What About Heavenly Mansions?
But what about the time-honored songs, the hopes of millions, the cherished "Christian traditions" of the "homes above" that so many have talked about, sung about, written about, all down through these years?
Turn to this scripture. You read it in John, the 14th chapter. "In my Father's house are many mansions [margin, "abodes"): if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And IF I GO and prepare a PLACE for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there YE MAY BE ALSO" (John 14:2-3).
Notice it — NOWHERE DID JESUS SAY SAINTS GO TO HEAVEN! He said, rather, there are PLACES, HABITATIONS, ABODES, MANSIONS, RESIDENCES which HE IS PREPARING. These "places" are NOW "IN" HEAVEN. But Jesus went on to say, "I will COME AGAIN." Come where? To THIS EARTH, as Jesus repeated so many times. He also said, "that where I AM, there ye may be also" (verse 3).
Where will Jesus BE?
If Jesus COMES AGAIN TO THIS EARTH — then He will BE ON THIS EARTH! The EARTH, and a definite, specific location ON the earth, will be where Jesus said He is going to BE. If we are to BE WITH HIM where He is to BE — then we, also, are going to BE ON THIS EARTH!
What are the different "mansions" or places Jesus is now busily preparing? Read Luke 19! Jesus likened Himself to a young nobleman, who went on a long journey into a distant land to qualify to RULE A KINGDOM. At His return, He demanded an accounting from His servants. He then apportioned different responsibilities to them, according to how much they had overcome!
Jesus said Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be in the Kingdom of God here on this earth, and revealed the twelve disciples will rule over the twelve tribes of Israel!
David referred to being a "doorkeeper" in God's Kingdom as being better than the highest offices here on this earth.
Jesus promises RULERSHIP over nations (Rev. 2:26) and offices of KINGS AND PRIESTS in His Kingdom!
There are different PLACES, different ABODES, different OFFICES and POSITIONS in God's soon-coming Kingdom, for which individuals must qualify! That is what Christ is doing NOW! He is, working through His Church, preparing individuals for official positions in God's Kingdom! He is putting certain humans through experiences which will better fit them for a certain PLACE in the Government of God!
How vastly misunderstood has been this important scripture!
Notice Plain Truth of your Bible. "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee . . ." (Zech. 14:1). Then follows a graphic description of the accompanying SIGNS of the second coming of Jesus Christ! Be sure you read every word in your own Bible. Now notice verse four. "And his feet shall stand IN THAT DAY upon the mount of Olive?' (Zech. 14:4).
Yes — it is called the SECOND COMING of Christ. His second arrival. He is COMING again! And He will arrive HERE, on this earth!
The very first message God ever sent back to this earth after the departure of Jesus to heaven is recorded in Acts the first chapter. The disciples were looking up into the skies, where they saw Jesus disappear into a cloud (verse 9). "And, while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up FROM you into heaven, SHALL so COME [RETURN TO THIS EARTH] IN LIKE MANNER AS YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO INTO HEAVEN" (Acts 1 :10-11) .
Yes, Christ is to COME AGAIN to this EARTH!
Now, for another surprise, turn to the well-known scripture found in I Thessalonians the 4th chapter. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep [ARE DEAD — NOT OFF IN HEAVEN] in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall DESCEND [come DOWN OUT OF] from [which means "away out of heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ SHALL RISE FIRST."
No mention here of saints coming from heaven — but of DEAD saints RISING FIRST BEFORE THE LIVING ARE CHANGED!
"Then we which are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP together with them in the CLOUDS, to MEET the Lord IN THE AIR: and so shall we ever be WITH THE LORD" (I Thes. 4:14-17).
HOW PLAIN!
Jesus is returning from heaven. The dead and living saints are to be caught up — NOT TO HEAVEN — BUT INTO THE AIR, INTO THE CLOUDS! This earth is composed of three "spheres," according to the sciences. The "lithosphere" or the solid earth, the "hydrosphere" or all the water on earth, and the "atmosphere." Each is a PART OF THE EARTH. The AIR, or the atmosphere, is as much peculiar to THIS EARTH as is the water, the rocks, and everything else on it.
Simply scoffing at the real meaning of these plain scriptures will NOT CHANGE them. Not WANTING to 'believe' the precious, glorious, PLAIN TRUTH of the Bible will not do away with it!
What you are reading in this article is directly from the sacred Word of God. Perhaps it sounds NEW — different to you from what you may have always assumed or taken for granted!
You may have a natural, human tendency to want to cling to previous convictions — or what you have always heard.
But what about it?
Are you one who really zealously desires the TRUTH of God? If you are — you'll be looking up these scriptures IN YOUR BIBLE. You'll be reading the passages before and after them and any other related scriptures. You'll be striving to PROVE these things — however strange they may seem to you — and prove them from the Bible. Again we say — DON'T BELIEVE MEN. Don't believe this article UNLESS you check up and see it proved!
This article is not written to ridicule, or try to prejudice your mind against a doctrine. Rather, it is written to point out to you where you may find the TRUTH of God on this very important question! May God help you to remove bias, to get your ideas in subjection to God's truth — and to BELIEVE what you see clearly PROVED!
Remember, Jesus is coming to earth from heaven, as we have seen so plainly. He is returning after being away. He is coming back after a long absence.
If YOU had been away on a LONG JOURNEY, of many thousands of miles, into a foreign country, and were going to return — and you wanted your family to MEET you, what would they do?
Would your ship near the harbor, and then your family jump aboard the pilot boat, board your vessel, and all of you then GO BACK TO THE FOREIGN COUNTRY FROM WHICH YOU CAME?
Ridiculous, isn't it?
We are to MEET Christ as He RETURNS! And NOWHERE DOES YOUR BIBLE SAY WE WILL THEN GO BACK TO HEAVEN WITH HIM!
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, ". . . ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son FROM heaven, whom he raised from the dead . . ." (I Thes. 1:9-10).
He is coming here, and we are to go part way — only as high as the clouds — to meet Him, and then to come right down to this earth with Him!
"So shall we ever be WITH THE Lou," says your Bible. But where will the Lord be? ON THIS EARTH!
What About the Thief on the Cross?
"But didn't the thief on the cross go immediately with Jesus to heaven?" some might ask.
And it's a good question! What about the promise Jesus apparently made to one of the malefactors who was dying beside Him?
Notice! The very same ones who believe the thief on the cross WENT INTO PARADISE WITH JESUS IMMEDIATELY AFTER DEATH ALSO BELIEVE JESUS DID NOT GO TO PARADISE, BUT WENT IMMEDIATELY INTO HELL TO PREACH TO DEPARTED "SPIRITS"!
How could this BE?
Many assume Jesus did not die on the cross!
He said He was DEAD (Rev. 1:18). Unless He DIED for our sins, we cannot be reconciled to God! And yet — many assume Jesus was alive during the time in the tomb, but alive down in HELL, supposedly busily "preaching" to some departed souls!
If Jesus promised immediate entry into PARADISE to the thief, and then spent time in HELL, AFTER which He appeared again on earth, and said to Mary, "TOUCH ME NOT, for I am not yet ascended to my Father . . ." (John 20:17) and did not have the thief with Him — then did Jesus LIE?
No, Jesus did not lie — neither did He go into a burning HELL — but into "hades" which NEVER, by the wildest stretch of the imagination, has anything whatsoever to do with infernal fires, but means, simply, "the GRAVE." Check ANY reliable concordance, commentary, or lexicon for proof of this.
Jesus was DEAD for THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS (Matt. 12:40). He DID NOT GO THAT VERY DAY TO PARADISE — as He, Himself, later said plainly! Then what happened?
Notice it! The Greek language never included separation of chapter, verse, or punctuation marks, as commonly used in the English language today. Rather, it was written without any paragraphing, or punctuation. It was not divided into verses and chapters, as it appears in our English Bibles today, until many hundreds of years after the New Testament was written!
Notice how the whole meaning of certain sentences in the English language can be changed by merely changing the punctuation marks!
John might ask, "What's that up in the road, ahead?" And it may sound as if he were asking if he saw a HEAD, the head of a human or an animal, in the road. But if you put the comma in the correct location, the sentence would read thusly: "What's that, up in the road ahead?" and it would make sense.
Now turn to Luke 23:43. Read it carefully. Jesus APPEARS to have said, by the placement of the comma in the English version, "TODAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE." And yet Jesus KNEW He was not going to enter into Paradise ON THAT DAY — or for the next THREE OR FOUR DAYS!
Now put the comma where it BELONGS, to preserve the sense of this scripture as proved by all other scriptures on the subject (remember, the Bible interprets itself). "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto you today, THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE!" Jesus said it THAT DAY, and promised the thief WOULD BE in paradise — but He most certainly DID NOT promise paradise to the thief that very day!
If this could have been true, Jesus not only lied, but made an exception to all others, and became a respecter of persons. Also, He said He is the SAME through all ages (Heb. 13:8) and does not change!
"Paradise" is commonly assumed to mean "heaven"! But again simply because this is assumed, and carelessly taken for granted does not make it so! The "paradise" will be on this earth!
NOTICE WHAT THE THIEF ASKED!
"And he said unto Jesus, Lord remember me WHEN THOU COMEST [RETURNS TO THIS LITERAL EARTH HERE BELOW INTO THY KINGDOM."