"And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man Which is in heaven." John 3:13

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 5:24

Good Morning, friends, and truly a GOOD morning it can be for you!

Recently we have been looking at citizenship in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ; and we saw how, because of misunderstanding, Christians have piled up a great deal of unnecessary grief and trouble for themselves. They have expected sorrow and tribulation, instead of success and happiness here and now; therefore, according to their faith it has come to pass for them.

The Jews of old asked the Lord Jesus about the kingdom of God, and He replied to them that it "would not come by observation," for, said He, "...the kingdom of God is within you" (Lk. 17:20-21). Just as sure as there is an earth on which human beings dwell, just that certain is it that there is what we may term a heaven, or spiritual world, in which God dwells. Of that there should be no doubt. But Christians have been misled into believing that the kingdom of heaven cannot be enjoyed or realized unless or until a person's physical body has died, and the soul or spirit is wafted to heaven into the presence of God. That is why Christendom is full of woe and misfits who are knocked from pillar to post in one continuous round of unending trouble and sorrow.

We may speak of tomorrow, of next week and next year, yet those are only terms for our own convenience, that we may better understand the thoughts in mind, or as expressed. Yet in the final analysis, there never has been and never will be any "tomorrow." We never have had, and never will have anything but the ever-continuous and unceasing present moment. Therefore, get busy to establish your heaven here and now. There is nothing to stop you. To be sure, there may be conditions about you not exactly too heavenly; still, because the spirit within you is the spirit of God, that is, of the same substance and spirit potential, it is capable of creating a little world of its own, right within your own being. And in this little world of the spirit's making within, you can enter into such a dynamic that it supersedes the outer world, thus enabling you to enjoy heaven here and now and eternally.

Did you know that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke almost these very words? – Not exactly the words that I have given you, but certainly words that meant precisely the same. If you have a Bible convenient, turn with me to the 3rd chapter of John's Gospel. This is where we are given the account of Nicodemus who, as a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus by night to question Him. So let us read a few words by the Lord Jesus. Commencing in verse 12 we find, "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man Which is in heaven."

I have checked into the ancient Greek manuscripts and find that this verse 13 is a correct rendering of the ancient Greek. Now let us get the picture straight in our own minds. This was in Palestine, at night, when Jesus of Nazareth, as a human being, was talking to Nicodemus, another earthling. And here the Lord stated in the clearest of words that He was then in Heaven! We cannot get any other meaning out of those words – "even the Son of man Which is in heaven." And we find that these words fit perfectly into His other answer to the Jews when He said that "the kingdom does not come through observation, but rather it is here and now within you," or rather, can be that.

Now let us look at one of His other statements which also fits into this "kingdom of the heavens here and now," and absolutely excludes, or precludes, the kingdom of God as something for an uncertain and distant tomorrow (in a world concerning which human beings know nothing). On this occasion, the Lord was talking about riches, nice homes, and success and happiness in general, which the Gentiles make it their business and ambition to go after. Then, He counseled His followers to "seek...first the kingdom of God..." (Matt. 6:33). Now, it takes no Solomon to understand that if the kingdom of God is something for a future life in another world, and something that a person may perhaps obtain after death, then it becomes totally impossible for an earthling here and now to seek, or to search for, such a kingdom. It becomes absolutely preposterous! We don't go down into the ocean to hunt for the birds of the air. We don't go up in the air to make a search for fish! If the kingdom of God is something to be obtained after death, in a future world of which man knows nothing, then no one but a fool would tell people to start searching for that kingdom here and now, and only a fool would take a step in its search!

Again I remind you of the words of the Lord Jesus, speaking of His return to earth at a later time, when He said that, "When the Son of man returneth, shall He find THE faith on earth" (Lk. 18:8)? I have previously shown you how this fits in with His other statement that "while men slept, an enemy would sow the tares" (Matt. 13:25). Those tares, or darnel, might be called a counterfeit wheat which, in its early stages, looks very much like the good wheat. In fact, only the very experienced eye can tell the difference. Only when near its full maturity is the difference apparent, and if eaten, the tares, or darnel, cause sickness; and if eaten in considerable quantity, leads to death.

This is the situation that we find in the world today. Because leaders of the early Christian church "fell asleep," an enemy injected an immense amount of counterfeit teachings which have the appearance, at first sight, of being the genuine article, but under the searchlight of His Spirit-truth they are found to be but the sowings of the Devil! That is Christendom of today!

Many devout Christians grieve and moan, they strain and groan, they stagger under the burden of grief and calamities; yet all of this the Lord Jesus came to do away with! That is, to do away with it for whomsoever will accept the truth of His teachings of the kingdom of God for human beings here and now, upon this earth and commencing as at this very moment and continuing time without end. Make no mistake about it: if you will accept Truth as taught by Jesus Christ, to the end that you establish for your own self the very kingdom of God here and now, then you will continue to enjoy this salvation wrought by Jesus Christ, living in the kingdom of God time without ending. But Christians moan and groan under the burden of trouble and grief, because they are looking for a future kingdom in an unknown world. They are not practical; it is lack of realism. Create your own heaven here and now, and it shall never, never, never be taken away from you.

Man goes from trouble into grief and sorrow for the simple reason that he uses the wrong compass by which to guide his steps. He has accepted the Devil's counterfeit seed to believe the Son of God died for a future kingdom in a world of which man knows nothing. Because he has accepted the teachings of Lucifer, his every footstep is directed into wrong channels or ways, ruled over by the god of this world, who is Lucifer (Jn. 12:31; II Cor. 4:4). But if, as, and when a person will gather up all the half-truths and particle-truths and outright untruths, and boot them out of his life and consciousness in order to receive the fullness of truth as taught by the very Son of God, then will his feet become directed by the Spirit of God instead of Lucifer, and he will find his footsteps guided into the paths of achievement, success, and of great peace and happiness. If this you will do, you will learn for yourself the astounding truth of Jesus' words spoken to Nicodemus when He said, "the Son of man Which is in heaven." Now, had He said the "Son of God" instead of the "Son of man," we might have been able to sort of interpret that to mean something mystical, and something that could not be hoped for by the ordinary man. Therefore, He used that particular expression, "the Son of man," to link with human beings – to show us that it was not merely for Himself (as the Son of God), but for whomsoever would accept the truths He taught for the ever-present now, and enter into the joys of heaven here on earth, beginning this very moment and continuing throughout eternity – time without end!

Now the great and all-consuming question of the utmost importance becomes this: "How can a person be born anew, that is, into the kingdom of God, and commence living in heaven here and now?" Now, turn to the 5th chapter of John's Gospel, where we read the words of the Lord Jesus. But bear in mind that the great Truths which the Lord Jesus took over three years to teach His disciples, cannot be put across to you in a few terse sentences. Even the Son of God failed to do that! Yet there are some truths which are basic and paramount, there are some which are preliminary and essential in order to even get started; while there are a great many more which fit in and add to the completeness of the gloriously finished solution.

Now, from the 5th chapter of John's Gospel let us read verse 24, which, according to the King James Authorized Version, is as follows: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

To the average Christian, the utterly astounding factor in this verse is the present moment, the accomplished fact as of here and now, without any waiting or without any uncertainty attached thereto. Let us now take His words clause by clause and consider them briefly. First He starts out by saying that "It is certainly true what I say unto you, that he who hears My word...." Now the Lord was not talking about the audible sound of His word; but the way He used this word hears referred to those who would receive His statement deep into their hearts, fully accepting the truth there. This He conditioned by adding, "...and believes Him Who sent Me...." (RSV) That statement has two implications: first, to be deeply persuaded within one's own heart that there is a Supreme Being Whom we call God, on the Heavenly Throne; while its second connotation is that of assurance that the said Supreme Being of God has indeed dispatched into the world the Son, Who was then manifest in their midst as Jesus of Nazareth. That is the basic, primary prerequisite to know without a shadow of doubt: that there is a Supreme Being and that He sent out from the Throne of glory into this world that Spirit-Being Who is referred to as "the Son." Unless that statement is fully believed, then verse 24 is completely without any meaning whatever to that person. But unto the one who accepts it, the Lord Jesus went on to say that such a person has everlasting life.

Observe carefully that word "has." And for your information, I have checked into the ancient Greek manuscripts and have found that it has been rendered correctly into the English by using the present and continuous tense in the word "has." Has everlasting life! Observe, not something to be received in the future, not something to be hoped for or wished for, nor something over which you should keep your fingers crossed, thinking that if you're lucky you might get it; not something you might receive if you continue to be a goody-goody little boy or girl unto the end of an earthly life filled with sorrow and suffering. But see His positive and emphatic statement of a present condition – "has everlasting life" – even a world-jarring statement which is not conditioned in any way whatsoever!

At its side is the preliminary, the basic prerequisite which I come back to and fully emphasize that you may truly understand and never stumble over it again: that if you are persuaded of the reality of God the Father, and that He did send into the world for your preservation (or salvation, if you prefer that word), His very Own Son to accomplish for you and me an absolutely finished work here and now – as commencing from this split second, you possess an everlasting (even an unending) and eternal life, which not even God Almighty is able to ever take away from you.

And His next statement was, "...and shall not come into condemnation...." Now for your information, when we come to the ancient Greek manuscripts we find that this word that has been rendered "condemnation," could be better rendered "judgment." To the average Christian, the word condemnation is the same as damnation, which in turn, to most of us, mean the same as "hell-fire and brimstone forever and ever." The Lord Jesus added the statement to completely knock out the thought or possible fear that if the person made a mistake or committed some so-called sin, that he might be in danger of losing that life. Observe the positive emphaticness of His statement that the person "shall not come into judgment; no, never!" And the final and recapitulating statement is that the person is passed from death to life!

Behold the glory of His plan: an accomplished fact as at this moment, with no IFs for the future!