— Maurice Roberts
Maurice Roberts is the Minister of the Inverness congregation of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing). He is well known as a conference speaker in many countries around the world and was editor of the monthly magazine The Banner of Truth from January 1988 to January 2003.

While belief in heaven is essential to the Christian faith, the fact that pilgrim believers have not yet experienced heaven leaves us with many questions about what it will be like. In The Happiness of Heaven, Maurice Roberts surveys Holy Scripture to tell us what heaven is all about. In his characteristic style, Roberts discusses the biblical data clearly and relevantly, making soul-searching application at every turn. This is not just a book of interesting facts about what heaven is like; it is an appeal to men and women to find their happiness in the eternal comfort of God in Christ.

“I have seldom heard a minister preach with more relish, glow, and frequency about heaven than Rev. Maurice Roberts. In The Happiness of Heaven, Roberts shows that same giftedness in writing about the glorious state of eternal bliss. He writes with warmth, conviction, and longing, while not fearing to address biblically the difficult questions in masterful chapters such as ‘Children and Heaven’ and ‘The Dark Side of Heaven.’ This is one of the author’s best books yet. If you’re a believer, it will move you deeply and make you more homesick. Read it repeatedly to lift your soul up above the sin and mundane trivialities of this world and to set your affections on the Triune God and things above.” —Joel R. Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids

Paperback, 144 pages
Page size: 5 x 7.5 inches
Retail Price: $10.00
RHB Price: $7.50
ISBN 978-1-60178-081-2

Publisher’s description: While belief in heaven is essential to the Christian faith, the fact that pilgrim believers have not yet experienced heaven leaves us with many questions about what it will be like. In The Happiness of Heaven, Maurice Roberts surveys Holy Scripture to tell us what heaven is all about. In his characteristic style, Roberts discusses the biblical data clearly and relevantly, making soul-searching application at every turn. This is not just a book of interesting facts about what heaven is like; it is an appeal to men and women to find their happiness in the eternal comfort of God in Christ.

Endorsement: “I have seldom heard a minister preach with more relish, glow, and frequency about heaven than Rev. Maurice Roberts. In The Happiness of Heaven, Roberts shows that same giftedness in writing about the glorious state of eternal bliss. He writes with warmth, conviction, and longing, while not fearing to address biblically the difficult questions in masterful chapters such as ‘Children and Heaven’ and ‘The Dark Side of Heaven.’ This is one of the author’s best books yet. If you’re a believer, it will move you deeply and make you more homesick. Read it repeatedly to lift your soul up above the sin and mundane trivialities of this world and to set your affections on the Triune God and things above.” —Joel R. Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids

Author Info.: Maurice Roberts is the Minister of the Inverness congregation of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing). He is well known as a conference speaker in many countries around the world and was editor of the monthly magazine The Banner of Truth from January 1988 to January 2003.

Table of Contents:

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii

1. Our Need to Believe in Heaven and Hell . . . . . .1

2. Heaven’s Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

3. Heaven and Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

4. Heaven and Salvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

5. Children and Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

6. Heaven after Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

7. When the Trumpet Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

8. Heaven and Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

9. Heaven a World of Perfection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

10. The Dark Side of Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102

11. The Happiness of Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Scripture Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125

Interview with Maurice Roberts

Dewalt: Why the title Union and Communion with Christ?
Roberts: Union is something, which believers have always and unvaryingly with Christ.  Communion is something, which varies. It is the conscious enjoyment of that union.  In this book both aspects are dealt with.

Dewalt: What was the reasoning behind wanting to write on the Union and Communion with Christ?
Roberts: It is one of the most wonderful themes in the entire Christian life, full of encouragement for the Lord’s people.

Dewalt: For what purpose do you see this book helping those that are believers in the church understand their relationship with that of Jesus Christ?
Roberts: Our deepest need as believers is to cultivate out relationship with Christ in this life.  As we appreciate our privileged position in Him more perfectly we are enlivened to seek Him with our whole heart.  Nothing is more conducive to our spiritual good or to our progress in grace.

Dewalt: How is this particular doctrine a necessity for the Christian to understand in the Reformed faith?
Roberts: To be truly Reformed is not merely to have our heads well taught.  Those who love the Reformed faith need also to have their hearts well exercised in all aspects of heart-religion. This we see exemplified in the lives of Calvin and the other great theologians of the Reformed tradition.

Dewalt: In what part of the Gospel does the union with Christ play in the believer’s life?
Roberts: It sweetens our whole life with the realisation that Christ and we are all one, in that He is our Husband and we as believers are His spiritual bride whom He came to redeem at infinite cost to Himself and to make “bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh” forever.

Dewalt: How can the believer enjoy the union with Christ in their life?
Roberts: By understanding this doctrine as fully as it is revealed in scripture and by exercising faith in this truth so as to walk closely with Christ all our life, in the expectation that we shall soon see His  blessed face with unspeakable joy and so be with Him in glory forever.

Dewalt: Do you see a huge decline of Christians today not knowing or maybe not seeing this important truth of the gospel?
Roberts: A knowledge of the Puritans and their wonderful writings is enough to convince any reader that we as Christians today fall very far short of what they were and of what we ought to be.

Dewalt: What can we today the bride of Christ do to help bring about the importance of a doctrine like this, that may be overlooked in not only an American culture but in the world as a whole?
Roberts: We must reaffirm the great importance of communion with Christ, as the Puritans in their own day did. Further, we ought to seek to live lives which are convincingly seen by others as lived in nearness to the Saviour whom we profess.  Western culture generally has not been conducive to the cultivation of that spiritual relationship which our great forebears once had with Christ. But this is no excuse.

Dewalt: What would be your advice for the believer who wants to study this truth deeper and learn a greater knowledge of the beauty that lies in Christ communion with his saints.
Roberts: My advice would be this. Get a clearer sight of your own heart as totally depraved and tell yourself daily that we are but the rubbish of a once perfect Adam, who fully bore the image of God.  We in this life as Christians have made but a very small start in the knowledge of God.  The more we can increase in the fear of God the better shall we glorify God and enjoy Him forever.