FIFTH DOOM.
GOG AND MAGOG.
As soon as Satan is loosed
from his prison in the "Bottomless Pit," he will find a vast
multitude ready to believe his lie, and to serve and obey
him. He will gather them from the "Four Quarters of the
Earth" to battle. They will be in number as the "sand of the
sea." Rev. 20:8-9. The revolt will be Worldwide, and will
mean the Mobilizing of Vast Armies. Satan will conduct them
across the "Breadth of the Earth" until they compass the
"Camp of the Saints" (the Holy Land), and lay siege once
more to the "Beloved City." From this we see that the
unregenerate heart is like a powder magazine, all it needs
is a match to set it off, and Satan when freed will be that
match. This the "last war" that this world shall ever see,
will be bloodless, for the vast armies of Satan shall be
destroyed by FIRE.
From this we see that the
"Millennial Dispensation," like all the six Dispensations
before it, will end in failure. God will have tested man in
"Innocence," under "Conscience," under "Self-Government,"
under the "Headship of the Family," under "Law," under
"Grace," and finally under the influence of the "Holy
Spirit," free from Satanic influences, and under them all he
will prove himself to be hopelessly, incurably and
incorrigibly bad.
If after a 1000 years of the
Presence of the King, and of universal peace and blessing,
man still persists in rebelling against his Maker, what will
there be left for God to do? Humanly speaking, there will
seem to be nothing for God to do but destroy the human race.
To send another Flood and wipe out mankind. But this He
cannot do, for He promised Noah that He would never again
destroy the earth with a flood of waters. Gen. 9:11. But do
something He must, so He is going to purge the earth with
Fire. 2. Pet. 3:7.
SIXTH DOOM.
SATAN.
Revelation 20:10.
"And the 'Devil' that
deceived them was cast into the 'LAKE OF FIRE AND
BRIMSTONE,' where the 'Beast' and the False Prophet
are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever
and ever." |
As punishment for his final
act of Rebellion, Satan shall be seized, probably by the
same Angel that chained him, and hurled into the "LAKE OF
FIRE," where he will find alive and waiting for him the
"Beast" and the "False Prophet" who were cast therein a 1000
years before. This shows that there is no such thing as
annihilation. The "Lake of Fire" was prepared for the Devil
and his angels (Matt. 25:41), not to consume them in, for
God could do that with fire from heaven, but to PUNISH THEM
IN; and all those whose names are not written in the "Book
of Life" will go to the same place to spend eternity. The
reason why Satan does not want people to read and study the
Book of Revelation is, because he does not want the world to
know that there is to be an end to his power.
Only the "bodies" of those
who perish in this last great war will be destroyed by fire,
their "souls" and "spirits" will go to the "Hell
Compartment" of the "Underworld" to come out at the
Resurrection of the Wicked dead and .appeal' at the "Great
White Throne Judgment," and be sentenced to the "SECOND
DEATH," which, as we have seen, means that they must spend
eternity without a material body in the "Lake of Fire."
"The Underworld"
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SEVENTH DOOM.
THE WICKED DEAD.
"THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT."
Revelation 20:11-15.
"And I saw a GREAT
WHITE THRONE, and Him that sat on it, from whose
face the earth and the heaven (atmosphere of our
earth) 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 were judged out of those things which were
written in the Books, according to their works. 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. And 'Death' and 'Hell' were cast into
the 'LAKE OF FIRE: This is the 'SECOND DEATH.' And
whosoever was not found written in the 'BOOK OF
LIFE' was cast into the 'LAKE OF FIRE'." |
This is not a "General
Judgment," for there is no such thing in the Scriptures. The
Church is not in this Judgment, nor is Israel, for both have
been already judged. The Church was Judged at the "Judgment
Seat of Christ," and Israel was Judged during the
"Tribulation Period." This is a Judgment of the DEAD ONLY,
and is an entirely different Judgment from that of "The
Nations" recorded in Matt. 25:31-46. That is on the earth,
this is in Heaven. That is of the "Living Nations," as
Nations, this is of the DEAD. That is for the Nations'
treatment of Christ's brethren, the Jews, this is for WORKS.
There no "books" are opened, here they are. No "Book of
Life" is mentioned there, here there is. That Judgment was
before the Millennium, when Christ shall sit on the "Throne
of His Glory," and is to find out what Nations shall have a
right to enter into the "Millennial Kingdom," this is after
the Millennium when Christ shall sit on the "Great White
Throne." The two Judgments are entirely separate as to time,
place, basis of judgment and result.
The Resurrections and Judgments
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In this Judgment "Death" and
"Hell" are personified. By "Death" we are to understand the
"Grave" which holds the "body" until the Resurrection; by
"Hell," the Compartment of the "Underworld" or "HADES,"
where the "souls" of the Wicked Dead remain until the
Resurrection of the Wicked. That both "Death" and "Hell" are
cast into the "LAKE OF FIRE" signifies that Death and Sin
will not be found on the New Earth.
The "Great White Throne" will
not be on the earth, for the "Great White Throne Judgment"
will take place during the "Renovation of the Earth By
Fire," for the "Renovation of the Earth" is reserved or kept
until the time of that Judgment, which Peter calls "The Day
of Judgment and Perdition of Ungodly Men" (2. Pet. 3:7),
because the Judgment of the "Great White Throne" is the
Judgment of the WICKED DEAD. All the Righteous dead arose at
the "First Resurrection." If any Righteous die between the
"First Resurrection" and the "Resurrection of the Wicked,"
or "Second Resurrection," they will rise with the Wicked
dead at that Resurrection. The words--"Whosoever was not
found written in the 'Book of Life'," implies that there
will be some, probably very few in comparison, Righteous at
the "Second Resurrection." At the close of the Millennium,
and just before the "Renovation of the Earth By Fire," the
living Righteous will probably be translated, and the living
Wicked or Ungodly will be destroyed in the flames that will
consume the Earth's atmosphere and exterior surface.
The Wicked or Ungodly will
not be judged to see whether they are entitled to "Eternal
Life," but to ascertain the "degree" of their punishment.
The sad feature of this Judgment will be that there will be
many kind and lovable people there who were not saved, and
who will be classed among the "ungodly" because they
rejected Christ as a Saviour. The "Books" will be opened in
which the "Recording Angel" has kept a record of every
person's life, and they will be Judged every man according
to his "Works." Some will be sentenced to a more severe
punishment than others, but none will escape. The worst of
all is, that those who were not so bad must spend Eternity
with the ungodly, and that in the "Lake of Fire." Their
punishment includes the "Second Death," which means, as we
have seen, that they shall lose their resurrection body, in
which they were Judged and become "disembodied spirits"
again, and so exist in the "Lake of Fire" FOREVER.
What a Judgment Scene that
will be. There will be Cain and the wicked Antediluvians;
the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah; Pharoah, Ahab,
Jezebel, Judas and all those Scribes' and Pharisees and
Chief Priests who caused the Crucifixion of our Lord, and
did not repent, and Ananias and Sapphira, and the great host
of the wicked and rejectors of Christ of all nations and
ages.
The "Fallen Angels" (not the
Devil's angels) who are "reserved in everlasting chains
under darkness," will be Judged at this time, which Jude
calls the "Judgment of the GREAT DAY." Jude 6. When this
Judgment is over the Devil and his angels, and all the
ungodly, will have been consigned to the "Lake of Fire," and
the Universe purged of all evil, and righteousness shall
reign supreme on the New Earth.
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