Heaven - Part 7
Yes, as the Virginia Slims cigarette ad once put it, "You've come a
long way, baby!" Like the ancient nation of Israel we have been blessed
like no other nation. But also like Israel we have turned our back on the
One who provided us with these blessings.
We have become an arrogant and carnal nation wallowing in materialism
and indulging in the pursuit of pleasure. In the process we have become
the prime moral polluter of the plant earth. Judeo it is. Christian it
is NOT!!!
And like Israel of old the wrath of God is hanging over our nation.
God is calling us to repentance through natural signs like the drought
of the past few years. But like Ancient Israel we have become spiritually
blind while listening to the swan song of the Prophets of Baal; the Clergy
of Organized Religion. And now we are being lulled into a deeper sleep
by the anti-Christs of the Zionist led nation of Russia, as they cry peace,
peace when there is no peace until "sudden destruction" comes upon our
people.
Can you not see the so-called "Ministers" the Clergy of Organized
Religion are teaching false doctrines to our people. As a result the Christians
of America and the other Christian Nations of the Western World is all
too much like the fellow in the following story.
A man was once taking a trip to Boston, Mass. from his home town
and was to take the 3:15 train to Boston. He's all packed up, has his luggage
with him at the station and is ready to go. As he is heading to the train
gate to catch the 3:15 to Boston he notices a machine on the wall of the
station which had a sign stating that for one dollar it will tell you your
weight and fortune. Well he just couldn't resist so he put a dollar in
the machine. Out popped a card saying he weighed 180 lbs. that he was dressed
in a brown suit and was going to catch the 3:15 to Boston. He looked around
to see if someone might be watching him and was pulling a trick on him.
Not seeing anyone he scratched his head and put in another dollar into
the machine.
Out popped a card saying "you still weigh 180 lbs. dressed in
a brown suit and are going to catch the 3:15 to Boston." Well this just
floored him. He then got a bright idea and he ran to the rest room and
changed his clothes so that he now had on a blue suit. Looking in the mirror
and satisfied with what he saw he ran back to the machine and waited while
a couple of people put a dollar into it. Then when his turn came he put
in another dollar. Out popped a card which said "you still weight 180 lbs.
but you have now changed into a blue suit and have just missed your 3:15
train to Boston. So, you see the teaching about a Christian being caught
up in a Rapture and be transferred to heaven is merely a diversion and
has served its purpose with great success. That purpose to deceive Christians
into standing back and doing nothing to oppose Satan and his Children and
their take over of the Earth.
Have you ever asked yourself the question: Why is there no segregated
graveyards? Have you ever seen an indication on a tombstone that some of
the bodies there, were only the physical relics of souls which are now
screaming in hell fire, while others are in spiritual bliss in heaven?
Yet, such is the belief millions who confidently assume the teaching
of a heavenly home, or an ever-burning hell. No matter how sinfully or
depraved the recently departed might have lived, many a pastor seems able
to comfort distraught loved ones with the thought that, at the very last
moment, cantankerous and crusty old Uncle so and so somehow made it through
the pearly gates!
I would like for anyone to come up with the words "immortal soul,"
"When we get to heaven," "I will see you in heaven," and "We go to heaven
when we die."
Some will state at this point: "You are only repeating yourself."
Well how many times have you heard a so-called "Minister" of the Clergy
of Organized religion repeat the same message Sunday after Sunday and never
make that statement to him/her. What we are attempting to do, in perhaps
a clumsy way, is to present yet another side to the same question. And
in that way try to cover all the bases, so that you will understand the
scriptures better.
Now back to those questions we just presented. You will never
find them in the Holy Bible because they are not there. There are simply
no such words in the Bible!!! The Bible is God's handbook to man -- the
revelation of knowledge man could not otherwise discover for himself. The
Bible is REVEALED knowledge!
It does not purport to be a textbook on science, mathematics,
geology, astronomy, biology, or physics. However, it is that ONE BOOK from
which and through which ALL STUDY should be approached.
God did not waste time and space in His Word repeating for man,
endlessly, thousands of things man could easily discover for himself. He
did, however, REVEAL to the willing hearts and minds of those who are NOT
HOSTILE to God's Word a precious fund of knowledge which we could not discover
for ourselves!
But the deeper truths do not come easy; they come with intense
study. We know this to be true because the scriptures say: "It is the glory
of God to conceal a thing..." (Proverbs 25:2)
The Bible has been PROVEN to be the divinely-revealed Word of
God? Paul said, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good
works." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
The divinely-revealed Word of God is the ultimate source to which
we must go to discover the REAL TRUTH about the reward of the saved, about
what happens at death; about the promise of "heaven," or the threat of
"hell."
Wouldn't it seem logical to you that "if" heaven is the reward
of the saved; that "if" hell is the reward of the sinners; that "if" the
saints are RAPTURED away to heaven; there would at least be ONE SINGLE
SCRIPTURE somewhere in the Bible PLAINLY SAYING SO?
Is it LOGICAL that of ALL THE DOCTRINES OF THE BIBLE, these main-line,
trunk-of-the-tree "doctrines" of a "rapture," or "going to heaven," or
an "ever-burning hell," should be TOTALLY ABSENT from the Bible?
Millions of churchgoers have sat in the church pews of America
and heard graphic descriptions of heaven. They have heard one tear-jerking
story after another of the death of saintly elderly persons; visions of
heaven, last-moment death-bed repentance, and stories of people who have
been revived, supposedly from death, of people who have gazed upward as
they died and said they saw Jesus coming!
But for all this gingerbread and euphoria around the edges of
the subject, these same church-going people have NEVER in their LIVES have
sat down at a lengthy Bible study or church serve where they heard a minister
WADE THROUGH dozens of SCRIPTURES IN THE BIBLE promising "HEAVEN" as the
reward of the saved!
They have heard hundreds of VAGUE ALLUSIONS from only a few scriptures
which are capable of several interpretations! But they have NEVER heard
a patient, careful, well-organized, THOROUGH Bible study or sermon PROVING
FROM THE BIBLE that "HEAVEN" is the reward of the saved! Why haven't they?
The reason is simply because IT CANNOT BE PROVED!
Heaven - Part 8
Why Did Christ Teach the Resurrection?: Why did Jesus continually speak
of a RESURRECTION? For He said; "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour
is coming, and now is, when the DEAD shall hear the voice of the Son of
God: and they that hear shall live." (John 5:25)
He described those who were in their graves, DEAD, knowing nothing,
at the time of the second coming of Christ. "Marvel not at this: for the
hour is coming, in the which all that are IN THE GRAVES shall hear his
voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection
of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
(John 5:28-29)
These scriptures plainly refer to a FUTURE event. Jesus spoke
of a general RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD, which He called a resurrection
"of life." He clearly spoke of the opposite of death. He spoke of life.
God's word says: "...the living know that they shall die: but
THE DEAD KNOW NOT ANY THING..." (Ecc. 9:5)
David, in the Psalms, relates: "The dead praise not the Lord..."
(Psalms 115:17)
Thus, we can clearly see that David is explaining that death is
a completely mindless state; an ABSENCE of knowledge and awareness.
Solomon, David's son, explained that men die a death exactly as
do beasts: "For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts;
even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea,
THEY HAVE ALL ONE BREATH." (Ecc. 3:19)
God's Word reveals that human beings live a physical, chemical
existence. We are mortal, temporary, transitory creatures; sustained by
the material elements of this physical creation. We are water-drinking,
air-breathing, food-ingesting creatures whose life is dependent solely
upon our bloodstream and the foods [as fuel] we take into our systems.
When we die, a total cessation of this physical, chemical existence
occurs. Death is the ABSENCE OF LIFE. The Bible describes those who go
down into their graves as being just as DEAD as any animal is dead! "...yea,
they have all one breath; so that A MAN HATH NO PREEMINENCE ABOVE A BEAST..."
(Ecc. 3:19)
But Jesus Christ spoke of a time when they will be raised up TO
LIFE! Notice, He did not describe a supposed "immortal soul" being placed
back into a formerly dead body!
Read the entire fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians. This is
called the "resurrection chapter." In this marvelous portion of scripture
are found some of the most important and plainest doctrines of the Word
of God. Not only is the resurrection described in great detail, but even
"foolish questions" are answered. Continually, people think they have discovered
a question too difficult even for God.
They will relate, tiresomely, the devouring of bodies buried at
sea by sharks. Then they describe how the sharks are finally caught by
a fisherman, and their livers sold in the market. They then say that some
other human being eats the shark's liver, and therefore, a portion of the
bodies of the dead, by providing fuel for a shark's stomach, being absorbed
into its body and becoming a part of its liver, now becomes a part of the
body of another living person! So how does God solve the problem, they
ask?
They will go on to describe what happens when people are fused
into nothingness in an atomic explosion, burnt in a crematorium and their
ashes scattered over the mountains, in the air, or at sea; or even puzzle
endlessly over what happens to those who died centuries ago where even
the bones themselves have turned to nothing but dust.
To such questing minds, it seems impossible for God to "resurrect"
the body that was. The Apostle Paul shows these are "foolish question,"
and answers them thoroughly in the famous "resurrection chapter of (1 Corinthians
15).
"But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what
body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened,
except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest NOT THAT BODY THAT
SHALL BE, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his
own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh
of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory
of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There
is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory
of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also
is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised
in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is
sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it
is raised a spiritual body. There is a NATURAL body, and there is a SPIRITUAL
BODY." (1 Corinthians 15:35-44)
Notice first that the Apostle Paul refers to carnal human reasonings
about just HOW God is going to bring back an utterly corrupted and decayed
human body as a question proposed by a fool.
Then, he shows that through the unlimited miracle working power
of God a completely corrupt, dishonorable, NATURAL body which can waste
away to become fused once again with the elements of this earth:
"...for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis
3:19)
And is to be resurrected as a SPIRIT BEING?
"Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which
is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of
the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord FROM heaven. As is the earthy,
such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they
also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we
shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that
FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD; neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and THE DEAD shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." (1 Corinthians
15:46-53)
Heaven - 9 (Last One)
You need to read and study ALL of this marvelously revealing chapter
in your own Bible. Read it slowly, accept it on face value, as it is, and
believe it as the very Word of God! Which it is. If you do, you will never
again be confused about the RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
This chapter plainly shows that, at death, your physical, temporal
bodies, sustained in a chemical existence by the natural elements of this
earth; food, water, and air, completely cease to function, and that total
unconsciousness and oblivion results! Not only is there a complete cessation
of life -- there is a total loss of consciousness! Then, within moments
after death, the physical body begins to decay.
This chapter also explains that no matter how rapidly that decaying
process [whether being blown to bits in an atomic explosion or slowly decaying
in a normal grave] God is capable of completely RE-CREATING a new SPIRIT
LIFE, giving the individual brand-new SPIRIT body! The Apostle Paul went
to great pains to explain it is not the old, decaying, "corrupted" body
which is raised, but a SPIRITUAL body. There are literally dozens of scriptures
in the Bible which speak of this great resurrection.
Notice another of the most
important.
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given
unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness
of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast,
neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads,
or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power,
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him
a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4-6)
Just as Jesus spoke of a resurrection to "life" and a resurrection
to "judgment," this scripture reveals that the DEAD in Christ as being
resurrected at the second coming of Christ, and then reigning with Jesus
Christ for a thousand years, while "the rest of the dead," [those who were
NEVER CONVERTED], remain totally oblivious to all this passage of time
until after the thousand years are over.
Beginning in verse 11 to the end of chapter 20, the picture of
the "great white throne judgment," or the great latter day resurrection
of perhaps billions of human beings will take place to be "judged every
man according to their works."
Now, let's read the Thirty-seventh Chapter of Ezekiel in the light
of the last part of Revelation Twenty. This is the famous "dry bones" chapter
of Ezekiel and the bones shown are said, by Almighty God, to be "the whole
house of Israel" who are to be resurrected.
"Then he [God] said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole
house of Israel..." (Ezekiel 37:11)
Then God goes on to relate:
"...Behold, O my people, I will open [what will God open? -- He
will open] YOUR GRAVES [and then what will God do? -- He will], and cause
you to [what?] COME UP OUT OF YOUR GRAVES [in other words be RESURRECTED;
from what? FROM THE DEAD and if one is to be resurrected FROM THE DEAD
they cannot be present with the Lord!!!]..." (Ezekiel 37:12)
Here again, you see two OPPOSITES: death, complete unconsciousness;
human bodies by the millions decaying, or having already decayed, forgotten
IN THEIR GRAVE, in contrast to a great future RESURRECTION TO LIFE.
Time and time again, the Bible speaks of the FIRST RESURRECTION
at the precise instant of [what?] THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST!!!
In this regard, we will study carefully one of the cherished scriptures
used by the proponents of the "hope of heaven" doctrine.
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
THEM WHICH ARE ASLEEP, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no
hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
WHICH SLEEP in Jesus will God [what?] BRING WITH HIM [Who? The Lord Jesus
Christ upon His Second Coming!!!]. For this we say unto you by the word
of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain [where do those which are
alive remain; ON EARTH, until when?] UNTO THE COMING OF THE LORD shall
not prevent them WHICH ARE ASLEEP. For the Lord himself shall DESCEND FROM
HEAVEN with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump
of God: and THE DEAD in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive
and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, TO MEET
THE LORD IN THE AIR: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort
one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
This text is used over and over again to imply that Christians
GO to heaven. But what does it really say? It says BOTH the "DEAD in Christ
[who have been completely DEAD, oblivious, unconscious of the passage of
time in THEIR GRAVES] and the living Christians will "be caught up together
with them IN THE CLOUDS, to meet the Lord IN THE AIR..."
While you may think of clouds as not being literally composed
of matter, if they were not particulate matter, they would be invisible,
and you could not see them. Even so, the air itself is, in practical fact,
"material," meaning it occupies space, has weight, is subjected to certain
rigid and unalterable laws, and is composed of a wide variety of gases.
Our "atmosphere" is a thin envelope of life-supporting gases which are
held close to the surface of the earth by gravity. Living plants produce
oxygen, which is necessary for human and animal survival.
Whereas clouds are merely vapor, formed by condensation and the
forming of tiny ice particles when moisture-laden air is subjected to changes
in pressure and temperature. Most jet air travel is well above the majority
of all clouds. Certainly, all of the orbital satellites are far above the
clouds, and yet are held in an orbital pattern above the earth, established
by the pull [law] of gravity.
So when the Bible speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ RETURNING TO
THIS EARTH it is plainly revealing He is coming ALL THE WAY BACK DOWN,
just as He left.
In the First Chapter of Acts is related the very FIRST message
that Jesus was to return to the earth from heaven after He had ascended
to His Father, Almighty God:
"And when he [Jesus] had spoken these things, while they [the
disciples] beheld, he was taken up; and a CLOUD received him out of their
sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold,
two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee,
why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up
FROM you into heaven, shall so COME in like manner as ye have seen him
go into heaven." (Acts 1:9-11)
They watched Jesus being enveloped IN THE CLOUDS only a few hundred
feet above their heads! Jesus would have been completely INVISIBLE if He
were only a very FEW THOUSAND feet from them. The scripture plainly shows
He was STILL VISIBLE until CLOUDS obscured Him from their view. The Bible
then says He will COME BACK TO THIS EARTH, "in like manner" as they saw
Him GO into heaven.
Now turn back to First Thessalonians Four and read those passages
quoted earlier again. Notice what it DOES NOT SAY. It does NOT say anything
whatsoever about "going to heaven." It says nothing whatsoever about "an
immortal soul!"
Rather, as plainly corroborated by many other scriptures, it shows
the resurrection of THE DEAD in Christ, and the instantaneous change (1
Corinthians 15:50-52) of those who are "alive and remain," to be caught
up together AS ONE GROUP "in the CLOUDS," and finally concludes by saying,
"...and so shall we ever be with the Lord." And where will the Lord BE
on that same day?
Remember, He is COMING BACK [to earth], He is not merely going
to "visit the general vicinity" of the earth, catching away saints in a
so-called "rapture" and take them off to Heaven!
Don't you see the proof, that is presented to you, FROM YOUR OWN
BIBLE!!!
"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided
in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem (The
United States of America which is the New Jerusalem as spoken of in the
Scriptures) to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled,
and the woman ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity,
and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then
shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought
in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount
of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives
shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west,
and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall
remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south." (Zechariah 14:1-4)
The setting of this prophecy is the DAY OF THE LORD. The day of
the Lord is that period of time immediately following the heavenly signs
of Revelation Seven, and the first five "seals" of Revelation Six, or the
GREAT TRIBULATION as prophesied by Jesus in Matthew Twenty-four.
The gathering of all nations against Jerusalem to battle is the
same great battle depicted in (Revelation 19:11-21)
