Immortality or Resurrection - William West (best pdf ebook reader for android TXT) 📗
- Author: William West
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and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" [John 14:3]. Many say, "Not so Lord, we will be with you in Heaven, Your second coming and the resurrection will not be needed for we will be alive with You in Heaven." But Paul said, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory” [Philippians 3:20-21]. It is us who will be transformed, not just a part of us that is now just as immortal as it will always be and will not need to be transformed, and this part of us will not wait for the Lord Jesus to come again, but immediately go to Heaven to be with Him at death.
Living Christians need not sorrow as the rest who have no hope [1 Thessalonians 4:13]. There are four points in this passage.
1. Those who are asleep will be resurrected from the dead at the second coming of Christ. The departed person will not be with Christ unto He comes "again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" [John 14:2]. Not alive before "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven...and the dead in Christ shall rise first." At the coming of Christ the dead shall rise from the grave, not come back from Hell or Heaven.
2. Those who are living at the time Christ comes will be changed. Living Christians will not precede [go ahead of] the Christians that are not living [them that are fallen asleep] to meet the Lord, “And so shall we ever be with the lord” [1 Thessalonians 4:15].
3. Both those in Christ who are dead and those who are living, will together go from the earth to meet the Lord in the air when he is coming from Heaven before we will “be with the Lord.” "Then we that are alive, that are left, SHALL TOGETHER with them be caught up (from the earth) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" [1 Thessalonians 4:17-18]. How could Paul have said any clearer that those who are now asleep are not now alive in Heaven, but that they will be raised from the dead and meet the Lord in the air as He is returning?
4. "And so shall we (both the living Christians and the Christians that are not living at the time He comes) ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:17]. With the Lord in the place in Heaven where He has gone to prepare for the saved [John 14:2]. The future existence of the dead in Christ absolutely depends upon (1) the resurrection of those who are asleep (2) or on a translation of those who are living when Christ comes.
Why did Paul say he had a desire to depart? He lived a life of suffering, toil, and trials [2 Corinthians 11:23-33] and like Job, he understood death would be a relief from pain; and he knew that from the standpoint of the person that departs it will be as if he or she is with the Lord the next moment for we will know nothing of the time between death and the resurrection, that time will seem as if it was only a moment. The dead in Christ are asleep and have not ascended into Heaven, not even David or Paul, only Christ is now in Heaven, “But now has Christ been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of them that ARE ASLEEP…in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then they that are Christ’s at His coming” [1 Corinthians 15:20-23]. To those who are asleep there is no awareness of time; it will be as if we are with the Lord in only a moment. For us, there is no life after death unto the resurrection and never would be life without a resurrection of the dead.
Analus is used in the New Testament only two times.
1. "When he will RETURN [Greek-analus] from the wedding" Luke 12:36.
2. “Having a desire to DEPART [Greek-analus], and to be with the Lord" Philippians 1:23.
"To depart" or "Will return," which one does analus means?
[4] IN THE BODY OR OUT OF THE BODY [2 Corinthians 12:1-2]
"But I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord" Paul had not died at the time he wrote this, therefore, there are only two possibilities.
1. First possibility: Paul was taken to the third Heaven in his earthly body and given a revelation, which was not lawful for him to utter, and then returned to Earth. He did not die. This would prove nothing about a disembodied soul from death unto the resurrection. Being taken to Heaven alive in his body would not even be a death. At the time he says this, he was still a living human being that had not died, he was not a disembodied spirit or soul after the death of his body. Then how can this be used to show that Paul had an "immaterial, invisible part of man" that would not die when he did? "Whether in the body." Although it is almost certain that no flesh and blood body has ever been in Heaven or ever will be, God has the power and could have taken Paul to the third Heaven when he was in his body, or He has the power to have taken Paul to the third Heaven in a vision. Paul did not know which so we cannot know. If Paul were caught up to the third Heaven this was special case, and not what happens to all mankind instantaneously at death. It is not going to Abraham's bosom, which is where many teach all the saved will go immediately at death. There is nothing in this passage about what will be after death, nether before the resurrection nor after the resurrection for Paul or for us; so how can this passage be used to prove a person becomes a "disembodied spirit" after death? Paul had not died, and nothing is said about him having a disembodied spirit that went to Heaven without his body or after the death of his body.
2. Second possibility: this was a vision: Neither would a vision prove anything about a disembodied soul from death unto the resurrection. "Visions" in 2 Corinthians 12:1 is translated from "optasia" and is used only four times in the New Testament.
(1) "That he had seen a VISION [optasia] in the temple" [Luke 1:2].
(2) "They had also seen a VISION [optasia] of angels" [Luke 24:23].
(3) "Disobedient unto the heavenly VISION" [optasia] [Acts 26:19].
(4) And in this passage, "I will come to VISIONS [optasia] and revelations" [2 Corinthians 12:1]. A vision, which is something like a dream, cannot be used to prove Paul or anyone has either an immortal soul or an immortal spirit.
EITHER WAY: If Paul were taken to Heaven or if this was a vision.
• This says nothing about an "immaterial invisible part of man.
• Or nothing about anything that will be after death either before or after the resurrection.
Those who use this to prove a person has an immortal soul must say they know what Paul said he did not know. They must say only a part of Paul, his "soul" but not his body went to Heaven, and that this was not a vision. How could anyone know this when Paul did not? According to the common view, when the soul leaves the body, the body is dead, and death is the separation of body and soul. Therefore, if a part of Paul called "soul" separated from the body and went to the third Heaven; his body was on the earth separated from this soul, therefore, dead. According to what some say death is, Paul was dead and his return to earth would have to be a resurrection from the dead. According to this teaching, his dead body was on earth and his soul was in Heaven separated from his body, he died and was raised from the dead and did not know it. We are told that "out of the body" means Paul's soul went to paradise and left his corpse on the earth, therefore, Paul was dead according to their own definition of death. Who can believe Paul was dead and resurrected and did not know it?
Summary: First ADDED, then CHANGED. First "psukee [life, soul, living being]" must be ADDED into this passage when it is not in it, then the ADDED psukee must be CHANGED into an immortal being. Theology had to go on a long trip to put what they wanted into this. There is nothing in this passage about the intermediate time from death unto the resurrection; but that a part of a person called "soul" is alive in the intermediate time from death to the resurrection is what they are trying to prove with it. Paul was speaking about a vision that had happened fourteen years before [2 Corinthians 12:1], not a death, and there is nothing in this passage (1) about a soul, (2) about death (3) or about anything that will be after death. How could this possibly be used to prove Paul or anyone has a soul that is immortal?
[5]. THE BELIEF OF THE PHARISEES AND OF THE SADDUCEES
WHOSE WIFE SHALL SHE BE
THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB Luke 20:27-38
There is much conflict and confusion in what has been written about the beliefs of both the Pharisee and the Sadducees. Below is a brief outline of their beliefs, which is in agreement with most writers.
THE SADDUCEES: They believed in a strict following of the Law and believed that the Law said nothing about an immortal soul, or about the resurrection of the dead. See [6]. "The God of Abraham" next in this chapter.
THE PHARISEES: The Pharisees originated in the time of the Maccabees and died out soon after A. D. 70. A belief in some kind of resurrection was established among some of the Jews in the time of Christ, but was not believed by most; but the teaching of Christ in Mark 12:26-27, on anyone having eternal life and immortality in Heaven after death was new to them [2 Timothy 1:10]. The Pharisees seem to have believed much of Rabbinic Judaism, mostly writings that were written between the Testaments that were influenced by Greek pagan teaching. Some form of an immortal soul was believed by the Greeks and is in some of the Rabbinical writings. The Pharisees did believe in both the resurrection of the dead, and in spirits and angels [Acts 23:8] and they did believe the teaching of eternal life was found in the Scriptures and searched the scriptures for proof [John 5:39], but what kind of eternal life and where did that believe it would it be; what did they believe about the resurrection? The only resurrections in the Old Testament Scriptures that they searched were resurrections of earthly body back to a mortal life that was no different from the mortal life of those who had not been resurrected. The New Testament teaching of a resurrection to immortality was unknown to them. Christ abolished death, and "brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" [2 Timothy 1:10-11]; a resurrection to immortality was unknown in the Old Testament, therefore, how could the Pharisees or anyone have known about something God had not made know? They looked for the Christ to
Living Christians need not sorrow as the rest who have no hope [1 Thessalonians 4:13]. There are four points in this passage.
1. Those who are asleep will be resurrected from the dead at the second coming of Christ. The departed person will not be with Christ unto He comes "again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" [John 14:2]. Not alive before "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven...and the dead in Christ shall rise first." At the coming of Christ the dead shall rise from the grave, not come back from Hell or Heaven.
2. Those who are living at the time Christ comes will be changed. Living Christians will not precede [go ahead of] the Christians that are not living [them that are fallen asleep] to meet the Lord, “And so shall we ever be with the lord” [1 Thessalonians 4:15].
3. Both those in Christ who are dead and those who are living, will together go from the earth to meet the Lord in the air when he is coming from Heaven before we will “be with the Lord.” "Then we that are alive, that are left, SHALL TOGETHER with them be caught up (from the earth) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" [1 Thessalonians 4:17-18]. How could Paul have said any clearer that those who are now asleep are not now alive in Heaven, but that they will be raised from the dead and meet the Lord in the air as He is returning?
4. "And so shall we (both the living Christians and the Christians that are not living at the time He comes) ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:17]. With the Lord in the place in Heaven where He has gone to prepare for the saved [John 14:2]. The future existence of the dead in Christ absolutely depends upon (1) the resurrection of those who are asleep (2) or on a translation of those who are living when Christ comes.
Why did Paul say he had a desire to depart? He lived a life of suffering, toil, and trials [2 Corinthians 11:23-33] and like Job, he understood death would be a relief from pain; and he knew that from the standpoint of the person that departs it will be as if he or she is with the Lord the next moment for we will know nothing of the time between death and the resurrection, that time will seem as if it was only a moment. The dead in Christ are asleep and have not ascended into Heaven, not even David or Paul, only Christ is now in Heaven, “But now has Christ been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of them that ARE ASLEEP…in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then they that are Christ’s at His coming” [1 Corinthians 15:20-23]. To those who are asleep there is no awareness of time; it will be as if we are with the Lord in only a moment. For us, there is no life after death unto the resurrection and never would be life without a resurrection of the dead.
Analus is used in the New Testament only two times.
1. "When he will RETURN [Greek-analus] from the wedding" Luke 12:36.
2. “Having a desire to DEPART [Greek-analus], and to be with the Lord" Philippians 1:23.
"To depart" or "Will return," which one does analus means?
[4] IN THE BODY OR OUT OF THE BODY [2 Corinthians 12:1-2]
"But I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord" Paul had not died at the time he wrote this, therefore, there are only two possibilities.
1. First possibility: Paul was taken to the third Heaven in his earthly body and given a revelation, which was not lawful for him to utter, and then returned to Earth. He did not die. This would prove nothing about a disembodied soul from death unto the resurrection. Being taken to Heaven alive in his body would not even be a death. At the time he says this, he was still a living human being that had not died, he was not a disembodied spirit or soul after the death of his body. Then how can this be used to show that Paul had an "immaterial, invisible part of man" that would not die when he did? "Whether in the body." Although it is almost certain that no flesh and blood body has ever been in Heaven or ever will be, God has the power and could have taken Paul to the third Heaven when he was in his body, or He has the power to have taken Paul to the third Heaven in a vision. Paul did not know which so we cannot know. If Paul were caught up to the third Heaven this was special case, and not what happens to all mankind instantaneously at death. It is not going to Abraham's bosom, which is where many teach all the saved will go immediately at death. There is nothing in this passage about what will be after death, nether before the resurrection nor after the resurrection for Paul or for us; so how can this passage be used to prove a person becomes a "disembodied spirit" after death? Paul had not died, and nothing is said about him having a disembodied spirit that went to Heaven without his body or after the death of his body.
2. Second possibility: this was a vision: Neither would a vision prove anything about a disembodied soul from death unto the resurrection. "Visions" in 2 Corinthians 12:1 is translated from "optasia" and is used only four times in the New Testament.
(1) "That he had seen a VISION [optasia] in the temple" [Luke 1:2].
(2) "They had also seen a VISION [optasia] of angels" [Luke 24:23].
(3) "Disobedient unto the heavenly VISION" [optasia] [Acts 26:19].
(4) And in this passage, "I will come to VISIONS [optasia] and revelations" [2 Corinthians 12:1]. A vision, which is something like a dream, cannot be used to prove Paul or anyone has either an immortal soul or an immortal spirit.
EITHER WAY: If Paul were taken to Heaven or if this was a vision.
• This says nothing about an "immaterial invisible part of man.
• Or nothing about anything that will be after death either before or after the resurrection.
Those who use this to prove a person has an immortal soul must say they know what Paul said he did not know. They must say only a part of Paul, his "soul" but not his body went to Heaven, and that this was not a vision. How could anyone know this when Paul did not? According to the common view, when the soul leaves the body, the body is dead, and death is the separation of body and soul. Therefore, if a part of Paul called "soul" separated from the body and went to the third Heaven; his body was on the earth separated from this soul, therefore, dead. According to what some say death is, Paul was dead and his return to earth would have to be a resurrection from the dead. According to this teaching, his dead body was on earth and his soul was in Heaven separated from his body, he died and was raised from the dead and did not know it. We are told that "out of the body" means Paul's soul went to paradise and left his corpse on the earth, therefore, Paul was dead according to their own definition of death. Who can believe Paul was dead and resurrected and did not know it?
Summary: First ADDED, then CHANGED. First "psukee [life, soul, living being]" must be ADDED into this passage when it is not in it, then the ADDED psukee must be CHANGED into an immortal being. Theology had to go on a long trip to put what they wanted into this. There is nothing in this passage about the intermediate time from death unto the resurrection; but that a part of a person called "soul" is alive in the intermediate time from death to the resurrection is what they are trying to prove with it. Paul was speaking about a vision that had happened fourteen years before [2 Corinthians 12:1], not a death, and there is nothing in this passage (1) about a soul, (2) about death (3) or about anything that will be after death. How could this possibly be used to prove Paul or anyone has a soul that is immortal?
[5]. THE BELIEF OF THE PHARISEES AND OF THE SADDUCEES
WHOSE WIFE SHALL SHE BE
THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB Luke 20:27-38
There is much conflict and confusion in what has been written about the beliefs of both the Pharisee and the Sadducees. Below is a brief outline of their beliefs, which is in agreement with most writers.
THE SADDUCEES: They believed in a strict following of the Law and believed that the Law said nothing about an immortal soul, or about the resurrection of the dead. See [6]. "The God of Abraham" next in this chapter.
THE PHARISEES: The Pharisees originated in the time of the Maccabees and died out soon after A. D. 70. A belief in some kind of resurrection was established among some of the Jews in the time of Christ, but was not believed by most; but the teaching of Christ in Mark 12:26-27, on anyone having eternal life and immortality in Heaven after death was new to them [2 Timothy 1:10]. The Pharisees seem to have believed much of Rabbinic Judaism, mostly writings that were written between the Testaments that were influenced by Greek pagan teaching. Some form of an immortal soul was believed by the Greeks and is in some of the Rabbinical writings. The Pharisees did believe in both the resurrection of the dead, and in spirits and angels [Acts 23:8] and they did believe the teaching of eternal life was found in the Scriptures and searched the scriptures for proof [John 5:39], but what kind of eternal life and where did that believe it would it be; what did they believe about the resurrection? The only resurrections in the Old Testament Scriptures that they searched were resurrections of earthly body back to a mortal life that was no different from the mortal life of those who had not been resurrected. The New Testament teaching of a resurrection to immortality was unknown to them. Christ abolished death, and "brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" [2 Timothy 1:10-11]; a resurrection to immortality was unknown in the Old Testament, therefore, how could the Pharisees or anyone have known about something God had not made know? They looked for the Christ to
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