I'm puzzled??????????????

Question

I have been attending church 3yrs now. Something is really confusing me! I heard and read in the bible that the dead has no memory. Also in revelation it says when god comes the dead will rise and be judged. So why when someone in my church even the pastor says when someone dies, "Thank god our sister is in heaven," That confuses me???

Answer 1

empress29,

The fact is when a person dies, the person goes to SLEEP. UNTIL the day of judgement when the righteous shall rise again. This is taught in the bible and I'm sure you know.

When your pastor says what he said what he should mean (if he doesn't know) is that your sister has finished the race and "should rightfully go to heaven" on judgement day.

Answer 2

Put together your observations are indeed confusing.

Starting with the first point that doctrine comes from the old testament Ecclesiastes 9:5
The living know that they shall die but the dead know not anything. Actually you might Want to read the first part of the chapter. Point is this was written before the time of Christ. Before that time there were no saved people because the Messiah had not come yet.Check Mathew 27:50 through 53

The versee in Revelation 20 vers 12 and 13 seem to refer to the judgment of God and was probably a metaphor rather than a literal happening. Further since God is not corporeal the writer was not taking about a literal corporeal event.

Now to the last subject. There is no actual Biblical support for the doctrine that the righteous go immediately to heaven but it really doesn't make any difference. If the dead do not know anything about the passage of time then when they awake after death they will assume the transition was immediate.

Answer 3

I'm not exactly sure of the question but I will try to answer it. Even though we ask for forgiveness we will still face some sort of judgement by God when we die. Jesus is coming back to judge the world. I don't understand why the statement about our sister being in heaven or about the dead having no memory are confusing to you? Perhaps you could elaborate on that a little more.

Answer 4

The Bible is clear when it describes the condition of the dead. It simply states: “The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all . . . Their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished . . . There is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol [mankind’s common grave], the place to which you are going.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10) Spirits of the dead do not exist. (Psalm 146:4) That being said, if you are a soul, your soul cannot go to heaven, because you, a soul, are dead.

But there is hope for our dead loved ones! Pick up your bible and read Revelation 21:3, 4. There it says "With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

So, Jehovah, (God's name) provides a way for you to understand what happens after a person dies. But what about the resurrection? Will we recall all those memories from when we were alive before? In those verses in Revelation, there will be no more pain. Those former memories will no longer hurt us, we will remember, but with no pain with them.

Answer 5

When the pastor says " Thank God our sister is in heaven," , he probably says it for the sake of consoling those relatives of the dead person and not necessarily saying it out of conviction.
On the other points you mentioned:
The truth is that the dead body does not a memory. Every deed of every person is recorded and the record of ones deed will be provided to each person on the day of judgment when all humanity will stand in front of one only One Almighty God. There will be no intercession then and you will be judged by the Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate God Almighty based on your deeds and if you really had ever repented on your misdeed before God and asked for His forgiveness when you were given a chance of life-time.
God will not be coming for the dead to rise. The dead will be summoned for judgment to the presence of One and only One Almighty God.

Answer 6

It is true the dead has no memory.

What happens at death is no mystery to Jehovah, the Creator of the brain. He knows the truth, and in his Word, the Bible, he explains the condition of the dead. Its clear teaching is this: When a person dies, he ceases to exist. Death is the opposite of life. The dead do not see or hear or think. Not even one part of us survives the death of the body. We do not possess an immortal soul or spirit.

After Solomon observed that the living know that they will die, he wrote: “As for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.” He then enlarged on that basic truth by saying that the dead can neither love nor hate and that “there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in [the grave].” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10) Similarly, Psalm 146:4 says that when a man dies, “his thoughts do perish.” We are mortal and do not survive the death of our body. The life we enjoy is like the flame of a candle. When the flame is put out, it does not go anywhere. It is simply gone.

Here's the hope for the dead.

There were 9 resurrection accounts in the Bible that teach us much about the resurrection to come. In those accounts, people who were restored to life right here on earth were reunited with their loved ones. The future resurrection will be similar—but much better. God’s purpose is that the whole earth be made into a paradise. So the dead will not be raised to life in a world filled with war, crime, and sickness. They will have an opportunity to live forever on this earth in peaceful and happy conditions.

Who will be resurrected? Jesus said that “all those in the memorial tombs will hear his [Jesus’] voice and come out.” (John 5:28, 29) Similarly, Revelation 20:13 says: “The sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Hades gave up those dead in them.” “Hades” refers to the common grave of mankind. This collective grave will be emptied. All those billions who rest there will live again. The apostle Paul said: “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) What does that mean?

“The righteous” include many of the people we read about in the Bible who lived before Jesus came to the earth. You might think of Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Ruth, Esther, and many others. Some of these men and women of faith are discussed in the 11th chapter of Hebrews. But “the righteous” also include Jehovah’s servants who die in our time. Thanks to the resurrection hope, we may be freed from any dread of dying.—Hebrews 2:15.

What about all the people who did not serve or obey Jehovah because they never knew about him? These billions of “unrighteous” ones will not be forgotten. They too will be resurrected and given time to learn about the true God and to serve him. During a period of a thousand years, the dead will be resurrected and given an opportunity to join faithful humans on earth in serving Jehovah. It will be a wonderful time. This period is what the Bible refers to as Judgment Day.

Does this mean that every human who ever lived will be resurrected? No. The Bible says that some of the dead are in “Gehenna.” (Luke 12:5) Gehenna got its name from a garbage dump located outside of ancient Jerusalem. Dead bodies and garbage were burned there. The dead whose bodies were thrown there were considered by the Jews to be unworthy of a burial and a resurrection. So Gehenna is a fitting symbol of everlasting destruction. Although Jesus will have a role in judging the living and the dead, Jehovah is the final Judge. (Acts 10:42) He will never resurrect those whom he judges to be wicked and unwilling to change.

To learn more, visit the links below.

http://www.watchtower.org/e/jt/index.htm
http://www.watchtower.org/

Answer 7

some churches say that , there are churches out ther that do believe that the dead have no memory or sleep till the Resurrection morning
( i'm a seventh day adventist christian , & this is one of our core beliefs)
if your pastor can't be straight with you then the spirit of the lord is not working in him - look around & find denomination that teaches what the bible teaches.( i used to be church of england but left because of the way thay screwed scripture)

Answer 8

Well, you have to remember the Bible was written by HUMANS.Churches are attended and run by HUMANS. There's bound to be some stories that aren't kept straight. They say that because most Christians were told from a young age that good people go Heaven and bad people to Hell. We assume it's immediate. Don't let it take away your faith or anything.

Answer 9

The bible says that when we are in heaven, the former things will not be remembered. Meaning, this life. I don't see what about that confuses you. When someone is in heaven, they don't have the concerns of this life anymore, nor the pain or sorrow or infirmities. Yes, we will face judgment. But a believer will not face the white throne judgment of God. They will stand at the throne of Jesus Christ, to be rewarded for what they did on this earth. Only those who rejected Jesus will be judged on their sins...and there is only one pronouncement for them; eternally lost.

Don't worry about it. If you know Jesus as your savior, you have nothing to worry about.

Answer 10

That means (in reference to Revelation) that, when Christ returns, those who are dead now and weren't born again will be risen from the dead and judged by God. Those that are in heaven now will be reunited with their bodies just as we will be (if we pass on before judgment day) on the last day. The heavens and earth as we know them now will also be destroyed on the last day as God will create a new heavens and new earth, free from sin, disease, etc and it will be for all eternity. Heaven as we know it now is temporary, so again, there will be a new heavens as well as a new earth when Christ returns (after He has judged this earth). I hope I've helped clear things up - did the best I could to explain it - lol.

2 Peter 3:10 - But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned.

1 Thess. 4:13-18 - But I would nto have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 - For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which seep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 - 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 them which are asleep. 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 C hrist shall rise first: 17 - 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. 18 - Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Corinthians 15:51-57 - Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 - In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and th dead shall be reaised incorruptible, and we shall be changed, 53 - For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortaility. 54 - So when this corruptible shal have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pss the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 - O death, where is they sting? O grave, where is they victory? 56 - The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 - But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.