What do people in heaven.....

The concept of more eyes watching us the better…... Motivation to righteous behavior, or at least we could hope. Spread the word!:thumbs: :smilewinkgrin:

 

There is no biblical basis for saying that people in heaven can watch us or are watching us. This is superstition; it probably comes from Spiritualism, which tries to mimic Christianity.

 

HP: Be reasonable Marcia. There is no biblical basis for a pretribulational rapture but look at how that motivates people.:tonofbricks: Surely others watching us could only help motivate, at least a little bit. :smilewinkgrin:

 

Why do people have to attack the pre-trib rapture all the time on almost every thread here? I'm getting sick and tired of it. This is not a thread on the rapture. Please stay on topic.

Yes, there is a biblical basis for the rapture, but not for people watching us from heaven.

 

Sorry Marcia, I meant no offense. Possibly you will have to start showing more evidence than quoting one verse and then saying it is not proven there but rather somewhere else, only to fail to give the reference that does prove it to be true. Show us the evidence of a pretribulational rapture. :thumbs:

 

This is not the topic here. And I wasn't trying to prove anything. I was answering a question about the restrainer.

You're harassing me.

 

Scarlet, I beg to differ. Hebrews 12:1 refers directly to the saints of Hebrews 11 and there is nothing to indicate they cannot see us. The "cloud" of course refers to them without their resurrected bodies, which they will receive in the day of the Lord. They are certainly witnesses in the sense of the example they have set for us but they are also witnessses in the sense that they can see us. I am aware of no biblical proof to the contrary.

 

Thanks for asking!

Spiritiualism is the belief that one can get advice from the dead. But it's more than that - it's the belief that dead people ascend to various levels, getting wiser and more spiritual at they ascend. It developed mostly in the 19th century but became a religion in the 20th century (or possibly 19th - not sure now).

They talk about God, but he's impersonal. Jesus is not the Son of God or Savior but was a medium or had mediumistic abilities. He was a man who was wise. Spiritualists have services that are very close to church services, with hymns and a minister. I went to several in college when a friend of mine was doing a project on it and had to attend Spiritualist churches.

Spiritualists believe that the dead are more alive than us. They usually believe that everyone will go to a good place they call the "other side." They think of this as heaven.

Many mediums and psychics attend spiritualist churches and/or are ministers.

The minister supposedly get messages for people in the congregation from dead relatives. I've written 3 articles on this topic - one is on my website, one in the Christian Research Journal (published in '02 and called "I See Dead People: A Look at After Death Communication"), and one was just published in the Aeropagus Journal (published by the Apologetics Resource Center in Birmingham, AL). I've also given several workshops on this topic.

Article on my website:
http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_SpiritContact1.html

Article for Christian Research Journal (this is a better article than the one above)
http://www.equip.org/atf/cf/{9C4EE03A-F988-4091-84BD-F8E70A3B0215}/DD810.pdf

I don't think the recent article is online.

 

Many Spiritualist churches have names that will not reveal that they are Spiritualist - there is one here called "The Metaphysical Chapel." Another one is called the chapel of Divine Light or something to that effect.

These places are not the same as the New Age type churches, although New Agers may attend them. New Age type churches are Unity, the Church of Religious Science, and spinoffs of these. They are not into talking to dead relatives.

Spiritualism became very popular during and after WWI when many people had lost relatives in the war and were anxious to contact them. It lost popularity after that but started to rise again in the late 90s.

TV shows like "Medium" and "Ghost Whisperer" have helped it rise again, as well as the very popular mediums Sylvia Browne and John Edward. Browne has written tons of books, including books on Jesus. Many people mistakingly think she is a Christian. ("Medium" is based on a real life medium, and James Van Praagh, a successful medium, is a co-producer of "Ghost Whisperer"). The movie "The Sixth Sense" and other movies had many themes of contact with the dead.

Spiritualism is Satan's attempt to make something that is evil sound like Christiainity (not his only attempt, of course).

 

Thanks for looking at my articles and your thoughts! I could say more but it would be too off topic, though I do think Spiritualism has had an influence on our culture that some Chrisitians may not recognize.

If you ever have questions on this or related topics, just PM me or go to my site and email me from the Home page.

 

Not completely my idea, although I do agree with it. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association runs a syndicated daily colum in which, not long ago, someone asked if her deceased husband could see her from Heaven. Here was Billy Graham's answer:

This interpretation is also consistent with a belief in the communion of saints as expressed in the Apostles Creed, although communion of saints implies a lot more than that.

 

It certainly implies a great number because only two or three would not make up a cloud. A cloud is a gaseous substance, as opposed to a solid or liquid. If these witnesses were people with bodies, they would likely be called a multitude or a crowd. But since they are spirit beings without bodies, they are ethereal in nature, i.e., a cloud.

 

The great cloud of witnesses is a reference back to Hebrews chapter 11 in which the author tells us of the OT witnesses, what we commonly refer to as the "hall of faith".
Verse 1 of chapter 12 begins with "wherefore", making it connect to the previous chapter and continuing the same thought.

There is no implication of souls in heaven watching us.