Plainer Words since 1968
April 25, 2013
PLAINER WORDS ONLINE … BROAD IS THE WAY TO DESTRUCTION
If most of the world’s Christians really had an understanding of what will be the principles of the coming Kingdom of God, they probably wouldn’t be praying for it to come. When the Pre-Millennial Kingdom becomes a reality in the earth, it will truly become—The Day of Jesus Christ. He will establish a NEW ORDER for all things.
Every aspect of human life will conform to His Governing Principles, or they will be destroyed. The new order of things will touch every phase of life; social, business, politics, government, education, marriage, divorce, sports, entertainment, employment, entrepreneurship, equity, Law, and Justice. Everything that doesn’t conform to the Principles set forth for The Day of Christ will come under Divine Judgment, and punishment will be meted out without delay.
If you would like to have a basic understanding of how the Pre-Millennial Kingdom of God will function, a close study of “The Acts of the Apostles” will yield a wealth of information. The Acts narrative chronicles a preview of how the Kingdom will be governed. The Acts Period was a foretaste of the “world to come” (Hebrews 6:4-5).
“The Acts of the Apostles” provides us with a broad over-view of how “The Israel of God” will function during The Day of Christ. “The Church of God,” as constituted during “The Acts of the Apostles,” will be the Government of the Israel of God.
Paul confirmed in Romans 15:8 that the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ was to “the circumcision [the Jews] for the Truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the Fathers.” These “Promises” will find their fulfillment when the Pre-Millennial Kingdom is ushered in. During the Lord’s confirmation of the “Promises” mentioned here, it was while the “Kingdom of Heaven/God” was “AT HAND” (Matthew 4:17; 10:17 and Mark 1:15).
The “AT HAND” message by the Lord was “The Gospel of the Kingdom.” His proclamation of this Gospel stressed that the Entrance into it was not a matter of “Easy-Believeism.”
THE ROAD TO LIFE GOES THROUGH THE STRAIT GATE
“Enter ye in at the strait gate; …because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it”
(Matthew7:13a-14).
In this Context, “Life” is a Figure of Speech for “Everlasting Life in the Kingdom.” The Context establishes that the “Abundant Life” is to be found and enjoyed in this Pre-Millennial Day of Christ. Christ said that He has come that those who believed on Him “might have LIFE, and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish [apollumi], but have everlasting LIFE” (John 3:16).
The Day of Christ will be a dispensation high-lighted by RESURRECTIONS—it will be “every man in his own order” (1 Corinthians 15:23). In plainer words, when the Kingdom comes, every man will be made alive in his own order (spread out, perhaps, over one to two hundred years). This begins an orderly succession of resurrections. One of the chief characteristics of the Pre-Millennial Kingdom of God will be that of causing certain segments of dead humanity to be “made alive.” The qualifying ingredient for these RESURRECTIONS will be FAITH. It will not be a general resurrection, but it will be that each man is made alive in his own order, or class, or troop. They will live, and move, and have their being under the Government of the Lord Jesus Christ as He rules from heaven.
Every man who will be made alive will have believed a certain thing God has said for him, or for his generation to believe. The ONLY medium of exchange in which God trades with is BELIEVING WHAT HE HAS SAID AT A SPECFIC TIME, CONCERNING A SPECIAL MATTER—which is to say, FAITH is the Divine Medium of Exchange. Faith buys everlasting life; it purchases a place in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
So far, we have not said one word about our High Calling, which is to say—the Church over which Christ Jesus is the Head. We are not part of “Christ’s Firstfruits” Resurrections [Anastasis] as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:23. Our Resurrection will take place before the one in 1 Corinthians 15:23. The Church, which is His Body (Ephesians 1:22-23) has its resurrection prior to all other resurrections. Our resurrection is mentioned in Philippians 3:11. In Greek, it is not named “Anastasis” but is the “EXANASTASIS.” The “EX” prefix is important. This distinction is not made in the Authorized Version. Therefore, if the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament is not checked-out, the student would not know that the “resurrection” in Philippians 3:11 is Strongs’ Number 1815. “Resurrection” is mentioned 41 times in the New Testament, and 40 times, the Greek word is Number 386. The “resurrection” word # 1518 must be rather unique. Right Division of these two Greek words is essential in our understanding.
Notice that in the one sentence, two different words are translated as “resurrection.”
Philippians 3:10-11
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection [Anastasis], and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection [Exanastasis] of the dead.”
The “resurrection of the dead” has the idea of being made alive, leaving behind all others. The prefix, “ex,” added to “anastasis,” literally means “out-resurrection.”
The Apostle Paul was assured of his “anastasis” as can be seen from 1 Thess. 4:15-17, which was written some ten years before. “The exanastasis must therefore mean a further selection of some before the anastasis of 1 Thess. 4:14.” (Companion Bible Note on Page 1778).
For further information on the “Exanastasis,” click the following Link. It will take you to “Is The Resurrection of Today’s Calling Unique”- Part IV.
http://www.plainerwords.com/artman2/publish/2004/Is_The_Resurrection.shtml
In many of the verses related to our study, we see both the Hope to be gained, as well as, the Loss to be suffered. Several such verses will be pointed out to illustrate what we mean.
John 3:14: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:”
John 3:15: “That whosoever believeth in Him should not PERISH [apollumi], but have eternal life.”
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not PERISH [apollumi], but have everlasting life.”
John 3:18: “He that believeth on Him IS NOT CONDEMNED: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 3:36: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see LIFE; but the WRATH [vengeance] of God abideth on him.”
We will list two more verses, but many more are available for the student to search and see.
John 10:28: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never PERISH [apollumi], neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.”
John 11:50: “Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that One Man should die for the people, and that the whole nation PERISH [apollumi] not.”
The “believe-nots” in these verses are those who have heard the Good News BUT chose not to believe on Jesus Christ because they loved darkness rather than Light.
The highlighted verses, here, show the reward for believing on Jesus Christ is Eternal Life which is Life in the Kingdom. Whereas, the price paid for choosing to not believe will be “Apolluni” and its derivative, “Apoleia.” The English translation and number of times used of these two words are—perish (33 uses), destroy (36 uses), destruction (6 uses), waste (2 uses), perdition (8 uses), damnable (1 use), and damnation (1 use). The two Greek words and their English counterparts are used to describe the state of death when no resurrection is in view.
This is, evidently, hard for many Christians to accept. I have learned not to knee-jerk whenever I hear something which, off-hand, I would disagree with. I would keep my counsel to myself until I had the time to check it out if I felt it deemed worthy of investigation.
I am going to switch to a different track of thoughts (vis-à-vis; parenthetical thoughts) for a paragraph, or two, in order to tell you something that may have some interest. In the month of February, 1963, I settled in my heart and mind, once and for all, that I was saved and I knew it! The Lord answered a sincere prayer of mine, and it was; “Dear Lord Jesus, I want to be saved, and I want to know it.” I was, and I did. From that very moment, I purposed in my heart to learn the Bible and know how to use it. For two or three years, I went to church, revivals, Bible Classes, and Bible Conferences. I would sit in on discussions between Bible Teachers in which they argued, debated, and contended over various doctrines. I attended all of these as a “Learner.” I asked no questions. I made no waves; I contributed nothing. I was the proverbial “fly on the wall.” I attended these in order to soak up all that I could. I was going to form my own opinions based upon, “What saith the Scripture?” And, based upon my elementary understanding of “rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”
At some of the more in-depth sessions in which the Bible was taught, I would bring along a reel-to-reel Wollensak Tape Recorder. I would listen to some of the most informative tapes over-and-over again. My mind was likened to that of an ink blotter. I began to have confidence in my understanding. As long as I was in the confines of others who were Acts 2, Acts 9, or Acts 13, I never tried to express my opinions. Maybe, the time will come when I can make my views known on my own grounds. Whether in my own Bible Class, or on my own radio program, or by means of the written page, and the Lord willing, maybe, “My day may come.” About 45 years ago, my day came.
After my two-year hitch in the U.S. Army, in 1955-56, I was attending SMU’s Graduate School of Management. I was doing some research on a particular matter and read a remark attributed to Abraham Lincoln in which he said, “I will study and prepare myself so I’ll be ready when my day comes.” That had a profound impact on me. I wrote that in a notebook. I still have that notebook. I was aware of young men who were my age that started off only “half-baked.” They made fools of themselves because they were not ready. I have learned that most young men don’t want to wait for their day to come. They start trying to create their day before they are ready, or prepared. I’ve said all of this just to say that I learned more by listening than by talking.
Now, I’ll switch back to the main track. I have heard many a presentation of Philippians 3:19 as the teacher danced around, or tip-toed around the word, “destruction.”
“(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) (Philippians 3:18-19).
“Destruction” is the Greek word, “Apoleia” (# 684), which is a derivative of “Apollumi” (# 622). Thayer’s Lexicon states that # 684, “Apoleia,” means, ( 1 ) actively destroying; utter destruction, ( 2 ) passively perishing, ruin, destruction which consist of loss of eternal life.
Hines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Pages 303-304, gives the definition of “Apoleia” as, “of persons, signifying their spiritual and eternal perdition Matt. 7:13; John 17:12; 2 Thess. 2:3, where “son of perdition” signifies the proper destiny of the person mentioned; metaphorically of men persistent in evil, Rom. 9:22, where “fitted” is in the Middle Voice, indicating that the vessels of wrath fitted themselves for destruction; of the adversaries of the Lord’s people, Phil.1:28 (perdition); of professing Christians, really enemies of the Cross of Christ, Phil. 3:19. Apoleia stressing the final, eternal and irrevocable character of the ruin.” Hines’ definition fits that of incorrigibles who have the characteristics of throw-away-men.
BROAD IS THE WAY THAT LEADS TO DESTRUCTION
John the Baptist foretold how the Lord Jesus Christ will cleanse the world of all iniquity. Everything that doesn’t conform to His Divine Order of things will be destroyed, which is especially true with men and women, which includes their businesses that do not honor God. .
Matthew 3:11-12 “I [John the Baptist] indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He [Jesus Christ] that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge his floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff [the incorrigibles] with unquenchable fire [Gehenna fires].”
Christ “will throughly purge his floor” is an expression meaning, His Floor—the Earth will be thoroughly cleansed from everything that is corrupt, especially the incorrigibles. He will see to it that they will go to the place they belong. That is to say, the Gehenna, the place Judas went.
”That he [Judas’ replacement] may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place” (Acts 1:25).
The NIV states “his own place” as “the place he belongs.”
One lesson which the Lord Jesus taught on the Mount of Olives was His comparison of the future Law of the Pre-Millennial Kingdom to the Law of Moses. He told His audience that they had heard in the public reading of the Law that “thou shalt not kill” and that “whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the Judgment” (Matthew 5:21). Now, notice the contrast between the Kingdom Law and the Law of Moses. Jesus Christ said how it will be during the Day of Christ:
“But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the Judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca [worthless one], shall be in danger of the Council [i.e., the Sanhedrin]: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of Hell Fire” (Matthew 5:22). (It has been repeatedly pointed out that the Greek word for “hell” is Gehenna, 12 times out of its 23 occurrences; thus, Gehenna Fire. Hades is used 10 times and refers to “the state of dead.” Hell is once translated from Tartaroo).
The Kingdom Law required that the Judgment for murder was death. The Judgment—was an Inferior Court in which seven men presided in the local synagogue, and they had the power to condemn to death by the sword. The Council—was made up of members of the Sanhedrim. They could sentence the stoning-to-death of the guilty. They could, also, condemn a man to being “cast” alive into the fires of the Gehenna Valley. This capital penalty was a means to “destroy” (apollumi #622) the guilty. “Apollumi means to destroy fully. To put out of the way entirely. Ruined. To be blotted out. To vanish away. To cause to perish. Destruction” Thayer’s Lexicon.
Being “cast alive into the Gehenna Fire” will be a sentence of permanent death in which there is no resurrection. The persons who commit such crimes are deemed to be worthless, corrupt beyond rehabilitation, useless—a waste of human flesh. They will be CAST into the fires alive. Therefore, it can be said that they will be throw-away-humans. Women, as well as men, can fall into this category. I often referred to this term as Throw-Away-Men. It should be understood that the word, “Men,” is used in the sense as—Mankind, in the context in which sexual distinction is not relevant.
~~THE END~~
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