Verse two of Luke chapter 11. And he said unto them, when you
pray, say our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come. Thy will be done as in heaven. So in earth. Now twice in this
prayer. The Lord Jesus Christ mentions
a place called heaven. Heaven. That's what I've entitled
this message. Our Father which art in heaven.
Heaven is the dwelling place of God. It is where he looks down from. Now, when I think about preaching
this message, I've never been to heaven. I can only go from
what the Bible tells us about heaven, but it's the place where
he looks down from. It's where his throne is. It's
where he sits ruling and reigning heaven. I love the way the Lord
said, thou will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And think
about the way the Lord's will is done in heaven. It's done
perfectly. It's done completely. It's done
willingly. It's done joyfully. And it's
done continually. Isn't that a wonderful place? Our father, which art in heaven. I think it's interesting when
the Lord talked about dying and entering into heaven, he called
it entering into life. I love the way he does that in
He said, for it's better to enter into life maimed than having
two hands cast into hell, into the fire that shall not be quenched,
where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. Now,
what I thought about when the Lord said that, really, this
isn't life. I mean, we're alive, but I think
of the life that is in heaven. And the last person to die, from
this assembly was Wilma Warden. And she was out here every day
and we became very close. And I've often thought about
her. When I would say things to her, she would remind me of
things I said when I preached. Now, Todd, remember, and she'd
do that. And I always appreciated that
so very much. But the thought that she has
entered into life, she is in the presence of the Lord, even
as we speak. I think of that scripture in
Revelation chapter 14 verse 13, blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord. The best day a believer has is
the day of his death because that's the day that he enters
into the very presence of the Lord. Blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord. Now, not blessed are all the
dead, but blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. From henceforth,
yea, saith the spirit that they may have rest from their labors.
And that doesn't mean they were laboring for Christ and working
for Christ, although I hope they are. And now they don't have
to do it anymore. That's talking about the labor every believer
experiences continually because of their sin. The Lord said,
come unto me. all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Now, these people that enter
in to glory in the Lord, they have rest from their labors. They no longer have to deal with
sin. Now, while I thought of her,
I kind of doubt if she's thought
about me any. Kind of doubt it. I think of what she's seen. She's
seen the Lord. She's seen his face. She's seen
the scars in his hands and in his feet. And she knows while
she doesn't remember, and this is such a glorious thing to think
about, she doesn't remember what it is to be a sinner. She doesn't
remember what it is to struggle with. She's perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. And she knows that the only reason
she's there is because of the scars in his hands and his feet.
She sees those blessed hands and those blessed feet. She's occupied with singing worthy
of the lamb. That's life. see the Lord Jesus Christ, beholding
his face. As David said, as for me, I'll
behold thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied when I awake
in thy likeness. Now heaven is where every believer
will spend eternity. There isn't anything that I least
like talking about than hell, but there is a literal hell And
there is a literal heaven. You remember the story of rich
man and Lazarus. Turn to Luke chapter 16. Verse 19. There was a certain
rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared
sumptuously every day. This guy had money. He had a
good life. He had an easy life. He was wealthy. Everything went
his way. He fared sumptuously every day.
You would have envied this man's life. And there was a certain
beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores
and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich
man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked
his sores and it came to pass as that beggar died. He was carried
by the angels into Abraham's bosom at the name of heaven. I've heard so many different
theories as to what happens when a believer dies. He goes into
kind of a holding pattern and he's in Abraham's bosom and then
on the resurrection he's reunited to the body. I don't know. I
don't know. But I know the Lord did say to
the thief on the cross, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.
Now what all that means, I don't know, but it sounds awful good,
doesn't it? And it's where every believer goes into his very presence
and they're with him upon their death. But this man also died. The rich man also died and was
buried. And in hell, he lift up his eyes
being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented
in this flame. But Abraham said, son, remember
that thou in thy lifetime receiveth thy good things and likewise
Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted. And thou art tormented. And that doesn't mean Lazarus
went to heaven because he was a beggar. He went to heaven because
Christ died for him. And the rich man knew nothing
of believing on Christ. And he says in verse 26, and
beside all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf. And look at the next word, fixed. so that they which would pass
from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us that would
come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore,
father, that thou would send him to my father's house, for
I have five brethren, that he may testify into them, lest they
also come into this place of torment. Surely if somebody rose
from the dead and told them about this place, they'd repent. Abraham
saith unto him, well, they have Moses and the prophets, let them
hear them. And he said, nay, Father Abraham, but if one went
unto them from the dead, they'll repent. And he said unto him,
if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Now, we can't see any
of the glories of heaven unless we see something about the reality
of hell. There is a place called hell,
fueled by the fires of God's justice, the place of divine
punishment, of absolute retribution, a place of absolute justice,
hell. I don't want to go to hell. All
my life, even when I was a little boy, I feared this thing of going
to hell. I do not want to go to hell. Now, the other place is heaven,
a place of eternal bliss. I love what Paul told us of heaven
when the scripture says, he went into the third heavens, and there
he heard unspeakable things which are not lawful for a man to utter.
He said, I can't even talk about it. You know all these people
who say they've been to heaven and come back? Well, if they
could, they wouldn't be able to talk about it. Paul couldn't.
So we see that that's not the case, if they can come back and
talk about it. But the third heaven, the first heaven is what
we see where the birds fly. The second heaven is outer space. And the third heaven is where
God dwells. What a glorious place, the place
where God dwells, our father, which art in heaven. And there's so much mystery surrounding
this place called heaven. Now people think of it as a place
of no pain and much pleasure. perfect health, plenty to eat,
and absolutely no conflict. Now, I wouldn't deny any of those
things. I certainly believe that that
has something to do with heaven, this perfect place. But remember
this, heaven is not really about these five senses. We're going
to have spiritual bodies. It's going to be different. We're
not going to have these physical bodies, and we're not going to
be just concerned about having five senses gratified. Heaven is not about man's imagination
and it's not even about man's intellect. You know, people say,
well, when we get to heaven, we'll have all of our questions
answered. Well, that's such a low view of heaven. That's just a
low view. Come on. You know, that is heaven's
a place where Christ is. It's where I see his face. It's
where I behold his glory. Heaven is the place Christ came
down from. In John chapter six, verse 38,
he says, for I came down from heaven. He had been there eternally
and he came down from heaven. I came down from heaven not to
do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the father's will, which sent me that of all which he had given
me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last
day. Now this is glorious. Uh, Dwayne was reading in the
back from John chapter three, while he came down from heaven,
he never left heaven. He spake of the son of man who
is in heaven, even while he came down from heaven because of who
he is, the God man, he never left heaven. He never left the
bosom of his father. Now, do any of us understand
that? Of course not. If I could understand it, there
just wouldn't be much to it. The Lord left heaven and he never
left heaven. No man has seen God in any time.
The only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father,
he hath declared him. Now, after he came down and did
what he came to do. What did he come to do? Thou
shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from
their sins. That's what he came to do. He
came to save his people from their sins and he did it and
he returned to heaven and he's there even now. Turn to Hebrews
chapter nine. I love this verse of scripture. Verse 24. For Christ is not entered
into the holy place made with hands, which are the figures
of the true, but into heaven itself, this glorious place where
God dwells now to appear in the presence of God. And look at
those next two words. For us. There's a man in glory right
now appearing in the very presence of God for us. Not just there, but for us as
our great high priest and our great representative. You know,
my righteousness is in heaven right now. My great high priest
is in heaven representing me right now. He's there right this
moment as we speak for us. Look what it says in verse 25,
nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest
entered into the holy place every year with the blood of others.
For then must he have often suffered since the foundation of the world,
but now once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. That's what he did while
he was here. He put away sin and as it's appointed
unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. So Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many and to them that
look for him, shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. Heaven is the place where believers
will spend eternity beholding the face of the Lord. Now, Paul
said, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. It's the best thing that can
ever happen to me. I have a straight, I have a desire
to depart. I have a desire to die and to
be with Christ, which is far better. And you know, the older
you get, the more you understand that. I mean, I know when you're
young, You think of all these things you want to experience
in life. You want to be successful. You want to get a good job. You
want to have a family. You want to raise children and
all that kind of stuff. And that's good. There's nothing
wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with wanting to live. And
I realize that. But I know this. You're just
floundering. just floundering and the best
thing that's going to ever happen to me is when I depart to be
with Christ which is far better. It's infinitely above anything
this world has to offer. In John chapter 17 verse 24 the
Lord said, Father I will that they which you have given me
be with me where I am. that they may behold my glory. Now, is that heaven to you? To
be within? I'm not talking about floating
around on clouds and plucking on a harp. I'm talking about
being in the absolute presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, beholding
his face, his reconciled face, his lovely face, beholding his
glory. When by his grace I shall look
on his face, That shall be glory, be glory for me. Oh, we look
forward to being in his presence. I love what David said in Psalm
17, 15. He said, as for me, I will, I
haven't done it yet, but I will behold thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied. I'll be completely
satisfied when I awake in thy likeness. Now that's what every
believer is waiting for. You see the sin question has
been settled and this is the inheritance of every believer
perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. Now I can't help but
look forward to being in heaven because I'm not going to be a
sinner anymore. How glorious. I wouldn't even
remember what it's like to be a sinner. I'll be perfectly conformed
to his image. I won't have any bad memories.
I won't have any bad thoughts. All I'm going to see is Christ
and I'm going to see a whole bunch of people that are just
like him. These are my brothers and sisters
and what a special place this is. Now the Bible gives us some
glimpses into this holy place, particularly in the book of Revelation.
Would you turn to Revelation chapter four? John says after this, I looked
and behold, a door was opened in heaven. Now, all of a sudden
he saw what was going on in the third heavens. And the first voice which I heard
was as it were of a trumpet talking with me saying, come up hither
and I'll show thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately
I was in the spirit and behold, a throne was set in heaven. And one sat on the throne and
he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone. One was transparently clear and
the other was blood red. The clearness of God. This is
talking about his holiness. His absolute purity, his transparency. God is light and in him is no
darkness at all. But he also saw this red stone,
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can't see God apart from the
blood of the lamb. It's only through Christ that
we dare approach. Verse four, and round about the
throne. were four and 20 seats. And upon
the seats, I saw four and 20 elders sitting clothed in white
raiment. And they had on their heads crowns
of gold. This is the church. And out of
the thrones, the 12 patriarchs, the 12 apostles representing
the church of God. And out of the thrones proceeds
lightnings and thunders and voices. And there were seven lamps of
fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of
God. And before the throne, there was a sea of glass like into
crystal in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were
four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast
was like a lion and the second beast like a calf. And the third
beast had the face as a man. And the fourth beast was as a
flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about
him, just like the seraphims in Isaiah chapter six, I guess
they're the same things. And they were full of eyes within.
And they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy is the
Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. And when
those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on
the throne, who liveth forever and ever, the four and the twenty
elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne and worship
Him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before
the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord. to receive glory
and honor and power for thou has created all things. And for
thy pleasure, they are and were created. And I saw on the right
hand of him that sat on the throne, a book written within and on
the backside sealed with seven seals. Now this is not talking
about the scriptures. It's talking about the book of God's purposes,
decrees with the names of the elect, all of God's purposes
in them. It's the lamb's book of life.
This is the book he's speaking of. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? And no man in heaven and earth,
neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither
to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to
look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts and in the
midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain. He was
looking for a lion. He heard about a lion. And what
did he see? A lamb as it had been slain. Now that's talking about the
glorified body of the Lord Jesus Christ with the glorified scars
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those scars mean something. I
mean, the scripture points out he still has his scars. And that's
so significant because that's a reminder to us the only reason
we're there is because of him. It's because of what he did for
us. He saw this lamb that had been slain. Now, this is heavenly
worship. This is heavenly worship. Verse 6, And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne of the four beasts, in the midst
of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven
horns, all power, seven eyes, omniscient, knowing all things,
which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the
earth. That's not talking about seven Holy Spirits. Seven is
the number of perfection. God, the Holy Spirit, and Christ
Jesus, the Lamb. He came and took the book. out of the right hand of him
that sat upon the throne." Now, you see the power of that. He
took the book. He didn't ask for it. He took
it as equal with the Father, having achieved the right to
take the book from the Father. And when he had taken the book,
John's witnessing all this. When the door is opened into
heaven, The four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before
the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full
of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sung
a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to
open the seals thereof, for Thou was slain and hast redeemed us
to God by Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people
and nation and has made us unto our God kings and priests. And
we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and
the elders. And the number of them was ten thousand times ten
thousand. thousands of thousands. There's
going to be a lot of people in heaven. A whole lot of people. Saying with a loud voice, worthy
is the lamb that was slain to receive power, riches, and wisdom,
and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every
creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the
earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them,
heard I saying, blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be
unto him that sitteth upon the throne. and unto the Lamb forever
and ever. And the four beasts said amen,
and the four and 20 elders fell down and worshiped him that liveth
forever and ever. Turn to Revelation 21. Verse
one. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away, and look what it says next, there
was no more sea. Now how many times have you walked
along the beach on the sea, and you couldn't see what was over
on the other side? And you thought, there's people
over there, there's things going on. There's nations, all kinds
of stuff going over there, but I'm separated. The sea always
represents separation. Now in heaven, there's no more
separation. Now, as far as our experience
goes, we know that there's no condemnation to them that are
in Christ Jesus. And there's nothing to separate me from God.
It's been taken care of. I know that. I know that I have
boldness to enter into the very holiest by the blood of Jesus.
I know that. But you know what else I know?
I always have sin on my heart, in my mind, always at all times. Somebody says, well, I don't
experience that. Well, good for you then, but
I do. I do. And you always feel a sense of
separation because of your sin. Your sins have separated you. You feel like a shame to come
into his presence. But you know in heaven, that's
not going to be. There's no separation, no sea,
there's no barriers. I'm in the very presence of God
and the sin issue has been totally taken care of. I will not have
sin. It was put away by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm going to stand before
God and I'm going to look at Him in the face. No separation.
And I won't be ashamed. I'll look on His face with no
shame because there's no separation. All the barrier has been taken
away. Now it's already been taken away.
As a matter of fact, Ephesians 2 says right now we're seated
together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. I'm already there
in the person of my representative because I'm united to him. If
he's there, I'm there. If somebody says, I'm for sure
for heaven is if I'm already there. You know, when they say
that, I think, well, we'll see. We'll see. But I got something better
than that. I'm so sure for him for heaven because I'm already
there. In Christ, I am already there. Seated together in the
heavenlies. Raised when he was raised. Ascended
when he was ascended. As he's before the Father, I
am too. The Lord said, no man cometh
to the Father but by me. And I actually come to the Father
when he comes to the Father. It's a place of no pain or sorrow.
Turn to Revelation 21. Well, you're there. Revelation
21, verse 2. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God, and God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. I don't cry in front of people.
Can't do it. But when I'm by myself, I cry. I weep over my sin, over my unbelief. When I think about my sin being
made Christ's and he took the guilt and the filth of it, it
just makes me over. Oh, how could I have done that
to the blessed son of God? But you know what? I cry over
a lot of things, a lot of things. But the Lord is going to wipe
away every tear and there will be no tears in heaven. There should be no more death,
neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain
for the former things are passed away. And he that said upon the
throne said, behold, I make all things new. No, no, not all the
former stuff. It's gone. It's passed away. No more pain, no more suffering,
no more sorrow. Look at the end of this chapter.
It's a place of no sin. Look in verse 22. John says, and I saw no temple
there in for the Lord God almighty and the lamb are the temple of
it. Isn't that glorious? I mean,
the lamb himself, the Lord God is the temple. He's, he's the
dwelling place being in him. Verse 23 in 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.
The lamb is the light as to how I'll be there. And how come I'll
be there? There's one reason because of the lamb. I'm going
to be in this glorious place. You want some light as to why
I'll be there? Because of the Lamb of God who took away my
sin. That's the only reason I'll be
there. Verse 24, and the nations of them which are saved shall
walk in the light of it and the kings of the earth to bring their
glory and honor to it. And the gates of it shall not
be shut at all by day. And there's no night there. You
know, the gates are always open because there's no separation.
There's no barrier. Once again, this is another metaphor
of no separation, always welcomed into the very presence of God.
There should be no night there and they shall bring the glory
and honor of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise
enter in anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination
or maketh a lie. But here's who's going to be
there. Not someone described like that, but they which are
written. in the Lamb's Book of Life. Don't
you love the way the Lord said, in this, rejoice not that the
spirits are subject to you. They came back so excited how
the Lord had blessed them and even the spirits were subject
to them. And the Lord said, don't rejoice in that, but rather rejoice
that your names are written in heaven, written in the Lamb's
Book of Life. It's a place of no sin. And look
in Revelation 19, I love this description. Um, I don't suppose
on earth, there is anything better than a happy marriage on earth
where a man and woman love one another. They give themselves
to one another. They, Oh, what a, what a blessed
thing it is. And also what a miserable thing,
an unhappy marriage would be. Now marriage was given, the purpose
of marriage is given to teach us the relationship as the church
is the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's my husband. You
want to talk about a good marriage. Now I'm a bad wife, but he's
a good husband. And one of these days I'm going
to be a complete, he doesn't look at me as a bad wife. He
looks at me as a good wife because I'm perfect through his comeliness.
Now look in Revelation chapter 19 verse seven. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to him for the marriage of the lamb is come. And his wife had made herself
ready for this glorious event. And here's how she made herself
ready to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine
linen, clean and white for the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. Now, I've got versions of scripture
where it says the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the
saints. Well, do you have any deeds that
could be described as fine linen, clean and white? You have any deeds that you would
describe thusly? Listen to me. The righteousness
of the saints is the personal righteousness of Jesus Christ
the Lord. This is the righteousness he
speaks of. Oh, this fine linen, clean and
white. This is the righteousness of
the saints that adorns the saints, that makes them beautiful and
lovely and without sin before God. The fine linen, clean and
white, so heaven is an eternal marriage to the lamb. Look in
verse 11, he shows us another heaven opening. And I saw heaven
opened revelation 19 verse 11. I saw heaven opened and behold
a white horse. And he that sat upon him was
called faithful and true. And in righteousness he doth
judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And
the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean. and out of his mouth
goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations,
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he
hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of
kings and Lord of lords. Now that is a heavenly That's
what's going on in heaven, the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who's going to be in heaven?
Well, the father, the son, the Holy spirit, all the angels that
didn't fall, the elect angels, Paul calls them. I think that's
interesting. When Paul talks about the angels that didn't
fall, he calls them the elect angels. I love that. And everybody
for whom Christ died. Everybody whose name was written
in the book. Now, how can I know if my name
is written in that book? How can I know that I will be
in heaven? I want to know, don't you? My
soul, I want to know. How can I know if the kingdom
of heaven is mine? Well, turn with me to Matthew
chapter five. Everybody in the kingdom of heaven is going to
be just like this. Verse one, and seeing the multitudes,
he went up into a mountain. And when he was set, his disciples
came into him and he opened his mouth and taught them saying,
blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. And I love the way the Lord identifies
who will be in heaven and who the kingdom of heaven belongs
to. And the first identification he gives is the poor in spirit. And a believer is identified
by what he does not have. First of all, aren't you thankful
that the The attitudes, the description of who will be in heaven is first
given, blessed are the people who don't have anything. If you've got something, you
won't be there. If you have nothing, only as
you have nothing, do you have Christ as all. Do you have no personal righteousness?
Yes, I do. Well, then you're gonna have
Christ. But if you have none, if you're poor, poverty stricken,
the kingdom of heaven is yours. Verse four, blessed are they
that mourn, for they shall be comforted. And this thing of
mourning, it's some of you have lost spouses and you've mourned,
you've mourned, you've mourned. Now, while they were alive, you
had some hope that the Lord would preserve them and keep them alive.
But when they die, There's nothing you can do to bring them back
and you mourn. You mourn over sin when you see
there's nothing that you can do to prevent sin and you mourn
over it. Just like someone mourns over
someone that's dead. Mourning over sin. The Lord says,
blessed are they that mourn over sin for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek. Whatever God does is right. Whatever
he does with me is right because he's God. These are the people
that shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness. They're going to be filled. I
love this description of a believer. If you're hungry and thirst after
righteousness, that means you realize you can't produce it.
It's got to be given to you. And the only way you'll be satisfied
is if it's given to you. He says in verse seven, blessed
are the merciful. They shall obtain mercy. Now something that a believer
is, is he's merciful. And the reason he's merciful.
is because he has experienced salvation by the free mercy of
God. Sheer, complete mercy. He knows he's not saved by what
he did, but God having mercy on him for Christ's sake. You
know, when Rich read that passage of scripture in Ephesians 4.32,
when I think of that, it makes my heart jump. Be ye kind, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake. He didn't have to have any other
reason. Even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. I remember one time preaching
on that, and Annie Sharon coming up to me. This is back on American
Avenue. She said, well, I'm not pure in heart. Do you remember that,
Annie? Yeah. She said, so how are you
going to explain that? Because let's just be honest.
I'm not pure in heart. You can't deal with it. Well, if you're
a believer, You have two natures, one absolutely pure, what's given
in the new birth. And it's that pure heart that
sees the evil of the other heart. You know, it takes that new heart
to see that it's the pure heart that sees the sins of the old
man and owns the sins of the old man. Blessed are the peacemakers,
not conflict makers, but peacemakers, for they shall be called the
children of God. I want to be a peacemaker. Not
someone who makes war, but someone who makes peace. The gospel of
peace. And blessed are they which are
persecuted for righteousness sake. For theirs is the kingdom
of God. They make such an issue of Christ's
righteousness as being the only righteousness that they're persecuted
for it. Now that's who will be in the kingdom of heaven. Those
who are persecuted for righteousness. Theirs is. Just like the poor
in spirit. He ends up with theirs is. the
kingdom of heaven. Now regarding this thing of heaven, I'm a stranger and I'm a pilgrim passing through. This world really is not my home. I'm passing through God's allotted
time for me to pass through. And one day, maybe soon, I'll see his face. And until then, set your affection
on things above, not on things on the earth, for you're dead. You're dead. How much concern
does a dead man have to do with what's going on? That doesn't
mean we shouldn't be responsible and make responsible decisions
and have convictions about certain things, but seriously, how much
does a dead man, how much is he concerned about the economy?
How much is he concerned about what's going on in the government?
So when he's not, he's dead. You're dead, and your life is
hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you appear with him. in glory. Our Father, we've got a Father.
He's our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father which
art in heaven. That's where He is. Don't ever say the man upstairs
or something like that. That's just, that's so irreverent.
He's our Father in heaven. and how we love the fact that
heaven is the place where His will is done perfectly. Let's pray together.