characteristic is described by St. Paul as being 'charity' which ‘hopeth all things,' would hail with intense delight the thought of salvation beyond the grave for poor unfortunates who have lived and died without, in some cases, one of the religious advantages which we enjoy. That the attitude of a man or woman, bearing the name of a pitiful Christ, toward any suggestion of such a hope would be, "Thank God! Tell me, are there any statements in the Bible upon which I can rest such a magnificent belief? How devoutly I wish you may be right in what you say: How far more glorious and attractive will it make the Gospel for me!"'" Of those who are righteous the Hadean state will be for them a time of further training, discipline and development. "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). In place of the work of grace being finished God will carry it on till the Day of Christ and that day reaches not only to His coming but to the end of the ages. May we not pray as well as preach in the Intermediate state? Yes, and beyond, for our Lord still does both, and He is in the resurrected state. Our work will extend through all time. He “hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ; That in the dispen sation of the fulness of time He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth” (Eph. 1:3,10). God has called us to a magnificent service which will bring to us an ample discipline and a fuller glory. When man fell it was a twofold fall. He fell into spiritual selfhood and he fell into an earthly nature. To get man back he has to die two deaths: he has to die to the natural and earthly and he has to die to self. If in this life man does not have these deaths wrought in him, then he enters the Hadean life with its judgments, discipline, training, and service. If man is still stubborn, there awaits him, and all such, the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, which is "the second death." The first death slew the natural and animal and took him into the Hadean state, and at its end, it and death, that is, all in Hades that have not repented are cast into the Lake of Fire where the process of the second death awaits, which is the death of all selfishness. X A STUDY OF GEHENNA AND THE WORDS DESTROY AND DESTRUCTION THE word "Gehenna" is used in twelve passages of Holy Scripture. We can best study them by viewing all of them. In each instance the word "hell" is the translation; only a student of the Bible in the original Greek could tell that the word here is "Gehenna." The word occurs nowhere else in the Bible. Matt. 5:22. "shall be in danger of hell fire." 5:29, "whole body shall be cast into hell." 5:30, “whole body should be cast into hell." 10:28, "to destroy both soul and body in 18: 9, "rather than having two eyes to 23:33, "can ye escape the damnation of Mark 9:43, "having two hands to go into hell." 9:45, "having two feet to be cast into hell.” 9:47, "having two eyes to be cast into hell fire." Luke 12: 5, "hath power to cast into hell.” Jas. 3: 6, "and it is set on fire of hell." The only way that any passage of Scripture can be properly expounded is to discover the time and place to which it refers. A passage of Scripture that belongs to one dispensation ought to be explained in reference to that particular dispensation. It is through failure to follow this principle that confusion is brought to many passages of Scripture. The first three Gospels, and the Gospel according to Matthew in particular, are anticipatory to our Lord's setting up a theocratic kingdom on the earth. In this way alone can the Sermon on the Mount be fully understood. This is not affirming that in these first Gospels there is no revelation that is appropriate for other dispensations, but it is saying that its truth especially belongs to that period. If Israel had repented (Acts 3:19, etc.), the Millennium would have begun and all the conditions and laws that have special reference to that time would have gone into effect. We have seen in the chapter on "The Millennium" that certain sins will be immediately punished, even lying and slandering will be punished with death. The early portion of the Acts of the Apostles has some of the same characteristics: note the case of Ananias and Sapphira (see also Ps. 101: 4, 7, 8). This certainly will be a new order of things. Outside of Jerusalem, in the valley of Hinnom, there will be a place for the disposing and cremating of the bodies of certain wicked ones, and that is the meaning of "Gehenna." In fact, it seems that very many will be thus punished, having been smitten by some destroying angel, and their bodies will be burned. The last verses in the last chapter of Isaiah refer to this same thing: "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord" (Isa. 66:23). This refers to the Millennial time. Zech. 14:16-18 refers to the same period. All nations will have Jerusalem as their center of worship and will send their representatives there every year (Isa. 66:23). The next verse adds: "And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." Notice that this whole scene is spoken of men in their bodies of flesh, who are alive on the earth. The criminals judicially die and their bodies are burned. The inhabitants of and visitors to Jerusalem may walk outside the city and see the great crematory. There evidently will be so many |