Going to Jesus

Gospel Tracts

 Select a tract to read:

• Tracts 1-50

  1. How I Received the Holy Ghost 2. Jesus Is Coming Again 3. You Must Be Born Again 4. Stir Up the Gift of God 5. The World’s Most Dreaded Hour 6. What is Salvation? 7. Stand Still in Jordan 9. Grieved Hearts 10. The Second Death 11. The Father and the Son 12. Suffering and the Saints 13. Cancer Conquered 14. The Church? 15. How Shall They Preach, Except They Be Sent? 16. Have You Received the Holy Ghost Since You Believed? 17. Patience 18. Alone With God 19. Tithes and Offerings 20. Prayer 21. The True Sabbath 22. The Besetting Sin 23. The Cry of the Righteous 24. What Will the Harvest Be? 25. Marriage and Divorce 26. Taking the Name of the Lord 27. The Keys of the Kingdom 28. Works 29. Politics and Believers 30. Unequally Yoked in Marriage 31. Coming Out of Babylon 32. The Forgiven Woman 33. The New Earth 34. The Sin of Silence 35. Freedom 36. Gods of the Gentiles 37. Why Some Are Not Healed 38. The Seven Pillars 39. Life, More Abundantly 40. Fear 41. The Comforter’s Testimony 42. This is My Friend 43. Conversion 44. The Time Is Drawing Near? 45. Songs in the Night 46. The Master’s Net 47. Trials are Opportunities 48. Receiving the Messenger 49. Seven Messages to the Seven Pastors 50. Keep Yourself Pure

• Tracts 51-100

  51. The New Birth 52. John the Baptist and Jesus 53. Denying Jesus 54. Bruised Reeds 56. The Wise and the Foolish 57. Holiness 58. Is Jesus God? 59. Christ or Christianity 60. Have Faith In God 61. Worthy to Suffer 63. Four Kinds of Soil 64. Communion 65. The Fullness of Time 66. Baptism 68. No Room 69. Crucified With Christ 70. Homosexuality and the Bible 71. The Kingdom of God 72. The Gospel of Christ 74. Perseverance 75. The Resurrection 76. Salvation 77. Sanctification 78. New Commandments 79. The Sacrifice of Christ 81. The Sound of the Spirit 82. The Wrath of God 84. God’s Compass 85. Perfection 86. The Abomination of Desolation 87. Antichrist 88. The Way of Grace 90. Relationships 91. The Vineyard of God 93. Subdued 94. The Spirit of Christ 95. The Blood of Christ 96. Spirit of a Serpent, Spirit of a Dove 97. Gluttony 98. The Lost Lamb 99. Scripture Burners 100. Bleating and Lowing

 

Just as God spoke heaven and earth into existence in the beginning, so He will bring into existence “new heavens and a new earth”.  Satan rebelled against God and defiled not only this earth but also the present heaven; consequently, both are to be destroyed. The apostle Peter gave the following description of how this will take place: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements, consumed with burning heat, will be destroyed, and the earth, and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2Pet. 3:10).

Another reason that there will be a new earth is that the coming new earth will be the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. “The Lord,” as you recall, “said to [Abraham] ‘Lift up your eyes, please, and look northward from where you are, and southward, and east, and west. For all the land that you see will I give to you and to your seed forever’” (Gen. 13:14–15). The land Abraham surveyed was the land of Canaan, as God later made clear when He renewed His covenant with Abraham (Gen. 17:8), “I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual possession.”

But that ancient, earthly “promised land” of Canaan was only a shadow of what God had in store for Abraham and his children, for we are told that Abraham “lived in the land of promise as a stranger in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, joint-heirs of the same promise, for he was waiting for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:9–10).  If earthly Canaan had been the real “promised land”, then Abraham would not have been dwelling there “as if in a foreign country”, looking for another place, and a city built by God.

The children of God will inherit the real “land of promise”, not the earthly land of Canaan, but the new earth for which Abraham was looking, and for which all true children of Abraham still look.

Paul said, “The promise, that he would be the heir of the [new] world, came not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith [in Christ]. . . . As it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’ ” (Rom. 4:13, 17).  The promise of being given the new earth, for an eternally peaceful home is the promise made to everyone who, through faith in Jesus, becomes a spiritual child of Abraham.  Through Jesus Christ, all who believe will inherit with all the righteous of all ages the promises which God made to Abraham. In Galatians 3:7, Paul said, “They who are of faith are the sons of Abraham,” then he goes on to say, “if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs because of the promise.”

The Promise Includes a Resurrection

For God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, there must be a resurrection, for the prophet Ezekiel said this (37:12–14): “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will open your graves and bring you up out of your graves, O my people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up out of your graves, O my people, and put my spirit in you and you come to life, and I give you rest upon the land. Then you will know that I the Lord spoke, and I brought it to pass, says the Lord.”

Thank God for the promise of the resurrection!  “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable,” wrote the apostle Paul.  But thanks be to God, we have a sure hope in Christ of a resurrection from the dead, and the promise of an eternal home on the new earth, and we are of all men most happy!

This present earth was made for man, and this heaven was made for God, as David said: “The heaven of heaven is the Lord’s, but the earth, He has given to the sons of man” (Ps. 115:16). Just so, the new earth will be for man; specifically, for those redeemed by Christ.  They will live forever on the new earth after reigning with Christ a thousand years on this old one, during which time the “marriage supper” takes place and the saints, with Christ, judge the wicked.  At the end of the thousand years, the wicked will receive this sentence from the mouth of the Lord: “Go away from me, you cursed, into the eternal flame that is prepared for the Accuser and his angels.”  And then, the saints will be given that new earth and will enjoy eternal peace.

Peter gives us this warning concerning the promise of which we speak: “The Lord of the promise does not delay, as some think of delay, but waits patiently for us, not wanting any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements, consumed with burning heat, will be destroyed, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. So then, seeing that all these things are to be destroyed, what kind of people ought you to be in all holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, in which the heavens, being on fire, will be destroyed, and the elements, consumed with heat, will be dissolved? But we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2Pet. 3:9–13).

The Promise of God Contradicted

By referring to heaven as the future home of the redeemed, many unwittingly contradict this great promise of God to Abraham, for we are not promised the new heaven but the new earth for our eternal home.  Jesus affirmed this when he said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Mt. 5:5).

In a vision, John saw the fulfillment of God’s promise of a new earth, and he wrote, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Rev. 21:1).  David showed his confidence in God’s promise of a new earth when he counseled us to “wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the earth. When the wicked are cut off, you will see” (Ps. 37:34).

Only Those with the Blessing Will Inherit

Solomon once said, “The blessing of the Lord, it makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it” (Prov. 10:22).  What is this “blessing of the Lord”?  Saints of a previous generation, with good reason, frequently referred to the baptism of the holy Spirit as “the Blessing”.  With this in mind, let us read this scripture from Psalm 37:22: “For those blessed by Him will inherit the land, but those cursed by Him will be cut off.”

Now, my dear Reader, have you received “the Blessing”?  If so, Isaiah offers you these encouraging words: “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.”

“The wicked”, Solomon said, “will not inherit the earth” (Prov. 10:30).  And David added this warning concerning the fate of the wicked, “The wicked will perish, and the enemies of the Lord, like the splendor of pastures, will vanish; they will vanish in smoke” (Ps. 37:20).  Yes, children of God, after the destruction of the wicked and of this present heaven and earth, the new earth will be given to God’s faithful children for an everlasting inheritance.  And there, thanks be to God, they will never again be misunderstood or persecuted.

Obedience Required

We who have received “the Blessing” have been given the promise of an inheritance on the new earth; still, we must live free from sin in this life in order to receive that inheritance. Nothing unclean will be allowed into the true “promised land”.  Jesus and the apostles preached often and plainly that only those who obey God will be allowed to enter into eternal life (Mt. 7:21; Rom. 2:5–10).  In that light, and after reading this tract, no sincere person of fair intelligence can fail to understand that God will give the new earth only to His children who are faithful to Him.  May God help us to live a consecrated life so that we may be among them who receive that eternal inheritance.

New Bodies for a New World

Jesus said, “In my Father’s home are many rooms” (Jn. 14:2).  Later, Paul described those “rooms” like this: “We know that if our earthly home, a tent, be taken down, we have a building from God, a house not made by hand, eternal in the heavens” (2Cor. 5:1).  These heavenly “rooms” are the glorified bodies which obedient children of God will receive “in the twinkling of an eye” when Jesus returns.  Speaking of this event, Paul wrote that Jesus will “transform our lowly body into the likeness of his glorious body” (Phip. 3:21).  My friend, the glorified bodies Jesus will give us will never grow old, or sicken, or die.  They are eternal, and we will live in them on an eternal new earth.

On that new earth, there will be no wickedness or natural disasters to trouble us.  When God destroys sin and death, “He will make an utter end.  Trouble will not rise up a second time” (Nah. 1:9).  Thank God, we will have new homes (new bodies) that neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor death can ever touch.  As Isaiah tells us, “God will wipe away tears from all faces, and He will take away the reproach of His people from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, ‘Behold! this is our God! We have waited for Him!’ ” (Isa. 25:8–9).

Judgment

My friend, if you are unprepared to meet God in peace, don’t hesitate to turn to Him now while He is speaking to you.  Let the salvation of your soul dwarf all other interests in this life, for if you are not given a part on the new earth, you will be given a part with the damned and be cast “into the eternal flame that is prepared for the Accuser and his angels.”  Judgment is coming, and God has forewarned us that the new earth is prepared only for those who are faithful to His Son, Jesus Christ.  My prayer is that we will all be faithful and that we will meet someday in that beautiful “city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”