10.0.1 There is “LIFE” AFTER DEATH, by BEING ‘A SAINT’ in THIS LIFE.. “to all who did Receive Him, He Gave them Power to become ‘saints’, as the children of God”

*****
” to all who did Receive Him,
He Gave them Power to become the children of God,
to those who Believe in His Name. John 1:12.”

…
Adapted from: https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/john-1-12.html
…
John 1:12
…

“But as many as Received Him”
…

“as many as Received Him” is explained, in the latter part of the text, by Believing in His Name;
…
Because Faith is a Receiving of Jesus Christ as The Word,
and The Son of God, as the Messiah, Saviour, and Redeemer;
…
Faith is Receiving Grace out of JESUS’ Fulness,
and Receiving Every Blessing from Him,
as a Justifying Righteousness,
Pardon of sin,
and an Inheritance among them that are Sanctified;
…
Although MOST Souls of mankind generality rejected Him,
there were some few, ‘MANY’ that Received Him:
…
And it is THOSE WHO RECIEVED HIM:

…
“to them Gave He Power to become the sons of God;
…

AND “the sons of God”
were ELECTED FROM ETERNITY PAST and so were CALLED BY THE NAME, “the sons of God”, FROM ETERNITY PAST;

(in distinction from the children of men,
or of the world; see ( Genesis 6:2 Genesis 6:4 ) . …

To be the sons of God is a Very Special Favour,
a Great Blessing, and High Honor:
…
( HOWEVER, saints indeed are not in this high a sense the sons of God as Christ is;

nor in so low a sense as angels and men in common are;

nor in such sense as civil magistrates;

nor merely by profession of religion;

much less by natural descent; )
…
but ‘SAINTS’, WHO ARE SPOKEN OF IN THE BIBLE
To be the sons of God ARE ADOPTED CHILDREN
by Adopting Grace:

and in Adopting Grace, Christ, The Word, has a Concern,

JUST AS all The Three Divine Persons of THE ETERNAL TRIUNE GODHEAD have.
…

AWARE of The GODHEAD.
…
GOD THE FATHER:

The Father Predestinated men to the Adoption of children,

AND GOD THE FATHER Secures this Blessing for ‘SAINTS’, WHO ARE SPOKEN OF IN THE BIBLE, as the sons of God, in The ETERNAL COVENANT of His Grace,

AND GOD THE FATHER INCLUDES them among the children, and Assigns them a Goodly Heritage:
…
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT:

The HOLY SPIRIT of GOD, and Who is therefore called The Spirit of Adoption, Discovers
and Applies this Blessing to ‘SAINTS’,
WHO ARE SPOKEN OF IN THE BIBLE
as the sons of God WHO ARE ADOPTED CHILDREN by Adopting Grace, BY The Spirit of Adoption …
The HOLY SPIRIT of GOD,
…
The Spirit of Adoption … The HOLY SPIRIT of GOD Witnesses to their Spirits that they are the children of God:
…
GOD THE SON, JESUS CHRIST:

JESUS CHRIST, WHO is GOD,
The Word, or THE SON of GOD,
not only Espoused their persons,
and in time Assumed their nature,
and by the Redemption of them
Opened a Way for their Reception
of the Adoption of children;
…
but JESUS CHRIST, WHO is GOD,
The Word, or THE SON of GOD,
ACTUALLY BESTOWS upon them the “Power”,
as it is here called,
of becoming the sons of God:

by which is meant,

(not a power of free will
to make themselves the sons of God,
if they will make use of it);

The “Power” signifies the Honor and Dignity Conferred on ‘SAINTS’,
WHO ARE SPOKEN OF IN THE BIBLE
To be the sons of God
that ARE ADOPTED CHILDREN
by Adopting Grace:
…

: so Nonnus calls
“the Power to become the sons of God”,
“the heavenly honour”;
as indeed, what can be a greater?

“the Power to become the sons of God” is more Honorable than to be a son or daughter of the greatest potentate on earth:

and “the Power to become the sons of God” is expressive of its being a Privilege;

Because “the Power to become the sons of God” is an undeserved and distinguishing one, and is Attended with many other Privileges;

“the sons of God” are such
who make up God’s Household and Family,
and are Provided for by Him;

“the sons of God”
HAVE Liberty of Access unto GOD HIMSELF;

AND “the sons of God” ARE Christ’s free men, and are Heirs to an Incorruptible Inheritance.
…
This Privilege TO BE “the sons of God”
excels all others,
even Justification and Remission of sins;

and TO BE “the sons of God”
is an Everlasting PRIVILEGE:

and TO BE “the sons of God”
also intends the Open Right
which Believers have to this Privilege
ENJOYED BY “the sons of God”,tAs well as their very REAL Claim TO BE “the sons of God”:

hence it follows,

“even to them that Believe in His Name”;

that is,”even to them that Believe in” Himself,
in Christ, The Word:
…
the phrase
“even to them that Believe in His Name”;
is explanative of the former part of the verse,
and is a descriptive
and manifestative character of the sons of God;

Because though the Elect of God,
by Virtue of THE ETERNAL GIVING Electing Grace,
and The ETERNAL Covenant of Grace,

ARE UNTO EVENTUAL SALVATION IN TIME
THE ELECT “CHILDREN OF GOD” ARE SPOKEN OF AND REFERRED TO AS “the children of God” before THEY ACTUALLY EXPERIENCE Faith, IN TIME, WHICH THEY MUST DO;
…
Because, the Elect of God WERE Considered
“the children of God”
in the Gift of them to Christ,
BEFORE He Came into the World, IN TIME,
to Gather them Together,
and Save them;

and so, antecedent to the Spirit of God,
being Sent Down, IN TIME,
AS THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION,
TO ADOPT THE SAINTS OF GOD INTO JESUS
AND THE FAMILY OF GOD,
BY COMING TO LIVE,
AS THE DIVINE PRESENCE OF GOD, into their hearts, WHICH IS “THE NEW BIRTH”
to Make “His Name” Known to them;

WHILE, IT REMAINS, “YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN” AND PERSONALLY EXPERIENCE BELIEVING AND TRUSTING IN JESUS CHRIST TO SAVE YOUR SOUL,

SO, THEREFORE: no man can Know his Adoption,
nor enjoy the Comfort of it,
or claim his Interest in it,
until he Believes, IN “His Name”.
…
” to all who did Receive Him, He Gave them the ( SPIRITUAL ABILITY by THE NEW SPIRITIUAL BIRTH by THE ALL POWERFUL HOLY SPIRIT of ADOPTION ) POWER to be children of God, to those who Believe in His Name. John 1:12.”
*****

10.10.4c THE TRIUNE GODHEAD Prepared Everlasting Fire for the Devil and “His Fiery Indignation Will Devour the adversaries.”

Everlasting Fire

Prepared for the Devil

posted Jun 3, 2011, 9:54 PM by Alan Gross  

[ updated Nov 5, 2012, 9:11 PM ]

…

THE TRIUNE GODHEAD

Prepared Everlasting Fire

for the Devil

which brings us to consider, that

ALMIGHTY GOD’S

“Fiery Indignation

Will Devour

( ALL )

the adversaries

( of THE ETERNAL GOD )“

…

II. The Infinite Issue is

The Ultimate End, Punishment,

and Utter Destruction of these

Sons and Daughters of The Devil,

Spoken of, Biblically,

as The Sons and Daughters of Belial.

…

These

Sons and Daughters of The Devil,

Spoken of, Biblically,

as The Sons and Daughters of Belial, (SATAN )

are said to be Thrust Away, and At Last to be

Utterly Burnt with Ffire in the same place.

…

“They will be all of them

as thorns Thrust Away.”

 ...

But now thorns, in order to be Thrust Away,

must be rooted up, or cut down,

or they cannot be Thrust Away;

they must be rooted up,

as wicked men and women Will Be.

… 

  “The wicked,”

says the wise man, Solomon,

“Will Be Cut Off from The Earth,

and the transgressors

Will Be Rooted Out of It”

( Proverbs 3:22);  

… 

so David declares,

“The Lord Will Destroy them,

and Root them Up

Out of The Land of The Living,”

as thorns may be rooted up.

…

And these

Sons and Daughters of The Devil,

Spoken of, Biblically,

as The Sons and Daughters of Belial ( SATAN )

must be Cut Down

as cumberers of the ground;

because if a barren fig-tree burdens the ground,

then much more briers and thorns,

…

All these Spiritually Dead to God and Lost

Sons and Daughters of The Devil

are Cut Down, sooner or later,

and they are Thrust Away

 with Contempt and Indignation.

 

All these Spiritually Dead to God and Lost

Sons and Daughters of The Devil

ARE

  “Near to Cursing:”

who Will Be Eternally, and Are,

ALREADY

Cursed by The Righteous Law of God;  

 …

“because Cursed is every one

that continues not in All Things

which Are

Written in The Book of The Law

to do them.”

…

The Spiritually Blind and Lost,

WICKED,

Sons and Daughters of The Devil,

Will Be; all of them,

as thorns Thrust Away.”

 Out of Time into Eternity,

Suddenly, Hastily,  

in a Moment, and in Wrath.

 …

“A Windstorm Will Carry them Away;”

which is:

The Storm and Windstorm of Divine Wrath;

 because it is God that Thrusts them Away.

…

THE TRUNE GODHEAD

Drives the wicked man into Eternal Darkness,

and Chases him Out of This World.

 …

All The Sons and Daughters of The Devil

ARE

Driven Away in their wickedness;

while

The Righteous has Hope in his Death.

… 

All The Sons and Daughters of The Devil

Will Be Thrust Away in The Great Day,

from The Presence of The Lord,

just as Adam was,

when he rejected and abandoned

THE WORDS of GOD,

and Was Driven Out of Eden’s Garden;

… 

And just as Cain,

when he had been guilty

of that shocking sin of murder,

was Driven from The Presence of God;

… 

AND IT IS IN THIS EXACT SAME WAY:

wicked men and women

Will Be Driven from GOD’S Presence.

…

They Will Hear

THE LORD GOD JESUS

Say,

“Depart from Me, you Cursed,

I”

( Spiritually )

“Know you Not.”

… 

ALL THE SPIRITUALLY LOST

Sons and Daughters of The Devil Will Be

Burned with Fire in the same place:

with the fire of God’s wrath;

“because His Fiery Indignation

Will Devour the adversaries.”

 …

Wicked men,

whenever their consciences are awakened,

are apprehensive

there is nothing but a fearful looking

for of Judgment and of Fiery indignation:

now this will break forth at the last day,

and consume them.

 

This indignation is sometimes

compared to a furnace of fire,

and sometimes

to A Lake of Fire;

into each of which,

thorns and briars are sometimes Throne.

 

Thus, as the weeds are bound up in bundles

and cast into the fire, 

so the wicked, the sons of Belial,

will be gathered by the angels,

and Cast into a Furnace ofFfire,

where there will be wailing

and gnashing of teeth ( Matthew 8:42).

… 

This is also expressed by

A Lake of Fire;

a Lake which Burns with Fire and Brimstone,

into which

All The Sons and Daughters of The Devil,

the sons of Belial Will Be Thrown,

and where they Will Be Burnt.

 …

This is called in Scripture,

“Everlasting Fire.”

 …

  Everlasting Fire Prepared for the Devil

and his angels;

that will be always Burning,  

and he will never be quenched.

…

And it will be intolerable so that language imports,

“Who among us will dwell

with the Devouring Fires?

…

“who among us will dwell

with Everlasting Burnings?”

… 

This will be the end,

this Will Be The Punishment of those

who are

All The Sons and Daughters of The Devil,

the sons and daughters of Belial.

… 

You see now from hence,

of what Account wicked men are with God.

 …

 They are no other than sons of Belial,

 Sons and Daughters of The Devil,

children without a yoke, unprofitable,

low creatures,

and will never rise from that state;

and like thorns, are only fit to be Burnt.

 …

You see what Will Be The End,

Result of these persons;

Everlasting Destruction.

…

They Will Be Burnt

with The Fire of God’s Wrath,

which Will Endure Forever;

the Smoke of their Torments

Will Ascend Up Forever and Ever.

… 

There is no escaping this,

but In, and Through our Lord Jesus Christ,

and by Applying to Him for Life and Salvation.

… 

If any of you are seeking

to Flee from the Wrath to Come,

which is Revealed from Heaven

against all unrighteousness

and ungodliness of men;

and should be asking,

Where will we flee?

…

Not to rocks or mountains,

either in a literal or figurative sense.

Not in a literal sense; they will do no service.

 …

Nor in a figurative sense,

your own ‘works of righteousness’;

these will not screen you.

 …

There is no other way of Escaping

The Wrath to Come,

due to The Sons and Daughters of The Devil,

Spoken of, Biblically,

as The Sons and Daughters of Belial,

 

but by Fleeing for Refuge to Lay Hold

on The Hope Set Before you

 in The Everlasting Gospel;

 

by Fleeing to Christ, Turning to Him, The Stronghold,

as Prisoners of Hope; and, Being Justified by His Blood,

 you Will Be Saved from Wrath, through Him.

 

 It is Jesus and only Jesus,

Who Delivers from

The Wrath to Come.

*****

10.10.4b For THOSE WHO HATE GOD: There is Punishment; “you child of the devil, you enemy of all Righteousness”

 WHEN:

The Judgment is Finished,

“There is Punishment”,

IN STORE

FOR THOSE WHO HATE GOD.

…

An Interpretation and Application of

MAN’S FALL AND DEPRAVITY

to Whom it May Concern.

… 

As Adopted from:

The Character

and End of the Wicked,

Considered

2 SAMUEL 23:6-7

by John Gill

… 

“But the Sons of Belial

( the Sons of SATAN ),

will be, all of them, as thorns thrust away:

 

because they cannot be taken with hands;

 but the man that will touch them,

must be fenced with iron,

and the staff of a spear:

 

and they will be utterly burned with fire

 in the same place.”

…

The words may be understood

very well of wicked men in common,

in addition to WICKED RULERS;

who may be all of them,

especially the most vile and abandoned, called

sons of Belial; as they often are in Scripture:

those who were so vile as to

go about to seduce the inhabitants of any city in Israel

to idolatry,

are called children of Belial (Deuteronomy 13:13).

TRUMP IS RIGHT:

HERE’S PROOF HILLARY & OBAMA

FOUNDED ISIS

Hillary even admitted U.S. created al-Qaeda,

the precursor of ISIS.

 

The sons of Eli are said to be sons of Belial,

being very wicked persons,

given up to lewdness,

and abandoned to all manner of wickedness.

 

So Nabal, a vile, churlish and ill-natured man,

is, by his servants, called a son of Belial.

 

Our master, say they, is such a son of Belial,

there is no living with him: nay,

 Abigail his wife, gave him the same name.

 

Those who stood up as witnesses against Naboth,

are called men of Belial,

 who made no conscience of anything;

having no fear of God before their eyes.

 

So many others of like complexion

are thus called in Scripture.

 

In this light

we may understand the passage before us:

 

  “But the sons of Belial,” wicked men,  

who are enemies to Christ,

the King before spoken of,

 

“will be all of them as thorns thrust away,

because they cannot he taken with hands;

 

but the man that will touch them

 must be fenced with iron,

and the staff of a spear;

 

and they will be utterly burned with fire

 in the same place.”

 

In which words we may observe,

The descriptive character of wicked men,

by their name,  

  Sons of Belial;

and by a comparison made of them, as thorns. 

The issue, end, punishment,

and utter destruction of these  

  Sons of Belial is that

they will be Thrust away, as thorns,  

and burned with fire in the same place.

 

This will be the end of the sons of Belial.

  We will consider the descriptive character

given of wicked men,  

  sons of Belial.  

 

Belial is thought to be a name of Satan.

 

This is generally supposed

to the sense of that passage,

2 Corinthians 6:15,

 

What concord has Christ with Belial ?

 

which means,

What Agreement

or Companionship does Jesus Christ

and His Spiritually Anointed

Eternally Re-Generated Children

( Born from ABOVE )

   

have with Spiritually Lost

  and

L I T E R A L LY –

GENIUNELY Spiritually DEAD

Infidel Un-Believers  

of the One and Only TRUE

and LIVING GOD )

…

2 Corinthians 6:14 

“Be not unequally yoked together

with unbelievers:

  for what fellowship hath righteousness   

  with unrighteousness ? 

 

 and what communion

hath light with darkness ?

…

“6:15 And what concord

hath Christ with Belial ?

or what part has he

that believeth with an infidel ?

…

“6:16 And what agreement

hath the temple of God with idols ?”

… 

2   that is, with Satan

as the etymology of the word suggests,   

 

agrees with him;

whether it signifies one without a

yoke, or one that is unprofitable,

or one that is in a low estate

 and never rises higher;

all agree with Satan and his angels.

 

  …

BELIAL, one without a yoke.

Satan and his principalities and powers,   

cast off the yoke of God; 

would not be subject to Him,

and to His laws;

threw off their allegiance to Him,

and apostatized from Him;

left their first state

and habitation,

set up a kingdom for themselves,

 and set a prince over them,

who in Scripture is called,

 

Beelzebub,

the Prince of Devils (Matthew 12:24).

 

These, by their apostasy,

became unprofitable to God,

and hurtful to men;

as in many instances appears:

and they, by their

sin, were brought

into so low a state and condition,

as never to rise from

thence:

they have been cast out of heaven

down to hell,

there they are, and

will never regain their former state,

or rise up to that honor and dignity

they before possessed as there is no place,

we are told, found for them in heaven

(Revelation 12:8).

 …

  BELIAL,

(as the original word signifies that which is

very wicked,  

abominable, and abandoned)

is a name which well suits this grand apostate,

who is emphatically in Scripture called,

the wicked one ( 1 John 5:18).

 

Now this Belial has sons or children,

seed or offspring.

 

It was threatened immediately

upon the fall of our first parents,

in which he had the chief hand,

that God would put enmity

between the seed of the woman,

and seed of the serpent;

the old serpent the devil, this Belial:

 

and we read of the children of the devil.

 

  In this the children of God

are manifest, says the apostle,

and the children of the devil,

by such and such things there

observed (1 John 3:10).

…

They are evidently distinguished one from the

other, and may be known

from their different actions and course of living.

 …

Children of the Devil.

Particularly this title is given to the worst

and vilest of men,

such who are notorious for any crime or crimes;

so the apostle

Paul gave it to Elymas,

who endeavored to pervert the Roman proconsul

from the right ways of God;

 

“you child of the devil,

you enemy of all righteousness”

(Acts 13:10).

 

And as children are of the same nature, 

and often appear to be of the same

disposition and temper as their parents, 

and alike in their practices; this

…

this appears in those

who are called the sons of Belial,

or children of the devil:

 

they are of their father the devil,

and they appear to be so, because the lusts

of their father they will do.

Is he a liar, and the father of lies?

 they are children that will lie; they

 go astray as soon as they be born,

speaking lies (Psalm 58:3).

 …

 Is he or she

a murderer from the beginning?

malicious,

revengeful, blood-thirsty?

this is their character,

 living in malice, hateful,

and hating one another (Titus 3:3).

… 

Cain is said to be that wicked one,

a child of Belial,

as appears by the slaying of his own brother.

…

But, as I have hinted,

this word Belial admits of various significations,

according to the different etymology

given of it by learned men, and all

agree with wicked men as when it

is thought to signify one without a yoke,

or one that is unprofitable, or one in a low estate,

and rises not from that

state; all well agree with wicked men,

the sons, or children, of Belial.

 …

They are without a yoke.

In whatever sense we may take this word,

or find it

used in Scripture,

(as sometimes it signifies

the chastening hand of God,

which he lays upon his own people,

 and which it becomes them

to bear quietly and patiently),

  it is good for a man, Jeremiah says,

that he should hear the yoke in his youth

 (Lamentations 3:27);

that is, the correcting, chastening hand of God.

 …

He should be inured to it,

by which he may learn

many things to his profit and advantage.

…

This yoke sometimes presses hard,

and is grievous to the flesh;

for no affliction is joyous, but grievous;

especially to a carnal man,

and even to the people of God,

when they are first exercised therewith.

… 

Thus Ephraim complains, that he was like a

bullock unaccustomed to the yoke;

impatient, and unwilling to bear it,

desirous of shaking it off,

and being delivered from it.

… 

Now wicked men, even in this sense,

may be said to be sons of Belial,

without a yoke;

because the rod of God is not upon them

(Job 21:9).

… 

The chastening,

correcting rod of God is not upon them;

that rod which is upon the back of the righteous,

which a wise man bears, and who has appointed it,

and receives instruction from it,

that rod is not upon the wicked;

they are without this rod, without this yoke.

 …

  They are not in trouble,

as other men (Psalm 73:5);  

…

not chastened as other men are,

even good men.

…

These are the wicked that

prosper in their wickedness,

as Asaph and Jeremiah observe,

 (Psalm 73; Jeremiah 12:1).

 …

God does not deal with these sons of Belial,

as with his own children;

he lays his rod, his yoke upon them;

  He scourges every son whom He receives.

…

If you be without chastisement, (says the apostle)   

  where all are partakers,

(that is, all the children of God),  

  then are you bastards, and not sons   (Hebrews 12:8);

… 

then you appear to be sons of Belial,

and not children of the living God:

for the sons of Belial are without this yoke,

without the fatherly chastisements,

and corrections of God.

 …

Or rather, we may consider the yoke

in a figurative sense,

as signifying rule and dominion,

whether human or divine.

… 

Sometimes it signifies the rule

and government of masters over servants.

  …

Let as many servants as are under the yoke,  

under the rule and government of their masters,

  count their own masters worthy of all honor.  

 …

Sometimes it signifies rule of a higher kind,

even regal power and government;

so the people of Israel requested of

Rehoboam, when he came to the throne,

that he would make their yoke lighter,

or his government easier,

than was the yoke or government of his father.

… 

Now this yoke, or government,

taken in a civil sense, is to be submitted to;

and all good men will be subject

to principalities and powers.

…

They will submit themselves

to every ordinance of man, which is not contrary

to the law of God and their own consciences:

but sons of Belial,

children without a yoke, are such as

  despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities 

 (Jude 7);

… 

and such as do so,

are in Scripture expressly called

the children of Belial.

… 

When Saul was chosen king, we are informed

 The children of Belial said,

how can this man save us (1 Samuel 10:27)?

 …

And they despised him, and gave him no presents,

which was usual at the

accession of a king to the throne,

by way of acknowledging him as their

king, and of their subjection to him;

but the sons of Belial would not do that.

 …

Divine rule or government,

may be signified by the yoke;

but wicked men, sons of Belial,

are without this yoke.

…

The ceremonial law is sometimes called a yoke,

which neither the Jews

nor their forefathers were able to bear,

as it consisted of various commands,

the breach of which rendered

persons liable to death;

…

and hence many were,

through fear of death, all

their life-time subject to bondage;

…

therefore,

it is no wonder it was to men,

especially to wicked men,

  a weariness;

…

as it is said to be, what a weariness is it ?

 (Malachi 1:13).

… 

And not only that,

but the moral law may be called a yoke;

it is biding upon all mankind.

… 

Our first parents had this law

written upon their hearts,

which was the rule of their obedience to God.

 …

They broke it, they cast away this yoke,

and apostatized from God; yet,

nevertheless,

there are some remains of it to be found,

even in the Gentiles

themselves;

who appear to have the work of the law

written in their hearts,

their conscience also bearing witness,

and their thoughts the mean while

accusing or else excusing one another.

… 

This law is of such a nature,

that every man is obliged by it;

for the sum and substance of this law is,

to love the Lord our God

with all our heart and with all our soul;

 and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

.. 

A good man, a man

that has the Grace of God implanted in him,

is very desirous to be under this yoke;

… 

for though those who believe in Christ

are delivered from the law,

in which they were held,

as it is a covenant of works

(for they are not under the law,

but under grace, and are delivered

also from the curse and bondage of it);

… 

yet they are under it as a rule of walk

and conversation,

in the hands of Christ,

delight in the law of God

after the inner man,

and serve it with all their hearts;

…

though with the flesh

they serve the law of sin,

… 

But as for wicked, carnal,

and unregenerate men, children of Belial,

they are without this yoke;

…

they cast it off, and do not

choose to have anything to do with it.

…

As for the wicked, says the

Psalmist, they are far from thy law:

far from it, indeed they do not care to

come nigh, or be under it;

they despise it, and cast it away from them.

… 

Instead of its being before them, to read it,

and meditate on it;

instead of

having it before them as the rule of their lives

and actions, they cast it

behind their backs,

determined to have nothing to do with it.

 …

God wrote to them the great things of his law,

but they are reckoned by them

as strange things.

…

Such is the enmity of the carnal mind against God

and his Law, that it is not subject to it,

neither indeed can be;

 there is such a contrariety

between the law of God and a wicked man.

 

The law is Holy, Just, and Good;

but he is carnal, and sold under sin,

in the worst sense of this expression:

it is, I say, quite contrary to him,

 and therefore the natural man disapproves of it,

despises it, casts it away from him;

and everything he does, thwarts

and contradicts this law.

 

 The thoughts

and the imagination of the thoughts of his heart,

are evil,

and that continually, which this law condemns.

 

His words and actions, as they are against the will,

so they are against the law of God;

every sin whatever, in thought, word,

and deed, is a transgression of this law:

 no carnal man is subject to it;

however he may be externally,

yet not internally, from the heart.

 

He cannot be so, unless his heart is changed;

unless the stony heart is taken

away, and an heart of flesh is given:

unless a new and right spirit is

renewed within him,

and the Spirit of God enable him to walk

in the statutes and judgments of the Lord,

to do them.

 

A man must have this law written in his heart,

by the Spirit of God,

or he will never be willing to obey it:

he must be made willing

in the day of the Lord’s power,

or he will never be contented

to hear the yoke of the law,

 but will be a son of Belial,

one that is without a yoke.

 

If this be the case of a wicked man,

as it certainly is,

that he is without the

yoke of God’s righteous law;

then we may be sure he must be without the

yoke of Christ,

and cannot bear that, though our Lord says,

 

Take my yoke upon you,

and I will give you rest for your souls;

 For my yoke is easy,

and my burden is light ( Matthew 11:30).

 

Now let this be understood either of the gospel,

or the ordinances of Christ, or indeed of both,

 

 a son of Belial is without the yoke;

he cannot bear the doctrines of it.

 

The Gospel, when it comes in Power,

and not in word only,

into the heart of a poor sinner,

 brings light and life along with it:

 

 such an one receives the truth in the love of it,

and receives the love of the truth:

 rejoices at it, is greatly delighted with it,

yields a professed subjection to it:

 

and, from the heart,

obeys that form of doctrine delivered to him;

for which the apostle expresses so much thankfulness

with respect to the Romans (Romans 6:17).

 

But to a wicked man, a son of Belial,

this is a galling yoke; he cannot bear it.

 

Of this, and the other Truth, he says,

“This is an hard saying,

who can bear it ?”   

as

The Doctrines of Distinguishing Grace,

The Doctrine of Election,

and others;

SUPERNATUARRLY

REVEALED to MANKIND,

in THE BIBLE, 

particularly

The Doctrine of a  sinner’s

Justification before God,

without the works of the law,

by the

Imputed Righteousness of Christ,

is such a yoke he cannot put his neck

under; he cannot take it upon him.

Self-righteous persons cannot.

 

It is said of the Jews,

they went about

to establish their own righteousness,

and

submitted not to

The Righteousness of the Son of God;

they could not bend

their necks to this doctrine, this yoke,

as it may be called,

even a sinner’s justification before God,

by Christ’s imputed righteousness.

 

The doctrines of the gospel strike

not only at those principles that men value,

but at such practices as they are fond of,

and therefore they cannot bear this yoke:

 

“For the gospel of the grace of God,

which has appeared to all men,

teaches, that denying ungodliness and worldly lust,

men should live

soberly, righteously,

and godly in this present evil world:”

 

but these sons of Belial do not approve of it.

 

A wicked man cannot bear the ordinances of Christ,

though they are not grievous.

 

None of his commands are so to a good man,

one who has received the grace of God;

no, he readily yields obedience to them;

he makes haste (as the Psalmist says he did),

 to keep his commandments

he readily obeys them from the heart;

willingly, cheerfully, from love,

and in faith,

and without trusting to, or depending on,

a submission to these

ordinances in the business

of his justification before God,

and acceptance with him.

 

But wicked men

cannot bear this yoke of Christ’s ordinances;

their language is,

 

Let us break their bands asunder,

and east away their cords from us.

 

 They reject the counsel of God

against themselves,

as the scribes and Pharisees did,

who despised the baptism of John.

 

Thus we see, that this character Belial,

as it signifies one without a yoke,

 agrees with wicked men in common;

 

they are without the yoke

of the chastening hand of God;

without the yoke of the moral law;

 

and without the yoke of the gospel,

and the ordinances of Jesus Christ.

 

 Neither the one nor the other do

they care to submit their necks to.

 

Again, This word Belial, according to others,

signifies one that is unprofitable.

 

And this is the account

the apostle gives of all men in general,

Jews and

Gentiles,

that they are together become unprofitable

(Romans 3:12).

 

A wicked man, a son of Belial,

is unprofitable to God, unprofitable to men,

unprofitable to himself;

and indeed every man is unprofitable to God;

 

for, can a man be profitable to God? says Eliphaz,

 

  as he that is wise may be profitable to himself 

 (Job 22:2); no, he cannot.

 

Even a wise and good man, with all his goodness,

cannot be profitable to God;

for his goodness does not extend to him.

 

David says, My goodness extends not to You

(Psalm 16:2),

 or, can be of no avail to You, God;

for if a man’s way is righteous,

what gain is it to the Lord?

what does he ( God ) receive

at his ( man’s ) hands?

 

Nothing at all

that can be really beneficial to him ( God ),

 so as to lay him ( God ) under any obligation; for

 

who has first given to him ( God ),

and

it shall be recompensed to him ( man ) again?

 (Romans 11:35).

 

When a man has done all he can

in a way of righteousness, he has done but

what was his duty,

and must sit down and call himself

an unprofitable servant

Luke 17: 7, 17:8, 17:9, 17:10, with respect to God.

 

 Now if good men cannot be profitable to God,

certainly wicked men  cannot.  

 

Even though,

Good men may be profitable in glorifying God,

and causing others to glorify him;

or promote the Worship of the True God

as religion by their purses,

 or the gifts bestowed upon them,

but still no man can he profitable to God,

 

 to yield God such benefit

as can add to God’s essential glory and happiness;

for if any addition

could be made to God’s happiness,

he would not be a perfect being as he is.

 

Now if good men,

with all their goodness cannot be profitable to God,

surely wicked men cannot;

they are sons of Belial,

they are abominable in themselves,

and to every good work reprobate:

 nor are they profitable to men.

 

One good man

may be profitable to another,

even to wicked men:

 “the Righteousness of a man

may Profit the son of man,”

as Elihu owns (Job 35:8);

 

 and that is the reason the apostle gives,

as to why those who believe in Christ

should be careful to maintain good works,

  because these thing’s are good

and profitable to men   (Titus 3:8).

 

Though they are not profitable to God,

they are profitable to men;

they set good examples to them:

besides there are many things

in their Anointed Good Works inspired by God

 ( and performed through them, by God )

that are really beneficial to men.

 

Saints are the salt, of the earth:

and if there were no such persons,

the earth would lose its savor,

and be in a sad condition.

 

Many temporal advantages wicked men enjoy,

by means of good men;

and saints, in various ways,

are capable of serving one another in love:

 

but a wicked man, a son of Belial,

is good for nothing;

he is unprofitable

to the generation in which he lives.

 

Evil communications corrupt good manners:  

or men of evil communications,  

that are bad in their lives and conversations,

are hurtful among those with

whom they live, and with whom they converse.

 

They are also unprofitable to themselves.

 

 One that is wise and good,

may be profitable to himself,

as Eliphaz suggests in that aforementioned text,

(Job 22:2).

 

A truly wise man, that is so in a spiritual sense,

may be profitable to himself;

for godliness has gain annexed to it:

 it has the promise of this life,

and of that which is to come.

 

A wise and good man, building his house upon a rock,

is to his advantage;

 the house stands

against blustering storms and rains.

 

A man that has an interest in Christ,

as is the case with every wise and good man,

has gain thereby;

gain that is greater than that of gold and silver.

 

The wise virgins, having oil in their lamps,

it is profitable to them;

for, when the bridegroom comes,

they will not be at a loss for a lamp or oil,

but be invited

to come into the bride chamber with him.

 

But wicked men, the sons of Belial,

are not profitable to themselves;

 

for what fruit (says the apostle) had you

in those things whereof you are not ashamed?

(Romans 6:21); none at all, but quite the reverse.

 

Though a son of Belial, a wicked man, may be able,

by various means, licit or illicit,

to obtain a large share of the things of this life,

what will it be to him?

 

 what will it profit a man

if he gain the whole world,

and lose his own soul?

 

 he is a son of Belial, unprofitable.

 

There is another sense in the term Belial,

at which I have hinted,

and that is, it may signify one that is very low

and never will rise up

from that state to a higher one.

Man, by the fall was brought into a low estate,

a very low estate indeed:

which may be hinted at in the 136th Psalm,

 

( God )

Who remembered us in our low estate;

for his mercy endures forever.

 

Man was upon the pinnacle of honor,

but is become like the beasts that perish.

He is fallen from that pinnacle

into the pit wherein is no water,

into an horrible pit of mire and clay.

 

Some are raised out of it, to an high estate:

the children of God are.

The Lord lifts them up that are cast down;

GOD raises them up that fall:

 

  He raises up the poor out of the dust,  

and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill,

  to set them among princes,

and to make them inherit the throne of glory.  

 

These were raised up in Christ,

when he was raised from the dead:

are raised up in effectual vocation,

when their feet are set upon a rock,

and their goings established;

and will be raised to glory and happiness,

and sit on the same throne with Christ.

 

But these are the children of God:

 

as for the sons of Belial, they will never rise;

they are left in that low estate

into which sin has brought them.

 

One is taken, and the other left (Matthew 24:40).

 

These are the ninety-nine left in the wilderness:

they are left in this low estate,

and here they will live and die;

 

and in Hell, they will lift up their eyes,

and behold Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom.

 

Saints in heaven are in a raised condition;

but the sons of Belial will never rise thither.

 

No, there is a gulf fixed,

the immutable decree of God,

which they cannot pass;

so that they will never rise from their wretched state,

to that high estate of glory the saints are in:

 

 they are sons of Belial, without a yoke; or law,

and will never rise

to that high estate of honor and dignity.

 

These, in our text, are compared to thorns.

The sons of Belial will be as thorns:

to which wicked men

are often compared in Scripture.

 

  Though (says the Lord to Ezekiel)

briars and thorns be with thee,

 be not afraid of them (Ezekiel 2:6):  

though you be among wicked men,

comparable to briars and thorns.

 

So the church of Christ is said to be

as a lily among thorns (Song of Solomon 2:2).

 

Thorns bear into fruit.

 

Can men gather grapes of thorns?

they cannot expect it.

Wicked men are called the

   unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11):

 

they bear no fruit,

have not the fruits of the Spirit of God,

neither His Grace in them,

nor His Righteousness upon them.

 

Like thorns they are hurtful, pricking,

and grieving to the saints and people of God.

 

They are so, by their lives and conversations:

so Lot’s righteous soul was vexed

with the filthy conversation of the wicked;

 

so the lives of Isaac and Rebecca

were made grievous and uneasy

 by the daughters of Heth,

by their manners and behaviors;

 

so David was in very distressing circumstances

 when he dwelt in Meshech,

and sojourned in the tents of Kedar;

 

and so the prophet Isaiah,

by being among a people of unclean lips,

 of which he complains, ( Isaiah 6:5).

 

Wicked men are like thorns to the people of God,

by their evil words and their ill speeches to them:

 

this is what is suggested in the passage

referred to in Ezekiel;

 “be not afraid of their words,

though briars and thorns be with thee:”

 

though the men you are with are like thorns,

pricking, grieving, and

distressing as briars and thorns;

yet be not afraid of them, or of their words.

 

The words of wicked men

are sometimes very sharp and cutting to

the people of God; especially

when they reproach them on the account of

their Worship in the True Religion of God

and in their God, as David says,

 

As with a sword in my bones,

mine enemies reproach me;

while they say to me daily, where is my God?

(Psalm 42:10).

 

So by their persecutions,

in one shape and another,

they are like thorns,

pricking and piercing the saints:

and even there are many sons of Belial,

who are professors of religion,

that are like thorns too;

 

compared to the thorny ground,

among whom the seed of the word is cast,

and which becomes unprofitable,

through the cares of the world

over-topping the seed sown.

 

Such are all those who will be rich,

and who are overreaching

in their business and occupation of life;

of whom it is said,

 

the best of them is a briar;

the most upright of them

is sharper than a thorn hedge ( Micah 7:4).

 

All slothful professors of religion,

who are slothful in business,

not fervent in spirit, serving the Lord,

are like the field of the sluggard,

covered with nettles and thorns.

 

So all such, whose lives and conversations are not as

becomes the gospel of Christ,

 these are as prickling thorns,

very grieving to the true professors of religion,

the children of God; of whom (the apostle says)

 

I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping,

that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ

( Philippians 3:18).

 

In a word, all those who,

by evil principles and bad notions of religion,

apostatize from the truth of the gospel,

are by the apostle compared to the

earth which brings forth thorns and briers,

who are nigh to cursing and

their end to be burned (Hebrews 6:8).

…

 …

Is he, or she,

a murderer from the beginning ?

malicious,

revengeful, blood-thirsty ?

this is their character,

 living in malice, hateful,

and hating one another

(Titus 3:3).

…

For THOSE WHO HATE GOD:

There is Punishment

“you child of the devil,

you enemy of all Righteousness”

*****

10.0.1.1 JESUS Said, “I Will Come Again and Receive you to Myself, that Where I Am: There you May Be also. John 14:1-3”

…

This video is an affirmation of

The Doctrine that Jesus Christ’s Kingdom

(the 1000 years of Revelation 20)

is The Spiritual Reign

of Jesus Christ from Heaven

OVER HIS KINGDOM

of SAVED INDIVIDUALS ON EARTH, 

&

The Spiritual Reign of Jesus Christ from Heaven

is in Existence Now,

until His Second Coming.

…

This video is an examination

of some common contentions

which I once had

and

which many

Premillennialists and Postmillennialists

still have with this position.…

Luke 17:20-21

…

“And when He ( Jesus )

was demanded ( / asked ) of the Pharisees,

when the Kingdom of God should come,

He Answered them and Said,

The Kingdom of God

Comes not with observation:

Neither shall they say,

Lo here! or, lo there!

for, behold,

The Kingdom of God is within you.“

…

Colossians 1:12-13;

…

“Giving thanks unto the Father,

which Has Made us Suitable

to be Partakers of

the Inheritance of the Saints in Light:

Who Has Delivered us

from the power of darkness,

and

Has Translated us

into

The Kingdom of His Dear Son.”

…

The Blessed Hope

in the Last Days.

by Dean Davis.

…
The following is the introduction to the book

The High King of Heaven

Knowing that the Passover was at hand;

Knowing that His Hour had Come

to Depart this World to the Father;

Knowing that He must Leave His Disciples behind

to Continue His Work;

Knowing that they, like him,

would face terrible opposition in doing so;andKnowing that they would need an Unfailing Source of Courage

and Strength to fulfill so difficult a task,

the Lord Jesus Christ—

Faithfully Loving His Own to the End—

Left them with this Unforgettable Promise:

     …

“Let not you heart be troubled:

Believe in God, Believe also in Me.

In My Father’s House

there are many Dwelling-Places.

If it were not so,

would I have Told you

that 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 to Myself,

that Where I Am

There you May Be also.”

  John 14:1-3

…

These are the words of the Heavenly Bridegroom

to His Earthly Betrothed.

…

In the manner of all young Jewish men,

He must briefly leave her behind

in order to Prepare a place for her on His Father’s Estate.

…

Nevertheless, in just a little while He Will Return,

Receive her to Himself,

proudly Escort her to her New Home,

Consummate the Marriage Covenant with unspeakable delight,

and ever after Live Together with her there

in the Infinite Fruitfulness of their Mutual Love.

…

Thus did the Lord Jesus Christ Give His Disciples

—all of His Disciples that follow Him in Scriptural Baptism,

by The Authority of God

and become Believing members of One of Jesus’ churches

—The Gift of Hope.

…

A Blessed Hope

…

The Promise of Jesus Christ’s Coming Again

is no ordinary Hope.

…

His People do not Hope for Jesus Christ’s Coming Again

as they Hope for sunshine on the day of the picnic,

or for the home-team to win the World Series.

…

No, they are actually quite certain of their Lord’s Return.

…

When the Holy Spirit entered their heart,

they were United—through Repentance and Faith-

-with the Ascended Christ.

…

Being thus United,

they were Seated with Him in Heavenly Places,

as we see in Ephesians 2:6;

…

“And Has Raised us Up Together,

and

Made us Sit Together in Heavenly Places

in Christ Jesus”

 …

Being thus seated, they began to survey,

through the lens of Scripture,

God’s Great Plan for the Ages;

the Character and Course of Salvation History.

…

And beholding this, they came to Know

—with absolute certainty—

that as surely as their Lord had Come to Earth a First Time

to Accomplish their Redemption,

so Surely Would He Come Again a Second Time

to Consummate that Redemption;

to Receive them, in Glory, Once and for all,

to Himself

(John 16:13; Heb. 11:1, 7, 13; 1 Peter. 1:3-9).

…

Having pondered it often—and written of it much

—the Apostle Paul referred to

the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

as the Church’s Blessed Hope.

        …

“Because the Grace of God has Appeared,

Bringing Salvation to all men

( Jews AND Gentiles ),

Instructing us to Deny ungodliness and worldly desires,

and

to Live Sensibly, Righteously, and Godly

in the Present Age,

Looking for the Blessed Hope,

even the Appearing of the Glory

of our Great God and Savior, Christ Jesus;

Who Gave Himself for us

that He might Redeem us

from every lawless deed

and

Purify for Himself a People

for His Own Possession,

Zzealous for Good Works.”

— Titus 2:11-14

In the journey before us, Br. Davis’ goal is to plumb the Blessed Hope to its very depths. But before we embark, let us linger for a moment over the phrase itself.

As for the word “hope,” we find throughout the NT that it means a confident expectation of future good, presently seen only by faith (Rom. 8:18-25, Heb. 11:1). Here, the believer’s confidence is rooted in an objective fact, namely, that the future good in store has been promised to them by an omnipotent, covenant-keeping God who is always true to his word. As the apostle Paul put it, the saints enjoy a hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago; and which even now he has made manifest by sending Christ into the world with the good news of the Gospel (Titus 1:2-3, Heb. 6:17-20).

But why is this hope blessed? One answer might be: It is blessed because on the day of Christ’s return he will do so many wonderful things to consummate the happiness of his people. And that is true enough. But a deeper, more penetrating answer would be: It is blessed because, as God’s people contemplate this hope, the Holy Spirit actually gives them a foretaste of the manifold joys they will experience on that Day. Indeed, the Holy Spirit actually gives them a foretaste of the manifold joys that God and Christ themselves will experience on that Day, when the saints fully enter into the joy of their Lord (Mt. 25:21)!

Now, if all this be the case—if, under the Spirit of God, biblical teaching about the Blessed Hope actually puts God’s people in contact with the power and joy of Christ at his return—then two closely related facts immediately become clear.

First, the Blessed Hope must actually be a fountain of manifold blessings; blessings that are meant to equip and empower God’s people for a successful pilgrimage through the howling wilderness of this world; blessings such as eager anticipation, ardent desire, unquenchable curiosity and delight, courage, determination, endurance, self-sacrifice, and evangelistic confidence and effectiveness; blessings that the heavenly Bridegroom surely had in mind when, at his parting, he gave birth to this supernatural hope with his unforgettable word of promise.

But secondly—and quite soberingly—it is equally clear that any confusion about the true character of the Blessed Hope must hinder the work of the Spirit in imparting its attendant virtues; it must stanch the flow of the many-streamed fountain; and so it must grieve the heavenly Groom, whose word, somehow, has missed the mark, and whose Bride therefore now walks weak and wounded through the world.

A Darkened Sun

For at least 1500 years, the historic “Christian Religions”, with the rarest of exceptions, stood united in her understanding of the Blessed Hope. Whether we think of Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, Anglican, Baptist, or Methodist communions, all shared a united vision of the Consummation: Christ Will Come Again ONCE at the end of the present evil age. He will come bodily, visibly, and in power and great glory. He will bring all the holy angels and all the souls of the departed saints in his train. At his arrival in the skies above the earth, he will raise the dead, judge the world in righteousness, destroy the present universe by fire, and turn the wicked (along with Satan and his demons) into hell. And then he will create glorious new heavens and a new earth, the eternal home of the redeemed.

Here was an incomparably simple, clear, majestic, dreadful, and unspeakably soul-strengthening scenario that century after century warned and chastened sinners, even as it anchored and stirred the deepest hopes of the faithful saints.

Today, however, much has changed, especially in evangelical circles. Indeed, over the last 150 years the conservative Protestant consensus on eschatology has largely dissolved, with the result that leaders are unable to agree, and laymen are unable to decide between a bewildering number of competing eschatological options. Small wonder, then, that we find evangelical publishers continually giving books with titles like The Millennial Maze, Contemporary Options in Eschatology, Three Views on the Rapture, and The Revelation: Four Views!

This troubling development raises a number of obvious and important questions. What has gone awry? Why has the historic consensus on eschatology collapsed? How could so many theologians and churchmen of the past have been wrong, if indeed they were wrong? Is biblical eschatology really as difficult as the present divisions seem to indicate? Is it that God is now giving us fresh light on eschatology? Or is it that the Church is now under spiritual attack, and therefore in danger of losing whatever eschatological light she formerly enjoyed?

Br. Davis believes that the answer to these questions is found upon the lips of Christ himself, who once said to his disciples, “An enemy has done this” (Mt. 13:28). That enemy would be the devil and Satan, who, in Revelation 9:1-2, is pictured as a star fallen from heaven to the earth; a malevolent angelic being who opens the shaft of the abyss so that a great a cloud of smoke rises up to darken the sun and the air. Here, then, in the mystical symbolism of the Revelation, we find a warning that in the last days Satan and his army of evil spirits will strive mightily to obscure the truth of God; to cloud the minds of men with errors and lies; to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect; to toss them to and fro, and carry them about with every wind of false doctrine (Mt. 24:24, Eph. 4:14). In short, Br. Davis believes and SHOWS the modern beclouding of the Blessed Hope of Christ’s Church is a sure sign of intense spiritual warfare on “STUDY of THE END TIMES” front.

Counting the Cost

For five weighty reasons, this warfare is costing the saints dearly.

First, it diminishes eschatological clarity. The Bible assures us that our Lord very much desires such clarity for his Church. Having spoken at length to his disciples about the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, he pointedly asked them, “Have you understood these things?” He knew, of course, that they hadn’t, and that they couldn’t until the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit would come to teach them all things. Nevertheless, Christ’s remarks reveal his heart: He wants his people to be clear about biblical eschatology. In particular, he wants them to be clear about the Kingdom of God: its nature, its stages, the meaning of the OT prophecies that foretold it, and the design and structure of the great Consummation that will bring it to completion. In other words, he wants his people to be competent NT scribes, drawing out of the great treasure chest of biblical wisdom things new and old. He wants them to be skillful in using fully digested NT truth to understand, enjoy, and proclaim all that was revealed in OT times (Mt. 13:51-52).

Secondly, to the extent that it diminishes clarity, the present eschatological confusion also diminishes expectancy, confidence, and joy. Again, eschatological truth is meant to unite us spiritually with our Blessed Hope. It is meant to be a conduit through which the beauty, power, majesty, and joy of the Consummation pours into our souls even before the event itself occurs. It should enable us to “exult in the hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2)! If, however, our Blessed Hope is overshadowed by doubt or error, then to that degree expectancy, confidence, and joy must wither away.

Thirdly, the present confusion diminishes comfort in tribulation. All Christians understand that they are appointed to tribulation, (John 16:33, 1 Thess. 3:1-5, Rev. 7:14). Certainly the apostle Paul understood this (Acts 14:22, 20:3, 2 Cor. 11). How, then, did he steel himself against the prospect of such terrible trials? How did he get them into perspective? How did he come to regard them as “light,” almost trivial?

The answer appears throughout his writings: In the midst of all his tribulations, Paul took great comfort in his clear vision of the Blessed Hope; in clearly seeing the unseen things waiting up ahead; in clearly seeing that his present afflictions were not worthy to be compared with the glories soon to come; in clearly seeing and savoring the eschatological blessings lovingly prepared for him in eternity past by a benevolent, sovereign, and omnipotent God (1 Cor. 2:1f, 2 Cor. 4:18, Rom. 8:18). Through Paul we therefore learn that eschatological clarity is crucial; that it is meant to prepare and gird Christ’s Church for her manifold tribulations, putting temporary earthly trials into eternal, heavenly perspective. Small wonder, then, that the enemy of our souls—whom our Lord aptly describes as a thief and a robber—would dearly love to steal that clarity from us (John 10:1).

Fourthly, the current eschatological warfare diminishes power in preaching.  As we know from the Great Commission, the raison d’etre of the Church Militant is to preach the gospel to all nations, so that Christ may gather to himself a believing people, a holy Bride who will live with him forever in the World to Come (Mt. 28:18f, John 10:16, Titus 2:14, Rev. 21:1f). But just as a precious gem needs a worthy metallic setting for the proper display of its glory, so too the glorious message of redemption needs a worthy theological setting. It needs a carefully structured underpinning of closely related biblical doctrines. These include, of course, the doctrines of creation and fall. But they also include the doctrines surrounding the Consummation: Christ’s second coming, the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, and a glorious new world to come. In other words, one cannot “placard” Christ to full effect unless he does so against the backdrop of solid biblical teaching on the Consummation. The Church requires a sound eschatology in order to preach a sound Gospel.

The apostles understood this well. Peter, for example, on the Day of Pentecost, sought to move his Jewish neighbors to repentance and faith by speaking of Christ’s heavenly reign (Acts 2:33-36). Only days later he again sought to do the same, this time by assuring his kinsmen of their Messiah’s soon return, and of the restoration of all things spoken of by all the OT prophets (Acts 3:19-21). Similarly, Paul tried to rouse the slumbering conscience of the idolatrous Athenians by warning them of a coming Day of Judgment before the one true living God, a judgment that will occur at the hand of the risen Christ (Acts 17:31).

As for the apostle John, we read that it was given to him to behold an angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to all the inhabitants of the earth. And what exactly was that Gospel? The answer is surprising: “Fear God, and give him glory, because the hour his judgment has come” (Rev. 14:6-8)! But perhaps it is not so surprising after all. True, this text does not mention redemption by Christ, or justification by faith in him. However, it definitely supplies a powerful motive for trusting in the Redeemer, as well as clear instructions to believers about how they should preach him: They should preach him as the only One who can deliver us from the wrath to come (Mt. 3:7, Luke 3:7, Acts 4:12, 1 Thess. 1:10).

But what if the preacher is confused about the last things? What if he is unsure about “the hour of God’s judgment”: when it is coming, what will happen when it comes, who will do the judging, and what exactly he will do when he so judges? Yes, to the extent that an evangelist is unclear about his eschatology, to that extent his gospel will be truncated, and the power of his message—whether to saints or sinners—will be diminished.

Finally, the present spiritual warfare diminishes the saint’s perception and enjoyment of the glory of Christ and God. This dire consequence is upon us even now because the web of counterfeit “STUDIES of the end times“, which are mascaraing as “eschatologies”, obscure two of the most radiant, mind-expanding, and heart-stirring components of the “mystery” of the Gospel: the heavenly mediatorial reign of Christ, and the Consummation that will seal it up when he comes again at the end of the present evil age. All Christians understand that God was pleased to Glorify His Son (and Himself) by His Righteous life and Atoning death. In the pages ahead, I will argue that GOD THE FATHER is Equally Eager to Glorify His Son (and Himself) by Christ’s Heavenly Reign, and by the Momentous Event that will bring it to a close. That any of these stupendous “STUDY of THE END TIMES” ( eschatological ) realities should be eclipsed in any way is injurious to our Spiritual health, and must therefore be reckoned as a grievous loss for the Lord’s True Churches in their Zeal and Work.

Here, then, is something of the weighty spiritual cost of our present eschatological confusion. By compromising the clarity of the Church’s Blessed Hope, it diminishes her expectation, confidence, joy, comfort in tribulation, power in preaching, and the soul-strengthening vision of the Glory of Christ and God. For a lengthy season we have been paying this price, and have somehow managed to get by. Soon, however, we may not. Soon we will need the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Bad News: We Closed the Door

The bewildering array of “STUDY of THE END TIMES” ( eschatological ) options painfully confirms one of the core teachings of Scripture: We live in a fallen world. Because of indwelling sin in our members, and because of demonic deception, doctrinal error creeps into our theology. Even the most gifted, conscientious, and well-meaning Bible teachers can make mistakes. Worse still, they can stubbornly cling to views in which they are deeply invested, even when those views cannot stand up to thoughtful criticism. And amidst the resulting confusion and controversy, the people themselves grow discouraged: “If the experts can’t agree on GOD’S REVELATION to MANKIND of “THE END TIMES” ( Eschatological Truth ), how can we?” In so speaking, they forget, of course, that God is Pleased to test our Love of His Truth by Making Parts of it a little more difficult to Understand; that in the face of such testing, GOD would not have us to fall into laziness, skepticism, or despair; that instead GOD Wants us to emulate the noble-minded Bereans, who searched the Scriptures daily to see if this or that particular teaching was true; and that THE ETERNAL TRIUNE GODHEAD Promises Richly to Reward those who will do this very thing (Mt 7:7f, Acts 17:1-12, 2 Peter 3:16). And yet, we fall. Therefore, with a little help from our enemies, we ourselves are the ones who close the door on our Blessed Hope.

So let us pray: for our leaders, ourselves, and God’s people everywhere. Let us pray that God would humble us beneath His Mighty Hand; that GOD would Make us Teachable, Dependent, Cooperative, and Diligent; that GOD ALMIGHTY would Sovereignly Apply the Heavenly Salve to our sin-darkened eyes; that GOD HIMSELF would Deliver us from our strong adversary, Clear the air of Satan’s foul smoke, and fill our vision once again with the Radiance of His Truth. In short, let us pray that in these Last Days the Lord of His Churches Will Open the Door once again, Unveiling Afresh the Blessed Hope of His Beloved Bride.

Good News: He Has the Keys!

In The High King of Heaven by Dean Davis, Br. Davis’ goal is to contribute what he can to this worthy end. He has written it in Faith: Faith that our present “STUDY of THE END TIMES” (eschatology) confusion is not the norm; Faith that God Wants us to Understand His Revelation about The Last Things; Faith that we really can Understand His Revelation about The Last Things; and Faith that The Truth about God’s Revelation of The Last Things is not nearly as complicated or difficult as some would have us believe.

In particular, Br. Davis has written in the conviction that God—through Jesus Christ—has supplied us with a number of Master Keys TO THE DIVINE INTERPRETATION of THE BIBLE for apprehending GOD’S “STUDY of THE END TIMES” Truth in its Entirety; that with these keys in hand, we will be able to arrive at deep conviction on such perennial flashpoints of “THE END TIMES”controversy as the nature of the Kingdom of God, the stages of the Kingdom of God appearing in History, the proper interpretation of OT Kingdom prophecy, the meaning of the Millennium of Revelation 20, and—the great prize of all our theological labors—the design and structure of the Consummation.

Yes, the Lord Jesus Himself Holds the Master Keys TO THE DIVINE INTERPRETATION of THE BIBLE for apprehending GOD’S “STUDY of THE END TIMES” Truth in its Entirety about all the crucial themes to STUDY GOD’S REVELATION to MANKIND of “THE END TIMES”. And if GOD ALMIGHTY is Pleased to Place them in our hands, we shall once again be able to open the door, pass through, and find that we have rejoined our evangelical forefathers in an Astonishingly Beautiful and Majestic world whose very air intoxicates with Delight, Joy, Hope, and the Power to Serve.

Conclusion

In this Introduction to The High King of Heaven by Dean Davis, Br. Davis has suggested that evangelical confusion about “THE END TIMES” ( eschatology ) is a sure sign of spiritual warfare on the theological front. But in a further effort to encourage you to enter the struggle for eschatological truth, he suggests that it is also a sign of something else, and something far better: The High King of Heaven is Returning Soon!

In the pages of The High King of Heaven, Br. Davis gives his reasons for believing this is so. And if it is so, one thing is sure: The final theological struggle will be both fierce and painful. That does not necessarily mean, however, that it will be bad. As Martin Luther famously said, “The devil is God’s devil.” In other words, if Satan is indeed attacking the Churches of The Lord Jesus Christ on the eschatological front, regarding the STUDY of GOD’S REVELATION to MANKIND concerning “THE END TIMES”, it is only because a Good, Wise, and Sovereign God is Pleased to Let Satan do so, Knowing that those attacks will Redound not only to the Greater Glory of Jesus Christ, but also to the Greater Good of His People (Rom. 8:28-29).

Now, in the case before us, what exactly might that “Greater Good” be? Drawing generously from the words of the New Testament, Br. Davis’ answer would go something like this:

In these last days, there must be eschatological factions among us, so that good Bereans everywhere, hungry for eschatological truth, might search the Scriptures daily to find out which view is right (Acts 17:11); so that the school of eschatological thought approved by the Lord may finally be recognized for what it is by the true spiritual Church (1 Cor. 11:9); so that God’s people may at last attain to the unity of the faith in the area of eschatology (Eph. 4:13); so that in the dark and difficult days just prior to Christ’s return, the saints will neither be deceived (Mt. 24:23-24), nor quickly shaken from their composure (2 Thess. 2:1-2), nor tossed to and fro by every wind of eschatological doctrine (Eph. 4:14); so that, on the contrary, they will stand strong, joyous, and hopeful, even amidst the most severe tribulations, which is a sure sign of salvation for them, but also of destruction for their enemies (Mt. 10:22, Phil. 1:28, 1 Thess. 1:4); so that in boldly holding forth the whole counsel of God—all the words of this life—they might effectively gather in what remains of God’s elect (Acts 20:27, Phil. 2:16, 2 Tim. 2:10); so that in the end, when the High King finally does appear in glory, they may be confident and unashamed, with eyes fixed steadfastly upon the heavens (1 Pet. 1:13, 1 John 2:28); so that having thoroughly sanctified them  by the washing of water with his Word, he might present them to himself a glorious Bride, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish before him, world without end (John 17:17, Eph. 5:25-7). Amen.

From The High King of Heaven by Dean Davis.

*****

10.3.1 THE SEPARATE STATE OF THE SOUL UNTIL THE RESURRECTION in which EVERY INDIVIDUAL’S SOUL Continues to “LIVE”, AFTER THEIR BODY’S “DEATH” ON EARTH.

AWARE of The GODHEAD 10.3.1

…

Psalm 9:17;

“The Wicked Will Be

Turned into Hell,

and

All the Nations

that forget God.”

…

THE SEPARATE

STATE OF THE SOUL

UNTIL THE RESURRECTION,

AND

THE ACTIVITY AN INDIVIDUAL’S SOUL

IS ENGAGED IN WHILE THEIR SOUL

IS IN THE STATE

OF BEING

SEPARATED FROM THEIR BODY

AFTER THEIR DEATH ON EARTH

UNTIL THE RESURRECTION,

WHEN THE SOUL AND BODY

ARE REUNITED

( TO LIVE ETERNALLY SOMEWHERE;

ETHER HEAVEN OR HELL ).

…

That the Soul Exists in a Future State,

after the Death of the Body,

has been abundantly proved

in the preceding chapter.

…

Our business of 

THE SEPARATE

STATE OF THE SOUL

UNTIL THE RESURRECTION

is to show,

that the Soul, immediately after Death,
Enters into a State of Happiness or Woe.

…

The Soul, immediately after Death,

Enters into a State of Happiness or Woe.

in which

THE SOUL of EVERY INDIVIDUAL

Continues to “Live”

in that State of Happiness or Woe,

until the Resurrection of the Body.

…

During that Interval,

until the Resurrection of the Body,

in which

THE SOUL of EVERY INDIVIDUAL

Continues to “Live”

in that State of Happiness or Woe.

…

THE SOUL of EVERY INDIVIDUAL

 is not in a State of Insensibility

OR Inactivity;

but

THE SOUL of EVERY INDIVIDUAL

is Active and Engaged in Various Applications

of the Faculties Within THEIR SOUL

During that Interval

After The Death of the Body,

until the Resurrection of the Body.

…

We will explain what the

Various Applications of the Faculties

Within THEIR SOUL are

During that Interval,

until the Resurrection of the Body,

in which

THE SOUL of EVERY INDIVIDUAL

Continues to “Live”

in that State of Happiness or Woe,

AFTER DEATH ON EARTH.

…

10.3.1. First,

as soon as the Body is Dead,

The Soul Immediately

Enters into a Separate State

of

ETERNAL

Happiness or Misery.

…

The wise man, Solomon,

after a description of Death,

and

a description of

the symptoms of Death,

in a most beautiful

and

striking manner; adds,

“Then Will the Dust

Return to the Earth.”

…

At Death,

“the Dust”,

which is the Body;

& is Composed of Dust and Earth,

will Return to its Original Dust and Earth,

and

“the Dust”

which is the Body,

Composed of Dust and Earth,

is Interred in THE EARTH,

where 

the Dead Body Sleeps,

until the Resurrection.

…

“The Spirit,”

or Soul,

which is a Spiritual, Immaterial,

and

Immortal Substance,

within Each Human Being,

“Will Return,”

even Immediately,

as Soon as the Body 

Becomes a Lifeless Lump of Clay,

“to God that Gave It;”

…

The spirit of man within him,

THAT IS: EVERY INDIVIDUAL’S

Immaterial,and

Immortal Spirit, or Soul

WILL RETURN

“to God that Gave It”,

since it is

The ETERNAL TRUINE GODHEAD

WHO GAVE EACH SOUL,

to the sons of men.

…

IT IS THE ETERNAL

TRIUNE GODHEAD,

as to the Original Proprietor

AND

CREATOR of THEIR SOUL,

to Whom 

EVERY INDIVIDUAL’S

Immaterial,and

Immortal Spirit, or Soul

Returns,

as soon as,

THEIR SOUL

Leaves their Body,

upon the

DEATH OF THEIR BODY,

on Earth.

 …

IT IS THE ETERNAL

TRIUNE GODHEAD,

as to

The Original Proprietor

CREATOR AND GIVER

of THEIR SOUL,

 to Whom

EVERY INDIVIDUAL’S

Immaterial,and

Immortal Spirit, or Soul

IS

Accountable for All of the Actions

THEY HAVE DONE

in THEIR BODY ON EARTH.

…

EVERY INDIVIDUAL’S

Immaterial,and

Immortal Spirit, or Soul

WILL BE

Summoned and Gathered

by

THE ETERNAL

TRIUNE GODHEAD,

as to the Original Proprietor,

CREATOR and GIVER

of THEIR SOUL,

and

WILL BE

Carried by The Angels

BACK TO

THE ETERNAL

TRIUNE GODHEAD.

…

AS SOON AS,

EACH INDIVIDUAL’S

Immaterial,and

Immortal Spirit, or Soul

is

Summoned, Gathered

and

Carried by The Angels

Back to

THE ETERNAL

TRIUNE GODHEAD:

a Particular,

Personal Judgment

is Passed upon

EVERY INDIVIDUAL’S SOUL,

at that Time.

…

BECAUSE:

“after this,”

that is, “Death”,

Comes

“Judgment”.

…

“Judgment”

 TAKES PLACE AT ONCE,

AFTER THE DEATH of THE BODY

on EARTH:

WHEN: a Particular,

Personal Judgment

Passes upon

EVERY INDIVIDUAL’S SOUL.

…

Though The General Judgment

OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS

Will Not Be until

The Resurrection of the Dead,

That General Judgment

ON AN INDIVIDUAL’S SOUL

WILL ALSO BE

According to the Sentence

Passed on the Soul,

at its Particular Judgment.

…

The Souls

of

INDIVIDUAL HUMAN BEINGS

FOUND TO BE WICKED

and

WITHOUT

THE BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST

TO

Spiritually

Cleanse their Soul from Sin,

are Sent Down to Hell,

and

CAST into HELL,

FOREVER.

…

INDIVIDUAL HUMAN BEINGS

FOUND TO BE WICKED,

According to the Sentence

Passed on the Soul,

at Their Particular Judgment,

BY THE ALL KNOWING

ALMIGHTY GOD of THE UNIVERSE.

TO BE

WITHOUT

THE BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST

TO:

Spiritually

Cleanse their Soul from Sin,

ARE COMMITTED

to THIS PRISON of ETERNAL HELL 

and

That INDIVIDUAL PERSON’S

WICKED SOUL

WILL REMAIN in HELL

Until

The Judgment of the Great Day.

…

FOR THE ALL KNOWING

ALMIGHTY GOD of THE UNIVERSE

TO COMMIT

 an INDIVIDUAL PERSON’S

WICKED SOUL

to

THE ETERNAL PRISON of HELL,

According to the Sentence

Passed on their Soul,

at Their Particular Judgment

 that Takes Place at Once

AFTER THE DEATH of THE BODY

on EARTH,

WHERE THEIR SOUL

 REMAINS in HELL

Until

The Judgment of the Great Day.

has Been the Case

from the

Beginning of the World.

…

We witness the spirits in Prison,

who were Disobedient

in the Times of Noah, where

 INDIVIDUAL

WICKED SOULS

WERE COMMITTED

by

THE ALL KNOWING

ALMIGHTY GOD of THE UNIVERSE

to

THE ETERNAL PRISON of HELL.

…

We witness

the Wicked of All Nations

in the World,

in All Ages,

as asserted by David, where

 INDIVIDUAL

WICKED SOULS

WERE COMMITTED

by

THE ALL KNOWING

ALMIGHTY GOD of THE UNIVERSE

to

THE ETERNAL PRISON of HELL

and

We witness

that without respect to persons,

rich or poor;

the rich Wicked man Died,

and

in Hell lift up his eyes,

according to

The Parable of our Lord, where

 that INDIVIDUAL

WICKED SOUL

WAS COMMITTED

by

THE ALL KNOWING

ALMIGHTY GOD of THE UNIVERSE

to

THE ETERNAL PRISON of HELL.

(1 Peter 3:19; Psalm 9:17; Luke 16:22).

…

1 Peter 3:19;

“By which also He

( JESUS )

Went and Preached

to the spirits in Prison”.

…

Psalm 9:17;

“The Wicked Will Be

Turned into Hell,

and

All the Nations

that forget God.”

…

Luke 16:22;

“And it Came to Pass,

that the beggar Died,

and

Was Carried by The Angels

into Abraham’s Bosom:

the rich man also Died,

and

was Buried.”

…

“And in Hell

he lifted up his eyes,

being in Torments,

and

saw Abraham afar off,

and

Lazarus in his bosom.

…

“24 And he cried and said,

Father Abraham,

have Mercy on me,

and

send Lazarus,

that he may dip

the tip of his finger in water,

and cool my tongue;

for

I am

Tormented in this Flame.

…

“25 But Abraham said,

Son, remember that you

in your Lifetime

Received your good things,

and

likewise Lazarus evil things:

but

now he is comforted,

and

you Are Tormented.

…

“26 And beside all this,

between us and you

there is a Great Gulf Fixed:

so that they

which would pass

from here to you cannot;

neither can they pass to us,

that would come from there.

…

“27 Then he said,

I pray you therefore, father,

that thou would

send him to my father’s house:

…

“28 Because I have five brethren;

that he may testify to them,

unless they also Come

into

This Place of Torment.

…

“29 Abraham said to him,

They have Moses

and

The Prophets;

let them hear them.

…

“30 And he said,

No, father Abraham:

but if one went to them

from the Dead,

they will Repent.

…

“31 And he said to him,

If they Do Not Hear Moses

and

The Prophets,

neither will they be Persuaded,

though one rose from the dead.”

…

And the Souls of

SAVED INDIVIDUAL’S

WHO HAVE

COMMITTED THEIR SOULS

to

THE BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST

ALSO:

Return to God at Death

AND: are Retained by GOD ALMIGHTY,

into Whose Hands, at Death,

  SAVED INDIVIDUAL’S

COMMIT THEIR SOULS.

…

SAVED INDIVIDUAL’S

WHO HAVE

COMMITTED THEIR SOULS

to

THE BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST

and

Have Had

THEIR SOUL

Spiritually Cleansed

FROM

THEIR PERSONAL SINS

are Immediately Admitted

into

THE PRESENCE

of

THEIR  CREATOR

and

The Fulness of Joy

THERE IN HEAVEN.

…

SAVED INDIVIDUAL’S

WHO HAVE

COMMITTED THEIR SOULS

to

THE BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST

and

Have Had

THEIR SOUL

Spiritually Cleansed

FROM

THEIR PERSONAL SINS,

DURING THEIR LIFETIME

ON EARTH,

 Will Remain in

THE PRESENCE

of

THEIR  CREATOR

and

The Fulness of Joy

THERE IN HEAVEN

until

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ,

TO EARTH,

when

JESUS Will Bring them with Him,

Raise their Bodies,

and

Reunite their Souls and Bodies.

…

SAVED INDIVIDUAL’S

WHO HAVE

COMMITTED THEIR SOULS

to

THE BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST

and

Have Had

THEIR SOUL

Spiritually Cleansed

FROM

THEIR PERSONAL SINS,

DURING THEIR LIFETIME

ON EARTH

WILL BE THOSE SAVED SAINTS

who JESUS Brings them with Him,

at

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ,

TO EARTH,

and

THEN: Raises their Bodies,

and

Reunites their Souls and Bodies,

WHO Will Be

WITH

JESUS FOREVER,

REUNITED in BOTH

their Souls and Bodies.

…

Whereas

the Immediate State

of the Wicked after Death,

is but

Sparingly Spoken of in Scripture;

The IMMEDIATE STATE

  of SAVED SOULS

is more Plentifully

Recorded in Scripture.

…

Therefore,

AFTER THE DEATH of THEIR BODY,

The Proof of the 

IMMEDIATE STATE OF SAVED SOULS,

WHO HAD

COMMITTED THEIR SOULS

to

THE BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST,

will be primarily attended to, next,

in AWARE of The GODHEAD 10.3.1a.

*****

Adapted from

A Body of Doctrinal Divinity

Book 7—Chapter 3

Of the Separate State of the Soul

until the Resurrection,

and its Employment in that State.

*****

 

 

The body of every man is First Formed, and then the Soul is Created in the body by God WHO “Formed the spirit of man within him.”

That the Soul of man
is Immortal
may be proven:
…

10.2.1 The Soul of man is Immortal
may be First proven,
from the consideration of
the Soul itself,
and
the Soul’s Origin,
Nature, Powers, and Faculties.
…
10.2.1a. First, the Origin of
EACH of THE SOUL’S
of Individual Human Beings
is not of men.
…
The Origin of
EACH of THE SOUL’S
of Individual Human Beings
is not “ex traduce,”
or by generation from parents,
as has been proved elsewhere;
…
“What is born of the flesh,
is flesh;”
and
is not only carnal
and sinful,
but,
frail and mortal.
…
“All flesh is grass,”
withering, decaying, and corruptible,
as grass is:
but the spirit, or soul,
is from God.

…
The breath of Life
is the Very Breath of God.
…
And the breath of Life
has a similarity to Him,
particularly in Immortality;
“God Breathed into man
the Breath of Life,
and he Became a Living Soul,”
Immortal and Never Dying
(Gen. 2:7).
…
Elihu says (Job 33:4),
“The Breath of the Almighty
Has Given me Life,”
a Life that Will Never End:
…
And just as the First man,
Adam,
Was Made when
“God Breathed into man
the Breath of Life,
and he Became a Living Soul,”
so are Adam’s posterity
( ALL of THE HUMAN RACE );
…
Adam’s body was
Formed Out of the dust;
and then a Living, Immortal Soul
was Breathed into Adam’s body.
…
IN THE SAME METHOD
the body of every man
is First Formed,
and then the Soul
is Created in the body
of every Living Human Being;
…
FOR THAT REASON:
God is Described,
as GOD that
“Formed the spirit of man
within him”
( ZECHARIAH 12:1),
and as God is
the Former of the souls of men,
so GOD is the Supporter
of Every Created Soul.
…

GOD

Upholds their souls in Vital Life;
as the THE SOUL
of EVERY HUMAN BEING
has their Being
and
their Life from GOD,
THE SOUL
of EVERY HUMAN BEING
is Maintained by GOD.
…
The Souls of men
are not dependent on their bodies,
and
therefore
THE SOUL DOES NOT DIE
when
THE BODY DIES.

…

Adapted from

A Body of Doctrinal Divinity

Book 7—Chapter 2

Of the Immortality of the Soul

…

 

THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL Means that The SOUL DOES NOT DIE. THE SOUL SURVIVES THE BODY. When the Body Dies, The Soul Returns to God.

THE IMMORTALITY

OF THE SOUL.

Aware of The GODHEAD 10.2

SOUL DOES NOT DIE.
…
THE SOUL
SURVIVES THE BODY
…
Although the body dies, and when it dies,
the SOUL DOES NOT DIE.
…
THE SOUL SURVIVES THE BODY.
…
THE SOUL of EVERY INDIVIDUAL
survives the body.
…
And not only
DOES THE SOUL OF
every individual
lives after the body dies,
but
THE SPECIFIC, PERSONAL SOUL
THAT WAS GIVEN
TO EVERY INDIVIDUAL
WHO HAS EVER LIVE, BY GOD,
Lives Forever.
…
THE SOUL
THE SPECIFIC, PERSONAL SOUL
THAT GOD GAVE EVERY HUMAN BEING
THAT EVER LIVED
Never Dies.
…
Although the body without the Soul
is Dead,
yet the Soul
without the body
is Not Dead
.
…
When the body
returns to the Earth and dust,
from whence it came,
the Soul Returns to God.
…
THE SOVEREIGN
LORD GOD ALMIGHTY
WAS
the Immediate Author
and Giver
of
EVERY LIVING “SOUL”.
…
The Physical body
of an Individual Human Being
may be killed by men,
but
the Soul
of Individual Human Being
that was
CREATED AND GIVEN THEM
by GOD ALMIGHTY,
WAS NOT KILLED.
…
No man has any power
over KILLING A “SOUL”.
…
None but God
WHO CREATED EVERY SOUL
of EVERY MEMBER of MANKIND
“Could Possibly have”
ANY SO-CALLED “ABILITY”
to “KILL A SOUL”.
…
WHEN, IN ABSOLUTE FACT,
WITHIN THE SPIRITUAL
REALM of REALITY,
( WHICH is HIGHER THAN
THE “NORMAL EVERYDAY FACTS”
within this Temporary Existence Called,
“LIFE on EARTH”,
The Soul whether LOST in SIN,
OR,
SAVED By The BLOOD of JESUS
is Immortal.
…
A SOUL
is not capable of death.
…
That is, in a natural
and proper sense,
WHEN WE SPEAK of A SOUL
IN THE SPIRITUAL
REALM of EXISTENCE
NOT BEING SUBJECT to:
this Temporary Existence,
i.e., IN SPIRITUAL REALITY:

“A SOUL” is Not Capable
of “Death”.
…
HOWEVER,
IN THE “SECOND DEATH”,
An ETERNALLY LOST “SOUL”
is capable of Dying,
in a figurative sense.
…
IN THE “SECOND DEATH”,
An ETERNALLY LOST “SOUL”
DOES “DIE”
a moral or spiritual death,
MEANING THAT:
THAT “SOUL”
REMAINS MORALLY
AND
SPIRITUALLY
DEAD
with Respect to that “SOUL’S”
EXISTENCE
in RELATIONSHIP to
The ONE AND ONLY
TRUE AND LIVING GOD.
…
That SOUL
is DEAD to GOD,
while still “alive”,
AND
“LIVING”
an
IMMORTAL EXISTENCE
in
THE STATE
of
ETERNAL DEATH.
…
The LOST SOUL
that is
“LIVING”
an
IMMORTAL EXISTENCE
in
THE STATE
of
ETERNAL DEATH
brought on by sin.
…
The LOST SOUL
that is
“LIVING”
an
IMMORTAL EXISTENCE
in
THE STATE
of
ETERNAL DEATH
brought on by sin
IS “LIVING”
an
IMMORTAL EXISTENCE
BECAUSE of the
INHERENT POWERS
and
FACULTIES of EACH SOUL
GOD CREATED;
however,
THE STATE
of
ETERNAL DEATH
brought on by sin
OF THAT LOST SOUL
lies in a Deprivation
AND LACK
of its Moral Rectitude,
Righteousness, or Holiness.
…
THAT SOUL is LOST, BLIND
and SPIRITUALLY DEAD,
WITHOUT
THE INDWELLING PRESENCE
of THE HOLY SPIRIT;
even though that Soul
Was Created by God.
…
THE SOUL of
A LOST INDIVIDUAL
is Capable
of an Eternal Death,
which is the Destruction
of ANY BLESSING
HAVING BEEN ENJOYED
( in this Lifetime )
by
THAT Created SOUL
in Hell.
…
SO,
That Lost Soul
IS NOT DESTROYED
of its substance,
but of its Peace, Joy,
and Happiness Forever.
…
When it is said,
that the Soul is Immortal,
it must be understood,
that it is so in
THE NATURE of
ALL CREATED SOULS;
and
“A SOUL”
is not liable to Death,
either
from any thing within itself
or without it:
…
AND YET, EVEN THOUGH
“A SOUL”
is not liable to Death,
either
from any thing within itself
or without it:
“A SOUL”
DOES NOT HAVE
“THE SAME IMMORTALITY”
as God Himself Has,
“Who Only Has Immortality”
…
GOD has IMMORTALITY
THAT ORIGINATES FROM:
Himself:
…
Angels,
and the Souls of men,
have their Immortality
FROM GOD ALMIGHTY.
…
GOD Has Made Angels,
and
the Souls of men Immaterial
and
Immortal Spirits.
…

ALMIGHTY GOD’S Immortality
is Without Beginning.
…
And ALMIGHTY GOD’S Immortality
HAS NO prior cause of it.
…
Angels,
and
the Souls of men
have a beginning from God,
AS GOD IS
the First Cause of
THE CREATION of Angels,
and
the Souls of men.
…
GOD’S IMMORTALITY
is Independent.
…
The Immortality of Angels,
and
The Immortality of
the Souls of men
depend on
THE ETERNAL LORD GOD,
in Whom
they Live, and Move,
and
Have their Being.

…..

10.10.3 THE WRATH of GOD HAS Consumed Cain, Pharaoh & Judas in HELL.

Not only the heathen poets,

who made not claim to Jesus,

but the more serious

and supposed wiser sort

of the heathens,

believed these things,

REGARDING

an ETERNAL HELL.

…

Caesar was reproved by Cato,

when Caesar derided

punishments after death;

and spoke as if

there were neither joys

nor torments

beyond death ,

but that

“death puts an end to all”.

…

Many of the philosophers

wrote of things done in

“hades,” or hell.

…

And Plato

denies that Death

is the last thing,

but says that

the Punishments of Hell

are the last;

and

Plato says all the same things

that the poets do.

…

Plato even declares

the Punishments of Hell

to be Rational,

and not fables:

…

Arnobius, an ancient

defender of the Christians

against the heathens, says,

“Dare ye deride us

when we speak of Hell,

and of Unquenchable Fire,

into which we know

Souls are Cast?

…

“Does not your Plato

say the same,

in his book

of the Immortality of the Soul?

…

“Does he not make mention of

the rivers Acheron, Styx, Cocytus,

and

Periphlegeton,

in which he asserts

Souls are Rolled,

Plunged, and Burnt?”

…

Epicurus thought

the Punishment of Hell

to be a poetical figment.

…

Same with Horace,

who was an Epicurean, says,

“Morsultima linea rerum est,”

or

Death is the last line of things.

…

But Zeno the Stoic

believed and taught,

that the Godly and ungodly

will have different habitations;

the one Delightful,

and

the other uncomfortable.

…

Indeed,

some of the Stoic philosophers

derided these things;

…

But then it is thought

they only meant

the fables of the poets about them,

since their founder,

as now observed,

believed and taught them.

…

Hierocles, a Pythagorean

and Platonic philosopher,

speaks of εν αδου κολαστηρια,

“Punishments in Hell.”

…

Aware of The GODHEAD 10.10.1a2.

***

A State of Punishment

in The Hereafter,

appears from the impressions

of guilt and wrath

on the Consciences of men now,

for sins committed,

being struck

with the fear of Future Judgment,

and of

Punishment that Will Follow.

…

The impressions of guilt

and wrath

on the Consciences of men now,

for sins committed,

being struck

with the fear of Future Judgment

is observable in heathens themselves,

whose consciences accuse,

or excuse, one another.

…

So, as Cicero says,

“Every man’s sins distress him;

their evil thoughts

and consciences terrify them;

…

“these, to the ungodly,

are their daily and domestic furies,

which haunt them day and night.”

…

As well as,

the impressions of guilt

and wrath

on the Consciences of men now,

for sins committed,

being struck

with the fear of Future Judgment

which may be observed

in Cain,

Pharaoh,

Judas,

and

other wicked persons.

…

In these and other wicked persons

there was nothing

but

a fearful looking for

of Fiery Indignation,

which

HAS and WILL

Consume

Cain,

Pharaoh, Judas,

and

other wicked persons

in Hell.

…

And these

REAL INDIVIDUAL

LOST PEOPLE

WHO ARE IN HELL, NOW,

are Emblems,

Earnests, Presages,

and

PLEDGES of

THE WRATH of GOD

to COME.

…

Yet, there are sometimes,

that even these impressions

of

The JUST TERROR

of HELL

are experienced in good men,

WHO HAVE BEEN SAVED,

which still bear

in their fleshly experience

a resemblance to these

Impressions of Guilt

and

Wrath

which Have and Will

Ultimately Consume

Lost people in HELL

for sins committed,

AGAINST GOD

who Never Saught Forgiven.

…

We see even these

SAVED INDIVIDUALS

IN THE WORD of GOD

while they

are under the sense of their sins,

as even they too are struck

with the

Fear

ASSOCIATED

with

THE JUSTICE

of Future Judgment.

…

Even some of these Godly Souls

whom God has Saved

“seemed” to apprehended themselves

in a condition similar to

a fearful looking

for of Fiery Indignation,

because

The Reality of sin

convinces our conscience

of

The Justice of God,

AGAINST WHOM

WE HAVE SINNED

and how that ether

HELL

WILL BE THE RESULT

of an Individual’s soul

AGAINST GOD

OR,

SALVATION

WILL BE THE RESULT

of an Individual’s soul

AGAINST GOD,

FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS

FOR WHOM GOD

HAS POURED OUT

HIS JUSTICE

AND

WRATH UPON

JESUS.

…

Here we see

SAVED SOULS

Under the Conviction

of their sins

and

feeling in their Body

and Soul,

as if they

“DESERVE HELL.”

…

as David did,

in Psalms 116:3;

“The sorrows of Death

encompassed me,

and the pains of Hell

got a hold upon me:

I found trouble and sorrow.”

and

we see Heman the Ezrahite,

in Psalms 88:6, 7, 15, 16;

“You have Laid me

in the Lowest Pit,

in Darkness, in the Deeps.
…

“Your Wrath Lies Hard on me,

and You have Afflicted me

with All Your Waves.

Selah...

“…I am Afflicted

and ready to die

from my youth up:

…

“while I suffer Your Terrors

I am distracted.

…

“Thy Fierce Wrath

Goes Over me;

…

“Your Terrors

have cut me off.”

…

as well as Jonah

in Jonah 2:2; 

“And said,

I cried

by reason of my affliction

to the LORD,

and He Heard me;

…

“out of the belly of Hell

cried I,

and

You Heard my voice.”

*****

Adapted from

THE JOHN GILL, DOCTOR of DIVINITY

 ARCHIVE

THE BODY of DOCTRINAL DIVINITY,

THE BODY of PRACTICAL DIVINITY

&

EXPOSITION of The BIBLE

*****

10.10.2 The ETERNAL SITUATION INVOLVING PUNISHMENT and the Spiritual Reality of Hell Fire.

10.10.2

GOD ALMIGHTY Proves

that there will be an

ETERNAL SITUATION

INVOLVING PUNISHMENT

of wicked men, women, boys and girls,

in the

“AFTERLIFE”,

THE “HEREAFTER”,

THE Future World

from

the “Revelation”

that all Human Beings

Gather Intellectually

and

Observed from the nature

‘of things in the World’

and

even among the heathen

UNBELIEVERS,

SUCH AS ?

…

The heathen

UNBELIEVERS Seen in:

“GOVERNMENT”

…

“NEWSPAPERS”

…

“SCHOOLS”

…

“UNIONS”

…

“TELEVISION PROGRAMS”

…

“CABLE NEWS

& PROGRAMS”

…

“MOVIES”

…

“ETC.”

…

GET THE IDEA ?

Everybody Talks about it.

Even Lost Preachers

&

Anti-Christ “Christian”

Religious Organizations.

…

not much, though…

“The Bible” is not their thing,

any more than it is

the REST of The LOST World’s “thing”.

…

GOD ALMIGHTY Proves

that there will be an

ETERNAL SITUATION

INVOLVING PUNISHMENT

of wicked men, women, boys and girls,

in the

“AFTERLIFE”,

THE “HEREAFTER”,

THE Future World

in the “Revelation”

that is REVEALED to ALL MEN

and is shown as being owned

and spoken of,

not only by poets,

but by philosophers,

and those the more wise,

grave,

and serious among people,

THROUGHOUT HISTORY.

…

The poets, indeed,

say many fabulous things

of their, “Pluto”,

their king of hell;

&

of Rhadamanthus,

and others

as

being “judges” there

in “the hell” they speak about,

as something they gather exists.

…

The poets from history speak

of Charon the ferry man,

and

of the infernal rivers;

yet

under these fables

some Truth lies disguised.

…

Tertullian,

charges the heathens

with borrowing these things

from the sacred writings,

when he says;

…

“When we speak of God

as a Judge,

and

present men

with the

Spiritual Reality of Hell Fire,

we are laughed at;

but, he says,

the poets and the philosophers

erect a tribunal in hell,

and speak of a river of fire there:

…

where, says he,

I beg you, tell me where they

have invented such things like these,

except from reading these mysteries

Revealed by

the Word of God ?”

…

But not only those poets,

but the more serious

and

supposed wiser sort of the heathens,

believed these things,

REGARDING

an ETERNAL HELL.

…

10.10.1 Whoever was Not Found Written in the Book of Life was Cast into the Lake of Fire.

 WHEN:

The Judgment is Finished,

“There is Punishment”,

IN STORE

FOR THOSE WHO HATE GOD.

…

AWARE of The GODHEAD 10.10.1

…

THE FINAL STATE

of the WICKED IN HELL.

…

When the Judgment is Finished,

and the Sentence is Pronounced,

BY THE ONE AND ONLY

TRIUNE GODHEAD,

the wicked will go into

“Everlasting Punishment,”

(Matthew 25:46).

…

That Punishment

EXECUTED BY ALMIGHTY GOD

ON

the Wicked

WHO will GO

into

“Everlasting Punishment,”

Will Be

AS GOD HAS EXPLAINED TO US

IN HIS REVEALED WORDS,

as well as

the Duration of HELL.

…

The Everlasting Punishment

in Hell.

…

ALLOW US, OH MIGHTY GOD,

to explore intelligently

YOUR REVELATIONS TO MANKIND,

Regarding, “the Punishment”,

that YOU HAVE IN STORE

FOR THOSE WHO HATE YOU.

…

10.10.1

PROOF # 1.

…

First, GOD ALMIGHTY Proves

that there will be an

ETERNAL SITUATION

INVOLVING PUNISHMENT

of wicked men, women, boys and girls,

in the “AFTERLIFE”,

THE “HEREAFTER”,

THE Future World.

…

There is a PURE, BONA-FIDE,

IN-STAGE

Punishment of the wicked

in their Souls,

which takes place at Death.

…

ETERNAL

Punishment of the Wicked

in their Souls,

THAT IS EXECUTED

ON THEIR SIN-CURSED SOULS,

BY THE SOVEREIGN

GOD of The UNIVERSE

which takes place at The Death

of EVERY LOST SOUL WITHOUT GOD,

Appears TO US,

AS ALMIGHTY GOD

HAS REVEALED TO MANKIND,

from

the Parable of

“the rich man”,

…

in Luke 16:23

…

“And in hell

he lifted up his eyes,

being in torments”

…
Which describes the place of torment, and the miserable state the Scribes and Pharisees, as all wicked men, enter immediately into upon death, ( Psalms 9:17 ) who in their lifetime were blind, and are called blind guides, blind watchmen, blind leaders of the blind, and who were given up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart;

…

but in hell their eyes are opened, and they see their mistakes about the Messiah, and find themselves in torments, under dreadful gnawings, and remorse of conscience;

…

and having a terrible sensation of divine wrath, their worm dies not, and their fire is not quenched: or this may regard the vengeance of God on the Jews, at the destruction of Jerusalem;

…

when a fire was kindled against their land, and burned to the lowest hell;

…

and consumed the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains;

…

and the whole land became brimstone, salt, and burning;

…

and they were rooted out of it in anger, wrath, and great indignation;

…

see ( Deuteronomy 29:23 Deuteronomy 29:27 Deuteronomy 29:28 ) ( 32:22 ) or rather, the dreadful calamities which came upon them in the times of Adrian at Bither;

…

when their false Messiah Bar Cochab was taken and slain, and such multitudes of them were destroyed in the most miserable manner, when that people, who before had their eyes darkened, and a spirit of slumber and stupidity fallen upon them, in those calamities began to be under some convictions:

…

“and saw Abraham afar off”

…
the covenant of circumcision given to him, and to them his natural seed, now of no use to them; their descent from him, of which they boasted, and in which they trusted, now of no avail; and him in the kingdom of heaven, and themselves thrust out; see ( Luke 13:28 ) .

…

“And Lazarus in his bosom”

…
they now found the Messiah was come, and was gone to heaven, whither they could not come, ( John 7:33 John 7:34 ) .

…

There is an

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

of

EVERY LOST INDIVIDUAL

in

THEIR ETERNALLY LOST

SOUL & Body.

…

This is:

After the GENERAL Resurrection

OF ALL BODIES,

OF ALL INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE

WHO HAVE EVER LIVED,

and

The Last Judgment.

(see Revelation 20:12, 15),

 *****

REVELATION 20:12

“And I saw the dead”

…
An account being given of the Judge, next the persons to be judged are described, and in this clause, by the state and condition in which they had been;

…

for it cannot be thought they were dead when they stood before the throne, but were raised from the dead;

…

for this character is not descriptive of them as dead in trespasses and sins, though they are such as die in their sins, and rise in them, who are meant, but as having been corporeally dead;

…

these are the rest of the dead, the wicked, who lived not again until the thousand years were ended, ( Revelation 20:5 ) as for the righteous, they will be judged upon their resurrection from the dead in the beginning of the day of the Lord;

…

and will be declared righteous and blessed, and be called upon and introduced to inherit the kingdom prepared for them, which they shall possess,

…

THEN these wicked dead will be raised:

who are said to be

…

“small and great”

…

which may refer either to their age, being children and adult persons;

…

or to their condition, being kings and peasants, high and low, rich and poor;

…

or to their characters, as greater or lesser sinners; and this description respects them as they are in this world, and is designed to show that no consideration whatever, of age, condition, or character, will exempt them from the general judgment.

 The disputations of the school-men, about the age and stature in which mankind will rise and be judged, are vain and foolish: these John saw stand before God;

…

that is, Christ, who is God and Judge of all;

…

before his judgment seat and throne, in order to be judged;

…

for they will stand not as ministering to him, nor as having confidence before him;

…

in this sense they shall not stand in the judgment, ( Psalms 1:5 ) but as guilty persons, to receive their sentence of condemnation.

…

The Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions read, “before the throne”; …

the sense is the same; for if they stood before the throne, they must stand before God, that sat upon it: and the books were opened;

…

the book of God’s omniscience, which contains all the actions of the wicked, in which all their sins are taken notice of, and will now be brought to light;

…

and the book of his remembrance, in which they are all written as with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond; and the book of the creatures, which they have abused, and which will witness against them; and the book of providence, the riches of whose goodness have been despised by them; and the book of the Scriptures, both of law and Gospel, as well as the book of nature, of the light of nature, see ( Romans 2:12 Romans 2:16 ) to which may be added, the book of conscience;

…

the consciences of men will be awakened, and will accuse them, and bear witness against them, and be as good as a thousand witnesses:

“and another book was opened,

which is the book of life:”

 …
the same that is mentioned in ( Revelation 3:5 ) ( 13:8 ) ( 17:8 ) the book of eternal election, (See Gill on Revelation 3:5), (See Gill on Revelation 13:8),

(See Gill on Revelation 17:8).

…

No other use seems to be made of this book in the judgment of the wicked, than only to observe whose names were not written in it, as appears from ( Revelation 20:15 ) reference seems to be had to ( Daniel 7:10 ).

…

“and the dead

were judged out of those things

which were written in the books,

according to their works;

…
that is, they were sentenced to everlasting condemnation and death, according to the just demerit of their wicked works;

…

for no other are done by wicked men, nor can any other be in the books, since they are without God and Christ, and destitute of the Spirit, have no principle of grace to act from, nor any good end in view in any action of theirs.

*****

Revelation 20:15

…

“And whosoever was not found

written in the book of life”

…
Upon the opening of it, ( Revelation 20:12 ) as all that worship the beast, and wonder after him, ( Revelation 13:8 ) ( 17:8 ) and all wicked men, everyone of them:

“was cast into the lake of fire”

…
where are the devil, beast, and false prophet,

( Revelation 19:20 ) ( 20:10 ) .

*****

Adapted from
THE JOHN GILL, DOCTOR of DIVINITY
 ARCHIVE
THE BODY of DOCTRINAL DIVINITY,
THE BODY of PRACTICAL DIVINITY
&
EXPOSITION of The BIBLE.

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