groaning. Think of the multitudes who weep for physical pain, loneliness, betrayal, or shame. But our eternal home is a tearless world. Our spiritual body will not be a “weeping body.” All our emotions will be joyful. Not one reason for sorrow will exist. The last tear you shed on this earth will be your final one for all eternity.
Step 5: No More Pain (Rev. 21:4) Neither shall there be any more pain. Think of the countless people who never know a moment’s cessation of bodily suffering. How many saints are tossing on beds of disease and agony right now? As we get older, we live with painkillers. But suffering child of God, your eternal home is painless. Not the slightest ache will remain. Nobody in heaven will take sick leave. None will say, “I am sick.” No back pain, no heartaches, no stomach pain. What an attraction a painless heaven is!
The Inner Court: The Glory Revealed in Us
The first section (the five steps) removes what is bad. The second section, the Inner Court, takes us into what is infinitely good. Between these is the Bronze Sea. In the Old Testament, only sanctified priests could enter the inner sanctum, showing that no man sees God without holiness. As we “wash” and enter, the primary blessing is our glorification.
The whole body of the Church will be glorified without spot or wrinkle and presented to the Lord Jesus as a glorious bride. It is an amazing mystery. Revelation says that as we enter the Holy Place, we are given a white robe—a symbol of absolute perfection in holiness. Paul says in Romans 8:18 that present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the “glory which shall be revealed in us.” Note those two words: in us. It is the glory of God revealed through you and me.
John says in Revelation 21 that the New Jerusalem comes down “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” He describes the Church as having the glory of God, with light like a most precious stone. If the universe is to see us and worship God for the richness of His grace, what must we become? If the world He created by a simple word is so beautiful, imagine what He will do to every atom of the body and soul of those He redeemed with His blood. He will not only remove sin but develop every holy grace in us until we are like the Son of God.
I don’t know about you, but the greatest discouragement in my life is me. When I look at my heart and see how temptations are still strong, and how I grieve the Spirit, I am disappointed. We hate our selfishness, our pride, and our short tempers. We are ashamed of our thoughts. But when I enter the Inner Court and stand on the heavenly shore, for the first time in my existence, I will rejoice to see the glory of God shining through me. Instead of weeping at my failures, I will see myself as perfect. I will never hate myself again; I will never be ashamed again.
Think of it: the infinitely Holy God will look at me—once a sin-diseased sinner—and see perfect holiness. His fiery, penetrating eyes will scrutinize every cell of my being and find absolutely no trace of sin. He will perceive us as eternally righteous and will be well-pleased. He will rejoice and sing for joy looking at us, because He will see us perfectly reflecting His Son! humanity will be at its noblest type, fashioned like Christ’s glorious body. I will reach an immutable state of holiness forever.
Does this excite you? Does it make you yearn for heaven? Worldly people dream of being superstars, but our highest ambition should be this: that the whole universe will praise God because of His glory reflected through us. As the songwriter wrote: When I stand before the throne, dressed in beauty not my own… then, Lord, shall I fully know, not till then, how much I owe.
Applications for Communion
Let us stop here and look at our three duties: Remember, Examine, Proclaim.
1. Remember: Remember our Lord’s death. Remember why He died. The ultimate purpose of Christ dying on the cross, according to Ephesians 5, was to sanctify the Church and “present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle… but that she should be holy and without blemish.”
The Infinite Sacrifice
The verse says Christ loved us; this is one of the greatest expressions of intense love, shown by Him giving Himself for us. He gave Himself up to the worst that men could do to Him—rejection, mockery, scourging, spittle, and the deepest shame humans can inflict. Not only did He give Himself to the worst men can do, but He gave Himself to the worst that God could do on the cross. He gave Himself to the Father to endure the outpour of infinite fury against the sins of His people. Just the thought of that brought drops of bloody sweat from His body, yet He voluntarily and cheerfully offered Himself to the torture of the cross. He voluntarily bore our sins in His own body on the tree, swallowing up in His own soul all the oceanic tsunami billows of divine wrath. He gave Himself to experience our hell of hells.
The Church, which He loved, was meshed in defilement, depravity, and sin—controlled by the world, Satan, and the unclean flesh. Why did He give Himself? The text says there are two goals: an intermediate goal and an ultimate goal.
- The Intermediate Goal (v. 26): “…that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.” He is accomplishing this goal right now. He called us through the Gospel, cleansed our sins, and is sanctifying us through His Word.
- The Ultimate Goal (v. 27): “…that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”
As He hung on the cross and gave Himself, through the eye of faith, He saw this ultimate goal. As the heavenly Bridegroom, He saw that this Church would become a glorious bride—brilliant in purity, resplendent with glory, and majestic in light. She will have no spot, no wrinkle, and no such imperfections. That was the goal.
Examine: Do Not Play with the Blood
If this is why the Lord died, then as you come to His table, you must examine yourself. Have you been cleansed by His blood? Are you being sanctified by His Word? Cleansing happens once when you believe the Gospel and repent, while sanctification is an ongoing process. If cleansing has not happened to you, sanctification will not follow. If neither has occurred, Christ did not die for you, and you should not come to communion.
Christ did not die for people who just call themselves Christians but remain uncleansed and unsanctified, still loving the world and their sins. He loved the Church and gave Himself for it so that He might cleanse it here on earth and glorify it in heaven. If that intermediate purpose is not realized in you—if you are not being cleansed and sanctified—you have no biblical grounds to claim you are a Christian. Do not deceive yourself.
In Leviticus 17, God warned His people not to “play” with blood. He warned that if anyone took even animal blood lightly, they would be cut off and cursed. He taught them to value blood as sacred. How much more valuable and precious is the blood of the Son of God? Some of you need to stop playing games with the sacred blood of Christ. How cheaply you treat it!
There are terrible warnings in 1 Corinthians 11: “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” If you are guilty of profaning this blood—the only thing that can cleanse guilt—what else can wash you? “Let a man examine himself… for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself.” This is why many are weak, sick, or have even died. It is a dangerous thing to drink the juice carelessly without realizing the power of what Christ has done. Examine yourself to see whether you are indeed in the faith.
Proclaim: Life and Power in the Blood
Hear this proclamation: there is life and power in the blood of Jesus Christ! Never take it lightly. In the Old Testament, when blood was running, people would stop and show respect. Today, stop your fast-paced life and turn your mind to the ultimate sacrifice whose blood was poured out on the altar of God’s justice.
Justice said, “Life for life.” You and I have broken God’s law and deserve His wrath. We deserve to have our own blood eternally spilled. But He gave His life for us. If anything should cause a man to halt in his tracks and be filled with awe, it is the blood that flowed from Calvary. Do not stamp on this blood and go on with your life. Hebrews 10:29 warns of a “much worse punishment” for the one who has “trampled the Son of God underfoot” and counted the blood of the covenant a common thing. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Stop and believe this: there is life and power in the blood of Jesus. Just as there is no physical life without blood, without the blood of Jesus, you are spiritually dead. Only His blood can cleanse and deliver you. Your guilt makes your soul heavy; trust in Him, and His life will flow into you. If you are here and do not believe, you are treating His blood lightly, choosing sin instead. Why will you die? Come to the pool of the Son’s blood.
For believers, our new life started through the blood, and it can only be sustained by the blood. Even if you have been saved for fifty years, you continue to enjoy that salvation only by the blood of Christ. If you feel dead or powerless today—if your prayer life is dry—it is because you have forgotten the blood. You are trying to approach God through your own devotion or good works. But we need His blood perpetually. We do not offer Christ as a sacrifice again and again, but the principle remains: we can only come to God on the basis of blood.
You cannot come to God a single time without the sacrifice of Christ. You could do a billion good works, but they are not an acceptable basis to approach God. Only the blood and merit of Christ suffice. In Heaven, the only song will be: “You are worthy… because you were slain, and by your blood you purchased for God those from every tribe.”
The Comfort of the Blood
Approach God through the blood of Christ. Jesus said in John 6:54, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” This is a spiritual infusing of life. Without the blood, Christianity has no life. I am alarmed that the message of the blood is no longer significant in many churches. A church that fails to preach the blood is a church that is dead. This blessed Book is a “portrait of blood”—the brushstrokes of the blood are on every page.
If you have engaged in sin this past week, do not profane this blood at the table. Come and plead for forgiveness; find cleansing here. Every true Christian is weary of his sins. As John Owen said, a person is no true believer if sin is not his greatest burden and sorrow. If you feel the ache of your own remaining sin, it is a sign that God is sanctifying you.
Child of God, listen. As you take these elements, remember that as surely as Christ died, a day is coming when you will no longer be weary of sin. You shall be holy and without blemish. Take fresh hope. The Lord Jesus loved you and gave Himself to present you to Himself without spot or wrinkle. Let your faith in the certainty of this goal be strengthened. There is nothing like the total, complete glorification of the saint—rooted in the death of Christ—that gives greater strength for the ongoing battle with sin. Tears, shame, and remorse will not be your companions forever. He is going to make you perfect. Take comfort.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 