Heaven's Close-By

Dad
May 20, 2003

DFO 159614/8/83

1. THANK THE LORD FOR HIS WONDERFUL CREATIONS & THESE LITTLE TINY ONES THAT ARE PLENTY SMART! We may find out they're a lot smarter than we thought they were when we talk to them in the next life, at least in the Millennium. We'll be able to do that in the Millennium, because there will be peace between the animals & between man & the animals. PTL! So it'll come even sooner than Heaven!

2. AND I'M MORE & MORE CONVINCED ALL THE TIME THAT WE'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE TO WAIT A THOUSAND YEARS TO OCCUPY THE HEAVENLY CITY! I'm getting more & more of the opinion that that is probably going to be our Headquarters right close-by! The Lord couldn't trust to have His City on a wicked Earth yet‚ & certainly man doesn't deserve it‚ right? Wayward man who's on the Earth is not that far along yet like the people will be on the New Earth.

3. WHERE IS THE LORD GOING TO HAVE HIS HEADQUARTERS? Well, a lot of people say, "It says in the Bible time & again, Jerusalem!" How do you know that doesn't mean the New Jerusalem? "The mountain of the Lord's House," "the Word of the Lord shall go out from Jerusalem," etc. (Isa.2:2,3) I mean, why would He have His headquarters in that stinking Jewish town, an old crumbling ruined city that's caused almost more trouble in this World than almost any other city on Earth? Why should He try to rehabilitate that thing? I don't see how the Lord would even want to be there when He's got the Heavenly City! All He has to do is let it come down close enough to hover nearby, just above their heads & far enough out of the range of their junk & weapons & trash & satellites & all the rest, so that we can have just a quick trip in our transporter or by spiritual transportation & be right there! How about that? Doesn't that sound reasonable & logical?

4. SO WE MAY NOT HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG AFTER ALL TO OCCUPY THAT BEAUTIFUL CITY, WE MAY BE RUNNING BACK & FORTH ALL THE TIME! If that turns out to be the Jerusalem spoken of in the Old Testament & in all the Prophets about being the Lord's Headquarters for His Kingdom on Earth for the Thousand Year reign, why not? It seems to me that would be the sensible place! We'll have already been there & seen it anyhow during the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, so He's not trying to save it for a surprise! I believe if we've already visited for some time & come back, we're going to be going back & forth!

5. IF WE CAN GO & COME BACK ONCE‚ WHY CAN'T WE GO & COME BACK MORE? Why not? If we can fly up there with the Lord one time & fly back down with Him, why can't we keep flying back & forth? I don't think when the time comes for the Rapture, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, followed by the Battle of Armageddon, that we're going to have to travel for aeons out in space somewhere to find the City, I think it's going to be here by that time, or near here!—Near enough that the Lord doesn't have to transport us or carry us or rapture us so far that it's going to take us miles & hours to get there, or even with the speed of thought for any great distance.

6. WHY SHOULD IT BE SO FAR AWAY? WHY SHOULD IT BE MILLIONS OF MILES AWAY OFF IN OUTER SPACE SOMEPLACE? It doesn't have to be that far away to protect it from the wicked people on Earth, it would only have to be a few miles up to be out of their reach! Good night! Even if it was sitting on the ground, the top of it is out of the reach of most of these satellites & missiles & whatnot, 1500 miles up! Most of them don't go up that far! Of course, some of these space probes have & men went to the Moon & all that stuff, so it wouldn't be too safe too close around.

7. MAYBE IT'S GOING TO SIT DOWN ON THE MOON FOR AWHILE OR SOMEPLACE CLOSE-BY! Why not? I don't think men are going to make any more trips to the Moon, I think that was probably the last one unless we make'm! I think the Lord let'm go to the Moon, not just to show their capabilities, but to show them their limitations, that that's about as far as they're ever going to get! There isn't time for them to build anything that's going to take them any further, & I have an idea if they try it, they're going to get lost in space!

8. I REALLY CAN'T SEE WHY THE LORD SHOULDN'T BRING HIS CITY DOWN CLOSE ENOUGH THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO USE IT FOR OUR HEADQUARTERS! If it's the Headquarters for our invasion from Outer Space, or Inner Space, of the Earth for the Battle of Armageddon, why can't we go back there & rejoice afterward? What a fitting place for us to have our get-togethers & our World Fellowships & our Family Meetings & Conferences & a little respite from this tough job we have down on Earth trying to rule this cantankerous old World!—Why not?

9. WELL, IF THE LORD HASN'T ALREADY PLANNED IT THAT WAY, I WOULD CERTAINLY SUGGEST IT! Now Lord, after all, why should we have to go so far? It can fly, obviously, so You might as well float it down closer so we don't have so far to go back & forth, & we can spend a little more time at Home, maybe weekends or something!—Maybe even go Home nights if we don't have to be on guard duty down here! How about that? Does that sound unreasonable? Does that sound crazy? I think that sounds very logical that it shouldn't be very far away when that time comes.

10. WHY SHOULD THE LORD HAVE TO WHISK US CLEAR OFF TO OUTER SPACE SOMEPLACE FOR THE RAPTURE & THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB? Why should we have to come millions of miles to have the Armageddon Invasion? Now you find some Scriptures to prove it for me, will you?—Ha! I'll probably get a few! (Sara: I wondered one thing, when you talked about the Earthly Jerusalem & the Holy City‚ New Jerusalem. We just memorised Matthew 4, & Verse 5 says: "Then the Devil taketh Jesus up into the Holy City‚ & setteth Him on a pinnacle of the Temple." And then in Verse 8 it says‚ "He taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, & showeth Him all the kingdoms of the World.") From what Mountain could you see all the Kingdoms of the World?—What other Mountain but the Mountain of the Lord's House!—The Heavenly City!

11. MAYBE IT'S NOT SO FAR AWAY RIGHT NOW! How do you know how far away it is? Huh? Whoever said it was far away in the first place? How do you know it's not right close by but just invisible to man right now! (Family: Like that blank place in the North.) Yes, but we don't even have to go as far as Pleiades, Arcturus or any of those constellations, why should we even have to go that far? (David: Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God is at hand.")—At hand, close–by! Also "within you," of course, in the spirit! (Mk.1:15; Lk.17:21)

12. BUT THINK OF ALL THESE SPIRITUAL HELPERS & ANGELS & EVERYTHING THAT WE HAVE HELPING US, WHERE DO THEY HAVE THEIR FELLOWSHIP & spend their free–time & go to have a little respite from this tough job they've got down here taking care of us? Why should they have to travel millions of miles to somewhere in Outer Space? I know I said it was the Space Story, the Space King‚ Space City & all that, because that's the kind of language kids talk nowadays & they understand that. That's scientific & people can believe that sort of thing. But why does ours have to be clear out somewhere in Outer Space‚ why can't it be a little closer than that? Why can't it be right close-by?

13. PROVE TO ME BY THE BIBLE THAT IT'S MILLIONS OF MILES AWAY SOMEWHERE IN OUTER SPACE! I mean, the church has given you that idea, that Heaven must be some far far away remote place, as far from this horrible Earth as they can possibly get!—Why? It doesn't have to be very far away to be Heavenly. It doesn't have to be very far away to be that kind of a Heavenly City! Right?

14. HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT'S NOT THE HEAVENLY CITY THEY'VE BEEN SEEING OUT THERE COMING? How do you know it's not right out there & causing some of these things they're seeing that they can't understand‚ these different kinds of things in space or new constellations or new stars or comets or new solar systems! They're always discovering something new out there! How do you know it's not already out there & invisible & God doesn't let them see it, like the Spirit World! (Family: It says, "The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation.") (Lk.17:20) Right! There's a good one for possibly being invisible right now!

15. THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF MYSTERIES OUT THERE THEY HAVEN'T SOLVED, & THEY NEVER WILL UNTIL THE MILLENNIUM & WE'LL SOLVE THEM THEN! We'll find out, we'll know, we'll learn! I don't believe we're just going to know everything all of a sudden like God! We're not going to be like the Lord Himself immediately. We'll be like the Lord in some ways, look like a human being, etc., but I think we've got a lot to learn!—A lot to be thankful for, a lot to look forward to & a lot to learn!

16. SINCE STUDYING ABOUT THE HEAVENLY CITY & WRITING ABOUT IT, IT JUST CAME TO ME THE OTHER DAY, "WELL, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK IT'S SO FAR AWAY?" Just like the Lord told me that time when I was talking about babies "Born in Heaven": "What makes you think the populations aren't going to grow?" (No.1560) The Lord sort of puts things in your head sometimes just by asking you the questions! Jesus asked a lot of questions, & they couldn't always answer them either, & then sometimes He'd answer'm.

17. WELL, EVEN IN YOUR OWN REASONING, YOUR OWN LOGIC, YOUR OWN MIND, YOUR OWN COMMON SENSE, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK IT'S SO FAR AWAY? I got to thinking, "Well, why did we think it was so far away?" Even in that "Spaceship" vision I had, that wasn't necessarily so far away! (No.624) What makes you think it's so far away? Why does it have to be so far away? Where does it say it's so far away? Where? Give me a Scripture! I may not be able to prove it to you or give you Scriptures right off the bat that it's right close-by, but I'll bet I find some!

18. I CAN PROVE IT TO YOU BY AN OLD SONG! Would you like to hear it? Let me see if I can remember how it goes. (Sings:)

"Goin' Home, goin' Home,

I'm a-goin' Home.

It's not far,

Just close-by,

Through an open door!

Work all done‚

Care laid by,

Going to strain no more...

Pappy's there,

Mama too,

All the friends I knew!"

(Weeps.) It's a beautiful old song. It's a famous song from a very famous musical, I think it was "Showboat," in which the old coloured fellow is singing about dying. He says, "I'm just goin' Home!" I'm not crying because I'm sad, I'm crying because I'm happy‚ thinking about Home!

19. THAT'S OUR HOME! WE'RE GOING TO BE GOING HOME ONE OF THESE DAYS! Hallelujah! TYJ! One of our dear folks said they heard from home or they were going home, well‚ they don't even know where Home is, really! I thought to myself, there's no place in this World we can call home! "This World is not my home‚ I'm just a-passing through!" PTL? But one of these days I'm going Home! Hallelujah! And about the only reason I would be sad about it is to have to leave you a little while. But you'll be joining us very soon, & I wouldn't be surprised if I'll be rejoining you sooner than you think!

20. SO WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA HOME WAS SO FAR AWAY? Why should it have to be so far away? I can't necessarily prove it any more than I can prove Heaven looks like this poster here, but I believe that Home is not so far away! Why should He have it so far away when we need it & we could enjoy it, especially when we'll have us a pretty tough job down here on Earth trying to get these people straightened out during the Millennium! It'll be a nice place to take a vacation! There used to be an old song: "When I take my vacation in Heaven!" That would be a nice place to have a weekend off! Wouldn't you like to have a weekend off in a place like that? Hallelujah! PTL!

21. I MEAN‚ WHY SHOULD IT BE SO FAR AWAY? I THINK IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE IT CLOSE-BY! Wouldn't that be comforting to know the Lord & His Headquarters & all those legions of angels & all our spiritual helpers are close-by? They don't have to go so far‚ they're right there & they could be at our beck & call instantly whenever we need'm‚ right close-by! PTL? Is that a good idea? (Family: Yes!) I like that idea! Why not? Well, you prove to me that it's not close-by & I might believe you, but you're going to have to do some provin' & give me some Scriptures or a revelation you got that it's still millions of miles out in Space! Maybe it was, but I'll tell you, I have a feeling it's getting closer all the time! PTL? Hallelujah! TYL!

22. I'M GLAD IT'S GETTING CLOSER BECAUSE I HOPE WE'LL ALL BE ABLE TO GO THERE BEFORE TOO LONG! I'll probably be There before you‚ according to what the Lord has shown us before, & I'll make sure that the Lord gets our mansions fixed up for you good There!—Ha!—Because I wouldn't want to disappoint you! After all, He already took Buckminster Fuller up There, that World-famous architect, called him Home just about the time we were getting these revelations on Heaven! I guess He figured He needed a little help & was going to have to hurry up the prep of the City, at least for my coming if not yours, & maybe He'll call me Home in time to sort of help get things ready for you! PTL! Hallelujah? (Family: TYJ! Amen!) Well, don't go rushing me off now!—Ha!

23. WELL, I REALLY DIDN'T INTEND TO GIVE YOU A TALK OR ANYTHING, I WAS JUST GOING TO VISIT WITH YOU, BUT I ALWAYS GET SOMETHING! I'm sure dear Maria here was probably praying I'd get something! She wants to make it worthwhile & not just be a waste of my time. (Maria: Amen! Why not? TYL!) She's always sitting on the sidelines praying I'll get something worthwhile. So maybe that was worthwhile, huh? We got a good lesson before this about birds, & us becoming birds one of these days! We're going to fly, at least, so PTL!

24. (TO TECHI:) HEY, WHAT KIND OF TEENAGE MUSIC ARE YOU LISTENING TO OVER THERE, HUH? (Maria: Her favourite!) What are you listening to? (Techi: You!) So you're listening to me, huh? How about that? She's got the earphone & she's monitoring this talk! Well, PTL! The Lord monitors everything! Amen? (Looks at paint on Davida's hand:) My goodness, you must have been monitoring your paintings! Our little kids here‚ they do painting & artwork & everything else while Grandpa's talking‚ because he gets kind of long-winded & they get a little bit bored. (Maria: They're listening with one ear though!) Yes! When I ask a question, it's amazing how many they suddenly answer! So they're listening! So praise the Lord for them, God bless them! Let's have prayer! I hear the baby in there having a prayer meeting with Sara, she's praying for something, I don't know what! (Dora: She's praying for the milk to come!) I thought you said the Lord to come!—Ha!

25. MY SISTER WROTE ME A LETTER RECENTLY & SAID‚ "WELL, THE LORD MUST BE COMING SOON, things are getting so terrible & bad, He's surely going to take us out of this before long!" She never, of course, accepted my doctrine of the post-Trib Rapture! And I thought, "Well‚ poor girl‚ she has a sad surprise coming!" But I thought to myself when I read that, "Well, I don't doubt it, He probably is coming for you!"—Because she's now about 70 & old & a little decrepit, so He'll probably come for her, all right, before long. She'll probably miss it all, the Lord maybe won't let her suffer. She's suffered enough in her lifetime, 70 years & all her children & troubles! So the Lord probably will take her before long as she expects. Well, "according to your faith be it unto you!" (Mt.9:29)

26. HE'LL PROBABLY TAKE HER BEFORE LONG‚ BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE'S GOING TO RAPTURE THE WHOLE CHURCH!—You have a few more things to go through before you can finish your job! My job may be finished before some of the worst comes, that's what the Lord seemed to indicate. But you see, I've had quite a few more years at this job than you have‚ so after all, if you just have to go through another ten years, that's not too bad! I've had to go through already about 40 to 50 years more than you have! Of course, your ten years may be the hardest. It's not the first ten years that are the hardest, the last ten years are the hardest! But anyhow, I had a pretty good time getting this far & it wasn't really too hard.

27. AS YOU CAN SEE, I'M STILL HERE & HAPPY & HEALTHY & FEEL GREAT, IN SPITE OF THAT LETTER THAT I WROTE ABOUT HEALING! (See "Trust God!", No.1565.) After writing that I immediately had a lot of afflictions, "many afflictions"!—A bad cold, the worst I've had in years, & a sore tongue & my side, one thing right after another‚ just attacks of the Devil! But thanks to your prayers & the Lord's mercy I'm over all of them now & feel fine & am doing great & made love a couple times yesterday—thanks girls—& I'm feeling fine & having fun! PTL! And I expect to feel even better when I get there & have more fun!

28. SO I BELIEVE LIKE THE OLD SONG SAYS, "IT'S NOT FAR, JUST CLOSE-BY THROUGH AN OPEN DOOR!" I think that guy must have been inspired! So how do you know? Maybe it's already here, but invisible! Why couldn't it be invisible in the Spirit World? These people that have these after-death experiences say they go for a little short trip through sort of a tunnel—I guess that's the Lord's protection to protect the Holy City from people that shouldn't go there! Nearly every one of them said it's sort of like going through a tunnel & then they come out on the other side. But none of them seemed to think it was very long or very far, & some of them seemed to think it was just a few seconds! So why not? Why couldn't it be pretty close?

29. ISN'T THAT COMFORTING TO THINK THAT THAT WONDERFUL CITY IS ALMOST HERE?—RIGHT CLOSE-BY, JUST THROUGH AN OPEN DOOR! TYL! I'll have to try to remember all the words of that old song, "Goin' Home!" My brother used to sing it, my Dad used to sing it & I used to sing it, but I've kind of forgotten it now. It's a beautiful old song about this old Negro fellow dying, & it always touched my heart & always sort of made me cry. It's a little bit sad to be parted for awhile, but it won't be long. PTL? TYL! Well, we've gotta pray or Grandpa won't stop talking! Who wants to lead us in prayer? One of you children? (Techi: I can!) Good girl, always ready!

30. (TECHI: THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE LITTLE BIRDIES & PLEASE BLESS HEAVEN ESPECIALLY. Please bless her, help her not to be sick, & please help it not to be contagious to the other birdie. Thank You Lord that You dropped the birdie right out of the sky! And please help us not to open the cage so the birdie will fly out. Thank You Lord that the little birdies are doing good today. Thank You Lord for the little cute birdies! And if the people open up the cage & let the birdie out, please help them to be more careful, in Jesus' name, amen. Please help us not to wake up in the morning & find them both dead.) Amen! Well, I don't think the Lord would let that happen. I was warning somebody else about predators outside & I said something about that. One little remark, & children never forget it!

31. THEY'RE NOT GOING TO BE BOTH DEAD, DON'T WORRY!—AND EVEN IF THEY DID DIE, THEY GO TO BE IN HEAVEN! We've gotta have some birds up there, right? PTL! One of these days He's going to open the door & let us out of our cage & we're going to fly away free to be in Heaven!—But not until we're able to do it & get along out there. We're not quite ready for that yet, are we?

32. AMEN, DO BLESS & KEEP US ALL & THE LITTLE BIRDIES TOO, LORD! You are so mindful that not even a bird falls from the air but You know about it, & You knew we were here ready to catch it & take care of it, so You let it fall right in our garden, Lord, so it must have been a gift from You. You knew we would save it & take care of it! TYJ!—Just like You sent a lot of folks to us & our Family to help, to save & take care of & rescue from their dilemma, from their terrible condition & the fix they're in, Lord. You send us lots of souls to save, just like You sent the little birdie to save as a lesson to our children, Lord. So thank You for it. And do bless & keep'm.

33. KEEP US, LORD‚ WE'RE YOUR LITTLE BIRDIES‚ & IF WE LOVE JUST EVEN A LITTLE BIRDIE LIKE THIS THAT MUCH‚ CERTAINLY YOU DO LOVE US! And if You care for the sparrows as much as that, we know that You care for us! TYL! Every time we see those sparrows in the garden we marvel & wonder at how wonderful it is that if You care for them & provide for them, You certainly are not going to forsake us! You're going to take care of us‚ provide for us & protect us like You do them! TYJ!—Just like this little birdie that You sent for us to take care of, in Jesus' name. Do give us a good night's sleep, safekeeping‚ another day to serve Thee, Lord, till our jobs are done. PTL! Hallelujah! As we pray Your prayer together, Lord: (Prays the Lord's Prayer, Ps.19:14, "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.") Lord bless us & keep us, make Your face to shine upon us & be gracious unto us, lift up Your countenance upon us & give us peace!—And we thank You Lord that You have & that You will!

34. AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THESE WONDERFUL THINGS YOU'VE REVEALED TO US, LORD, & THE WONDERFUL THINGS YOU'VE GONE TO PREPARE FOR US! TYJ! PTL! Help us to do our best for Thee now & to earn a worthy crown, Lord‚ worthy of Thy service & worthy of Thy commendation, Thy "well done‚" to be able to enter into Thy joy in that joyous City, in Jesus' name! (Mt.25:23) PTL! TYL! Amen! Hallelujah! (Sings:)

"Heaven is here, is here right now!

Heaven is here & I'll tell you how!

Jesus to know is Heaven below‚

Heaven is here is here & now!"

PTL! There's a good song on the subject! It can be right here, not far away, TTL!

35. "THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME, I'M JUST A-PASSIN' THROUGH!

My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue!

The angels beckon me through Heaven's open door,

So I can't feel at Home in this World any more!"

—Well, if we can see the angels beckoning us, it must not be far away!

"Oh Lord, You know, I have no Friend like You!

If Heaven's not my Home, then Lord what would I do?

Oh‚ the angels beckon me through Heaven's open door

And I can't feel at home in this World any more!"

PTL! Hallelujah! TYJ!

36. "THIS WORLD, THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME!

THIS WORLD IS NOT MY RESTING PLACE!

This World, this World is not my Home,

This World, this World is not my Home!"

PTL?

"For I am a stranger here within a foreign land,

My Home is far away"—maybe not too far away—"upon that golden strand!"

See how the church gives you that idea in those songs that it's so far away?

"Ambassador to be‚ of realms beyond the sea,

I'm here on business for my King!

This is the message that I bring,

A message angels fain would sing!

O be ye reconciled, thus saith my Lord & King,

O be ye reconciled today!"

You almost have to be an angel to sing it that high! PTL!

37. THAT MUST BE WHERE WE GET THAT IDEA IT'S SO FAR AWAY, A LOT OF THOSE SERMONS & SONGS ALWAYS PICTURE IT AS BEING SOMETHING FAR AWAY! I don't see why it has to be far away, I think maybe it's close-by! I think maybe the old coloured boy singing that song, "It's not far‚ just close-by through an open door," was more inspired than the preachers & the hymn writers! PTL? So thank You Lord! Well, God bless you all & thanks for your attention.

38. OH‚ HOW PRETTY! LOOK HOW DAVID IS COLOURING HEAVEN! Isn't that beautiful? My oh my, let's hope it will be this beautiful! I'll tell you‚ if Heaven is that beautiful I'm sure we're all going to enjoy it‚ I'm sure it's even more beautiful! PTL? You are Heaven! Every one of you girls are my Heaven! You're a little bit of Heaven, so you're Heaven! "You're my Heaven!"—It seems like there was an old song like that! PTL! Amen! Thank You Jesus for our Heaven-on-Earth Family!—In Jesus' name, amen.