The Third Heaven, setting the record straight.
(read Gospel of Thomas)
(Hebrews 12:24, Psalm 14:21, 1 Corinthians 15:41,Psalm 147:4-5,Psalm 148:6,Ecclesiastes 1:6, Psalm 19:8-9, Psalm 22:31, Psalm 8:33,Psalm 139:6, 1 John 5:20, Deuteronomy 10:14 , Isaiah 12:2, 2 Corinthians 12:2, Genesis 1:3, Isaiah 46:5, Psalm 89:6, Isaiah 40:18, Matthew 25:34, Luke 22:14, Mark 12:41,Psalm 48:2,2 Samuel 5:7, Psalm 48:2, Genesis 1:6,Psalm 37:6, Psalm 150:1, 1 Samuel 26:13,Psalm 59:13, Psalm 21:7, 1 Kings 8:27, Psalm 8:1, Psalm 46:2, Psalm 10:1, Samuel 17:11, Psalm 10:1, Psalm 11:3, Genesis 4:25, Ezekiel 43:10-11, Haggai 2:17-19, Psalm 10:2, Proverbs 21:24, Job 16:12, Psalm 10:4, Psalm 49:11, Acts 17:6, Psalm 12:4, Isaiah 38:11, Psalm 11:4, Genesis 24:3, Psalm 12:4, Malachi 2:17, Psalm 52:5, Malachi 21:17, 1 Kings 2:32, Isaiah 57:15-17, Ezekiel 43:9, Psalm 62:9, Psalm 50:16, Hebrews 12:26, Psalm 50:16, Psalm 46:10, Hebrews 12:26, Deuteronomy 21:2, Matthew 4:7, Matthew 20:23, Mark 10:40, 2 Corinthians 12:14, Psalm 46:6, Psalm 49:14, Psalm 11:4-7, Psalm 68:4, John 17:13-18,Isaiah 41:9, Luke 3:21, Psalm 34:5, Psalm 26:2, Psalm 27:8, Psalm 17:3, Matthew 9:4,Ezekiel 18:19-20,Hebrews 7:25 Romans 4:7,Romans 10:6-7)
To Jesus,
The Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory; He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name, Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away.
The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit.
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this.
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it.
Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.
Then God said, “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike? For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, and the twelve apostles with Him. ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. In Mount Zion (that is, the City of David) on the sides of the north, Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, the city of the great King.
Then God said, He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! a great distance being between them. And let them know that God rules in Jacob To the ends of the earth. Selah for the king trusts in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved. Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Like the sand that is by the sea for multitude, (distance)
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?
“For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.”
“Son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and perform them.
From the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid—consider it:
Is the seed still in the barn?
The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor, a proud and haughty man— “Scoffer” is his name; He acts with arrogant pride. He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He has set me up for His target, God is in none of his thoughts. Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too, who have said, ” I shall not see Yah, The Lord is in His holy temple, The Lord’s throne is in heaven; the God of heaven and the God of the earth, “With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?”
You have wearied the Lord with your words; God shall likewise destroy you forever; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, and uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?”
In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?”
So the Lord will return his blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword.
For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry;For the spirit would fail before Me, And the souls which I have made.
For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry and struck him; I hid and was angry, And he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
Now, let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.
Surely men of low degree are a vapor, Men of high degree are a lie; if they are weighed on the scales, They are altogether lighter than vapor.
To the wicked, God says: (whose voice then shook the earth); “What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth, Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
But now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.”
Then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities.
Jesus said to him, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.
Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you.
The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them; the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling.
His eyes behold.
His eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.
Sing to God, sing praises to His name; extol Him who rides on the clouds, by His name YAH, and rejoice before Him.
But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions,
And while He prayed, the heaven was opened. They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.
Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.
When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
“Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?
Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live.
The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
Selah!
But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”(that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
To Jesus,
The Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory; He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name, Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away.
The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit.
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this.
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it.
Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.
Then God said, “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike? For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, and the twelve apostles with Him. ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. In Mount Zion (that is, the City of David) on the sides of the north, Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, the city of the great King.
Then God said, He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! a great distance being between them. And let them know that God rules in Jacob To the ends of the earth. Selah for the king trusts in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved. Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Like the sand that is by the sea for multitude, (distance)
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?
“For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.”
“Son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and perform them.
From the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid—consider it:
Is the seed still in the barn?
The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor, a proud and haughty man— “Scoffer” is his name; He acts with arrogant pride. He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He has set me up for His target, God is in none of his thoughts. Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too, who have said, ” I shall not see Yah, The Lord is in His holy temple, The Lord’s throne is in heaven; the God of heaven and the God of the earth, “With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?”
You have wearied the Lord with your words; God shall likewise destroy you forever; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, and uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?”
In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?”
So the Lord will return his blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword.
For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry;For the spirit would fail before Me, And the souls which I have made.
For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry and struck him; I hid and was angry, And he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
Now, let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.
Surely men of low degree are a vapor, Men of high degree are a lie; if they are weighed on the scales, They are altogether lighter than vapor.
To the wicked, God says: (whose voice then shook the earth); “What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth, Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
But now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.”
Then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities.
Jesus said to him, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.
Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you.
The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them; the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling.
His eyes behold.
His eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.
Sing to God, sing praises to His name; extol Him who rides on the clouds, by His name YAH, and rejoice before Him.
But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions,
And while He prayed, the heaven was opened. They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.
Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.
When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
“Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?
Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live.
The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
Selah!
But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”(that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. 04/17/2015