Immortality or Resurrection - William West (best pdf ebook reader for android TXT) 📗
- Author: William West
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alive than the living. Lazarus was a problem to the chief priests and Pharisees because everyone knew he had been dead and was alive [John 11:47], not because he was telling of what he had seen. Not a one that was brought back from the dead had an "afterlife experience." Why? Because they were "asleep." Is earth better than Heaven; if Lazarus were in Heaven for four days, would he want to come back to earth? Would you or anyone want to leave Heaven and come back to this earth? Why would Christ have been cruel to Lazarus by taking him out of the joy of Heaven?
• Lazarus had to be dead to be resurrected from the dead.
• A "soul" would have to be dead if it was resurrected from the dead but we are told that it cannot be dead; then this part of us that has no substance cannot be resurrected from the dead.
a) Gathered to his people: Abraham [Genesis 25:8-9] and others died, and were "gathered to his people." The argument is made that this could not refer to their physical body; therefore, it was the soul that was gathered to his people. If that were true then the souls would be asleep together, not awake together, therefore, it would not prove a part of a person is conscious after death. The Hebrew belief was that both the good and the bad went to sheol-the grave. See Genesis 3:7-35; Job 7:21; 14:12; 24:19; Psalms 13:3; 1610; 31:17. "Slept with his fathers" is in the Old Testament about 38 times.
• Abraham "was GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE" [Genesis 25:8-9].
• "Moses, Behold, YOU SHALL SLEEP WITH YOUR FATHERS" [Deuteronomy 31:16].
• "So DAVID SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS" [1 Kings 2:10; 11:21]. "David...fell asleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption" [Acts 13:36].
• "From the day that the FATHERS FELL ASLEEP" [2 Peter 3:4].
• "So man lies down and rises not: Till the heavens be no more, they SHALL NOT AWAKE, NOR BE ROUSED OUT OF THEIR SLEEP" [Job 14:12].
• "CHRIST...THE FIRST FRUITS OF THEM THAT ARE ASLEEP" [1 Corinthians 15:20]. Christ is the only one who has been raised from the dead and is the only one who is not now "asleep."
If, "gathered to his people,” means "awake" then, "asleep" has to mean, "awake." If not, then wherever Abraham was he would be "asleep" and he would not know where he was or who was with him. How could Christ be the first fruits if Abraham were alive before Him?
Abraham's father served other gods. "Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods" [Joshua 24:2], which, according to most Catholics and Protestants, would send him to Hell, but both believe Abraham went to Heaven, and was "gathered to his people"; which would include his father. Both seem to be somewhat unsure of where Abraham is; not sure if Abraham was "gathered to his people" in sheol, which is the grave, or if he is in Heaven and not "gathered to his people" for his father the idolater they believe is in Hell.
Not one of the passages, which speak of being "gathered to his people,” is speaking of any one being gathered in Heaven. Sheol (the grave) is not Heaven; therefore, these passages are not speaking of anyone at death being translated to Heaven even though they are often used to prove it.
b) The state of the dead. The analogy of sleep is used throughout the Bible. If death does not indicate unconsciousness, then the analogy of sleep, which is used throughout the Bible, is meaningless for the dead are not asleep. [Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; Job 7:21; 14:12; Psalms 13:31 Jeremiah 51:39, 57; 1 Kings 2:10; 11:21, 43; 14:20, 31; 15:8, 24; 16:6, 28; 22:40, 50; 2 Kings 8:24; 10:35; 13:9, 13; 14:16, 22, 29; 15:7, 22, 38; 16:20; 20:21; 21:18; 24:6; 2 Chronicles 9:31; 12:16; 14:1; 16:13; 21:1; 26:2, 23; 27:9; 28:27; 32:33; 33:20; Job 3:13; Isaiah 26:19; Matthew 9:24; 25:5; 27:52; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11-14; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Corinthians 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15; 5:10; 2 Peter 3:4]. The scriptures often speak of a person being asleep after death but never say animals sleep when they die. Why? If they were asleep, they would wake up.
THE STATE OF THOSE WHO ARE ASLEEP
(1) They have perished if there is no resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:18].
(2) Their thoughts have perished [Psalms 146:4].
(3) They are as though they had never been [Job 3:11-18; Psalms 39:13; 146:2].
(4) They have no remembrance of God [Psalms 6:5].
(5) They rest in the dust of the earth [Job 17:13].
(6) They cannot give thanks to God [Isaiah 38:18].
(7) “The dead know not anything” [Ecclesiastes 9:5; 9:10].
The resurrection is the only hope for the dead. Without it, the dead will never have life again.
D. Padfield seems to make knowing or not knowing each other in Heaven to be dependent on Abraham being awake with his people. He leaves out the resurrection and makes Abraham be alive without it. He jumps from death in sheol before the resurrection to Heaven as if they are the same place and everything will be the same in both. What we will be and know in Heaven after the resurrection does not depend on what we will know while in the grave and will not depend on being awake while we are in the grave. Is he not so desperately trying to prove a person is now immortal that he is saying to God, "Abraham being with the fathers proves he is not 'asleep with the fathers'?" This view is used by those who believe in "Abraham's bosom" but it is an attempt to prove that the dead are not asleep they makes the saved and the unsaved be awake together waiting for the resurrection even though it says those in Abraham’s bosom are not dead to be resurrected from the dead.
This view makes:
1. The dead not be dead but alive.
2. Those who "sleep with the fathers" are not asleep but are "awake with the fathers."
3. The resurrection impossible as no one is dead.
4. Makes the Bible not mean what it says. The many times it says "sleep with the fathers" must be changed to be "awake with the fathers" and the many times the Bible uses the metaphor of sleep for death are not true.
c) The awakening, wakening up at the resurrection: The resurrection will be an awakening. Death is likened to sleep because it is a state of unconsciousness, which will be followed by an awakening. Christ is the first fruits and the rest will be resurrected "at his coming" [1 Corinthians 15:23]. Abraham and his people fell asleep, and will be asleep unto the resurrection, "From the day that the fathers fell asleep" [2 Peter 3:4]. The Bible says nothing about the state of a person from the time he falls asleep unto the resurrection. The Christian hope is not on death, not on being awake anywhere before the resurrection but on the resurrection to life, on being raised from the dead at the second coming of Christ.
Albert Barnes said "In the Scripture sleep is used to intimate that death will not be final: that there will be an awakening out of this sleep, or a resurrection. It is a beautiful and tender expression, removing all that is dreadful in death, and filling the mind with the idea of calm repose after a life of toil, with a reference to a future resurrection" Barnes' Notes On the New Testament.
What is the resurrection?
• Is it spirits who are now awake and living in Heaven or Hell returning to their earthly bodies?
• Or is it all that are asleep in the grave will wake up at the judgment?
It was Lazarus who was asleep. Not just his body while his soul was alive [John 11:11]. Some of the saints had fallen asleep. Not just the body had fallen asleep, but the "living being," the whole person [1 Corinthians 15:6]. The Bible nowhere speaks of the body being asleep while some immaterial, invisible, inter part of a person is awake. It is the whole person that sleeps unto the resurrection, and the whole person that will wake up at the resurrection. If only the body were asleep with the spirit alive in another world, why would there never be a hint that the real person was not asleep in any of the passages that use sleep as a metaphor of death?
ABRAHAM, WHERE ARE YOU?
Three views about where Abraham is
1. Bible view: Abraham is asleep with the fathers.
2. Catholic and Protestant view: Abraham is awake in Heaven.
3. A newer after judgment view: Abraham is awake in Abraham's bosom, the good side of hades. This view has been widely taught in the church of Christ and the Christian Church.
Many who do not know whether they believe #2 or #3 will say some loved one had gone to be with Jesus in Heaven, but if they are trying to prove the soul is alive before the resurrection will use Luke 16. Abraham is moved back and forth from Heaven to Abraham's bosom as they need to, but most of them do not seem to know they are moving him.
[8] THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE LIFE
THAT CHRIST PROMISED TO THEM THAT OBEY HIM
John 4:14; 4:36; 5:21; 6:40 See chapter two, Life or death. If all are born with an immortal soul that cannot die, all have eternal life and Christ could only give them a reward, not life. Unconditional immortality gives both the sinners and the saved eternal life without the death of Christ.
TWO VERY DIFFERENT GOSPELS
Unconditional immortality and the resurrection are two very different gospels Galatians 1:6-9. There is a dividing line between unconditional immortality and conditional immortality so sharp that the two are completely different Gospels as far apart as night and day. Both cannot be true. One is a "delusion" [2 Thessalonians 2:11, King James Version] "A working of error" [American Standard Version]. Do you believe a working of error? Unconditional immortality is very different from anything preached in Paul's day [Galatians 1:6].
It is the "doctrines and precepts of men" [Matthew 15:9], and is wresting the writings of Paul and the other scriptures [2 Peter 3:16]. It takes away a need for the death of Christ, and the need of the resurrection.
TWO INCOMPATIBLE BELIEFS
Either one makes the other one impossible.
1. The resurrection: Makes an immortal never dying soul impossible. If it is not dead, a soul that is alive cannot be raised from the dead.
2. Unconditional immortality: 1. Makes the resurrection an unanswerable problem. If the soul is immortal and never dies, what will be the use of the resurrection? What will be raised from the dead? 2. Makes a real resurrection impossible.
These two Gospels, the resurrection or an undying immortal soul, are so opposed and contradictory to each other that if one is true, it makes the other one a lie of Satan that will destroy you at the judgment; they are not compatible. If one is true, then the other one cannot be. Believing unconditional immortal is disbelieving God; believing this doctrine, or not believing it, can be the difference in whether you believe God or man. One came from man and is vain worship [Matthew 15:9]. Christ taught the resurrection. It is our only
• Lazarus had to be dead to be resurrected from the dead.
• A "soul" would have to be dead if it was resurrected from the dead but we are told that it cannot be dead; then this part of us that has no substance cannot be resurrected from the dead.
a) Gathered to his people: Abraham [Genesis 25:8-9] and others died, and were "gathered to his people." The argument is made that this could not refer to their physical body; therefore, it was the soul that was gathered to his people. If that were true then the souls would be asleep together, not awake together, therefore, it would not prove a part of a person is conscious after death. The Hebrew belief was that both the good and the bad went to sheol-the grave. See Genesis 3:7-35; Job 7:21; 14:12; 24:19; Psalms 13:3; 1610; 31:17. "Slept with his fathers" is in the Old Testament about 38 times.
• Abraham "was GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE" [Genesis 25:8-9].
• "Moses, Behold, YOU SHALL SLEEP WITH YOUR FATHERS" [Deuteronomy 31:16].
• "So DAVID SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS" [1 Kings 2:10; 11:21]. "David...fell asleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption" [Acts 13:36].
• "From the day that the FATHERS FELL ASLEEP" [2 Peter 3:4].
• "So man lies down and rises not: Till the heavens be no more, they SHALL NOT AWAKE, NOR BE ROUSED OUT OF THEIR SLEEP" [Job 14:12].
• "CHRIST...THE FIRST FRUITS OF THEM THAT ARE ASLEEP" [1 Corinthians 15:20]. Christ is the only one who has been raised from the dead and is the only one who is not now "asleep."
If, "gathered to his people,” means "awake" then, "asleep" has to mean, "awake." If not, then wherever Abraham was he would be "asleep" and he would not know where he was or who was with him. How could Christ be the first fruits if Abraham were alive before Him?
Abraham's father served other gods. "Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods" [Joshua 24:2], which, according to most Catholics and Protestants, would send him to Hell, but both believe Abraham went to Heaven, and was "gathered to his people"; which would include his father. Both seem to be somewhat unsure of where Abraham is; not sure if Abraham was "gathered to his people" in sheol, which is the grave, or if he is in Heaven and not "gathered to his people" for his father the idolater they believe is in Hell.
Not one of the passages, which speak of being "gathered to his people,” is speaking of any one being gathered in Heaven. Sheol (the grave) is not Heaven; therefore, these passages are not speaking of anyone at death being translated to Heaven even though they are often used to prove it.
b) The state of the dead. The analogy of sleep is used throughout the Bible. If death does not indicate unconsciousness, then the analogy of sleep, which is used throughout the Bible, is meaningless for the dead are not asleep. [Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; Job 7:21; 14:12; Psalms 13:31 Jeremiah 51:39, 57; 1 Kings 2:10; 11:21, 43; 14:20, 31; 15:8, 24; 16:6, 28; 22:40, 50; 2 Kings 8:24; 10:35; 13:9, 13; 14:16, 22, 29; 15:7, 22, 38; 16:20; 20:21; 21:18; 24:6; 2 Chronicles 9:31; 12:16; 14:1; 16:13; 21:1; 26:2, 23; 27:9; 28:27; 32:33; 33:20; Job 3:13; Isaiah 26:19; Matthew 9:24; 25:5; 27:52; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11-14; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Corinthians 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15; 5:10; 2 Peter 3:4]. The scriptures often speak of a person being asleep after death but never say animals sleep when they die. Why? If they were asleep, they would wake up.
THE STATE OF THOSE WHO ARE ASLEEP
(1) They have perished if there is no resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:18].
(2) Their thoughts have perished [Psalms 146:4].
(3) They are as though they had never been [Job 3:11-18; Psalms 39:13; 146:2].
(4) They have no remembrance of God [Psalms 6:5].
(5) They rest in the dust of the earth [Job 17:13].
(6) They cannot give thanks to God [Isaiah 38:18].
(7) “The dead know not anything” [Ecclesiastes 9:5; 9:10].
The resurrection is the only hope for the dead. Without it, the dead will never have life again.
D. Padfield seems to make knowing or not knowing each other in Heaven to be dependent on Abraham being awake with his people. He leaves out the resurrection and makes Abraham be alive without it. He jumps from death in sheol before the resurrection to Heaven as if they are the same place and everything will be the same in both. What we will be and know in Heaven after the resurrection does not depend on what we will know while in the grave and will not depend on being awake while we are in the grave. Is he not so desperately trying to prove a person is now immortal that he is saying to God, "Abraham being with the fathers proves he is not 'asleep with the fathers'?" This view is used by those who believe in "Abraham's bosom" but it is an attempt to prove that the dead are not asleep they makes the saved and the unsaved be awake together waiting for the resurrection even though it says those in Abraham’s bosom are not dead to be resurrected from the dead.
This view makes:
1. The dead not be dead but alive.
2. Those who "sleep with the fathers" are not asleep but are "awake with the fathers."
3. The resurrection impossible as no one is dead.
4. Makes the Bible not mean what it says. The many times it says "sleep with the fathers" must be changed to be "awake with the fathers" and the many times the Bible uses the metaphor of sleep for death are not true.
c) The awakening, wakening up at the resurrection: The resurrection will be an awakening. Death is likened to sleep because it is a state of unconsciousness, which will be followed by an awakening. Christ is the first fruits and the rest will be resurrected "at his coming" [1 Corinthians 15:23]. Abraham and his people fell asleep, and will be asleep unto the resurrection, "From the day that the fathers fell asleep" [2 Peter 3:4]. The Bible says nothing about the state of a person from the time he falls asleep unto the resurrection. The Christian hope is not on death, not on being awake anywhere before the resurrection but on the resurrection to life, on being raised from the dead at the second coming of Christ.
Albert Barnes said "In the Scripture sleep is used to intimate that death will not be final: that there will be an awakening out of this sleep, or a resurrection. It is a beautiful and tender expression, removing all that is dreadful in death, and filling the mind with the idea of calm repose after a life of toil, with a reference to a future resurrection" Barnes' Notes On the New Testament.
What is the resurrection?
• Is it spirits who are now awake and living in Heaven or Hell returning to their earthly bodies?
• Or is it all that are asleep in the grave will wake up at the judgment?
It was Lazarus who was asleep. Not just his body while his soul was alive [John 11:11]. Some of the saints had fallen asleep. Not just the body had fallen asleep, but the "living being," the whole person [1 Corinthians 15:6]. The Bible nowhere speaks of the body being asleep while some immaterial, invisible, inter part of a person is awake. It is the whole person that sleeps unto the resurrection, and the whole person that will wake up at the resurrection. If only the body were asleep with the spirit alive in another world, why would there never be a hint that the real person was not asleep in any of the passages that use sleep as a metaphor of death?
ABRAHAM, WHERE ARE YOU?
Three views about where Abraham is
1. Bible view: Abraham is asleep with the fathers.
2. Catholic and Protestant view: Abraham is awake in Heaven.
3. A newer after judgment view: Abraham is awake in Abraham's bosom, the good side of hades. This view has been widely taught in the church of Christ and the Christian Church.
Many who do not know whether they believe #2 or #3 will say some loved one had gone to be with Jesus in Heaven, but if they are trying to prove the soul is alive before the resurrection will use Luke 16. Abraham is moved back and forth from Heaven to Abraham's bosom as they need to, but most of them do not seem to know they are moving him.
[8] THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE LIFE
THAT CHRIST PROMISED TO THEM THAT OBEY HIM
John 4:14; 4:36; 5:21; 6:40 See chapter two, Life or death. If all are born with an immortal soul that cannot die, all have eternal life and Christ could only give them a reward, not life. Unconditional immortality gives both the sinners and the saved eternal life without the death of Christ.
TWO VERY DIFFERENT GOSPELS
Unconditional immortality and the resurrection are two very different gospels Galatians 1:6-9. There is a dividing line between unconditional immortality and conditional immortality so sharp that the two are completely different Gospels as far apart as night and day. Both cannot be true. One is a "delusion" [2 Thessalonians 2:11, King James Version] "A working of error" [American Standard Version]. Do you believe a working of error? Unconditional immortality is very different from anything preached in Paul's day [Galatians 1:6].
It is the "doctrines and precepts of men" [Matthew 15:9], and is wresting the writings of Paul and the other scriptures [2 Peter 3:16]. It takes away a need for the death of Christ, and the need of the resurrection.
TWO INCOMPATIBLE BELIEFS
Either one makes the other one impossible.
1. The resurrection: Makes an immortal never dying soul impossible. If it is not dead, a soul that is alive cannot be raised from the dead.
2. Unconditional immortality: 1. Makes the resurrection an unanswerable problem. If the soul is immortal and never dies, what will be the use of the resurrection? What will be raised from the dead? 2. Makes a real resurrection impossible.
These two Gospels, the resurrection or an undying immortal soul, are so opposed and contradictory to each other that if one is true, it makes the other one a lie of Satan that will destroy you at the judgment; they are not compatible. If one is true, then the other one cannot be. Believing unconditional immortal is disbelieving God; believing this doctrine, or not believing it, can be the difference in whether you believe God or man. One came from man and is vain worship [Matthew 15:9]. Christ taught the resurrection. It is our only
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