The Kingdom of Heaven

Matthew 13:44 The KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field

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The Good NewsLuke 4:18-19 The Spirit of Yahweh is upon Me to announce the GOSPEL tothe poor; He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery ofsight to the blind, to send away in release those who are oppressed, toproclaim the acceptable year of Yahweh, the year of Jubilee. (Isaiah 61:1-2)

Jesus opened his ministry with words of an ancient prophet

Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching intheir synagogues, preaching the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM.

The Good NewsMark 1:14–15 Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the GOSPEL OF THEKINGDOM OF GOD, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the KINGDOM OFGOD is at hand. Repent, and believe in the GOSPEL.”

Gospel means “Good News” of the Kingdom of God/Heaven

Luke 4:43 [Jesus said] “I must preach the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OFGOD to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”

The Good NewsMatthew 13:44 The KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is like a treasure buried in afield, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells allthat he has and buys that field.

Matthew 13:45 Again, theKINGDOM OF HEAVEN is like amerchant searching for finepearls. When he finds a pearl ofgreat price, he goes and sells allthat he has and buys it.

Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is a priceless blessing

Jesus taught about the Kingdom of Heaven in parables

The Good NewsMatthew 19:23-24 …Amen I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich toenter the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel topass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter theKINGDOM OF GOD.

Jesus used ‘Kingdom of God/Heaven’ interchangeably

The Good News Jesus described how people register the word of the KingdomMatthew 13:3-8 [Jesus said] A sower went out to sow… some seed fell on thepath, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it hadlittle soil… and withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, andthe thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, andproduced fruit…. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word ofthe KINGDOM without understanding it…. The seed sown on rocky ground isthe one who hears the word… but he has no root and lasts only for a time. Theseed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but… bears no fruit.But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understandsit, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

John 3:3-5 Amen, amen I say to you, noone can SEE the KINGDOM OF GODwithout being born from above…. noone can ENTER the KINGDOM OF GODwithout being born of water and Spirit.

The Good News Physical death is not required to see the Kingdom of God

We can sense heaven on earth

1 Corinthians 15:50 I declare brothers;flesh and blood cannot inherit theKINGDOM OF GOD, nor does corruptioninherit incorruption.

Luke 9:27 [Jesus said] “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here willnot taste death before they SEE the KINGDOM OF GOD.”

The Good News Childlike purity of heart and soul is required to enter heavenMatthew 18:3 Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,you will not enter the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

Matthew 19:14 Jesus said “Let the children come to me, and do not preventthem; for the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN belongs to such as these.”

The Good NewsMatthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord” will enter theKINGDOM OF HEAVEN, but only the one who does the WILL of my Father inheaven.

Jesus said we must also do the will of God to enter heaven

Luke 16:17 It is easier for heavenand earth to pass away than for thesmallest part of a letter of the LAWto become invalid.

The law or will of God applies to heavenly and earthly beingsMatthew 6:9-13 Our Father inHEAVEN, hallowed be your name,your KINGDOM come, your WILL bedone, on earth as in heaven.

The Good News

Matthew 22:34-39 [A Pharisee asked Jesus]“Teacher, which commandment in the law is thegreatest?” He said to him “You shall loveYahweh your God, with all your heart, with allyour soul, and with all your mind. This is thegreatest and the first commandment. Thesecond is like it: You shall love your neighbor asyourself. The whole law and the prophetsdepend on these two commandments.”

The Ten Commandments are the core of the Jewish law Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21

Jesus reiterated the Law and emphasized the need for love Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Mark 12:30 “You shall love Yahweh your God,with all your heart, with all your soul, with allyour mind and with all your strength.”

The Heavens The Kingdom of Heaven was created by Yahweh the true GodGenesis 1:1-2 In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth…

Wisdom 11:22 The whole universe is like a grain of sand before God.

The HeavensJob 38:31-33 Have you fitted a curb to the Pleiades, or loosened the bondsof Orion? Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or guide theBear with its train? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens; can you putinto effect their plan on the earth?

‘Heavens’ are interchangeable with ‘sky’ in many languages

The Heavens The heavens are the throne of Yahweh the Supreme GodActs 7:48-50 The heavens are my throne, the earth is my footstool. Whatkind of house can you build for me? Says Yahweh. Or what is to be myresting place? Did not my hand make all these things?

Psalm 2:4-5 He who is enthroned in heaven laughs; Yahweh derides them.Then in anger he speaks to them; he terrifies them in his wrath:

The Heavens The Jewish temple is copy of God’s great temple in heavenWisdom 9:8 You have bid me build a temple on your holy mountain and analtar in the city that is your dwelling place, a COPY of the holy tabernaclewhich you had established from of old.

Hebrews 8:5 [Levitical priests] serve at a sanctuary that is a COPY andshadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he wasabout to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything accordingto the pattern shown you on the mountain”. (also Hebrews 9:23-24)

The temple’s holy of holies depicts the heaven of heavensDeuteronomy 10:14 Think, the heavens, even the heaven of heavens belongto Yahweh, your God, as well as the earth and everything in it.

Exodus 26:33-34 The ark of thecommandments you shall bring inside,behind this veil which divides the holyplace from the holy of holies.

Hebrews 9:3 Behind the second veil wasthe tabernacle called the holy of holies…and the ark of the covenant entirelycovered with gold.

The ark represents the throne of Yahweh on a human scale

1 Kings 8:6 The priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to itsplace beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary the holy of holies ofthe temple.

The Heavens

The Heavens The veils of the temple are used to depict features of heaven

Isaiah 25:7-8 He will destroy the veil that veils all people and wipe the tearsfrom their eyes.

There are veils that blind us from seeing the heavens

Exodus 36:8 The various experts who were executing the work, made thedwelling with its ten sheets woven of fine linen twined, having cherubimembroidered on them with violet, purple and scarlet yarn.

The Heavens Scientific advances have been able to show us things that

the material eye cannot see – some veils have been lifted

Visible UV

The Heavens

Local Heavens

High Heavens

The local and high heavens have earthly and spiritual aspects1 Corinthians 15:40 There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies butthe brightness of the heavenly is one kind and that of the earthly another.

The local heavens interpenetrate the earth and sky Material: Clouds, air, weather, and wind streams Spiritual: Magnetosphere, heavens-world of spirits

Local Heavens

Isaiah 40:22 He sits enthroned above the vault of earth. Its inhabitants arelike grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a veil, spreads them outlike a tent to dwell in.

Jesus said the local heavens begin in our immediate vicinity

Local HeavensLuke 17:20-21 Asked by the Pharisees when the KINGDOM OF GOD wouldcome, [Jesus] said in reply, “The coming of the KINGDOM OF GOD cannot beobserved, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is’ or ‘There it is’ Forbehold, the KINGDOM OF GOD is within you.”

Life-energy fields surround plants, animals and humans Ultraweak photon emission and biological luminescence

Jesus taught people to gain ‘eyes to see’ and ‘ears to hear’

Deuteronomy 29:3 But not even at the present day has the Lord yet given you (Israelites: 1440 BC) a mind to understand or EYES to SEE or EARS to HEAR.

We need spiritual organs to sense the Kingdom of Heaven

Proverbs 20:12 The EAR that HEARS and theEYE that SEES, the Lord has made them both.

We can experience the heavens!

God gives spiritual senses to us

Matthew 13:11-16 Knowledge of the mysteries of the KINGDOM OF HEAVENhas been granted to you (Apostles: 30 AD)…blessed are your EYES, becausethey SEE, and your EARS, because they HEAR.

Local Heavens

Many animals see and navigate by different magnetic fields Humans have the optical systems to detect magnetism

This is one form of heavenly-spiritual vision

Local Heavens

Variation of Earth’s Magnetic Field

Foley, L. E., Gegear, R. J., et al. (2011). "Human cryptochrome exhibits light‐dependentmagnetosensitivity." Nature Communications 2: 356.

The local heavens are influenced by the higher heavens Aurora Borealis-Northern Lights

Local Heavens

Job 38:4-7 Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me if you haveunderstanding…Into what were its pedestals sunk and who laid thecornerstone while the morning stars sang in chorus and all the children ofGod shouted for joy?

Scientists have detected and named some of the heavens Magnetosphere Van Allen Radiation belts

Local Heavens Ionosphere Troposphere

2 Peter 3:5 They deliberately ignore the fact that the heavens existed of oldand earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God;

Astronomers can detect heavenly light that eyes cannot see

High Heavens High Energy Astrophysical Observatory Space Satellite (Gamma Rays) SWIFT Space Satellite (X-Rays and Ultraviolet Telescopes) Hubble Space Telescope (Visible Light and Near Infrared Telescopes) WMAP Space Satellite (Microwave Detectors) Arecibo Telescope (Radio Wave Telescope)

High Heavens

1 Samuel 16:7 Not as man does God see, because man sees the appearancebut the Lord looks into the heart.

The eyes of God and heavenly beings see a wide spectrum

Psalm 115:16 Heaven is the heaven of Yahweh, but the earth he has given tothe children of men.

Pure humans can experience a beautiful and intense world

High Heavens

1 Corinthians 2:9 No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceivedwhat God has prepared for those who love him.

Luke 12:32 Fear not little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to giveyou the KINGDOM.

High Heavens The human perspective is only a small glimpse of realityJob 9:8-9 He alone stretches out the heavens…. He made the Bear and Orion,the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.Jeremiah 10:2 Have no fear of the signs of the heavens.

Psalm 90:4 For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday, now that it is past, or as a watch of the night.

The high heavens operate on vast space and time scales

Sirach 39:20 His gaze spans all the ages; to him there is nothing unexpected.

High Heavens

High Heavens The Creator of galaxies is greater than all He has createdActs 17:24-25 The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord ofheaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor ishe served by human hands because he needs anything.

1 Kings 8:27 If the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you,how much less this temple which I have built?

The sense of heaven increases as a soul moves upwardProverbs 15:24 The path of life leads the prudent man upwards, that he mayavoid the netherworld below.

Wisdom 6:18-20 To observe her laws is the basis for incorruptibility; andincorruptibility makes one close to God; thus the desire for Wisdom leads upto a KINGDOM.

High Heavens

The Good News The Kingdom of God gives comfort, health and longevityMatthew 6:33 But seek first the KINGDOM OF GOD and his righteousnessand all these things will be given you besides.

The Heavens are available to all of the children of GodMatthew 7:7 Ask and you shall receive

Seek and you shall find

Knock and the door will be opened for you.

The Good News Jesus followers were confident in the Kingdom of GodActs 19:8 [Paul] entered the synagogue and for three months debated boldlywith persuasive arguments about the KINGDOM OF GOD.

1 Corinthians 15:1-8 Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the GOSPEL Ipreached to you….that Christ died for our sins in accordance with thescriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day...

There is clear agreement among the synoptic Gospels [Matthew, Mark and Luke]that the KINGDOM OF GOD was the principal theme within Jesus' message…. Inaggregate, they present some fifty sayings and parables of Jesus concerning thekingdom…. It is, then, a matter of consensus within the canon that the kingdomconstituted a primary focus of Jesus' theology

-Oxford Companion to the Bible, 1993, p. 408

Acts 28:23 From early morning until evening, [Paul] expounded his positionto them, bearing witness to the KINGDOM OF GOD and trying to convincethem about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

We must be sure to understand the full message of Jesus

The Gospel reveals our redemption and spiritual potential

Jesus arose with a spiritual body that can traverse heavens1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered for sins once…that he might lead youto God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit.

The Good News

2 Corinthians 12:2-4 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caughtup to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do notknow… He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.

Revelations 1:10 I was caught up in spiriton the day of Yahweh and heard behind mea voice as loud as a trumpet…

Disciples can be ‘caught up’ to the high heavens during life

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore let us be gratefulfor receiving a KINGDOM that cannot beshaken, and thus let us offer to Godacceptable worship, with reverence andawe….

The Good News Spiritual and physical health are conferred by God’s KingdomLuke 9:1-2 When Jesus had called the twelve together, he gave them powerand authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent themout to preach the KINGDOM OF GOD and to heal the sick.

Luke 9:62 [Jesus said] “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looksback is fit for service in the KINGDOM OF GOD.”

Dedication and focus are required to serve in God’s Kingdom

The Good News

Corrupt men cannot sense the Kingdom of HeavenMatthew 23:13 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lockthe KINGDOM OF HEAVEN before human beings. You do not enter yourselves,nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.

The Kingdom of Heaven is a reward for wholesome soulsMatthew 5:10 Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake ofrighteousness, for theirs is the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

The Bad News Jesus warned of false prophets that could hijack Christianity

Acts 20:29-30 I know that after I leave,savage wolves will come in among you andwill not spare the flock. Even from your ownnumber men will arise and distort the truthin order to draw away disciples after them.

Jesus described a spiritual struggle in the heavensMatthew 11:12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the KINGDOMOF HEAVEN suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’sclothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.

The apostles predicted efforts to falsify original Christianity

The Bad News Many efforts have been made to distort the Gospel messageGalatians 1:8-1 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach aGOSPEL other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed!

2 Corinthians 11:4-14 For if someonecomes and preaches ANOTHER JESUSthan the one we preached…or aDIFFERENT GOSPEL from the one youaccepted…[do not be deceived] For suchpeople are false apostles… whomasquerade as apostles of Christ. Andno wonder, for even Satan masqueradesas an angel of light.

Read Jesus’ message yourself to confirm the Good News

The Bad News Fallen spirits try to block human minds from sensing heaven

The wicked persist until the end

2 Corinthians 4:4 And even though our GOSPEL is veiled, it is veiled for thosewho are perishing, in whose case the god of this age has blinded the mindsof the unbelievers, so that they may not SEE the light of the GOSPEL….

Matthew 13:47-50 The KINGDOM OFHEAVEN is like a net thrown into the sea,which collects fish of every kind…Thus itwill be at the end of the age. The angelswill go out and separate the wicked fromthe righteous and throw them into thefiery furnace….

The Good NewsMatthew 24:24 And this GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM will be preached throughout the world as a witness

to all nations, and then THE END WILL COME

Send this to all people to expedite the Kingdom of Heaven