OldShepherd if you cannot or will not answer our questions that is fine. Let's ask a few more on the basis of what you have just posted. But first, knowing the scribbling of J. Preston Eby satisfy you not, let's consider Andrew Jukes a remarkable student of Greek and Hebrew and a man of Spirit and Life to boot. He asks a question that each of us must answer.
Shall God Do That Which He Abhors?
I cannot even attempt here to trace the stages or processes of the future judgment of those who are raised up to condemnation; for it "the righteousness of God is like the great mountains, His judgments are deep; (Psl.57:43) but what has here been gathered from the Word of God, as to the course and method of His salvation, throws great light on that "resurrection of judgment," (John 5:29) which our Lord speaks of. Of the details of this resurrection, of the nature and state of the bodies of the judged,--if indeed bodies in which there is any image of a man, and therefore of God, (for man's form bears God's image, (1 Cor. 11:7) then are given to them,--and of the scene of the judgment,--very little is said in Scripture; but the peculiar awfulness of the little that is said shows that there must be something very fearful in it. And indeed, when one thinks of the eternal law, "To every seed its own body," (1 Cor. 15:38) one can understand how terrible must be the judgment on all that grows in a future world from the seed which has been nourished here of self-love and unbelief; a judgment in comparison with which any present pain is light affliction. It is thus described:--"And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was not place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were 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 helll delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and h e l l were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death." (Rev. 20:11-14) And yet, awful as it is, who can doubt the end and purpose of this judgment, for "God, the judge of all," (Hebr. 12:23) "changes not," (Mal. 3:6) and "Jesus Christ" is still "the same, yesterday, today, and for the ages." (Hebr. 13:8) And the very context of the passage, which describes the casting of the wicked into the Lake of Fire, seems to show that this resurrection of judgment and the second death are both parts of the same redeeming plan, which necessarily involves judgment on those who will not judge themselves, and have not accepted the loving judgements and sufferings, which in this life prepare the first-born for the first resurrection. So we read,--
All Things Shall Be Made New
"And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him who is athirst of the fountain of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 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 burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death." (Rev. 21: 5-8)
What does He say here but that "all things shall be made new," though in the way to this the fearful and unbelieving must pass the Lake of Fire. And does not the fact that the threatened judgment comes under, and is part of, the promise, "I make all things new," show that the second death is not outside of or unconnected with it, but is rather the appointed means to bring it about in some cases. Those who overcome inherit all: they are God's sons and heirs. Like Abraham, they are "heirs of the world;" (Rom. 4:13) the world is theirs," (1 Cor. 3:22)to bless it. But the judgment of the wicked, even the second death, is only the conclusion of the same promise, which, under threatened wrath, as in the curse of old upon the serpent, involves the pledge of true blessing.
NOTE: Gen. 3:14-19)"How mysterious are God's ways...Neither to Adam nor to Eve was there one word of comfort spoken. The only hint of such a thing was given in the act of cursing the serpent. The curse involved the blessing"--The Eternal Purpose of God, by A.L. Newton, P.10) What but this could make Paul, who so yearned over his brethren that he "wished himself accursed for them," "have hope," not fear, "that there should be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." (Compare Rom 9:3 and Acts 24:15)
Our God Controls The Passageways Of Death
The "second death" (Rev. 20:14) therefore, so far from being, as some think, the hopeless shutting up of man for ever in the curse of disobedience, will, if I err not, be God's way to free those who in no other way than by such a death can be delivered out of the dark world, whose life they live in. The saints have died with Christ, not only "to the elements of this world," (Col.2:20) but also "to sin," (Rom. 6:10) that is, the dark spirit-world. By the first they are freed from the bondage of sense; by the second, from the bondage of sin, in all its forms of wrath, pride, envy, and selfishness. The ungodly have not so died to sin. At the death of the body therefore, and still more when they are raised to judgment, because their spirit yet lives, they are still within the limits of that dark and fiery world, the life of which has been and is the life of their spirit. To get out of this world there is but one way, death; not the first, for that has passed, but the second death. Even if we have not the light to see this, ought not the present to teach us something as to God's future ways; for is He not the same yesterday, today, and for ever? We know that, in inflicting present death, His purpose is through death to destroy him that has the power of death, that is the devil. How can we conclude from this, that, in inflicting the second death, the unchanging God will act on a principle entirely different from that which now actuates Him? And why should it be thought a thing incredible that God should raise the dead, who for their sin suffer the penalty of the second death? Does this death exceed the power of Christ to overcome it? Or shall the greater foe still triumph, while the less, the first death, is surely overcome? Who has taught us thus to limit the meaning of the words, "Death is swallowed up in victory"? Is God's "will to save all men" (1 Tim. 2:4) limited to fourscore years, or changed by that event which we call death, but which we are distinctly told is His appointed means for our deliverance? All analogy based on God's past ways leads but to one answer. But when in addition to this we have the most distinct promise, that "as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive,"--that "death shall be destroyed,"--that "there shall be no more curse," but "all things made new," and "the restitution of all things;"--when we are further told that "Jesus Christ is the same," that is a Saviour, "yesterday, today, and for the ages;"--the veil must be thick indeed upon man's heart, if spite of such statements "the end of the Lord" is yet hidden from us.
To me too the precepts which God has given are in their way as strong a witness as His direct promises.
Hear the law respecting...
Bondmen, (Deut. 15:12-15
Strangers, (Exod. 22:21/ Lev. 19:33,34)
Debtors, (Deut. 15:1,2,9)
Widows & orphans, (Exo.22:22/ Deut. 24:17)
and the punishment of the wicked, which may not exceed forty stripes, "lest if it exceed, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee; (Deut. 25:2,3) yea even the law respecting "asses fallen into a pit:" (Ex. 21:33,34/ Deut.23: 4,5)--hear the prophets exhorting to "break every yoke," to "let the oppressed go free," and to "undo the heavy burdens:" (Isa. 58:6)--hear the still clearer witness of the gospel, "not to let the sun go down upon our wrath," (Eph. 4:26) to "forgive not until seven times, but until seventy times seven," (Matt. 18:22) "not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good:" (Rom. 12:21) to "walk in love as Christ has loved us," and to be imitators of God as dear children:" (Eph. 5:1,2)--see the judgment of those who neglect the poor, and the naked, and the hungry, and the stranger, and the prisoner: (Matt.25:41-43)--and then say,
Shall God do that which He abhors? Shall He command that bondmen and debtors be freed, and yet Himself keep those who are in worse bondage and under a greater debt in endless imprisonment? Shall He bid us care for widows and orphans, and Himself forget this widowed nature, which has lost its Head and Lord, and those poor orphan souls which cannot cry, Abba, Father? Shall He limit punishment to forty strips, "lest thy brother seem vile," and Himself inflict more upon those who though fallen still are His children.? Is not Christ the faithful Israelite, who fulfills the law; and shall He break it in any one of these particulars? Shall He say, "Forgive till seventy times seven," and Himself not forgive except in this short life? Shall He command us to "overcome evil with good," and Himself, the Almighty, be overcome of evil? Shall He judge those who leave the captives unvisited, and Himself leave captives in a worse prison for ever unvisited? Does He not again and again appeal to our own natural feelings of mercy, as witnessing "how much more" we may expect a larger mercy from our "Father which is in heaven"? (Matt. 7:6-11 If it were otherwise, might not the adversary reproach, and say, Thou that teachest and judgest another, teachest Thou not thyself? Not thus will God be justified. But, blessed be His Name, He shall in all be justified. and when in His day He opens "the treasures of the hail," (Job 38:22) and shows what sweet waters He can bring out of hard hailstones; when He unlocks "the place where light now dwells" shut up, and reveals what light is hid in darkness and hardness, as we see in coal and flint, those silent witnesses of the dark hard hearts, which God can turn to floods of light; when we have "taken darkness to the bound thereof," (Job 38:19,20) and have seen not only how "the earth is full of God's riches," but how He has laid up the depths in storehouses; (Psl. 104: 24...Psl. 33:7) in that day when "the mystery of God is finished," and He has destroyed them which corrupt the earth," (Rev. 11:18)--then shall it be seen how truly God's judgments are love, and that "in very faithfulness He hath afflicted us." (Psl. 119:75) Andrew Jukes
