On the Prospect of Heaven
A. W. Knowles. Daniel 12:13 But go you your way till the end be: for you shall rest, and stand in your lot at the end of the days. To afford the pained heart desired relief, the prospects of futurity, which the gospel of Jesus Christ affords, are especially suitable and useful. 1. The servants of God shall enjoy rest after death. While their mortal part reposes in the grave, their spirit rests in the embraces of their Lord. We are taught to look on our present life as the season of trouble and exertion. The remembrance of what life is may keep us from idolising present comforts, from making a god of this world. The word "rest," applied to the future destination of the believer, teaches us also to conceive of the life that precedes it, as one of labour. We are now called to the labour of duty, to improve the spring-time of life, by sowing to ourselves righteousness, that we may reap in mercy. Now we are called to the labour of self-denial, and the labour of watchfulness. Amidst the labours and cares of life, be it our aim to secure, through the Saviour, this place of rest for ourselves. 2. The servant of God shall possess an inheritance in the Heavenly Canaan. The angel said unto Daniel that he should "stand in his lot." Joshua made the tribes cast lots for their respective portions. When the land was thus divided, they possessed the lot appointed them by Jehovah. That Canaan was type of a better. That better country the God of all grace shall divide amongst His faithful people, and each disciple of Christ shall have his share. This will be larger or smaller, according as believers have, by Divine grace, been made to excel in every Christian virtue, in usefulness in their generation. This place is called an inheritance, to show them that they have not procured a right to it by the purchase of their own works,. but as a legacy left them by a friend. It is upon account of their connection with Christ as their elder brother that they have any right to it — that they shall ever possess it. The promise, "Thou shalt rest," refers to exemption from evil; the promise, "Thou shalt stand in thy lot," to the enjoyment of good. By the first, the good man had the prospect of deliverance from pains, and sorrows, and cares, and sins. By the second, his hopes were raised to the possession of a great portion, an inheritance in eternity. 3. This inheritance of the servant of God shall be lasting. "At the end of the days." At the end of all days. The conviction of the uncertainty of what we have here, casts a damp on the enjoyment of it; but the lot in Heaven, the portion of the Christian, is abiding, is lasting, is for ever. 4. The prospect of this rest, and inheritance, supports the soul in the view of the approaching calamities. The same prospect is the believer's support in the view of personal trials. We are all taught the uncertainty that hangs over all our present comforts, but with the view of Heaven as his approaching rest the Christian shall never be entirely destitute — never be left without the cheering light of hope. 5. The enjoyment of Heaven will make up the loss of the comforts the Christian possesses below. 6. In Heaven, the glorified saints shall hear of the triumphs of the Church on earth. And 7. We are here taught that the hopes of futurity should impel to present duty, Daniel was not to spend his time in indolent contemplation of those glorious events, but to go on his way in the path of duty. From these remarks learn: (1) To view afflictions in the light of eternity. (2) To look at duty in the light of eternity. (3) Let the Gospel-neglecter contemplate his conduct in the light of eternity. (A. W. Knowles.) Parallel Verses KJV: But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. WEB: But go you your way until the end; for you shall rest, and shall stand in your lot, at the end of the days.