Ticket to Heaven
Here is something that I have been pondering over for some time, and I think that it is about time to share this with you. There was a, not so familiar Christian song, some years back, that had a catchy line something like this, “Jesus is your Ticket to Heaven,” and it is probably a very true statement, but wait “There’s more” as the “On Line Shopping” advertisement goes. Quote; “The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven. {FLB 116}
To put this into the modern concept that we are working with, we get this, “Righteousness by which we are Justified [Imputed], is our Ticket to Heaven” and the “Righteousness by which we are Sanctified [Imparted], is our Entry Visa to Heaven.” So in Airport Parables, we get that “Justification by Faith” is our Airline Ticket” and that gets us to heaven’s door, but then you need “Sanctification by Faith” as your Entry Visa to get past, or to “Clear Customs,” and that gets you actually right through the door, and into Heaven.
In the Parable of the “Wedding Garment” as found in Matthew 22:1-14, we get a mythical situation where somebody, somehow, got into Heaven, without the correct Garment/Entry Visa, and this really stood out to “The King.” The guilty person was speechless when challenged, he could not produce the required evidence, he was without excuse; and was therefore quickly and un-ceremoniously bound up, and then tossed out the door, right out of Heaven, and then the door was quickly shut and locked behind him. In the parable of the “Ten Bridesmaids” as found in Matthew 25:1-13 we also get a situation where Five were permanently “Locked outside the door” and in the Parable of the “Rich man and Lazarus” from Luke 16:19-31 we get this critical verse, Luke 16:26 “And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that [would come] from thence.”
Once the door is shut, once that point is passed, one cannot go back and try again, as now there is a vast gulf set, and there is no longer a bridge over the gulf. Jacob discovered that this gulf could be easily crossed through Jesus Christ, his ladder to heaven, and pictures often show a Cross bridging this deep chasm, but there is a day coming, when the door of probation closes forever, then the draw bridge is lifted, Customs Entry is closed for business forever, and there is now no possible way for Salvation to be made available to any sinners ever again, right now is the time for repentance.
Quote; “As the penitent sinner, contrite before God, discerns Christ’s atonement in his behalf, and accepts this atonement as his only hope in this life and the future life, his sins are pardoned. This is justification by faith. {FLB 116.} Here the repentant sinner has fallen at the foot of the cross, the blood is applied, sin is atoned and the gift of “Eternal Life” is assured, or as our current concept runs, they are now issued with their Airline Ticket to Heaven.
Quote; “Sanctification is not the work of a moment, an hour, a day, but of a lifetime. It is not gained by a happy flight of feeling, but is the result of constantly dying to sin, and constantly living for Christ. Wrongs cannot be righted nor reformations wrought in the character by feeble, intermittent efforts. It is only by long, persevering effort, sore discipline, and stern conflict, that we shall overcome. It [sanctification] is not merely a theory, an emotion, or a form of words, but a living, active principle, entering into the everyday life. It requires that our habits of eating, drinking, and dressing be such as to secure the preservation of physical, mental, and moral health, that we may present to the Lord our bodies–not an offering corrupted by wrong habits but–“a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” The Scriptures are the great agency in the transformation of character. . . . If studied and obeyed, the Word of God works in the heart, subduing every unholy attribute. There is no such thing as instantaneous sanctification. True sanctification is a daily work, continuing as long as life shall last. {FLB 116}
As in this world, by a lack of preparation, a flight can leave with your seat being very empty. It matters not whether you got the dates wrong, the time wrong, there was a traffic congestion problem, you were too late, and they simply closed the desk on time, so there is now no way to book your bags through, you were just too late in getting to the flight gate; slept at the gate like the “Five Foolish Bridesmaids” and it simply closed and the plane flew away as you slept right there at the very door. If you are not prepared and in your seat, then you are simply just “Left Behind,” and that was the last flight, and the “Only Flight to Heaven,” so then you are really in a deep predicament, with no chance ever of getting to Heaven.
Quote; “Wait not for others to urge you to take advance steps. Move without delay, bearing in mind your individual responsibility to Him who gave His life for you. Move as if you heard Christ calling upon you personally to awake out of sleep and to exert every God-given faculty in doing the utmost in His service. Look not to see who else is ready to catch inspiration from the word of the living God. If you are thoroughly consecrated, through your instrumentality He will bring into the truth others whom He can use as channels to convey light to many souls in darkness.” {AH 488}
“It is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Romans 13:11-14.
