order.

After Jesus was crucified and ascended to heaven, he announced to John, his beloved apostle, that “I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two Olive Trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth” (Rev. 11:3-4). When he said, ‘I will work with my two witnesses’ to accomplish what needs to be done, do you think what God wanted to do has been accomplished? No, there is something left to be done.

Jesus said that “the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matt. 4:17). Some requirements need to be met before the kingdom of heaven can be created AND God can rule it. God tells us about the world he will make in the Bible. He does not say, “The world is done so you can come.” Rather, it is written as Isaiah prophesied, “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind” (Is. 65:17). John the apostle also acknowledged us, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea” (Rev. 21:1).

The Bible recorded what would be required to make a new heaven and a new earth.

If God makes the new world, who will live there? They are the people who believed in God sincerely. He will make a world in which there are no more tears or pain (Rev. 21:4). The Bible says certain procedures are necessary to make the world.

So, can you go to the kingdom of heaven simply because you believe in Jesus? No, you cannot. How can you go to a place which does not exist yet? When Jesus said he was going to heaven, one of his disciples said, “I’ll go with you. Please let me go with you.” But he said “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). He meant that they could not go at that time, because there was not a place for them in God’s world.