Showing posts with label born again. Show all posts
Showing posts with label born again. Show all posts

Saturday 30 January 2016

"CAUGHT UP TO THE THIRD HEAVEN "


MEMORY VERSE: I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 2 Corinthians 12:2
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Numbers 21-24
BIBLE READING: 2 Corinthians 12:1-4
Paul in his second epistle to the Corinthians wrote thus: “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven” (2 Corinthians 12:2). There are one or two truths we can glean from this verse. Firstly, there is more than one heaven. Several verses in the scripture bear testimony to this fact. 1 Kings 8:27 says, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the ‘heaven and heaven of heavens’ cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” Isaiah 55:9 says, “For as the ‘heavens’ are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” If there is a third heaven, then there is a first heaven and a second heaven. You cannot a have third without having the first ‘two’. One thing we are sure of is that there are at least three heavens ( and some call it three levels of heaven). Some have taught about seven heavens; this view has no basis in scripture.
Secondly, the third heaven is the highest point or the top heaven. It is the location of Paradise and the place of God’s personal dwelling, the most sacred place in the universe. The third heaven is the ultimate destination of all sinners who have truly repented and who have persevered in the life of faith. The second heaven could be the mid heaven or midst of heaven. Revelations 8:13 says, “And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!” The second heaven also known as the mid heaven is where spiritual warfare takes place. Ephesians 6:12 says,”For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” It was in the mid-heaven that angel who was sent to Daniel was withstood (Daniel 10:13). Finally, the visible heaven – the heaven that is visible to our natural eyesight – is the first heaven. Genesis 1:8 says, “And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.” This is where planes fly or birds fly. All earth’s inhabitants are familiar to some degree with this heaven. The teaching of three different levels of heaven, a level for “super-committed Christians” or Christians who have obtained a high level of spirituality, a level for “ordinary” Christians, and a level for Christians who did not serve God faithfully has no basis in Scripture.
QUESTION: How ready are you for the Master? Remember He is coming to take us home. Hope your garment is not soiled with sins. The Master is coming!
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Saturday 18 May 2013

WHO IS A BORN AGAIN SERIES Pt1


MEMORY VERSE: Ezekiel 11:19 – then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 20, John 9, Prov 6, Gal 5

The fact that a fellow does not commit fornication or adultery does not make him a born again. The fact that an individual is the first to get to church and the last to leave does not make him a born again. The fact that a brother can quote the bible does not make him a born again, after all Satan knows the bible off heart and he quotes them too. In Matthew 4:1-11, we see him quote Psalms 91:11-12 – he shall give His angles charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your feet against a stone. Miracles are not a proof that a man is a man of God. Simon the sorcerer performed great miracles that astonished the people of Samaria in Acts 8:9. The fact that a sister speaks in tongue does not mean she is born again. Demons speak in tongues and as a matter of fact, the donkey of Balaam spoke too, Numbers 22:28-30

After a man is born again, He becomes a new creature. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says old things will pass away i.e. old ways of life and all things become new. Before this happens a process needs to take place. Ezekiel 11:19 say then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh. A born again has one heart i.e. a heart that is one with Christ ;a heart that reasons the way Christ reasons; a heart that loves what Christ loves and hates what Christ hates. That is why it is impossible to be a born again Christian and still abhor hatred towards people. Once Christ enters a life there is no more room for hatred because Christ is love (1 John 4:8), and love always cancels out hatred. A born again brother or sister who is full of love will love evangelism. How can you and i claim that we sincerely love a brother or sister, we see them going to hell and we pretend as if all is well? Or we have friends , family or children who are yet to give their life to Christ and we are comfortable with that.If we sincerely love them, we will witness to them and do follow-up. One heart also means a sincere and upright heart not a divided heart. It is this heart that makes one a child of God. When you see an individual with one heart, his faith in God is genuine, his hope is devoid of hypocrisy and his love is without deception. He loves God not because of what He will receive from God but because He is God. A fellow with one heart has his affections and desires towards God. Not only that, He is subject to the will of God. The fellow with one heart is sincere to both God and man. That is why you will never see a born again flattering people or telling a lie. Do you know that people with one heart with God forgives and show mercy? They do because our God is God of mercy. 

PRAYER POINT: Father, please give me a heart that is one with Jesus.