It's Your Choice... HEAVEN!
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11 And
I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there
was found no place for them. 12 And
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and
the books were opened: and another book was opened, which
is the book of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works. 13 And
the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and
hell F32 delivered up the dead which were
in them: and they were judged every man according to
their works. 14 And
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is
the second death. 15 And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire.
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![]() ![]() *Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of Hell?* |
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Matthew Eighteen And Eleven Jesus came to save us from eternal death; this is a promise that has been kept. Due to sin each man is doomed to die, but Jesus offers life to those who on him rely. Hes paid the price that sin demands, as was prearranged by God in the Salvation Plan. Were beckoned so this truth well see, we repent and surrender to Him now and throughout eternity. Were guided in what were to say and do, from deep within were changed into beings so completely new. No longer desiring to sin even the slightest bit, we are new creatures in Christ and our lives portray it. We desire to share this awesome fact, by the words we speak and through the way we act. Matthew eighteen and eleven says it so well; Jesus came to save sinners from the fires of Hell. Barbara Philbrook Have A Wonderful Jesus Filled Day Today! If you have enjoyed my Poetry and would like to receive each new one as it is written, you may join my mailing list. By clicking on the Sharingplace link below: My ICQ# 16427575 http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/Sharingplace |
Heaven |
*As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.* |
HOW
very frequently verses of Scripture are misquoted!
Instead of turning to the Bible, to see how it is
written, and saying, "How readest thou?" we
quote from one another; and thus a passage of Scripture
is handed down misquoted, by a king of tradition, from
father to son, and passes as current among a great number
of Christian persons. How very frequently at our prayer
meetings do we hear our brethren describing heaven as a
place of which we cannot conceive! They say, "Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for
them that love him;" and there they stop, not seeing
that the very marrow of the whole passage lies in this -
"But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit."
So that the joys of heaven (if this passage alludes to
heaven, which, I take it, is not quite so clear as some
would suppose), are, after all, not things of which we
cannot conceive; for "God hath revealed them unto us
by his Spirit." I have hinted that this passage is most commonly applied to heaven, and I shall myself also so apply it in some measure, this morning. But any one who reads the connexion will discover that the apostle is not talking about heaven at all. He is only speaking of this - that the wisdom of this world is not able to discover the things of God - that the merely carnal mind is not able to know the deep spiritual things of our most holy religion. He says, "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." And then he goes on lower down to say, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." I take it, that this text is a great general fact, capable of specific application to certain cases; and that the great fact is this - that the things of God cannot be perceived by eye, and ear, and heart, but must be revealed by the Spirit of God; as they are unto all true believers. We shall take that thought, and endeavour to expand it this morning, explaining it concerning heaven, as well as regards other heavenly matters. Every prophet who has stood upon the borders of a new dispensation might have uttered these words with peculiar force. He might have said, as he looked forward to the future, God having touched his eye with the anointing eye-salve of the Holy Spirit, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love him; but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit." We will divide the economy of free grace into different dispensations. We commence with the patriarchal. A patriarch, who like Abraham was gifted with foresight, might have looked forward to the Levitical dispensation, glorious with its tabernacle, its Shekinah, its gorgeous veil, its blazing altars; he might have caught a glimpse of Solomon's magnificent temple, and even by anticipation heard the sacred song ascending from the assembled thousands of Jerusalem; he might have seen king Solomon upon his throne, surrounded with all his riches, and the people resting in peace and tranquillity in the promised land; and he might have turned to his brethren who lived in the patriarchal age, and said, "'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him' in the next dispensation. Ye know not how clearly God will reveal himself in the Paschal Lamb - how sweetly the people will be led, and fed, and guided, and directed all the way through the wilderness - what a sweet and fair country it is that they shall inhabit; Eye hath not seen the brooks that gush with milk, nor the rivers that run with honey; ear hath not heard the melodious voices of the daughters of Shiloh, nor have entered into the heart of man the joys of the men of Zion, 'but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.'" And so, moreover, at the close of the Levitical dispensation, the prophets might have thus foretold the coming glories. Old Isaiah, standing in the midst of the temple, beholding its sacrifices, and the dim smoke that went up from them, when his eyes were opened by the Spirit of God, said - "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for him that love him." He saw by faith Christ crucified upon the cross; he beheld him weltering in his own blood in Gethsemane's garden; he saw the disciples going out of Jerusalem, to preach everywhere the Word of God; he marked the progress of Messiah's kingdom, and he looked down to these latter days, when every man under his own vine and fig tree doth worship God, none daring to make him afraid; and he could well have cheered the captives in Babylon in words like these, - "Now ye sit down and weep, and ye will not sing in a strange land the songs of Zion; but lift up your heads, for your salvation draweth nigh. Your eye hath not seen, nor your ear heard, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him; but he hath revealed them unto me by his Spirit." And now, beloved, we stand on the borders of a new era. The mediatorial dispensation is almost finished. In a few more years, if prophecy be not thoroughly misinterpreted, we shall enter upon another condition. This poor earth of ours, which has been swathed in darkness, shall put on her garments of light. She hath toiled a long while in travail and sorrow. Soon shall her groanings end. Her surface, which has been stained with blood, is soon to be purified by love, and a religion of peace is to be established. The hour is coming, when storms shall be hushed, when tempests shall be unknown, when whirlwind and hurricane shall stay their mighty force, and when "the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ." But you ask me what sort of kingdom that is to be, and whether I can show you any likeness thereof. I answer, no; "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him,' in the next, the millenial dispensation; "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit." Sometimes, when we climb upwards, there are moments of contemplation when we can understand that verse, "From whence we look for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be revealed from heaven," and can anticipate that thrice blessed hour, when the King of kings shall put on his head the crown of the universe, when he shall gather up sheaves of sceptres, and put them beneath his arm - when he shall take the crowns from the heads of all monarchs, and welding them into one, shall put them on his own head, admist the shouts of ten thousand times ten thousand who shall chaunt his high praises. But it is little enough that we can guess of its wonders. But persons are curious to know what kind of dispensation the Millennial one is to be. Will the temple, they ask, be erected in Jerusalem? Will the Jews be positively restored to their own land? Will the different nations all speak one language? Will they all resort to one temple? and ten thousand other questions. Beloved, we cannot answer you. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." We do not profess to understand the minutiae of these things. It is enough for us to believe that a latter-day glory is approaching. Our eyes glisten with joy, in the full belief that it is coming; and our hearts swell big at the thought that our Master is to reign over the wide, wide world, and to win it for himself. But if you begin questioning us, we tell you that we cannot explain it. Just as under the legal dispensation there were types and shadows, but the mass of the people never saw Christ in them, so there are a great many different things in this dispensation which are types of the next, which will never be explained till we have more wisdom, more light, and more instruction. Just as the enlightened Jew partially foresaw what the Gospel was to be by the law, so may we guess the Millennium by the present, but we have not light enough: there are few who are taught enough in the deep things of God to explain them fully. Therefore we still say of the mass of mankind - "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered the heart of man, things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit," in some measure, and he will do so more and more, by-and-bye. And this brings us to make the application of the subject to heaven itself. You see, while it does not expressly mean heaven here, you may very easily bring it to bear upon it; for concerning heaven, unto which believers are all fast going, we may say "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit." Now, beloved, I am about to talk of heaven for this reason: you know, I never preach any funeral sermons for anybody, and never intend. I have passed by many persons who have died in our church, without having made any parade of funeral sermons; but, nevertheless, three or four of our friends having departed recently, I think I may speak a little to you about heaven, in order to cheer you, and God may thus bless their departure. It is to be no funeral sermon, however - no eulogium on the dead, and no oration pronounced over the departed. Frequent funeral sermons I utterly abhor, and I believe they are not under God's sanction and approval. Of the dead we should say nothing but that which is good: and in the pulpit we should say very little of that, except, perhaps, in the case of some very eminent saint; and then we should say very little of the man; but let the "honour be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever." Heaven - then, what is it? First, what is it not? It is not a heaven of the SENSES - "Eye hath not seen it." What glorious things the eye hath seen! Have we not seen the gaudy pageantry of pomp crowding the gay streets. We have seen the procession of kings and princes; our eyes have been feasted with the display of glittering uniforms, of lavished gold and jewels, of chariots and of horses; and we have perhaps thought that the procession of the saints of God may be dimly shadowed forth thereby. But, oh it was but the thought of our poor infant mind, and far enough from the great reality. We may hear of the magnificence of the old Persian princes, of palaces covered with gold and silver, and floors inlaid with jewels; but we cannot thence gather a thought of heaven, for "eye hath not seen" it. We have thought, however, when we have come to the works of God, and our eye hath rested on them: surely we can get some glimpse of what heaven is here. By night we have turned our eye up to the blue azure, and we have seen the stars - those golden-fleeced sheep of God, feeding on the blue meadow of the sky, and we have said, "See! those are the nails in the floor of heaven up yonder;" and if this earth has such a glorious covering, what must that of the kingdom of heaven be? And when our eye has wandered from star to star, we have thought, "Now I can tell what heaven is by the beauty of its floor." But it is all a mistake. All that we can see can never help us to understand heaven. At another time we have seen some glorious landscape; we have seen the white river winding among the verdant fields like a stream silver, covered on either side with emerald; we have seen the mountain towering to the sky, the mist rising on it, or the golden sunrise covering all the east with glory; or we have seen the west, again, reddened with the light of the sun as it departed; and we have said, "Surely, these grandeurs must be something like heaven; we have clapped our hands, and exclaimed - "Sweet fields beyond the
swelling flood, Where on
a green and flowery mount "That
holy calm, that sweet repose, "Can
I Gethesemane forget? Remember
thee and all thy pains, "And
when these failing lips grow dumb, "Once
a sinner, near despair, "Then
shall we see, and hear, and know |
http://breadsite.org/teachings/books/0008/0056.htm NetChapel.com for more Christian resources. |
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Heaven or Hell? The Choice is yours... Choose Heaven before its too late!
Heaven or Hell? The Choice is yours... Choose Heaven before its too late!
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© 2006 http://www.LillyOfTheValleyVa.com USA
title
Heaven Or Hell? It's Your Choice...*HEAVEN* Hosted by Lilly Of The Valley VA's JESUS Loves You! Prayer Counseling Ministry
keywords
Prayer, hell, heaven, judgement, Lord, JESUS, God, Savior, Lilly, VA, Virginia, JESUS, Love, Bible, C. H. Spurgeon, Sabbath,
description
Heaven Or Hell? It's Your Choice...*HEAVEN* Heaven is a place you don't want to miss! Revelation 21:9-26 *...Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; ...* Is Your Name in the Book? The Lamb's Book of Life Revelation 20:11-15 *11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works...* Are You Ready to Meet The Angel of GOD? Matthew 23:33 *Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of Hell?* The only escape is JESUS! John 14:6 *I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but throught Me.* Matthew 18:11 *For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.* Read one of the best sermons ever written ~ Heaven Sermon #56 Delivered on Sabbath Morning, December 16th, 1855, by the REV. C. H. SPURGEON At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark. Midi Music: Song From Heaven. Hosted by Lilly Of The Valley VA's JESUS Loves You! Prayer Counseling Ministry