Heaven and hell (pt. 1) - Heaven

Part 1

Heaven

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.

C.S. Lewis

Death is a separation of:

BODY

SOUL

SPIRIT

… “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…

Genesis 1:26a NIV

…May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thess. 5:23 NIV

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 NIV

Heaven according to other religions…

Buddhism• The Buddhist’s notion of heaven would be that

of “Nirvana.”• Buddha believed that all human suffering was

linked to desire and let go of everything.• Buddha taught that desire is a flame that burns

us, causes suffering, and keeps us tied to the cycle of death and rebirth (reincarnation)

because the flame continues burning into the next life.• What is hoped for is “Nirvana.”• Nirvana is the cycle of reincarnation and the

end of suffering.


Islam• Paradise is what Islamic followers call their

heaven.• Paradise is a garden where the faithful lie

upon couches in a climate-controlled environment surrounded by “bashful, dark-eyed virgins,

chaste as the sheltered eggs of ostriches.”• They will drink from crystal goblets and silver

vessels as “immortal youths” hover about them looking like “scattered pearls.”• The believers will be clothed in green silk and

brocade and will wear silver bracelets, and they will “drink a pure draught” drawn from Allah’s

own source as a reward for their striving and patience.


Hinduism• Doesn’t really teach of a heaven.• Believes in reincarnation until that being has reached

enlightenment.• Death is viewed as a break in the continued events of

life and brings about a change in the form in which the spirit resides (i.e., reincarnation).

• Hindus believe the afterlife is a passage of time in a heaven/hell, dependent upon the karma built up in life.

• The judgment about one’s life is based upon the karma that the individual created in his/her past lives.

• The rebirth of the spirit into the next life, through the transmigration of the soul, is determined by the

developed karma and the individual’s last thoughts in the present life.

• An individual’s search for eternal happiness and immortality results in the rebirth of the spirit in different bodies until the spirit learns that happiness and immortality are not a result of the fulfillment of desires but are attained when all desires and needs are no longer important.


Scientology• Believes in reincarnation.• Their “souls will be born again into the flesh of another

body.”• Believe that ever human being is really an immortal

spiritual being known as a “thetan” and that the “meat bodies” we inhabit are merely vessels we shed upon death.

• When a body dies, its thetan forgets the details of the former life, though painful and traumatic images known

as engrams remain rooted in its unconscious.• In order to move up the path of spiritual progression –

known as the Bridge to Total Freedom – one must eradicate these psychic scars, which cause a person to act fearfully and irrationally.

• Once a Scientologist has purged them through the counseling process known as “auditing,” he/she is said to be “clear.”


Jehovah’s Witnesses• Believe that heaven has a strict limit to its

admittance.• Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that exactly

144,000 faithful Christians go to heaven to rule with Christ in the kingdom of God.• They, with Jesus, will also perform priestly

duties that will bring faithful mankind to perfect health and “everlasting life.”• Those followers outside of the 144,000 will be

resurrected in an earthly paradise, while those non-believers will not be resurrected at all and their souls are annihilated.


Jehovah’s Witnesses• Believe that heaven has a strict limit to its

admittance.• Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that exactly

144,000 faithful Christians go to heaven to rule with Christ in the kingdom of God.• They, with Jesus, will also perform priestly

duties that will bring faithful mankind to perfect health and “everlasting life.”• Those followers outside of the 144,000 will be

resurrected in an earthly paradise, while those non-believers will not be resurrected at all and their souls are annihilated.

“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.”

John 14:1-3 NIV

A. Heaven is a PLACE

B. MANY rooms/mansions

C. JESUS is the one preparing heaven

D. GOD will be there

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them…

Rev. 21:3 NIV

…the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city…

Rev. 22:3 NIV

E. No more MOURNING, CRYING, PAIN, or DEATH

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

Rev. 21:4 NIV

F. Heaven is a radiant CITY

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

Rev. 21:9-10-11 NIV

G. There is a WALL around the city

It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.

Rev. 21:12-13

H. 12 foundations = names of 12 apostles of the Lamb

The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Rev. 21:14 NIV

I. Size of the city

The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man’s measurement, which the angel was using.

Rev. 21:15-17 NIV

J. City is made of GOLD

The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.

Rev. 21:18

K. Gates made of PEARLS

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl…

Rev. 21:21a NIV

L. Street of GOLD

…The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

Rev. 21:21b NIV

M. No TEMPLE…the Lord is the temple

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

Rev. 21:23 NIV

N. No sun/moon…GOD is the light

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

Rev. 21:23-24

There will be no more night. The will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light…

Rev. 22:5 NIV

O. Gates are never SHUT

On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

Rev. 21:25 NIV

P. No NIGHT

On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

Rev. 21:25 NIV

Q. Nothing UNCLEAN will enter heaven

Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lambs book of life.

Rev. 21:27 NIV

R. His servants will WORSHIP Him

…his servants will serve him.Rev. 22:3b NIV

“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 NIV

Part 1

Heaven

Spiritual

Heaven and hell (pt. 1) - Heaven