Since Christ died and is risen again, and the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in believers on earth, with the completed Word of God, we are able to speak with assurance, and to enjoy in a fuller way, our portion in Christ.
We might take 1 Corinthians 2:99But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9), and Isaiah 64:44For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. (Isaiah 64:4), for Old Testament saints.
“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” And verse 10 for the present.
“But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”
We Christians, having the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, are now able to know and to speak with assurance, and in a different manner than in Old Testament times.
“Sheol” in Hebrew, and “Hades” in Greek, are often translated “Hell,” but they mean “the unseen state,” the state of the soul separate from the body.
“Gehenna” is the word used for the place of punishment of the unsaved; it is also often translated “Hell.”
Another word is used in 2 Peter 2:44For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; (2 Peter 2:4) for the prison into which the unsaved are, until the resurrection, called the “chains of darkness.” The Lord Jesus was never there. When He died, His soul was separate from His body; that was “Hades,” translated “Hell” in Psalms 16:1010For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Psalm 16:10), and Acts 2:27, 3127Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Acts 2:27)
31He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. (Acts 2:31).
There are two distinct resurrections. In John 5:2929And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:29), one is called “the resurrection of life;” and the other “the resurrection of damnation,” or judgment. In Acts 24:1515And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. (Acts 24:15), “a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust.” And in Revelation, the one is called “the first resurrection”; the other is “the dead” (Rev. 20:4-64And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4‑6)). Revelation 20:55But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (Revelation 20:5) lets us know that there is a thousand years between the two.
The unseen is now opened up to us in definite, unmistakable language. To the thief on the cross, the Lord said, “Verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.”
What assurance and joy these words would convey to the heart of the thief who had only asked a share in His kingdom, and now finds himself a chosen companion of his Redeemer for the blessedness of paradise, which means “a garden of pleasures,” which is neither a prison, nor is it an unconscious state.
The Lord was, when He died, in the unseen state—that is, absent from the body, but present with the Father, into whose hands He commended His Spirit (Luke 23:4646And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:46)); and the thief was also absent from the body, and present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:88We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8)).
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-41For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (2 Corinthians 5:1‑4) we see that the body is the tent or tabernacle that the person lives in. He may be unclothed, that is, the person without his body; or he may be clothed with his body (compare verses 6, 8).
Our bodies are mortal bodies at present, but when Christ comes for His saints, then our bodies will be immortal (1 Cor. 15:5353For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:53)); these words are not applied to the soul. There is proof in Scripture that the soul is still living after the body is dissolved.
2 Corinthians 12:2-42I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2 Corinthians 12:2‑4) distinguishes between the person, and his body or tent, also Luke 12:4, 54And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. (Luke 12:4‑5).
“Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him.” Still the person is living, though his body is killed.
The Lord lifts the curtain in Luke 16, showing us one saved, and one lost; one in torment, and one in bliss; both unclothed.
Abraham’s bosom to the Jew is the place of bliss, and there Lazarus was carried. His name means “God is my help.”
The rich man had everything but God. He had left God out.
The poor man had nothing, but he had God, and so bliss was his portion: and all who neglect Moses and the Prophets, that is, the Word of God, will be lost.
It is indeed a prison (2 Peter 2:4-94For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 7And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: (2 Peter 2:4‑9)) in which the unsaved are, until the resurrection, when they will be sentenced. Yet they are already “in torments;” not a drop of water to cool their tongues; already “tormented in this flame.” We do not argue about whether it is literal fire or not. If this is a picture, what must the reality be!
Here also we see “a great gulf fixed” between them. There is no mercy, no changing then, no escape from the righteous judgment of a Holy One who will deal with the guilty. There is no salvation after death. “Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)).
During this time the blessed Saviour who died for sinners, by His Word and Spirit still says,
In 1 Peter 3, Noah, a preacher of righteousness, warned the ungodly world, but they would not hear. Then the flood swept them all off the face of the earth, into the prison where they now are, awaiting their judgment; there is no gospel there. Noah, by the Spirit of Christ, did the preaching while they were still on the earth. There is no hope for them now. Remember also Sodom and Gomorrha (Jude 77Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 7)), “suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
Purgatory denies the all-cleansing efficacy of the all-atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is “made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:3030But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30)).
All believers are children of God. It is not religion, it is trusting Christ, that saves the soul. Make sure, dear reader, that you are one of those who have trusted in the Saviour and His finished work.
When the Lord Jesus hung upon the cross, He was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:2121For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)). On that cross He went through all the sorrows of death, and bore the judgment, was forsaken of God as the victim bearing sin. He finished the work, went down into death to annul him that had the power of death. And this He did; death could not hold Him.
He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane that He might be saved out of death, so He went down thus into the grave—the lower parts of the earth. His body saw no corruption. He was in no prison, except that His body was in the grave. His Spirit was with the Father. Satan was defeated, and we are delivered from his power (Heb. 2:14, 1514Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14‑15); Eph. 4:88Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Ephesians 4:8); John 17:4, 54I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. (John 17:4‑5)). We, as believers, now by the Holy Spirit are united to that glorified one, the Savior of sinners, the believer’s Advocate and Great High Priest, the church’s Head.
The death of believers is called sleep as to this world (John 11:11-1411These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. 12Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. 13Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. 14Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. (John 11:11‑14), also 1 Thess. 4:13-1513But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (1 Thessalonians 4:13‑15)). “They know not anything” (Eccl. 9:55For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. (Ecclesiastes 9:5)), but that is “under the sun.” Ecclesiastes is wisdom under the sun; it does not reach up to heavenly things. “Sleep” refers only to the body, and not to the soul. The soul does not sleep.
We have already noticed that this does not mean unconsciousness to the bright scene of happiness with the Lord where they wait with Him for the time when soul and body will be reunited and glorified.
(To be continued)