Zone1 "For Many are called, but few are chosen." [Jesus]

[DennisPTate]

Why did Jesus say that:
Matthew 22:14
"For many are called, but few are chosen."

I have to admit that this statement combined with some of the statements by Jesus regarding hell profoundly offended me back around 1990 as I began to find out that the Soul Sleep doctrine that I had believed in for about seventeen years by that time was seriously in error.

I am personally am hoping that some of the things that are not even lawful to be uttered that the Apostle Paul was shown will give all of us good news about the afterlife but for the moment I think that it is important to take a serious look at how few of us may well go directly into heaven at our deaths.


It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

2;I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth such an one caught up to the third heaven.

3;And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth

4;How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

5;Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
2 Corinthians 12]

Howard Pittman's Near Death Experience​

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In 2015 Pastor Mark sat down with Howard Pittman and heard firsthand his near death experience. Howard shared what he experienced at the point of death when his spirit left his body and he crossed over into the spiritual realm. While having this experience Howard was taken by angels and given a tour of Satan's kingdom in the 2nd heaven. He also came the entrance of heaven and had a life changing conversation with God. We hope you are impacted by this testimony and that you are made even more aware of the reality of the spiritual realm all around us. Chapters:
00:00 - Pastor Mark's Intro
01:54 - The day Howard died
07:58 - Dying and entering a world of darkness (The Veil)
08:33 - Scripture coming out of the darkness
09:47 - Facing the realization of death
10:55 - The most beautiful voice in the world
13:08 - The Veil
13:52 - Satan's table/Satanic planning/Principalities
15:45 - Satan's master plan (Rev. 13:7-9)
17:32 - Spiritual warfare
19:38 - Hate and Fear
20:11 - Satan's ability
22:33 - Giant warring order of Demons
23:18 - Traveling to the Gates of Heaven
24:50 - Your Faith is Dead...
27:18 - The Compassion of God
28:34 - The 5 point message for the Church
32:47 - 97% of people going to Hell
34:32 - Tour of the 2nd Heaven

After Hours Ministries

Christian Author B.W. Melvin's Near Death Experience - Is Hell Real?

www.afterhoursministries.com

Personally, I lean toward the idea that Messiah Yeshua - Jesus has the power and the authority to resurrect all of the dead in any moment in time that Jesus wishes to replicate, and then I assume Jesus can spin off a new time line in which people get saved and prepared for life in heaven, even if they were lost spiritually in their first life time.

I personally suspect that Ezekiel chapter thirty seven can happen again and again and again and again, which might be at least a part of the unlawful information that the Apostle Paul and others were told that they could not reveal, yet!

Although I have a lot of hope for the future for our spirits or souls..... I do believe that what Pastor Howard Pittman was shown is true, and we do need to be aware of how serious all that Jesus said really is.

The after life realm of the unsaved, predatory and narcissistic former humans, is a scary place, that we should research and do what we need to avoid that place, [which is really a spiritual, soul and mental condition].

Former Atheist Howard Storm was shown how scary the afterlife can really be.

1. About Howard Storm​

Before his near-death experience, Howard Storm (www.howardstorm.com) was a Professor of Art at Northern Kentucky University, was not a very pleasant man by his own admission. He was an avowed atheist and was hostile to every form of religion and those who practiced it. He often would use rage to control everyone around him and he didn’t find joy in anything. Anything that wasn’t seen, touched or felt, he had no faith in. He knew with certainty that the material world was the full extent of everything that was. He considered all belief systems associated with religion to be fantasies for people to deceive themselves with. Beyond what science said, there was nothing else. But then on June 1, 1985, at the age of 38, Howard Storm’s had a near-death experience due to a perforation of the stomach and his life was since forever changed. His near-death experience is one of the most profound, if not the most profound, afterlife experience I have ever documented. His life was so immensely changed after his near-death experience, he resigned as a professor and devoted his time attending the United Theological Seminary to become a United Church of Christ minister. Today, Howard Storm is retired and presently happily married to his wife Marcia and was Pastor of the Covington United Church of Christ in Covington, Ohio. During his past time he has maintained his passion for painting but now, unlike in his past, he paints with a God state of mind which raises his paintings to a whole other level. On his website Pastor Storm shares a unique look at his paintings and the effect Jesus Christ has on his daily life and on his paintings. The following is the account of Pastor Howard Storm’s near-death experience reprinted by permission. To read his full testimony, read his outstanding book My Descent Into Death (2005). Storm’s other books include Lessons Learned: A Spiritual Journey (2014), It’s All Love (2014), Befriend God: Life with Jesus (2019), and Following Jesus: The Way, The Truth, and the Life (2024).

2. An Invitation to​

[Howard Storm was in intense agony and dying.]

Struggling to say goodbye to my wife, I wrestled with my emotions. Telling her that I loved her very much was as much of a goodbye as I could utter because of my emotional distress. Sort of relaxing and closing my eyes, I waited for the end. This was it, I felt. This was the big nothing, the big blackout, the one you never wake up from, the end of existence. I had absolute certainty that there was nothing beyond this life – because that was how really smart people understood it.

While I was undergoing this stress, prayer or anything like that never occurred to me. I never once thought about it. If I mentioned God’s name at all it was only as a profanity. For a time there was a sense of being unconscious or asleep. I’m not sure how long it lasted, but I felt really strange, and I opened my eyes. To my surprise I was standing up next to the bed, and I was looking at my body laying in the bed. My first reaction was, “This is crazy! I can’t be standing here looking down at myself. That’s not possible.”

This wasn’t what I expected, this wasn’t right. Why was I still alive? I wanted oblivion. Yet I was looking at a thing that was my body, and it just didn’t have that much meaning to me. Now knowing what was happening, I became upset. I started yelling and screaming at my wife, and she just sat there like a stone. She didn’t look at me, she didn’t move – and I kept screaming profanities to get her to pay attention. Being confused, upset, and angry, I tried to get the attention of my room-mate, with the same result. He didn’t react. I wanted this to be a dream, and I kept saying to myself, “This has got to be a dream.”

Howard Storm's Near-Death Experience - Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife

Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife profiles Howard Storm's Near-Death Experience . Did you enjoy reading this post, we have more!

near-death.com

Former Atheist Rabbi Alon Anava was also shown that the afterlife can be pretty scary.

www.AlonAnava.com/


The Second Part of the Howard Pittman interview is powerful to say the least.

Howard Pittman PART 2 | Insights After a Near Death Experience​

1,072,764 views Dec 9, 2023 #NDE #neardeathexperience #heaven

Here are some of the segments from our interview with Howard Pittman that were not included in part 1. Howard had so many powerful revelations that he learned from his near death experience, and the work that The Lord did in his life after that experience. It was really insightful to sit with Howard, near the end of his life, after all he did to run his race, and hear these truths explained so clearly. Enjoy!To get more content like this, please visit https://MarkCowart.org
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:44 - Good Works
02:37 - The Wheat & Tares
06:41 - The Frog-like Spirit
09:44 - The True Baptism of the Holy Spirit
10:40 - Angels Unawares
15:42 - Jesus Knows What We Are
16:45 - Examine Your Own Life
17:50 - Closing

 

[MarathonMike]

What is the context of the statement "many are called, but few are chosen"? Is it specifically talking about Heaven or does the context leave it more vague than that?

 

[DennisPTate]

What is the context of the statement "many are called, but few are chosen"? Is it specifically talking about Heaven or does the context leave it more vague than that?

Now that is an excellent question that right off the top of my head I am not even certain how to answer but, to some degree I would say that the answer is yes, because of the full text of The Sermon on the Mount, where a scary afterlife condition is certainly referred to. Messiah Yeshua - Jesus often says something along the line of "many are called but few are chosen."

Matthew 20:16
"So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen."


Luke 7:11
"And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people."

Messiah Yeshua - Jesus had a tendency to hit large crowds with pretty offensive information that would result in a high percentage of his listeners giving up on him and being offended? In a way it was a bit like how the Judge Gideon had to take a large number of volunteers down to only three hundred.

The Apostle Paul adds an interesting comment on this theme.

1 Corinthians 1:26
"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:"

John in Revelation also uses this theme that fits with the parable of the marriage supper of a prince that Jesus used. In a way all of us are called to be at the marriage supper of the Lamb, but many of us will likely be offended and will give up before then.


Revelation 19:9
"And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."

Matthew chapter 5 does a good job of explaining how even though many are called, most of us are not willing to rise up, [or should I say lower the self], to the type of behaviour that Messiah Yeshua - Jesus does actually demand, if we wish to be "chosen."

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2;And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3;Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4;Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5;Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6;Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7;Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8;Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9;Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10;Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11;Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12;Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

13;Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

14;Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15;Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16;Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 5 - King James Version

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are...

www.biblegateway.com

In order to go from merely being "called" to being chosen, we have to choose to really go against the idol of "SELF" that this world teaches us to put first.

In John chapter six Jesus starts off with a huge crowd but then he certainly thins them out by what he teaches at that time.

"And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased." [John 6:2]

....

Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

15;When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

[John 6]

.....

But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

65;And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

66;From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Bible Gateway passage: John 6 - King James Version

After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the passover, a feast of the...

www.biblegateway.com