Season 4 Podcast 118 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew Ch 13: 2:24-58, “The Kingdom of Heaven”

Season 4 Podcast 118 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew Ch 13: 2:24-58, “The Kingdom of Heaven”Christians are associated with the terms God and Satan, good and evil, heaven and hell. It is a battle ground. Peter tells us,1 Peter 5:8“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  Paul warns us to put on the whole armor of God.Ephesians 6:10-18“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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;”Before coming to earth to gain a physical body, we lived with God in heaven as spirits. When the     Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, he breathed into his nostril the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” That breath of life was our premortal spirit. Only the spirit has life in itself. The body did not become a living soul until after the spirit was placed in it. The spirit can never die. Death is the separation of the body from the spirit. Only the physical body dies. The resurrection, of course, is the reuniting of the body and the spirit never to be separated again. Where then do we go when we die? Many wish to oversimplify the answer and say we either go to heaven or hell. The Holy Bible does not support that thesis. The Savior said.Matthew 25:31-34“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:”“Inherit the kingdom prepared for you” suggests different kingdoms. In another place Christ clarifies the statement. John 14:2“In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”Paul teaches that there are three major divisions of heaven. Paul was caught up in the third or highest heaven.2 Corinthians 12:2“I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.”