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Overwhelmed by the Wonders of Heaven

All True Christians can go to Heaven

Heaven is greater than what we can think or conceive and it has been prepared for those who love God. We can have an unfolding revelation of Paradise as God reveals it to us by His Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). The work of the Holy Spirit includes visions, dreams, prophecies and the showing of wonders so we can understand the mysteries of God (Acts 2:17-21). The Lord Jesus wants to encourage you by the glorious beauty, wonder and splendour of dwelling in His eternal presence. The following Bible study will give you a greater vision of God’s eternal kingdom.

What will it be like to enter through the gates of Heaven into the amazing realms of eternity? Every true Christian will be able to live with God in Paradise, as well as walk on the New Earth and dwell in the New Jerusalem. This should give you an earnest desire to follow the Lord and also a greater seriousness to encourage other people to repent of their sins and be saved.

Are You A Citizen Of Heaven?

‘But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!’ (Philippians 3:20-4:1)

I am a citizen of my home country New Zealand and you are a citizen of whichever country you were born in, but most importantly, you have to make sure that you are a citizen of Heaven. The apostle Paul was speaking to the Christians at Philippi. These believers were mostly Gentiles (non-Jews), Greeks and Italian settlers, but due to their faith in Jesus Christ, Paul was saying that they were citizens of Heaven.

Paul’s first convert in Philippi was Lydia, who came from Thyatira. Later Paul and Silas were wrongfully imprisoned for casting out a spirit of divination from a young girl. This imprisonment resulted in the salvation of the jailer and his whole family. This man in charge of the prison was a civil servant of the Roman Empire (Acts 16:12-40). These and other believers were encouraged to stand firm in the Lord because they now had citizenship in the heavenly kingdom due to receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

A vision of Heaven helps a new believer to become strong in his or her faith. Many people are weak in faith because they don’t have a strong vision of living with Jesus in Heaven. The basic principles of God’s word have not become real to them. It’s not about saying that you believe in Heaven in your head, but it’s walking with the Lord in such a way that you know that His word is true and you receive the full revelation of eternal life in your heart. The reason that many have doubts and uncertainties as to where they are going after they die is due to the fact that they are not close enough to God. Maybe there is some sin in their life that is blocking them from walking intimately with the Lord.

The only way to know that you are a citizen of Heaven is to have Jesus as the Lord of your life. Jesus will bring everything under His control and by His power transform our bodies to become like His immortal body. A question that you need to ask yourself is this: “Am I one hundred percent sure that I am a citizen of Heaven?”

Will You Enter Through The Gate To Heaven?

‘Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD…

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven” (Genesis 28:10-13,16-17).

Jacob received a vision of the gate by which we must enter Heaven. When he lay down to sleep at night, God gave him this supernatural dream, but what was he actually seeing? First of all Jacob saw a stairway. The bottom of the stairs came right down to the earth, but the top of the stairs reached right up into Heaven. From this we know that there is a stairway from Heaven to earth. Then he saw the angels of God going up and down this stairway, so this is how the angels come from Heaven to earth and also return from the earth back to Heaven.

When Jacob woke up from this dream he was amazed by the presence of the Lord and he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” I want you to keep in mind these two things: one is the house of God and the second is the gate of Heaven. As we look at more Scriptures we will bring this out more clearly because we want to live in the house of God and we want to ascend the stairway to Heaven to enter through its gate to be with God forever and ever.

What is the gate of Heaven? To understand the gate of Heaven you need to receive a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9). There is only one way to enter Heaven and there is only one door into Heaven. The Lord Jesus stands at the entrance because He is the entrance. It is a narrow door and once the door is closed many people will stand outside knocking and pleading for it to be opened. They will weep and gnash their teeth as they see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but they themselves thrown out (Luke 13:22-30). It is therefore essential that you make sure that you enter through the narrow gate, rather than follow the majority who blindly deny the divinity of Jesus Christ and pursue the broad road to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).

Jesus is the bridge between Heaven and earth. The Lord gave an amazing revelation of Himself to Nathanial as the stairway to Heaven. Jacob saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway to Paradise, but Jesus said to Nathaniel that he would see Heaven open, and the angles of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (John 1:51). The ‘Son of Man’ is a messianic title, whom the prophet Daniel saw coming on the clouds and the people of all nations will worship Him (Daniel 7:13-14). Therefore Jesus was saying that the angels ascend and descend on or through Him.

We can think, ‘How can angels go up and down a person?’ We have to understand that Jesus Christ is omnipresent and He holds the whole universe together (Colossians 1:17). Jesus Christ is one with God (John 10:30-33). Again this shows us that Jesus is both the gate and the stairway to Heaven, and only through Jesus we can be saved.

Do You Know The Way To Heaven?

Jesus said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:1-6).

I wanted you to keep these two things in mind: one was the house of God and the other was the gate to Heaven. Here we see Jesus Christ talking about His Father’s house and in that house we find there are many rooms or dwelling places that were already prepared before the time of Christ’s earthly ministry. Then Jesus said that He is going to His Father’s house to do more work in order to specifically prepare a special place for His disciples.

After Jesus rose from the dead, we know that He ascended above the clouds and He was taken into Heaven (Acts 1:2,9-11). Then we are told that He must remain in Heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as He promised long ago through His holy prophets (Acts 3:21). During the last two thousand years Jesus has been fulfilling His word by preparing a place in His Father’s house for all of His faithful children. Our Lord and Saviour wants to take us to be with Him in Heaven.

Jesus said that He will come back to take us to be with Him at the place where He is. Where is Jesus coming back from? It is clear that He is coming back from Heaven in order to gather those who are ready to be with Him. These people will then be taken to be with Jesus so that they may also be where He is. This confirms that our house is in Heaven. ‘For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words’ (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” Before the death and resurrection of Christ the disciples didn’t understand where Jesus was going, so they didn’t know the way. Once we understand that Jesus was going to Heaven then we can know the way to that place. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is the way to Heaven and no one can come to God except through Him. Again this confirms the fact that Jesus is the stairway and the gate to Heaven. He is the door and no one can get past the heavenly gates except by passing through Him.

Jesus is the only way to God. ‘Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12). This is why we are pleading with people and calling them to take Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. We are pleading with people to put their faith in Jesus because they cannot go to Heaven unless they follow Him. Jesus says, “Come, follow me” (Matthew 4:19). Are you following Jesus to Heaven?

Do You Have A House In Heaven?

‘Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling....

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men’ (2 Corinthians 5:1-2,6-11).

This is talking about our body when we die being replaced by a building from God, an eternal house in Heaven, not build by human hands. Our eternal dwelling place is in Heaven and it is built by God. You may have a beautiful house here on earth, but everything of this world is going to pass away. The most important thing is to have a house in Heaven. A Christian will leave their earthly body at the moment of their physical death. The spirit is released from the body in order to be at home with the Lord. You have to examine your life to see if you are ready for that moment. Do you have a place with Jesus so that you can be at home with the Lord? Do you have a house in Heaven? Or have you never really lived to please Him?

We are then warned that we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. This is showing us that we have to fear the Lord Jesus. Many people are denying the Lord and sinning against Him because they deny His divinity and rightful position as our Judge. They don’t fear Him and they have ignored the fact that they are going to have to stand and be judged by Jesus. But since we fear the Lord, we will have an urgency to go out and persuade other people to take the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. If you have a true fear of the Lord you will go out to persuade other people to believe in Jesus and follow this true path into the eternal kingdom. False prophets do not lead people to Jesus.

Are Your Treasures In Heaven?

Jesus said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

This is a commandment from Jesus Christ. Jesus has commanded you to store your treasures in Heaven so that you will have an eternal reward with God. Too many Christians are only half-hearted. If they repent just before they die, they may just scrape into Heaven due to the mercy of God, but when they stand before the judgment seat of Christ they will be filled with sorrow and regret. They may have once rejoiced over the increase of their earthly wealth and investments, but in the sight of God they are spiritually poor (Revelation 3:17). They disobeyed the command of Christ by storing all their treasures on the earth, yet earthly things will soon come to nothing. Only that which is done for Christ will last. My question for you is this: “Have you obeyed Jesus’ command and stored your treasures in Heaven?”

The apostle Peter spoke of those who have received the new birth as having an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept for them in Heaven. Our faith has to be tested so that it may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Then we will receive the goal of our faith, the salvation of our souls (1 Peter 1:3-9). An angel encouraged the prophet Daniel by saying that he would rise to receive his allotted inheritance (Daniel 12:13). Every Christian needs a revelation of the treasures they can receive. The eyes of our hearts need to be enlightened so that we can understand the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:18-19). If you are a true Christian you will have an inheritance keep for you in Heaven.

The best treasure to have is intimacy with Christ. The next best treasure will be the people that you have led to Christ. To store your treasure in Heaven you need two very important attributes. The first is wisdom and the second is righteousness. As it is written: ‘Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever’ (Daniel 12:3). You cannot successfully lead other people onto the path of righteousness unless you yourself are living a holy and righteous life. God rewards those who are faithful to Him. Those who compromise in their walk with the Lord need to realize the serious mistake they are making. Jesus says, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (Revelation 3:11).

Will You Sit With Jesus In Heaven?

Jesus said: “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:21-22).

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven (Hebrews 1:3). The Father and the Son have an eternal relationship and the one true God is an eternal Trinity of three divine, distinct persons (2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2). Just as Jesus overcame this world and sat down with His Father on the heavenly throne, Jesus now calls us to overcome and to be seated with Him. This promise is for everyone who believes, but to receive it you have to be an overcomer.

Who is going to sit close to Jesus Christ in Heaven? It is those who walk close to Jesus Christ on this earth. You can come closer to Jesus as you place your faith in Him and listen to His voice. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice” (John 10:27). Do you listen to the voice of Jesus? The most precious thing in this world is an eternal friendship with the Lord. Those who sit at His feet and learn from Him have chosen that which is best (Luke 10:38-42).

Jesus is our Lord, our King, and the one that we worship and praise, but Jesus also wants to be our friend and as a friend He has offered us this place in His kingdom. This shows us how much Jesus loves His followers. The King of Heaven has offered this reward of sitting next to Him in Heaven, but this is in connection with saying that half-hearted, lukewarm believers will be spat out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16). Only those who love Jesus with all their heart and give their all to Him will inherit this favoured position. Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” (John 8:42; 21:15-17).

Beware Of False Prophets Who Stop People From Going To Heaven

‘He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven’ (Revelation 13:6).

The antichrist spirit denies Jesus (1 John 2:22) and constantly tries to stop people from going to Heaven. We are warned that the final Antichrist will open his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander His name and His dwelling place and those who live eternally with God. A verbal assault against those who live with God in Heaven is a sure sign of the antichrist spirit.

Jesus said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to” (Matthew 23:13). This is a strong warning to religious teachers who stop people from going to Heaven. Jesus said to them, “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell” (Matthew 23:33). The Lord rebukes the antichrist spirit which denies the truth and tries to stop people from being saved.

There are many false prophets who try to stop other people from believing that they can go to Heaven. One group of false prophets who confuse people with false doctrines are the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They attempt to stop people from being saved by saying that only 144,000 people can go to Heaven. They have misinterpreted the Scriptures. The 144,000 are Jewish believers from the twelve tribes of Israel. They have a special mission on the earth in the last days during the time of the great tribulation before going to Heaven (Revelation 7:1-8). A great multitude that comes out of the great tribulation is before God the Father and the Lamb upon the throne, worshipping Jesus, before the 144,000 even get to Heaven at the end of the time of tribulation (Revelation 7:9-17).

The Old Testament saints have already been taken to Heaven by Jesus (Ephesians 4:8) and true Christians go to Heaven at the time of death to be at home with the Lord, as we have already seen. The Jehovah’s Witnesses made up their false doctrine about the 144,000 being the only ones to go to Heaven because they are deceived by an antichrist spirit and they do not want their followers to be among those who worship Jesus Christ. Like the Pharisees they shut the kingdom of Heaven in men’s faces.

Every true Christian is a citizen of Heaven, while everyone who denies Jesus will be shut outside of the kingdom and separated from God forever and ever. It is those who deny Jesus who die in their sins (John 8:24). Every Scripture on Heaven refutes the false teaching of false prophets like the Jehovah’s Witnesses. These people are unwilling to take Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and worship Him. They continually twist the Bible to deny the Godhead of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus is seated upon the throne of God and this makes Him equal with His heavenly Father (Revelation 5:12-14). But these deceivers teach people to deny the sovereign lordship of Jesus Christ (Jude 4; 2 Peter 2:1).

God made Heaven (Acts 14:15), and He made it for those who belong to Jesus (Colossians 1:16). A person will never find God if he denies the Saviour of the world. We have to proclaim that Jesus is Lord! Jesus is the Saviour of the world and we will all have to stand before Him on the Day of Judgment. We have to prepare people to stand before the throne of Jesus. If you don’t belong to the Saviour, you have been led astray. The devil is deceiving too many people by leading them away from sincere and pure devotion towards Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3). Sincere devotion towards Jesus is what saves us. Beware of the false prophets who try to stop you from taking Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. If you have been involved in a false church that tries to stop you from going to Heaven, you need to come out of that false church immediately.

Only those who belong to Jesus have their names written in Heaven. Is your name written in Heaven? (Hebrews 12:22-25) Will you enter the heavenly temple? (Revelation 3:11-12; 14:17) Will you dwell in the heavenly sanctuary? (Hebrews 8:1-2; 9:24) Will you be among the great multitude worshipping before the throne of God? (Revelation 7:9-10) Will you be among the great multitude that participates in the marriage supper of the Lamb? (Revelation 19:1-9) Will Jesus open Heaven to receive your spirit? (Acts 7:55-60) Or will you be shut outside? Examine your own life carefully to see whether or not you are following the true way of salvation. If you are a true believer you should be assured of a place in the kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus said that you must be “born again” to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3,7; 1 Peter 1:23). To be “born again” you must receive Jesus Christ into your heart. You are not a true Christian unless you have Jesus dwelling within you (Ephesians 3:17; Colossians 1:27). Those who believe the gospel of Jesus Christ have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Philippians 4:3). They enter the kingdom of God, which includes all of God’s unlimited domain. You cannot get into the Heaven nor enter the heavenly city (the New Jerusalem) that will come down to the earth unless your name is written in that book (Revelation 21:27).

There is a place for those whose names are not found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and that is the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12-15). If Jesus denies you access into Heaven, you will definitely go to a burning Hell for your terrible wickedness in denying the Lordship of Christ. Those who refuse to go to Heaven are choosing to go to Hell.

I plead with you to repent and take Jesus as your Lord and Saviour now. Come out of darkness and let Jesus fill your heart with His light. Let Jesus wash away your sins by His precious blood. Always remember that Jesus is the way to Heaven!

Will You Be One Of The Saints Who Go Marching In?

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