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Rev
20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second
death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life
was cast into
the lake of fire.
21:1 ¶ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:
for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away;
and there was no more sea.
#intermediate_final_states
#hellandparadise_lakeoffire
Mark
9 - KJT
35
And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them...
43
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into
life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never
shall be quenched:
44
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
45
And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt
into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never
shall be quenched:
46
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into
the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell
fire:
48
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
The Lord addressed these solemn words to His own disciples, in the second person singular.
Supposing the Lord is addressing these words to you personally, what would be your reaction.
Would
it be this?
-
"Oh Lord, don't be silly; what's the relevance of Thy solemn warnings to
me. As one completely redeemed by Thy free and sovereign grace unto eternal
salvation, there is absolutely no possibility of me in danger of being cast
into hell. Lord, Thou dost sound heretical! What's gone wrong with Thee?"
-
This is a popular reaction. The wise Lord has wasted His solemn words on such a
disciple.
Or
this?
"Oh
Lord, I thank Thee for such solemn and needful warnings against the real
dangers of the temporal intermediate state of hell, and the drastic measures I
needed to take in order to avoid it. I will take it to heart; I will be careful
with my discipleship. Thou has indeed, by Thy redemptive works, assuredly and
immutably saved me from the eternal lake of fire."
I tried warning God's children about the reality of the temporal intermediate hell for them just like the Lord Jesus did to His disciples; I am denounced as heretical.
Ezekiel
3 KJT
17
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore
hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
18
When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not
warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life;
the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at
thine hand.
I don't know if this question ever crosses your mind. When some preachers, like C.H. Spurgeon, preach fiery hell (they see it as synonymous with the lake of fire, not the temporal intermediate state between death and the general resurrection), just what do they hope to accomplish by their hell-and-brimstones sermons? The common and popular notion is that God's redeemed will never end up in hell no matter what; naturally, the non-redeemed will inevitably end up there, and not even the eloquent Prince of Preachers can persuade any of them to avoid it. Rev 20:15.
Are they addressing the fiery hell to God's children, or to those still spiritually dead? What is the relevance of preaching hell to the redeemed when the preaches and their hearers are convinced that none of them will possibly end up there? What is the relevance of preaching hell to the spiritually dead non-elect who will inevitably end up there?
But Christ frequently preached hell to His own disciples whom He has redeemed with eternal redemption - yet, He solemnly warned them that there are drastic measures they must take to deal with sins in order to avoid hell; this is plain and clear. Christ assuredly saved His people from the eternal lake of fire; thus, He didn't warn them about the lake of fire; it's unnecessary and redundant. But hell and paradise are during the intermediate state between physical death and the final judgment; they shall end at the final resurrection to eternal glory (for those whose names were written in the Book of life and are redeemed by the Lamb), or eternal shame.
This is not trying to convince you but to show you the struggle of a preacher to make some sense of the Scriptures. I don't want to hear the Lord's rebuke when I die, "You failed to warn them about the intermediate state of hell; that's why you are here with them. Now, wait here for your resurrection unto glory." I tremble at such a thought.May the Lord be pleased to grant you light on the Scriptures' own witness on the temporal intermediate state of paradise or hell (distinct from the lake of fire) for God's children. I can't dismiss the inspired Scriptures; others are free to do so.
I don't want the Lord God to require at my hand the blood of any of His redeemed people. Lord, have mercy on me.
---------
Mr
Spurgeon's words make sense ONLY if the temporal intermediate state of hell is
real for God's redeemed people, and the message is to warn God's children
against careless and wreckless living - ESPECIALLY for those with a faulty
notion of "once saved always saved" (this is true ONLY of the eternal
aspect of salvation, not true in the temporal sense.)
Preaching hell can warn and save some of God's children from ending up in hell during their intermediate state; otherwise, it's a complete waste of breath and time.
