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Heavenly
Reality-Check:
Are You
Ready for Eternal Life in Heaven?
Dear
Friends,
It is always interesting to
me to get people's impressions and ideas of what eternity will be like. Some
people have the mistaken notion that we will be floating around on clouds
while playing a 6 stringed harp, with nothing much to do (as depicted in
one recent food commercial, and many Renaissance paintings).
For them, this mistaken picture of Heaven leads to the conclusion that Heaven
will be a boring place to be, and who wants to be bored
forever???
Which therefore (in
their way of thinking) means that Hell would be a more desireable place to spend
eternity. Since they feel that rock musicians and other "cool" people will
definitely be in hell, they have an equally mistaken idea that hell will
be some kind of eternal rock concert, D.J'd by Satan and his demons, in which
the sign over the door reads "PAR-TAY for all eternity". Now this is more
like it. Oh Really??
Well, I'm sorry folks.
Both extremes are wrong, but for different reasons. Although there's lots
of fire in Hell, there is no mention of usable electricity in Hell,
therefore no amplifiers strobe-lights or c-d players; and it's impossible to
party in an atmosphere of high temperature burning sulfur and no air, especially
when you don't have a body... Oh, and by the way, the old German song, "in
heaven there is no beer", has it probably right as far as it goes, but there
won't be any in hell either. Think about it: there can be no
liquid water at the high temperatures of hell. Just ask the Rich Man of
Luke 16:19, who
begged for a few drops of water to be put on his parched tongue, being
"tormented in these flames". And, no water was ever given
him. But these are topics for another study.
?
So, what is Heaven going to
be like? What is it like now? The Third Heaven, that is, as Paul puts it (2 Cor
12:2), where God the Father sits on His Throne, with "the Lamb" (Jesus Christ)
and the Holy Spirit? ...surrounded by The Eternal Elders, adoring angels and
countless redeemed souls? In an atmosphere of Holiness, Worship, Reverence for
God, Joy unspeakable and full of Glory, beautiful colors, powerful lightning
discharges and thunder?.. in the presence of heavenly creatures of great
authority and holiness with outward appearances which stretch the imagination to
the breaking point? All enthralled with the Person of Jesus Christ in an
attitude of eternal worship and gratitude. Are you ready for this???
I have heard one deriding
comment about certain Christians from time to time, which I always found missed
the point. It was said that some Christians are "so heavenly minded
that they are no earthly good". Well I say ... Amen !!! May we all be that
way...so Heavenly minded that we are not good for anything on this temporary
dwelling but to stand in awe of God and point the way to the Savior. As Paul put
it, "For I determined not to know any thing among
you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. "1 Cor 2:2 (KJV).
As for the boring part of being in
Heaven, forget that. Although as yet no specifics have been revealed to us, it
is enough to know that.... 1 Cor 2:9b
(TLB)
no mere man has ever seen, heard,
or even imagined
what wonderful things God has
ready for those who love the Lord.
And as for living on clouds, Jesus has this to say... John 14:1-4
(TLB)
"Let not your heart be troubled. You are trusting God, now trust
in me.
{2} There are many homes up
there where my Father lives,
and I am going to prepare them for
your coming.
{3} When everything is
ready, then I will come and get you,
so that you can always be with me
where I am.
If this weren't so, I would
tell you plainly.
{4} And you know
where I am going and how to get there."
Then there is the "Paradise of God", the new Garden of Eden, as it were, since the Greek word "paradise" means literally "a park, garden, or orchard". This is what Jesus says about it.... Rev 2:7
(TLB)
"Let this message sink into
the ears of anyone who listens to what the Spirit is saying to the churches:
To everyone who is victorious,
I will give fruit from the Tree of
Life in the Paradise of God.
Whether the Paradise of God is in the New Heavens or on the New Earth is a matter for further study and maybe we have to get there to find out. But the point is that it will be somewhere, and we will be able to go there, and it will be wonderful. It is even very likely that we will be commuting between the New Jerusalem, which will be hovering in the sky above the renovated earth, and the earth itself, where we will work. All this study of future things is very controversial among some Christians. But it need not be so. No one of us has ever been to or seen these things except through the eyes of faith, which at one and the same time limits and energizes our understanding of future events. These things will come when and where God intends them to be, and our understanding or misunderstanding of them will not change that. But is not worth dividing ourselves from our Christian brethren just to prove we are "right" and they are wrong. As someone has wisely said, "We are not supposed to know exactly when Christ is coming back, but we do know this: He is coming back, He is coming soon, and we'd better be ready" And now for the Throne-Room of
God, where God lives and rules...there are things going on there that one could
never imagine. God in His sovereign wisdom has chosen to reveal only a few of
these scenes to us, scattered throughout the scriptures in places like Isaiah
and Revelation. So let us take a
little spiritual vacation, courtesy of the Apostle John and the gracious
Revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, all the way from our work-a-day treadmill
to the Throne Room of God, and see what is going on there:
Rev 4:1 to 5:14 (TLB)
Then as I looked, I saw a
door standing open in heaven,
and the same voice I had
heard before,
which sounded like a
mighty trumpet blast,
spoke to me and said, "Come
up here
and I will show you what must
happen in the future!"
{2} And instantly I
was in spirit there in heaven
and saw--oh, the glory of it!--
a throne and someone sitting
on it!
{3} Great bursts of
light flashed forth from him
as from a glittering diamond
or from a shining ruby,
and a rainbow glowing like an
emerald encircled His throne.
{4} Twenty-four
smaller thrones surrounded His,
with twenty-four Elders
sitting on them;
all were clothed in white,
with golden crowns upon their heads.
{5} Lightning and
thunder issued from the throne,
and there were voices
in the thunder.
Directly in front of his
throne were seven lighted lamps
representing the seven-fold
Spirit of God.
{6} Spread out before
it was a shining crystal sea.
Four Living Beings, dotted
front and back with eyes,
stood at the throne's four
sides.
{7} The first of these
Living Beings was in the form of a lion;
the second looked like an ox;
the third had the face of a man;
and the fourth, the form of
an eagle, with wings spread out as though in flight.
{8} Each of these
Living Beings had six wings,
and the central
sections of their wings were covered with eyes.
Day after day and night after
night they kept on saying,
"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
Almighty--
the one who was, and is, and
is to come."
{9} And when the
Living Beings gave glory and honor and thanks
to the one sitting on the
throne, who lives forever and ever,
{10} the twenty-four
Elders fell down before him and worshiped him,
the Eternal Living One,
and cast their crowns before
the throne, singing,
{11} "O Lord, you are
worthy to receive the glory and the honor and the power,
for you have created all
things.
They were created and called
into being by your act of will."
Rev 5
(TLB)
And I saw a scroll in the
right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne,
a scroll with writing on the
inside and on the back, and sealed with seven seals.
{2} A mighty angel
with a loud voice was shouting out this question:
"Who is worthy to break the
seals on this scroll and to unroll it?"
{3} But no one in all
heaven or earth
or from among the dead was
permitted to open and read it.
{4} Then I wept with
disappointment because no one anywhere was worthy;
no one could tell us what it
said.
{5} But one of the
twenty-four Elders said to me,
"Stop crying, for look!
The Lion of the tribe of
Judah, the Root of David, has conquered,
and proved himself worthy to
open the scroll and to break its seven seals."
{6} I looked and
saw a Lamb standing there before the twenty-four Elders,
in front of the throne
and the Living Beings,
and on the Lamb were wounds
that once had caused his death.
He had seven horns and
seven eyes,
which represent the
seven-fold Spirit of God,
sent out into every part of
the world.
{7} He stepped
forward
and took the scroll
from the right
hand of the one sitting upon the throne.
{8} And as he took the
scroll, the twenty-four Elders fell down before the Lamb,
each with a harp and golden
vials filled with incense--the prayers of God's people!
{9} They were
singing him a new song with these words:
"You are worthy to take
the scroll and break its seals and open it;
for you were slain,
and your blood has
bought people from every nation as gifts for God.
{10} And you have
gathered them into a kingdom
and made them priests of our
God;
they shall reign upon the
earth."
{11} Then in my vision
I heard the singing of millions of angels
surrounding the throne and
the Living Beings and the Elders:
{12} "The Lamb is
worthy" (loudly they sang it!) "--the Lamb who was slain.
He is worthy to receive
the power, and the riches, and the wisdom,
and the strength, and the
honor, and the glory, and the blessing."
{13} And then I heard
everyone in heaven and earth,
and from the dead beneath the
earth and in the sea, exclaiming,
"The blessing and the honor
and the glory and the power
belong to the one sitting on
the throne,
and to the Lamb forever and
ever."
{14} And the four
Living Beings kept saying, "Amen!"
And the twenty-four Elders
fell down and worshiped him.
(Rev 3:11-12 KJV)
Behold, I come quickly:
hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy
crown.
{12} Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the
temple of my God,
and he shall go no more out:
and I will write upon him the name of my God,
and the name of the city of my God, which is new
Jerusalem,
which cometh down out of heaven from my God:
and I will write upon him my new name.
(Rev 21:21-27 KJV)
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several
gate was of one pearl:
and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were
transparent glass.
{22} And I saw no temple therein:
for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple
of it.
{23} And the city had no need of the sun,
neither of the moon, to shine in it:
for the glory of God did lighten it, and the
Lamb is the light thereof.
{24} And the nations of them which are saved shall
walk in the light of it:
and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and
honour into it.
{25} And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by
day: for there shall be no night there.
{26} And they shall bring the glory and honour
of the nations into it.
{27} And there shall in no wise enter into it any
thing that defileth,
neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a
lie:
but they which are written in the Lamb's book of
life.
(Rev 22:1-7 KJV)
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear
as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the
Lamb.
{2} In the midst of the street of it, and on
either side of the river, was there the tree of life,
which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded
her fruit every month:
and the leaves of the tree were for the healing
of the nations.
{3} And there shall be no more curse:
but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be
in it; and his servants shall serve him:
{4} And they shall see his face; and his name shall be
in their foreheads.
{5} And there shall be no night there;
and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for
the Lord God giveth them light:
and they shall reign for ever and ever.
{6} And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful
and true:
and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his
angel to show unto his servants
the things which must shortly be
done.
{7} Behold, I come quickly:
blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy
of this book.
(Rev 22:11-17 KJV)
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still:
and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still:
and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still:
and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
{12} And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is
with me,
to give every man according as his work shall be.
{13} I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end,
the first and the last.
{14} Blessed are they that do his commandments,
that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city.
{15} For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and
whoremongers,
and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and
maketh a lie.
{16} I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you
these things in the churches.
I am the root and the offspring of David, and the
bright and morning star.
{17} And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
And let him that heareth say, Come.
And let him that is athirst come.
And whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely.
(Rev 22:20
KJV)
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I
come quickly.
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
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May the message of God's
Word and the Love of Christ the Savior
bless your heart and make you whole.
In Christ........brother
bob.........<><
[p.s.... There's going to be
a lot of worship like this going on for all eternity...
is this something your
innermost heart cries out for???
If not, why
not?] IXTHEUS CHRISTIAN GROWTH DEVOTIONALS
ALWAYS FREE OF
CHARGE
(but not necessarily free
of COST)
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God Bless You.....brother
bob.......<>< For more information, please visit our home page http://www.nazerene.com
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