Heaven by Revelation

My prayer is that we all experience the blessing of God that cannot be denied in our walk with God, laboring in His Vineyard for His glory alone. Our generation is beginning to forget about Heaven; we don’t preach, talk or pray about it anymore, it seems. In this fast-paced world, we have placed Heaven on the shelf as though it’s merely a vacation spot. Beloved, I am here to remind you that we need to get back to believing in the reality of Heaven. Sir/Ma, if you can simply get a glimpse of the glory and beauty of Beulah land. Then, no pain will be too much, no insult too big simply to make it there; no glitter or gold in this world can erase the memory.

An American tourist visited the 19th century Polish rabbi, Chofetz Chaim. He was astonished to see that the rabbi’s home was but a simple room filled with books, plus a table and a bench. He asked the rabbi where his furniture was. The rabbi asked the tourist why he also had no furniture with him. The tourist quizzically stated that he was but a visitor. To this, Chofetz Chaim responded that he was also only a visitor passing through [this world]; hence the sparseness of furniture in his home. Jim Reeves, the songwriter and singer of blessed memory sang the song: 

“This world is not my home I’m just a-passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore etc.“

Conversely, instead of being a people uncomfortable in a foreign land, often times it seems that we have driven our stakes into the temporal soil of this world. We do not appear to hold the same urgency that our forefathers had, anticipating Christ’s return at any moment. It is time that we turn our hearts toward Heaven and take responsibility for getting souls there. 

Before I get ahead of myself, some terms will be quickly defined. 

Heaven: God said, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool” (Isaiah 66:1). Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2). Not apartments, studios or houses; He called them mansions. The celestial shores beckon us each and every day. You can miss everything, but please don’t miss heaven. Heaven is a place of intimacy, beauty and adventure. Unfortunately, people don’t get excited about heaven anymore. 
Please understand that there are 3 Heavens made known to us in the Holy Bible. They are: the atmosphere above the earth where birds and airplanes fly; the firmament of Heaven that the stars and planetary systems occupy; the Heaven of Heavens, which is the “Dwelling Place of God.” 

Revelation: Revelation means making something secret or hidden known (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Special Price Edition). Deuteronomy 29:29,” The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

Heaven by Revelation, therefore, implies that except you get the realities of heaven by divine revelation, you may never love, desire or pray for it. The Apostles had a revelation of Heaven; many were burnt at the stakes, crucified upside down, fed to lions and even beheaded. Yet, the revelation of Heaven made their suffering as nothing, compared to the joy that awaited them in the Heavenly Jerusalem. Classic examples are Stephen (Acts 7:55-56,60), Apostle Paul (Acts 20:22-24), & John the Beloved (Revelations 21:18-20). 

Time and space will not allow me to talk about the intimacy, adventure, pleasure, and beauty of Heaven. I will take a small jab at its beauty, though, to give us an idea what we’re talking about. The intimacy of a relationship filled to overflowing is not enough to satisfy us as humans, for some reason; there is another ache from deep within – our longing for beauty. A few months ago, my family and I were in Orlando, FL for a family vacation. On one of our nights there, I decided to go sightseeing at the Waldorf Astoria in Orlando, FL. It was a wowing experience – the beautifully manicured lawns, the carpet on the floor, sounds of music and laughter, the scent of the flower beds in the warm ocean breeze. I saw beauty, yet a voice within me said, “This is not home, heaven is more beautiful. This is like a comparison between a miniature golf course and a real championship course; there is no comparison whatsoever. 

As humans, we long for beauty. C.S. Lewis said, “One of the mistakes we so often make when captured by an object of beauty, whether it’s a place, a person, or a work of art, is to assume that the longing in our heart is for the thing before us”. These things are but shadows of the realities to come.

• The beauty of the tabernacle carried by Israel through the desert was a type of the real item in heaven. However, no hormone treatment can make a cat become a lion. So it goes with all things on earth; the beauty that so captures our heart and is so fleeting draws us toward the eternal reality.
• When the biblical writers speak of heaven, they use the most beautiful imagery they can.  “In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Revelations 22:2).  
• Also, we have Heaven’s New Jerusalem, an unspeakable beauty, a city with streets of gold, gates of pearl, and precious stones (Revelations 21:10-21; Read Revelations 21-22). “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” (Revelations 21:23).
• A Christian’s eternal inheritance – “To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4)

When you die, do you want to go there? Every sane human being will desire to go to Heaven. The alternative to not going to Heaven is going to hell, where the devil and his demons hold sway. Everyone who ends up in hell has eternity to regret his or her folly while here on earth, for rejecting Christ as personal LORD and Savior. 

“Then death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelations 20:14-15). 

“Do you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Board members, if you aren’t trying to get someone to heaven, we don’t need you on our board. Sunday School Teachers, if you aren’t trying to get someone to heaven, we don’t need you to teach Sunday school. Pastors & Prayers Warriors, stand; If you aren’t trying to get your group to heaven then we don’t need you as a pastor or a member of the Praying Army. The job of the church is to get everyone ready for Heaven. Paul said, “Oh, that I might know Him, and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). Let’s sing: Oh, I want to see him, look upon His face…

Prayers:

• Worship the Creator of the Heaven and the Earth. Bless Jehovah El-Shaddai; The LORD of LORDs, King of Kings, Monarch of the Universe. Daniel 4:3 says, “How great are His signs! and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.”
• “Surely the LORD GOD will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants, the prophets” (Amos 3:7) – Father, baptize me with revelational gifts, in Jesus’ Name!
• Isa. 1:11-16. God’s demand for purity from His children is unchanging. “An unholy person pollutes everything that he touches with his impurity.” Father, sanctify me holy. Create in me a clean heart, O LORD, and renew a right spirit within me (Psa. 51:10)
• Father, create in me a thirst and hunger for the return of the LORD Jesus; a deep longing for a fresh revelation of the soon-coming King. Help me to place an intimate relationship with you above making requests of You, in Jesus’ Name!
• Deliver me, O LORD, from a cold, calculated obedience. I know a servant can serve without love; Father, make me a lover of God and the things of God. I give myself away, so I can love You more.
• As I walk with You, O LORD, on a daily basis, may I receive the testimony from man and God like Enoch, “HE PLEASED GOD!” Heb. 11:5
• Thank you, LORD, for answered prayers – MARANATHA!