Category Archives: Resurrection

Resurrection, What is God Like?

Is He, Or Isn’t He?

2 Comments

A Critical Question About Jesus

Forward

I didn’t know my journey would start when I was so young….

My parents divorced when I was six, and my brother was barely two. I remember when my dad knelt, held me close, and said,

“You can call me uncle now.” 

I had no idea what this meant, but I knew it hurt.  Soon, my mom, brother, and I moved in with my grandmother.   During those early years, my grandmother had a great influence on me for God, but an elder in her church would turn me to atheism even though he thought he was doing the opposite. The questions about God began at age eight.

Mom began working full-time as a switchboard operator for a trucking company. So, for about four years, Ronnie (my brother) and I were raised by our sweet grandmother, whom we called “Mamaw.” She fed us, bathed us, and loved us. Though it seemed large then, the house had only two bedrooms and two showerless bathrooms. I slept in Mamaw’s bedroom on a cot beside an unused fireplace; Ronnie and Mom were in the other bedroom, which was part of an open duplex or apartment.

 In her room at night, just before we all retired for the evening, I heard my grandmother talking to God.  It frightened me initially, but after a few nights, I felt comfortable listening to her talk to her God as if they were close friends, unlike the elders of her church who prayed to Him with choice, carefully enunciated flowery words.

Though I never looked at her praying, I imagined her sitting on the floor with Jesus as they discussed her family and their problems.  As the oldest grandson, my name came up near the end of the lengthy conversation.  I could “see” my name floating to the throne room of God the Father, bore on the wings of the Holy Spirit.  I liked the God of my grandmother; He seemed likable, but I would meet a new god at Vacation Bible School a few years later.  This god, I did not like.  He scared me.

Vacation Bible School was fun.  I especially liked the crafts.  On the last day of VBS, all of us children waited anxiously for our parents to arrive so we could show them what we had made during the week. I had painted a King Edwards cigar box black and put decals and shells on it.  It made a perfect jewelry box.  My mom loved her jewelry.  But, before the moms, dads, and grandmothers arrived, we all met in a little room to hear an elder tell us about the upcoming service and how we could participate.  He wanted us to be baptized, so he began to tell us how much Jesus loved us.  I knew this God!  My grandmother talked to Him every night!

Then, the elder told us what would happen if we were not baptized.  We would go to “hell” and burn forever.  He described hell in disgusting detail. This didn’t sound like the God my grandmother talked to each night!  Something was wrong here. It was my first step toward unbelief.  No one, especially my grandmother’s Jesus, could be so cruel as to let all this happen!  Was my uncle in hell because he didn’t believe in Jesus but was a good husband and father?  Later in my journey, I would figure this out through scripture alone. 

Time marched on for my brother and me. I went through elementary school, high school, and eventually to college. In an ancient history class, I learned more than history; I learned about atheism directly from an atheistic professor. He made sense to me as I considered the contradiction of the two gods I had met when I was younger: one very loving and the other watching to ensure I was good or I would burn forever.

At age 18, I married a sweet, petite Christian gal.  We had three lovely children, but before that, we had some tough times and separated for a while.  When I returned, she (Julie) had been attending some “evangelistic” meetings.  I instantly began to make fun of her, telling her how silly it was to believe such nonsense.  I harassed her so much that she threw a dare at me.

“Eddie, if I am wrong, take this Bible and my notes and prove me wrong.”

My snarky response was, “Sure, this will be easy.”

For months, I went to the library for secular information (no web back in 1975) and began to read the Bible and her notes.  Quickly, I realized my attack had to be on this character, Jesus.  He had made some bold claims about Himself.  So, it came down to three questions: 

1.)  Did He exist? That was an easy question, even in secular history. 

2.) Was He all He claimed to be? and

3.) What was I going to do with what I learned? I had no idea. 

The primary and most critical question was, “Is He, or Isn’t He?  The following is just a small portion of my journey to know for myself about Jesus without the influence of denomination, tradition, or opinion.  The result?   I fell in love with Jesus and was baptized into His church, His body. Julie was right.  I was wrong.  My personal story is in my second book, “The Pig Returns To Its Mud.”

 Along the way, I realized that, as followers of Jesus, we must be united on the core beliefs based on God’s grace, compassion, and love expressed perfectly through Jesus. This is where God’s power is most effective. People can know the real Jesus for themselves if they only take time to look and hear. Too many beliefs, opinions, and traditions block out the sunlight of truth as found in Jesus. 

I will likely step on some toes in this book, but I pray that the initial pain will turn into something that will help the reader understand Jesus, as revealed by the prophets, kings, disciples, and apostles. This is my source material. While other “holy books” are written by one man, the story of Jesus is written by 35 to 40 men throughout thousands of years. That should tell us something.

I have settled these questions about Jesus. My atheism changed to a full-fledged believer in Jesus because I searched for the truth, and God directed my paths. He does this for everyone who will search with “all their heart.” It is not a casual search.  There are obstacles along the way. 

The journey continues. I am by no means perfect, but He is! He is worthy. I am not.  I hope that as you read this, you will discover Jesus’ reality and His faithfulness, whether you are a believer or not.  The reward will be greater than you can imagine.  Thank you, Julie.  May you rest in peace knowing God Himself directed your dare.  He knew what I needed.

“And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.” John 17:3 NLT

Introduction

The world is full of, to use an old Yiddish word, “Shysters.”  There are a multitude of con artists, liars, and cheats who are typically motivated by money, fame, self-gratification, or even worship! The knowledge of a person’s true identity can have life-and-death outcomes.

As I write this, countless writers and speakers are making money and fame from conspiracy theories, health-related topics, and merchandise that have no basis in facts, science, or common sense. They exist off the pocketbooks of the naive, uneducated, and those without critical thinking abilities. Deception includes marketing products, broadcasting news, education, music, and, of course, philosophy. These “industries” make billions of dollars of their victims each year.

Recently, I heard of a woman whose name I will not mention. She writes books and charges money to her fans to listen to her speak on various naturalistic remedies for almost every ailment, including cancer.  You would think she would be a doctor or someone with excellent credentials and that her presentations would include facts and figures to demonstrate her success rate.  On the contrary, this person failed in the medical industry and has been banned in several countries because of her unfounded and often dangerous instructions.  What confounds me is that she packs the house whenever she speaks!  Those in her audience are the anti-doctor, anti-vaccine, anti-science, anti-everything they don’t like.  In my opinion, it would seem that if we want something to be correct, we can find those who will help us feed our disillusionment.  Instead of searching for truth systematically, they search for confirmation from flawed information, reasoning, or feelings. This routine has been going on since the beginning of time.

Then comes Jesus onto the scene. In one of His prayers, he boldly states, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 A knowledge of God the Father and Jesus Christ leads to eternal life. If this is true, we need to know if He is true. Is He, or isn’t He?

He walks, talks, teaches the ordinary people, and tries to reach the religious people who feel they have everything to know about Jehovah.  The religious leaders, the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees prided themselves in thinking they had God all figured out and processed the authority to speak on behalf of God and express His will.  But Jesus claimed to be four things. He states, without hesitation, that he is “ The way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father (Jehovah) except through me (Jesus).”  John 14:6

       The question is, “Is He? or Isn’t He?  Is Jesus like one of the many Shysters of history and today that prey on the naive, uneducated, and those without common sense? Either Jesus is all He claims to be, or He is not.  His statement in John has no middle ground or room for compromise.  He is either the only way, or He is not.  His disciples took three and a half years to conclude that Jesus was real. What convinced them to die for their faith in Jesus as “… the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16 was not in wars between cultures but at the hands of those of their culture who hated them.  What convinced them should also convince us, although we aren’t able to physically handle and touch Him as they did.  They could rightly say, we have “…heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—” 1 John 1:1We cannot.      

However, others existed before Jesus was born who never saw or touched Him but saw Jesus in the future. These were the many prophets, kings, and inspired writers of the Old Testament. On the other hand, modern society has had all this testimony from people for many generations. Those before Jesus looked forward in faith; the disciples and apostles lived by faith at the moment, and we today live in faith, looking back at the record of those before us. There is a need to study these patriarchs to determine Is He, or Isn’t He.  As we discover Jesus, our faith will grow in Him.  Therefore, we can say, “Little time with Jesus and the Bible will result in little faith in Jesus.  Conversely, much time with Jesus and the Bible will result in much faith in Jesus.    “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”  Romans 10:17

After the resurrection of Christ, Jesus first saw Mary and then showed up on a dusty road talking with two men who thought he was a stranger who just happened to walk up and begin a conversation.  They were walking away from the discouragement and sorrow of Jerusalem on a journey to a new beginning in Emmaus,

 As they walked along, Jesus gave them a study from the scriptures.  What is unusual about this study was that there was no New Testament pocket Bible for Jesus to pull out of His robe because printing, as we know it, had not been invented. Still, even more important, the New Testament had not been written yet!  So, this was a “Scripture” study from what we call the Old Testament and what the modern Jews call the Tankah.  It contains the writings of the many prophets and inspired writers.  Something happened to these men that greatly increased their faith in Jesus and set their hearts on fire: “Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:27. Jesus did this from memory! 

The men were familiar with these writings, but now they had meaning about Christ (the long-awaited Messiah).  Their eyes were opened, and their hearts were greatly encouraged by Jesus because they had heard Him and later looked across the table at Him!    They were so amped up that they ran back the seven miles to Jerusalem to find the other eleven disciples behind closed and locked doors, afraid of what might happen to them. (A side note from a former runner:   If they were seven miles away and ran back within the hour (Luke 24:33), this was equivalent to less than a seven-minute mile pace.  That is fast!  I’ll bet today’s runners could not do that in a robe and sandals!) 

When these two speed-runners made it back to Jerusalem and found the original disciples, they noticed they weren’t gathered to conduct Sunday worship in honor of the resurrection.  No!  They were in a state of disbelief and thought that the body of the One they loved was dead in a tomb in the beginning stages of decay (John 20:9).  Just as our two runners show up, Jesus pops into the sealed room.  The disciples think He is a spirit! (Luke 24:37).  After inviting them to touch him, He said some critical words for us to hear that I will discuss later.  “Look at My hands and My feet. See! It is I, Myself! Touch Me and see for yourself. A spirit does not have flesh and bones as I have.” Luke 24: 39

Then, Jesus did something that conflicted with their expectations of a resurrected immortal body: He asked for food, and they gave him fish and a honeycomb, and he ate it in front of them! (Luke 24: 42, 43).  What does that say about our resurrected immortal bodies and our heavenly experience?  At the very least, we will have bodies that enjoy eating, and we will live in flesh and bone bodies!  Our bodies will be just like His!  I don’t know about you, but that is much more exciting than sitting on a cloud plucking a harp as a ghost! “…we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”  1 John 3:2

So, after the short meal, Jesus conducts the second Scripture study of the day. This time, He has the eleven disciples plus the two believers who ran back to Jerusalem from seven miles away in less than an hour. Wow! I’m still amazed by their athleticism, but I digress. 

Jesus expands the scripture study to include the Psalms (These are the poetic books of the Bible that include Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.). From these writings of thirty-five men, he showed them “all the things that must be fulfilled” about Him! Luke 24 44, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures” Luke 24 45.  After this study, Jesus covered all of the Old Testament divisions: The first five books of the Bible (Law of Moses), the major and minor prophets (the Prophets), and the poetic books (Psalms).  Jesus is there in those many books!  How could we miss that?  It may be because we are not looking or want it to be true.    

Is He or isn’t He all those things written in the Scriptures and the eyewitnesses of the New Testament?  For us to know that Jesus is all He claims to be, our eyes must be opened to understand the scriptures.  Otherwise, we will be like the pious religionists who knew and practiced religion the way they desired it to be, with all the trappings of pride, power, and control.  They didn’t want Jesus to be faithful.  They wanted a king to come riding on a white horse into Jerusalem with a giant sword, chopping off the heads of the Romans whom they despised. 

There is danger in creating a Jesus we want rather than what He really is.  What He is can be found in the Old and New Testaments, not by a popular speaker, philosopher, or even our particular religion/denomination or set of beliefs. 

I take this journey as a person wanting to discover the depth of the Jesus of Scripture, not of my denomination (not that they are bad) nor of what I want Him to be.  At whatever point I am along the way, I desire to feel the presence of Him in my life.  That is enough even if I never have enough time to reach my literary and study goals, I hope you will join me in this Jesus Journey and that Scripture and the Holy Spirit will lead us into a deeper understanding of the One who claims to be the way, the truth, and the life.

Resurrection

THE IMPORTANCE OF RESURRECTION!

Leave a comment

The resurrection of Jesus is a non-negotiable belief of the Christian Faith: Paul said, without it, all the preaching is empty and futile. So is your faith in Christ. Further, we are still under the curse of sin (death). In one short sentence he gets his point across:

And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty…And if Christ has not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

1 Corinthians 15: 14, 17

Paul then states that everyone, including those who have died (fallen asleep), is forever gone (perished), and we are pitiable (worthy of pity).

Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable

1 Corinthians 15: 18, 19

The understanding of the teaching and reality of the resurrection is an all-or-nothing situation for the follower of Christ.

The New Testament alone uses the word “resurrection” (anastasis) 51 times. It means “rising from the dead. ” But it is also described in the Old Testament as well. Other related words such as “rise,” “risen,” and “raised ” double the number of times this topic appears in the Bible. Here are a couple of examples.

“Martha said to Him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’”

john 11:24

She had her theology right.

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:44

John’s theology was also correct. In the 6th chapter, John uses the phrase “raise him up’” three times in connection with those who “believe Him,” those “drawn to Jesus by the Father,” and those who symbolically “eat his flesh and drink his blood.” Just as daily food and drink gives life, a daily relationship with Jesus gives eternal life.

A pastor should be able to preach a sermon on this topic of resurrection every week for two or more years! So why is it, basically, only taught once a year at Easter?

It is because the focus of Easter programs are on the resurrection of Jesus only. Just as important, but rarely taught correctly, is our hope of being resurrected just as Jesus. This is our only hope of living forever.

The resurrection occurs at the literal return of Christ. Paul said this was His hope.

“…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and [the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;  if somehow I may attain (achieve at succeeding) to the resurrection from the dead.

Phil 3: 10-11 (NKJV)

At another time,, Paul said this was not only his hope but also for those who look for His appearing (second coming):

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:8

The Cross and the Resurrection are the bedrock of the Apostle’s teachings because they had seen both events with their own eyes. They were eyewitnesses.

… if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

The resurrection has been watered down by pagan beliefs that the soul is immortal and will live somewhere forever. The picture of the soul floating away at death to its reward is highly unbiblical and, quite frankly is for ghost stories and Halloween, not for the reality or resurrection of the body and the soul at the time of Christ’s return. The immortal soul teaching negates the need for a resurrection or even the second coming of Christ.

Probably, the most desperate attempt to make sense of the importance of the resurrection and an immortal soul flying away to heaven at death is the teaching that we all come back for our bodies. This contradicts Paul’s discussion on receiving immortality and changed bodies at the return of Christ (1 Corinthians 15: 51-55).

The Bible plainly teaches that death is exactly what the word means and is an enemy to both the body and soul. Jesus said,

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 10: 28

There is no such thing as an immortal soul on this side of the return of Christ. It does not appear in the Bible. The person who sins is subject to the death of the soul:

“The soul who sins shall die.”

Ezekiel 18: 4, 20

We are not given immortality at death but at the resurrection. Paul describes it very clearly in the entire 15th Chapter of 1 Corinthians.

“The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”

1 Corinthians 15: 16

When is death destroyed? At the Second Coming of Christ! When the trumpet will sound, and the dead are resurrected. It is then that we receive new bodies not subject to corruption, decay, or death.

 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

1 Corinthians 15: 51-52

It is at this point that we receive immortality of both body and soul, and death is never more for the redeemed.

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 Corinthians 15: 54

What a great thought! When Jesus returns, we all go to meet Jesus in the air. A spectacular family reunion of all those who sleep in Christ! Angels delivering long lost loved ones, babies returned to the arms of mothers and fathers!

How important is the resurrection? It is everything to the Christian. Jesus has the keys to death and the grave and one day He will unlock it!

Jesus demonstrated the possibility and the hope of our resurrection when He returned by His own resurrection. We become the fruits of His resurrection. He was the First Fruit!

“But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.”

1 Corinthians 15:23

Until next time, blessings as you consider these things. May it bring comfort to your soul. Comfort one another with these words as Paul instructed the disheartened people of Thessalonica:

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thess. 4: 16-18

Resurrection

A Special Resurrection

Leave a comment

An honest Bible student knows that the Bible teaches of two resurrections. The Bible calls them the “First Resurrection” and the “Second Resurrection” Jesus called them “resurrection of life” and the “resurrection of condemnation.” But did you know, there is also a “Special Resurrection?

First Resurrection

Point 1: Jesus said that every person who has lived will come up in one of the resurrections.

Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.  John 5: 28, 29 (NKJV)

Two very different resurrections marked by the different outcomes. The person who comes up in the “good” Resurrection is blessed and will receive eternal life. Those coming up in the second resurrection end in eternal death.

Point #2: The person who comes up in the good or “first” resurrection are blessed and escape the “second death.” Further, they hold a spiritual office as a priest of God for one thousand years. (For more information on this one thousand years, click here; One Thousand Years)

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Revelation 20:6

Point #3: Those are resurrected when Jesus comes and He takes us to where He is now:

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:3

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18

Point #4: After time in the New Jerusalem, the saved from all ages come back from a long honeymoon with Jesus via transport in the Holy City. It will become the capital of the New Heavens and the New Earth

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Revelation 21:2

Second Resurrection

Point #1: The rest of the dead (those not in the first resurrection) are resurrected one thousand years after the first resurrection. Then Satan deceives those of the second resurrection into attacking the Holy City as described above in Revelation 21: 2

And they (those of the second resurrection) went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. Revelation 20:9

Point 2: The fires from God “devour” those who came up in the second resurrection and are “devoured” leaving neither root nor branch.”

“For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“That will leave them neither root nor branch. ” Malachi 4:1

This “second death” is easy to understand. All of us are destined to die the first death. Some will come forth to eternal life. The others come to life too, but they face judgment, bow in acknowledgment that Jesus is Lord. Then to eternal death (second death) . Someone has said, “if you have been born once, you will die twice, but if you have been born twice, you will die once.

for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. Romans 14: 10,11

But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished…And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,…And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. Revelation 20:5, 7, 9

Safely inside the city, the saved for eternity watch as God makes a new heaven and a new earth. All that is on the earth is burned up as God creates and place to live. An eternity with no sin in the universe, where God’s dwelling place is on the new earth:

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up 2 Peter 3:10

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. Isaiah 65: 17

“The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.” Great Controversy page 678.

Special Resurrection:

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. Revelation 1:7.

“They also which pierced him” (Revelation 1:7), those that mocked and derided Christ’s dying agonies, and the most violent opposers of His truth and His people, are raised to behold Him in His glory and to see the honor placed upon the loyal and obedient.

At His trial, Caiaphas, raising his right hand toward heaven, addressed Jesus in the form of a solemn oath: “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.” …

Every ear was bent to listen, and every eye was fixed on His face as He answered, “Thou hast said.” A heavenly light seemed to illuminate His pale countenance as He added, “Nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

For a moment the divinity of Christ flashed through His guise of humanity. The high priest quailed before the penetrating eyes of the Saviour…. For a moment he felt as if standing before the eternal Judge, whose eye, which sees all things, was reading his soul, bringing to light mysteries supposed to be hidden with the dead.

The scene passed from the priest’s vision…. Rending his robe, … he demanded that … the prisoner be condemned for blasphemy. “What further need have we of witnesses?” he said; “behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye?” And they all condemned Him.2The Desire of Ages, 706-708.

Thus the Jewish leaders made their choice. Their decision was registered in the book which John saw in the hand of Him that sat upon the throne, the book which no man could open. In all its vindictiveness this decision will appear before them in the day when this book is unsealed by the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

When Christ comes the second time, not as a prisoner surrounded by a rabble will they see Him. They will see Him as heaven’s King… Then the priests and rulers will remember distinctly the scene in the judgment hall. Every circumstance will appear before them as if written in letters of fire.