“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)
“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:6)
These truths which are foolishness to the wicked are accepted by those who have been hid in Christ as just that, truths, promises that will be fulfilled. But in our ears today they still seem strange at times, for in reality the Lord our God has created everyone as a living soul, immortal in that sense, an existence that will never end, by His design.
We cannot fully comprehend yet in this life the promises of Psalm 16:11, those pleasures forevermore, much less the totality of being in the presence of the Almighty, where fulness of joy is. The wonders of 1st Corinthians 2:9 are unimaginable to us today.
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
To those who do not love Him, who have denied the truth of those invisible things they have clearly seen, who have denied the complete and total Sovereignty of the Living God, who have rejected the truth of John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” the second death awaits. They will not cease to exist, they also will live forever, yet in a manner that is even more difficult to imagine.
We are told of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, unparalleled sorrow and anger beyond comprehension, of the worm that dieth not. We read of a fire that will never be quenched, of intense physical pain that cannot be compared to anything in this life, a Lake of Fire that no artist can render properly.
Eternal thirst, eternal pain, eternal suffering and a hopelessness that will never know respite. Of eternal death.
“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” (Gal. 6:10)
“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Matt. 22:39)
Here is the reason for those tears that will someday be wiped away, here is the reason we seek the lost, warn the wicked, stand against our adversary. Here is why we obey Him who we love.
“That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25)
“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matt. 5:45)
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev. 4:11)
In these last days of the Gentiles, when men have become lovers of self, when good is being called evil, while many are being deceived, far too many of those who have been born-again have begun to concentrate too much on their eternal home and have forgotten that place of eternal death. They love only their neighbors who will be their neighbors in heaven and have turned their ears from that wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Eternal life has caused them to forget those who are facing eternal death.
The command to not forsake the assembling of themselves together has overshadowed the command to go into all the world.
I fear it will take many centuries before their tears will be wiped away.
If not because of love, if not because they all are our neighbors, that we are in all truth the only “good Samaritans,” the only ones who know these truths, the only ones sent with the message of eternal life, then Ezekiel 3:18 should be enough to send you into that field that is white and ready for the harvest.
“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.”
There is a pain in heaven my friends, a pain that even in our glorified bodies we will be able to feel, it is the pain of sorrow, of knowing what we were called to do and realize we did not do so. Much time will pass for many of us before those tears will be wiped away.
Sit and listen for those screams occasionally, hear the weeping of the eternally dead. It will change you.
