April 27, 2008

• Eternal Judgment by Pastor Don

  I am so grateful to have Pastor Don teaching our Friday Bible studies, he is an incredible and thorough teacher. I know it seems like we have been lingering on these topics a long time, but that is because we always end up getting off track and asking questions. I am grateful that he teaches this way, for it sure makes it easier to talk with others about the Bible truths and when we leave a subject, we are so grounded in it.

  We are looking at Hebrews 6:1-3 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.

  We are now working on the basic principle of eternal judgment.

  Pastor Don pointed out that for many of the churches today these topics that were considered elementary principles are not all that elementary. We know that when Jesus comes and all the saints are raised from the dead, there will be an eternal judgment. God has a purpose and a plan and has written many scriptures regarding eternal judgment. Those false teachers who claim there will be no eternal judgment are scripturally incorrect.

  When Jesus was on earth He was sent to the Jews, not to the Gentiles. We are servants of the Bride and friends of the Bride. Jesus spoke to the Jews concerning the Jews.The Apostle Paul was given a clear understanding of what would happen with the Church, and he spoke to the Gentiles.

  Jesus spoke mostly about love, but after the topic of love, He spoke more about hell than any other topic. If God is love, is it not the gesture of a loving God to show people the dangers that they could face and the possibility of where a wrong choice could lead them? He gave many examples for He wants us to be clear about.

  In Revelation 21:8  But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. When the New Heaven and the New Earth are created there will be those who will face the second death in the lake of fire, for they can have no part of what is new.

  But we DO NOT have to be afraid, for we will not be going to the lake of fire.  We need to have compassion for those who hate God, who refuse to believe in what He has said.

  Acts 10:9-16  The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.

  Until this time, if a person was not a Jew they were considered unsavable, lost, and the Jewish men would often pray thanking God that they were not a gentile, a woman or a dog. But after Peter was up on the roof and had this vision, God showed Peter that even Gentiles could be saved, cleansed, and made acceptable. Then He was invited by a Gentile believer, Cornelius. And then it was realized that Jesus paid the price for ALL, Jew and Gentile. ALL were acceptable to God, and all could receive salvation.

  Men everywhere who fear God and do what is right are acceptable. And now the Gospel is brought to the World.

  Someone asked about an aborigine in Australia who never heard the Gospel or seen a Bible, how can they be saved? Pastor Don said the Spirit of God is speaking to all men in all cultures and in all tribes. He is preparing their hearts, and then when a believer comes in contact with them, they can fill in the rest of the story.

  One of our members who ministers in Hati, attracted the negative attention of a shaman, an evil witch doctor, when he went to a village. The shaman wanted to kill him, to do something about the “evil man.” There was an earthquake and a great storm. The shaman’s hut was the only one which was destroyed. The cliff where the hut was located disintegrated and fell into the sea. The hand of God is not too short to take care of people. We are to bind and cast out but at times the Hand of God will aid us.

  Revelation 20:5-6 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

  The first resurrection are those who died and are now alive with Christ. The second death is for those who did not accept Christ in this life, and they will be resurrected, face judgment, and then either be saved or end in the lake of fire – which is the second death. Those in the first resurrection will reign with Christ, and there will be no second death.

  This is not soul sleep like the Jehovah Witnesses teach, and they have also had to change the number of those who will rule and reign with Christ once their numbers grew beyond the 144,000 – but we know that the 144,000 are pure Jews.

  The rest of the dead, who were not absent from the Body is to be present with the Lord, hate God and did not accept the Lord. Their spirits are in a holding place, hell, gehena, facing varying degrees of torment.  In verse 6 the first are those who serve with the Lord for the 1000 year reign. The second death is also a death. We have 1. physical death, and then 2. Spiritual death. The physical soul and spirit man are eternal, and both have a mind/will/and emotions.

  The rapture will occur before the first resurrection, and during the rapture, Jesus does not set His feet on the ground, He comes in the clouds. During the 2nd coming of Christ, all the dead in Christ rise, as we see in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

  After the rapture there will be seven years of tribulation. We are beginning now to see signs of things in the earth coming together that will herald these events. We are getting closer and closer to a one world government, there will so be the currencies of the Euro and the Amero (which will be a combined currency of North and South America). And eventually the Amero will be turned into the Phoenix. This is a pre stage, sort of a rehearsal for the end times.

  There are anti-American demonstrations with the muslims, people are setting up open dialogues with Gentile Christians and Jews, and muslims and other religions, hoping to achieve the goal of a one world religion. There is a redefinition and forcing of tolerance – but it is not just accepting another’s differences, it is being forced to accept as true the differences between religions.

  Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

  The second death is a spiritual death, and those who are saved will rule and reign with Christ for 1000 years.

  Revelation 20:7-9  Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

  The camp of the saints and the beloved city is Jerusalem. They will gather to battle and fire from God will devour the enemy of the saints.

  Revelation 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

  The beast, the military leaders, the false prophets, the son of perdition and the devil will all end up in the lake of fire. They know their end, but they will still try to get as many people as possible in as much trouble as possible so that they will end up in the lake of fire. But God did not intend for people to end up in the lake of fire, but if they make that choice, God will honor it. And this is the lake of fire that continues forever and ever, or for the ages of ages. We don’t know how long an age is.

  When you receive a personal prophesy from someone, it does not mean that it will instantly come about, sometimes there is a long period of time between the prophesy and the outcome. God waits until certain things are worked out in our life. When those things are worked out then the prophesy can be fulfilled.

  When Abraham was told by God to move to a land God would show him, Abraham was not given a road map, he was not told where that land was, all he was to do was to MOVE HIS CAMEL, and God would direct him.

  We too need to move our camels, to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and God will direct our paths. When things are tough, that could be part of the battle that gets you to where God wants you to go. Not always when things are tough in our lives does it indicate that we are out of God’s will. If we are having peace in the midst of the tough times, then we know we are not out of the will of God. When we do not have peace in a tough situation than maybe we are out of the will of God.

  Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

  The old heaven and earth will pass away. Earth is in revolt now, and there has been so much innocent blood shed, pollution, etc. God will not use the old earth and heaven, for there is too much damage in it, He will create a New Heaven and a New Earth.

  In the Old Testament, God lead the Children of Israel from Egypt to the promised land. In order to do that he had to remove the “ites” from the land – the Canaanites, Jebusites, Perizites, etc. God took a righteous person (Abraham) from the area we now know as Turkey, and Abraham is the father of faith, and of the Hebrew children. As time went by, the Israelites moved into the promised land, and purified the land from the ites. But they couldn’t immediately go into the land when Abraham lived for their numbers were too small. It took 400 years of slavery in Egypt for the numbers to swell to enough individuals to do the work to clear the promised land of the enemies. God had instructed the Israelites to keep the Jubilee – the 50 year period where all debts were resolved and the land was given back to the original owners. He also had told the people to let the land rest for a sabbath year, and the people did not do either of those things. So the people were in captivity in the time of Daniel until they had worked off those years of disobedience. Daniel was able to calculate when the dispersion would be over and the people could return to the land.

  In the promised land there were sacrifices made by the “ites”, children sacrificed to idols and when the wall of Jericho was built, infants were killed and their blood was mixed with the cement in the walls. When we were in Israel, we saw that the walls did not tumble down as the song suggests, but went straight into the earth. God provided a burial for those innocent sacrificed children.

  Man is so evil that the earth, in the time of Noah, was destroyed in a flood, and God started over with Noah.

  Man was given dominion over the earth, but Adam turned that dominion over to satan by his disobedience. Adam knew the rules, and he taught them to his kids, and they did not have respect for each other, and Cain killed Able because Able offered a sacrifice that was pleasing to God, whereas Cain offered the fruit of his work with his hands. Cain did not respect the covenant.

  I am going to continue this tomorrow so the teaching is not too long to read. To those of you finishing up your work in college, I pray that God gives you the right words for your papers and helps you to remember what you need to know for your finals.

  Have a blessed Sunday,

  Heather

  • 4:50 pm
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