Isaiah 11:11-12 11And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
12And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

ensign for the nations
nês
nace
From H5264; a flag; also a sail; by implication a flagstaff; generally a signal; figuratively a token:—banner, pole, sail, (en-) sign, standard.

Ezekiel 38:8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

God told the people of Israel through the prophets that, because of their sins, they would be taken out of the land promised to them--twice. The first time was when the Babylonians came to take them captive. For 70 years, the Jews lived in Babylonia. This was the time of the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel. That’s where they were when they wrote their prophecies. The Jews were promised that they would be there for 70 years and then could return to their own land.

Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Jeremiah 25:12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

Jeremiah 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.If they still didn’t follow God, they would be taken over by other empires while in their own land. By the way, that’s exactly what happened. Finally, the prophets said if they STILL didn’t follow Him, they would be taken out of their land again, for a lot longer than 70 years.

The Jews would be scattered all over the world. When you listen to the news today and read about Israel in the Bible, you might think that it has existed for centuries. But there was a long time when it didn’t. There were the Greek Empire and then the Roman Empire that ruled over Israel for many years. In 70 A.D., the Romans decided that it was time to get rid of the Jews once and for all. They destroyed the Holy City of the Jews and their temple. They persecuted the Jews until they fled for their lives.

The land of Israel was given the name of “Palestine” by the Romans to remind the Jews of their enemies, the Philistines. The Jews tried to settle down and make themselves “at home” in other countries, but wherever they went, there were people and governments that tried to kill them. Although Jews would celebrate their Holy days in their adoptive countries, often they would say that they would celebrate “next year in Jerusalem”. But, they couldn’t go back to Israel, because there was nothing left to the country. When they left Israel, the whole country just “dried up/it became desolate”. There were relatively few people living in the land that they had left. The population was mostly made up of goat herders and tribes of nomads passing through.

Jeremiah 19:8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.

Zechariah 7:14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

When Mohammad started the religion of Islam about six hundred years after the birth of Christ, they came through to claim the land that had been given by God to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But there was nothing there. There were only rocks, dirt, and a few houses. There weren't even very many trees growing there. The land was dead. They built a mosque near where the Jewish Temple had once stood, but relatively few people visited it. Mecca in Saudi Arabia was their "holy city". Almost 2000 years passed before anyone showed a real interest in it. By the beginning of the 20th century, the land was governed by the Muslims of the Ottoman Turk Empire.

Ezekiel 36:1-11 1Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:
2Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:
3Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:
4Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;
5Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
6Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:
7Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.
8But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.
9For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:
10And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:
11And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

--End Times - Israel--

There seemed to be no hope on the part of most Jews of ever returning to Israel. Then the seemingly impossible happened. In 1918, as a result of World War I, Jews had been allowed to trickle into the “Palestinian Mandate”; land previously lived in by the Jews. But as the result of World War II with the Jewish Holocaust that brought about the genocide of 6 million Jews which ended in 1945, the Jewish survivors were told that they could return to the land of their ancestors and form their own country. In 1948, the new country of Israel was born in ONE DAY, just like the prophet Isaiah had said that it would be!

Isaiah 66:8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

And he was speaking more than 500 years before the Jews had been taken out of the land. Isaiah knew that God would scatter the Jews all over the world, but that He would one day bring them back never to be taken out of the land ever again!!

--Israel Now and Then--

Ezekiel 28:25-26 25Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.26And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.

The creation of the land of Israel was a miracle and, although they have been under attack almost constantly from their enemies, they are still in the land. And this is another miracle seeing how all of their neighbors want to destroy them! Because we hear about it in the news every day, and how important it is to world peace, most people don’t realize how small Israel really is.

It’s only about 250 miles long and 60 miles across at the most. There are some places where it is only 19 miles across. This would be like if you could take the state of Rhode Island and put it in the middle of the United States, give guns and bombs to all of the other states to try to destroy it, and have Rhode Island come out the winner! And their Arab neighbors who have much more land are screaming that Israel has to give away more of their land for peace! In the midst of conflict, not only is Israel surviving, but it is prospering as both of the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel said that they would!

Their return to the land has been blessed by God and it is no longer a desert. Their planting of trees and irrigation of the land has transformed Israel to the point that it now has forests. Even the climate has changed and the rain has returned. They now export over $800 million dollars worth of produce each year! Although, the continued existence of Israel is probably the biggest sign that Jesus will be returning soon, there are other signs that we are told to watch for. Jesus told us that, once the signs began, they would be like a woman’s labor pains. They would start out slowly, but gradually increase in frequency and intensity. And this is exactly what we are seeing now.

--End Times - Beginning of Sorrows--

Even those who say that they don’t believe in God or that Jesus is coming back are noticing that change is coming very fast to our society and our world. So, what are the signs that He is coming back soon? Click Here Many of them however will not actually take place until the 7 year period begins that we call the tribulation. But, we can see things moving in that direction so that, when the tribulation starts, some things will already be in place.

But we believe that God is faithful, will not lie to us, and, when He says that we are not appointed to suffer the wrath, that we, as Christians, will be taken away by Christ in "the rapture" before the tribulation begins to be protected by Him during that time of great distress.

--End Times - The Rapture--

--We Too Will Survive --

--If you put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you must cry out in His name and ask Him alone for forgiveness of your sins, He will not refuse or turn you away. You must believe that Jesus is God and that He did die for you on the cross and was buried and rose again on the third day for all to see... only God himself could do this to show mankind that there is eternal life through the name of Jesus alone.

...Please don’t be Left Behind!

John 3

You Must Be Born Again

¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ²This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." ³Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." ⁴Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?" ⁵Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

⁹Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" ¹⁰Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

For God So Loved the World

¹⁶"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

²²After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. ²³John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized ²⁴(for John had not yet been put in prison).

²⁵Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. ²⁶And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him." ²⁷John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' ²⁹ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease."

³¹ He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. ³³Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. ³⁴For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

What must I do to accept Jesus Christ?

by Myles Dalton

This morning in church my pastor preached an awesome sermon on Ezekiel 33:1-9 about us needing to be a watchman on the wall and being the voice to the lost and dying and that we need to be more compassionate to the sinner just as Jesus showed that same compassion to the many sinners and he confronted during his 3 1/2 year Ministry.

Ezekiel 33:1-9
1Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
3If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
4Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
5He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
6But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
7So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
8When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
9Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

There are a lot of churches today that have moved away from teaching repentance and salvation through Christ, and because of this mindset apathy has settled in many of our mainstream churches where the issue today is to be more tolerant to sinful behavior instead of trying to reach out and help a person come to the saving grace that we know by way of repentance and believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many don't want to hear how sinful we all are and heed the warnings in Scripture that is so clear, instead let us make them feel good about themselves while in reality they are just covering up their sinful nature instead of confronting it with the sound biblical understanding of "The gospel of Jesus Christ".

Just like in the days of Ezekiel when the Lord appointed him to be a watchman over the house of Israel, we too as the church of believers in Jesus Christ need to warn the lost and dying that there is hope and salvation through the blood of Christ that he shed for us on the cross.

Put it this way… If I see my neighbor is headed for destruction and I stand by and say nothing to warn him, then his blood is on my hands and the Lord will hold me accountable; but if he hears the gospel and refuses to save himself by believing in the one and only begotten son that God sent into this world to die for us so that we shall be saved by believing in Him, than the loss of his soul will be his own fault and God will not hold me accountable.

My pastor went on to say that today the world is tired of hearing us preach the truth so instead of just ignoring us, they are screaming back at us in opposition, and if that's not enough; through legislation they are pushing to pass laws that will criminalize us for preaching the gospel as if it's hate speech… "what is good is being viewed as evil; and what is evil is being viewed as good".

That my dear brothers and sisters is not the road that we as Christians want to travel down within this country, but from what I have read recently that is just what is happening today in this country of ours and in other nations around this world, as they step up their war against Christians, "believe me this is frightening to hear".

Why?... I just read two articles that are troubling:

"Offend a homosexual ... Go to prison for 5 years" that Christians will face prison for speaking out against homosexuality if Brazil's Senate passes a bill approved unanimously by its House of Representatives, as quoted

"[A] priest, a pastor, a teacher or even an average citizen who says in a sermon, a classroom or public conversation that homosexual acts are sinful, disordered or an illness could be denounced and detained," the association said; and in another article:

Iran Proposes Death Penalty for Apostasy Iran is pushing to have an automatic death penalty for anyone who converts to Christianity without trial and without any means to defend oneself; as quoted in the same article:

“They [Iran] began assassinating pastors and Christian workers,” said an Iranian pastor, who requested anonymity, to Compass. “Legally, they did not take them to court, but they just killed them and said that they hanged themselves and gave some other excuses.”

2 Timothy 3:1
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

As frightening as this may seem to some especially if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior, it's never too late to reach out to the one true God, the Creator of heaven and earth!

Matthew 11:29-30
29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

The popular notion of the "sweet by and by" is often one of clouds, pain-free bliss and not much else -- except for the occasional angel floating by with a harp. If one's idea of eternity is a happy pill, such an image might be appealing.

Author Randy Alcorn, in his bestselling book "Heaven," illustrates contemporary Christianity's failure in teaching on eternal life by quoting a pastor who admitted: "I can't stand the thought of that endless tedium. To float around in the clouds with nothing to do but strum a harp ... it's all so terribly boring. Heaven doesn't sound much better than hell. I'd rather be annihilated than spend eternity in a place like that."

More than one music leader has suggested, based on Bible passages that speak of music, that a believer's eternity will be a never-ending sing-along around a celestial piano.

Most people enjoy good music and everyone wants bliss, but are these accurate depictions of what heaven will be like?

What is heaven?

Revelation 21:1-8 describes a renewed creation at the end of time this way: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer. I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

"Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: 'Look! God's dwelling is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will exist no longer; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.'

"Then the One seated on the throne said, 'Look! I am making everything new.' He also said, 'Write, because these words are faithful and true.' And He said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give to the thirsty from the spring of living water as a gift.

The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars -- their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.'" (HCSB)

Wayne Grudem, a professor of Bible and theology at Phoenix Seminary, writes in his popular "Systematic Theology" textbook: "When referring to this place, Christians often talk about living with God 'in heaven' forever. But in fact the biblical teaching is richer than that: it tells us that there will be new heavens and a new earth -- an entirely renewed creation -- and we will live with God there."

Grudem emphasizes that heaven is a physical place, not just a state of being, contrary to some other commentators, who Grudem alleges are hesitant to emphasize the physicality of the believer's eternal destination.

Grudem notes that heaven refers to two distinct places: the abode of believers who die in the present world and immediately join God in a place that Scripture calls heaven, and the New Earth, which will include all the redeemed of all the ages after God completes his saving work.

"In fact, heaven may be defined as follows: Heaven is the place where God most
fully makes known his presence to bless," Grudem writes.

David P. Nelson, professor of theology and academic vice president at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, said: "Unlike the notion of some that we will float around in the age to come as disembodied beings, the Scriptures are clear about the sheer 'bodilyness' of eternal life. Paul goes to great lengths in 1 Corinthians 15 to explain this point. And this has significant implications for the manner in which we use our bodies in this life -- we were bought with a price, so we must glorify God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:20), we must present out bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord." (Romans 12:1)

"We're handicapped when it comes to heaven," said John Meador, pastor of First Baptist Church of Euless, Texas, who was preparing to preach on the topic as this story was being written. "We don't know what it is like! Islam has a 'heaven' with each martyr being nurtured by 72 virgins. The Hindu heaven is 'Nirvana' or endless peace and rest. Mormons say heaven is a place of marriage and family activity.

"But for Christians, well, we get the angel-on-a-cloud-with-a-harp thing. Or even worse for some -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week in a glorified church service," Meador added. "No wonder we hold off as long as we can! God, however, reveals tangible and vivid details of what we will experience, explore and enjoy in heaven. It defies comparison with anything you've ever known, and it is revealed in living detail in the Word."

So what will the perfected bodies on the New Earth be like?

Wayne Martindale, in his 2005 book "Beyond the Shadowlands: C.S. Lewis on Heaven and Hell," wrote: "We find the best clue available in Jesus' resurrected body. On the one hand, Jesus appears suddenly in a room with locked doors and ultimately floats into heaven. On the other, Jesus takes pains to calm this fear for His followers: He eats fish, breaks bread, and converses in audible language that uses 'normal' bodily functions. He was recognized by his disciples as the Jesus who had been with them over miles of dusty road. He was so substantial that He had to admonish Mary Magdalene to let go. Thomas was invited to touch His wounds.

"The resurrection body of Jesus, like the new body He promises to bestow on us, has amazing capabilities," Martindale added. "It is not an issue of giving up the things about our present bodies we know and love and that God in Christ created good. It is more like getting a new model with expanded capabilities that we will assuredly like."

But before God creates the New Earth, the souls of believers who die "go immediately into the presence of God with rejoicing" and will be reunited with their resurrected bodies when Christ returns, according to 1 Thessalonians 4:14.

Some theologians have called the place of believers prior to the redemption of creation the "intermediate heaven" or the "intermediate state," though Alcorn emphasizes that heaven in its intermediate state will change.

"The present heaven is a temporary lodging, a waiting place until the return of Christ and our bodily resurrection," Alcorn writes. "The eternal heaven, the New Earth, is our true home, the place where we will live forever with our Lord and each other. The great redemptive promises of God will find their fulfillment on the New Earth, not in the intermediate heaven."

A regenerated creation

Sermons that explicitly describe heaven are rare. Books are rare too, with Alcorn's book and a handful of others the exceptions. "Heaven" borrows from other Christian authors and theologians and years of Alcorn's own research to formulate a picture of heaven where believers retain their unique personalities and, unblemished by sin with regenerated bodies in their purest form, they engage their talents in his service. Alcorn quotes several Christian thinkers who believe the redeemed are destined to have 20- or 30-something bodies and minds -- whatever the optimum age is.

In short, Alcorn joins many other Christian writers who have proposed that believers will enjoy a re-created earth that recovers what was lost in Eden and then some, with the New Earth continuing in advancements made in the present earth through the labor of believers.

That includes eating real food, resting, working at jobs -- perhaps continuing on in pursuits we love or learning new ones -- and fellowship with old friends and new ones in a physical world with real trees, flowers, and structures. In short, the best world one could imagine.

Alcorn also surmises that earth's social dynamics will continue on the New Earth, "except when they are a product of our fallenness or when God reveals otherwise."

Noting the evil done from scientific advancement (the atom bomb), medical advancement (abortion and euthanasia), and technological advancement (Internet porn), Alcorn writes: "Imagine those advances used purely for righteous purposes, without sin to taint them. What you are imagining is the New Earth."

In imaginative form, Alcorn writes: "What kind of work will we do in heaven? Maybe you'll build a cabinet with Joseph of Nazareth. Or with Jesus. Maybe you'll tend sheep with David, discuss medicine with Luke, sew with Dorcas, make clothes with Lydia, design a new tent with Paul or Priscilla, write a song with Isaac Watts, ride horses with John Wesley, or sing with Keith Green. Maybe you'll write a theology of the Trinity, bouncing your thoughts off Paul, John, Polycarp, Cyprian, Augustine, Calvin, Wesley ... and even Jesus."

Biblical foundations

Stanley D. Toussaint, writing in "Behold the King: A Study of Matthew," said the Jews in Jesus' day believed "the Messiah, after His advent, would create a new heaven and new earth. The Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah (65:17, 66:22) was the solid foundation for this doctrine."

Deron Biles, associate professor of Old Testament at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, said: "The Old Testament is a book about beginnings, so it is not surprising that in the Old Testament we find the beginnings of a clear biblical picture on eternity. From the Old Testament we learn of creation, life, sin, covenant, and eternity, and also, in it we learn that 'he has set eternity in our hearts.'" (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Biles said Isaiah 26:19 clearly teaches a bodily existence with God in eternity for the faithful, that Isaiah 57:15-18 teaches a place of healing and comfort, and that Isaiah 6:1-3 teaches of a place filled with praises for God.

Additionally, Biles said, Psalm 23 speaks the comforting words of dwelling in the Lord's house forever. Further, in Job 19:25-27, Job says: "But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust at last. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him myself; my eyes will look at [Him], and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me."

Malcolm Yarnell, associate professor of systematic theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, commented: "My favorite passage about heaven is found in Revelation 21-22. There are seven things there that cause me to praise God about Heaven:

1) In heaven, we shall be in God's immediate presence. (Revelation 22:4, 22)

2) In heaven, there will be no sorrow or pain or death. (22:4)

3) In heaven, there shall be no more sin. (22:8, 27)

4) In heaven, God's glory will be overwhelmingly beautiful. (22:11)

5) In heaven, we shall know and commune with all who believe in him. (22:24)

6) In heaven, all of our needs will be met. (23:1-2)

7) In heaven, we shall see God and his Son in the light. (23:4-5)

"Finally, the great thing about heaven is that the one who will hear the Spirit and the church say, 'Come,' whosoever that is, he or she may 'take the water of life freely,'" Yarnell said. "What a great God we have to offer us such a great heaven simply out of grace!"

Southeastern Seminary's Nelson said of contemporary views of Heaven: "Too often we understand life in the age to come simply in the context of 'heaven,' which we take to be something up in the atmosphere apart from the ground on which we live. But the Bible describes eternal life as our existence as whole beings, soul and body, who occupy new heavens and a New Earth, all illuminated by the glory of the triune God.

"Imagine that: the most beautiful site on this present Earth that we have ever seen will pale in comparison to the beauty of the re-created world in which we will one day dwell. And the greatest beauty of all will be our God himself."
--30--
Jerry Pierce is managing editor of the Southern Baptist Texan (texanonline.net), newsjournal of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, in which this article originally appeared.