You're Going to Get a New Name in Heaven

To understand the Book of Revelation you have to understand the Old Testament. When we were studying yesterday about the church of Pergamum we were understanding what Jesus was referring to when He reprimanded the church for holding to the doctrines of Balaam, who was called and ordained by God,  and here, the best way to understand what that was is to go back to Numbers 22-25 and read how Balaam was a prophet of God who found he could make a serious profit selling his services to those who wants blessings or cursing issued upon their enemies. He was basically prostituting his office for money. Isn't that what we are seeing a lot of today?

Just like Satan's tactics are designed to lead us astray so was that very same thing happening not only to Balaam but to those in the church of Pergamum as well as the believers and churches today. We all need to be aware to judge what we hear based on the Bible and the Word of God, over what the world would have us believe.

Acts 17:11 ~ "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

We need to be doing the same in every part of our lives, all of the time. Rightly dividing the word of truth from that of the world. Let's go back and see Jesus' reprimand in its entirety to the church of Pergamum and those believers who compromise in their spiritual walk even today.

Revelation 2:14-15 ~ "Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: you have people who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak, to entire the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. "

We remember that when Balaam attempted to curse the Israelite's, God pronounced a blessing over them instead. We know that Balaam went back to the kings, enemy of Israel and asked for more money to try it again, they paid it, he tried to pronounced a curse but once more God gave Israel a blessing instead. He is able to manage to convince the king one more time to pay him to curse Israel,  but it doesn't work and God continues to bless them instead, the same as before. At this point Balaam knows his time is up, the king is about out of money and Balaam is quite wealthy. You've heard the saying, If you can't beat them, join them? Remember what happened to the church of Smyrna, when they resisted against temptation? Satan simply tries something else. There is a Greek proverb that says, "Whom the gods could not destroy, they made great." If they couldn't destroy them, they simply exulted them instead.  Man can't handle exultation!

So what Satan did, was marry them to the world since they could not be destroyed. Balaam basically told the king of Moab, and all the surrounding kings to bring their finest women, all the most beautiful and hot women and bring them down. Bring them with their pornographic idols, have them bring those as well. Don't forget to bring some sacrifices too, and have them walk real seductively down to the men of Israel. Now remember these men have been away at war for quite some time. Have them begin to flirt with the men of Israel, and he proclaimed that the men would fall for every single one of the women. So that is just what the kings did. The men did exactly what Balaam said they would do and they followed the women to the altars of their pagan gods. They set down their idols and said, "Let's do this. Let's do that." After they completed the acts, they sacrificed the animals, on the altars and then they ate it together. God turned and killed thousands of those Israelis soldiers that day. Why? Because they compromised.

"Oh I will just lower my standard so I can date this person or that person. Surely God will know and understand." You allow compromise in and who knows if you would have just held out for one more moment, when God's answer was coming and you simply gave up. God had that wonderful person for you, or that perfect job all lined up or whatever it might be and you simply gave up. You compromised. Jesus turns and rebukes the church and if you're a Christian, you know what that feels like when He rebukes. It hurts!  He says, "When I spank you, cause I'm about to spank you, when he spanks in His correction and rebuke, He carries you upward as His hand comes down, right into His arms. He never comes down on you! When God disciplines, He puts a stop to our behavior because He knows it's not beneficial to us. When He spanks it's one that lifts us up into His arms.

But will we be willing to be judged like that from the Lord? Will we let Him judge us? He says, I have a few things against you. He mentions the doctrine of Balaam, you know about that know. We have to be willing to be judged by the Scriptures, but also this, we have to be willing to refuse false doctrine in our lives. "Thus you also hold to the doctrines of the Nicolaitans which I hate." The Nicolaitans were these guys, scholars can't agree, there were disciples of Nicholas, who were a bunch of weirdos, or the Nicolaitans, which is a compound word in the Greek Nico = rulers, kings or judges, hierarchy, a status in a religious setting, that ought not to exist. Laitans = laity, the people. Jesus says, "I hate the teaching that a church gets from a select group, that presides over the church, thereby the servants, flock or church, become servants to a select few. Nicolaitans, rulers over the people, who fleece the flock. They take money from them. Who Peter says, "that they through preaching, might acquire money, position, status. Jesus says, I hate it! People who have designated lives, "Don't talk to him, he's the Pastor." What?

How many of you have been in the corporate world, understand the corporate ladder, the pyramid? Who is at the top? The CEO, or the stockholders. The stockholders employ the CEO to ensure the company is working right. And everyone else serves him so to speak. The pyramid goes up. Well not in church. Not in the church of Jesus. It goes upside down. The church is lifted up. The church is exulted, that is why as Pastors of churches, if they are going to be true pastors, that if you're doing something right, they should be encouraging you. If you're sleeping with someone's wife or husband, they are supposed to say, 'You can't do that! Right here in the Bible it says you're not supposed to do that! You're going to ruin your life!' They will do anything they can to help you stop doing the things you shouldn't be doing. But instead, people will turn on their pastors and say, they should be the ones judging them, but all they are merely doing is pointing out what Jesus says, and He has the authority to judge. They are simply helping you to try and get back on track again. To repent and get right with God.

Do you really think when you tell your pastor off, that they are put off by the fact that they care more about your soul than you do? But the truth of the matter is that you are going to ruin your own life and someone else's life as well. The thing is regarding false doctrine, these Nicolaitans, they existed, the church at Pergamum, was the first period of church age, historically through Constantine. It became most prominent. That Constantine, of the Roman Empire said, "You know what? Enough of this. I want Christianity to be the official religion of Rome of the Roman Empire. I want it's headquarters moved to Rome. And to show my token of sincerity, I will appoint Bishops under me. Constantine declared himself to be Pontiff. If you don't know this, than you haven't spent much time in history. Alexander the Great said, I will be the Pontiff, the Pope, and I will declare all of these to be my bishops, and as a token of sincerity I will drape you in robes, I will set you apart from the people. I will grant you basilicas and cathedrals. He commissioned them to be built. He declared that the church would be just like the world. And the world would be just like the church. And the lines were skewed. Now I am not coming down on the Catholic church or religion at all, I'm just telling you that if there is any church, group, denomination, that says, "We are the ministers, and the pastors." People might say that pastors stand behind a piece of wood above everyone else, but it is simply to see everyone else. Not to be above everyone else.

But if your pastor can't interact with you, something is wrong. If pastors have to have a designated life, I eat here, you don't eat here, I sit here, you don't sit here; I park here, you don't park here; that is Nicolaitan!  It creeps into the church, it's all over the place. It's wrong. If you're church shopping, put this verse on your shopping list.

"Jesus said but you, do not be called masters any of you, for one is your teacher, that is the Christ, and all of you are brothers."

That means if I am not born again, I'm not going to make it to heaven. It doesn't matter how high a pulpit is built or if you give a pastor a parking space, or a million bucks, if there are not born again, they are not going to heaven. Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life, and no one gets to heaven but through me." Jesus told Nicodemus, the religious leader of that day, unless you are born again, you will never see the kingdom of God. It's not about how much money you give, Jesus doesn't need your money, it's not how much you serve, He doesn't need your service; He wants your heart, the part you won't give up. He wants your heart. If you are not born again, you will not see the kingdom of heaven. No one will make it in, unless they are born again. Despite how wonderful they might appear. God does not judge based on performance. Where did we get that?

No one welds any power but whatever God gives them. You can't buy faith. It's free. You don't get it by following anyone else but Jesus.

Revelation 2:17 ~ " He who has an ear, let him heart what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna,. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. "

No more manna to eat. No more sacrificial food, sacrificed on altars. He says He will give us a white stone, the stone of acquittal. All of these sins you have racked up against you, all of these things you have done, Jesus says, He will give you a white stone. In those days if you were acquitted of a crime, the judge would give you a white stone. Isn't that cool! It also says He will give you a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it, that is a great reference to 2 Corinthians 5:17, ~ "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 

God's going to give us each a new name. Do you have a new name waiting for you? When you arrive into the presence of eternity, are you going to get a new name? Is God going to hand you a white stone, which means, you've been acquitted of all crime, sin, wrong doing in your life. If you do, when you turn it over, there is going to be a brand new name that is fit for heaven. You'll get a whole new life. Is your name written in heaven? You can have that by asking him to forgive you of your sins and ask Him into His life.

Heaven is going to be an awesome sight and you missed it because of religion and you missed out on the relationship with Jesus. We don't need to compromise because God is on the throne. Remember that no matter where you find yourself, what kind of job, community, school or neighborhood you live in, you don't have to compromise! Stand strong! God's on your side.

It is Finished!

It is hard to look back and see that 195 Bible Study sessions have walked us through the Book of Revelation, verse by verse so we can have a true understanding of what is contained in this Book. People have been afraid to read these words contained within it. The Book of Revelation begins with a blessing, and it ends with a provision of blessing of God's grace. You will never find another God's like ours. This is the final message in this series.

God did not give us prophecy to scare us, He gave us prophecy to prepare us.

Remember you will never understand the Book of Revelation without understanding the Old Testament, that is answered in the Book of Revelation by design.

We need to stand in our wholly Bibles unto the end.

Revelation 22:19 ~ "and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

We read yesterday about the warning "not to add to," the Bible which is a warning against cults. Those who add to the Bible are recognized as cults, like Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology, Mormons. They breed abhorrent theology in thinking God's Word is not enough and it needs interpretations outside of the Bible to explain what it really means.

Verse 19 is a warning to those who want to "take away" from what the Bible has to say. It recognizes theological liberalism. This 'take away' is amazing because it directly warns against biblical liberalism in the last days. Biblical liberalism means to diminish, to revise, to suppress, to altar, to usurp over the Author with the intent to change its original meaning. To sum it up, a false prophet.

Deuteronomy 4:2 ~ "You shall not add to the word which I command you, not take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you."

2 Peter 2:1-3 ~ "But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber."

While the "taking away" from the Bible also gives birth to cults as well like Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code). Without knowing what the Bible has to say, how can you tell the truth from the lies permeating the world today. Their goal is to get you to question what is really true or not.

1 Peter 1:17-21 ~ "And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of you stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God."

The Bible isn't some private interpretation, and man didn't write it. The Holy Spirit possessed man to write it. That is why it is without error.

How do I stand in my wholly Bible until the end?

1. Start to take your daily reading and glue it to your day. (No matter how many times you have started it, don't back up, pick it up today and keep on going. Get out a highlighter and highlight the verse that speaks to you in your daily reading. Incorporate that into your prayer and into your day.

2. Move out being confident because it's God's Word.

3. Confront the false, by using the Truth!

We need to trust in our Lord Jesus Christ right now.

Revelation 22:20 ~ "He who testifies to these things says, "Surely, I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

But how do I trust Jesus more? Do it now! God have never lied or deceives you.

1. Know what He says is true beyond perceptions.
2. Let Him be personal with you.
3. Obey Him when he speaks to you.

Mark 5:35-36 ~ :While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?" As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe."

We need to enjoy our Lord Jesus Christ every day.

Revelation 22:21 ~ "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

The grace - is the enemy of every cult and the stumbling block of every liberal. In the Greek, is is 'charis' meaning the divine influence upon the heart, being accepted, benefited, favored, gifted, to become an object of joy, pleasure, approval, unearned delight!

A cult says you have to work you way into heaven and the one saying that all can agree with that Jesus said is that you should tithe. They are all about you giving your money to them.

Ephesians 2:4-10 ~ "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

The Christian life begins with grace; it is sustained by His grace; and we will finish by His grace. And we, we're finished by His grace.

Amen - so let it be, it is the truth, that's it.

But how do I enjoy the Lord Jesus more?

1. Take hold of His grace.
2. Practice His presence moment by moment.
3. Rest in the fact that you are His special child.

Remember you will NEVER have to work to get saved. It is a gift from God, paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross and all it takes is for you to simply accept it and ask Him into your heart today. Won't you take God on His word and be saved?

My hope is that first of all you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and that you have enjoyed these 195 individual Bible Study sessions through the Book of Revelation. My goal is that Jesus Christ has been revealed to you in a more powerful and real way through our time together. Now it is time to begin to study how we can be more Christ-like in our own life! Hope you continue to join me.

Are We Cursed?

 image courtesy of gpbnews.org

Are we cursed?

The Bible says that everything is this life is under the curse of sin. Our thinking, our living, our eating, our breathing, the world, the animal life, the universe, this earth, everything is under the curse of sin and it's all messed up. Looking around at the things in this life, it is easy to see that. With the recent shootings in Orlando, people are still trying to make sense of it all. It's simple, we are under the curse of sin. It doesn't mean God's not involved or that it happened because we are living in a cursed world, and God is simply letting things run its course, but we can forget that we now live in a sinful world filled now with the curse that began in the Garden of Eden when disobedience to God caused sin to enter a perfect place and into perfects hearts of His created beings. That means that people now have a choice, to follow God or to follow their own sin-filled hearts and the outcome of those choices is played out right before our very eyes.

It's not about gun control or terrorism, it's a matter of the heart. It is either filled with the things of God or the things with what man wants instead. In both situations in Orlando, the choices of the shooter is clear, they did what they wanted and what they felt was right in their own eyes, however wrong that may be. This is the outcome of living in a sinful world, but it will not always be the case. We need to place the blame in these situations where it needs to be and that is on Satan, not God. God merely lets things play out as He allows, and the fallout is what we experienced this weekend. Let's see how our study today, in the book of Revelation 22 will see what God has to say in these things.

There will be a time when we will no longer live under this curse of sin, and that is called heaven. As we believed in Jesus, repented of our sins, and now follow Him to the best of our ability, we moved from the curse of sin, which was lifted when we became born again in our spirits, and moved from judgment to eternal life. It's removed. It doesn't mean we won't get sick, have cancer, face unprecedented loss in some fashion, or dying in a shooting, because the world is still living under the curse of sin. Our spirit has been redeemed, our minds still need to be renewed, by the Word of God, but our physical body is still under the curse of sin. The last final stage of our removing the curse of sin, will be when as believers our body will be resurrected. It is a true benefit of going to heaven!

Jesus died for our sins on the cross, as an atonement, but He didn't stay dead. He rose again to guarantee our eternal life through Him. He was the perfect sacrifice. We don't need to do anything to better ourselves before Jesus

John 7:37-38 ~ "On that last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

Is this the same water that came out of the side of Jesus when the soldier pierced His side with a spear in which blood and water flowed? Living water?

From Jesus Christ, our eternal temple, forgiveness and His benefits flow continually. Our ability to live the Christian life is of God, and it's Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:7-9 ~ "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself."

God has provided more than what is needed - sufficiency.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 ~ "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee."

We need to fix our eyes on eternal life and the prerequisite of God by Christ.

Revelation 22:2 ~ "In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."

Prerequisite, means the performance of something that is required for the next step to take place in order to fulfill a purpose.

Psalm 46:4 ~ "There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High."

This verse references the verse in Revelation 22. Fixing our eyes on eternal life because, God performed, by Jesus Christ, our redemption. The cross for us became the tree of Life!

2 Corinthians 5:17-19 ~ "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away' behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation."

The prerequisite of God by Christ, but what does that mean to me? It means that I was so without God and so unable to save myself and so lost and so in need of being found and so in need of being rescued, that Jesus had to die for me, if I were to be saved from eternal destruction!

We all still struggle with our past, even though we are saved and bound for heaven. We try and pray for our meals but get too excited by the food around us and the presence of others, we forget. We try and dedicate time to read our Bibles, but other things get in the way and we don't. We try and spend time with God each day, but we struggle to find the time. We try and focus on our prayers but our thoughts get out of control and we are lost in our prayers. We try and stay awake to read our Bibles, pray and spend time with God at the end of the night, but we get tired and fall asleep instead. Isn't that the truth of what all believers in Christ struggle with? The old residual is still present in our world, even though we are saved.

We have all heard the words, "Be still and know that I am God." But do you ever wonder what that means? Especially in light of all the turmoil that is escalating everywhere we look today? It means Yada, the word for know. It means to discover. It means whenever we are facing difficulties in our own lives or in the world where we struggle to come up with all the why's, God is asking us to discover Him. See Him in whatever we are experiencing, whatever it is, God will speak to You in that moment.

We've all had those times where we could have done better in listening to God, handling things better but we blow it. God is really great at saying, "Well you could have done better, and I believe you can get through this, let's try again later." and sure enough that same test will come around again. We have to learn to not panic and fail and trust in our own answers, but be still and discover what is it God is trying to say?

We need to set our hearts upon the presence of God because of where He is in reality.

Revelation 22:3 ~ "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."

Much of what is found being lost in the Book of Genesis is recovered in the Book of Revelation. What was lost is now found. What has been denied is now accessible. What died is now made alive!

"No more curse" the undoing of the will of Satan. From death to life; Satan has a death wish for your life.

It was Satan, through the flesh who said, "Come on Eve! Live a little will ya, and be your own girl. Do your own thing!"

It was Satan, through the flesh who said, "Come on Job! Blame God for all that is wrong in your life."

It was Satan, through the flesh who said, "Come on Elisha, kill yourself because you're all alone."

Listen, its been Satan, through the flesh who says, "There's no hope for you, God won't forgive you. If God is a God of love, why do all these bad things happen?"

There will be no more curse one day. There is the curse of sin and that is death! There is a curse of the law and that is condemnation. This "no more curse," is the curse against creation! The cursed creation is gone and there is a new creation.

Where will you be in eternity? The choice is up to you but you have to choose before you die, otherwise your choice has already been made.

It's a Win-Win Situation!

Zig Ziglar has coined the phrase, "It's a win-win situation," but did you know that He said God gave it to him? That he is a solid born again Christian! Have you ever considered that one day, you will enjoy eternity with God, if you're a believer of Jesus Christ? If you've read the Book of Revelation, we know how it all ends up.  We are in the last chapter of Revelation and of the Bible, and we see how God's perfect restoration and identification all culminate in eternity with Him. We will all get new names in heaven and it will have a new significance there.

If we follow Christ, it's a win-win situation. It doesn't matter what happens to us in this life, whether we are shot, killed, or beheaded or simply breathe our final breath in peace, because when our life ends here, we go immediately into the presence of God. It's not about us and what we have done in this life, but in trusting in Jesus Christ and what He has done.

Some people think heaven will be boring. That it is quiet there. We're all in white choir robes. The Bible says that it is beyond man's ability to imagine or comprehend it. We will interface and interact with angels, and we will behold the face of God, face to face. No one has ever seen the face of God before. We will have an eternal existence, and there will be no end. We will explore an infinite world, beyond what we can ever imagine.

Eternity is real. You need to pick where you are going to live. There is more than enough room in heaven for everyone.

Revelation 22:1-7 ~ "Then the angels showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city, also on either side of the river, the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. And he said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place." And behold, "I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of this prophecy of this book."

Until we get to heave, we need to fix our eyes on eternal life, and the sufficiency of God in Christ.

Revelation 22:1 ~ "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb,"

Proceeding from God's throne...was a pure river of something very different. It's not water like we think of in terms of water to drink. This 'proceeding' is an overflowing, a flooding or a gushing forth. We saw life giving water flow out of Eden, the garden of God. We see life giving water flow out of the New Jerusalem, the city of God. It is God who gives eternal life. It's in the heart of every man.

What was lost in the garden of Eden is restored by God. Adam and Eve were created never to die. They were the first perfect humans, yet they sinned. Did you ever consider that? So how is that possible if they were perfect?

God engineered within them the ability to exercise a free moral agency. You can't have real love or a relationship without the ability to make real decisions. God doesn't make robots and we are all responsible for the decisions that we make. You can do anything you want in this life, it's your choice. You have that freedom. But freedom carries with it, responsibility. God says choose me. Your freedom of choice comes with it the responsibility for that choice.

If people can wrestle you into heaven, than they can wrestle you out of heaven as well. The choice must be yours.

The water in this verse is not real water. It is life giving water of eternity from God. There are four rivers that flowed from Eden. They had their origin there and we know the names because they are in the Bible. There is restoration in heaven, because there shall be no more curse there.

Jesus was the bridge of restoration of man. On one side, He reaches out to what was lost in the Garden of Eden with His right hand. With His left, He reaches out to the very eternity of God and the dwelling place of God's children, because it is God's desire to bridge that gap. In between those two moments, two great events, there is Jesus Christ.

Out of His side, the Bible tells us in John 19:34: "But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water."

People have tried to explain this event but the amount of water that came out doesn't make sense, "it gushed out, it didn't drip out slowly." What was Jesus doing on the cross? He was dying for our sins, it was an atonement for us and He had an appointment He couldn't miss.

Looking Into Eternity to Our Heavenly Home!

It's hard not to become disappointed in the things we see happening in the world today. Disasters, illnesses, death, financial loss, theft, murder, destruction on virtually every level and it seems to be getting worse, where there is no place we can look to for safety and security. Jesus reminded us that these would be the ways of things in the last days. He also reminded us to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matthew 6:20).

Aren't you glad that when we get to heaven, everything will be waiting there for us in absolute perfection as only Jesus can provide?  Everyone has their own vision of what they imagine heaven will be like, but why not go to the source to read what it will really be like! The Bible is clear what it will look like, but even then words pale in comparison to what it will truly be like in both sight, sound and glorious wonder!

There will no more need for temples in heaven either, because Jesus and God are already there. A temple is man's way of meeting God. It won't be needed anymore because Jesus is it! He is all we need in this life, everything else is what man puts on top.

Our new heavenly home will be beautiful.

Revelation 21:18-21 ~ "The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was gold, transparent as glass."

All these stones mentioned here are not only their colors, but they are opaque or translucent to allow light to penetrate. In Exodus 39, the LORD told Moses to make an ephod or breastplate that had 12 stones which represented the 12 tribes of Israel. When a high priest was to appear before the LORD, he was to be wearing the ephod with the 12 stones, which had the 12 names of the tribes of Israel.

Our God is a God of detail. The artwork of the city of God is beautiful no doubt, but do you think that a building or a city is more important than salvation? Your salvation is God's work! And if He has given such detail to foundations, gates and walls, then what about His love toward us and to our blessings?

These foundations will be ascending upwards for 1500 miles, and all of these things speak of God's love for us. God has wanted us with Him for all eternity and that is why He is going to such great lengths to reach us. The effects of the city speaks of His joy for us.

Revelation 21:21 ~ "And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was gold, transparent as glass."

The gates of pearl, each entrance is lined by a pearly gate. The appearance is of light and glory. We are reflections of His glory. This is impossible for us to imagine. It's beyond what we can comprehend. This is not a metaphorical description of heaven, it's the real thing~ Could God make an oyster large enough to get a pearl to make a single gate? Absolutely! Nothing limits God.

Our new heavenly home will be a place of worship. Worship in heaven will be direct.

Revelation 21:22 ~ "And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb."

There will be no need of a temple (absolute fellowship). We won't gather for church on Sunday's any longer because God will be among us. We can worship and honor Him now, we don't have to wait for heaven. We can walk in that reality and not be bound by earthly things. Our worship in heaven will be complete and again there will be no need for a temple (complete expression). In this time zone, this side of eternity, we are the temples of the Living God.

1 Corinthians 3:16 ~ "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"

Our heavenly home will be filled with light. Jesus is its light.

Revelation 21:23 ~ "And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb."

There is something about the light that blesses us. In John 3:16-19, the Bible says that people who love evil, love the darkness and the deeds that they do, they do in darkness so that nobody knows. They will not come to the Lord who is light, lest their deeds be exposed. But men loved the darkness, rather than the light (agape). We will be in the light.

John 8:12 ~" Again Jesus spoke to them saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life." 

Jesus Christ is its focus.

Revelation 21:24 ~ "By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, "

Everyone divorces himself from glory and honor and gives it to God. Our new heavenly home will have great access. The feeling of being welcomed. Heaven's gates will never be shut.

Revelation 21:25 ~ "and its gates will never be shut by day - and there will be no night there."

Why will the gates never be shut? There will be no need to shut them. There is no evil anymore. Nothing will need to be guarded against. This is God's infinite house in eternity, and you can come and go in infinite directions through infinite space for all eternity.

Heaven's glory will never diminish.

Revelation 21:26 ~ "They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations."

As we await this glorious time to come, in a way, this is being done now by every effort you make to obey the Lord today. Heaven's guests shall never be afraid.

Revelation 21:27 ~ "But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life."

Unbeknown to the non-believer is the constant danger of their name being blotted out of the Book of Life. Very well known to the Christian believer is the constant joy of knowing that your name can never be blotted out of the Book of Life. Why is this so? Because there is only one way to preserve your name in the Book of Life, and that is to have it written in the Lamb's Book of Life!

Can you imagine, someday every human being will await a call from heaven?

There is no longer any mention of the Book of Life because that dealt with those in the millennium. It doesn't matter anymore in eternity, because only those whose names are found in the Lamb's Book of Life are residents of heaven!

Is your name in the Lamb's Book of Life? Only those win it will be in heaven and see all these unbelievable and glorious things we have been studying.

Does heaven occupy your mind? Have you accepted Jesus? Are you going to be in heaven? It's all up to you and the choice has to be yours!