Devotionals on Heaven

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• The accuser may go away rebuked by this, that God has justified us; the judge may go away rebuked by this, that the Lord Jesus has died - has already suffered the judgment, and His work has been accepted to the full in heaven itself; the executioner may go away rebuked by this, that all the malice of earth and hell together shall never drag us away from the firm embrace of our God.

• I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon Him.
• They had been disobedient children, but now they must turn from their sin to Christ. John gave this testimony: “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon Him.
• Kingdom of Heaven The baptism in water of Jesus was also a marker that pointed to the beginning of His public ministry.
• The silence of His early years and young adult life was broken forever, as He stepped out into three and a half years of blessing for humanity – joining His voice with that of His herald - Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand – the King was here.

• God’s Pattern The Incarnate Lord, was sent from heaven – to become God’s pattern, for humanity.

• This reality is forever engraved on the heart of God in heaven’s council chambers.

• New mercies, each returning day,Hover around us while we pray;New perils past, new sins forgiven,New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven.

• We may desire to go to be with the Lord in heaven and long for His appearance..

• It seemed that the heaven was closed, that there was no way through, no answering voice, no sense of a listening ear; and with deep heart exercise about the matter you have been tempted to doubt the promise, question the faithfulness of God, raise questions as to the truth of His Word.

• Everything is going to be shaken in earth and in heaven, with a view to finding out just how much there is of Christ living in it.
• He will shake heaven and earth, and we shall find out by that shaking what we have left when the earthly system passes, when even the representation of heavenly things in Christianity is tested (for Christianity has developed a representation of heavenly things, just as Judaism has).
• The issue is the shaking of heaven and earth.
• Whether you like all that we have said, or agree with it or not, does not worry me; but I am concerned that we have come to Christ, to show that Christ in heaven is our Life, Christ in heaven is our All, and appointed to be so by God, and nothing here can take the place of Christ.

• Spiritual Battle Heaven forbid!!
• We shout for joy with angels in heaven – “Hallelujah!

• It is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.Matthew 13:11

• The kingdom of heaven, rejected by Israel has been set aside for 2000 years – and given to a nation producing the fruits of it, Matthew 21:43 The kingdom on earth – the millennial kingdom has been set aside for a season..

• Created to Rule God created Adam to rule the earth through the guidance of God in heaven: let us make man in Our image to have dominion over the works of our hands.

• All things, in heaven and all things on earth are moving towards this goal..
• Supreme Authority Christ would have set up His kingdom had Israel repented – but they would not. Israel failed to bring forth the fruit – and the kingdom of heaven was taken away. That part of the kingdom was given to the Church, a people bringing forth the fruit, for before Israel’s earthly inheritance is to realise the heavens must be subdued – so that earth and heaven will BOTH be under Christ’s supreme authority.
• Millennial Kingdom Too many people see and imagine ‘heaven’ as puffy clouds and twanging harps… but we need to understand the significance of the heavenly places. We must start first to comprehend the significance of the millennial kingdom, and we must start to comprehend how this millennial kingdom affects us today. We must rightly divide the word of truth –

• to trust in the One Who is to be trusted. We are also called to live a life of faith.. a life that relies on Him; a life that trusts in His love; a life that submits to His commands – a life that yields itself entirely into His keeping. When we look beyond the things of this life, heaven becomes more real than earth.

• God plans to unite all things in Him, things in heaven, and things on earth.
• The majority remain paupers when the riches of heaven are in their grasp.

• Christ’s Return Israel’s promised kingdom was put on hold, for their King had returned to heaven.

• Changed Destiny The moment we trusted Christ as our Saviour our destiny changed from hell to heaven.
• God did not remove us to heaven the moment we believed, but left us in a hostile environment for a greater purpose: He has a plan for each life.

• He came preaching in the wilderness of Judea: repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Matthew 3:1-2

• Your Father is just as near when you journey through the dark tunnel, just as close as when you are under the open heaven!

• You will meet the antagonism to what has come in from heaven as a heavenly thing; you will meet the antagonism amongst those who are the traditional people of God in this dispensation.

• Veiled Life In the main, God chose to veil our view of Jesus, until the time of John the Baptist’s ministry, when Jesus started to walk in and out among the disciples of John. And yet there is much that we know of His character – His spirited zeal for the Lord – His love for the Scriptures of God and His humble dedication to His Father in heaven.
• Astonishing Sight What an astonishing spectacle this must have been to the holy angels in heaven, who witnessed the great God of the vast universe toil in manual labour, day in and day out, at the carpenter's bench..

• Is it earth or heaven?
• It has a great moral effect upon a person to be able to say, I have a place in heaven; I have no property on earth at all, it is all in heaven.'
• It is the Lord's property I have on earth, but in heaven I have my own.' In the garden of Eden, man lost his place; the question to him then is, First - Where art thou?

• Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee.

• On that day they saw Him as by an opened heaven.

• In all these circumstances he is calm and trustful; he is not only sure of ultimately going to heaven, but already abides there and enjoys something of it in his own heart.

• The object of our meditation is: Jesus Christ in heaven as our Sufficiency.... Our Lord Jesusresources came from His Father when He was here on this earth.
• Everything He needed He drew from heaven; He received it from above.
• When we are in resurrection-union with Christ, the Holy Spirit brings us into oneness with Him who is in heaven for us.

• Biblical Declaration In one magnificent consummate declaration, we are told the purpose of this “IN” – that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, — IN HIM.” Eph.1:10.

• The saving of men from sin,death, and hell, and getting them to heaven, was as nothingcompared with what Paul saw as to the significance of a believernow.

• Having been, born into His family, gained the wonderful birthright of eternal life, and made complete in Him, we too have a body that is being prepared for us, in heaven.

• but when He ascended into heaven, to sit on the throne of the Father, He sent us the Holy Spirit to be another Comforter – to be our ever-present Help in time of trouble.

• that was stored up for him in heaven. Despite His many difficulties and trials, Paul was able to rejoice that he was counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ..

• This battle of heaven and hell, God and Satan, goes on in our souls, but there is for us this consolation, that we have a High Priest ever living to make intercession.

• All our activities and efforts and energies and expenditures; all our sacrifices, our movements and our teaching: everything that has become a part of Christianity' has to be measured by the one rule - is it resulting in the reproduction of the Lord Jesus Christ in the lives of men and women, so that it is demonstrated from heaven that He is as truly here in this world now as ever He was in history? -T.

• The second Man is the Lord from heaven, a life-giving spirit. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.
• And through Whom a new creation was formed – by Whom new creatures are born from above into newness of life. The former race bore the marks of its origin – fallen Adam. The new race is to bear the marks of its Founder and Fount – the last Adam; the Lord from Heaven; The Son of God and Son of Man.

• Heavenly Citizenship Our citizenship is secure in heaven, but let us remember that we are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1Cor.6:20.
• Our citizenship is indeed secured in heaven through the blood of the Lamb, but we remain here on earth for a reason..

• For some time after I knew the Saviour I used to think of Him as One who had lived and died on earth long years ago, and I well remember the day when I knelt down with a dear brother who prayed that we might know the Lord Jesus as a living Person in heavenly glory, and it dawned upon me that there was a present Object for my heart in heaven.

• If we have the Lord Jesus Christ risen and in heaven as our Object, we shall prove the power of His resurrection, not only in lifting us up when we are conscious of our exceeding short-comings, but in strengthening us to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus' (Phil. 3:14).

• We are citizens of heaven; ambassadors of God and Christ’s representatives on earth.  Is it not our responsibility as His children to live in unity and godly conduct – in Him?

• This is what constitutes spirituality - this is what makes a life or service spiritual: it is the drawing upon heavenly resources, living the life as out from heaven.

• Jesus said, ” I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.John 6:51
• The Bread from Heaven The Manna that fed the Israelites was food for bodies – not for the spirit. The Bread that truly came down from heaven – satisfies man’s deepest need.

• Do not call anyone on earth ather,for you have one Father, and He is in heaven. (Matthew 23:9 NIV)
• In the beginning they were a heavenly people, with everything for them in heaven, in Christ, and being drawn from Christ in heaven.
• All their government, direction, resource came from Him and was in Him as in heaven.

• They belong to nature and the earth – faith belongs to God and to heaven.

• Not only is my blessing in heaven, but I need the Lord Jesus' power to enable me to rise above the sense of my infirmity down here; for this world, instead of contributing to me, makes me feel my weakness and need, and that I must rise out of it to find and enjoy my blessing.

• Messiah King The shepherds were told that they would recognise their Messiah-King by a special sign: You will find the baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth - and lying in a manger. Heaven rejoiced while Satan fumed in a frenzy of killing, at the birth of the God-Man.

• One Truth No one will ever be able to stand before God with an excuse for not knowing Him. A day is coming when God’s wrath will be revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people, who by their unrighteousness suppress this truth.

• We feel the importance of saying a word with regard to Christ in heaven and Christ within the believer, that is, what is objective and what is subjective.

• God thought is centered in Christ in heaven, and God resources are centered in Christ in heaven.

• He is revealed within His cross; death; resurrection; ascension; glorification: We need to realise that there is a Man in heaven sitting on the throne of God, and that man is Christ Jesus the Lord,  the head of the Church.
• Foundation and Capstone We need to realise that there is a Man in heaven sitting on the throne of God, and that Man is Christ Jesus our Lord – the Head of the Church – and He alone is the foundation and capstone of all that is called Christianity.

• Refining Tools He may not send you a shining angel with tidings of great joy. He may not drop manna from heaven, nor supernaturally unlock your prison bars, but He may speak through a donkey, or He may speak through a friend.

• But oh, see what happened in heaven, and see that He desires that as it is in heaven, so it shall be on earth.

• Fourth we see Him in Heaven and learn that we are seated there, in Him. (in heavenly places)

• And every knee in heaven and on earth and under the earth shall bow, and every tongue in heaven and on earth and under the earth shall confess, for You are worshiped and glorified forever, to the glory of God the Father, Amen.
• God of Heaven And Why…?

• When will the Lord's people understand the essential meaning of their union with Christ in Heaven!

• as I hear of God ‘hiding His face‘ and prayer being offered to a ‘closed heaven..’ prayers that have been pleaded for years, sometimes decades!

• When the Lord gave the manna in the wilderness (a type of Christ as the Bread from heaven), He stipulated very strongly that not one fragment more than the day's need was to be gathered, and that if they went beyond the measure of immediate need, disease and death would break out and overtake them.

• God leads on, and instead of the flesh-pots He gives you bread from heaven, and instead of water from the Nile, water from the Rock.

• Therefore, the knowledge of Christ which will, in time and eternity, be the secret of growth and progress, will continue in heaven, and it will take eternity to exhaust it....

• The Lord Jesus has poured out His blessed Spirit that we believers, while on earth, might walk in that spirit of life and liberty that prevails in heaven where Christ is.
• For He lives the same life of blessed freedom from bondage, and of joyful service to God, within us by His Spirit, as He does seated in a body, in heaven before God His Father. -W.R.N.

• God’s Anointed The Lord Jesus is the Messiah of God – God’s anointed; His appointed; His chosen. He was ordained of God and all things in heaven and earth are placed under His feet.
• He reaches into throne-room of heaven, yet bends down to touch all things on earth. He delves into the deepest; most intimate and secret areas of our very beings. The Lord Jesus is indeed God’s chosen – His anointed; His appointed; His Son.
• For by Him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether they are kings, lords, rulers, or powers.
• The Lord Jesus is the Messiah of God – His anointed; His appointed; His chosen. He was ordained of God and all things in heaven and in earth are placed under His feet.

• There is not a thing in heaven or earth that can separate us from His love.
• and nothing in heaven or earth can ever alter this truth.

• Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.1 Corinthians 15:47
• New Creation The second Man (the last Adam)  was to become the federal Head of a new creation of man… the new creation in Christ, Who was a Man from heaven.
• The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven.

• Spiritual Blessings Everything that touches our lives on earth – or our home in heaven..

• Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy (Lk. 15:21a).

• He desires that we store up treasure in heaven and that we maintain a firm trust in His unchanging word.

• Eye Witnesses These men were eyewitnesses of all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day that He was taken up to heaven.
• Salvation Essentials The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven were indeed taught to the Lord’s apostles,  but the essentials of salvation, sanctification, and glorification came through Paul.

• He came from His home in heaven, knowing that cruel crucifixion awaited Him. How staggering that His prayer was uttered as the nails were driven into His flesh: Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
• Heaven is open to all who believe that Christ paid the full price for their sins.

• i>At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me.

• Revelation 1:1 And while the remaining apostles resided in heaven, following a martyr’s death, John began to reinstate the glorious, unique and heavenly position of the Church - a Church that in so short a time had lost her way – a Church from which the glory had all but departed.

• Hell Tremble; Heaven Rejoiced; Creation Worshiped, and Mankind was Redeemed.
• The heaven of heavens cannot hold Him, yet He clothed Himself in flesh and blood.

• This reality is forever engraved on the heart of God in heaven’s council chambers.
• Nothing in heaven or earth, hell or the universe can alter this truth. It is finished.

• We became one with Christ, sealed citizens of heaven and inheritors of His kingdom.
• We were removed from the filth of Satan’s kingdom and eternally positioned in Christ – and nothing in heaven or earth can secure this forgiveness – but Christ’s blood.

• The Holy Spirit points out that the way into the true Holy of Holies is not yet thrown open as long as the former tabernacle remains a recognized institution and is still standing... For Christ (the Messiah) has not entered into a sanctuary made with human hands, only a copy and pattern and type of the true one, but He has entered into heaven itself. (Hebrews 9:8,24 AMP)

• Sacrifice of Praise I believe that there are two important things that open the gates of heaven.

• The former will make life hell, the latter, heaven.

• Sea and Sky And then.. Water creatures streamed into the oceans and flying things soared into the skies. Fish and foul of every dimension and size; hue and colour; tone and tint and tinge. Be fruitful and fertile – multiply and proliferate and fill and flood the earth with beauty, Soar into the heights, plunge into the depth and glorify your Creator in heaven.

• It is Christ in heaven; He is my Object!

• The life of Jesus became thus acceptable as the sin offering. The life of Jesus became the burnt offering – a sweet savor to the Lord - casting out upon the sea of humanity gifts: “Oh that men would praise the name of the Lord: for His name alone is exalted: His glory is above the earth and heaven”.
• His glory is above the earth heaven -  Just give me Jesus.

• I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth. (John 1:51 NLT)
• You remember that when He referred to Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, He said to Nathanael: Ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man (John 1:51).
• All the communications of God and Heaven to man are by way of Jesus, the new Israel.

• Perhaps this is just like a window opened into heaven.

• Future Hope Our anchor was secured heaven at the point of salvation, but in this life, we also have a responsibility.

• Let your reflected light so SHINE before saved and unsaved men of the world (and so reflect the beauties of the Lord – the lovely Jesus Christ) Let your reflected light so shine before men that the people of the world may SEE your good works (not the works of your own flesh or the Law which are produced through self-effort) Let your reflected LIGHT so Shine before men that the people of the world may see your good works (the works which came from Christ)  Christ Who is the Light of the World and Christ, Who is the Hope of the ages…until CHRIST be formed in you……Let your reflected light so shine before men that the people of the world may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

• One day He’s coming from heaven’s bright throne,Coming His Kingdom to claim as His own,Coming in glory with banners unfurled..ALL eye shall see HIM – He’ll rule the worldJesus will RULE….

• Happy the man who wisdom gains,Thrice happy who his guest retains,He owns and shall forever own:-Wisdom, and Christ and heaven as one.

• Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.Matthew 3:1-2
• He came preaching in the Judean desert: “repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.

• ow apply the truth in your heart, and the truth will set you free. Rid your long-developed, mistaken perception of a split-personality God. The Old being one of aggressive justice and fierce, ferocious judgment – the New being one of gentle grace that hardly knows how to say ‘boo’ to a goose. You misrepresent your God. You speak falsely of your Lord and Saviour. You do not understand the yearning father-heart of your Father in Heaven.
• John 8:32. And you will discover the yearning Father-heart of your Father in Heaven. You will discover Him to be full of infinite mercy and eternal tenderness – tender mercy – towards you His precious child.

• Heart of Love The heart of God is a heart of love, and in giving His only begotten Son to be born into the world, so that He could die as our kinsman-Redeemer, demonstrates a love that is stronger than death – an unfathomable love that the Father has for humanity. God opened the floodgates of heaven and poured out a gift of unimaginable love over all mankind – for in being born in the likeness of human flesh, Christ bound Himself irrevocably and eternally to the human race, with cords that cannot be broken.

• James 5:7 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, Phil.3:20 He will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body – according to the working by which He is able, even to subdue all things to Himself.

• How comforting it is to know that Christ is preparing for us a home in heaven..
• Greater Plan Every believer in Christ rejoices in their salvation, knowing that their sins have been forgiven and that they have received eternal life – knowing that they have a glorious inheritance, which is laid up for them in heaven.

• God’s Man God had fore-ordained that all things would one day be placed underneath His feet, For all was created by Him – all was created for Him – and all was created in Him. All things in heaven and on earth, all things visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers, rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.
• He did not choose any of the stars of heaven – the mighty angelic host, to be his son.

• Two Genealogies He was raised from the dead on the 3rd day and ascended to the Father in heaven. Hundreds of prophecies were fulfilled to the letter in Jesus, Who is called – Messiah. Like all descendants of Abraham and David, Jesus had a right to the throne of Israel, and two unbroken genealogies were recorded in Scripture to affirm His legitimacy. But why was there a need for two genealogies for the Lord Jesus Christ? Would not one illustrious genealogical table have fulfilled all the criteria?

• and the Psalmist tells us, Thy Word is eternal – it is settled in heaven Ps.119:89
• Established in Heaven Sometimes the Word of God gives us the answer to our heartfelt questions. Often we are left beneath a cloud of unknowing in matters we just can't figure out, but always His Word is established in heaven and we just trust Him – no matter what – and we discover like Habakkuk, Esther and others, that there is often concealment.
• but all answers to all the questions we will ever have are settled in His Word – and the word of the Lord stands fast forever and is eternally settled in heaven.
• and the Word of the Lord is eternal and stands firm in heaven – forever.

• Unique Attributes Every aspect of the Person of Christ and the work of Christ is unique for He was not only God, but the anointed of God Who was spoken of by the prophets of old and Who Himself became fully man so that He could be our Prophet, Priest and King – bringing God to man and uniting humanity back to the Father. He is not only Creator of all, Lord of heaven and earth and God our righteousness, but He is the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father and our Wonderful Councillor.

• The kingdom of heaven taken away not for that Israel, but for another!

• Paul’s Desire Paul was a man that met and worshipped the glorified Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul was a man that was caught up to the third heaven and shown unspeakable things. Paul was a man who was shown the many things he would have to suffer for Christ.

• How many are truly guarding their hearts, by laying up treasure in heaven?

• Throughout his whole experience, Job maintained a prayer link with heaven.

• Choice of Travail But the choice is yours. God will never force his servants to submit against their will. You can choose His way or you can choose your way. You can say my will be done in my life – or Thy will be done in my life. The Lord blesses all that endure like Job.. but likely not in this world for our citizenship is in heaven.
• a lasting prayer ministry that cries: Thy Will Be Done on earth as in heaven… until God’s Way is completed and Christ is ALL in ALL.

• Not till earth and not till heaven Pass away.

• Other times one lifelong special petition seems to indicate silence from above, and there are also seasons when heaven itself seems to be an iron gate.

• A Study:- Man’s Nature and Destiny Perspectives of Heaven Ask a hundred people what they think of heaven and you get will get a hundred different replies.
• Heaven is With Jesus Jesus tells us: I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
• Heaven is where the Lord Jesus is and He reminds us of this many times.
• Christian Heaven The Christian life (the Christian faith) is having a relationship with a person.
• So too is the Christian heaven.
• Father in Heaven This was His final, intensely personal prayer to the Father in heaven.

• The desire of many and the tendency of all is to connect the Lord Jesus with ourselves on this earth, instead of accepting that we are in living union with Him in heaven.
• If you do not know your union with the Lord Jesus in heaven, you cannot come out in the power of the heavenly Man to act from Him on earth, to be descriptive of Him.

• And we have the same hindrance to lay aside today, for Christianity has been perverted into a modified kind of Judaism, in which people are occupied with religious things on earth, and thus hindered from running the race to heaven. -C.A.C.

• A man can take unto himself nothing except it be given him from heaven' (John 3:27).
• Most growing believers rightly maintain that all must come from the risen Lord; but instead of taking their actual position of being dwellers in heaven, and coming from there to earth, they only look up to heaven for help as to their walk on earth; and their faith and labors are always influenced and dictated by the condition and order of things on earth; and instead of seeking the mind of the Lord as learned in heaven, they are occupied with the blessing of man on earth. -J.B.S.

• Full Fellowship Decades after Christ had ascended into heaven, John tells us: truly our fellowship IS with the Father, and IS with His Son.

• If he had been restive, piqued, rebellious, or bitter, there would have been no open heaven, and a spirit of controversy with the Lord would have closed and bolted the door to the fuller Divine unveilings and clarifyings.

• Guard and Guide There is a God in heaven, and He is our heavenly Father.
• There is a Man in heaven, and He is our heavenly Saviour.

• Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God right hand. (Colossians 3:1 NLT)
• That is praying with your heart in heaven.
• ur citizenship is in heaven.Now the life of the believer is to be, therefore, one with heavenly interests always in view, and our prayer life is in relation to those interests.

• It takes us a long time to realize that all is darkness outside the Light of heaven and earth.

• Christian Believers Christian believers are citizens of heaven and residents of the heavenly Jerusalem, and we eagerly await our Saviour from heaven – the Lord Jesus Christ. Christians have been saved with a view to realising this heavenly inheritance – a heritage and position that is currently being occupied by satanic usurpers.

• Incomparable Power God revealed His incomparably great power when He raised Christ from the dead. Then God placed all things in heaven and earth and below the earth under his feet, so that we who are His body would have the same mighty power in our lives – and because we are His body and we are in Christ, we are blessed in the heavenly places.
• Christ’s Supremacy Christ is Himself already seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high – in heaven. Christ’s supremacy was authorised by the Father when He was raised from the dead,  and God has put everything in subjection under His feet, until Christ is all and in all – and our blessings are secured in heavenly places for they are all in CHRIST.

• We have heard it said that at a certain gathering of servants of the Lord it was like a touch of heaven; everyone dropped for the time being their differences of denomination and earthly divisions.

• A Study:- Man’s Nature and Destiny For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.Philippians 3:21
• And what more glorious reminder of our future inheritance than the words of Paul, who writes: for our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20,
• Earnest of the Spirit Oh yes – that place in heaven, together with the Lord is already yours.

• Huegel declares: “When a Christian’s prayer life springs from a right position (a thorough adjustment to Christ in His death and resurrection), a vast change in procedure follows: Much of our begging fails to register in heaven because it fails to spring from right relations with the Father in union with Christ in death and resurrection: in which position one simply appropriates what is already his.
• Don’t ask God to help you in this or to help you sort that out, for He won’t – but when you come to Him in humility and helplessness, He’ll move heaven for you.

• Two things: the Word of God on earth, and the Christ of God in heaven (Acts 7:55).

• Christ in You How – how could Jesus make such astonishing claims, and then go away into heaven?
• The Cross Life If God’s will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven it can be done one way only.

• We are like a tree that has its roots in heaven, and its branches down here.
• There is more in the Lord Jesus, in the Father, in the Spirit, in heaven to give us rest and peace and joy, than in the whole universe to disquiet, trouble, or grieve us. -G.V.W.

• He has established his throne in heaven and His kingdom rules overall.

• The scriptures are abundantly supplied with the glories of heaven..
• foreigners and ambassadors in a strange land, for our citizenship is in heaven, and from it, we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Heavenly Wonders During our earthly walk, we only see heaven and its glories through a glass darkly.
• Eye has not seen, and it hasn’t entered into the heart of man the glories that await. We can hardly begin to appreciate the glory of God, and the wonders of heaven, so we can scarce comprehend the magnificence of Christ and the joys that lie ahead.
• Yet the full magnificence and wonder of this, awaits us in hushed anticipation – heaven holds hidden in its golden hand many unfulfilled promises.
• Precious Promises Heaven does indeed hold many promises... promises of freedom from sickness and sin – promises of joy everlasting.

• And the ‘baptism’ of His Bema seat judgment is when we are all tried with fire, for He is the Lord from heaven, and we must all stand before Christ to be judged, and we will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

• Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

• No wonder at the genesis of His earthly ministry a voice from heaven was heard to say, Thou art My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.

• Bread from Heaven We are told to run the race and we are told to aim for the goal – the finishing post. Jesus Himself gave us the directions we are to follow within the written Word..
• but all too few seem to really feed on Him, Who is the Bread from heaven.

• Almighty or All-Matey Whatever happened to the worship of the true and living God Almighty? What has replaced the awe and wonder of the all-powerful, omnipotent Creator? What has been exchanged for the preeminent, omniscient, Lord of heaven and earth? What is this ‘God All-Matey‘ that has crept into the vision of so many today? He is indeed our Saviour and Shepherd; our Friend and Bridegroom, but His loving-kindness has been converted into indulgence. His powerful strength has been metamorphosed into soppy weakness.

• Isaiah 35:6  This truly must have been a most exciting time to be living in Israel for although they were under the yoke of their Roman overlords – the kingdom of heaven was at hand. This meant that the king was coming – God’s promises to Israel were to be fulfilled.

• and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.Mark 14:62

• In heaven's name, why does God demand such unachievable standards?

• Heirship with Christ We share in a joint-HEIRSHIP with Christ, reserved in the heavenlies that’ll never fade God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading - kept in heaven for you. 1 Peter 1:4-5  And the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ - provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. Romans 8:17

• Goodness and favour from God most high, Redeemer from heaven sent down to die.

• Our home is heaven, our king is Christ, and our conduct should mirror His beauty.

• I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the One who is the stairway between heaven and earth. (John 1:51 NLT)
• We have seen Christ as the true spiritual fulfillment of Jacob's ladder, which was set up on the earth, and the top of which reached into heaven.
• Of this the Lord later said to Nathanael: Hereafter thou shalt see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
• Now if the Lord Jesus is the same, in effect, as the ladder of Jacob, then He is both in heaven and on earth.
• He is on earth, and He is at the same time in heaven.
• In Him heaven and earth are united, brought together, and whilst He is here on this earth for purposes of expression and action, He is also in heaven.

• We want to proceed on the line of having things done for us, heaven intervening for us, our difficulties removed for us, having a straight path made for us.
• Heaven may be ready to come in, the Lord may be prepared to work for us, but it is not sufficient for Him - and it would not prove good enough for us - if that were all.

• Silent Years For 400 years the iron gate of heaven was shut tight, for the sound of the prophet’s voice had been silenced, as God waited for His people Israel, to turn back to Himself, but with every passing day the yoke of oppression became unbearable, as burdensome religious rites and the traditions of men were piled onto the backs of Jewish people.
• First Advent John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah as God’s appointed forerunner of Christ’s first advent – but in the not too distant future, another Elijah will stand up as a witness to the Jewish nation crying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 

• In THESSALONIANS we’re taught the Lord will come from heaven;

• Godly Instruction BE ye holy; for I am holy 1 Peter 1:16.  BE ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

• God in heaven could not redeem us, for God lacked one important element… God was not human.
• Kinsman Redeemer Only one that was fully identified with man could accomplish this enormous task, and God in heaven lacked the position of kinsman.
• Never-Ending Love Story O listen to the wondrous story,Counted once among the lost;Yes: One came down from heaven’s glory,Saving us at awful cost.
• Who saved us for eternal loss?Who but God’s Son upon the cross.Why did He do?He died for you.Where is He now?In heaven interceding….

• After His glorification into heaven, Paul set the standard to Learn Christ.

• And we are to pray steadfastly and in faith to our Father, Who art in heaven.
• And let us in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thankful hearts make our requests known unto God, as we follow in the patterns of our praying Priest – Who today, is interceding for us in heaven.

• Believers are seated in the heavenlies in Christ, and are spiritual people with a sanctuary in Heaven.

• When we look from heaven, and work from heaven downwards, earthly things soon dwindle, and the praise of their disappearance returns not to ourselves in any way, but to the Lord Jesus.

• ot of this age – but Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done on earth, as in heaven.

• a sacrifice becoming a sweet savor to the Lord – to glorify the Father which is in heaven.  For thirty-three years Christ yielded up His sinless life daily.  His life was a daily 'sacrifice of praise' to His God.

• John 1:11 He was sent from heaven through the lineage of David, and yet they cried – we will not have this man rule over us.
• Those who open their hearts to the Lord Jesus let in heaven’s love and divine joy.

• Name Above All What a glorious Name is this Name that is above every name: that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.

• In Isaiah 40 we read these words: The grass withers, the flower fades, heaven and earth will pass away, but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

• My Father, in His grace, has come in and ended my history in the flesh, by the Cross, and now by the Spirit I am brought into association with His Son at His own right hand in heaven.

• By grace ,we share in Christ’s righteousness, His son-ship, His heir-ship, His destiny – and nothing in heaven or earth can remove us from this position of grace, for we are eternally and forever secure in Him.

• Our rule is, to walk in Him, as being what we really are - heavenly, citizens of heaven, pilgrims and strangers upon earth. -F.W.G.

• From the time of John the Baptizer until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful people have been seizing it. (Matthew 11:12 GW)

• All of heaven's wisdom is brought to bear upon us to confess that our help cometh from the Lord.' -L.E.M.

• On the contrary you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the ever-living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless hosts of angels, to the great festal gathering and Church of the first-born, whose names are recorded in Heaven (Heb. 12:22, 23, Wey.).

• Which of us has not prayed to a closed heaven of brass or heard nothing but the clamour of God’s silence?
• We must WAIT – even though heaven itself seems closed to our calls.

• Through all of this, our Lord clung in faith to… My God – just as we, in Christ, must cling in faith to… our Father, Who art in Heaven.
• For HIS sake we are children of heaven and adoptive sons of the Father.

• Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 9 that... having made known to us (the Church) the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, He might gather together in one, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him, Ephesians.1:9

• Nehemiah - study (2)  O LORD God of heaven, Who faithfully keeps covenant and mercy for them that love Him and HEAR His commandments.Nehemiah.1:5
• He knew that God was faithful even when His own people strayed far from Him: O LORD God of heaven, he prayed, Who faithfully keeps covenant and mercy for them that love Him and HEAR His commandments: Nehemiah.1:5 Nehemiah loved and trusted the Lord – and cried out to Him for his people and city.

• Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, Who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes be open to hear the prayer Your servant is praying before You day and night – for Your servants, the people of Israel. Nehemiah 1:5-6

• If we look at things horizontally we shall only see so far, but if we look from heaven we shall see much more.

• There is all the difference between being saved and then going into Christian service with the resultant studying of the Bible, the preparation of sermons, addresses, lessons; collecting material, mastering themes and subjects; etc., etc., and giving this out as required or as opportunity affords there is all the difference between this and an open heaven, an anointing, a revelation by the Holy Spirit.

• Every bit of new seeing is a work from heaven.

• Christ in heaven is our spiritual Rest,heart rest.

• Representative Man He was tried and tested in all things in the same way that we are – yet without sin, so that He could represent each of His brothers and sisters to our Father in heaven, for He is our representative Man.
• His intercessions for us are that we maintain intimate communion, sweet fellowship, and perfect harmony with our Father in heaven, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies.

• Limitless God Solomon in all his kingly majesty meekly grasped God’s limitlessness: “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You”, he cried.

• The Last Adam Today a Man is seated on God’s throne of glory in heaven.

• Heirship We share in a joint-HEIRSHIP with Christ reserved in the heavenlies that’ll never fade.  God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 1 Peter 1:4-5  And the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

• There is no other name given under heaven, whereby we must be saved.Acts 4:12

• He sometimes permits our hammering on the golden gate of heaven, which remains shut fast – unmoving; unyielding; firmly closed, as though rusted upon their hinges.

• He prayed passionately that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the glorious future hope to which we are all called, which is laid up for us in heaven, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints – His holy people.

• He is perfecting us now. He makes us perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect when we see Him as He is… when we look at our own imperfect lives we see nothing but ruin.

• We cannot understand the mystery of One such as He being subjected to trials and difficulties and adversities, and being tested to breaking-point, where it called for the intervention of heaven to get Him through.
• He was brought there; He was brought to the point more than once where even He would not have gone through, had not heaven intervened and angels ministered to Him.
• You may never have actually seen angels coming to minister to you, but there is no believer who has gone this way, who has gone any distance, but knows in his heart, ut for God and Heaven, I would not be here today.My own testimony is that it has required the intervention of heaven, more than once, to save me from succumbing.

• Whatever condition you find yourself in, do not let either earth or heaven hide Him. -J.H.

• All Christians are fit for heaven, but all too few are fit for earth.

• That He should interest Himself in the concerns of our daily lives, is wonderful indeed; that He should give us glory in heaven above the angels is a wonder deeper still; but that He should call us to like thoughts, feelings, and to common objects with Himself is beyond conception. -H.F.W.
• The whole testimony of the Father now is to what the Lord Jesus is in heaven. -G.V.W.

• The first step is, we believe that the Lord Jesus was sent of the Father; second, that in the fulness of His work we are justified; third, we make His acquaintance, fourth, we come to see Him in heaven - we know our association with Him there, and His rest here, fifth, we learn the mystery, the great things we are entitled to because of being in His Body, His Bride; sixth, that we are seated in heavenly places in Him; seventh, we rejoice in wonder and in praise in the knowledge of Himself. -J.B.S.

• The veil of the Temple was rent from top to bottom giving access to the Father. What an amazing privilege we have as believers to petition the throne of heaven – but God wants all His children to stay in fellowship by admitting their sins to Him.

• Pray in Agreement We need to be in agreement in our prayers with other believers, knowing that: if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” Matthew 18:19.
• Pray in Agreement And we need to pray in agreement with other believers as we kneel to pray: for if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

• The one, prayer as a means by which we get from heaven what we need.

• Celestial Silence In Revelation Chapter 8 we read: and when He had opened the seventh seal,  there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
• Rev.8:1 In a celestial silence the God of heaven and earth, sea and sky finalises His plan.
• The throne-room of God’s majesty in heaven is quieted in awe and wonderment;  and I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
• Pray in the Spirit Eph.6:18 This silence in heaven is connected with all the prayers of the saints of God. This heavenly hush is linked with the persistent prayer of the praying saint.

• He is made a child of God, a citizen of heaven and a joint heir with Christ Jesus.

• a promise that is 'Yes' and 'Amen' in Christ:- Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved… For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we 
must be saved – except Jesus, for Jesus saves… Jesus, remember me..
• Though His hands were secured to the cross with nails, He carried with Him the keys of death and hell and heaven.

• We are told that there is no place in heaven for anything that defiles..
• Should not we who soon will be walking through the gates of heaven, not make careful preparations before we enter that Holy Place?
• Heavenly Preparations To a little child who desires to play in heaven’s streets of gold..
• the wise Christian mother may reply that heaven must enter our hearts first..
• Heaven needs to be in us before we can enter the gates of heaven and in the same way, we must become pure in heart before we ‘see’ God.

• Christ lived on earth that He might show forth the image of God in His life; He lives in heaven that we may show forth the image of God in our lives. -A.M.

• Keep On In the annals of heaven, the saddest records must be those.. that tell of a race well run..
• Hold Fast How the host of heaven who rejoices over one sinner that repentd, must long to cry out how close is the end and the goal; to implore that last spurt of strength.

• Love is as far removed from blindness as heaven from earth.

• God’s Desire Reconciliation of sinners to God is a theme that traverses the pages of the Bible. Reconciliation is a reuniting of sinful man back into a tender relationship with God. It was conceived in heaven; applied in Eden; the prophets’ cry - and God’s desire.
• Reuniting Relationship Reconciliation is a reuniting of sinful man back into tender relationship with God. It was conceived in heaven; applied in Eden; the prophets’ cry and God’s desire - and we have been made ambassadors for Christ with a ministry of reconciliation.

• Hope promises of a creation, subdued under the kingship of the Lord of glory, and hope rejoices in a heaven where sorrow and distress flee away, and where the Lord shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

• Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. (Colossians 3:1 NLT)
• He could not speak too highly of them or in terms too glowing, simply because they turned from the world unto God, i>to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven,and he had no anxiety about them.

• And when one moves out of that realm into a personal, direct knowledge of the Lord through what we often term an open heaven but not, mark you, through a new or different revelation of Christ that is something apart from the Scriptures into that experience, where we can say, It pleased God to reveal His Son in me, and with me it is so real that sometimes I wonder if anyone has such a knowledge, such an experience; when we move that way, we move into a lonely realm.

• I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. (Ephesians 3:14,15)
• i>The whole family in heaven and on earth....That is a part of the meaning of Fatherhood, and that is what the Father is doing in this dispensation; getting that kind of Family.

• Christ Rejected And then the cross, the rejection, and Israel had her King crucified.  And the kingdom of heaven was taken away.. and given to a people that would bring forth the fruit thereof.

• To go back to the Psalms for proper Christian experience is to lose the savor of grace and to breathe legalism; it is to climb down from heaven to earth.

• The Church:- soon to be taken to heaven to be with her God and her Bridegroom.
• The Church:- living in this world as the only enlightened ambassadors of heaven.
• Heavenly Realm But first, the Church will be raptured into heaven to fulfil her heavenly position, while Israel will be ruled on earth by her victorious Messiah and Saviour.

• We will never be able to properly understand or fill our place for God on earth if we do not realize our God-given standing before Him in heaven.

• All true believers are gratefully aware that they are not going to hell, but few realize that they are already in heaven.
• People say, You get to heaven when you die.' No such thing.

• There is no reserve in God's love; He has given the best in heaven for the worst on earth, and in this way has rebuked distrust and established confidence, so that the works of the devil' might be undone in our hearts.

• Satan is thrust out of heaven for seeking to take what was the Lords..

• His doctrine dropped as the rain from heaven, and His speech as the gentle dew.
• Verily, Thou art a God that hidest Thyself.' May we be willing to be hid, and to have our work known only by its effects, doing it not unto men, but unto our Father in heaven, Who sees in secret and shall reward us openly. -E.W.M.

• Born-again Life When we were reborn, we received a brand new baby life – our new life in Christ, but the old sin nature will remain in our dying bodies until we are glorified – until Christ comes to take us home to heaven.

• “Sit Still my daughter,” “Keep silence my son” and examine your heart – and then “Arise and go to the Father…” and say “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called Thy son ..

• We want to proceed on the line of having things done for us, heaven intervening for us, our difficulties removed for us, having a straight path made for us.
• Heaven may be ready to come in, the Lord may be prepared to work for us, but it is not sufficient for Him and it would not prove good enough for us if that were all.

• The reason we so often fail in the pursuit of holiness is that the old life, the flesh, in its own strength seeks for holiness as a beautiful garment to wear and enter heaven with.

• And like the great proclamation of Peter, it could equally be claimed, flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father in heaven. Matt.16:17

• dedicated prayer warriors to stand in the gap and pray ‘beyond themselves.’  Believers, with a heart for God’s glory; children, with a love for the Lord; Christians who stand between life and death, for the many; warriors, to fight between heaven and hell, for fellow brothers and sisters.

• Our Father has taken us over Jordan and placed us in Canaan, but the reality of it is never known until by faith we accept the fact on the basis of having died with Christ, and that therefore heaven is our place, and we know it to be our place now; and that this side is not our place, and we know that it is not.
• You must abide in Christ in heaven before you can descend with heavenly ability to act for Him down here.

• We have to allow that such things were once given by God, and that they will yet again be introduced by Him; while invariably contending that they are positively opposed to His present working by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. -J.L.H.

• He is in heaven: our life is hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).

• Throne Ministry Unsung lovers of God who’ve seasoned the path of the body of Christ over time; each adding tears of intercessory love to the brimming bowl on the heavenly alter – all combined to contribute to heaven’s plan – in the throne ministry of God’s will.

• The government, the authority, the headquarters, vested in the ascended Lord, and centered in heaven; not in Jerusalem, nor anywhere else on earth.... The Jewish rulers and Stephen's accusers were quick and shrewd enough to recognize the implications, for they had no less and no other import than that the Temple made with hands was finished; the dispensation of the Law was ended.

• He wrote half of it about the heavenlies, then, without breaking it into chapters, he went straight on with his letter: ... beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called,and then husbands, wives, children, parents, masters, mistresses, servants that is coming down to the kitchen, bringing the glory of heaven with you.
• s in heaven, so on earth.

• by quickly confessing any sin we commit, to our Father in heaven.

• Today is a time of child-training with rewards laid up in heaven – today is the day to live by faith as exemplified by all in Hebrews 11.
• Today is the time of child-training with rewards laid up in heaven – today is the day to live by faith as exemplified by that great cloud of witnesses.

• In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
• Light and dark; water and dry land; sea and sky; heaven and earth; mountains and valleys.
• and a voice came from heaven.

• Fourth, we come to see Him in heaven.

• He cannot touch the SPHERE of our life, for heaven is the sphere.

• Kingdom of God Jesus had been with the disciples for three wonderful years, but He was leaving. He was to return to heaven after He had paid the full price for the sin of the world. The disciples knew He was their Messiah.

• Well, there has been an open heaven since then.

• We need to enter deeply into the truth that Christ the Beloved Son of the Father could not return to the glory of Heaven until He had first given Himself over to death.

• Spirituality consists in our doing everything as out from heaven.

• The Lord may have to say, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven!

• Your statement of faith may include the fact that you believe Jesus died and rose again, ascended to heaven, and is at the right hand of the Majesty on High, but how are you going to prove your statement?

• Fathomless Love The love of God stoops down to the sin-encrusted earth from His hallowed heaven. The love of God scrapes up from humankind the sick, suffering, sin-stained sinner. The love of God rakes from the pit of hell, fallen sons and daughters of Adam.
• And then we find ourselves in heaven.

• Anybody who is in that isin heaven.

• Temple of God Heaven is His star-jewelled throne and earth His emerald-strewn footstool. The heaven of heavens cannot contain the wonder of His unique personage,  and yet… my body is the temple of His majesty, His glory and His compassion.
• and a future residence in heaven is dimmed.. because we live in today – a time that seems so far removed from the eternal One, and His eternal ages..

• In creation God planted a man in the garden in innocence; in redemption He has planted a Man in heaven, in glory.

• Consequences of Worldliness Only a few verses earlier Christ warned them of the consequences of worldliness – chiding them for their worldly outlook and prompting them to, “lay up treasure in heaven….

• If this is the revelation of God from heaven in Christ through His Word and to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, then it involves us in very great responsibility.

• A Man in Heaven There is a man in heaven that is seated on the throne of God – the Lord Jesus Christ.

• Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favour rests.

• Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.
• Paul also reminds us that John’s ministry to Israel was a baptism of repentance, for John called the people to repent of their sins,  turn to God and to believe in the One Who was to come after him – that is, Jesus, for the Kingdom of Heaven was near.

• One day there will be a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness reigns.
• Day of God He details one final great conflagration – prior to the new heaven and earth.. where fervent heat explodes as both earth and heaven catch aflame – where heaven and earth are burned up and melt away.

• This whole question of heavenly relationship with the Lord is a tremendously searching one, the fact that Christ has transferred everything to heaven and that nothing less than a life in heavenly union with Him will stand the test at any time.

• On the Mount heaven touches earth and from there the heavenly dispensation is clearly in view.

• Is it not very clear that from God's standpoint, in God's mind, everything is intended to be related to heaven and governed from heaven?
• And right at the end we see the New Jerusalem not the old one, but the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, in great heavenly fullness.
• I sometimes think that we are two persons, one here and one in heaven.
• Naturally we are here, but there is something of ourselves going up all the time, when the Lord is getting in us something more of heaven.
• Is not that perhaps what the Lord meant, when He referred to Himself as the Son of man, who is in heaven (John 3:13), even while He is on earth?
• There is an aspect of us that is growing in heaven.
• Do not think of heaven as some remote planet.
• Do you say your situation is too difficult to bring heaven in?
• Daniel's was a difficult situation his three companions were in a difficult situation; but they brought heaven in.
• Headquarters is in heaven: not in Babylon, not in Rome, not in Jerusalem or anywhere else, but in heaven.
• The Lord help us to live up to and out from heaven.

• Breadth of Love The BREADTH of God’s love reaches the four corners of earth and heaven.

• You only need to read John to see how unattached everything is, how everything is lifted clean out of this world, and everything is bound up with the fact that Christ is in heaven, and that the Lord people are here, but not here; here, but not known; in the world, but not of it; a mystery people in this world so far as the world is concerned... unrecognized, unknown.
• Christ is in heaven, and we are lifted out, translated, seated together with Him in the heavenlies.

• In the eternal council chambers of heaven, a divine secret was planned and purposed, and proceeding from God’s cherished mystery was born the eternal plan of God – a special plan, hid in His heart – that in the ages to come, Christ would be all in all.
• For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.

• Christ’s Humanity But Christ was also fully Man – and as such he had a human nature – yet without sin. He was a man with a mind and emotions and He had a human body, a soul and spirit. As Man He grew weary and could legitimately say, I thirst – give me to drink… and as Man He could rightfully say to the High Priest at His trial – you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.

• It is just wonderful.... You are not meant just to be saved and get to heaven, to know your sins are forgiven and to have a certain number of blessings which come with salvation.

• then he can keep His heaven… !
• Relationship With Man Scripture certainly shows that God wants a relationship with man, but first man must comprehend this characteristic of the incomprehensible’ God. In the beginning Elohim – the Powerful God created the heaven and the earth.

• But the Christian's joy is in heaven and springs from what the Father is to him there.

• I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the One who is the stairway between heaven and earth. (John 1:51 NLT)
• Christ risen means an open heaven.
• He comes to us out of an open heaven which the Son of God has opened for us.... The Lord Jesus said: i>When He, the Spirit... is come, He shall guide you into all the truth.And John confirms this in saying: i>The anointing which ye received... teaches you concerning all things.That is represented by the angels ascending and descending.
• The Holy Spirit is communicating with us, but Christ is the ladder, reaching from earth to heaven.
• There is an open way from heaven in our hearts, Christ Himself, leading us into the very presence of God.
• Thus Christ risen in heaven means for us an open heaven where everything is possible for us in Christ, that we may glorify Him!

• No, He is the second man, the Lord from heaven.' He is a heavenly man, the Last Adam - head of a new race; beginning of a new creation - and you and I who believe are in Him,' seen and accepted before the Father in His Beloved.' The full image of Him we have not yet: true.

• As the lighted candle is set ablaze within, He shines within and makes us His light: let your light so shine before men that men may see your good works, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.
• We cannot light anyone to heaven, nor can we save any perishing soul.
• Light in the World Ye are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven,

• It is a happy and necessary thing to understand the Word of God, but, with that Word treasured, the aim of the believer's affections should be, That I may know Him.' Desires after the Lord Jesus, desires to live with Him in heaven now, and to manifest Him on earth, make the growing believer separate from the world, and separate him unto the glorified Lord. -H.F.W.

• The kingdom of heaven (it should be in the plural, the kingdom of the heavens) is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid.... The Lord is doing a secret work in relation to the Church.

• by suffering His humiliation in this world. Jesus said: be perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

• Jesus - love made flesh and tabernacling with man. Oh that men would praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted. His glory is above the earth and heaven.

• God-Man All power in heaven and on earth has been given to this unique God-Man, Christ Jesus, Who ascended to heaven, and at this moment is sitting on the Father’s throne in glory.
• The Spirit’s Ministry In the book of Acts, we discover the Lord Jesus ascending into heaven but the promised Holy Spirit was sent to be an ever-present help and comfort in this church age.
• For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. AMEN.

• It is a great thing to be in possession of an open heaven and of a mandate from God.

•  A Hidden Life We are to seek the things of heaven..

• The prayer life is the expression of the Spirit of Christ through the believer to the Father in Heaven.
• Through the Lord Jesus every true believer is united to God in Heaven by a life-link.
• We are not praying down here on earth to One who is a long way off in Heaven.

• Then He added, Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old. (Matthew 13:51,52 NLT)

• I saw a door standing open in heaven, and... the voice said, ome up here, and I will show you....(Revelation 4:1 NLT)
• To Nathanael the Lord Jesus said, Henceforth (our old English word is hereafter, but I think many people have mistakenly thought that means the after life) ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
• With an open heaven you see, and you see God's meaning concerning His Son.
• That open heaven for the Lord Jesus was the anointing.
• The open heaven is the anointing of the Spirit from the day of Pentecost onward upon Christ within us.
• That open heaven means a continually growing revelation of Christ.
• I am brought back to urge this.... The open heaven at once brings God's revelation in Christ to your very door, makes it available to you, so that you are not dependent in the first place upon libraries, books, addresses or anything else.
• However much the Lord may see good to use these other things for your help and enrichment, you have your own open heaven, your own clear way through, and no closed dome over your head.

• So let us rejoice that we have an open heaven secured for us by our blessed Lord.
• There is much more bound up with it, which the Lord may show us as we go on, as to what kind of man it is who enjoys that opened heaven, but that is with the Lord.
• Let us thank Him for the fact that we may have the heaven opened to us.
• But to a Nathanael He will say, Ye shall see the heaven opened.

• For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trump of God – and the dead in Christ will rise first'.  1Thessalonians 4:16.  Fear Not, they were told, go your way and tell His disciples, and Peter.

• Christ’s Humanity Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit, Who overshadowed the virgin Mary, and was made perfect Man. Christ was accused of being born out of wedlock.

• No Condemnation We are made new creatures in Christ, cleansed and made new with no condemnation. We are united to Him and brought into sweet communion with the Father in heaven. We are not only redeemed in spirit and truth, but in body; soul; mind and heart: for ye were bought with a price: not with gold and silver, but with the precious blood of Christ.

• Praise the Lord of Heaven and earth, that His ways and purposes are not ours. His purpose in life will be carried out in the life of a believer – by faith. His plan for each life will take time..

• I will open the windows of heaven for you.
• Does not the Lord call for certain drastic adjustments before He can open the windows of heaven? (Mal. 3:10).

• Joint-Heirs All glory and authority in heaven and on earth have been given to the Lord Jesus, and yet He tells the Father that, glory has come to Me through them! Christ loves the Church corporately and every living stone is precious in His sight. They are so precious that He rejoices over them with singing. But Christ also loves each member individually..

• Our relationships are new relationships; they are with heaven.
• Our resources are new resources: they are in heaven.

• Nor is it surprising that as Christ ascended into heaven, He comforted His disciples by saying, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
• Eternal Claims No surprise that He could claim, before Abraham was, I Am – and boldly stated – all authority in heaven and earth is given to Me, for He was a Man Who walked in spirit and truth and He was the Son Who did only those things He heard from the Father. The child was to be born of a human mother.
• Mighty God Jesus is indeed the Mighty God for He rescued us from the cesspit of sin – reuniting us with our Creator God, by the shedding of His blood – for we were dead in our trespasses and sins – but Jesus came from heaven to seek and save that which was lost.
• By His resurrected life He gives us the peace of God which passes human comprehension and when He went to the Father to prepare a place for us with Him in heaven – He left us His own perfect peace. He said, I’m leaving My peace.

• Others prefer the trinkets of this life to the treasures that are stored up in heaven and many can’t comprehend that faith comes to the church by hearing not by sight – unlike Israel for whom signs were designed, so they could recognise their Messiah.

• Ah, He was taking all the risks necessary about this because the reality, the awful reality of this: you CANNOT, you cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven while you cling to this kingdom inimical to God, in any way.... How much the New Testament has to say about this, a walk in holiness that is separate unto God in heart, in spirit, in life, from this world.

• Tools of God Some ‘base’ men, like Nebuchadnezzar are taken by God and used to His glory. Some adversaries and antagonists are often used by heaven to glorify His Name. Some Christ-haters have proclaimed prophecies… like the great prophetic words of Caiaphas…the High Priest, who identified Christ’s ultimate sacrifice, when he cried:- “It is expedient for us, that one Man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should perish not.” John 11:50. Some are even manipulated to do His will..like those hooks in the jaws of Magog.

• Later he had been caught up into the third heaven and shown unspeakable things, which (he said) were not lawful to be uttered.

• Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”Matthew 5:3

• Whenever we choose the wrong way through rebellion, wrong teaching or ignorance of God’s way of sanctification, every born-again believer has access back to the throne of God, through confession of sins: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight – and God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1John 1:9.

• Ye shall see the heaven opened.

• I am not deceiving myself about that.This is the true child of Heaven.

• Final Instructions In chapter 1 it summarises the gospel of Luke and Christ’s ascension into heaven. It also confirms the certainty of the resurrection and its many infallible proofs. It reviews the final instructions that the Lord Jesus gave before His ascension. It details the topic about which Christ spoke to His followers – the kingdom of God.

• “And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, [whether they be] things in earth, or things in heaven].

• Unique Nature The unique nature of the Lord Jesus Christ is a topic requiring deep exploration. Without His pre-existence as God He could never have become incarnate Man. He’s singular among the children of men for His birth was not the start of His origin. He’s unique within the Triune Godhead for He was the ONE Person Who became Human. Jesus Christ was the convergence of time with eternity. Jesus Christ was the harmonising of deity with humanity. Jesus Christ was the convergence of heaven with earth.
• Unique Son He laid aside the glory He had with the Father during the time He walked on earth, yet He retained His pre-existent knowledge – while learning obedience as a Son. He remembers the glory that He shared with the Father before the world was created. He recalled How He was the bread of life that came down from heaven for in Him is life, and that life is a light that shines in the heart of everyone coming into the world.
• Time touched Eternity Yes indeed – the unique nature of the Christ will require our eternal exploration. Time touched eternity and heaven stooped to earth as DEITY united forever with humanity.

• What remained after the shaking was just that, and that only, which was Christ in a spiritual and heavenly way: Christ in heaven, and here by His Spirit, the gathering point, or occasion of assembling; Christ in heaven the High Priest and Sacrifice; the order of God's house here a purely spiritual and heavenly one not formal, arranged, imposed, imitated, or material.

• And then he gently pushed the boundaries of their understanding (and ours).  El Shaddai (God Almighty).  El-elohe-Israel (The Mighty God of Israel).  El Elyon (God Most High – Possessor of Heaven and Earth)
• To Abraham and his seed forever He was El-elohe-Israel, (The God of Israel), and he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel” Gen.33:20 To Abraham and his seed forever He was El Elyon (God Most High), and Melchizedek of Salem was the priest of the Most-High God [El Elyon]” – and blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of the Most-High God, possessor of heaven and earth” Gen 14:18

• Lay up for yourself treasure in heaven and touch not the flesh-pots of Egypt – for whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.

• The other, where He is known and welcomed as our Life in heaven; Who, in the power of that endless life, leads us to find our home in the Holiest of our Father's presence. -A.M.

• Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations. (Haggai 2:6,7)

• Victory Versus Defeat Apostolic teaching implies the possibility of Christian holiness and joyous living – championing the justification that the life of heaven has already begun on earth!!  But while the pages of scripture emphasise an ideal Christian walk – actuality can be very far removed.

• Doomed Domain Well, the coming kingdom of Christ has its roots in heaven.
• The Lord’s future world empire is to reflect the will of God and the rule of heaven, and Jesus taught them saying, Thy kingdom come.
• Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
• He is talking of the believers’ inherited rewards of those that love Him..  for those that live by faith in His Word – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” we are encouraged.
• And all heaven will rejoice when: the kingdom of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.
• This current world system is not where we should be placing our hope – for our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Saviour – the Lord Jesus Christ Philippians 3:20.  Scripture informs us that the love of many believers will grow cold. The Bible tells us that many Christians will forsake Him for alternative truths. The Word of God warns that the Church will be leavened at the time of His return.

• Historic Context Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
• And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord.

• God has placed us in time with eternity in view – and He reminds us that there is a time for every matter under heaven:

• All-Embracing Word The word ‘salvation’ is one all-embracing word that unites a variety of concepts; redemption; rebirth; justification; security; sanctification; growth; maturity; foreknowledge; election; predestination; righteousness; glorification; grace; reconciliation; new-life-in-Christ; new creation; adoption; saved by grace; born-from-above; baptised into Christ; accepted-in Him; citizens of heaven - and more.
• And our final glorification; reward in heaven and heir-ship with Christ is God’s grace.

• Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.

• The new life which we have in Him comes to us from Him in heaven, the risen and glorified Man before the Father. -H.F.W.
• Now His life was necessary to vindicate the Father and His holy law, as well as to manifest Himself and His love; but the righteousness that we are made in Christ is another thought altogether - not the law fulfilled by Him, but the justifying righteousness of the Father founded on the Lord Jesus' death, displayed in His resurrection, and crowned by His glory in heaven. -W.K.
• The Ten Commandments require no life of prayer, no Christian service, no evangelism, no missionary outreach, no Gospel preaching, no life and walk in the Spirit, no union with the Lord Jesus Christ, no fellowship of saints, no hope of salvation, and no hope of heaven. -L.S.C.

• The hope which is laid up for you in heaven.Colossians 1:5
• the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.
• We are to live the heavenly life here on earth, for our citizenship is in heaven.
• Don’t limit your perception of heaven with your fleshly thoughts and desires.

• All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
• Two saints, simple, humble and unimportant in this world, but really meeting together in the Spirit, can be a functioning instrument of Him to whom has been committed all authority in heaven and on earth.

• Mystery of Heaven If you were to spend the rest of your eternal life thus engaged..

• “Most growing believers rightly maintain that all must come from the Lord; but instead of taking their actual position of being dwellers in heaven, and coming from there to earth, they 177 only look up to heaven for help as to their walk on earth; and their thoughts and labors are always influenced and dictated by the state and order of things on earth, and instead of seeking the mind of the Lord as learned in heaven, they are occupied with the blessings of man on earth.” -J.B.S.

• They are strangers and pilgrims, ambassadors whose citizenship is in heaven. -L.S.C.

• The spiritual babe has faith for the wondrous fact that he will go to heaven when he dies.
• The truth is, we have a position in heaven and the Lord Jesus is now our life there; and if this be not simply enjoyed, there will be an effort to modify the desolation here, and an inability to interpret the various inroads which death makes on us.

• I am not saying that works and words do not come in, but it is a heartbreaking business to be working and speaking with no power, and no registration of heaven.

• We wait for His Son from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, Who delivers us from the wrath to come.

• Temple of God We already are a temple of God individually and the Temple of God corporately. We already have our standing in heaven, for in Christ we are seated in the heavenlies.
• Because we believe we have a position in heaven and are to walk worthy on earth.

• All the blessings of God are poured through the cleansing blood of the Saviour.. so that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and on earth—in Him.” Ephesians 1:10

• Earth and Heaven Mortal man has been redeemed and made to sit with Christ in heavenly places.
• At our second, we will glorify Him in heaven as we sit with Him on His throne.
• Still the small inward voice I hear,That whispers all my sins forgiven;Still, the atoning blood is near,That quenched the wrath of hostile heaven.I know the life His wounds impart;I know the Saviour in my heart.

• “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven… we are warned where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
• Heaven and its wonders will still be rich and glorious in the future ages to come.
• Heaven will still be a fact when this world has slipped into a distant bygone age.
• Treasure in Heaven How important singleness of vision and an undivided heart is in this day of crisis.
• but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall gain it. store up for yourselves treasures in heaven we are warned, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

• Man’s  Approach There are many people who would argue that they should certainly get into heaven. Many think they qualify to enter into paradise because of their many good deeds. Many consider that their applaudable attempts to keep the ten commandments are sufficient for God to joyfully fling wide the gates to happiness and bid them enter in. Many think that regular attendance at church more than meets God’s requirements, but this reasoning places the burden of responsibility of access to heaven – on ME. This thinking bases qualification to enter into heaven on Self..
• God’s Criteria They place eligibility to enter heaven on the many good things that I have achieved. They point to MY credentials – MY great works – MY religiosity – MY spirituality.
• But the criteria for entrance into the gates of glory will never rest on my own merit. There is one reason and one alone that God flings wide the gates to His kingdom..  and that is trusting in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. This is eternal life – that they know God and Jesus Christ Whom He has sent. Heaven’s admissions policy is to know God and His only begotten Son – our Saviour. 
• Only Way It all centres around believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, for apart from Calvary there is no forgiveness of sin – no salvation – no heaven. Man’s assumption is inevitably that I must win my way to heaven by my good deeds. God’s criteria is believe on the finished work of Christ crucified – and nothing else. The one point men seem to forget is that we are all sinners and estranged from God. Sin is the one thing that separates man from God.

• They are higher than the heaven.

• There is not a thing in heaven or on earth that can separate us from His love.
• God’s Full Satisfaction Our heavenly Father is fully satisfied with His Son on our behalf, which means He is fully satisfied with us, because of Christ. Nothing in heaven and nothing on earth can alter this eternal gracious truth. Nothing you can do, or omit doing, will influence His acceptance of you, in Christ.

• There is nothing that can compare with our justification, the forgiveness of sin, eternal life, and our home in heaven.

• They were identified as 'saints' who were sanctified of God: set apart for Him and called to be holy even as our Father in heaven is holy.

• Paul was also unique among Christ's apostles, for unlike the others, he was not one who accompanied the Lord from the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry until the day He was taken up into heaven, as we read in Acts chapter 1. 

• As believers, we are the most privileged people on this earth, for we know that our citizenship is in heaven and that we have an inheritance that is being kept for us.

• Heaven is God's throne and earth is His footstool... but Stephen accused apostate Israel of giving homage to the Temple of God rather than worshipping the God of the Temple.
• But Stephen, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of the Father, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.
• Some suggest that this gesture was to welcome the first Christian Martyr into God's presence, while others think Jesus, our heavenly Mediator, was pleading Stephen's case before the Father or fulfilling His promise to confess Stephen before His Father in fulfilment of Matthew 10: Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father Who is in heaven.

• They would not see Him physically but they would see Him with their spiritual eye of understanding, and He promised to one day return to take all who love and trust in Him, to be with Himself in heaven.

• He was the Bread of Life Who alone came down from heaven to feed hungry souls.

• On the one hand, he desired to depart from this life and be with Christ in heaven, which he knew would be so much better.

• Jesus was the Son of the Highest Who was sent from heaven, by God.

• He identified Jesus as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world, and he warned that the kingdom of heaven is near and that Israel must repent of their sin and return to the God of their fathers.

• The truth of the gospel that Peter taught on that day, caused over 3000 men of Israel to repent of their sins and to be born again into the newly formed Body of Christ. But Peter was to astonish these fledgling believers, and those that were listening to his teaching even more, by announcing that this same Jesus was not only resurrected from the dead as David foretold, but He had ascended into heaven in power and great glory and been exalted by God to sit at His right hand where He is now seated on God's heavenly throne.
• Today there is a Man in heaven Who is seated on the right hand of the Father in power and great glory, having been raised from the dead, highly exalted, and given the name that is above every name.

• And so we read that having spoken the heaven and the earth into existence: The LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

• Our sins have been forgiven by faith, and our eternal citizenship is secured for us in heaven.

• In chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation, John is summoned into the throne-room of the Creator God through a door standing open in heaven.

• Paul was a man who knew that nothing in heaven or earth could separate him from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
• Even a Roman gallows could not prevent him from entering into heaven and so he was able to conclude: And to die is gain.
• What freedom to be able to say that whether I live or die, Christ is mine, and whether in heaven or on earth, Christ is my portion and I am content.
• Living for Christ, whether in heaven-above or in the earth-beneath, are both filled with great advantages - when love for our Saviour and serving Him is our sole ambition and passionate aim.

• He gave them a glimpse into the future where the Holy Spirit of Christ would be with them and dwell in them and that the fruit they produced would be from HIM and glorify HIM - just as the fruit that Jesus produced was from His Father and glorified His Father in heaven.
• When we are able to submit to Christ, as He commanded, then we will produce the fruit of righteousness that gives glory to our Father in heaven through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

• But the chastening rod of our Father in heaven is short-lived, and the momentary affliction we receive from His Fatherly hand is for our beneficial training and is beyond all comparison with the eternal weight of glory that awaits us, in Christ.

• He offered Himself once and for all, and when His heavenly mission was over, He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father - until that day when His enemies become His footstool and He returns the lost world into God's safe-keeping.

• His Word is a lamp to our feet and a guiding light along our pathway, for by grace through faith we have been made His children and are called to walk in the light of His love, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.May the light of His love so shine through each one of us, that men may see our godly deeds, hear the Word of truth, trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, and glorify our Father Who is in heaven.

• And then, Israel's Messiah-King arrived to set up His kingdom rule of peace and prosperity, and all Israel needed to do was repent: For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

• We are called to lay up for ourselves treasure in heaven; eternal treasures.

• For the time being, we are separated from our heavenly Bridegroom, but a day has been appointed when: The Lord Jesus shall descend from heaven with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and we shall hear the voice of our Beloved saying: Arise my love, my beautiful one, and come away - come up here.

• As believers in Christ, our citizenship is in heaven.

• In chapter 2, he is told that there is a God in heaven who reveals dreams and mysteries.
• As before, the king had become proud and glorified himself instead of worshipping God and for seven years this greatest king of Babylon was humbled by the Lord: He was driven away from mankind, lived among the beasts of the field, and began eating grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had become like eagles' feathers and his nails like the claws of a bird.
• and honour the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways are just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

• We read that God called the firmament 'heaven' and Scripture elsewhere, gives us additional understanding of the three uses of the word for heaven.
• Firstly, heaven is what we would call 'space' where God fixed the stars in their courses within the firmament.
• Secondly, it can refer to the atmospheric heaven where birds fly and clouds form - which would be the expanse beneath the firmament.
• Thirdly, the heaven of heavens, which is where the Lord God Almighty dwells in majestic power and great glory - for heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool.
• And God called the firmament heaven, we read.
• The great expanse between the two great bodies of water was called heaven - and the evening and the morning were the second day.

• There is no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved, for salvation is from the Lord and justification rests on the precious blood of Christ.

• There is something very edifying and encouraging in glorifying God and singing praises to Him, even when faced with problems and pain, for it not only lifts our heart and give hope to the soul, but causes us to trust Him in our helplessness and gives great glory to our Father in heaven.

• He came from heaven to be a willing sacrifice for the sin of the world, but He exposed the cowardice and hypocrisy of his enemies and spoke the plain truth - that He was in the Temple every day and they did not lay hands on Him.

• The triune Godhead worked in loving, corporate union to create the glorious heaven, the angelic hosts, the magnificent earth, and all the wonders that are therein.
• The Son Himself will fold them up like garment and they shall be exchanged for a new heaven and a new earth.

• He explained that God had placed the kingdoms of the world under his authority: The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.

• He will declare of Jerusalem, 'She will be built,' and of the temple, 'Your foundation will be laid.'It was in the first year of his reign that the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he sent a written proclamation throughout all his kingdom which said: Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.'Praise God that His Word will not return to Him void and that through the act of this pagan Gentile, God's plan of redemption was forwarded and king Cyrus declared that Jerusalem would be rebuilt and decreed that the Holy Temple of God must be restored.God in His grace also put it in the heart of king Cyrus to return the holy articles that had been plundered from the Temple of the Lord, for we read: Also king Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord.

• the kingdom of heaven is at hand and we're going to sit on 12 thrones. YES - there was much they did not yet understand.

• Not only is there rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents, but there will be rejoicing in heaven when the pastors or evangelists who faithfully preached the whole counsel of God, rejoice when they see the people that have been saved because of their faithful witness.
• Together we will be part of a great company in heaven that are rejoicing because of our salvation and the salvation of others.

• In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, and made man in His own image and likeness.

• But as new creatures in Christ we have the assurance of our bodily resurrection, a house in heaven not made by hands, a dwelling-place that is not part of the old, fallen creation, but a perfect dwelling-place where will live eternally with our heavenly Saviour.

• But first He had to topple all the spiritual forces in high, heavenly places before He could bring in the kingdom of heaven on earth.

• Jesus may have been the Son of God through Whom heaven and earth were created, but He also came into this world as the Son of Man, the suffering Servant of Jehovah Who would give His life as the ransom price for the sin of the whole world.He had come to set up God's kingdom on earth, but His own people rejected Him and He finally set His face as a flint towards Jerusalem and the Cross.

• As Christians, we are citizens of heaven who are passing through a cursed world which is filled with condemned sinners who are in need of Christ's forgiveness; and God has given us everything we need to live a victorious Christian life in this fallen world.

• Jesus was the only begotten Son of His Father in heaven.

• Let us rid our commonplace apathy towards the Word of God, and view the reality of Christ as Lord of heaven and earth Who undressed Himself of His magnificent heavenly glory and covered Himself with a mantle of humanity's flesh to became Emmanuel, God with us, so that we could shed our filthy rags and be adorned in Christ's robes of righteousness and become sons of the most High God and joint heirs with Christ, our Emmanuel - God with us.

• And how vital to face up to our own responsibilities and to let all things be done in love, for this honours our Father in heaven.

• He was the One Who came from heaven as the Sacrifice for the sin of others so that whosoever believes on Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.

• While the book of Hebrews systematically sets out the supreme superiority of the person, work, ministry, status and office of Christ, over everyone and everything in heaven or on earth, chapter 7 presents the in-depth reasoning that the priesthood of Christ (after the order of Melchisedek) takes precedence over Israel's priesthood (after the order of Aaron) which was given to them by God, and recorded by Moses in the Book of the Law.
• The greater ALWAYS blesses the LESSER and the blessing Melchizedek gave to Abraham, is one more piece of evidence, showing the supreme superiority of the person, work, ministry, status, office and sacrifice of Christ over everyone else and every other thing in heaven or on earth.

• He displayed His glory in the heaven above and the earth below.

• And although God Himself is not bound by time, he has appointed days, months, and seasons: There is an appointed time for everything, and there is a time for every matter under heaven. Even our days are numbered by the Lord and everything He has appointed will come to pass in His timing.
• On several occasions He reminded those around Him: My time has not yet come, until finally the hour was upon Him and He looked up to heaven and said, 'Father, the time has come.
• Time spans from the foundation of the world and will terminate in the dispensation of the fullness of times so that God might gather together all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth.
• How we look forward, with joyful anticipation, that moment when in the dispensation of the fulness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him.

• The One Who sits in the heavens, makes the clouds His chariot, and walks on the wings of the wind, is the same Almighty God Who displays His power in the midst of the thunderstorm. The sound of His voice is as many waters and the noise of His speech thunders throughout creation, and David recognised that behind the displays of nature, in all its beauty and wild fury, there is the Almighty Creator of all, Who is King of heaven and Lord of All.

• The most amazing revelation of Jesus Christ was given to the apostle John, when he was banished to the inhospitable Isle of Patmos.The final chapter in God's plan of redemption is played out in graphic detail, until the Lord Jesus, the supreme Ruler of heaven and earth, bursts through the clouds accompanied by the armies of heaven, with King of kings and Lord of lords, written on His robe and on His thigh.Once the evil Beast and blasphemous False Prophet have been cast alive into the fire burning with brimstone, and Satan is bound and thrown into the bottomless pit, John turns his attention to the people he sees, enthroned in heaven.

• But Christ Jesus had been sent by His Father in heaven to carry out God's holy will and to fulfil the Father's precious plan of redemption.

• But Old Testament saints will not be resurrected until the end of the coming Tribulation period, when Israel as a nation will call on the name of the Lord, and Christ returns as King of kings and Lord of lords with the armies of heaven to set up His fast-approaching Millennial Kingdom.

• Nor are we likened to some lonely, poverty-stricken, unsupported widow, for we are children of God, beloved of the Father, accepted in the Beloved, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven.

• One beloved passage is written by Isaiah: For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it produce and sprout, and providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My Word be which goes out of My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it. 

• It trains us in the path of patient endurance, and it furnishes us with examples of lives that are lived in humble obedience to our Father in heaven.

• How we need to be ready for the any-day return of Christ Who will take us into heavenly places before the Tribulation period begins and keep us in heaven during the 7 years of Tribulation, when evil reaches its fullness.

• His fifth sign was the feeding of the 5000, which demonstrated that Jesus was the Living Bread Who came down from heaven to feed the hungry and to give refreshment to those that were tired and thirsty.
• This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
• I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh....He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

• Firstly, the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God.

• He was appointed to save His people from their sin, to set up His kingdom of heaven on earth, and to sit on David's throne.

• He is the Lord of heaven and earth Who alone is worthy of our praise, and Who is the single Person in the human race Who can declare: I AM Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.
• And He will continue to BE in the eternity of eternities, long after this present creation has been folded up as a blanket, and a new heaven and a new earth is called into being, for He is the eternal Word of God Who alone boasts unassailable power and incontestable sovereignty.

• May our offerings be carried out in ways that honour the Lord, by ministering to others as God desires so that we may lay up for ourselves spiritual treasure in heaven, knowing that the things of this world will all pass away while the things of value are permanently laid up in heavenly places, for those that love the Lord and walk in spirit and in truth.

• The 27 chapters that follow, deal with redemption and comfort, forgiveness and grace, and joyfully terminate with a new heaven and a new earth, echoing the New Testament.
• And so we trace a tiny scarlet thread of hope of heaven from of our merciful God, and the scattering of multiplied seeds of His grace amidst the greater theme of judgement, doom, and despair.

• She discovered in her heaven-sent interview, that she was to be the mother of the prophesied Messiah, the sacrificial Lamb of God Who was so clearly typified through Abraham's offering of Isaac.

• It is not about the sport we play, the hobbies we enjoy, the programmes we watch or the restaurants we frequent: The kingdom of heaven is about righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Our conscience and concern for others should dictate what we do.
• May we do everything as unto the Lord so that we give glory to our Father in heaven.

• The curse of the Law has been lifted, the sting of death has been removed, and we have been born into the family of God and become part of a totally new creation in Christ, with our sins forgiven and our eternal life secure.As born again citizens of heaven, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

• Yet He veiled His glory, emptied Himself of His glory, left His place in heaven, and took upon Himself the form of a bond-servant by becoming a real Man.

• All have the permanently indwelling Holy Spirit of God, and all have a been promised a priceless inheritance that is kept in heaven for us - an eternal inheritance that is pure and undefiled, that will never change and will never decay.

• A life that walked in spirit and truth, a life that set aside His own will to do the will of the Father in heaven.
• As the Cross drew ever closer, the Lord Jesus knew that He would soon leave His earthly companions and return to His Father in heaven.

• No individual being in heaven, on earth, or under the earth can lay claim to being the pure, unpolluted Light of all lights, for God alone is eternal Light in Whom there is no darkness at all.
• He was the true Light from heaven.

• And now the Lord Jesus was praying for their continued protection, knowing that His earthly work was almost done and that the time was fast approaching when He was to return to His Father in heaven.

• This is the start of His 1000-year reign on earth before fashioning a new heaven and new earth, for His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and His truth endures forever and ever.
• He must increase and we must decrease as we die to self and to live for Him so that the world may know that Jesus Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, in Whom are the words of eternal life.

• Immanuel had come from heaven to teach the truth of God to fallen humanity.
• The words that Christ spoke and the message that He delivered was from His Father in heaven Who, at His baptism, had acknowledged Him as: My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.

• We are to develop the same attitude of heart toward each other that Christ Jesus has for us so that with one mind and one voice we may glorify our God Who in heaven, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord.

• It then carries on into the future for 1000 years, after which God creates a new heaven and a new earth.
• But until that day when we are taken to be with Him, let us pray without ceasing that God's will be done on earth, as it is in heaven, to His greater praise and glory.

• Luke wrote of all that Jesus started to do from the beginning of His earthly ministry until He ascended into heaven from a mountain, close to the little town of Bethany, leaving His disciples to rejoice in hope while giving praise to God for all His goodness and grace to them.

• Let us abide in Him and rest in His love so that we may bear fruit, more fruit, much fruit, to the praise and honour of our Father in heaven.

• In Revelation, He is revealed as the Lamb in the midst of the throne Who was surrounded by four living creatures Who alone has authority to break the seals of the seven-sealed scroll and return the lost kingdom to His Father in heaven.

• Some suggest that Jesus is setting out a message of salvation; live this way and you will be saved and go to heaven.

• And so they were given a promise: He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God - and I will write on him My new name.

• Angels and archangels lift up their voices in anthems of hallelujahs and in Revelation, we discover that all creatures in heaven and earth will one day raise up their voices in a symphony of praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever to the almighty Creator of the universe and Saviour of mankind.

• Nothing in heaven or earth can grab the sinner saved-by-grace from the protection of His holy hand.

• Like so many before Him, John the Baptist was the last and greatest of Israel's prophets who called the nation to: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

• Let us praise His glorious name for the wonderful truth that there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ, for He has been given the highest position in heaven, where He is seated on the right hand of the Father, interceding for His children.

• And a day is coming when we will greatly rejoice with all of His saints in heaven.

• Unlike the majority of Israelite prophets who called the nation to repentance and proclaimed God's great love and faithfulness towards His chosen people, Jonah's message was a warning to pagan Gentiles to turn from their false gods and trust in the true God of heaven and earth Who demonstrates His great heart of compassion, mercy, and grace, for ALL people.

• They proudly celebrated this truth for centuries, but rejected God's offer of the kingdom of heaven on earth at Christ's first advent, causing the Lord to postpone His kingdom programme with His chosen people until the whole nation was ready and willing to acknowledge that 'Jesus Is Lord'.In the meantime, God in His grace is taking from among the Gentiles, a people for His name through whom He is forwarding His plan of redemption.

• But their prayers seem to freeze on their lips as they cry out to a closed and brassy heaven.

• Not only were they told that Jesus was to return to heaven to prepare a place for them in His Father's house, but they heard Him openly proclaim that He was God and equal in every way with the Father: He who has seen Me has seen the Father!

• And as we continue to walk through life in the way that Christ walked, we will be growing in spirit, in truth, and in willing submission to His Father in heaven.
• And we can model our lives on the life of Christ Himself, as He obediently submitted His earthly life into the safekeeping of His Father in heaven, for He only said and did those things that He heard from above.
• And only then, in His power and strength, we may learn to walk in the light, to grow in grace, to mature in the faith, to love as Christ loved, and to enjoy unbroken fellowship with our Father in heaven.

• He needed to know how to enter heaven and how to gain access into Christ's kingdom.
• Whether he came to Jesus by night for cultural reasons, privacy purposes, curiosity, for fear of reprisal from his Jewish peers, or simply out of respect for the Lord, Nicodemus found his way to Christ's dwelling-place and discovered that being born-again is God's requirement for entrance into heaven.  
• Not only was he spiritually blind, but had to be reminded that entrance into heaven had nothing to do with his elevated position, his vast knowledge, his strict Law-enforcement, or great wealth.
• Our physical birth rendered us incapable of entering heaven, for tainted flesh and blood cannot enter into God's perfect kingdom which is why sinful man must be born again.
• Until a man's spiritual birth, he will not see heaven nor be able to enter the heavenly portal.
• Like Nicodemus, we have to realise that it is not what we do that gains access to heaven, but what Christ has already done on our behalf.
• How long it took for this truth to blossom in the heart of Nicodemus we will never know, but as one of the men who laid Christ's dead body in the stone-cold tomb, we know that this dear man did not only SEE heaven with his spiritual eye of faith, but will enter the kingdom of heaven as a forgiven child of God and a member of the Body of Christ.

• There is no created thing in heaven above or in the earth beneath that can claim the credentials of Jehovah my God, so how can I fear?
• This is the psalm of thanksgiving and joy that will be sung in the streets of Jerusalem when their Messiah-King returns from heaven to sit on the throne of His father David: For Judah will be saved; Israel will dwell securely, and they will herald the Lord Jesus Christ as, 'The LORD our righteousness.'

• Once His ministry, mission, and messianic claims were rejected by the Jewish leaders in Chapter 12, Jesus knew that the kingdom of heaven He came to establish would be postponed and from that point, we discover a subtle change in His approach.

• Believers who are in the position of employer or who are the overlords of a business or industry, should act in a righteous and God-honouring manner, and in this verse we read: Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.
• We are all saved by grace through faith in Christ... and as God's blood-bought children we should never forget that we also have a Master in heaven - Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Most consider themselves deserving of heaven and that they are a little more principled, and a little more virtuous than the rest of humanity.

• May we seek to be vigilant in prayer, courageously stand firm in the faith, be obedient to God's call on our life, equip ourselves with a knowledge of the truth, and live a life that honours our Father in heaven.

• Indeed, we are called to: Lay up treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not spoil and where thieves do not break through and steal.

• Jesus was the image of the invisible God Who was to return to the Father in heaven.
• As the stark truth (that Jesus was indeed leaving them to return to the Father in heaven) was starting to penetrate the incredulous minds of the disciples, the Lord Jesus once again introduced the Person of the Spirit of Truth.

• We have not been appointed to gaze on the Word of God without understanding, or in a frightened, astonished, or perplexed way, as did His disciples when the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven.
• Instead of searching the Scriptures to find out if their interpretation was based on Scriptural fact, human tradition, or a skewed understanding of Christ's message and ministry, they gazed with wonder and amazement when Christ ascended into heaven.
• Jesus will indeed return to earth and set up the literal kingdom of heaven on earth, but it will be when God decides, and it will not be influenced by the traditions of men, nor will it be worked out by mathematical gematria or extra-biblical revelation.
• Just as He ascended visibly at the end of His first advent and was received up into heaven in a cloud, so too at His second advent, Jesus will visibly return to the earth on the clouds of heaven, and every eye will see Him.
• Did they continue to gaze up into heaven sorrowfully because their Master had been taken from them, or was their intent gazing into the clouds an act of astonished wonderment and reverent worship?
• This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.'
• The self-same Jesus Who rose from the dead in a resurrected body of flesh and bone and Who was taken into heaven in a risen, glorified body, will return from heaven in the same manner that these disciples saw Him depart.
• The self-same Jesus Whom His disciples watched being taken from them on clouds of heaven, will return to earth with His Church in the self-same way, on clouds of glory, accompanied by a host of angelic ministers.
• When the two messengers in white told the Men of Galilee: This same Jesus, Who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven, they were referring to the Second Coming of Christ to earth, to set up His Millennial Kingdom.
• Just as Christ's first coming began with His birth at Bethlehem and ended with His Ascension into heaven, so the Rapture of the Church and the return of Christ to the Mount of Olives stand as two bookmarks, at the beginning and the end of Christ's second advent.

• They may be enamoured by the deceptive promises of a sugar-coated gospel, a counterfeit saviour, and a promise of heaven, but they are never justified.

• We are hooked into a world of the moment and a life of the limited, while God is unfolding His plans and purposes for the benefit of mankind, which He knew in the eternal council chambers of heaven before the creation was spoken into being.
• We should not let these mockers cause doubts in our hearts that Christ will return and, heaven forbid, we join with them in their mocking chorus.

• For our light affliction and unjustifiable suffering for Christ's sake, will only last for a moment, but will work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, and bring honour to our Father in heaven.

• Judgement is coming on a world that has rejected Him, but we are taken to be with Him in heaven before His wrath is poured out.

• There is nothing in heaven or earth or under the earth that can reverse the status of fallen man, with one exception, faith in Christ (a heart that trusts God's Word). Everyone who has believed God's living Word is justified in His sight and their sin is forgiven.

• Christ alone is the life-giving spiritual manna from heaven that lasts through time and into eternity, and it is given as a free gift of His grace by faith to ALL who will trust in Him.

• was Christ's angry, yet heartbroken pronouncement on those that rejected Him: For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago! But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgement than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven?
• This was at this critical moment in Christ's ministry when Jesus offered the most beautiful prayer of thanksgiving to His Father, the Lord of heaven and earth.

• The man who maintains an unshakable trust in God's Word, in spite of life's circumstances, and when human logic screams the opposite, gives honour and glory to our Father in heaven, and will prove to be praiseworthy and honourable when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. 

• Because by grace, we were rescued from Satan's clutches, adopted into the family of God, and have become a joint heir with Christ, with an inheritance kept for us in heaven.

• It is not the self-reliant individual who is refreshed with living water and feasts on the bread of heaven, but the one who, like the exhausted deer, pants for the refreshing water-pool in the midst of a dry and dusty desert.

• They are designed to test our faith, develop our faith, hone our faith, and increase our faith in our Father in heaven.
• For the faith of His children is of much more value to our Father-in-heaven than gold or silver.

• He reminds us of the eternal glories that are kept in heaven for all who are in Christ Jesus, and admonishes us against living our lives in the lust of the flesh, like the unsaved Gentiles who are slaves to sin and without God in the world.

• Day by day, let us hide more of God's Word deep within our hearts, for we desire to be holy as our Father in heaven is holy.

• God purposed that Jews and Gentiles were to become one Body in Christ Who is the Head; one people under God; one nation with a citizenship in heaven, who were once dead in their sins and estranged from God, but now have become the people of God.

• This first heaven and earth will one day be destroyed by fire.
• The first heaven and first earth will one day grow old and wear out like a garment, but Christ Jesus, the eternal, living Word of God will remain for forever and ever, and we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
• By His grace, we too will behold a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth will pass away.

• But Paul's prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father in heaven, travels down the centuries and is as relevant to us today as it was in those early days of the Christian church.
• May we also be strengthened and established in every good work and word, to the praise of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father in heaven.

• His is a throne that puts down the mighty from their seat and lifts up those that are humble and meek, and today there is a man in heaven called Jesus, Who is seated: At the right hand of the Majesty on high.
• Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;to his feet your tribute bring.Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,evermore his praises sing.Alleluia, alleluia!Praise the everlasting King!

• He came with a blistering message and preached in the wilderness of Judea, calling Israel to: Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near!
• The target audience of the gospel of Matthew were Jews: The lost sheep of the house of Israel, and the primary message of Matthew was that the promised kingdom of heaven-on-earth, about which prophets of old had spoken, had finally arrived, after 400 silent years.
• Draw near Him, cleanse your hands, purify your heart and repent: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
• Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.
• They missed their most glorious opportunity and caused the kingdom of heaven to be postponed, until a time yet future when Israel as a nation will repent of her sin and cry out to her Messiah for salvation.

• Along with the other apostles and certain other, gifted men, Peter was assigned to care for Christ's little flock after His ascension into heaven.

• This would be the time when Christ's actions would also bring glory to His Father in heaven.
• This was the point on the timeline of eternity when judgment would be made upon this world system, and the ruler of this world would be driven out. And as for Jesus, this was to be the occasion when He would be raised up on a sacrificial Cross by mankind and highly exalted by His Father in heaven, for Jesus declared, And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.

• When a woman's own children recognise their mother's outstanding virtue and tell her so, or when a husband praises his wife and rejoices that she is his God-given help-meet, there is much joy that ensues.When a man or woman of God dies to self, lives for Christ, and conducts their public and private life with a gentle and caring spirit, they not only command the love and respect of their children and spouse and the admiration of their friends and neighbours, but also bring glory to their Father in heaven.May we seek to engage in the godly virtues that are laid out for our learning in Scripture, for the benefit of all and for the glory of God.

• As members of a fallen race, we were unfit for the glories of heaven, for sin had disqualified us and rendered us dead in our trespasses and separated forever from our Creator.

• What a change could be wrought if we simply followed Christ's example, Who only said and did those things He heard from His Father in heaven.

• Although He was eternal Deity and the second member of the Trinity, we see Jesus living His life as God intended man to live: in humble submission and complete obedience to His Father in heaven.
• The icy fingers of death and destruction not only touched every member of the human race but also animals, birds, the natural world, and the heaven itself.

• All men need forgiveness of sins in order to be brought back into a right relationship with God if they are to enter the kingdom of heaven, for Christ came to call sinners to repentance.

• The Lord Jesus was declared to be the Son of God at His baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended on Him and a voice from heaven was heard to say, This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.
• And Jesus proved to be the Son of God at the Cross when, as Son of Man, He was lifted up at Calvary, having done all the things that the Father required which so glorified His Father in heaven.

• And as the scene changed from a conversation in heaven to his return to the earth, we read: Satan smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 

• When trouble comes our way, let us consider it an opportunity for great joy, knowing that when our faith is tested, our patient endurance has a chance to grow and our life will glorify our Father, Who is in heaven. 

• It was not being fed on bread and fish that these lost souls needed, but feeding on the Bread of Life from heaven; feeding on Christ, the Son of Man, in Whom is life eternal. 
• They argued that their forefathers had eaten heavenly manna for 40 years, so by comparison Jesus had only done one paltry little miracle with earthly food, not daily manna from heaven!
• They wanted Jesus to carry out a similar spectacle to Moses, as proof of His Messianic claims: Give us this bread from heaven, they demanded: Give us that manna from above.
• Christ could satisfy their spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst because He is the Living Water and the Bread of Life from heaven, and these people missed it.
• This was the first of seven claims Jesus made about being the Bread of Life from heaven.
• All are invited to feast at the banqueting table, to feed on Christ our Living Bread Who came down from heaven from the Father of mercies.

• Although we will never be perfected in spirit, soul, and body, until we leave this earthly life behind, we are instructed to become mature believers and are expected to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.

• As Christians, we are children of God, fellow-heirs with Christ, citizens of heaven, and God's ambassadors in a foreign land, and yet too often we set our hopes on things of this world when life begins to spiral out of control.

• Paul goes on to say: Faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven, the fruit of which is the gospel growing throughout the whole world.
• And in these last days, may the blessed hope that is stored up for us in heaven overflow in our loves so that we will tell all we meet the glorious gospel of grace.

• How insignificant man seems in comparison to this vast universe, and how unimportant man appears in contrast with the creative glories that are displayed in God’s universe – and yet weak, fragile, pitiful, sinful man is the vehicle through whom the plans and purposes of God were conceived before the foundation of the earth in the eternal council chambers of heaven.

• We see a plan to glorify His Name and exult His Person among the nations of the world who rage against the God of heaven and His anointed King.
• We are to rest confidently in the knowledge that He is our faithful God; the supreme Creator of all, and Commander of the armies of heaven Who redeems us by faith in the shed blood of Christ, and will never leave us nor forsake us.

• It details the glorious plan of salvation and the enormous sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, whereby fallen man is not only released from slavery to sin, delivered from eternal condemnation, and reconciled back to God, but also saved by grace through faith in Him, made a new creation in Christ, made a citizen of heaven and a joint-heir with the Son of God, bestowed with the riches of God's grace, in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit, eternally secure in His gracious love, and so much more.
• The Lord is indeed rich in goodness and grace, mercy and love, wisdom and knowledge and power, and in Christ, we too have been made rich in everything, for He has bestowed on us the riches of His grace in Christ Jesus our Saviour and, by faith, we have a rich reward that is kept for us in heaven.

• His authority was heaven sent.
• It empowers every man and woman of God to live a victorious life that honours the Lord Jesus and glorifies our Father in heaven.

• But the day is coming when God will remove His Church from the world and once again will begin to work through His people Israel, some of whom will recognise Christ as Messiah and who will once more preach the message of John the Baptist worldwide: REPENT, for the Kingdom of heaven is nigh.
• And after the world has heard this message of repentance and salvation, amidst all the tumult they are going through during the 7 year Tribulation, the Lord Jesus will come from heaven, accompanied by the Church, to destroy this satanic one-world system.
• No matter what man tries to do to scupper the plans and purposes of God, there is no created thing in heaven above, the earth beneath, or the waters under the earth, either visible or invisible, that can separate us from the love of God which is ours in Christ Jesus; and nothing can halt God's purposes from being finally and fully fulfilled.

• Instead, we will be made holy and blameless, transformed into the likeness of the only begotten Son of God, to the praise and glory of our Father in heaven.

• The great God of heaven and earth had revealed how Babylon was the first and greatest of a series of successive world empires that would dominate the world scene until the kingdoms of this world would be smashed to smithereens by a Stone that was cut without hands.
• God is the Sovereign Ruler of heaven and earth.

• Being the radiance of God's eternal glory and the exact representation of His Father's perfect essence, the Lord Jesus was the visible representation of the invisible God, and not only did He come to die for our sin but He also came to show us the perfect nature and pure attributes of His Father in heaven.
• Although He was fully God, the Lord Jesus lived His life demonstrating to humanity how God wants every spiritual man to live - indwelt, led, and guided by the Holy Spirit of God while at the same time abiding in unbroken fellowship with our Father in heaven - every moment of the day.
• They failed to recognise and accept that Jesus is the visible representation of the invisible God - the Word made flesh Whose very life was a beautiful reflection of His Father in heaven.

• Prayer is the fruit of a humble and helpless heart that comes before the Lord in loving trust.It is the means of two-way fellowship between the Lord of heaven and earth and His helpless child, and it is a most precious tool that God has given to each of His children.

• The suffering of God's chosen Servant was well documented in the Scriptures, as was His glorious Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, for it was foretold by prophets of old including Israel's great patriarch, King David.

• All power in heaven and earth had been entrusted to Him, but He did not demand the service of others but knelt to wash His disciple's feet.

• They were to discover the wisdom of not being afraid and the eternal benefits of laying up for themselves treasure in heaven.

• By His redemptive work, we have been made a new creation in Christ, fully pardoned from sin, endowed with eternal salvation, permanently in-dwelt with His Holy Spirit, and forever accepted in the Beloved, by our Father in heaven.

• Jesus was the First-fruit of all who will one day rise from the dead into newness of life... and He had to present Himself to the Father in heaven before anyone else could partake of Him.
• No-one could touch the Lord Jesus Christ until He had presented Himself before His Father in heaven.

• The Lord Jesus was not talking about the temple that had been made with man's hands, for heaven is God's throne, the earth is His footstool, and God is not confined by man's limited imagination.

• He had clearly told them that He was leaving them and was going back to the Father in heaven and yet, in His loving-compassion, the Lord Jesus reminded them that He would send the Spirit of truth to guide them into all truth: And to disclose to them what is yet to come.

• But all good and perfect gifts are from our faithful Father in heaven, and all the evil that has engulfed this fallen world has its root in sin.

• Nothing in heaven above, the earth beneath, or the waters under the earth is so terrifying that it can blot out the promises of our Creator God, for He is our sword and buckler.
• In Him is security and salvation for all who believe, for by Him sin and death has been conquered through the sacrificial offering of Himself for each of us, and through Him, we have access to our Father in heaven for He is the one way, the only truth, and the only revealed Word of God.
• There is nothing in heaven or earth, visible or invisible, that should disturb our hearts or cause us to be afraid, for He is the omnipotent Creator and all the strength of our lives and the illumination for our path derives directly from Him, and if we follow David's example and walk in the light and trust His Word, we shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.

• God gave the first witness of His Son's authenticity at His baptism when He spoke these beautiful words from heaven: This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Lord Jesus Christ and remained upon Him throughout His earthly ministry.
• And as the Cross drew ever closer, God gave a second witness to the truth of His Word, when His audible voice thundered from heaven once again.

• His authority came from His Father in heaven, and His teaching came from the Word of God.

• There is rejoicing in heaven when a sinner believes, but we truly please Him when we LIVE by faith.

• Job had been knocking on the door of heaven for answers to his questions, for a long time.
• God did not have to explain Himself to one of His created beings, nor do any of us have a right to question God's perfect plan or know the reason WHY He permits bad things to happen to good people.Although this incredible soliloquy from the Lord, provides humanity with many insights into areas such as science, geology, cosmology, geography, oceanology, and anthropology, none of Job's questions were answered, and yet it brought that man into a deeper understanding of the very God in Whom he trusted.God alone was there when the foundation of the earth was laid, and however much man likes to speculate on the creation of the heaven and earth, God alone was present and, in His grace, has recorded it in the Scriptures for our learning – but how few trust His Word?

• Heaven was hushed, time stood still, and God turned His face away from the Son of His love, in Whom He was well pleased.
• For the three of the blackest hours in human history, the eternal Son of God was separated from His Father in heaven as He was made sin on our account: My God my God why hast Thou forsaken me?

• The promises of God to His children are 'yes' and 'amen' in Christ, and God has promised that we who are saved by grace through faith in Him, have a glorious inheritance that is being reserved for us in heaven.

• We are a new creation in Christ, children of God, members of Christ's Body, and ambassadors of heaven.

• From the mouth of two witnesses, we identify John the Baptist as that voice in the wilderness who would turn the hearts of fathers to their children and children to their fathers: REPENT, was the forceful message that resounded from his lips: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.

• Fallen men may foolishly honour some created entity, but God alone is the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth.
• Today, the Lord Jesus Christ is seated on His Father's throne in heaven.

• The unity of spirit, soul, and body that Christ (in His humanity) had with His Father in heaven, is His prayer for each of His children too.

• There is no more important issue in the life of every man than knowing the way of salvation, because there are eternal consequences that lead to an eternal life with God or eternal separation from Him; heaven or the lake of fire.
• Many try to find an alternative route to heaven, believing that their 'good' deeds, generous giving, and acts of kindness to others, will earn them a place in God's heavenly home!
• They would prefer Romans 6:23 to read: While the wages of sin is death, the wages of good deeds is eternal life in heaven.
• While prideful man imagined a variety of ways to be saved and invented many paths to get into heaven, God in His wisdom purposed that there would be one way to be saved, and one way alone.
• No man can gain eternal life and enter heaven except through faith in Jesus.

• And so in the fullness of time, God sent His only begotten Son to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to son-ship, be returned into fellowship with our Creator, and learn to worship our Father in heaven in spirit and in truth.

• We often use the terms; justification, sanctification, and glorification to explain a believer's initial salvation (justification), ongoing maturity as we walk with the Lord in our lives on earth (sanctification), and the wonderful eternal state in heaven, when we see Jesus and will be like Him (glorification).
• 3. Our complete and final sanctification will only be attained when we take up our eternal position in heaven when, through death or the Rapture, we will reach full and perfect sanctification.

• We should not become puffed up because of our spiritual gift or exploit it for our own purposes. Rather, we should rejoice that our names are written in heaven, praising Him that He has regarded us with His loving-kindness and tender mercies.

• We have a description of the eternal city of Jerusalem coming down from heaven, and a promise that righteousness will reign on earth.
• And He has pledged to make a new heaven and a new earth for His redeemed people, and has testified that He is coming again to bring everything to completion.

• The same Spirit of God Who led the people of Israel through the desert, rained down manna from heaven, and opened the Jordan so they could enter the Promised Land, is the same Holy Spirit Who teaches and trains us in the way we should go.
• He is the One Who protects us in the way of affliction by pointing us to Christ as He plants our feet on the expressway to heaven.

• Hebrews states: It is impossible for God to lie, while the Lord Jesus, Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, stated in Luke: Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
• Heaven and earth may pass away, but the Word of the Lord stands fast forever, for God is not a man that He should lie, nor is he the son of a man that He should change His mind.

• Every one of them ate of spiritual food when manna fell from heaven and they ALL drank spiritual drink as refreshing water gushed from the side of the Rock, which was identified as Jesus, the Rock of their salvation and Sustainer of their soul.

• Just as the Lord Jesus suffered without complaint for doing good on our behalf and for the glory of God, we too are called to suffer for righteousness' sake, which also glorifies our Father in heaven.

• Behold: we have the promise of an eternal home prepared for us, in heaven.

• The Day of the Lord is an extended period that covers the Great Tribulation, Christ's Second Advent, His Millennial rule, the Great White Throne judgement of unbelievers, and the creation of a new heaven and new earth.

• Paul is gently guiding us to the verse that reads: In fact, we groan in this body, longing to put on our house from heaven. Today, our spirit and soul are living in a perishable body and we are subject to mortal sickness, physical pain, and the disadvantages of advancing years.
• When a Christian dies, their spirit and soul goes immediately to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven until the day He comes in the clouds to gather his saints to Himself.
• Let us never forget that we have a blessed hope in Christ and full assurance that we will one day be clothed with a new, immortal, resurrected body; our eternal dwelling place from heaven, and we will be like unto Christ.
• Today, we certainly do groan in this deteriorating earthly body and long to be clothed with our promised dwelling from heaven, but until that day, let us occupy until the Lord calls us to be with Himself, for the praise and glory of His holy name.

• He ascended into heaven, and is seated on the right hand of the Father.

• It is the new, born again life of Christ that we received when we were born from above that carries out any good works that we do so that others may see our good works and glorify our Father Who is in heaven.
• Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

• It is faith in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary that renders a man or woman saved, forgiven, and a citizen of heaven.

• Through Him all things were created, all things in heaven and the things upon the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or authorities, all things have been created by Him and for Him.

• May we live in such a way that others see our holy conduct and glorify our Father in heaven.

• He opened the doors of heaven and fed them with manna in the barren wilderness.

• Just before He ascended into heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ's instructed His disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised: They would all be baptised with the Holy Spirit, into the Body of Christ.

• It is only when Christ is crowned as King of king and Lord of lords that the earth will be filled with the glory of God and the rule of heaven's perfect Law will be imposed throughout the kingdom of Christ.
• As those who have been saved by grace through faith, we look to that time when, with Christ, we will rule and reign with Him for 1000 years before His eternal kingdom extends into the eternal ages to come, when there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
• Let us pray in spirit and truth - Maranatha - Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

• He will come in the clouds of heaven and every eye will see Him.

• Paul insisted that faith in Christ is the one and only way to be justified before God and in chapter 1, he even pronounced a curse on anyone who taught a different gospel: If we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!

• They had heard how Israel's God was the Lord of heaven and earth and that He fought for them against many mighty enemies.

• Joseph, as the head of his family, was instructed to call this Child JESUS, God's Salvation, the name that is above every other name; for there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.

• We glorify and praise the one and only God of heaven and earth - Father - Son - and Holy Spirit - Who alone is worthy of our worship, praise, and thanksgiving.

• But nothing in heaven above, the earth beneath, or the waters under the earth, can demolish the Word of Truth.
• Though heaven and earth may pass away, the Word of God stands fast for ever and ever, and God has placed that Word of truth above His holy name.

• The temporary, old covenant was to be replaced with a new, everlasting covenant, and the symbols of earthly worship (the man-made Temple and the old priestly order), were to be exchanged for the kingdom of heaven, where Christ was to reign supreme.

• It should be a deliberate choice and not an action performed for the praise of men, but rather to glorify our Father Who is in heaven, for God loves a cheerful giver: And He is able to make every grace overflow to you so that in every way, always having everything you need so that you may excel in every good work.

• Having been given the seven letters to the churches, the aged John was raptured into heaven of heavens and witnessed sights of great wonderment and awe.
• He saw that these four astonishing creatures worshipped the Lord Almighty unceasingly, day and night, lifting up their united voices of praise to the Lord with a never-ending anthem of worship and praise, that will one day be on the lips of every creature in heaven and earth and under the earth: Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, Who was, and is, and is to come.
• This One of Whom the choirs of heaven lift up day and night with their never-ending shout of praise, stretched out His holy arms of love on a cruel cross to drink to the dregs full brimming cups of GOD's wrath poured out upon Him, so that all that believe on His name would not be condemned, but have the light of life.

• We have a blessed hope that is laid up for us in heaven.

• This resurrection of Church-age believers is often referred to as the Rapture of the Church: For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

• Unlike the rest of Christ's apostles who walked with Jesus throughout His earthly ministry, Paul was called to be God's apostle to the Gentiles following the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Ascension into heaven.Because of Paul's unusual calling and unique ministry, there were many who criticised his teaching and challenged his authority, which is why he so vigorously defended his calling and frequently made reference to the direct revelation he received from the Lord.Here in first Corinthians, Paul found it necessary to severely admonish the believers in Corinth for their disgraceful conduct which discredited the Lord, tarnished their witness, and rendered them carnal Christians and spiritual infants.The unruly disunity, riotous behaviour, greedy indulgence, and disregard for the needs of their brothers and sisters in Christ, was even displayed during the celebration of the Lord's Supper – which Paul had already taught was a time to reflect on the reality of Christ's sacrificial death, until His coming again.And so in this passage, Paul is preparing to criticise and correct the shocking behaviour of these carnally minded believers, by reminding them of his own unique calling and the direct revelation he received from the Lord, which had already been taught to them on an earlier occasion.He reminded them that he had been called personally by God, and delivered a specific message regarding the importance and seriousness of the Lord's Supper, which they were currently disregarding:For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, Paul reminded them, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and gave thanks, and broke it and said, 'This is My body, which is given for you – do this in remembrance of Me.'May we never forget the enormous price that was paid for our redemption, at the Cross.

• That old dragon called the devil and Satan will be bound for 1000 years, and Old Testament saints will be resurrected from the dead and brightly shine like the stars of heaven.

• Everything in heaven and earth, whether visible or invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created through Him, all things were created for Him, and apart from Him, nothing was created that has been created.
• It also directs our minds forward into the eternal ages to come where the new creation in Christ will participate in a new heaven and a new earth, to display the glory of God and to make known His mighty power, His great wisdom, His unchanging will, and to show forth His holy name so that He might receive glory from all His created beings.

• He instructed us: Let your light so shine before men, that the world may see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.

• It proclaims many mighty promises concerning the advent of the Messiah when God's kingdom of heaven-on-earth will be firmly established.
• God alone can achieve heaven on earth and provide peace and goodwill to all men.

• But Revelation is also a book or predictive prophecy, much of which has yet to be fulfilled in the coming Tribulation Period (after the Church has been raptured into heaven) when God's wrath will be poured out on a Christ-rejecting, God-hating, sinful world that has rejected God's offer of salvation and must face His justified punishment.

• Many passages in both the Old and New Testaments explain this 'Day' as follows: 1) The 7 year Tribulation period, as outlined by Daniel. 2) The period which Jeremiah calls 'the Time of Jacob's Trouble' which occurs during the last 3 1/2 years of the 7 year Tribulation period. 3) The prophesied return of Christ to earth with His saints to set up His earthly Millennial Kingdom at the end of the 7 year Tribulation period. 4) The 1000-year Millennial Kingdom when Jesus reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords. 5) The destruction of heaven and earth at the end of the Millennium - before the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.

• With the exception of Paul, all the apostles were with Jesus from the very beginning when John was baptising in the wilderness, until the day that Christ ascended into heaven.
• He was the last of the apostles because he was called following Christ's ascension into heaven. 1 Corinthians tells us about the occasion when Paul saw the risen, ascended, glorified Lord: Last of all He appeared to me also, as one born out of due time: for I am the least of the apostles.

• The Bible is a record of God's wonderful plan of man's redemption, and the amazing grace that caused God to send His only begotten Son to die on the Cross to pay the price for our sin will be brought to its final conclusion when God makes a new heaven and a new earth: For the first heaven and the first earth will pass away.

• They speak of the hope of the Resurrection and the certainty of an eternal heaven and everlasting hell. 

• Melchizedek pronounced a beautiful blessing on Abraham: Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.
• The freewill offering Abraham made to the Lord should be a reminder that our God Most High is Possessor of heaven and earth, and He has redeemed us from the pit of hell, through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son.

• And this mingling of the angelic with the human, was Satan's attempt to corrupt the DNA of humanity and eliminate the Seed of the woman Who was prophesied to destroy the works of the evil one.Although the vile influence of these fallen angels certainly aggravated the degenerate, pre-flood conditions, it was the unrelenting wickedness in the human heart and man's obsessive preoccupation with evil which was identified in this verse and demanded the destruction of mankind, through the flood of Noah.The sin nature that so corrupted the human race at the time of the flood, is the same evil disposition that is inherited from our fathers and imputed into the heart of every man who has descended from Adam – for the natural man is a sinner who is born under sin and is at enmity with God.The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually... and yet God, in His grace, purposed to redeem mankind and to destroy the works of the evil one.Although God's judgement rained down on the antediluvian world, and will do so once again during the Great Tribulation, it was at Calvary where complete victory was gained against mankind's unrelenting enemy.It was at the Cross, when Christ's blood was shed to pay the price for sin, that our Saviour triumphed over the evil enemy of our soul, and Satan's defeat will be fully realised when he is finally thrown into the fiery lake of God's everlasting judgement, after which, God will make a new heaven and a new earth.

• Instead, as we are told by the apostle Paul: The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel's voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

• We are to lay up for ourselves treasure in heaven as we carry out the good works that God has prepared for us to do, to His praise and glory.

• They implored Him to look down from heaven on His people with loving kindness and great goodness.

• 'The Golden Rule' as so many like to call this instruction from Christ, demonstrates the kind of love that only comes to us from our Father in heaven when we are walking in spirit and truth and remaining in full fellowship with our Heavenly Lord.

• In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and through Him, the gates of heaven have been thrown wide open to whosoever will.

• The second Man (the last Adam) is the Lord from heaven, and by death He conquered the one that had power over death.

• He was to be the full and final sacrifice for sin, and only three of Christ's disciples witnessed the awesome presence of God as a cloud enveloped Him, and a voice from heaven was heard to say, This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.
• It was only after Christ had been crucified, buried, resurrected, glorified, and returned to His Father in heaven, that the full impact of His words and earthly ministry began to become clear, and was recorded in so many New Testament epistles.

• Although Athens was overflowing with an abundance of false deities, Paul sought to correct their thinking by pointing them to the one, true and living God of all creation.Paul began to explain to these pagan intellectuals, that the God Who made the world and everything in it, is the true and living Lord of heaven and earth.
• He explained that such a great God does not dwell in temples which are made by men – such as the many pagan temples that lined the streets of their city.He pointed out that the God of heaven and earth does not dwell in places that are constructed by man, nor is He served by human hands.
• The pagan deities that the Athenians worshipped, needed human beings to build their temples and bring them things, whereas the great God of the universe needs nothing from men – since He Himself gives life and breath to all people and all things.There is no correct way to introduce the gospel of grace to unbelievers, but there does need to be willingness to tell others about Jesus and bring God's message of salvation to the lost – and many missionaries have found that a good starting point is to give others a correct understanding of the God of creation Who made heaven and earth and everything in it, and of man whom God created in His own image, but who sinned and needs to be redeemed from sin and death and hell.May we, who have been saved by grace through faith, make ourselves available to the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit so that lost sinners may be given the opportunity to hear the gospel and believe, through our ministry – for how shall they hear if no one is willing to tell them?

• However, the majority of mankind chooses to directly disregard His divine authority so that: The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth, by means of their unrighteous choices, denying the Truth, and rejecting God's amazing offer of salvation.
• And for this reason, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteous men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
• When the irrefutable, undeniable, and incontrovertible glory of God is revealed from heaven - but rejected - then the great and terrible wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness: Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God in truth, and so He gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

• They were to intercede on behalf of the sinful nation to their holy God, deliver God's precepts to His people, and make the appropriate offerings to the Lord of heaven on Israel's behalf.
• He wanted them, and us, to know that all good and perfect gifts come from our Father in heaven, and it honours the Lord when we give Him our offering of praise and thanksgiving freely and cheerfully.

• It speaks of the great reception that will greet the Lord God Almighty when He comes to set up His kingdom of heaven on earth and enters into the Holy City of Jerusalem, about which prophets have testified of old.
• He is our great and righteous King of glory; Lord of heaven and earth.
• Indeed, when the question is repeated in the last verse, we are given even more information about this strong and powerful King, Who is mighty in battle, for He is addressed as The LORD of Hosts, the LORD of heaven and earth.

• As children of God, we are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.

• That inner power is not of ourselves but the supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit, for He is continuously working in the inner man (that new life in Christ that we received at salvation), in order to transform us from glory to glory into the person and character that befits a spiritual man, a child of God, a joint-heir with Christ, and a citizen of heaven.

• The Lord Jesus is the Living Bread Who came down from heaven so that all who partake of His body would not perish but have everlasting life.
• Salvation is indeed from the Lord, for God planned and purposed that His only begotten Son would be born as a Man, that His name would be called Jesus, and that He would save His people from their sins: For there is no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved.

• In this chapter, Peter reminds us about our great inheritance that is being kept for us in heaven, and that this life is our one opportunity to prove our faith, as we walk by the Spirit to the praise and glory of the Father, eventually resulting in praise, glory, and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. And the reason we can so confidently walk by faith today is all because of Christ, our living hope: Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

• To His heavenly people, the Church, God Himself has laid up for us an inheritance in heaven.

• He was heaven's Prince of Peace Whom God anointed to be their King of kings.

• We do this through faith in Christ, and in the power of the Spirit, until we are wholly perfected when we get to heaven (glorification).

• It begins with the prophesied 'Time of Jacob’s Trouble', continues into the Millennial reign of Christ on earth – and on into the eternal ages.The 'Day of the Lord' reaches its climax at the end of the Millenium, with the destruction of the first, fallen heaven and cursed earth, and continues with the creation of a new heaven and a blessed, new earth – before continuing into the eternal ages to come.As Church age believers we are living in the 'Day of Man' which began with Adam’s rebellion.
• Jesus is God’s anointed and has been appointed to bring all things in heaven and earth, back under God’s sovereign control, during the 'Day of the Lord'.
• Peter gives a wonderful description of that final part of the 'Day of the Lord', where the old creation passes away and is replaced by a new heaven and earth – for according to His promise we are to keep looking for new a heaven and a new earth – in which righteousness will dwell.
• In the eternal ages that will follow the new heaven and earth, Jesus will no longer rule with a rod of iron.
• There will be no war, no death, no sin, no rebellion, no sickness, and no pain in the new heaven and the new earth – for the former things will have passed away.

• The Bible does not set out to prove the existence of God, it states this truth as a fact: In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.

• All our discussions and dealings while passing through this life should honour our King, for we are all His representatives and ambassadors of heaven, and all our conversation and conduct should reflect the righteousness of Jesus with which we are clothed and covered.Our eternal home is a gift from God, but it is only through faith in the spilt blood of Jesus that we have a full assurance of our heavenly inheritance.
• Our passage to heaven is not an open way to all, but only to those in Him.
• There are no benevolent, extra-terrestrial-beings lurking in the universe waiting to make contact with us as the media-mindset tries to portray, but rather the Church is the only being that is alien to earth, for we are a new creation in Him and our citizenship and conversation is in heaven. 

• Canaan is not a picture of heaven, for there were battles to fight, cities to conquer, and giants to kill.
• For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours?
• As we abide in Christ and He is us, we begin to understand that God has only just begun to show us His greatness and His mighty hand, and we can say with Moses: For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as our God?

• Indeed, when the figure of John, the son of Zechariah the priest, stormed onto the scene with his charismatic personality and stormy challenge to, Repent, because the promised Kingdom of Heaven was near – it caused multitudes to flock to the wilderness of Judea, in anticipation of a great and mighty rescue.John was the voice of one, crying in the wilderness, as foretold by Isaiah.
• The kingdom was indeed to be set up but FIRST they must be redeemed by a Kinsman-Redeemer. They would be able to enter the kingdom of heaven but FIRST they must repent of their national sins for the Kingdom of heaven was near.

• He had given to them the Word of Life which had come from heaven above.
• They had discovered Him to be the Good Shepherd, the Water of life, the Messiah of Israel, and the living Bread Who came down from heaven.

• We have been given the indwelling Holy Spirit as a down payment and guarantee that our inheritance in heaven is secure and sound.

• And a day is fast approaching when we will be with Christ in heaven and the PRESENCE of sin will be gone forever.

• We live in a day and age when to all intents and purposes, it appears that the wicked are prospering abundantly, while the prayers of the godly seem to be rising to a steel sky and a closed heaven.
• Nevertheless, we have our Lord's assurance that the sufferings of this present life cannot be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us, for we have a blessed hope that is anchored in Christ and an inheritance that is secured for us in heaven.

• God has spoken, and His Word is settled in heaven.
• He lived and died so that we might die to self and live for Him, and He is seated on the right hand of the Majesty on high, continually interceding as the King-Priest of heaven for US, the Church He loves, for the glory of God the Father.

• We are to address our Father in heaven and honour His holy name.
• We are to pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be carried out on earth as it is in heaven.
• The more earnestly we ask, seek, and knock on heaven's door, the more we will be given the supernatural strength to fulfil His Word and remain in the centre of His will.

• And Jesus said, I AM, and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.

• May we, who have been forgiven of our sin by faith in Christ, be quick to forgive others their trespasses, shortcomings, and debts - in the same way that we have been so graciously forgiven by our Father in heaven so that we may maintain sweet fellowship with Him and show forth His goodness and grace in our lives.

• We have been raised up into a new life in Christ because we are Christ's spiritual seed, because we have become a brand new creation, and because we have exchanged our former earthly residency for a glorious new citizenship which is reserved for us in heaven.
• Since we have been raised to a new life in Christ and since, by God's grace, we have been clothed in Christ's righteousness, given the free gift of eternal life, been showered with every spiritual blessing, received a heavenly inheritance, and been seated with Christ in heavenly places, we are called to set our hearts and minds on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God's right hand.

• We may sever our close communion with our Father in heaven and cause the sweet fellowship we enjoy to turn sour, but we can never lose our eternal salvation or sever our relationship with our Father.

• John was the last Old Testament prophet, who came in the spirit of Elijah to call the nation to REPENT, for the kingdom of heaven was near and their King was in their midst.

• Let us not seek to be man-pleasers, which may get us high acclaim from our fellows and provide us with a worthy reputation in this life, but rather let us take every thought that rises up in our hearts captive to the Lord so that we can be pleasing to Him and store up for ourselves treasure in heaven.

• He is exhorting them to live an outstandingly godly life, to the praise and honour of our Father in heaven.
• We are instructed to be holy because our Father in heaven in holy, and we are called to excel still more and more, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through Whom we are strengthened in our inner man according to the riches of God’s glory.

• It was after Jesus addressed a wealthy young man on the issue of his riches being the obstacle he faced if he wanted to enter the kingdom of heaven that the disciples asked: Who then can be saved?
• The Law was a schoolmaster God used to point His people to Christ, and Jesus used the Law to show this young man that no one can enter heaven on their own merit.

• He compares the man that disobeyed God's command with the One that obeyed His Word, contrasting the one that sinned against God with the One that did only those things that He heard from His Father in heaven.

• The hour that was coming was that pivotal point in history, when time and eternity met and heaven's hosts must have silenced their praises in astonishment.

• And here in this verse we discover another stunning reality: that because of our union with Christ, we not only have a wonderful inheritance reserved for us in heaven, but are also part of God's own inheritance.

• The world is, indeed, passing away and the seasonal fading and falling leaves, which are replaced when new-growth springs up, is a perpetual reminder that the heaven and earth is finite and the world in which we live will one day be replaced with a new heaven and a new earth.

• It gives power to our Christian life in this world and guarantees our future inheritance with Christ in heaven, to Whom be all praise and glory, through time and into eternity.

• All the other actors in the story, including the men who came to comfort their friend, are unaware of the conversation that took place in heaven between the Lord and His adversary, Satan.

• The many precious promises, spiritual gifts, and eternal glories that God has prepared in heaven for those that love Him can never be broken, for to do so would discredit His righteous name and contradict His eternal character.

• He described the soldiers gambling for His garments, prophesied of the Messiah's resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, and Him sitting on the right hand of the Father as it was written...

• May we live lives that point others to Christ and not to ourselves so that others may see that our salvation is by God's grace and not our own merit, and glorify our Father in heaven.

• But far from breaking God's Sabbath Law, Christ was faithfully carrying out the work and will of the Father; for Christ only said and did those things that He heard from His Father in heaven.
• May we seek to follow His example only saying and doing what we hear from the Lord so that we may be able to say: My judgement is just because I do not seek my own will, but the will of my Father in heaven.

• Following his introductory greeting to the saints at Corinth, where the amazing grace and abundant peace of Almighty God is the heavenly blessing that Paul bestows in great measure on all the congregation there, He turns his rapt attention and deep affection upon our great God and Father in heaven: Blessed be GOD the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; Blessed be the GOD and Father of all mercies and Blessed be our Father in heaven Who is the God of all comforts.

• Jesus explained the kingdom of heaven was only open to those born of the Spirit who look in faith to Christ, their Kinsman-Redeemer.
• The forgiveness of sin, life everlasting, and the gates of heaven itself are flung open wide to whosoever will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.

• It is Jesus, the supreme ruler of heaven and earth.
• He regained man's authority over heaven and earth; He has the keys of the eternal kingdom of Heaven, and He holds the keys of death and hell.

• As we analyse the conditions that keep us in fellowship with the Father and safeguard His peace in our hearts, we find it comes down to trusting God for all things, however difficult, through prayer and supplication, with a heart of thanksgiving and praise, and a life that honours our Father in heaven.

• There are many biblical signs pointing to the end times, but there are no biblical prophecies that have to be fulfilled before the Rapture of the Church when Christ comes to escort His Bride into heaven, but we are not left uninformed!
• He will be riding a white horse and coming in the clouds of heaven; and on His robe and thigh will be written: KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

• God is long-suffering and of great goodness, but the day is getting closer when every knee will bow down to the Lord and every tongue will give praise to God: At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

• In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth in six days, and on the seventh day He rested from all His work.
• Each member of the Godhead has their own unique role in the salvation of mankind, and that work of salvation; spirit, soul, and body, will continue until there is a new heaven, a new earth, and eternal rest for the Creator and His creation alike.

• He knows that unless our Christian life produces the fruit of the Spirit; long-suffering, patience, love, and joy, as well as humility, goodness, kindness, and self-control, it will profit us nothing and will not glorify our Father, Who is in heaven.

• The return of Christ to set up His Millennial Kingdom, the destruction of the wicked, the rejoicing in heaven that accompanies His second advent as Supreme Ruler of the universe, and the marriage supper of the Lamb, are the topics of focus in Revelation chapter 19. 
• Once the loud rejoicing of a great multitude in heaven have testified that the Lord God Omnipotent reigns, and having pronounced that His judgement is just, His salvation is sure, and His glory and power belongs to God, we are treated to the most awe-inspiring description of the Lord Jesus.
• John describes how heaven opens to reveal a Rider on a white horse.

• I will not share my glory with another. The Lord Jesus Himself also cried out in His temptations: You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only, and throughout the holy Scriptures, we discover the severe admonishment to worship no one but the Lord God of Israel - the Creator of heaven and earth.

• He simply tells us: In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
• In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth and the earth was without from and void and darkness was on the face of the deep, but God's creation was to be fruitful and multiply, and so: The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and step-by-step God brought shape and structure to His creation.

• This same Jesus Who was taken into heaven to prepare a place for His Bride, is to return in the clouds and receive her unto Himself.

• But Jesus came to His own people and they rejected Him, and the kingdom of heaven had to be postponed until the time that God has appointed.

• The sun was darkened, the earth quaked, and a silent heaven looked on in wonder as man's Kinsman-Redeemer offered His sinless life in full payment for the sin of the whole world.
• But the writer to the Hebrews expands this earlier prophetic pronouncement into the distant future with the warning: Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven He goes on to explain that this expression: Yet once more, denotes the removing of anything which can be shaken, including everything that has been created.
• This is that point at which heaven and earth will pass away with a roar and the elements of God's creation will be destroyed with intense heat.
• The earth and its works will be burned up, and God will make a new heaven and a new earth.

• He reminds us that there is one Body of believers (the Body of Christ), one Holy Spirit Who indwells and seals each believer, one hope of our calling which is reserved for us in heaven, and one Lord, our Saviour Jesus Christ.

• Such as oath is often sealed with the words, 'so help me God!' However, there is no greater power or sovereign authority than the almighty God Who made the heaven and earth by the word of His power: And so the Lord swore by Himself, since He could swear by no one greater.

• We read in Genesis that it was ELOHIM (a plurality) Who created the heaven and the earth.

• The reverberating Voice of God at Sinai to His covenant people caused a mighty earth-quake, but the writer to the Hebrews identifies a future terrifying event, which will not not only shake the entire earth to its foundations, but will cause a universal heaven-quake.
• The awesome Voice of the Lord shook the earth so many years ago at the top of Sinai, but now God has declared and decreed, saying: Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.
• This future shaking of the earth and heaven of which Haggai and other prophetic voices foretold, will take place during the time that follows the Rapture of the Church and Christ's return in the clouds to set up His earthly kingdom.
• However, it will be fully and finally completed at the end of Christ's Millennial rule on earth, when everything that can be shaken will once again be shaken as heaven and earth are destroyed by a fervent heat, before God makes a new heaven and a new earth, when the first sin-infested creation will be done away.

• Only the incarnate Son of God (the Word made flesh) Who came down from His heavenly residence to tabernacle with man on earth, and Who alone paid the purchase price for the sins of mankind, is equipped to speak of heavenly things: For No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.
• The Lord Jesus Christ, as the eternal Son of God and perfect Son of Man, was in heaven before the foundation of the world, and it was He Who came down from His heavenly residence to be born into the race of sinful man.
• Jesus Christ is the third member of the eternal Trinity, the Word made flesh Who alone came down from heaven and Who, by His own intrinsic power and authority, ascended into heaven.
• And God has spoken to us through Jesus Christ the Son of Man Whom He has appointed heir of all things, and Who alone has ascended into heaven.
• Praise His name that He alone came down from heaven to become our Kinsman-Redeemer.

• Some see this as exclusive, and indeed it is, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved.

• His inspired words continue to glorify our Father in heaven as he spoke of Christ's advent and finished work of redemption which was accomplished at Calvary, and will be completed in the future.

• It was David who called on heaven above and the earth beneath to unite their voices in a glorious melody of harmonic praise to the one eternal God: Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice.
• And let them say among the nations, 'the Lord God reigns.' David instructed the angelic host in heaven and the people on the earth to rejoice in the Lord when the Ark of the Lord was returned to Jerusalem.
• From its heady height to its deepest depth the creation proclaims, in marvellous unison, the glories of the Lord of heaven and earth.
• Together, we should sing a new song to the Lord, for He is the Lord of heaven and earth.

• It is a life that becomes progressively and eternally meaningful, as the child of God lays up for himself treasure in heaven, to the honour and glory of God.

• Every attack on Christianity has its roots in Satan's demonic agenda which is designed to blaspheme the God of heaven and earth, to discredit His holy Word, to belittle the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus on the Cross, to blind the eyes of the unsaved who are perishing, and to shipwreck the lives of those that have been saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

• The millennial rule of Christ on earth will be the full, final, and glorious fulfilment of this ancient truth when, as King of kings and Lord of lords, Christ Jesus will rule and reign in irreproachable justice for He loves righteousness unfailingly and hates wickedness with a godly hatred, and did only those things that He heard from His Father in heaven.

• As part of the Body of Christ, we are indwelled by the Spirit of God with an eternal inheritance kept for us in heaven.

• God's offer of salvation had to come THROUGH the Jewish Messiah first, but feeding on the Bread of Life from heaven is open to ALL.

• He placed the sun and the moon in the firmament of heaven, for signs and for seasons and for days and years.
• He realised that in God's economy there is an appointed time for everything, and a scheduled time for every event under heaven.

• If we could simply alter our outlook and accept that the persecution of Christians in this world honours Christ and that any suffering we endure for righteousness’s sake brings glory to our Father in heaven, then we would be able to rejoice in the midst of our suffering, knowing that name of Christ is lifted up and the Spirit of glory rests upon us!

• It is by grace that sinners, deserving of death and hell, have become blood-bought children of God and received an eternal citizenship in heaven.
• It is by grace - through our faith in Jesus that we have been given eternal life and an everlasting inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.

• The Creator of the universe came from heaven to earth in human flesh.

• Physical hunger requires food for the body, but spiritual hunger requires spiritual food for the soul and Christ had just announced that He is the Bread of Life, the spiritual food that came down from heaven.

• Salvation is offered to anyone who will call on the name of the Lord - and that name is JESUS, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

• Having already chosen His twelve disciples, Jesus encouraged them to pray for labourers to be sent throughout Israel, to tell of the good news of the kingdom of heaven.
• How shocking it appears that the Redeemer of the world forbade His disciples to tell the good news of the kingdom of heaven to Gentiles that were lost in their sin and outside the sheepfold of Israel!
• Why were the Gentiles and Samaritans excluded from this good news that the kingdom of heaven was near?
• Israel crucified their Messiah, and so the promised kingdom of heaven had to be postponed.
• The kingdom of heaven had to be postponed, for a time.

• As members of the Church, we are watching and waiting for Christ to return in the air to take His redeemed saints to heaven which will happen at least seven years before He breaks through the clouds, riding a white horse, with his vestments dripping with the blood of His defeated enemies.

• He reminds us that in Him we have been born again to a living hope and have an inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.

• The eternal, uncreated Son of God, Creator of heaven and earth, and second Person of the Triune Godhead Who upholds all things by the omnipotent power of His mighty hand, was to come to earth and to be born as a little tiny, vulnerable baby boy, in a prepared human body that was free from sin.

• It is through the unity of the Trinity that we are presented with the many precious promises of our salvation, our sanctification, our glorification, and an eternal heritage that is kept for us in heaven. It is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, together as One Who illuminates our hearts and leads us in the way of righteousness and peace.
• It is the united Godhead Who is calling us into blessed union with Christ and sweet communion with our Father in heaven.

• It is the sacrifice about which David wrote that returns us into sweet fellowship with our Father in heaven.
• But we can grieve the Spirit of God by our words and actions and we can quench the work He desires to carry out in our lives, when we are not looking to Jesus, and walking in humbleness of spirit and dependence on our Father in heaven.

• Following forty glorious post-Resurrection days, the risen Lord Jesus led His little band of disciples out from the tiny town of Bethany to the beautiful Mount of Olives, where He spoke to them for the very last time before being taken into heaven.
• As Jesus ascended into heaven, He reminded them of the promised presence of the Holy Spirit Who would come to them a few days hence.
• And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven while Jesus was ascending, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them.
• And so He sent two men, dressed in shining white to comfort His people and remind them that this same Jesus Who had been taken from them into heaven, would one day return in the same manner that they saw Him go into heaven.
• What a glorious experience the disciples had that day, as they watched Jesus ascend into heaven and received the message of His return from those two men dressed in white raiment!

• Luke further informs us that Christ was in prayer when the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form, like a Dove, and a voice from heaven declared, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.
• The Acts of the Apostles even implies that Jesus was there at the start of John's ministry, for when choosing a disciple to replace Judas, Peter insisted, It is necessary that Judas' replacement must have accompanied us all the time... that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us - beginning with the baptism of John, until the day that He was taken up from us, into heaven.

• Jesus was the visible representation of the invisible God, and He only said and did those things that He heard from His Father in heaven.

• We are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.

• It was Jesus - the Head of the Body - the King of the Jews - the Saviour of the world  - the Almighty God of heaven - the Ancient of Days.
• He is the One Who has been appointed to judge the world in righteousness, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and all unrighteousness and ALL who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

• Let us never forget that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him, and a day is coming when He will judge the world in righteousness and faithfully bring forth justice, in God's time and His way.

• We either take up our cross, become Christ's disciples, and lay up treasure in heaven OR we live a carnal, fleshly life which dishonours the Lord and results in our fleshly works being burned up - saved, yet as though by fire.

• One of the main messages that Paul was keen to get over to these unbelieving Gentiles in Athens, was that God, the Maker of heaven and earth, has fixed a day when He is going to judge the world in righteousness.

• The child of God is to have an eternal perspective, and the hope of a reward laid up for us in heaven should be a far greater incentive for us to live a life that is pleasing to the Father than the accumulation of things that will soon pass away in this world.
• But the things of the world are passing away, while the things of heaven are eternal.
• Jesus said, He who gains his life/soul on earth will lose his life/soul in heaven, and he who loses his life/soul while here on earth will gain his life/soul in Christ's eternal, heavenly kingdom.
• How important, therefore, to take care of our life and to be on our guard against all covetousness, for our life does not consist of the abundance of our possessions, but of the treasure we have stored up in heaven. 

• All good and perfect gifts come from our Father in heaven Who is our great Provider. Indeed, not one of us could draw another breath without His provision and grace, but God is no man's debtor and Paul wanted these dear believers at Philippi to KNOW that their generosity to Paul would be honoured by the Lord Who would supply all their needs according to His riches in glory - in Christ Jesus.
• Rather, may we live our lives on earth knowing that this life is fleeting and that our eternal home is in heaven.

• He had been identified as 'My beloved Son' by His Father in heaven and anointed by Mary of Bethany for His burial, when she broke open the alabaster box of precious ointment and poured it on His feet.

• On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also... because your reward is great in heaven.

• He is God's bitter adversary, and deceives the whole world with his cunning lies and deceptive duplicity... and we read here that he was cast out of heaven, together with his angels.

• His status and position is above every created thing, whether in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, for He is the One through Whom all things are created, including humankind and the angelic hosts of high.
• Yes, the eternal Son of God, Creator of heaven and earth, humbled Himself and was born as Son of Man, even making Himself, for a short time, a little lower that the rebel angelic forces under the leadership of their rebellious leader Satan who had become ruler over the fallen world into which He came.

• All power and authority in both earth and heaven belongs to Him and there followed a most astonishing revelation: I have been born a king, and for this purpose I have come into the world - to testify to the truth.
• Jesus told Pilate the good news of the gospel of grace and that He was indeed a King, that He was born to be King, that He came from heaven above into this fallen world to tell the lost souls the truth of salvation, and that whosoever hears His voice and believes in Him will be saved: God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. 

• We have an inheritance reserved for us in heaven and have been sealed by the Spirit of God Who permanently indwells our mortal bodies - and the law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death.

• In this verse, we find Paul once again bowing the knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and he has a special picture in his mind of God the Father as the One: From Whom the whole family of earth and heaven is named.
• Paul saw God the Father as the Designer and Devisor; the Mastermind and Engineer; the Composer and Completer; the Head and Father of all things in heaven and on earth.
• For all living things in heaven and on earth owe their existence and life to Him, and upon Him everything residing in heaven or on earth is named.

• We were guilty, lost, and dead in our sins and at enmity with God, and He was blameless and innocent and had enjoyed the glories of heaven from eternity past, and yet He was willing to be stripped of His glory.

• At the very start of His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus had to establish His God-appointed authority on earth, for as He set out on His three year walk towards the Cross He would honour no other instruction than those that came from His Father in heaven.

• They had heard the astonishing claims of this 'Teacher' who swept aside the deeply entrenched traditional teachings of the elders by declaring, You have heard it said of old, but I say unto you... They were fully aware of His Messianic claims, as He proclaimed, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the door of the sheepfold, I am the Bread of Life that came down from heaven, and I am the Living Water, that will refresh your weary souls.

• We should maintain our hope in the Lord Who made heaven and earth, and be content with our lot.

• For the kingdom of heaven is near.
• He had already been baptised in the Jordan by John and identified as the 'coming One' for John testified: When He came up out of the waters of baptism, I saw the Holy Spirit descending on Him in the form of a Dove, and a voice came from heaven saying, 'You are my Son, Whom I love.
• And although a remnant of Israel confessed Jesus as Lord and acknowledged Him as the Messiah and Son of God, their promised kingdom was postponed and their anointed King returned to heaven – until the entire nation of Israel will cry out to Him for salvation (at the Second Coming of Christ).

• The Scriptures tell us that heaven and earth will eventually pass away, for by the Word of the Lord the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for that day of judgment, and the destruction of ungodly men, when death and hell will be fully, finally and forever defeated.
• And God is making a new heaven and a new earth, which will be the resting-place of righteousness, for the first heaven and the first earth will pass away, as foretold by the Word of the Lord.
• Heaven and earth will one day pass away, for this world has been contaminated by sin, but the pure words of the Lord Jesus are perfect.
• The grass withers, the flower fades, and the first heaven and the first earth will one day pass away, but the Word of our God stands fast forever and the Words of His Christ endure for ever and ever.

• These ungodly mockers will not only refuse to acknowledge the truth of God's Word, but will endeavour to eliminate Him as the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth.
• Not only will the 'Day of the Lord' take these evil men by surprise: Like a thief in the night, but Peter even informs us of happenings that will take place at the end of Christ's Millennial rule, when the heavens will pass away with a great noise, the elements will melt because of the intense heat, and the earth and all that is in it will be burned up – after which God will make a new heaven and a new earth.

• The book of Hebrews is written to post-Cross believers to warn against foolishly following in the footsteps of Israel, and forfeiting the opportunity to live a gloriously, victorious life that will bring with it great reward and give honour to our Father in heaven.
• Some further complicate the issue by saying that Israel's Promised Land represents heaven at the end of our earthly journey, but again, this does not correspond to correct, contextual biblical teaching.

• He is God of all gods and is King of the Ages and Ruler of both heaven and earth.

• He came to set up the kingdom of heaven on earth, but He knew that He would be rejected and pay the price for the sin of the world on a cruel, Roman cross, and His chosen people, Israel, would have to be set aside for a season.

• It was by God's grace that Christ Jesus came to earth, instructing us how to live godly lives which honour our Father in heaven.

• And although we are in the world and need to abide by the regulations of the established authorities and appointed governments (which we are reminded, were instituted by God Himself), we are also to remember that our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we eagerly wait for our coming Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
• We are to follow His example, doing only those things that we hear from our Father in heaven.

• The psalmist expanded his song of praise by glorifying God as Creator of heaven and earth and expressing great reverence for the Lord with an appeal for the whole earth to fear the Lord and a call for all the nations of the world to stand in awe of Him.

• They refuse to recognise that God is the Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, and they will be punished accordingly.
• Even though the nation had been led into apostasy by false gods and were being punished by the God of heaven and earth for their sins, this remnant of Judah confessed that He alone is the only true and living God, and when His plans and purposes are completed, He will be glorified for ever and ever.

• And they came to understand that Satan was defeated, Christ was victorious, and the Church, which is His Body, has been enthroned in heavenly places in Christ - and has been promised an inheritance which is kept for us in heaven.

• Indeed, so serious was this perversion of the gospel that Paul blasted them by saying: If we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, let him be accursed!

• During Christ's present, High Priestly ministry in heaven, the Church have been entrusted to be lights in this dark world of sin: Ye are the light of the world, Jesus told us, and as His representatives on earth we are to shine for Him.

• The story of redemption in the Bible stretches from the creation of the world to the making of a new heaven and a new earth.
• Hundreds more are waiting to be brought to completion with the Rapture of the Church, the Great Tribulation, the return of Christ Jesus to set up His Millennial Kingdom on earth reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords, and the making of a new heaven and a new earth where sin and death are gone forever. 

• He expresses sheer delight that God's Word is forever and is firmly established in the heaven of heavens.

• The Bible tells us that the most high God does not dwell in houses made by human hand, for heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool, and yet the most wonderful news is that God makes His home in the heart of all who come to Christ for salvation: the forgiveness of sin and life everlasting.

• He also boldly proclaimed, There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name given under heaven, by which we must be saved.

• We are left in no doubt of his final moments on earth, for the writer to the Hebrews tells us that this godly man was translated to heaven when God took him.

• God, in His grace and mercy, sent His only begotten Son from heaven as the perfect sacrifice for the sin of the whole world.

• He was the fore-runner of the Lord who urged God's chosen nation to repent of their sins for the kingdom of heaven was at hand.

• In a few short verses, we are shown how quickly a believer can leave their first love, lose their heavenly reward, destroy their Christian testimony, and place themselves out of fellowship with their Father in heaven.

• First the redemption of mankind, and then the setting up of Godly appointed authority on earth, when God's lost kingdom is regained through Jesus Christ; God of gods, Light of lights, King of kings, and Lord of heaven and earth.

• Five times the Lord told the crowds that He had: Come down from heaven, but they would not hear and believe.
• Christ is the Word of God, but those that heard Him proclaim five times that He had come down from heaven to feed their spiritual soul, which was riddled with sin, would not hear the truth and would not believe the truth, and so they missed the most glorious offer of salvation.

• And as a result, God gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth.
• We can have absolute confidence in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for there is no power in heaven or earth or under the earth that has not been placed under His supreme authority, in time and through eternity, for at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of things in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

• But more than this he called upon the eternal God of the universe, Creator of heaven and earth, as witness to his own deep and loving concern for their spiritual wellbeing.
• Let us seek to develop the same deep and loving concern for all our brothers and sisters in Christ, as we, like Paul, lift them up in earnest prayer to our Father in heaven.

• While the Mosaic Law was given to Israel and Christ's ministry was to the Jew first, Paul calls on Christians to follow this Golden Rule as well, for in so doing we will live a life that is well-pleasing to the Lord, honours our Father in heaven: And is the fulfilment of God's Law.

• God purposed in the eternal council chambers of heaven that fallen man would be given eternal life as a free gift of grace through faith in the redeeming blood of His only begotten Son.
• Our hope in Christ is not only a future expectation, but it is already our present possession, for when we were saved by grace through faith in Christ, we were made children of God, citizens of heaven, heirs of the grace, and joint-heirs with Christ.

• No surprise that the blessed hope that we all have in Christ is the most wonderful assurance which was given to us at our rebirth and is established by the Word of God, with an inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.It reminds us that because Christ is risen from the dead, we too shall rise.

• He was God's anointed Son Who was to proclaim His Sovereign authority over heaven and earth and His rightful place on the everlasting throne of David.
• The kingdom of heaven was here as John had announced, and Jesus began to proclaim His mission far and wide.
• In His pre-Cross ministry, the kingdom of heaven was preached primarily to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
• Blessed are the poor in spirit, were the first words from Christ's famous 'Sermon on the Mount' for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

• The Day of the Lord, is a key phrase that reoccurs from the beginning of Joel to the end, when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

• The Word of the Lord stands fast in heaven and cannot be shaken and so Micah the prophet was caused to write of this future judgement - in the past tense - as though it had already happened.

• And unless the price for sin is paid in full on our account, we have no access to the kingdom of heaven.
• Jesus came from heaven to be the full and final payment for the spiritual healing of Adam's fallen race.
• And it was out of love that God sent His only begotten Son so that all who trust in Him for their redemption are saved by grace through faith: transferred from being a member of the kingdom of Satan through physical birth into Adam's fallen race, into becoming a member of Christ's Body through spiritual birth, a child of God, and a citizen of heaven through spiritual birth into Christ: 

• Through that same Lord Jesus Christ, God is going to make peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the Cross.
• One Being with the Father, Who made heaven and earth and all that is therein.

• Heaven was hushed, and time stood still as the only begotten Son of God, as the perfect Son of Man, paid the price for the sin of the world.Gracious forgiveness had been extended to whosoever would trust in His saving sacrifice, and a precious promise of paradise had been given to a lost sinner.

• The prayer of Solomon and the declaration he made as he prepared to take the reins of government from his father David, contain a prayerful acclamation that every child of God should seek after; an understanding heart, the wisdom to discern between good and evil, and the recognition that the God of Israel is the supreme Ruler of the universe and the only righteous Judge of heaven and earth.

• This is a verse that rejoices our hearts, for this Throne of Grace is the eternal seat of the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth Whose mercy-seat has covered our sins forever.
• Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven and we are invited to come before Him with boldness: Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace.  We are not to cower anxiously before His magnificent presence.
• There is no creature in heaven above or the earth beneath that is hidden from His penetrating gaze.
• In Christ, we have been invited to enter confidently into the throne-room of heaven and boldly approach God's Throne, that we may obtain mercy and find the grace we need to help in time of need.
• We are not directed to enter in the throne-room of heaven in apprehensive timidity, but to approach His universal seat of divine power and majestic glory with great boldness and confident assurance of a child approaching his beloved father, knowing that the sacrificed Lamb of God, offered by the High Priest of God for our sin, is sufficient.
• By grace through faith in His death, burial, and Resurrection, Christ, the Lamb of God and High Priest of heaven, has flung wide the golden door into the Holiest of all - to all who believe on His name.

• He is the Word of God made in human flesh... and Jesus spoke only those things which He heard from His Father in heaven.

• Christ knew that sinful man in his fallen state cannot be accepted into the spiritual realm of a holy God unless he becomes as perfect as God and as holy as the Father in heaven is holy, which is only possible if he is forgiven of his sins, accepted in Christ, and covered with the garment of Christ's perfect righteousness.
• Christ knew that it was only by being born again that a man can enter the kingdom of heaven.

• We are to trust in the person of the Son of God, to put our faith in the one and only object that has the power to save - the Lord Jesus Christ - the only begotten Son of God - humanities unique Son of Man - the God-Man Jesus, Who is Creator of heaven and earth, the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world.

• He was visited by the Lord of heaven and earth.

• He paid the complete price for sin but had to delay bringing in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
• And His forerunner John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah to call the nation to repentance and prepare the nation of Israel for the Kingdom of Heaven.
• He came to visit His people for the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.
• The Kingdom of Heaven was postponed for 2000 years until Israel repents of their sin, recognises their Messiah, and: Calls on the name of the Lord. Then He will come in the clouds with His holy ones and we will rule and reign with Him.

• We are sons of the kingdom and citizens of heaven with an eternal inheritance - and should act in a way that honours our God.

• Paul may have forfeited earthly praise but became accepted in the Beloved, a child of God, and an eternal citizen of heaven.

• Let us read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the truth that is enfolded in the embrace of these words of wisdom that have been sent to us directly from our Father's throne in heaven: Rest in God alone, my soul - for my hope comes from Him.

• What an amazing contrast between the earthly king who failed his people, sinned against the Lord, and died a leper's death, and the almighty, omniscient, omnipotent God; the divine, heavenly King Whose throne is secure in heaven and Who is the Alpha and Omega of our lives.
• For the day is coming when He will rule this world with a rod of iron, and the time is fast approaching when He will put all His enemies under His feet, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and He will wipe away all tears from our eyes.

• And it causes us to worship our Father in heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ Who shed His blood so that condemned sinners might be made perfect before His face: And so we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory.

• John witnessed how the world hated Jesus during His earthly ministry and experienced increasing hatred towards Christians following Christ's Ascension into heaven.

• Let us love one another in spirit and truth, for love is of God, and he who loves as Christ loves, will both edify the Body of Christ and glorify our Father Who is in heaven.

• And we shall reap a reward in heaven that shall not pass away.

• The armies of heaven were at His disposal, but He could never respond to the jeering crowd that taunted, If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross and save Yourself, for to do so would have shut the door to paradise for everyone and slammed closed the gates of heaven forever, with no hope for mankind in the world.The mocking hatred of the crowds, the spurious lies of the leaders, the twisted testimony of the false witnesses, and the foul deeds of the Roman soldiers, were amplified with the reviling sneers of the two criminals who were crucified alongside Jesus, until one was deeply convicted and recognised the King that was staked at his side.
• It is faith in the Person, the Work, and the Word of the Saviour that secures for us the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.It was by the sin of the first Adam that paradise was lost, the way to the Tree of Life barred and guarded by mighty angels with flashing swords, and it was by the sacrifice of the second Adam that paradise was regained, and the way to the Tree of Life was once again flung wide open, to whosoever will believe.The door to paradise was unbarred and the gates of heaven were thrown wide open to this repentant sinner who hung next to our Lord, for he gained the right to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the paradise of God, simply because he trusted on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin.

• His single offense caused the sting of spiritual death and the icy fingers of physical death to touch the lives of all his descendants, with one exception - the God-Man, Christ Jesus - the only begotten Son of His Father in heaven.

• May we never forget that we are in the world but not of the world, for our citizenship is in heaven and we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour.

• The quiet, unassuming prayer life of the Lord Jesus was very different from the showy pomposity of Israel's religious leaders, whose presumptuous prayers were designed for the ears of other people and were not offered to our Father in heaven.

• Jesus knew that He would soon be departing out of the world to return to His Father in heaven, and would have to leave behind the dear disciples whom the Father had given to Him, all of whom He loved so dearly. The infinite and eternal love that Christ had for them, and has for all His blood-bought children, is far beyond our comprehension.

• Many believing pagans would trust in Christ as Saviour, and would come from the east and west and dine at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, before many of the unbelieving children of Israel.

• Genesis is the book of beginnings, and in chapter 1 we walk through the 6 days of creation. All things in heaven and earth, both visible and invisible, were created by God Who spoke the world into being by the strength of His might and the Word of His eternal power. The entire universe was created from nothing in just six days, together with God-ordained laws and natural principles.

• God is not man, but the eternal Sovereign Ruler of heaven and earth.
• Without question, the Lord our God belongs to heaven above and inhabits the highest heaven.
• Moses knew that failure to obey the Lord would result in severe punishment for the people of Israel, for God's covenant with His people was conditional upon them obeying His Word... and so here in this verse, Moses restated the sovereign authority of God over the heaven, the earth, and all His creatures - especially the nation of Israel who had been chosen to be His witnesses to the world and be named as His eternal inheritance.
• And so Moses cried out, Behold - to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.
• For - to the LORD our God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.

• He is the only Way to the Father, the only Truth about God, in Whom is Life eternal for all who trust in Him.And we, who by rights should have death as our payment for sin, have been redeemed by His blood, given the free gift of salvation in Christ, clothed in His perfect righteousness, promised eternal life in heaven, become part of a new creation in Christ, and adopted into God’s own family.

• He is the one, true and living God of heaven and earth.

• This was no ordinary praise gathering, for every created thing in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and all things in them, were heard to say: To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honour and glory and dominion for ever and ever, after which the four living creatures kept saying, Amen and the elders fell down and worshipped.
• His is the power, for He has authority over all dominions in heaven and on earth, for the Lamb of God is worthy of all praise.
• At His first advent, the Lord of heaven came to earth as the Son of Man to be our Kinsman-Redeemer.

• Jesus had come at God's appointed time to announce that He was the promised Messiah of Israel, sent from heaven to bring in the promised kingdom of heaven on earth.

• For the heaven of heavens is God's throne, and the earth is His footstool.

• They dismiss the witnesses of heaven and earth, man's inner conscience, and the evidence of holy Scriptures.

• A time when the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light.

• The book of Isaiah takes us from the judgement of God's sinful people, through the millennial reign of Christ, and into the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.

• John had been appointed by God, to prepare the way of the Lord Jesus: Repent, was his resounding cry, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

• We are exhorted to pray to our Father Who is in heaven and are enabled by the Spirit of God to pray without ceasing - in spirit and in truth.
• And God has promised that if His people who are called by His name will humble themselves and pray, and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways, He will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

• We are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable and set apart for the single purpose of glorifying our Father, Who is in heaven.

• God is offended with man because of sin, and the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all that we have said, all we have done, and all that we are.
• And Paul starts to pen this vital passage by stating: The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and the unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

• Revelation (truth) from our Father in heaven, came through the eternal Son of God Who became the perfect Son of Man: For in these last day, God has spoken to us through His Son Whom He appointed Heir of all things, and through Whom also He made the universe.

• Jesus was the anointed Messiah-King of Israel Whose coming had been prophesied throughout Old Testament Scripture, but He had not come to set up His Messianic Kingdom at that time. First, He had to subdue all principalities and powers in the heavenly realm, and to offer Himself up as the ransom price for the sin of the whole world, before He could usher in the kingdom of heaven on earth.
• First, he must fulfil ALL the requirements of the Law and become man's Kinsman-Redeemer before He could legitimately regain the authority Adam lost and set up God's promised and prophesied Kingdom-of-Heaven, upon earth.

• The writer to the Hebrews sets out the most complete evidence of Christ's superiority and supremacy to everything that is in heaven above, the earth beneath, and the waters under the earth.
• He is the One Who made purification for the sin of the world, after which He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

• May we rejoice in His many precious promises to us, which are 'yes' and 'amen' in Christ, and may we truly value the intimate and privileged relationship we can enjoy with our God and Father in heaven.

• There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus - God's wrath fell on Him at Calvary in place of us, and we are no longer under the wrath of God, but have received the citizenship of heaven, by faith.

• He exhorts us to live without complaining and arguing and to follow the example of Christ Who said and did only those things that He heard from His Father - which glorified the Father in heaven.

• He came to tell them about the one and only God, Maker of heaven and earth Who is never far from any of His creation.

• The name of the Lord was blessed and highly exalted, and all the people were reminded of the many elements of God's creative hand: You alone are the LORD, was the joyful reminder, You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host.

• However, this angered Jesus greatly and we read that He said: Leave the children alone, and don’t try to stop them from coming to Me, because the kingdom of heaven is made up of little ones like these.

• The old Law was not given to achieve salvation - for in Christ are the words of eternal life and through Him alone will come the prophesied kingdom of heaven on earth.

• And so begins the most wonderful passage that outlines to whosoever will, how to be saved - how to be born again - how to be born of the Spirit - how to become a Christian - how to see the kingdom of heaven - how to have their sins forgiven - how to gain eternal life:

• When the good news of the gospel of the grace of God is distorted and twisted with false, legalistic, works-based, meritorious teachings, it is denounced by the apostle Paul in the strongest language possible: But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached, let him be ACCURSED!
• There is only one message of salvation from our Father in heaven and that is: Salvation is a free gift of God's grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
• A man or woman is saved entirely apart from works of the Law, without money or price, and without any legalistic requirements imposed by man or denomination, by apostle or prophet, by oneself, or even by an angel from heaven.

• He has prepared good works for us to do, and laid up rewards in heaven for His blood-bought children who carry out these good works in spirit and in truth, which is why Paul warns us so strongly: Let no one keep on defrauding you of your prize.

• Before Christ's ministry started, we discover John calling the nation of Israel to, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is nigh, - indeed the King of Israel was in their very midst.

• For ten days, the disciples had been without the Lord Jesus since His Ascension into heaven, following His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection from the dead.
• And suddenly,there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

• The promise of God is that everyone that is justified will unquestionably be glorified, when the Lord Jesus comes in the clouds to receive His Body and Bride unto Himself and take all believers home to His Father's mansions in heaven.
• And glorification is future, at the point when we are taken to heaven.

• Despite the enormously high regard Israel had for Moses, and in spite of the deep respect they felt for the archangel Michael and the angelic hosts of heaven, the writer of Hebrews wanted to impress his readers that Jesus is superior to Moses, greater than all angels, and the final authority to come to man, from God, for Christ was faithful over His own Father's house as a Son.
• He is the Master-Builder Who created heaven and earth.

• A second reason for teaching the 'mysteries of the kingdom' through parables was to prepare His chosen apostles for the enormous task that would face them once He was crucified, dead, buried, risen, and ascended to His Father in heaven.
• No doubt, the Holy Spirit had been convicting the heart of this rough fisherman of sin, righteousness, and judgement, but Peter exercised His freewill to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved, for when he delivered his earth-shattering reply, Jesus said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven. 
• This earth-shattering revelation came from: My Father Who is in heaven.

• Grief, panic, and utter despair, penetrated John's heart when he realised the shocking truth; that no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll.

• And according to His promise, we are to look for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
• they scoff, Ever since our ancestors died, everything continues as it did from the beginning of creation. What such foolish people forget is that in the past, the Lord judged the world through a global flood, and a day is coming when the present heaven and earth will be destroyed by fire (which will take place after the Great White Throne Judgement of the wicked). 
• Before the present heaven and earth is destroyed, God will deal with mankind.
• It is God's way of restoring what has been broken, redeeming His fallen creation, and making preparations for a wonderful new heaven and a new earth so that God's righteous rule may be established on earth.

• But as we read the early verses in the book of Nehemiah, we find that after the initial distress of hearing the disturbing news that the captives in Israel were living in deep affliction, the walls of the great city of Jerusalem were broken down, and the formerly impressive city gates remained burned and charred from Nebuchadnezzar's initial invasions, this man of God wept, mourned, fasted, and then prayed to the God of heaven.

• The Lord Jesus was the bread of life, the hidden manna that had been sent from heaven.

• Now, they were ambassadors of heaven, who were sojourning in a foreign land.

• He was showing us that earthly food will satisfy our physical needs and our earthly body temporarily, but He had come down to earth from heaven to provide us with heavenly food that would satiate our spiritual needs and our eternal souls, forever: I am the Living Bread that came down out of heaven, He explained, if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.
• Jesus first compared Himself to bread by calling Himself the Living Bread, but continued by making the astonishing statement that He came down to earth from heaven.
• During this lengthy and comprehensive discourse, the Lord Jesus mentioned that He had come down from heaven seven times.
• When God says anything it is important that we listen, but He felt it necessary to repeat His heavenly origin and emphasised the truth that He not only gave them bread but He is the Living Bread Who had come down out of heaven.
• The Bread of God that came down from heaven is the Lord Jesus Christ.

• We are members of the human race, but we have become citizens of heaven.

• And then came the moment that Jesus gathered them all together to give them His final important commands, before returning to His Father in heaven and leaving them to continue His important mission of reconciliation to a lost and dying world.
• However, the completed gospel had not yet been received by these disciples when Christ ascended into heaven.

• Church-age believers will be removed from the earth prior to the Tribulation, but as soon as the first seal on the 7-sealed scroll is broken in heaven by the Lamb on the throne (Revelation chapter 5), the first horseman of the apocalypse will gallop onto earth's history (Revelation chapter 6) followed in quick succession by the next five seals and their corresponding judgements.

• All believers are promised an inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.

• However, not only was he commissioned to open many of these revelations to the Church... but at one point prior to His missionary journeys, he was raptured into heaven and shown unspeakable things which he was not permitted to share.

• We inhabit a terrestrial tent, and while ever we occupy this earthly body, we are unable to be in the presence of our glorified Saviour in heaven.

• But when our thoughts fly to the stability and grace of our Father in heaven; when we meditate upon His faithfulness, contemplate His wonderful grace, and reflect upon His Word of truth, we discover that our heart is resting on the sure foundation of peace and hope.We can keep our thoughts secret from other men, for no one can truly know the inner reflections of our mind, but the Lord looks on the heart and the Lord knows the thoughts that pass through our minds, both good and evil.

• And moments before He ascended into heaven, Jesus commanded His disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit, promised by the Father.
• The disciples had been taught about the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, but I am sure they were filled with amazement on that first day of Pentecost when: Suddenly, there came a noise from heaven, that sounded like a violent rushing wind, which filled the whole house where they were sitting.
• That first day of Pentecost (when there was a sudden noise from heaven like a violent rushing wind, which filled the whole house where the disciples were sitting), marked the day of transition from the times of Israel, to the birth of the Church and the dispensation of the grace of God.

• He was greater than Moses and greater than Abraham, and after He rose from the dead He passed into the heavens to sit on the throne of His Father in heaven.

• As children of God, His grace and mercy have been poured out upon us in unlimited measure, and we are the beneficiaries of an eternal inheritance reserved for us in heaven, that can never, ever pass away.
• This gives glory and honour to our Father in heaven and He alone is worthy of all praise and dominion, both now and forevermore.    

• May our lives be our own, personal Burnt Offering to our Father in heaven.

• He also knew from other Scripture: If God's people, who were called by His name would humble themselves and pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways, that He would hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land.

• We may have no tangible proof of our home in heaven, but faith is the evidence of unseen and invisible things, and we are to govern our lives by truths that have eternal and lasting value and not to set our hearts on the passing things of this temporal world.
• But this earthen vessel will one day be glorified, the temporal will be replaced with the eternal, the mortal with the immortal, and our decaying form will be dressed with a glorious body that is equipped to live with Christ in heaven, forever.

• He is still the eternal Creator of heaven and earth Whose promises stand fast for ever and ever.
• Meanwhile, God's kingdom of heaven-on-earth was once again postponed. 

• These faithful women witnessed an angel of the Lord descend from heaven, in the midst of a severe earthquake.

• David's prayerful song of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord continued in joyous enthusiasm, as he proclaimed with great jubilation: Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours.
• The Lord is indeed worthy of receiving the exultant praise that David offered in his hymn of praise, for the heaven, the earth, and the entire universal creation came to be through His might and wisdom.
• It is the God of the universe Who flung stars into space at the beginning of time, and Who continues to uphold creation through His eternal Word, that was willingly stripped of everything, for your sake and for mine; but one day He is coming back to set up the kingdom that was promised so long ago to His forefather David, when once again the earth will resound with this triumphant hymn of praise: Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours.

• What an astonishing sight met the apostle's eyes after his supernatural rapture into heaven... as he saw a scroll, sealed with seven seals, being held in the hand of the Ancient of Days.
• But to his horror and deep despair, there was no-one in heaven or on earth, who was worthy to open the scroll and to redeem the world from Satan's clutches - not even one.

• Christ was in prayer when the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended from heaven and rested upon Him.
• And a voice came from heaven: 'You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'

• As with all God's wonderful works, His purpose is to show that He is the Lord and there is no power in heaven or earth that is able to withstand His awesome presence.

• We become heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ, and have an inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.

• The thought of our prayers ascending to the Lord in heaven in the cool of the evening as a sweet-smelling fragrance to our Heavenly Father, is most beautiful to contemplate.
• The psalmist desires that his prayers are well-pleasing to the Father - and that his humble petitions and heart-felt praise rise up to into heaven as a sacrifice of praise and a sweet-smelling savour to God, as hands are lifted up in worship, thanksgiving and pleading supplications.
• His entire life and sacrificial death was the perfect example of a sweet-smelling savour ascending to His Father, as He presented His prayers in the morning and lifted His heart to heaven at the time of the evening sacrifice.

• He continued to explain that not until heaven and earth pass away will the smallest jot or tiniest tittle of the Law pass away, for all things have to be accomplished.
• For indeed, heaven and earth will not pass away until every jot and tittle of the Law has been accomplished.
• Christ most certainly fulfilled the Law on our behalf, but He did so much more, and there are many more aspects of the Law and the prophets that still wait His fulfilment: For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

• He is proclaimed to be the eternal Creator, and great emphasis is laid on His sovereign Deity, while His supreme rulership and unsurpassed authority is vehemently proclaimed to transcend all thrones, dominions, powers, and angelic beings, and every name that is named, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.

• And a voice came from heaven saying: You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

• Christ lived a life Whose joy and delight was to do the will of His Father in heaven – a life that was prepared to say in the Garden of Gethsemane: Thy will not Mine be done.
• He started a good work in each of our lives when we trusted Him as Saviour and He has returned to heaven to prepare a place for us with a promise to award us a heavenly prize – an eternal inheritance that is being kept for us in heaven.
• For the overwhelming joy which lay before Him, the Lord Jesus patiently endured the Cross, looking with contempt upon its shame, and afterwards returned to heaven where He sat down on His Father's throne.

• John gave his prophecy at the start of Christ's ministry, but moments before His ascension into heaven, Jesus informed his disciples that the baptism of the Spirit would happen a few days later: John baptised with water, Jesus told them, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. Indeed, on that first day of Pentecost, the believers who were all together in one place were not only baptised by the Spirit but were also filled with the Spirit and endowed with the spiritual gift of 'tongues'.

• May we, the Body of Christ, rest in His peace in this hostile, violent world, and look up and lift up our heads as our redemption draws nigh when Jesus comes in the clouds to Rapture His Bride and take us into heaven to be with Him.

• Yes, God in His mercy chose to redeem MAN. Let us remember that Christ Himself was sent from heaven to take on the form of a man, and be born into the human race so that His shed human blood would pay the price of humanity's sin.

• He prayed that the eternal glory He had with God the Father before the world began, would be returned to Him so that He might glorify His Father in heaven.

• She believed Canaan had been given into their hands and chose not to trust in the protection of Jericho's fortified city walls, or the strength of the king's fighting men: The LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath, she confessed to the Israelite men, demonstrating a saving faith in God.

• This student of the Mosaic Law approached Jesus under the assumption that eternal life is gained by carrying out works of the Law and that getting into heaven requires a person to do something in order to obtain everlasting life. 
• Many today are seeking to enter heaven through their own righteousness simply because they are asking the wrong question (What must I do to INHERIT eternal life?) which demonstrates a legalist mind-set and a trust that one's own works are sufficient to earn eternal life.

• Further, we discover that they rejoiced with a deep-seated hope, knowing the joy that was stored up for them in heaven, all of which was evidence of their devotion to the Lord and to one another.
• But they also knew that their future hope of their glorious inheritance had already been secured for them in heaven and rested on the promises of God's unchanging Word.

• Praise God that Jesus is both Son of God and Son of Man, to Whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given and Who is the only One Who can truly say, I AM Jehovah Maccaddeshem – the Lord Who sanctifies you.

• It talks of the glory and grace we have through the indwelling Spirit of God, and the wisdom and power that comes from our Father in heaven - and it encourages us to endeavour to keep the unity of the Body - for which we should seek after and strive for in the power of the Holy Spirit.
• it returns the backsliding believer into fellowship with our Father in heaven.

• Indeed, he was passionately against the legalistic teachings and the unchristian doctrines that these Judaizes taught, which caused Paul to launch an anathema against them: Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed, was his blistering pronouncement.

• They read the letter of the Law but did not recognise the Word made flesh Who came from heaven to tabernacle among them.

• The Lord Jesus, Who is the eternal Son of God and high King of heaven, chose us to become intimately related to Himself.

• He had seen the holy God of Israel, the King of heaven, the Lord of hosts, and was shocked by his own impurity and the sinfulness of his people. 

• But as Abraham stretched out his hand for the knife, God called from heaven and graciously prevented him from killing his son, and reiterated His incredible promises to this faithful servant. 
• It was after Abraham's display of faith in God, by offering his son on the altar, that the Lord restated His promise and said, 'By Myself, I have sworn,' says the LORD, 'because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, with blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.' And the Lord concluded His promise by telling His servant, in your Seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.

• Individual eulogies can escalate into a cacophony of joyful celebration and lyrical language, when brothers and sisters unite together to lift up the wonderful name of Jesus, resulting in a beautiful explosion of adoration for our God and Saviour - for by faith in the lovely name of Jesus we have been saved and at the name of the Almighty Lord, Jesus Christ - Creator of heaven and earth - every knee will bow.

• And although the Lord Jesus was the eternal Son of God and equal in honour and glory with the Father, Mark announces the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ from the human perspective, tracing the gospel of Jesus from His lowly birth to His glorious Resurrection and Ascension into heaven.

• And as we earnestly offer prayers and intercessions in our generation, we trust that the gospel of grace would spread quickly and not be hindered, that there would be much fruit, and that our Father in heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ would be glorified.

• Paul does not consider himself a captive of Rome, but a prisoner of Christ and ambassador of heaven carrying out his assigned duty as a good and faithful servant; joyful in the knowledge that he is fulfilling God's will for his life.

• At the same time, He had also been teaching His disciples that HE was the Water of life and HE was the Bread that came down from heaven.
• They had heard the Father declare, This is my beloved Son, in Who I am well pleased, at His baptism, and that one must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven.

• But finally and with great composure Christ broke His silence and made the most unequivocal admission of His deity, by answering the high priest's interrogation with the words: I AM. Jesus broke His silence with the very name of God that had first been given to Moses so many centuries before: I AM. Jesus broke His dignified silence with an undisguised claim to Deity: I AM, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.

• By confessing the Lord is ONE with the plural word 'ELOHIM', the nation of Israel has for many centuries unwittingly delivered a shaded confession to the unity of the Trinity - the oneness of the Godhead - the uniqueness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - the tri-unity of the YHWH, Creator of heaven and earth Who alone is to be worshipped and glorified for ever and ever, amen.

• We are forgiven of our sin, declared righteous before God, and are given an eternal inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.
• We have been forgiven of all our sins, past, present, and future (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14), which will be remembered no more (Heb. 8:12; 10:17) and we are being made fit for heaven (Col. 1:12).

• We are to live a life that is sanctified unto God; a life that is walking in spirit and truth; a life that is growing in grace, and a life that honours our Father in heaven.

• Yes, the first verse of chapter 2 completes the astonishing chronicle of God's creation when the heavens and the earth were completed and all the hosts of heaven and earth were finished - for in God's hands are the depths of the earth, and the peaks of the mountains are His also.
• The hosts of heaven would consist of both the sun and the moon together with all the twinkling stars that are set in their courses above.

• However, the roots of Ruth's earnest entreaty reached far deeper that a close 'woman-to-woman' affection, for her desire was to know and to follow the true and living God, Creator of heaven and earth.

• And when we walk in spirit and truth, we will grow in grace, mature in the faith, produce spiritual fruit, and live a life that honours our Father in heaven.

• The three astonished observers then heard the voice of the Almighty God of Israel, Creator of heaven and earth: This is My beloved Son.

• Every sacrifice that was offered to God down through the centuries, pointed to the final, perfect sacrifice of the eternal, begotten, incarnate Son of the Father, Who by means of His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection, flung wide the door into the throne room of heaven.

• But a day is coming when the whole house of Israel and Judah; the united Kingdom of Israel, will collectively respond to the clarion call to repent, for the kingdom of heaven will once again be at hand, and Israel as a nation will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation and cry out in unison: Blessed is HE WHO comes in the name of the Lord. 

• And despite his prophecies of doom and destruction, Zephaniah concludes his inspired writings with a promise of the restoration of Gentile nations, the reinstatement of Israel as His chosen inheritance, the redemption of His people, Israel, and the return of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as God of gods, King of kings, and Lord of the eternal ruler of heaven and earth.

• By Him all things were made in heaven and on earth; things seen and things unseen, authorities, lords, rulers, and powers.
• Heaven and earth are full of His glory - Hosanna in the highest. 

• This great city of Jerusalem is precious to our Father in heaven, for this is where the beloved Son of God honoured His Father's will and broke the power of sin, death, and Satan - winning the greatest victory the world will ever know - through His sacrificial offering of Himself.
• This is the city in which Jesus rose from the dead in power and great glory, and ascended into heaven where He is seated on His Father's throne, waiting for the day when He will return in power and great glory to set up His earthly kingdom for 1000 years.

• Indeed, it appears that the loss of reward will be accompanied by deep regret that they wasted a lifetime of opportunities to live for Christ on earth and enjoy His praise in heaven.

• Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for great is your reward in heaven.

• But God has ordained that it will come to full and final completion with the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.

• But as he approached the city of Damascus, Christ Himself halted Paul's journey and arrested his attention with a compelling question: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?  The proud Saul of Tarsus not only heard the piercing question from the risen, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus, but he also saw a great and piercing light from heaven which blinded his eyes and caused him to ask that all-important question: Who art Thou Lord?

• But when God has a call on a life, He will move heaven and earth to ensure that His purposes are fulfilled.

• They do not need to 'climb up to heaven' for God's approval, for God incarnate had already come to earth to meet with them.

• Let us seek after righteousness, handing over every circumstance of life to Him as we take every thought captive to His guidance so that we too may have lips that praise the Lord and a mouth that sends forth words that rise like sweet incense to our Father in heaven.

• Although Christ was the eternal God Who created heaven and earth, He had to be born into the human race so that He could fully identify with those He came to save.
• And so we read that Jesus answered the one who was telling Him that His mother and brothers were there, by saying, Who is My mother and who are My brothers? and then He answered His own, rhetorical question, Whoever does the will of My Father Who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.

• Jesus came to earth as our holy Comforter, but following His Ascension into heaven, where He acts as the Churches Mediator and great High Priest, He asked the Father to send another Comforter to the Church, to be with us forever.

• The 7 trumpet judgements begin once the 7th seal is broken, following a period of silence in heaven which lasts for about half an hour.
• How the unsaved masses of the world will rejoice when the two witnesses of God are silenced, but after three and a half days, great fear will fall on the masses of ungodly people when the lifeless bodies of God's two witnesses are resurrected and they ascend into heaven.
• We read: Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.' At the same time, the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God, will fall on their faces and worship the Lord their God saying, 'We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.' These loud and joyful voices are announcing that the long-awaited reign of the Lord Jesus Christ over the world is on the horizon.
• We rejoice to know that nothing in heaven, on earth, or under the earth can prevent God's plans and purposes, for both His Church and His people Israel, from its final fulfilment.

• It was this same apostle who felt the tender touch of Christ's gracious hand of forgiveness upon him, when He said to His distraught disciple, Feed my lambs, on that memorable day before His Ascension into the heaven of heavens, where He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

• Yet a few verses later, Jesus warned us that unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven - for the righteousness that they sought was self-righteousness and not Christ's righteousness.

• Jesus is the exact image of the invisible God Who is Creator of heaven and earth.

• Because we are His children and chosen by God, we are members of His family and will be part of that great Body of believers who will hear the trumpet sound and be raised incorruptible as the first-fruit of the harvest of souls that have a spiritual inheritance, which is kept for us in heaven.

• Just before Christ ascended into heaven, He told them to wait in Jerusalem for this momentous occasion.
• He had already appeared to many believers after His Resurrection, one here, a couple there, and one occasion He showed Himself to 500 at one time, but ten days after He ascended to heaven on that special feast of Pentecost, 120 faithful followers were waiting together for the momentous occasion when Christ would baptise them with the Holy Spirit.

• And He is coming back again, for our citizenship is in heaven, and our Saviour is in heaven.
• Our hope is in heaven, and our treasure is in heaven.
• God is in heaven, and to all who believe that Christ Jesus as Saviour, He will appear a second time.

• And His throne is established in heaven forever and ever.

• His divine power is not of ourselves but comes from our Father in heaven, through believing His Word.

• Like David, we too are faced with the possibility that the godly foundations upon which our nation and society were based are crumbling into disrepair, but when encouraged by the faint-hearted to flee from the advancing evil like a bird into the wilderness, David could confidently reply: The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD'S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
• The LORD is indeed in His holy temple, His throne is indeed fixed in heaven, and His eyes indeed are watching and testing the children of men, for He refines and establishes the righteous but brings the evil man to naught.

• The cries and pleadings of the saints continue to rise up to our Father in heaven as God's 'called out' people persevere in prayer and lift up their voices in anguished cries, as they plead for justice in this evil world.

• He will never leave you to face it alone but is there in the name of Jesus, to Whom all power and authority on heaven and on earth has been given.

• However, as the exalted Lamb on the Throne of God, He is preparing to judge the Christ-rejecting sinful world and reclaim the kingdom of this world from that old serpent (which is the devil and Satan) and restore it to His Father in heaven.

• He was being heralded as 'the One sent from God to set up the prophesied Messianic kingdom', and the question in the heart of all Jewish people at that time would be, do I qualify to enter the kingdom of heaven?

• It is not surprising that when Jesus told them that the outpouring of the promised Holy Spirit would take place within a few days of His ascension into heaven, that the disciples eagerly asked Him the question: Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?

• We read in this passage that when Jesus rose from the dead: He ascended into the heaven of heavens on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.
• Every good expositor agrees that this verse is talking about the Lord Jesus, our great God and Saviour Who ascended into heaven after He rose victorious from the grave.
• Jesus is the promised Seed of the woman, the coming Messiah of Old Testament times, and the incarnate Word of God Who was made Man and lived and died a sinless life, but He rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven in triumphant power and great glory.
• Others consider this refers to Christ's triumph over Satan (the prince of the power of the air) and the demonic forces of darkness who tried to impede our Lord's ascent back into heaven, following His Resurrection from the dead.
• Reading this passage in context, we certainly see that it paints a picture of Christ's wonderful and victorious entrance into heaven, after having triumphed over everything that sought to overcome Him.
• No doubt all the angelic hosts rejoiced at His jubilant entrance into heaven, after having made atonement for our sins and the sin of the whole world.

• Moses had led the people for nearly forty years and had proved God was faithful to them, while witnessing the petulance of the people, and so he opened his song by calling on heaven and earth to be witness to his words, which were honest and true: Like droplets on the fresh grass and showers on a herb-garden.

• And for a time, the eternal Son of God veiled His glory and shrouded His deity by coming to earth in human form, as the perfect Son of Man, in submission His Father in heaven.
• I am no longer in the world, He prayed, for He was returning to the Holy Father in heaven, and yet they themselves are in the world.

• We have an eternal inheritance that is kept for us in heaven, and we have an assurance from God Himself that Christ will one day return for His Church.

• Because we simply believed in this finished work, we were catapulted into the family of God and His eternal kingdom, clothed in His righteousness, made to sit in heavenly places, and given an inheritance eternally secured in heaven for us.

• We rejoice that Satan, sin, death, hell, and all that is evil is thrown into the Lake of Fire, and we stand in awe of the coming of the King of kings with His armies of heaven, the unimaginable beauty of the New Jerusalem, the sparkling River of the water of Life as clear as crystal, and the return to earth of the Tree of Life with its 12 luscious fruit (which has been guarded by cherubim since sin entered the world, lest fallen man should eat of its fruit and live eternally in a fallen body).

• When both roles function as God intended - they compliment one another and give honour to our Father in heaven.

• But the trials and tribulations that are designed by the enemy to unsteady our faith, can be used as the catalyst to strengthen our trust in God if we will but persevere in His sufficient strength, for this brings honour to our Father in heaven and an eternal reward for those that patiently endure.

• He had been sent from His Father in heaven to offer mankind a gift of salvation, by grace through faith in Him, so that whosoever would believe on His name might be saved by grace.

• John was among those who heard the Baptist proclaim: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and who declared: Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.

• We are set apart for the service of Christ and are commanded to walk in the way that God desires us to walk... and one of the many attributes that we are instructed to imitate is mercy: Be merciful, as your Father in heaven is merciful, we are told.

• They will call all men to REPENT for the kingdom of heaven is coming SOON.

• He was set over all the work of God's hands, and God has put all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, in subjection under His feet.

• Paul spends a considerable chunk of his second letter to the Corinthians discussing the principles and promises that are connected with true, biblical giving, and he identifies cheerful giving as an obedient, generous heart and a beautiful Christian grace that bring blessings to others, benefit to ourselves, and glory to our Father in heaven.

• However, it was not only the visible creation in heaven and earth that was brought into being, as stated by that first verse in the 'Book of Beginnings'.

• As His disciples watched the Lord Jesus ascend into heaven, He reminded them that soon they would be baptised with the Holy Spirit.
• Peter clearly realised that if there were only 11 apostles, Christ's prophetic words could not be fulfilled and from his account in Acts 1, it appears that he and the other apostles expected the Lord Jesus to return very, very soon, to set up His Messianic Kingdom, for as Jesus was ready to ascend into heaven, Peter asked Jesus, Lord, is this the time when You will restore the kingdom to Israel? 
• This passage in Acts, clearly tells us that Christ's earthly ministry began when John the Baptist commenced his prophetic witness, with the warning: Repent, for the Kingdon of Heaven is near.
• For most of Christ's earthly ministry, He and His disciples taught the gospel of the kingdom, but because Israel rejected God's anointed King, Christ returned to heaven for a season, while God continued His plan of redemption through the Church.
• He recognised that the new apostle needed to be a man who had not only been with them all from the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry, until the day when Jesus was taken up into heaven, but was also a man who would become the 12th witness, to testify to Christ's Resurrection: Therefore, Luke explains in this passage, he must be chosen from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John (from the start of John the Baptist's ministry) until the day Jesus was taken up from us.

• He told them that the Lord Himself would descend from heaven with a shout.

• After the seven letters to the Churches, John is summoned up into the throne-room of heaven with the words: Meta tauta (Come Up Hither).
• As the apostle looks around this majestic, awe-inspiring company, he sees the God of heaven, sitting on a magnificent throne, holding a scroll which is securely fastened with a series of seven, great seals.
• There was no one in heaven, no one on the earth, and no one under the earth who was worthy to open the book or to look inside it.
• The kingdom of heaven on earth could NEVER come to pass if sin were not dealt with.
• The Redeemer had to be a perfect, sinless MAN Who would be worthy to open the scroll and bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.

• For 4000 years, God prepared the way for His only begotten Son to be born into the world as the Propitiation for our sin and it was at the end of the dispensation of the Law (which Scripture refers to as 'the last days') that Jesus was sent from heaven to earth to fulfil His Father's plans and purpose for the race of man whom He had formed out of the dust of the earth in His own image and likeness.

• Other glorious, unconditional promises were also made to this great patriarch of Israel, for God also promised to bless His people Israel: In multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.

• When the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, He entered His new life - His heavenly ministry.

• And when the Lord Jesus opened this blind beggar's eyes, it was a picture of blind beggarly Israel whom the Lord desired to heal, for the kingdom of heaven was near.

• Nothing can snatch us out of His hands and nothing will pluck us from the hand of our Father in heaven, for we are saved by grace through faith.
• Today is the day that we are to live our life as unto the Lord and to produce spiritual fruit which will verify that we are truly members of His holy household, and citizens of heaven.

• It will start when Jesus, the Lamb on the throne, will break the first seal on the seven-sealed scroll in heaven and, one by one, a series of terrible judgements will be sent to punish the Christ-rejecting, God-hating sinful world, as the wrath of God starts to be poured out over the earth.
• With the breaking of the 7th and final seal on the 7-sealed scroll, but before the next sequence of 7 judgements begins with the blowing of 7 trumpets, a number of curious events will take place in heaven.
• First, there is going to be a heavenly hush, when an ethereal silence will descend upon the inhabitants of heaven for half an hour.
• The blowing of the trumpets will be delayed during heaven's half an hour of silence, as the seven angels watch and wait to sound their instruments, as the smoke of the incense, intermingled with the prayers of the saints, will ascend in the presence of God.
• And so, before the Tribulation period starts, Jesus will come in the clouds, to rapture all Church age believers into heaven.

• Whatever tasks are undertaken are to be carried out in spirit, in truth, and in a manner that honours our Father in heaven.

• Christ had come into the world to carry out the will of His Father in heaven, and during the short span of time that Jesus lived on earth, He was called to deliver God's message of reconciliation to a world that was lost, dying, blinded, and doomed.
• Jesus had to complete His lifework in spirit and in truth, only doing those things that He heard from His Father in heaven, and living day by day in complete submission to the indwelling Holy Spirit.

• It is a mystery that was planned in eternity past, a mystery that came to fruition when we trusted in Christ's finished work at Calvary, a mystery that caused heaven to rejoice and hell to tremble.

• He explained that the Lord, the God of heaven, had appointed him to build Him a house at Jerusalem in the land of Judah, and at that time, the Jews were permitted to return to their promised homeland, to carry out the rebuilding work.

• We are not of this world but have become a citizen of heaven - and we are sealed by the Spirit of life, Who has set us free from the law of sin and death.

• Manoah and his wife were unaware that the Angel of the Lord Who had come from heaven to bring them a message from God, was none other than the divine Person of the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity.

• And as the called of God, we have God's absolute assurance of an eternal inheritance, fixed for us in heaven, for we read: Those whom He called He justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.
• And packaged in our great salvation, is not only justification (when we first believed) but sanctification (as we grow in grace throughout our Christian life) and also glorification (when Jesus returns to take us to be with Himself in heaven).

• We must always remember that the power of every government, whether good or ill, is delegated authority from heaven, and the Lord will often use the effectual fervent prayers of His committed saints to accomplish His plans and purposes, through the good or evil choices of human rule.

• It is only when we are born again - born from above, that the insurmountable blockade that bars us from our Father in heaven is eternally removed and we become a child of God, purchased from above, an heir of salvation, born of His Spirit and washed in Christ's redeeming blood.

• Only the one that rests in the Lord and trusts their lives into His hands, gaining their hope and strength from Him and placing their trust in God alone, is able to be like a well-watered tree that receives hope and strength from their Father in heaven.

• And we who are justified by the blood of Christ do not belong to this current world system, for we have a permanent and eternal citizenship in heaven.

• We are urged to lay up for ourselves treasure in heaven: Gold, silver and precious stones, as Paul calls it, where moth and rust does no damage and thieves do not break in and steal.

• Before beginning his ministry and missionary journeys, Paul was caught up into heaven and saw unspeakable things about which he was commanded not to speak.
• Paul was not only transported to heaven on one occasion, but he was also given many Church-age mysteries and truths which had been kept hidden for ages and generations - but which God disclosed to him for our learning.

• He even imputed us with Christ's righteousness, making us citizens of heaven and bestowing on each of us eternal life.

• The parable of the two sons paints a picture of Israel as a disobedient son, for it was not the self-righteous, religious leaders who would enter the kingdom of heaven, but the publicans, prostitutes, sinners, and the Gentiles that they so despised.
• The lost sheep of the house of Israel had received three long years of Christ's invitation to drink of the waters of life and to eat of the bread that was sent down from heaven.

• And although we have this assurance: While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease, we also have an eternal hope, an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for us in heaven.

• In summing up his first epistle to the believers in Thessalonica, Paul admonishes them (and us) to live a life that is pleasing in the sight of the Lord; a life that glorifies our Father in heaven.
• As believers who have been saved by grace through faith in Christ, we are encouraged to develop an attitude of grateful praise and ceaseless thanksgiving to our Father in heaven, for a man's spiritual maturity is reflected in a heart of thanksgiving and praise for all that the Lord has done for us.

• We are to bring, in our hands, the needs of others, together with our grateful thanks, and to offer them in humble reverence before the feet of our Father in heaven.
• Let us remember that when the prayers of the saints are offered to the Lord in steadfast faith, combined with grateful thanks and a trusting heart, we have the authority of heaven behind all that we carry to the throne of grace, through His nail-pierced hands and feet.

• The devious desire of the devil is to ascend to heaven, raise his throne above the stars of God, sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north, and make himself like the Most High God by ascending above the heights of the clouds!
• You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

• Now we have the promise of eternal life, a citizenship in heaven, and an inheritance that is reserved for us in heavenly places.

• Knowing that the Day of the Lord is fast approaching, and also knowing that our citizenship is reserved for us in heaven by grace through faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, Paul outlines what sort of life a believer should live.

• Paul urges Timothy to make prayers and petitions on behalf of all persons, to encourage others to become praying people of God, and to ensure that when we petition our Father in heaven, we do so with a grateful heart of thanksgiving and praise.

• Having described each kingdom in detail, Daniel lays special emphasis on the final and most ferocious of these world-empires and their godless 'kings', revealing the final outcome: In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a Kingdom above all kingdoms, which will never be destroyed, he revealed to the great king Nebuchadnezzar, whom God destined to be the first and greatest of this progression of evil empires. 
• The great God of heaven and earth Who gave this revelation to Daniel, was going to utterly destroy every fragment of his Babylonian empire and all the great kingdoms that would succeed him: That final Kingdom will not be left for another people, Daniel explained to the king: That final supernatural Kingdom will crush and put an end to all these earthly kingdoms.
• But, as prophesied by Daniel so long ago: In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people.

• While the Law gave some hope that one day, fallen mans relationship with God could be restored, the new and better system is an eternal administration that is designed to restore our relationship with our Father in heaven, bring us into His holy presence, and be declared righteous in His sight, through time and into eternity.

• It starts with the unsealing of the seven-sealed scroll in the council chambers of heaven and the release of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse on the earth.
• The last part is concerned with the distant future - beyond Christ's Millennial Kingdom, when there will be a new heaven and a new earth - and sin will be no more.
• He is the Living Water and the Bread of Life that came down from heaven, and the invitation to those who are thirsty is to come.

• It is because of His perfect work on the Cross that Jesus received authority from His Father in heaven, to raise the dead and to give His resurrected life to all who would believe on His holy name.

• God ordained His redemptive plan and purpose in the eternal council chambers of heaven before the foundation of the world.
• But God ordained His redemptive plan in the eternal council chambers of heaven before the foundation of the world: a good plan, a perfect plan where Christ will be all in all, a plan which will certainly come to fruition because God is working His purpose out in every situation of our lives, whether those circumstances are good or evil.

• As redeemed children of God and joint-heirs with Christ who are clothed with His righteousness, in-dwelt by the Spirit of God, and who have an eternal inheritance prepared for us in heaven, we have much to cause us to rejoice evermore.

• We are not to store up riches on earth but to lay up treasure in heaven.

• But through this beautiful truth, God is giving us a tiny glimpse into the eternal ages to come, when the old order is done away with and God establishes a new heaven and a new earth, under His perfect rule of law.
• Because of His sacrifice, we are promised that there will be no weeping in heaven, and death and destruction will be swallowed up in victory.
• A day is already set in the council chambers of heaven, when God will wipe away all tears.  And that is a day that we will all witness.

• And yet, the thundering silence that pounded from a shut and brassy heaven revealed that there was no other way whereby we must be saved.

• OH, we rejoice that our citizenship is in heaven and that our eternal future is secure in Christ!
• Nevertheless, God expects all His children to live godly in Christ Jesus so that the deeds we carry out in the body during our sojourn on earth, will glorify our Father Who is in heaven.

• Our parched soul has been revived and satisfied by the living water of life, which has become an inner spring of water, welling up into eternal life. Indeed, we know that we have a blessed hope and an eternal inheritance in Christ, that is kept for us in heaven.

• They will live on earth as subjects in the promised kingdom of heaven and Christ shall rule and reign in Jerusalem, sitting on the royal throne of David in power and great glory.

• By faith, we are born from above into the heavenly, spiritual sphere, through the power of the Holy Spirit of God, thus becoming a fully fledged citizen of heaven.

• Let us run in such a way that we may win our reward and glorify our Father which is in heaven.

• Peter had an understanding of the future; not only the immediate future, the Rapture of the Church, and the future millennial rule of Christ, but also the far distant future, when this fallen world will be destroyed by intense fire and replaced with a new heaven and a new earth.
• His kingdom is one of righteousness which will usher in the destruction of the old order (the old creation in Adam), when the heaven will be destroyed by fire and God will make a new heaven and a new earth (the new creation in Christ).

• In HEAVEN, it will begin when the Lamb on the throne takes the seven-sealed scroll from the hand of the Almighty and breaks the first of seven seals.
• As the book of Revelation unfolds, we see John, the author of Revelation, raptured into heaven after delivering Christ's letters to the seven churches.

• We are to focus on our work for the Lord and not to be diverted by the unimportant things of life, and we are to be honourable representatives of our Lord and Saviour so that man may see our good works we do and hear the good news we tell, and glorify our Father in heaven.

• But Christ gave Himself for us because this was the will of the Father in heaven Who loved the world so much, He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him, might be rescued from this evil age and have life everlasting.

• He had heard of their genuine faith in the Lord, their deep love for one another, and their joyful hope in that which was laid-up for them in heaven.

• Not only is this Psalm designated 'A Song of Praise' but it cries out for the whole earth to raise its collective voice in jubilant joy and undivided delight to the one and only God, Who is the true and living Creator and Preserver of heaven and earth.

• In this way, we are increasingly separated from this world, unto our Father in heaven.

• And in a world where the love of many has grown cold, may we delight to meet with our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord, and take every opportunity to rejoice with them that we are one in Him and that our names are written in heaven.

• If we, or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel, contrary to what we taught you, let that person be cursed by God and eternally condemned.

• But the Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men whom He made in His own image and likeness, to see if there are any who show wisdom and discernment by seeking after the Lord.

• Jesus was just about to go to His Father in heaven and had just reminded His disciples that after He ascended to the right hand of the Father, He would send His promised Holy Spirit to indwell them forever, and to guide them into all truth.

• Job was unaware of the heavenly wager that had been allowed in heaven and that Satan, that crooked serpent who deceived Eve and caused Adam to bring death and disease upon his fallen race, was being permitted to test Job's loyalty to the Lord God by robbing this unsuspecting man of all that he had, whilst sparing his life.
• Job was unaware of the agreement in heaven, and although he did not deny the Lord, he questioned the reason for his terrible situation.

• It is a covenant that makes us a member of His Body and gives us a promised an inheritance which is kept for us in heaven.
• This is why we Christians are instructed to judge our own lives - to see if any sin has separated us from sweet fellowship with our Father in heaven and to confess any sin to Him before we partake in the breaking of bread.

• It contains superior promises of grace, an inner change of the heart, unlimited blessings, sins forgiven, and an eternal hope laid up in heaven for all who would trust in the Lord Jesus Christ: our Prophet, Priest, and King.
• Let us never forget that there is a perfect Man in Heaven Who is interceding in the heavenly tabernacle as our great high Priest, and one day He is coming back to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.

• The Church consists of a body of believers who have become citizens of heaven by virtue of our eternal union with Christ Who is our heavenly God and glorious King of kings.
• But because each member of the Body of Christ trusted Jesus as Saviour, we are no longer foreigners and strangers who were eternally condemned in their sins and headed for eternal separation from their Creator, but are now fellow-citizens of heaven along with all the past Old Testament saints.

• He fasted and mourned for many days and prayed fervently to the God of heaven.

• Our Bridegroom has yet to come to take us to heaven, to be with Himself.

• And in His Sermon of the Mount, we witness Christ laying claim to be Israel's prophesied Messiah Who had come to set-up His kingdom of heaven on earth, as foretold by prophets of old.

• When Peter writes: Christ also suffered for sins once, he points to the Lord Jesus as the perfect example of One Who through His suffering, fulfilled the will of His Father in heaven.
• The Lord Jesus was truly the righteous One Who died for the unrighteous; the eternal Son of God Who was sent from heaven to lay down His life for the sin of the whole world; the perfect Son of Man Who was born of a woman, in order to lay down His life for lost sinners: That He might bring us to God.

• He told the wonderful news that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed God; the Word Who had come from heaven to save His people from their sin.

• May we quickly recognise any spiritual lack in our own lives and repent - and to return into sweet fellowship with our Father in heaven.
• What a privileged certainty - to know that we have been given all we need for life and godliness in Christ and to know that we have a citizenship in heaven, an eternal inheritance that will not fade away, and the right to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God - all because we trusted Christ for salvation.

• Living after the Cross, in the age of grace, we are no longer under the Law, as was Jesus, but His life, from beginning to end, is a shining example to all of us on how to live for the glory of God, for He lived His sacred life and died His sacrificial death for the honour and glory of the Father in heaven.

• As members of the Body of Christ, we are ambassadors for God with a citizenship in heaven... and each of us have been allocated different responsibilities during our sojourn on earth.

• We have a great inheritance, which is reserved for us in heaven, and this glorious, future perspective is to encourage us and to lead us to a godly life and holy living, which will result in our internal victory.
• It is not by our might nor by our power that we triumph in this war, but by the Holy Spirit working within, and His victory in us is what glorifies our Father, Who is in heaven.

• In this chapter, Paul moves from comparing the distresses of Christian suffering with the joys of our future glory in heaven.

• In the council chamber of heaven, God in His great wisdom and eternal omniscience, foreordained from the foundation of the world that His dearly beloved Son would be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of humanity.
• The book of Revelation tells us that through false signs and lying wonders the seed of the serpent who will come as the 'anti-christ' and the 'beast', will cause many men to follow after a satanic lie - and they will worship the beast instead of the one and only Creator of heaven and earth.

• The Day-of-the-Lord continues with the Millenium, where Jesus rules and reigns for 1000 years and ends when God's sets up a new heaven and a new earth.

• Sins are forgiven, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, fellowship with the Father is reinstated, we become children of God, citizens of heaven, and placed in unity with Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Let us recognise our faults and failings and readily confess our sins to our Father in heaven.

• And so, for those with eyes that could see, Jesus began to teach His kingdom parables, telling of things that must take place before the time appointed for Him to set up the kingdom of heaven on earth.

• Believe that He rose again the third day to break the power of death in your life, and believe that God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ came down from heaven, to live a perfect life on our behalf so that He could also die a sacrificial death in our place.
• They even suggest that if your good works outweigh your sins, you may get to heaven.

• This final book of the Bible is an unveiling of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and through its pages, the Holy Spirit gives us a peep behind the scenes of the glorified Christ in heaven and how He will complete God's plans and purposes for mankind.

• His first coming portrayed Him as the suffering Servant of God, who would be rejected by men and led as a lamb to the slaughter, while His second advent spoke of His return in power and great glory as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to set up the promised kingdom of heaven on earth.

• What a glorious time awaits us when our spirit and soul go to join the Lord in the heavenly realm, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord: Who died for us, so that whether we are awake (still living on earth) or asleep (physically dead and buried in the ground) we will live together with Him.  We have an eternal hope in Christ and an inheritance that is saved for us in heaven.

• And no matter what thrilling results we witness in our ministry for Christ, and no matter what excitement we experience along the way, nothing should overshadow the wonderful truth that we are covered by the blood of the Lamb - and that our names are written in heaven.
• No matter what position we are given in this world... and irrespective of the gifts and graces we have received from above, our everlasting joy should be in the fact that we have been saved by grace, through faith - and have an inheritance that is kept for us, in heaven.
• And although we should delight to praise God for the many blessings we receive from Him, day by day, let us rejoice in heart, soul, mind, and strength that our names are written in heaven.

• It was when the seven thunders spoke, that John heard a voice from heaven saying: Seal up what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.

• We read that the steps of a man are established by the Lord, and the word 'established' means that they are ordered, secured, and fixed by our Father in heaven.
• The Lord establishes our steps is because He loves His children and is pleased to be our Provider, our Protector, and our Establisher, not only in this life but in the eternal realms to come, which are reserved for us in heaven.

• and yet we know this to be a reality in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, for he is the Prophet greater than Moses, the singular Priest of the most High God after the order of Melchizedek, and the eternal King of heaven, from the lineage of David. 

• He reminded him that God's redemption plan was formulated in the council chambers of heaven, before the world was founded: But now has been revealed by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus.

• Many came to Jesus to accuse, ridicule, and scorn Him, but the name of Jesus in the ear of the believer is the most beautiful of all names, for it is through our union with the Lord Jesus that we have been brought back into sweet communion with the living God, for there is no other name in heaven or on earth that has the power to seek and to save that which was lost.Trusting in the name of Jesus is accepting Him as the incarnate Son of God Who came to earth to be our substitute for sin.

• But all saved people, both Jew and Gentile, who have believed on the only begotten Son of God, have become part of the one new man in Christ... and all have been promised an eternal inheritance, which is kept for us in heaven.
• We too have been commissioned to bring good news of great joy to the unsaved masses - to Jews and Gentiles alike, by declaring the gospel of grace to those who are dead in their sins... for there is only one name under heaven, whereby we must be saved... the lovely name of Jesus.

• There is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.

• How foolish, therefore, to glory in the riches of this world rather than to rejoice in that which is of eternal worth and kept for us in heaven.

• The faith of this little congregation was anchored upon the message of truth; the good news of Christ, the gospel of the grace of God that Christ died for our sins and rose again to secure for who believe in Him, an eternal home reserved for us in heaven.
• This hope is not only reserved in heaven for these faithful, loving, Colossian believers, but for all who have heard and believed God's Word of truth; the gospel of the grace of God.
• May our faith in Him overflow in love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, knowing that our hope in Him is reserved for us in heaven, for this is God's message of truth to us all.

• We read that Melchizedek gave him a blessing and a promise, with the words: Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth.
• Instead, Melchizedek, priest of God Most High, revealed to Abram that the Lord God Almighty is Possessor of heaven and earth and He alone is the One who will supply all our needs, in great abundance, pressed down, and running over, for the Lord our God owns the cattle on 1000 hills.

• Let us seek to guard our lips and speak words of wisdom and truth that honour the Father in heaven.

• The Lord Jesus Himself will come down from heaven with a loud word of command.

• As we trace the various references of this fascinating king-priest through the pages of Scripture, we discover him to be an intriguing individual and a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus Christ, our King of Righteousness, our Prince of Peace, and God's Great High Priest of heaven and earth.
• Or would he choose Melchizedek, the representative of the God of heaven and earth Who many years before had promised to bring Abram out from the land of Ur into a land that He would show him?
• Abram chose wisely, rejecting the passing pleasures of worldly wealth, for we read that Melchizedek blessed him by saying: Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

• Just as we remember Him as the Living Bread and Water of Life, so the spiritual sustenance Israel received in the wilderness represented Jesus, including the Water that flowed from the Rock and the Manna that came down from heaven.
• The spiritual food that came down from heaven represented Israel's coming Royal-Priest!.
• Jesus, Himself, reminded us: I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

• We are instructed to live circumspect lives that glorify our Father in heaven, and so we are asked: Who among you is wise and understanding?

• We travel through this ungodly world as Christ's ambassadors and representatives of heaven, and God's will for each of our lives is that we become increasingly fruitful in the knowledge of Him Who called us out of darkness into His marvellous light, and that we share the good news of the gospel of grace with men and women who are dead in their sins and without God in the world.
• For if these godly qualities are ours and are increasing in our life, we will not be rendered useless but will bear much fruit, to the praise and glory of our Father in heaven.

• All that pertains to life and godliness in a believer is achieved through the ministry of the Holy Spirit within our heart and the intercessory ministry of our great High Priest in heaven, for it is God Who works in us, to equip each believer to mature in the faith, to grow in grace, and to come into a fuller and deeper knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

• They were an earthly representation of the true, permanent Tabernacle in heaven and the eternal, heavenly Priesthood after the order of Melchisedek, where Jesus Christ serves as our holy, heavenly High Priest.

• While he was living in the corrupt city of Sodom, Lot seemed more interested in accumulating earthly wealth than storing up treasures in heaven and preaching the good news to lost sinners. 
• May we live by faith and store up for ourselves treasure in heaven; gold, silver, and precious stones.

• The Psalmist tells us, the LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand - any who seek after God.

• The beautiful beatitudes of Christ's Sermon on the Mount outline the ideal attributes that should be found in all citizens of heaven.
• Many erroneously think that to try to carry out these beatitudes in their everyday life will give them access to heaven by the back door, but no man or woman can come close to the ideal standard that God requires, for it is only in Christ that this perfection can be attained.

• Marriage is a sacred reflection of the union between Christ and His Church, and was ordained by the Triune God in the eternal council chambers of heaven, before the world began.

• Abraham demonstrated a belief that the promises of God have an eternal perspective as, like us, he looks forward to the New Jerusalem, to the new heaven and the new earth, and the eternal ages to come when the kingdom has been restored to the Father and the Man Christ Jesus, rules and reigns in righteousness and peace.

• Though we are in the world, Peter understood that we are as strangers and pilgrims in this fallen place, with a citizenship in heaven.

• Jesus had been sent from heaven to fulfil His Father's will and had just explained to his confused disciples He was about to return to heaven, where He would be seated at the Father's right hand.

• As a result, He was permitted to ascend into heaven and sit down at the right hand at the Majesty on High, having become so much better than the angels.
• For by His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection, He triumphed over them and was given a more excellent name when He sat down at the right hand of the Father, in the heaven of heavens.
• Today, there is a man in heaven sitting on the throne of the Father, and to Him has been given all might, majesty, dominion, and power for ever and ever.

• Only a self-righteous, legalistic sinner, could be arrogant enough to claim that he has not sinned, or that he is good enough to merit heaven!

• Paul opens his epistle to the Colossians expressing his profound joy and grateful thanks for them all, because of their sincere faith in the gospel of Christ, the deep love which they showed for one another and because of the obvious future hope they possessed: Which is laid up for us in heaven.
• May we live as unto the Lord - with sincere faith, godly love, and a glorious hope that is laid up for us in heaven.

• Never let us forget that Jesus is the incarnate Word Who came from heaven above, spoke the Word of God, and is the almighty, sovereign, Lord of all.
• Elsewhere, we read that John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus in bodily form like a dove, and remaining on Him, and he heard a voice from heaven saying: You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.
• A sound like a violent, rushing wind came from heaven, and filled the whole house where Christ's disciples were staying.

• They needed to be reminded - and comforted in the knowledge that our faithful God has promised to sanctify each one of us wholly and completely - spirit, soul, and body, and that before the Day of the Lord and the Great Tribulation, the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God.

• But in a wonderful chapter that describes with unspeakable joy the glorious expectation of the Body of Christ, and the wonderful inheritance of the saints that is kept for us in heaven by the power of God, this single verse has often become a stumbling block.
• A day is coming when the Church, which is the Body of Christ, will be presented holy and without blame to God the Father in heaven, and Christ's death on the Cross qualifies Him to fulfil all that He has promised to the members of His Body.

• The three worldly desires that secured the downfall of Eve are the same three fleshly appetites that invade our heart and lives, and too often cause our own downfall, but all emanate from worldly principles and philosophes and are not from our Father in heaven.

• By God's grace, we are also promised to an inheritance that is kept for us in heaven; a legacy that was lost in Eden.

• Daniel's 70th week is triggered in heaven when the Lamb on the throne breaks the first seal, on the seven-sealed scroll, while on earth it begins when a peace covenant with Israel is confirmed by the 'man of perdition' - who is Satan's tool, and the first horseman of the Apocalypse gallops onto the world scene. 

• The life that we live is to be a true reflection of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ Who lived in total dependence upon His Father in heaven, through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, and in willing submission to the leading and guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

• As such, we are called upon to glorify our Father Who is in heaven.
• Every aspect of our relationship with Him displays a total dependence upon Him, and we are called upon to demonstrate our discipleship and glorify our Father in heaven by bearing fruit, more fruit, much fruit.
• Glorifying our Father in heaven and bearing much spiritual fruit is only possible as we abide in Him and He in us.
• Jesus learned obedience to the Father by the things that He suffered so that as He faced the Cross, He was able to say: Thy will not mine be done. During His time on earth, the Lord Jesus glorified His Father in heaven by abiding in Him throughout His entire life.

• Following the flood of bitter woes that tumbles from his pleading heart, and having cried out to the Lord for mercy and help, this man finally turns his thoughts to the living God to whom he is praying – the Creator of the world – the Maker of heaven and earth – the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, all-wise, loving, righteous God of the whole universe.
• Once we stop looking at our overwhelming circumstances in fear, our faith begins to blossom in God Who alone can help us in our distresses - for the heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool.
• The prayer of a frightened man that started with a focus on self and his own mountainous problems, concluded with a prayer of assured faith and worship of his God, the Creator of the world – the Maker of heaven and earth – the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, all-wise, loving, righteous God of the whole universe – Who knows each of us by name and cares enough to take the difficulties of life to cause us to turn our focus on Christ and not on ourselves.

• Praise God that the Word of the Lord is settled in heaven and cannot be broken.

• I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.

• Rather than permitting worry to darken our heart and cloud our mind we should look to Jesus and seek our Saviour with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength - for He is not only our Redeemer and King but is the personification and embodiment of all that is the Kingdom of Heaven, for Christ is all in all.

• We are also reminded that Jesus is the perfect example of how to live godly lives - as we die to self, live for God, seek His will, surrender our lives to His guidance, and do only those things that we hear from our Father in heaven.
• Paul also leaves us in no doubt about the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is God the Son and the Son of God... Who came down from heaven to be born as the perfect Son of Man.

• But the most significant truth that is ridiculed by unbelievers, denied by cults, and blasphemed by doctrines of demons, is that the eternal Son of God (the incarnate Word, made flesh), Who Himself created heaven and earth and Who upholds all things by the omnipotent power of His Almighty hand, became a Man.

• This period of time will begin after the Church has been raptured, starting with the 7 year Tribulation period, continuing through the 1000-year reign of Christ on earth, and concluding when the first heaven and first earth pass away with a great noise (for God has promised there will be a new heaven and a new earth, in which righteousness will dwell).

• They refused to believe Christ's statement: I came down from heaven, for to do so would acknowledge His deity.

• He also demonstrated a Man Who had a passion for God, for His food was to do the will of His Father and His joy was to do only those things that He heard from His Father in heaven.
• Jesus set aside His own desires and needs because of His love for His Father in heaven, but He also had to suffer the reproaches of men because of His relationship to His Father.

• David felt that heaven was deaf to his cries so that in the morning and at night, his pillow was drenched with his tears of self-pity.

• Man had separated himself from God because of sin, but God reached down from the heaven of heavens in loving-kindness and gracious mercy to sinful, fallen man with the good news of Jesus Christ, for He is the centre and the circumference of God's good news.

• He was writing of the final 1007 years of earth's history, before the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.
• Like all of Christ's disciples, Peter started following the Lord at the start of Christ's ministry when Jesus was teaching the lost sheep of the house of Israel, that the kingdom of heaven was near.
• And here, at the end of an immensely illuminating passage on the entire 'Day of the Lord' which extends from the start of the 7-year Tribulation (Daniel's 70th week), through the 1000 year Millenium, to the destruction of this earth by fire and the creation of a new heaven and earth, we read that the great apostle Peter refers to: Our beloved brother Paul, and the wisdom and understanding bestowed on him.

• Instead of storing up treasure in heaven, there is a danger that the things of this dying world become of greater importance than our eternal destiny.

• Paul explained the reason for a new spiritual body is that flesh and blood can neither enter God's holy place nor inherit the kingdom of heaven.
• There is a generation of Christians that will witness the coming of Christ in the clouds, and be caught up into heaven with His resurrected saints, when He comes to take us to be with Himself. 

• And it is by faith in Him that we have received a kingdom which cannot be shaken and an inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.

• The spirit and souls of those who have died in the Lord go immediately to be with Him in heaven, whilst the soul of those who do not believe in Christ end up in hell: the place of the unsaved dead, where they will await the final judgement.
• There is one generation of Christians that will be alive at the return of the Lord Jesus: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
• And when those we love reach the end of this mortal coil, we should not grieve like unbelievers do, for we have a secure hope and a future inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.
• When Jesus rose from the dead He ascended to heaven in a resurrected human body, and today there is an immortal Man Who loves each one of us deeply.

• But our whole life should be lived in the knowledge that we really do have the most wonderful eternal hope, prepared for us in heaven.

• And light and darkness, day and night, dry land and sea, heaven and earth, sun and moon, and the construction of the great domed firmament that divides the waters above from the water below, was assembled with supernatural precision.

• From the start of Christ's ministry, the scribes and Pharisees resented His unorthodox teaching and heavenly testimony, which laid claims to His being the incarnate Son of God Who came to earth from heaven as the anointed Messiah of Israel.
• As His walk to the Cross drew ever closer, the scribes and religious leaders engaged the Lord Jesus in many heated debates, and here in John Chapter 8, the central conflict between Christ and the Pharisees was in connection with His claims to have come from above, and that He would soon return back to heaven.
• Jesus explained that He came from heaven and would return to heaven.
• Indeed, He pointed out that God the Father had sent Him into the world from His home in heaven and that the combined testimonies of God the Father and God the Son, should satisfy their curiosity and concerns.

• We are already members of His Body and identified by grace through faith with our God, but we also wait for our promised inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, unfading, and reserved for us in heaven.

• He knew that He was to return to heaven after His Resurrection.
• At the time that Jesus spoke these words: The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet died, resurrected, ascended into heaven and entered into His glory where he is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

• How vital it is that we know and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour: For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
• How important that we believe on the name of the Son of God, for there is no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved.

• He has brought us into His own family and given us an eternal inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.

• God made His redemption plan in the eternal council chambers of heaven and set it in motion the moment that Adam sinned.

• It is only as we live as instructed by Paul in his many letters to the churches that we grow in grace and become more like Christ so that our lives may be a light to the lost, and more people may see our good deeds and glorify our Father Who is in heaven.

• And we are to offer up our sacrifice of praise to our Father in heaven so that the fruit of our lips may continually confess His holy name, to His praise and glory.

• While the first Adam who was made from the dust of the earth failed miserably in his task, the last Adam, Christ Jesus our Lord Who came from heaven above, would succeed.
• His victory caused God to place all authority and rule in heaven and earth under His feet, but because His own people was not ready to repent of their sins and receive their promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus returned to heavenly places for a season.
• Righteousness will be restored and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will finally return the kingdom to His Father in heaven.

• Peter was there when Christ supernaturally ascended into heaven - where TODAY, He remains seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High.

• They had heeded the instructions of the Lord, which were spoken only days before He ascended into heaven: Wait in Jerusalem and you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days hence and will receive power from on high, they were told.

• The right hand of God was the place of honour that Christ received after He died on the Cross for our sins, rose the third day, and ascended into heaven.
• The trump of God will sound, the dead in Christ shall be raised, and living and resurrected saints in Christ will be raptured into the heaven of heavens, where we shall ever be with the Lord.

• All Christ's chosen apostles were men who accompanied the Lord Jesus from the very beginning until the day He ascended into heaven.
• They all witnessed His Resurrection and were all men who travelled with Jesus when He started to go in and out among them, during John the Baptist's ministry (when he challenged the lost sheep of the house of Israel to repent of their sins, for the kingdom of heaven was at hand and their King was in their midst).
• Although he did not meet with the resurrected Lord Jesus before He ascended into heaven, Paul was a chosen instrument of the Lord Jesus.

• Those who would trust in Him for salvation, were to become a new-creation-in-Christ; positioned in Him, imputed with His righteousness, permanently in-dwelt and sealed by His Holy Spirit, granted access to the throne of grace, and given an inheritance which is kept for us in heaven.
• It was in the upper room on that last night before He was betrayed, that the Lord Jesus spoke of the coming Holy Spirit Who, at that time, was living ALONGSIDE them (in the Person of Christ Jesus Himself), and Who would one day live IN them (in the Person of Holy Spirit), after Christ's return to His Father in heaven.
• But first Jesus must leave them and return to His Father in heaven, for if He did not return to the Father, the Holy Spirit would not come.
• And so it was that on that first day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down from heaven to abide in God's redeemed ones, and on that day all believers were united by One Spirit into one Body, the Church of God.

• We know the glories of the mysteries of the Church and the unsearchable riches of God that would soon be revealed to Paul; the glorious inheritance of the saints that is kept for us in heaven.

• Remember, it is fear of man that spawns death and dis-ease BUT the one who trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ honours the Father in heaven and brings life and release.

• Jesus came from heaven to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the leper, and drive out demons, but as He drew closer to the house, more servants met Him with an astonishing message from the centurion: Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof.

• Although there are many valuable lessons that Church-age saints can learn from this passage, both the parable of the ten virgins and the parable of the good and evil servants, are related to Israel, Christ's second coming, and the good news of the kingdom of heaven on earth.
• Christ is the rightful Messiah of Israel and King of the Jews Who is coming in the clouds of glory to set up the prophesied, millennial kingdom of heaven, on earth.
• They will enter the kingdom of heaven and be assigned responsibilities in the millennial kingdom.

• Peter was not only forgiven of all his sins, but re-commissioned by the risen Lord Jesus Christ to be His chief apostle who would feed His sheep, shepherd His lambs, and unlock the kingdom of heaven to Jew and Gentile alike, as he shared the wonderful gospel of grace.

• However, David learned from his youth to get his eyes off his enemies and to keep His focus on Jesus, the God of heaven and earth Who alone was his shield and buckler, and Who alone was his shepherd and the lifter up of his head.

• This great Prophet would speak only those things that He heard from His Father in heaven.

• And although His propitiatory work on the Cross stands fast for whoever believes on His name... the Lord Jesus returned to heaven for a season and God the Father sent God the Holy Spirit as the Heavenly Comforter to convict the world of sin and to warn of coming judgement for those who will not believe. 
• Blessed are those that are persecuted for the sake of righteousness is a comforting truth - for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

• His heavenly inheritance became our glorious inheritance, and this will never fade away, but is kept for us in heaven.

• He died so that we might be born into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, secure, and unfading; a birthright that is kept in heaven for all who have trusted in Christ.
• But the hope we have from the Lord is not only a living hope for today, but a lasting hope into the ages to come: an everlasting hope that can never fail for it is imperishable, undefiled, secure, enduring, unfading, and inextinguishable, and it is kept for us in heaven, by God's amazing grace.
• Our living hope for today and the lasting hope that is kept for us in heaven depends entirely upon the faithfulness of God Himself.
• Our hope is not based on anything we do but on the unfailing constancy and integrity of our unchanging Father in heaven.
• The moment you trusted Christ as Saviour, you were born into a heavenly inheritance that can never fail and is being kept by the power of God in heaven for you.

• As citizens of heaven, our lives should be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord, which includes honouring the government and submitting to the established, human authorities which God Himself has ordained.

• And as they poured out their soul to their Father in heaven, they remembered His never-failing goodness and began to rejoice in the assurance of His grace.

• He is the exact image of the immortal, invisible God and the exact representation of the Father in heaven.

• The disciples must have been attracted to the joy Christ enjoyed as He communed with His Father in heaven.

• We are not appointed unto wrath, for God's fury against sin in our lives was poured out on Christ, our substitute and Saviour, but one day God will say 'enough' and everything in heaven and earth will be shaken and destroyed – everything that is not of Christ – everything that is connected with this fallen, ungodly world system.
• In the time we have left, let us store up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust will not destroy.

• John was to bear witness that Jesus Christ came from heaven as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.

• But as the final seal is broken, we read: There was silence in heaven for half an hour. Since their creation, holy angels of God are never silent in their continuous worship of God. Day and night, they never cease to cry: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is, and is to come.
• Many consider this angel to be 'The Angel of the Lord' - Lord Jesus Himself Who is God's anointed High Priest of heaven, for Hebrews tells us that Christ is the One at the right hand of the Father Who intercedes for the saints day and night.
• No doubt, the golden censor in the hand of the great angel contains innumerable requests for: Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
• Prayers we have offered are a sweet-smelling savour that have ascended to the Lord, but they may not have been answered yet, but we do know that the day is coming when a heavenly hush will silence heaven for half an hour to usher in that mighty angel with the golden censer.

• While the Church is raptured into heaven and meets Christ in the air before the start of the Great Tribulation, Christ's second advent occurs at the end of this time of terrible judgement; sometimes referred to as 'the great and terrible Day of the Lord' and elsewhere called 'the time of Jacob's Trouble'.
• It was as Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives that He ascended into heaven, as recorded in Acts.
• This Jesus, Who has been taken up from you into heaven, will return in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven.”

• Christians are also to circumcise their hearts by clinging fast in faith to their Father in heaven and being separated from worldly desires, the lusts of the flesh, and pride in our own self-help skills.

• How could it be that the great God of the universe Who made heaven and earth and all that is in them, humbled Himself and became a servant to Israel?
• Through Him, the promised kingdom of heaven on earth would be set up.

• However, the people of God, have received the salvation of the Lord because they have been counted worthy and declared righteous, by faith in Christ's sacrifice for their sin - and although in this world, they are ridiculed, threatened, persecuted, and abused, they will inherit the kingdom of heaven.

• Like us, they knew that their citizenship was in heaven and that an unfading inheritance with Christ awaited them in heavenly places.
• Like us, they knew that they had to: Wait for His Son from heaven, Whom God raised from the dead, that is Jesus Christ the righteous, Who rescues His children from the wrath to come. Like them, we know that we are not appointed to suffer the wrath of God, because Christ took the punishment that we deserve.
• We also are waiting for Christ's any day return in the clouds for us two thousand years later, for we all have been told: The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet-call of God.

• When David penned these words, they were in every respect a song of thankful worship to the Father that pointed to the coming Messiah Who would be sent from heaven to become our sacrifice for sin.
• And may we become true witness to our Father in heaven and a true reflection of Christ within so that through us, God will be glorified in the world.

• The only salvation that can bring us back into fellowship with the only source of life, light, love, and peace, is found in the one name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved: the Lord Jesus Christ.
• He has become the cornerstone and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.
• We are saved once and forever when we trust in Him: For there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

• God's never-ending love-story for His people continues... but today, as the Body of Christ, we wait for that glorious event when we shall be taken into heaven to be His Bride... for His love-story for the Church is equally wonderful as His love for Israel... and is deserving of our praise and worship.

• But as the time for his departure drew ever closer, Moses once again ratified the terms of God's covenant with these words: I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.

• As soon as the Ark, which is a type of the divine Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, was correctly positioned, the veiled glory of the Lord descended from heaven like a dark cloud that filled the House.

• Even in the book of Acts as Christ was ascending into heaven, they continued to anticipate His any-day return: Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at THIS time?

• Christ alone could unlock the gates of heaven to those who believe on His name.

• John was the voice crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, for the kingdom of heaven is near, for God's appointed King was in their midst!

• Throughout His earthly life He walked in spirit and truth, in-dwelt by the Holy Ghost, and only saying and doing only those things that He heard from His Father in heaven.

• There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents, but Jonah complained because God extended His grace to people he considered were unworthy to receive God's forgiveness.

• When heaven is reached, the faith and hope we exercised in this life will be brought to a beautiful completion.

• Our creed for living and our conduct in life should be two sides of the same coin and should glorify our Father in heaven.

• Jesus is the divine Bread from heaven Who came to earth in the likeness of sinful man in order to give His sinless life as the ransom price for the sin of the world.

• If God's justice were to be satisfied without Christ, we would have no choice but to remain dead in our trespasses and sins and be forever separated from our Father in heaven.

• How important it was that the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven at the end of His earthly ministry, for only then could He send the indwelling Holy Spirit as the seal of all God's promises to those who believe on Him.
• How wonderful to realise that in returning to heaven He would take up His twofold ministry as our great High Priest interceding to the Father on our behalf and also our heavenly Advocate and Mediator between God and man; a heavenly Saviour Who forgives all our sins.
• No wonder the disciples gazed in utter amazement when Christ ascended into heaven, and how the reassuring words of these heavenly messengers must have rejoiced their hearts: Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?
• This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.
• Jesus will one day descend from heaven to take His Church to be with Himself in our heavenly home in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, but these angels were not talking of the Rapture here, but of His Second Coming; that glorious day at the end of the Tribulation period when Christ shall come in the clouds of glory, and every eye shall see Him.

• They should have harkened to John the Baptist who came as a voice in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord and calling to the nation: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near, and: Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.

• OR, alternatively, they teach of nothing but a dead Jesus without linking His sacrificial death to His glorious Resurrection and present-day ministry in heaven.

• The disciples witnessed Jesus ascending into heaven, and were told He will one day return from heaven in like manner.
• Today, He is seated on God's throne in heaven, while at the same time, is present with us.
• He put away our sin forever, entered into heaven on our behalf, and remains there, ministering in the heavenly sanctuary as our great high Priest and our righteous Advocate, as He prevails in prayer as our heavenly Intercessor.

• May we speak the truth in love and live lives that honour our Father in heaven.

• As members of Christ's Body, we are His soon-to-be-adopted sons, who will be taken into heaven before that terrible time of trouble - the Great Tribulation - the 70th week of Daniel - the Day of the Lord - the time of thick darkness and deep distress - 'The Time Of Jacob's Trouble'.

• He instructs us in the way we should go and has an inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.

• When we obey His Word there is rejoicing in heaven, especially if a sinner is brought to repentance.

• Lord, we do not know where You are going, was his quick complaint when Jesus revealed that He was soon to leave them and return to His Father in heaven, so how can we know the way? was his earnest query.

• He alone rose from the dead and passed through the earthly atmosphere and starry heights into the heaven of heavens.
• We are commanded to stand firm on the witness of the Cross: Jesus is the Son of God; Jesus is our great High Priest; Jesus has put away our sin forever by His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection; Jesus ascended into heaven by passing through the heavens on our account; In Jesus are the words of eternal life. 

• Daniel however was wise as well prayerful, and calmly requested a little more time to provide an answer for the king: So that he might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
• He knew there was a God in heaven Who created all things and Who knows all things.

• We are to reflect the character and attributes of our Father in heaven Who is tender-hearted, long-suffering, full of kindness, and of great goodness.

• And His love reaches into the heights of heaven above, where we have an inheritance kept for us by the power of the living God.
• May we, like Paul, bow the knee before our Father in heaven from whom every family in heaven and earth derives its name, and let us pray that with us, they may be granted to know the riches of His glory so that they too may be able to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth of God's love and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge.

• The Father of glory resides in heaven and His name is to be hallowed, treated with reverence, and set apart from all others.
• Our first glimpse of our Father who art in heaven, is as Creator and Companion, Redeemer and Lord.

• His rule will continue until all earthly dominion, which was lost by Adam, is restored to God - and He will make a new heaven and a new earth.

• It caused the Lord to rigorously contend with them and to call on heaven and earth to witness Israel's gross apostasy: My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit, was God's disconsolate evaluation: Be appalled, O heavens at this, and shudder.

• Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are called, the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, and through faith in Christ's sacrificial work on the Cross and His glorious Resurrection, our names are, enrolled in heaven.
• We are reminded that we are strangers in an alien land and our citizenship is in heaven.
• As children of God we are not appointed to wrath, because Jesus took the punishment in our place, so we will not be hurt by the second death - for we have been raised with Christ and our names have been enrolled in heaven, and by God's grace we have been promised a great reward.

• No born-again believer can ever fall so far from grace that they are unable to have sweet fellowship with their Father in heaven re-established, and if any of us do lack the spiritual qualities that God desires of all His children, Peter tells us what to do.

• Christ is the Sovereign Creator through Whom all things were made, and by Whom all things in heaven and on earth (both visible and invisible), hold together.

• The host of heaven and shining stars were created of God in one mighty moment: Let there be... But God formed one man from the dust of the ground that He had just created: And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being in the image of God.
• But as citizens of heaven and members of the new creation in Jesus Christ, we can say with reverence and awe that we are of Christ Who was begotten of the Father, very God of very God, Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary - God made Man - and we are: Of Jesus Christ.

• The throne of the Father is in heaven, and earth is His footstool, and yet His Spirit has taken up residence within the heart of each of His children so that when we pray, we can gaze into His face and address Him as Father, my Father: Our Father Who art in heaven.
• The omniscient, omnipotent, sovereign, eternal Creator of the universe is OUR Father - in heaven - hallowed be His Name.

• May we take to heart this warning in Hebrews and seek to live a God-honouring life, and not forfeit His perfect peace in our heart, His rest for our soul, treasure in heaven, and any reward that could have been ours, for a defeated Christian life is the ultimate tragedy of disobedience, apostasy, and unbelief.

• Certain fantasy films of heaven and extra-biblical imaginations of mystical things, have too often been portrayed as having equal authority with the Word of God, while twisting biblical truth in order to embrace as fact the limited, flawed thoughts and defective imaginations of man.

• All have received eternal life as a free gift of God's grace, and all have been granted an inheritance that is kept for us in heaven.

• In his introductory remarks, Peter scatters before us the manifold wisdom of God, the superabundant blessings that are ours in Christ, the multiplied glories of salvation, and the eternal inheritance which is kept for us in heaven; all of which we receive by His grace, through faith in Christ's sacrificial death, burial, and Resurrection.
• And so, in the light of our superabundant blessings, the multiplied glories of salvation and our eternal inheritance which is kept for us in heaven, Peter encourages us not to faint at the problems and persecutions that pepper our path through life, but to allow our trials and temptations to develop in us a tried and tested faith that trusts God no matter what.

• He prayed that we would increase in understanding and knowledge, and be granted greater illumination and spiritual revelation of our Father in heaven and His anointed Son, Jesus Christ, Who died for our sins and rose again the third day to give us His abundant life, according to the riches of His grace.

• He reasons that IF a human parent who is a fallen being, is capable of caring for their children and giving them good things, HOW MUCH MORE will our Heavenly Father show consideration for His children, and bestow good things on them: If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?
• So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who keep on asking him? 

• This was not a teaching for the unbeliever, but a warning to those that are born-again, that if we are to be fruitful in our Christian life and honour our Father in heaven, we will abide in Christ and bring forth much fruit.

• And as we cry out to an iron-clad heaven, we find ourselves wrestling inwardly with the same rhetorical questions that burdened David's heart and flowed from his pen, three thousand years ago.

• They rejoiced because they were on their way to the city of Jerusalem to worship the Lord God of heaven and earth.
• How vital to look to the One Who is enthroned in heaven and Who created the universe for provision and protection.

• This Lake of Fire was originally prepared by God for the devil and his angels who left their first estate and sinned against the Lord of heaven and earth.
• This prideful cherubim who determined to ascend to heaven to raise his throne above the stars of God, to ascend above the starry heights of the clouds and to make himself like the Most High, drew a third of God's holy angels who joined him in his ungodly rebellion, and have been judged for their sin: For God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and has committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment.

• I really do wonder whether we have even started to grasp the enormity of our position in Christ; the incredible love, the peculiar privilege, and the gracious gift that we have received from our Father in heaven: That we should be called His children.

• In this case, we would be eternally saved, but would have laid up no treasure in heaven, for in me there is no good thing.

• The curtain in the Jewish Temple, which represented the separation of incurably sinful man from eternally Perfect God, was torn from the top to the bottom, ripped asunder from heaven to the earth, demonstrating that the finished work of Christ Jesus was accepted and sufficient.

• The pillars of heaven tremble and are amazed at the Lord's rebuke.

• And you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.' Oh yes, Jesus gave him an answer he certainly did not expect to hear.
• And you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.

• The promised Holy Spirit had been sent from heaven to indwell and empower all who believe. The same cowardly men who had fled from Gethsemane and denied their Lord only 50 days earlier were suddenly filled with the Spirit, baptised into the Body of Christ and began proclaiming the wonderful works of God to all who were present in Jerusalem for that feast of Pentecost.

• He is the down-payment of our full inheritance in Christ, which is being kept by God in trust for us unto the day of redemption, that wonderful day when Christ comes in the clouds of glory to take us to be with Himself in heaven.

• Jesus could have answered every false accusation magnificently and called on many to testify of His deity, including His Father in heaven Who identified Jesus as His beloved Son.
• Jesus could have called down fire from heaven and had legions of angels swarm into the house of the high priest and strike him and his co-conspirators dead, had He been so inclined, but Jesus held His peace and said not a word.

• Solomon beseeched the Lord to hear his prayer and to answer his petition from heaven, which he acknowledged is God's true dwelling place.

• All who believe in Christ are sealed in Him, by the Spirit of God, unto the day of Redemption as a gift of grace from our Father in heaven.

• Jesus was more interested in describing the necessary character traits, godly attitude, and spiritual temperature of those desiring to enter the kingdom of heaven.

• James (the younger brother of the Lord Jesus) explains that the testing of our faith produces endurance, while Paul encourages us by revealing that we who are afflicted will certainly be given relief: When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire.
• All wrongs will be righted when the appointed day for Christ's return arrives, and Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire.

• But we all have the choice to become a man or woman after God's own heart by trusting Him in every eventuality of life, by beginning each day in prayer and praise, and by engaging in ongoing fellowship with our Father in heaven.

• No matter what difficulties you or I are experiencing in our lives, let us take to heart the truth these gracious words remind us that there is nothing in heaven, on earth, or under the earth that can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus - nothing that will ever cause the Lord to forget you.

• He had been sent from the Father to set up His kingdom of righteousness, not a worldly kingdom but the kingdom of heaven, but first His people had to repent of their sin and believe on the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of sin.

• John burst onto the Israeli landscape proclaiming that the kingdom of heaven was at hand and that the prophesied King had arrived.

• John was a prophet with a magnetic personality who challenged the nation of Israel to repent of their sins: For the kingdom of heaven was near.

• No other name deserves all honour and praise, might and majesty, dominion and power, for there is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved.
• His name is the name of authority in heaven and hell, and demons, death, and Satan tremble at the awesome name of JESUS.
• He was the focal point on which the expectation of all the prophets rested and the revelation of the Father in heaven, which has been given to us.
• It is for this reason also, God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

• Were they following Him out of idle curiosity or did they understand that He was the anointed Lamb of God, Who had come from His Father in heaven to take away the sin of the world.

• Christ was clearly identified as the seed of David according to the flesh, but He was also to be identified as the Son of the Most High God according to the Spirit, as evidenced through His supernatural Resurrection from the dead and Ascension into heaven.

• He explains how God uses the suffering in our life as a way to test our faith, for James knows that faith in God must be exercised, even when we do not see or understand the reason for our pain: For the testing of our faith produces patient-endurance, which must flourish and develop so that as we grow in grace, we may become spiritually mature - perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect, complete and lacking nothing.

• We are charged to live our lives in a manner that glorifies our Father Who is in heaven.
• We are urged to live a life that is becoming of one that has been saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, and upon whom our Father in heaven has lavished so much grace and favour, forgiveness, mercy, and love.

• He pre-existed the world, and by Him and through Him all things are created and held together, both visible and invisible, in heaven and on earth.

• We have an assurance, because our future is not only recorded in the Word of God and settled in heaven, but we have the indwelling Holy Spirit in our heart as God's guarantee that all that He has promised to those who trust in Christ for salvation, He will fulfil.

• Paul knew that the closer they walked with God, the more they would become like Christ, reflecting His beautiful character in their lives and so bringing much glory and praise to their Father in heaven.
• Paul urges these believers to live a life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ, to live as citizens of heaven and not to be influenced by the evils and enticements of this wicked, seductive world: Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, he writes, so that whether I come and see you or am absent from you, I may hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, as you strive side by side for the faith of the gospel.
• As members of the Body of Christ and citizens of heaven, we should confidently walk the earth in unity of the spirit, and consistently stand firm in the faith that was once offered to the saints - with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith of the gospel and in so doing glorifying our Father Who is in heaven.

• Let us make the right choices in our lives and seek to life a righteous and holy life as unto the Lord, for we have been commanded to be holy, because our Father in heaven is holy.

• In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth and brought everything into being; time, matter, space, and life.
• God started His work of redemption in Eden, but it will not be concluded until He makes a new heaven and a new earth.
• All enemies have to be put under His feet and a new heaven and a new earth needs to be made, together with a new creation of man with Christ Jesus as the Head. 

• As His children, we are called to imitate our Father in heaven.
• We are to be God's representatives on earth, and before He ascended into heaven, the Lord Jesus gave us a new commandment: that we love one another in the same way that Christ loved us and gave Himself for us.
• His whole life was as a fragrant aroma to His Father in heaven.The Lord Jesus Christ was indeed the personification of the bloody ‘sin offering’ that was demanded by God to pay the price for the sin of the world.

• Paul was grateful to God for the eternal hope the Christians at Colossae had in Christ Jesus; a hope that was laid up for them in heaven.

• There was the mystery of the Church which is Christ's Body, and the mystery of His secret will: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times God might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him.

• They did not acknowledge that Christ had come to set up the long-awaited kingdom of heaven, but did all in their power to oppose the truth.
• There is no other name given under heaven whereby men and women; Jew and Gentile, black and white, bond and free, young and old must be saved.

• Although Jesus Christ was fully God, He drew all His strength from His Father in heaven, demonstrating how you and I should live our lives as God's children, drawing all our strength from our Lord Jesus Christ: For without Him we can do nothing.

• They needed to cherish that which is of eternal worth, and pursuing the treasures of heaven rather than the trinkets of earth.

• However, his urgent pleading for his brethren to pray along with him, gives great insight into Paul's pattern of prayer, his willingness to share his personal need with other praying saints, and his readiness to persist over time by continuing to bang on the door of heaven for an answer.

• Because we were taught the mystery of the gospel and believed in Christ Jesus as our Saviour, our position in Christ and our eternal inheritance is secured for us in heaven.

• The Jewish leaders knew that Christ claimed to come from heaven as their Messiah and King.
• In earlier generations, signs from heaven had been given to encourage God's people and increase their faith.
• Walls had tumbled, axe heads floated, human eyes had witnessed the angelic host of heaven engaged in battle, and Isaiah even saw the Lord seated on His throne, high and lifted up, His train filling the Temple.
• The Resurrection of Christ from the grave is the most compelling sign He could have given to these disbelieving Jews, and a few were brought to faith following His Resurrection and Ascension into heaven.

• We are in the world but we are not part of the world - for our citizenship is in heaven.

• In the same way, the one who is not enslaved to keeping the Law, but justified by grace through faith in Christ, is the one who has reached the age of maturity and has received the promise - Christ Jesus our Lord Who gives us victory in this life and great reward in heaven.

• Praise God that we DO have a sure hope and an eternal inheritance that was laid up for us in heaven, from the moment that we placed our trust in Christ.

• Many scholars only look at this passage as applying to the two roads that lead to heaven and hell and the two destinies that await every member of the human race.
• But although there is certainly a legitimate application to saved and unsaved people taking the narrow and broad ways respectively, Christ was not teaching about the two destinations of the whole human race (heaven or the lake of fire), but the two alternative routes that Christians are required to choose after they have been justified by grace through faith in Christ.

• Let us praise the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, the God of time and eternity, for His amazing grace and mercy.

• It was as he was travelling to Damascus to arrest Christians there, that a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.
• He had arrived at the place when the identity of the flashing light from heaven was revealed: And I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' Paul continued, And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.' 

• When John was caught up into the throne-room of heaven, He saw a document sealed with 7 seals, in the hand of the Ancient of Days.
• It is only when Israel, as a nation, calls on the name of the Lord, that Christ will return to set up His Millennial Kingdom of heaven on earth in preparation for His eternal rule in the ages to come.

• Today we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, for He provided a new and living way for us to pray to our Father in heaven.
• However, we are certainly encouraged to set aside a place of prayer - an inner room - a secret closet where we can meet and commune with our Father in heaven.

• He humbled Himself and only did those things He heard from His Father in heaven, and He worked the works of God through the mighty power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

• They were to teach them to put their trust in the one and only God of heaven and earth.

• We will meet Jesus in the air and be taken into heaven at the Rapture which occurs before the seven-year Tribulation.

• All the three members of the eternal, holy Trinity bear record in heaven that: God has given us (mankind) eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
• Each Person of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bear record in heaven of the truth of God's Word, which is the will and testimony concerning the incarnate Son of God.

• We are to KNOW without a shadow of turning that the eternal Creator of heaven and earth Who has locked Himself into an everlasting convent with humanity, is our Lord and God and that He is faithful and true in all that He says and in all that He has promised.

• In quoting this verse, Jesus was clearly showing a difference between 1) the corrupt judges of Israel in the old dispensation of Law, who judged unjustly and showed partiality to the wicked who will themselves be judged by God, and 2) the Lord Jesus Who came from heaven to lay the groundwork for the new dispensation of Grace and die on the Cross for the sin of the world.

• May our lives be so saturated with the attractiveness of our Saviour that His beauty is reflected in us, so that others may see our lives and glorify our Father in heaven, so that by grace through faith in Him, they may turn from their sinful ways, trust in the Lord with all their heart, and be born again into the family of God - to His praise and glory.

• The Christian has been given the most precious gift imaginable by faith; the Life of Christ Jesus and eternal life with Him in heaven.

• And speaking such words will edify the Body, rejoice the heart, give grace to all those who hear them, and honour our Father in heaven.

• Following forty glorious post-Resurrection days, the risen Lord Jesus led His little band of disciples out from the tiny town of Bethany to the beautiful Mount of Olives, where He spoke to them for the very last time before being taken from them, into heaven.
• Christ's slow ascension into heaven, where He was enveloped by the Shekinah glory of God as He returned to the Father, would call to mind His recent promise that He must go away but would return, to take them to be with Himself in glory.
• After He was lost from view, two men in white told them: This Jesus, Who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.
• However glorious this precious picture of His Ascension is to us, we too have a time of hopeful expectation on which to train the eyes of our hearts, for this same Jesus Who was taken from that little company into heaven, will come to meet us in clouds, at the end of the Church Age before the Great Tribulation, when we will be raptured into His presence, as His Bride.
• But this same Jesus will ALSO return to the earth in the same manner as that little company saw Him go up into heaven, at the end of the Great Tribulation, when Israel will call on the Lord for salvation.
• We too have that hope in our hearts and with each passing day we are one day closer to that time when the trumpet will sound: The dead in Christ shall be raised first and we that are alive and remain, will be caught up together into the clouds of heaven to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord, forever.

• The present heaven and earth are also transient and will one day pass away, for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are lasting and eternal.

• But the truth remains forever settled in heaven.
• Indeed, our citizenship is in heaven: From which we also eagerly wait for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

• Joel's welcome words guarantee that God will hear their cry from heaven and respond to their call for help.

• A magnificent song of praise bursts forth from the pen of the anonymous psalmist as he summons together the host of heaven with all those that dwell on the earth to worship the Lord, to praise His name, and glorify Him with exultant shouts and great rejoicing of the heart: Hallelujah!
• Glory to God in the highest heaven, was the hymn that the angels sang at Christ's birth, and it continues, peace on earth, goodwill to men, or more accurately it should read: 'Goodwill to men of peace,' God's blessing on those that have made peace with God, by faith in Christ.

• This plan, which was formed in the eternal council chambers of heaven, has the potential to touch and to save every person born into this fallen race, but salvation must be accessed by faith alone in the sacrifice of the only begotten Son of God.

• Christ's triumph over the grave is heaven's pledge to all of us that are members of His Body, that we too will be raised.

• He comes with the clouds of heaven, at His Second Coming, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him.

• Repent John shouted, for the kingdom of heaven is HERE.

• This faith matures by means of diligent application of God principles of spiritual growth, which are contained in His Word, and all of which produce spiritual fruit which is so honouring to our Father in heaven.

• We notice an incredible contrast between the venomous fury of the angry, murderous Jews, who were cut to the heart when they heard Stephen proclaiming the truth and gnashed on him with their teeth... and Stephen who, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven and seeing the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of the Father, fell asleep - after having prayed for his murderer's forgiveness.

• May we renounce all evil practices and the enticements and snares of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and live lives that are holy to the Lord by being lights in the darkened world so that others may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

• And although the heavens declare the glory of God, and the glittering stars in the firmament of heaven display His powerful handiwork, fallen men have rejected their mighty Creator and eternal Saviour, and have formed their own little gods in their own foolish image.

• Indeed, in its broadest context, it also encompasses His millennial rule and that future day when God will make a new heaven and a new earth to usher in the ages to come.
• They wanted to know the signs that would herald His return to earth, but were informed: But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
• All authority in heaven above and on the earth below is His, but in His humanity He only informed His disciples what He was permitted to tell them by His Father in heaven.
• However, Jesus did answer His disciples' questions about His Second Coming to earth, to set up His kingdom rule: But of that day or hour, He told them, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
• But they are also informed: But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 

• There should be a patient, kind, gracious love that comes only from the indwelling Spirit of Christ Who is our life, for in Him our soul is refreshed and we are equipped to edify others, which glorifies our Father in heaven.

• He was to be Mediator between God and man, while representing man to God as heaven's High Priest.
• Today, a heavenly Man is seated on the throne of His Father in heaven.
• The sinless Man Who willingly shed His blood to redeem His fallen creatures, rose from the dead, and ascended back to heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father as His anointed King-Priest according to the priestly order of Melchizedek.

• However, we read that Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, looked steadfastly up into heaven and rejoiced to see Jesus standing on the right hand of the Father in heavenly places.

• God examines the thoughts of the hearts and the hidden motive behind our actions, and we are warned that if the motive behind what we say and do is to be seen and applauded by other people rather than carried out for the honour and glory of God, it is the wrong motivation and will not be rewarded by our Father in heaven.
• Others may reward us handsomely with their high acclaim and other fleshly honours, but no further reward will be received from our Father in heaven, because it was done from the wrong motive.

• The Father's gracious promises towards His children and the surpassing greatness of His mighty power towards all who believe in Him, is the confident hope that we have in Christ Jesus our Lord, which was accomplished when God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand on heaven's glorious throne.
• There is no authority in heaven above, or in the earth below, nor in the waters that are beneath the firmament, that can rival the sovereignty that God commands.

• But the evil intent of man's evil heart remained evil continually, and the windows of heaven poured out the water of judgement on a God-hating, sinful world, flooding the entire earth and cleansing it of its pre-flood perversions and unspeakable violence.

• How wise to willingly submit to the godly discipline and necessary chastening that every child of God receives from our Father in heaven so that we may be conformed into the image and likeness of our Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord.

• He was simply emphasising a teaching that had been his life mission, since he watched in awe and wonder as Jesus was taken up into heaven with the instruction to: Go into all the world, and to preach the glad tidings of the gospel of Christ, to all the people.
• The height of God’s love reaches into heaven itself, where we are seated with Christ in heavenly places.

• Although we are strangers in a foreign land, we have an eternal hope set before us and an incorruptible inheritance reserved for us in heaven.

• We have been redeemed as slaves from the pit of hell and have been adopted as blessed sons of the most high God with an eternal citizenship secured for us in heaven, in Christ.

• It was as a result of God's dazzling grace and unmerited favour towards the whole of the human race, that His plan of redemption was formulated in the eternal counsel chambers of heaven.

• God provided manna from heaven to sustain them and water from the rock, yet the people complained and murmured against the Lord.

• Just before ascending to the Father in heaven, the Lord Jesus commissioned His followers to go and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever He had commanded them, and then He made the most astonishing claim: And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
• And then He shall make a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth will pass away, and we will be with Him for eternity.
• All authority in heaven and earth and under the earth has been placed under His control, and He says with authority: LO, I am with You, even unto the very end.

• Instead, they trusted in works of the Law for their salvation, which prevented them from recognising the true and Living Bread Who came down from heaven, 2000 years ago.

• They were to act as the priestly mediator between earth and heaven, so the world would know that God is the Lord and salvation is found in Him alone.
• They incorrectly teach that unbelievers will eventually be brought into heaven, but this is NOT what the Bible teaches.

• The Lord Jesus left His home in heaven and was born into the human race for our sake.

• The former made alive in Christ, citizens of heaven and at peace with God, and the latter remaining dead in their sins, prisoners of Satan and at enmity with their Creator.

• Our citizenship is in heaven, and one day Christ is coming back to take us to be with Himself in our heavenly home, for He is preparing a place for us in His Father's house.

• This little verse is part of a symphony of praise to the God of heaven and earth, for He is worthy of our adoration and worship.

• Isaiah points out the foolishness of substituting such false deities for the true and living God Who made heaven and earth and everything in it: Lift up your eyes on high, he charged the people, Look to the heavens above and see Who has created these stars.

• There is no person in heaven above nor the earth beneath that can know the thoughts of the omniscient God of Creation: Who has known the mind of the LORD, is God's challenge to all humanity.
• To have the mind of Christ gives us a taste of heaven, a glimpse into His glory, an understanding of His heart of love, and the amazing truth that God the Father desires to save mankind from their sin, and bestow on us privileges that are beyond our understanding.

• And so, dressed in Esau's clothes and having disguised his appearance, Jacob lied to his father and received the most beautiful blessing that was rightfully his: Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new wine.

• On that day, Christ will return from heaven to earth with His church-age saints, to set up His millennial kingdom in Jerusalem, as King of kings and Lord of lords.
• BUT the Lord is still their Good Shepherd and He will one day return from heaven to lead them into green pastures.
• And He will one day return in clouds of great glory, at the end of the 7-year Tribulation, to establish the promised Kingdom of Heaven.

• And we are reminded that it is eternally established and fixed forever in the heaven of heavens.
• Heaven and earth will pass away, but the Word of God shall never pass away.