AGE IN HEAVEN!--And the Churches' Failures!      DO 1826  15/2/84

         1. WHAT AGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE IN THE MILLENNIUM? Have you thought about it?
         2. WHAT AGE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN HEAVEN? A lot of folks like my parents & Dr. Koger, etc., who were quite old when they passed away, when I saw them there they looked like they were in their prime, middle-aged. Dr. Koger looked as I remembered him when he must have been about 50, & I think my Mother & Father too. They were quite handsome & good-looking at 50, they looked mature & had grey hair.
         3. I THINK MY PARENTS WERE REALLY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AT THAT AGE, & if you have already matured & come to that age before you go to be with the Lord, I think you'd almost look a little odd if, when people met you in Heaven, you were 20 or 30 years younger! I think if I'd seen Dr. Koger as a young man I might not have even recognised him, I don't know! Of course, in some ways we're not actually affected by time & the aging process there the way we are here, I don't believe you could even call it aging. Here it's a gradual dying, but there it's more growing & maturing. If you're not fully grown, you'll grow up. If you're not fully mature, you've got a lot to learn.
         4. WE KNOW THAT CHILDREN CONTINUE TO GROW UP AFTER THEY GO TO HEAVEN, we got that definitely because of that dream that my Mother had about Crystal. (See No.818.) She was already just about the age she should have been for the length of time that she had gone on to be with the Lord. And there have been other indications that children certainly grow & develop in Heaven just as they would here, only better! You say, "Well, when do they stop getting older, & what about us old folks who are already old?"
         5. SO HOW OLD DO YOU WANT TO BE?--MAYBE YOU DON'T REALLY KNOW NOW. AFTER ALL, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE AS OLD AS I AM! Some people call 50 getting old, but I was just beginning to hit my stride at 50! At 50, the beginning of the Revolution & the Family, I was making love to three or four or five girls every day! So I'd say I was almost in my prime in those years, & I think those were almost the best years of my life, 50 to 60. I think I was probably in the peak of health, the best health & going stronger in every way--physically, sexually, mentally, everything--from 50 to 60, believe it or not!
         6. JESUS ONLY GOT TO BE 33 & I REMEMBER HEARING MY MOTHER SAY: "DON'T WORRY, YOU HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST IN YOU & YOU HAVE THE LIFE OF CHRIST IN YOU, OF A YOUNG MAN OF 33!" But when we were working on this Heaven poster & discussing what Jesus should look like, it came to me right away, "What about that description of Jesus in Heaven in the Book of Revelation?" And what did it say?--He had white hair! (Rev.1:14) I don't think it mentioned the beard, but we put that on there anyhow. The beard is part of your hair, really, & I think He'd look kind of funny without His beard. It's perfectly natural for men to have a beard. But anyhow, He had hair as white as snow!
         7. THAT'S WHAT'S GOING TO BE ONE OF THE MARVELOUS THINGS ABOUT HEAVEN, that you'll be able to go back & see how things really were! I can hardly wait! Won't that be thrilling to go back & watch Christ's ministry & watch Him in reality, the way it really was? That's going to be one of the thrills of Heaven to be able to watch those 3-D movies or even travel back in time & actually see it! Think of that!
         8. SO HOW OLD WOULD I WANT TO BE?--I DON'T REALLY WANT TO BE ANY YOUNGER. I'm perfectly happy the way I am right now, in fact, the happiest I've been in my whole life except for a few days I've been a little sick. But there will be no sickness there, no pain, no disease, no death or sorrow or dying, so at this age I should be doing great Up There! So how old would you like to be? I know what some of you are going to say: "Well, as old as the Lord wants me to be, whatever the Lord wants me to be." Well, He says, "If you delight yourself in Me I'll give you the desires of your heart." (Psa.37:4) So He wants you to be what you want to be! He loves His children & He likes to please you & make you happy & give you what you want.
         9. OF COURSE THE OLDER YOU GET & THE NEARER YOU GET TO GOING THERE, THE MORE YOU THINK ABOUT IT, & I'VE DECIDED I'M QUITE CONTENT TO LOOK LIKE I AM & BE THE AGE I AM WHEN I GO THERE. If I was suddenly reverted to my 20s, you probably wouldn't even recognise me! So I have a feeling that you're going to sort of stay the way you are if you're full-grown, & at approximately the same age that you are when you go there.--Not looking old & weak & doddery & on your last pegs like in your 70s & 80s, but I mean in your prime!--What you looked like in the prime of life, the peak of life, which to me, having lived that long, I believe is really 50 to 60 years of age. I still feel fine now & I don't look so bad--I look a lot better than I did when I was young--so I wouldn't mind looking like I do right now!
         10. SO HOW DID JESUS GET THAT WHITE HAIR? Jesus had a human body just like us, that's why He came to us, to be like one of us, He became one. And He, "the only begotten Son of God," born of a woman with a physical body just like us, was killed, died just like everyone does--except, of course, He died in a terrible way & for a better purpose than most people--at 33. But He was pretty young then, dark, swarthy, almost burly & muscular after working hard 30 years of His life as a carpenter. You develop some muscles if you do carpentry work & building, etc. And He was dark-haired. So in Heaven, where did He get the white hair?
         11. MAYBE HIS FATHER JUST ALLOWED HIM TO CONTINUE TO MATURE UNTIL HE WAS OF A NICE, RIPE, PRIME-OF-LIFE AGE WITH WHITE HAIR! I think He might have felt a little bit uncomfortable around some of the old white-haired Saints, the ancient Patriarchs & Prophets & the different ones that are up there, if He looked like a young sprout & they were all matured in age!
         12. MAYBE YOU NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THAT BEFORE & maybe I shouldn't even be thinking about it, I don't know, but you think about a lot of funny things like that when you get as old as I am & you think about going on to be with the Lord: "What's this going to be like? What's that going to be like? What am I going to be like? What am I going to be doing?" I believe in that place! I'm expecting to go there, not very long from now either, & I think the Lord's preparing my heart & letting me think about these things to sort of get me mentally adjusted & accustomed & prepared for that life I'm going to be living soon. PTL? So why shouldn't I think about it? I mean, I'm going to live there forever--it's time I started thinking about it!
         13. I USED TO SAY ABOUT THE CHURCH PEOPLE THAT THEY PREPARE FOR HEAVEN AS THOUGH THEY WERE NEVER GOING THERE, & THEY BUILD CHURCHES FOR THIS EARTH AS THOUGH THEY WERE GOING TO LIVE HERE FOREVER!--Really! Most Christians live their lives on this Earth building homes & churches & jobs & families & whatnot like they expected to live here forever, & seem to make very little preparation for Heaven. They don't build the Body of God, the True Church of God, the Living Stones, by witnessing & winning souls & going to the mission field, they're not preparing hardly anything for Heaven. They just build a church building & hire a preacher & put their little offering in every Sunday.--Living for this life just as though they expected to live here forever, & making almost no preparations for the future, laying hardly anything in store Up There.
         14. SO WHAT IS HE GOING TO GIVE THEM CREDIT FOR? WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO GET A CROWN FOR? WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO GET A REWARD FOR? About all you can say for them is that at least they accepted Christ, but that's Salvation, that's not reward. Most're not going to have any stars in their crown, they never won anybody to the Lord! They never hardly even witnessed! They thought they were witnessing if they just went to church every Sunday, boldly carrying their Bible!
         15. IS GOD GOING TO GIVE THEM CREDIT FOR BUILDING THOSE CHURCH BUILDINGS?--I think He's going to subtract a little, or maybe a lot! It's going to be a part of their shame & their contempt that they're going to have to bear for Eternity, for having wasted money on those fancy buildings which could have gone to the mission field & won souls--the true Church of God that'll last forever!
         16. WHY DO I CALL CHURCH BUILDINGS THE CURSE OF THE CHURCH?--BECAUSE THEY HAVE ROBBED THE MISSION FIELDS OF MILLIONS OF NOT ONLY DOLLARS, BUT MANPOWER, MISSIONARIES! They have instituted an institution which makes Christians satisfied & contented & feeling like they've accomplished their purpose in staying at home & sitting in church instead of doing what they're supposed to do. How could they expect any reward? They're certainly not going to get it for building churches! They're not going to get it for going to church on Sunday, sitting there just hearing pretty things they want to hear, & they chuck the preacher out if he doesn't preach what they like to hear that makes'm feel comfortable & contented not to witness, not to win souls, not to be a missionary & not feel obligated to even help them in many churches.
         17. SO WHAT KIND OF A REWARD ARE THEY GOING TO GET IN HEAVEN? I mean, they can't look forward to much, if anything, but shame & contempt if they weren't one of the few rare missionaries or the very few even rarer real genuine soul-winners! Amen? I think the only ones the Lord's going to really reward are those who really won souls & helped others, & there are many ways to help other people. I think our FFers are certainly going to get some rewards, even for the souls they didn't win, because at least they tried.--Including missionaries that may have a struggle & not be very successful, but at least they try.--Even a little tiny handful of church people. But I don't think there's any missionary outfit on Earth like ours! I don't think there's any other church on Earth where they're all missionaries.
         18. WELL, I STARTED OFF TALKING ABOUT HEAVEN & REWARDS & I WAS GOING TO GIVE YOU A NICE PRETTY TALK ON HOW WONDERFUL HEAVEN MUST BE & HOW THINGS ARE GOING TO BE THERE. I was going to talk a little bit more about it, but I got to thinking about the church people & the rewards they're not going to get because of what they're not doing, & I couldn't get off the subject! So praise the Lord anyhow!


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