Do Christians Go To Heaven When They Die?

[Rebbe]

DO CHRISTIANS GO TO HEAVEN WHEN THEY DIE?

Copyright © BRI/IMCF 2018 All Rights Reserved Worldwide by Les Aron Gosling, Messianic Lecturer (BRI/IMCF)

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"The moment we take out last breath on earth, we take our first in heaven" -- Billy Graham

"God will prepare everything for our perfect happiness in heaven, and if it takes my dog being there, I believe he'll be there" -- Billy Graham

"God is more interested in your future and your relationships than you are" -- Billy Graham

INTRODUCTION
To begin this particular lecture I wish to quote the position of the Reformed Churches on the question: "What comfort does the resurrection of the body afford thee?"

The Heidelberg Catechism states: "That not only my soul, after this life, shall be immediately taken up to Christ its Head, but also that this my body, raised by the power of Christ, shall again be united with my soul, and made like the glorious body of Christ."

The Westminster Confession tells us that at death "The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies."

In a similar vein, the Second Helvetic Confession claims, "We believe that the faithful, after bodily death, go directly unto Christ."

But what do the Messianic Scriptures tell us about this specific question?

MY EARLY CHRISTIAN CONNECTION
I was first introduced to the synagogue by my mother when I was a young child of about 11 or 12 years of age. She took me there by train one morning during school holidays, and I remember it like it was yesterday. My dear Mum had peculiar habits when preparing a meal... like holding an egg up to the light to see if there were any indications of blood spots inside the shell. If there were, the egg would land in the kitchen trash can. Certain fish were excluded from our diets, like leatherjacket and mussels, and prawns were a "no no" (but not to my father who occasionally got some from the local fish and chip shop and shared them with his male neighbours over a beer or two or three on a Sunday morning -- you get the drift!).  

An Aunt -- a sister of my mother -- lived in a mansion, a few miles from our own home. When I often stayed with her in my pre-teen years during times when my mother was in hospital it was inevitably an adventure, but there were parts of the house in which I was forbidden to enter. One of these was the attic, where I was told ghosts lived. You had to climb a lengthy dark, dank, creaking staircase and I never got within more than twelve feet of the attic door. Scary area indeed. But the mansion was large enough to have a ballroom, and I would sometimes tiptoe out of bed and kneel on occasion behind the beautifully designed and colourful lead-light doors and watch the proceedings and enjoy the band as they played music from the thirties and forties (still popular in the early 50s).

She had a menorah sitting proudly on the mantle piece over a fireplace in a massive library and study. The four walls of the library were literally covered from floor to high ceiling with thousands of exquisitely bound volumes. The marvellous library had a wonderfully sturdy rolling ladder attached to a bookshelf that I found a delight -- climbing half-way up and sliding the ladder right along the shelves with ever-increasing speed until one day I fell off and really "copped" it.

The main hall of her home was richly red-carpeted, with regal bust statuettes of white marble forming a role of honour along the entire length of the corridor, but where there were tiles (like the kitchen floor, or pavements laid through the extremely large and lush fountain- dominated arboretum which adjoined the servant's quarters) they were in the design of the star of David (the magen david).

I was deeply saddened in my later years when I took my wife and children to view the mansion, only to find that it had been demolished years before and replaced with a row of crappy town houses! So many memories of childhood were suddenly swept away and I actually cried my eyes out.

When I was first converted during a Billy Graham "crusade," (although understandably, Jewish people cringe when they hear about an evangelistic event called a "crusade") I believed and trusted that the man who preached about everlasting life knew what he was talking about. He promised heaven as the reward of the saved.

With my trusty Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, a large copy of which I purchased from the Scripture Union Bookstore in York Street Sydney for 205 shillings (!) and which I still have although it's now very attrited, and fatigued, I looked up EVERY Scriptural text relating to heaven -- but with immense disappointment -- and not in any way lacking in enthusiasm for the object of my enquiry -- NONE of those references specified "heaven" as the reward of the saints.

I happen to know many Christians who are still looking today for ANY texts that specify heaven as the immediate location of the authentic believer in Yeshua who has crossed over into that ethereal realm after death. So if you are holding your breath for a startling revelation from the Bible in "proof text" form today -- you won't find it here! But I do have some thoughts I'd like to share with all my students and these thoughts are most definitely healthy, honest and entirely positive. You all should know my thoughts on "proof texts."

The problem of a lack of textual assurances concerning "heaven for the saved" is compounded by various free versions of the Gospels in which Our Lord Yeshua offers heaven as the reward of the saved. The Living NT Paraphrased (as do many others) does a good job of speaking of heaven as the home of the saved. The translators have substituted heaven for the "Kingdom of Heaven." They do not realise, for whatever reason, that the "Kingdom of Heaven" is a Kingdom prepared for God's people which comes out of heaven to the earth as Daniel predicted would occur at the end of the age. The Kingdom of God in that day will be "UNDER the whole heaven" (Dan 7.22,27). If it is to be "under the whole heaven" it will be ON EARTH. In fact, in 1611 the revisionists who gave us the AV used "of" to mean "from" (in our modern language).

The term "Kingdom OF Heaven" really meant the "Kingdom FROM Heaven" -- not heaven itself!

And so the Living NT Paraphrased says this in Mt 5.12: "For a tremendous reward awaits you up in heaven" and in Mt 7.13 it reads, "Heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate" while in Mt 7.21 Christ states "Not all who talk like godly people are. They may refer to me as 'Lord,' but still won't get to heaven..."

I could go on (and on and on) but shan't labour the point that has already been adequately made. Today the blind still lead the blind, and both daily fall into the ditch through gross ignorance of the Book that is supposed to grant men a vital knowledge of how to be saved and what to expect when they die.

Let me say this. Death is inevitable. And, apart from an act of suicide or a state sentence of execution, nobody really knows ahead of time the exact and precise date of their impending demise.

Certainly, very few experiences can be considered universal, but death is such an experience. None of us can escape it's icy clutches. It occurs to all living organisms with absolute certainty. The spectre of death reaches with greed into every home, every town, every city, every nation on earth -- both primitive and technocratic. Whether one is a wealthy banker, or a street child, a ruler of an empire or a homeless person living in a cardboard box, makes no difference. Death is the great leveller of men.  

Before the scythe sweep of the Great Shade we all meet the fate of an oftentimes unexpected execution. Some of us meet that moment with gratitude, and suddenly. Others of us try in vain to flee it's grasp, and linger in a mad attempt to breathe yet again, one last breath. For, "death is a punishment to some, to some a gift, and to many a favour" (Seneca). Some Christians desperately desire the Second Advent of Christ -- not because they necessarily want the Kingdom of God to appear as a necessary priority for the salvation of the world, but so that they themselves do not have to face death. They do not want to die. It's an experience they can do without. (I completely understand their position and motive though it's hardly emanating from a moral and altruistic high ground.)

But death is always the victor in the struggle for our survival. Happiness may reign in our home one minute and the next moment that home be filled with overwhelming grief. The child might be cooing in the morning, and at night be ice cold in the depths of the Big Sleep.

In my 73 years of life I have experienced the eclipse of grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins I loved, my Mother and Father (both of whom I cherished), close friends and associates, people/neighbours I have despised, the loss of my daughter, the death of my mother-in-law, BRI/IMCF members, an older sister, even folk I have never met but have personally watched die in accidents. The list goes on. The Angel of Death is essentially an extremely greedy creature.

But, how do we know what happens to a true Christian when they die? Do the "believing" dead patiently sleep until "the final seventh trumpet call"? Do "Christians" remain dead -- in what is called "soul sleep" or utter unconsciousness -- until the Messiah comes for them at His return, or do they enter immediately into heaven when they "cross over"? And does anybody actually "cross over"? What does happen when an authentic believer dies?

ABERRANT CHRISTIAN THEORIES
Most organisations that follow the teachings of a certain Pastor Charles Taze Russell (such as the Bible Student Movement, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, Christadelphians and the cluster of Armstrongite sects) hold to the doctrine of 'soul sleep' and belief in the complete and utter mortality of man. It is often quoted by such adherents of these sects that about the year 150 Justin Martyr writes of some contemporaries, "For I choose to follow not men or men's doctrines, but God and the doctrines [delivered] by Him. For if you have fallen in with some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this [knowledge of the truth], and venture to blaspheme the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven; DO NOT IMAGINE THAT THEY ARE CHRISTIANS" (Dialogue, 80).

But five things need to be pointed out concerning Justin (as sincere as he may have been).

1. Justin is speaking first and foremost about the role and purpose in a resurrection of righteous saints.

2. We assume Justin was a truly converted believer. Many of his doctrines do align with the biblical revelation -- but some do not. His writings are, in certain specifics, suspicious. He also cites The Gospel of Peter as authentic Scripture which is not the case.

3. He is linked by some statements in his writings with the religion of Mithras, and may have been a secret follower of that god. He allows that Christ's birth parallels the birth of Mithra in a cave.

4. He is a source for the early keeping of Sunday as a day of worship (borrowing it from the devotees of the Mediterranean god Mithra).

5. He believes strongly that when a person is baptised in water that sudden illumination of secrets becomes their lot as in specific ceremonies in the Mystery Religions of the time.

And so on it goes.

UNGODLY CHRISTIAN FEARS
One of the criticisms levelled at me in my thesis on the spirit in man which I released as a BRI Bible Study Manual a number of years ago entitled Is Man the Phoenix? was that I had spent a great deal of the dissertation on establishing without a shadow of doubt the existence of a non-fleshly spark of the Divine within the human being and not enough sharing of evidence relating to what occurs to a believer in Christ when they die.

One of the people who brought forth this criticism was in truth desirous of the Second Advent of the Messiah in their lifetime not so much for the myriad of Salvific reasons given in the biblical revelation, but primarily because they themselves were afraid of death itself and wanted to stay alive until Yeshua's return in order that they would not have to face the inevitability of their joining the lengthy queue of the Passing Parade.

There are most certainly Christians alive today around the world who want the return of Christ in their lifetime for the sole reason that they are afraid to die. If any of us at this place are motivated by a fear of this nature please STOP BEING AFRAID. Perfect love, we are told, casts out -- yes, EXORCISES -- all fear. Either trust the Word or trust the flesh. One springs from a loving outflowing desire to grow and the other is a hastening of the flesh to run away from truth in the other direction... and get... nowhere. Upon repentance that word "nowhere" is transmuted into "now here." Yes, where God wants us to be!

As a matter of fact, this lecture is given in order to encourage everyone in attendance to expand the parameters of our ignorance in relation to the biblical revelation through right education. Of course, we are all free to accept it, or reject it. In no way is belief in this contentious subject, nor a disbelief in it, going to affect your standing in the International Messianic Community of Faith (IMCF). At least it will not affect your relationship to the Rebbetzin and myself. I cannot speak for others who may be motivated by something other than Grace and love.

Over the years we have collected a variety of believers in the Lord Yeshua who have held to a wide variety of beliefs about the contents of the Bible, and we have proven that it is entirely possible to hold to different positions without those doctrinal understandings in any way becoming a "stumblingblock" to others. Remember too, the apostle Paul never disfellowshipped anybody over doctrinal issues. There is not one shred of evidence that he ever did such a thing. But he did disfellowship people over issues involving deportment -- where individuals set about creating division over doctrines and disruption over moral issues.

Indeed, concerning the subject of man's inherent nature, we have worshipped and studied in this place with those who believe in so-called "soul sleep" (denying that they have been created with a Spark of the Divine within), as well as those who hold to a belief in inherent "immortality." As to the latter, we have also fellowshipped with people here who hold to a belief associated with the possession of a Spark of the Divine dwelling within -- and which they claim has always existed. I am of that particular belief, and the Rebbetzin is now also of that same belief -- although she resisted it for years. We still have had a marvellous marriage despite holding to different notions for a lengthy period on the nature of man.

It is written: "There is a spirit in man" (Job 32.8).

In the Scripture, God is designated as, "God, the God of the spirits of all humankind" (Num 16.22) and again, "the LORD, the God of the spirits of all humankind" (Num 27.16).

That there is a spirit IN man is undeniable, for the Bible (as we have just seen) tells us that it does exist within us. Many Christians also speak of the NT concept of our "Inner Man," or the "Real You." But then those same folk attempt to deny any actual INDEPENDENT CORE EXISTENCE by reducing that same Inner Man to a mere "intelligent attitude" or natural "drive" within us.

REJECTING JEWISH THOUGHTFORM PROTESTANTS ARGUE BACK AND FORTH
As to so-called "soul sleep" even some scholars of the Protestant faith have accepted this notion, and claim that it is biblical. German priest Martin Luther, too -- the man who brought us the Protestant Reformation and whose theology contributed to Hitler's ovens -- at one time railed against the popular idea of the "immortality of the soul" calling it a "monstrous fiction" of the papacy and one of the "endless monstrosities in the Roman dunghill of decretals"! (See Martin Luther, Works, 1897, VII, Art.27., 131,132). And, moreover, it was William Tyndale who declared: "In putting them [the departed souls of the dead] in Heaven, hell and purgatory you destroy the arguments wherewith Christ and Paul doth prove the resurrection... and again, if the souls be in Heaven, tell me why they be not in as good case as the angels be? And then what cause is there for their resurrection?" (An Answer to Sir Thomas More's Dialogue, Parker's 1850 reprint, Bk.IV., 180,181).

Oscar Cullman (Protestant professor of theology, University of Basel since 1938 and the Sorbonne in Paris) flatly rejects the idea of man's innate immortality and argues for a biblical 'soul sleep' until the resurrection at Christ's second Advent (O. Cullman, The Immortality of the Soul or the Resurrection of the Dead?, 1958). Cullman notes, "If we were to ask any ordinary Christian today (whether well-read Protestant or Catholic, or not) what he conceived to be the New Testament teaching concerning the fate of man after death, with few exceptions we should get the answer: 'The immortality of the soul.' Yet this widely-accepted idea is one of the greatest misunderstandings of Christianity. There is no point in attempting to hide this fact, or to veil it by reinterpreting the Christian faith. This is something that should be discussed quite candidly. The concept of death and resurrection is anchored in the Christ-event... and hence is incompatible with the Greek belief in immortality" (ibid 15. Emphasis mine throughout lecture).

By way of contrast scholar Berkhof, in a defence of human immortality, admits that the Bible is silent concerning man's immortality. But he writes: "The historical and philosophical proofs for the survival of the soul are not absolutely demonstrative, and therefore do not compel belief. For greater assurance in this matter, it is necessary to direct the eye of faith to Scripture. Here, too, we must rely on the voice of authority. Now the position of Scripture in respect to this matter may at first seem somewhat dubious. It speaks of God as the only one who hath immortality (1 Tim 6:15), and never predicates this of man. There is no explicit mention of the immortality of the soul, and much less any attempt to prove it in a formal way. Hence the Russellites or Millennial Dawnists often challenge theologians to point to a single passage in which the Bible teaches that the soul of man is immortal. But even if the Bible does not explicitly state that the soul of man is immortal, and does not seek to prove this in a formal way, any more than it seeks to present formal proof for the existence of God, this does not mean that Scripture denies or contradicts or even ignores it. It clearly assumes in many passages that man continues his conscious existence after death. In fact, it treats the truth of the immortality of man very much as it does that of the existence of God, that is, it assumes this as an undisputed postulate" (Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 1939,1941, 674).

What Berkhof recognises is true for I have already shown plainly, that such teaching relative to immortality was decidedly held by some of the very apostles of the Messiah. We have "NT" evidence that at least one 1st century cell of the Yeshua Messianic Movement headed by an intimate disciple of the Mashiach -- the one Yeshua is said to have specifically 'loved' -- held to a belief not merely in the afterlife existence of a consciously immortal inner Self but in the actual transmigration into another life-form of the "soul" or "spirit" in man. That such a doctrinal perspective presupposes immortality, at least in an immortality of sorts, becomes obvious with a little thought. In this discourse, however, I will keep to the subject at hand which involves what occurs when a believer dies. [I have covered the topic of human immortality extensively and I encourage everyone -- if they have not as yet studied (or even just read) the series Is Man the Phoenix? -- to take advantage of this honest and straightforward investigation. That they ought to certainly do this may be some consolation for them giving answers to questions I may not cover in this present lecture.]

Much of the confusion about mortality versus immortality (with both camps claiming the Bible as their text-book) exists because "men have exchanged the truth of God for a lie" (quoting Paul in Romans 1.25 Gk) very early in the history of Christianity by rejecting Jewish thoughtform and imposing the accumulated Gentile traditions about the Afterlife onto the biblical revelation. While this is true, we can reassess the contents of the NT with all the available research at our very fingertips with the prophesied increase in biblical knowledge contemplated by the prophet Daniel. "Many shall run to and fro and knowledge [especially of the biblical revelation] shall be increased" (Dan 12.4).

Certainly, I made it a goal to discover what actual evidence there was in the Bible in respect of man's innate immortality and I am satisfied that I have found as much evidence as I desired to establish my position as acceptable in the sight of God and any open-minded homo sapien sapiens. But as to locating ANY evidence for the crossing over at death into heaven in the case of believers in Christ I could find nothing precise. It was this way for decades. It seemed that the Lord God wanted to keep that event secret. Without any doubt, evangelists who loudly espouse such a proposition that Christians go to heaven at death in the affirmative are bags of wind.

Notice what the great Christian scholar Reuben Archer Torrey admitted in his work What the Bible Teaches. A Thorough & Comprehensive Study of What the Bible Has to Say Concerning the Great Doctrines of Which it Treats, 1898 (1957 ed). [R.A. Torrey (Yale University) was an American educator, theologian, Congregationalist minister who worked closely alongside Dwight L. Moody.]

Speaking of what occurs when a believer dies -- and which believer anticipates entering heaven at death: "The Bible seems to give but little explicit and detailed information on this point" (486).

How strange! The most important information absolutely required by a believer -- and it's omitted from the Word of God! This is primarily due to the fact that when the NT was originally penned by the disciples of the Lord Yeshua -- prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE -- they all to a man expected his Second Coming to be "just around the corner" based on even the intimations Christ himself shared with them. The Lord said things like, "Some of you standing right here now will certainly live to see me coming in my Kingdom" (Mt 16.28). Because of this situation they had no need to write about the repose of the dead believer in Christ. The vast overwhelming majority of Christians would be alive and well to greet Him in the clouds of heaven at His return. Paul made it clear to the Christians at Thessalonika. "WE who are alive and remain shall be caught up together in the clouds..." (1 Thes 4.17).

I believe at the conclusion of this current age that we can KNOW what happens at the point OF death as far as a believer in the Lord Yeshua as their Saviour is concerned.

THE POINT OF DEPARTURE
Again, for emphasis, why do some divisions of Christianity -- especially sectarian elements -- and certain notable and widely-respected biblical scholars, entertain the view that man is intrinsically mortal -- that, in their learned consideration, the idea of the "immortality of the soul" is absent from the Scriptural revelation? They claim the Bible is dogmatic about man's mortality.

They argue: If we are already immortal by virtue of possessing an immortal soul, and we depart at death to be with the Lord, what is the point of the resurrection?

How can it be said that Yeshua brought immortality to light (2 Tim 1.10) if man was created immortal at the very beginning of God's plan for planet Earth? Wasn't Satan's lie to Eve a promise of immortality if she would follow him (Gen 3.4)?

If our first parent Adam had an immortal soul, and God created him that way, why was he expelled from Eden in order that he might not "live forever" (Gen 3.22) by eating of the tree of life?

How can immortality possibly be sought (Rom 2.7) if it is presently indwelling us in the form of a "soul"?

Paul assessed, and quite convincingly, "If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantages it me, if the dead rise not?" (1 Cor 15.32). If Paul could indulge in heavenly bliss apart from the body of flesh, why should he so stress "if the dead rise not"? The mortality of man, and the need for a resurrection, seem to go hand in glove.

I do agree with them that Paul again said, "If Messiah be not raised... then they which are fallen asleep in Messiah are perished" (1 Cor 15.17,18).

Firstly, why does Paul refer to these dead saints as sleeping if they (that is, their 'souls') are already in heaven and, Secondly, if they are already in heaven with God (having departed at death because they were immortal) then how on Earth can it be said that had Messiah not risen in the triumph of resurrection they would have perished?

An "immortal soul" by its very definition is eternal! That is to say it never had a 'beginning,' and it cannot have an 'end.' That's what 'immortal' means. If we possess an "immortal soul" why and how do we gain anything by being given "eternal life" (immortality) when we accept Messiah as Saviour? How can we be given life if we already possess it?

And so the arguments from the mortalists continue to "dog the heels" of those who view the Scripture from a Jewish point of view. These and many more contentions have been put to me by a number of sectarian administrators including my late friend Dr Ernest L. Martin. He eventually thought of me as a false prophet as did some in other hallowed Halls of denominational gullibility. While this is the case he was very appreciative of my alignment with him in evangelistic efforts to promote the Grace of God. Certainly I can respond to all these insinuations and declarations and persuasive deceptive techniques. They shall await another time and lecture down the track.

There is a reason why sectarians (and others) hold to such a teaching. The reason is spectacularly simple. As I have stated on many occasions they have largely rejected the Jewish thoughtform which produced the Bible in the first place!

They have willingly closed their eyes to see the plain, markedly obvious, imperative facts written in that literary Source which they claim is the Word of an Almighty God. We shall see, in this lecture, that the teaching of the early Messianic Assemblies was not only centred in a firm belief in man's natural immortality but that such a knowledge of immortality carried with it enormous implications for the doctrines of God's divine calling, and election in Grace.

It is my own personal view, which I now share with our readers, that while death is seen as destruction it does not leave the Christian believer "homeless." For, it ushers in simply a relocation of residence. This is clearly illustrated in the Jewish apostle Peter's second epistle, if we have the eyes to see what he actually wrote (instead of interpreting it according to previous erroneous doctrinal conditioning).

In this letter Peter refers to death as "putting off his tabernacle" or "tent" (2 Pet 1.13,14). Notice he is to "put off" his flesh. The very act of "putting off" one's body, or clothing, or tabernacle, or tent, or whatever, implies something (an identity) "wearing" such a "body" or "clothing" or "tent" or "whatever." If Peter was to breathe his last breath, and any form of life at that point was to cease, his statement would be a completely non-sensible proposition. Notice also that "he" is the one to put it off. He is the one who makes the final decision to exit his body! (Don't ask me how that plays out....)

Like Peter, Paul saw death as a "departure" from this mortal fleshly body. At least this is what he himself wrote: "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Messiah; which is far better" (Phil 1.23).

He implied the exact same thing in another place wherein he referred to a "departure" from this world: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand" (2 Tim 4.6). Was Paul spiritualising his death away by using such a word as "DEPARTURE"?

There can be no doubt, if we read Paul with unbiased eyes, that as long as a believer indwells this mortal body he is "absent from the Lord" (2 Cor 5.6) no matter how many church services we attend, or choruses we sing, or prayers we offer up in which we intimately communicate with the Father. At death -- not the resurrection -- we are "present with the Lord."

Note too, that the teachings of both Peter and Paul prohibit a dislocated intermediate state for the Messianic believer in the Lord Yeshua. Paul believed he would never be separated from Messiah (Rom 8.37-39). If we so believe that the believer cannot be separated from a union with God, and if the principle of progressive revelation holds true for all doctrinal development, then we would expect Paul's later theology to correspond with the view that the inward man, anticipating the resurrection to spirit form, would "put on" an immortal body instantaneously at death. Believe it or not, this is precisely what we find in Paul's arguments about resurrection!

Certainly, previous to the penning of 2 Corinthians, Paul held to the view that the believer in Yeshua would be resurrected to glory at the second coming, or parousia, of Mashiach. But in his second epistle to the Corinthians a new revelation is made by the great apostle to the nations. He writes, "Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord [who is presently in heaven]: (For we [presently in the flesh] walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor 5.6-8).

We have mentioned this emphasis earlier, but Paul makes a definite qualification that while we are not yet "present with the Lord" we are "willing rather to be absent."

Absent -- from what? The answer is: THIS FLESHLY TENT. So that we can then be "present with the Lord."

How plain! How on earth can we be "present" (parousia) with the Lord in a state of unconsciousness? Death for the believer, dear students of the Mashiach, is called -- GAIN-- by the same apostle.

"For to me to live is Messiah, and TO DIE IS GAIN... I am in a quandary... having a desire to DEPART AND TO BE WITH MESSIAH which is far BETTER [than hanging around here in this tent]" (Phil 1.21-23).

The apostle does not write that it is better to die and sleep in a state of unconsciousness -- unaware of Mashiach's love, or presence -- until the seventh trumpet blast which the entire world will hear over two thousand years later. To interpret Paul in this way wrests his crystal clear statements right out of context -- and make void Paul's written intention.

John's circle of believers understood what Paul was saying. In John's Gospel we have an editorial comment affixed to the middle of a Johannine text. In John chapter 5 the apostle has Yeshua saying, "Truly, truly, I say unto you, The hour is coming... when the [righteous] dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live [eternally]" (Jn 5.25).

But the editor of this document, and one of John's circle of believers, added an important qualification to the words of Yeshua.

THE TRUTH ABOUT IMMORTALITY ONLY THROUGH YESHUA
What was that qualification? Read it in your own Bible!

"Truly, truly, I say unto you, The hour is coming (AND NOW IS) when the [righteous] dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live [eternally]."

John knew that we have passed from death to life. He himself said so: "We know that we have passed from the death to the life" (1 Jn 3.14 Gk). For those who have sincerely and authentically accepted the Messiah, and are following Him in discipleship, death has no power (Jn 6.50; 11.26). Not only so, but for the disciple the sequel to death with Messiah (symbolised by the burial of baptism -- the "one baptism" the baptism of Messiah) is being raised with Messiah in His resurrection LIFE -- PRIOR to the first resurrection as a corporate event (Col 2.12; Rom 6.4ff).

The new life of Messianic conduct (discipleship) into which we have entered, by God's Grace, is nothing less than Messiah's glorified life (Eph 2.5ff).

Didn't Paul cry, "Awake, sleeper! Rise from the dead and Messiah will shine upon you" (Eph 5.14)?

Did Paul mean what he said? Or, was he just being highly "poetic"?

Indeed, all who name the name of the Messiah and who are His disciples, are now new persons having risen with the Messiah (Col 3.1ff). This conviction is also the source of his hope and faith. The Messianic believer already has the pledge of his future state with Mashiach (Rom 8.23; 2 Cor 5.5) and he waits with a certain human degree of impatience the ultimate transformation of his present aching body to that of glorious Spirit (Rom 8.22ff; Phil 3.10ff). That ultimate transformation will only bring to light what is already present in a dormant way with the indwelling of God's holy Spirit. It is the hidden mysterious reality (Col 3.4).

Yes, the Bible is largely silent (but by no means absent) when it comes to being a descriptor of man's inherent immortality. I agree wholeheartedly with those who wax eloquently on just this matter. BUT as a consequence of the resurrection late Sabbath afternoon during Pesach in 30 CE Yeshua the Messiah "brought life AND IMMORTALITY to light" (2 Tim 1.10).

What had become hidden and suppressed was now established and proven to be true. God was revealing the history of immortality in the case of humanity finally and abruptly THROUGH and IN Yeshua the Saviour and redeemer of the human race and the One who unites the universe back to God who brought it all forth.

You see, I agree with scholars who lay claim to the fact that "only God hath immortality" (1 Tim 6.16) -- that is, inherent immortality! Man's immortality is derived. Scholar Louis Berkhof suggests "this is not equivalent to saying that he does not possess it [immortality] in virtue of his creation" (Berkhof, 691). Again, I have had it argued aggressively at me that the Word of God never speaks of immortality of the soul in general, but declares immortality as a gift from God to believers in Christ. They argue the toss quoting the following Scriptures. (And, as always, page after page of "proof texts" sometimes let your opponent down terribly if you can argue outside the parameters established by your antagonistic confrontationist!)

"My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand" (Jn 10.27,28)  

"... to those who by patiently doing good, seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life" (Rom 2.7).

"But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord" (Rom 6.22,23).

"If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit" (Gal 6.8).

To these charges I fall back on Berkhof. He responds more adequately than I ever could, "the bare immortality or continued existence of the soul is confused with eternal life [by those who advocate natural mortality] while the latter is a far richer concept. Eternal life is indeed the gift of God in Jesus Christ, a gift which the wicked do not receive, but this does not mean that they will not continue to exist" (Berkhof, 691).

Greek scholar Professor Kenneth Wuest is in complete agreement on this issue with Berkhof. Wuest speaks of eternal life as an enlarged quality and intensity of life merged and amassed with our immortal spirit. This is made quite evident in his Expanded Greek Translation of the New Testament.

PONDERING OUR THREEFOLD NATURE
That we are created in the IMAGE of God is biblically undeniable, and I will not spend any time furthering this principle as I have done so over decades and my literature is chockers full of it. But I do want to remind everyone of the fact that God created human beings "to be immortal, and made him to be an image of his own eternity" (Wisdom 2.23 from which scroll -- Wisdom of Solomon -- Yeshua gave reference on a number of occasions).

FACTS:

We are possessed equally of soul and spirit (Heb 4.12)

The spirit in man is formed or fashioned within man (Zech 12.1)

At death man's spirit returns to God (not his soul which ceases at death) (Ecc 12.7)

Now by means of the soul we feel; the soul therefore consists of the inferior faculties of affections, desire, and even will. But by the spirit we know (Dan 2.3ff)

With the Sh'ma (Deut 6.4,5) we have God's order again established. "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God the Lord is One. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might." Essentially...

"All your heart" = spirit;
"all your soul" = soul;  
and "with all your might" = body.

With the reaffirming of God's order we also have the constitution of man as man demonstrated by Yeshua who possessed a spirit (Lk 23.46), a soul (Mt 26.38), and obviously a body.

But we should be careful of these primary distinctions because Hebrews 4.12 indicates a difficulty in differentiating spirit from soul. This indicates strongly an overlapping of functions. As an example consider psyche as "soul" and pneuma as "spirit" BUT in its context psyche is rendered "soul" 58 times, "life" 40 times, "mind" 3 times and "heart" once.

The point is, in all this, we human beings are whole or entire -- holistic creatures. And we are triune by nature. And it is the triune man -- the whole and entire man -- that must be sanctified (1 Thes 5.23) -- "spirit, soul and body."

One thing is for sure. Our personal convictions grow in strength as they deepen in authenticity through an inner identification of ourself with God. Moreover, seeing divinity in itself the spirit is better able to perceive divinity in the world or in the entirety of creation, and so live life in harmony with nature. At one with nature. At one with God. And we must be saved as a triune creation "spirit, soul and body."

If our flesh (by which term I mean our body) dies, it ceases to function as does the soul (the cravings of the body -- and the brain -- as a channel of the will of the Mind or spirit in man). The lungs cease to breathe when the heart stops and then the brain finally shuts down. The spirit leaves the body and is released back to God who gave it. It "crosses over" as I have phrased it on many an occasion. Indeed, scientific instruments and other technological advances can at long last capture the moment when this event occurs and there are many available images of that astonishing event of the spirit departing the corpse taking place (although admittedly some of these videos, photos etc., have been manufactured and or doctored for deceptive purposes).

I HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD... DESPITE MY FLESH
And so it was -- a few years ago -- I came to a sharper comprehension of the biblical revelation which has dramatically altered my perceptions of (what is generally known as) "the Intermediate State." I am gratified that God led me to a new understanding in relation to believers who have entered their rest. And, therefore, I am personally gratified that the Spirit of God, in thus accomplishing this, led me into a more appropriate grasp of the overall doctrine of immortality. But first allow me to put your "souls at rest" regarding new enlightenment. For, previous teaching in no way changes the Reality which we all (who put our trust in Mashiach) will experience when we die. What we may have believed in relation to the death state (for believers) makes no difference to God at all. A Christian who has believed error in relation to the "afterlife" will "cross over" to the "Other Side" and be greeted by angels (and loved ones) just as will the person who has believed correctly all along. God is WAY ABOVE our personal belief systems and our (perhaps) defunct moral/ethical/ intellectual codes of conduct and views of an "Afterlife."

Listen! If a Christian is saved, he or she is SAVED. There can be no "losing" of our salvation -- even if our beliefs have been primarily erroneous -- for it is God, and not our notions, that saves us. In Jewish thoughtform SALVATION means SALVATION! It's not a pretend salvation, or a Clayton's salvation, but a real, authentic, trustworthy, genuine, unquestionable, never to be regretted SALVATION. It is something that cannot be compromised or lost. It is guaranteed to each of us. And, brethren, we are saved daily, continuously. That is the nature of salvation. Our salvation has already been APPLIED to each of us by Our Saviour the Lord Yeshua. Our salvation is GUARANTEED by what HE HAS DONE FOR US and there is no way we can add to it or subtract from it. Such knowledge ought to be of immense personal encouragement and consolation to us all. We ought to commend it to others.

There is no greater expectation for believers in Yeshua than to lay hold of the faithful promise of the Lord that we will be with Him when we die. The Scripture is emphatic that when we accept Yeshua something awesome takes place. We are literally designated as passing from the state of death to "THE life" (Jn 5.24 Greek). Notice it now:

Yeshua says, "I tell you the truth! Whoever hears my word and believes on him who has sent me HAS ETERNAL LIFE and will NOT be CONDEMNED; he has crossed over from THE DEATH TO THE LIFE."

From the state of death to the state of life. Eternal life. Never-ending life. Everlasting life.

This is what Paul meant when he referred to Christians as being "willing [i.e., of or pertaining to the will] rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor 5.8) and Peter when he said we live "in our spirit existence as God does" (1 Pet 4.6 See Kenneth Wuest Expanded Gk and the AMP). The "fathers" of the Jewish nation, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are dead. They've been deceased for thousands of years. They are as dead as Dodo's, as far as their physical, material, corporeal existence is concerned. No trace remains of them. They have become nothing more than dust. Yet Yeshua speaks of them as very much alive. He refers to God being not "the God of the dead, but of the living: for ALL live unto Him" (Lk 20.38). This is because the patriarchs are out of time as a dimension of our present reality.

Yet our antagonists, who really do have an axe to grind (so to speak), extract their "proof texts" direct from the Bible which speak of death as a sleep (and the sacred texts do speak of death as a sleep) and, not appreciating that the same texts speak of the body as "sleeping," erroneously apply it to that which is immortal within the human being and which survives death. These are sectarians who deny the existence of that quality which inhabits the human personality -- we call it our "spirit." Others call it the "soul." Still others prefer to speak of it as "the divine spark" or "Divine Consciousness." That such a quality exists can be easily enough shown to be the case by referring to a number of texts in the Scripture which establish the doctrine and I have already laboured on this in my lectures entitled "Is Man the Phoenix?" To repeat the bulk of that thesis here would be entirely redundant.

HOW I KNOW BELIEVERS WILL BE WITH MASHIACH AT DEATH
In preparing a related lecture (to the present subject matter) which was on the transmigration of the spirit in man, I had access to a book I had not re-read for some years -- Joseph Seiss's The Apocalypse (1900). In it Professor Seiss takes pains to elucidate:

Yeshua "certainly died as deep a death as any of His saints. And, as both died that day, so they both went that day, and before the resurrection of either, into Paradise. Be that Paradise what it may, Christ and the thief were not yet in it while they lived on their crosses, and yet were in it before the day ended, and while their bodies yet hung upon those stakes. It was not a state of non-existence or oblivion, for it was the subject of consoling hope and promise, and the declaration embraced the idea of conscious presence and fellowship with each other, on reaching the blessed place. Being is affirmed... thou SHALT BE. Communion is affirmed... WITH ME. Conscious happiness is affirmed... IN PARADISE. Time is specified, not the time of the resurrection, or after a long and indefinite period of nothingness, but... THIS DAY -- the very day they hung side by side on Calvary, and before the setting of the sun then sinking beyond the sea" (J.A. Seiss, The Apocalypse: Lectures on the Book of Revelation, 1900, 144,145).

He adds, "Some have proposed [there is little doubt he is speaking of SDA's] to change the punctuation of the passage, so as to make [the Greek] refer to the time of the utterance of the promise, and not to the time of its fulfilment. But whence the reason for so solemnly asserting that he said it that day, when it was evident that he was speaking it that day, and not on some other day? Well has Dean Alford observed: 'This attempt, considering that it not only violates common sense, but destroys the force of the Lord's promise, is surely something worse than silly.'"

Lecturer Dr Murray Harris -- professor emeritus of New Testament exegesis and theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Illinois) and for a time warden of Tyndale House at Cambridge University --  has given much thought to the fate of the revolutionary who died alongside Yeshua desiring to be "remembered" by the Zealot King when the Lord established his Kingdom. "He had requested favourable treatment in the distant or undefined future." But Yeshua grants him much more than he anticipated. He was promised "personal companionship in the immediate future -- 'Today, with me'" (Murray J. Harris, Raised Immortal, 1983, 136).

The more I contemplated this event from the perspective of both Professors Seiss and Harris the more proundly it started to dawn on me that the revolutionary died in faith. Even though the holy Spirit had not as yet been given, he was saved by the Grace of God as even the prophets of Israel and Judah were saved -- long before Pentecost 30 CE. He believed in faith that Yeshua was indeed the Messiah, the Lord, the King of Israel, David's Greater Son, and the promised Redeemer and Saviour of the world that all Israel had been expecting. He uttered belief in Yeshua's POWER and MAJESTY and his PROMISE of a coming Kingdom of RIGHTEOUSNESS.

I then reflected on a section of Paul's Letter to the Philippian Christians.

"For to me to live is quite useful, and to die is advantage. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I cannot decide. For I am in a quandary between the two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Yeshua the Messiah for me by my coming to you again -- (Phil 1.21-26 NB., "By a scribal error Christos was substituted for Chrestos. The mistake was easy since Chrestos, meaning useful, was a well-known proper name. The Roman historian Suetonius once referred to Christus as Chrestus" -- Hugh Schonfield, The Original New Testament, 1985, 376 n5).

This section of Scripture is often used by our antagonists to prove that while Paul desired to be with Yeshua the fact is that when he died "he slept." He fell asleep. It is then argued that he has been asleep for 2000 long years, but when the trumpet sounds, and the righteous dead are wakened and rise to meet the Lord in the air, to Paul it will be just like he was taking the next breath from his immediate recollection. The last thing he will remember are his final thoughts that he had generated only (as he thinks) mere seconds ago. He will not realise how long he has been dead for "the dead know not anything" (Ecc 9.5). Paul died, he is dead, and he will remain in an unconscious state until he is resurrected from the dead. All of this scenario can be rejected.

In Jewish thoughtform it is the physical body that sleeps, not the spirit or personality of the person (the body) who has died. There is a spirit in man (Job 32.8). Rabbis in the 1st century CE taught (as did Paul) that human beings are comprised in a tripartite form of "spirit, soul [will/emotions] and body" (1 Thes 5. 23). God is called in Scripture, "the God of the spirits of all humankind" (Num 27.16; 16.22; Heb 12.9). We are "made in His image" (Gen 1.26,27) -- and "God IS Spirit" (Jn 4.24). We are told candidly that at death "the spirit goes back to God who gave it" (Ecc 12.7).

Further, in Revelation 6.9 it is written, "When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the spirits of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

If John emphasises anything in Rev 6.9 it is that the dead are conscious and animated despite being burnt to ashes, or coldly stiffened in rigor mortis as a cadaver in death. The bodies that were brutally killed during the Neronian campaign against the Christians have long since turned to dust. Nothing remains of them at all -- except on "the Other Side." And, whatever the case may be as to their present state or cognisance of that state, it is at once apparent that they are capable (at the very least) to seek the vengeance of God for what has transpired. The DEAD are existing, and are absolutely CONSCIOUS. While their bodies have been swallowed up in utter oblivion, that elusive element called "MIND" has continued on in a form of "imperfection." For, they will not be glorified in a tripartite way until God the Father SUPERNATURALLY RESURRECTS THEIR PHYSICAL BODIES -- as impossible as this seems -- unites them again with their souls and SPIRITS and changes their tripartite nature into GLORIOUS SPIRIT SUBSTANCE, so that they will be (like us all in the future) precisely as Yeshua in his continuing present existence.

The Philippians passage under question is an interesting one indeed, for the Greek carries with it a problem that need some refining and some clarification. You see, Paul was trying to make a decision as to his IMMEDIATE personal future -- not a future which was to be satisfied 2000+ long years away. Would he suicide, and be immediately with his beloved Mashiach, or would he argue his way out of prison by having Roman legal representation in court before Nero Caesar -- a very risky alternative indeed, even though he was Herodian by birth. Paul by taking his own life (which was permitted a Roman citizen, which of course Paul was) would avoid the horror of torture, but if his representation at court failed him he would most certainly "face the music" with extreme duress for by now the transition in Nero from stand-up comic to madness was complete. So Paul finally opted to slash his wrists and fade away gently in a tub of hot water. He would be THEN with the Lord.

In Paul's own words, "For me to die is GAIN." Paul clearly did not expect to fall "asleep" -- to surrender to utter and complete unconsciousness -- to enter into nothingness, oblivion, emptiness, drawing a blank in non-existence, but to be with Yeshua "which is far better." Far better. What was Paul accomplishing in this earthly life but the establishment of the Messianic Movement, creating assemblies in which were gathered converts to the Messiah, granting to them eternal life. What was Paul creating here below in his awesome and considerable ministry? An alternative government to that of Rome -- nothing less than a training ground for those of Messianic persuasion to learn to rule and reign with Mashiach at His return. Do we think for a moment that Paul was entertaining "a far better" choice in dying, leaving those golden opportunities which the Father in heaven was granting him for the sake of expanding and extending His Kingdom, to fall UNCONSCIOUS, COMATOSE, INSENSIBLE in suspended animation for the next 2000 years? Preposterous. Ridiculous. Obscenely farcical.

Yet millions of sectarians opt for this Tom Foolery. It leaves me aghast.

COMING TO A NEW UNDERSTANDING
For decades I had seriously undermined the universal Christian view that when we die we will go to heaven. The reason for my reluctance to accept this dogma is that while the theme is current in songs and hymns and literature, nobody had ever given me convincing evidence that this is a real possibility based with crystal clarity on the biblical revelation. So-called "proof texts" have been entirely unconvincing. I have even gone so far as to proclaim that no evidence exists in the biblical revelation to substantiate the notion of the saints going to heaven during the Intermediate State (between death and the first resurrection) apart from very vague expectations of "being with the Lord." Being with the Lord is one thing. Where the Lord may well be at the time of our spirit's departure or release from "this temporary dwelling" is decidedly quite another.

In years past, I have been of the opinion (and make no mistake it's a scholarly opinion) that when we die (if we are genuinely converted) we will enter Paradise. I am still of that opinion. In fact, I hold to it tenaciously, because it is the precise understanding of Scripture -- both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Messianic Scriptures. Paradise is linked to Sheol. There are compartments, levels of existence, degrees of state (manner of being or form of existence) in the "Afterlife" and both Sheol (Hades) and Paradise are separated by a massive chasm that divide the two realms of the dead. This is made perfectly clear in a parable given by Yeshua who was speaking of the widespread view of the Jewish rabbinic authorities of the mid-to-late Second Temple Period (Lk 16.19-31). None of this can be argued against (although sectarians attempt to discredit the parable, even rejecting the words of Yeshua himself). But it remains the teaching of the Spirit of God. I have also taught the existence of dimensions of reality outside our own existence which are termed "shamayim" in Hebrew, or "heavens" in the plural. I will return to this important point in a moment.

I readily admit I was surprised as a I read a familiar passage of Paul, and certain words suddenly leapt out at me. I could not believe what I was reading. It was so familiar, and yet I had not SEEN the reality of what was being articulated until then. Now bear with me, because while this was a stage of enlightenment (and required some repentance as far as I was concerned) this may well be something you have always understood, grasped, and appreciated. We are all at different and various levels of comprehension when it comes to the sacred texts of Scripture. That is quite true. What is very familiar terrain to one person may well be a territory enshrouded in mystery and secrecy.

Here is the passage. I have written about this previously but it bears repeating.

"It is doubtless not expedient for me to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Mashiach more than fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows.) Such a one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows;) How that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter [or to repeat verbatim]" (2 Cor 12.1-4).

Scholars are divided as to whom Paul is referring in this letter to the Corinthians which was penned three decades after Messiah was raised bodily from the dead. The individual "caught up to Paradise" may well have been Paul himself or it could have been James the Lord's brother. (Early documents suggest it was James yet cf this thought with verse 7 where Paul seems to indicate that the personage of whom he spoke was himself.) Whoever it was, he was very much alive when this "rapture" occurred. He wasn't dead. He went to Paradise (wherever that was) and he returned alive.

There are a number of heavens concerning which rabbinic scholars are well aware. Most Christians know of one heaven, and that is the place where God the Father dwells. But the biblical revelation mentions three heavens -- the first is where the birds fly (our atmosphere); the second is the region where the sun and the planets are located; the third heaven is the place where Paul (or James) was taken. Intriguingly, there is no such word as "heaven" (singular) in Hebrew. It is always in the plural form, shamayim. Jewish traditions, especially those of mystical Judaism, speak of seven heavens. They are (briefly):

[1] Shamayim: this region is governed by the Archangel Gabriel.

[2] Raquie: where the rebellious angels are presently bound. Its a territory under the administration of Zach'ariel and Rapha'el.

[3] Shehaqim: The environment which shelters the Tree of Life (Lives) and the area where manna originates.

[4] Machen: Michael controls this heaven and it is here that the heavenly Temple is found and the New Jerusalem.

[5] Machon: Sama'el, the Dark Servant of the Lord, lives in this abode.

[6] Zebul: The sixth heaven is under the jurisdiction of an angelic power known as Sachi'el.

[7] Finally there is Araboth: this is the holiest heaven of all of them and the abode of God the Father. It is under the care of Cassi'el and the place (beneath God's Throne) where unborn spirits await their destiny in human bodies.

The Secrets of Enoch speak of ten heavens (dimensions). The Kabbalah also reveals that ten Sefirot exist and it is through these hidden dimensions of reality that God manifests not merely the known universe but potentially will reveal the metaphysical universe (or universes) as well. Of course, the invisible God inhabits the Endless Realm which is in some way "outside" (I am caught in the language of dualism) the ten Sefirot.

Having said this, I must also insist that some rabbis of the Kabbalist persuasion hold that there are in fact 955 different heavens. I have mentioned this in the lectures I have given (and posted on the IMCF Forum) on the Kabbalah. Not only so, but in Lecture 10 in that series I wrote (correctly): "Heaven is also known as Paradise. We also had an earthly Paradise (lush Garden) in Eden. Well, at the least there is a plane or dimension in heaven by this name. One of the Emissaries saw this in ecstatic vision and recorded it (2 Cor 12.1-4)."

My problem was that I didn't quite connect the dots in the implication of what Paul was in fact stating. Let's read it again:

"It is doubtless not expedient for me to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Mashiach more than fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows.) Such a one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows;) How that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter" (2 Cor 12.1-4).

Now listen carefully. Hear me out on this please.

If Yeshua promised the revolutionary that he would be in Paradise that very day of his death, to be with Yeshua, then HOW MUCH MORE will we be with our same Lord in the third heaven [Shehaqim] which is IDENTICAL to Paradise?

Biblically, when we "cross over" the environment will not be a mere "holding station" in Sheol until the resurrection of the righteous dead at the advent of Mashiach in glory -- at death we will be where He is: HEAVEN. Not the seventh heaven, but still heaven. Didn't Yeshua promise, "If any man serve me, let him follow me; AND WHERE I AM, THERE SHALL ALSO MY SERVANT BE: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour" (Jn 12.26).

Yes, I realise this text denotes Christ's leading in the life of discipleship, but the principle of ongoing, continuous intimacy is alluded to, and can be taken existentially.

Theologically, it is apparent (at least to me) that as newborn babes we will desire to SEE our heavenly Father when we "cross over" -- and as spirits there ought to be no reason at all to prevent our entering even the holiest threshold of all: the seventh heaven where the Father dwells.

The biblical revelation is exacting as it is Gracious. When we die, our bodies will perish, but our spirits will go to "heaven."

And WHAT will happen there? Hebrews tells us, "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect," -- NOT "the righteous declared perfect" -- "and to Yeshua, the mediator of a New Covenant, and to the splashed blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel" (Heb 12.22-24).

What exactly does this promise mean -- what does it include?

Note that we will have come to THE PLACE where our spirits -- the spirits of the righteous (or, the justified; the saints who have been prepared by a declared legal justification made available at the cross and applied in their acceptance of it before they died, to become ACTUALLY and authentically righteous in their totally converted spirits DURING THEIR STAY IN HEAVEN -- NOT in their bodies which will be later resurrected from the dead at the coming of Christ, ultimately and at that time becoming IMMORTAL as our SPIRITS are now immortal and further immortalised in an intensity of Christ's HOLY SPIRIT ENCOMPASSING and EMBODYING THEIR TRIPARTITE BEING, our bodies then thereafter walking and talking and accomplishing ONLY what our purified righteous spirits determine in their purified wills to effectuate in a promised everlasting life in eternity WITH God.

That will be executed during our stay in heaven with Christ and all who have gone before us into those heavenly realms. What an expectation of GLORY awaits us.

Isn't this worth pursuing despite tragedy, aloneness, sickness, despair, and the loss of dearly loved ones in this present fleshly and terminal existence? Isn't this promise worth pursuing even in the face of the reality of our own personal sinful nature and flesh -- in spite of WHAT we presently ARE?

You bet it is!

May God bless this new understanding to your hearts in Yeshua's name.

END OF LECTURE