It’s amazing to listen to the cheap theology of our apostate generation. Cheap grace that covers lacy religion is the order of this last generation. Grace has become an excuse to live self-centered lives and yet claim discipleship with Christ. The Bible makes no such room for careless living. Grace does not cover for sin but breaks the power of sin. Patience is ceaseless surrender in the face of many difficulties to that power of grace at work in the believer’s heart. The rapture of each of us to His presence will be the triumph of patience.

Listen to the Apostle of grace as he instructs us to patience. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:1-4). The world will never be fair to the saints. There is no unity between us and a world under the sway of sin. We are the ones that must show them t he pure life and never expect them to understand the conflict until they are converted.   We win others to Christ by patience.

“Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” It is a race, a contest and an arena of spiritual sport. There is a world full of dark spirits, wickedness in high places, and we are the opponents to be defeated. Day by day we must see ourselves in this race and learn to deal with each conflict patiently.

The other person may treat you wrongly, but our Father says, “Love your enemies.” They may even hate you, but remember they hated Him first. Our struggle is never to be in a personal battle with individuals. “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. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:12-18) This is a struggle to the end. There is no coasting if you would win the prize. “In your patience, possess ye your soul”(Luke 21:19). The triumph of patience is the rapture of His saints.

The Rapture: Triumph of Holiness
Jesus plainly said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).You will never find one scripture in the Holy Bible that even suggests that those living in sin will inherit the eternal kingdom. The opposite is always declared without compromise. The glory of the rapture will be the triumph of Holiness. Pure, Godly, separated saints will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air. The true church from Pentecost until this hour has been badgered over Holiness above every other thought. Theology is important but it never causes the attack that Holiness does. People will divide over denominations, ideas of church government, and other ecclesiastical matters but nothing causes more disputes than right and wrong. What is the lifestyle acceptable to be called a Bible Christian is t he ultimate place for church war.

Sometimes the problem is mainly the argument over man-made standards. The church has often been deeply divided over Holiness issues that are not Holiness at all. It would be impossible to name or describe all the man-made standards imposed on believers. Good people with impure spirits have developed man-made ideas about right and wrong that reflect nothing but self-righteousness. There are a lot of Scriptures that can be twisted to support many different man-made convictions. They always do more harm than good.

Bible Holiness is not only right but the only way into the Kingdom. The Gospel said, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). His church is a Holiness church. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good wor ks, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation” (I Peter 2:9-12). Search the history of every great awakening—Waldensians, Anabaptists, Huguenots, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, or Pentecostals—in every case Holiness, separation from the world, was the character and culture. There is no such idea in Scripture of discipleship without Holiness.

I am not talking about man-made standards but a Biblical culture. Every human individual was created in the image of God. Our entire person was created in the Father’s likeness. As He is triune, in three persons, we are triune in spirit, soul, and body. There are three that bear witness in Heaven—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—three that bear witness on earth—blood, water, and the spirit—and there is a three-fold witness in every human person. We were created “a little lower than the angels, but crowned with glory” (Psalm 8:5). Because of our creation in the image of God, the ultimate sin is to mar and defile that image which is ourselves.

Every commandment and restriction in Holy Scripture is based on our likeness to God. Sin is anything that reduces my life from the image of my Father. The commandments, both in the First and New Testaments are never given to restrict our liberties or to place bondage on our lives. They are given to protect His likeness in men, to keep us in His image and in His glory. That’s the culture of Holiness that will fill heaven and the New Earth and no one will inherit the Heavenly future without the Heavenly culture and lifestyle. The Bible teaches this culture and clearly makes it the only acceptable life in His family.

The Rapture will be the final triumph of Holiness over sin and worldly living. One church put the following on their outdoor sign, “The Rapture: Separation of Church & State.”

Joseph R. Chambers
jrc@pawcreek.org

Researching the religions of the world for a view of their “eternal heavens” is a hopeless venture. If these religions are judged by the futures they offer, they are a sad spectacle. Christianity is the one and only faith that promises a simple and beautiful life in a glorious setting worthy of human existence. All the rest of the world’s religions show signs of being created by a fallen mind or minds with no concept of a meaningful eternal life.

The saddest of all these religions is the Islamic faith. While many politicians and religious leaders claim that the Islam god, Allah, is the same god as the Judeo-Christian God, the facts confirm that this is a false claim. Nothing proves this more absolutely than the different theologies of heaven.

First, let’s look at the Islamic theology of heaven. Their heaven is a sex brothel, where women will spend eternity as sex slaves. Any woman that would ever embrace Islam must be ignorant of this fact. What woman would want to be one of the many wives, along with seventy-two virgins, that serve one man with sex for eternity?

The prophet Mohammed described his view with the following words, “The smallest reward for the people of paradise is an abode where there are 80,000 servants and 72 wives, over which stands a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine, and ruby, as wide as the distance from Al-Jabiyyah [a Damascus suburb] to Sana’a .” (Surah Al-Rahman 55, 72, as interpreted by Ibn Kathir, who died in 1373 CE).

Here are quotes directly from the Koran:

“As for the righteous, they shall surely triumph. Theirs shall be gardens and vineyards, and high-bosomed virgins for companions: a truly overflowing cup.” (Koran 78:31)

“…They will sit with bashful, dark-eyed virgins, as chaste as the sheltered eggs of ostriches.” (Koran 37:40-48)

“…Yes and We shall wed them to dark-eyed houris (beautiful virgins).” (Koran 44:51-55)

“…They shall recline on couches ranged in rows. To dark-eyed houris (virgins) we shall wed them…” (Koran 52:17-20)

“In them will be bashful virgins neither man nor Jinn will have touched before. Then which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?” (Koran 55:56-57)

“Virgins as fair as corals and rubies. Then which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?” (Koran 55:57-58)

“…We created the houris (the beautiful women) and made them virgins, loving companions for those on the right hand…” (Koran 56:7-40)

“In each there shall be virgins chaste and fair… Dark eyed virgins sheltered in their tents whom neither man nor Jinn will have touched before…” (Koran 55:70-77)

Not only are there virgins in multiplied numbers, but, also, dashing and handsome young boys ready to be devoured in homosexual activities. The Islam pornographic brothel includes the darkest possible sin of men raping innocent young boys. These quotes from the Koran document these horrible acts:

“Round about them will serve, to them, boys (handsome) as pearls well-guarded.” (Koran 52:24)

“Round about them will serve boys of perpetual freshness.” (Koran 56:17)

“And round about them will serve boys of perpetual freshness: if thou seest them, thou wouldst think them scattered pearls.” (Koran 76:19)

While I try to spare you the descriptive and vulgar language that extends far beyond what I am writing, I must mention the sex market promised by Prophet Mohammed. In the Hadiths, Mohammed extends the talk of virgins and boys to promise a free sex market, where there is no end of choices for additional sex beyond the wives, 72 virgins, and young boys. “Ali reported that the Apostle of Allah said, ‘There is in Paradise a market wherein there will be no buying or selling, but will consist of men and women. When a man desires a beauty, he will have intercourse with them.’” (Al Hadis, Vol. 4, p. 172, No. 34)

The only possible creator of this debauchery is the Prince of Darkness, the fallen malevolent, the blasphemer of the Father – Lucifer himself. This fallen prince and all his discontented angels and men are on a subway to Hell. This subway is gaining speed and is soon to arrive at the depot of darkness.

When we stop to compare the Christian Heaven that fills the Bible from Genesis to Revelation with the Islamic heaven (Paradise), we are left with nothing to compare. The Islamic heaven is not a heaven after all, but a brothel where sick men indulge in lustful activities uninhibited by moral restraints. I cannot find one promise to the Islamic women except the task of watching the men live out the wildest description of sex orgies ever recorded. There is doubtless no pornographic book more vulgar and debauched than the Islamic theology of their heaven. A sex market that men can visit and choose a woman at will with which to have open sex has to be at the very bottom of the depravity of fallen mankind.

The Heaven promised in the Holy Bible is rich, pure, God-centered, and reserved for the pure saints that have turned from the filthy world of lust. Our glorified bodies will exemplify the highest morality possible. This glorious life is so far removed from the base appetite of sex that the thought of such will not even come to mind. The joy of our Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, will be the highest expression of eternal life. The New Heaven and the New Earth will be centered round a New Jerusalem so spectacular that our imagination can only see the blinding light of it all.

The city of twelve levels will be surrounded by jasper walls and pearly gates. Each of the twelve foundations will be enhanced by priceless jewels from pure sapphires to the royal purple amethysts. Streets will be paved with gold and the Light of the city will be the Lord Jesus Christ – the Light of the world. Angels will welcome the saints as they exit and/or enter the city. The River of Life will flow out of God’s throne and the Tree of Life will line its banks.

Our Bible is filled with the way that leads to this eternal reward. Jesus Christ paid the debt of sin for all that choose to surrender to His eternal will. The Heaven of our Holy Bible is a pure place; purchased by His pure blood and offered to every soul that will turn from the lust of life to the “Way, the Truth, and the Life” — Jesus Christ.