Results 1 - 10 of 10
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Are there compartments in heaven or hell | John 14:2 | kadgaley@cs.com | 35410 | ||
In a Bible study I attended yesterday the teacher said that there are different compartments in heaven and hell. That your deeds determine where you go (which compartment). I haven't heard this before. Is this truth? Please give me any scriptures that could back it up if available. | ||||||
2 | Are there compartments in heaven or hell | John 14:2 | charis | 35411 | ||
Dear kadgaley, Greetings in the name of Jesus! "In my Father's house are many mansions: 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 NASB. While it seems to be clear that heaven has many dwelling places, or mansions, I am not so sure that hell has the same type of accomodations! :-) In any case, as Christians, it seems that there is 'rank in the kingdom' that is awarded to us for our faithfulness to God. (NOT for our faith in God for salvation!) "Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 NASB. As to clear reference about 'levels' in hell, who cares?! The most comfortable place there is not comfortable! Neither is the worst place there any more damned! Surely it is necessary for us to know the consequence of unbelief, and the state of unregenerate man, but don't 'dwell' on it! (pun very much intended! :-)) Peace and joy in Christ Jesus, charis |
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3 | Are there compartments in heaven or hell | John 14:2 | Hank | 35414 | ||
Greeting, Charis! I trust you accorded our President a warm welcome while he and the first lady sojourned in your area..... Speaking of heaven (no connection with Bush's visit :-) and hell (still no connection): I do believe Jesus' words give us a clue that there are mansions, compartments, rooms -- call them what you will -- in heaven. None have been noted as being in hell, and even if there are, I'd frankly rather sit in the bleachers of heaven than in a box seat of hell. I nearly said "reserved seat" of hell, but I doubt that there are any. Who would want to reserve a seat there anyway? There are so many going that direction that it's probably set up on a first come, first toasted basis. --Hank | ||||||
4 | Is this heaven or the family? | John 14:2 | Aspilos | 61803 | ||
Greetings Hank, I know it's been a while since this discussion, but I was strolling around and came across the comments here and found them to be quite interesting. It also stirred a question in me. Is the Lord actually describing heaven here or do you think it's more probable that He is assuring His disciples that a "place" is being prepared especially for them in the Father’s family. The reason I ask this question is, often throughout the Bible, the mention of house is in reference to family. Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. In telling them, “I go and prepare a place for you” could it be that He was on his way to be offered up and thus make a way for them to become sons of God and members of the Father’s house [family]? In verse 23 of the same chapter the same word again is used, but translated as abode in the KJV. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He's not saying that He is going to heaven to build a place, but rather, "we [He and the Father] will come unto him [the believer] to make their abode. Bendiciones! Aspilos |
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5 | Is this heaven or the family? | John 14:2 | Hank | 61816 | ||
Aspilos, cheerful greeting! Thank you for your response to one of my vintage posts. I'm disinclined to speculate much about things of which I know little and understand even less, and that includes any attempt to describe heaven beyond the glimpses of it God gives us in Holy Writ. In John 14:2 and elsewhere wherein Jesus talks to His disciples of heaven, it is my sense that our Lord spoke to them with the full realization that they were, after all, finite human beings and not especially sophisticated ones at that, but simple folk; and that He clothed his thoughts in simple, earthy language that they could understand and relate to. I think that we can come no nearer to a full and complete comprehension of the joys of heaven than we can of the horrors of hell, but at the same time I believe that God has revealed enough about the nature of each so that we can fervently desire to live with the Lord in eternal heaven and shudder at the thought of banishment from Him in a devilish hell. I will conclude this answer, the inadequacy of which I am keenly aware, with the stirring yet delicate lines of a poem written by a first-rank poet, Emily Dickinson, a woman who during her entire life rarely set foot out of her native Amherst, Massachusetts but whose mind and imagination spanned the universe. Here's the poem. In a touching and magnificent way it puts words to what the human heart often feels about heaven. "I never saw a moor, I never saw the sea; .... Yet know I how the heather looks, and what a wave must be. ..... I never spoke with God, nor visited in heaven; ..... Yet certain am I of the spot as if the chart were given." ....... Aspilos, I hope to meet you there! --Hank | ||||||
6 | Is this heaven or the family? | John 14:2 | Aspilos | 61822 | ||
Speaking of heaven, I do hope to meet you there also Hank. I don't want you to think that I was insinuating that I do not believe in such a place, for indeed I do. I'm sure understanding it is as you say, beyond our comprehension. I don't however, believe that understanding the Lord's message is necessarily that difficult. I often hear persons refer to the Lord's statement in the above verse, (I go to prepare a place for you) as though He was on His way to heaven with a hammer in his hand. I just don't see it. Was I wrong in pointing out that Jesus and the Father would come to us to make their dwelling? Your answer surprised me. Not that you did a bad job or anything, but I usually find your replies to be a bit more intriguing. Bendiciones! Aspilos |
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7 | Is this heaven or the family? | John 14:2 | Hank | 61825 | ||
My dear Aspilos, in all candor it has never been my aim to lace my replies with intrigue, intriguing though that might be! As I attempted to make clear before, I responded in the manner I did because my mind militates against wading into deep waters in an attempt to render a substantive answer to a speculative question. I know no more of heaven than you or any other human being knows who has read what the Bible says about it. One who has read Dante knows nothing substantive of heaven or hell; he knows only what Dante's fertile mind imagined them to be like. But this is not a course in Dante 101. It is a study Bible forum and hence I decline to venture into realms where Scripture does not go. In no sense am I chastening you, friend; I'm merely saying my piece on where I stand on surmise, conjecture and speculation. --Hank | ||||||
8 | Is this heaven or the family? | John 14:2 | Aspilos | 61835 | ||
Greetings Hank! Thanks at least for your honesty. I have to tell you though, whether it be your intention or not, your replies generally are quite intriguing. I think it's the way you artistically combine wit with wisdom, but I'm not here to flatter you. :-) On an ending note: It doesn't seem that the Lord is talking about heaven here, but rather about you and I being the habitation of God. I don't believe this requires any speculation. Bendiciones! Aspilos |
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9 | Is this heaven or the family? | John 14:2 | Morant61 | 61875 | ||
Greetings Aspilos! Do you mind if I jump in on this discussion? I would cast my vote with John 14:2 being a reference to Heaven. Here's why: 1) "I am going" in v. 20 indicates a physical journey. 2) V. 3 says that He will come back and take us with Him that we might be "WHERE" He is. "Where" is the paricle 'hupou', which has the basic meaning of a physical location. 3) V. 4 again speaks of a physical location by saying, 'You know the way to the place where I am going...'. I do agree with you that later in the chapter, Jesus speaks of indwelling believers. However, in those verses the phrases are always 'in me', ect.... They do not use particles which indicate physical locatations as John does in Jn. 14:1-4. Just my two cents my friend! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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10 | Is this heaven or the family? | John 14:2 | Aspilos | 61902 | ||
Tim, thanks for the reply and your comments are always welcome as far as I'm concerned. Sorry for not getting back sooner, but my schedule doesn't always allow me time to repond so promptly. The more wisdom I read from the members of this forum can only help to further my understanding. But, if I may, I would also like to reply to your statements. 1) "I am going" in v. 20 indicates a physical journey. True, because that physical journey was to the cross. 2) "Where" is the paricle 'hupou', which has the basic meaning of a physical location. Again true, since that location is in our hearts. "I am" 'eimi' is present indicative, so the Lord is saying to His disciples, “where I am” not where I will be, “there you may be also.” It is obvious that He was there with them at that time, but he meant something more. 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? Again He says, "I am" 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 3) V. 4 again speaks of a physical location by saying, 'You know the way to the place where I am going...'. The way of course is Christ (although He is not a road in the physical sense), which further strengthens what I believe. He is the only way to becoming a son of God and a member of the Father's family. Bendiciones! Aspilos |
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