great day; while the souls of the righteous "rest from their labors," for they are with Christ in glory, 'comforted." There "the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.'

66

I have already shown that in a broad sense Hades refers to the abode of the dead, both righteous and wicked; but at this point I wish to call attention to a specific application of the term, referring particularly to the after-world of the ungodly. A careful study of all the texts and facts bearing on the subject will show that in a great majority of cases the word stands associated with that which is bad and undesirable. To the early classical writers Hades was nothing but a dark, gloomy realm. To the apostle Paul Hades was an enemy, the same as death -an enemy to be destroyed. 1 Cor. 15:55. The application of Hades in the account of Lazarus and the rich man, given in Luke 16, is wholly bad. It is not even stated that Lazarus was in Hades (though, of course, he was in "Abraham's bosom,' or Paradise, the only Hades abode of the righteous), but it is positively stated that the rich man lifted up his eyes in Hades, being in torment. In other words, considered in its strictest Scriptural sense Hades specifically designates the unseen world of the ungodly-Tartarus.

This brings us to another important point-the termination of the Hades state. I have already shown what great importance to the entire race Holy Scripture attaches to the general judgment at the

end of the world; therefore the Hades state, which precedes that event, can not be the final destiny of departed spirits. We may suppose that the intermediate state before the judgment and the eternal state beyond the judgment are very much alike in their nature (that the "comfort" and "rest" of the righteous before the judgment corresponds with the blessedness of their eternal state beyond the judgment; while the "torment" and misery of the lost in Tartarus corresponds with the weeping and wailing of the damned in Gehenna, the lake of fire), but here Revelation does not give us full information, hence we are unable to comprehend the difference in degree, if such there be.

If we can not trace what is the difference in the state of human spirits subjectively before and after the judgment, the Bible does clearly show a distinction objectively. In predicting the second coming of Christ to judgment the writers of the Sacred Narrative looked forward to the destruction of Hades and to the introduction of a new order of things. This termination of Hades is foretold by John in these words: "Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." Rev. 20: 14. This same event is anticipated by Paul in his exclamation, "O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. 15:55. This passage is from Hosea 13:14, and Paul quotes it from the Septuagint Version, where it reads, "I will deliver them from the power of Hades, and will redeem them

from death: where is thy penalty, O death! O Hades, where is thy sting?"

The final place of punishment, then, is Gehenna"the lake of fire." Into this place the fallen angels will be cast, those wicked spirits whom both Jude and Peter state are "reserved" unto judgment, and whom Peter says are reserved in Tartarus-the lowest Hades. This will also be the final doom of ungodly men, those men whom Peter also declares are 'reserved" unto the day of judgment; they are the ones whom Christ will banish into "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

But what is to be the reward of the righteous in that great day? In describing the "day of judg ment" and the mighty events that will take place at that time, including the destruction of the present earth, Peter says, "Nevertheless we, according to his . promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Pet. 3:13.

The Revelator describes the same scenes: "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God . . . . and

....

the dead were judged . . . . and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. AND I SAW A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming

down from God out of heaven . . . . And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is WITH MEN, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himselț shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Rev. 20: 11-15; 21: 1-4.

This, my brethren, will be our future and eternal home. It is the home that Jesus went to prepare, the one to which he promised to receive us upon his return to earth. This marks the grand climax of Christ's redemptive reign. Paul declares that Christ must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet, and that the last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Cor. 15: 25, 26); and when the dead, small and great, stand before God in judgment, the last enemy will then have been destroyed-the wicked will be banished to their eternal punishment in the lake of fire, while the righteous, clothed with immortality, their redemptive blessing, will take up their everlasting abode in the "new heavens and the new earth," and "God himself shall be with them."

This "new earth” is, in reality, Paradise restored. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"; at the end John " saw a new heaven and a new earth." In the beginning the tree of life stood in Eden; in the end the tree of life is again found "in the midst of the Paradise of God." In the be

ginning the Lord God walked in the garden and talked with man; in the end "the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them." The first earth was ruined by sin; the new earth is one "wherein dwelleth righteousness." Because of sin the first earth was cursed; concerning the second earth we read, "There shall be no more curse: BUT

THE THRONE OF GOD AND OF THE LAMB SHALL BE IN IT. Man lost his universal dominion in the first earth; in the second earth the overcomers "sit with Christ in his throne" and reign in triumph and glory forever. Death, sorrow, and suffering found entrance into the old world; in the new world "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." In the beginning disobedient man was barred from the tree of life; in the end the obedient ones—“the nations of them that are saved"—"have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city."