WHAT IS HEAVEN LIKE?
Matthew calls it an eternal savings account (Matthew 6:20)"but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:20
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Luke calls it a permanent guest registry (Luke 10:20)
"Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:20
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Luke also calls it a home for the glorified Christ (Acts 7:55-56)"But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing ​​at the right hand of God, and said, 'Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!'" [Acts 7:55-56]
John the revelator says it is the ultimate place to have church. (Revelation 7:9) "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands..." [Revelation 7:9]
Paul says it is a house built by God (2 Corinthians 5:1; Hebrews 11:10)...
"For 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."
[2 Corinthians 5:1]
"for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
[Hebrews 11:10]
Or, even as Adam Clarke eludes to in his commentary on the subject: "The Jews thought that the divine name, the Tetragrammaton, Yahweh, should not be uttered and that it is absolutely unlawful to pronounce it; indeed they say that the true pronunciation is utterly lost, and cannot be recovered without an express revelation. Not one of them, to the present day, ever attempts to utter it; and, when they meet with it in their reading, always supply its place with 'Adonay', Lord. It is probable that the apostle refers to some communication concerning the divine nature and the divine economy, of which he was only to make a general use in his preaching and writing. No doubt that what he learned at this time formed the basis of all his doctrines."
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In any case, he is "caught up" somehow into heaven with such wonder and majesty as not to be able to relate commonly even one detail, except that in fact, he had experienced this event!
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So we can easily conclude that it is not the harp section in God's orchestra in the clouds, as some would have you to think—that would have at least been describable.
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"But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." [1 Corinthians 2:9]
CAN WE UNDERSTAND HEAVEN?
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"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."
[2 Corinthians 12:2-4]
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In this passage, the Apostle Paul relates an experience where Heaven seems so extraordinary that he's not sure whether he had been given a vision from the Lord or whether he was actually taken there. He continues on to explain that he heard things that were "unspeakable words." Perhaps these were mysterious words that he heard or perhaps he was experiencing things that were impossible to describe in human terms.
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WHAT DOES HEAVEN LOOK LIKE?
Heaven: The last, the best, and the most incredible of the Revelation...
Revelation 21:1-15 vividly describes it...
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."
And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a rarest jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates, the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.
John, the revelator then begins to recount the dimensions as given to him. Loosely translated in modern measurements, they are as follows:
John describes Heaven's immense size as: 1500 miles wide and 1500 miles long, or 2,250,000 square miles at its base. In addition, it is 1500 miles high or approximately 780,000 stories of a building. To give you a practical idea of its immense height, we can say that 780,000 stories are equal to 7,800 Empire State Buildings (New York City, New York, USA) standing one on top of the other straight up—into the heavens. This describes enough room to comfortably accommodate a hundred thousand million (100 Billion) people—More than all the people who have ever lived.
GETTING THERE...
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REMEMBER, We must be "heavenly minded" to FINISH OUR JOURNEY to this wonderous place
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Consider these practical tips...
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Live every day of your life for God with this eternity in mind...
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Allow yourself to have an "eternal" perspective on life...
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Paul gives this advice to his young disciple, Timothy:
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"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." 1 Timothy 6:12
