We (those of us fortunate enough to have been raised a Christian, or recently repented and turned our lives over to Jesus Christ), for the most part have been trained and have accepted the myth that when you die you either go directly to Heaven or Hell. Millions and millions of people will say to themselves or friends and relatives, "Yes, my husband passed away and is now in Heaven with the man upstairs."
If you try to correct them with Bible facts that this is not true, you will be scolded, harangued and dismissed as a heretic. Unfortunately, this easily taught and accepted myth is an indictment against the church and its preachers and teachers who find it more acceptable to tell (especially) a young child that daddy is in the grave resting until The Resurrection. Telling them that daddy is now with the Lord in Heaven and is keeping watch over the entire family is more convenient and "soothing."
"Heretic! Blasphemer! You're crazy! These are the nice words I have been called for pointing out that a person does not go to Heaven (or Hell) immediately after they die. For that matter, no one ever goes to Heaven after they pass away and especially after or during the so-called 'Rapture' to Heaven that has and is being promoted by millions of people worldwide, especially by evangelicals in the United States.
Yes, I know, even you are raising your eyebrow and silently asking yourself, "has Joe Ortiz finally flipped out?" Even I asked myself the same question after studying this aspect for several years prior to writing my book, "The End Times Passover." I probably spent more time researching this specific topic than any other chapter in my book. In fact, this chapter (#10, Heavenly Minded) took longer to write because I chose to crisscross and cross reference many Bible versions, commentaries, dictionaries, concordances and Greek and Hebrew dictionaries to make sure what was unveiling before my eyes was accurate. My conclusion that no one ever goes to Heaven was eerily haunting because I knew that the data that was being revealed to me flies across the face of orthodoxy and religious traditions throughout the world. Yet, even after I finished writing my book (for the most part around 1986) a certain degree of doubt still entered my mind. I take the caveat we are cautioned by in the Book of James 3:1-2 very seriously: (Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check)."
Below are a few groups of scripture that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's Holy City (New Jerusalem) comes down to earth, from where God will administer His kingdom, along with those who believed and trusted in Jesus Christ, for an eternity:
Hebrews 11:8-10 (NIV): 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God, (Hebrews 11:8-10 NIV)
Hebrews 13:11-14 (NIV)11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV)21 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. 2 I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes, there will be no more death’] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Revelation 21:22-27 (NIV) 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
"Heretic! Blasphemer! You're crazy! These are the nice words I have been called for pointing out that a person does not go to Heaven (or Hell) immediately after they die. For that matter, no one ever goes to Heaven after they pass away and especially after or during the so-called 'Rapture' to Heaven that has and is being promoted by millions of people worldwide, especially by evangelicals in the United States.
Yes, I know, even you are raising your eyebrow and silently asking yourself, "has Joe Ortiz finally flipped out?" Even I asked myself the same question after studying this aspect for several years prior to writing my book, "The End Times Passover." I probably spent more time researching this specific topic than any other chapter in my book. In fact, this chapter (#10, Heavenly Minded) took longer to write because I chose to crisscross and cross reference many Bible versions, commentaries, dictionaries, concordances and Greek and Hebrew dictionaries to make sure what was unveiling before my eyes was accurate. My conclusion that no one ever goes to Heaven was eerily haunting because I knew that the data that was being revealed to me flies across the face of orthodoxy and religious traditions throughout the world. Yet, even after I finished writing my book (for the most part around 1986) a certain degree of doubt still entered my mind. I take the caveat we are cautioned by in the Book of James 3:1-2 very seriously: (Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check)."
Below are a few groups of scripture that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's Holy City (New Jerusalem) comes down to earth, from where God will administer His kingdom, along with those who believed and trusted in Jesus Christ, for an eternity:
Hebrews 11:8-10 (NIV): 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God, (Hebrews 11:8-10 NIV)
Hebrews 13:11-14 (NIV)11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV)21 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. 2 I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes, there will be no more death’] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Revelation 21:22-27 (NIV) 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Psalm 37:11 (KJV)11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
Matthew 5:5 (NIV): 5 Blessed are the meek,for they will inherit the earth.
John 14:23-24 (NIV): 23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
2 Corinthians 6:16 (NIV): 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:“I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God,and they will be my people.”
Matthew 25:31-46 (ESV): “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ...
Revelation 7:13-17 (NIV):13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.15 Therefore,“they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.16 ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.The sun will not beat down on them,’[a]nor any scorching heat.17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
Is there any doubt?
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Joe you quote Holy Scripture that was fulfilled....But you omit the most relevant passages 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
ReplyDelete11:14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
11:15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
11:16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
Another great article about a touchy subject.. Too many people fail to read the Bible and just listen to their Pastor, Priest, etc.. This past Memorial day on face book I saw where a relative of mine posted that his mom and nephew who were both dead were in heaven.. Very hard to reason, or even try to with someone that doesn't want to search the scriptures.. Even if Joe Ortiz left out (Hebrews 11:13-16) he clearly gets his point across.. I've learned a lot of Biblical truth from Joe Ortiz, and many can make that same statement!.. He has a wonderful gift from God! (Ephesians 4:8)Thank You, Joe Ortiz, for another excellent article..
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