No Night There – John R Clements (1899)

In the land of fadeless day
Lies the city four-square;
It shall never pass away,
And there is no night there.

Refrain:
God shall wipe away all tears;
There’s no death, no pain, nor fears;
And they count not time by years,
For there is no night there.

All the gates of pearl are made,
In the city four-square;
All the streets with gold are laid,
And there is no night there.

And the gates shall never close
To the city four-square;
There life’s crystal river flows,
And there is no night there.

There they need no sunshine bright,
In that city four-square;
For the Lamb is all the light,
And there is no night there.

The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 21:23; 22:5).

** This is one of the hymns I’ve requested be sung at my funeral.

Safely Walking the Streets

My wife Kimberly and friend Gaurav.

But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 21:27).

In October, my wife had a co-worker from one of her company’s Indian offices visit the United States. We spent three evenings and a day with Gaurav and wish it could have been much more.

Before coming the US, he was prompted to anticipate harassment, prejudice, and even hatred because of his skin color or Indian-English accent. He found none of those dire warnings to be true. He was free to wander the streets, even late into the night, and never felt the slightest hint of harassment, danger, or trouble from police or anyone else.

One evening at dinner he asked me, If you came to India, do you think it would be safe for you to walk on the street alone as I have done in America? I answered as honestly as he asked, No. I think there would be people seek to take advantage of me simply because of the color of my skin. Gaurav nodded his head.

I know that in many places of the world, it’s not safe to walk, especially at night. Now, I’d be safe walking most of the 4.12 million miles of paved roadways in the United States, but there are places here I wouldn’t dare to travel. Why? Because I’m well aware of the sin that lies in my own heart, and if everyone else’s hearts are like my own, I know the evil others are capable of doing.

Heaven, however, is very different from this world. Heaven is a place void of all sin.  Revelation 21:21 says that Heaven has only one street. Additionally, verse 25 says that Heaven’s gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). There is no darkness of night creating dark shadowy clefts in which sin and sinners can hide. Because there is no sin, there is also no need to ever shut the city doors.

How wonderful Heaven must be, but the only way to gain entrance into that city is through faith in Jesus Christ. He’s both the Way (John 14:6) and the Door (John 10:9).

No Night There

As we progress from winter into spring here in the American Pacific Northwest, we’re adding about 3 minutes of daylight each day.

December 21st is the darkest day of the year with less than 8 hours of daylight – that is when the sky isn’t black with heavy rain clouds. That compares to the middle of June when we’ll reach nearly more than 16 hours of light each day.

Come on summer!!!

The Bible says that Heaven has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminates it, and the Lamb is its light. And there shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 21:23; 22:5).

Imagine living for eternity in the homeland of Almighty God where there is never any material or spiritual darkness because the glory of Jesus shines without the hint of dimming.