Notes on Heaven....

                        HEAVEN

*At Death* 

Man is a trichotomy (1Thess. 5:23)

Body: Goes back to the dust (Gen. 3:19; Job 4:18-19; Eccles. 12:7; 2Cor. 5:1)

Spirit: Returns back to God (Eccles. 12:7; Zechariah 12:1)

Soul: Of the save goes to sleep until the Rapture. Of the unsaved and rightness until the 2nd resurrection. (Ps. 17:15; 30:3; Job 33:22; Ps. 16:10; Acts 2:27; 13:36).  

Since no one is in Heaven as of yet we must deal with the subject of Heaven in this perspective........ What will Heaven be like after the Rapture, Tribulation, 2nd Coming, & the Millennial Reign of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10;

(9). But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 

(10). But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

"But as it is written" = in the Old Testament (Isa. 64:4)

"The beginning of the world" = (Acts 3:21) the world began in Adam.

John 14:1-6;

(1). Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 

(2). In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 

(3). And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 

(4). And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 

(5). Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 

(6). Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Revelation 22:1-6;

(1). And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 

(2). In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 

(3). And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 

(4). And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 

(5). And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. 

(6). And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

*The Third Heaven* (1 Thess. 4:1)

*The New Heavens and New Earth will be established during the Seventh Day of God's Creative Week and they will remain forever *

(Isa. 66:22; Rev. 22:1)

The New Heavens and New Earth (Isa.65:17; 2Pet.3:7, 10-14; Revelation 21:1-7)

At the end of the Millennium rain, the earth will have completed a time cycle of forty-two thousand years. This will be the end of the sixth day of creation. There are seven creative days in God's creative week. The Seventh Day is called, "God's day of Rest". 

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." (Genesis 2:1-3)

God will bring in the seventh day by making all things new. 

"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." (Isaiah 65:17-19)

"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." (Revelation 21:5)

He will make a New Earth and New Heavens that will be filled with righteousness 

"Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13)

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." (Revelation 21:1-5)

This is God's day of rest for him and his people (Gen.2:2; Heb.4:9)

David shall be king over the New Earth this will be his reward. Because David is apart of the Church our reward will be the same as his. The Church will be in the havens ruling and reigning as kings just as David will on the New Earth. We will be kings but JESUS is the King of kings.

"And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people."(Ezekiel 37:24, 27)

"And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd." (Ezekiel 34:23)

"But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them." (Jeremiah 30:9)

"I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven." (Psalms 89:20, 29)

"In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:" (Amos 9:11)

When the New Heavens and the New Earth appear we will have entered into God's heavenly kingdom in its fullness. 

"And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it."  (Revelation 21:24)

Those of God's Heavenly Kingdom, the church shall reign not only on the earth (During the millennium) but when the Earth and Heavens are made New we shall reign on the other planets that will be planted with seed from the New Earth in that day. The Bible uses "world and "heavens" for planets.

"And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people." (Isaiah 51:16) 

Enoch was the seventh from Adam. (Jude14) He was the type of the seventh day of creation. At 365 years of age He was translated. So those on the New Earth when they reach 365 years of age will be translated and planted on the other planets that God will then have made habitable by His fire of purification. They will live forever there and multiply and fill those planets and we of the heavenly kingdom (Church) will rule over them even as David will rule on the New Earth. This will complete God's family 

"That 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:" (Ephesians 1:10)

"That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:7)

by Bryant A. Murphy

Pastor of Christ Temple Holiness Church of the Apostolic Faith.

The Baptism of Christ

“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17). 

According to this passage, the Son of God was baptized, the Spirit descended like a dove, and a voice spoke from heaven. Luke 3:22 adds the further information that “the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him.” 

To understand this scene, we must remember that God is omnipresent. Jesus is God and was God manifested in flesh while on earth (1Tim.3:16). He could not and did not sacrifice His omnipresence while on earth because that is one of God’s basic attributes, and God does not change. Of course, the physical body of Jesus was not omnipresent, but His Spirit was. Furthermore, although the fullness of God was resident in the body of Jesus, the omnipresent Spirit of Jesus could not be so confined. Thus, Jesus could be on earth and in heaven at the same time (John 3:13) and with two or three of His disciples at any time (Matthew 18:20). With the omnipresence of God in mind we can understand the baptism of Christ very easily.

The voice and the dove do not represent different persons any more than the voice of God from Sinai indicates that the mountain was a second intelligent person in the Godhead. Since the voice and the dove were symbolic manifestations of the one omnipresent God, we may ask what they represented. What was their purpose? 

*The purpose of Jesus’ baptism*

Jesus was not baptized for remission of sin as we are, because He was sinless (I Peter 2:22). The Bible says He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15). He is our example and He was baptized to leave us an example to follow (I Peter 2:21). Moreover, Jesus was baptized as a means of manifesting Himself, or making Himself known, to Israel (John 1:26-27, 31). In other words, Jesus used the baptism as the starting point in His ministry. It was a public declaration of who He was and what He came to do. For example, at Christ’s baptism, John the Baptist learned who Jesus was. He did not know that Jesus really was the Messiah until the baptism, and after the baptism he was able to declare to the people that Jesus was the Son of God and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29-34).  

The Scriptures speak of Jesus as being "firstborn among many brethren" that is He was the first to set the example of the new birth. He was baptized immersed in water we should be baptized immersed in water in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He received a visible manifestation of the Holy Ghost we should receive the visible manifestation of the Holy Ghost which is speaking with other tongues.

"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Rom. 8:29)

Having established the purposes of Christ’s baptism, let us see how the dove and voice furthered those purposes.  

John 1:32-34 clearly states that the dove was a sign for the benefit of John the Baptist. Since John was the forerunner of Jehovah (Isaiah 40:3), he needed to know that Jesus was really Jehovah come in flesh. God told John that the One who would  baptize with the Holy Ghost would be identified by the Spirit descending upon Him. 

"And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." (John 1:33)

Of course, John was incapable of seeing the Spirit of God anointing Christ, so God chose a dove as the visible sign of His Spirit. Thus the dove was a special sign for John to let him know that Jesus was Jehovah and the Messiah. 

The dove also was a type of anointing to signify the beginning of Christ’s ministry. In the Old Testament, prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with oil to indicate that God had chosen them (Exodus 28:41; I  Kings 19:16). Priests in particular were both washed in water and anointed with oil (Exodus 29:4, 7). The oil symbolized God’s Spirit. The Old Testament foretold that Jesus would be similarly anointed (Psalm 2:2; 45:7; Isaiah 61:1). In fact, the Hebrew word  Messiah (Christ  in Greek) means “the Anointed One.” Jesus came to fulfill the roles of  sacrifice, prophet, priest, and king (Acts 3:20-23; Hebrews 3:1; Revelation 1:5). He also came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17-18), and to keep His own law He needed to be anointed as prophet, priest, and king. Since Jesus was God Himself and a sinless man, an anointing by a sinful human and anointing with symbolic oil was not enough. Instead, Jesus was anointed directly by the Spirit of God. Thus, at His baptism in water, Jesus was officially anointed for the beginning of His earthly ministry, not by symbolic oil but by the Spirit of God in the form of a dove. For at this time all the fullness of God it was in that body no one else at the anointing. 

"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Col. 2:9)

The voice came from heaven for the benefit of the people. John 12:28-30 records a similar incident in which a voice came from heaven and confirmed the deity of Jesus to the people. Jesus said it came not for  His benefit but for the people’s sake. The voice was God’s way of formally introducing Jesus to Israel as the Son of God. Many people were present at the baptism of Jesus and many were being baptized (Luke 3:21), so the Spirit singled out the man Jesus and identified Him to all as the Son of God by a miraculous voice from heaven. This was much more effective and convincing than an announcement coming from Jesus as a man. In fact, it appears that this miraculous manifestation effectively accomplished Jesus’ purpose at His baptism. The baptism of Jesus does not teach us that God is three persons but only reveals the omnipresence of God and the humanity of the Son of God. When God speaks to four different people on four different continents at the same time, we do not think of four persons of God but of God’s omnipresence. God did not intend for the baptism to reveal to the monotheistic Jewish onlookers a radically new revelation of a plurality in the Godhead, and there is no indication that the Jews interpreted it as such. Even many modern scholars do not see the baptism of Christ as an indication of a trinity but as a reference to “the authoritative anointing of Jesus as the Messiah.”

The Voice from Heaven 

Three times in the life of Jesus a voice came from heaven: at His baptism, at His transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9), and after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (John 12:20-33). We  have just explained that a voice does not indicate a distinct person in the Godhead but only another manifestation of the omnipresent Spirit of God. In each of the three cases, the voice was not for the benefit of Jesus but for the benefit of others, and it came for a specific purpose. As we have discussed, the voice at Christ’s baptism was part of the inauguration of His earthly ministry.  It was for the people’s sake, just as the dove was for John’s sake. The voice introduced Jesus as the Son of God: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). The voice at the Transfiguration unquestionably was for the benefit of the onlooking disciples, for the message was, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him” (Matthew 17:5). The third manifestation of the voice occurred when a group of Greeks (apparently Gentile proselytes) came to see Jesus. Jesus explained that the voice was not for Him but for the people (John 12:30).

It is important to note that this was a voice "from" heaven not a voice "in" heaven. That voice spoke out of the body of the Christ and said this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased it is important also notes that God was announcing that he was pleased to dwell in that body! The Father was IN the Son (2Cor. 5:19; John 14:11; Col. 1:19)

The Sign Of His Coming And Of The End Of The World

(As taught by Bishop R.P. Paddock)

Before this time the Bible was not divided into chapter and verse. These divisions were added for our convenience however they were not always made at the appropriate places. Chapters 24 and 25 of the Gospel according to Matthew should be one chapter. Because of this there are some difficulties in understanding these two chapters.

First of all the Bible is not written in direct order and you do not read the Bible like you read a novel.

Isaiah 28:13;
"But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken."


Until you get all the little bits together you do not have the truth of God's Word. The Bible is the Truth only when it is rightly divided and it takes the baptism of the Holy Ghost the leading of the Spirit of God to get all of those precepts together, all of those lines together so that you will understand.

Now as you go back to Matthew 24 you will find that Jesus had been with his Disciples in the Temple.


The questions the disciples asked:

Matthew 24:3;

"And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"

The disciples asked three questions,

(1). When shall these things be?

(2). What shall be the sign of thy coming,

(3). And of the end of the world.

But Jesus answered four because the coming of The Lord is in two parts, the Rapture (when Jesus comes for His Church before the tribulation) and the Second coming (when Jesus comes with His Church). But he did not answer them in direct order. As you read Matthew chapters 24 and 25 you will find the answers to these questions but unless you have the leading of the Holy Ghost you'll put the right answer to the wrong question.


Question number three (3). "And of the end of the world"
(4-14)

Question number one (1). When shall these things be?
The destruction of the Temple. (15-22) also Mark 13:14

Question number two (2). And what shall be the sign of thy coming,

number two (a). Rapture (23-28;36-44; Isa. 40:28-31)
number two (b). Second Coming (29-35)



The Church Age (45-51)


Matthew Chapter 25 Question number two (A) (1-13)
The Church Age (14-18)
The Great White Throne Judgment (19-46)

A parable is a story that is told to make a point. What you should get from the parable is the point. Now the point of this parable is when the bridegroom comes those that are ready will go in with him and the door will be shut. Now the Bible was not written in the English language The Old Testament was mainly written in the Hebrew and New Testament in the Greek but one that was in latin. The Bible was translated to the English language but the command of King James of England, he had 50 of the best translators of that day.