Where do you get your doctrine from? Is it a pastor, a priest, a bible study group, or Jesus? This question is not asked to discourage you from studying the Bible with others. On the contrary, it is to encourage you to rely on God the Father and Jesus for your doctrinal foundation. As a follower of Jesus Christ, your primary teacher MUST be the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that we are disciples, which means students. The disciples called Jesus master, which means teacher or instructor. Even Nicodemus declared that the Pharisees knew Jesus was a great teacher come from God (John 3:1–2). Consequently, our doctrine should come from Jesus not the philosophy or the ideas of men.  

“He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. ⁷ Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Mark 7:6-7) 

Sadly, the principles in the quoted verses above apply to many spiritual leaders of today. In word, they honor God, but they teach doctrines that are completely opposite to the teacher God the Father sent to set things straight. The purpose of this series is to highlight the teachings of Jesus and to promote true discipleship. Jesus said, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.” (John 8:31) You cannot be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ if you are continuing in doctrine that He did not teach!!! 

Plain Teaching Ignored! 

Please read the following verse carefully.  

“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”  (John 3:13) 

While speaking with Nicodemus, Jesus declared that no man has ascended to heaven. Why is this important to discuss? Because most denominations of Christianity teach that the followers of Jesus go to heaven after they die. Jesus, the teacher they claim to follow, teaches the very opposite of this popular belief. He declared no man has ascended to heaven!  

Men have placed their own desires and opinions above what the Bible actually says. When Gen. 5:24 says, “and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him,” this does not mean God took him to heaven. Where God took him to is not explained. We can speculate and theorize about the matter, but it is supremely arrogant to claim we know for sure without biblical evidence. If you believe that God took Enoch to heaven, then you are implying that Jesus was lying to Nicodemus. Again, Jesus said no man has ascended to heaven! There is no mystery to what Jesus said. It is so plain that it is absurd to believe something contrary to such a clear statement from the Lord.  

What about Elijah the prophet? Read II Kings 2:1-11 for context. Verse 11 reads, “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” Now stop and think for a moment. Either this verse is saying Elijah was pulled into heaven or it is saying something different than what most people assume when reading it. Please keep in mind, that Jesus said no man has ascended to heaven. Is this a clear contradiction in the Bible? Absolutely not! Notice the following verse: 

“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.” (Gen. 1:20) 

During the creation, God made flying creatures to fly in the open firmament of heaven. Also read Gen. 7:23 which uses the phrase “fowl of the heaven,” when discussing the death of living things during the worldwide flood. A surface study of the term heaven can easily prove that it is used to describe the sky and the dwelling place of God. Deut. 10:14 reads, “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.” There is a heaven and a heaven of heavens. Also read the following list of verses: 

• Deut. 9:1 — cities great and fenced up to heaven (Can city walls reach God’s realm?) 

• Deut. 11:11 — drinketh water of the rain of heaven (Does rain come from God’s realm?) 
• Judges 20:40 — the flame of the city ascended up to heaven (Can flames reach God’s realm?) 
• Lev. 26:19 — I will make your heaven as iron (Is God’s realm man’s heaven?) 
• Josh. 10:11 — Lord cast down great stones from heaven, hailstones (Does hail come from God’s realm?) 

There are many other examples that could have been provided showing that the word heaven does not always refer to God’s dwelling place. In the case of Elijah, we would have to assume the chariots of fire took him to God’s realm rather than the sky. What many do not point out is Elijah writes a letter to Jehoram king of Judah who marries the daughter of Ahab. Read II Chron. 21:1-15. Did Elijah send Jehoram a letter from God’s realm? The answer is no! Elijah was separated from Elisha so that Elisha would draw to God and continue the work (Read II Kings 2:12-15). It does not make sense that Elijah would send a letter from heaven to Jehoram when angels are the messengers of heaven. The reality is Elijah did not ascend to heaven.   

Raised at the Last Day  

Let’s return to Jesus’ words. This same concept is repeated by Jesus in several places. One of the plainest can be found in John 6: 37-40. In these verses, Jesus is discussing the reward of those who believe on Him. Notice that He does not say, believers are going to heaven. The reward of those who believe is everlasting life which they will receive at the resurrection. When is the resurrection? Jesus says at the last day in verse 39 and 40. Also note that this is the will of the Father. It is the will of God the Father that those who believe are given everlasting life through a resurrection at the last day! This point is so important that Jesus repeats it in verse 44 saying, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Why would Jesus repeat this again?!?! Because He wanted believers to know when He would reward them!!! Read verse 46 which explains that no man has seen the Father, thus reinforcing the fact no man has been to heaven.  

You would think that was enough to convince the crowd of what He was saying, yet Jesus went on to say it again. Read verses 52-54. The reward of the saints is given to them when they are raised at the last day!!! To many, this may seem like some mysterious teaching but it a plain teaching directly from the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why the apostles talked so much about His return and receiving this reward at His return.  

“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Rev. 22:12) 

2000 Years of Deception 

To emphasize the point, let’s look at the writing of the apostles to see if they taught that the saints go to heaven after death.  

“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 the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (I Cor. 15:51-52)  

When writing to the Corinthians, Paul referred to those who died in the faith as sleep. Those who are sleep shall be raised at the resurrection!!! If those who are dead are in heaven, why didn’t Paul make it clear when discussing this matter? To die is to stop living, not go to heaven or hell. Read verse 55! Victory over death is through the resurrection!!! Also read Rev. 20:6 for confirmation of this fact.  

“But I would not 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 sleep 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 Christ 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.” (I Thes. 4:13-17) 

Here, Paul describes to the Thessalonians that the saints who have died are considered as sleep. If they were in heaven, Paul could have simply said that. Instead, he assured the Thessalonians that those who sleep will rise before (first) the saints that are alive at the coming of Jesus. If they are in heaven, why must they rise? They must rise because they are in their graves. Paul sought to comfort the Thessalonians with the fact that the dead will be brought back to life and those alive would not prevent this miracle from happening.  

Recognize that there was much deception going around at that time. Some were teaching that Jesus had not rose from the dead. Some were teaching that the saints would not rise from the dead. The letters written by the apostles were disseminated to combat false doctrines and to admonish the church to hold on to the faith. Unfortunately, some successfully replaced the doctrine of the resurrection with a doctrine about going to heaven. Aligned with this doctrine, is the teaching that a believer can never lose his reward. This contradicts the teaching that Jesus is coming back to judge the earth, starting with the church.  

Read Rom. 14:10; II Tim 4:1; Heb. 10:26-31; James 5:8-9; I Peter 1:13-17; and I Peter 4:1-6 which talks about how the saints will be judged at Jesus’ return and makes no reference to sitting in heaven waiting for the judgement of the Lord. This 2000-year-old deception is the reason why professing Christians fail to develop the fruits of the Spirit, the character of God (Gal. 5:22-25) 

Intention 

So that it is clear, these Bible studies are not to insult or attack anyone. It is my expressed desire to help train disciples of Jesus Christ. In order to be an actual disciple, we must be a student of His words and live by them. We do not have the discretion as disciples to choose and disseminate doctrine opposite of our Teacher.  

The reality is that Jesus never taught His disciples that our reward is to go to heaven. Instead, He taught that His disciples will be given rulership over the world. Before being given rulership, His disciples must develop character like His own. Development of His character will allow us to judge the world and the angels righteously. If we fail to grow and develop the morality of God, we will not receive the reward our Father has for us. This concept is thoroughly covered in the parables of Matthew 25. In addition, our great Teacher tells us to, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” (Matt. 5:48) after discussing character and morality.  

Every Christian should understand that he is going through training in this life. God is training kings and priests for the world to come (Rev 1:6; Rev. 5:9-10). You were made for a purpose greater than playing harps and staring at Jesus for eternity. God is adopting us into His family and each family member has a role to play in God’s purpose (Rom. 8:13-17). God has work for you to do, but you will not receive that high position as an heir of the kingdom if you do not faithfully follow the teachings of Jesus Christ!!!