What Does the Bible REALLY Say About Heaven?

It's open, and those that might be hearing this word today are always welcome to attend the nearest United Church of God that might be near them. As was advertised in the letter that went out, today we're going to talk about what does the Bible really say about heaven. Most Christian denominations teach that good people, after they die, immediately go to a place that's called heaven. And heaven is considered to be a place of unsurpassable happiness in the presence of God.

And yet, considering what a wonderful place heaven is supposed to be, why is it, I ask you, that most people aren't in any hurry to get there. Some people, and some writers have even quoted and said that from everything that they've heard, and especially some of the common thoughts about heaven that we'll be talking about a little bit later, it might even be boring up there. As one writer put it, Lord, don't take me yet. I haven't been to Hawaii.

Now, why did somebody come back with that kind of a response? Perhaps such a response comes from the reality that no one has supplied a compelling description of what the righteous are supposed to do once they make it to heaven. Now, I realize that in common parlance or common thought, going back to our days as young children, either reading books or perhaps even seeing cartoons as infants or youngsters that begin to fashion our thinking, oftentimes the common thought about heaven is either playing a harp with an angelic choir and or perhaps resting comfortably on a cloud or a floating cloud and or at best it's a it's a theological understanding sincerely considered of being in the embrace of a beatific vision of forever beholding and receiving the beatific vision of the glory of God's throne for all eternity.

But the question is simply this. As you think about eternity, how long do you want to embrace that vision? Because after all eternity is a mighty long time. I'd like you to listen carefully to what a noted British author and historian, Mr. Paul Johnson, says in his book, Quest for Heaven.

Page 173. Mr. Johnson is a noted intellect from England. I do believe that he is a practicing Catholic, but listen to his very realistic thoughts regarding the subject of heaven. Heaven, quote, lacks genuine incentive. Indeed, it lacks definition of any kind.

And then he offers an outstanding statement. It is the great hole in theology. It's the great hole.

There is nothing there. Now, why is that? Let's consider for a moment. There is an excellent reason why this vacuum of information exists. Simply put, the Word of God does not reveal that the righteous are going to inherit heaven as their reward. Allow me to repeat that.

If all of a sudden you say, whoa, what is this minister saying? I've never heard a minister say this before. Let me repeat it. The Word of God, the Holy Bible, doesn't reveal that the righteous will inherit heaven as their reward. Now, even as I state that for the second time, I realize that that can just be utterly shocking to an audience that has never heard that kind of a statement before. Basically, what I'm saying contradicts with whatever your favorite grandmother taught you, or your mother taught you, or an outstanding individual in the community expressed to you, or maybe what you heard from a pastor or a preacher that you really respected, or for that matter, what everybody else is saying.

But the big question is simply this. There's a big question, and only you can answer it. The big question is, what does the Word of God say about the reward of the saved? What are the saints supposed to inherit? And then the answer that only you can supply is simply this. Are you going to believe man and take man at his word, and or are we going to truly believe the words of the Bible?

Well, with that stated, I want to share with you today what I believe the Bible really says about heaven. And as we do, we're going to see through Scripture itself that God has something, stay with me, God has something that is better than heaven. He said, but wait a minute, there can't be anything better than heaven, because we use that in a sense as a step or a measurement of perfection or wonderment.

But if you'll stay with me in the course of this message, as we go through the Bible, I'm going to show you that there is something better than the heaven that you have known, that you've been taught about, and that comes directly out of the Bible itself. Let's find out together. But before we focus on the truth of the Bible, it might first be best to understand why so many people are confused.

And or do I dare say, and I will, I'll be blunt, are deceived about the wonderful future that God clearly states in His Word. A lot of people go through life in a lot of ways with a lot of items just doing things because, well, they've always been done that way.

Perhaps they have not had an inquiring mind or an inquiring spirit, and they've never gone back like we were taught when we were young, when we were in journalism or in English, and learning to be, in a sense, if you're ever going to be a reporter, these are what you ask. Who, what, where, when, how, and what, why.

Why did things become the way they were? Why are so many people confused? A lot of people in life don't ask the big question of why, and because we don't, we never learn why or what God truly has in store. So, this afternoon, if no, maybe you're listening to this tape in the morning, wherever you are, we're going to excavate. We're not just going to skim the surface. We're going to excavate the very underpinnings that offer foundation to the erroneous concept of the saints being in heaven right now.

We're going to dig deep. We're going to go deep, and for some of you that have never heard this before, it may seem deep, because a lot of it is going to be new. This is not being taught everywhere, but it is being taught from the Bible. Traditional beliefs regarding heaven and hell are based upon one underlying concept. In other words, what is the foundation? And that is the teaching of the immortality of the soul. Now, maybe you've never relayed it. The popular concept of heaven with that of the immortality of the soul.

You've perhaps heard about it. You've heard immortal soul mentioned, maybe in a church, maybe in a Bible study group, maybe in a reading, but it is directly linked. That is the foundation. Perhaps you've never given it a lot of thought, but I want to put a spotlight on it for a few minutes to understand why things became the way they did. It may be amazing, and I want you to think about it for a moment. So, audience, get ready to think. It may be amazing, but did you realize that the words immortal and soul never appear together in the Bible? Have you ever thought about that before?

The words immortal and soul never come together side by side in Holy Scripture. Now, you say, wait a minute. If they've never appeared side by side in Scripture, and there isn't a sentence in the Bible that says, immortal soul, where then does such a concept come from? Well, allow me to mention a book or two, because again, in the church of God and the United Church of God, we like to go to first and foremost the Bible. But at times, not only our writings are what our church produces, but we're willing to open up commentaries. We're willing to open up study material and to understand that others have come to this understanding as well. Allow me to quote from the New International Bible Standard Encyclopedia, and it pinpoints the probable source under the heading of death. And if you'd like to read it sometime, volume 2, page 812. Don't take my word for it. You go to the source, and also don't take my word for it when you read the Bible. Open up your own Bible and let God talk to you directly. But allow me to quote from this Bible Encyclopedia under the heading of death. We are influenced always, more or less, by the Greek platonic ideas that the body dies, and yet the soul is immortal.

Such an idea is utterly contrary to the Israelite consciousness, and it is nowhere found in the Old Testament. Now, what does that mean to you, perhaps, the lay person? What this is basically stating is that the immortal soul is not found, at least, in the Old Testament. That's where we are right now. Don't worry, we will be moving to the New Testament. But when it talks about the Israelite consciousness, let's understand that the nation of Israel or the tribes of Israel were the first nation or large group of people that God was working with in a covenant capacity that He gave His Word to. And basically, what the author here is stating is that such an idea is utterly contrary to what God gave the first people that He was dealing with. And it's not found in His writing, His thoughts to them. But let's take a breath for a moment, and I said it's going to be an excavation. Let's go a little bit deeper. Let's go further and recognize that this is not just a single commentary or one author or one thought. Let's pick up other thoughts from a gentleman named Mr. William Fudge in his book, The Fire that Consumes, page 22. And he shares this conclusion by Mr. Fudge. Theologians frankly admit that the expression, the immortal soul, is not in the Bible, but constantly state that Scripture assumes the immortality of every soul. Now, with what I just read out of a book, think about it for a moment. What did your mother or your father or your grandparents teach you about assuming something? Is that something that we want to do in life? Now, when I was being taught, it said that if you assume and you broke it down by syllables, to assume meant that you made a donkey out of you and me. You thought I was going to use that other biblical word. I'm not noticing your face is out here. I'll be good, even though it's in the Bible. No, we're not to assume. What do you mean, assume? We don't want to do that.

Fudge continues on page 24. The doctrine is increasingly regarded as post-apostolic innovation. That means after Christ, that means after the original disciples turned apostles, that Jesus himself called. That means after the beginning of the church, post-apostolic, not only unnecessary, but positively harmful to proper biblical interpretation and understanding.

What is being spoken here is that the doctrine or the understanding of the immortality of the soul simply is not there. Now, I realize some of you that are here today, some of you that may be listening to this message in the future. These are all startling declarations, especially the one that Mr. Johnson mentioned about this theological hole. And even as I mentioned this, may I say something? I recognize that many of us sincerely may hold the hope of heaven near and dear. It can be very real to us. We think of our grandparents or maybe a departed loved one up there. And so, I recognize that I'm treading on some tiptoes here because there are people that are sincerely right now in their mind's eye and in their heart thinking that Grandma is peeking over the cloud down at them, and they feel comforted by that. I understand that. And that might be somebody's sincere approach.

But we've got to go back and recognize the God that you believe that you worship is the same God that wrote the Bible. These are His words. And what does He say? What are the truths that come out of the Bible regarding the subject of heaven? Well, let's start at the beginning and develop a chain of biblical truths to understand what God is really doing. Okay? Because remember, at the end of this message, I've said I'm going to share something with you that is better than heaven. Now, sometimes if you're talking to a young child and, you know, it's a hot day like it is today here in the Inland Empire. It's 102 degrees, and the little kid says, oh, you know, mommy, daddy, can you take me down to such and such a place? And I just know what I want. I want a free scoop ice cream cone that's just going to, oh, you know, after a hot day. And you look down at it as a parent, you look at that child, you say, you know what, James? You know what, Janie? I've got something better than a free scoop ice cream cone. And they're going, oh, yeah, sure.

Well, I've got something better than this free scoop ice cream cone in the middle of August in the Inland Empire. And what I've got is God's best to share with you what He has designed and what He has planned for those children that He loves.

But first of all, we need to go back to the source of this erroneous thinking. Come with me, if you would, for a moment to Genesis 3. And we're going to begin to develop a biblical trail from the Old Testament to the New Testament and see what has happened. Because actually, the thought of the immortality of the soul certainly precedes Plato, even as before the Egyptians that the Greeks borrowed it from in their thoughts about death. And in fact, the thought of the immortality of the soul really goes back all the way to the very beginning of time in the Garden of Eden. And let's take a note of Genesis 3 and verse 1. If you'll turn there with me, please, as we open our Bibles and understand what God would want us to receive at this service. And in Genesis 3 and verse 1, God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it. Neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

Now, Eve is offering a direct quote from God Almighty, which can be found in Genesis 2, verses 16 through 17. I'm not going to turn there because it's stated here. But from the very beginning, at the beginning, before mankind's mind was corrupted, the first couple understood that human beings died, that there was nothing immortal of and by themselves. They also, if you'll stay with me a second, recognize that God places a premium on obedience.

He says, If you do this, this is what will happen. And if you do this, this is what will happen. If you go against what I say, you can expect in that sense a curse. But if you obey me, then you can expect a blessing. But notice how the serpent came back. And then the serpent in verse 4 said to the woman, Oh, you will not surely die.

See, at the beginning, humanity understood. Then the serpent comes back and says, Oh, no, you're not going to die. For God knows that in the day that you eat up, your eyes will be opened, and you'll be like God, knowing good and evil. And so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, etc., and on and on, she took a bite. And humanity has been biting into that bad apple ever since. The bad fruit, the lie that man of and by himself, within himself, has life, self-inherent, that he cannot die, that within this earthly tabernacle, this fleshly frame is something that cannot, will not die. That is immortal, and that is an immortal soul.

But truth is that the Bible tells a different story. Turn me just a page over in Genesis 2 and verse 7, as God explained how he made the creation. Remember, again, as we go through this, we're asking the big questions, and we're asking why people's understanding got to where it is today, and why and how you can understand the wonderful things of God. Genesis 2 and verse 7, And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. Now, for those of you that are here, those of you that are listening, perhaps on a CD or an audio cassette, please understand that I am using the New King James Version of the Bible. And the New King James Version of the Bible basically has the translation right. It is not the translation that many people hearken to, and that has molded the mindset of humanity for the last 400 years. In the Authorized Version, and or the Old King James Version, it reads like this, And man became a living soul. And so what became confused was the concept of soul with the thoughts of Plato that was later endorsed by the Neoplatonist of the second and the third century A.D. that brought this forward, this thought of the immortality of the soul. Even so, it's very interesting. If you even stay with that translation in Genesis 2 and verse 7, notice it says, man became. It didn't say that man was a living soul. And it certainly does not say that man was an immortal soul. It says that man became. There was a time, in other words. Let's take God at His word and what's being stated here. There was a time when man did not exist. In fact, the word soul, if you like to write this down, comes from the Hebrew, recognizing that the Old Testament is written in Hebrew, comes from the word nephesh. Nephesh. And Nephesh just simply means any living, breathing, object, and or creature. In fact, the term Nephesh is used over 130 times in the Old Testament. And it can refer to cattle, and it can refer to fish, it can refer to fowl. Of course, it can refer to man and woman as living and breathing objects. In fact, the word Nephesh is even used for what the Bible calls creeping things. Creeping things. So maybe that lizard in your backyard has an immortal soul. I know most ladies don't want any creature like that to live at all, but even lizards and insects. Ladies, spiders can be Nephesh, can be souls. And so we've got to recognize what the Bible is saying and what it isn't saying. But what happened with the translation of the authorized version back to the early 1600s, this idea of soul became established in the translation, and then eventually it migrated into the overall thought of immortal soul. But are there souls that are out there that are not subject to God's sovereignty? Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever inquired in your mind, asked God to give you an inquiring mind and to see what He says? Join me if you would in the middle of the Old Testament, Ezekiel 18. In Ezekiel 18, and let's notice verse 4, a claim that only God can make. In Ezekiel 18 and verse 4, Behold, all souls are mine. So here's the sovereign God. He makes a claim. He says, they're all mine. The soul of the Father, as well as the soul of the Son, is mine.

And the soul who sins shall have immortal life. Is that what your Bible says?

Let's look down and focus for a moment and see what God would have us to understand today. It says in verse 4 at the end, the soul who sins shall die.

Does He even say that it's going to be tortured forever?

It just says, is going to die. And so we recognize that God lays claim over all souls. There's not some migrating soul moving out there like Casper the Ghost. We've all seen pictures of Casper the Ghost that somehow it's the one that got awake. God says, in his sovereign appeal and claim, all souls are mine. You know, even in our common parlance in modern day America, modern day England, we often use the phrase, passed away. You ever thought about that? Maybe you've used that phrase before. Even those of you that know the truth of the Bible, well, they passed on. Grandma, Grandma passed on. Or Grandpa passed away. Well, once you understand what the Bible is saying, where they go to? What do you mean passed away? That is a thought of a migratory, immortal soul or a soul in movement away from the grave. Ever thought about that? I'm looking at some eyes out here, some nods. Oh, now I see, because it says the soul here dies. It doesn't pass on. It doesn't pass away. God has something in store to show that He is God. Now, with all of that stated, you that are in the audience, and you that might be listening at home or in the car, listening to this CD or tape, you might say, okay, fine. But, well, that's all back in the Old Testament. That's back in the, as maybe your local preacher says, back in the Hebrew scriptures to kind of distance yourself from some. Well, let's move away from what some call the Hebrew scriptures, and we will go into the New Testament. In the United Church of God, I might say that we look at Holy Scripture as one revelation, one revelation. It is humanity that has divided it into testaments. It is one revelation. Yes, it does express two covenants, one called old, one called new, one called better. It doesn't mean that the other is bad. The God in His expression revealed more things as time went along.

And we look at the Bible and the thought of the Gospel beginning in Genesis 1, and it is not completed until Revelation 22. So, what does it then say in the New Testament? I think we're going to come to find that God has not changed His mind. Join me to one of the sentinel scriptures of all the Bible found in Romans 6. In Romans 6, if you'll come with me, please, and let's explore it together. We're excavating. We're opening the Bible. We had a prayer in the beginning of church asking for God's lead, His direction, to take God at His word, to understand. Well, let's understand it. In Romans 6, and these are, again, if we're in the book of Romans, it is the writing of Paul. And we notice in this one scripture, two tremendous truths are spotlighted. In Romans 6 and verse 23, notice what it says, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. I remember the first time I heard this verse mentioned and explained to me. I was about 12 or 13 years of age at the time, and it was just like a marquee on the outside of a theater, just lit up. It made so much sense because I'd come out of a way of life that believed in heaven being the reward of the saved, and that once a good person died, they went pop! And up, you know, like beam me up like Scotty out of Star Trek, they just went pop! And they were up, and they got some wings. They got a cloud, and sincerely they might have even had the ability to have the beatific vision. But then I began to read this, and I began to have it explained to me. It says, For the wages. Now wages is that which you receive based upon that which you have labored for. For the wages of sin is death, not immortal life, not even immortal or eternal. Are you with me? Torture, death, death, death, death, all over, like Rover, the dog. When Rover, and you've got a Rover, you just don't know it, you might have named it Pansy or Petula or Brownie, the lab, whatever Rover looks like the dog, when a dog dies, it is an acesh, it is a soul, it is a living, breathing object. When it dies, it doesn't go to the dog, you have him. It dies. We too are nayfesh, we die. But it also mentions for the wages, what we have bought into if we have gone up against our sovereign God and His Christ, it says it's death. So we find then that out of Paul's writings, and some will think, well, Paul had the last expression of what Christ really wanted us to understand. Perhaps a different thought than even Christ, but it really isn't. It's the same thought as we find in the Old Testament, because all of Scripture is God-breathed, and it says, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Notice what it says about eternal life and or immortal life.

Passing on, following the Egyptians, following Plato, following the Neoplatonist of the second and third century, and we're just kind of moving through life like an eternal worm, moving from here to there, from this body to that body. That's kind of almost reincarnation. There is no immortal soul. Only God has self-inherent life. Why is that so important to understand? Are you with me? That's what makes Him God. God alone has life to give. God alone has life within Him. It is ageless. It is forever. It is eternal.

And you can't migrate into it. You can't pass on to it. You can't pass through it.

You can't buy it. As a Christian, you cannot even earn it with your works. Life forever from the grave upon the resurrection is the gift of God and a gift alone.

We do not have immortality to ourselves.

And thus we kind of see that humanity, through the words of God through Paul, that humanity is temporary, is of the dust, is not divine, is not the spirit of and by ourselves.

Now, why do I mention this to you? Why am I emphatic about it, even as I at times try to plead with you or raise my voice out of either enthusiasm or excitement? The excitement I have, my friends, is simply this. This was the plain teaching of Jesus and the apostles.

That man dies and that God resurrects. And it was the teaching of the early church up until about the fifth century A.D. Now, as we're building that biblical scriptural chain, we're in the New Testament now, so stay with me, please. Let's turn to the very words of Jesus himself in John 3 and verse 13. In John 3 and verse 13. Notice what is stated here. Jesus himself speaking. That's why maybe in your Bible it is in red ink. No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven.

Now, these are not the writings that you find on page so-and-so of some book or some commentary or the words of some historian. These are the words of Jesus Christ. And Jesus says, no man has ascended into heaven. If anyone would know what is going on up in heaven, who would you pick other than God the Father? You would pick Jesus Christ. And when he had stated this, let's understand something. Does that mean that he left out Abraham, the Father of the faithful? Basically, what he's saying is Abraham, the Father of the faithful, was not in heaven. Is he leaving out John the Baptist who himself, he says of John, the greatest man born of woman? Now, if this is the greatest man born of woman, wouldn't you think that he was in heaven ahead of you and me? And or what about David, who in the Bible is called a man after God's own heart?

Jesus clearly stated, there is no man in heaven. And John writing this probably between 80 and 90 AD, 50 to 60 years after Jesus' death, holds these words to still be relevant.

Now, beyond that, let's take it a step further. What about Peter's sermon in Acts 2 and verse 29? Join me. Peter's sermon, the first sermon or denoted as such in the book of Acts in what we might call the New Testament era. Let's notice what Peter says. I'm going to go to another Bible. I'm going to be reading out of the New Living Translation. It's not a paraphrase. I have to be mistaken with the Living Bible paraphrase. But let's go to Acts 2 and verse 29. I think this makes it even a little bit clearer. In Acts 2, and you're there and I'm not. Thank you for your patience. In Acts 2 and verse 29, dear brothers, think about this. So Peter was asking the audience like I have today to have you center on what is being said. David wasn't referring to himself when he spoke these words I have quoted about God not suffering a soul to be left in the grave. But he's basically saying that in the preceding verse that that was about Jesus Christ.

He says David wasn't referring to himself when he spoke these words I have quoted, for he died and was buried and his tomb is still here among us. Basically what he was stating is that David was dead and he was still there. He was not up in heaven. And again, that was the original teaching of the church up until about the fifth century A.D. Now, as I mentioned Jesus' own words that there has been no man that has ascended to heaven and or that David, a man after God's own heart, is dead and buried and his tomb is still with us, I realize that many sincere individuals will still say, yeah, but wait a minute, the body catches up with the soul in heaven. And this is often what is taught in seminaries or theological schools that the soul goes up, that inner person, but the body kind of hangs around and that is what is in the tomb. Let's note the plain and unmistakable words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. Now, let's understand the background of the book of Corinthians, basically a Greek community that was not overly familiar with the words of the Old Testament and had to be introduced step by step to the plan of God. And even so, we're thankful because as Christians today, we can be introduced and or reintroduced to what God is really doing.

Does the body, as it were, catch up with the soul if the soul is already in heaven? Let's allow the Bible to define that. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 51, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. Now, that doesn't mean being asleep at the switch. Sleep is a biblical word for death.

And you can go to the Gospel of Luke and you can explore the story of Jesus and his good friend Lazarus, who died and was resurrected. And as Lazarus was dead, he refers to Lazarus as what? Being asleep. So he says, we shall not all remain asleep or dead, but we shall all be changed. Okay, that's good news. But when? In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. So basically, if we take God at His word, it says that we remain asleep and we are dead to win the last trump. Now, I have a question for all of you in the audience. This is the interactive portion of service. Are you ready? Have any of you heard the last trump? Yet? Okay, the eyes have it. None of us have heard the last trump. One hand went up. You're already up there. We'll talk later. Okay. The rest of you, the rest of you, we're still awaiting, as we say. Now, we have not heard the last trumpet. So therefore, if we take God at His word through Paul, are you with me? We must then come to the conclusion that the dead are still dead because there's been the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. When?

Before the last trump? I mean, if we stay with the sentence and we don't have to assume? No. After the last trump? That is when this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruption is put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, when? Back again to verses 51 and 52, at the last trump, then the rest will be played out, and the story carries on.

Have you ever considered the significance of 1 Thessalonians 4 verses 13 through 17? And I'll just allude to it. It's a very famous part of Scripture where it says, The trumpet shall sound. And it says that those that are dead will be raised first, then we which are living will join them and rise with them.

And it says that there's going to be a voice that goes out. It's going to be like a voice that wakes the dead, which is synonymous with what Jesus Christ did at the tomb of Lazarus with that loud voice. As he said, Lazarus, come out, which is just a type of what God is going to do to Jesus Christ one day. When those clouds roll back, that trumpet sounds, Jesus is going to say, arise! Now, if he's saying, arise, one of you looks, oh, you're already up here. I'm sorry. I thought you were down there. That doesn't make sense, does it? Just think it through.

We don't have to assume. Let's allow the Bible to play out and to explain itself.

Now, with all of this stated, let me read one more passage from another book entitled, the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, volume one, and again under the heading of death, page 802, because it says it all and brings all of these scriptures into alignment. The departure of the nafesh, where we might say the soul, must be viewed as a figure of speech, for it does not continue to exist independently of the body, but dies with it. Oh, the soul dies with the body. The soul's not up there and the body's down here. It says from this individual, the soul dies with the body. No biblical text authorizes the statement that the soul is separated from the body. Now, where am I taking to? Because don't leave. There's something better than heaven. But we have one more bridge to go over, then we want to describe what God has in store. Even so, some will say, yeah, but what about, okay, Mr. Weber, so far you've gone to this scripture and that scripture and that scripture, but what about, let's just take one, and there are many others that we could discuss, but I'm going to mention something that you can examine to look through all of those later. Let's just talk about what about the good thief on the cross and what Jesus said to him. What about that good thief? And what about what Jesus promised him? Let's go over to Luke 23 and give it a close look for a moment. In Luke 23, the third gospel that has been preserved by inspiration for us to understand what salvation is about. Luke 23 verse 39, and let's look at it firsthand. Let's not dodge. Let's look at it firsthand, see what it says, see what it doesn't say, and at the same time we can rejoice. In Luke 23 and verse 39, then one of the criminals who were hung blasphemed, saying, If you are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other answering rebuked him. Now this is moving into the conversation of what man has come to call the good thief. Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

For one reason or another, and the Father and Jesus alone know the level of what this man knew and what he was coming to, as he was up there strapped to a piece of wood with people gawking at him. There's this conversation going on up above the ground between two individuals that are about to die. And Jesus said to him, Assuredly I say to you, and your Bible probably says, today you will be with me in paradise. There you go.

You wait until the end of the message to get to that, because you didn't want to deal with it. Well, sorry, I want to deal with it. We want to look at it. Let's take it face on and understand what is being said and what is not being said and the joy that we can have out of this verse.

And Jesus said to him, Assuredly I say to you, today you'll be with me in paradise. First of all, let's understand this. In the original script, out of the Greek, when this is written, and you can go to the commentaries, you don't have to believe me, punctuation was not used in the Greek and in the script. So, I would simply read, Assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. The commas that are here, I will share my fault on it. You can research it further, are based upon, I'm going to put these words together. They may sound kind of funny, but it was sincere editorial bias on the translator's part based upon what they already thought they understood that the scripture said about heaven, because there is no punctuation here. It should not be read that way. Number two, the companion Bible points out that the phraseology assuredly I say to you today was a very common idiom of the Jews in the first century A.D. It was used as a, are you with me? As a solemn utterance. In other words, I'm about to proclaim something. We're about to sound the trumpet. We're about to unfold the sign, and I say, assuredly I say to you today. That means something important is about to come.

It's not assuredly I say to you, comma, today you will be with me in paradise.

The last thought I want to share with you is simply this.

Jesus died, slain. And we know that Scripture says that He was in the grave for what? Three days and three nights.

And even after His ascension, excuse me, even after His resurrection from the grave, He had not ascended. Remember the woman was in the garden. He said, do not touch me. I have not ascended. Correct? Stay with me. Are you with me? So even Jesus, in the day that He mentioned as surely I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise, was not in paradise today if He wanted to take it at that level. Because it would be three days and three nights, and even then He had not ascended. And if Christ was not in heaven, I can tell you something else. I do not have to assume it. The good thief was not in paradise today. What Jesus was offering this individual was an incredible encouragement. That because of the recognition that that individual had about the Messiah, that Jesus saw into His heart and was offering Him a solemn promise that assuredly I say to you today, and when God says something that He means it, that one day that good thief is going to be in the Kingdom of God. And that is the joy of the Scripture beyond the confusion that surrounds it sometimes. Now I say, okay, wait a minute. So you've left a good thief hanging on the cross. Now, we that are listening, we're being left because what you've basically done for the last 45 minutes or so is you've gone through verse and verse and commentary and commentary and it seems like everything that I've ever believed, what grandma taught me, what mom taught me, what my favorite preacher taught me, what my least favorite teacher taught me, they had something in common, whoever that preacher might have been, and everybody else believes this, you're saying that the reward of the righteous is not in heaven, that there is something better than heaven. That's right. That's right. And I might also say that I do believe that God has granted within the human framework a strong desire to live forever. And beyond that, God has created in us a love for our family that we never want to be separated from them. We want to see our grandmother again. We want to see our parents again. We want to see our wives again. We want to see those children that have maybe preceded us in death again. And we can. No, we cannot bring the dead back today. But we can be with them in what? What God has reserved for the future, and that is the kingdom of God. I said that there's something better than heaven, and there is. I just want to whet your appetite for just a few minutes here to understand what God is bringing.

We remember from the earliest days of our life that perhaps our mother sat us down bedside, or father, and taught us the Lord's Prayer that says, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. That is not just pretty prose. That is not just biblical poetry. And that is not just simply us reflecting the qualities of God in our life today, of which we should. But there is a reality that we are asking God to bring that which is in heaven to this earth. Have you ever noticed that in the Bible that God's words about heaven, He calls it the kingdom of heaven, not the kingdom in heaven.

He calls it the kingdom of heaven. Why is that relevant to our discussion today? Because it's relevant due to the fact that Jesus told His disciples, and all the prophecies of the Bible clearly display an expectation that Jesus Christ, on behalf of His Father in heaven, is coming back to this earth. You know, it's interesting how God says in the book of Isaiah, man's thoughts are not my thoughts, my ways are not man's ways. And He says, my thoughts are higher than man's. And usually when man says it's over here, God says it's over there. Man thinks that we're going to heaven. The clear implication of the Bible is that Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth. Now, some of us that are here today, and or some of us that are listening to this CD or tape in the future, have never heard that before. We've always heard that we're going to get a cloud reserved for us, or like Clarence the angel, and it's a wonderful life. We're going to get our our wings, or we'll get to be a part of the beatific vision. No!

God clearly states He's coming back to this earth. Join me, if you would, for just a moment. We're going to let our fingers run through the Scripture for a second. You can explore it in depth later. Luke 19. In Luke 19 and verse 11, join me if you were there for a moment, Jesus Christ is giving a parable. A parable is not just a cute little saying. It's usually talking about what Jesus Christ is going to do, and it includes what He's going to do about His kingdom. In Luke 19 and beginning in verse 11, note, Now, as they heard these things, He spoke another parable because He was near Jerusalem, and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. Therefore, He said, a certain nobleman went into a hard country to receive for himself a kingdom.

So far, so good. As I mentioned earlier, Jesus Christ ascended after three days and three nights to receive a kingdom as the only begotten Son of God the Father, the beautiful and the wonderful Savior who gave His life for all of us. But that's not where the story ends. Notice, and to return. The reality of the Scripture is that God and Jesus Christ are not absentee landlords. They are coming back to this earth, so much so that it's no secret because at the very end of the Old Testament, in Zachariah 14, if you'll join me there, in Zachariah 14, let's notice verse 9.

You know, it's very evident that Jesus Christ never said exactly when the end would be. He never said, the end is here. He said, it's near. No man knows the day or the hour, but we can know through Scripture that Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth, and we can even know where He is going to be. In fact, there are headlines being made over there today, and that's why, as students of the Bible, we want to keep our eyes on Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is the bullseye of prophecy. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, and He fights in the day of battle. And in that day, when the Bible says, in that day, for those who are just beginning to read the Bible, that doesn't mean today. That is prophetic. That is in the future. That is when all of these things are going to be fulfilled. And in that day, His feet will stand on the mount of olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. There's going to be a day when, you know, when we've heard this many times over the years, Houston, the eagle has landed. But it's not going to be Houston, and it's not going to be the eagle. It's going to be Jesus Christ. And it's going to be in Jerusalem. In fact, notice verse 9. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth. Not a cloud, not harps. Not just simply moving in and out of the beatific vision, but Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is going to be king over all the earth. And in that day, it shall be. So the news and the good news of Scripture and the full news of Scripture is that Jesus Christ is not going to stay in heaven. He is coming to this earth, and He's taking that which is in heaven and from heaven. And He's bringing it back to this earth. Have you ever considered, maybe you learned this as a youngster, Matthew 5 and verse 5, as maybe you were in Sunday school and your teacher was going through you, and if you got the beatitude right, you got a star on the chart where it says, "...blessed are the meek." For what? They shall inherit what? The earth.

Not a cloud, not a heart. They're going to inherit the earth. What does that mean when you say, inherit the earth? What will they do? Join me in Revelation 20. In Revelation 20, and let's notice verse 4. Just a couple verses here to show the dynamism and the excitement of something that is better than heaven, that is coming and that God wants us so much to be a part of. In Revelation 20 and beginning in verse 4, speaking of the reward of the saints, the reward of the righteous, and I saw thrones and they sat on them, they, being the pronoun meaning the righteous, meaning the saints, and notice, and judgment was committed to them. Not judgment on them, but judgment was committed to them. Those that are going to rule under Jesus Christ on earth from Jerusalem, the righteous, are going to be committed justice to act out upon others during the millennium and over that thousand year period when the kingdom of God is established on this earth. See, a lot of people sometimes they use the word kingdom and they think, well, the kingdom is in our heart. Is that true? Yes, in part, it's true. If you are a Christian and you have the Spirit of God, your citizenship is in heaven, and there is a truism that the kingdom of God in part is in your heart, but that is not where it ends. That's only what? The beginning. The kingdom of God is what's coming to this earth, the sovereignty of God over the nations. Read Isaiah, read Daniel, read Revelation.

A kingdom is one that has a ruler. A kingdom is one that has territory. A kingdom is one that has subjects and that has laws and with subjects and with laws. There has to be judgment.

And those that are now following the testimony of Jesus Christ, keeping the commandments, are one day not going to get a cloud, not going to get a harp, not going to get wings like Clarence. Judgment is going to be committed to them. Isn't that what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6?

And he says, no, you're not. You're Christians. And Corinth, that one day you are going to judge angels. There's judgment. Not only that, but over in Revelation 5 and verse 10.

Let's take a peek at that to understand what's going to occur. In Revelation 5 and verse 10, speaking of the saints, speaking of the elect, speaking of the ecclesia that Mr. Clark brought out today, and having made us, whose us? Us are the saints. Us are the redeemed. Us are the first fruits. Made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on earth. What do kings do? Kings build.

What do priests do? Priests educate. They teach. There's going to be rulership. There's going to be reigning. Remember what Jesus said, if you've been faithful over little, you'll be granted faithful over much. If you've taken care of this pound or this talent, you'll be granted five or ten. Remember what we call the parable talks?

This is not just pretty biblical prose. This is speaking of the government of God as outlined by God in the future of dynamism, of activity, of energy, of creation, of things that are moving, of color, of things happening. So much so that, let me conclude with Isaiah 2 to paint what that world's going to be like. A world that is going to be at peace, and couldn't we use that when we think of what's going on in this world of ours today that has moved so far away from God and to recognize the tragedies and the wars that are going on.

Wars right now in Iraq, wars over in Afghanistan, all the little wars that are big wars if they're on your territory that are occurring in this world. And notice what this kingdom of heaven, from heaven, on earth, under Jesus Christ is going to be like. Under the saints that are going to rule, that are going to teach, that are going to judge out of Jerusalem. Something that you and I are being called to.

And notice verse 3, Isaiah 2, and many people shall come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. Mountain is a word that signifies kingdom or government. We're going to have the government of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He's going to teach us His ways. Well, we've already found that who's going to be teaching that are the saints under Jesus Christ, the righteous. And we're going to walk in His paths. Who's going to teach them other than those that have already been there, already done it?

Ought to recognize the uphill climb sometimes in this fleshly tabernacle, and yet what God's Spirit in us can do. For out of Zion shall go forth along the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He's going to judge between the nations, and rebuke many people. And they're going to turn their swords into polishers, and their spirits into pruning hook.

And nations shall not lift up sword against nation. When I think of many of our fellow citizens here in the Inland Empire, brave men and women that are right now over in Iraq or in Afghanistan, or serving other parts of the nation because of the governments of this world, the governments of man, etc., etc., there's going to be a day when all those armaments are going to be made instruments of peace. And no young man is ever going to have to die again on a sand dune and interact.

No young man or woman are going to be bombed on a road over an Afghanistan. And you and I, as a part of our reward of now keeping the testimony of Jesus Christ, of now keeping the commandments, can be a part of that dynamic kingdom of God on this earth.

And it is worth every inch, every foot of struggle going upstream against the society, against Satan's wavelength, against the personal pressures that are facing you and me today in our lives. You want to be there. Visualize it. Frame it in your heart. Frame it in your mind.

Remember what Johnson said? As man looks at heaven, it's a whole.

The Bible shows that what God has in store for you is not a whole. It is everything and more. Now, I've just been able to skim the surface today. There is so much that we could have talked about, and we'll talk about it in the future. Next week, we're going to be discussing what does the Bible really say about hell? But right now, if you'd like more information, there's two books that I like to offer. The first book is What Happens After Death, which will go much further than I could in this message today about scriptures that you might be interested in. What Happens After Death, and also a booklet entitled Heaven and Hell. You say, well, Mr. Weber, you didn't touch on this scripture or that scripture or that scripture, and you know what? You're right. I didn't. But it's all in here. There's more. It will open your eyes. It'll open your heart, and all you have to do is call 1-800-55-UNITE. U-N-I-T-E 1-800-55-UNITE, and you can request this absolutely free book of and for yourself. And or you can write in to www.ucg.org, and you can request it over the computer. Now, next week we're going to discuss what does the Bible really say about hell. What really does happen to the wicked? What happens to those that seem unredeemable, that are incorrigible?

Does God mean for them to suffer forever in hell fire? And what about those that have never heard the name of Jesus Christ, never had a Bible opened up to them? What would you do with them?

Where would you place them in the scheme of eternity? Are they lost? Are they to burn in hell because they never heard the name of Jesus Christ? What would you do? Better still, what would God do? How you answer that question defines the kind of God that you worship.

Be back next week, next take, next CD, whatever and however this Word of God might be coming to you. So until next time, may each and every one of you grow in spirit and in truth.