Things New and Old

Ancient truths revealed in the Scriptures are often forgotten, disbelieved or distorted, and therefore lost in the passage of time. Such ancient truths when rediscovered and relearned are 'new' additions to the treasury of ancient truths.

Christ showed many new things to the disciples, things prophesied by the prophets of old but hijacked and perverted by the elders and their traditions, but which Christ reclaimed and returned to His people.

Many things taught by the Apostles of Christ have been perverted or substituted over the centuries. Such fundamental doctrines like salvation by grace and justification have been hijacked and perverted and repudiated by sincere Christians. These doctrines need to be reclaimed and restored to God's people.

There are things both new and old here. "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things"
2Ti 2:7.

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

A Question on Intermediate State, the Resurrection, and the Eternal State

 Don't Stop Questioning!


An inquisitive soul inquired...
Q: Pastor, can you share the bible verse that says that God resurrect the elect from the intermediate hell first before the rest are thrown into the lake of fire?

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I understand the essence of your question to be the sequence of events, indicated by your "first" and "before"; it's about the chronology of two closely related events.

The general resurrection and the last judgment are two distinct events; the resurrection will happen first, and only then, the judgment. Simultaneously, the transformation of all the living shall take place. 

So the resurrection of all those in the intermediate state of hell [there are elect and the non-elect in hell, other elects are in the paradise] will happen FIRST BEFORE the judgment of all the non-elect – i.e. all whose names were not written in the book of life – shall take place; they, being bypassed in the redemption, shall be cast into the lake of fire.

Rev 20
11 ¶ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
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.

Please note a few things about the above verses:

- “A great white throne”: this indicates the judgment throne at Christ’s return.

- “the bookS were opened”: the books by which the dead shall be judged out of those things; non-elect shall be justly judged by their works/deeds recorded in these books.

- “another book was opened”: this book has all the names of the elect whom God has given to Christ.

- “they WERE judged every man (every one of them) according to their works”: this speaks of all the dead that are delivered up by death and hell; it explains why they were in hell; everyone in them WAS judged according to their works. A man’s place in the intermediate hell is determined by his works.

- A man’s place in the lake of fire (his eternal destiny) or heaven is determined solely by whether his name was written in the book of life. See verse 15.

- “death and hell [already EMPTIED] were then cast into the lake of fire”: Why? Hell is NOT eternal; it shall be emptied during the resurrection, and no one will be left in it after the general resurrection, at the end of time.

- the lake of fire is eternal; the resurrected non-elect, those whose names were not written in the book of life, bypassed in the redemption by Christ, shall be cast into the lake of fire.

Why were death and hell NOT cast directly into the lake of fire BEFORE delivering up all the dead that were in them? Why would Christ, who holds the keys of death and hell, require both death and hell to deliver up the dead (their bodies in death, and their spirits in hell) if there were no elect in them?

The fact that Christ solemnly and constantly warned His own disciples (to take drastic actions to avoid hell is conclusive proof that God’s children can end up in hell – a temporal place, thus related to temporal judgment in the intermediate state. Though they carelessly, despite all the solemn warnings, landed themselves in hell, hell must surrender them to Christ for their resurrection unto glory.

Matthew 5
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Matthew 18
8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

Mark 9
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 Devil must be so gleeful that he has so successfully deceived so many Christians to dismiss Christ's solemn warnings to the disciples on the intermediate state of hell; so many can't make the biblical distinction between the everlasting hell (which lasts as long as time lasts) and the eternal lake of fire (which will come into effect at the end of time).  


Heb 9:28 “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

For God’s children, Christ shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation, i.e. there shall be no more judgment dealing with sin. The second time Christ appear has to do with the consummation of their eternal salvation; it has nothing to do with judgment. The judgment concerning our eternal destiny has been perfectly dealt with by Jesus Christ.

Heb 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
There is definitely a judgment after physical death; this judgment is according to our works; this judgment decides a man's place during the intermediate state - either paradise or hell. 

I hope the above somewhat answers your good question.

Please feel free to ask if you have further questions. 

p/s
Let's look at the broad picture:

1. At the resurrection, the spirits and bodies of the dead are reunited.
- death must deliver up the bodies that are in it; hell must deliver up spirits that are in it.
- The Lord Jesus Christ holds the keys of death and hell; Christ has authority and power over death and hell. “I am he that liveth… and have the keys of hell and of death.” Rev 1:18
- At the resurrection, both death and hell must deliver up all those that are in them unto Christ who holds the keys of death and hell. Rev 20:13.

2. At Christ's second coming, there will be those who are still living and those who have died.
- the elect that is living shall be transformed and glorified.
- the spirits of the elect who have died are either in paradise or in hell; their bodies are under the power of death.
- The spirits of God’s children that are in paradise shall accompany Christ in His coming. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."  1Th 4:14. “… them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” at Christ’s return.
- These spirits who shall accompany Christ at His return shall be united with their resurrected bodies.
- The spirits of God’s elect who are in hell shall be delivered up to be united with their resurrected bodies and be glorified.