[Word Count: 5087]
The Bottom Line
As the only means to peace with our Creator, the Narrow Way (the Gospel) must be communicated with clarity and simplicity. Declared properly, the Narrow Way will always push me into a corner and compels me to decide against my self and for GOD.
The Objective of Salvation is not to get GOD on my side, but to get me to take the side of GOD against my self!
Milestones
In the spirit of simplicity and clarity, I write this final post in the Narrow Way series to highlight the central themes from each earlier post.
Part One: INTRODUCTION
The Primary Passage of the Narrow Way series is from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount:
“Enter by the Narrow Gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the Gate is narrow and the Way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."-- Jesus Christ, Matthew 7:13,14; ESV
I already realize I'm going to take quite a bit of flack for this, but here it goes:
Salvation is not hard...It is impossible; but It's not impossible because It's too hard but because It's TOO EASY. It's so easy that it leaves you nothing to take credit for or to boast about, which is why most people can't accept It because It tells you that you are WORTHLESS and that everything you've accomplished is as worthless and as meaningless as smoke (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Salvation tells you that you are NOTHING apart from GOD (John 15:5) and that is a truth your enormous ego...your sacred Pride...will not accept (it's OK...the Devil can't accept it either).
GOD is everything and you are nothing (Isaiah 40;17). This is what the Bible and Jesus and the Narrow Way blogpost series have been trying to tell you in ever so subtle ways, and the probability is high that you still don't get it (I still struggle with this truth myself)! If you go back and reread the Narrow Way series from the beginning, you may find more "Ah hah!" moments than you did the last time as you keep this Central Truth in the forefront of your mind.
Part Two: AMERICAS'S MOST HATED
This is the defining border between Biblical Christianity and every other philosophy out there (I say "Biblical" because Satan has conducted a continuous campaign since the time of the Apostles to employ human ignorance and stupidity for the corruption of the Gospel to rob It of Its Divine Power).
The Cross of Christ and the Sovereignty of GOD (predestination...Once Saved, Always Saved) tells us that we were so far gone in our wickedness and so beyond hope in terms of ever attaining any level of piety GOD would accept that, if there were to be the slightest chance any of us would escape the Lake of Fire and Sulfur GOD WOULD HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING HIMSELF...
...and if GOD must do everything Himself, we would receive no merit, credit or acknowledgement. Herein the GODHEAD accomplished two Objectives:
GOD would receive all the attention, glory and prestige for accomplishing the Impossible (Matthew 19:25,26).
Pride, the root and fountain of all sin and wickedness, would have no more fuel to continue its existence in the human heart (Romans 3:27; Ephesians 2:8,9).
For this reason, we find in the world an ongoing battle between human achievement ("Ascension") and the Gift of Divine Grace...between Divinely inspired Faith and human presumption.
This is why the True Gospel will always be hated and despised.
Only the Cross of Christ could satisfy the Father's Justice and Holiness; only the Resurrection of Christ could fulfill our desperate need for Righteousness in the Father's Eyes.
Parts Three through Seven
The Decisions GOD came to before the foundation of the world:
to Foreknow us
to Choose us
to Predestine us
to Sanctify us
to include us in Christ's Elected status
...are the only means by which Mercy could be extended to you; your multiple "decisions for Christ," commitments and recommitments, water baptisms, self-condemnation and promises to "do better next time" carry no weight towards GOD'S opinion of you any more than your ability to push the Earth farther away from the Sun.
You desire to escape Hell for Heaven, don't you? Then rid yourself of the flattering fluff that passes for religion nowadays and face the truth: you don't belong in Heaven anymore than i do; yet GOD in His Beauty, Kindness, Pity and Compassion decided to OFFER you His Own Immortality as a FREE GIFT!!! NO STRINGS ATTACHED!!!! If you allow your Pastor, Evangelist or priest to attach strings, it's no longer the Gospel and you will die in your sins and be damned.
All your Heavenly Father asks of you is to become nothing to your self and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, allowing Him to be in you everything you've tried and failed to be in your self (as you might have guessed, I've separated the word "yourself" into two words for a reason).
Part Eight: THE CALL
The Relationship that exists between the Members of the GODHEAD is unconditional; therefore, the Gospel that brings sinners into That Eternal Relationship MUST ALSO BE UNCONDITIONAL, free of charge and provided with NO STRINGS ATTACHED.
The only people who are ashamed to share This Spectacular Gospel are those who don't understand It...those who believe that Salvation is just another religion touting the same old "do good, fail, be guilty, beg for forgiveness, doubt your eternal future" routine that they've seen and heard all their lives. Who would want to call people into that nightmare???
The Lord Jesus Christ is calling you into Something infinitely superior: the Same Glory, Excitement, Wonder and Unconditional Acceptance our Creators have and continue to enjoy!
I encourage you to take a leap of Faith and reach out to Jesus yourself and see what happens.
Part Nine: FAITH
Because we are evil, the Gift of Saving Faith, exercised by the human heart, IS THE ONLY WORK OF RIGHTEOUSNESS GOD CAN ACCEPT FROM HUMAN SINNERS.
"Dead works equal evil works," and so they are. Yet even "good deeds" performed--not from a heart of faith but from a prideful attempt to BUY one's way into GOD's Favor--are also dead works because the performer is a (spiritually) dead sinner.
Divinely inspired Faith is always child-like, selfless (not self-conscious) and focused entirely on Jesus' Goodness and not your own goodness which, for all intent and purpose, is nonexistent.
Part Ten: REPENTANCE
Repentance is not a one-time experience, but a lifestyle that enables us to make course corrections so that we can remain at Jesus' Side on our journey to the Destination of the Narrow Way.
Repentance is one of many tools GOD uses to break down the walls between our mental compartments so that we, like Him, can have a single unified philosophy that is absolutely true, just and free of error.
THERE'S NO SALVATION WITHOUT REPENTANCE AND THERE'S NO REPENTANCE WITHOUT HUMILITY.
Like Divine Sovereignty, Humility distinguishes true faith from false religion. Whatever denomination you may have grown up in, if you honestly believe that you know what you are doing YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF TRULY LISTENING TO ANYONE...not even Christ.
In or out of the church, there is hardly ANYONE willing to believe that they can find themselves at the End of time in the Lake of Fire and Sulfur.
Humility teaches me that I DESERVE THE WRATH OF GOD AND MAY VERY WELL DRINK IT TO THE DREGS IF GOD DECIDES TO WITHHOLD HIS GRACE AND MERCY FROM ME.
Repentance is the act of turning around IN YOUR HEART and being willing to accept guidance from Jesus, the Bible and His servants.
This is what Christ requires of those who would be saved from the coming Wrath of GOD: Faith, Humility and Repentance...
...the good news is that, like faith and humility, repentance is also a Gift of GOD (Acts 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:25).
Part Eleven: PRAYER
Prayer is difficult for intellectuals like me because real prayer doesn't originate in the mind, but in the heart and the gut. Christ, Who possesses a level of intelligence, illumination and genius far beyond any created being, cannot be impressed by your cognitive calisthenics. He's only interested in the attitude of your heart; and the attitude that most attracts His Attention is HUMILITY.
Religious people get frustrated because their "prayers" aren't responded to within their timetable...they've completely missed the Point. JUST TO BE HEARD BY GOD is a Gift, Grace and Privilege beyond price!!! ENJOY IT!
But don't waste it with words that have no heart or passion behind them. It would be better for you to kneel silently in the Presence of Absolute Power than to engage in empty words.
GOD loves you--not because you are perfect or because you pray perfect prayers but because He is Love. His Heart longs for your company! Hearing from you is the best part of His day, and being in His Presence will always be the best part of your day.
Another attitude GOD takes pleasure in is GRATITUDE. Many religious people are praying "correct" prayers but in their hearts they are ungrateful and bitter. Don't make a practice of offering prayers that don't line up with your attitude.
It's better to express the bitterness of your soul TO GOD than to hold it in and pretend that GOD doesn't see it.
You have the GOD-given authority to CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE when it is contrary to Christ's Nature!
At some point it will hit you like a ton of bricks: "GOD IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN I AM!!!" and you will be inspired to WORSHIP the GODHEAD (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
It is when you enter the Spirit of Worship that the Voice of The Living Word Jesus Christ becomes increasingly clearer in your heart.
Part Twelve: JUSTIFICATION
Mercy steps in between us and the execution of our sentence, which is eternal torment and Wrath in the Lake of Fire and Sulfur.
Grace, on the other hand, grants us That which we could never earn nor comprehend without experiencing It for ourselves: The Transcendent Relationship that has always existed between GOD The Father and GOD The Word (known to us as the Incarnate and Only-Begotten Son Jesus Christ).
GOD is justifying the ungodly: that is, He is DECLARING THE UNGODLY LEGALLY JUST for Christ's Sake!! This has nothing to do with feelings, but WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART!!! If you believe in your heart that what was done to Christ in the garden, in the Sanhedrin, before Herod, before Pilate, in the Praetorium and on the Cross was done for YOU, GOD considers you as just as Christ is!
Part Thirteen: BAPTISM
Instinctively we all know death is painful, undesirable and bad, although we have earned death (Romans 6:23) and despite our constant exposure to the brainwashing our governments put us through to incite us to risk our lives and fight their wars. Don't let the spiritists fool you: there is no reincarnation; we only have one shot at this life and then we must give account to GOD for how we lived (Hebrews 9:27,28).
The question of what happens after we die has now become irrelevant due to the historical demonstration of this glorious revelation: the dead can and will be physically resurrected!!! To what historical proof am I pointing, you say? THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD, of course!
No other religion or philosophy offers a conscious, physical return to life in this universe with your original identity; they either offer reincarnation or an eternal bodiless journey through the spiritual realm.
Water baptism is Christianity's way of declaring to the world that physical death is NOT the end and that every human being who has ever lived will physically live again!
Water baptism also tells us that just as Christ defeated death with Divine Immortality, He is willing to share That same Divine Life with us, putting us beyond Satan's ability to tempt us!
Part Fourteen: Normal?
The times of the Apostles is not the "normal" Standard for the Saved. Eternity, Where the Members of The GODHEAD fellowship in Perfect Transcendence (1 John 1:3), is the Normal Reality to which all the Saints are destined (1 Corinthians 15:28)!
One cannot be saved without being a disciple of Christ.
Privacy is for sinners, not saints; there are at least Three Other People Who know all your secrets.
Discipleship is the easiest lifestyle in the world...if it's your ONLY lifestyle. Trying to be a sinner AND a saint at the same time is misery.
Jesus is your sainthood; it is easier to let Him be holy in and through you than for you to imitate Him!
Part Fifteen: Heading Home
In Matthew 16:24 Jesus says i most deny my self, take up my cross and follow Him.
Most people focus on the "deny himself" clause, yet that is NOT the central idea of this statement. To be a disciple of Jesus you must FOLLOW Jesus...but WHERE IS JESUS GOING? In connection to what i said in Part Fourteen regarding Reality, Jesus is RETURNING TO THE FATHER in Whom sin, death and affliction do not exist... and HE IS INVITING YOU TO RETURN THERE WITH HIM!!! This is the HEART of what being "saved" means, with the added perk of NEVER BEING CAPABLE OF SINNING AGAIN!!!!
This Truth changes the whole "atmosphere" of the verse; such a Prize is worth ANY sacrifice and facing ANY opposition that could be thrown at you!
Now here's the rub: Jesus will return to the Father, yet He must pass through Judas Iscariot, Gethsemane, the Sanhedrin, Herod, Pilate, the Cross and Joseph of Arimathea's Tomb to get There (not to mention the subtle and hideous tricks Satan employed to entice Him to sin)! This is a gauntlet FAR WORSE than anything you will ever face...yet the Lord Jesus succeeded because of HIS UNWAVERING LOVE TOWARDS AND FAITH IN HIS FATHER...
...and you will pass through self-denial and carry your cross on your journey to The Father using the SAME METHOD.
Part Sixteen: Child of Satan
"I'm a good person. I'm as good as everyone else and better than some. God knows I'm doing the best I can. God would never throw me into the Lake of Fire and Sulfur!" -- John Q Public
Sound familiar? Everyone in the world--including you and i--takes this position as a matter of course, and many even drag this perspective into church with them...completely oblivious to the Awful Surprise waiting for them at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).
None of us are going to be saved unless we admit that we are CHILDREN OF SATAN BY NATURE (John 8:43-45).
So long as we are deluded into believing that Salvation is "GOD helping us to be better people," we cannot escape eternal damnation!
We are in every way as wicked and evil as Satan is; the proof lies in those of us in this world who are given just a degree of serious genius, wealth and power (known nowadays as the One Percent).
This is why so many professing Christians avoid those doctrines that are central to the Gospel: Predestination, the Election of Grace and Once Saved, Always Saved. We have no idea how hopeless our situation is, so we presume that "our part" of Salvation is just as important as GOD's... ...we are religious (prideful), blind and insane!
GOD DOES NOT NEED YOUR "HELP" TO SAVE YOU. GOD NEEDS YOUR SELF-HATRED, HUMILITY AND GRATITUDE... ...Christ is quite capable of handling everything else.
Part Seventeen: Towards Rebirth
Your life without Christ--even if it was a religious life--was DEAD. GOD is offering you THE SAME DIVINE LIFE THE GODHEAD RUNS ON!!! If you desire to be saturated with That Life, your attitude towards the DEAD LIFE you've lived hitherto will have to CHANGE. All the relationships you depended on for comfort, meaning and survival will have to be ABANDONED for the Eternal Relationship between the Members of the GODHEAD to which YOU have been invited!!! And the great news is YOU DONT HAVE TO WAIT TILL YOU DIE TO EXPERIENCE THAT DIVINE RELATIONSHIP!!!
Part Eighteen: Your New Family
The Bond of the indwelling Holy Spirit of GOD, though it may seem ever so fragile and delicate, is stronger than diamond. That Bond ties us inexorably to The Father of Christ as well as to each other. For this reason, our loyalty and commitment to our fellow believers MUST take precedence over unsaved family and friends (Luke 9:59,60).
Once again: the kingdoms of Heavenly Life and Earthly Death are completely incompatible with each other; you must choose which kingdom will hold your eternal citizenship.
Part Nineteen: Popularity Contest?
Christ's Statements in Luke 14:25-33 don't make sense: why would Jesus antagonize the very ones He had come to save--especially if He's the Real Thing and possess the answers everyone is looking for??
If you oversaw Lakewood, North Point Community or Life Church (three of the largest megachurches in America) would you put this Jesus in charge of your marketing department or allow Him to speak from your pulpit? And if your answer is "No," what other Jesus would you put in charge?? What other Jesus is there???
Sadly, pastors and church boards have a wide variety of other Jesus' to call on that would increase the size of both their flocks and their coffers...the only downside is NONE OF THESE OTHER CHRISTS CAN SAVE A SOUL FROM THE POWER OF SIN, and hence cannot deliver anyone from The Wrath of GOD coming to destroy the entire world.
THERE IS NO SALVATION APART FROM JESUS. Let me put this another way: JESUS IS THE SALVATION GOD THE FATHER IS OFFERING YOU (John 6:48-58), as opposed to a set of deeds you must accomplish or words you must say to "receive" Salvation from Jesus.
GOD DOES NOT THINK LIKE YOU. He does not face your limitations, nor does He require "friends in high places" to get things done. HE IS THE MOST HIGH, and He is quite capable of getting EVERYONE to do whatever His Counsel has determined--whether indirectly or directly. Yes, i said it: GOD can and does manipulate human will (Exodus 14:8; Proverbs 21:1)...if He didn't NO HUMANS WOULD BE SAVED.
Part Twenty: Works vs. Fruit
Our Heavenly Father is glorified when we bear much fruit; bearing fruit is what identifies us as true disciples of Jesus (John 15:8).
It could be SO EASY to jump right into the fruit stuff, but i would be ashamedly remiss if i just skipped over this Divine Glory business...
...EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS, INCLUDING EXISTENCE ITSELF, SERVES TO MAGNIFY THE GLORY OF The GODHEAD.
EVERY THING.
EVERY ONE.
ALL THINGS.
ALL SOULS.
ALL SPIRITS.
ALL BODIES.
ALL BEINGS.
ALL CREATION.
ALL.
Whether saved or damned...if your life did not glorify GOD by some means, you would not exist.
People who have encountered GOD in history have been struck down with terror, and for good reason. If you're not afraid of GOD, you're worse than an idiot.
Religious folks are always getting works and fruit mixed up; that's because works are easy to see and even easier to judge (and easy to misunderstand and misinterpret). Fruit, on the other hand is invisible to the undiscerning eye and can only be seen by GOD, yet their consequences ripple throughout time and Eternity.
Notice they're not called the Works of the Spirit but the Fruit of the Spirit. The Apostle is drawing a contrast between the WORKS of the flesh and the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit of GOD...subtle yet critical.
And it does matter, and the difference determines the destiny of billions for Heaven or Hell!
There is a certain degree of logic in the lie which says, "If we can work to earn Hell, we can also work to earn Heaven."
Unfortunately for those who believe this lie, the Price for a ticket to Heaven is far more expensive than "good works." If you want to go to Heaven, you must be Perfect like GOD is Perfect (Matthew 5:48).
Such Perfection can NOT be achieved...it must be given as a Free Gift (assuming that you understand what "Free" means).
Part Twenty-One: Better than Me
In Luke 22:24-30 and Philippians 2:3 we find a principle of handling relationships that utterly violates the value system of the world which says, "No one is more important than I (or, at the least, I am as important as everyone else)."
If it were anyone other than GOD telling you "To be the greatest you must be the servant of all" or "In humility consider others as more significant than yourself," would you not laugh it off as nonsense, claptrap, balderdash and blather? Even now, in your heart, do you not consider such wisdom impractical?
Maybe...just maybe...GOD is wiser than we are.
Part Twenty-Two: Frienemies?
Is it possible for the world to hate Jesus and love me while I love both Jesus and the world? Did not Christ command us to love our neighbor and our enemy?
Spiritists will tell you the "real" Christ loves everyone without exception, and I agree: GOD never made anyone He did not love.
Yet, beyond dispute, the Bible is clear that GOD HATES EVIL, to which the spiritists say that evil is an idea, not a person; therefore, there are no evil people. And since there are no evil people, there is no one that GOD hates.
How simple, logical, reasonable and appealing!
The Bible says that GOD hates every false way, and it is understood that everyone--myself included--has communicated falsehoods and half-truths to their neighbor either to benefit ourselves or to project a more righteous version of ourselves than actually exists.
Furthermore, while we are commanded to love our enemy, we are also told to not imitate our enemy's evil behavior towards ourselves but repay evil with good (which does seem to give our enemy an unfair advantage).
We would do well to remind ourselves that the world murdered Jesus for being the King of the Jews, which He was, in fact. Which means Jesus was "executed" unjustly, and that His betrayers and executioners will be punished eternally. The existence of the Lake of Fire and Sulfur Itself tells us that, as much as GOD loves everyone, He will eventually start hating someone; for Divine Wrath and Vengeance are Expressions of Perfect, Holy and Vindicated Hatred.
Now there are those in the world that believe GOD is just like them: a celestial blend of good and evil; these people are condemned by the Holy Scriptures for committing the Unforgivable Sin, which is to say the GODHEAD has some degree of evil in Their Nature...
...a Sin for which no Mercy is offered in this life or the next.
We must conclude, therefore, that while we are expected to treat evil people as though they were not evil and commit our just cause into the Hands of Divine Vengeance, we should in no way imitate the lifestyles of the worldly, knowing that the world will eventually have to answer and be punished for its evil ways.
Part Twenty-Three: CONVERSION
GOD decided who was going to be converted before He created the First Man Adam.
The Act of Conversion is Divine and therefore permanent and irreversible.
Those who are (or will be) converted were chosen by GOD before they chose GOD; from this we may deduce that if GOD did not choose the Converted, the Converted would not have chosen GOD and therefore would not have been converted.
Conversion of the human spirit (filling the spirit with the Spirit of Christ) is the first Step in the Converted's Adoption; the other two Steps being the Adoption of the soul (filling the soul with the Mind of Christ) and the Adaption of the body (filling the body with the Glory of Christ in the First Resurrection).
Cultural, national, ethnic and religious traditions that surround Conversion should not be allowed to distract from the Act of Conversion itself, which is performed by GOD alone, according to His Will and apart from human agency.
If a human soul is Converted, that soul's sins are all taken away--past, present and future; therefore, that human soul is saved forever.
Conversion introduces a new level of maturity not based on independence but based on absolute and total dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ for Justification, Sanctification (the freeing of the human soul from the power of sin while yet in the body), Shalom and Glorification.
Part Twenty-Four: Full Assurance
The Biblical evidence for Full Assurance (Once Saved, Always Saved) is overwhelming (live links are available in Part One):
Matthew 20:16 | Matthew 22:14 | Matthew 25:34 |
Luke 21:16-18 | John 1:12,13 | John 3:36 |
John 5:24 | John 6:37-51 | John 10:24-30 |
John 15:16 | John 17:23 | Romans 8:28-30 |
Romans 8:38,39 | Romans 11:29 | Romans 14:4 |
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 | Ephesians 1:3-6 | Ephesians 1:13,14 |
Philippians 1:6 | Colossians 2:2 | Hebrews 6:11 |
Hebrews 10:11-14,22 | Hebrews 12:1,2 | 1 John 4:17,18 |
1 John 5:4,13 | Revelation 17:8 |
Part Twenty-Five: Be Filled!
The primary cause of why so many Christian denominations are bereft of the Experience described in Acts is their adaptation of a corrupt and incomplete Gospel which mixes the Old and New Covenants together. Jesus warned us about this:
"No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved." -- Jesus Christ, Matthew 9:16,17 "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My Mouth." -- Jesus Christ, Revelation 3:15,16
The wine is the Holy Spirit. The old wine skins are the Ten Commandments, otherwise known as the Old Covenant. It is called "Old" for a reason!!!
To be cold is to live entirely in the Old Covenant, which is pointless since there is no more need for animal sacrifices. To be hot is to live entire under the life-cleansing Grace of Christ which is superior to the Ten Commandments and is only available under the New Covenant which is forever ratified by the Blood of Jesus.
If I have Christ, through the Law of the Spirit of Life in Him i have all the Righteousness i could ever require...i don't need the Ten Commandments anymore (Romans 7:4)! If i marry both the Law and Christ, i am condemned as an adulterer. It is Jesus Christ Who grants me That Justification the Law could never provide (Romans 3:20)!
In Christ dwells all the Fullness of The GODHEAD bodily, and i am only perfect and complete and full of the Holy Spirit in Him (Colossians 2:9,10)!!!!
Part Twenty-Six: The New Community
The Old Testament Passover, from which we have received the New Testament Communion, has lessons we would do well to consider:
The lamb or goat sacrificed was itself called "the Passover" because there was no chance of escaping the Tenth and Final Plague without it.
Spreading the blood of the Passover on the lintel and door posts of the dwelling was NOT enough; everyone in the household had to eat the Passover till there was nothing left...any parts that could not be eaten had to be incinerated!
The Passover meal could not include anything else but yeast-free (unleavened) bread and bitter herbs. Yeast in Scripture is a reference to sin. Bitter herbs consisted of chicory, bitter cresses, hawkweeds, sow-thistles and wild lettuces; these had nutritional and medicinal value and symbolized love, faithfulness, remembrance and devotion.
All the firstborn that were spared--human or animal--were subsequently the property of GOD and had to be either purchased by their parents/owners or sacrificed to GOD.
Now, in a culture that sees cannibalism as an abomination, Jesus commands His disciples to symbolically drink "all" His Blood and eat all His Flesh. This represents the setting apart (sanctification) and sealing of the elect before the foundation of the world.
Jesus' Flesh represents His Life-giving Words; His Blood represents the Fullness of the Holy Spirit Who is the Rightful Inheritance of all who are Chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world.
Part Twenty-Seven: A Fate Worse Than...
Whether we are referring to the First or Second Resurrection, it is vital and critical that we see Resurrection as the Divine Act of bringing forth THE ENTIRE HUMAN BEING (spirit, soul and body) back from death.
What is terrifying about the Lake of Fire and Sulfur is that, prior to being thrown into the Lake, the Damned witness Death and Hades both thrown in first. Once Death and Hades are destroyed, regardless of the torment, the Damned can never cease to exist nor cease to suffer Divine Wrath nor the torment of sulfur!
What a pitiful predicament: to desire neither GOD nor Hell, yet to face both forever!
Part Twenty-Eight: Glory!
Being filled to overflow with the Holy Spirit of GOD to the point where you are ablaze with the Divine Fire, brighter than the greatest quasar, is the inheritance granted to every saint from the least to the greatest in the Kingdom of the Heavens!
The thousand-year Rule of Christ, the restoration of the Earth, The Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the last rebellion of Gog and Magog, the Great White Throne Judgment, the Rewarding of the Angels and then the Saints at the Judgment Seat of Christ, the destruction of the present universe and the creation of the New Universe may very well take thousands of years; the Great Sabbath of Eternal Rest will be beyond human imagination as we look into the Face of Love so strong and pure that present eyes could not endure nor survive Their Gaze!
"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires, take the Water of Life without cost." -- Revelation 22:17
Amen.