CONTINUED....
"Many claim that when the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom, it means he was taken immediately to heaven at death."
[cited in article below]
But Jesus stated directly;
John 3:13
...
no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
What the bible does teach....
All of the dead, are 'sleeping' in their death, until the resurrection, at Jesus 2nd coming.
WWW search....
does the rich man and lazarus parable prove we go straight to heavenWWW search....
does the rich man and lazarus parable prove we are alive after deathDoes the Rich Man and Lazarus Prove We Go Straight to Heaven or Hell After Death
8 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3lovT2x01o
In speaking the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus,
it is clear, that Jesus was pandering to the beliefs of the Pharisees,
whom he was addressing.
[in order that those Pharisees might accept the 'message' he was conveying.]
"They [the Pharisees] believe that the souls have the power to survive death and that there are rewards and punishments under the earth for those who have led lives of virtue or vice.....
....The Pharisees often ridiculed and made jest of Christ’s warnings against greed, hard-heartedness, and worldliness."
[cited in article below]
Why did Jesus use parables when speaking to the 'hard hearted' and the unbelieving ?Matthew 13:13
Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
.
Quote:Lazarus & the Rich Man: Where Are They?
Do you have an immortal soul?
Is Lazarus in heaven this very moment waiting for you?
Millions claim that you do and he is!
Can you prove it from your Bible?Millions of people turn to Luke 16, the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, to substantiate their belief that we have an immortal soul and that Lazarus is in heaven right now waiting for our arrival...
It this true?
Can you prove it from your own Bible?
We should have a Bible reason for everything we believe, and take no man’s word for it, nor any church organization’s word for it....
....[that is] what is commonly taught in contemporary “churchianity”!
Millions, even today, firmly believe that the dead go immediately up to heaven or down to an ever-burning hell, and yet your Bible claims they remain in their graves until they are resurrected— made alive once again—by Jesus Christ.
There will be a resurrection of the righteous dead at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and then another at the end of the Millennium, 1,000 years later (Compare 1 Corinthians 15:23 with Revelation 20:5).
....And what of David, a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22)? Surely David is in heaven, isn’t he?
No, “For David is not ascended into the heavens” (Acts 2:34).
....With these things firmly entrenched in mind, we see clearly that
according to your Bible, Lazarus and the rich man do not have immortal souls, nor are they now in heaven.
https://www.cgi.org/lazarus-the-rich-man-where-are-theyRead the whole article.
Mortal man;
Job 34:15
Job 34:15
Ecclesiastes 3:19-20
Ecclesiastes 9:5
For the living know that they shall die:
but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
QUESTION;Are we a 'believer' in God ?
If we are;
We either believe men, and follow what men teach [being church doctrines],
or, today, we can read and study holy scripture, and seek to be guided by God's holy spirit.If we are 'believers', we have a choice;
We will choose to either give pre-eminence in 'religious' authority, to the doctrines of a particular church,
or we will give pre-eminence in 'religious' authority
to scripture.
Holy scripture is presented to us [to those who explore its words],
as the Logos, as the Word of God [...as directly embracing God's spirit].
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
....
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
.
n.b.
At the conclusion the parable about the rich man and lazarus, Jesus message to its hearer, was that
if men and women stubbornly refuse to hear Moses and the prophets [what Old Testament scripture teaches], then we embrace spiritual danger.
Luke 16:31
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.