The Teachings of Jesus

Death and Resurrection

Lesson #12 for September 20, 2014

Scriptures: [John 1:1-4; 5:28-29; 11:11,38-44; Luke 8:54-55; Matthew 5:22,29-30][i].

1.    In this lesson we will discuss the contrast between God’s statement recorded in Genesis 2:17 that sin leads to death and Satan’s statement recorded in Genesis 3:1-5 that God has lied to us, saying that sin does not lead to death. Satan would like us to believe that the soul is inherently immortal. He does not want to believe that because of sin, one day, even he will cease to exist.

2.    In order to fully understand the implications of these two opposite approaches, we must understand the difference between the sleep-death and the final-death which results from sin. Human beings were never supposed to die. It was only because humans believed Satan’s lies and distrusted our heavenly Father that humans have experienced-and we still experience-any form of death.

3.    Because sin separates us from God, we should all be dead; [(Genesis 2:17; Isaiah 59:2)]ii but, God has chosen to keep us alive-while living in sin-on a kind of life support so that we have an opportunity to learn the truth about Him, His government, and His character in opposition to Satan’s lies.

4.    During His ministry on this earth, Jesus repeatedly demonstrated that He had power over the sleep-death which has become so common on this earth. We know of three specific examples of resurrections from the sleep-death during His ministry: the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-15iii), Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:35-43iv), and Lazarus (John 11[v]).

5.    God’s description of the creation of man makes several things clear: “Then the LORD God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.” (Genesis 2:7vi, GNB)

Old Testament writers consistently held that a human is an indivisible living being. The various Hebrew terms usually translated as flesh, soul, and spirit are just alternative ways to describe, from different points of view, the human person as a whole. In harmony with this perspective, the Scriptures use different metaphors to describe death. Among them, sleep stands out as a fitting symbol to reflect the biblical understanding of the condition of the dead [(see Job 3:11-13, 14:12, Ps. 13:3, Jer. 51:39, Dan. 12:2)]vii. Death is the total end of life. Death is a state of unconsciousness in which there are no thoughts, emotions, works, or relationships of any kind [(Eccles. 9:5, 6, 10; Ps. 115:17; 146:4)]viii.—Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide for Sunday, September 14, 2014.

6.    In the days of Jesus, pagan ideas stemming from the philosophical teachings of Plato had convinced many people that the human body is nothing more than a cage which temporarily traps an immortal soul which comes from somewhere, lives in our bodies, and then escapes when we die to go either to heaven or to hell. That teaching has persisted in various forms and is still prevalent today including from the pulpit.

7.    Read Luke 23:43ix, NKJV: “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” It is important to note that there was no punctuation in the original Greek. One’s understanding-in English-of what Jesus said to the thief is entirely dependent upon where one places the comma. (Remember that Jesus was actually speaking Aramaic.) Of course, the idea that Jesus went directly to paradise on crucifixion Friday is contradicted by John 20:17[x] in which Jesus Himself said to Mary after His resurrection, “I have not yet gone back up to the Father.” Furthermore, the legs of the two thieves were broken because they were not yet dead that day. Are we supposed to think that the believing thief departed and went to heaven even before he died on this earth? (John 19:32xi) That would be logical nonsense!

8.    Again we read: “Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.” (Genesis 2:7, GNB) When God’s life-giving power is removed from the human body, that person dies the sleep-death; and if nothing is done to prevent it, his body deteriorates once again into dust. [(Psalm 104:29; Ecclesiastes 12:7)]xii In other words, the difference between a living human being and a dead one is God’s power. And Jesus has that power. That is why He could raise the dead. (John 14:6; 5:21)xiii

9.    When Jesus raised people from the dead, He simply returned the breath into their bodies; and as in the case of Jairus’s daughter, He said, “Get up!” (Luke 8:54-55)xiv In God’s eyes those who have suffered the sleep-death are merely sleeping. The three people mentioned in the Bible as being resurrected by Jesus were not given eternal life. They were still subject to the sleep-death once again. However, the time is coming when everyone who has died in that sleep-death will be raised to life again. [(John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15)]xv The righteous will be raised at the second coming, and the wicked will be raised at the third coming. (Daniel 12:2xvi) Every human being who has ever lived will be subject to God’s judgment. [(Ecclesiastes 12:14; Romans 2:1-11)]xvii As a result of that judgment, everyone will reap what he has chosen for himself. Those who have chosen to live a life separate from God will cease to exist; those who have chosen to associate themselves by faith with God will experience eternal life.

10.    God’s judgment is not an arbitrary command on God’s part which punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous. God simply reveals the truth about each person’s choices during his life on earth. And the results are inevitable. Some are “dead in trespasses and sins”; (Ephesians 2:1xviii, NKJV) others are “dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:11xix, NKJV) Every one of us will experience resurrection if we die the sleep-death. What happens to us after that is a result of the choices we make while in this life.

11.    There is one story that Jesus told that seems to support the idea of eternal torment. It is the story of the rich man and Lazarus recorded in Luke 16:19-31xx. It was actually an ancient, but non-biblical, story probably coming from Egypt but popularly believed by many people. Jesus modified the story slightly but used it to demonstrate that our future destiny is determined by the decisions we make every day in this life; there will be no second probation. But, this story should never be taken as a description of actual reality. The fact that God is omnipresent disproves immediately the idea that no one can cross from heaven to hell! There are many other details of the story which are obviously incorrect according to biblical teachings.

12.    Read Matthew 5:22,29-30; 23:33xxi. The Gospel writers actually used the two Greek words Hades (equivalent to the Hebrew she’d!) and Gehenna (a shortened Greek form of the Hebrew name Ge Hinnom, or Valley of Hinnom) 11 times in the Gospels. In that valley south of Jerusalem, the Old Testament Kings Ahaz and Manasseh (and possibly Solomon) set up temples to the god Molech and burned children as sacrifices. (2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6)xxii Sometime later, good King Josiah (2 Kings 23:10xxiii) stopped that practice and destroyed those places of worship. Jeremiah, who lived in Josiah’s day, predicted that God would make the place a “valley of slaughter.” (Jeremiah 7:32-33; 19:6xxiv) Later, it became the garbage dump for Jerusalem. In order to eliminate much of the litter that was tossed there, it was kept more or less continuously burning. Thus, Jesus used the name of that place as a kind of example of total and complete destruction.

13.    Read John 11:38-44xxv. Just a short time before His own crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, Jesus traveled to Jerusalem to raise His friend, Lazarus, from the grave. Jesus knew that by performing this resurrection from the dead just outside of Jerusalem with many, many people present to observe it, He was sealing His own fate with the Jewish leaders. Remember that the Sadducees, including the high priest Caiaphas, believed that there is nothing beyond this life and, thus, it was impossible for any resurrection to happen. The Pharisees and Sadducees almost continuously disagreed and argued about this and many other things. The Pharisees had opposed Jesus almost from the beginning of His ministry while the Sadducees had not; but, the resurrection of Lazarus alarmed the Sadducees and led to the cooperation of the Sadducees with the Pharisees in their determined effort to eliminate Jesus.

14.    Of course, by far the most important resurrection that Jesus performed was His own. Jesus said that He could lay down His life and take it up again. (John 10:17-18; 2:19xxvi)

When the voice of the mighty angel was heard at Christ’s tomb, saying, Thy Father calls Thee, the Saviour came forth from the grave by the life that was in Himself.—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages 785.2.

15.    When Christ arose from the grave, He proved that He was not just a creature like the rest of us but rather the Creator. Thus, He demonstrated once and for all the very distinct difference between Lucifer/Satan-a mere creature-and Jesus the Son of God.

16.    Read 1 Corinthians 15:17-20xxvii. Jesus proved that He has the power to raise us from the dead and to give us eternal life.

To the believer, Christ is the resurrection and the life. In our Saviour the life that was lost through sin is restored; for He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will: He is invested with the right to give immortality. The life that He laid down in humanity, He takes up again, and gives to humanity.—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 786.4-787.0.

The voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints. He looks upon the graves of the righteous, then, raising His hands to heaven, He cries: “Awake, awake, awake, ye that sleep in the dust, and arise!” Throughout the length and breadth of the earth the dead shall hear that voice, and they that hear shall live. . . . From the prison house of death they come, clothed with immortal glory, crying: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Corinthians 15:55xxviii. And the living righteous and the risen saints unite their voices in a long, glad shout of victory.—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 644.

17.    Satan has used his teaching that the soul is immortal to wreak havoc on many people down through the generations. Notice these words from Ellen White.

It is beyond the power of the human mind to estimate the evil which has been wrought by the heresy of eternal torment. The religion of the Bible, full of love and goodness, and abounding in compassion, is darkened by superstition and clothed with terror. When we consider in what false colors Satan has painted the character of God, can we wonder that our merciful Creator is feared, dreaded, and even hated? The appalling views of God which have spread over the world from the teachings of the pulpit have made thousands, yes, millions, of skeptics and infidels.

The theory of eternal torment is one of the false doctrines that constitute the wine of the abomination of Babylon, of which she makes all nations drink. Revelation 14:8; 17:2xxix.—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy 536.2,3 (1888); 4SP 356.2,3 (1884).

18.    Clearly, the idea of eternal torment gave Satan the opportunity to misrepresent God in terrible ways. This is perhaps the most important reason why we should believe in the sleep-death and the biblical truth of the final elimination of the wicked. They will not live in eternal torment in some everlasting fire.

19.    It is very important for Seventh-day Adventists to clearly understand these issues because one of our tasks at this point in history is to clearly explain the third angel’s message. (Revelation 14:9-11xxx) Can we do that?

20.    The truth about the resurrection sets Christianity apart from all other world religions. Buddha, Abraham, Muhammad, and Confucius are still dead. Only Christianity has as its founding Father a God who has the power over life and death and will live forever as the King of the universe. Paul wrote:

If Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God-for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. (1 Corinthians 15:14-19xxxi, New Living Translation)

21.    Down through the ages, especially in the first centuries after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Christians struggled with the idea that Jesus was fully God and also fully Man. Some (the theory of docetism believed by the Gnostics) have believed that He never really became a human being but rather that He just appeared to be a human being. Others (the adoptionism theory) have believed that He was a very good human being who was adopted into the family of God as a kind of lesser god. True Christians must reject all of those ideas. Jesus was truly human and truly divine. We cannot explain this fully, but it is true. We should not find it hard to believe that there are things which God knows and understands that we cannot!

22.    The truth about death-both the sleep-death and the final-death-and what it says about our wonderful God should keep us rejoicing forever!

© 2014, Kenneth Hart, MD, MA, MPH. Permission is hereby granted for any noncommercial use of these materials. Free distribution of all or of a portion of this material such as to a Bible study class is encouraged.    Info@Jheox.org

Last Modified: July 6, 2014

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i-John 1:1 In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 From the very beginning the Word was with God. 3 Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. 4 The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people.

John 5:28 Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice 29 and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.

John 11:11 Jesus said this and then added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up." 38 Deeply moved once more, Jesus went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone placed at the entrance. 39 "Take the stone away!" Jesus ordered. Martha, the dead man's sister, answered, "There will be a bad smell, Lord. He has been buried four days!" 40 Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believed?" 41 They took the stone away. Jesus looked up and said, "I thank you, Father, that you listen to me. 42 I know that you always listen to me, but I say this for the sake of the people here, so that they will believe that you sent me." 43 After he had said this, he called out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 He came out, his hands and feet wrapped in grave cloths, and with a cloth around his face. "Untie him," Jesus told them, "and let him go."

Luke 8:54 But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, "Get up, child!" 55 Her life returned, and she got up at once, and Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat.

Matthew 5:22 But now I tell you: if you are angry with your brother you will be brought to trial, if you call your brother "You good-for-nothing!' you will be brought before the Council, and if you call your brother a worthless fool you will be in danger of going to the fire of hell. 29 So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose one of your limbs than to have your whole body go off to hell.

ii-Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

Isaiah 59:2 It is because of your sins that he doesn't hear you. It is your sins that separate you from God when you try to worship him.

iii-Luke 7:11 Soon afterward Jesus went to a town named Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a large crowd. 12 Just as he arrived at the gate of the town, a funeral procession was coming out. The dead man was the only son of a woman who was a widow, and a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart was filled with pity for her, and he said to her, "Don't cry." 14 Then he walked over and touched the coffin, and the men carrying it stopped. Jesus said, "Young man! Get up, I tell you!" 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

iv-Mark 5:35 While Jesus was saying this, some messengers came from Jairus' house and told him, "Your daughter has died. Why bother the Teacher any longer?" 36 Jesus paid no attention to what they said, but told him, "Don't be afraid, only believe." 37 Then he did not let anyone else go on with him except Peter and James and his brother John. 38 They arrived at Jairus' house, where Jesus saw the confusion and heard all the loud crying and wailing. 39 He went in and said to them, "Why all this confusion? Why are you crying? The child is not dead - she is only sleeping!" 40 They started making fun of him, so he put them all out, took the child's father and mother and his three disciples, and went into the room where the child was lying. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, ["Talitha, koum,"] which means, "Little girl, I tell you to get up!" 42 She got up at once and started walking around. (She was twelve years old.) When this happened, they were completely amazed. 43 But Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone, and he said, "Give her something to eat."

v-John 11:1 A man named Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, became sick. Bethany was the town where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 2 (This Mary was the one who poured the perfume on the Lord's feet and wiped them with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was sick.) 3 The sisters sent Jesus a message: "Lord, your dear friend is sick." 4 When Jesus heard it, he said, "The final result of this sickness will not be the death of Lazarus; this has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory." 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he received the news that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days. 7 Then he said to the disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." 8 "Teacher," the disciples answered, "just a short time ago the people there wanted to stone you; and are you planning to go back?" 9 Jesus said, "A day has twelve hours, doesn't it? So those who walk in broad daylight do not stumble, for they see the light of this world. 10 But if they walk during the night they stumble, because they have no light." 11 Jesus said this and then added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up." 12 The disciples answered, "If he is asleep, Lord, he will get well." 13 Jesus meant that Lazarus had died, but they thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 but for your sake I am glad that I was not with him, so that you will believe. Let us go to him." 16 Thomas (called the Twin) said to his fellow disciples, "Let us all go along with the Teacher, so that we may die with him!" 17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been buried four days before. 18 Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Judeans had come to see Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother's death. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, "If you had been here, Lord, my brother would not have died! 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask him for." 23 "Your brother will rise to life," Jesus told her. 24 "I know," she replied, "that he will rise to life on the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; 26 and those who live and believe in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 "Yes, Lord!" she answered. "I do believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." 28 After Martha said this, she went back and called her sister Mary privately. "The Teacher is here," she told her, "and is asking for you." 29 When Mary heard this, she got up and hurried out to meet him 30 (Jesus had not yet arrived in the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.) 31 The people who were in the house with Mary comforting her followed her when they saw her get up and hurry out. They thought that she was going to the grave to weep there. 32 Mary arrived where Jesus was, and as soon as she saw him, she fell at his feet. "Lord," she said, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died!" 33 Jesus saw her weeping, and he saw how the people with her were weeping also; his heart was touched, and he was deeply moved. 34 "Where have you buried him?" he asked them. "Come and see, Lord," they answered. 35 Jesus wept. 36 "See how much he loved him!" the people said. 37 But some of them said, "He gave sight to the blind man, didn't he? Could he not have kept Lazarus from dying?" 38 Deeply moved once more, Jesus went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone placed at the entrance. 39 "Take the stone away!" Jesus ordered. Martha, the dead man's sister, answered, "There will be a bad smell, Lord. He has been buried four days!" 40 Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believed?" 41 They took the stone away. Jesus looked up and said, "I thank you, Father, that you listen to me. 42 I know that you always listen to me, but I say this for the sake of the people here, so that they will believe that you sent me." 43 After he had said this, he called out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 He came out, his hands and feet wrapped in grave cloths, and with a cloth around his face. "Untie him," Jesus told them, "and let him go." 45 Many of the people who had come to visit Mary saw what Jesus did, and they believed in him. 46 But some of them returned to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the Pharisees and the chief priests met with the Council and said, "What shall we do? Look at all the miracles this man is performing! 48 If we let him go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Roman authorities will take action and destroy our Temple and our nation!" 49 One of them, named Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, "What fools you are! 50 Don't you realize that it is better for you to have one man die for the people, instead of having the whole nation destroyed?" 51 Actually, he did not say this of his own accord; rather, as he was High Priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish people, 52 and not only for them, but also to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God. 53 From that day on the Jewish authorities made plans to kill Jesus. 54 So Jesus did not travel openly in Judea, but left and went to a place near the desert, to a town named Ephraim, where he stayed with the disciples. 55 The time for the Passover Festival was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to perform the ritual of purification before the festival. 56 They were looking for Jesus, and as they gathered in the Temple, they asked one another, "What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?" 57 The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he must report it, so that they could arrest him.

vi-Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.

vii-Job 3:11 I wish I had died in my mother's womb or died the moment I was born. 12 Why did my mother hold me on her knees? Why did she feed me at her breast? 13 If I had died then, I would be at rest now,

Job14:12 people die, never to rise. They will never wake up while the sky endures; they will never stir from their sleep.

Ps. 13:3 Look at me, O Lord my God, and answer me. Restore my strength; don't let me die.

Jer. 51:39 Are they greedy? I will prepare them a feast and make them drunk and happy. They will go to sleep and never wake up.

Dan. 12:2 Many of those who have already died will live again: some will enjoy eternal life, and some will suffer eternal disgrace.

viii-Eccles. 9:5 Yes, the living know they are going to die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward; they are completely forgotten. 6 Their loves, their hates, their passions, all died with them. They will never again take part in anything that happens in this world. 10 Work hard at whatever you do, because there will be no action, no thought, no knowledge, no wisdom in the world of the dead - and that is where you are going.

Ps. 115:17 The Lord is not praised by the dead, by any who go down to the land of silence.

Ps.146:4 When they die, they return to the dust; on that day all their plans come to an end.

ix-Luke 23:43 And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

x-John 20:17 "Do not hold on to me," Jesus told her, "because I have not yet gone back up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am returning to him who is my Father and their Father, my God and their God."

xi-John 19:32 So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with Jesus.

xii-Psalm 104:29 When you turn away, they are afraid; when you take away your breath, they die and go back to the dust from which they came.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and the breath of life will go back to God, who gave it to us.

xiii-John 14:6 Jesus answered him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me.

John 5:21 Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, in the same way the Son gives life to those he wants to.

xiv-Luke 8:54 But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, "Get up, child!" 55 Her life returned, and she got up at once, and Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat.

xv-John 5:28 Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice 29 and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.

Acts 24:15 I have the same hope in God that these themselves have, namely, that all people, both the good and the bad, will rise from death.

xvi-Daniel 12:2 Many of those who have already died will live again: some will enjoy eternal life, and some will suffer eternal disgrace.

xvii-Ecclesiastes 12:14 God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.

Romans 2:1 Do you, my friend, pass judgment on others? You have no excuse at all, whoever you are. For when you judge others and then do the same things which they do, you condemn yourself. 2 We know that God is right when he judges the people who do such things as these. 3 But you, my friend, do those very things for which you pass judgment on others! Do you think you will escape God's judgment? 4 Or perhaps you despise his great kindness, tolerance, and patience. Surely you know that God is kind, because he is trying to lead you to repent. 5 But you have a hard and stubborn heart, and so you are making your own punishment even greater on the Day when God's anger and righteous judgments will be revealed. 6 For God will reward each of us according to what we have done. 7 Some people keep on doing good, and seek glory, honor, and immortal life; to them God will give eternal life. 8 Other people are selfish and reject what is right, in order to follow what is wrong; on them God will pour out his anger and fury. 9 There will be suffering and pain for all those who do what is evil, for the Jews first and also for the Gentiles. 10 But God will give glory, honor, and peace to all who do what is good, to the Jews first and also to the Gentiles. 11 For God judges everyone by the same standard.

xviii-Ephesians 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

xix-Romans 6:11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

xx-Luke 16:19 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 Then 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.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' 27 Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' 29 Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' 30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' "

xxi-Matthew 5:22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Matthew 23:33 Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

xxii-2 Chronicles 28:3 He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

2 Chronicles 33:6 Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.

xxiii-2 Kings 23:10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech.

xxiv-Jeremiah 7:32 "Therefore behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Tophet until there is no room. 33 The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. And no one will frighten them away.

Jeremiah 19:6 therefore behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "that this place shall no more be called Tophet or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

xxv-John 11:38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."

xxvi-John 10:17 Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."

John 2:19 Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

xxvii-1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. 20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

xxviii-1 Corinthians 15:55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"

xxix-Revelation 14:8 And another angel followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

Revelation 17:2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication."

xxx-Revelation 14:9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."

xxxi-1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless. 15 And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, but that can't be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished! 19 And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.

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