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Do All Go Through the Lake of Fire?

Mike,

I hear people, especially church folks, yell at the top of their lungs that they are saved. How can one be saved if one is still sinning? And to be totally cleaned, don’t we all have to go through the “Lake of Fire?” The Bible tells us that all sin. Please clear this up for me.

F____

Hi F______,

I challenge anyone to show me where anyone is already saved.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God.

It is in the Greek ‘aorist’ tense, and it is what we would call the present progressive.

This is always the case in the Greek when it comes to our present spiritual standing. In the first three chapters of Revelation we are told that “he that overcometh…” will I give to “eat of the tree of life” etc.

The only thing offered to those who are not overcomers in this age is death. Salvation in the first resurrection is only offered to “he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.”

If we don’t ‘endure to the end, we won’t be saved.

When it comes to the phrase ‘lake of fire,’ we are never to apply this phraseology to the overcomers.

Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

The second death is ‘the lake of fire,’ and the lake of fire “is for the devil and his angels:”

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

We really need to keep these phrases scriptural. We endure a “fiery trial.”

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

Yet we are promised that we will not be hurt of the second death, which is the lake of fire.

It is indeed the very same fire. But it really is important to maintain a “pattern of sound words.”

I hope I have cleared this up for you.

Your brother,

Mike

On the other hand, this is what I was told by four apostatized elders:

“The Holy Spirit has inspired John to label the raising of the “rest of the dead” to life after 1,000 years as the FIRST RESURRECTION. How can that be if the Elect were ordinally raised 1,000 years earlier and we call that the first resurrection? We have a major discrepancy in our doctrine teaching there are TWO resurrections. This is a consequence of not applying ALL the words of the prophecy of Revelation to us the Elect in this age. There is only ONE Resurrection that comes in two parts (the coming of Christ) via the down payment and the fullness when the rest of the dead (the Gentiles within and without us) are raised. This is perfectly in harmony once we dig deep and examine it which I hope this multitude of counsellors will now do.” [End of quote]

This is teaching us that “we which have the firstfruits of the spirit” and who are promised that if we overcome we will not be hurt of the second death”, that we will after all, be hurt of the second death, but we will be the first to experience the second death. I think that represents that false doctrine accurately. Here is a direct quote from the paper Partakers of the Second Death: “…all men will experience the purifying fire of the one event of the second death.”

Of course, the truth is that if we are the first to fall into the ground and die, then there is no requirement to be hurt of the second death in order to live by every word of God.

Yes, it is true. I did teach this false doctrine for several years, and along with the other faithful elders, we were all used by the Lord to do so, just as Peter, Paul and John and all of the apostles were used of the Lord to tell the Jews that they must live under the law of Moses. This teaching was extant from the day of Pentecost when the holy spirit was first given to men until Paul’s letters from his Roman prison many years later. For decades the apostles taught that the Jews must live under the law of Moses, and then they did a 180 degree turn in their doctrine. That happened because the Lord opened their eyes to see that what He had already shown them was really the truth; which truth was there really is “no difference” between [the Jews and the Gentiles (Acts 15:9)].

Act 15:8  And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
Act 15:9  And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Act 15:10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Act 15:11  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

After pointing out that God “put no difference between [the Jews and the Gentiles], and after making it clear that “neither our fathers nor we were able to bear [the law of Moses]”, Peter and Paul still agreed to place a big difference between the Jews and the Gentiles with the letter to the Gentiles which the apostles and elders sent out to the Gentile Christians following this Jerusalem conference about that very subject. James recalls what they had all agreed to decades later when Paul is apprehended of the Jews in Jerusalem:

Act 21:17  And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
Act 21:18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
Act 21:19  And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
Act 21:21  And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
Act 21:22  What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
Act 21:25  As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
Act 21:26  Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.

All the apostles kept the law of Moses up until after Paul was put in prison, and the scriptures were opened up more to his heavens, and he wrote these words:

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

We are the temple of God, and when the second death is through, there will be no physical temple for those who are hurt of the second death because then God will be all in all, and Christ and His Christ will be the city and the temple:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

There will be an outward physical and natural judgment of the great whore – all the religions of the world – in preparation for the wedding supper of the Lamb at the beginning of the millennium. We know this is true because we are told:

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

There is an order to the Lord’s plan, and He cares not that some teach “if you see it as ordinal, then you can, and you will fail to see the spiritual inward application.” Nothing is further from the truth. The beasts around the throne have eyes before and behind as well as within;

Rev 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Rev 4:8  And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

So the truth is the opposite – if all you see is inward, then your spiritual vision will be distorted because:

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

God’s true and faithful elect can see what has happened in the past, they can see what is before them, and they can see within at this very moment. Those who know the voice of Christ therefore know that when the great whore is judged outwardly, her outward judgment takes place before the marriage supper of the Lamb just prior to the millennium. Those who are granted to be His wife are those who will bring forth His children through the birth pains of the second death which destroys death and brings all men to God Who will then be “all in all”:

Rev 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
Rev 19:2  For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
Rev 19:3  And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
Rev 19:4  And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
Rev 19:5  And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.

So what is the very next thing in the Lord’s plan? That might be hard to discern if you think it is a sin to say your Father loves you more than He loves those He casts into the lake of fire/second death. Nevertheless, this is what we are told happens next in the revealed order of the predestined events of the Lord’s plan for the redemption of all men. The Lord needs a wife through whom to produce many children, so we are told in the very next verse:

Rev 19:6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

During the millennium the world is being reigned over by the Lord and His wife, and Satan is about to be put in prison for a thousand years. None of this pertains to those in the second death. No one in the second death will reign over the kingdoms of the world for a thousand years. Will they come up through great tribulation and make their robes white in the blood of the Lamb? Of course, they will. There is no other name whereby men can be saved. But living by every word does not change the fact that this “great multitude which no man can number” will never be the “144,000 firstfruits unto God and the Lamb.” This is what the Lord meant when He told the rich man:

Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Lazarus’s rewards cannot be given to the rich man, and the rich man’s torment and curses cannot hurt Lazarus. That is the tenor of all scripture, and even if I were a part of teaching otherwise, it will not change this message which is found throughout both the Old and the New testaments:

Deu 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
Deu 7:7  The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: [Gideon’s army]

Which Christ reaffirms in the New Testament in these words:

Mat 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Now let’s continue reading what happens after the great whore is destroyed:

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

What happens after the “marriage supper of the Lamb” to His wife, who we are told is those who rule with Christ a thousand years? The statement in Rev 19:9 “Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb” is the same as:

Rev 20:6  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.

This is what happens after the millennium which is the marriage supper of the Lamb and His wife making herself ready to bring forth much fruit through the judgment pains of all those who will be hurt of the second death:

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Rev 19:13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

“The armies in heaven…clothed in fine linen” are “the righteousness of saints” of this earlier verse:

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

In other words, the bride of Christ is the armies in heaven, and the millennium is over, because we are told, “He does judge and make war.”

We are told there is another “supper”, but this ‘supper’ is not called “the marriage supper of the Lamb” because He is not marrying His bride in this supper. His bride are the “few” who overcome the wicked one and who overcome the weaknesses of the flesh. This supper is not for the blessed few, rather it is for “all men”. This ‘supper’ is not at the beginning of the millennium. It is at the end of the millennium, and it includes “all men”:

Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev 19:16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Rev 19:17  And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18  That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

The “fowls that fly in the midst of heaven” are Satan and his angels who have been restrained from deceiving the nations for a thousand years. They have now been released from their millennial prison and go forth to deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth. They have been given dust to eat, and they are now having a feast at “the supper of the great God.”

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

And what does Satan do when he is “loosed a little season”?

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

This is the supper of the great God. By deceiving mankind, the devil and his angels are “eat[ing] the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great”, and this is what happens when Satan has mankind for his nourishment at “the supper of the great God.”

Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

All flesh is destroyed from the face of the earth at this point, and the stage is now set to begin to bring all men of all time to be at one with God, bringing in the final revelation of God being “all in all” as Paul reveals in:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he [“and His Christ”] must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Where in any prophecy of scripture does “all things come alike to all” require those who have been judged to “come forth to the resurrection of judgment”? Where does “all things come alike to all” require that the gulf between Lazarus and the rich man be bridged by a total distortion of ‘all things come alike to all’? Why cannot ‘all things come alike to all/living by every word’ mean that all men die to their old man, and yet not require that those whose dying “first begins at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17) also “experience the purifying fire of the second death”? According to Christ ‘all things come alike to all’ does not require those whose death first begins at the house of God to also experience a second death because:

Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Let’s continue to see what the Lord has revealed to us as He received it from His Father, concerning what His Father is doing:

Joh 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

This is simply what Christ’s Father has made known to Him concerning how He is working with His creatures:

Rev 19:19  And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21  And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

This supper is for “the fowls that fly in the heavens.” Matthew 13 reveals these ‘fowls’ to be “the devil” and his angels. They are not yet in the lake of fire:

Mat 13:4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

It is “the wicked one” and his angels, his “fowls”, who are invited to “eat the flesh” of “all men both free and bond, both small and great.” At this supper there is no mention of being at a marriage supper. There is no mention of being arrayed in white linen, clean and white, and there is no mention of a millennial rule. All those things are unique to “the marriage supper of the Lamb” which takes place at the beginning of the millennium a thousand years earlier.

“The supper of the great God” is the deception by Satan of all the nations in the four quarters of the earth. That deception ends with all flesh being destroyed from this planet, and then the beast and the false prophet and all the religions of this world will be cast into the lake of fire/second death as the Lord begins His process of destroying death through “the second death”. The second death IS the resurrection to judgment. That judgment will take place at the feet of those who were the very first to die to their old man and then be judged “now, in this life”:

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

I did not write the words “in this world”, but there they are. “This world” does not exist in the lake of fire, and those in the lake of fire will not bring forth “much fruit” as do those who “hate [their] lives in this world.”

Christ also talks about:

Mar 10:30  But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world [G165 aion] to come eternal life.

The lake of fire/second death is not “in this time”, and there are no “ages to come” after the all in all, which is the fruit of the second death.

Chapter 19 tells us that there is a marriage supper of the few chosen “in this world”, and it also tells us there is another “supper of the great God” which encompasses:

2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

I have no problem imagining the flack the apostles received when they changed their doctrine, because that is exactly what we are experiencing now. Phygellus, Hermogenes, Alexander the coppersmith and Hymenaeus worked very hard to make certain that everyone knew that Peter, Paul and John had all changed their doctrine, and they did all in their power to make that change appear as apostasy from the doctrine of Christ.

The apostle John, for example, was now calling the Passover “a feast of the Jews”.

Joh 5:1  After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Joh 6:4  And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

He did the same with the feast of tabernacles, distancing himself from any Christians who were still under the law of Moses:

Joh 7:2  Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.

On the other hand, Peter was doing all in his power to minimize the damage of this 180 degree change in doctrine by vouching for Paul’s apostleship:

2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

The error of the wicked was not the fact the apostles had changed their doctrine to align better with the scriptures. “The error of the wicked” was and is those who do not want to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”, and who want our emphasis to be on making our calling less special and less significant than it is, and making the curse of the second death less of a loss and a curse than it is by telling us that ‘we must all experience the one event of the purging fire of the second death’.

Of course, that flies in the face of the promise made to those who overcome in this age:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev 20:6  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.

I have a question for anyone who thinks that living by every word entails being hurt of the second death. My question is, “Where does John say (to quote that heretical belief) the Holy Spirit has inspired John to label the raising of the “rest of the dead” to life after the thousand years as “the FIRST RESURRECTION”? Where did the holy spirit inspire John to say that??”

The answer, of course, is that the holy spirit inspired John to say no such thing, and anyone who knows the voice of Christ will not hear His voice in that statement because that statement simply is not true. This is where those dissidents get that patently false doctrine:

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  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.

These false teachers have taken Revelation 20:5 and contorted it to make it mean ‘the thousand years were finished and THIS is the first resurrection.’ Wow! They go on to make the statement that the rest of the dead live not again to be sins yet within the lives of the faithful elect overcomers which must yet be purged in the second death. Again, wow! Is that the voice of Jesus Christ who says:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

The ERV (and other versions) has included the necessary parentheses.

Rev 20:5 (The other dead people did not live again until the 1,000 years were ended.) This is the first raising of the dead.

The very next verse explains that those in the first resurrection are the rulers during the thousand years which ‘rulers’ were also mentioned in verse 4:

Let’s just leave verse 5 out and see what constitutes “the first resurrection”:

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Rev 20:6  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.

It is the rulers who reign with Christ a thousand years who constitute “the first resurrection”. “The rest of the dead” are the exact opposite of “the first resurrection” because we are told they do not live again until after the thousand years are finished, and “the rest of the dead” will then be raised up to “shame and everlasting contempt, [and] the resurrection of damnation”:

Dan 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Dan 12:3  And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Greek: judgment].

‘The resurrection to life and the resurrection to judgment’ are the only two resurrections mentioned for mankind in scripture. One is at the beginning of the millennium, and the other is at the end of the short season of rebellion following the millennium. All men of all time are raised up from their graves in these two resurrections.

So ‘the rest of the dead’ of Revelation 20:5 is speaking of anyone who is not ruling and reigning with Christ after the first resurrection. These verses have literally nothing at all to do with my new man with sins still in him. Those who are reigning with Christ a thousand years have been perfected and have no sins remaining in them. These verses have nothing to do with my new man either. They are referring to two groups of people – those in the first resurrection and ‘the rest of the dead’. What this verse reveals is that those in the first resurrection were the first to spiritually die to their old man as the scriptures so amply demonstrate.

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Revelation 20:5 says ‘the rest of the dead’. So those in the first resurrection were the first to die, even though you will not find the phrase ‘first death’ anywhere in scripture. Neither will you find the phrase ‘second resurrection’, but we know there is a second resurrection simply because we do find the phrase “the first resurrection”. In the same way we know there was a group of people who died to their carnal mind while yet in bodies of flesh and blood, and who overcame the wicked one while still in bodies of flesh. They did all this first, and that is why they will not be hurt of the second death any more than those in the first resurrection can cross the gulf the Lord has placed between them and those in the first resurrection. Let’s read it with our own eyes:

Luk 16:19  There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: [“Have we not done many wonderful works in your name?”]
Luk 16:20  And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luk 16:21  And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luk 16:22  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luk 16:23  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luk 16:24  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
Luk 16:25  But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Luk 16:27  Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
Luk 16:28  For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Luk 16:29  Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
Luk 16:30  And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
Luk 16:31  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Teaching anything which says that gulf can be bridged is denying what Christ teaches us here in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. If we teach that we must be hurt of the second death, we deny these words and minimize the blessings of our birthright when we are clearly informed that there is a thousand year reign of Christ and all of His firstborn ‘Lazaruses’ between the two resurrections. Where in these words of Christ is this false doctrine of Lazarus experiencing the rich man’s curses or the rich man experiencing Lazarus’s rewards? Is not the exact opposite the emphasis of this parable?

Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

The first workers in the parable of the workers in the Lord’s vineyard were given life, but they did not receive life first. The fact the eleventh-hour workers received the same pay for just one hour of labor reveals the favor shown them by “the Lord of the vineyard”. In other parables we are informed that those same favored workers in the Lord’s vineyard will also be given rulership over the rest of mankind which will not be in the resurrection to life:

Luk 19:16  Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
Luk 19:17  And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.

These words capture the essential message of all of Christ’s parables concerning the kingdom of God, both within us and when “the kingdoms of this world…become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.”

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Again I ask, “Where is the gospel of the mixing of administrations to be found? Where are we ever told that those in the first resurrection will be hurt of the second death? Where is the gospel of rulership in the kingdom by those who are cast into the lake of fire?” The obvious answer is that it is not to be found. Joseph’s brothers, in type, were saved by the Lord’s Christ, Joseph, but they were never and will never be given dominion over the kingdoms of this world. Neither was Joseph ever tormented by his brothers after they bowed down to him. This doctrine teaches that we must experience the second death. Not just death, but ‘the second death’, and that belief is dispelled in the story of Joseph who experienced all of his suffering before any of his brothers, just as Lazarus experienced his sufferings before the rich man, placing a great unbridgeable gulf between the two of them.

In calling our time of being ‘carnal babes in Christ’ our ‘millennium’ in the past, I misspoke just as the apostles telling the Jews they must keep the law of Moses were wrong.

In calling our fiery experiences our ‘lake of fire’, we again did not use a pattern of sound words (2Ti 1:13). The physical millennium does not typify what we physically live out in this age. We will be spirit beings ruling over a physical earth during the millennium. The revelation of the physical millennium in the book of Revelation does not typify physical fiery trials we endure in this age. Ruling during that time will prepare us for our work with “the rest of the dead” during the “lake of fire [which] is the second death.” The rest of the dead are any and all who were not in the blessed and holy first resurrection.

For us to call the millennium a type of our time as a carnal babe in Christ is to call the antitype the type. The antitype is the fulfillment of the type. The first Adam is the last Adam in that Christ lived in the flesh, and that Adam is in Christ.

Act 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Christ is the last Adam. Our experience of having Satan hedged out of our lives just before Christ comes and crushes us to powder is the physical reality of the time when we will, as spirits, rule over the kingdoms of this world during the millennium, not the reverse.

Those who are “hurt of the second death…lake of fire” will never rule over the physical kingdoms of this world, and they will never overcome the wicked one, and they will never judge the beast who worships the dragon because the dragon is right there with them being purified by the fire of the second death/lake of fire. The first Adam is not the last Adam even though Christ is the first and the last. Christ is only the first Adam in the sense He is the Creator of Adam and because all things “live and move and have their being” in Him. Satan himself was created by Christ, but that does not make Christ Satan.

Act 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

I know this recent division is all of God, and it is for His purpose that we, as the apostles did, have seen a more perfect way. This is a very good time to emphasize Peter’s rhetorical questions:

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

If the righteous are scarcely saved by the ‘fiery trials’ of this time of being judged in bodies of flesh and being tempted by Satan, neither of which are even a factor in the lake of fire, “what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God” and “where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear”? Why is Peter even bothering to pose this question in two different ways if “all things come alike to all” means we must all endure the purging fire of the second death?

The answer is that those who do not overcome “in this time” will not appear in the first resurrection. They will not be resurrected to life, nor will they be ruling with Christ nor turning many to righteousness and shining as the stars in the firmament. They will not be the bride/wife bringing forth much fruit being the means by which Christ will show forth the excellent riches of His grace toward us because the lake of fire/second death ends the eons.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Rev 4:4  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats [Greek: thronos]: and upon the seats [Greek: thronos] I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

Peter’s point in posing that question twice is to make us take note that the resurrection of the wicked is a far inferior resurrection to that of those who get paid first, those who overcome the wicked one, and those who rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years enthroned with Christ wearing “on their heads crowns of gold”.

There will be no ‘thrones or crowns’ at the ‘all in all’ because Christ gives the kingdom back to His Father at that time.

1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.