In each blog, I often reference many different topics that I've already covered, and maybe you've missed. Please review my blogs to read more...
CLICK HERE! for an index to previous blogs.
_______________________
If you haven't read Part 1 yet, please go back and do so.
You really won't understand some of the terms, and subjects that I discuss below unless you have read Part 1.
Origin of the word: brimstone
CLICK HERE! for an index to previous blogs.
_______________________
If you haven't read Part 1 yet, please go back and do so.
You really won't understand some of the terms, and subjects that I discuss below unless you have read Part 1.
Origin of the word: brimstone
Strong's Greek Dictionary of the New Testament:
[G2303 - theion, brimstone]
We are told that "Theion originally denoted fire from heaven".
This word theion comes from the Greek word [G2304 - theios], of which we read the following:
This word theion comes from the Greek word [G2304 - theios], of which we read the following:
Theios means :
[1] DIVINE, and is used
(1a) of THE POWER OF GOD (2 Pet 1:3):
... and:
(1b) of His [God's] nature, (2 Pet 1:4):
Notice that both of these, His Divine power and His Divine nature, are given to us from God.
[2] In Acts 17:29 it is used as a noun with the definite article, to denote the Deity, and the One True God.
Why is there brimstone in the lake of fire?
Because, God Almighty, Himself is in this fire!
God IS the Divine Fire... He is the Spiritual "Consuming Fire".
Heb 12:29 For our God IS a consuming fire.
This fire is not only Spiritual, it is DIVINE.
God IS the Divine Fire... He is the Spiritual "Consuming Fire".
Heb 12:29 For our God IS a consuming fire.
This fire is not only Spiritual, it is DIVINE.
This Divine Fire will burn up and completely destroy anything that in un-Holy within His created ones.
God is also the Spiritual Divine Brimstone - those going through this fire will be protected by Him!
If you'll recall from Part 1, brimstone not only helps purify, fumigate, and bleaches (makes white), it also protects one from fire as it's a poor conductor of heat.
God is also the Spiritual Divine Brimstone - those going through this fire will be protected by Him!
If you'll recall from Part 1, brimstone not only helps purify, fumigate, and bleaches (makes white), it also protects one from fire as it's a poor conductor of heat.
Jesus, the Christ did not die on the Cross in vain.
He will not fail to save the whole world!
He "so loved the WORLD" that He died for it's salvation and He WILL draw ALL men unto Himself!
Every man, woman, and child will bend their knee, and confess with their tongue that Jesus is Lord once they learn righteousness:
Isa 26:9 ... the inhabitants of the WORLD will learn righteousness.
Every man, woman, and child will be purified by God Almighty's consuming fire!
It is by means of FIRE that all mankind will ultimately be saved! God has spoken it:
1 Co 3:13-15 EVERY man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be REVEALED by FIRE [God's Divine (Spiritual, Divine) Consuming Fire, Heb 12:29] and the Fire shall try [G1381 - dokimazo, to test, examine] EVERY man's work of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be BURNED, he shall suffer loss; but HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED; yet so as by Fire.
You say, "I don't believe it! We are saved by GRACE, not FIRE."
Does "fire" contradict "grace?"
Does "grace" contradict "fire?"
No, they do not contradict.
Eph 2:8 For BY GRACE are you saved...
How so?
1 Co 3:13-15 EVERY man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be REVEALED by FIRE [God's Divine (Spiritual, Divine) Consuming Fire, Heb 12:29] and the Fire shall try [G1381 - dokimazo, to test, examine] EVERY man's work of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be BURNED, he shall suffer loss; but HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED; yet so as by Fire.
You say, "I don't believe it! We are saved by GRACE, not FIRE."
Does "fire" contradict "grace?"
Does "grace" contradict "fire?"
No, they do not contradict.
Eph 2:8 For BY GRACE are you saved...
How so?
Tit 2:11 For the GRACE of God that brings SALVATION has appeared to ALL men, TEACHING [G3811 - paideuo]...
What happens when Grace appears?
It teaches:
[G3811 - paideuo] From G3816; to train up a child, that is, educate, or (by implication) discipline (by punishment): - chasten (-ise), instruct, learn, teach.
Such words as discipline, punish, and chastise, are great TRIALS that we are to go through and endure. These things are not fun, but wearisome.
What happens when Grace appears?
It teaches:
[G3811 - paideuo] From G3816; to train up a child, that is, educate, or (by implication) discipline (by punishment): - chasten (-ise), instruct, learn, teach.
Such words as discipline, punish, and chastise, are great TRIALS that we are to go through and endure. These things are not fun, but wearisome.
Peter has instructed us with the following wisdom:
1 Pet 1:5-7 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto SALVATION [yes, and by 'grace'] ready to be REVEALED in the last time.
[REVEALED how? We just read it above - "REVEALED by FIRE"]
Wherein you GREATLY REJOICE [rejoice, Yes, but also with a heavy heart], though now for a season, if need be, you are IN HEAVINESS through MANIFOLD temptations [trials]:
That the trial [G1383 - dokimion, testing, trial] of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes though it [your faith] be TRIED [G1381 - dokimazo, to test, examine] WITH FIRE [fire is an important aspect of saving grace], might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
Salvation involves the trying of our faith "with FIRE".
This Peter calls our "FIERY trial":
1 Pet 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the FIERY TRIAL which IS [certain] to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you [or you only].
1 Pet 1:5-7 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto SALVATION [yes, and by 'grace'] ready to be REVEALED in the last time.
[REVEALED how? We just read it above - "REVEALED by FIRE"]
Wherein you GREATLY REJOICE [rejoice, Yes, but also with a heavy heart], though now for a season, if need be, you are IN HEAVINESS through MANIFOLD temptations [trials]:
That the trial [G1383 - dokimion, testing, trial] of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes though it [your faith] be TRIED [G1381 - dokimazo, to test, examine] WITH FIRE [fire is an important aspect of saving grace], might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
Salvation involves the trying of our faith "with FIRE".
This Peter calls our "FIERY trial":
1 Pet 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the FIERY TRIAL which IS [certain] to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you [or you only].
Peter is not speaking of literal fire, but Spiritual fire, God's Divine, all CONSUMING Spiritual fire.
There is a reason for the literal brimstone in the fire that destroyed Sodom and there is a reason for the Spiritual brimstone [symbolic] that is in the Lake of Fire [also symbolic] Judgment.
Surely we don't think that God could not have destroyed Sodom and the neighboring cities with fire alone?
Was the brimstone necessary to destroy Sodom?
Not only didn't God need to use brimstone to destroy Sodom: He didn't even need to use fire.
God could have just made Sodom DISAPPEAR!
God destroyed Sodom with fire and brimstone for a purpose! I'll get to that purpose shortly.
Just as there are properties of "fire" that God wants us to understand in the Spiritual, there are properties of "brimstone" that God wants us to understand in the Spiritual!
God IS Spirit and ALL that He is shaping and creating is Spiritual.
We will have Spiritual bodies, we are Spiritual temples, we are to produce Spiritual fruit, we will live in Spiritual Jerusalem, in Spiritual Zion, in Spiritual Heaven, as members of a Spiritual Kingdom, Headed by a God Who IS Spirit!
The physical and natural will eventually ALL pass away.
The two laws of thermodynamics are at work on every piece of matter in the physical universe.
Everything physical is growing older, colder, and darker - it will all come to an end one day.
First Physical - THEN Spiritual
1 Co 15:46 Howbeit that was NOT FIRST which is Spiritual, BUT that which is natural [G5591 - psuchikos, soulish, physical]; and AFTERWARD that which is Spiritual.
Christendom teaches that first comes the natural, the soulish, the physical, and then afterwards a better version of the natural. As in, the natural will be transformed into a better version of natural.
God is not building a better version of our physical bodies.
We will be given completely separate Spiritual bodies - the "natural" will have nothing to do with us:
1 Co 15:41-46 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory.
SO ALSO is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a SPIRITUAL BODY.
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul [natural: subject to death and corruption]; the last Adam [Jesus] was made a quickening [G2227 - zoopoieio] Spirit [NOT subject to death or corruption].
Howbeit [indeed] that was NOT FIRST which is Spiritual, BUT that which is natural; and AFTERWARD that which is Spiritual.
What God is creating is Spiritual and eternal.
But first He created the physical and the temporary.
He has dealt with the physical and temporary in the past, and will also do so in the future, but the time will come when God will do away with ALL physical things, and then ALL will be Spiritual.
There was an OLD Covenant and now there is a NEW Covenant. The first was based solely on the physical and temporary promises, whereas the second is based on Spiritual AND permanent promises!
The reason there was "brimstone" in the fire from heaven when God destroyed Sodom and the cities of the plain is that brimstone is a purging and purifying agent...
Brimstone means DIVINE!
This purging of the plains of these evil cities was a DIVINE purging fire from the God of heaven.
God so divinely purged those cities of the plain that their very location is nothing more than a matter of speculation for archaeologists now!
To show God’s utter disdain for the sins of that land, God did not merely destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities, but He wiped them off the face of the earth as an example to us of what He intends to do with any, and every thing "natural", "sinful", and "carnal" within mankind!
That land was then pure! It was fumigated... made white... purged of every and all wickedness of its inhabitants.
We've already covered what happened to the inhabitants of Sodom in another blog.
What do you suppose might have been the fate of Sodom had Jesus preached His message there and performed His healing miracles there? We don’t have to suppose or guess, because Jesus has already told us exactly what would have happened if He had taught and healed in Sodom:
Mat 11:23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be bought down to hell [hades, the unseen]: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
Jesus did not come to eternally destroy the Sodomites nor to torture them for eternity. He came to repair Sodom, and ALL of mankind:
John 1:29 The Lamb of God, which takes away the sin OF THE WORLD.
1 Tim 4:10 ... we trust in the Living God, Who IS the Savior of ALL MEN, specially of those that believe.
Sodom is to be our example... it's a picture of what God intends to accomplish in the end.
God is the Fire - He is the consuming agent... He is also the brimstone.
He will burn up all carnality, He will purify, and fumigate, and make white - ALL of mankind.
Divine Fire and Divine Brimstone are nothing more than Spiritual symbols that God is using to try and show us exactly what His intentions are!
At the Great White Throne Judgment, unbelievers will be chastened (punished for their lives of sin) and cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone which is the second death. They will remain dead until Christ abolishes all death, including the second, at which time those unbelievers will be vivified [G2227 - zoopoieo - made alive] and they will emerge from the Lake of Fire and Brimstone purified, purged, fumigated, healed, and bleached white!
In the end (consummation), ALL of His sons and daughters will be Pure as He is Pure!
Luk 2:9-11 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the Glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which SHALL BE to ALL PEOPLE.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
Some of these excerpts are from my personal notes copied from 30+ years of studying... some of these notes are direct copies of various sources - I do not claim to have authored every word of this... it's just a mass collection I've tucked away over the years for my own personal studies... I didn't consider a bibliography at the time I directly copied small excerpts from various authors. Also, any emphasis (underlines, bold text, all CAPS, etc.) noted above was only meant to capture my personal attention as I studied...
There is a reason for the literal brimstone in the fire that destroyed Sodom and there is a reason for the Spiritual brimstone [symbolic] that is in the Lake of Fire [also symbolic] Judgment.
Surely we don't think that God could not have destroyed Sodom and the neighboring cities with fire alone?
Was the brimstone necessary to destroy Sodom?
Not only didn't God need to use brimstone to destroy Sodom: He didn't even need to use fire.
God could have just made Sodom DISAPPEAR!
God destroyed Sodom with fire and brimstone for a purpose! I'll get to that purpose shortly.
Just as there are properties of "fire" that God wants us to understand in the Spiritual, there are properties of "brimstone" that God wants us to understand in the Spiritual!
God IS Spirit and ALL that He is shaping and creating is Spiritual.
We will have Spiritual bodies, we are Spiritual temples, we are to produce Spiritual fruit, we will live in Spiritual Jerusalem, in Spiritual Zion, in Spiritual Heaven, as members of a Spiritual Kingdom, Headed by a God Who IS Spirit!
The physical and natural will eventually ALL pass away.
The two laws of thermodynamics are at work on every piece of matter in the physical universe.
Everything physical is growing older, colder, and darker - it will all come to an end one day.
First Physical - THEN Spiritual
1 Co 15:46 Howbeit that was NOT FIRST which is Spiritual, BUT that which is natural [G5591 - psuchikos, soulish, physical]; and AFTERWARD that which is Spiritual.
Christendom teaches that first comes the natural, the soulish, the physical, and then afterwards a better version of the natural. As in, the natural will be transformed into a better version of natural.
God is not building a better version of our physical bodies.
We will be given completely separate Spiritual bodies - the "natural" will have nothing to do with us:
1 Co 15:41-46 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory.
SO ALSO is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a SPIRITUAL BODY.
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul [natural: subject to death and corruption]; the last Adam [Jesus] was made a quickening [G2227 - zoopoieio] Spirit [NOT subject to death or corruption].
Howbeit [indeed] that was NOT FIRST which is Spiritual, BUT that which is natural; and AFTERWARD that which is Spiritual.
What God is creating is Spiritual and eternal.
But first He created the physical and the temporary.
He has dealt with the physical and temporary in the past, and will also do so in the future, but the time will come when God will do away with ALL physical things, and then ALL will be Spiritual.
There was an OLD Covenant and now there is a NEW Covenant. The first was based solely on the physical and temporary promises, whereas the second is based on Spiritual AND permanent promises!
The reason there was "brimstone" in the fire from heaven when God destroyed Sodom and the cities of the plain is that brimstone is a purging and purifying agent...
Brimstone means DIVINE!
This purging of the plains of these evil cities was a DIVINE purging fire from the God of heaven.
God so divinely purged those cities of the plain that their very location is nothing more than a matter of speculation for archaeologists now!
To show God’s utter disdain for the sins of that land, God did not merely destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities, but He wiped them off the face of the earth as an example to us of what He intends to do with any, and every thing "natural", "sinful", and "carnal" within mankind!
That land was then pure! It was fumigated... made white... purged of every and all wickedness of its inhabitants.
We've already covered what happened to the inhabitants of Sodom in another blog.
What do you suppose might have been the fate of Sodom had Jesus preached His message there and performed His healing miracles there? We don’t have to suppose or guess, because Jesus has already told us exactly what would have happened if He had taught and healed in Sodom:
Mat 11:23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be bought down to hell [hades, the unseen]: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
Jesus did not come to eternally destroy the Sodomites nor to torture them for eternity. He came to repair Sodom, and ALL of mankind:
John 1:29 The Lamb of God, which takes away the sin OF THE WORLD.
1 Tim 4:10 ... we trust in the Living God, Who IS the Savior of ALL MEN, specially of those that believe.
Sodom is to be our example... it's a picture of what God intends to accomplish in the end.
God is the Fire - He is the consuming agent... He is also the brimstone.
He will burn up all carnality, He will purify, and fumigate, and make white - ALL of mankind.
Divine Fire and Divine Brimstone are nothing more than Spiritual symbols that God is using to try and show us exactly what His intentions are!
At the Great White Throne Judgment, unbelievers will be chastened (punished for their lives of sin) and cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone which is the second death. They will remain dead until Christ abolishes all death, including the second, at which time those unbelievers will be vivified [G2227 - zoopoieo - made alive] and they will emerge from the Lake of Fire and Brimstone purified, purged, fumigated, healed, and bleached white!
In the end (consummation), ALL of His sons and daughters will be Pure as He is Pure!
Luk 2:9-11 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the Glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which SHALL BE to ALL PEOPLE.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
Some of these excerpts are from my personal notes copied from 30+ years of studying... some of these notes are direct copies of various sources - I do not claim to have authored every word of this... it's just a mass collection I've tucked away over the years for my own personal studies... I didn't consider a bibliography at the time I directly copied small excerpts from various authors. Also, any emphasis (underlines, bold text, all CAPS, etc.) noted above was only meant to capture my personal attention as I studied...
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