2: Meeting Abraham

“Are you sure it was Abraham you saw?” I asked my grandfather.

“Oh, indeed! I know him well.”

“Then,” I replied, “I shall be quite glad to see him, for as you know, his name was a household word among us on earth. Will you please tell me which one he is, for there are so many saints in shining garments coming and going. I was asking about him just before I met you. I used to wonder very much what he looked like, and have often thought I would be delighted to see him. I have greatly admired his faith that never staggered, and his obedience to go where his eye could not see. How precious to us were the words concerning him: ‘Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.’ (Romans 4:3)

“I do not see him at present,” said grandfather, “but he was among that group over there that is coming along the bank of the river. He has turned away from us just for a little while, for I see he has gone to welcome a company of new arrivals, who have just crossed the river. I see by his movements he intends to bring this company to the city, where they will be introduced to the Lord Himself.”

“But grandfather, if we go on to the city right now will I see you again?”

“Oh, yes,” said he, “I shall be there quite often and we shall have much opportunity to talk about all past events, as well as what is before you. I have many things I wish to say to you. After you have been recognized by our Lord Jesus and confessed before His Father and the angels, you will then have abundant liberty to go as you will. I have just come from the Throne itself and have left many that you will recognize when you are there. Your dear mother, who has been gone from you for more than fifty years, is aware that you have entered the portals of the heavenly kingdom. She would have come with me at this time for she is very eager to see you, but she was detained on some very important matters for her Lord. No doubt she will meet you before you arrive at the city gate, but just now I must hurry on for there is an old friend with whom I was a playmate in earth, who has just arrived. We were bound together like David and Jonathan. When I left the earthly shores, he took it very hard, and now for many years he has been very lonely. He has just been carried by the angels into this our glory and I am going now to give him my welcome and bring him to this great company. There is an unusual stir about the Throne today which Abraham can explain when you meet him. He will introduce himself when he comes. I hope to return in time to go with you up to the city,” and waving his hand he said good-bye.

I watched my old grandfather as we used to call him in the earth. He walked off so gracefully or rather sprung like a young man. He used to be so old and decrepit, but now his youth is renewed like the eagles’ and every expression of his face was joy.

At this moment I turned around and to my great joy a most lovely person was coming very near me. He bore marks of great age, and yet for all that, he had an indescribable youthful appearance. He was not like the other spirits that I was accustomed to seeing. The elder that I first met and he were very much alike.

“Is this Abraham?” I said.

“It is,” he replied.

“In the bosom of Abraham!” (Luke 16:22) I said softly, and began to bow myself down before him, for a certain feeling of awe filled my soul.

“Stand up, my son,” he said, “we are all brethren here.” Then he took my hand in his and with his other drew me close to him and gave me his kiss of welcome. Oh, such a freshness of love and joy which burst upon my soul, so that I practically shouted, “Hallelujah,” and said again, “In the bosom of Abraham!”

“Do you remember that Scripture?” he said. “Well, you will realize its meaning more and more, but who is this by your side?”

“Bohemond,” I replied, “who also has just come from the world.”

He then gave him his cordial welcome and said, “The great joy and gladness which you now feel has been mine during a hundred generations of earthly Lives. Someday I trust I can introduce you to Lazarus, of whom it was said by our Lord: ‘He was carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom.’

“I see,” said he, “you have just arrived and have much wonder and many questions to ask about this heavenly kingdom of our Lord. While we talk for a few moments let us be refreshed with a drink from this crystal river, for it flows from the great palace up at the Throne. Would you like to taste its waters?”

“Oh, indeed we would, I have sung hymns, and read in the Holy Scriptures concerning this very river, where the angel pointed it out to John, who in his vision saw it proceeding out of the Throne of God and the Lamb.” (Revelation 22:1)

He now proceeded to the brink and with a golden goblet he dipped and filled the cup for me, and another for Bohemond, and said, “My sons, drink of this river and you shall never thirst again, nor be faint, nor weary for its lack, for its waters shall never fail.”

As I drank from the cup I said, “Oh praise God for such a supply! So sweet to the taste! How full of invigorating power! It makes me feel the joy and glow of youth.”

“You never can feel old or weary again, after drinking of this living water,” said Abraham, “for it is the Water of Life. I just now gave a drink to a company of fresh arrivals before coming to you. Did you not hear them praising God? They, with that great group near them, are now learning to sing together, the song in which you will join them, which we will all sing at the city gate shortly. Some of them have it quite well now and others knew it when they came, for it is contained in the Holy Scriptures on earth. God has revealed the order so that all might be familiar with it. Do you remember the song?”

“Please repeat it for me,” I said, “that I may know which song you mean.”

He replied, “John was caught up in spirit so he heard the strains of this music and wrote: ‘I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, “Alleluia, salvation, and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our God.” And God from the Throne said, “Praise our God all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great.” And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready.”’” (Revelation 19:1,5-7)

“Oh, yes,” I replied, “I remember that song so well and can join with them singing it now.” I said, “Father Abraham, shall we not soon go on to the Throne? I have such a desire to see my Lord Jesus, I have loved Him these years, and then I have many loved ones beside that I feel sure are about the Throne.”

“Your desires, my son,” he replied, “shall be fully met. The patience you have leaned on earth is of great service to you here. So I hope you will feel that restful, quiet trust in all God’s ways.”

“Oh yes, my whole soul says, ‘Your will be done.’”

“You will soon see the King in His beauty, and probably some of those who knew you best may come out and meet us on the journey toward the city gates, for they certainly know you are here. Just as soon as our company is full we will be off. Twelve legions make the company, and you see they are gathering from all directions.

“Look down the stream and you can see another company quickly filling up. Look across to the other side and farther up the stream and you see another. The guides who welcome them soon know to what company and place each belong. Some have made but little preparation for this glory when they left the world, and now the light is too great for them, and, as you see, they fall back into the rear and are content among the trees, waiting to become more prepared by applying these wonderful leaves of the trees. But all these companies you see will soon be gathering about the gates of the city.”

* * * * *

“Father Abraham, may we ask you a question while we are waiting for these gathering numbers that make this company?”

“Certainly,” he replied, “use your greatest freedom.”

“I have just met my old grandfather, who has been here for more than thirty years. I had a long talk with him before you came. He has told me many things concerning this eternal world of light, but just as he was leaving me, to welcome another friend of his, he said there was considerable commotion about the Throne just now. Would you care to explain it to us?”

“Oh, most gladly. Great events are about to occur of the most interesting character that time and eternity have ever known. Our Lord has recently announced that the time has nearly arrived when He shall leave the mediatorial throne and in company with all the saints and angels, will descend to the earth for its judgment, for the cup of its iniquity is now nearly full.”

“Oh,” I replied, “we have been expecting Christ’s coming to the earth for many years. Some had even gone so far as to have dates set when He would return.”

“But,” said Abraham, “that was their folly. Our Lord had distinctly told them as you will remember in His word, and we have faithful copies of the Holy Scriptures here in heaven to which we have access whenever we choose, that no man knows the day nor the hour—even the angels themselves did not know nor even now do they know. (Matthew 24:36 , Mark 13:32) None of us who have been here during great cycles of eternity have known when the time would be and even now the exact period has not been announced. But notable events are announced at the Throne during the great convocation, when millions of saints and angels meet up for the great praise services of which you will know more later. All of us here, like those upon earth, are deeply interested in this great event, which the Father has kept in the secrets of His own counsels.

“The church on earth and in heaven will soon unite in one great jubilee and celebrate the final and great victories of the cross of our Lord, at the resurrection of all the saints, from the days of Abel to the end of the age. The living saints of earth as you know will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and with divine permission and arrangement, we in heaven will all go back to the cradle of our nativity and say good morning to the church on earth. Then the great resurrection shall occur. Then will follow the earth’s great Sabbath. Although we have been here for long ages, yet we have looked with great interest towards this event. Tender memories cluster about the scenes of childhood and early youth, and we feel glad to know we shall soon visit the place of our early experience in the world and the scenes that witnessed our salvation from sin. And then we shall receive the fullness and completion of our salvation, the redemption of our bodies. A very few of us have already had our resurrection as you see in my own case.”

“I have been waiting for some time to ask,” I replied, “what made the great difference between your appearance and those other happy spirits and even my own?”

“All the elders,” said he, “received their resurrection at the time our Lord was raised and with Him became the first fruits of those who slept; yet we ourselves shall be freshly dressed up along with you for the marriage of the Lamb, a great event to which we all are looking.”

“Oh,” I said. “Blessed be the Lord our God! My soul is in perfect rapture for His unspeakable gift.”

“You may well be,” said Abraham, “and it will never die away from your soul. The time is almost here and the angels and saints have carried the news to the utmost limits of this heavenly domain. The Holy Spirit also, who is the light of the church on earth, as well as in heaven, is impressing the minds of the most godly in the church militant with this great event. I will speak to you again of this if you desire, but I see our company is now about full and we must prepare to be off for the holy city.

“The behavior, you will find, of all this great crowd will not be the same, although nearly all are fresh arrivals from the earth, and with few exceptions all are eager to see the King in His beauty. Some were exceedingly joyous, but others not so much so. Some have not made good use of their opportunities while on earth, and have not filled their souls with good. They have not been given to much prayer and efforts to develop the fruits of the spirit with themselves, which makes up our character for eternity. They have been building with wood, hay and stubble, instead of gold, silver and precious stones. But feel yourselves entirely at ease, for we shall soon be off for the city.”

Again he passed us, and stopping, said, “I see what you are looking at. You have been noticing some who, as we have been preparing for our journey to the city and the Throne, are inclined to drop into the rear, and are not so much filled with rejoicing.”

“Yes,” I said, “and I think I understand it. I remember while on earth, many of God’s children never could be persuaded to enter wholeheartedly into the way of life. Their faith was weak and unsatisfactory, and in times of great rejoicings in God, they had but little appetite for the deeper things of the kingdom. They lacked what we called real true consecration to God. Sometimes, we almost questioned whether they were saved from past sins. It was a rule among us that those who had a clear knowledge of much forgiveness always loved much, and those who were filled with the blessed Holy Spirit, had a sense of great victory over the world, the flesh and the devil, and were of those who overcame and had right to the tree of life and to enter in through the gates into the city. These were filled with great rejoicings of soul, and it seems that the same attitudes are extended into the heavenly kingdom.”

“You are quite right, my son,” said Abraham, “and when those, lean in soul, arrive here, they have but little desire for the crystal river, nor could they enjoy the fountains at the Throne, nor do they have great desire for the fruit upon the trees of which no doubt you have been eating. When they come here they mostly partake of the leaves, the fragrance of which is so sweet and powerful to you.”

All the time he was speaking to me there was constantly coming to my mind the words of the apostle: “Every man’s work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work shall abide which he has built there upon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:13-15)

“Oh,” I said, “how blessed that they have the foundation itself, the atonement made by our Lord Jesus Christ, and the privilege of these leaves which I remember are for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:2)

Abraham then said to me, “God cannot reward them largely, for their lack of capacity to receive, and yet as full as they are prepared to do so they will enjoy the glories of this heavenly kingdom. One star differs from another star in glory. (1 Corinthians 15:41) They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” (Daniel 12:3) ^c

* * * * *

By this time everything was ready and we were off. Twelve legions of souls from various places had gathered in a very short time beside the river and all had come by the way of the cross. It did not matter what language we had known on earth, we could fully understand each other there, and all were speaking, as we passed along, of the precious salvation through Jesus. As I turned myself from the themes of my former conversation and began to mingle more freely with the group of joyous spirits, I met some whom I recognized as old friends. One dear lady whom I had known as an invalid for many years, and yet a very spiritual Christian, was in the group. She was rejoicing with exceeding joy. I cannot tell how we recognized each other, but there is such a similarity of the spirit itself to the bodily features that we at once knew each other, and memory was so fresh that we seemed never to have forgotten anyone. She seemed so well now, and her face was beaming with immortal youth. As I drew near to her there was a halo of light and heavenly joy, beyond my power to describe to you, covering all her soul. As I spoke to her, calling her by name, she at once seized my hand, exclaiming, “Glory be to the Father. Saved, saved, forever! All sickness and suffering over! Hallelujah!”

“Yes,” I said, “and how well you look. Old things are passed away.”

“Indeed, when you knew me I was a great sufferer. I realize now Paul’s words: ‘For our light affliction which is but for a moment works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.’ (2 Corinthians 4:17) My soul is so full of glory. We are getting so near the King in His beauty. Oh, listen! What do I see and hear? Oh, the chariots of God are coming!”

At this we practically shouted, and could hear very lovely music in the distance, and looking in the direction from whence it came, we saw a great procession of angels with flaming chariots of light coming toward us. I cried out, together with many other voices, as we caught the first glimpse of them.

“Oh, Father Abraham, is this our Lord Jesus for whom we have been eagerly looking so long?”

Abraham lovingly replied, “These are the chariots of God under the control of angels. They will soon be among you, bringing many ancient loved ones to greet you with a welcome when they carry you to the city and the Throne itself. You remember how it was on earth, when our friends came from long journeys, how we would go long distances to meet them. I used to go far down from Hebron to welcome Lot and his children. Isaac went a long way into the fields when he knew the camels and Rebecca were coming. In your day you went to the railroad stations and the wharfs of the shores to meet your loved ones. They keep up this custom in heaven.”

In a few moments more—swifter by far than the fastest express trains of earth—they came nearer and nearer, and with a great sweeping circle they seemed to pass us by, but at Abraham’s suggestion the great legions now parted, standing in two long groups with an open space or aisle between, to give the chariots room to pass. Soon, they began to reduce their speed and moving slowly but most graciously they passed between the long rows of awestruck, expectant souls. We all stood as in breathless silence not only awestruck but in amazement and great wonder, at the marvelous sight. The chariots and all within glowed with a brightness and glory which we knew were reflected from the Throne itself. So when they had finally stopped, they gave one great shout of hallelujah to God, saying, “His redeemed are here!”

No sooner were the chariots standing among us than we saw that they were filled with happy, shining ones. They soon sprang out and were among us. They had come to meet and welcome us to these realms of everlasting light and day. But who were they but acquaintances, friends and relatives whom we had known so well on earth, and who knew of our coming. We used to have reunions on earth, but they could in no wise compare to the joy of this meeting. Some of these had been there for many years. In a few moments more, many were embraced in each other’s arms. Oh, such joy I never knew before, and such welcome! “Oh, blessed rewards!” I shouted.

Among these was my own dear mother. She had died many years ago. How she knew me I cannot tell, nor how I knew her I do not know, but she rushed toward me and I knew her so well and said, “Oh, mother, is this you?” She was beautiful and lovely. She embraced me in her arms and said, “I knew you were coming.” The memories of childhood and all her customary smiles and kindness which a mother’s love suggests, came back to me. There were many others like myself. Mothers and sons, fathers and children, old friends meeting again. The glory and joy of the occasion excelled anything I had yet known. The charioteers now kindly invited us all to take passage with them. We of course accepted their offers of kindness with thankfulness and were soon inside the chariots and the whole multitude were praising God. In a few moments we were flying with great speed toward the city gate, following the course of the river.

“The light toward the city which I had seen on my first arrival, grew more and more glorious as we neared the city. We could at length see the shining of the jasper walls. Although we were rolling along at such great speed the wheels were noiseless and the chariots without a bump. The appearance of the landscape on either side seemed at a distance like a sea of glass mingled with fire, but on a closer examination it seemed that it was immortal. Flowers of unfading glory, and with an endless variety of colors, many of which I never saw anything before to which I could compare them and their indescribable loveliness attracted everyone’s attention. We saw thousands of angels and happy spirits passing in all directions, but all I saw seemed very joyous and happy in their work. I thought of the word of the Lord: “He makes his angels spirits and His ministers a flaming fire.” (Psalm 104:4, Hebrews 1:7)

I said to my mother, “Can you tell me why we were not brought directly to the Throne at once when we departed from our earthly home?”

“Oh,” said she, “you could not have endured its glory, but would have been dazzled into utter confusion and unconsciousness. Even now your expanding powers cannot take in all the glory and grandeur of the city until you are further prepared for it. The same law prevails in heaven as on earth. The Patriarchal and Jewish systems were very inferior to the Christian dispensation and the kingdom of heaven on earth was very inferior to the kingdom here, as you see, in point of glory and blessing. So you could not be ushered in about the Throne till you were graciously prepared for it. But I am so glad you are here. I had word of your coming before you reached the portals of paradise, and I have often had word concerning you since I left you. This very angel which you do not recognize, who is your charioteer, has often been to you. Once when you were very ill and away from your home and came well near dying, he was by your bed all the night and laid his hand upon you and said you should live and finish your work. He has told me how he saved you on the water once when you came near being drowned.”

“Oh, mother, was he there at that time?”

“Indeed, my son, and his own hand righted your little boat when it was almost overturned.”

“Well, mother, I always felt there was some mysterious Providence which saved us that day, but how little I knew this angel of heaven was with me then. Oh, thank God for His wonderful care!”

“Yes,” said mother, “at one time, he told me he kept you from getting on a railroad train, which if you had, your life would have been lost, and your work not been done. Do you not remember many times when strange Providence came into your pathway and you wondered and sometimes grieved at such occurrences? He was guarding your life and shielding you from the stormy blasts of danger. Some day you can ask him all about these times, and we ourselves will talk it all over, for we are just in the springtime of our eternal life. But do you see we are nearing the golden gate, glistening with one great pearl, studded with a thousand shining gems? In just a little while we will all join in singing the Song of Moses and the Lamb? Do you know it?”

“Yes,” I replied, “for we have been singing it far back in paradise where this great legion was made up.” I repeated it over in a subdued tone to my mother, but wanted to shout it out at the top of my voice.

“Here,” said she, “take this harp I have brought for you.” She loosened it from a golden belt about her and gave it to me. “See, I have one like it.”