What is Happening in the Nations?

Dr. Couch, where are we today, with what is happening in the nations of the world? ANSWER:  We are into the rebellion of the nations, the hardness of heart, and the rejection of Christ as the Savior of the world! Isaiah said it well. God has to bring upon the planet judgment in order to cause the peoples of the earth to listen to Him. He said "When the earth experiences Your judgments the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness" (Isa. 26:9b).    But the world can grow extremely hardened in its reaction to punishment. The next is not a contradiction but it does lay down a truth that we need to look carefully at. "Though the wicked are shown favor, the wicked man does not learn righteousness; instead he deals unjustly in the land of uprightness, and does not perceive the majesty of the Lord" (v. 10).    Only the punishment of the seven year tribulation will awaken the world to its awful sinfulness. We are getting closer to that day! But the believers in Christ need not fear. The church will be taken out of here before that terrible time arrives. Paul writes that the Thessalonians turned to God from their idols:    "to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come" (1 Thess. 1:9b-10).    I read the other day from some "big" Bible teacher that the only place the rapture is mentioned is in 4:13-18. How foolish and blinded such a teacher can be! And he is only fooling himself and those who look to him as one who explains God's Word! These verses in chapter one give us the same scenario of the blessing that is coming to the believer in Christ. God will remove His Own from the earth before that terrible seven year tribulation comes upon the earth. What a glorious Day!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (6-10)

What About The Lost?

Dr. Couch, Do the lost go directly to hell or is there an intermediate place of waiting until the final judgment? 

 

   ANSWER: The final judgment of all of the lost for all dispensations takes place at the end of the millennial kingdom, as clearly indicated in Revelation 20:11-15. The unsaved are seen standing before the great white throne awaiting final sentencing. That the judge is the Lord Jesus seems clear from John 5:27 where Christ says all judgment is handed over to the Son. 

    Many passages of Scripture paint a terrible picture that indicates the lost are in a place of torment even now while waiting for the final judgment. God must punish sin. His holiness and righteous cannot tolerate a speck of evil. His mercy and grace are clearly seen in nature (Rom. 1), and in the offer of salvation in Christ (John 3:16), but the world repudiates both witnesses! 

    The Bible pictures the torents of hell in physical-like terms, though until the final judgment, hell presently would be more spiritual in nature. The lost are resurrected for the final judgment and therefore will be in their resurrected bodies in torment, for ever! Isaiah writes that the corpses of the lost, "those who have transgressed against Me," are continually "consumed." "For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be an abhorrence to all humanity" (Isa. 66:24). Daniel says the lost are raised "to everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2). And Christ says of those who have died that even presently "the worm never dies" (Mark 9:48). Christ also said that the new life, and the punishment of the lost, are both eternal and forever and ever! (Matt. 25:46). 

    Thanks for asking.

    Dr. Mal Couch