There is a reason that they are there. To teach an important point.To change the behavior of God’s people. Even to send a messagefrom one church to another under the threat of persecution.And so when we see reference to the last day in the Scriptures weshould pay attention to those conventions – that we’re supposed to pay attention, that there’s going to be a lot that we can’t understandeasily, and that there’s a reason it’s here.For example – think about what we heard last week – we talkedabout judgment in the book of Ezekiel and we had this incredibly bleak and disturbing description of what God’s punishment for thewicked was going to be like. Now when we read through the Belgic Confession in Article 37and it talks about judgment it tells us a few things that we believeabout that judgment:
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It tells us that on the day of the Lord everyone is going to beraised from the dead who was dead.
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It tells us that the wicked are going to be judged for their sinsand that judgment is going to be a “dreadful and horriblethought” for evil and wicked people.
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“The evil ones will be convicted by the witness of their ownconcsciences and shall be made immortal—but only to betormented in the everlasting fire prepared for the devil andhis angels.”What we have here is a picture of a terrible judgment for sin – anda punishment that lasts for eternity. It doesn’t stop.So what the Scriptures are doing is letting us know in the course of just a few moments of thought the reality of eternal judgment. Thatwas the reason God passed this vision through Ezekiel…so that
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