II Corinthians 12:2 – “I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don't know—only God knows.”

Talk about the power of God’s presence; here was a man speaking about an experience he had with God – an experience so powerful and overwhelming, that, even though it happened to him 14 years earlier, he still couldn’t tell whether or not his body went with him when it happened. Matter of fact, he had resigned himself to the fact that only God knew.

II Corinthians 12:3,4 – “(3)Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know (4) that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.”

Here, the Bible again confirms both the reality of heaven, and, the ability of God to take people there.

Now, it’s important for us to understand that God’s presence is everywhere, and, He manifests Himself in various degrees and ways. But, Heaven is where God fully manifests Himself in splendor and power. Heaven is a place so filled with wonder that words fail to express it.

Not only was Paul caught up into Heaven, but John was also. And it’s worth noting that Paul’s experience in Heaven was different from John’s experience in Heaven.

Paul, when he was there couldn’t even tell if his body went with him, but John knew he was in the Spirit when he was caught up into Heaven.

Revelation 4:1,2 – “(1) Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.’ (2) And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it.”

Paul was not permitted to tell others anything about what he heard while in Heaven, but, John was. John was permitted to describe both what he saw and heard; matter-of-fact, John was instructed not to seal-up that he had seen and heard.

Revelation 22:10 – “Then he instructed me, ‘Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near.’ ”

John was mandated to tell and describe what he had seen and heard with at least one exception. He was not permitted to write about what the seven thunders spoke.

Revelation 10:4 – “When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.’ ”

Both Paul and John knew where they were …they were caught up to Heaven. What they called the “third heaven,” another name for “Paradise.”

The Third Heaven and Paradise are synonyms for the same place, both are Heaven; …the very same place Jesus promised the criminal (crucified with him) would be on that day Jesus was crucified. That criminal had faith and that day he was with the Son of God in Heaven.

Luke 23:43 – “And Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.’ ”

Jesus, Paul, and John, were all referring to the third heaven, paradise; the heaven of heavens; the place where God dwells in glory, the very place of the unrestricted presence of God. Why call it the Third Heaven? That follows a very simple line of reasoning.

The First Heaven is the level of the clouds. Today, people reach the First Heaven all the time through flight. Man reaches to the First Heaven thousands of times each day through “air travel.” People routinely fly under, in, and above the clouds.

The Second Heaven is the “heaven” of the planets. What we call today space! On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the very first human to visit a physical place in the Second Heaven when he walked on the moon. Both the First and Second Heaven can be reached by man in his own power.

But the Third Heaven, that’s a place that man can neither find nor get to through his own ingenuity or in his own power...

ENDURING FAITH

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