Editions

Edition 483: August 20^th 2019

A preview of heaven:

Introduction:

These are words of life!

No human on earth knows the full extent of all the glorious mysteries of heaven and the eternal state that lies ahead. Many have had dreams and visions of heaven, most are simply imaginations, some are lies and perhaps a few are true. We can’t rule out the true, because of the liars.

So, what I have done for your benefit, is draw together, the teachings of numerous Bible verses on the subject and added some thoughts. It is only the Bible that contains the full truthful authority.

There are a number of heavens.

Through the many wonders of the Bible, studied prayerfully, we get many glimpses of eternity, which offer us a great anchor and future hope.

The Bible speaks of the heavens above, which would be the visible sky, clouds, stars moon and astronomical goodies.

The Bible speaks of the heaven in the north of the sky. That would be the current dwelling place of God, a physical place for now, but with qualities that transcend the physical, which in many respects are beyond our understanding.

The Bible speaks of an eternal heaven still to be created which will be the ultimate, final eternal abode of all creation. This new heaven will include a new earth, and in fact many new earths! It will include everything that constitutes the kingdom of God, under the rule and reign of our great King.

John 18:36 “My kingdom is not of this world.” It is a kingdom of supreme power (1 Corinthians 4:20)

Our future headquarters are in heaven!

2 Timothy 4:18 “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever.”

Isaiah 9:7 “Of the greatness and increase of His government and peace there will be no end.”

There is no soul-sleep as taught by some, and there is definitely no soul annihilation either.

2 Corinthians 5:8 “We would rather be absent from body present with Lord.”

Shake rock and roll:

Don’t bother spending much effort working and praying for peace in the world. If you could attain it in this world, that will be a deception. Magnificent new world peace is coming on the wings of war and the destruction of all that is not of God. (Revelation 19:11-16, 19-21)

Obviously we must pray for peace in our immediate world and as required by scripture, but we will end up as the odd ones in a world headed for destruction.

We are now entering a time of worldwide shaking, but the kingdom is unshakable! (Hebrews 12:25)

Everything will be shaken by judgment. Only that which has the work of the cross and shed blood of the Lamb in it and on it will survive.

Revelation chapter six begins with the opening of the seal judgements. It sets off the tribulation period on earth. It begins with the release of the four riders of the apocalypse. As these riders ride – great judgements fall in their wake.

Revelation 6:4 “And another horse fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth and that people should kill one another; and there given to him a great sword.”

This verse above occurs right at the start of the tribulation. Don’t tell me that the first half will be a time of peace! The exact opposite is the truth!

Please note that four riders, ride throughout the tribulation – all four for all seven years.

Are you on the right course?

If you are on the right course spiritually, and your focus is heavenly, it will be seen in your focus away from the world. (2 Corinthians 4:18) The application of the cross is to self and the world. You simply just can’t love the world like before when you see it crucified, and you and understand heaven and eternity.

You are born into this world and into Adam. The way out is death to the Adamic life and the world. (Galatians 2:20) Nothing of the old life is raised. It’s all new and heaven-ready. Yes you can sanctify certain things of the world, but that is for a godly purpose.

It’s not by becoming freaky spiritual hermits that we overcome the world. It is by seeing the world under death-sentence and the new world set before us!

We have been made the light of the world with the light of our Lord in us – not to light up the world like some flashy, attractive theme park, but to direct the light of eternity and the glory of God’s great future kingdom to the world.

We are the lights of the path to heaven!

How can you as a God-lit believer still light up the Satan’s masterpiece, the world, with Satan’s light which is really darkness?

1 John 5:4 “He who is born of God overcomes the world.”

We are now seeing the simultaneous arising and mixing of good and evil. We are in absolute need of discernment and exposure to truth – the real truth full of its hard sayings, goodness and severity!

Perhaps the most powerful way and method of knowing that you are on the right track, comes from the inner witness in your heart, measured against the word. In these critical days you must know that you have used your God-given spiritual weapons to defeat Satan.

Our Lord said: “Satan has nothing in Me.” (John 14:30) We are in the same boat spiritually. Satan can’t defeat us except when we ourselves let him in!

We must gain victory in our choices.  We must choose between: ●The exalting pride of Lucifer, or the humility of God, ●The lies of Satan in Eden or the truth of God, ●The cross-less Barabbas or the crucified Yeshua, and God in Him. ●It must be the love of the world, or of the kingdom of God.

Nothing will be concealed at judgement, good or bad. (Luke 8:17) “If you are not with Me you are against Me.” said our Lord. (Matthew 12:30) Only those two categories exist. There is no middle ground or neutrality.

We will all be judged according to truth, according to the word and according to our life’s work for the Kingdom. We will be judged for every thought, for every idle word and for all our deeds. (Matthew 12:36) Our Lord, in judgement is seen as the One with “eyes of flame and fire.” Who can withstand that glare of fire! (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)

Over and over again people say that we as believers have nothing to fear in the coming judgement. That is true from a salvation point of view, but not from a rewards point of view.

My friends the loss of reward that would have been yours – forever is a very big deal!

Think about this:

God placed in you His perfect, holy and clean Spirit by new-birth for a purpose, which is not only your time on earth! He has mighty plans for you that run into eternity. Of those that are saved, only some will be fully ready, even though they were destined for much greater things.

Eternity will be sin-free. You and I will be pure, holy, righteous forever, in a pure, clean and holy eternity! No one can even imagine that. Don’t give up!

In many ways the absolute best the world has to offer is nothing more than filthy rags in the sight of our Lord. We too are in sackcloth now. But robes of glorious righteous royalty are coming. Yes they are already here in terms of our position in Messiah, but the final manifestation is still coming.

When we see into eternity in faith, it causes dramatic changes in our life.

Job 42:6 “Therefore I abhor myself and I repent in dust and ashes.”

The Kingdom of God:

The completion of prophecy and the wrapping up of this world order, has unimaginable results and changes as revealed in the Bible:

Daniel 9:24-25 “Seventy weeks are determined on thy people (Israel) and for your holy city, to ●Finish transgression. ●To make an end of sins, ●To make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, ●To seal up the vision and prophecy and anoint the Most Holy.”

Ephesians 5:5 “This you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous person who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of God.”

Here, in these verses above, we see a new world with no wickedness, no sin, because it has all been paid for and removed by the cross. We see everlasting righteousness, which would include peace and rest.

The only access to the eternal kingdom is through the cross. That is just the beginning! We then go through to what most people just can’t imagine: Ruling and reigning with Messiah in the universe forever!

2 Timothy 2:12 “If we endure, we also shall reign with Him.”

Revelation 3:21 “To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me on My throne...”

Philippians 2:21 “He will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.”

Daniel 7:27 “Then the kingdom, dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under all heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”

The end for the believer is not salvation or resurrection. It is ascension to the throne of God.

The characteristics of heaven:

Matthew 18:4 “Whoever humbles himself as a little child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

In some ways we could call the soon coming Millennium a dimension of heaven. It most certainly will be a dispensation that is totally different and very much part of the kingdom of God. Here are a few characteristics of the Millennium. There are many more.

Isaiah 11:6-8 “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together – the young child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like an ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole...”

Isaiah 35:1 “The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose.”

Hosea 2:18-19 “In that day I will make a covenant for them, with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and with the creeping thing of the ground. Bow and sword of battle, I will shatter from the earth, to make them lie down safely. I will betroth you to Me forever. Yes I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and mercy...”

An often overlooked characteristic of the Millennium, and of heaven is that they are full of animals of all types, some incredible by description.

I often sit in my glass studio / conservatory with a water feature at each end and birds hopping around (inside too) Massive tree-ferns and towering strelizia’s hang above the glass roof, with keyboard, headset and the ongoing thought of the very close presence of many readers, far away, but right with me in spirit, mind and prayer – and I just know that this is family and a little glimpse of heaven now.

I have been extremely fortunate to experience many situations out in the wilds of Southern Africa. Many of these places are just like a heaven on earth. Today, I’m barely mobile!

The Millennium is not the end of the age. It is the next dispensation after the tribulation. Then only comes the final eternity of eternities.

Appearance of majesty:

Our Lord gave us glimpses of great wonders in His appearances after His resurrection.

We saw a Man glowing with purity, separate from other people, yet very much with them. We saw a Man who could appear through walls at will and disappear as quickly. He could be touched, He could eat. We saw a Man who knows everything. We saw a Man who could travel at the speed of thought, but also within the dimension of space and time. This was on the Mount of Transfiguration where He appeared with saints of antiquity, Moses and Elijah, introducing them to saints of the day, still alive: Peter, James and John.

After the resurrection, our Lord appeared only to believers! This hints at the tribulation period in which our Lord will not be freely accessible to people on the earth in the tribulation.

Everything about a dead man raised three days and nights later, and still walking around is so totally out of this world, miraculous and supernatural!

1 Peter 1:16 “Be holy, for I am holy!”

The new you:

There will be no more death, no more tears except of joy, no more suffering. Your new body will be perfect. It will be just like that of our Lord in supernatural character. We will know all things. We will all have a new name. (Revelation 2:17, Isaiah 62:2)

1 John 3:2 “Now are we the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 Corinthians 13:12, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Colossians 3:4)

2 Peter 1:11 “So an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Yeshua the Messiah.”

2 Corinthians 5:1 “We know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

Hebrews 12:1 “We also, since we are surrounded by such a great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay every weight aside, and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

We shall be like Him! Some will have an abundant entrance, seen by a great cloud of witnesses as we enter heaven, and to a house made by supernatural, miracle command! What a future!!

Or you can go to hell:

To get to hell you have to resist God and the call of His servants and cast down His word.  It’s easy if you try! Just do nothing! To get to hell just follow the mass-media, the entertainment world, and the customs of modern man. Listen to the modern minister.

Romans 2:5 “In accordance with your hardness of heart and impenitence, you are treasuring up for yourselves wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God.”

Matthew 13:11 “It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”

Hell is an eternity as well. It is the place of unimaginable regret and sorrow. I cannot imagine the incredible regret of those who made that choice. It is a choice that God will honour.

The opinions of man will be destroyed. The mass-media will be on their way to hell.

I think at the end of the day (in heaven) the most thankful people will be those who were warned of hell and heeded the warning!

Warning:

False doctrine comes in many forms and intensities. Many times, people just come right, because they have the Spirit of truth in them. Sometimes they go further of course.

But false doctrine will always affect the fullness of what you are supposed to be. It will and does affect your actions and lifestyle. It will and does affect your eternal reward!

If you were called to be a success at something particular that is of the Lord, and you spend half your time battling false doctrine, you will lose out in eternal reward!

False doctrine, pursuing the spirit of error, and being all messed up does have consequences, which are eternal!

Colossians 3:15 “Let the peace of God rule (as an umpire does) in your hearts.”

Finally

Having a correct and fully as possible understanding of heaven, and our eternal state is absolutely required for strength and stability in these days. It will and does affect how you live now! It empowers you with a lot more than political will!

Once you have arrived, you will be in a new world overflowing with peace and rest. Your purpose for existence will suddenly become manifest for all to see and know.

Proverbs 8:23 “I (wisdom) have been established from everlasting, from the beginning before there ever was an earth.”

Psalm 113:4 “The Lord is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens.”

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I took the picture of the Fish Eagle in the Okavango Delta and blended it into a picture I did from a chopper over the Drakensberg Mountains.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!