Views: 3<\/p>
[Note: <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our New Uploads<\/strong> page.]<\/span><\/p>\n The question in our title manifestly applies only to persons who are Scriptural \u201ccandidates\u201d for Heaven. We could enlarge it thus: Will those who die, having been saved through their faith in Jesus the Christ, their obedience to His conditions of pardon, and their faithful service to Him thereafter, go directly to Heaven?<\/span><\/p>\n To ask this question implies that some hold and teach that the Bible sets forth this view of the abode of the righteous dead (and likely more than a few don\u2019t even believe that one must be righteous to ascend immediately to Heaven!). Evidence abounds that this view is rampant among members of the denominations and those influenced by denominational doctrines. It is not unusual for the obituary page of newspapers and the Online obituary reports by funeral homes to carry such announcements as the following: \u201cOur dear, departed father has joined the angels in Heaven, where he waits to welcome us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Those who consciously and purposefully believe this doctrine allege that when the Christ ascended to Heaven following His resurrection the righteous dead of all previous ages were transported to Heaven with Him. This doctrine further alleges that all the righteous dead since then go immediately to Heaven\u2014implying the non-existence of Hades from that time forward (we could appropriately call it \u201cThe Anti-Hades\u201d Doctrine).<\/span><\/p>\n A few brethren have subscribed to this view through the years. It\u2019s first adherent of whom I am aware was the nineteenth-century preacher, F.G. Allen. However, his contemporaries, including such men as Alexander Campbell, J.W. McGarvey, and Moses E. Lard forcefully rejected and opposed Allen\u2019s contentions, and for good reasons, as I hope to demonstrate. The only brother of prominence I know of in more recent years to embrace what we might also call \u201cThe Instant Heaven\u201d doctrine (and surprisingly so) was the late and lamented Gus Nichols, although I\u2019m not aware if he ever tried to \u201cconvert\u201d others to it.<\/span><\/p>\n Some are just now discovering this view of the abode of the righteous dead. Only a few months ago a preaching brother wrote to me that he had just learned an approach to some passages that runs contrary to all that he had formerly believed and taught concerning the abode of the righteous dead. He said it had caused him to rethink the meaning of said passages (which indeed, one must do to embrace it!). He was firmly convinced of this \u201cnew\u201d position. He sent me a copy of the sermon he was planning soon to deliver to the brethren where he lived. I responded to his contentions, demonstrating some their fallacies, but to no avail. When I saw my efforts were futile, I closed our discussion by cautioning him against making his new discovery a hobby, fearing that I may have been too late with my warning.<\/span><\/p>\n While some thus consciously hold this view to be true, I\u2019ve discovered over the years that some brethren \u201cunconsciously\u201d or unintentionally evince this view, indicated by remarks they make in reference to loved ones who have died. Further, many brethren who deny believing in this doctrine nonetheless promote it in some of the songs they sing in their worship assemblies. Consider the following examples, only a few of those which could be cited (emph. DM):<\/span><\/p>\n The samples above are from a brief survey of fewer than 200 of the 946 songs in the book used by the congregation of which I\u2019m a member; doubtless many of the other 700+ songs contain similar phrases indicating that the redeemed are already in Heaven. It\u2019s quite possible that at least some of these song writers did not realize the implications of some of their words (perhaps they were simply \u201ccarried away\u201d with the godly intent of glorifying our final heavenly estate?). I confess that I have sung some of these songs over the years without noting these implications, but I no longer do so. It\u2019s inconsistent, at best, to sing words that are contrary to our convictions of inspired Truth, whether on this subject or any other.<\/span><\/p>\n This concept, however, has never gained a significant following, and for several good reasons, as I propose to demonstrate. The fallacy of this view of the abode of the righteous dead is clear from at least the following considerations:<\/span><\/p>\n With but few exceptions (the Lord Jesus principal among them), the Bible teaches that the departed spirits of all the dead, beginning with Adam, both righteous and unrighteous, have remained and will remain in Hades until His return. We discern this fact from the following statements:<\/span><\/p>\n To aver that (1)\u201cAbraham\u2019s bosom\u201d\/paradise\u201d was emptied at Jesus\u2019 ascension and its residents ascended with Him to Heaven and\/or (2) that all the righteous who have since died have immediately entered Heaven therefore implies the denial<\/strong> of at least the following doctrines, all of which Scripture explicitly or implicitly teaches, as I have summarized above (my summary of absurdities required by the anti-hadean <\/em>dogma in parentheses):<\/span><\/p>\n This doctrine meddles with some of the clearest revelations of the Holy Spirit relative to \u201cfinal events\u201d and our Heavenly hope. Let us take care not even to unconsciously subscribe to it or sympathize with it\u2014or sing it.1<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n Endnote<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n [Note:<\/strong> I wrote this MS for publication in the June 2022 edition of The Gospel Preceptor<\/em>, upon assignment by its editor, Jerry C. Brewer. This excellent digital monthly journal is subscription free by emailing your request to jbbbbbrewer@gmail.com<\/a>.]<\/span><\/p>\n Attribution: <\/strong>From thescripturecache.com<\/em>; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Views: 3[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our New Uploads page.] The question in our title manifestly applies only to persons who are Scriptural \u201ccandidates\u201d for Heaven. We could enlarge it thus: Will those who die, having been saved through their faith…<\/p>\n\n
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