WHEN

WILL THE SAINTS

BE
REWARDED

CHAPTER 2

One would logically think that the saints should receive their rewards as soon
as they went to be with the Lord, but let us determine whether that will be the case; or
not. We now understand (from Scripture) the saints will go to be with the Lord when
they die. They will not wait somewhere in suspended animation for the rapture to take
place.
They have received eternal life, which is the GIFT of God, and not a reward
for services rendered. All this means is they continue to live after the earthly body is
dead, (boy is that understated) but they still have not received any rewards that are given,
in accordance with their works.
Many religious organizations seem to be having difficulty distinguishing
between salvation and holiness. They tell us salvation is through Christ Jesus, but then
what? If they teach holiness they must then specifically name both good works and
likewise known sins. But there is where the problem arises.
Modern organizations are perfectly willing to preach what God has done for us,
yet when it becomes time to demand a holy life they are somewhat hesitant. They entice
us with the good works of Jesus Christ (and that is a good thing) but then falter when
confirming that our love for God is shown through our labors and works.
John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Cultures of modern, in fact all, organizations are driven by the institution’s ethics
and the ethical evolution of religious denominations are quickly swinging toward the
liberal poles. Homosexuals, adulterers, and alcoholics are so common in the churches
today it is no longer considered news. Homosexual lifestyles were well hid from view
just ten years ago but with the introduction of gay marriages involving both ministers and
politicians the newest “cool” is two men, or women, molesting each other. The NIV
modern version of the Holy Bible may have removed the sin of homosexuality from its
pages but the fact remains that the words GOD spoke will never be changed nor become
obsolete.
Some are even teaching that one need do nothing beyond accepting Jesus and
they are assured of a place in the Promised Land, while others believe that once a person
receives Christ there is no way possible to fall from grace.
 Everyone that can see, or hear, or read, or breath must realize our salvation is
FREE because Christ Jesus paid the ultimate cost by the shedding of His blood on the
cross at Calvary. The Holy Scriptures must be taken in their entirety, and not broken
down into half-thoughts which then are decreed as esoteric messages from GOD. Those
who teach that all one must do is believe in Jesus Christ and you are saved must surely be
the most deceived of all the earth. Satan believes and he trembles. (James the Just)
There is nothing in this world we can do to earn salvation. Some “deathbed
repentances are legitimately in order, and if you can obtain one do it. Whenever possible
pull them out of the fire. Remember Jesus telling about the hireling that came to the field
late yet receiving the same pay as those that worked all day, (Matt. 20) These last minute
Christians will also receive eternal life and that without works.
Then what?
Because some are pulled out of the fire at the last second does not mean the
rest may continue without works after they have received the precious gift of salvation.
We are saved unto good works and the works we do will be the basis of our
judgment, whether they are good or bad. First good works;
Luke 14:14 “Thou shalt be recompensed at the
resurrection of the just”
Then the second resurrection;
Rev 20:12.13 ‘ And I saw the dead, small and great
stand before God, and the book was
opened
which was the book of life: and the dead
were
judged out of these things which were
written in the books, according to their
works.”
The book that will be opened when the dead stand before God, is the “book
of remembrance” spoken of by the prophet Malachi. Sometimes referred to as the “Book
of Life” all desire to find their names written therein. The names found in that book are
the lords, but many will come short of the glory of heaven and will not be found written
in that book.
Mal. 3:16,17 “Then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another: and the
Lord harkened, and heard it: And a
book of remembrance was written
before Him for them that feared the
Lord, and that thought upon His name.
And they shall be mine, saith the Lord
of hosts, in that day when I make up my
jewels; and I will spare them, as a man
spareth his own son that serveth him.”
Lets try this.
When a child begins the school year they start with an “A” and they must do
good work to maintain that grade. Their final grade reflects the work they did
throughout that school year. When the blood of Jesus saves a person they are as clean
from sin as they can be, (their name is then written in the Book of Life) but in order to
maintain that degree of salvation they must couple good works with their faith. James
the Just spent much time teaching faith without works is dead.
Some religious organizations, including many evangelical churches, no longer
teach, preach, or even mention things like sanctification, holiness, fasting, or, believe it or
not, in some churches, prayer
The political correctness movement has infiltrated the churches to the point that
eternal life may be expounded; yet eternal damnation cannot be mentioned. The beauty
of Heaven is a favorite topic, yet drawing a mental picture of the everlasting flames and
torment of hell’s fire is completely forbidden.
It is alright to say there is sin (generic) in the world, yet if one names any
specific sin they are labeled a right-wing fanatic and condemned for criticizing their
brothers and sisters “in the Lord?”. I pray God will give me the strength to speak out
against sin whenever and wherever I find it, whether that is in the street, a store, or in the
church. Dare I say, “In clergy, politics, or family?”
If you will allow me to teach you from my personal experiences, and if you
intend to speak out against sin wherever you find it, I will hereby give you notice that you
need to be better prepared for those confrontations than I was.
Pray. Pray. Pray.
When you take a stand against sin your friends, neighbors, and fellow
Christians alike will come to your home to stand against you and condemn your actions
as exaggerated and extreme. They say, (now listen to this) “God loves us all whether we
sin or not and He said personally that He did not come to condemn us, so if Jesus makes
no accusations how do you make the call that something is a sin”.
“I got it from the Bible”.
Quoting the great sin of King David, (adultery) they expound on the fact that
he was a man after God’s own heart and they use that very illustration as a credit card to
error. In the book of St. John, chapter 8 we find the woman accused of adultery but was
not condemned by Jesus because, He did not come to condemn?.
Talk about misrepresentation of God’s Holy Word, now that takes the cake.
Hell will be full of these non-believers.
To carry this further, the favorite term of the day, for new age Christians,
seems to be “GRAY AREA” where, they say, the Bible doesn’t specifically forbid “THAT
EXACT THING” so it is up to the individual whether they want to do it or not.
Prime examples of gray areas, which I have learned from “born again?”
Christians would be things like going to dancehalls, gambling houses, or beer joints.
The churches are hesitant to condemn this as unacceptable behavior because it may not
be financially expedient.
But that is reserved for another study.
Another place the church has fallen into errancy is in “justification by
severity” of any given offence. It is now customary, when one is confronted with sin,
that they refer to someone else they think is doing much worse, as though that would
somehow justify their own sin.
When I once complained about a person (the pastor) in the church using
foul language, I was informed by a leader, at the district level, in a Pentecostal “sect?”,
that the terminology used by that organization’s pastor wasn’t too bad compared to the
language boys in the hood use.
I guess that made it all right according to this new age “enlightened?”
Pentecostal organization.
 Maybe the most quoted Scripture by wayward evangelicals is;
“ Judge not that ye be not judged”. (Matt. 7:1)
They are quick to quote that Scripture and then add their own logic of, “who
made you God?” or “when you become “perfect” then you might be able to point a finger
at me.”
The new to say the least. The great “falling away” the apostle Paul spoke of in 2
Thess. qualifications some are putting on orthodoxy seem to be inappropriate was surely
the fact that the church is slipping into atrophy. Slipping into damnation by believing
they can worship with infidels and retort with, “It’s OK, because I just take out the part I
need.” The Baha’i faith allows all religions to be equal because they believe they are of
the same God. There fore they should worship together even though their beliefs are
diverse.
The religious organizations, that claim to worship THE God of heaven and
earth, are uniting in worship with pagans, witches, or any other heretics that will
congregate with them, regardless of which god they prefer, and this is all done in the
name of tolerance, the Baha’i way.
It is suggested that there is no reason we can’t congregate together and pray to
which ever god we wish. That would be well and good if there was a conglomeration of
gods that combined to create me, pay for my salvation, and eventually judge me, but I
find no evidence that leads to more than ONE GOD who fulfills that criteria.
Those misguided Christians that buy into that apostasy really break my heart.
Neither church nor country shall be blessed when they so easily scorn their creator.
Blessed is the nation, church, or person (Bible says nation) who’s God is the Lord.
Ps. 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose
God is the Lord.“
Shakespeare maybe explained our evolution toward apostasy as well as anyone
I’ve read. He wrote;
“In religion, What damned error but some
sober brow will bless it and
approve it with a text….” (“The Merchant of Venice” actIII)
Shakespeare got it just right because there is no sin or error that can’t be
philosophized away with some text being erroneously quoted to justify a wayward
position. If anyone goes to a church that has a pastor who preaches against sin, it is way
to easy for them to just move to a church that will welcome them, and their sin, with open
arms.
These organizations will even quote you a Scripture to prove that whatever
one does is OK and anyone teaching otherwise “is just being hateful and the love of God
is not in them”. A homosexual lifestyle is an abomination before God, (Leviticus 18; 22) yet
when one expresses that idea they are accused of spreading hate speech, and it now
appears that in the near future there will be severe consequences for spreading the gospel.
I was told by a pastor of an evangelical church that “when we “believe”
we hear someone taking God’s name in vane, (the third commandment Ex. 20) we
should not condemn that person because we are not privy to what they are thinking and if
they are not thinking to deliberately curse God at that time, IT’S ALRIGHT!!
NOW GET THIS.
“Besides”, they continue, “the Bible says, whosoever is without sin, let him
cast the first stone.” These people are hypocrites and they make me sick. They are trying
to quote John 8:7 and believe it or not these justifications come from church leaders, not
from someone in a bar somewhere. None is without sin but all can strive to be better.

OH! I forgot for a second. There is no commandment that says,

“Thou shalt not hang out at the bars.” A gray area?!!! What a circus religion has
become! BUT, Salvation is unchanged.
What did Shakespeare say about us eliminating sin?
“Some sober brow (his name for a pastor) will bless it and approve it with a text.”
“Can you beat that with a stick?”
THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD IN THE WORLD!
NO!
THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD IN TODAY’S CHURCHES!!!!
But some day soon there will be again.
Some religious groups have quickly picked up from secular teachings that
there is good in this world but there is no real evil, there is a heaven but no hell, or there
is a God but no devil. I hear “Christians?” saying that all religions are the same as long
as they believe in some higher power.
Now we know that salvation is free and eternal life is there for the
asking and we need only to work for rewards. You must believe that a great price was
paid for these gifts to allow us to be free to work towards earning rewards. Some will no
doubt interpret Rom. 6:23 as meaning God has already given us eternal life and we need
do nothing to earn it, but I suggest that the correct exegesis is that God has given us life
but we must strive to keep it, and we can only do that through works and labors.
Let me quote.
Rom. 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death: But
the gift of God is eternal life, through
Jesus Christ our Lord.”
That Scripture does not mean that every man, woman, and child will have the
gift of eternal life. We all have a degree of understanding and a little faith, so we should
use it here. This text may be compared to Acts 2:17 where Peter, by the power of the
Holy Ghost, quotes the Prophet Joel saying;
Acts 2:17 “….I will pour out of my spirit
upon all flesh.”
The meaning of this Scripture is not that every human born into this world
receives the Holy Ghost, only that He is available to all. God has given unto all the
opportunity to obtain eternal life, but we must first believe it, then desire it, then actively
seek it and work to keep it.
Folks,,,,,,, there are no free rides. Remember the old saying,
“Everybody wants to go to heaven but
nobody wants to make the climb”.
As you progress through this chapter, you will obtain perfect understanding (I
hope) of what we must do to receive rewards in heaven, and what type rewards will be
given to the saints.
Correct interpretations of Scripture are based on proper and consistent
hermeneutics, not forcing them to say what we desire, and certainly not playing on one’s
emotions to force them to accept some esoteric revelation.
 How do we use emotions? Let me explain with statements I have heard in
the past.
A teacher said “God told me that’s what this verse means and if you if you
disagree with that interpretation, then talk to God about it”. WOW!
They also say, “ When you REALLY get saved, God will show you the TRUE
meaning of Scriptures like He did me”.
BAM! WHAP! SMACK! SMACK!
Any reply to statements like these will only bring confusion, defensiveness,
and confrontation. You should pray for those that engage in this type of hyperphoria and
let me confront that particular heresy here. They say what they see but some times the
natural eye overwhelms the spiritual eye and before they know it they have blamed God
for their “personal” interpretations. No matter how off-base a statement may be, once a
person says that “God told them”, all you can do (and should do) is walk away because
they have painted themselves into a corner with no graceful way out. The thing that
usually happens, if someone tries to reason with them, is they generally become
defensive, maybe even combative.
These kinds of statements are exactly why Christianity is loosing credibility, and
the reason the apostle Paul told Timothy to study the Scriptures.
2 Tim. 2:15 “ Study to shew thyself approved unto
God, a workman that needth not be
ashamed. Rightly dividing the word
of truth.”
Why study? Why not just ask God?
Don’t think for one minuet I am mocking those that ask for guidance and
understanding from the Lord, because that is exactly what you should do as you study.
My concern is for those that believe they need not study because “God will tell them”
what He wants them to know.
They quote the words of Jesus without understanding.
John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, whom the Father will send in
my name, he shall teach you all things…”
And that is NOT what Paul told Timothy.
So,, do we have a contradiction here?”
God forbid.
Our dividing of the Scripture is where the slack comes into play, not in the
written word. I’ll try to explain it this way.
We read a Scripture and just when a certain situation arises that very text
comes to our remembrance and fits perfectly into that situation. Then later a different
scenario takes place and something (Holy Ghost) brings to our mind that same Scripture
with an altogether different meaning, but one that exactly fits into this new occurrence.
The teachings of both Jesus and Paul are really the same and it takes both aspects for us
to gain knowledge of God.
STUDY AND PRAY!! STUDY AND PRAY!!
When we study the Holy Scriptures we enable both ourselves and the Holy
Ghost. We are able to converse intelligently about the word of God (become teachers)
and at the same time the Holy Ghost can bring to our remembrance the things we need to
recall.
 You see,,,, we need to be able to convince people of the truth of God’s word
by our “personal knowledge” of that word, not by explaining how holy we are and how
God talks directly to us.
Titus 1: 9 “Holding fast the faithful word as he
hath been taught, that he may be able
by sound doctrine both to exhort and
convince the gainsayers.”
How do we get that knowledge?
STUDY AND PRAY!!! STUDY AND PRAY!!!
Some are dedicated to the proposition that they must be believed because they
say “God told them”. This is not a persuasive argument, nor is it credible, and more
importantly, it is not Scriptural.
2 Peter 1:20 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the Scripture is of any private
interpretation.”
Nope. “God aint goin to interpret that Scripture for you!” Many of the
esoteric teachings in modern churches appear to be the direct result of God interpreting
Scripture for someone in leadership. At least that is the impression they would give,
with some being bold enough to state that for a fact. Should I believe Scripture or man?
Then they say,,, ”you mean God don’t talk to people?”
Here is what God has to say about that;
Num. 12:6-8 “And He said, Hear now my words:
If there be a prophet among you, I the
Lord will make myself known unto
him in a vision, and I will speak unto
him in a dream.“
My servant Moses is not so…...
With him will I speak mouth to mouth.”
God has sent His personal gift of the Holy Ghost to guide us and bring to
our remembrance the things we need to say, when we need to say them.
“You mean God don’t talk to people?”
Not as a rule!!!!
There can be exceptions to that rule just as there was to the rule that “it is
appointed unto man once to die”, yet we know neither Enoch nor Elijah died. They were
translated.
Of course I believe God can talk to people!!!
GOD is GOD!
I suppose that the people who claim God talks to them Dailey, may be as close to
him as Moses was, but I really concern myself that that may not be so in every case.
I suppose I should get off my soap box and return to the subject of when the
saints will receive their just rewards.
Without being redundant to the degree of boredom, let me repeat what we are
learning so far. The saints, that are asleep in Christ, are with Him already and do NOT
wait for the rapture to be with the Lord.
Evidence of that notion was verified when Christ spoke to the thief on the
cross telling him they would be together in paradise that same day.
 The apostle Paul was also persuaded that his soul would return to God the
instant he died, telling the Corinthians that being absent from the body is to be present
with the Lord.
2 Cor. 5:6,8 “...whilst we are at home in the body,
we are absent from the Lord.
We are confident, I say, and willing
rather to be absent from the body,
and to be present with the Lord.”
Often we hear the statement that,
“everyone wants to go to heaven
but nobody wants to die”.
Well,, that may not always be true.
The apostle Paul at one point in his life was wishing he could die and join the
Lord in paradise, but God still had work for him to do here. AS he was writing to the
church at Philippi he addressed his most intimate desires.
Phil. 1:21-24 “For to me to live is Christ, and
to die is gain.
But if I live in the flesh, this is the
fruit of my labor: yet what I shall
choose I wot not.
For I am in a strait betwixt two, having
a desire to depart, and to be with Christ;
which is far better.
Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is
more needful for you.“
Stephen the apostle and first martyr was also persuaded that his soul would be
with the Lord the instant he died; so much so that as he was dying he ask Jesus
personally to receive his spirit.
Acts 7:59 “And they stoned Stephen, calling
upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus
receive my spirit.”
Now we understand that at death the soul of the saints go to be with the
Lord and not in some holding tank. This is not so for sinners as we have learned about
the rich man who is in hell, and as we know the fallen angels are also being held in
darkness (hell) until judgment day.
2 Peter 2:4 “ For God spared not the angels that
sinned, but cast them down to hell,
and delivered them unto chains of
darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.”
Now, let us take the next step and see if the saints that are dead in Christ are
rewarded when He first receives them or if that will come later.
We can have perfect knowledge, by way of the Scriptures, of when all the
saints will receive their just rewards at the hands of our Lord Christ Jesus. The rewards
that the saints “earn according to their works and labors” will not be dispensed until after
the rapture. The following is justification of why I believe that.
Jesus gives us a perfect example In Luke 14 as He tells us when the dead
saints shall receive their rewards. He tells us that when we have a feast we should not
invite only our friends, who are able to repay us in kind, but we should also invite the
poor, blind, and lame who cannot repay us, and then we will receive our just reward at
the resurrection of the saints and that great and mighty day will also be referred to as the
day of the rapture.
Luke 14:13,14 “But when thou makest a feast,
call the poor, the maimed, the lame,
the blind; And thou shalt be blessed:
for they cannot recompense thee: for
thou shalt be recompensed at the
resurrection of the just.“
The apostle Paul was not slack in writing about his future and just when he
believed he would receive his crown (reward). He made no hint that he would receive it
when he died, but was explicit that such an event would only take place “on that day”.
To put emphasis on that statement, he added that not only he himself, but all that are in
Christ, even those that haven’t been born yet, would receive their crowns with him.
2 Tim. 4:8 “Henceforth there is laid up for me a
crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give
me at that day; and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love His
appearing”.
Later I will discuss whether “the resurrection of the just” and “That day” are
indeed one and the same day, but in this chapter we are only looking to see if the saints
are rewarded at death, when they go to be with Jesus, or at some later date when all the
saints, including those that remain alive until His appearing, can be rewarded at the same
time.
Likewise, in a later chapter I will address whether Christ will really
appear on the first resurrection day, which is also the day of the rapture, or if this great
event will all happen in secret but at this point I’ll further establish through Peter the fact
that those that are asleep in Christ will be compensated at His appearing.
Peter establishes the time when the saints will receive their reward by telling
pastors to feed God’s flock, and not for money because then they would have received
their reward, but instead for a heavenly reward that will never fade nor perish. He also
mad it clear that this event would not be at death but at the appearing of Christ, on that
day.
1 Peter 5:4 “And when the chief Shepard shall
appear, ye shall receive a crown of
glory that fadeth not away.”
One of the last prophesies in Revelations seals the notion that rewards will not
be given to the saints until after the resurrection and the rapture when all those that love
the Lord will participate.
Jesus makes it perfectly clear that He will bring rewards for the saints with
Him when He returns, and not when they go to be with him at death.
Rev. 22:12 “And behold I come quickly; and
my reward is with me to give to
every man according as his work
shall be.”
 Now we have seen that the crowns of glory will be received on that
resurrection day, and not only will the dead in Christ be raised up on that day, but those
that remain alive will be caught up to meet Him in the air.
This teaches us that the resurrection day and the day of the rapture are one and
the same day.
1 Thes. 4:16,17 “For the Lord Himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel,
and the trump of God; and the
dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with Him
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air: And so shall we ever be with
the Lord.”
“That day”, “resurrection day”, or “day of the rapture” are some of the terms
people use to describe when they will receive their rewards.
Although the name of that day has already been ascertained, the time itself, in
relation to the tribulation period, (pre. Mid. Or post trib.) will be established later in this
book.
We have seen that Jesus will bring our rewards with Him at His second
coming, and those that are dead in Christ along with those that remain will rise up to
receive the rewards that He brings with Him.
But??? Why will we be rewarded beyond eternal life? What must we do to
receive these rewards?
When we have a need to obtain knowledge concerning God we often look to
Paul the Apostle for our answers. Here is no exception. We learn enough from what
he says about our failures and successes to see why we will be rewarded. We learn
enough to know that we are rewarded for winning souls for God. If we try to save a soul
and succeed we will be rewarded on that day, but if we try to save a soul and fail we
receive not a reward for that person but we have saved our own soul before the Lord.
1 Cor. 3:13-15 “Every man’s work shall be made
manifest: For the day shall declare it,
because it shall be reveled by fire…
If any man’s work shall abide which
he hath built thereupon, he shall receive
a reward.
If any man’s work shall be burned, he
shall suffer loss: but he himself shall
be saved…”
What motivates a person may sometimes be difficult to pin down. Different
people need a variety of things to motivate them so God has offered myriad ways we may
be compensated for working and laboring for Him. The faithful saints are promised their
children will be saved, God is faithful to heal and keep us safe.
Rain comes as needed which puts food in our mouths, we are not living in fear
as so many people in other nations do, yet many still either don’t recognize that God is in
control of all this or times are too good and they are too busy to stop and give Him
thanks.
 But you may say, “I go to church every Sunday, pay my tithes, and sing in the
services; and since I’m not a preacher what more can be expected of me.” I want to
work for the Lord but there just isn’t too much I can do.
So what can I do?
PERSONAL EVANGELISM!!!!
That’s what.
Paul just said if you bring someone to Christ and they abide you will receive
a reward. Jesus went into depth on that very subject when He told of the nobleman that
entrusted his money to his servants. We were empowered to win souls for God, when He
entrusted us with the Holy Ghost, and our rewards will depend on how faithful we are to
that cause.
Ask a neighbor, call someone that was not at church last week, pass out
literature or do one of a thousand other things that are required by every person.
We all hear someone say (even in a song) “all I want is just a little cabin in the
corner of heaven.” That is just another way of saying, “I am not yet motivated to work
for God.” As though fear of eternal damnation is not enough to move a person, the good
rewards for, work well done, should well get them going.
It may be the pastors job to keep the people motivated, and it is; but in addition to
that there seems to be a direct relationship between Bible study and motivation. The
more prevalent Bible study is within a given church the less time the pastor must spend
just getting people to get up Sunday morning and come to church.
STUDY!! PRAY!! INVITE SOMEONE TO CHURCH!!
Watch your rewards build up.
NO, we will not all receive the same rewards, but according to the lesson
Jesus gives us in Luke 19 those that work more will receive more. Jesus invested His
Blood and His life in us and the better return He gets on His investment the bigger the
bonuses He will give out on the resurrection day.
Jesus tells of a nobleman that went away and gave a pound to each of ten
servants (according to “Peloubet” Bible Dictionary” the pound was worth either $333.20
or $666.40) . At His return he called each one in to give account of his investment. One
servant increased his pound ten fold, one five fold, but there was one with no increase at
all.
The servant that increased his pound ten-fold was given ten cities to rule over,
the servant that increased five-fold received five cities, and (be careful here) the one with
no increase received no reward, and his money was taken away. But he did not loose his
soul according to what Paul said in 1 Cor. 3. (quoted on previous pages)
Luke 19:26 “That unto everyone which hath,
shall be given: and from him that
hath not , even that he hath shall be
taken away from him.”
Those that fail to labor shall not be rewarded for their idleness but those that
strive to increase God’s kingdom shall be rewarded beyond their wildest dream. So, who
will not be included in the kingdom?
Luke 19:27 “But those mine enemies, which would
not that I should reign over them, bring
hither, and slay them before me.”
According to this comparison that Jesus gives of the kingdom of heaven, the
more souls one can enlist into the army of God the greater their rewards. Jesus also said
that they would not receive a reward, without results, (those that try to win souls and are
not able) yet He went on to say, in verse 27, the only ones that would die (burn in hell)
were those that refused to accept Him as their Lord and master.
Some teach that those in heaven will not be able to see or know those in
everlasting torment the way Abraham and the rich man could see each other. Lets see
what the Bible says.
Rev. 14:9-11 “… If any man worship the beast
and his image, and receive his mark
in his forehead, or in his hand, … shall
be tormented with fire and brimstone
in the presence of the Holy angels, and
in the presence of the Lamb. And the
smoke of their torment ascendeth up
forever and ever…”
My hope and prayer is to be with the holy angels and the Lamb of God
forever and ever; knowing before my eyes will be a constant reminder of just what God
saved me from.
THANK YOU JESUS!
The second death will be everlasting torment, where there will be weeping,
wailing, and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12 and 13:42) yet for those that have labored and
remained faithful until the end, Jesus will bring rewards with him, and the second death
will have no power over them.
O death, Where is thy sting?
Rev. 2:11 “...He that overcometh shall not be
hurt of the second death.”
The Holy Scriptures teach us, in no uncertain terms, that the day of the
resurrection of the dead saints, and the great day of the rapture of the Christians that
remain alive will all be one day, the very same day. (remember 1 Thes. 4:17)
We learn that it is on that day our Lord Christ Jesus will not only come for His
own, but will also bring their rewards with Him.
We receive our crown of glory on that day.
We know without fail that our Lord will only accept those that are born again,
sanctified, and holy before His presence. We have learned that Jesus will bring rewards
for the saints when He returns, and on that day the dead will rise first then those that
remain will be caught up to meet Him.
The prophet Isaiah looked forward to that day when he would be raised up
with the rest of the saints, the day when God calls him forth, and the earth shall cast out
the dead Here we learn that those who are dead in Christ will be raised up with the holy
prophets of old.
Is. 26:19 “Thy dead men shall live, together
with my dead body shall they arise….
And the earth shall cast out the dead.”
What a glorious day that will be!
Just going to church on Sundays may not be sufficient to reserve a place with
the Lord because everyone must engage in all aspects of Christianity including recruiting,
teaching, and mentoring proselytes (just to name a few) in our Lord’s cause.
 As we enable ourselves through prayer and study, the Holy Ghost will give us
power to witness for Jesus and bring to memory every notion and every word to be
spoken that will surely persuade the lost to move toward Christ.
Remember, He that overcomes will not partake of the second death, which is
everlasting torment.