A LOOK AT LIFE AFTER DEATH.

Read the two following passages:

"So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.  For we walk by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord."  (2 Corinthians 5:6‑8)

and

"I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; (Philippians 1:23)

Compare those passages with the following:

 

But man dies and is laid away;

Indeed, he breathes his last

And where is he?

 

As water disappears from the seas

And a river becomes parched and dries up,

So man lies down and does not rise.

 

Till the heavens are no more,

They will not awake

Nor be roused from their sleep.

 

"Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,

That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,

That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

If a man dies, shall he live again?

 

All the days of my hard service I will wait,

Till my change comes.

You shall call, and I will answer You;

You shall desire the work of Your hands.  (Job 14:10‑15)

Job, the writer of the second passage, was lamenting his life and basically wishing that God would let him die.  Job knew that in death he would be unconscious and would not feel any of the pain he was feeling in his present life.  This passage is interesting because it doesn't say anything about Job going to heaven or to the hell.

 

Job, through the inspiration of God, was talking about what happens when a person dies.  In fact, the passage tells us that Job knew about a future resurrection.  Job clearly says that a ". . . man dies and is laid away . . . he breathes his last . . . As the water disappears from the sea, And the river becomes parched and dries up, so man lies down and does not rise."  Job goes on to tell us that it will be at the resurrection when he, along with others ". . . would be roused from their sleep."  Job asks God to ". . . hide [him] in the grave, That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past . . .".  Job wanted God to hide him in the grave or, "sheol" as the ancient Hebrews called it.  Job is simply asking God to let him die and that God ". . . would appoint . . . [him] . . . a set time . . ." when Job would be resurrected from his grave.   ". . . You shall call, and I will answer you . . .".  


Job knew that his resurrection would be sometime in the future.  Job knew that when he died, "As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave does not come up."  [Job 7:9].  He likens his death to a cloud that ". . . disappears and vanishes away . . .", just as man does when he dies and goes to the grave, he is no more.  When man dies he is not off someplace else, he very simply just ". . .. disappears and vanishes away. . .". 

Job likens death to sleep.  He says “. . .  man dies and is laid away . . . (t)hey will not awake(n) or be roused from their sleep.”  When a person is asleep they are not aware of anything around them. 

 

This passage is an indication of man’s state of being after he dies.

 

 



GOD’S FINALE JUDGEMENT OF THE WICKED.

 

1Thessalonians 1:9 says that “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might”.  What is Paul’s message here?

The Bible records, see Acts 16 and 17, that Paul did not have a good experience when he visited Thessalonica.  Paul was beaten illegally and then put into prison.  They then forced him to leave the city by night because unbelieving Jews brought false charges against Paul. 

Paul did not give up, he made several attempt to return but he was hindered by Satan.

“But when we were separated from you, brothers and sisters, for a short time (in presence, not in affection) we became all the more fervent in our great desire to see you in person. For we wanted to come to you (I, Paul, in fact tried again and again) but Satan thwarted us” (1 Thessalonians 2:17-18).

In this first letter to the Thessalonian Church Paul was concerned about the progress of the church and wanted to be with them to strengthen them in their faith and beliefs.

“All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering” (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

He wanted to reassure the Church that they were chosen by God.  He did not want the Thessalonians to give up.  He wanted them to look to their faith so that they could endure the persecution that was sure to come.  Paul knew that the people who persecuted them were wicked and would get their just due, but this was not the message he had for them here. 

Paul was using God’s authentication and empowering of the gospel message when he wrote this letter.  He said that because of their “…perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials…” that they were enduring, it was proof that God chose them. (1 Thessalonians 1:4).  Because of this fact he was encouraging them to continue to endure these persecutions.

For this message to have power it is important to understand that the gospel that Paul preached were not his words, but the words came from God through the Holy Spirit and he constantly used this fact to authenticate and empower his words.  The church in Corinth he wrote:

“God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him?  So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God.  And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.  The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.  The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is understood by no one.  For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:10-16).

Paul’s message was always that Jesus Christ made the promises to all those who follow Him that when the Holy Spirit came, He would empower the messengers so that others would believe and be saved to eternal life.  This is what this passage is based on.  It is an encouragement to all saints down through the last almost two thousand years that in difficult days of adversity and persecution, God’s word can serve to encourage us as the dark clouds of persecution gather for Christians around the world. This power of God will sustain believers when persecuted in the end times.

The message of Eternal destruction, is an important message based on the fact that it is mentioned throughout the Old and the New Testaments.  The problem is that the phrase “eternal destruction” is misunderstood by many.  More importantly, it is not the message we need to be taking away from this Biblical passage.  If this is done, the true message is hidden, which is what Satan wants to happen. 

Because it is mentioned here, it is important to have a basic scriptural knowledge of what the phrase means.  There is a very simple answer when trying to describe what eternal destruction means, if you take each word individually.  Eternal means, “Continuing without interruption; perpetual”, (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/eternal ), forever, it will never change.

Destruction means “to cause (something) to end or no longer exist, to cause the destruction of (something), to damage (something) so badly that it cannot be repaired. (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/destroy ).  When a human being meets “eternal destruction” as described in 1 Thessalonians 1:9, it means that that person will be damaged so badly, that he or she will no longer exist.  That that person cannot be repaired.  The existence of that person will come to an end.

The prophet Malachi explains it clearly:

““Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.”” (Malachi 4:1).

The non-believers and the wicked will be burned to ashes to such an extent that there will be nothing left.  There will be no “root” or “branch left”.  When this happens there is no way that that person can exist, period.

CHRISTIAN LIVING FOR GOD - TODAY AND BEYOND.

DISCIPLING THE POWERFUL.

The early disciples were not naturally equipped with the courage or the strength of the mind that would be needed to go up against someone with great power.  This was given to them through the power of the Holy Spirit when it was needed, but normally the early disciples were just common ordinary men and women.

This is what makes what Peter and John did so incredible.  These were just ordinary commoners going up against the most rich and powerful in the land in that day.

There were a number of priests who, in serving their allotted week's Temple service (Luke 1:8, 23), were not far from Salomon's Colonnade.  They were able to hear Peter's declarations about Jesus as the Messiah.

This alarmed them at what they considered dangerous teaching against Jewish authority.  Think about it.  There are a lot of countries in the world today that do not have freedom of speech as found in the United States of America.  The news is full of horrow stories of what happens to people today who say the wrong things in the wrong places.  To visualize what happened to John and Peter is not so hard.

The priests who heard them probably alerted the captain of the Temple guard. The captain would be the commander of the Temple police force and more than likely a member of one of the important priestly families.

The priests also alerted the Sadducee, who were from the priestly line. The Sadducee had held the high priesthood (Luke 22:4, 52; Acts 5:24) from the time of the Maccabees revolt (168-165 B.C) and also held other prominent positions in the Sanhedrin.

Even though all of this was true, Acts 6:15 tells us that "all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel".
 
Even though they were rich and powerful, Acts 6:10 says that they "were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake."  (Third Mellennia Ministries,  http://thirdmill.org/studybible/note.asp/id/43714, Third Millennium Study Bible  Notes on Acts 4:1-22) 


The apostles tells us why they could do these things when it is written in 2 Timothy 4:16 and 17, "...the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me; that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion".

It was not through their own courage and fortitude that they could do this. Paul says "...the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me...".


EXTERNAL  REFERENCES:

( The BibleGateway edition, http://www.ssnet.org/lessons/14a/less09m.html, February 22-28)
 
(Third Mellennia Ministries,  http://thirdmill.org/studybible/note.asp/id/43714, Third Millennium Study Bible  Notes on Acts 4:1-22)

OTHER CHRISTIAN TOPICS:

 JESUS CHRIST BECAME A MAN TO MEET THE REAL PEOPLE OF THE DAY.

CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS LEADERS TODAY DWELL ON TRADITION LIKE THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES DID 2000 YEARS AGO.

JESUS CHRIST WOULD NOT APPROVE OF TODAY'S CLASS WARFARE.

JESUS CHRIST WAS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHAT GOD WANTS ALL OF US TO BE.