Hi Mike,

I have never written you before. I was reading Rev 20 and found it interesting that in verses 12 and 13 the dead are judged according to their works, and not whether they accepted Christ or not, but this has nothing to do with my question. I was just thinking how strange it was that I never noticed it before. I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction as to why heaven and earth fled from the face of the one sitting on the throne in verse 11, if heaven is the realm of the elect, and earth is for the called. Thank you for your time, and I very much enjoy reading your material.

Your Brother in Christ and happy to Be,

B____

Hi B____,

I am glad that you enjoy reading my material, and thank you for your question.

If you have not yet done so, scroll down on the site to the paper on What And Where Is Heaven?

If you have not yet read that paper, it will open up the Word of God to you in a way that you have never known. ‘Heaven’ is the realm of the spirit. It is not a geographical location where God resides way out away from His creation. If it were such a place, then God’s Word lies to us because we are told:

Act 17:28 For in him [ God] we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

These are the words of the apostle Paul to the pagan Athenians. God is obviously not restricted to any particular portion of His creation. He is obviously omnipresent: “In Him we live and move and have our being” pagan or otherwise.

Now few “historical orthodox Christians” realize that the “heavens” are not just occupied by God and Christ and all of their righteous angels, but the heavens are also home to many evil spirits who God is using to accomplish His purpose:

1Sa 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

This is but one of many dozens of verses that show that God ‘in heaven’ uses evil spirits to accomplish His plan and His purpose. That is why we are told that the heavens must yet be cleansed. Speaking of this cleansing, Paul tells us that their ‘pattern’, the old covenant, was cleansed with the blood of calves and goats:

Heb 9:18 Whereupon neither the first testament [ Greek- covenant] was dedicated without blood.
Heb 9:19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

These things were types of the true ‘heavens.’ Now look at how the true heavens are purified. It is not with the blood of calves and goats:

Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these [ the blood of calves and goats]; but the heavenly things themselves [ you and me and all of God’s people] with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

So the heavens themselves must be cleansed. You will not understand these or any other verses of scripture so long as you see them through “historical orthodox Christian” tinted glasses. You simply must read the exchange I had with Gary Amirault, of the Tentmaker web page. Gary is a confirmed Preterist who believes that all of the prophecies of Mat 24 were fulfilled in 70 A. D. The vast majority of Christians believe that all of those prophecies are yet to be fulfilled at ‘the time of the end.’ Neither of these schools of thought know who Jesus Christ is. Therefore they have no clue as to how to handle His Word. If you do not know Christ, you do not know His Word. If you do not know His word, then you do not know Christ. Such is the condition of “historical orthodox Christianity.” They do not know Christ or His Word. Read that exchange between Gary Amirault and me. After you read that exchange, then read How To Rightly Divide The Word Using A Principle Only The Apostles Understood.

If you read these papers, you will see that the heavens are now being cleansed. The heavens have been being cleansed, ever since the death and resurrection of Christ, and the heavens will continue to be cleansed all the way through the white throne judgment. At that time there will be “a new heavens and a new earth.”

You see, the death of Mike Vinson does not destroy Mike Vinson. Mike Vinson lives “through death.”

Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

This principle holds true for “all His enemies.” That’s right; even Satan Himself will some day be brought to God through the death of his carnal mind. Satan may not be flesh, but he has a mind that is not subject to God. Here are the scriptures:

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

After all things are “in Christ,” then “God will be all in all,” and then the heavens will have been cleansed.

Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

It seems to us to be a life of struggle against the things on this earth. In reality the things on this earth are controlled and worked by the things in the heavens. And the heavens are full of “principalities and powers and rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in the heavens.” Here is the truth about the struggles of this life. They are directly linked to the need for the ‘heavens’ to be cleansed.

Eph 6:12 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 [ Greek- epouranios – heavens].

I am sorry for the length of this e- mail. It simply cannot be understood in just a few sentences. I am right now answering a letter on the subject of Rev 20:12-13. When I finish, I will forward it on to you. It too, is long, but again, you cannot explain the judgment of God in just a couple of minutes. It simply isn’t possible.

I hope this helps your understanding of “the things of the spirit.”

Mike