T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
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that part of hades, and the part which is the abode of the lost souls; was a great gulf. In the latter mentioned part of hades, the lost souls were tormented. Luke i6:24. After Jesus had descended into the lower parts of the earth, (Eph. 4:9) that is, into the paradise part of hades, He then, with His resurrected body, (which did not go to hades, but into the grave) ascended to heaven, and, in doing so, He “led a multitude of captives.” Eph.4:8. This is the correct rendering. This means that -He changed the loca- jjtlon of the paradise part of hades; and this is proven further by the fact that When Paul was caught up into paradise, he was caught up to the third heaven. So, that is where paradise is since the- ascension of Jesus. It is at the third heaven. That is where the disembodied spirits of our loved ones are to day. How they must be comforted! The word “Gehenna” is translated “hell” in the following passages: Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; Jas. 3:6. This means the same thing as the lake of fire, in Rev. 19:20; and 20:10, 14, 15. It is the place of the eternal punishment of the wicked, when they shall receive their bodies from the grave, and their souls from hades. It is called the second death, but it does not mean annihilation. At the judgment of the nations Matt. 25:31-46, thé unsaved shall be consigned to everlasting fire, even without having' to die a physical death. Just before the millennium, the beast (head of the re vived Roman Empire) and the false pro phet (anti-Christ) shall be sent to the' same place. And if you think that they shall be annihilated, please notice that they are described as still being there after a thousand years are passed—Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:10. Saints, will eternity be long enough for us to adequately praise God for sav ing us from such a place?
HELL?
| HE word “Shed,’ used in the original language of the Old Testament, is translated “grave” in Gen. 42:38; Job 14: 13; and Ps. 88:3. In these passages it refers simply to the place ot the dead body. But in 2 Sam. 22:6; Ps. 18:5; and Ps. 116:3, the same word is translated “hell,” and certainly refers to a place of great sorrow,—not simply the grave. To say that “the sorrows of hell got hold upon me,” means that I was experiencing some foretaste of hell. Again the same word is translated “hell” in Ezek. 32:21, and shows that those in hell are conscious. So the word not only points to the unconscious state Of the dead body, in the grave, but also to the conscious state of the disembodied spirit in its place of abode. From the original language of the New Testament, the word “hades,” meaning “the unseen world” is translated “hell” in the following passages: Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; Rev. 1:18; 6 : 8 ; 20:13,14. Hades not only means the unseen world, but clearly indicates that it was in two divisions—viz: the place of the spirits of the lost, and the place of the spirits Of the saved, vine latter was called “paradise,” and is the place to which the spirit of Jesus went accom panied by the spirit of the saved thief. Luke 23:43. - But Christ’s soul was not left in that part of hades called paradise, neither did His body see corruption in the grave. Hades, where dwelt the saved souls, was “Abraham’s bosom.” This is the same as paradise, and its occupants were comforted. Luke 16:25. Between
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