ETERNITY – Bible Study
Preaching Outline on Ephesians 4:7-9 – But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore he says: “Ascending on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. Now this, that he ascended, what is it but that he descended into the lower parts of the earth?
I want to tell everyone that we are in Eternity, because there are many who think of Eternity only as the heaven we will enjoy after we finish our earthly journey.
Some may go first, but the day will come when we will all go together, and that will be at the rapture of the Church.
What is Eternity?
Eternity began with God.
We are in a phase of God’s programming, which is Eternity, in which he created man.
The process of salvation
1) Man sinned.
2º) The Lord Jesus came and paid our debt, the debt of sinners.
3º) And now God can freely grant forgiveness to those who believe in the Lord Jesus as their only and sufficient Savior.
4) And those who believe, the blessed, enter into communion with God, into Eternity where God dwells.
Whoever rejects the Lord Jesus is also in eternity without God, awaiting the final judgment and its consequences.
The Text
Today we are going to talk about what the Lord has revealed about our going to heaven, where we will be with God for all eternity.
How was it?
1) Jesus died
Eph. 4:9b – Have you also gone down to the lower parts of the earth?
Jesus was in the place where the spirits of the saved of the Old Testament were to release them into eternal glory.
2º) Jesus is risen
Eph. 4:8 a – Ascending on high… = Ps. 68:18 – You ascended on high, you led captivity captive; you received gifts for men, even for the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among them.
When he went up, Jesus returned to that place of blessing, which he himself called “my Father’s house”.
Jn 14:2,3 – In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.
There is room for all those who want salvation.
Will there be room left? What about those for whom Jesus died, paid a great price for them, but don’t want the blessing of salvation? What about those who don’t take advantage of the grace of the Lord Jesus? Did he come and suffer in vain for them?
Many don’t understand and this is what God wants us to teach in this class.
3º) Jesus took all those with him to Eternity
Eph. 8:b – … led captivity captive.
Jesus died, descended into the deepest places on earth and when he got there, he didn’t open a trapdoor, but said: “You who are here, Abel, Abraham, David, John the Baptist, you can come out because I have already shed my blood and your salvation is guaranteed.
Jesus took that place to heaven and only then did he open it. No one stayed down there because the salvation that Jesus gives is totally guaranteed.
Abel and all the saved, whether mentioned in the Old Testament or not, who died until the sacrifice of Jesus, have been released to populate Eternity and enter the blessing because they are now washed clean by the blood of Jesus.
What kind of captivity is this?
In the Old Testament
The Bible refers to the place where the souls of human beings go when their bodies die.
The soul is immortal, only the body dies.
Sheol is a Hebrew word that defines the place where the spirits of those who die go.
Rev. 20:13 – And the sea gave up the dead which were in it…
There are all kinds of death, the body can have various destinations, but the spirit of man goes to Eternity – with God or without God.
In the New Testament
Lk. 16:23 – And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Acts 2:27 – For you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.
Acts 2:31 – In this prediction he said of Christ’s resurrection, that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
In the New Testament it’s in Greek, so it’s Hades and not Sheol (the same meaning in Hebrew).
Unfortunately, some translators didn’t understand the difference and translated the word Hades as hell.
What is Hell?
It is the “lake of fire” that burns with sulphur, it is the Gehenna of fire.
There’s no one there yet.
Revelation speaks of the first two who will go (The Beast and the False Prophet – 19:20) and, lastly, the one for whom hell was made (The adversary and his fallen angels – 20:10).
Sheol has two compartments
This detail is very interesting because when Jesus told the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Mt. 16:19-31), he very clearly defined the secret of this division.
Jesus told us what had already happened before he died.
The beggar Lazarus is not Martha and Mary’s brother, he’s not a character, he’s a fictional figure to illustrate the parable.
The parable says that the beggar Lazarus and a rich man (who has no name because he didn’t fear God and his name wasn’t in the book of life) lived at the same time.
Lazarus died and the angels of the Lord took him to “Abraham’s bosom”, to “Abraham’s lap”.
For the Jew, nothing is sweeter than going to the lap of Abraham, who was the father of all the Israelites.
The rich man also died and no angel of the Lord came for him, he went to a place of torment.
The place of torment where the rich man was was close to the pleasant place where Lazarus was, so much so that he saw that beggar he had known, a man full of sores, who went to get the crumbs from his table and who had his sores licked by dogs.
The parable tells us that the rich man said to the Lord: “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.
His lips were burning because he had insulted the servant Lazarus, the humblest and had spoken a lot of blasphemy against God, relying on his wealth, his social position.
But the Father said: You are there and Lazarus is here with me. There is a great gulf between us and you. And no one can cross from one side to the other. Whoever is in the place of torment will stay there and whoever is in the place of joy and peace will stay there.
This is the description of Sheol, of Hades, showing the two compartments: the one of peace and joy and the one of torment (these are waiting for the final judgment).
Story: In my time at school, the discipline regime was different, the unruly student was beaten with a stick, he was sent to the principal’s office and stayed at the door until after class, thinking about a cushion, something to ease the pain of the beating. He began to suffer in advance. The other pupils would go out to the playground and see that poor guy standing there waiting for the punishment the principal was going to give him. It was the same school, the good students suffered nothing, but the bad students were punished.
This was the situation of those who were in Sheol or Hades, the place of joy and peace for the saved, and of torment for the lost (because they already know that there is no hope of salvation for them, they already know that they cannot pass from there to the pleasant place and their punishment is the Gehenna of fire, it is Hell, but only after the final judgment).
Cain and Abel
Abel – The first saved man of the Old Testament
He was the first human being to die. We know that Abel died safe. His dead body was buried, but his spirit went to the pleasant Sheol (Abraham would be born two thousand years later, but Abel went to Abraham’s lap, who is the figure of the Father) and stayed there, waiting.
Cain – Cain died in rebellion against God and went to Sheol of torment and is there to this day, awaiting the final judgment.
What does the expression mean: He died and was gathered to his parents?
When we read in the Old Testament that someone among the saved departs, we see an interesting expression.
Gen. 49:33 – And when Jacob had made an end of giving commandments to his sons, he put his feet on the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
We will not doubt Jacob’s salvation. His body died and was buried, he was gathered to his people. He was not left alone.
When we read in the Old Testament the expression: He died and was gathered to his fathers, it is because since Abel, the saved were being gathered to this pleasant place, to “Abraham’s lap” – the name given by Jesus, which was a place of joy and peace with God.
Why didn’t those who died before Jesus’ sacrifice go up to heaven straight away?
Why Abel? Why didn’t all those saved people in the Old Testament go up to heaven straight away?
Because salvation was such a sure thing that no one could doubt it and there was no reason to doubt it because it was prophetic.
I see something here on earth that illustrates what we’re talking about. If someone picks up a check from me, they may doubt whether it has funds or not, but when the Bank of Brazil opens a credit portfolio for a farmer to buy a tractor and seeds, the manager tells them: You’ve already filled in the forms, now take your check and wait to receive the money when the portfolio is actually opened.
It’s guaranteed money. Just wait and you’ll get your money. What’s more, you can buy your tractor now because they’ll take that check as cash and wait, because it’s guaranteed.
If this happens here on earth between men, imagine when it comes to guaranteeing eternal life.
God gives us a check that entitles us to eternal life and we deposit it in the Bank of Heaven.
Do you? Of course I do, there’s no doubt about it.
Abel received the check, but the wallet had not yet been opened – the blood of Jesus, which was the means of salvation, had not yet been shed.
The blood of Jesus – the guarantee of salvation
The blood of Jesus is the guarantee of salvation because it was a covenant between God the Father and God the Son.
What did this pact consist of?
The Son would pay for the sins of Abel and all the others.
Abel showed his faith in this when he offered the lamb on that altar to the Lord. His salvation was assured for all eternity.
Cain, when he offered the fruit of the earth, showed his rebellion, he didn’t follow the revelation.
Abel could not enter Eternity because, effectively, Jesus had not yet come to earth to die for us, he had not yet been crucified, his blood had not yet been shed, but it was a certainty for all Eternity – Jesus’ great sacrifice for the salvation of sinners, starting with Abel.
Abel waited 4,000 years in the pleasant Sheol. Abraham waited 2,000 years. Moses waited 1,500 years. David waited 1,000 years. Isaiah waited 800 years. Malachi waited 400 years. Simeon waited 33 years. John the Baptist waited 3 years.
Those whom Jesus raised from the dead – Jn 11:1-45 – Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, died at the end of Jesus’ ministry. His body was buried in that cave, but his spirit went to Abraham’s lap.
Four days later, Jesus said: “Lazarus, come out.
At that moment, the spirit of Lazarus, who was on Abraham’s lap, came out and returned to the body that had been dead until then. And Lazarus went out wrapped in cloths, according to the custom of the time. After his release, he returned to his family.
If Lazarus then died after Jesus’ death, he went straight to Eternity, no longer to “Abraham’s lap”.
Jesus’ crucifixion
The Lord Jesus was crucified. He shed his blood.
At noon, the sun was darkened so as not to see its Creator die. At three o’clock in the afternoon, Jesus said: It is finished.
The body died and was placed in the grave made by Joseph of Arimathea.
While he was dead, in that period of three days, he descended into the deepest places of the earth and spoke to those who were there, where Abel and all the other righteous people were received.
Jesus was resurrected, he returned to this present life, he was with the disciples, he was sent to heaven, and today he is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us.
The word captivity always reminds us of a bad place, a prison, a lack of freedom. For the saved of the Old Testament, that captivity was an extremely pleasant place, it was Abraham’s lap, where those who believed in the efficacy, in the guarantee of Jesus’ blood, were bound in the bonds of love, guarded by the Lord.
Everyone was waiting for the Lord.
For the lost it is still a captivity – Sheol of torment, where they await the final judgment.
An evildoer – The first saved person in the New Testament
Lk. 23:42 – And he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
There were two evildoers and one of them began to blaspheme, and the other said to him: We are crucified because we deserve it, our way of life has led us to this, but the Lord has done nothing.
And he turns to Jesus and makes a request – it’s his conversion.
And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.
If he took a little longer, he would no longer have this opportunity because the Lord Jesus died at three o’clock in the afternoon, before him.
Jn 19:31-34 – As it was getting close to the Sabbath (6pm on Friday), the Jews begged Pilate to break the legs of the other two crucified men so that their bodies could be taken off the crosses. The soldiers broke the legs of the two and one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side to make sure he was dead, and the Word says that blood and water immediately came out.
Where did the converted evildoer go? Did he go to Abraham’s lap?
No. Abraham’s lap was the “waiting room” for those waiting for Jesus’ blood. In this specific case, Jesus’ blood had already been shed approximately an hour or two before.
When he died, that evildoer was covered in the blood of Jesus, according to his faith, and immediately ascended to heaven, where Abel and all the other saved people are.
When the servant dies, his spirit immediately enters the presence of the Lord, who is in glory.
There is no reincarnation, no purgatory
To believe in reincarnation and purgatory is not to value Jesus’ sacrifice.
How can man pay for what Jesus has already paid for on the cross? Jesus’ sacrifice is unique, sufficient, effective and eternal. The price has already been paid in full and once and for all.
Anyone who has the blood of Jesus on their life has a guarantee of eternal life – when they die, the spirit is absent from the body and present with God.
The spirit of man dwells within him
God created man’s spirit to be eternal.
We are outside what the Lord envisioned, because we are inside bodies that get sick, hurt, suffer and deteriorate.
With sin, the body became a temporary place, a perishable place.
The spirit was made to be eternal, to be with God in Glory.
What does it mean to be in Glory?
The Lord says he will take us to the Father’s house.
It’s not for my father’s warehouse, it’s not for my father’s storage room, where the dead are stacked on shelves.
It’s for the Father’s house, it’s a residence, it’s a family place, it’s where Jesus lives forever.
Jesus is the Son of God and we are the children born of the Holy Spirit.
The angels of the Lord are in Glory to serve. They are not God’s children.
Who are God’s children?
All those who enter heaven covered in the blood of Jesus, having been washed clean and their sins forgiven. All those who value the blood of Jesus and have him as their Savior.
Whoever enters will never leave. That’s where we’ll spend eternity with God.
It’s a better place than Abraham’s lap because it’s definitive, it’s not a “waiting room”, but it’s the destiny that God has for all sinners who receive the Lord Jesus.
The New Jerusalem
Rev. 21, 22:1-5 – The New Jerusalem is the city where there is room for all the saved.
The Lord Jesus is represented throughout the city.
King of Israel – 21:9 – And he had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and on the gates twelve angels, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Firm foundation and the Head of the Church – 21:14 – And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Pearl of great price – 21:21 – And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each of the gates was a pearl; and the square of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
Our temple – 21:22 – And I saw no temple in it, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb.
Light – 21:23 – The city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has given it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
Savior – 21:27 – And there shall in no wise enter therein anything that defileth, and worketh abomination and falsehood: but they only which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
River of the water of life – 22:1 – And he showed me the pure river of the water of life, like crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Life in abundance – 22:2 – In the midst of his court, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which yields twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree are for the health of the nations.
The Lord Jesus is present everywhere. He is the door through which we will enter heaven. He is waiting for us.
The Lord Jesus will present us to the Father
Jn 17:24 – “Father, I want those whom you have given me to be with me where I am, that they may see my glory which you have given me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
The Lord Jesus regards us as his brothers and sisters.
Mk 3:35 – Therefore whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.
When we arrive in Eternity, the Lord Jesus will present us, one by one, to the Father, saying: Father, now this daughter has arrived… now this son has arrived.
Is. 38:17 – Behold, for my peace I was in great bitterness; but you so lovingly embraced my soul that it did not fall into the pit of corruption, because you cast all my sins behind your back.
This is how we will be received by the Father. Jesus will present us to the Father and he will embrace us.
38:19 a – The living, the living, will praise you as I do today…
It was Hezekiah’s gratitude. He now speaks as if he had been resurrected.
Report: When Pastor Barros’ body died (because he, his soul never died), the Lord spoke the following in prophecy: Behold, I see my servant, my elder walking on the banks of the river of the water of life… He is walking under the leaves of the tree of life… He is talking with those who came before him about heavenly things.
This reminds us of the parable of the wicked steward.
Lk. 16:9 – And I say to you, make friends with the riches of unrighteousness, so that when they fail you, they may receive you into eternal tabernacles.
The Lord Jesus advises making friends because when you die and no longer need material things, they will welcome you into the heavenly mansions.
Story: I was at a service for a teenager’s birthday and some people, including guests who weren’t from the Church, couldn’t stay inside the house and stayed on the balcony.
Years later, I received a phone call: Pastor Dodd, do you remember so-and-so’s birthday? Do you remember that not everyone was allowed in and stayed on the balcony? I was one of them. I heard the message and that night I was saved. It was a blessing that God gave me.
By the Lord’s mercy, in my ministry I was used to evangelize some people, I had a part in this salvation and those brothers who died before me will receive me in glory.
To recap:
What will it be like? When my body dies and I go up.
1) I will be welcomed by the Lord Jesus at the front door.
2º) Then the Lord Jesus will take me into the presence of the Father and present me to him.
3º) Then I will be embraced by the Father.
4º) The people who have been saved, for whom I have been used as an instrument of evangelization, will receive me.
5º) I’m going to walk in the same places that Pastor Barros has walked, on the banks of the river of living waters, under the tree of life, through all that is Eternity, the New Jerusalem.
What is death?
For the servant of the Lord, death is the transfer from this life here to life in the heavenly mansions.
This passage is made immediately – absent from the body = present with the Lord, enjoying all the wonderful blessings.
When a servant leaves, we don’t have to pray for him because that brother is already with God. He has reached the goal of every servant – Eternity with God.
We have to pray for the family he has left behind because there is an empty place in the lives of his loved ones, the memory of the one who has gone to be with the Lord remains throughout the house. Our prayer is that Jesus will come to comfort the hearts of those left behind. The Comforter comes to our aid in many ways, but the blessing is for those who go.
It’s like that: absent in the body – immediately present before God. Why is that?
Because captivity no longer exists. Jesus took captivity captive, he shed his blood and all the saved of the Old Testament no longer had to wait for redemption and the saved of the New Testament had their immediate entry into heavenly blessings.
We won’t have to wait for anything, we’ll go straight to live forever with the Lord.
Amen.
Bible Study on Ephesians 4:7-9 – But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore he says: “Ascending on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. Now this, that he ascended, what is it but that he descended into the lower parts of the earth?
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