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- Colossians 3:4. When Christ our life shall appear.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. When the Lord descends from heaven with a shout, and the dead are raised, and the living changed and translated.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:1. At the coming of the lord.
- 2 Timothy 4:7,8. At that day (to those that love His appearing.)
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| Philippians 1:20-24 are the words of Paul, an old man who longs to be relieved of his task by death, but knows that others can still be brought to Christ if he remains alive. |
This is not a statement of going to God at death. Paul is clear that going to be with God happens at the resurrection, not when we die.
Revelation 6:9 ‘I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.’ Please explain!
This is a picture that John is given in vision and it cannot be taken as a basis for a doctrine about the immortality of the soul. It is interesting to note the question posed by these beings that John has seen in vision. They ask ‘How long?’ They are looking for the Lord to avenge their blood that has been shed and to justify them in their strong stand for Him. If they have already been given their reward, then the same must also apply to their executioners, once they died. This makes the question ‘How long?’ meaningless. |
| Both parties would have eternal life already. One group would be in the bliss of heaven, the other already in the eternal torments of hellfire. If this were the case, their vindication would have already been seen. It is not until Revelation 18:20, while Babylon, the whore, is still operating on the earth, that she is brought to ruin. Then the cry goes up in heaven ‘Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets for God hath avenged you on her.’ In the intervening time, there have been many more martyrs for the truth of God. |
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But at this end time all will be vindicated together. These souls seen in vision were told they should rest a while until all is fulfilled. Then those who have died for the Lord will all be given eternal life.
The Greek word for soul used here is ‘psuche’ which means ‘beings’, ‘people’. There is nothing to indicate that they already have immortality.
Revelation 14:11 says ‘the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.’ This appears to be a reference to hell fire. Please explain!
This is referring to the punishment meted out on those whom receive the mark of the beast. This happens to those who reject the appeals of God to worship Him as the Creator and to give Him glory and honour. It also says they will have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image.
This is quoted almost exactly from Isaiah 34:9,10. ‘And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone and the land shall become burning pitch. |
It shall not be quenched day nor night, the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste, none shall pass through it for ever and ever.’ Today this area is a wasteland. It is not still burning however. The fire burned as long as there was something to burn and it could not be put out by human power. This is the same as the fires of the final destruction of the wicked. There is no reference to an ever-burning hell from which there is no relief. Sinners will be burned up and destroyed forever reduced to ashes.
The fires will burn until all the pollution of sin has been |
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