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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: Christian Myth 3: All Good People Go To Heaven Christian Myth 3: All Good People Go To Heaven What is the origin of the myth? After the death of Jesus’ apostles, by the beginning of the second century C.E., the early Church Fathers gained prominence. Describing their teachings, the New Catholic Encyclopedia (2003), Volume 6, page 687, says: “The general stream of teaching was that heavenly bliss is granted to the disembodied soul immediately after whatever necessary purification follows death.” What does the Bible say? “Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth.” – Matthew 5:5. Although Jesus promised his disciples that he would “prepare a place” for them in heaven, he indicated that the righteous do not automatically go there. (John 3:13; 12:2,3) Did he not pray that God’s will take place “as in heaven, also upon earth”? (Matthew 6:9,10) In reality, one of two destinies awaits the righteous. A minority will rule in heaven with Christ, but the majority will live forever on earth. – Revelation 5:10. Over time, the early church changed its view of its own role on the earth. With what result? “The institutional church increasingly replaced the expected Kingdom of God,” states The New Encyclopedia Britannica. The church began solidifying its power by becoming mixed up in politics, ignoring Jesus’ explicit statements that his followers were to be “no part of the world.” (John 15:19; 17:14-16; 18:36) Under the influence of the Roman Emperor Constantine, the church compromised some of its beliefs, one of which involved the very nature of God. Compare these Bible verses: Psalm 37:10, 11, 29; 2 Timothy 2:11, 12 Fact: The majority of good people will live forever on earth – not in heaven. Who, exactly, goes to heaven? Revelation 5:9 And they sing a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slaughtered and with your blood you bought persons for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.” Kingdom is the Kingdom of God; i.e., the government which is to rule over the earth – from heaven. God does not change. Malachi 3:6 “For I am Jehovah; I have not changed. Did Jehovah God establish a government on earth for Adam and Eve? Or, were they to be ruled by Jehovah from heaven? Psalms 115:16 As regards the heavens, to Jehovah the heavens belong, But the earth he has given to the sons of men. Jehovah God does not change, and, His Purposes do not change. In the beginning, the earth was to be ruled from Heaven, and that is still true today, it will be true tomorrow, and it is a universal Truth to time indefinite, even forever. Man will never again be permitted to rule himself through governments on this earth. Ecclesiastes 8:9 All this I have seen, and there was an applying of my heart to every work that has been done under the sun, [during] the time that man has dominated man to his injury. Man dominates man through governments, business, and religion. This is ending, soon, and will never return. The former things (will) have passed away (Revelation 21:4). Who will rule over the earth ? Matthew 6:9 “YOU must pray, then, this way: “‘Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. 10 Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth. Jehovah God will rule over the earth. Revelation 11:16 And the twenty-four elders who were seated before God upon their thrones fell upon their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: “We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun ruling as king. Has Jehovah God appointed someone to act and do His Will on the earth? Revelation 12:5 And she gave birth to a son, a male, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod …-- 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, The word Christ is from the Greek meaning anointed one. The Christ is being given/has been given the authority to rule as king over the earth. And who is the Christ? The one given the name Jesus, which means, in the original language, Jehovah is Salvation. The Most Holy Father gave His Holy Name to His Son, the anointed ruler over all of creation. Has there been anyone selected to rule with the Christ? Luke 12:32 “Have no fear, little flock, because YOUR Father has approved of giving YOU the kingdom. There are several important points in the above verse. First, there is a little flock, and they have a Father who has approved of giving them the kingdom. These are adopted Sons of God. This also means that if there is a designated ‘little flock,’ there has to be another flock, John 10:14 I am the fine shepherd, and I know my sheep and my sheep know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I surrender my soul in behalf of the sheep. 16 “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me; if you are of this class, you know it; and if you have questions about this, it is because you are not of the little flock, just as I am not. As for the other sheep, the other flock, there is one shepherd, the Christ Jesus, who is the head of the earthly congregation. Revelation 7:9 After these things I saw, and, look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands. 10 And they keep on crying with a loud voice, saying: “Salvation [we owe] to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.” That great crowd is standing on the earth, paying homage to Jehovah God and to His anointed king, Jesus. Revelation 7:13 And in response one of the elders said to me: “These who are dressed in the white robes, who are they and where did they come from?” 14 So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one that knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 That is why they are before the throne of God; and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16 They will hunger no more nor thirst anymore, neither will the sun beat down upon them nor any scorching heat, 17 because the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them, and will guide them to fountains of waters of life. And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.” How many assist the Christ in Heaven, serving as priests to Jehovah God, and jointly rule with Jesus, the Christ? Revelation 7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel: Note; who are the anointed of the 144,000? We know that the apostles of the Christ Jesus are among those selected by Jehovah God to rule with the Christ Jesus. All of those early Christians who received the Holy Spirit are also among this ‘little flock.’ Do we know what the names of these individuals are? Of course not, as it is not important. We do not worship them; we worship only Jehovah God, just as commanded by the Christ Jesus. Matthew 4:8 Again the Devil took him along to an unusually high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, 9 and he said to him: “All these things I will give you if you fall down and do an act of worship to me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him: “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’” We are told in the Bible that there will be some of this little flock alive in the time of the end of this present system of things; Matthew 24:45 “Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so. 47 Truly I say to YOU, He will appoint him over all his belongings. Once you understand the little flock, and the Kingdom of God, you will understand this term; He will appoint him over all his belongings. And you will also understand WHY so many hidden facts in the Bible are becoming known now, in the end of this wicked system of things; Daniel 4:12 “And as for you, O Daniel, make secret the words and seal up the book, until the time of [the] end. Many will rove about, and the [true] knowledge will become abundant.” Many will rove about, and the true knowledge will become abundant…… Gee, I wonder what that means. Mark in the Forehead. Bearing a mark in the “forehead” is similarly used in a figurative way in the Bible to signify that one is a slave to the true God or to another. At Revelation 7:2-4, reference is made to angelic sealing of 144,000 persons in their foreheads. In another part of the vision of Revelation, the 144,000 are represented as having the name of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. As the bride of the Lamb, they would properly take his name. (Re 14:1; 22:3, 4) Since the Hebrew language is twice mentioned in the book of Revelation (9:11; 16:16) and since the apostle John was a Hebrew, it may have been the sacred Tetragrammaton that was written on the foreheads of the 144,000, identifying them as Jehovah’s servants and witnesses. Please note and pay close attention to the following. It is not possible to understand the message in the Bible unless everything that you quote/read/accept is in agreement. The Bible can not contradict itself, and it does not. However, many men contradict themselves because they do not take into account ALL of the information on a certain subject in the Bible. For that reason, please read the following very carefully, and take particular note of the many Scriptures quoted. GREAT CROWD An expression that, in itself, is quite common in the Christian Greek Scriptures. “Great crowd(s)” is sometimes used with regard to the large groups of persons who heard Jesus Christ’s public teaching. (Mt 14:14; 19:2; 20:29) After the vision of the destruction of the symbolic Babylon the Great, the apostle John heard “what was as a loud voice of a great crowd in heaven.” (Re 19:1) At Revelation 7:9, however, “a great crowd” is mentioned whose identification has particularly been a matter of keen interest. In this chapter, the apostle John first refers to the sealing of 144,000 slaves of God “out of every tribe of the sons of Israel.” (Re 7:2-8) After this, he saw in a vision “a great crowd” out of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. These ascribe their salvation to God and to the Lamb as they stand before God’s throne. They have come out of “the great tribulation,” they serve God in his temple, and he spreads his tent over them. All their hunger and thirst are to be ended and every tear is to be wiped from their eyes as his Son (the Lamb; Joh 1:29) guides them to the waters of life.—Re 7:9-17. Popular Views. Various views have been advanced as to the significance and identification of this “great crowd.” Many commentators view the 144,000 sealed ones, first mentioned, as members of “spiritual Israel” and believe that they symbolize the Christian congregation while on earth. They feel that the “great crowd” represents that same Christian congregation in heaven, after the individuals have died in faith and have been resurrected. Others hold that the 144,000 are literally from “every tribe of the sons of Israel” (Re 7:4), that is, fleshly Jews who become Christians, and they consider the “great crowd” to represent all the Gentile Christians. A consideration of Revelation chapter 7 and other related texts, however, reveals serious inconsistencies in these views, at the same time pointing to a different conclusion. To hold that the 144,000 sealed ones are the members of the Christian congregation while on earth whereas the “great crowd” are the resurrected Christians in heaven does not harmonize with the other mention of the 144,000, in Revelation chapter 14. There the 144,000 are stationed with the Lamb on “Mount Zion.” At Hebrews 12:18-24 the apostle Paul contrasts the experience of the Israelites at the earthly Mount Sinai with that of the Christians who have “approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and myriads of angels, in general assembly, and the congregation of the firstborn who have been enrolled in the heavens.” Obviously, then, although Revelation 14:3 says that the 144,000 have been “bought from the earth,” the context depicts them as being, not on earth, but in heaven with the heavenly Lamb, Christ Jesus. (Re 14:3, 4) This renders invalid the view that the 144,000 represent the Christian congregation while on earth in contrast with their being the “great crowd” in heaven. Additionally, the way in which the apostle John introduces his vision of the “great crowd” indicates a clear distinction of identity between them and the 144,000 sealed ones. He states: “After these things [the account of the 144,000 sealed ones] I saw, and, look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number.” (Re 7:9) He thus presents the “great crowd” as a separate entity and makes a definite contrast between the specific number of the 144,000 and the unnumbered “great crowd.” They are also distinguished by their being, not “of the sons of Israel,” but out of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. They are not seen standing ‘with the Lamb’ as are the 144,000, at Revelation 14:1, but are “before the Lamb.” These several factors all argue that the “great crowd” is separate and distinct from the 144,000 sealed ones. On the other hand, the view that here Christians of Jewish stock are being distinguished from Gentile Christians runs counter to the apostle Paul’s inspired statement that fleshly distinctions are of no consideration in the Christian congregation, its members being all one in union with Christ Jesus. (Ro 10:12; Ga 3:28) Jehovah, having ‘fully reconciled both peoples [Jews and non-Jews] to himself in one body’ through Christ, could hardly be expected to make a division between the two groups now by separating fleshly Jews from Gentiles in the vision given to John. (Eph 2:11-21; Ac 15:7-9) This is particularly evident when the divine principle stated by Paul is taken into account. The apostle wrote: “He is not a Jew who is one on the outside, nor is circumcision that which is on the outside upon the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one on the inside, and his circumcision is that of the heart by spirit.” (Ro 2:28, 29) Why, too, would there be no mention of any ‘sealing’ of the Gentile Christians in this divine vision? And why would not the Gentile Christians be able to master the new song sung by the 144,000? (Re 14:3) It thus seems clear that the 144,000 sealed ones are of spiritual Israel, not fleshly Israel—hence include both Jewish and Gentile Christians.—Ga 6:16. Their Identification. The key to the identification of the “great crowd” is found within the description of them in Revelation chapter 7 and in obviously parallel passages. Revelation 7:15-17 speaks of God as ‘spreading his tent over them,’ of their being guided to “fountains of waters of life,” and of God’s wiping “every tear from their eyes.” At Revelation 21:2-4 we find parallel expressions: ‘God’s tent being with mankind,’ his ‘wiping every tear from their eyes,’ and ‘death being no more.’ The vision there presented is concerning persons not in heaven, from where the ‘New Jerusalem comes down,’ but on earth, among mankind. This poses the question: If the “great crowd” are persons who gain salvation and remain on earth, how could they be said to be ‘standing before God’s throne and before the Lamb’? (Re 7:9) The position of ‘standing’ is sometimes used in the Bible to indicate the holding of a favored or approved position in the eyes of the one in whose presence the individual or group stands. (Ps 1:5; 5:5; Pr 22:29, AT; Lu 1:19) In fact, in the previous chapter of Revelation, “the kings of the earth and the top-ranking ones and the military commanders and the rich and the strong ones and every slave and every free person” are depicted as seeking to hide themselves “from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Re 6:15-17; compare Lu 21:36.) It thus appears that the “great crowd” is formed of those persons who have been preserved during that time of wrath and who have been able to “stand” as approved by God and the Lamb. The Lamb’s guiding them to “fountains of waters of life” finds a parallel at Revelation 22:17, which says: “The spirit and the bride keep on saying: ‘Come!’ And let anyone hearing say: ‘Come!’ and let anyone thirsting come; let anyone that wishes take life’s water free.” The “bride” is clearly identified in the Scriptures as the anointed Christian congregation, espoused to the heavenly Bridegroom, Christ Jesus. (Eph 5:25-27; 2Co 11:2; Re 19:7-9; 21:9-11) The invitation to “take life’s water free” presented by the heavenly “bride” class is obviously open to an unlimited number of persons, “anyone that wishes.” Likewise unnumbered are the “great crowd,” the vision at Revelation 7:9 thereby harmonizing with that at Revelation 22:17. The sum of the evidence, therefore, points to the “great crowd” as representing all those persons who are not of the heavenly “bride” class, or 144,000 sealed ones, but who stand approved at the time of the “great tribulation” and are preserved alive on earth. A final, and necessary note; in the previous paper, hellfire and damnation was discussed, and it was noted that this myth is taught by every religion of man on this earth in some form or another. The same is true about going to heaven as a reward for a good life here on this earth. Both of these teachings are foundational to every religion of man on earth, in some form or another. Understanding that, and the information presented in these pages, you should carefully consider this from the Holy Word of Almighty God; Matthew 7:13 “Go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it; 14 whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it.
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#1. To: richard9151 (#0)
Let me save you some trouble and us all a lot of eyestrain, Dick. It's all a myth.
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