ESCHATOLOGY: Part 2

WHAT HAPPENS AT DEATH?

The scriptures teach that there is no loss of consciousness at physical death. "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, does not judge and avenge our blood on them. that dwell on the earth." (Revelation 6:9-10) These referred to our martyred saints. Jesus Himself stated in 'Matthew 10:28, "And fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him that is able to destroy both body and soul.

We find in the Bible, that when a redeemed, or saved person dies physically, his soul goes immediately into the presence of Christ. When Jesus was on the cross with a thief on each side of Him, and the repentant thief asked Jesus to remember him, Jesus told him, in Luke 23:43, "Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise".

The apostle Paul explained in Philippians 1:23, "But I am hard pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better." Then he taught in 2nd Corinthians 5:8 that there is a separation of soul and body when he said, "we are confident, I say, and willing, rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

According to the description given in Revelation 20:4-6, that the redeemed lived with Christ in the thousand year reign, and the wicked didn't come alive until the end of the thousand years, we can know that the soul stays separated from the body until the first resurrection At that time, the spirit, soul, and body will be reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. Paul explained it best in 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17, when he said, "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: And so shall we ever be with the Lord." He also said in Philippians 3:21, "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." In 1 Corinthians 15:35-44, he again speaks about the resurrection ending with verse 44, "It is sown a natural body; it is a spiritual body." Finally in verses 51-53 he states, "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." Therefore, the redeemed souls who died in Christ, remain until that time, in joyful presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Every person who has ever lived on the earth in a physical body and died, will one day have a bodily resurrection. It's revealed in Daniel 12:2, "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."
In Revelation 20:11-15, the account of the future judgment of all the wicked to take place is given, and is called "The Great White Throne Judgment." Jesus stated in John 5: 28,29, "For the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." So we are taught the saved are resurrected to eternal life! Paul said in Romans 8:11, "If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." Then in 2nd Corinthians 4:14 he said, "Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you." We also are taught that the unsaved will be resurrected to judgment and everlasting punishment. The Bible clearly teaches that the souls of the unsaved at death immediately descend into Hades!

In Luke 16:19-26, we are given the account of the rich man and Lazarus, each dying, and going to paradise, and the rich man going to hell, when in verse 13 it says "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments", and in verse 24 he said, "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." This account also verifies that these wicked souls are kept under punishment until the second resurrection, when the soul and resurrection body are united (John 5:28,29), and shall appear at the great white throne judgment, (Revelation20:11-15), and shall be cast into the lake of fire, (Matthew 25:41-46), and they shall be cut off from the life of God forever. (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25: 41-46)

CONT.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Blessings!
Marked Elect