Restoration of all things 22

MODULE 12: THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS PART 2 SESSION 22 1 We have the Holy Spirit of Truth in us and with us as our guide We have Jesus, the way, truth and life, in us and with us to disciple us We have our loving Father in us and with us to Father us into sonship Agape love should be what we use to measure and test everything against The 4 streams of thought that are converging into one mighty river are: Mystic sonship, Realised eschatology, Universal reconciliation, Energy frequency healing Realised eschatology inevitably leads to universal reconciliation because all Jesus prophesied about Gehenna was fulfilled in AD70, not a distant future. We will finish looking at the inevitable connection between eschatology and universal reconciliation and restoration in Jesus’ teaching (to that old covenant audience, in that generation) with the parables that are used to affirm “hell” as ECT If “hell” as eternal punishment was such an important concept why does not Paul mention it in his letters to the churches? Paul does not mention “hell” even once Paul does talk about the wrath of God So what does he mean in 2 Thess 1? Is he not referring to God’s judgment on sinners in “hell”? 2 Thes 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. From is apo and is a word denoting origin; it can be translated ‘away from’ but that is not its main meaning: out of 650 occurrences, 602 = from. after (1), against (4), ago (2), alike* (1), among (2), away (3), away* (1), because (9), before* (1), belonged (1), deserting* (1), distance (1), hereafter* (1), initiative (1), left (1), off (1), once* (1), since (11), since* (3), some (1), way (1). 2 Thes 1:5 This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. 6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire – AD70 Sowing and reaping: those who were persecuting the believers were the unbelieving Jewish religious leaders Jesus had already warned that they would not be saved from the fire and destruction (of Jesus coming figuratively in AD70) which would bring relief to the believers who they were trying to wipe out – sheep and goats parable 2 Thes 1:8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from (apo) the presence of the Lord and from (apo) the glory of His power, Destruction is not the same as punishment or torment; and eternal is not forever or everlasting but ageenduring Penalty dike actually means justice or right, judicial hearing or a legal decision Retribution ekdikesis: defence, vindication, vengeance: “out of justice” If you believe in the concept of Hell, the word “destruction” doesn’t fit If you believe in Christian Universalism, the word “destruction” doesn’t fit If you believe in the annihilation of the wicked, the combination of “eternal” and “destruction” doesn’t make sense. MODULE 12: THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS PART 2 SESSION 22 2 As we previously discussed, the Greek word aiōnios doesn’t mean “eternal”, it signifies the duration of the age. “Destruction for an age” doesn’t make sense in this context. This phrase is mistranslated and does not mean destruction of the person Destruction – ólethrosis most accurately translated here as the state of being lost. “These will pay the penalty in the age (or eon) of loss from the face of the Lord and from the glory of His strength.” 3639 ólethros(from ollymi/”destroy”) – properly, ruination with its full, destructive results (LS). 3639 /ólethros(“ruination”) however does not imply “extinction” (annihilation). Rather it emphasizes the consequent loss that goes with the complete “undoing.” Or alternatively, “These will suffer the age of loss from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His strength.” Not only does this make perfect sense, but it fits perfectly with similar wording throughout the New Testament John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. In the story of the Prodigal Son’s return in Luke 15:32, “But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.” This same word ólethrosis translated as both “perish” and “lost”. “Perish” cannot be used correctly in Luke 15:32 John 3:16 might be more accurately read as, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not be lost, but have age-enduring life.” 2 Thes 1:9 who will be incurring whole/ruining justice (that entirely ruins or dismantles) for an unknown passage of time from the presence or face of the master and from the strength of His glory (essence or essential nature of person, place or things) God’s consuming fire presence will deliver a justice that totally ruins our lost-ness Being face to face with Jesus means all darkness is shredded in His light Vengeance might as well be the same as salvation, mercy or justice – George McDonald God’s wrath, anger and vengeance are poured out on anything that is keeping us from a relationship with Him in face to face innocence “Some recent theologians are of the opinion that the fire which both burns and saves is Christ himself, the Judge and Saviour. The encounter with him is the decisive act of judgment. Before his gaze all falsehood melts away. This encounter with him, as it burns us, transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves. All that we build during our lives can prove to be mere straw, pure bluster, and it collapses. Yet in the pain of this encounter, when the impurity and sickness of our lives become evident to us, there lies salvation. His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation “as through fire”. But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God. In this way the inter-relation between justice and grace also becomes clear: the way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our defilement does not stain us for ever if we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, towards truth and towards love. MODULE 12: THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS PART 2 SESSION 22 3 Indeed, it has already been burned away through Christ’s Passion At the moment of judgment we experience and we absorb the overwhelming power of his love over all the evil in the world and in ourselves. The pain of love becomes our salvation and our joy. It is clear that we cannot calculate the “duration” of this transforming burning in terms of the chronological measurements of this world. The transforming “moment” of this encounter eludes earthly time-reckoning – it is the heart’s time, it is the time of “passage” to communion with God in the Body of Christ. The judgment of God is hope, both because it is justice and because it is grace. If it were merely grace, making all earthly things cease to matter, God would still owe us an answer to the question about justice – the crucial question that we ask of history and of God. If it were merely justice, in the end it could bring only fear to us all. The incarnation of God in Christ has so closely linked the two together – judgement and grace – that justice is firmly established: we all work out our salvation “with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). Nevertheless grace allows us all to hope, and to go trustfully to meet the Judge whom we know as our “advocate”, or parakletos(cf. 1 Jn 2:1).” Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict XVI Lake of fire: is it symbolic? If so, of what? Who are the beast, false prophet, hades, death? What is the book of life? Is it literal or symbolic? Is everything in the future or in the past? What do these words actually mean: fire, torment, brimstone, forever? Rev 19:20 and the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. Rev 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Aionas ages of the aionon ages Rev 20:14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Rev 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. ‘Forever and ever’ of course means age-enduring If Revelation is completed, then this was a symbolic, figurative description of the destruction of Jerusalem and the book of life refers back to the law, where according to the Talmud it is opened on Rosh Hashanah, new year Book of Revelation Symbolic, apocalyptical style Futurist, Historicist, Partial-Preterist, Preterist views show different times Preterist view says that it was all fulfilled in A70 with the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the old covenant age If we take the completion in the past view often known as ‘preterist’ Praeter means past or beyond Covenant fulfilled or realised eschatology Revelation is talking about the AD70 destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the old covenant system MODULE 12: THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS PART 2 SESSION 22 4 Lake of fire is the same symbolic event Apocalypticism is a type of literature that is very much symbolic and cryptic in nature. Symbols are usually culturally developed and must be interpreted using that culture’s perspective or lens. In other words, the book of Revelation CANNOT be read literally. Reading Revelation literally is the only way to be 100% confident you are interpreting it WRONGLY. When apocalyptic language is used in the Bible, it very often correlates with mythologies that would have been prevalent when the book was written. Symbols found in Daniel: Daniel 7:11 Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. And similarly, Revelation 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Revelation would be warning Israel that just as Sodom and Gomorrah fell, through fiery destruction, they were in danger as a Jewish legalistic system of ending in the same manner. He was pointing to the past, in order to warn them that what happened in the past was a sign, warning them of what would happen in their future Jude verse 7 uses the illustration of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, to warn the apostate Jews in his day. Did you know that in the NT era, there were still active fires and smoke around the Dead Sea according to Strabo, the first century geographer, who called it “a land of fires” Just as the beasts in Daniel were highly figurative, symbolically represented various nations, so too is the lake of burning sulphur figurative. Why would we cherry-pick this one piece of the apocalyptic story as literal when we know that everything else in the story is figurative? Only if you are a futurist Since Revelation is an extreme display of symbolism, the lake of fire could represent multiple concepts. In Revelation 20:14, we see Death and Hades thrown into the lake of fire. This could very well mean that the lake of fire represents God’s eternal triumph over evil, sin, and death. We know that both judgment and destruction are often represented in the Bible as some sort of fire of flame. Brimstone: theion, equivalent to divine incense, because burning brimstone was regarded as having power to purify, and to ward off contagion In an alternative view, it should be noted that the word for “torment” in Revelation 14:10 is the Greek word basanizo which has a primary meaning of testing with a touchstone. This suggests that the lake of fire might not be for torment or destruction, but rather, for “testing”. The language used here creates an analogy to the testing of metal with a touchstone in order to make sure it is pure. Tormented, torture, basanizo: to test (metals) by the touchstone This word is also translated in other scriptures: Tossed or battered by waves Straining or toiling at the oars MODULE 12: THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS PART 2 SESSION 22 5 In labour and pained to give birth ‘Torment’ is actually testing by fire for purification and refining, not punishment John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit… 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” Prune: kathaírō – make clean by purging (removing undesirable elements); hence, “pruned (purged)”; eliminating what is fruitless by purifying (making unmixed). Katharos clean, pure, unstained Prune to make pure Kolasis, kolazo: to dock or to prune, restrict, chastise Rom 14:9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Rom 14:10 … For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, … each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. At the end of the day, it’s difficult to make absolute conclusions about symbolic stories, which is why every Christian you’ve ever met has a different view of eschatology. But what we don’t see here is the conclusive idea that people will be tortured for eternity. One person that believes the lake of fire is the sun in our solar system. Others think it is the magma core of the earth. Others think it is not a literal place all Others think it represents the AD70 destruction of Jerusalem and the final physical end of the old covenant system Eye-witnesses to the fire of AD 70 in the city of Jerusalem… “While the Temple was ablaze, the attackers plundered it, and countless people who were caught by them were slaughtered. There was no pity for age and no regard was accorded rank; children and old men, laymen and priests, alike were butchered; every class was pursued and crushed in the grip of war, whether they cried out for mercy or offered resistance.” Others in church history, even many of the early church Fathers, saw the lake of fire as a spiritual place where everyone in humanity was purged of their unbelief and sins so that they eventually believe in God. They teach that God is love. So when it says that God is a consuming fire, it must mean that is the fire of his love. There are widely divergent views of what the lake of fire symbolises Which view aligns with God being love? If God’s essence and essential nature is love then everything, including His discipline (Heb 12), must be an expression of His love “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” MODULE 12: THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS PART 2 SESSION 22 6 The God of Israel always punished to restore, and that’s what we see in an accurate translation of Matthew 25:46 – not “eternal punishment” but “correction for the length of an age”. “I may have convinced myself or been convinced by others that I deserve to be separated from God. Such lies will bring with them a shadow in which I experience a sense of separation, feelings that seem to validate the illusion that God is not connected and in relationship with me or that God has stopped loving me or has given up on me. “Many of us on the planet live in this illusion now… “What if ‘hell’ is not separation from Jesus but that it is the pain of resisting our salvation in Jesus while not being able to escape Him who is True Love.” – Wm. Paul Young, Lies We Believe About God “Hell is the insanity of trying to escape the inescapable love of God.” – John Crowder If “hell” is not a place of eternal conscious torment, what does happen to people who don’t yet know Jesus after they die? Kingdom of God is founded on righteousness and justice. No one gets away with anything but choice remains based on the cross 2 Cor 5:19 God has reconciled the cosmos including everyone and everything to Himself God has done His part but we must do our part and choose to accept what He has done and be reconciled to Him; it is not automatic We have to choose to accept love What about personal experiences? Near Death Experiences (NDEs) and visions of “hell” that seem to show torment Everyone has a frame of reference from which visions are interpreted, a preconceived expected viewpoint I have had many encounters of what I would have called “hell”, as that was my only frame of reference I have no doubt that people have had real experiences of the afterlife, both of heaven and of the place of God’s love expressed as the consuming fire of His presence These experiences are seen through the cognitive filters of the soul I believe that God can and does use those experiences to communicate with people If you believe in torment from a vengeful God, whether you know Him or not, that is how you will interpret the experience of fire or darkness Confirmational bias exists My own experiences were of warnings and were confining restrictions revealing the enemy’s deception and also expressions of fire What does happen to people after they die as believers or not yet believers? Are they just soul sleeping? Are they watching over us? Are they suffering? Can we help them? Will we ever see them again? What is the nature of the place commonly called “hell”? Who goes there and what goes on there and for how long? A common element or theme is fire: What is the duration of what goes on there in the fire? What is the purpose of what goes on there in the fire? MODULE 12: THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS PART 2 SESSION 22 7 5 common views of what goes on and 5 common views of how long for: 25 combinations of those views! What view does the Bible support in the original text? And which view best reflects the character and nature of a loving God? Love is the key factor and point of reference for us to answer those questions Eternal conscious torment, also called “infernalism”, is an ongoing process of punishment with no end Annihilation or “terminal punishment”, inescapable destruction with no choice after death – is just the end Annihilation with escapable destruction with choice after death – a possible final end after an undetermined period Universal reconciliation, also called “universal salvation”, two variations, both with an undetermined period of time All will inevitably escape the fire, guaranteed, with no end of choice All have the possibility to escape the process but it is not guaranteed, with no end of choice What is the purpose of the fire? Punishment that continues or punishment that ends Purification and correction via the refining fire of justice What best describes God’s character and nature? Does God enforce retributive justice – the requirement that sinners pay for their sins? Does God act with restorative justice – to heal sinners from their sins? Does God allow people to make their own choices and reap the consequences? Retributive but restoring: the punishment is applied but it is also intended to bring about restoration. Restoration: correction is applied so that people can be healed or restored from the results of sin. Consequential: the fire is self-inflicted as a result of our choices, with no possible escape Consequential but restoring: the fire is self-inflicted but it is also used to bring about healing and restoration – possible escape I believe the last one best reflects God’s nature as love If it is restorative, how long does it last? As long as we choose it to last, by resisting the justice of God’s consuming fire that is designed to remove all the dross we choose to hold onto It lasts until people finally surrender to God’s loving restoration – or not What happens after we die? What death are we referring to? Spiritual death Physical death Death of self, crucified with Christ Second death Last enemy that is death Death defeated, conquered and abolished Rom 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him Rom 6:5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection MODULE 12: THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS PART 2 SESSION 22 8 Rom 6:23 for the wages of the sin [is] death, and the gift of God [is] life age-during in Christ Jesus our Lord. YLT 1 Cor 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Is death inevitable? If so, which death? Is physical death inevitable? Is spiritual death as a result of sin inevitable? Is the death to self, being co-crucified with Christ, inevitable? Is the second death in fire inevitable? 1 Cor 15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. Spiritual death and spiritual resurrection are inevitable in Christ 1 Cor 15:25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; This is also inevitable because Jesus died for and as everyone Jesus represented mankind, including each of us, on the cross by dying our death Jesus already included everyone 2 Tim 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel 2 Tim 1:9 He rescued the integrity of our original design and revealed that we have always been his own from the beginning, even before time was. This has nothing to do with anything we did to qualify or disqualify ourselves. 2 Tim 1:9 We are not talking religious good works or karma here. Jesus unveils grace to be the eternal intent of God! Grace celebrates our pre-creation innocence and now declares our redeemed union with God in Christ Jesus. Most people don’t know this truth 2 Tim 1:10 Everything that grace pointed to is now realized in Jesus Christ and brought into clear view through the gospel: Jesus is what grace reveals. He took death out of the equation and re-defines life; this is good news indeed! Jesus has abolished death, and with death, what it implies: the result or wages of sin and evil. If death is abolished, then it is a contradiction for death in its worst form, the second death, to be maintained forever Is physical death inevitable? Precedent of Enoch and Elijah says no Jesus’ teaching in John 6 says no John 6:49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die MODULE 12: THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS PART 2 SESSION 22 9 John 6:58 This is the bread that stepped down out of the heavenly sphere – there is no comparison with the manna your fathers received from heaven they ate and they died – now feast on me and celebrate the life of the ages. Physical death is not inevitable; but if we do die, what happens then? Eccl 12:7 …then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Psa 146:4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his plans come to nothing. Soul and spirit seem to have different experiences Some teach soul sleep and not soul consciousness but I don’t believe that takes into account the power of the resurrection 1 Cor 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ ALL will be made alive My experiences indicate that the soul and spirit are alive and united in the cloud of witnesses – memory The body returns to its elements The spirit returns to God What about the soul? If the soul and spirit have been reconciled in Christ as a believer, they are not separated after death What if soul and spirit were not reconciled before death? It is possible that the not yet believer’s spirit returns to the Lord but the soul sometimes hangs around after trauma Alien Human Spirit or Lingering Human Souls I know of 2 groups who minister to these issues one who evicts AHS and the other who preaches to LHS We were a spiritual being who became a living being and then a human being (or human doing) Our destiny is to be a godlike being, a son of God Human beings live with the soul being conscious but separated relationally from the spirit and from God For a human being after physical death the spirit returns to God and remains separated from the soul The soul remains conscious, separated relationally but not physically from God The soul goes into the consuming fire of God’s presence without knowing God relationally 2 Cor 5:8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. If we die as a believer there is no longer a 2-part Hades; we are present with the Lord, spirit and soul, relationally and dimensionally As a believer there is a realised reconciliation and restoration of relationship with God and between the soul, spirit and body that continues 1 Thes 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. At the coming is a mistranslation from a futurist perspective At is actually in, among or within Coming is actually better translated presence Our restoration is within the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ – now, not at a future coming event 1 Thes 5:23 There, away from any effort of your own, discover how the God of perfect peace, who fused you skilfully into oneness – just like a master craftsman would dovetail a carpentry joint – has personally perfected and sanctified the entire harmony of your being without your help! MODULE 12: THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS PART 2 SESSION 22 10 1 Thes 5:23 He has restored the detailed default settings. You were re-booted to fully participate in the life of your design, in your spirit, soul and body in blameless innocence in the immediate presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. So what does happen after we die physically? Heb 9:27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment There is so much confusion and misinterpretation about this verse It awaits man to die or death awaits man God has not appointed us to die God does not want us dead but alive Many have not died once e.g. Enoch, Elijah and others Many have died more than once e.g. Lazarus and everyone Jesus or others have raised from the dead and who subsequently died again After death comes judgment So what is this judgment: a discernment, a verdict or a separation? The only death that everyone has to experience is to be included in Jesus’ death The once is about when we died in Christ, crucified together with Him; it can’t mean physical death because our co-crucifixion precedes our physical death. The judgment here is that we were all raised together with Christ because of the justice of Jesus’ death on the cross If there is a judgment that takes place after physical death it is to discern or separate but not to punish Judgment is based on our free will to choose life or death by accepting or rejecting the free gift of salvation already accomplished for us Have we come to a realisation of what Jesus did for us on the cross and have we been persuaded to put our trust in Him? I cannot find any Bible verses that indicate that physical death is the end of the ability to choose Jesus I have asked those who believe that ECT is automatic at death to show me any Bible verse that says that our choice to believe in Jesus ends at physical death No one has been able to give any verses, so it is only an assumed theory of infernalists Are there any verses that disprove it? If everyone’s fate is not sealed after death does the Bible confirm that? 2 Samuel 14:14 For we will surely die and are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life, but plans ways so that the banished one will not be cast out from him. 1 Samuel 2:6 The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up Lam 3:31 For the Lord will not reject forever, 32 For if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness. 33 For He does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men. God’s love always offers a way out through His compassion and grace If death is a place of no escape, why did the early church teach Jesus went to Hades, preached there and lead captivity captive? (Eph 4:8,9; Psalm 68:18; 1 Peter 3:18-20) Eph 4:8 Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? MODULE 12: THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS PART 2 SESSION 22 11 If death lasts forever, why does the Psalmist speak again and again about being rescued from it (sheol)? (Psalms 16:10, 30:2-3, Psalm 49:15, 86:13, 116:3-8, 139:8). Psa 49:15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, For He will receive me. Psa 86:13 For Your lovingkindness toward me is great, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. If the grave settled the matter forever, why did the early Christians offer up prayers for the dead? Why were they baptized for the dead? (1 Corinthians 15:29). How can death be the end when it is cast into the second death, the lake of fire? How can death be the end if death itself is abolished (1 Cor 15:26, 2 Tim 1:10)? Rest is the key to restoration and revelation Start to focus on your breathing,slowing it down And start thinking of the name of God, YHVH Breathe in deeply and exhale slowly: Yod Breathe in: Hei and out: Vav Repeat: in Hei, out Yod, in Hei, and out Vav… Be still and know that I am God I am love, I am joy, I am peace Invite love, joy and peace to flow in you and through you to create an atmosphere of rest around you You are in a safe place Start to think of an open heaven and set your desire upon it Steps like Jacob’s ladder leading up to heaven Hear the invitation to come up here Shift focus of our mind Walk up those steps to the door Now step through the veil into the kingdom realm Jesus is standing in the doorway Present yourself to Jesus, your High Priest, as a living sacrifice Let Him take you by the hand Ask Him to reveal restoration and the oracles of the Father’s heart Ask Him to reveal the truth about eschatology and Gehenna Jesus, please take each person and show them what they need to receive the revelation about restoration Go wherever He takes you. 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