Immortality or Resurrection (Updated) by William West (reading strategies book .TXT) 📖

national Israel would be cut down. "And seeing a fig tree by
the way side, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only; and he said unto
it, Let there be no fruit from you hence forward forever” [Matthew 21:18-19; see John
1:11].
[2] THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS [Luke 16:19-31]: See "Part two" of this
chapter.
[3] THE TWO SONS [Matthew 21:28-32]: Christ speaking to “the chief priests and
the elders” of Israel said, "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to
the first and said, Son, go work today in the vineyard. And he answered and said, I will,
sir; and he did not go. And he came to the second and said the same thing. But, he
answered and said, I will not; yet he afterward regretted it and went. Which of the two
did the will of his father? They said, the latter. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to YOU the
tax-gatherers and harlots will get into the kingdom of God before YOU. For John came
to YOU in the way of righteousness and YOU did not believe him; but the tax-gatherers
and harlots did believe him; and YOU, seeing this, did not ever feel remorse afterward so
as to believe him."
[4] ISRAEL, THE HUSBANDMAN [Matthew 21:33-45]: Still speaking to “the
chief priests and the elders” He said, "Hear another parable: there was a man that was a
householder, who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and dug a winepress in it,
and built a tower, and let it out to husbandman, and went into another country. And when
the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandman, to receive his
fruits. And the husbandman took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and
stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them
in like manner. But, afterward he sent unto them his son, saying, they will reverence my
son. But the husbandman, when they saw the son, said among themselves, this is the heir;
come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance. And they took him, and cast him forth out
to the vineyard, and killed him. When; therefore, the lord of the vineyard shall come,
what will he do unto these husbandman? They say unto him, HE WILL MISERABLY
DESTROY THOSE MISERABLE MEN, AND WILL LET OUT THE VINEYARD UNTO
OTHER HUSBANDMEN, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons, Jesus said
unto them, did you never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the
same was made the head of the corner: this was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our
eyes? THEREFORE SAY I UNTO YOU, THE KINGDOM OF GOD SHALL BE
TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU, AND SHALL BE GIVEN TO A NATION BRINGING
FORTH THE FRUITS THEREOF. And he that falls on this stone shall be broken to
pieces: BUT, ON WHOMSOEVER IT SHALL FALL, IT WILL SCATTER HIM AS
DUST. And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, THEY
PERCEIVED THAT HE SPOKE OF THEM" Israel was scattered as dust in A. D. 70
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when no Jews were left in Jerusalem or the country around it. Most Millennialists admit
that this refers to the Jewish rejection of Christ. THE KINGDOM WAS TAKEN FROM
THE JEWS AND GIVEN TO THE GENTILES AT THE DEATH AND
RESURRECTION OF JESUS. Millennialists think it will be taken from the Gentiles and
given back to the Jews.
[5] THE MARRIAGE FEAST Matthew 22:1-14: Also still speaking to, “the chief
priests and the elders” He said, "And Jesus answered and spoke to them again in
parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a
wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to
the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again, he sent out other slaves
saying, Tell those who have been invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen
and fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding
feast. But, they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his
business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. BUT, THE
KING WAS ENRAGED AND SENT HIS ARMIES, AND DESTROYED THOSE
MURDERS, AND SET THEIR CITY ON FIRE. Then he said to his slaves, the wedding is
ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways,
and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast. And those slaves went out into
the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding
hall was filled with dinner guests. But, when the king came in to look over the dinner
guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, Friend,
how did you come in here without wedding clothes? And he was speechless. Then the
king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness;
in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few
are chosen." The Jews killed the prophets God send to them, and they and their city were
destroyed and the Gentiles were brought into the kingdom.
[6] THE NARROW DOOR Luke 13:24-30: "Strive to enter in by the narrow door:
for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the
master of the house is risen up, and has shut the door, and begin to stand without, and to
knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know
you not where you are; then shall you begin to say, we did eat and drink in your
presence, and you did teach in our streets; and he shall say, I tell you, I know not were
you are; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. THERE SHALL BE WEEPING AND
THE GNASHING OF TEETH, WHEN YOU SHALL SEE ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB
AND ALL THE PROPHETS IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND YOURSELVES CAST
FORTH WITHOUT. AND THERE SHALL COME FROM THE EAST AND THE WEST,
AND FROM THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH, AND SHALL SIT DOWN IN THE
KINGDOM OF GOD. AND BEHOLD, THERE ARE LAST WHO SHALL BE THE FIRST,
AND THERE ARE FIRST WHO SHALL BE LAST" This is about the coming rejection of
Israel and the Gentiles being accepted into the kingdom of Heaven, which is the church.
Not about some being cast out of Heaven, which is what it would be if the weeping and
gnashing of teeth were in Hell. ISRAEL WAS THE "SONS OF THE KINGDOM"
["children of the kingdom" King James Version] THAT WAS CAST INTO OUTER
DARKNESS, NOT THOSE WHO NEVER BELIEVED. THE JEWS, WHO WERE
THEN THE CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM, WERE CAST OUT OF THE LIGHT
AND ARE NO LONGER GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE, INTO THE DARKNESS OF
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THE WORLD WITHOUT THE LIGHT OF GOD'S REVELATION. "O
JERUSALEM...BEHOLD YOUR HOUSE IS LEFT UNTO YOU DESOLATE" [Luke
13:34-35]. Those who believe in Hell leave out the rest of what Christ said in the next
two versus when He says the Gentiles will come into the kingdom, and verse 30 the
Gentles who were last become first. If this were after the judgment, the Gentiles would be
coming into the kingdom in Heaven after the judgment.
"Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you [the
Jews], and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" [Matthew 21:43].
WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH are both used in the Old and New
Testament.
1]. WEEPING for miseries and grief, both for personal miseries and as a nation [too
often to list them: use any good concordance]. It is used in the New Testament the same
way it was in the Old Testament. See Matthew 2:18; Mark 5:28; Luke 7:38; 8:52: John
11:33; 20:11 Acts 9:39; 21:13; Philippians 3:18 and James 5:1. The weeping is the Jews
when they see Israel being cast out as God's chosen people, and Jerusalem and the
Temple being destroyed, and the end of their national identity See Matthew 24, Daniel 9
and 10.
2]. GNASHING OF TEETH shows anger and rage of the persons gnashing their teeth,
not pain, and is used in both the Old and New Testament. "They hiss and gnash the teeth"
Lamentations 2:16, See Psalms 35:16; Micah 3:5. Used the same way in the New
Testament. "And they gnashed on him with their teeth" [Acts 7:54]. Those who stoned
Stephen were angry with him, not in pain; they were not dead and in Hell, they were alive
and on this earth. If gnashing of teeth were in Hell, as many teach it is, whom are they
going to gnash with their teeth? Does anyone believe some in Hell will be angry with
others in Hell and gnash them with their teeth? The gnashing of teeth is the anger and
rage of the Jews towards those doing the destroying [the Roman army], and maybe even
toward God for letting the destroying be happening. GNASHING OF TEETH IS
BECAUSE OF ANGER OR RAGE. IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF THE PERSON DOING
THE GNASHING OF HIS OR HER TEETH ARE BEING TORMENTED IN HELL. IN
THE BIBLE GNASHING OF TEETH IS ALWAYS BECAUSE OF ANGER IN BOTH
THE OLD AND THE NEW TESTAMENT. IT IS MISUSED TODAY TO SHOW
TORMENT IN "HELL."
• In the Old Testament: Gnashing of teeth is because of anger on the part of the one
doing the gnashing.
• In the New Testament: Gnashing of teeth is changed by those who believe in Hell
to be a person in Hell gnashing his or her teeth because of pain.
Weeping and gnashing of teeth are two different things, which are sometimes both
found together, but most often are not together. Neither one ever occurs in the same
passages with hades or Gehenna. That either one or both will be in Hell is an assumption
that is preached over and over. Could an immaterial, invisible part of a person gnash its
teeth?
THE CENTURION GENTILE Matthew 8:5-13: "And when he was entered into
Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my
servant lying in the house sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7 And he said unto him,
I will come and heal him. And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy
that you should come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be
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healed. For I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to
this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do
this, and he does it. And when Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that
followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, NOT IN ISRAEL. And
I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: BUT THE SONS OF THE
KINGDOM SHALL BE CAST FORTH INTO THE OUTER DARKNESS: THERE SHALL
BE THE WEEPING AND THE GNASHING OF TEETH. And Jesus said unto the
centurion, Go your way; as you have believed, [so] be it done unto you. And the servant
was healed in that hour." After seeing the faith of this Gentile, Jesus says the Gentiles
will sit in the kingdom and the sons [Jews] will be