6 ¶ Because to every purpose there is time and
judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. 7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for
who can tell him when it shall be? 8
There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit;
neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that
war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
Solomon has already pointed out that to every even there is
a time. Now, he points out that to every intent of man there is a time and a
judgment. Mankind’s end will be a fearful thing.
Revelation 20:11
¶ And I saw a great white throne, and
him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them. 12
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books
were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according
to their works. 13 And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were
in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of
fire. This is the second death. 15 And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of
fire.
Many preachers who apparently have a reading comprehension
problem have said that Hell and the Lake of Fire are the same thing. I’ve even
seen it on gospel tracts. Clearly this sentiment is not Biblical.
All events that happen to man are foreknown by God. Even the
wisest of men is caught by surprise by events that he has no idea will happen.
We are in the dark about the future events of our lives and only have a general
idea of what might happen and what we would like to happen. Death awaits even
the wisest of men. No human being has the ability to keep himself from death
when the time comes. Solomon likens our physical life and death as a type of
war. There is discharge from it. Jesus was the only person in history to have
the power to lay down His life and to take it up again. We see in the following
that one type commandment from God is the power to do something, given by God,
as in Hebrews 7:16.
John 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down
of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This
commandment have I received of my Father.
The only way a believer in Christ will escape physical death
is the translation of the church, generally believed on by the early church
until the 300’s when the state-church took began to dominate thanks to the
Emperor Constantine, and today by many conservative Christians. This is
popularly called The Rapture.
1Thessalonians 4:13
¶ But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even
as others which have no hope. 14 For if
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For
this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and
remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For 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: 17 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. 18
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Notice that the Lord has not actually come to earth but the church
meets Him in the air. This precedes that time when Jesus physically returns to
earth as prophesied in verses in the Old Testament such as this one.
Zechariah 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against
those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the
mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives
shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and
there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove
toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Christ will physically return with His people to rule the
earth, saved Jew and saved Gentile alike.
Revelation 19:11
¶ And I saw heaven opened, and behold a
white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes
were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name
written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is
called The Word of God. 14 And the
armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine
linen, white and clean. 15 And out of
his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he
shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the
fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF
KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Of course, this is after the church, as the bride of Christ,
enjoys that great marriage supper of the Lamb in Heaven.
Revelation 19:5 ¶ And a voice came out of the throne, saying,
Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and
great. 6 And I heard as it were the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice
of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
7 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. 8 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. 9 And he
saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
10 And I fell at his feet to worship
him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of
thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
But, if this doesn’t happen in your lifetime then your
physical body will eventually die, as those of us who are older are painfully
aware. The following passage refers to our physical body.
2Corinthians 5:1
¶ For 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. 2
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our
house which is from heaven: 3 If so be
that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4 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. 5
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath
given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 6
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home
in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body,
and to be present with the Lord.
When death comes you will not escape it. You have not the
power to keep your life from its power. You will die, your body will begin
disintegrating, dissolving, and your soul will be in Hell until the final
judgment when you are called forth to stand before God to answer for your
rejection of His offer of eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ by being
judged by His Law rather than by Christ’s righteousness. You might not think
this is important now but, remember, you will spend eternity in whatever state
you are in when you die. That is a long time to not be very important, wouldn’t
you say?
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting
life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of
God abideth on him.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved.
Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation. 11 For the
scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 ¶
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same
Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. [Note that Greek means anyone who is not a Jew, sort
of like the Amish phrase about being careful out amongst the English.
Confession is made to God for salvation, not to man in the form of a
congregation, preacher, or priest. See Romans 14:11, although if you aren’t
willing to tell anyone else it is questionable if you are sincere or just
fooling yourself.]
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