Heaven and Hell

The Scriptures speak of two places, "Heaven" and "Hell," where the "righteous" and "wicked" respectively are to spend eternity. The one demands the other. There can be no Heaven without its counterpart Hell. If there is no Hell there is no Heaven, for the same Book speaks of both.


I. HEAVEN

Heaven is a "PLACE," it is not a state or condition. The New Jerusalem is not Heaven, though it is a city of Heaven. The Apostle John tells us that he saw it "coming down from God OUT OF HEAVEN." Rev 21: 2. It is the "PLACE" that Jesus told His Disciples He was going away to prepare for them. Joh 14: 2. It did not exist at the time Jesus was on earth. It was built between the time Jesus ascended in A. D. 30, and the time when John saw it in vision descend from Heaven in A. D. 96, or if not yet built, it will be built before the Rapture of the Church, for it is to be the Residence of the Bride, the Lamb's Wife. Rev 21: 9-10. Of Abraham we read—" He looked for a City which hath foundations, whose 'builder' and 'maker' is GOD." Heb 11: 10. The New Jerusalem is that City. The Apostle says—" Here we have no continuing city (permanent abiding place), but we seek one to come." Heb 13: 14. The Scriptures speak of three Heavens. (1). The Heaven of the earth's atmosphere. "God gave you rain from heaven." Act 14: 17. (2). The Heaven of the Stars. The "High Places" where the "Principalities and Powers" of evil have their abode. Eph 6: 12. (3). The Heaven where God dwells. It was to this "Third Heaven" that the Apostle Paul was caught up, when at Lystra he was stoned and his spirit apparently left his body. Act 14: 19-20. Paul calls it both the "Third Heaven" and "Paradise." 2Co 12: 1-4. The two then must be identical, or "Paradise" be a part of the "Third Heaven." It is to this "Paradise Section" of Heaven that the "Soul" and "Spirit" of the Righteous go since the Resurrection of Christ. See the Chapter on "The Spirit World," page 88. The word "Paradise" means a "garden" or "enclosed place." It must therefore be a most beautiful place of trees and flowers and fruits. There the "Spirits" of the Righteous in their "Soulish" bodies, conscious and happy, and in fellowship with loved ones and the saints of all Ages, await the First Resurrection, when, having received their glorified bodies, and been judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and married to the Lamb (Christ), they go to dwell in the New Jerusalem, the home of the Bride. See Chart, page 274. From this we see that we must distinguish between Heaven proper, and its suburb Paradise, and the New Jerusalem. But we must not forget, that while Paradise, the place where the Saints of God now dwell, is a glorious place, and the Saints are there in the enjoyment of Heavenly things, that they are under certain limitations. They have not as yet received their resurrection body with all its glorious powers, nor been judged so as to receive their reward, or crown, if they are entitled to any. The description of Heaven and the New Jerusalem as given in the Book of Revelation from the third chapter to the end of the Book, is still future, and the things there described will not come to pass until after the Rapture of the Church, so what is said of the New Jerusalem and its occupants does not apply until after the Judgment of Believers.


Larkin, Clarence (2012-06-18). Rightly Dividing The Word [Illustrated] (Kindle Locations 3126-3128). PreservedWords. Kindle Edition.