It has long been taught that when a Christian dies they go straight to
> heaven. Is this what the Bible teaches or have paganistic doctrines and
> myths crept unbeknown into our Christian faith?
>
> What did Jesus say about his friend Lazarus who had died? John 11:11-14
> "These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend
> Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said
> his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of
> his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
> Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead".
>
> Jesus clearly showed us that the dead sleep. If Lazarus had gone to heaven
> Jesus would have said that he was in heaven with the Father. Also, after
> Jesus raised Lazarus, did anyone ask Lazarus "What was it like in heaven?
> Tell us about it". No one did, because it was the belief of the day that
> when someone died they slept until the resurrection on the last day.
>
> This is further clarified in Psalms where we are told that when we die our
> thoughts perish Psalms 146:4 "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his
> earth; in that very day his thoughts perish".
>
> We are also told that we will not rise again until the heavens are no more
> (when Jesus returns) Job 14:12 "So man lieth down, and riseth not: till
> the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their
> sleep".
>
> Paul reinforced this understanding 1 Thessalonians 4:16 "For the Lord
> himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
> archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise
> first":
>
> Many Christians believe that when they die they go directly to heaven,
> even though the day of judgment has not even occurred yet. They visualize
> themselves in heaven with the angels praising God. But what does the Bible
> say? Psalms 115:17 "The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down
> into silence".
>
> It is clear that the Bible writers all believed that the state of the dead
> is like sleeping, to be awakened the moment after they closed their eyes
> at the final trumpet at the coming of Jesus on the day of redemption. 1
> Corinthians 15:52 "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
> trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
> incorruptible, and we shall be changed".
>
> Job made it clear that we return to dust and are no more until the
> resurrection Job 7:21 "And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and
> take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt
> seek me in the morning, but I shall not be".
>
> There are many deceptions of Satan going on in these end times and
> spiritism is on the increase. If people realized that the dead are all
> asleep and can't communicate with us, then they would start to question
> who exactly it is that they are communicating with. There are many
> deceptive demonic spirits in the invisible world around us, who take every
> opportunity they can to lead people astray. It is time that we recognized
> that when mediums are speaking to the 'other side' it is actually the evil
> angels that they are talking to and not dead beloved relatives.
>
> How can we help those who have been tricked by these deceptive spirits, if
> we don't demonstrate to people from a Biblical perspective that the dead
> are asleep and have no thoughts, so it can't be them doing the
> communicating?
>
> All Bible references are from the King James Version.
>
> Article Source: http://www.articles-galore.com By: Debra Lohrere
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