22.3 The Spirits of the Righteous Made Perfect

Series 22

Episode 3

Prologue

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “The Spirits of the Righteous Made Perfect.” Hebrews 12 mentions about the spirits of the righteous made perfect in the heavenly Jerusalem. They are the ones who believed and trusted in God in the Old Testament time. Since the Lord had not yet come to die on the cross at that time, they were not yet perfected. But when the Lord came and offered the sacrifice for all time, they could then be made perfect. When the Lord came, He also brought them to heaven together with Him. This made it even more perfect. As for us, as soon as we believe in the Lord, we are perfected for all time. Even if we were to depart from this earth, we would be with the Lord, which is far better. What’s most important is that we need to draw near to God again and again, as mentioned repeatedly in the Book of Hebrews .

Message

Let’s read Hebrews 10:1-7, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.”’”

Here it mentions “the spirits of the righteous made perfect.” We should be clear about who these people are.

Hebrews 10:1 begins with, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities…” The true form of reality can only be found in what’s above. The city in heaven is a real city. The holy of holies in the temple on earth resembles New Jerusalem in heaven. The length, width, and height are the same. Just as the Holy of Holies shone with God’s light, the whole of New Jerusalem is filled with God’s presence and His light. So, we can see that what’s on earth is merely a shadow reflecting the reality of heaven.

Those in the Old Testament time who drew near had not yet been made perfect. They could not be made perfect by the same sacrifices that were offered year after year. Otherwise, they would not have to keep offering sacrifices. Indeed, they continued to offer sacrifices all the way to the time when the Lord came. But those who believed in Him were made perfect forever.

Hebrews 10:7 begins with “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will…’” We can see God’s will from many prophecies in the Bible, including Isaiah 53; and His will definitely includes the cross.

The people in the Old Testament had not yet been made perfect. Otherwise, they would not have had to keep offering sacrifices.

Hebrews 10:11 reads, “And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.” So, at the time, they went before God by relying on the Lord who would come to the world and die for them.

Hebrews 9:15 says, “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant… since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”

The Lord died on the cross to redeem not only our sins but also the sins of those who believed in Him before He came to the world. For these Old Testament era believers, they basically enjoyed salvation before the Lord had accomplished it. It’s like how you can use a credit card to obtain things before you’ve paid for them. Eventually though, the Lord came to die for us. That’s how the people of the Old Testament were forgiven.

Hebrews 10:12-14 read, “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

Priests had to remain standing while they served. But the Lord could sit down because He has solved the problem of sins once and for all! Earlier, we talked about how offering sacrifices could not make perfect those who drew near. But here, this passage says we have been perfected for all time. He offered one sacrifice for sins for all time. By that one offering for sins, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. The problem of sins has been completely resolved once for all.

Hebrews 11:39-40 talk about the people of faith in the Old Testament. This passage says, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” While we have been perfected for all time, those in the Old Testament had not been made perfect.

What does Hebrews 12 say about what’s in heaven? Hebrews 12:23 reads, “…to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect…” Here, it mentions “made perfect.” That’s the same phrase mentioned in Hebrews 10:1: “make perfect those who draw near,” Hebrews 10:14: “perfected for all time,” and Hebrews 11:40: “should not be made perfect.” They all talk about being made perfect.

It’s very simple. These Old Testament people did not have to go to hell because their sins had been forgiven. They went to Hades. The Lord had not yet come during that time, so these people enjoyed His salvation similar to how one uses a credit card – You can get something now and pay for it later. Sin had not yet been forgiven. But later on, the Lord’s death on the cross redeemed them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

It is different for us. The Lord already died for us and we have accepted Him as our Saviour. At the moment we believed in the Lord, we were made perfect for all time. We were cleansed of all our sins.

So, all the passages that mention “being made perfect” are about the same matter. Let’s talk about the spirits of the righteous made perfect, which are now in heaven. These are the people who were once not perfected, but now have been made perfect. But that’s not all! Try to think about it. If they remained in Hades, wouldn’t that be bad? Now that these people are in heaven, aren’t they happier and their spirits more uplifted? Moreover, the Lord is in heaven with them. If they continued to stay in Hades, if the Lord did not take them to heaven, they would not be able to be face to face with the Lord, even though they would still have the Lord’s presence. When the Lord ascended to heaven, they were also taken up. Isn’t this perfect, compared to the past when they were still in Hades? Moreover, previously, their sins were only dealt with in a “pay by credit card” way. These people are “the spirits of the righteous made perfect.” We’ve already been perfected, so we will not need to be perfected a second time. The Lord died for us and has already perfected us for all time. We do not need to wait for the future. The Lord has already taken away our sins. Right now, we just need to enjoy this salvation with faith.

The Bible does not clearly mention whether the Lord took them up with Him when He ascended to heaven, but you cannot think of a more suitable or reasonable time for Him to have done so. Right now, the saints are already in heaven. In Hades, there are only sinners waiting for the judgement at the Great White Throne. At that time, they will be resurrected with a debased body. Hell will be their eternal ending.

As for us, we will be with Christ immediately the moment we die. Where is Christ? He’s in new Jerusalem. We have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, where some of the firstborn have already arrived. The mediator of the new covenant is also there. He’s there preparing a place for us. Once it’s ready, He will come take us. The city already exists. What the Lord is preparing now may be something personal for each of us. He will come back to the earth and take us. I believe we’re in the last stages before he comes back. Those who want to apply for “citizenship” in heaven should do so quickly in order to become a citizen.

It’s so precious that we have already been enrolled in heaven, having our names written down as the assembly of the firstborn. This assembly is also known as the church, or gathering of the firstborn. The names of the firstborn have already been written in the book of life of the Lamb. The Lord has already gone through the impossible for us. Not only did He forgive us, He also caused us to be most deeply united with Him. He’s the one who took the initiative to accomplish His love dream, what He desires the most. No one dared to reach out to Him, but He humbled Himself and came to us. In this love, He doesn’t feel he’s degrading Himself. He is the Lamb, the gazelle. He desires the most for us to be with Him. While we are on earth, we are not yet face to face with Him, but He still desires the most to be with us.

The Book of Hebrews mentions the words “draw near to God” again and again. We have “come to” Mount Zion and we “draw near” to God. The words “come to” and “draw near” are the same phrase in the original text. Brothers and sisters, the final destination of our glorious upward journey is heaven. One day, we will be there, uniting with the Lord, Abba, the Holy Spirit, and all brothers and sisters. This is God’s home sweet home, our warmest eternal home. God Himself is the resting place of our spirits. Knowing Him is of surpassing worth in this life and forevermore. That’s also what Paul says. The Lord wants us to truly live out a life close to Him, draw near to Him, experience Him, and be heart to heart with Him. Right now, we are awake, but as soon as we fall “asleep”, we will be with Him. He’s waiting for His love desire to come true, which is written in John 17:24: “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am.” The last chapter of the Bible says three times, “I am coming quickly” (Revelation 22:7,12,20).

I hope you see that even though you are not in heaven yet, the Lord desires you to live with Him day and night. He wants your heart to be set on things above and that you mind the things above. The One you love the most is in heaven. He’s also the most deeply united with you. He lives in your heart to become your glorious hope. He’s living, and He’s our bright living reality. He truly lives in your hearts. He truly lives with you. We are really full of hope, overflowing with hope! It’s more than just not being afraid of death. Paul desired to be with Christ, because it’s far better. I hope that you see the beauty of our heavenly home. It’s indeed very beautiful. In heaven, a most beautiful heart exists that loves you the most and loves you eternally! 

Series 22

When Believers Die, They Will Go to the Heavenly Jerusalem

Message Date: 2020-04-03

This message assures us that the spirits of believers who have passed away are now in the heavenly Jerusalem. The Old Testament does not mention that believers will go to paradise. Instead, both believers and non-believers would go to Sheol after they die. Luke 16 tells us that there are two parts in Hades, separated by a great chasm. When non-believers go to Hades, they suffer great agony. On the contrary, believers in Hades will not feel lonely, but would be joyful. The Bible says clearly that when the Lord died, He went to Hades. However, He did not stay there; He resurrected and ascended to heaven. It is so precious that during His crucifixion, the Lord said to the criminal next to Him, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” The Lord Himself went to Hades, and it was then called paradise. How joyous it must have been when the Lord met that criminal and the saints from the Old Testament time! Although the Bible does not explicitly say that when the Lord ascended to heaven, He also brought along the spirits of those believers in Hades to the heavenly Jerusalem, but the Bible says “When He ascended on high, He led a host of captives.” (Ephesians 4:8a) Those saints of the Old Testament time used to be captives of sin, and were once captured as we were. However, because of the Lord’s salvation, we have all become the Lord’s captives. Therefore, it makes sense to believe that when the Lord ascended on high, He also brought them up to heaven together with Him. Moreover, multiple Bible passages tell us that nowadays, when believers pass away, they will for sure go to the heavenly Jerusalem. When Paul mentioned his experience in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, he mentioned the third heaven, which is paradise. Revelation 2:7 talks about the fruit of the tree of life in the paradise of God; clearly this paradise refers to the heavenly Jerusalem. Paul also said that to be with Christ is far better. Now that Christ is ascended to heaven, preparing a dwelling place for us, we can be certain that when believers pass away, they must go to the heavenly Jerusalem. Hebrews chapter 12 says that we come before God, that is, to the heavenly Jerusalem, in which are many glorious people, things and matters, including the spirits of the righteous made perfect, who are the saints of the Old Testament. The word paradise means the king’s garden. The heavenly Jerusalem must be more magnificent than the Garden of Eden recorded in Genesis. It is designed and built by God. In New Jerusalem, it is beautiful everywhere, full of God’s presence. Everyone in this city will be full of love towards one another, living joyfully together till eternity . Episode 1 The heavenly Jerusalem is paradise (1) Episode 2 The heavenly Jerusalem is paradise (2) Episode 3 The spirits of the righteous made perfect
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22.1 The Heavenly Jerusalem is paradise (1)

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22.2 The Heavenly Jerusalem is paradise (2)

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22.3 The Spirits of the Righteous Made Perfect

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Introduction

01 Introduction of Treasures for the Soul

Series 1: Being Heart to Heart with the Lord

1.1 The Most Blessed Generation
1.2 Message from John the Baptist
1.3 Abide in the Lord Always
1.4 Abide in the Lord’s Love at All Times
1.5 The Lord Speaks to Us and Helps Us in Our Hearts

Series 2: Being Heart to Heart with the Lord Throughout this Year

2.1 God’s Greatest Work Starts in Our Hearts
2.2 To Be Heart to Heart with the Lord Throughout the Year
2.3 Our Spirits can Feel God and Have Fellowship with Him
2.4 The Importance of Peace
2.5 Our Spirits Need the Words of God
2.6 Give the Lord Time and Space to Speak in Our Hearts

Series 3: Let Our Hearts be Influenced

3.1 The World Needs People Who Deeply Experience God
3.2 Just as His Anointing 
Has Taught You, 
Abide in the Lord
3.3 Be Influenced 
by the Lord Throughout 
this Year

Series 4: The Importance of Peace

4.1 Enjoying God’s Peace in Your heart
4.2 Let Not Your Hearts be Troubled, Neither Let Them be Afraid.
4.3 How Should Our Spirit Respond to the Lord?

Series 5: Our Spirit Being Able to Enjoy the Lord

5.1 Our Spirit is Satisfied Only When We Worship God and Deeply Experience Him
5.2 How to Worship God with Our Spirit
5.3 Looking at the Lord with our Inner Eyes
5.4 Our Spirit Needs to Enjoy the Lord Himself
5.5 The Song of Solomon Often Mentions About “Eyes”
5.6 Realize Being Heart to Heart with the Lord in Singing and Worship

Series 6: Live out the Life of being Heart to Heart with the Lord

6.1 Living a life of union with the Lord in a stable pattern every day
6.2 Enjoying the Lord and not being disturbed
6.3 The Importance of Seeing Him with Our Spiritual Eyes

Series 7

7.1 Learn to Protect Our Spirits From Virus Prevention
7.2 Our Spirit Can Hear, Think, and See
7.3 How to Live a Life of Faith
7.4 The Importance of the Mind
7.5 David’s Eyes Beheld the Lord Always

Series 8: During the last supper, the Lord spoke about the essence of the blessings of the new covenant.

8.1 The Lord established with us the eternal love covenant by His blood
8.2 The Lord Treasures the New Covenant and Break-Bread Meeting the Most
8.3 Love Encounters
8.4 Before His Crucifixion, the Lord clearly explained the essence of the blessings of the new covenant: the fourth blessing
8.5 Before His Crucifixion, the Lord clearly explained the essence of the blessings of the new covenant: the first blessing (1)
8.6 Before His Crucifixion, the Lord clearly explained the essence of the blessings of the new covenant: the first blessing (2)

Series 16: We Have Come to Mount Zion and the Heavenly Jerusalem

16.1 See that the Lord is at the right hand of the Father
16.2 Coming to Mount Zion (1): the meaning of Mount Sinai
16.3 Coming to Mount Zion (2): the difficulty in forgiveness of sins
16.4 Coming to Mount Zion (3): to Live in Grace
16.5 Having Come to the Heavenly Jerusalem
16.6 What is in the heavenly Jerusalem (1)?

Series 9: Being Heart to Heart with the Father

9.1 Being Heart to Heart with Abba (Part 1)
9.2 Being Heart to Heart with Abba (Part 2)

Series 10

10.1 The Love Desire in the Depths of Abba and the Lord’s hearts
10.2 Fruit of the Lord’s Crucifixion: Eternal Life
10.3 The Lord Came to Manifest the Father’s Name
10.4 The Father Sent His Only Begotten Son
10.5 Reminders on enjoying heart to heart with the Father
10.6 The Father’s Desire for Me is Forever Steadfast

Series 11

11.1 The preciousness of the Letter to Philemon
11.2 The most profitable; the most accepted.
11.3 Charge That to My Account
11.4 The Father made the Lord our eternal High Priest by an oath (1)
11.5 The Father made the Lord our eternal High Priest by an oath (2)
11.6 We are the Lord’s darling love

Series 12

12.1 The Lord’s Words at the Last Supper
12.2 Apart from the Lord, we can do nothing.
12.3 What is true faith?
12.4 Look upon the Lord in glory
11.5 Trust and Peace (1)
12.6 Trust and Peace (2)

Series 13: The Lord’s Gentleness and Humility

13.3 The Lord’s Gentleness and Humility (Part 2)

Series 14: Manifold evidence

14.1 How does the infinite Lord see us?
14.2 We are the ultimate and final love of the Lord
14.3 The Lord is forever a Man; He once died for us
14.4 The Lord’s manifold love evidence (Part 1)
14.5 The Lord’s manifold love evidence Part 2

Series 15: Understand How Our Spirit Works And Be Heart To Heart With The Lord Continuously

15.1 We Can Only Enjoy God By Faith
15.2 His Words Abide In Us
15.3 Live With The Lord
15.4 Seek The Things That Are Above
15.5 Understand How Our Spirit Works: Will, Mind And Feelings
15.6 Guard And Uplift Our Mind

Series 17: Know that the Church is the Firstborn

17.1 Know that the church is the firstborn
17.2 The Blessing of the Firstborn (Part 1)
17.3 The Blessing of the Firstborn (Part 2)
17.4 The Lord redeemed us to be the firstborn (Part 1)
17.5 The Lord redeemed us to be the firstborn (Part 2)

Series 18: The Blessings to be the First Born

18.1 Israel is God’s Firstborn Son (Part 1)
18.2 Israel is God’s Firstborn Son (Part 2)
18.3 To be united with the Lord and become the Firstborn
18.4 The Lord is the Firstborn
18.5 The Blessing of the Firstborn: Kingship
18.6 The Blessing of the Firstborn: a Double Portion of the Blessings

Series 19: Coming to Mount Zion to Appear Before God

19.1 The Lord is the way, and the truth, and the life
19.2 Live in Grace. Enjoy the Father and the Lord
19.3 Mind the things that are above (1)
19.4 Mind the things that are above (2)
19.5 Appear before God in Mount Zion

Series 20: The final destination of our spirit and eternity is the heavenly Jerusalem

20.1 The Lord Desires Most for Us to Draw Near to Him (1)
20.2 The Lord Desires Most for Us to Draw Near to Him (2)
20.3 The Lord Becomes the Way so that We can Come Before God with Confidence
20.4 The Heavenly Jerusalem, Destination of Our Spirits and Eternity (1)
20.5 The Heavenly Jerusalem, Destination of Our Spirits and Eternity (2)

Series 21: Live Out the Life of the Firstborn: Be A Priest

21.1 The Father made the Lord the High Priest
21.2 Priesthood: One of the Blessings of the Firstborn
21.4 The Precedents of Priests in the Bible (2)

Series 22: When Believers Die, They Will Go to the Heavenly Jerusalem

22.1 The Heavenly Jerusalem is paradise (1)
The Heavenly Jerusalem is paradise (2)
The Spirits of the Righteous Made Perfect

Series 23: New Jerusalem is a real city

God has prepared a heavenly home for us
Is the heavenly new Jerusalem a real city?
Satan causes man not to be clear and assured about the things in heaven
Are physical substances not spiritual?
New Jerusalem is a real city (1)
New Jerusalem is a real city (2)

Series 24: God prepares for us

Genesis 22: Father and Son went together
Genesis 22: For us, the Father gave His only Son
Genesis 22: The Lord will provide
24.4 God’s preparation for us

Series 25: The Father and Son Affection

25.1 The Lord Came to Make Known the Father
25.2 The Father and Son Affection (Part 1)
25.3 The Father and Son Affection (Part 2)

Series 26: We are a royal priesthood

26.1 God who alone does wondrous things
26.2 The Lord is the High Priest
26.3 We are a royal priesthood (1)
26.4 We are a royal priesthood (2)