BIBLE DOCTRINES
Beliefs That Matter
by
MARK G. CAMBRON, D.D.
Introduction by Herbert Lockyer, D.D
.
Chapter 7
Ecclesiology - The Doctrine of the Church
ECCLESIOLOGY
(The Doctrine of the Church)
OUTLINE FOR CHAPTER VII
ECCLESIOLOGY
I. The Meaning of the Word.
II. The Use of the Word.
III. What the Church Is Not.
IV. What the Church Is.
A. A Mystery.
B. A Body.
C. A Building.
D. A Bride.
V. The Gifts to the Body.
VI. The Local Church.
VII. Discipline in the Church.
VIII. Ordinances in the Church.
A. Baptism.
B. Lord’s Supper.
Chapter VII
ECCLESIOLOGY
Ecclesiology is the doctrine of the Church.
I. THE MEANING OF THE WORD
The word “church” does not mean the building in which
the congregation meets; neither is it as the Catholics say, the Papal system. Others
contend that it is a company, or a club, just an organization. The Church is not an organization,
but an organism.
The following may surprise most students of the Word,
but nevertheless, it is true. The word “church” cannot be found in the New Testament. The
word “church,” is a rendition,
and not a translation. This same word “church” is a
rendition of the word ecclesia, which means a called-out company, or assembly. If we should
call Bible things by Bible names correctly, we would call it the assembly of God in
Christ, instead of the Church of God in Christ.
The word ecclesia always means a called-out
company, or assembly. It refers to all classes of people; it is not limited to believers in
Christ. There are three references in the Bible that refer to three different kinds of people.
None of them are related, yet they are called-out companies, or assemblies.
A. A Mob.
“When Paul would have entered in unto the people, the
disciples suffered him not, And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends,
sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself to the theater. Some
therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly [ecclesia: that is a
mob, and not believers] was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come
together...And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said. . . . Ye have brought
hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches [this word means temple; it is not
from the word ecclesia], nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. . . . But if ye inquire
anything concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly [this is
the same word ecclesia, and does not mean believers] . . . . And when he had thus spoken, he
dismissed the assembly [again the word ecclesia]” (Acts19:30-32, 35, 37, 39, 41).
B. The Children of Israel.
Certainly the children of Israel were a called-out
company from Egypt, but we know that they were not the body of Christ. Christ had not been
manifested in the flesh as yet. “This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the
angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers who received the lively
oracles to give unto us” (Acts 7:38).
C. The Body of Christ.
By this we mean the body of believers in the Lord Jesus.
The New Testament abounds with references to the ecclesia, the called-out
company, or assembly, from the world to Christ. The following are a few: God “hath put all
things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church [ecclesia,
meaning called-out company, or assembly], which is his body, the fulness of him that
filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:22, 23).
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved
the church [ecclesia, meaning called-out company or assembly], and gave himself for
it. . . . This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church [ecclesia,
meaning called-out company, or assembly]” (Eph. 5:25, 32).
II. THE USE OF THE WORD
Knowing that the word “church” is a rendition from the
Greek, ecclesia, meaning calledout company, or assembly, we shall turn our attention to
those portions of Scripture dealing with the body of believers. The word ecclesia
is used in the following ways:
A. A Local Assembly (church).
“Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church
of the Thessalonians....” (I Thess. 1:1). “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth
. . .“ (I Cor. 1:2).
B. Local Assemblies (churches).
This has reference to several local bodies. “Paul . . .
and all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and
peace” (Gal. 1:1-3).
C. The Body of Living Believers (unnumbered).
We must explain that by this we mean a group of
believers, living in a certain section, without reference to a local assembly, and without
number. For instance, a minister may speak of the Church of Chicago, the Church of Denver,
etc. we immediately know that he is referring to all Christian believers in these cities.
The best illustration in the Word is: “Ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the
Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and
wasted it” (Gal. 1:13). Saul (Paul) did not limit his persecution to one certain assembly, or
several local assemblies. He went
everywhere, hailing into prison, and voting the
death penalty for the early Christians. He considered all Christians as
The Church.
D. The Complete Body of Christ.
The complete body of Christ is called the Church,
and is composed of all believers from Pentecost to the Rapture. “Husbands, love your wives
even as Christ also loved the
church, and gave Himself for it” (Eph. 5:25).
III. WHAT THE CHURCH IS NOT
A. The Church Is Not Israel.
“Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the
Gentiles, nor to the church of God” (I
Cor. 10:32). Here is revealed that there are three
classes of people today: Jew, Gentile
and Church. When a Jew is saved, he ceases to be a Jew,
and becomes a Christian. When
a Gentile accepts Christ, he ceases to be a Gentile, and
becomes a Christian. “As many of
you as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female: for ye are all one in Christ
Jesus” (Gal. 3:27-29). The Church (Body of Christ) is
not spiritual Israel: “He is our
peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition
between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain
one new man, so making peace”
(Eph. 2:14, 15). The Body of Christ (Church) is a new
man, and not Israel, whether
spiritual Israel or revived Israel.
B. The Church Is Not the Kingdom.
CHURCH
1. No heirs of the Church.
2. No receiver of the Church.
3. There are elders of the Church.
4. No Sons of the Church.
5. Church called a temple (Eph. 2:21).
6. Church is here.
7. Church was never a subject of prophecy (Eph. 3: 5,9).
8. Church is to be built up (Eph. 4:12).
KINGDOM
1. The Church is heir of the kingdom.
2. The Church is the receiver of the kingdom.
3. No elders of the kingdom.
4. Sons of the kingdom.
5. Kingdom never called a temple.
6. Kingdom is not here, for the King is not present
(Matt. 6:10).
7. Kingdom is the one subject of prophecy.
8. Kingdom is to be set up (Acts 15:16).
176
IV. WHAT THE CHURCH IS
A. It Is a Mystery.
“By revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I
wrote afore in few words,
whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in
the mystery of Christ)
which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of
men, as it is now revealed unto
his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the
Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and
of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ
by the gospel. . . . And to make
all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which
from the beginning of the world
hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus
Christ” (Eph. 3:3-6,9). A “mystery”
in Scripture means a “truth revealed for the first
time.” In the above verses, the Holy
Spirit shows us that The Church (Body of Christ)
was first revealed to the Apostle Paul,
and that it was not known by the Old Testament prophets.
The truth of The Church was
not hidden in Old Testament writings, but was hid in
God.
B. It Is the Body of Which Christ Is the Head.
“As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the
members of that one body,
being many, are one body: so also is (the) Christ. For
by one Spirit are we all baptized
into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether
we be bond or free; and have
been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is
not one member, but many. . . .
That there should be no schism in the body; but that the
members should have the same
care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all
the members suffer with it; or
one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now ye are the body of Christ,
and members in particular” (I Cor. 12:12-14, 25-27).
The Body is an organism composed of many members. All
members do not have the
same function. The Church is not a physical body, but a
spiritual body. Believers in
Christ are made members of that spiritual body by the
Spirit’s baptism. There are those
who hold that I Corinthians 12:13 is speaking of water
baptism, but this argument can
easily be refuted by another Scripture. I Corinthians
12:13 says that we are made
members of the Body by baptism (Spirit’s), while
Ephesians 3:6 declares we are made
members of that Body by the Gospel. Both are
correct. If I Corinthians 12:13 speaks of
water baptism, then water baptism is an essential part
of the Gospel of Ephesians 3:6. We
know, however, that water baptism has no part in the
Gospel whatsoever. The Gospel is
the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
(I Cor. 15:1-4).
As is true of the physical body, so it is of the
spiritual Body; when one member of the
Body suffers, all members suffer with it. Not one
Christian can suffer persecution without
the whole Body hurting also. One member cannot grieve,
but that the whole Body grieves
with it. When the Body suffers, the Head also suffers.
When we are persecuted, Christ is
also persecuted: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”
(Acts 9:4).
Remember that the Body is an organism and must be
considered as such. A building, for
example, can be repaired by replacing old doors and
windows, and the like, with new
177
ones, but when part of a body is removed, such as an
arm, leg, eye, and the like, the part
can never be replaced. If it were possible for a member
of the Body of Christ to lose his
salvation, then the Body of Christ would be mutilated,
and this could never happen. The
following are four characteristics of the Body of
Christ:
1. Oneness. A body is one, a complete whole, an
organic unity. So is the Body of
Christ.
2. Deathlessness. The Body of Christ will never
die, for it is connected with a living
Head.
3. Manifestation. The one purpose of the Body of
Christ is to manifest, or reveal
Christ. “To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”
(Phil. 1:21). “I am crucified with
Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me: and the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me, and gave himself for
me” (Gal. 2:20).
4. Service. The thoughts and the plans of the head
are to be carried out by the body.
Likewise, the Body of Christ is to carry out the will of
its Head, the Lord Jesus Christ.
What He commands we must do. His will shall govern our
movements.
C. It Is a Building.
“Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow
citizens with the saints, and of the
household of God; and are built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom all
the building fitly framed together
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also
are builded together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:19-22).
The apostles and New Testament prophets are the
foundation of the Building (Church).
They were the first ones to believe in the Lord Jesus,
and they were the first ones to
proclaim the Lord Jesus.
“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual
house, an holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”
(I Peter 2:5). We believers are
living stones of this new building of God. When the
temple of old was erected, there was
no sound of hammer, chisel, or saw. All materials were
formed beforehand. So are we,
for we were selected before the foundation of the earth
was laid. The inside stones of the
temple could not be seen, for they were covered with
cedarwood and gold. Only the gold
could be seen. We, the living stones of the Building of
God, are not to be seen. Christ
only is to be seen.
The building was erected of different colored stones;
even so the Building of God is
composed of black, red, yellow and white races. God
dwelt in the temple, and He abides
in us.
178
D. It Is the Bride.
Some have contended that the Bride of Christ is the same
as the Wife of Jehovah, who is
Israel. However, there is one Scripture which disproves
this theory, and that is Revelation
22:17: “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him
that heareth say, Come. And let
him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him
take the water of life freely.” The
above passage declares that the Spirit and the Bride are
extending the invitation to sinners
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. If the Bride is
Israel, then it is the Spirit and Israel
extending the invitation. We know that is not true, for
the greater part of Israel is in
unbelief today. Who is inviting, or urging people to
accept Christ? It is the Church, not
Israel. Therefore, the Bride is the Church, the Body of
believers.
Ephesians 5:25-32 clearly points to the fact that
husband and wife have the same
relationship as that of Christ and His Bride, the
Church. Especially we see this in verses
28-30: “So ought men to love their own wives as their
own bodies. He that loveth his
wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hateth his own
flesh; but nourisheth and
cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church: For
we are members of his body, of his flesh,
and of his bones.”
1. The Bride Is Purchased By Christ. “Husbands,
love your wives, even as Christ also
loved the church, and gave himself for it”
(Eph. 5:25). See also I Corinthians 6:19, 20. In
the Orient men purchased their wives; the price became
her dowry. Christ bought his
Church with His own precious blood. His blood is her
dowry forever!
2. The Bride Is Espoused to Christ. “I am jealous
over you with godly jealousy: for I
have espoused you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (II
Cor. 11:2). The Oriental marriage differs greatly from
marriage as we know it. The
Eastern custom of marriage took place after the
following manner: First, the bride was
bought (we have been bought by Christ); second, the
ceremony was performed,
inaugurating the espousal period, which lasted about a
year. During this time the bride
was considered the wife of her husband, yet they did not
live together. The one year
waiting period was protection of the future home. If
there were any blemishes against the
character and conduct of the bride, they would come to
light during this time. The Bride
of Christ is now in her espousal period. During this
interval the blemishes of the Bride, if
any, will certainly manifest themselves. History has
proved that there have been many
who have had the form of godliness, but have denied the
power thereof. These blemishes
(these men) vanish away; finally comes the consummation
of the marriage.
3. The Bride Is Married to Christ. “Let us be
glad and rejoice, and give honour to him:
for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath
made herself ready. And to her
was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white: for the fine linen is
the righteousness of saints” (Rev. 19:7, 8). “Then shall
the Realm of heaven be compared
to ten maidens who took their lamps and went out to meet
the bridegroom and the bride”
(Matt. 25:1 — Moffatt). This is the consummation of
Christ’s marriage to His Church.
The espousal period is over; she is now with her
husband, and so shall she ever be with
Him (I Thess. 4:17).
179
V. THE GIFTS TO THE BODY
“Unto every one of us is given grace according to the
measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore he saith, When He ascended up on high, he led
captivity captive, and gave
gifts unto men. . . . And he gave some apostles; and
some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:7,
8, 11).
A. Apostles.
This was the first gift to the Church (Body). Upon the
Apostles was built the early
Church. The word “apostle” in the Greek is the same as
the word “missionary” in Latin,
meaning “the sent one.” Of course, the Church has
missionaries (sent ones) today, but no
apostles.
B. Prophets.
To these men God gave His revelations. At the first, the
Church did not have the New
Testament, yet it needed to know the doctrines of God;
therefore, God gave to men His
unwritten Word; these in turn gave it to the people. The
Church has no prophets today for
we have God’s complete revealed truth, the New
Testament.
C. Evangelists.
Another gift to the Church was evangelists. These men
fervently heralded the Gospel.
They were men of humility, burdened for the lost. The
pastor is told to do the work of an
evangelist (II Tim. 4:5). The day of the evangelist is
not over, and will not be until Christ
comes to reign upon the earth.
D. Pastors and Teachers.
The word “pastor” means “shepherd.” The pastor is to be
the shepherd of his sheep,
looking after his flock, weeping and rejoicing with
them. The crying need of the Church
today is for pastors. Blessed is the man who has a
pastor’s heart. A pastor is not only
called to preach three sermons a week, but he is called
to pastor, shepherd, look after,
care for, visit, love, protect, instruct the sheep.
Every pastor, while doing the work of an
evangelist, which is winning souls, should also be one
who is able to teach the Word to
his flock. Where will the church members get the Word if
not from the pastor? All of the
truth some people will get will be at a Sunday service.
Some distinguish between the pastor and the teacher,
believing that there are those who
are called only to be teachers. This may be so, but we
know that all pastors are to be
teachers also. All teachers may not be pastors, but all
pastors must be teachers.
180
VI. THE LOCAL CHURCH
While we believe that the Body of Christ is composed of
all believers from Pentecost to
the Rapture, we do stress the importance of the local
church, or assembly. The local
assembly is the physical body by which the Body (Church)
is manifested. God stresses
the importance of the local church by giving it officers
and ordinances. He who is
ashamed of the local assembly is ashamed of that which
was established at Pentecost.
The local church, as well as the Body of Christ, was
established at Pentecost.
A. Its Organization.
The Scriptures indicate that there was some
organization, but not as that today. It was not
copied after the synagogue. It was entirely different.
B. Its Officers.
1. Deacons. I Timothy 3:8-13 gives the
requirements for deacons. The deacons were
not chosen to run the church, but to minister to the
church.
2. Bishops and Elders. There is a vast difference
between the early Church and that of
today as to bishops. The early Church had many
bishops in one local church; today, we
have one bishop over many local churches. The
elders were called by that name because
they were the oldest in the family. If the father were
dead, the first son took his place. An
elder was an elderly man. Titus 1:5-7 says, “For this
cause I left thee in Crete, that thou
shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and
ordain elders in every city, as I
appointed thee: if any be blameless, the husband of one
wife, having faithful children not
accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be
blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled,
not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given
to filthy lucre.” According
to this, the elder and bishop were the same. The word
“elder” refers to the person, while
the word “bishop” refers to the office. Every bishop was
an elder, but every elder was not
a bishop. The word “bishop” means “overseer.” The
“overseers” of the local churches
were old men. This group of bishops composed what is
known as the presbytery (I Tim,
1:4).
C. Its Purpose.
The purpose of the Church is to glorify God in the
building up of the Body of Christ in
the holy faith; and to spread the Gospel to the ends of
the earth, winning, baptizing,
teaching.
VII. DISCIPLINE IN THE LOCAL CHURCH
Even though it is true that the Church is under grace
rather than law, the flesh is still in
the believer, and the Lord has laid down rules of
discipline for His local church. There
were three steps in Church discipline, and they are as
follows:
181
A. Judgment By Self.
“If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged”
(I Cor. 11:31). The believer
knows when he has sinned and should immediately confess
it to God (I John 1:9). If he
confesses that sin, he has judged himself. It is
forgiven, and he shall never be judged for
it again. Let us stress the word “confess” however.
Confess does not mean to admit it,
that is, to own up to it; that is implied, but it goes
deeper than that. It means to take one’s
stand against.
B. Judgment By the Church.
If a sinning brother will not judge himself, then he
must be judged by the local church. I
Corinthians 5:11, 12 says “I have written unto you not
to keep company, if any man that
is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an
idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or
an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what
have I to do to judge them also
that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?”
Yes, fellowship in the local
church should be withheld from the erring brother as
judgment. Some term this “backdoor
revival.” This extreme judgment should be meted out only
after the effort to restore
him. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye
which are spiritual, restore such an
one in the spirit of meekness: Considering thyself, lest
thou also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1).
C. Judgment By God.
If the fallen brother does not judge himself, and the
Church will not judge him, then God
will judge him through chastisement (Heb. 12:5-13).
VIII. ORDINANCES IN THE LOCAL CHURCH
The Church has two ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s
Supper. Baptism is observed at
the beginning of the Christian life; the Lord’s Supper
is taken all during the Christian life.
We emphasize the fact that these are ordinances of the
Church, and not sacraments.
A. Baptism.
Baptism is from the Greek word baptizo, meaning
to dip, to plunge, to immerse for the
purpose of dying. It can never mean sprinkling, or
pouring.
1. Obligation (Matt. 28:18-20; Rom. 6:1-6; Col.
2:12). All believers are obliged to be
baptized. One does not have to pray about it to seek
God’s will in the matter. The Lord
has commanded it.
2. Administration. Nearly every denomination,
with the exception of some local
Baptist groups, demands that their ministers, who
administer the ordinance of baptism,
must be ordained.
3. Explanation. Baptism is a public declaration
of faith in Christ by the believer before
182
man. It is his outward demonstration of an inward act,
and is a picture of the death, burial
and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Immersion
fully portrays the place of death;
there are some people, even today, who have met actual
physical death after coming up
out of the baptismal waters. Those who have come out of
other religions evaluate the
ordinance of baptism more highly than those who have
been raised in Christian homes.
Not only does baptism show the death, burial and
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ,
but it also shows the believer’s identification with
Christ. Baptism is his full declaration
of his own death in Christ (II Cor. 5:14): dead to sin,
dead to self and dead to the old life.
It is also his declaration of being raised with Christ,
after burying the old life, to walk in
newness of life with Him.
The baptism of all believers, as recorded in the Word,
pictures the death, burial and
resurrection of Christ. The baptism of John the Baptist
looked forward to Christ’s death
and resurrection, and our baptism today looks back
to the death and resurrection of our
Lord.
It is not a saving ordinance. Man is saved by faith
alone. This occurs before baptism. It is
true, however, that baptism is a public declaration of
faith before man, and God looks not
upon the baptismal waters, but upon the heart of man.
4. Participation. Who should be baptized? I
believe only the believer! “He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned” (Mark
16:16). Faith is first, then baptism. Again the question
arises, “Does man have to be
baptized to be saved?” No, for this Scripture says that
he that believeth not shall be
damned. If water baptism were essential, the Lord
would have added these words, “He
that is not baptized is damned.” The Apostle Paul, in
writing to the Corinthians said, “I
thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and
Gaius. . . . For Christ sent me not
to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of
words, lest the cross of Christ
should be of none effect” (I Cor. 1:14, 17). If baptism
were necessary for salvation, Paul
would not have boasted in the fact that he had baptized
so few. He plainly states that
baptism had nothing to do with the Gospel (Rom. 1:16),
for Christ had sent him not to
baptize, but to preach.
It is impossible to baptize an unbeliever, for if he is
an unbeliever before he is immersed,
he will be an unbeliever when he comes out of the
baptismal waters.
What is the age limit for baptism? Some parents contend
that twelve years of age is the
youngest age at which a child should be baptized. This
has no Scriptural foundation
whatsoever. It may be a carry-over from the Jewish
custom of adoption. The Word
clearly states that baptism is for all believers,
regardless of age or sex.
B. Lord’s Supper.
“I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered
unto you, that the Lord Jesus the
same night in which he was betrayed took bread: and when
he had given thanks, he brake
it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is
broken for you: this do in remembrance
183
of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when
he had supped, saying, This cup
is the New Testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as
ye drink it, in remembrance of
me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this
cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till
he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and
drink this cup of the Lord,
unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the
Lord. But let a man examine
himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of
that cup” (I Cor.11:23-28).
1. Origination. From the above Scriptures little
doubt is left as to who instituted the
Lord’s Supper. There is no record of this ordinance
being held before the Lord Jesus
inaugurated it. We, as it were, take the bread and the
cup from His own precious hands.
The theory that Christ never lived is exploded by the
Lord’s Supper. It is His, and His
only.
2. Obligation. The words “this do” are a command
of the Lord, and the words “all of
it” (Matt. 26:27) are better translated “all of you.”
This ordinance is for the entire Body of
Christ.
3. Participation.
a. Who? No one but a baptized child of God should
participate in the Lord’s Supper.
Those who sat with Him at the last supper had been
baptized. Baptism is the symbol of
the commencing of the new life, and the Lord’s Supper is
a symbol of the sustenance of
that life.
b. How often? Some churches observe the Lord’s
Supper every Sunday; some, once a
month; others, four times a year; and still others, once
a year; some never observe the
Lord’s Supper. What is the Scriptural stipulation for
this observance? “As often” (I Cor.
11:26): there is no set, rigid rule.
c. In What Manner? Some believers are very
confused concerning their fitness to
partake of the Lord’s Supper after reading I Corinthians
11:27-29. They notice the word
“unworthily,” and immediately they review their past
mistakes, ever since they became a
Christian, and fear that they shall be eating and
drinking damnation to themselves if they
partake. Let us point out that the word “unworthily” is
an adverb, and modifies the word
“drink,” which means to drink in an “unworthy manner.”
As far as being worthy is
concerned, which one of us can call himself worthy? No
one! This has reference to the
act of participation. The context will give a
perfect explanation. In the early church love
feasts were held; the rich brought their store of food
and wine, while the converted slaves
brought nothing. As the feast progressed, the rich
believer, keeping his food and drink to
himself, soon became drunk. The poor slave, of course,
had nothing, and remained sober.
The Lord’s Supper was observed at the conclusion of the
feast. The drunken believer
could not appreciate the Lord’s Supper. In his
drunkenness, the cup of the Lord’s Supper
meant nothing more to him than another drink of wine. He
could not discern the Lord’s
body and blood; thus, he drank it “unworthily.” This
fact led to many untimely deaths in
the Corinthian Church: “For this cause many are weak and
sickly among you, and many
sleep” (I Cor. 11:30).
If the Christian feels unworthy, it is a good indication
that he is worthy, and vice versa.
The man who finds some personal quality in himself to
make him worthy to partake of
184
the Lord’s Supper had better stay away. The table is not
spread for the righteous, but for
the unrighteous, who are justified by faith.
4. Constitution. The elements of the Lord’s
Supper are bread and fruit of the vine. The
bread was unleavened, as it was used in the observance
of the Passover, from which the
Lord inaugurated the Lord’s Supper.
5. Interpretation.
a. Transubstantiation. This interpretation is
held by the Roman Catholic Church. It
declares that by the consecration of the priest the
bread and wine cease to remain, as
such, and become the actual body and blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This Faith contends
that when the Lord said, “Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son
of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you”
(John 6:53), he meant the actual flesh
and blood of Christ. Therefore, the Mass is that ritual
which turns the bread and wine into
the actual flesh and blood of Christ. The priest alone
drinks the wine, as not one drop of
Christ’s blood must be spilt. The bread is in the form
of a wafer, so that not a crumb of
His body should be lost. In answer to this we ask, “How
could Christ, while being in His
perfect body, hold part of His body in His hand when he
said, ‘This is my body’?”
b. Consubstantiation. The Lutherans and the
Church of England believe this
interpretation, which states that, while the bread
remains bread, and the wine remains
wine, the body and blood is present in a spiritual
sense; the body and blood are present
only at the moment when they are partaken of, and after
being taken, cease to be the body
and blood of Christ.
c. Symbolism. This is the true interpretation,
which states that the bread and wine are
only symbols of Christ’s body and blood, which were
offered upon Calvary’s cross for
the remission of sins. “This do in remembrance of
me”; it is observed in blessed memory,
and that is where it ends.
6. Limitation. How long should the Church
continue this observance? Till He comes
again. What is our answer to the scoffer who jeers at
the Second Coming, and who asks,
“Where is the promise of His coming?” We point to the
Lord’s Table and reply, “There is
the promise of His coming.”
7. Evaluation.
a. Its Value Doctrinally.
(1) The Person of Christ.
(a) His Humanity. His humanity is as real as His
Deity. The symbols speak of His
actual human body and blood, and it is most essential
that it is human, as the atonement
must be in the nature of that which sinned (“Christ died
for us”).
(b) His Deity. His Deity is expressed in the
words “Lord’s Supper.” All titles of
Deity are in this one word, “Lord.”
(2) The Work of Christ.
(a) His Death. The elements of the Lord’s Supper
portray this fact, for the body
and blood are together in life, but separated in death.
(b) His Resurrection and Second Coming. “Till I
come” does not mean “till I
come from the grave”, but “till I come from heaven.”
185
(3) The Way of Salvation.
(a) It Assumes Our Guilt and Helplessness.
(b) It Emphasizes Substitution. (“Broken
for you”)
(c) It Reminds Us That Salvation Is Free. (Given
for you)
(d) It Declares the Gift of Salvation Must Be
Accepted. (Take, eat and drink)
b. Its Value Devotionally.
(1) We Come With Confession.
(2) We Come With Prayer.
(3) We Come With Consecration.
(4) We Come With Humility.
(5) We Come With Thanksgiving.
(6) The Whole Man Is Engaged.
(a) Ears to Hear His Invitation.
(b) Eyes to See Its Symbol.
(c) Hands That Handle the Elements.
(d) Mouth Which Eats the Elements.
(e) Body Which Assimilates the Element —
Becomes Part of Us.
c. Its Value Practically.
(1) It Is a Means of Grace.
(2) It Is a Means of Testimony.
(3) It Is a Means of Strengthening Faith.
(4) It Is a Means to Promote Our Love Toward Him.
(5) It is a Means to Promote Love Toward One Another.
(6) It Is a Means to Promote Fellowship. This
fellowship is one with another in
Christ around the Lord’s Table, He being the center.
(7) It is a Means to Stimulate Holiness.
d. Its Value Prophetically. If the Lord Jesus is
not coming the second time, why
celebrate the Lord’s Supper? He is coming!
Remember, in answer to those who ask,
“Where is the promise of His coming?”, we point to the
Lord’s Supper.
186
Chapter 8
Angelology - The Doctrine of Angels
187
ANGELOLOGY
(The Doctrine of Angels)
188
OUTLINE FOR CHAPTER VIII
ANGELOLOGY
Definition.
Expression.
Explanation.
Designation.
Description.
A. Their Personality.
B. Their Origination.
C. Their Enumeration.
D. Their Habitation.
E. Their Characterization.
F. Their Perfection Attributes.
G. Their Gradation.
H. Their Division.
Delineation.
A. Good Angels.
B. Bad Angels.
Satan.
The Names and Descriptive Titles of Satan.
The Personality of Satan.
The Origin of Satan.
The Career of Satan.
The Location of Satan.
The Character of Satan.
The Work of Satan.
The Limitation of Satan.
Our Attitude Toward Satan.
189
Chapter VIII
ANGELOLOGY
Angelology is the doctrine of angels.
I. DEFINITION
A. Expression.
“Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming
fire” (Ps. 104:4). “The angel of
the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and
delivereth them” (Ps. 34:7).
“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son
of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou madest him a little lower than the angels, and
hast crowned him with glory and
honor” (Ps. 8: 4, 5). “Behold, I will send my
messenger, and he shall prepare the way
before me” (Mal. 3: la). “Then shall he say also unto
them on the left hand, Depart from
me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).
See also Genesis 19:1, 15; 24:7; 28:12; Psalm 103:20;
Hebrews 1:7, 14; Matthew 11:10;
Luke 7:27.
B. Explanation.
1. Translation. The Old Testament Hebrew and the
New Testament Greek translate
the word angel as “ambassador, messenger, deputy, and
ministers.”
a. For Human Messengers. From one human to
another: “When the messengers of
John were departed, he began to speak unto the people
concerning John” (Luke 7:24a).
b. For Human Messengers Bearing a Divine Message.
“Then spake Haggai the
LORD’s messenger in the LORD’s message unto the
people, saying, I am with you, saith
the LORD” (Hag. 1:13). See also Galatians 4:14.
c. For Impersonal Providence. This may be some
physical deformity. “Lest I should
be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations, there was given to
me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan
to buffet me, lest I should be exalted
above measure” (II Cor. 12:7).
d. For Bishops or Preachers. “Unto the angel
of the church of Ephesus write; These
things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his
right hand, who walketh in the midst of
the seven golden candlesticks” (Rev. 2:1). See also
Revelation 1:20; 2:8, 12, 18; 3:1,7,
14.
e. For Demons Without Bodies. “When the Pharisees
heard it, they said, This fellow
doth not cast out devils [demons], but by Beelzebub the
prince of the devils [demons]”
(Matt. 12:24; 25:41).
f. For Heavenly Beings. See Genesis 18.
g. For One Pre-eminent Angel: The Angel of the Lord.
“The angel of the LORD
appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of
a bush: and he looked, and,
behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not
consumed” (Ex. 3:2).
190
2. Notation. The term “angel” is not a personal
name, but rather a title describing an
office.
C. Designation.
There are three angels whose personal names we know:
1. Lucifer. This is the unfallen name of the
Devil. Satan is his fallen name. “How art
thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
how art thou cut down to the
ground, which did weaken the nations!” (Is. 14:12).
2. Michael — Tue Archangel. According to
the Scriptures there is only one archangel.
He is mentioned in the books of Daniel and Revelation.
Michael has to do with the
resurrection; it is he who shall sound the trumpet, and
not Gabriel. “Yet Michael the
archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed
about the body of Moses, durst not
bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The
Lord rebuke thee” (Jude 9). “The
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel
[Michael], and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first” (I Thess.
4:16).
a. Prince of Daniel’s People, the Jews.
b. Head of the Heavenly Army of Angels.
3. Gabriel. This name is found in Daniel and
Luke. “I heard a man’s voice between
the banks of Ulai which called, and said, Gabriel, make
this man to understand the
vision” (Dan. 8:16). “The angel answering said unto him,
I am Gabriel, that stand in the
presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to
shew thee these glad tidings”
(Luke 1:19). See also Daniel 9:21-27; Luke 1:26, 27.
II. DESCRIPTION
A. Their Personality.
They are personal beings, and not impersonal influences,
such as thoughts, ideas, etc.
Paul writes that “peradventure” God will give “those
that oppose themselves”
“repentance to the acknowledging of the truth . . . that
they may recover themselves out
of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him
at his will” (II Tim. 2:25, 26). See
also II Samuel 14: 20; Revelation 12:9, 12; 22: 8, 9.
B. Their Origination.
They are created beings and superior to man, but they
are not as the artist paints them,
having wings, and the like. No doubt they have bodies,
but not like our bodies. If our
eyes were not blinded by the fall of man, we might be
able to see them. Eve saw Satan as
an angel of light. Angels are not eternal beings.
While they will live forever, yet they
have not lived forever, because they are created
beings. They were created like man, but
191
not as human beings. A Christian does not become an
angel when he dies, but, in Christ,
he is greater than angels can ever be. “By him were all
things created, that are in heaven,
and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: all things were created by
him, and for him” (Col. 1:16). See
also Nehemiah 9:6; Genesis 18:8; Luke 24:37.
C. Their Enumeration.
“Ye are come into mount Sion, and unto the city of
the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels”
(Heb. 12:22). “Thinkest thou that I
cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently
give me more than twelve legions
of angels?” (Matt. 26:53). Six thousand composed a
legion; the Lord could have called
for seventy-two thousand angels for aid had he so
desired. See also Daniel 7:10; Psalm
68:17.
D. Their Habitation.
A great many angels dwell in the heavenlies. “In the
resurrection they neither marry, nor
are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in
heaven” (Matt. 22:30). See also
Matthew 18:10; Luke 2:13-15; John 1:15; Galatians 1:8;
Revelation 5:11; 7:11.
E. Their Characterization.
1. Angels Are Spirits. “Of the angels he saith,
Who maketh his angels spirits, and his
ministers a flame of fire” (Heb. 1:7). See also Hebrews
1:14; Psalm 104:4.
2. Angels are Corporeal. Although being spirit,
they have bodies of some kind and
perform bodily acts. Mary “seeth two angels in white
sitting, the one at the head, and the
other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain”
(John 20:12). See also Genesis 18:1-8;
19:1-3; Judges 6.
3. Angels Are Masculine. It is an error to say
they are sexless. They are always
manifested in the form of man. Masculine pronouns are
always used in connection with
them. “And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young
man sitting on the right side,
clothed in a long white garment; and they were
affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not
affrighted: ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was
crucified: He is risen; he is not here:
behold the place where they laid him” (Mark 16:5,6). See
also Matthew 28:2-4; Luke
1:26.
4. Angels are Celibates. There is no record of
angels ever marrying angels. “In the
resurrection they neither marry nor are given in
marriage, but are as the angels of God in
heaven” (Matt. 22:30). The quoted Scripture does not
mean that we will be sexless, but
that we will not marry.
F. Their Perfection — Attributes.
192
1. They Are Deathless. They will never die, or
cease to exist. They do not grow old.
“They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that
world, and the resurrection from
the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
neither can they die any more: for they
are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God,
being the children of the
resurrection” (Luke 20:35, 36).
2. They are Immutable. There is no matter in them
that can change.
3. They Are Illocal. They are not subject to
limitation, or space. We are (Acts 17:26).
However, they are not omnipresent.
4. They Are Mighty. They are not omnipotent
(almighty). They are mightier than we
are, but are inferior to God. “To you who are troubled
rest with us when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels”
(II Thess. 1:7). See also Acts 5:19;
12:5-11, 23; Psalm 103:20; II Peter 2:10, 11.
5. They Are Wise. They possess super-human
intelligence, yet they are not omniscient
(all-wise). One of the purposes of Paul’s preaching was
“to the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might be
known by the church the manifold
wisdom of God. according to the eternal purpose which he
purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord” (Eph. 3:10, 11). See also II Samuel 14:17-20;
Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32; I Peter
1:10-12.
6. They are Subordinate. They are always subject
to God. Even the Devil is in this
category. There is nothing he can do, but by the will of
God. “[Jesus Christ] is gone into
heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and
authorities and powers being made
subject unto him” (I Peter 3:22). See also Hebrews
1:4-8, 13, 14.
G. Their Gradation.
1. The Angel of the Lord. This angel is presented
as no other angel in the Scriptures.
He possesses a position no other angel could occupy. He
is the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
He presented himself to Hagar, Abraham and Gideon.
2. The Cherubim. This is the plural of cherub.
They are mighty beings, always
connected with the throne of God. They were present in
the garden of Eden. They were
placed there to keep Adam and Eve from re-entering the
garden. According to Scripture,
they seem to be more than just angelic beings, for they
are connected with God as a
symbol of God himself. Images of cherubims were made of
gold and overlooked the
mercy seat. The mercy seat is a type of Christ; thus,
the cherubims are pictured as
overlooking the work of Christ in love and light.
3. The Anointed Cherub. No doubt this was Satan
in his unfallen estate. “Thou are the
anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so:
thou wast upon the holy mountain
of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the
stones of fire” (Ezek. 28:14).
193
4. The Seraphim. These angelic beings are
mentioned only in Isaiah. They are
attentive unto the LORD of Hosts. “In the year that king
Uzziah died I saw also the Lord
sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train
filled the temple. Above it stood the
seraphims: each one had six wings....Then flew one of
the seraphims unto me, having a
live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs
from off the altar” (Is. 6:1,2,6).
5. Archangel. “Michael the archangel, when
contending with the devil he disputed
about the body of Moses. durst not bring against him a
railing accusation, but said, The
Lord rebuke thee” (Jude 9). See also I Thessalonians
4:16.
6. Throne. “By him were all things created, that
are in heaven, and that are in the
earth, visible, and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
powers: all things were created by him, and for him”
(Col. 1:16).
7. Dominion. God set Christ “at his own right
hand in the heavenly places, far above
all principality, and power, and might, and dominion,
and every name that is named, not
only in this world but also in that which is to come”
(Eph. 1:20, 21). See also Colossians
1:16.
8. Principalities. “I am persuaded, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor heighth, nor depth,
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38, 39). See also
Colossians 1:16; Ephesians 6:12.
9. Powers. “Unto the principalities and powers
in heavenly places might be known by
the church the manifold wisdom of God” (Eph. 3:10). See
also Colossians 1:16;
Ephesians 1:21.
10. Mighty. “God standeth in the congregation of
the mighty; he judgeth among the
Gods” (Ps. 82:1). See also Psalm 89:6.
11. Authorities. “[Jesus Christ] is gone into
heaven, and is on the right hand of God;
angels and authorities and powers being made
subject unto him” (I Peter 3:22).
12. Dignities. “These filthy dreamers defile the
flesh, despise dominion, and speak
evil of dignities” (Jude 8). See also II Peter
2:10.
H. Their Division.
Angels are divided into two great moral realms or
spheres:
1. Holy Angels — Angels of God. “Jacob
went on his way, and the angels of God met
him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s
host: and he called the name of
194
that place Mahanaim” (Gen, 32:1, 2). See also Matthew
25:31; Daniel 4:13.
2. Fallen Angels — Angels of Satan. “There
was war in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought
and his angels, and prevailed not;
neither was their place found any more in heaven. And
the great dragon was cast out, that
old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast
out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with
him” (Rev. 12:7-9). See also II Peter
2:4-6; Jude 6, 7.
These are called the angels of Satan; they were not
created by him; they became his by
choice. All angels were created in holiness; possessing
a free will, they could choose
either to serve God or Satan. “A God very terrible in
the council of the holy ones, and to
be feared above all them that are round about him,” (Ps.
89:7, R.V.). See also Matthew
18:10; 13:9; Mark 8:38; John 8:34; II Peter 2:4; Jude 6;
I John 5:18.
III. DELINEATION
A. Good Angels.
1. Their Adoration. “Again, when he bringeth in
the first begotten into the world, he
said, And let all the angels of God worship him” (Heb.
1:6 ). See also Isaiah 6:3; John
12:41; Revelation 5:11, 12. We are told in Colossians
2:18 never to worship angels.
2.
Their
Ministration.
a. Angelic Revelation. They are able to carry the
will of God to man. “If the word
spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression
and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect
so great salvation,” (Heb. 2:2).
Also Daniel 8:16, 17; Luke 1:11-13; Acts 1:9-11.
b. Angelic Preservation. They are sent to help
the saints of God. He answered and
said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of
the fire, and they have no hurt; and
the form of the fourth is like the Son of God” (Dan.
3:25). See also II Kings 6:15-18;
Hebrews 1:14.
c. Angelic Stimulation. They are sent to
encourage the child of God. “For there stood
by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom
I serve, saving, Fear not, Paul;
thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath
given thee all them that sail with
thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe
God, that it shall be even as it was
told me” (Acts 27:23-25).
d. Angelic Emancipation. They are sent to deliver
the child of God. “The angel of the
Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them
forth, and said, Go, stand and
speak in the temple to the people all the words of this
life” (Acts 5:19, 20).
e. Angelic Sustentation. “The devil leaveth him,
and, behold, angels came and
ministered unto him” (Matt. 4:11). See also Luke 22:43.
f. Angelic Conduction. “The angel of the Lord
spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and
go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from
Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is
desert” (Acts 8:26). See also Genesis 24:7; Exodus
23:20-23; Numbers 20:16; Acts 10:3-
8.
195
g. Angelic Administration. They execute the will
of God. “Bless the LORD, all ye
hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. Bless
the LORD all his works in all places
of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul” (Ps.
103:21, 22).
(1) In Judgment. “Let them be as chaff before the
wind: and let the angel of the
LORD chase them” (Ps. 35:5). See also I Chronicles
21:15; II Kings 19:35.
(2) In Guarding the Saved. “At that time shall
Michael stand up, the great prince
which standeth for the children of thy people” (Dan. 12:
la). See also Hebrews 1:14.
(3) In Guarding the Dead. “And it came to pass,
that the beggar died, and was
carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man
also died, and was buried”
(Luke 16:22).
(4) In Communicating the Law. “Wherefore then
serveth the law? It was added
because of transgression, till the seed should come to
whom the promise was made; and it
was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator” (Gal.
3:19). See also Hebrews 2:2.
(5) In Accompanying Christ. “To you who are
troubled rest with us, when the Lord
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty
angels” (II Thess. 1:7).
(6) In Regathering Israel. “When the Son of man
shall come in his glory, and all
the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the
throne of his glory” (Matt. 25:31).
(7) In Harvesting at the End of the Age. “Let
both grow together until the harvest:
and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers,
Gather ye together first the tares, and
bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat
into my barn” (Matt. 13:30).
B. Evil Angels.
These are the angelic followers of the Devil. These are
they for whom hell is prepared.
1. Their Designation. They are evil spirits;
seductive, unclean, demons. “When he was
come to the other side into the country of the
Gergesenes, there met him two possessed
with devils [demons] coming out of the tombs, exceeding
fierce, so that no man might
pass by that way” (Matt. 8:28). See also Matthew 9:33;
10:1; 12:43; Mark 1:26; 5:2-5;
9:17, 20; Luke 6:18; 9:39.
2. Their Division.
a. Fallen and Free.
b. Fallen and Chained. “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” (II
Peter 2:4). See also Ephesians 6:12; Jude 6.
3. The Free Angels.
a. Their Activities.
(1) They Obtain Possession of the Bodies of Men.
“They also which saw it told
them by what means he that was possessed of the devils
[demons] was healed” (Luke
8:36).
(2) They Voluntarily Vacate the Bodies of Men.
“When the unclean spirit is gone
out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking
rest, and findeth none” (Matt.
12:43).
b. Their Energies.
196
(1) They Threw a Man Down and Didn’t Hurt Him.
“Jesus rebuked him, saying,
Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil
[demon] had thrown him in the
midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not” (Luke
4:35).
(2) They Threw a Man Down and Tore Him. “As he
was yet a coming, the devil
[demon] threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked
the unclean spirit, and healed
the child, and delivered him again to his father” (Luke
9:42).
(3) They Drove a Man Into the Wilderness. “He had
commanded the unclean spirit
to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught
him: and he was kept bound with
chains and in fetters; and he brake the bonds, and was
driven of the devil [demon] into
the wilderness” (Luke 8:29).
c. Characteristics.
(1) Some Are Deaf. “When Jesus saw that the
people came running together, he
rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and
deaf spirit, I charge thee, come
out of him, and enter no more into him” (Mark 9:25).
(2) Some Are Dumb. “One of the multitude answered
and said, Master, I have
brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit”
(Mark 9:17).
(3) Some Are Lying. “The LORD said unto him,
Wherewith? And he said, I will go
forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all
his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt
persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so” (I
Kings 22:22).
(4) Some are Foul. “When Jesus saw that the
people were running together, he
rebuked the foul spirit” (Mark 9:25a).
(5) Some Are Seducing. “Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to
seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils
[demons]” (I Tim. 4:1).
d. Their Power. It is tremendous.
(1) They Control the Bodies of Both Men and Beasts
(Mark 5:8-13).
(2) They Inflict Physical Infirmities. “Ought not
this woman, being a daughter of
Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen
years, be loosed from this bond on
the Sabbath day ?” (Luke 13:16).
(3) They Inflict Mental Maladies. “Always, night
and day, he was in the mountains,
and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with
stones” (Mark 5:5).
(4) They Produce Moral Impurity. “When he was
come up out of the ship,
immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an
unclean spirit” (Mark 5:2).
See also Matthew 10:1.
e. Their Existence. The word “devil” is best
translated “demon.” There is only one
Devil, but many demons, the Devil being the
prince over them. There is such a thing as
demon possession today. Missionaries to foreign
countries attest to this fact. Demonpossessed
men have super-human strength; they are fully controlled
by demons.
It is good to point out that the demons always spoke
through the mouths of those they
possessed. The demons in these people recognized the
Lord Jesus, and he distinguished
between the demon and the man. Demons do not like to be
disembodied; they prefer to be
cast into a herd of swine (Mark 5:1-20).
f. Their Evidence. Demonism was not limited to
the time of Christ. There was
evidence that it was in existence before His first
advent:
(1) The four Gospels introduced demonism as the thing
that was known.
197
(2) The people showed no surprise at demon possession.
(3) The Jews claimed to cast out demons by their power.
(Matt. 12:27).
(4) After the time of Christ, the early Apostolic
Fathers came in contact with
demonism (Matt. 10:1; Mark 16:17; Acts 8:7).
(5) Demonism is seen today in modern missionary annals
(Eph. 2:2, 6).
4. The Imprisoned Angels.
a. Their Sins. “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” (II Peter 2:4). The
above Scripture plainly shows that these angels were not
in the original rebellion with
Satan. The casting out of Satan occurred before the time
of Adam; the angels referred to
sinned since the time of Adam.
Surely these must be the “sons of God,” who married the
“daughters of men.” “It came to
pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the
earth, and daughters were born unto
them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that
they were fair; and they took
them wives of all which they chose. . . . There were
giants in the earth in those days; and
also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the
daughters of men, and they bare
children to them, the same became mighty men which were
of old men of renown” (Gen.
6:1,2, 4).
There are those who hold that the “sons of God” were the
Sons of Seth, and that the
“daughters of men” were the daughters of Cain. This is
refuted simply by asking, “How
could Seth beget Sons of God?”
Others contend that the “sons of God” were regenerated
men, who married unregenerated
women, called the “daughters of men.” We see the same
things happening even today,
but there are no giants born because of this unequally
yoked union.
To be safe and sure as to the correct interpretation,
let us find out who the “sons of God”
could be. There are several persons called the “sons of
God” in Scripture:
1. Jesus Christ — the Son of God — by
relationship.
2. Adam — a son of God — by creation (Luke 3:38).
3. Angels — sons of God — by creation (Job 1, 2).
4. Regenerated men — sons of God — by regeneration and
adoption.
Remember, we are only children of God now by
regeneration; we shall be declared to be
sons at our adoption — “to wit the redemption of our
body.”
By simple elimination we find out who the “sons of God”
were: Christ is eliminated, and
Adam also, as he had been dead for a long time. They
could not be regenerated men
because adoption of sonship had not occurred yet. This
leaves only the angels.
The question naturally arises, “Do not the Scriptures
teach that angels cannot marry?”
They do not teach this; they teach that they do not
marry in heaven. Man marries here,
198
but he will not marry in heaven. Then how did they marry
the daughters of men? We do
not know, but the following verses prove, without a
doubt, that they did. We have already
quoted Jude 6, but we will do so again, adding verse
seven. This substantiates our claim:
“And the angels which kept not their first estate
[principality, their own being as angels],
but left their own habitation [heaven], he hath reserved
in everlasting chains under
darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as
Sodom and Gomorrah, 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
6, 7). Thus, I believe it is positively proved that the
angels sinned after the similitude of
Sodom and Gomorrah.
This union brought about a race of giants — giants in
stature, and giants in sin. They
were destroyed by the flood.
Demon possession was prolific before the flood; and the
Lord Jesus has revealed, “But as
the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the
Son of man be” (Matt. 24:37).
Demon possession shall be in full control during the
Great Tribulation (Rev. 12), before
the revelation of Christ at His second coming.
b. Their Position. They are cast down into
Tartarus, the innermost prison of Hades,
chained in darkness, awaiting their day of judgment (II
Peter 2:4).
IV. SATAN
A. The Names and Descriptive Titles.
1. Satan. This name means “adversary, hater, and
accuser.” “Satan stood up against
Israel, and provoked David to number Israel” (I Chron.
21:1).
2. Devil. This name means “Slanderer, Accuser,
Deceiver.” “He laid hold on the
dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and
Satan, and bound him a thousand years”
(Rev. 20:2).
3. Beelzebub. This is the prince of demons.
Originally it meant “Lord of Flies”; the
Jews later changed it to mean “Lord of the Dung Hill.”
“The scribes which came down
from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by
the prince of the devils [demons] casteth
he out devils [demons]” (Mark 3:22).
4. Belial. This means “good-for-nothing.”
“Certain men, the children of Belial, are
gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the
inhabitants of their city, saying, Let
us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known”
(Deut.13:13).
5. The Wicked One. He is the evil one, who has no
reverence for Christ. “I have
written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him
that is from the beginning. I have
written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and
the word of God abideth in you,
and ye have overcome the wicked one” (I John
2:14). See also I John 2:13; Matthew
6:13, R.V.
199
6. Prince of This World. World politics, business
and society are under his domain.
The Lord Jesus did not deny this when he was accosted by
the Devil in the wilderness
(Matt. 4; Luke 4). “Now is the judgment of this world:
now shall the prince of this world
be cast out” (John 12:31). See also John 14:30; 16:11.
7. The God of This Age. “If our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost: in whom
the god of this world [age] hath blinded
the minds of them which believe not, lest the
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image
of God, should shine unto them”
(II Cor. 4:4).
8. Prince of the Power of the Air. “You hath he
quickened, who were dead in
trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2).
9. That Old Serpent. “The great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent, called the Devil,
and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast
out into the earth, and his angels
were cast out with him” (Rev. 12:9). See also Revelation
12:3; 20:2.
10. Dragon. “He laid hold on the dragon,
which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound
him a thousand years” (Rev. 20:2).
11. The Evil One. “We know that whosoever is
begotten of God sinneth not; but he
that was begotten of God keepeth himself, and the
evil one toucheth him not” (I John
5:18, R.V.).
12. Angel of Light. “Satan himself is transformed
into an angel of light” (II Cor.
11:14).
13. Father of Lies. “Ye are of your father the
devil, and the lust of your father ye will
do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not
in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his
own: for he is a liar, and the
father of it” (John 8:44).
14. Murderer. “He was a murderer from the
beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him” (John 8:44b). See also
I John 3:12-15.
15. Roaring Lion. “Be sober, be vigilant; because
your adversary, the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may
devour” (I Peter 5:8).
16. Ruler of Darkness. “For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).
B. The Personality of Satan.
200
There is a general denial that the Devil is a person. To
deny such is to deny the Word of
God. The Scriptures teach that he is as much a person as
the Lord Jesus Christ.
C. The Origin of Satan.
Satan was a created being (Ezek. 28:15). His position
was the greatest of all the angelic
hosts, “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth”
(Ezek. 28:14). He was one of the
cherubim that overlooked the mercy seat of the temple in
heaven.
His name, Lucifer, means “Son of the Morning.” He was
created in perfect beauty (Ezek.
28:12, 17). Some hold that he was the choir leader of
heaven, as the tabrets and pipes
were prepared in him the day that he was created (Ezek.
28:13). Others may ask, “Isn’t
the twenty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel speaking about the
King of Tyre?” Yes, to begin
with but the inspired writer goes beyond the King of
Tyre, and speaks about a person that
no human person could possibly fulfill, “Thou hast been
in Eden” (Ezek. 28:13). Who
could this be but Satan? He was perfect in his ways
(Ezek. 28:15) until sin was found in
him.
D. The Career of Satan.
What was the sin that caused Satan to be? What was it
that changed Lucifer into the
Devil? It was the original sin of the universe: pride.
“I will ascend above the heights of
the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Is. 14:14).
The sin of pride was caused by
choosing his own will above the will of God. “I will”
became the original sin of the
universe.
He appeared in the garden of Eden and thrust the human
race into sin and death. He came
to Job and wrought misery in his life. He tempted David
to number the people. He
tempted Christ (Matt. 4) and Peter (Luke 22:32). He
hindered Paul in his great work (I
Thess. 2:18). He snatches the Word from people’s hearts
(Mark 4:15).
E. The Location of Satan.
He does have access to the throne of God, for he accused
Job, and we are told that he
accuses the brethren daily. “The accuser of our brethren
is cast down, which accused
them before our God day and night” (Rev. 12: l0c). It is
an error to think of the Devil
living in a palace in hell; his location is in the
heavenlies.
F. The Character of Satan.
1. Has Great Dignity. His titles show this. “Now
is the judgment of this world: now
shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John
12:31). See also Jude 8, 9; II Corinthians
4:4.
2. Has Great Power. God (Jesus) sent Paul to the
Gentiles “to open their eyes, and to
201
turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan unto God, that they may
receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them
which are sanctified by faith that
is in me” (Acts 26:18). See also Job 1:10-12; Luke
11:14, 18; Ephesians 6:11, 12. The
whole world without Christ is under him.
3. Has Great Cunning and Deceit. “Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of
light” (II Cor. 11:14). See also Matthew 24:24; II
Corinthians 2:11.
4. Has Great Malignity. “He that committeth sin
is of the devil; for the devil sinneth
from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might
destroy the works of the devil” (I John 3:8). See also
II Corinthians 4:4.
5. Has Great Fear. “Submit yourselves therefore
to God. Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you” (Jas. 4:7).
G. The Work of Satan.
1. He Is the Author of Sin and Tempts Men to Sin.
“Then was Jesus led up of the spirit
into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil” (Matt.
4:1.)
2. He Produces Sickness and Has Power of Death.
“Forasmuch 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” (Heb.
2:14). See also Luke 13:16; Acts 10:38.
3. He Lays Snares for Men. “God peradventure will
give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth . . . that they may recover
themselves out of the snare of the
devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (II
Tim. 2:26).
4. He Takes the Word Out of Hearts. “When anyone
heareth the word of the kingdom,
and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one,
and catcheth away that which was
sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the
wayside” (Matt. 13:19).
5. He Puts Wicked Purposes Into Hearts. “Neither
give place to the devil” (Eph. 4:27).
6. He Blinds Minds. “The God of this world hath
blinded the minds of them which
believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them” (II Cor. 4:4).
7. He Harasses Men. “Lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance
of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the
flesh, the messenger of Satan to
buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure” (II
Cor. 12:7).
8. He Accuses Men Before God. “The accuser of our
brethren is cast down, which
accused them before our God day and night” (Rev.
12:l0c).
202
9. He Enters Into Men. “Supper being ended, the
devil having now put into the heart
of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him . . .
[Jesus] riseth from supper” (John 13:2).
10. He Sows Tares Among God’s People. “The field
is the world; the good seed are
the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the
children of the wicked one; the enemy
that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of
the world; and the reapers are the
angels” (Matt. 13:38, 39).
11. He Gives Power to the Lawless Ones. “To whom
ye forgive anything, I forgive
also: for what I also have forgiven if I have forgiven
anything, for your sakes have I
forgiven it in the presence of Christ; that no advantage
may be gained over us by Satan:
for we are not ignorant of his devices” (II Cor. 2:10,
11, R.V.).
12. He Resists God’s Servants. “He shewed me
Joshua the high priest standing before
the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his
right hand to resist him” (Zech. 3:1).
See also Daniel 10:13.
13. He Hinders God’s Servants. “We would fain
have come unto you, even I Paul,
once and again; but Satan hindered us” (I Thess. 2:18,
R.V.).
14. He Sifts God’s Servants. “The Lord said,
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath
desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat”
(Luke 22:31).
15. He Holds the World. “We know that we are of
God, and the whole world lieth in
the evil one” (I John 5:19, R.V.).
H. The Limitation of Satan.
1. He Is Not Omnipresent. He can be at only one
place at a time. He is a created being,
and a created being cannot be in two places at the same
time. He is not everywhere, but
his followers (demons) are. He can move rapidly to the
aid of his agents (Luke 10:18).
2. He Is Not Omniscient. He is wise; too wise for
us, but he is not all-wise. The Devil
would know less if we would tell him less. Spiritism is
not all trickery. It is demonism,
controlled by the Devil. No one can communicate with the
dead, but the Devil and his
angels know about the dead and communicate this
knowledge to their mediums.
3. He Is Not Omnipotent. He is not all-powerful,
though he has more power than we
do. He is subject to the Word of God. A good example of
this is found in Job 1 and 2.
I. Our Attitude toward Satan.
1. Redemptive Rights Are to Be Claimed by the
Believer. “They overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their lives unto
the death” (Rev. 12:11). See also Ephesians 6:16, R.V.;
Hebrews 2:14, R.V.; Colossians
2:15: I John 3:8.
203
2. Full Equipment Is to Be Appropriated by the
Believer. “Finally, my brethren, be
strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put
on the whole armour of God, that
ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil”
(Eph. 6:10, 11). See also Ephesians
6:12-18.
3. Strict Self Control Is to Be Maintained.
“Neither give place to the devil” (Eph.
4:27).
4. Vigilance Is to Be Exercised by the Believer.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour” (I
Peter 5:8). See also II Corinthians 2:11.
5. Resistance Is to Be Made by the Believer.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Jas. 4:7).
See also I John 2:14.
204
Chapter 9
Eschatology - The Doctrine of Last Things
205
ESCHATOLOGY
(The Doctrine of Last Things)
206
OUTLINE FOR CHAPTER IX
ESCHATOLOGY
I. Physical Death.
Death Is Not a Cessation of Being.
Death Is Not Soul Sleep.
Death Means Separation.
II. The Bodily Resurrection.
A. The Fact of Resurrection.
B. The Nature of the Resurrection.
C. The Time of the Resurrection.
III. The Intermediate State.
Before the Cross.
At the Time of the Cross.
After the Cross.
IV. The Second Coming of Christ.
A. The Importance of the Doctrine.
B. The Meaning of the Second Coming.
C. The Events of the Second Coming.
V. The Antichrist.
His Person.
His Titles.
His Forerunners.
His Work.
His Career.
His Time.
His Appearance.
His End.
207
VI. The Tribulation.
The Tribulation of the Body of Christ.
The Tribulation of Israel.
The Great Tribulation.
VII. The Battle of Armageddon.
What It Is Not.
What It Is.
VIII. The Millennium.
The Fact of the Millennium.
The Description of the Millennium.
The Types of the Millennium.
The Conditions During the Millennium.
IX. The Judgments.
Judgments of the Christian.
Judgment of the Nations.
Judgment at the Great White Throne.
X. After the Millennium.
Satan Loosed.
Nations Gathered.
Army Destroyed.
Satan Doomed.
XI. The Future of the Wicked.
The Scriptural Teaching.
The Terms Used.
The Theories Proposed.
XII. Heaven.
First Heaven.
Second Heaven.
Third Heaven.
208
Chapter IX
ESCHATOLOGY
Eschatology is the doctrine of last things.
I. PHYSICAL DEATH
The Bible always gives sufficient information for the
faith of the believer. The Bible was
never proposed merely for his curiosity. God teaches
finite beings to walk by faith in the
unexplained infinite.
A. Death Is Not a Cessation of Being.
Thirty-five hundred years ago Job asked, “If a man die,
shall he live again?” This
question has been asked for millenniums. It is still a
universal question. It is a subject of
perennial interest. That those whom we love should die
and be buried does not seem
right; and it is not! God never made man to die; He
created him to live and to have
fellowship with Himself. But sin brought death and the
grave, thus separation from God.
Should the Lord tarry, everyone reading these words, the
author included, shall die, for
death has passed upon all men (Rom. 5:12).
A poem lasts longer than the poet; the voice on the
recording tape can be heard years
after the recording artist is dead; pictures of dead
loved ones remain, even after the loved
ones are gone.
Things on this earth are not equal. The rich have always
oppressed the poor; the wicked
have always prospered over the righteous. Human justice
demands an equalization of all
things in a life after death. We are living in a
changing world. The robins build their
nests, even as they did in the garden of Eden, and
animals possess the same
characteristics as they did at the beginning. However,
man does not live as he used to,
even as he did twenty-five years ago. Although this be
true, the inquiring mind of man
remains the same, still asking the question, “If a man
dies, will he live again?”
There is a universal belief in a life after death. If
you go to the darkest part of Africa,
where Christ has never been preached, you find that
people there believe in a life after
death. Why do some heathens burn their wives? Why do
some bury food with the corpse?
They believe that the departed one must have a companion
and food on his journey
beyond the grave. The Egyptians furnished a charter, a
book for the journey, and placed it
with the corpse. Why do the birds fly south? Instinct in
them proves there is a southland.
The heart of man, and his inward instinct are proofs
that there is a life hereafter. Both
physiology and philosophy maintain there must be a life
after death.
209
There are two great reservations:
1. Reservation for the Christian. “Our Lord Jesus
Christ . . . hath begotten us . . . to an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you” (I Peter 1:4). In Philippians 1:23 the Apostle Paul
used the word “depart” as
describing death. By this he did not mean that he would
cease to exist. Depart means “to
depart.” Did he mean to depart to the grave with Christ?
Of course not, for Christ is not in
the grave; He is in heaven. II Corinthians 5:8 makes the
meaning of departure even
clearer when it says, “We are confident . . . and
willing ... to be absent from the body, and
to be present with the Lord” The word “present” means
“to be at home with.” The death
of a Christian, therefore, is pictured as a ship pulling
up anchor and setting sail for home;
in other words, the death of a Christian means “going
home.”
2. Reservation for the Ungodly. “The Lord knoweth
how to deliver the godly out of
temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of
judgment to be punished” (II Peter
2:9).
B. Death Is Not Soul Sleep.
The word “sleep” in Scripture, concerning the dead in
Christ, means “rest.” It does not
mean “unconsciousness.” The body may die, but the soul
and spirit will never die. In the
resurrection it is the body that is raised, not the soul
and spirit. The Scriptures clearly
state that the soul is absent from the body, present
with the Lord; and that the souls and
spirits are fully awake and aware of things round about
them. A perfect illustration of the
above truth is found in Revelation 6:9, 10: “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, O Lord,
holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood
on them that dwell on the earth?”
Here we see the disembodied souls, alive, and reasoning
with God.
The Apostle Paul says, “For to me to live is Christ, and
to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). “To
live” meant that Paul had perfect fellowship with the
living Christ. If death were the end,
why would Paul say, “and to die is gain?”
C. Death Means Separation.
Death in Scripture always means “separation.”
Physical death is the separation of the
soul and spirit from the body. Spiritual death is
the eternal, complete, final separation
from God (Rev. 21:8).
Life means “union” (John 3:16). Death means “separation”
(Rom. 8:35-39). The ego, the
“I,” lives in the house of flesh. You are not a body,
having a soul and spirit, but you are a
soul and spirit possessing a body. Scientists used to
tell us that the bodies in which we
live change every seven years; now they say that they
change every seven days. Our
bodies may change, but we ourselves, that is, our ego,
never changes. People cannot see
210
us, the ego, but only the house, or tent, in which
we dwell. Death is the departure from
this house (II Peter 1:13,14; Phil. 1:21,24; Gal. 2:20;
II Cor. 5:6,7; Job 19:26; Luke
16:26; II Tim. 4:6; II Cor. 12:2). People have been
burying bodies for six thousand years;
just the bodies, not the persons.
The soul is the seat of feeling and appetite; from
Scripture we believe it is the exact
counterpart of the body. The spirit is the seat of man’s
intelligence. When Samuel was
called up by the request of Saul, it was his spirit that
appeared, not his body. Death, then,
is not a circle, or a square. We shall not be formless
if we depart this life, but our souls
and spirits shall be fully conscious, existing in the
same form and shape as our bodies.
Memory may be seated in the brain, but the brain is not
the source of thought. We may
remember things that happened ten years ago, but we do
not have the same brain that we
had ten years ago. I possess a brain, but the
brain is not I. Death simply means, “I have
departed”; I am separated from my body.
II. THE BODILY RESURRECTION
A. The Fact of the Resurrection.
1. Anticipated in the Old Testament. Such terms
as “in the latter days,” “awake and
live,” are indications of a resurrection. The Old
Testament contains many types of the
resurrection. Joseph was counted dead, but he came back
to his father; Jonah was in the
belly of the fish for three days and three nights, and
then was released; Daniel was placed
in the lion’s den, a place of death, but came out alive;
Israel died in the wilderness, and a
new Israel went in Canaan. All of these are figures of
the resurrection. The following
Scriptures verify the resurrection. “Thy dead men shall
live, together with my dead body
shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust:
for thy dew is as the dew of herbs,
and the earth shall cast out the dead” (Is. 26:19). See
also Job 19:26, 27; Psalm 16:9, 11;
Daniel 6:23; 12:2; Matthew 12:40.
2. Revealed In the New Testament. “As in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be
made alive” (I Cor. 15:22). “[I] 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). See also Matthew 22:30-32; Luke 14:13, 14;
20:35, 36; John 5:28, 29; 6:39, 40,
44, 54; I Thessalonians 4:14-16: II Timothy 1:10. Christ
did not come to save my soul
only, but all of me: my soul, spirit, and body. All
of me is to be saved.
B. The Nature of the Resurrection.
Death is never set forth as the hope of the believer. In
Corinth (I Cor. 15) some had
declared that there was no bodily resurrection, but in
the above chapter Paul rebukes
them for this false doctrine and proves to them that
there is a resurrection (by Christ’s
own resurrection): if one does not believe in man’s
resurrection, then it is impossible to
believe in Christ’s resurrection; and if Christ had no
resurrection, there is no Gospel, and
if no Gospel, we are not saved.
211
Satan has always been against the Word, and he has many
weapons trained on it. The
revelation he most despises is that of the resurrection.
Materialism denies the resurrection
altogether. Spiritualism denies the bodily resurrection.
We are never to doubt the
resurrection. “I forgot God when I said, How can this
be?” Whether man believes, or
understands the resurrection means little; it is true,
nevertheless.
Some people cannot believe that flesh and bones shall be
perfect. When speaking of
Christ’s resurrection, they maintain that it was a
spiritual resurrection. We know by this
statement that they do not know what they are talking
about. Jesus Christ’s spirit was not
put in the tomb; only His body was. The Roman soldiers
were not stationed at the
sepulcher to guard His spirit, but to guard His body. It
was His body they guarded; it was
His body which arose from the dead!
One Scripture used by those who believe only in a
spiritual resurrection is I Corinthians
15:44: “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a
spiritual body. There is a natural body, and
there is a spiritual body.” Notice that the verse
does not say “a spirit body,” but “a
spiritual body.” The natural body is controlled by
the soul; the spiritual body shall be
controlled by the Spirit; hence, a spiritual body.
1. Theories Proposed.
a. Germ Theory. This is an old Jewish belief
found in the Talmud. According to it, in
man there is a little bone, called a “luz,” which death
can not destroy, and out of that
germ the body will be resurrected. Some Christians hold
to this theory, using I
Corinthians 15:36, 37 for support.
b. Identity Theory. This is the belief that the
body in the resurrection will be raised
just as it was buried. A body buried with an arm
missing, will be raised with an arm
missing; an infant buried will be an infant raised; a
lunatic buried, a lunatic raised. The
Mohammedans hold to this theory. If this be true, we
will not be like Jesus.
c. Reincarnation Theory. This idea supposes that
when a man dies he goes
immediately into another body. If this should occur, we
would not be “at home” with the
Lord. When a person dies, he is not a complete human
being; he can only be so by a
bodily resurrection (I Thess. 5:23).
d. Intermediate Body Theory. This theory contends
that the believer receives his
resurrected body immediately upon his death. It is based
on II Corinthians 5:1-4: “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. For in this we groan,
earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house
which is from heaven: if so be that
being clothed we shall not be found naked. For 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.” But the above Scripture
refers only to those believers
who are living when Christ comes.
2. Truth Believed. The resurrection is by
Divine Power! “God giveth a body as it has
pleased him, and to every seed his own body” (I Cor.
15:38). Jesus Christ’s own
resurrected body was proved to be flesh and bone. When
Christ appeared unto the
212
disciples, He remarked, “Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself: handle me, and
see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me
have” (Luke 24:39). Christ did not
say that there were no spirits, but that a spirit does
not have flesh and bones. Ezekiel 37
pictures the resurrection of Israel; flesh, bones and
spirit are mentioned, but no blood.
The law demanded the shedding of blood, and Christ shed
his blood to pay for that
demand. In the resurrection, all will be raised without
blood; life will be in the spirit of
man.
“[The Lord Jesus Christ] 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” (Phil. 3:20, 21). Our bodies, the same
ones that may be planted in death,
will pass under a great transformation and be raised. If
we should plant a lily, a lily will
come up; if we plant wheat, wheat will come up; if we
plant tares, tares will come up; if
we plant human bodies, glorified human bodies will come
up. God looks upon the
cemeteries as nothing but harvest fields. The seeds in
these harvest fields are the bodies
of the dead, and the harvest is the resurrection.
“And we shall be changed” (I Cor. 15:52c). Yes, a great
transformation will take place,
but it will be the same body, for the resurrected body
of Christ proves that it will be the
same body, as He bore in His resurrected body the print
of the nails.
I Corinthians 15:42-44 describes fully the resurrection
of the just
(God tells nothing of
the
bodies of the damned in their resurrection)
:
“It is sown in corruption; it is raised in
incorruption.” A dead body is a corruptible body. A live
body is a mortal body. Nothing
is ever said in Scripture of planting a mortal body. A
corruptible body is subject to decay
and dust, but one day it will be raised in incorruption,
a body fit for heaven, that can
never be subject to corruption again. “It is sown in
dishonour; it is raised in glory.” These
vile bodies have been dishonored by sin, but one day
they will be raised in glory like unto
the glorious body of our Lord. “It is sown in weakness;
it is raised in power.” Sin has
made us weak, also. The weakest thing in the world is a
dead body. In order for a dead
man to move, he must be moved. He has eyes that
cannot see and ears that cannot hear;
he makes no protest about being put in a coffin and
placed in a grave. There is no
resistance in a dead body. These same weak bodies shall
be raised with great power.
Notice what man can do for the eyes today, but think
what God will do. The resurrected
believer will be able to see spiritual beings. Mortal
man has the microscope and
telescope, but, oh, what eyesight our new bodies will
have! Today we have limits of
speed, but in the resurrection there will be no limit.
Do not make present standards the
limit of our future standards. “It is sown a natural
body; it is raised a spiritual body.” The
natural body is our animated body, containing flesh,
bones and blood. Our resurrected
spiritual bodies shall not be spirit-bodies, but
spiritual; they will be bodies composed of
only flesh and bone, no blood, dominated by our spirits.
C. The Time of the Resurrection.
“As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all
be made alive” (I Cor. 15:22). All men
shall be raised from the dead, but not all at the same
time. The Scriptures plainly declare
213
that there are two resurrections, and not
a general resurrection. They are the first, and the
last resurrection (Rev. 20:5, 6).
1. The First Resurrection. The first resurrection
includes Christ, and all believers of all
ages. Their resurrection occurs at different intervals.
Christ at one time; the Church at the
Rapture (before the Tribulation); and the Old Testament
saints and Tribulation saints
after the Tribulation.
a. Christ the Firstfruits. “Now is Christ risen
from the dead, and become the firstfruits
of them that slept” (I Cor. 15:20). The firstfruits was
God’s pledge that the entire
harvest would come later. Christ’s being the Firstfruits
is God’s pledge that the harvest
will be coming later. “Because I live, ye shall live
also” (John 14:19b). There are records
of others being raised from the dead, but these were
“resuscitations,” or restorations; they
died again. Christ liveth to die no more! “Behold, I am
alive for evermore” (Rev. 1:18b).
b. The Saints at Christ’s Resurrection. “The
graves were opened; and many bodies of
the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves
after his resurrection, and went
into the holy city, and appeared unto many” (Matt.
27:52, 53). On one occasion, the Lord
Jesus said, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone: but if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). Christ
did die and was planted as a corn of
wheat, but when He was raised from the dead, He brought
forth much fruit with Him.
This fruit was the saints who arose immediately after
His resurrection. We do not know
how many were raised, nor do we know where they went.
They may have gone up to
heaven with him, for remember, he was the Firstfruits,
and we know that in the Feast of
Firstfruits, a sheaf of the wave offering was
waved before the Lord. There was more than
one grain in the sheaf. Thus, we are led to believe that
there were more people in the
firstfruits to go to heaven than just Christ.
c. The Body of Christ (The Church). The Church
will have a resurrection of its own.
“The dead in Christ shall rise first” (I Thess. 4:16).
The Church was never known in the
Old Testament (See Chapter VII). Therefore, the Old
Testament prophets saw nothing of
its Spiritual baptism, rapture, resurrection and
transformation. The Church was a mystery
hid in God; it was first revealed to the Apostle Paul
(Eph. 3:1-9). However, the old
Testament saints did know of their own resurrection,
which shall occur after the
Tribulation (Dan. 12:2, 13).
The resurrection of the Church was revealed to the
Apostle Paul; it will occur before the
Tribulation. “Because thou hast kept the word of my
patience, I also will keep thee from
the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the
world, to try them that dwell upon
the earth” (Rev. 3:10). See also I Thessalonians 1:10.
There has been over nineteen hundred years since Christ
the Firstfruits has been raised.
The time of the resurrection of the Church is not known.
d. Old Testament and Tribulation Saints. This
phase of the first resurrection takes
place after the Tribulation, at least seven years after
the Church is raised. It includes all
saints who do not belong to the Body of Christ. “Go thy
way till the end be: for thou shalt
rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days” (Dan.
12:13). See also Daniel 12:1,2.
2. The Last Resurrection. The last (or second)
resurrection occurs after the
214
Millennium, and shall include all the wicked dead. They
shall be raised to stand before
the Great White Throne. “The rest of the dead lived not
again until the thousand years
were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed
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” (Rev. 20:5, 6).
III. THE INTERMEDIATE STATE
Where are the dead? is the question on the lips of all
mankind. The only true and correct
answer is given by the Word of God. Other answers, such
as those given by spiritualism,
are nothing but a babel of voices. Various cults have
preyed upon unsuspecting souls,
taking them captive at the Devil’s will.
The following are things to remember as we explain the
intermediate state, the state of
man between death and resurrection: Death is the
separation of the soul and spirit from
the body. The soul and spirit are together in death. The
soul is the seat of the appetite, and
the spirit is the seat of knowledge, and they both
function in death, as shown by the
example of the rich man in Hades. He was in torment; he
had feelings. He reasoned; thus,
his spirit and soul were together.
The word “Sheol” and the word “Hades” are the same.
“Sheol” is the Old Testament
Hebrew word. “Hades” is the New Testament Greek word. We
know they are the same,
for the Apostle Peter, at Pentecost, quoted from Psalm
16, saying, “Thou wilt not leave
my soul in hell [hades], neither wilt thou suffer thy
Holy One to see corruption” (Acts
2:27). Psalm 16 uses the word “Sheol” for hell [Hades].
Thus, Hades and Sheol are the
same. This is the place of departed souls and spirits.
The mistranslation of the words
“Sheol” and “Hades” by the King James translators has
caused much trouble in the
Church today. They translated these words to mean hell
(the place of everlasting
punishment), grave, pit, and the like. The wrong
translation has led people to believe that
the grave is the only hell. Sheol and Hades are the
names of the same place for the
departed spirits of man.
1. These words are never found in the plural.
2. Sheol and Hades are never located on the face of the
earth.
3. The Bible never speaks of an individual’s Sheol.
4. Man never puts anyone in it, as the grave.
5. Man never digs or makes a Sheol, or Hades.
6. The Bible never speaks of a man touching Sheol.
7. The Bible never speaks of a body going into
Sheol, but with one exception, and the
exception proves the rule. Korah (Num. 16:28-33) defied
the leadership of Moses and the
215
priesthood of Aaron, and influenced many in Israel
against them. God showed His
displeasure by causing the earth to open up its jaws and
swallow Korah and his family.
The King James Version says that he went down alive into
the pit, which should be
translated “Sheol” (Num. 16:33).
In Luke 16:19-31 we have the true account of Lazarus and
the rich man both dying and
existing in the intermediate state. There are some who
claim that this story was only a
parable. The Word does not so state. In all of His
parables, the Lord never mentioned
proper names, as He does here. If it were a parable, it
would be true, for every parable
that He spoke was built upon the truth (Matt. 13:3).
The following is a common interpretation of this
so-called parable:
Rich man — the Jewish nation, rich in what God has
given him.
Lazarus — the Gentiles — poor at the door of the
rich man.
Both died — end of the dispensation, when both are
blessed by the Gospel.
Why say this refers to Jew and Gentile, when the
Scriptures do not say so? Why did the
Lord use the rich man in picturing the Jewish nation,
when in the preceding passages he
was warning the rich? The idea of the Jews ever
requesting aid of the Gentiles is
farfetched.
There is no gulf between the Jew and the Gentile. No
Gentile nation has ever begged
from the Jews as Lazarus begged bread from the rich man.
If the Jewish nation died (pictured by the rich man),
who were the five brethren who were
left? We still contend that this is a true account of
two men who died and went to Hades.
A. Before the Cross.
The Cross is the dividing line of many Scriptural
truths. We shall discuss the question,
where did men go at death before Christ died upon the
Cross? We shall show that they all
went to the same place — Hades (Sheol) — but in
different parts.
From Numbers 16:33 we learn that Sheol, or Hades, is
somewhere inside the earth.
“They, and all that appertained to them went down alive
into Sheol, and the earth closed
upon them: and they perished from among the
congregation.” From Luke 16:19-31 we
see that Hades was in two compartments: Abraham’s Bosom,
the place of the departed
righteous, where Lazarus went; and the place of torment,
where the rich man went. A
great gulf separated these two sections.
Since we know that Sheol (Hades) is somewhere in the
earth, and that it is composed of
two compartments, we turn to the Lord Himself to find
the exact location. “For as Jonas
was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so
shall the Son of man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the
earth” (Matt.12:40). Ephesians 4:9, 10 makes
this clearer still. “Now that he ascended, what is it
but that he also descended first into the
216
lower parts of the earth. He that descended is the
same also that ascended up far above all
heavens, that he might fill all things.” Philippians
2:9, 10 says, “God . . . hath highly
exalted him . . . that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven, and
things in earth, and things under the earth.”
This speaks of the future adoration of Christ
by all creation. However, we want to call attention to
the above underlined words. To go
“under the earth” means to submerge, as a submarine
which goes under water. Thus, we
conclude that Sheol (Hades) is in the heart of the
earth, composed of two sections, one
part for the righteous dead and the other for the
unrighteous dead, with a great gulf fixed
between them. By the Lord’s revelation of the rich man
and Lazarus, which occurred
before He died on the Cross, we see where all men,
whether righteous, or unrighteous,
went after death, before the Cross.
B. At the Time of the Cross.
Under this heading we shall deal with only two persons,
the Lord Jesus, and the penitent
thief. Upon death, the Lord Jesus went to Hades. We know
this from Psalm 16:10, which
says, “Thou wilt not leave my soul in Sheol;
neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see
corruption.” The Apostle Peter, on the day of Pentecost,
quoted from this same passage,
but, of course, he used the Greek word “Hades,” instead
of “Sheol.” These words
describe the resurrection of Christ, while fully stating
that he went to Hades. We see this
by the use of the word “leave.” The Holy Ghost would not
have employed the word
“leave” if he had not gone there. As to the thief on the
cross, he went to Hades with Jesus,
into the compartment reserved for the righteous dead.
“Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise” (Luke 23: 43b). How many days was Jesus in
Hades? Three days. On the first
of the three days, the thief was to be with Jesus in
paradise; therefore, we learn that
paradise was another name given to Abraham’s Bosom,
which was the place of the
righteous dead.
C. After the Cross.
Now where do the departed go at death? The unrighteous
still go to Sheol (Hades),
awaiting the last judgment.
The righteous, praise the Lord, go at once to heaven to
be with the Lord. “We are
confident . . . and willing rather to be absent from the
body, and to be present with the
Lord” (II Cor. 5:8). When Christ arose from the dead “he
led captivity captive” (Eph.
4:8). Christ emptied Hades (Sheol) of all the righteous,
and took them and paradise with
him to glory. Paradise was, at one time, in the heart of
the earth; now it is in the third
heavens. “I knew a man in Christ about 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. And I knew such a man (whether in the
body, or out of the body, I cannot
tell: God knoweth;) how that he was caught up into
paradise, and heard unspeakable
words which is not lawful for a man to utter” (II Cor.
12:2-4).
217
IV. THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
A. The Importance of the Doctrine.
It is said that one out of every twenty-five verses of
the New Testament speaks of the
Second Coming, while in the Old Testament there are
eight verses concerning the Second
Coming to every verse concerning the First Coming. In
the promise of a Redeemer (Gen.
3:15), the Second Coming is mentioned before the First
Coming. “It shall bruise thy head
[occurs at the Second Coming], and thou shalt bruise his
heel [occurred at the First
Coming, upon the Cross].”
1. Testimony of Our Lord. “If I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come again, and
receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may
be also” (John 14:3). See also
Matthew 24, 25; Mark 13; Luke 21.
2. Testimony of Angels. “Ye men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven? this
same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye
have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).
3. Testimony of Peter. “He shall send Jesus
Christ, which before was preached unto
you” (Acts 3:20). See also I Peter 5:4; II Peter 1:16.
4. Testimony of Paul. “I thank my God always on
your behalf . . . that in every thing
ye are enriched by him . . . so that ye come behind in
no gift; waiting for the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 1:4-7). See also Romans
11:26: I Corinthians 15:23; II
Corinthians 5; Philippians 3:20; Colossians 3:4; I
Thessalonians (all); II Thessalonians
1:7, 10; I Timothy 6:14; II Timothy 4:8; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 9:28.
5. Testimony of James. The prophets, quoted by
James, represent the Lord as saying,
“After this I will return, and will build again the
tabernacle of David, which is fallen
down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I
will set it up” (Acts 15:16). See also
James 5:7.
6. Testimony of John. “Beloved, now are we the
Sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him;
for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2). See also I
John 2:28, and the Book of
Revelation.
7.
Testimony of Jude.
“Enoch also, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these,
saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of
his saints” (Jude 14).
B. The Meaning of the Second Coming.
1. Negative.
a. It Is Not Death. Death is the departing of the
saint, not the coming of the Lord. The
Lord will come, but death may never come.
218
b. It Is Not the Fall of Jerusalem. Luke
21:20-24, and I Thessalonians 4:13-18 did
not occur when Jerusalem fell. The second coming of
Christ is connected with the
gathering of Israel, not the scattering.
c. It Is Not the Coming of the Holy Spirit.
Christ said that He would send another
(John 14:16). I Thessalonians 4: 13-18 did not occur
when the Holy Spirit came. Notice
that all of the Epistles which speak of the Second
Coming were written after Pentecost.
d. It Is Not the Conversion of a Sinner. If this
is true, He has come millions of times.
According to I Corinthians 15:51-57, the dead would have
to be raised every time a soul
was saved, and then get back into the grave, waiting for
another to be saved.
e. It Is Not the Diffusion of Christianity. By
this some mean the spreading of the
Gospel. But remember, this same Jesus, a personal
Christ, is to come again.
f. It Is Not the End of the World. When Christ
comes, the world will not be
destroyed, for He will reign a thousand years after He
appears.
2. Positive.
a. It Will Be a Personal Coming. John 14:3 says,
“I will come.” We are not to expect
a spirit, but a Spirit in a body. I Thessalonians 4:16,
17 uses the word “himself.” Acts
1:11 declares “this same Jesus”; not some other person
or thing is expected, but Christ
Himself.
b. It Will Be a Visible Coming. “As the lightning
cometh out of the East, and shineth
even unto the West; so shall also the coming of the Son
of man be” (Matt. 24:27). See
also Zechariah 12:10; Revelation 1:7.
c. Meaning of the Words Used.
(1) Parousia. This means the personal presence,
the coming presence. It is spoken
not only of the coming of the Lord, but of the coming of
other men (I Cor. 16:17; II Cor.
7:6,7; Philippians 1:26). Concerning the coming of the
Lord, it is at that moment, when
absence ceases and presence begins (Matt. 24:3, 27; I
Cor. 15:23; I Thess. 2:9; Jas. 5:8).
(2) Epiphaneia. This simply means “appearing.” It
is used of both advents (II Tim.
1:10; II Thess. 2:8; I Tim. 6:14; II Tim. 4:1,8; Titus
2:13).
(3) Apokalupsis. The literal meaning is
“unveiling revelation.” It emphasizes the
visibility of the Lord’s return (II Thess. 1:7; I Peter
1:7, 13; 4:13. It is used also for men:
Romans 8:19; II Thessalonians 2:3,6, 8).
d. It Is a Coming in Two Phases.
(1) When Christ Comes for His Saints in the Air.
“We beseech you, brethren, by the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together unto him” (II Thess. 2:1).
The promise of Christ’s return of Acts 1:9-20 was given
before the Rapture was revealed.
Hebrews 9:28 has nothing to do with the Rapture.
(2) When Christ Comes with His Saints to Earth.
“Enoch also, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord
cometh with ten thousands of his
saints” (Jude 14).
(3) These Two Phases Are Vastly Different.
(a) Different in Character. “For His people” is
an act of faith; “with His people”
is an act of judgment.
(b) Different in Manner. One is secret, the other
is a manifestation.
(c) Different in Place. “For His people” — in the
air (I Thess. 4:17); “with His
people” — to the earth (Zech. 14:14).
219
(d) Different as to Time. “For His people” occurs
before the Tribulation (Jacob’s
trouble); “with His people” occurs after the Tribulation
(Jacob’s trouble). We are never
told in Scripture to look for signs preceding His coming
for His saints, but men are told to
look for signs before He comes with His saints
(Compare II Thess. 2:1-3 with Is. 13: 6-9).
(e) Different as to Dispensations. Coming “for
His saints” occurs at the
beginning of the dispensation of Tribulation; coming
“with His saints” occurs at the
beginning of the dispensation of the Millennium.
(f) Different as to Purpose. Coming “for His
saints” fulfills His promise to gather
His people (John 14:3); coming “with His saints” as a
man of war, His promise to
overthrow His enemies (Jude 14).
(g) Different as to Relation. “For His saints” is
the adoption of the children of
God; “with His saints” the time that the sons of God are
manifested to the world. (Rom.
8:19,23).
C. The Events of the Second Coming in Relation to the
Body of Christ.
As we deal with the Rapture of the Church, we recognize
the fact that the word “rapture”
is not a Scriptural word. The Rapture is, however, a
Scriptural fact.
1. The Resurrection of the Dead in Christ. “The
Lord Himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first” (I Thess. 4:16). The
very first thing that happens is the
resurrection of the body of Christ. Certainly this will
include all who die before reaching
the age of accountability, such as babes, the mentally
retarded, and the like. If Christ does
not come, there will be no resurrection, and if no
resurrection, then man shall be an
eternal spirit. If diamonds can be made from soot,
sapphire from clay, and opals from
sand, what will God make out of our bodies? It will be
wonderful, will it not?
2. The Renovation of the Living in Christ.
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed. . . . and we
shall be changed. . . . And this mortal
must put on immortality” (I Cor. 15:51-53). The
Christian is one who is not looking for
death, but for the conqueror of death. The words “we
shall not all sleep” mean “we shall
not all die.” What a glorious hope this is! What a shout
that will be that day! “O death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (I
Cor. 15:55). Isn’t it a blessed hope
that it is possible for us to go without dying? No man,
not even a Christian, wants to die.
That is natural. The Christian, however, is one who is
not afraid to die. The Christian is
the only person who has a hope of never seeing death.
Yes, we know the Scripture says,
“It is appointed unto men once to die.” But the
Scripture does not only say all men! The
changing of us who are alive and remain at His coming is
not death, for we shall not all
die!
3. The Rapture of All in Christ. “Now we beseech
you, brethren, by the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto
him, that ye be not soon shaken in
mind . . . as that the day of the Lord is at hand” (II
Thess. 2:1, 2). The above Scripture,
and the phrase, “we all shall be changed,” eliminates
the possibility of a partial rapture.
The entire Body of Christ will be raptured (caught up);
it will be a rapture, and not a
220
rupture. The Body of Christ will be complete. No member
of His Body will be left to go
through the Tribulation. Some say, “How can this be?”
God took Elijah up without death;
He can take a million, or ten million up just as easily.
The Rapture of the Church will cause a great separation.
All unbelievers will be left here
to go through the Tribulation. The Rapture of the Church
will be the means of a great
reunion. “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” (I Thess.
4:17). What a great word is “together”; all of our loved
ones in Christ “together” once
more.
“We should live soberly, righteously, and godly . . .
looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). What do
we mean by “looking for Christ”? It does not mean that
we believe that He may come at
any moment, but that we are looking for Him to come. Are
you looking for Him today?
Are you looking for Him tonight? That is what the
Scripture means by “looking for
Him.”
V. THE ANTICHRIST
“I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her seed; it
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel”
(Gen. 3:15). While this verse speaks
of Christ as the seed of the woman, it also
prophetically declares the Antichrist as being
the seed of the serpent. The seed of the serpent, the
Antichrist, is mentioned first in the
first book of the Bible, and described fully in the last
book of the Bible; it can be traced in
between as well. This is very significant.
A. His Person.
The Early Church taught that Nero was the Antichrist,
and that when he died he would be
raised from the dead. In the eleventh century the
Waldenses, Hussites and Wycliffites
declared that the Roman Catholic Church was the
Antichrist. The Roman Catholic
Church, in turn, declared that Napoleon was the
Antichrist. During World War I Kaiser
Wilhelm of Germany was thought to be the Man of Sin.
Many men will be proposed for
this office, but it is useless to speculate, for he will
not be revealed until after the Rapture
of the Church (II Thess. 2:1-12).
He Is a Man! “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath
understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his
number is six hundred three score and six”
(Rev. 13:18). Notice the Scripture says he has the
number of a man. Man’s number is 6.
God says his number is 6-6-6: he is a man; he is
a man; he is a man! He is not the Roman
Catholic Church; he is not a system; he is a man. He
will rule in Jerusalem, and not in
Rome.
1. He Will Be a Jew. “Neither shall he regard the
God of his fathers” (Dan. 11:37a).
“God of his fathers” means Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. “I
am come in my Father’s name,
221
and ye receive me not: if another shall come in
his own name, him ye will receive” (John
5:43). The word “another” implies “another Jew.” The
name Antichrist is a Jewish title,
and the Jews will not accept a Gentile as their Messiah.
2. He Will Be a Genius. He will be the most
remarkable man the world has ever seen
apart from Jesus Christ.
a. An Intellectual Genius. “In the latter time of
their kingdom, when the transgressors
are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and
understanding dark sentences, shall
stand up” (Dan. 8:23). See also Ezekiel 28:3.
b. An Oratorical Genius. “He shall come in
peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by
flatteries” (Dan. 11:21b). He shall be a mockery and an
imitation of Him of whom it is
said. “Never man spake like this man.”
c. A Governmental Genius. He rises from obscurity
to power. He is the “little horn”
spoken of in Daniel 7 and 8, and the “beast” of
Revelation 13 and 14. All kings will give
their power to him.
d. A Commercial Genius. No one will be able to
buy or sell without his seal. “No
man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the
name of the beast, or the number
of his name” (Rev. 13:17).
e. A Military Genius. “I saw, and behold a white
horse; and he that sat on him had a
bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth
conquering, and to conquer”
(Rev. 6:2). “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to
make war with him?” (Rev.
13:4b).
f. A Religious Genius. He demands to be worshiped
as God. “Who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that
is worshiped; so that he as God
sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is
God” (II Thess. 2:4).
g. A Financial Genius. “He shall have power over
the treasures of gold and silver,
and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the
Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at
his steps” (Dan. 11:43). See also Ezekiel 28:4,5.
B. His Titles.
1. Man of Sin. This is the most important and
most terrible of all his titles. All the sins
of man will be embodied and headed up in him. “Let no
man deceive you by any means:
for that day shall not come, except there come a falling
away first, and that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition” (II Thess. 2:3).
2. Son of Perdition. The above Scripture declares
him to be the son of perdition, also
(II Thess. 2:3).
3. The Lawless One. “Then shall that Wicked
[lawless one] be revealed, whom the
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and
shall destroy with the brightness of
his coming” (II Thess. 2:8). Christ is the righteous
one; the Antichrist is the lawless one.
4. The Lie. “God shall send them strong delusion,
that they should believe a [the] lie”
(II Thess. 2:11). Jesus Christ is the Truth; the
Antichrist is the Lie. John 8:44 says that the
Devil is a liar “and the father of it.” “It” refers to
“the lie.”
222
5. The Antichrist. “Little children, it is the
last time: and as ye have heard that
antichrist shall come, even now are there many
antichrists; whereby we know that it is
the last time” (I John 2:18).
6. King of Babylon. Babylon is always the seat of
Satan. Babylon shall be revived in
the last days, and the Antichrist shall reign over it
(Rev. 17 and 18).
7. The Little Horn. “Out of one of them came
forth a little horn which waxed
exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east,
and toward the pleasant land. . .
And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full, a
king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark
sentences, shall stand up” (Dan. 8:9,
23). See also Daniel 7:8.
8. The Willful King. “The king shall do according
to his will; and he shall exalt
himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall
speak marvelous things against
the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation
be accomplished: for that that is
determined shall be done” (Dan. 11:36).
9. The Assyrian. “O Assyrian, the rod of
mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine
indignation” (Is. 10:5). See also Isaiah 10:12, 24.
10. The Beast. (Rev. 13, 17, 19).
C. His Forerunners.
Some are seen in the Scriptures, and some out of the
Scriptures.
1. Cain. He denied the blood and was a liar and
murderer (I John 3:12).
2. Nimrod. His history preceded the calling of
Abraham to the Promised Land. The
Antichrist will precede the call of the seed of Abraham
and enter into the Promised Land
the second time. Nimrod means “rebel,” While the
Scriptures speak of him as being a
mighty hunter, in reality he was not a hunter of
animals, but a hunter of souls. He was “a
mighty man against the Lord.” So the Antichrist will be.
3. Saul. This king of Israel was demanded by the
people, but he was against the
anointed of the Lord. The Antichrist will be the choice
of the people also, and he will be
against God’s anointed.
4. Absalom. Absalom means “father of peace”; yet
he denied his father. He posed as a
man of peace and tried to steal the kingdom. So will the
Antichrist.
223
ABSALOM ANTICHRIST
1. A Man of Beauty 1. The same.
2. Tried to gain the kingdom by flatteries. 2. The same.
3. Set up a pillar to himself. 3. The same.
4. Came to a violent end. 4. The same.
5. Nebuchadnezzar. He was the first world ruler,
who became the forerunner of the
last world ruler.
6. Antiochus Epiphanes. He was the mad man who
sacked Jerusalem, killing four
hundred thousand Jews. He took a sow and burned it upon
the altar. The Antichrist, too,
shall profane the altar.
7. Alexander the Great. He was known as the “Unsatisfier.”
He was a military genius
who never suffered defeat. He sought to be worshiped as
the Son of God. The same will
be true of the Antichrist.
8. Caias Caligula. This Roman Emperor was
considered mad. No doubt he was
possessed by a demon. The Antichrist shall be fully
possessed by the Devil.
9. Nero. During his life he was thought to be the
Antichrist by the early Christians.
Many believed that when he died he would be raised from
the dead. The Antichrist shall
be raised from the dead.
10. Charlemagne. This man was considered a great
warrior and statesman. The
Antichrist shall he considered the same.
11. Napoleon. He thought to revive the Holy Roman
Empire. This figurative empire is
considered to comprise those countries whose lands are
washed by the waters of the
Mediterranean Sea. Napoleon planned a new Jewish kingdom
and Sanhedrin. The
Antichrist will accomplish many of these same plans.
12. Kaiser Wilhelm. This leader of the German
Empire had the same objective as
Napoleon. It is said that every general carried a map of
the Holy Roman Empire.
13. Mussolini. There were no doubts as to the
objectives of this man. At one time he
made a map of the old Roman Empire and included England
in it. England protested, but
the map remained. The Antichrist will not only make a
map, but he will make a kingdom
with all empires in it.
224
D. His Work.
His work shall be motivated by Satan, ruling the world
and trying to destroy the Jew (Is.
10:12-27).
F. His Career.
Remember, this is the mocker and mimic of Christ. He
shall claim a reincarnation. His
birth shall be obscure; he will begin as a mere man in
world affairs; but he will be rapidly
promoted until he becomes ruler of the entire world.
Daniel 9:27 states that he will
“confirm the covenant” with the Jews. “Confirm” means to
“recognize.” What covenant
is Israel interested in? The Mosaic Covenant. For the
first three and one-half years of the
Tribulation the Jews will be allowed to worship in their
new temple. This would have
been hard to believe a hundred years ago, for then only
a handful of Jews lived in
Palestine. But look at Israel today. She is recognized
as a nation; she has a government,
an army, an air force; she is doing business with the
rest of the world. There are literally
hundreds of thousands of Jews back in the land. Here is
Israel as a nation; why do they so
exist? Is this the last regathering? Are they waiting
for the Messiah? No. For the most
part, Israel has returned to the land in unbelief. They
do not even believe the God of their
fathers, much less in their rejected Messiah. What,
then, is Israel waiting for? She is
waiting for the rise of the Antichrist, although she
knows it not. He is to confirm the
covenant. Therefore, there must be a nation with which
the Antichrist can confirm the
covenant. Here is Israel waiting for the Antichrist.
“I saw one of his heads as it was wounded to death; and
his deadly wound was healed:
and all the world wondered after the beast” (Rev. 13:3).
According to this Scripture and
Revelation 17, we see that the Antichrist shall suffer
death, that he shall die. The words
“deadly wound” are better translated “death stroke.”
Revelation 13:12 has the phrase,
“whose deadly wound was healed,” which describes fully
the death and resurrection of
the Antichrist. See also Revelation 13:14. No wonder the
world will wonder after him
and say, “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to
make war with him?” (Rev. 13:4).
He shall be the seventh of seven kings who shall be
world rulers. When he dies and is
resurrected he becomes the eighth ruler of the world.
The world shall be divided into ten
kingdoms, overlorded by ten rulers, “These have one
mind, and shall give their power
and strength unto the beast” (Rev. 17:13).
No doubt he comes to the ascendancy of world rule in the
seventieth week of Daniel. He
demands to be worshiped as God at this time, and thus he
marks the beginning of The
Day of the LORD.
F. His Time.
He has not yet been revealed, but it is possible
in the light of present-day events, that
somewhere in the world he is alive today. He will not
appear as the Antichrist until the
old Roman Empire is revived, composed of the ten-toed
kingdom of Daniel 2 and the ten225
horned beast of Revelation 13 and 17. Another thing that
must come to pass before he is
revealed is the Rapture of the Church.
G. His Appearance.
He shall be a Jew by birth, a Roman by citizenship, and
a Syrian by nationality. “Out of
one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed
exceeding great, toward the south, and
toward the east, and toward the pleasant land” (Dan.
8:9). He marches on to conquer the
nations of the south, and the east, and the west, He
does not conquer the north, for that is
where he shall come from —
Syria!
H. His End.
“Then shall that lawless one be revealed, whom the Lord
shall consume with the spirit of
his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his
coming” (II Thess. 2:8). See also
Revelation 19:20.
VI. THE TRIBULATION
There are three distinct tribulations in the Scriptures,
and unless they are distinguished
from each other, confusion will result. While the Word
says that the Body of Christ is
enduring tribulation, it also says that Israel shall
have tribulation. Then there shall be
three and one-half years of great tribulation, such as
the world has never seen. At this
point many get confused — by the combination of these
three into one tribulation. They
are distinctly separate, however. First, there is the
Tribulation of the Church, which is for
the Body of Christ and is now present. Second, there is
the Tribulation known as Jacob’s
Trouble, which lasts seven years and is future. Finally,
there is the Great Tribulation,
which commences in the midst of Jacob’s Trouble and
lasts for three and one-half years.
The first Tribulation is for the Church and is brought
about by Satan. The second
Tribulation is upon Israel and is brought by God. The
Great Tribulation is pronounced
upon Israel and the world and is brought by God through
Satan.
A. The Tribulation of the Body of Christ.
There is no denying that the Church is enduring
tribulation. “For verily, when we were
with you, we told you before that we should suffer
tribulation; even as it came to pass,
and ye know” (I Thess. 3:4). “Yea, and all that will
live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution” (II Tim. 3:12). It is the nature of the
Church to suffer. The world lieth in the
hands of the wicked one; we being of heavenly origin,
are bound to be persecuted by
Satan and his cohorts. The Church is a Body; as it is
natural for it to suffer, one member
may be suffering while the others are not; yet, one
member cannot be hurt without the
entire body suffering.
Paul, in speaking to the Colossians, said, “[I] now
rejoice in my sufferings for you, and
fill up that which is behind of the afflictions
of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake,
which is the church” (Col. 1:24). Notice that the word
“afflictions” is the Greek word
226
thlipsis, meaning tribulation. This is the same word
that is used of the Tribulation and the
Great Tribulation. Also, we call attention to the words
“afflictions of Christ”: the definite
article should appear before “Christ,” making it read
“the afflictions of the Christ.” Thus,
it is the Tribulation of the Christ, or the Body of
Christ, the Church. As it is natural for
the Body to suffer, and as the Colossians were not
suffering, Paul had to make up for
what was lacking on the part of the Colossians. He so
states in this verse. If this were not
so, how could he be suffering for the Colossians? He had
never been there; he only knew
a few of the Christians there; he was in Rome, hundreds
of miles away from them, How
could his suffering in Rome be effective for them in
Colosse? The only answer is that he
had to make up for the lack of suffering on the part of
the Colossians. In Colossians 1:13
Paul speaks of the Church as being the kingdom of God’s
dear Son, and then in verse 24
he emphasizes its sufferings, or tribulation.
John states the same thing in Revelation 1:9 (R.V.): “I
John, your brother and partaker in
the tribulation and kingdom and patience which are
in Jesus, was in the isle that is called
Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”
Verily, the Church is enduring
tribulation — it is the Tribulation of the Christ.
B. The Tribulation of Israel.
A more familiar term is “Jacob’s Trouble.” “Alas! for
that day is great. so that none is
like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he
shall be saved out of it” (Jer. 30:7).
This period lasts for seven years, and is known as the
70th week of Daniel. “Seventy
weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy
holy city, to finish the transgression,
and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation
for iniquity, and to bring in
everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and
prophecy, and to anoint the most
Holy. Know, therefore, and understand, that from the
going forth of the commandment to
restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the
Prince shall be seven weeks, and
threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built
again, and the wall, even in
troublesome times. And after three score and two weeks
shall Messiah be cut off, but not
for himself: and the people of the prince that shall
come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood,
and unto the end of the war
desolations are determined, And he shall confirm the
covenant with many for one week”
(Dan. 9:24-27).
By these verses we learn that seventy weeks, four
hundred and ninety years, were
determined for Daniel’s people, the Jews. From
the time that the command came to
rebuild Jerusalem to the time when Messiah (Christ) was
cut off, was sixty-nine weeks,
or four hundred and eighty-three years. Between the
sixty-ninth and seventieth week is a
gap, known as the Church Age, which Daniel knew nothing
about, nor did any other Old
Testament prophets (Eph. 3:5). We know that these
seventy weeks have to do with Israel
alone. The years during the Church period have, we must
confess, been lean years for the
Jews. It seems that God has forsaken them, but He has
not. After this Church Age is
completed, known as the “fulness of the Gentiles” (Rom.
11:25), the Church will be
raptured, and the Lord shall give full attention to the
Jews (Israel) again. This will be the
227
seventieth week, known as the Tribulation, which lasts
seven years.
The Church will not go through any part of this
seven-year Tribulation. The fourth and
fifth chapters of Revelation fully describe the Rapture
of the Church before the
Tribulation. Chapters six through nineteen then deal
with the Tribulation. The Tribulation
is identified when the Antichrist confirms the covenant
with the Jews. It is concluded
with the revelation of Christ in judgment.
C. The Great Tribulation.
While it is still Jacob’s Trouble, judgment shall be
intensified the last three and one-half
years of the Tribulation. It is marked by the breaking
of the covenant by the Antichrist,
and by the revelation of the Antichrist as the
Lie. “In the midst of the week he shall cause
the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the
over-spreading of abominations he
shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and
that determined shall be poured
upon the desolate” (Dan. 9:27). The Lord Jesus
re-emphasized this truth when He added
some details to the above quoted Scripture: “When ye
therefore shall see the abomination
of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in
the holy place, (whoso readeth,
let him understand:) then let them which be in Judea
flee into the mountains. . . . For then
shall be great tribulation, such as was not since
the beginning of the world to this time,
no, nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24:15, 16, 21). From the
words of Daniel and the Lord Jesus
we learn that in the middle of the Tribulation the
Antichrist breaks his covenant with the
Jews, causes the revived sacrificial rites to come to an
end, and places himself in the holy
place, which is described as the abomination of
desolation. II Thessalonians 2:4 describes
this event in added detail: the Antichrist “opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is
called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God
sitteth in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God.”
During this last three and one-half years, when the
Antichrist shall demand to be
worshiped as God, man will not be able to buy or sell
without his mark (Rev. 13:17).
Many times the question is asked, “Will anyone be saved
during the Tribulation
(including the Great Tribulation)?” Yes, people will be
saved, even during the first three
and one-half years of the Tribulation. The departure of
the saints will convince many
unbelievers of the truth of the Gospel; however, these
believers will not be part of the
Body of Christ. Some may question these statements by
using the following verses:
“Then shall that lawless one be revealed, whom the Lord
shall consume with the spirit of
his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his
coming: even him, whose coming
is after the working of Satan with all power and signs
and lying wonders, and with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love
of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this
cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a [the] lie: that
they all might be damned who believe
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II
Thess. 2:8-12).
The above verses seem to teach that if one has rejected
Christ before the Rapture he will
not be able to be saved during the Tribulation. But we
call attention to the fact that God
228
causes them to believe the Lie, and they will not
be able to believe the Lie until the
middle of the Tribulation period, as the Antichrist
will not be revealed, as such, until
then. Therefore, we are led to believe that the
invitation will still be given men to be
saved during the first three and one-half years of the
Tribulation. But if they reject Christ
during this time, God shall give them strong delusions
to believe the Lie, and it will be
impossible for them to be saved during the last three
and one-half years of the
Tribulation.
The natural question then arises, “Will anyone be saved
during the last three and one-half
years?” Revelation 7 declares emphatically that there
shall be countless numbers of Jews
and Gentiles saved during this period, known as the
Great Tribulation. Those saved
during the Great Tribulation will be those who have
never heard the Gospel and have not
taken the mark of the beast. Their salvation will be
brought about by the preaching of a
great evangelistic movement, which will be composed, we
believe, of the 144,000
Israelites (Rev. 7:4-8).
You may ask, “How, then, will it be possible for them to
be saved when the Holy Spirit
has been taken up out of the world?” Let us turn to
Moffatt’s translation and read: “For
the secret force of lawlessness is at work already;
only, it cannot be revealed till he who
at present restrains it is removed” (II Thess. 2:7). The
Holy Spirit will not be taken up out
of the earth, but will take His restraining hand off
sinful man and give him up fully to his
sin. The Holy Spirit will still be here, for He is
omnipresent. He will not manifest himself
during the Great Tribulation as He did before the
dispensation of grace. Again we remind
you that the Great Tribulation ends with the coming of
Christ to this earth.
VII. THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON
Whenever a great battle is fought, people fear that it
is the Battle of Armageddon. In
order clearly to understand this battle, let us find out
first what it is not, and then what it
is.
A. What It Is Not.
1. It Is Not World Wars I and II.
2. It Is Not the First Battle of Gog and Magog.
This battle is composed of the forces of
the Northern confederacy (Russia and her allies). It is
not much of a battle, but God rains
fire and brimstone upon the armies and country. This
occurs at the beginning of the
Tribulation.
3. It Is Not the War in Heaven. This battle is
described in Revelation 12:7-17. It
concerns the forces of Satan being defeated by Michael
and his army.
4. It Is Not the Second Battle of Gog and Magog.
This is the concluding battle of all
battles, whether physical or spiritual. It is fought
after the Millennium, when Satan is
loosed for a season and deceives the Gentile peoples
(Rev. 20:7-9). Fire comes down
229
from heaven and destroys them.
B. What It Is.
1. The Participants. “I saw the beast, and
the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against him that sat on
the horse, and against his army”
(Rev. 19:19). This is the seed of the serpent fighting
against the Seed of the woman (Gen.
3:15). It is the conflict between Christ and the
Antichrist.
2. The Place. The plain of Esdraelon is the place
of this battle. It is an ancient
battleground. Gideon fought there; Saul and Jonathan
were killed there; Josiah was killed
by Pharaoh there; the Greeks and Romans battled there;
and Napoleon suffered his first
defeat there.
3. The Time. The battle occurs at the end of the
Great Tribulation, just before the
Millennium begins.
4. The End. The end of this battle results in the
complete annihilation of the
Antichrist’s army. The Antichrist and the False Prophet
are then cast alive into Hell. “The
beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that
wrought miracles before him, with
which he deceived them that had received the mark of the
beast, and them that
worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a
lake of fire burning with
brimstone” (Rev. 19:20).
VIII. THE MILLENNIUM
The Millennium is the thousand-year reign of Christ
immediately following the Great
Tribulation. Millennium is not a Scriptural word, but it
is a Scriptural truth.
A. The Fact of the Millennium.
1. The Lord Has Decreed It (Ps. 2).
2. Christ Taught It (Matt. 24; Mark 13; Luke 21).
3. The Scriptures Teach It (Is. 2, 11).
4. The Psalmist Described It (Ps. 72).
5. The Angels Declared It (Luke 1).
6. The Transfiguration Pictures It (Matt. 16:28;
17:1).
7. A Gospel Outlines It (Mark 6:45-56).
8. The Apostles Preached It (Acts 2, 3).
230
9. Nature Longs For It. (Rom. 8).
B. The Description of the Millennium.
1. The Thousand Years (Rev. 21:1-7).
2. The Age to Come (Eph. 1:21).
3. The Day of the LORD (Rev. 6:12-17; Joel 2:10,
11,30, 31; Hag. 2:6,7; Matt. 24;
Zech. 14:1-5).
4. In That Day (Is. 4:2; 2:11, 17, 20, 21;
11:11).
5. The Restitution of All Things. “(The Lord]
shall send Jesus Christ. . . . whom the
heavens must receive until the times of restitution of
all things,
which God hath spoken
by the mouth of all his holy prophets
since the world began” (Acts 3:20, 21). Some
use
this verse as meaning the restitution of
Christ-rejecting sinners, and even the Devil. But
notice that the above verse says, “which God hath
spoken by the mouth of all his holy
prophets.” The prophets say nothing of the restitution
of the Devil and sinners.
a. Israel to the Promised Land (Is. 11:10-12).
b. Repentance of the Nations to Jehovah (Zech.
12: 10-14).
c. The Removal of the Band of Iniquity (Zech.
3:9).
d. Restoration of Rain (Joel 2:23-29).
e. Re-engraving of Jehovah’s Law (Jer. 31:28-37).
f. Redistribution of the Land (Ezek. 48).
g. Reconstruction of Jerusalem (Is. 62; Ezek.
40).
h. Restitution From Bondage of Fear (Is. 14:1-3;
Jer. 33:14-16).
i. Restitution of Jehovah’s Love (Zeph. 3:16-20).
6. The Regeneration of All Things (Matt. 19:18;
Is. 32).
7. The Falling Stone (Dan. 2).
C. The Types of the Millennium.
1. The Year of Jubilee (Lev. 25).
2. The Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23).
3. The Sabbath. It is that rest to come.
4. The Kingdom of Israel Under Solomon’s Reign.
This was an absolute reign of
peace.
D. The Conditions During the Millennium.
231
1. The Church, “It is a faithful saying:
For if we be dead with him we also shall live
with him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if
we deny him, he also will deny us”
(II Tim. 2:11, 12). Wherever the Lord shall be, there we
shall be with Him (I Thess.
4:17). We shall reign, and we shall judge over angels
and the world. I Corinthians 6:2, 3
says, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the
world. . . . Know ye not that we shall
judge angels?”
2. Satan. Satan shall be sealed and bound for a
thousand years (Rev. 20:1-7). The
Antichrist is cast into the lake of fire before that
(Rev. 19:20).
3. Israel. She shall become the head of all
nations again, and will not remain the tail as
she is today (Is. 2:1-4; 11:3, 4; 61:5; Zech. 8:23;
Deut. 28:13).
4. The Nations of the World. All nations will
have to come up to Jerusalem year by
year and worship Jehovah there. If they do not keep the
yearly Feast of Tabernacles, God
will cause no rain to fall upon that nation (Zech.
14:16; Is. 2).
5. Mankind.
a. Spiritual Condition. Some have been led to
think that there will be no sin during
the Millennium, but there will be. Human nature has
never changed from one
dispensation to another. There will be universal
adoration of Christ (Heb. 8:11; 2:14;
Phil. 2:10, 11), but it will be feigned obedience upon
the part of many. For example,
many in prison obey their warden, not because they love
him, but because they must.
Where will these sinners come from, as the Millennium
begins with only born-again
believers? They will be born of saved parents who came
out of the Tribulation alive.
b. Physical Condition. Human life will be
lengthened. Some will be able to live
throughout the Millennium. There shall be death during
this reign of Christ, also —
death, not to the believer, but to the unbeliever. No
babes or children shall die. When the
sinner becomes one hundred years old and still rejects
Christ, he shall be cut off by death.
“There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an
old man that hath not filled his
days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but
the sinner being an hundred years
old shall be accursed [cut off]” (Is. 65:20).
c. Moral Condition. This will not be a period of
absolute perfection. However, sin
will not be allowed to raise its head. Christ shall rule
with a rod of iron (Ps. 46:9; Is. 2:4).
Sin, nevertheless, will be committed in the hearts of
men.
6.
Creation.
a. Physical.
When
Adam fell, the earth was cursed (Rom. 8:18-23). Man has
accomplished wonders with his irrigation systems, and
the like, but look what God will
do! “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad
for them; and the desert shall
rejoice and blossom as the rose” (Is. 35:1). See also
Isaiah 55:13. Creation shall be
restored completely; no more earthquakes; no more
storms, famines and pestilences (Joel
2).
b. Animal Creation. Before man sinned, God had
put the fear of man in the animals.
They ate the grass of the fields. During the Millennium
they shall revert back to the same
232
order which He had intended for them (Is. 11:6-9). “And
a little child shall lead them”
(Is. 11:6) means that a child, during the Millennium,
shall literally lead animals around. It
is not speaking about children leading sinners to the
Lord.
IX. THE JUDGMENTS
The Bible does not teach a general judgment.
Instead, it informs us that there are many
judgments, some past, some present and some future. For
example, there is the past
judgment upon Sodom and there is the future judgment
upon Babylon.
A. Judgments of the Christian.
1. Judgment on Sin. When did this occur? For the
Christian this is a past judgment, for
all of our sins were judged at Calvary. “Christ also
hath once suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh, but quickened by
the Spirit” (I Peter 3:18). “Who his own self bare our
sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness: by whose stripes ye were
healed” (I Peter 2:24). See also Galatians 3:13; John
3:16; Isaiah 53:5,6.
2. Judgment on Christian Service. No Christian
will have to be judged for his sins;
they have already been judged upon the Cross of Calvary.
The Christian will have to
answer to God for his works. “We must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ; that
everyone may receive the things done in his body,
according to that he hath done,
whether it be good or bad” (II Cor. 5:10). Yes, the
Christian has escaped the future
judgment of the wicked (“Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me hath eternal life, and
cometh not into judgment, but hath
passed out of death into life” —John 5:24, R.V.), but he
shall stand before the judgment
seat of Christ to receive rewards for the deeds done in
the body. The words, “judgment
seat,” are from the Greek word “Bema,” better translated
“Rewarding Stand.” This will
be set up when Christ comes. “Behold, I come quickly;
and my reward is with me, to give
every man according as his work shall be” (Rev. 22:12).
There are several crowns that the Christian may achieve:
a. The Crown of Life. “Blessed is the man that
endureth temptation: for when he is
tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which
the Lord hath promised to them that love
him” (Jas. 1:12). See also Revelation 2:10. This is
rewarded for faithfulness, even unto
death.
b. An Incorruptible Crown. “Every man that
striveth for the mastery is temperate in
all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible” (I Cor.
9:25). This is a reward for those who live separated
lives unto the Lord.
c. Crown of Rejoicing. “What is our hope, or joy,
or crown of rejoicing? Are not
even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his
coming?” (I Thess. 2: 19). This is
the soul-winner’s crown.
d. Crown of Glory. “Feed the flock of God which
is among you, taking the oversight
thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for
filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither
as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples
to the flock. And when the chief
Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of
glory that fadeth not away” (I Peter
233
5:2-4). This is the shepherds’, pastors’, or ministers’
reward.
e. Crown of Righteousness. “There is laid up for
me a crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me at that day:
and not to me only, but unto all
them also that love his appearing.” This crown goes to
all who love His second coming.
If you love His appearing, you will talk about it. All
doctrines are headed up by the
Second Coming.
B. Judgment of the Nations.
This takes place at the beginning of the Millennium, the
thousand year reign (Matt.
25:31-46). A better name for “nations” is “Gentiles.”
This is the judgment of all Gentiles
who come out of the Tribulation alive. There are three
classes of people mentioned:
sheep, goats and brethren. The brethren are the Jews;
the sheep are the righteous; and the
goats are the unrighteous.
The righteous (sheep, Gentiles) go into the kingdom,
then on to eternal life. The
unrighteous (goats, Gentiles) are sent immediately to
the lake of fire; therefore, they will
not be judged at the Great White Throne. They go there a
thousand years sooner than the
wicked dead.
There are those who contend that this is a judgment of
works and that men go to heaven
or hell on the basis of their works; for, they say, the
Scriptures state that this judgment is
based upon the words “inasmuch as ye have done it,
or inasmuch as ye did it not.”
However, we will show that it is still a judgment based
upon faith. The Lord, here, is the
judge, and He does mete out judgment on the basis of the
words “inasmuch as . . . But let
us ask, What prompted the sheep nations to minister to
the brethren, the Jews, during the
Tribulation? They did it because they accepted the
brethren’s preaching. Do you think
that they would have visited, clothed, fed and
ministered to the brethren during the
Tribulation if they had not believed? Remember, the
Tribulation is going to be a time of
peril. Man will not be able to buy or sell without the
mark of the beast. The sheep
(Gentiles) defy this order, reject the mark of the
beast, and accept what the brethren
preach. We know they accept Christ, for the Lord has
said, “He that receiveth you
receiveth me” (Matt. 10:40). Again we emphasize that the
sheep (Gentiles) are saved
because of their faith in Christ, for Revelation 7:14
declares it so: “He said to me, These
are they which came out of great tribulation [the Great
Tribulation], and have washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb.”
The unrighteous nations (goats, Gentiles) are cast into
hell because of their unbelief.
They rejected the brethren, thus rejecting Christ.
C. Judgment at the Great White Throne.
This great judgment is found in Revelation 20:11-15: “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. 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
234
were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their
works.” It is the judgment only of the wicked dead who
have been raised at the last
resurrection. No born-again believer shall appear here.
The wicked dead are not to be
tried as to whether they are going to heaven or hell; it
has already been determined that
they are going to hell, for they died condemned (John
3:18). This judgment is to
determine the degrees of punishment, “according to their
works” (Rev. 20:13).
There are two witnesses against them: The Book, and the
Books; that is, the Book of
Life, and the Book of Works. We do not know what the
different degrees of punishment
will be.
X. AFTER THE MILLENNIUM
“When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be
loosed out of his prison, and shall
go out to deceive the nations which are in the four
quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog,
to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is
as the sand of the sea. And they
went up on the breath of the earth, and compassed the
camp of the saints about, and the
beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven,
and devoured them” (Rev.
20:7-9).
This is the war that ends all war. It is the final
conflict of the universe.
A. Satan Loosed.
As he is loosed for a short time, he tries one more
thrust at God.
B. Nations Gathered.
We ask ourselves, Who could Satan organize among the
Gentiles to fight against God?
None other but those unsaved who are ninety-nine years
old and younger, who have been
born during the last century of the Millennium.
Notice that no army has gathered against them.
C. Army Destroyed.
Fire comes down from heaven and destroys them.
D. Satan Doomed.
He is then cast into the lake of fire prepared for him
and his angels.
XI. TH FUTURE OF THE WICKED.
It is not hard to think of everlasting life, but it is
hard to think of an eternity in hell;
nevertheless, it is true.
235
A. The Scriptural Teaching.
1. There Will Be a Day of Judgment (Acts 17:30,
31).
2. Every Man Will Be Judged for His Works (Rom.
2:16; Rev. 20:12).
3. It Is Eternal (Mark 9:43-48). See also Matt.
13.
4. There Will Be Degrees of Punishment (Rev.
20:12; Rom. 2:5, 6).
5. There Will Be a Resurrection of the Unjust As Well
As of the Just (John 5:29).
6. Language Describes It (Matt. 25:46; Mark
9:45-48; John 3:36).
7.
All Is Based Upon
the Character of God as Righteous.
B. The Terms Used.
The following are the places where wicked human beings
and angels are, or shall be sent
to:
1. Sheol. This is the Old Testament word
describing the place of the departed wicked.
2. Hades. This is the New Testament Greek word,
describing the immediate state of
the wicked dead; it is the same as Sheol. There is
nothing in the Bible that speaks of an
eternal Hades, or Sheol.
3. Tartarus. This is the place where the wicked
angels are chained; it is a place of
darkness.
4. Gehenna. Gehenna was the city dump outside of
Jerusalem, whose fire never went
out. The Lord Himself likened hell unto it, describing
the fires of hell that shall always
burn: “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched” (Mark 9:44).
5. Tophet. “Tophet” is the Old Testament Hebrew
word meaning the same as
Gehenna.
6. Abyss. This is the place of fallen angels,
human beings are never placed here (Rom.
10:7).
7. Lake of Fire. This is found only in the Book
of the Revelation. Its meaning is the
same as Gehenna.
8. Eternal. Sometimes this word is translated
“everlasting.” The meaning is the same.
The punishment of the wicked is eternal.
236
a. First Interpretation. Thayer translates it to
mean “without beginning and without
end.”
b. Second Interpretation. This states that
“eternal” means “without beginning.”
c. Third Interpretation. This holds that
“eternal” means “without ending.” We agree
with all three. We do not hold to the interpretation
that it means only “age lasting.” Some
would have us believe that the wicked will endure hell
for just an age. But the word
“eternal” describing hell is the same word which
describes eternal life (John 3:16), and
the everlasting God (Rom. 16:26), and the everlasting
kingdom of Jesus Christ (II Peter
1:11).
C. The Theories Proposed.
1. Universalism. This is the belief that all will
finally be saved, including the Devil.
What would the words “judge” and “judgments” mean if
they did not mean judge or
judgment. When God speaks about eternal judgment, He
means eternal judgment (Acts
3:21-24; I Cor. 15:22; Matt. 18:9; John 3:36).
2. Conditionalism. This false teaching was not
found in the Early Church, but it first
made its appearance in the nineteenth century. It was
reasoned that eternal life is based
upon the acceptance of Jesus Christ. If one accepts Him,
he has eternal life. If he does not
accept Him, he will never live; non-acceptance in
this life will result in non-existence in
the future life. There is no Scriptural
foundation for this theory.
3. Everlasting Punishment. This is based upon
Biblical truth, which connects sin with
punishment. All sins committed are committed against
eternity. He who sins by rejecting
Jesus Christ shall endure eternal punishment.
XII. HEAVEN
The Scriptures teach that there are three heavens:
A. First Heaven. This is the region of the clouds
where the birds fly, the atmospheric
heaven.
B. Second Heaven. This is the stellar heaven, where
the stars are located.
C. Third Heaven. This is the place where God lives;
it is the place where Jesus came
from.
The Lord Jesus went through the first and second heaven
to get to the third heaven.
“Having then a great high priest, who has passed
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our confession” (Heb. 4:14, R.V.).
Heaven is just as real as the clouds and stars. It is
the place where Stephen saw God; the
place to which John was caught up by the Spirit. The
first thing he saw, was the Lord
Jesus. He is the heart of heaven (Rev. 1, Heb. 9:24).
Paul, too, was caught up to the third
237
heaven (II Cor. 12:2). Where is heaven? Does the Bible
make it clear? Heaven is always
in the north. “He stretcheth out the north over
the empty place, and hangeth the earth
upon nothing” (Job 26:7). See also Isaiah 14:12-14;
Psalm 82:1; 48:2.
Is heaven foursquare? Is it a cube? What will man have
for his future home? Will it be a
small cubby hole in a square city? Is heaven only
fifteen hundred miles square? While the
new Jerusalem (Rev. 21,22) is foursquare, this is only a
city of heaven, which descends
as a present for the Bride.
Those who go there will live in perfect peace and
perfect love for all time and eternity.
“Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the
living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels” (Heb. 12:22).
Ye Must Be Born Again!
|
You Need HIS Righteousness!
|
Believe The Gospel
