The richest man in the Middle East, the Patriarch Job once cried out, “Job 14:1 Man born of woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
Job 14:2 He comes forth like a flower, and withers; he also flees as a shadow, and does not stand.”
Then He asked, “ Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he revive? All the days of my warfare I will wait, until my change comes.”
Finally Job reaffirms His faith in God and in the personal destiny of man.
Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall rise on the earth at the last;
Job 19:26 and even after they corrupt my skin, yet this: in my flesh I shall see God,
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| Job with His Friends after He lost everything. |
The Three Most Important questions for Mankind are:
Where did I come from?
Why am I here?
Where am I going?
Thus far questions one and two have been answered. Now in this final section we will look at
“WHERE AM I GOING?”
A. False Views concerning the Destiny of Man.
1. Nirvana
This is an Oriental Hindu - Buddhist philosophy (which in certain periods of history has wormed it way into Christian thought.)
It teaches that at death a man ceases all personal existence and is absorbed by some great life-giving principle in the Universe.
According to this thought, a man, while he lives, can be pictured as a small wave ripple, skimming the top of a mighty ocean. But when the wind stops (the moment of death), the wave is then received back into the ocean from whence it came, and forever loses its previous identity.
This is refuted by Mat 17:3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him.
Here we see Moses (who had died 2000 years earlier) and Elijah (who had departed over 700 years before) both reappearing on the Mount of Transfiguration to Peter James and John. This of course, proves that absence from this earth does not mean the termination of existence, personality or personhood.
1Co 15:12 But if Christ is proclaimed, that He was raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1Co 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.
1Co 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is worthless, and your faith is also worthless.
1Co 15:15 And we are also found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified of God that He raised Christ; whom He did not raise if the dead are not raised.
1Co 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ is not raised.
1Co 15:17 And if Christ is not raised, your faith is foolish; you are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then also those that fell asleep in Christ were lost.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:20 But now Christ has risen from the dead, and has become the first-fruit of those who slept.
Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection?
If there be no resurrection
1. Our religion is not based upon opinions, but upon facts. Whatever your “views” may be, is a small matter; what are the facts of the case?
2. When those outside the Church deny the gospel facts, we are not at all astonished; they are unbelievers, and they are acting out their own profession. But when men inside the Church deny the resurrection, then is our soul stirred within us. Paul’s argument begins, If there be no resurrection—
I. Christ is not risen. Now—
1. The apostles bore witness that Christ had risen.
2. “But,” says one, “Christ might rise, and yet not His people.” Not so, for Christ is one with His people. When Adam sinned, the whole human race fell in him, for they were one with him. In Adam all died. Now, Christ is the second Adam, and all believers are one with Him; and because He rose again, they must rise again; He lives and they shall live also.
II. Apostolic preaching falls (1Co_15:14-15). For—
1. The apostles were false witnesses. When a man bears false witness, he usually has a motive for doing so. What motive had these men? Surely they were the most extraordinary false witnesses who ever lived. What were their morals?
2. If we suppose that they were mistaken about this matter, we must suspect their witness about everything else; and the only logical result is to give up the New Testament altogether.
III. Faith becomes delusion.
1. It is the belief of a lie. Take this home to yourselves: if He did not literally rise, this faith of yours, that gives you comfort, which has renewed you in heart and life, which you believe is leading you home to heaven, must be abandoned; it is fixed on a falsehood.
2. The trial will be too great for faith to endure, since it has for the very keystone of the arch the resurrection of Christ from the dead. If He did not rise, your faith rests on what never happened; and certainly your faith will not bear that trial. When you are sure that “the Lord is risen indeed,” then you feel that there is something beneath your foot that does not stir.
IV. Ye are yet in your sins. For then—
1. There is no atonement made. Christ died, and by His death obtained the full discharge of all our obligations. But His rising again was the token that He had discharged the whole of the dread liabilities.
2. There is no life for those who are in Christ. If He were still slumbering in the grave, where would have been the life that now makes us joyful, and now makes us aspire after heavenly things?
V. All the pious dead have perished.
1. One phrase must be explained by the previous one; if Christ is not risen, they are yet in their sins. They died, and they told us that they were blood-washed and forgiven; but if Christ rose not from the dead, there is no saint who ever died, who has had any real hope; he has died under a delusion, and he has perished.The Biblical Illustrator 1Cor 15:12-19
1Co 15:42 So also the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption;
1Co 15:43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
1Co 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.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul," the last Adam was a life-giving Spirit.
1Co 15:46 But not the spiritual first, but the natural; afterward the spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man was out of earth, earthy; the second Man was the Lord from Heaven.
1Co 15:48 Such the earthy man, such also the earthy ones. And such the heavenly Man, such also the heavenly ones.
1Co 15:49 And according as we bore the image of the earthy man, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
2. Restorationism.
This is the belief that in the future life all man will be given a second chance to make the choice for God that they did not make during this life.
This is refuted by: Pro 29:1 He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be broken, and that without remedy.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. “
See also Luke 16:19- 31 The Rich man and Lazarus
After death there is absolutely no second chance of Salvation for the unbeliever.
3 Materialism.
This is the Atheistic belief that man, upon death, forever ceases to be and quietly rots into nothingness. This has been aptly described on an ancient tombstone, “I was not, I became, I am not, I care not.”
see 1 Cor 15:50-57
Materialism may be defined as that clever worldly art of knowing the price of everything, but the value of nothing.
Scientific Objections to materialism in Wickapedia “Davies' and Gribbin's objections are shared by proponents of digital physics who view information rather than matter to be fundamental. Their objections were also shared by some founders of quantum theory, such as Max Planck, who wrote:
“As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.”
— Max Planck, Das Wesen der Materie, 1944
4. Annihilationism.
This theory, espoused by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, along with various other groups, teaches that all the ungodly will someday literally be “uncreated,” or annihilated by God.
Annihilationism is refuted by:
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.
Rev 14:9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, If any man worshippeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand,
Rev 14:10 he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11 and the smoke of their torment goeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name.
Those believing in annihilationism attempt to undergird their claims with certain Scriptures. Ps 37:9 and 145:20
Refutation The same Hebrew word for “cut off” - “karath” in Ps 37;9 is also used in reference to the crucifixion of Messiah as prophesied in Daniel 9:26
built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.
Dan 9:26 And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, (karath) and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and his end shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
Christ certainly was not annihilated at Calvary.
5. Soul Sleep.
The view that the soul sleeps between death and the resurrection.
This is refuted by:
2Co 5:6 Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord
2Co 5:7 (for we walk by faith, not by sight);
2Co 5:8 we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.
2Co 5:9 Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well–pleasing unto him.
Php 1:23 But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is very far better:
Php 1:24 yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake.
Rev 6:9 And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10 and they cried with a great voice, saying, How long, O Master, the holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11 And there was given them to each one a white robe; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little time, until their fellow–servants also and their brethren, which should be killed even as they were, should be fulfilled.
Rev 6:12 And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood;
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| He is the God of the Living. Abraham, Moses, Elijah etc |
This passage in Revelation not only refutes soul-sleep,but to the contrary, teaches that departed believers can both ask questions and receive answers in Heaven. It also suggest a temporary body given before the future resurrection bodies are given to them.
6 Purgatory.
The Belief of Roman Catholics that all those who die at peace with the church but are not perfect must undergo penal and purifying sufferings. However, this is only for those who die in venial (lesser) sin, for all dying in mortal sin are forever condemned in hell. Roman Catholic Doctrine teaches that a person’s stay in Purgatory may be shortened by the gift or services rendered by living people on behalf of the beloved dead one through the Roman Catholic Church.
This is refuted by: Heb 9:11 But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,
Heb 9:12 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption.
Heb 9:13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh:
Heb 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Heb 9:24 For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us:
Heb 9:25 nor yet that he should offer himself often; as the high priest entereth into the holy place year by year with blood not his own;
Heb 9:26 else must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Heb 9:27 And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;
Heb 9:28 so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation.
Anglicanism (Wikipedia concerning Purgatory)
The Anglican Communion, as well as many Continuing Anglican churches, reject the doctrine of purgatory, with the exception of some Anglo-Catholics.[78] Article XXII of the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion states that "The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory…is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God."[79] Nevertheless, among Anglo-Catholics, who often identify strongly with Roman Catholic liturgy and theology, there are those who accept that purgatory exists. C. S. Lewis said there were good reasons for "casting doubt on the 'Romish doctrine concerning Purgatory' as that Romish doctrine had then become", not merely "the commercial scandal" but also the picture of purgatory as a temporary Hell, in which the souls are tormented by devils, whose presence is "more horrible and grievous to us than is the pain itself", and where the spirit who suffers the tortures cannot, for pain, "remember God as he ought to do". He believed instead in purgatory as presented in John Henry Newman's The Dream of Gerontius,[80] of which he wrote: "Religion has reclaimed Purgatory", a process of purification that will normally involve suffering.[81][82]
Protestantism
In general, Protestant churches reject the doctrine of purgatory. One of Protestantism's central tenets is sola scriptura ("scripture alone"). The general Protestant view is that the Bible, from which Protestants exclude deuterocanonical books such as 2 Maccabees, contains no overt, explicit discussion of purgatory and therefore it should be rejected as an unbiblical belief. WIKIPEDIA
See the New Covenant Hebrews 10 :12-17.
7. Limbo
Another teaching of Roman Catholic Doctrine says all unbaptized children and the mentally incompetent, upon death, proceed to a permanent place of ’natural happiness’, but not heaven.
Wikipedia says “In the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo (Latin limbus, edge or boundary, referring to the "edge" of Hell) is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in Original Sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Limbo is not an official doctrine of the Catholic Church. Medieval theologians, in western Europe, described theunderworld ("hell", "hades", "infernum") as divided into four distinct parts: Hell of the Damned (which some call Gehenna),Purgatory, Limbo of the Fathers or Patriarchs, and Limbo of the Infants.
This doctrine is refuted by :
Mat 18:1 In that hour came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
Mat 18:2 And he called to him a little child, and set him in the midst of them,
Mat 18:3 and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me:
Mat 18:6 But whoso shall cause one of these little ones which believe on me to stumble, it is profitable for him that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depth of the sea.
Mat 18:7 Woe unto the world because of occasions of stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come; but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh!
Mat 18:8 And if thy hand or thy foot causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee: it is good for thee to enter into life maimed or halt, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire.
Mat 18:9 And if thine eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is good for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire.
Mat 18:10 See that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
8. Reincarnation
The Belief in the transmigration or rebirth of the soul which is fundamental to most philosophies and religions of India..One sows in the present life, so one shall reap in the next, good deeds resulting in a good state of rebirth, bad deeds in a bad state of rebirth. Thus, a man’s stae of life is seen not as something fortuitous or meaningless, but as the working out, for good or ill, of the effects of a previous existence and the predetermining of a future state.
This theory, like the previous seven, is totally without Scriptural support.
Wikipedia comments “Reincarnation is the religious or philosophical concept that the soul or spirit, after biological death, begins a new life in a new body that may be human, animal or spiritual depending on the moral quality of the previous life's actions. This doctrine is a central tenet of the Indian religions.[1] It is also a common belief of various ancient and modern religions such as Spiritism, Theosophy, and Eckankar and is found in many tribal societies around the world, in places such as Siberia, West Africa, North America, and Australia.[2]”
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| Reincarnation in Hindu Art |
B Scriptural Considerations concerning the Destiny of Man.
1. Before the Cross. Where was the abode of the dead prior to Calvary?
Most Bible Scholars believe that before the Cross the souls of all men descended into the lower parts of the earth, a place known as hades in the NT and Sheol in the OT. Originally, there were two sections of hades, one for the saved and one for the lost. The saved section Jesus called “Paradise” and sometimes “Abraham’s Bosom”.
Luk 23:43 And he said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.
Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom: and the rich man also died, and was buried.
There was no name give for the unsaved section other than ‘Hades.’
In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus recounts the story of the poor believer who died and went to that part of hades for the saved and the rich fool went to hades.
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| Lazarus in Abraham's Bosom Rich man in hades |
Note here:
1. The activities of the angels carrying believers to their reward.
2. The possibilities of an intermediate, pre-resurrection body for the lost as well as for the saved.
3. The irony of an occupant in hell desiring to become a soul-winner.
4. The nature of the rich man’s request to send lazarus to testify to his five lost brothers, reasoning that “ if one went unto them from the dead they would repent.”
This pathetic request was of course denied, simply because it would not have worked.
The fact of the matter is that Christ did actually raise a man named Lazarus a few months later. What was the results of this? Did it cause the unbelieving jews to come to the Saviour? Hardly. In fact just the opposite occurred, for the wicked Pharisees not only decided to kill Jesus for his action Jn 11:53,but actually planned (if Necessary) to murder Lazarus as well.
Joh 12:10 But the chief priests took counsel that they might put Lazarus also to death;
Joh 12:11 because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.
Many believe that all this changed after Christ made full payment for sin at Calvary’s Cross. The Scofield Reference Bible suggests that during His death and resurrection, our Lord descended into hades, depopulated Paradise, and led a spiritual triumphal entry into heaven with all the saved up til that time.
see Eph 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men.
Eph 4:9 (Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?
Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
In His Book Revelation, Donald Grey Barnhouse writes, “ When he ascended on High He emptied hell of Paradise, and took it straight to the presence of God. Captivity was taken captive… From that moment onward there was to be no separation whatsoever for those who believe in Christ.
2 After the Cross:
The state of the Unsaved remains the same unchanged after the cross. They remain in Hades awaiting the great White Throne Judgment.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.
Rev 20:15 And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
This means that the lost Rich Man is still in Hades there having been joined by Judas, Herod, Nero, Hitler, etc., and will remain until after the Millenium and the resurrection of the Unjust.
Rev 20:5 The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection.
A Glorious change for those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
Concerning Stephen at his matyrdom, it says, “Act 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
Act 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Php 1:22 But if to live in the flesh,––if this is the fruit of my work, then what I shall choose I wot not.
Php 1:23 But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is very far better:
Php 1:24 yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake.
2Co 5:8 we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.
Thus, according to these verses, both Stephen and Paul, along with all other believing Loved Ones, are now in the heavenlies with Christ. Paul calls this the “Third Heaven”.
2Co 12:1 I must needs glory, though it is not expedient; but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2Co 12:2 I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not; or whether out of the body, I know not; God knoweth), such a one caught up even to the third heaven.
2Co 12:3 And I know such a man (whether in the body, or apart from the body, I know not; God knoweth),
2Co 12:4 how that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
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