WHEN A MAN DIES  

PART 3 B

FORTY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS  

            1.  Who is immortal?  "The King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God."  (1 Timothy 1:17).

            2.  Are not all men in possession of immortality?  "The blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality."  (1 Timothy 6:15, 16).

            3.  Are not all men created immortal?  God "only hath immortality."  (1 Timothy 6:16).

            4.  Is there any way by which "mortal" man may obtain immortality?  "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter 1:4).

            5.  Where is this immortality revealed?  "By the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light, through the gospel."  (2 Timothy 1:10).

            6.  Who has power to bestow immortality upon man?  "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." ( Romans 6:23 ).

            7.  Will God give this great gift to all persons, whatever their works may be?  God "will render to every man according to his deeds."  (Romans 2:6).

            8.  What will be the portion of those who are contentious and obey not the truth?  "Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil."  (Romans 2:8, 9).

            9.  To whom will God impart immortality?  "To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality."  (Romans 2:7).

            10.  What shall be their reward? "Eternal life."  ( Romans 2:7 ).

            11.  Upon what conditions may men obtain this blessing?  "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life."  ( 1 Timothy 6:12).

            12.  When do men obtain immortality, at death or at the resurrection?  "The dead shall be raised incorruptible."   ( 1 Corinthians 15:52).

            13.  How shall those who are not dead become incorruptible?  "We shall be changed."   ( 1 Corinthians 15:52).

            14.  When will this change take place?  "At the last trump."  ( 1 Corinthians 15:52).

            15.  How suddenly will the change occur?  "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." ( 1 Corinthians 15:52).

            16.  Will this change be a change of the internal or the external and physical or corruptible man?  "This corruptible must put on incorruption."  ( 1 Corinthians 15:53).

            17.  What then becomes immortal?  "This mortal must put on immortality."  ( 1 Corinthians 15:53).

            18.  What scripture will be fulfilled when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality?  "Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."  ( 1 Corinthians 15:54;  Isaiah 25:8).

            19.  Who will be raised from the dead?  "All that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth."  ( John 5:28, 29).

            20.  Will the unburied rise?  "The sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [the grave] delivered up the dead which were in them."  ( Revelation 20:13).

            21.  Will different classes of characters be raised?  "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust."  ( Acts 24:15).

            22.  For what purpose will the good be raised?  "They that have done good unto the resurrection of life."  ( John 5:29).

            23.  To what will the rest be raised?  "They that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."  ( John 5:29).

            24.  Will a man's final destiny be in accordance with the life he has lived?  "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."   ( Galatians 6:7 ).

            25.  What will be the portion of the ungodly?  "He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption."  ( Galatians 6:8).

            26.  What shall be the reward of the righteous?  "He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."  (Galatians 6:8).

            27.  Where now is the Christian's life?  "Your life is hid with Christ in God."  ( Colossians 3:3 ).

            28.  How, then, should we live?  "Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap if we faint not."  ( Galatians 6:9 ).

            29.  What will be the fate of those who by sowing to the flesh reap corruption?  "These, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, . . .shall utterly perish in their own corruption."  ( 2 Peter 2:12 ).

            30.  Is it possible for man to be utterly destroyed?  "Fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."  ( Matthew 10:28).

            31.  What is the wages of sin?  "The wages of sin is death."  ( Romans 6:23 ).

            32.  Is this only bodily death, or a death of the whole man?  "The soul that sinneth it shall die."  ( Ezekiel 18:4 ).

            33.  If the wicked turn away from his wickedness and do right, what then?  "He shall save his soul alive."  ( Ezekiel 18:27).

            34.  When a righteous man turns away from righteousness and commits iniquities, and dies in them, what then?  "For his iniquity that he hath done shall he die."  ( Ezekiel 18:26 ).

            35.  As he first dies in his iniquity and then dies for his iniquity, what must his last death be called?  "The second death."  ( Revelation 21:8 ).

            36.  What is the result attained by the man who converts a sinner from the error of his ways?  "He . . . shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."  (James 5:20 ).

            37.  What, then, has God placed before us to excite us to action?  "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live."  ( Deuteronomy 30:19).

            38.  How does God manifest His love for men?  "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  ( John 3:16 ).

            39.  What is the Saviour's charge against men?  "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life."  ( John 5:40 ).

            40.  What is the command of God to all?  "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?  For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves and live ye."   ( Ezekiel 18:31, 32 ).  

BIBLE TRUTH VERSUS HUMAN TRADITION  

            WHEN the Bible teaching regarding life, death, and immortality is understood, many related doctrines at once become clear.  When the nature of man is seen in the light in which the Scriptures set it forth, as mortal and not immortal, many human traditions are bound to be discarded.  When the plain teaching of the Bible on this subject is accepted, great light will be thrown on questions long shrouded in darkness.

            It is not the Bible that has given rise to all the contradictory views which prevail about immortality.  The Bible is a plain, common-sense, consistent revelation of the truth that God would have men understand.  In the very nature of things it cannot teach, and certainly does not support, doctrines that contradict one another.

            Look for a moment at the various views held by men about the nature of man and a future life.  Look first, however, at the Biblical teaching, and hold it in mind as opposing views are considered.  

CESSATION OF CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE  

            The Bible teaching is that man is mortal.  All future life depends upon Jesus Christ and is bestowed by God through Christ.  Natural death, which comes upon all men, is not life in another realm or state but a cessation of all conscious existence.  It is, however, a temporary cessation of life, for there will be a resurrection.  This resurrection at "the last day" will include the whole race of humanity, both righteous and wicked.  All will be raised to be judged.  The righteous will then put on immortality, and the wicked, destitute of the life that is in Christ, will die the second death — be punished with everlasting destruction, not everlasting torment, and utterly perish in their own corruption.

            That is the clear, positive teaching of Holy Scripture.  But it is not the view held by all Christians.  Many have been raised from childhood to believe that man by nature is immortal.  They look upon their bodies as prisons and clogs from which, at death, their immortal souls will be released, the righteous go at once to heaven, the wicked to be plunged into hell.  The first will enjoy the presence of God forever; the second will be compelled to endure the torments of hell forever.  

PURGATORY DOES NOT EXIST  

            There are those who hold a modification of the second view, believing that even the righteous, possessing immortal souls, instead of going directly to heaven at death, are held in a place called purgatory.  In this place their disembodied spirits, after the lapse of a greater or lesser period of time, become purged from every stain by the sanctifying influence of fire and brimstone.  The process of purification in purgatory is held to be materially hastened by the repetition of certain Latin prayers, which those specially qualified are always ready to offer — when paid to do so.  Then, after the judgment, the purged saints will enjoy eternal blessedness while the incorrigible wicked endure eternal torment.

            The teaching of the Bible, that all men are mortal, clears away the confusion as to where the truth lies in these conflicting theories.  Man, being mortal, not possessing an immortal soul, does not go to heaven, hell, or purgatory when he dies.  He goes into the grave.  There he neither endures pain nor enjoys bliss.  He is completely unconscious, knowing nothing.  He is asleep, awaiting the resurrection and the judgment to determine his eternal destiny.  He is not in a place of torment.  He is not in a place of happiness.  He is not in purgatory.  All the prayers and masses in the world will not reach him or benefit him.  He is dead.  

IMMORTAL AND IMMORTALITY  

            No Bible writer except Paul ever makes use of the words immortal and immortality.  He uses the word immortal but once, and immortality but five times.  He never applies either of these to sinners.  He never applies either to the righteous or to sinners in this world. He never applies either to men's souls at all, either before or after death.

            Paul applies his single use of the term immortal to God.  ( 1 Timothy 1:17 ).  He declares that God is the only possessor of immortality.  ( 1 Timothy 6:15, 16).  He says immortality is revealed, or brought to light, in the gospel of the Son of God. ( 2 Timothy 1:10).

            He presents immortality as an attribute which men are to seek for by patient continuance in well doing.  ( Romans 2:7 ).

            He locates the time when immortality shall be "put on" by the followers of God, and fixes it at the resurrection, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear. ( 1 Corinthians 15:52-54 ).

            Consequently, the only inspired writer who mentions immortality at all never taught the immortality of the soul, or of man, as it is now taught in some Christian pulpits and creeds.

            Not one of the approximately forty writers of the Bible ever once speaks of any person as "dying and going to heaven," or "dying and going to hell," or "dying and going to purgatory."  They all knew better.  Such views have their sources in other places than the Christian Scriptures.  And such views, because they are not only un-Biblical and anti-Biblical, should be instantly discarded by all Christians.  The Bible and the Bible alone is the basis, and the only basis, of genuine Christianity.            

ALL NEEDFUL TRUTH  

            We have in the Bible a book in which God has made a revelation of all truth necessary to salvation.  This Book contains all needful information regarding man's origin, history, condition, nature, and destiny.  Its plain and positive teaching throughout is that man is mortal, not immortal; perishable, not deathless; that his only hope of a future life is in Jesus Christ and Him alone.

            The sacred writings of the Christian faith promise life to those, and those only, who believe on Jesus Christ.  They threaten death and destruction to the disobedient and the rebellious.  This is the Bible teaching regarding man and man's destiny, regarding life and death.  This is its teaching regarding a future life — life in Christ, death out of Christ.  

THE ETERNAL CONQUEST OF DEATH  

            GOD made man for immortality.  He did not make him immortal.  Man was placed on probation to determine his fitness to live forever.  He might have been exempt from death forever had he never sinned.

            Adam brought death on himself and all mankind by sin.  Mortality became the lot of humanity.  And that has persisted from the beginning until now.  Man has found no way in himself to avoid the consequences of his sin.  For six millenniums the whole race of man has been steadily plunging over the dread precipice of death.

            Nevertheless, we hope for immortality as confidently and ardently as do those who believe the antiscriptural view of the deathless nature of man.  Moreover, we advocate the doctrine of immortality as earnestly as they.

            We differ only in the grounds of our hope.  We teach it as a Christian doctrine; they as a doctrine of philosophy.  they claim it from Adam by their natural birth; we from Christ only by a new spiritual birth and a resurrection from the dead.

            They believe it to be the natural endowment of every man; we believe it to be a supernatural endowment, received by faith as a gift of God's grace through the redemption provided by Christ.

            It is still the purpose of God to immortalize man, but not in sin and misery.

            Only as men are restored to holiness by Christ do they become fit for immortality.  Then at His second coming these, and these alone, receive it at His hand.  

A MONSTROUS CONCEPTION

            The monstrous conception of two everlasting kingdoms running parallel with each other — one a kingdom of purity and blessedness known as heaven, the other a kingdom of endless sin and sorrow known as hell; the first to resound with the praises and joy of the redeemed men and unfallen angels, the second with the groans and blasphemies of lost sinners and devils to all eternity — is a doctrine invented by the devil to discredit God.

            It is not a doctrine of the Bible.

            The Bible comprises two Testaments, the Old and the New.  In these there are revealed to us two worlds, two Adams, two progenitors, two births, two covenants, two classes of men, two kingdoms, two divine advents, two lives, and two deaths.

            These couplets are contrasted throughout the Scriptures.  In all cases the second is superior to, and more substantial and enduring than, the first.

            The first world, perfect indeed at its creation, is now under sin.  It is therefore unstable and transitory.

            The new world is revealed as a brighter, better, more substantial, and more glorious world.  It is as yet invisible, spiritual in its nature, fitted and destined to endure forever.  "For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."  ( 2 Corinthians 4:18 ).

FIRST AND SECOND ADAMS  

            The first Adam was created "out of the dust of the ground."  He was the noblest and highest of earthly creatures, with a capacity for an endless existence.  This was to be assured, however, by his maintaining himself in sinlessness, without which he could neither possess nor enjoy eternal life.  He proved himself unworthy of endless life by disobeying his Creator.  He failed to live up to his highest possibilities.  "That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual."  ( 1 Corinthians 15:46 ).

            The fall of the first Adam made necessary the revelation of the second Adam.  He was born of a woman, but begotten by God.  He is both divine and human, the Son of man and the Son of God.  He is the true link between this lower world and the higher world of light and glory.  Of that world He is Lord of all.  He was "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."  He died as a mortal for the redemption of men, though He possessed immortality in His own right.  "Being made perfect" through suffering, He becomes "the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him" and to as many as receive Him He gives "power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name."  ( Hebrews 5:9;  John 1:12 ).  

TWO PROGENITORS  

            The first Adam became the progenitor of a race like himself — earthly, carnal, sinful, mortal.  His descendants could not inherit from him what he could not transmit, an immortality which he never possessed.  They were born in sinfulness.

            The second Adam, the divine Son of God, became the progenitor of a race like Himself, sharers of His own nature, pure in heart, spiritual in their natures.  Although for a while they linger in this world of sin, subject to physical death, they will in due time enter upon that "inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."  ( 1 Peter 1:4, 5 ).  

TWO BIRTHS  

            No descendant of Adam can inherit eternal life unless and until he is born again, begotten of a progenitor who possesses eternal life.  "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."  ( John 3:6 ).

            Men inherit from Adam, by the first birth, only what Adam had to transmit to his posterity — natural, mortal, transitory life.

            From the second Adam, by the second birth from above, we inherit that which our Progenitor has to give, a spiritual, deathless life, a life imparted to us and generated in us by the Spirit of God.  This is the life spoken of in the Bible as "the life everlasting," a life directly from Him, which alone can make "us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."  ( Colossians 1:12 ).            

TWO COVENANTS  

            The acceptance of the gospel of Christ brings us under a new covenant.  The first covenant was a covenant of works, "Do this and live."  Its rewards and penalties and motives were earthly.  It could not make "the comers thereunto perfect," that is, complete.  "For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second." ( Hebrews 8:7 ).

            The second covenant is a covenant of faith.  "Believe and thou shalt be saved."  It requires an implicit trust in a Saviour who can "save to the uttermost," One "who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life." ( Hebrews 7:16 ).  Its motives, its rewards, are spiritual, heavenly, eternal.  

TWO CLASSES  

            As a consequence of the fall, mankind came to be divided into two classes — sinners and saints, lost and saved, wicked and righteous.  The first are carnally minded; are controlled by worldly motives; seek for worldly gain; have all their good things, which perish with their use, in this life.

            The second, the righteous, are spiritually minded; are led by the Spirit of God; through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the flesh; are governed by spiritual influences; seek those things that are above, that are pure, substantial, eternal.  Their choice is the good part that shall never be taken away.  They and they alone have eternal life.  

TWO KINGDOMS  

            It follows that there are two kingdoms; the first, of this world.  Over this kingdom the great adversary of God and man holds dominion as prince of this world.  It is a kingdom of evil, of disorder, of sorrow, of darkness, of war,  and of death.  It is a kingdom which is doomed to be overthrown, and utterly and forever destroyed.

            The second is the kingdom of God, of heaven, of Christ.  This is a kingdom of light and glory and power.  It is a kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy.  It is established by the Son of God as His everlasting kingdom, and "it shall stand for ever."  

TWO ADVENTS  

            To lay the foundations of this kingdom, the Son of God came in the flesh at His first advent, to suffer and die.  Having conquered death, He rose and ascended to heaven, leading "a multitude of captives"  (Ephesians 4:8, margin), and giving "gifts unto men."

            He left the assurance that He will return to this earth — come again, in a second advent — to gather the fruits of His victory and reap the harvest of His ministry.  He will accomplish this by raising the dead, judging the world, destroying all that is perishable and vile and unworthy in the earth, and making all things new.  "Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation."  ( Hebrews 9:28 ).  In His new heavens and new earth He will reign with His ransomed people forever.    

TWO DEATHS  

            Great prominence also is given in the Scriptures to the first and second deaths.  And there is no vagueness in the Book of God respecting these.  There is no reason or excuse for misunderstanding its teachings on this subject.  Nor would there be any such misunderstanding if men did not prefer to believe the original lie of Satan rather than the positive truth of God.  When man is assumed to be an immortal being, of course there is no place for a second death.

            But there is a second death, an eternal death.  And it is death, not everlasting life in torment.  Whatever miseries may attend its course and follow in its train, nevertheless, "sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."  ( James 1:15 ).  

SIN NOT TO BE PERPETUATED  

            Sin is not to be perpetuated.  Sinners will not live forever.  The plain doctrine of the Bible is that the devil and all his works will be destroyed, utterly destroyed.  Death is to be abolished "and swallowed up in victory."  Evil is not to continue through the eternal ages, but give place to eternal good.  "Sorrow and sighing" is to be completely unknown, "and there shall be no more pain."

            The victory which the Son of God gained over His enemies and the enemies of His people is to be complete, wanting nothing.  "For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven."  (Colossians 1:19,20 ).  "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." ( Philippians 2:10, 11 ).  

THE GLORIOUS CONSUMMATION  

            No other consummation is conceivable for a perfect and omnipotent Deity — One who is perfect in wisdom to plan, perfect in power to execute all His purposes of benevolence and grace.  He will finally crown His self-sacrificing work by a glorious consummation.

            The Bible is filled with promises, pledges, and prophecies of this consummation.  God swore a solemn oath to Moses:  "As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord."  ( Numbers 14:21 ).  The whole universe is to be purified, with no plague spot left in it, "filled with the fullness of Him that filleth all in all."  There will be no depth of hell left in it in which the miserable victims of God's wrath are to be confined, to sin and suffer forever.  Sin is to be ended, abolished, destroyed forever.

            The psalms are full of promises of this coming glory under the reign of Christ.  They predict not a temporal millennium period but the establishment of a kingdom that shall never end.

            In glowing terms the prophets describe the completeness of the victory over evil.  There will be nothing to hurt or destroy throughout the length and breadth of God's dominions.  "The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."  ( Isaiah 35:10 ).  "In the days of these kings [the modern nations of Europe] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand for ever."  ( Daniel 2:44 ).    

THE GATHERING OF GOD'S PEOPLE  

            The Old Testament closes with a description of the gathering of God's people as jewels into His kingdom, and the complete destruction of all the wicked.  When He cleanses His threshing floor, it will not be to gather the good grain into one garner and the chaff and tares and worthless rubbish into another, into some dark corner, there to be left to rot and send forth their pestilential stench forever.  Nor will He cast them into a fire which will smolder and fume and smoke, but  never consume.  But, "the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root not branch."  ( Malachi 4:1 ).

            Every philosophy, every theory, every doctrine that will not permit us to believe in such a glorious consummation is antichristian, and should be discarded.

            Coming to the New Testament, we observe that the teaching of this glorious end to the purposes of God becomes more pronounced.  The chief object of Christ's coming into the world is declared to be "that through death He might destroy [not imprison and torment forever, but destroy] him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." ( Hebrews 2:14 ).  "For this purpose the Son of god was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil."  ( 1 John 3:8).  

THE END OF THE AGE-LONG CONFLICT  

            The works of the devil are sin and sorrow and death.  These, together with their author, are to be eternally destroyed.

            In no place in all the record of God's will contained in Scripture is there the slightest intimation that the conflict of the ages now raging between Christ and Satan will issue in any outcome other than the complete and utter destruction of the great adversary of God and man.  We are explicitly told that Satan is to be consumed "with the Spirit of his mouth," and destroyed "with the brightness of His coming."  ( 2 Thessalonians 2:8 ).  "According to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him."  ( Ephesians 1:9, 10 ).

            In the parallel between the first and second Adams, already discussed, is disclosed how the base must come before the pure, the natural before the spiritual, and the temporal before the eternal.  Paul, in language that glows, describes the glorious consummation, when the imperfect reaches its end and is done away, and the perfect comes; when the righteous dead are raised and immortalized and glorified with their risen Lord.  He then exclaims, "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.  For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet.  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." ( 1 Corinthians 15:24-26 ).

            Peter, too, describes the coming of the Lord, together with the complete overthrow and destruction of the wicked, in the general conflagration, when "the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat;" and adds, "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."  ( 2 Peter 3:12, 13 ).            

THE CLOSING SCENES  

            It is, however, the last book of the Bible, the Revelation, that we find disclosed most comprehensively the final scenes of the great drama of the ages, together with the most perfect picture of the world to come.  Here in apocalyptic vision the Seer of Patmos sees passing before his wondering eyes the scenes of conflict and carnage, the fire and smoke, in which our Lord, first as the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, which was and is and is to come, the Almighty; and then as "the Lamb of God, which was slain from the foundation of the world;" and finally as the glorious conquering King of kings and Lord of lords, is described as waging war with every form of evil, personified under every imaginable and actual symbol or image.  And it all converges to and is consummated in the overthrow and extirpation of evil, and of all opposition to God and Christ, whatever form it may assume, or however strongly it may be entrenched, or however vigorously it may contend, and the ultimate reign of righteousness, peace, and harmony throughout the whole of the vast reaches of the universe.

            In the final scene, the Judge is seated on His great white throne.  Before His face heaven and earth flee away; the dead, small and great, stand before God;  the books are opened, and everyone is judged according to his works.  

THE SECOND DEATH  

            Another book is opened.  This is the book of life.  Whosoever is not found written in this book is cast into the same lake of fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.  This is the second death.  From this there will be no recovery, no resurrection, no breaking of eternal sleep.  Death and the grave are also cast into this all-consuming lake of fire.

            The seer is then allowed to look in upon eternity, and he lifts the veil for us to look with him.  We see a new heaven and a new earth, "for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away."  We see the "new Jerusalem, coming down from god out of heaven," with its jasper walls, its pearly gates, its brilliant palaces, its golden streets, and its pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of god and of the Lamb.  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, is the tree of life, once in the Garden of Eden, bearing twelve manner of fruits.  

NO MORE CURSE

             But there are now no cherubim with flaming swords to guard its approach.  It is now for the healing of the nations.

            The gates of the city are not shut by day, which fact means that they are not shut at all, for there is no night there.  We look in and see the redeemed and glorified inhabitants, clothed in white, with crowns on their heads and harps in their hands, singing praises to God and to the Lamb.

            "There shall be no more curse."  "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away."

            The Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will feed them, and lead them to living fountains of water.  God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.  They will see His face.  His name will be in their foreheads.  He will be with them forever.

            Since there will be no night there, they need no artificial light, neither light of the sun. The Lord God giveth them light.  "And they shall reign for ever and ever."

            These sayings are faithful and true.  "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.  Amen.  Even so, come, Lord Jesus."  ( Revelation 22:20 ).  

THE END