Rev_2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the SECOND DEATH.
Rev_20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the SECOND DEATH hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Rev_20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the SECOND DEATH.
Rev_21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the SECOND DEATH.
I didn't make up the second death. The second death isn't some fantasy made up by man. The second death is a reality. We all grow up knowing we will die, this is a fact. As I get older this becomes more and more a reality. The knowledge you've lived long in comparison to a lot of people is something that brings you closer to the realization of your own eventual death. The first death. The first death won't be the last death for a lot of people. The second death means they'll be alive to die once again. The second death is the last death. When the very last of those die their second death, and when Satan and all the evil angels are punished and destroyed into nothingness, the death itself will never be again.
Oh what a glorious day, no more death! We MUST overcome and we will NOT be hurt of the second death! Oh by the grace of God, by the mercy of our LORD may we not be a part of the second death! Please, Lord, please, keep us from evil, all evil! Mercy.
All through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR now and forever!!!!!!! Amen!
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Resurrection of the Just and Unjust
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(EXCERPT)
The unjust will be resurrected, some object to this truth. The article we've been studying is vindicating the truth of the resurrection of the unjust- scripturally, logically. Pray for enlightenment through our Savior, by the Holy Spirit.
A Vindication of the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Unjust
By J.H. Waggoner
CONTINUING STUDY….
Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
1Co 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
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 is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming
They further endeavor to sustain the claim they make on verse 22 by an argument on the word "perish," in verse 18, thus: If Christ were not raised there would be no resurrection, and all would perish; but it is taught in the Scriptures that they who reject Christ will yet perish; and the meaning of the word perish is illustrated by the fact that all would perish if there were no resurrection; and therefore they that perish will not have a resurrection.
This is an argument presented by them with a great deal of confidence, but I consider it a very feeble one. The word is not changed in signification though they might perish under certain circumstances without a resurrection, and under other circumstances after a resurrection. The wages of sin is death; granted that the wicked will be raised to be punished for their personal sins, and die a second time, that would not in the least change the meaning of the word death. But the great fault of this argument, and which is, indeed, the great fault underlying that whole system, is that it leaves out of sight the whole subject of personal probation and its consequences.
It is admitted that if Christ had not come at all there would have been no resurrection, nor would there have been any probation for any of Adam's posterity. They would all have died exactly as they all die now, and exactly for the same reason, but no resurrection would have been admissible as there would have been no probation, and, of course, no personal responsibility; no further reward could have reached them. It is for this cause that Paul makes the future judgment rest on the resurrection of Christ.
Acts 17:31. The promise of a Saviour placed Adam and all his posterity under a new probation, and this and its consequent penalty must be taken into account in determining the reason for the perishing of any thereafter. So the argument on the word perish is worthless because it loses sight of the responsibility attaching to our personal actions. This statement of the error of that argument was publicly met by an esteemed brother of that faith with the following illustration: A boat upset, and the men were in danger of drowning; why? because the boat upset. But another boat put out from the shore to rescue them. Then if they refused to get into that boat, and were drowned, for what would we say they were then drowned? because they refused to get into the boat that came to their rescue. They drowned all the same; but being brought into relation to a new order of circumstances, their death is attributed to the neglect or rejection of these new privileges.
This illustration is as good as anything that could be presented to sustain that view. But as it regards meeting the point, it amounts to just nothing at all. Let us carry it a little further and see. Suppose part of the company had accepted the offered assistance and yet drowned with the others; for what would you say they then drowned? You cannot say they drowned because they refused the proffered aid, for they accepted it. You cannot say they drowned because the first boat upset, for that will destroy all the force of your illustration, which is designed to remove the drowning from its original cause. The illustration does not meet nor remove the difficulty; nor can it be removed. The gospel is the life-boat to save from drowning, or death; but whether or not we accept it we all alike die; and therefore the conclusion is unavoidable that if it accomplishes its object, it saves from a death beyond the present one-the second death. To this the Lord evidently refers in his declaration and appeal. In his declaration that if a man die in his sins he also shall die for his sins; Eze. 18:26; in his appeal to them, thus: "Turn ye, for why will ye die?" Eze. 33:11. If there shall be but one death, seeing that all must die that, the answer to the above question or appeal is easily given, thus-because they cannot help it; they have been subjected to the necessity of dying, and there is no way to escape from that necessity.
To be continued
