A Dream Come True
November 16, 2003
Exodus 34:1-4

The destination makes the journey. If the journey would be fun regardless of where you are going – a cruise, for example – it will be doubly fun if you’re excited about the destination. And if the journey otherwise would be too difficult to even attempt, if you are excited about the journey’s end you’ll somehow get there.

Moses and the Israelites attempted the impossible when they left Egypt for the desert in search of the promised land. What kept them going as they encountered heat, hunger, thirst, and indescribable fatigue? The promise of a land flowing with milk and honey. Even when they were no longer going for themselves they went for their children so their children would be free of the indignity of slavery. Finally, the promised land was in sight. The story goes like this in Deuteronomy 34,

“Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’”

Finally, Moses could see all that he had worked for his entire life. It was like a dream come true. But we can’t expect Moses to leap for joy at the sight. He was atop the mountain not only so he could see the promised land. He was there because this was to be his final resting place. For Moses this was the end of the line. The Lord said to him, “I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.” This comes next,

“And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.”

Every reader of that text has to feel that Moses got cheated. Surely, he deserved to step foot in the promised land regardless of any mistakes he may have made along the way. But the Lord was firm about it and caused the lawgiver to die on top of Mount Nebo. I see in that story a principle – death comes before the journey’s end. Heaven is the end of the journey for the Christian. Any one of us, given the choice, would like to cross over without dying first, but the Lord makes it a necessary last step before our eternal reward. Someone has put it this way: everyone wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die.

We’ve come today to the journey’s end for Bunyan’s pilgrim. He and Hopeful, from the land of Beulah, catch a fresh vision of the Celestial City, and are stricken by the sight,

“Now as they walked in this land, they had more rejoicing than in parts more remote from the kingdom to which they were bound; and drawing near to the city, they had yet a more perfect view thereof. It was built of pearls and precious stones, also the street thereof was paved with gold; so that by reason of the natural glory of the city, and the reflection of the sunbeams upon it, Christian with desire fell sick; Hopeful also had a fit or two of the same disease. Wherefore, here they lay by it a while, crying out, because of their pangs, ‘If ye find my beloved, tell him that I am sick of love.’”

At this point the pilgrims are told, “You have but two difficulties more to meet with, and then you are in the City.” The second of the two will be the gate to the very city itself, but first they must cross the River of Death,

“Now, I further saw, that betwixt them and the gate was a river, but there was no bridge to go over: the river was very deep. At the sight, therefore, of this river, the Pilgrims were much stunned; but the men that went in with them said, ‘You must go through, or you cannot come at the gate.’

“The Pilgrims then began to inquire if there was no other way to the gate; to which they answered, ‘Yes; but there hath not any, save two, to wit, Enoch and Elijah, been permitted to tread that path since the foundation of the world, nor shall, until the last trumpet shall sound.’ The Pilgrims then, especially Christian, began to despond in their minds, and looked this way and that, but no way could be found by them by which they might escape the river. Then they asked the men if the waters were all of a depth. They said: ‘No;’ yet they could not help them in that case; for, said they, ‘You shall find it deeper or shallower as you believe in the King of the place.’

“They then addressed themselves to the water and, entering, Christian began to sink, and crying out to his good friend Hopeful, he said, ‘I sink in deep waters; the billows go over my head, all his waves go over me! Selah.’”

The crossing of this river is by no means easy for them, especially Christian.

“Then said Christian, ‘Ah! my friend, sorrow of death hath compassed me about; I shall not see the land that flows with milk and honey,’ and with that a great darkness and horror fell upon Christian, so that he could not see before him. Also here he in great measure lost his senses, so that he could neither remember nor orderly talk of any of those sweet refreshments that he had met with in the way of his pilgrimage... Here also, as they that stood by perceived, he was much in the troublesome thoughts of the sins that he had committed, both since and before he began to be a pilgrim.”

Now, he’s going to make it across, but before we get to that point let’s stop and take a lesson from him about facing the day of our death. You may remember that the pilgrims were warned that the difficulty of the river would depend directly on their faith. They were told, “You shall find it deeper or shallower as you believe in the King of the place.”

Apparently, Christian’s faith falters here a bit, and I think we can see why. It says that he fell into the depths of the river as he thought about his sins, though, since being released from the burden on his back, he should no longer have any worry about his sins.

Scripture says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1), and I think this single verse strikes at two common extremes. On the one hand, there are those who assume that there is no condemnation for anyone, whether in Christ or not, but this the Bible adamantly denies. On the other hand, there are those (Christians) who seem to believe that, even for those in Christ, there may be still some kind of condemnation. They worry about losing their salvation. They secretly hope that they have enough good deeds in their account to earn them entrance into Heaven. The solution for such a person, and the solution for Bunyan’s pilgrim, is to totally rely upon the finished work of Christ and that alone. Is there any sin too egregious for God to forgive? If so, we would never be promised that there is no condemnation. We need to learn to rest in what God has already done for us and not fret.

I’m not saying that crossing that river will be easy, but I am saying that we don’t need to make it harder by our puny faith. Trust God with your life and you will have the experience of the famous evangelist George Whitefield who reportedly said on his deathbed,

“I go to a rest prepared; my sun has arisen and by aid from Heaven has given light to many. It is now about to set -- no, it is about to rise to the zenith of eternal glory. Many may outlive me on earth but they cannot outlive me in Heaven.

Oh thought divine! I shall soon be in a world where time, age, pain, and sorrow are unknown. My body fails. My spirit expands. How willingly would I live to preach Christ. But I die to be with Him.”

(See George Whitefield, p. 195)

What about our pilgrims? They do, in fact, make it across, and in a flash all their trials along the way are quickly forgotten. Words fail the storyteller to describe what he sees,

“Now I saw in my dream that these two men went in at the gate: and lo, as they entered, they were transfigured, and they had raiment put on that shone like gold... Then I heard in my dream that all the bells in the city rang again for joy, and that it was said unto them, ‘Enter ye into the joy of your Lord.’ I also heard the men themselves, that they sang with a loud voice, saying, ‘Blessing and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.’

“Now, just as the gates were opened to let in the men, I looked in after them, and, behold, the City shone like the sun; the streets also were paved with gold, and in them walked any men, with crowns on their heads, palms in their hands, and golden harps to sing praises withal.

“There were also of them that had wings, and they answered one another without intermission, saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord.’ And after that they shut up the gates; which, when I had seen, I wished myself among them.”

The last sentence in Bunyan’s book is simply this: “So I awoke, and behold it was a dream.”

Was it? Yes, the part about the pilgrims, the strange places they visited and people with funny-sounding names they met. And yet, it’s not just a dream that there is a place like the celestial city. While fully alert the Apostle John saw something very similar to it.

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will
there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.” (Rev. 22:1-5)

I ask you today, Are you prepared to die? We think we have a lot of time, but we may not. Those victims of the Cedar fire had no idea when they went to bed that Saturday night that it would be their last night.

The best way to prepare yourself for that day is to deal with the sin issue once and for all. Forgiveness of sins and entrance into Heaven is the free gift that God Almighty extends to each and every one, because of the death of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Have you fled from the city of destruction, so to speak, by accepting this free gift? If not, speak to God directly about it, and don’t delay. Confess your need. Tell him that you want Heaven to be your final destination. And begin the journey of faith.