CHAPTER 24: THE OTW DOCTRINE TEACHES WHY THE SAINTS WERE RESURRECTED AND WHO THEY WERE.

CHAPTER 24: THE OTW DOCTRINE TEACHES WHY THE SAINTS WERE RESURRECTED AND WHO THEY WERE.

The Doctrine of the OTW teaches that God had another special purpose for the resurrection of the OTW. This special purpose was to be a kind of TROPHY WITNESS.

The term is often used with little personal merit besides physical attractiveness. In addition to requiring substantial expense for maintenance, it is often unintelligent and unsophisticated. It does very little of substance beyond remaining witnesses. The OTW doctrine uses saints as a status symbol to acclaim the power and glory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It appears that teachers who use this as part of their teaching are unaware of this. This is because they are implying that the saints' resurrection had no substantial meaning or impact other than the resurrection itself. This is a derogatory or disparaging claim about and against those they claim to have resurrected.

To justify and rectify this Trophy Witness claim some OTW teachers have included another group of obscure saints that have very little written about them.

During this time of visitation after our resurrected Lord the Doctrine of the OTW includes the 500 saints of

1 Corinthians 15:6.

1 Corinthians 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

These 500 brethren are never mentioned before, during, or after the resurrection of Christ except in this passage. But the Doctrine of the OTW claims some or all of them as the saints of Matthew 27:53-53. Their claim is an unsubstantiated claim and cannot be proven by scripture.

The 500 were added to the mix of those resurrected in Matthew 27 and are used in another doctrine called the Doctrine of the First Fruits. The Doctrine of the First Fruits is used in tandem with Jesus being the first fruits of the First Resurrection mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23:

1 Corinthians 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

1 Corinthians 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

The teachers of the OTW incorporate these scriptures using the fallacy of inconsistency.

Inconsistency is when he or she makes contradictory claims. Examples: I'm a strong believer in freedom of speech and think artists should never be censored. However, when musicians like Marilyn Manson influence the youth, you have to draw a line and say no more.

Some of the teachers insist that the first fruits of the resurrection were the saints in Matthew 27:53-53. They therefore attach the Five Hundred to the saints of Matthew 27. Their goal is to prove that actual dead bodies can be raised from the dead.

It then includes the 500 saints in the pre-resurrection period as trophy saints for the express purpose of witnessing Jesus during his resurrection period and to show the glory of this great honor as an OTW bonus reward.

This witnessing was not only a blessing and reward for the 500 (then) resurrected saints, but also a meaningful witness for the Church of Jesus Christ.

Including the 500 witnesses to Jesus' resurrection in Matthew 27:52-53 would prove the resurrection of Matthew 27 and would have far reaching effects even into our present day, portraying God's love and fairness that the doctrine of the OTW describes.

A second purpose of the doctrine is that those who witnessed the resurrection of Matthew 27 were specifically to witness the 120 of the Upper Room receiving the Holy Ghost and then being a part of the formation of the Early Reign Church.

It is believed that all of the Old Testament writers, including the 500, received their information from Jesus after his resurrection. It is claimed that during the 40 days before Jesus' ascension the OTW saints walked with Jesus and were instructed by him. The Doctrine of the OTW teaches that during their personal time with Jesus, their personal familiarity allowed them to know him as their Messiah. He taught them all he knew about the church and what he expected of them in the future. They would be receiving a crash course, a fast-tracked course on perfection from the Master himself because they were special.

Those blessings were part of the "Heir to the Promise Reward" trophy. If they had remained in the graves, they would have been missed! Being resurrected they could experience this promise themselves. Either they were among the one hundred twenty or they were among the three thousand who received the Holy Ghost shortly after the one hundred twenty in the Upper Room.