"Heavenly Country"

Or, A Taste of Heaven
"If so be ye have tasted that the LORD is gracious"
(1 Peter 2:3).


by Tom Stewart

he Apostle Paul visited and returned from Heaven during his lifetime. "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the Third Heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter" (2Corinthians 12:2-4).

In 1848, Marietta Davis of Berlin, New York (USA), fell into a coma for 9 days. Doctors were unable to arouse the 25 year old Baptist woman. However, when she did awake from her coma, she proceeded to tell of an amazingly vivid and detailed dream in which she visited and returned from Heaven. Her dream was recorded in a book as the "Visions of Marietta Davis". 150 years ago, God saw fit to continue the fulfillment of the Joel prophecy-- the same prophecy that the Apostle Peter had announced as being fulfilled on Pentecost (Acts 2). "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit" (Joel 2:28-29).

In particular, Marietta Davis visited what she has called the "Infants Paradise", i.e., that aspect of Heaven that receives a deceased infant. "Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me: for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 19:14). In Marietta's dream, the arrangement of the Infant Nursery speaks of Divine Thoughtfulness and Love. "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that Love Him" (1Corinthians 2:9). Not surprisingly, the infants are schooled in Spiritual things, and graduate to higher employments. "But the path of the just is as the shining Light, that shineth more and more unto the Perfect Day" (Proverbs 4:18).

She described the infants' happiness in their new situation. "As they awoke... they beheld their [guardian] angel bending over them... [they] wore an expressive smile, and were happy." Indescribable joy is found in Heaven. "In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psalm 16:11).

The swell of Heavenly Anthems fill Paradise. "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and Spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the LORD" (Ephesians 5:19). Marietta gives much detail to the musical culture of Heaven. "Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise" (Psalm 98:4).

The Cross of the LORD Jesus is a central theme of Heaven. "Is there no Heaven without the Cross and the Sacrifice?" Marietta asked. She was told that all instruction in Heaven is based upon that "blessed symbol of redeeming love". "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God" (1Corinthians 1:23-24).

Jesus visited the Infant Nursery in Marietta's dream. "He [Jesus] moved His hand above them [the infants], and goodness like dew-drops fell therefrom, and the infants appeared to drink as from a fountain of living water." "How sweet are Thy Words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:103).

Marietta's dream describes Heaven, the place that we longingly call our Home. We look for a "city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). For that reason, it is appropriate to call us "strangers and pilgrims" (Hebrews 11:13) to this Earth. In varying degrees, we may thrive and fit into the world's scheme; however, we are at heart citizens of Heaven. "For our conversation [citizenship] is in Heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the LORD Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20).

We "occupy" (Luke 19:13) at our respective places in our LORD's service because it is "more needful" (Philippians 1:24) to those that we benefit that we should remain. Very soon, the LORD will fulfill the Pre-Tribulational Rapture Promise: "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape ALL these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (Luke 21:36).

Marietta's vision of Heaven should inspire us to the "patient waiting for Christ" (2Thessalonians 3:5). The Love of Christ shown to us in the intricate provision made for the reception of these tiniest of Heavenly Citizens should cause us to love our LORD even more. "We love him, because he first loved us" (1John 4:19). May the "Love of God [be] shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5) as we intreat our LORD that we might be kept in His Love.

I like the way Marietta Davis concludes her dream. "Patiently I await the hour I know is determined, when I shall go hence and enjoy the fruition of those realms of bliss, where my spirit obtained its assurance of joys. I will praise my Heavenly Father for my hope in Jesus, which is worth ten thousand worlds to me. And when I arrive in Paradise, free from mortality, I will praise Him with an undivided and pure heart, and with holy lips. There I will, in loud anthems, exalt the name of my Redeemer while Eternity endures."

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"But now they desire a Better Country, that is, an Heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a City"
(Hebrews 11:16).


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