davidbowerkingwood

Burning Sulphur

This is Deadly Serious Business for Every Human Being!

Eternity, for those who reject salvation in Jesus Christ, is horrible beyond imagination; burning sulphur, referred to as brimstone in some translations of the Bible, has a choking, putrid stench that is never forgotten! Eternal torment, with no rest, in a lake of fiery burning sulphur is impossible to even imagine!

I am deeply saddened by the scope of Satanic deception I observe in the world today! The popularity of Satanism has grown around the world and seen, at many levels of society, as a license to sin. While people have the freedom to choose, they do not have the freedom to escape the consequences of their choices! I have written more on this in “What You Are; Satan’s Deadly Deception!”

A Gap of One Thousand Years

There will be a gap of 1,000 years between the end of the first resurrections to heaven and God; and the second resurrection to the Lake of Fire. This period of time is referred to as “The Millennial Reign of the Lord Jesus Christ;” it will be populated by the resurrected saints of all the preceding ages.

In addition, there will be a mortal population, who have received Jesus Christ as Savior, and will have survived the Tribulation. The reference in Matthew 24:36-41 is to the removal of those who will have aligned themselves with the Antichrist and received the mark of the beast. Those left behind are the mortal believers who will repopulate the Millennial Kingdom.

The Millennial Kingdom

The Millennial Kingdom will begin with nothing but those who love the Lord as Savior and God. As mortal believers begin to repopulate the earth, some born to them will believe but some will not. By the end of the 1.000 years the population of earth will include a vast number who have rejected Jesus Christ as Savior and God in spite of the perfection of rule and environment!

When Satan is released, at the end of the Millennial Reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, he will attract a large multitude to himself to attack the Lord and his kingdom. This attack is described in Revelation 20:7-10

⁷ Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. ⁹ They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

(Note particularly, after 1,000 years in the Lake of Fire, the beast and the false prophet still have individual identities!)

God’s direct intervention brings this final battle to a sudden end and the Satanically inspired combatants will be annihilated and ultimately appear before the Great White Throne, which follows the Second Resurrection.

The Millennial Saved

Although the Bible does not specify what will happen to those mortal survivors who will have received the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior during the Tribulation and the Millennial Reign; logic would suggest they are the ones who will populate the nations referenced in Revelation 21:22 and 24 and enjoy eternity as mortal subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ!

“22 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. ² In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

²⁴ And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.“

The Second Resurrection

Stage 4 and Group 5, the Lost

In Revelation 20:11-15 it is written:

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵ And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Where Do We Stand Today in God’s Schedule?

Any casual perusal of the world today suggests we are close to the time of the removal of the true Church; I do not know of any unfulfilled prophecies that must take place before the church can be taken home.

I see an interesting parallel between Israel, at the time it was set aside on March 30, AD 33, and the church today as it exists on the world stage. Corruption, perversion and abandonment of Biblical truth was evident then and is evident now.

I believe we are living in the seventh and last church age, Laodicea, which is described in Revelation 3:14-22 where it is written:

The Lukewarm Church

¹⁴ “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: ¹⁵ “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. ¹⁹ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹ To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

²² “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ ”

Even so, Come Lord Jesus!

³⁶ He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36

The wrath of God is greatly to be feared!