The Lake of Fire and God's Will for Man

The purpose of the Lake of Fire
The Lake of Fire is mentioned only in the book of Revelation.  Ask any Christian and their imaginations will come alive with ideas about the Lake of Fire.  But what exactly is this Lake of Fire or more importantly what is it's purpose?  Consider:

Revelation 19:20
20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.

Okay, we see here that the Beast and false prophet are cast into this lake of fire.  What else do we know:

Revelation 20:10
10 and the Devil, who is leading them astray, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where [are] the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night -- to the ages of the ages.

Here we see that the devil will be thrown into this lake of fire.  What else:

Revelation 21:8
8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Revelation 20:15
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

From these two verses we can see that ANYONE (HUMANS) not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.  What else:

Revelation 20:14
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

There you have it; ALL the verses that mention the Lake of Fire.  I left Revelation 20:14 until last because it gives us a link to understanding what this lake of fire is and its purpose.  John saw where DEATH was cast into the lake of fire.  This is important to know because another writer talks about death as well.  Consider:

1 Corinthians 15:25-26
25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

Paul tells us that Christ must reign until God has put ALL his enemies under his feet.  Paul then goes on to say that the LAST enemy will be death.  Paul makes sure to say the 'LAST' enemy because there are other enemies that will be abolished.  Who are the other enemies? John lists them in Revelation 19:20, 20:10, 21:8 and 21:15 (see above).  Altogether the enemies of God are those who REMAIN disobedient in this age. These enemies of God are all to be abolished as Paul says. So how does God abolish death?  John tells us how; God abolishes death by casting it into the Lake of Fire.  Now here is where the purpose of Lake of Fire is revealed.

John says that Death along with the enemies of God will be cast into the Lake of Fire, Paul says that death and the enemies of God will be abolished.  But what does abolish mean?

1 Corinthians 15:25-27
25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 27 For HE has put all things in SUBJECTION under His feet.

Paul tells us that the enemies of God will be abolished BY being SUBJECTED under the feet of Christ.  Okay, let's look at this:

John says ALL the enemies of God will be cast into the Lake of Fire.

Paul says ALL the enemies of God will be put in subjection under Christ's feet.

Therefore, we MUST conclude that the 'Lake of Fire' and 'Subjection under the feet of Christ' has to be the SAME thing.  So how do we find out what is the purpose of the Lake of Fire?  We discover its purpose when we understand the meaning of the word 'SUBJECT'.  The word subject in this passage is the Greek word 'hupotasso', and this word means, 'TO BRING UNDER CONTROL AND TO MAKE OBEDIENT'.  Now we can see the purpose of the lake of fire:

The Lake of Fire is a process used by God to bring ALL His enemies under control thus MAKING them obedient to Christ.

It is AT this point when ALL the enemies of God, that is, everyone not written into the book of life because of DISOBEDIENCE will be MADE OBEDIENT.  

Those chosen by God are made obedient NOW, but later ALL will be made obedient. (See post 'Everyone will be salted by Fire')
Posted by Bertram Mills at 1:10 PM
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Labels: Afterlife, Death, Savior of All

One God and ALSO One Lord and Savior His Son

1 CORINTHIANS 8:6 Yes, to us there is one God, and one God only, the Father, out of Whom all is. This One is quite separate and distinct from the Lord Jesus Christ, though, of course, there is a close relationship between them. The One is the Father, the other is the Son. The One is Supreme, the other is termed Sovereign (Col.1:18). But let us note this; the Lord Jesus Christ is Sovereign only because God, the Supreme One, has made Him so. Peter explained this to Israel when he stated most emphatically, as recorded in Acts 2:36, “Let all the house of Israel know certainly, then, that God makes Him Lord as well as Christ—this Jesus Whom you crucify.” Paul also tells us this (in Phil.2:9), “wherefore, also, God highly exalts Him, and graces Him with the name that is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should be bowing, celestial and terrestrial and subterranean, and every tongue should be acclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord, for the glory of God, the Father.” What room is there here for the conception of the Trinity— three gods in one and one three, and all co-eternal and co-equal? (In none of the passages we have quoted is God’s holy Spirit even mentioned.) The doctrine of the Trinity, as generally understood, is a most pernicious one, and is yet another attempt by the Adversary to undermine the deity of God. The words Father and Son lose their meaning if the Father does not precede the Son, and if the Father is not greater than the Son. Jesus Himself said, “The Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), and spoke of the Father as His God (John 20:17). It is surprising how widespread this undermining doctrine has become, and how many believers it has deceived. We get into real difficulties whenever we use terms that are not in the Scriptures to describe scriptural matters. “Trinity” is a term invented by theologians; it has its origin in their creeds and finds expression in their hymns. We should be very wary of using terms which are unscriptural, and even more wary of building doctrines upon them. It is true that there is a Father and there is a Son and there is a holy Spirit, but they are not three Beings in one, still less are they one in three. The Father is God in absolute right; He was, is, and always will be, the Supreme. As such, He is entitled to the worship and adoration and affection of all. The Son is God in a relative sense only. He is “the only-begotten God” (John 1:18). As the Original of God’s creation (Rev.3:14), the Firstborn of every creature (Col.1:15), He appeared before creation “in the form of God” (Phil.2:6) so that He might reveal to creation the God Whose true Image He is. But invariably the Son is pointing to the Father, and directing that glory be given to Him. It is the Father, Who (subsequent to obedience of His Son on the cross) ordains that acclamation be given to Christ, when He highly exalts Him, and gives Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. It is clearly stated that this acclamation is “for the glory of God, the Father.” GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT The holy Spirit is not a god at all, but simply the power of God as manifested in His invisible, intangible operations. For example, it operated invisibly in order to bring about the conception of the babe Jesus (Matt.1:18). It operated, too, on the minds of the various ones chosen by God to write down His Word (2 Peter 1:21). Now it dwells in the hearts of God’s saints (1 Cor.3:16). It is never, in itself, an object of worship, but directs praise and acclamation to God and to His Son. The beautiful relationship which exists between the Father and the Son was most aptly expressed by Jesus, when He said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), but this can by no means be used to support the theory of the Trinity, for later Jesus prayed that His disciples may also “be one, according as We are” (John 17:11), and later in the same chapter, “that they may all be one, according as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us” (v.21). Jesus always recognized the deity of His Father, and will always do so, for at the consummation He gives up the kingdom to His God and Father, and Himself is subject to the One Who has subjected all to Him, that God may be All in all (1 Cor.15:24-28). Let this disposition, which is in Christ Jesus, be in us also, and let us give all honor and glory to God, realizing and acknowledging that we can do nothing of ourselves. Thus may we subject ourselves to Him, that He may be All in us now. John H. Essex Part 1 Part 2 YOU ARE HERE Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

What & Where Will Body of Christ Be Doing Soon, And WITH WHO ?

With Him appearing in glory

September 14th, 2011

In my first blog, I pointed out that the future of the ecclesia is celestial. Is her position, presently, together with that of her Head, Christ Jesus, hidden from sight for the world, on several places mention is made of the fact that she, in due time, together with Christ, will be manifested in glory. When Christ appears in glory, then automatically, also the people, who are inseparably united with Him. From the moment of the snatching away, she shall be with Him always (1Thes.4:17).

“for … your life is hid together with Christ in God. Whenever Christ, our Life, should be manifested, then you also shall be manifested together with Him in glory.” (Col. 3:3-4)

Years earlier, Paul had written about this to the Thessalonians:

“whenever He may be coming (in that day) to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at IN ALL who believe …”(2Thes.1:10)

Christ Jesus will then be seen, but not by Himself, alone. He will be seen, with amazement, “in all who believe”. People will see Christ… in the believers! Already, in his first letter to the ecclesia in Thessalonica, Paul wrote about this:

“… in the presence of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” (1Thes.3:13).

About the identity of these saints, we are not in doubt. It concerns the people who are united with their head in celestial glory. Even the prophet Zechariah already refers to them, though cryptically. When Israel shall find itself in utmost danger, shall Yahweh appear on the Mount of Olives which lies before Jerusalem …

“And Yahweh, my Elohim, shall come, and all the saints with Him.” (Zech. 14:5).

The Lord comes not alone, by Himself: all the saints with Him. Who those saints are is not explained in Zachariah. It is hidden… which by itself is a hint. For it refers to the ecclesia which was a secret in the Hebrew Bible (Eph.3:6), but has been revealed by Paul.

In due time, when the Messiah in glory will appear before the eyes of Israel and the nations, He will be seen united in heavenly glory with a set-apart people (= saints).

———————————

first published (in Dutch): 3 september 2011
translation: Peter Feddema

Posted in Colossians, ecclesia, prophecy | Comments Closed

Joe Satriani - Just look up

LOOKING FOR THE UPPER TAKER...NOT THE UNDER TAKER !!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWewQIrLUvM&feature=uploademail

"Sinners" Saved by Grace? (Growing in Grace #292)

I am now a NEW CREATURE in CHRIST JESUS.

Check out the new identity for the body of Christ.

The body of Christ is now in Christ.....

Eph 2:4-5 We were dead, but now He has made us alive.

Thank Him For IT.....

Just Believe and Loose THE FAT NOW !

myfatcurein2011.blogspot.com
I am no longer over weight and at such a high rate for heart attacks and strokes!
I lost 41 pounds and 41 inches in just 43 DAYS! Do a Google search on Kevin Trudeau's book
THE WEIGHT LOSS CURE. I read this book about 4 years ago and then put it out of my mind, because I did not think it would be possible for me to do all that was required at the time.
Things have CHANGED DRASTICALLY, and I was going no where, in my efforts to become healthy and loose the weight. I was going to Med-Fit and burning 600 cals. a day and lifting weights and using exercise equipment, but could not loose any more then 5 pounds that came right back!
I read about the HCG diet on the internet recently. I kept searching, until I found what appeared to be the best bet for me. It consisted of taking a simple spray in the mouth 2 times a day and 12 hours apart, that tricks the body into releasing the STORED FAT that will not leave the body any other way.

If you will just go back to my FIRST POST, you will see that I had no idea that this would work
or not. It just seemed very possible that it could work, after reading the book "POUNDS AND INCHES", by Dr. A.T.W Simeons, who came up with a CURE FOR OBESITY in the 50's.......

Here are my results:
Weighed at start of diet, before loading at 228..........After loosing 41 -pounds in 43 days
My current weight is 188 as of 4-30-2011, as I believe I will have lost a pound by morning!
There is NO REASON YOU CANNOT LOOSE BETWEEN 40 AND 20 POUNDS IN THE NEXT 50 DAYS. Men tend to loose on average 40 and women 20.

Inches before: Inches after:
neck 18 neck 15.5
shoulders 50 shoulders 48
chest 48 chest 42
stomach 43 AAAAAAHHHHH ! stomach 36
waist 38 waist 34.5
butt 41 butt 38.25
bicepts 17.5 rt bicept 14.5
" 17 lft bicept 14.5
thighs 24.5 rt thigh 21.25
" 23.5 lft thigh 21
calf 15.5 rt calf 14
" 15 lft calf 13
forearms 13.5 rt forearm 12.5
" 13.5 lft forearm 12
__________________ _____________________

378 inches 336.5 *LOST 41.5 INCHES

A Refreshing Study of the RESURRECTION

A REFRESHING STUDY

ON THE RESURRECTION

by E. W. Bullinger

---

Scripture shuts us up to the blessed hope of being reunited in resurrection. That is why the death of believers is so often called "sleep"; and dying is called "falling asleep"; because of the assured hope of awakening in resurrection. It's language is, "David fell on sleep" (Acts 13:36), not David's body, or David's soul. "Stephen ... fell asleep" (Acts 7:60). "Lazarus sleepeth" (John 11:11), which is explained, when the Lord afterward speaks "plainly", as meaning "Lazarus is dead" (v. 14).

Now, when the Holy Spirit uses one thing to describe or explain another, He does not choose the opposite word or expression. If He speaks of night, He does not use the word light. If He speaks of daylight, He does not use the word night. He does not put "sweet for bitter, and bitter for sweet" (Isa. 5:20). He uses adultery to illustrate Idolatry; He does not use virtue. And so, if He uses the word "sleep" of death, it is because sleep illustrates to us what the condition of death is like. If Tradition be the truth, He ought to have used the word awake, or wakefulness. But the Lord first uses a Figure, and says "Lazarus sleepeth"; and afterwards, when He speaks "plainly" He says "Lazarus is dead". Why? Because sleep expresses and describes the condition of the "unclothed" state. In normal sleep, there is no consciousness. For the Lord, therefore, to have used this word "sleep" to represent the very opposite condition of conscious wakefulness, would have been indeed to mislead us. But all His words are perfect; and are used for the purpose of teaching us, and not for leading us astray.

So effectually has Satan's lie, "thou shalt not surely die", succeeded and accomplished its purpose that, though the Lord Jesus said "I will come again and receive you unto Myself", Christendom says, with one voice, "No! Lord. Thou needest not come for me: I will die and come to Thee". Thus the blessed hope of resurrection and the coming of the Lord have been well nigh blotted out from the belief of the Churches; and the promise of the Lord been made of none effect by the ravages of Tradition.

In Phil. 2:27, we read that Epaphraditus "was sick nigh unto death; but God had mercy on him"..So that it was mercy to preserve Epaphraditus from death. This could hardly be called "mercy" if death were the "gate of glory", according to popular tradition.

In 2 Cor. 1:10-11, it was deliverance of no ordinary kind when Paul himself was "delivered from so great a death" which called for corresponding greatness of thanksgiving for God's answer to their prayers on his behalf. Moreover, he trusted that God would still deliver him. It is clear from 2 Cor. 5:4 that Paul did not wish for death; for he distinctly says "not for that he would be unclothed, but clothed upon (i.e. in resurrection and "change") that mortality might be swallowed up of LIFE"; not of death. This is what he was so "earnestly desiring" (v.2)

Hezekiah also had reason to praise God for delivering him from "the king of terrors". It was "mercy" shown to Epaphraditus; it was "a gift" to Paul; it was "love" to Hezekiah. He says (Isa. 38:17- 19): "For the grave (Heb. sheol) cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day."

On the other hand the death of Moses was permitted, for it was his punishment; therefore, there was no deliverance for him though he sought it (Deut. 1:37; 3:23,27; 4:21,22; 31:2). Surely it could have been no punishment if death is not death; but, as is universally held, the gate of paradise!

In 1 Thes. 4:15, we read: "This we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain shall not precede them which are asleep."

To agree with Tradition this ought to have been written, "shall not precede them which are already with the Lord". But this would have made nonsense; and there is nothing of that in the Word of God.

While we may draw our own inferences from what the Scriptures state, we shall all agree that it is highly important that we should clothe these views in Scriptural terms, and that we should ask and answer how far it is that these popular sayings have practically, at any rate until recent years, blotted out the hope of resurrection, the hope of the Lord's coming again to fulfill His promise, to receive us to Himself. You remember how the apostle speaks to some in the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians, who say that there is "no resurrection of the dead"; and in writing to Timothy he refers to Hymenaeus & Philetus, who had led some away from the faith by saying that "the resurrection is past already".

The greatest comfort which the greatest Comforter that the world ever knew had to give to a sister who had been bereaved of a beloved brother was, "Thy brother shall rise again." All hope is bound up with this great subject: and, if our Theology has no place in it for this great hope, then the sooner we change it the better; for remember that this subject is one of revelation.

We are expressly enjoined by the Lord Himself: "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice" (John 5:28). These are the Lord's own words, and they tell us where His Voice will be heard; and, that is not in heaven, not in Paradise, or in any so-called "intermediate state", but in "the GRAVES". With this agrees Dan. 12:2, which tells us that those who "awake" in resurrection will be those "that sleep in the dust of the earth"; from which man was "taken" (Gen. 2:7; 3:23), and to which he must return (Gen. 3:19; Eccl. 12:7).

Psalm 146:4 declares of man, "His breath goes forth, He returneth to his earth; In that very day his thoughts perish." The passage says nothing about the "body". It is whatever has done the thinking. the "body" does not think. The "body", apart from the spirit, has no thoughts. Whatever has had the "thoughts" has them no more; and this is "man".

There is Eccl. 9:5, which declares that "The living know that they shall die; But the dead know not anything". It does not say dead bodies know not anything, but "the dead", i.e. dead people, who are set in contrast with the "living". As one of these "living", David says, by the Holy Spirit (Psa. 146:2; 104:33):"While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being". There would be no praising the Lord after he had ceased to "have any being". Why? Because "princes" and the "son of man" are helpless (Psa. 146:3,4). They return to their earth; and when they die, their "thoughts perish": and they "know not anything".

This is what God says about death. He explains it to us Himself. We need not therefore ask any man what it is. And if we did, his answer would be valueless, inasmuch as it is absolutely impossible for him to know anything of death, i.e. the death-state, beyond what God has told us in the Scriptures.

Be At Peace With God

Be Conciliated To God

“For Christ, then, are we ambassadors, as of God entreating through us.
We are beseeching for Christ's sake, 'Be conciliated to God!'”
(2 Corinthians 5:20)

“IS GOD entreating me to be at peace with Him? I thought He was angry with me because of my sins.”

Not so! God, in His fathomless grace, condescends to do all the entreating now! Don't drown out His entreaties with your pleadings for forgiveness, for He gives you His word that your sins have been already taken care of, once and for all, by the Savior, Christ Jesus, Who died for you on the cross.

“But how can I be sure ...?”

Your salvation is guaranteed by the fact that God raised Him from the dead. God's Word assures us that Christ “was given up because of our offenses, and was roused because of our justifying” (Rom. 4:25, Concordant Version).

Your faith in these facts is all that really matters. There is nothing left for you to do, except believe God. “Yet to him who is not working, yet is believing on Him Who is justifying the irreverent, his faith is reckoned for righteousness.” (Rom. 4:5). “For in grace are you saved, and this is not out of you”; it is an outright gift, not based on anything which you may do, but based on His love for you. These things are so, “lest anyone should be boasting. For His achievement are we” (Eph. 2:6-10). If your faith is genuine, this is only because you have been “graciously granted, for Christ's sake, ... to be believing on Him” (Phil. 1:29).

The Lord Jesus did not merely offer you a “chance” to believe. No, He cares so much for God's chosen ones that He provides for them ever so much better than that. Besides, before you had the spirit, you were “not able to know” concerning spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). And when God called you, He was quite as able to unveil His Son in you as He was in Paul (Gal. 1:15,16). The reason why anyone believes is not because of something he has done, but because of something He, the Lord Jesus, has done! “The grace of our Lord overwhelms” our unbelief “with faith and love in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 1:14). God already chose those “in Christ” long ago; so there is no risk involved at all (Eph. 1:4-6).

“God is commending this love of His to us, seeing that, while we are still sinners, Christ died for our sakes” (Rom. 5:8). God has done it all. Salvation is “of the Lord.” It is by God in man, not God and man!

He gave His Son to die for you; He made Him to be a sin offering for your sake; He gives you His own righteousness through Christ. He has provided everything because He knows that you cannot provide it yourself. Rather you should recognize that God has already done it by Himself for Himself, so He needs no conciliation. But you do! All the estrangement is on your side. The quickest way to rid yourself of it is to listen to His entreaties, and heed them.

Sit down and think it over. The moment your thoughts stray back to yourself, you are off the track. Let me tell you a secret. The greatest thing, after all, is not your salvation, but God's glory. That is really His main reason for saving you. He loves you and He never would have allowed sin to come between you and Himself in the first place, if it would not eventually be to His glory and for your greatest good.

Ponder this: God is actually entreating you to be conciliated, or at peace, with Him. He has done everything necessary to justify you, so that you may walk boldly into His presence (Rom. 5:1,2). Right now you may not be able to realize all of this fully, but respond to His entreaty – Be conciliated to God! And thank Him for His unspeakable gift!

“For Christ, while we are still infirm, still in accord with the era, for the sake of the irreverent, died” (Rom. 5:6).

“God is commending this love of His to us, seeing that, while we are still sinners, Christ dies for our sakes. Much rather, then, being now justified in His blood, we shall be saved from indignation, through Him. For if, being enemies, we were conciliated to God through the death of His Son, much rather, being conciliated, we shall be saved in His life. Yet not only so, but we are glorying also in God, through our Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom we now obtained the conciliation” (Rom 5:6, 8-11).

A. E. Knoch

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