Christian Photographers Community

My friend buys the Church of England newspaper; she reads every inch of it, and finds it very enlightening as to what is happening in the world and the Church of England's reaction to the different situations in the world. But more importantly what she does find is that, the more the Church involves itself in the world's situation and its own, the further away from God it finds itself, till eventually God is left out of the picture altogether. You can find the same situation in many places of worship whatever the denomination, throughout the country, especially when fundraising for anything and everything, becomes the main agenda of church activity. The difference is it is by God's works we are being save, and not by our own efforts, the church seems to have got into the mentality that we are by doing works of charity, earning the grace of God, wholly or in part, which however slight moves a God centered gospel to one that focuses more and more on our own abilities to please God, as the bible says, "All our righteousness is as filthy rags."

   Where is the gospel? The gospel is supposed to be the good news of God's kingdom both now and in eternity, it's being kept behind closed doors, when you listen to sermons, it seems nobody is speaking it out anymore.

   Lets look at someone dying of cancer, yes Jade Goody, there has been much publicity about her battle with her illness, and the papers have reported much on her desire for her to be baptised or Christened, along with her children, in the hope of seeing them in heaven, or at least contacting them from heaven. There is mention of her going to be with the angels, and becoming a twinkling star in the firmament of heaven. But notice one thing if you will, there is no mention, at least not in the popular press, or the media, of the one who makes it possible for her to be in heaven.

  Some vicar may well have done the ceremony, and sprinkled her with water, but when you are a Christian it makes you wonder, did that minister ever tell Jane of her need for repentance (a change of heart and mind) to put her faith and trust in Jesus Christ, through acceptance of His finished work on her behalf, and by believing in Him she has this everlasting life to come when her life has ended here.

   Of course the daily drivel newspapers will never mention that. The name of Jesus Christ does not sell newspapers. Has Jane seen in her foreseeable death, her need of salvation for herself, and gone through baptism, as an affirmation of a newly found faith? I don't know, and we will never know that, but we hope that's what it is. After all the ticket to heaven is that we believe and place our whole trust in the one who has died for us, the thief on the cross was close to death when he asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom, so why not Jane.

   We met a vicar who had a pastoral ministry to several local hospitals, and when I asked him about the bible, he told me he knew nothing about the Bible. His whole ministry seemed to be just a greeting and a few cheery words. It makes you think deeply, a man who has gone through bible college, has been ordained into what is supposed to be a Christian institution, is supposed to be by cloth and profession a Christian, and knows little or nothing of the bible, what is he getting paid for?

   If this is typical of the church, how are we ever to save people from hell, and bring them into the glorious light of God's kingdom? How are we going to save people from their own destructive ways, the bible calls it perishing, our flesh, and our inner being is perishing daily, simply by living in this world, and because of it we are heading for a much worse place than we are in now, and this place isn't that clever is it?

   Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15: 53, "For the corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality," So my friend, have you got the gospel?

How true, Michael.  Oh may we point people in the direction of the true path to imortality through Jesus Christ!

                                    HEAVEN


      In 2 Cor. 12:2 Paul speaks of one he knew who had been raised to the third heaven, returned, but was unable to communicate to  anyone what he had seen there.  It would not be unusual for God to wish to keep secret the surprises He might have in store for His children regarding the inheritance which is theirs, and spoken of so much in so many of the letters in the New Testament.  What is puzzling is the referral to the `third' heaven.

      Much has been written on this, and perhaps much more will be written on the subject as men attempt to decipher what might be looked on as an undecipherable statement.  Some have stated it to be the actual heaven, while earth is the second heaven and Sheol is the first heaven.  I find this harder to take than what Paul said. 

      If you wish to find out what the Bible says, you should search the Bible for the answers to the questions which you raise.  God says we should search and mature ourselves in the knowledge of His word.  Paul's prayer for the Colossians, and for all Christians, was that God give them all spiritual wisdom and knowledge so they might know better His will for them.  So let's search out the meaning of this.  We may be wrong, but at least we might learn something new in the
process.

      First, if I read the Bible correctly, man has been created in the image of God.  Since the first thing we learn about God, in Genesis 1:1 is that "In beginning Elohim created the heavens and
the earth."  There are two things we notice here.  First, the Hebrew word for God is Eloi yet Elohim, a plural form (generally denoting more than two), is used.  Second, the word heavens is also plural.  We don't know if it should be capitalized or not since Hebrew has no capital letters.  We also find, in Gen. 1:26, God says, "Let us make man in our own image."  Again we find the plural form used.
   
  Some authors have indicated God is using the royal `we' rather than indicating a plurality, others have tried to say He is speaking to the angels (but he did not create them in His own image.  The best I can say for them (as far as I can see) is they have soul and spirit, but no body)), and man would be created in both their images.  It is best, I believe, to say God was speaking to all three persons in the Elohim, Himself, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, when he made the statement.  Man then, is created in the image of God, being body, soul (or mind) and spirit.  It is also interesting to note that even though the plural Elohim is used it is always used with the singular connotation.  It is as though the first verse should read: In the beginning a Gods created the heavens and the earth.  Later, much later in fact, Moses was given the tabernacle which was a representation both of heaven and with everything in it alluding in one way or another to Christ, or so we are given to believe.  The tabernacle (and later the temple), had three distinct parts.  The first, the outer court, was available to anyone who came in by the blood.  To get there you brought a bird or animal, the priest sacrificed it, and you now had your ticket to get into the outer court, or Court of the Strangers.  Within this courtyard was located the actual building (tent) of the tabernacle, and it was in two parts.
      The first part of the tent was the Holy Place.  Only the priests could enter into the Holy Place.  Before they could, however, they had to wash themselves.  Thus they entered the Holy Place both
by the blood of the sacrifice and the water of cleansing.  Inside the Holy Place it was completely dark.  The heavy curtain of the doorway cut off the light, as did the heavy walls of the tent.  The three pieces of furniture; the altar of incense, the table of showbread, and the Menorah were all that were inside.  The altar always had burning incense representing the prayers of God's people.  The
shewbread was changed each week.  Twelve loaves of bread, one for each tribe, and each one pierced through (representative of the coming piercing of the Christ for the sins of the world).  The last piece, the seven branched candelabra called the Menorah, was fed with a supply of  specially blended olive oil which has always represented the Holy Spirit.       

It was as though God was trying to impress on man: Here in the recesses of your mind, where no man may look, is where prayer comes in as your will is expressed in the words which reach to the throne. Here is where the sacrifices are made, those of praise, worship, and the surrender of self.  And here the only light which is present is the light of the Holy Spirit within you. 

      There was another room within the tent: The HOLY OF HOLIES.  This was a perfect cube with the Mercy Seat of God sitting in the center.  There were no other seats, for man does not sit in the
presence of deity, and it was unlit but for the Shekinah Glory of God.  The selfsame light of holiness which so lit up Moses countenance when he was with God for the month during which he
received the Ten Words of Commandment.  Here no man enters except for the one day of the year, Passover, when the High Priest could come in.

      Even this was done with fear and trembling, for the High Priest had to first make sacrifice for himself.  He entered the HOLY OF HOLIES, a rope tied to his leg, his sacrifice in his hand.  If God
did not forgive, and killed him, no one could enter to carry him out.  The rope would be used to drag him out ignominiously for burial and a new High Priest would have to be selected to do the honors of the Passover.  Moses was the only one other than the High Priest who was ever allowed access to the HOLY OF HOLIES before the time of Christ.
      In Numbers 2 we are treated to a picture of the layout of the camp of the Israelites as they moved in the wilderness.  If you draw the layout, and place the tribes where Numbers says they are placed you will find Judah (whose standard was a lion and whose name means praise) camped in front of the gate.  You can only enter into the tabernacle through the gates of praise, through the lion of Judah.  Next out was Issachar, and then Zebulun.  These were the three largest tribes. On the south were three smaller tribes, Reuben, Simeon, and Gad.  On the west three larger tribes, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin.  On the north three smaller tribes again, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali.  The camp, according to the layout given by God, took on the shape of a cross if one looked down on it from a mountain top. (No wonder Balaam couldn't curse it, but had to bless it instead).

      It is also interesting that in the Scripture we find only two cases of perfect cubes.  One is here in the tabernacle (and, of course, in the temple which replaced it in Solomon's time).  The other we find in Revelation 23:10 ff. where we see the New Jerusalem descending from the heavens onto the New Earth (the planet Heaven?).  The city is foursquare, a cube, with measurements of about 1500 miles in all directions.  A city which would stretch from New York to  Omaha, Nebraska, south to the Gulf through Texas, and back to the east coast.  And stretch upwards in all areas for another 1500 miles.

If there were a road every mile in all directions there would be 26,125,000,000 roads. The intersections would enclose cubes one mile cubed.  Enough room for God's people?  With each one having a mile cubed area of his own to enjoy?  God's bounty is beyond man's finite understanding.

      Interesting, isn't it, that the tabernacle represents Heaven, and the HOLY OF HOLIES represents the New Jerusalem: the throne room of God.  If this is true, and it would seem to be true on the surface, then what of the other parts of the tabernacle itself?  And if the New Jerusalem is the HOLY OF HOLIES it might also represent the third heaven, with the other two being represented by the other two parts of the tabernacle.  Who, then, might live in each?  Let us
examine this a bit further.

      The Court of Strangers was a place open to anyone who came in through the blood.  We see many people coming into the Church, saved by the blood of the Lamb, but not recognizing Jesus as LORD.  They still do their own thing, walk the ways of the world, yet say they are Christians.  LORDSHIP implies mastery.  If Jesus is LORD, then Jesus is master in all I do.  If I am saved, but not allowing the Holy Spirit to exercise His power in my life, I will find the Bible a dead book.  I find it a dead book because it is not written to me, but written to the one who calls Jesus LORD.  This, I believe, is the implication of Peter in II Peter 2:9  (there are other implications there, also, which we will examine in a minute).  Since the Bible is a letter written only to those who are claiming Jesus as Lord, the one who does not know Him as such will find it boring.  He is
following afar off, but following, and the blood will suffice for a place in Heaven, but not in the New Jerusalem.

      Others wish to do the will of Jesus, but still do not know or want to allow the Holy Spirit to dominate in their lives.  They are known as Christians, but still do not claim complete mastery in
Jesus.  They have gifts which they exercise, but are afraid to claim all of the blessings that might be theirs if they give ALL of their ego and self to Christ.  Priests, yes, but still lesser priests.  They are hard to describe because the hunger for more is there, yet they cannot seem to find the ability to achieve what they see others able to do, because they are afraid God is out to get them if they
come too close to Him; or are afraid man will laugh if they come too close to Him.

      The third, the Royal Priesthood Peter writes about, have honestly surrendered all to Jesus.  They stand ready to do anything He asks of them, knowing the blessings of being fully surrendered to
the LORDSHIP of Christ.  These are the ones to whom the Bible is truly written: these are the ones who have honestly counted the cost of fellowship, and decided the world didn't matter any more.  These are the one's who have stepped beyond the veil which has been torn, and enter the HOLY OF HOLIES (not without fear, but relying on the promises of God), brothers of Christ as promised in Rom 8:29, I Cor 16:20, and Col 1:22,23.  For these, it would seem, the third heaven becomes home.  In life they wished to be as close as possible to God, in eternal life their desire is granted.

      This, then, might be an answer to what is otherwise a puzzling statement.  The third heaven?  Where is it?  And where are the other two which Paul doesn't mention?  Maybe the answer is underneath our noses, and God wants us to understand.  We, in our ignorance, and fear of overstepping the bounds we place on ourselves, do not take what God wants us to grasp for fear of displeasing Him.  Perhaps, like any loving father, he is more displeased when we do not grow far
enough in spiritual wisdom and understanding, preferring our ignorance to his enlightenment.