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      "The Eternal State"
      Selected Scriptures
      Theme: The faithfulness of the Lord means that both saints and sinners can count on God to fulfill His Word concerning their respective fates.

        1. The Promise of the Resurrection - "We believe in the bodily resurrection of all mankind; the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment."

          1. The Physical Nature of the Resurrection

            1. The Bible teaches that in that all men were made in the image of God, that one of their characteristics is "immortality" – that is, they are never "annihilated" – cp. Genesis 1:26-27
            2. Thus, all men – not just believers – will be raised for the purpose of establishing their position before God .
            3. This means that all mankind will be raised from the dead – some to reward and others to condemnation – cp. Daniel 12:2

          2. The Promised Discrimination at the Resurrection

            1. The Lord will discriminate between the righteous and the wicked even in the resurrections.
            2. The first resurrection will occur with God raising up the righteous in order to reward them for their faithfulness to Him – cp. John 6:6:39; 11:25-26
            3. On the other hand, when the time for judgment comes, God’s faithfulness and veracity guarantees that not only will He reward the righteous, but He will also allow those who are wicked to know His judgment – cp. Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13

        2. The Provision of the Righteous – "We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord; where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord."

          1. The Assurance of Entrance into Presence of the Lord

            1. In contrast to the idea of "soul-sleep" advanced by some, physical death involves no loss of consciousness of the soul – Revelation 6:9-11
            2. Upon death, the soul of the redeemed pass immediately into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ – Luke 23:43; Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8
            3. Since death is defined by means of "separation" – at the death of the believer, the soul and body are separated – cp. Philippians 1:21-24
            4. However, once a person is in Christ Jesus, nothing is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus – cp. Romans 8:38-39

          2. The Anticipation of the Exaltation in the Presence of the Lord

            1. The body will be raised at the "first resurrection" which for the church is at the time of the Rapture when the bodies of believers are raised incorruptible and rejoined with their souls and spirits – cp. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Philippians 3:20-21
            2. Upon this resurrection, we are brought into the presence of Christ Jesus for reward and exaltation – based on the faithfulness of our service alone, and not on the basis of our sins – cp. 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:12-15; 4:5
            3. When this happens, the saints will know the fullness of their inheritance – cp. 1 Peter 1:7.

        3. The Punishment of the Reprobate – "We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment."

          1. The Torment of Death

            1. Even as for the believer who never loses consciousness upon death, the unbeliever continues in a constant state of consciousness – suffering misery in a place of holding called Hell – cp. Luke 16:19-26
            2. We are told that this is a place of horrible torment to be avoided at all cost – cp. Mark 9:43-48
            3. Yet we understand that Hell is only a temporary place where the wicked are held until the day of judgment – cp. Revelation 20:13-15.

          2. The Timing of the Determination

            1. At the conclusion of the Millennial Kingdom, God will raise the wicked to judgment – and bring them before Himself at the "Great White Throne" – cp. Revelation 20:11-15
            2. It is here that they will receive their judgment – cp. Romans 14:10-13
            3. There is only one consequence of being brought before the Great White Throne – condemnation; there is no chance of escaping God’s wrath.

          3. The Terror of "Destruction"

            1. As a result, the wicked are finally cast into the Lake of Fire where they will experience eternal punishment which is called the Second Death – cp. Revelation 20:14-15
            2. This will be a time of tremendous horror as sinners are banished away from the presence of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus forever – cp. Matthew 25:41-46
            3. It will be a time when sinners will "pay the penalty" of their sin – cp. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
            4. This suffering and torment is not temporary – or until they’ve paid enough; God’s wrath against their sin (when not removed through faith in Christ Jesus) is eternal – cp. Jude 6-7.

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