IS HEAVEN THE REWARD OF THE SAVED?
by: Bill Bratt
Email: info@icogsfg.org
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NO ONE HAS ASCENDED TO HEAVEN EXCEPT JESUS!
John 3:13
"No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven,
that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
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NO ONE HAS SEEN GOD!
John 1:18
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in
the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
John 6:46
"Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God;
He has seen the Father.
1 John 4:12
No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God
abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
1 John 4:20
If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar;
for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he
love God whom he has not seen?
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DAVID DID NOT ASCEND TO HEAVEN!
Acts 13:22
"And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king,
to whom also He gave testimony and said, 'I have found David the
son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My
will.'
Acts 2:29
"Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch
David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to
this day.
Acts 2:34
"For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The
LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand,
Acts 13:36
"For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of
God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;
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JESUS SAID: WHERE I GO YOU CANNOT COME!
John 7:33-36
Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer,
and then I go to Him who sent Me. {34} "You will seek Me and not
find Me, and where I am you cannot come." {35} Then the Jews said
among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find
Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and
teach the Greeks? {36} "What is this thing that He said, 'You will
seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?"
John 8:21-22
Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek
Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come." {22} So
the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go
you cannot come'?"
John 13:33
"Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will
seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot
come,' so now I say to you.
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EVERYONE DIES ONCE!
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the
judgment,
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DUST TO DUST!
Ecclesiastes 3:19-20
For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one
thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all
have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is
vanity. {20} All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all
return to dust.
Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the
ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust
you shall return."
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THE DEAD KNOW NOTHING!
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten.
{6} Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there
is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you
are going.
Psalms 6:5
For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will
give You thanks?
Psalms 49:12
Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not remain; He is like the
beasts that perish.
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THREE (3) HEAVENS:
GOD EVIDENTLY LIVES IN THE THIRD HEAVEN:
2 Corinthians 12:2-4
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago; whether in the body I
do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows;
such a one was caught up to the third heaven. {3} And I know such a
man; whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows;
{4} how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words,
which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Matthew 5:34
"But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is
God's throne;
Revelation 4: (Describes God's throne.)
OUR UNIVERSE - THE SECOND HEAVEN:
Genesis 1:14-18
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens
to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and
seasons, and for days and years; {15} "and let them be for lights in
the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was
so. {16} Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule
the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars
also. {17} God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light
on the earth, {18} and to rule over the day and over the night, and
to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was
good.
OUR ATMOSPHERE - THE FIRST HEAVEN:
Genesis 1:20
Then God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living
creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the
firmament of the heavens."
Deuteronomy 33:28
Then Israel shall dwell in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a
land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop dew.
Daniel 7:13
"I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son
of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of
Days, And they brought Him near before Him.
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YOUR REWARD IS RESERVED IN HEAVEN!
1 Peter 1:4
to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade
away, reserved in heaven for you,
Revelation 22:12
"And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give
to every one according to his work.
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THE REWARD OF THE SAVED IS THE EARTH!!!
Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.
Proverbs 10:30
The righteous will never be removed, But the wicked will not inhabit
the earth.
Psalms 37:9
For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They
shall inherit the earth.
Psalms 37:22
For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, But those
cursed by Him shall be cut off.
Psalms 37:29
The righteous shall inherit the land, And dwell in it forever.
Psalms 37:34
Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit
the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
Revelation 5:10
And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on
the earth."
JESUS RETURNS AND COLLECTS THE SAINTS AT THE 1st. RESURRECTION!
Matthew 25:31-34
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with
Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. {32} "All the
nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. {33}
"And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the
left. {34} "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come,
you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world:
JESUS & THE SAINTS GO TO JERUSALEM TO RULE!
Zechariah 14:4-11
And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which
faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split
in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the
mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.
{5} Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the
mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled
from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the
LORD my God will come, And all the saints with You. {6} It shall
come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights
will diminish. {7} It shall be one day Which is known to the LORD;
Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it
will be light. {8} And in that day it shall be That living waters
shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And
half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it
shall occur. {9} And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In
that day it shall be; "The LORD is one," And His name one. {10} All
the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of
Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place
from Benjamin's Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner
Gate, and from the Tower of Hananeel to the king's winepresses.
{11} The people shall dwell in it; And no longer shall there be
utter destruction, But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
THE SAINTS REIGN WITH CHRIST ON THE EARTH FOR 1,000 YEARS!
Rev 20:4 (NKJV)
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Revelation 5:10
And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on
the earth."
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GOD IS COMING TO LIVE ON THE EARTH AFTER THE MILLENNIUM!
Revelation 21:2-3
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. {3} And
I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of
God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His
people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
Revelation 22:3-5
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} They shall
see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. {5} There
shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for
the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
CONCLUSION: GOD'S KINGDOM WILL BE ON THE EARTH
Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.
John 14:2-3
"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 to
Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Daniel 2:44
"And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a
kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be
left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Daniel 7:27
Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms
under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of
the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all
dominions shall serve and obey Him.'
Revelation 5:10
And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on
the earth."
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