who bypass the love of God in Christ and choose to follow Satan. The fires of hell will never go out and will never be quenched accord ing to the very words which fell from the lips of the Lord Jesus. The Great Tribulation Q. When will the great tribulation take place, before or after the rap ture? A. The great tribulation will take place during the last three and one-half years of the “ seventieth week” of Daniel, this “week” being a period of seven years. As soon as the Church is translated — for the rapture is the next event in the his tory of the Church and nothing needs to occur before Jesus comes for His Church — and the restrain ing influence of the Holy Spirit working in the Church is taken away, then shall “ that wicked one be revealed,” who is the antichrist. (See 2 Thes. 2:7-10.) He will seem to the ungodly world to be a great peacemaker. To the Jews he will pretend to be their Messiah. He w i l l confirm a c o v e n a n t w i t h them and will receive allegiance from them until he sets up his image in the “holy place” of the restored Jewish temple to be wor shiped. Daniel calls this coming event “ the abomination of desolation.” An “ abomination” to a devout Jew is idolatry and the believing rem nant of Israel will spurn the pre tensions of the false Messiah. Then the antichrist and all the hosts of Satan will turn upon Israel and persecute her and that will be “ the great tribulation” of which our Lord spoke. (Read also Dan. 9:27 with Matt. 24:15 ff.) The great tribulation will terminate with the return of Christ in glory to deliver His earthly people.
Crowns for the Christian Q. What are the “ crowns” the Christian is to receive? A. This question can be answered by Scripture verses. Take, for in stance, James 1:12, “ Blessed is the man that endureth temptation [or trials, R.V.]: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” When Paul was nearing the end of his earthly pilgrimage he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7, 8, “ I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of right eousness, w h i c h the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” For singleness of purpose, we read in 1 Corinthians 9:25, “ Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible [crown].” For those who are faith ful in feeding the flock of God, we read in 1 Peter 5:4, “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” And there is the martyr’s crown: “ Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). The soul winner’s crown is described in 1 Thessalonians 2:19, 20, “ For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy.” Th e s e c r own s have nothing whatever to do with our salvation which is a free gift of God pur chased for us on Calvary by Christ. But they are incentives to service for Him.
Prayer for the Unsaved Q. Should we pray for the un saved? A. By all means! We find in the Bible a number of such prayers. The Lord Himself set the example in Luke 23:34 where He prayed for His own murderers. Stephen also prayed for those who stoned him. Read 1 Timothy 2:1 where we are told to make “ supplication, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks . . . for all men.” Paul connects this with verse 4 in the same chapter saying that “ God our Saviour . . . will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” “ All men” certainly includes the uncon verted. How could anyone ever win souls without first praying to God for the help of the Holy Spirit in witnessing? We should have a prayer list of unsaved for whom we pray daily. Hades and Gehenna Q. What is the difference between “ H a d e s ” in Luke 16:23 and “ Gehenna” in Revelation 20:11- 15? A. Hade s is the abode of the Christless dead where they await the great white throne judgment. It is not purgatory for that is only an imaginary place and not taught in the Word of God. It is not a “ second chance.” It is a waiting place, but only for those who have rejected Christ. The believer’s spir it goes right into the presence of Christ at death, there to await Christ’s second coming when He will raise the body of the believer which will be reunited with the spirit. Gehenna is the lake of fire, the second death, the final doom of the devil, his angels and all of those
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