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Matthew
6:9-15
Pray then
like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For
if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
"
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Revelation
20:10-15
I
saw a great white throne with someone sitting on it. Earth and
heaven tried to run away, but there was no place for them to
go. I also saw all the dead people standing in front of that
throne. Every one of them was there, no matter who they had
once been. Several books were opened, and then the book of life
was opened. The dead were judged by what those books said they
had done.
The sea gave up the dead people who were in it, and death and
its kingdom also gave up their dead. Then everyone was judged
by what they had done. Afterwards, death and its kingdom were
thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Anyone
whose name wasn't written in the book of life was thrown into
the lake of fire.
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Revelation
22
Then with
the help of the Spirit, he took me to the top of a very high
mountain. There he showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming
down from God in heaven. The glory of God made the city bright.
It was dazzling and crystal clear like a precious jasper stone...
I did
not see a temple there. The Lord God All-powerful and the Lamb
were its temple. And the city did not need the sun or the moon.
The glory of God was shining on it, and the Lamb was its light.
Nations
will walk by the light of that city, and kings will bring their
riches there. Its gates are always open during the day, and
night never comes. The glorious treasures of nations will be
brought into the city. But nothing unworthy will be allowed
to enter. No one who is dirty-minded or who tells lies will
be there. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book
of life will be in the city.
The angel
showed me a river that was crystal clear, and its waters gave
life. The river came from the throne where God and the Lamb
were seated. Then it flowed down the middle of the city's main
street. On each side of the river are trees that grow a different
kind of fruit each month of the year. The fruit gives life,
and the leaves are used as medicine to heal the nations.
God's
curse will no longer be on the people of that city. He and the
Lamb will be seated there on their thrones, and its people will
worship God and will see him face to face. God's name will be
written on the foreheads of the people. Never
again will night appear, and no one who lives there will ever
need a lamp or the sun. The Lord God will be their light, and
they will rule forever.
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Luke
16:19-31
There
was once a rich man who wore expensive clothes and every day
ate the best food. But a poor beggar named Lazarus was brought
to the gate of the rich man's house.
He was happy just to eat the scraps that fell from the rich
man's table. His body was covered with sores, and dogs kept
coming up to lick them.
The poor man died, and angels took him to the place of honor
next to Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.
He went to hell and was suffering terribly. When he looked up
and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side,
he said to Abraham, "Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip
his finger in water and touch my tongue. I'm suffering terribly
in this fire."
Abraham
answered, "My friend, remember that while you lived, you
had everything good, and Lazarus had everything bad. Now he
is happy, and you are in pain. And besides, there is a deep
ditch between us, and no one from either side can cross over."
But the rich man said, "Abraham, then please send Lazarus
to my father's home.
Let him warn my five brothers, so they won't come to this horrible
place."
Abraham
answered, "Your brothers can read what Moses and the prophets
wrote. They should pay attention to that."
Then the rich man said, "No, that's not enough! If only
someone from the dead would go to them, they would listen and
turn to God."
So
Abraham said, "If they won't pay attention to Moses and
the prophets, they won't listen even to someone who comes back
from the dead."
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 |
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| When
considering Heaven we must be careful to stick to those facts
we can ascertain from the Bible. There are many ideas and
images of Heaven current in the world that have little or
no basis in the Bible. |
| A
reality |
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We
certainly know that Heaven exists now! Jesus mentioned Heaven
as an existing place when He taught his disciples the Lord's
Prayer (Matthew 6:9-15) . The prayer starts with
"Our Father in Heaven", indicating that Heaven
is a place and a place where God is. Furthermore, we see
in this prayer that Heaven is the place where God's will
is done.
Jesus
came down from Heaven and returned to Heaven to be at the
right side of God the Father (Hebrews 8:1) and is there
now interceding for His followers.
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| A
Kingdom |
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Jesus
referred many times to Heaven as a kingdom - mentioned in
Matthew's gospel as "The Kingdom of Heaven" and
in the other gospels as "The Kingdom of God".
This kingdom is the place where God is acknowledged as king,
supremely heaven, one day here on earth, and partially fulfilled
when an individual turns to Christ. And Jesus provides us
with some essential information about that kingdom;
Firstly,
entrance into this kingdom is dependent on having a faith
in Jesus Christ. In John 3:5 Jesus says
"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom
of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit".
Heaven can only be entered by those who put their trust
in Jesus Christ and therefore (at that moment) receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.
To
enter the Kingdom, there is hardship for a Christian. Two
of the first followers of Christ, Paul and Barnabus, knew
this when (Acts 14:21-22) "they returned to
Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the
souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in
the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we
must enter the kingdom of God".
Indeed,
a Christian must struggle against the world's sins to gain
a place in Heaven Paul is very clear about this in his letter
to the Galatians (Galatians 5:19-21) " Now the
works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity,
sensuality,
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger,
rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies,
and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before,
that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom
of God".
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| Entry
to Heaven is through Jesus Christ |
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However,
as Paul tells the Corinthians, Christians have a means to
overcome sin and go to Heaven (1 Corinthians 6:11)
"But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the
Spirit of our God" In other words, if we turn away
from sin and turn to Christ, our sins are washed away so
that we appear clean (pure) before God and can enter Heaven.
Jesus's
sacrifice on the cross allows those who trust in Him to
be washed clean of their sin and therefore have the promise
of eternal life in Heaven. There is no other way.
We
are assured of this, as the disciples were when (John
14:1-2) Jesus said to them "Don't be worried! Have
faith in God and have faith in me. There are many rooms
in my Father's house. I wouldn't tell you this, unless it
was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of
you."
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| Christians
already in heavenly places |
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Furthermore,
a Christian is immediately connected to Heaven when he/she
believes. Paul explains this to the Ephesians (Ephesians
2) "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the
great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead
in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by
grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and
seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...".
Note the past tense here - the Ephesian Christians were
already raised to heavenly places, as Christians are today.
The
Kingdom of Heaven may be invisible to Christians on Earth
but each Christian is a part of that Heaven already and
looks forward to the joys of that Heaven for ever. But what
is Heaven like?
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| A
vision of Heaven |
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Physical
descriptions of what Heaven is like at this moment are not
to be found in the Bible (although the Bible provides pictures
often equating to a place of joy, celebration, feasting,
justice, etc..), but what we do know is that when Jesus
returns there will be a second Heaven and second Earth.
That heaven on Earth is described in a vision (Revelation
21) of a magnificent, new Jerusalem to which only those
who are in "the Lamb's book of life" (i.e. Christians)
are admitted.
The
beauty and joy of this new city stands as the most potent
vision of the wonders of the eternal heaven that each Christian
can look forward to. When you read the extract from Revelation
(quoted in the left hand column) the sheer magnificence
and perfection of this new heaven is overwhelming.
Heaven
is the place where all our troubles will cease. Christians
will be in wonderful fellowship with a God whose magnificence
will light up the land. There no tears will be shed. There
the joy of the Lord will be felt by all, eternally.
This
is the vision that many have looked to when thinking of
Heaven, including John Bunyan when writing "Pilgrim's
Progress". After facing the trials of life along "the
narrow path" and having crossed the river of death,
his hero, Christian, and his companion enter Heaven:
"Now
just as the gates were opened to let in the men, I looked
in after them, and behold, the City shone like the sun:
the streets were paved with gold, and in them walked many
men, with crowns on their heads, palms in their hands, and
golden harps to praise withal.
There
were also of them that had wings, and they answered to one
another without intermission, saying 'Holy, Holy, Holy is
the Lord'. And after they shut up the gates; which when
I had seen, I wished myself among them".
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| The existence
of Hell is a difficult idea for many people to accept, especially
as the images portrayed in the Bible, and from outside it,
are so uncompromising. |
| A place
of fire |
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The
last book of the Bible makes no bones about the fate of
many on the day of final judgment (Revelation 21:8)
"But I will tell you what will happen to cowards and
to everyone who is unfaithful or dirty-minded or who murders
or is sexually immoral or uses witchcraft or worships idols
or tells lies. They will be thrown into that lake of fire
and burning sulfur. This is the second death." Earlier
Revelation 20:10-15 (provided in the left hand column)
also refers to this lake of fire.
This
image of Hell as a place of fire was used by Jesus in one
of his parables that reflected on the ultimate fate of a
rich man (Luke 16:19-31 See left hand column). Here
it is clear that the rich man is in Hell (here called Hades)
because of the actions of his life. He was suffering eternal
torment from the flames and just wanted a drop of water
to ease his pain, illustrating the suffering that Hell brings.
But here we see that Hell and Heaven have a gulf between
them - there is no exit from Hell once there - there is
no turning back.
Both
the vision in Revelation and Jesus's parable give images/representations
of what is true. Whether the actual physical reality of
Hell is exactly the same as these images is almost irrelevant.
What matters is that it does convey a truthful impression
of a place of eternal suffering and anguish.
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| The
reality of exile from God |
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What
is so striking is that this is the place of exile from God
(please read Matthew 25, especially verse 41). If
a man or woman has chosen to walk away from God, and His
son Jesus Christ, and/or lived their own way, against God's
wishes, that man/woman has made a decision - A decision
to reject God. That decision will mean that God will reject
that person as that person rejected Him.
If
Heaven is where God is - where peace, joy, perfection and
fulfillment resides eternally - then the place those who
reject (or just ignore) God go to will have none of God's
good things. There will be no peace, no joy, no perfection,
no fulfillment - eternally. Therefore, surely Hell must
be a place of hate, sadness, imperfection - a place of suffering.
Many
have tried to avoid accepting the stark results of rejecting
God and sinning as a one-way trip to Hell. Dante, in the
14th century, wrote of "Purgatory", where sinners
were punished for their sins until purified for entry into
Heaven. He also imagined an emotionless Limbo at the gates
of Hell where good people who had not known Jesus spent
eternity. But there is no biblical evidence that either
place really exists. Even so many believe in Purgatory now
even though there is nothing in the Bible to confirm this.
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| Most
people are headed for Hell |
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If
we hold to the words of the Bible, which is a necessity
for all Christians, then our life on Earth and our choices
have only two eternal outcomes - Heaven or Hell. And the
Bible is uncompromising in telling us that most people are
headed for Hell.
Jesus
said (Matthew 7 13-14) "Enter by the narrow
gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads
to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For
the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life,
and those who find it are few."
Jesus
shows us the reality of life. In this world it is easy to
reject God, accept sin and go along with the values of the
majority of people. There is no hardship in doing that and
many people would be with you if you did. So the way to
Hell has to be broad.
Whilst
to accept God and follow His ways will be hard .Many will
ridicule you or worse. After all, your choice will be an
implicit criticism of the choices others have taken. So
those with you will be few, and therefore the gate is narrow.
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| This
is not what God wants! |
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However,
this is not how God wants it to be! In one of his letters
Peter writes (2 Peter 3:9) "The Lord is not
slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but
is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish,
but that all should reach repentance."
God
does not want you and me to go to Hell, to perish. He patiently
wants you to repent (turning from sin and turning to God)
so that you can claim eternal life in Heaven with Him. God
wants you and me to be in Heaven with Him, not in Hell with
the Devil.
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| God,
through Jesus, saves us from Hell |
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God
wants this so much that (John 3:16) "... God
so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
God came down in the form of His Son Jesus, to be an innocent
sacrifice on a cross of torture and death, so that the punishment
for our sins was put on Him. If we trust and follow Jesus,
our sins have been already dealt with through Jesus's sacrifice.
A Christian is therefore washed clean of his/her sin.
Being
washed clean through Jesus, we can avoid Hell, and look
to a glorious promise of eternal life in Heaven. When God
sees a Christian, He sees a follower of His innocent and
pure son, Jesus Christ, and welcomes us into the eternal
joy of Heaven.
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| Judgment
will come |
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Christians
believe that there will be a day of judgment as described
in the Bible, in the book of Revelation. On that day, all
people will be judged and separated into those who go to
Heaven and those to Hell. For all those who read these words,
we pray that you will know on that day the joy of entering
Heaven as a true follower of Jesus Christ. And therefore
will never be concerned about what Hell is and will be.
Christians
should be aware and concerned about Hell, but Christians
should never fear Hell for themselves. Rather, Christians
should feel a desperate urge to help others avoid Hell and
be saved for eternal life in Heaven. As Jude asked his fellow
Christians (Jude 1:23) "save others by snatching
them out of the fire".
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Heaven and Hell are real places that exist today although they are invisible
to us in this life
Heaven is where God is and where His will is done
Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven interceding
for his followers on Earth (Christians)
Jesus spoke of Heaven as the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God
The sole way to the Kingdom of Heaven is through the Lord Jesus Christ
Hardship is part of the life of Christians who will enter into Heaven
Those who sin in any of many ways will not be accepted into the Kingdom
of Heaven
Christians are already "seated in heavenly places"
Jesus's sacrifice on the cross allows those who trust in Him to be washed
clean of their sin and therefore have the promise of eternal life in
Heaven. There is no other way
A potent image of Heaven is the portrayal of a new Jerusalem, where
there will be peace, joy and love for ever
The Bible portrays Hell as a place of fire and suffering
Hell is the place of exile from God and all God's blessings
Only a few will go through the "narrow gate" into Heaven.
Most people are on the "broad path" to Hell
God patiently wants everyone to repent and so be saved from Hell
On a day of judgment in the future God will judge all the living and
the dead and His verdict will decide whether each person will go to
an eternal life in Heaven or Hell
We, at Enderby Parish Church, pray that all those who read this page
will know the joy of following Jesus Christ and will therefore know
the wonderful promise of eternal life in Heaven that is promised to
all those who follow and trust in Jesus. Amen
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Easton's Bible Dictionary on Heaven
(1.) Definitions.,
The phrase “heaven and earth” is used to indicate the whole
universe (Gen_1:1; Jer_23:24; Act_17:24). According to the Jewish notion
there were three heavens,
(a) The firmament, as “fowls of the heaven” (Gen_2:19; Gen_7:3,
Gen_7:23; Psa_8:8, etc.), “the eagles of heaven” (Lam_4:19),
etc.
(b) The starry heavens (Deu_17:3; Jer_8:2; Mat_24:29).
(c) “The heaven of heavens,” or “the third heaven”
(Deu_10:14; 1Ki_8:27; Psa_115:16; Psa_148:4; 2Co_12:2).
(2.) Meaning of words in the original,
(a) The usual Hebrew word for “heavens” is shamayim, a plural
form meaning “heights,” “elevations” (Gen_1:1; Gen_2:1).
(b) The Hebrew word marom is also used (Psa_68:18; Psa_93:4; Psa_102:19,
etc.) as equivalent to shamayim, “high places,” “heights.”
(c) Heb. galgal, literally a “wheel,” is rendered “heaven”
in Psa_77:18 (R.V., “whirlwind”).
(d) Heb. shahak, rendered “sky” (Deu_33:26; Job_37:18; Psa_18:11),
plural “clouds” (Job_35:5; Job_36:28; Psa_68:34, marg. “heavens”),
means probably the firmament.
(e) Heb. rakia is closely connected with (d), and is rendered “firmamentum”
in the Vulgate, whence our “firmament” (Gen_1:6; Deu_33:26,
etc.), regarded as a solid expanse.
(3.) Metaphorical meaning of term. Isa_14:13, Isa_14:14; “doors
of heaven” (Psa_78:23); heaven “shut” (1Ki_8:35); “opened”
(Eze_1:1). (See 1Ch_21:16.)
(4.) Spiritual meaning. The place of the everlasting blessedness of
the righteous; the abode of departed spirits.
(a) Christ calls it his “Father's house” (Joh_14:2).
(b) It is called “paradise” (Luk_23:43; 2Co_12:4; Rev_2:7).
(c) “The heavenly Jerusalem” (Gal_4:26; Heb_12:22; Rev_3:12).
(d) The “kingdom of heaven” (Mat_25:1; Jam_2:5).
(e) The “eternal kingdom” (2Pe_1:11).
(f) The “eternal inheritance” (1Pe_1:4; Heb_9:15).
(g) The “better country” (Heb_11:14, Heb_11:16).
(h) The blessed are said to “sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob,” and to be “in Abraham's bosom” (Luk_16:22; Mat_8:11);
to “reign with Christ” (2Ti_2:12); and to enjoy “rest”
(Heb_4:10, Heb_4:11).
In heaven the blessedness of the righteous consists in the possession
of “life everlasting,” “an eternal weight of glory”
(2Co_4:17), an exemption from all sufferings forever, a deliverance
from all evils (2Co_5:1, 2Co_5:2) and from the society of the wicked
(2Ti_4:18), bliss without termination, the “fulness of joy”
for ever (Luk_20:36; 2Co_4:16, 2Co_4:18; 1Pe_1:4; 1Pe_5:10; 1Jo_3:2).
The believer's heaven is not only a state of everlasting blessedness,
but also a “place”, a place “prepared” for them
(Joh_14:2).
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