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Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the Lord's day. We thank you for the privilege to gather together and to worship you in spirit and truth. We pray that you would send the spirit and help us as we gather together to approach you with that reverence and awe that is fitting and due for such a glorious God. And may that be mingled with thanksgiving and gratitude for all that you have done for us in the gospel of our salvation. We pray now that you would guide us by the selfsame spirit as we study scripture and doctrine. Help us to understand these things. May it impact us for good and for further conformity unto the image of your beloved Son. We ask for the forgiveness of all sin and transgression and we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We can turn in your confession to chapter 31, of the state of man after death and of the resurrection of the dead.

Cam's been sick for the last few days, so the B team is sitting in this morning. So I want to read the chapter. It certainly goes along with chapter 32 under the general or overarching heading of eschatology. And basically eschatology simply means the study of last things or the doctrine of last things. So I'll read chapter 31 and then we'll look at it in more detail.

So paragraph 1, the bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption. But their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness and received into paradise, where they are with Christ and behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies. And the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Besides these two places for souls separated from their bodies, the scripture acknowledgeth none. At the last day, such of the saints as are found alive shall not sleep, but shall be changed, and all the dead shall be raised up with the selfsame bodies and none other, although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever. The bodies of the just shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonor. The bodies of the just, by His Spirit, unto honor, and be made conformable to His own glorious body. Amen.

Well, as I said, chapters 31 and 32 deal with the end times or the last things concerning Christ and His Church and His rule and government. and his people. And typically we make a distinction when it comes to eschatology between individual and cosmic eschatology. There's a bit of cosmic in chapter 31, but it's predominantly cosmic in chapter 32. And basically what individual means is the study of the last things, or rather the future state of individual persons, what happens to us when we die, what happens in the intermediate state, resurrection, all of that sort of thing is typically confined under individual eschatology. And then cosmic has to do with the study of the future state of the entirety of the cosmos, so everything, the universe, obviously the earth, and all men.

The particulars involve the rule of Christ. Typically, you only think of, or we often think of in the Church, of eschatology only in relation to a millennial position, either awe or pre or post. Certainly, the kingdom of Christ is what needs to be identified with reference to that millennium. So cosmic eschatology deals with that, the resurrection, the final judgment, and then eventually the eternal state.

Now, in terms of the significance of such a study, I would suggest first the wealth of data in the Bible. There's a lot concerning eschatology in scripture. In fact, I think it was Voss who says that eschatology precedes soteriology in the Garden of Eden.

So even before the redemption of man is introduced in that proto-gospel in chapter 3 at verse 15, we've already got God giving the covenant of works to Adam with the affirmation of living you shall live, which would have brought him into that state confirmed in righteousness and enjoying eternal bliss with God. As well, not only the wealth of data in the Bible, but the impact on ethics. You can turn to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John 3, and by impact on ethics, I mean it should affect the way that we live in the present when we consider the future. And I think that's John's emphasis in 1 John 3, specifically in verses 1 to 3.

He says, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So the future is what he's referring to, but note the present implication in verse 3. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.

So a biblical understanding of eschatology should impact the way that we live. It's not simply an academic or an ecclesiastical discussion concerning the reign of Christ, whether it's apri or post, but rather it should affect us and impact us at the level of daily life. I would suggest as well the hope of believers.

You can turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, this idea of the future ought to instill great hope in the people of God and comfort to steady them in the present. Notice in Romans chapter 8, specifically at verse 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. So he's dealing with the present, but he's making this comparative statement that what we have in the future is most wonderful.

He goes on in verse 19, "...for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope. Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope, for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. So the hope of believers is predicated upon the future glory of the believer because of his relation to Jesus Christ.

I would suggest as well, this is a great impetus to preach to the unconverted with reference to the horror of the age to come or terror for the unbeliever. You can turn to Matthew's gospel in Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25, the Lord Jesus gathers the nation, separates them, the sheep and the goats, and then he condemns the goats, and he makes that very specific and very clear. Notice specifically in verse 46 in Matthew 25, and these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. So that needs to be brought about with reference to the unconverted.

They need to realize that just as the believer has hope in the future, the unbeliever is going to meet with certain doom and punishment. Turn over to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, Paul uses this as an impetus to encourage the people of God that the end for their persecutors is certainly going to be a miserable one. Notice in 2 Thessalonians 1 at verse 6, since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you. and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony among you was believed.

So just a few introductory thoughts in terms of the importance of biblical eschatology. And then, of course, it helps us to see the comprehensive plan of God. It's good to study the Bible with specific reference to details. It's good to look at trees within the forest. But it's also at times helpful to step back from the tree and get a view of the entirety of the forest.

And if you understand biblical eschatology, you'll know that what was forfeit by the first Adam in the garden in Genesis chapters 1 to 3 is recovered, restored, and even advanced through the work of the last Adam. And you can see that in Revelation 21 and 22. You've got paradise lost in Genesis. You've got paradise restored by virtue of the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. So it helps us with reference to a comprehension of God's redemptive plan. So let's look at chapter 31. The confession deals here specifically with two things.

First, the intermediate state And I'll explain that in a moment in paragraph 1. And then the final resurrection in paragraphs 2 and 3. As I said, it's not that chapter 31 is devoid of any cosmic eschatology. It certainly is. The focus seems specifically with reference to the individual and what happens to him when he dies and what happens to him at the final resurrection.

So notice first the distinction between body and soul. Now before we look at that, the intermediate state is simply the period between one's death and the resurrection. The period between one's death and resurrection. If I drop dead right now, I will be in the intermediate state. The soul goes to be with Jesus, and then the body will be raised on that final day, and then judged and brought into that eternal state. So intermediate state simply means the period between death and the resurrection, and that's precisely what paragraph one is about.

So note the distinction between body and soul. You've got a composite nature of man. The bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption, but their souls. So when we talk about man, man is not like God in the sense of his nature or of his being. Remember in chapter 2 of God and the Holy Trinity, it tells us that God is pure spirit. It tells us that God is without body. He's without parts. He's without passions. God is a simple being. Not man. Man is not a simple being, and not in an ethical way.

I know that we've got lots of challenges. But in terms of our construction, in terms of our creation, in terms of the way that we're built, we have a body and we have a soul. We have a material and we have an immaterial. So we need to make sure we get that. and that difference between the Creator and the creature. We are not like God when it comes to our essence, our nature, our being. We're not simple, we are rather composite. We have parts.

So notice what the Confession says concerning those parts with reference to death. So the bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption. We know that. When we die, if I take up that illustration from a moment ago, if I drop dead, probably in a few days I would be buried in the ground.

So my body is placed in the ground according to what we see here, and what we see scripturally, and what hopefully people have practiced throughout millennia, and will continue to practice it throughout millennia. But notice, with reference to the soul, there are souls which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence immediately returned to God who gave them.

So the doctrine of soul sleep is here rejected. It's not the case that if I do drop dead, my soul goes into a state of sleep, a state of unconsciousness. I think the Adventists, the Seventh-day Adventists teach that. I think Jehovah's Witnesses have a doctrine of soul sleep. Do you know? But it's not the position of Scripture. There's no soul sleep according to the Bible.

And with reference to immortal subsistence that you see there relative to man, we need to understand that immortality is derivative. It's not underivative. God alone has underivative immortality. We receive that from God, such that we begin, but then we continue. So that's how the scripture and the confession uses immortality with reference to man. So it's not the same as God's, but it's the same as God's, if you follow my logic here. It's the same in the sense that once we begin, we have no ending, but we did begin. God has no beginning. He is from everlasting to everlasting.

And then notice, with reference to this particular situation, they die. So, bodies of men after death. We know from earlier teaching in the Confession, and we know from Scripture as a whole, that death is a penal consequence for sin. For the wages of sin is death. If we didn't sin, we wouldn't die. But we sin, therefore we die.

And as well, death is a temporary separation of body and soul. We don't know how long. If I drop dead today and the Lord Jesus doesn't return for another 1,000 years, or 2,000 years, or 3,000 years, or 15 years, we don't know how long that intermediate state is. But there is that separation with reference to body and soul. So again, intermediate state.

That's one of the things that you need to understand when discussing biblical eschatology. But then note there's a distinction made between the righteous and the wicked. First, the righteous.

It says, the souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness are received into paradise where they are with Christ and behold the face of God in light and glory waiting for the full redemption of their bodies. You can turn to the Gospel of Luke just to see these particulars spelled out. So again, to put the kibosh on the doctrine of soul sleep, we've got the scriptural teaching that when a man dies, if he's rightly connected to God through faith in Jesus Christ, then his soul departs and is present with Christ. Of course, the classic example or the classic illustration is the thief on the cross.

Notice in Luke 23, specifically at verse 40, But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong.

Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Now the way that the Jehovah's Witnesses interpret this is that in verse 43 they move the comma. So it says, "...assuredly I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise."

It's kind of some subterfuge on their part because of course they reject the notion that when a man dies his body is planted in the earth and his soul departs and is present with Christ. But the obvious teaching of the passage is that Jesus says to this man who formerly blasphemed him and now was confessing him as Lord, confessing him that he was a Lord with a kingdom, confessing the justness of his own punishment on that cross for his own sin and rebellion, Jesus says, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.

You can turn to 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5, same sort of an emphasis by the Apostle Paul. 2 Corinthians 5, connected very intimately or inextricably to chapter 4. Notice in verse 16 in chapter 4, Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." So there's that hope. Similar to what he does in Romans chapter 8, there's hope for the people of God, though we suffer, though our outer man decays, though there's a lot of difficulty and affliction in this present evil age. Nevertheless, our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. And then note in verse one of chapter five, for we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Drop down to verse six, so we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well-pleased, rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. So it's not soul sleep, it's not this undetermined time where there's an unconsciousness that affects man.

You die in Christ, your body is planted, and your soul is present with the Lord. It's a wonderful and glorious truth. In our studies in the book of Philippians, in chapter 1, remember Paul says in verse 23, I am hard-pressed between the two, whether to continue on in life or whether to die. Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better? He doesn't say depart, enter into soul sleep, enter into a state of unconsciousness, and sometime, at the final judgment, then be with Christ. That's not the point. That's not the emphasis. But rather, with reference to the righteous, the body is planted and the soul is present with the Lord Jesus. The confession continues with reference to the wicked.

Notice, after that statement concerning the righteous, it goes on to say, "...and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torment and utter darkness reserved to the judgment of the great day. Besides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none." And here you can turn to the book of Jude, Jude 6. Jude verse 6, same emphasis that when a wicked man dies his body is planted in the ground and his soul departs to hell. So in Jude 6 we see, and the angels who did not keep their proper domain but left their own abode He has reserved an everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. As Sodom and Gomorrah and of the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

An example to those who are persecuting the church in the epistle of Jude, that this is their lot when they die. They will depart, and instead of being with Christ, will depart in the presence of hell. 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3. Actually, we'll skip that one. That can open up a lot of questions I'm not prepared to deal with. Revelation 14. We'll let Cam take that one next time. Revelation 14. specifically at verses 9 to 11.

Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast in his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever. And they have no rest or night who worship the beast and his image and whoever receives the mark of his name."

And interestingly, the confession, whether specifically or generally follows the order in Revelation 14. After the teaching on the beasts in chapter 13, we get this scene shift at the beginning of chapter 14 in verse 1. Notice, then I looked, and behold, a lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 having his father's name written on their foreheads.

He describes the condition of the blast, and then he goes on to describe the condition of the wicked. So what we have here is what the scripture teaches concerning the distinction between the body and the soul, composite nature with reference to man, but the distinction between the righteous and the wicked at death. Again, intermediate state.

Now, the last thing we should observe in paragraph one is the exclusion of any other alternatives. The exclusion of any other alternatives, and likely in view, is Roman Catholicism and their teaching relative to eschatology. Notice at the last part of paragraph one, besides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the scripture acknowledgeth none.

So there's no third place. There's no tertium quid. There's no other alternative relative to what we've already seen in the confession. You're either righteous, and your body goes into the ground, and your soul goes to be with Christ, or you're unrighteous, and your body goes into the ground, and your soul departs to go to hell. That's it. There's no third option.

And so probably what is in view here is, first of all, the limbo of the fathers. The Limbo of the Fathers. David Dixon has a book called Truths, Victory Over Error. I think it's one of the first commentaries on the Westminster Confession of Faith. And he describes this Limbo of the Fathers this way, in which the faithful who died before Christ's passion had been shut up as in a dark prison underground. So it's kind of this holding place until the Passion, and the Ascension, and then the Resurrection.

That's the limbo of the fathers. I think, obviously, scripture refutes that in what we've already seen about the soul departing to be with Christ. As well, there's the limbo of the infant. The limbo of the infant. What happens to babies when they die? Well, they say, in which infants die without baptism suffer also the eternal punishment, not of sense, but of loss. So that's limbo for babies.

Now, what Dixon says there at the end is a pretty common theological distinction, or rather connection, when we discuss the doctrine of everlasting punishment. There's a twofold punishment with reference to hell. There's a punishment of loss. That means all good from God is deprived. Presently, the wicked today will enjoy good from God. If they have bacon and eggs this morning, if they take oxygen into their lungs, if they drink water and coffee, they receive good from God. They don't acknowledge it, they don't honor Him, they don't praise Him, but in the age to come, there will be a punishment of loss. God is the one lost, and all of the goodness associated with God is lost.

But as well, there's a punishment of sense. And when you read the scriptures, you will see that there will be weeping and gnashing and wailing and all those sorts of things that obtain for the wicked in hell. So there's a two-fold punishment when it comes to hell, the punishment of lost and the punishment of sense. Now what the Catholics say, according to Dixon here, is that the babies receive the punishment of loss and not the punishment of sense.

So we just need to make sure that we don't impugn them with even more castigation than we normally would. And then, of course, the doctrine of purgatory. The doctrine of purgatory. If you weren't brought up in Roman Catholicism, it's probably a vague and fuzzy notion for you. But as I recall, being brought up as a papist in papist school, that was the hope, right? It was not a matter of will you or will you not go to purgatory. the issue was always, how long will you go to purgatory? I think that's what we were bartering in the confessional booth, saying our Hail Marys and our Our Fathers and trying to light candles and do whatever we could to try to take a few years off that purgatory concept.

And so again, this is a definition from a Catholic encyclopedia. So the doctrine of purgatory, the place and state in which souls suffer for a while and are purged after death before they go to heaven on account of their sins. Now on the surface of that, we would just say it's not in the Bible. There's no concept whatsoever of purgatory in the Old and the New Testaments.

But as well, we have to see how that impinges upon the nature of the atonement. If Christ says on the cross, it is finished, then we need to take him seriously and understand that it is finished. It's not kind of finished, but a millennia in purgatory will finish the finishing. It's not that Christ does most of it, and then we, by our sufferings in purgatory, make up for whatever is lost. As well, it rests upon an unbiblical foundation that the Catholics invoke often in terms of sin. They have a concept of moral and venial. So venial ain't that bad. Mortal's really bad.

The thief on the cross tells us, however, that there is no purgatory. Today, you will be with me in paradise. He doesn't say, well, you know, I'm atoning for what you've done to get yourself on this cross, but there's a lot that you need to make up for with reference to all that time before your rebellion alongside of Barabbas. No, he doesn't do that. He says, today you will be with me in paradise.

And then specifically, and again I think capitally, this is the offense with reference to purgatory. It completely obliterates the notion that what Christ does on the cross is efficacious, that somehow it has to be made up with. We have to give some self-atonement, some purgation with reference to our own sin. Here's Dixon, he says, "...because Christ's satisfaction for the sins of believers is most full, complete, and perfect, and doth not need our imperfect satisfactions, whether for the fault or the punishment. Neither by our sufferings in purgatory is Christ's satisfaction applied to us.

First, because our sufferings there cannot be an instrument for applying Christ's merit to us. For on God's part, we have the Word, sacraments, and the Spirit as means for applying His merits to us. On our part, we have faith. Was it ever heard in the Word of God that the Lord made use of exquisite torments for applying His grace? To apply mercy by the executing of justice? Is forgiving debt applied by exacting the debt? Shall pardon be applied by the punishing of us?

It simply has no biblical warrant and no foundation, but it works well in an ecclesiastical hierarchy where you're about shaking down the various members of the church. Right? Cough up. Say a prayer. Light a candle. You'll get your relatives out of purgatory a bit quicker. That was a money-making opportunity. That was one of the first things that instigated Martin Luther's Reformation or protest of the Roman Church. It was this collecting tithes with the view to getting your loved ones out of purgatory. It is a monstrous doctrine utilized by godless men to extort the people of God or professing people of God.

A. A. Hodge, who by the way has an excellent commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith, I would suggest that one and David Dixon's. Hodge says, one, it is nowhere taught in Scripture.

Two, it is opposed to the teaching of Scripture as to the intermediate state as shown above. And three, it rests upon anti-Christian principles as to the efficacy of the atonement of Christ, as to the sin-expiating and soul-purifying efficacy of temporary suffering, as to the sacrifice of the mass, and as to prayers for the dead, et cetera. So in the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory, it's a part of a larger whole that ultimately strengthens their hold on the people of God and provides numerous avenues for guilt manipulation, for extortion, and all kinds of coercion. And so it must be refused, resisted, and rejected.

And that's precisely what the Confession does here when it says, besides these two places for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledges none. No third option. And then that brings us to the final resurrection in paragraphs 2 and 3, which is a natural progression in a discussion of eschatology for the individual.

So what do we have? We die, our bodies go in the ground, our souls go to be with Christ, we're in the intermediate state. Well, what's the end of the intermediate state? Does that intermediate state continue on? No, it's an intermediate state. So the intermediate state ultimately is resolved or fulfilled or completed with reference to the final coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So notice in paragraph 2, we've got the righteous and the resurrection. And then in paragraph 3, the wicked and the resurrection. So notice with reference to the righteous and the resurrection in paragraph 2, at the last day. Scripture tells us that's the day of judgment, the final judgment, the day of resurrection. At the last day, such of the saints as are found alive shall not sleep, but be changed. And all the dead shall be raised up with the selfsame bodies.

You're not going to put another foot on your height. I'm not going to be 6'9 in the age to come. That's self-same body. And Jesus is the paradigm. Jesus is the model. What goes in the tomb comes out of the tomb. but glorified. So that's what the confession is saying.

Selfsame bodies and none other, although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever. So the condition of the saints, those who are living at the return of Christ. Notice, turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. in one of the longest and most extensive teaching on the doctrine of the resurrection. We've got Paul there specifically in verses 51 and 52 indicating those who are living at the return of Christ.

So if Jesus returned today, we would be alive. And he comes, so what's the situation that obtains? Verse 51. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." So if Jesus returns while we are alive, we will be blessed immeasurably in terms of being translated into his presence beautifully.

Now, what about the condition of those who are dead at the return of Christ? Turn to 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. If you're familiar at all with dispensational eschatology, you'll know that they use this to teach the rapture of the saints. And they teach that their whole separation of Jews and Gentiles is predicated on that, the secret rapture of the saints.

Perhaps when you were younger, you saw some of those cheesy Christian movies. When I was a kid, it was Thief in the Night. And then Tim LaHaye revamped it, and it was whatever it was. Left Behind. Yeah, yeah, that's it, Left Behind. And basically, you could be sitting with somebody, and then they're gone, and there's a pile of clothes there. The famous scene in the Hal Lindsey iteration was the pastor. The pastor in a church, all his congregants get raptured, and of course he was unconverted, and he then prays and receives Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

Which really, brethren, I speak, you know, I don't ever condemn, I mean I speak against dispensationalism. I'm not prone to not do that, but it's not heresy strictly defined. It's not, you know, there are reprobates for espousing this, but a real practical rotten fruit from a dispensational, premillennial, pre-trib, secret rapture idea is the second chance that's built in.

So the pastor sees his congregants have all been raptured. Now the pastor gets on his knees and accepts Jesus into his heart. I've talked to people that have said the same thing. I'm probably not going to make it during the rapture, but after that I'll come to Jesus.

That's a pernicious teaching. That's not good. That betrays the reality that today is the day of salvation. If a sinner thinks that he has time or a sinner thinks that he can schedule it in as to when he's going to believe the gospel and he's going to wait to see how this whole pre-trib rapture thing fares, that's not good. That is a rotten fruit in that system that inculcates a second chance in a way that really isn't helpful.

But notice, verse 13 in chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians. He refers to death. He's not saying, you know, my husband snores and he won't wake up and I can't get him to work. No, no, no. It's about death. In fact, that's kind of behind the scenes in 1 Thessalonians. The imperative to, you know, in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, if a man will not work, neither let him eat.

He probably wasn't working because he thought Jesus was coming at any time. The Thessalonians were the sorts of people that sat on their roofs waiting for the return of Jesus. And so that's kind of behind the scenes. They had this imminent view that at any moment Jesus could return.

And so Paul wants to disavow them of this particular notion, and he wants to address the reality. Perhaps it was a question, perhaps it was circulating. What happens to my husband? What happens to my wife? If Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians that those who are alive will be received by Christ, what about those who are dead?

So it's not a Jew-Gentile distinction. It's not a pre-Trib secret rapture. It's not something that is foundational to biblical eschatology. It's a specific, concrete question. What about my dearly departed husband, who was a believer in Christ? What's going to happen to him? So, notice in verse 14, �For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.� For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. As Albert N. Martin correctly said, that's the loudest secret that's ever happened on the face of the earth. That is one loud secret. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God.

This is not a secret rapture designed to separate the Jews and the Gentiles. That's a theology or an eschatology that is brought to this passage and, dare I say, shoved into it in not the best way. I mean, it's sad that this passage is paradigmatic for a secret pre-trib rapture of the Gentile church so that the tribulation can then occur, two-thirds of the Jews can be slaughtered, and then we usher in a millennial period of great blessing and joy. That's not what this passage is about. Notice.

What happened to my husband that's in the ground? What happened to my wife that's in the ground? They were believers. Are they going to be left behind? Shout out to Tim LaHaye there, or whoever it was. No, they're going to be raised first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.

It really is simple. I'm going to argue that in the conclusion today. Biblical eschatology is actually a whole lot simpler than we have made it and how we have complicated it. So the resurrection of the righteous. Self, same, bodies, you go into the grave 5-9, you're coming out of the grave 5-9. You will be glorified. But that's the way that goes. And none other, although with different qualities, we're glorified, that's the different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever.

And then the confession ends on the resurrection of the wicked, or on the unjust. The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonor. The bodies of the, excuse me, the bodies of the just by his spirit unto honor. and be made conformable to his own glorious body. So the bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonor."

So again, Scripture doesn't give us a detailed description of the intermediate state, and it doesn't give us a detailed description of that final resurrection. But in broad swaths, that's what scripture teaches. If you're righteous, you depart. Your body goes into the grave. Your soul goes to be with Jesus. Intermediate state, day of judgment, bodies raised, united to the soul. With the wicked, same sort of a thing. You die. You get planted in the ground bodily. Your soul departs and goes to hell. On that final resurrection, body will be raised, reunited to soul, and then consigned to everlasting punishment or eternal torment. So that's what I mean when I say that biblical eschatology is quite simple. Two passages that I think illustrate the simplicity of biblical eschatology.

There's many more, but 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, we looked at that, but verses 20 to 28. 1 Corinthians 15, 20 to 28. Typically, the way that eschatology is studied is that we go to Revelation 20, we see the thousand years, and then we develop our eschatology all around that.

I'm not suggesting we don't take in that thousand years, we don't listen to Revelation chapter 20, but Revelation alerts us from the first few verses in chapter 1 that there's going to be things signified. And in Revelation 20 you have a spirit being being bound with chains and cast into a bottomless pit. So there's obviously things being signified. So the idea that we take Revelation 20, a not as clear passage, and let it affect how we understand clear passages is a fundamental misstep in biblical hermeneutics. Hermeneutics, the principles of interpretation, has always maintained that we let the clear passages help us with the not so clear.

1 Corinthians 15.29, for instance, speaks of being baptized or baptism for the dead.

Well, we don't take 1 Corinthians 15.29 as the keyhole by which we interpret every baptism text in the book of Acts.

We take every baptism text we got in the book of Acts to help us understand what 1 Corinthians 15.29 means. or what it doesn't mean, probably more likely. So 1 Corinthians 15, 20-28, it's not signified, it's prose, it's just clear-cut.

Here's what's going to happen when Jesus returns. So notice in verse 20, But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at his coming. Then comes the end. At his coming, then comes the end.

I had a pastor once tell me, well that's where we'd put the millennium. You put the millennium there? Well, he has to put the millennium there. He's got this section in Revelation 20 that speaks of 1,000 years, and he's got to take that 1,000 years, and he's got to account for it. Now, I'm not faulting him for that. I am faulting him for inserting it in a place where it isn't supposed to be inserted, at least in the way he was interpreting. A thousand year millennial reign of Jesus in Jerusalem, sitting on a physical throne, governing the nation, some saved, others not. That is a lot of eschatology that is developed and then brought to texts of scripture.

So notice in verse 24 again, then comes the end, connected to his coming, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father. When, or we might even say after, he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death, for he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is evident that he who put all things under him is accepted. Now, when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him, who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. So it's pretty simple. Christ comes, then comes the end. Christ comes, then comes the end. Look at John 14. John 14, specifically in verse 1. John 14, 1. Let not your heart be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go, you know, in the way you know. Pretty cut and dry, he goes to a prepared place, he comes back and he fetches us and he brings us to those prepared places.

The parables of the kingdom in Matthew 13, they do not suppose a great discontinuity in history. Vis-a-vis a Jew-Gentile distinction and a thousand year physical reign of Jesus on the earth from Jerusalem. The parables of the kingdom do not espouse that. The parables of the kingdom show continuity.

This life, and then the end. This life, and then the end. That's the biblical motif. In terms of the simplicity of biblical eschatology, the creeds in the early church help us. In the Apostles' Creed, I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen. The Nicene Creed, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Athanasian Creed, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works. and they that have done good shall go into everlasting life, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire." It's a pretty simple approach to biblical eschatology. There's difficulties, there's details to be dealt with, there's some things that present challenges with reference to the doctrine of eschatology, but Pretty simply, Christ lived, died, rose again, ascended on high, he's presently administrating the current session, his kingly reign, his rule, his millennial kingdom, and he will come again at the end of that and he will take the church and he will bring it into that condition of the church triumphant. Of course, the wicked will be excluded.

They will be sent off to everlasting punishment and eternal hell. I would suggest, secondly, what we need to appreciate in biblical eschatology is the anti-gnosticism of biblical eschatology. And by gnosticism, I simply mean something that is at least in seed form in the early church, or in the New Testament documents, but does come to full fruit in the first couple of centuries of the church. And basically Gnosticism was a denial of the goodness of the physical.

John has to tell us, over and over in 1 John, that Jesus came physically. Why? Because in the philosophical mind of the day, and these Gnostics influenced by that, trying to still marry their Christianity with it, Christ only appeared to come in the flesh, because we all know that flesh is bad. Flesh is secondary. Flesh is, you know, it's just kind of this polluted tent that holds our soul, and then the soul really goes on to have great dealings with God.

The Bible's not like that. As, again, L. Martin once said, God's not at war with our nature. He's at war with our sin. It's not the body that's the problem. It's the sinfulness that we use the body for to pursue. The body is good. The body is noble. The body is dignified. And we've got the redemption of our bodies held out as completion in the final resurrection. Brethren, we're not Gnostics. It's okay to be a physical human being. It's not secondary to have flesh. It's not somehow more holy to punish your flesh. No, scripture is very clear. The confession, aping or imitating scripture, I believe in the resurrection of the body.

The redemption of the body is our final hope, that intermediate state isn't everything. It's great. I mean, the soul being present with Jesus is wonderful, but the eternal state is body-soul reunited in the presence of our great God, enjoying Him forever. It is a wonderful, blessed description to show us that God made the body, and it's good. It's got dignity. It's not bad. It's not relegated to some secondary or third-rate sort of a situation. And then as well, I would simply say by way of conclusion, we need to think about the glory that awaits the believer.

I mean, I find for my own life, and I don't want to get all weird and autobiographical here, but it's tough, right? You get mired in this present evil age. You see that we're engaged in a trade war with the U.S. that we can't possibly win. It gets a bit depressing, right?

I need to think about the glory that awaits. We need to think about what is in view. We need to think that our momentary light affliction gives way to an exceeding weight of glory. And that reality hopefully stabilizes and settles us and helps us to navigate through the various hardships and afflictions that the people of God definitely suffer.

How does the saint, suffering in a prison cell, comfort himself? He looks to the glory that is to come. He looks to his relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. He studies his soul on the reality that this momentary light affliction will give way to an exceeding weight of glory.

So the hope that the scriptures hold out to the people of God is a hopeful fruit that we have as a result of biblical eschatology. Well, I'll pray and then if there's any questions we can deal with that. Our Father in heaven, thank you for your word. Thank you for its clarity with reference to the end times. And we look forward to that return of Jesus Christ in glory with all of the holy angels. when he takes vengeance on those who do not know him, those who do not obey the gospel, and then he is marveled at and admired by those who have been conquered by sovereign grace. We pray that you would put this hope in our hearts, cause us as well to purify ourselves, even as you are pure, and may we live in a manner that is consistent with what we have in the gospel. And we pray through Christ our Lord, amen. Well, any questions or comments? Go ahead. Yes, please. Amen. Amen. Yeah. That's right. And that Calvin quote, I think, never have I seen such faith as in the thief on the cross. Think about it.

The disciples of Jesus saw him cast out demons. They saw him raise the dead. They saw him walk on water. They saw him make bread and wine, or multiply bread and fish. And what that thief saw was bruised, bloodied, and gory on that cross. And he nevertheless confesses him as Lord with a kingdom. and sees him as one in whom there is mercy to be had. Remember me when you come in the glory of your kingdom.

Yes. No other questions? Boy, I thought somebody was going to say, well, what about pre and on post? That's right. Amen. That's right. Amen. Amen. In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. That's right. That's how it should work. It shouldn't just be an article for debate in the church. It should produce in us hope. All right. That's it.