No Rest For The Wicked

By Steven Masone

There is no peace for the wicked...not ever! We know the parable of the rich man in the flames (Hell) looking across the chasm seeing the beggar Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham. 

"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 books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and {hell delivered up the dead which were in them}: and they were judged every man according to their works.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

The first death was where the "Rich Man" found himself. He was in torment from the flames. But that was not the torment of the second death! Which was in the Lake of Fire reserved for Satan as well!

There will be no period of soul sleep like so many misunderstand. In the Old Testament age there was. But in the New Covenant, Jesus has already brought all things under his authority.

1 Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

2 Corinthians 5:5 "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:"
                                                                                                                             
Now after death, we are in the bosom of Abraham, but not heaven. It's a good place, as the flames are not! I am not suggesting there is a good purgatory and a bad purgatory. That's how fuzzy doctrine begins. But we will not be with Jesus until his second coming. Now, we do have access to being in his presence if we have our down payment, the baptism of the Holy Ghost:

5 "Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the -earnest-" ( ἀρραβών, ῶνος, ὁ) of the Spirit. ἀρραβών, ῶνος, ὁ Definition: an earnest, earnest-money, a large part of the payment, given in advance as a security that the whole will be paid afterwards.

We can't imagine how awesome the rest of the Promise is going to be! "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9

But juxtaposed to that truth, the wicked do not fathom their second death torment!