CHAPLAIN’S PAGE – HEAVENS ABOVE
Heavens  Above
And no man  hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man  which is in heaven. (John 3:13)
These few words  bear testimony to the greatness and authority  of Jesus Christ.  Before proceeding further, it should  be noted  that the final words ‘which is in heaven’ are  omitted by some translators.  The reason is obvious, for when Jesus was  talking  to Nicodemus He was in His earthly body and obviously not in heaven! This text gives us the merest glimpse that Jesus,  the Christ, the Creator, had descended and ascended prior to His thirty three years in human form two thousand years ago. That He had done so many times is clearly indicated by His appearances in either angelic or  human form.  Some commentators maintain that Melchizedek was none  other  than  the Lord of Heaven Himself. There are many things which have  happened, and  still happen which  cannot be explained in human terms.
There  is a problem with this text which  needs to be clarified. Jesus clearly told Nicodemus that no man  had ascended up to heaven. However, we know that both Enoch and Elijah did  not  die, but  were translated.
And Enoch walked with God: and  he was not; for God took him. (Genesis 5:24)
And it came to pass, as they still  went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and  horses of  fire,  and  parted them both asunder; and  Elijah  went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (II Kings 2:11)
Clearly, these  two servants of the Lord did not die, but were  taken  into heaven.
But did not our  Lord say to Nicodemus ‘no  man hath ascended up to heaven?’ It is with such  texts as this that  scoffers of Scripture take  great  delight  in informing all and  sundry that  the Bible is full of contradictions.  What  Jesus said  that  day certainly looks that way, or does it? When looking at such texts, several points should be considered, who was speaking to whom, and when it was said, what  was the main point of the conversation. Above all, never take  a text out  of context.  As we  saw,  Enoch  and Elijah were both taken up into heaven whilst they were alive, if not into heaven, where did they go?  It was Paul who gives the vital clue in II Corinthians Chapter 12 where he speaks of ‘the third heaven’ (verse 2.) In verse four he refers to it as ‘paradise.’ In both verses he was  referring  to the same event.  The Scriptures would infer that heaven  is God’s Throne and dwelling place.
Thus saith the  Lord, The heaven is my  throne, and  the  earth is my  footstool: where is the  house that ye build unto me? and  where is the  place  of my  rest? (Isaiah  C66:1)
‘Paradise’ on the other  hand,  would  suggest  from several  texts,  to be a park,  such  as Eden,  a place  of happiness and  joy. The only logical conclusion that we  can  make is that  there  are  various  degrees of heaven.  Firstly, there  is the  heaven where God  is seated upon  His Throne, and  surrounded by His angels and heavenly  hosts.  Revelation chapter seven is that wonderful scene where God is surrounded  by a great multitude of all nations. Some are arrayed in white  robes  who  have come out of great  tribulation (verse 14.)
When Jesus spoke  to Nicodemus that day and said that only He had ascended into heaven, we know that Enoch and Elijah  were already there.  We  may therefore conclude that they must  have been in the third heaven. The scene in Revelation is subsequent to Christ’s  conversation with  Nicodemus, therefore His words no longer  are  applicable. All the above explanation was  necessary in order  to demonstrate that  the  Bible does  not  contradict itself.  Although there are several instances where it appears to do so, it takes time and  effort to  arrive at  the  right interpretation.
Those  who  take  pleasure in finding  fault  with God’s Word do so, not from the standpoint of learning, but  from  ignorance. The  Psalmist summed it up perfectly thus,
The  fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They  are  corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
The  Lord  looked down from  heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were  any  that did understand, and  seek  God.
They  are  all  gone aside, they are  all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not  one.
Have all the workers ofiniquity no knowledge? who eat  up my  people as they eat bread, and  call not  upon the  Lord. (Psalm 14:1-4)
Why should it be so serious a matter not to believe in God? After all, everyone has freedom of choice. It is serious because many  of them  are  vociferous  in their  hatred towards the God they don’t  believe  in. They make it their religion to shower their hatred upon Him.  Furthermore they do all in their power to stop others from having a faith in the Living God.  In some cases they line their pockets with filthy lucre writing and  publishing books,  and  venting  their  poison  on those who do believe. Dawkins,  Pulman,  and others spread their poison  and make it a crusade to corrupt a generation of children.  Surely their day of reckoning is at hand!
It is a  fearful  thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:31)
It is a well known fact that those who oppose the things  of the Spirit will give for more  effort  in their attempts to destroy  the truth,  than Christians give in their  efforts to witness to  the  truth.  Hence the Psalmist’s great condemnation of the God haters.  Oh that those  who  confess Christ were  so fired up and ready  to speak and  act  for our  wonderful Saviour! He gave of Himself even  unto death in order that we might live.  Is it too much to ask that we should give something in return?  It seems with the vast majority of Christians that it is.
As we become ever closer to the final collapse of this present order of things, let us remember that we cannot turn back the clock.  Every day is one day less for each of us to bring others to the truth.  Some  will say that faith is a private  matter between them  and Christ, but not so! How can we ignore such a warning given by James, the half brother of Jesus?
Even so  faith,  if it  hath not  works, is  dead, being alone.
Yea, a man  may  say,  Thou  hast  faith,  and  I have works: shew me thy  faith without thy works, and  I will shew  thee  my  faith by my  works. (James 2:1 7-18)
The day will surely come when each of us will be required to give an  account of our  ministry  for the Lord.
Every man’s work  shall be made  manifest: for the  day  shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by  fire; and the  fire shall try every man’s work  of what  sort it is.
If any man’s work  abide  which  he  hath  built thereupon, he shall  receive  a reward.
If any  man’s work  shall  be burned, he  shall suffer loss: but  he himself shall  be saved;  yet so as by  fire. (I Corinthians 3:13-15)
The above text does  not mean that we are always productive in our ministry.  It is given  to us to sow, but not to reap,  that is God’s work,  not ours.  Those who labour for  the  Lord  know full  well  that  the going  gets  tougher every day.  The  destroyers of the  faith  have  done their  work well  through the centuries.  Because of apathy, especially by the church, the very foundations have  been removed whilst the  nation continues its long  sleep. Thus  it has always been through Israel’s history. Warnings by the  prophets have  gone unheeded.  But always we have scraped through, and  why is this so?  Only because the  Mighty God  of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has  remained faithful to the  unconditional Abrahamic Covenant.
The final wakeup call is almost upon  us.  As we slide  inexorably into total  destruction, a wonderful thing will come about.  Elijah will surely come before the great and  terrible  day of the Lord.
Behold, I will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet before the  coming  of the  great  and  dreadful day of the  Lord: (Malachi 4:5)
He will awake the  nation  as  to our true  identity, and  prepare us for the  returning King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Will you be ready for that day?
