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Hell, What is God Like?

The Fate of The Lost (Part 1)

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Imagine This

You love your father greatly. You have a thousand reasons to do so. As a child, you can recall sitting on his lap as he read Bible stories and books about adventure. He took you to church every week and told you about the love of the Creator and how Jesus gave his life so that you could live eternally without any pain or sorrow. You had great times with him at the many places you went together, especially the hiking trips and fishing for your supper.

You noticed him praying in the morning and crying over loved ones who had passed away or had walked away from his Savior. He helped strangers in need and would give any of them the “shirt off his back.” He was your rock in times of trouble, pain, and doubt. You know without a doubt that he loves you and would give his life for you without even thinking about it.

One day America was attacked, and he joined the Air Force to protect liberty and shield you and the rest of the country from tyranny. He became a high-ranking officer and directed a lot of men into battle. Most all of them respected him (in the same manner you would) for his kindness even when he had to be resolute in making tough life-and-death decisions.

One day you hear that your sweet Dad tortured the enemy he captured. He did so by slowly burning them. He would let the fire slowly roast them until they cried out for mercy, willing to tell any war secrets, but your Dad showed no mercy. He wanted to punish the prisioners.

Would you believe these stories? Of course not, because you know your Father. You have a relationship with him. Yet, modern Christian teachers describe our heavenly Father as One who has reserved a place where people burn without end, tortured throughout eternity without any mercy or relief. The Author of life keeps them alive, so they continue to burn and suffer. Do you believe this?

I know my Heavenly Father. He is gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger, and great in mercy. Quick to forgive! This is the first reason why I know that this place of torture is not real but created by the enemy himself.

The next way I know the truth is from the Bible. The wages of sin is death or perishing…The warning against unbelief is found in John 3:16., but it is not eternal torture.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should NOT PERISH but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Everyone knows God loved all of us so much that He was willing to let Jesus die so we could have eternal life and NOT PERISH! If we believe the false teaching about torture, John 3:16 would have to be rewritten to say,

“whosoever believes in him will not go to hell and be tortured…”

The warning to Adam and Eve would be,

“The day you eat of the tree, you will surely go to hell and be tortured forever.

Genesis 2:17 (modified)

What amazes me is that these teachers get angry when someone rejects the idea that God tortures those who choose not to believe. Is this the kind of God you want to serve in heaven? Or is it a human desire for the wicked to experience unsatisfied anger? Many preachers ask,

“How how can I get people to come to Christ without a non-stop burning place? In other words, they feel that scaring the lost will create a life-saving relationship with Jesus. Here is my answer; bring them to Christ by demonstrating the great love of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Did we scare our spouses into marriage? Or did we woo and draw them with our great love for them?

“…I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. Jeremiah 31:3.

Lift Jesus up and He will draw the the lost to himself,

“If I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself.” John 12:32. “

Here are some of the clearest and most powerful verses on the fate of the lost (not a parable.). As instructed through inspiration, we should consider the coming of Jesus and how we live and relate to the lost. There is a hell, but it is not eternal. It burns people up instead of torturing them. The coming destruction is a warning to the people of this earth.


By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.


But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.


But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.


Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

2 Peter 3: 7-12

An apparent delay…out of mercy:

2 Peter 3: 7-9 (above) reveals some important truths about the character of God:

1.) We think God is slow concerning His promises, but He is not tied to our mortal time-keeping and has a purpose for His apparent delay.


2.) God is patient with us. What is He waiting for that requires his divine patience? It is repentance from sin.


3.) He does not want anyone to perish. The Greek word for “perish” is “apollymi.” It means to destroy or abolish. This makes sense if you read the verses proceeding today’s verse:

4.) At the Second Coming of Jesus, He burns up the earth and those who are “ungodly.”

5.) These facts tell us we should be living lives where we remember what God is going to do to this earth.

The coming of Christ is a destructive event. It destroys the earth and those who are unrepentant “perish” in its fire. Please note: The verse does not say God does not want anyone to “go to hell” or be tortured throughout eternity. The fate of the lost is eternal destruction (Perish). Those who twist scripture to ignore the love of God and His desire to keep people from perishing ignore passages that demonstrate that God is love. Any teaching that is not founded on this Biblical principal is false.

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.” Psalm 103:8.

How do we relate to the wickedness of this world? Do we want unrepentant sinners to burn in hell forever? This is a human wish not God’s. Or do we want to save them from the coming eternal destruction?.

For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

Hebrews 10:39

The soul that sins shall die…For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

Ezekiel 18: 4, 32


Hell, Rapture, The Soon Return of Jesus, The Truth About The Fate of The Lost, Truth About the Deceased

FINAL FATE OF ALL ON PLANET EARTH

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God will not allow us to destroy the earth. He will destroy the planet while we are nearing self-annihilation.

And should destroy those who destroy the earth.” Revelation 11:18 b

The preceding verses here in Revelation 11:18 describe the earth’s condition when we are near destroying ourselves through atomic weapons. John had to write this verse in faith because he could probably not imagine such power man would possess to literally destroy the entire earth. But we have arrived just in one generation.

The nations are angry, and so is God!

The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,  Revelation 11: 18

God has reserved the destruction of the earth for Himself.

But the heavens and the earth, which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition (destruction) of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:7

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Before we move along, let’s review a key component of this coming destruction. It begins with the return of Christ.

In the last article, we clearly answered the following question from the Bible, “Doesn’t Matthew 24:37-41 Say One Is Taken (Raptured) and the Other Left Behind?”

God’s word precisely describes the following about the second coming when Jesus appears in the sky and “every eye shall see Him.” Note: I am not addressing the tribulation in this article. That topic will be for another time.

The Literal Return of Christ Summary:


1.) It is not a quiet or secret event. It is a powerful rescue of God’s people! Every person alive (whether lost or saved) sees Him coming (Rev. 1:7)

2.) It is a destructive event. God destroys the earth and its contents by fire. (2 Peter 3: 10-13)

3.) There are two different responses to the second coming: The response of God’s people and the response of the wicked. The wicked run and hide (Revelation 6:16). The redeemed rejoice! (Isaiah 25:9)

4.) All can hear it! He descends with a shout and a loud trumpet. (1 Thess 4:16)

5.) Jesus’ literal return is the keeping of a promise He made and is the hope of His followers. I go and prepare a place…I will return again. His rescue is not in two parts. (John 14: 1-3)

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To this point in this review, we have primarily shown that when Christ returns, there are two classes of saved people:

1.) The saved alive who will not see death.

2.) The saved of all ages who are “dead in Christ.”

Both classes are given immortality here and rise from the earth to meet the Lord in the air. It is here that eternity begins. There are two very clear verses that support this clearly:

 For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord. *Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

Notice the key statements:

1.) Lord Himself comes down with a shout, voice, and a trumpet (you can hear it). So can the lost, as we will see.

2.) The “dead in Christ” rise first. Graves open up, and out come the saved of all ages.

3.) Then those who are alive who were protected by the Lord during the tribulation rise to meet those who were resurrected and the Lord in the air. Notice the word “remain.” Some translations use the word “left.” This alludes to the fact that they were left or remained after the plagues that hit the earth. An example: If a house burns down that has a full library. There might be some books that were destroyed and some that were in a safe which were “left” or untouched by the fire.

4.) From this point forward, the redeemed will spend eternity with the Lord

*These are the words (as described in 1 Thess 4: 16-18) where we are to find comfort. Why is this verse hardly ever mentioned at funerals? Instead, the pagan idea of the bodiless soul going immediately to heaven is described, yet there is no biblical evidence of this. That falsehood contradicts both 1 Thess 4: 16-18 that we just read and Paul’s further details found in the 15th Chapter of 1 Corinthians:

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15: 51-54

Again, notice the key statements:

1.) Not all will sleep (die)

2.) The saved are “changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” Note: it is the change that is very fast…not the second coming.”

3.) The dead (in Christ) are raised incorruptible (No longer subject to decay)

4.) God gives (puts on) the redeemed incorruption and immortality to their resurrected bodies in a flash.

5.) When this change to our bodies is made, it is then that the saying “Death is swallowed up in victory.” can be made. It cannot be made at the grave site or at a funeral. It is only when Jesus returns.

Somehow, we have made dying the gateway to immortality, but without the return of Christ and our resurrection, we are all lost. We might as well live it up, for tomorrow, we die forever.

For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.  And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!  Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable…If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

1 Corinthians 15: 16-19, 32b

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What Happens to the Lost at the Return of Christ?

We have already seen “that every eye” will see the return. The wicked cannot stand to see Jesus when He comes. They run anywhere to hide from the face of the Lamb:

They Can’t Stand the Sight of His Coming

 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave, and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Revelation 6: 15-17

The key points are:

1.) Every person who does not love Jesus’ appearing on the earth, (regardless of their economic status) cannot stand the sight and try to flee to dark places. They ask a question that is answered in the next chapter of Revelation: “Who is able to stand?”

a.) The sealed of Israel. This is not literal Jews, but those who are “in Christ. A study for another time.

b.) The vast multitude of those who are alive and survived the great tribulation through the power of God. “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Rev. 7: 14

Some have suggested that the 144,000 and the vast multitude are the same group of people. Another study for another time.

They Are Destroyed By The Brightness of His Coming:

As far back as the Old Testament, the fate of the lost has been described. Here is a clear example:

“For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“That will leave them neither root nor branch.…You shall trample the wicked,
For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet
On the day that I do this,”
Says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 4: 1,3

Key Points:

1.) That day will be like an oven

2.) All who do wickedly will be like stubble and will be burned up

3.) Burned up means nothing left (neither a root nor a branch left)

4.) They shall be turned to ashes

Paul describes the same event in 2 Thessalonians:

 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,  and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2: 8-11

Key Point

1.) As shown earlier, Christ’s return is destructive. God destroys the “lawless one” (aka Antichrist) and those who perish with “him” because they did not love the truth. They chose the convenience and selfishness of a lie.

What are the Second Death and the Second Resurrection?

Both Jesus and John talk of two resurrections:

Jesus clearly states that all who are in the graves will be resurrected. But the resurrections have two different results: life or condemnation.

 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. John 5: 28-30

John, who recorded Jesus’ statement above, adds more detail about the timing of the two resurrections. They are separated by 1,000 years:

And they (the saved) lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. Revelation 20: 4-6

Key Points as we compare with previous verses:

1.) When Christ returns, those in the grave are resurrected. They are in the “first resurrection.”

2.) Those in the first resurrection (along with those who were alive at the return of Christ) live and reign with Christ for 1,000 years. A lot of our questions are answered during this time.

3.) The second death has no power over those who are reigning with Christ for this 1,000 years.

4.) Those who were wicked and dead when Christ returned were not resurrected until the end of the 1,000 years. Those who were wicked and alive were destroyed by the brightness of the Lord’s return. Both the wicked dead and the wicked destroyed are raised at the second resurrection at the end of 1,000 years.

5.) The wicked at the return of Christ die twice! One on earth and again for eternity after their judgment. The second death is forever with no hope. Fire comes down and devours them. “And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.” Revelation 20:9

6.) The ultimate fate of the unbelievers is “perishing,” as John described in that famous verse John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Notice the fate of the lost: “Perish.” It is contrasted with the believers’ gift of everlasting life. The lost do not have everlasting life in a burning place.

For more on hell, see these two articles:

1.) Hell-Let Us Reason Together

2.) Lord Teach Me About Hell Part 1

3.) Did Jesus Really Teach More About Hell Than Heaven?

Christian, Do you really want to believe in a God who so loved the world that He would burn the lost or quad trillions of years without mercy? This is a horrible picture of burning people in some corner of the universe. Do you really know Jesus if you believe this pagan picture?

At the end of the 1,000 years, John describes (in the next Chapter 21) the “New Jerusalem” coming down out of heaven. It is at this point that God creates a new heaven and a new earth. The saved of all ages spend eternity with sin and death destroyed forever. God dwells with His people in the new dwelling place of God…with His people who have been redeemed

 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21: 1-4

Key Points

1.) Like John, the redeemed will be witnesses to God creating a new heaven and a new earth! Praise God! What a sight!

2.) The New Jerusalem, currently residing in heaven, will come to this new earth!

3.) God will reside with us here on the new earth!

4.) All tears, sorrow, crying, and pain will be eliminated…gone forever. Praise our Holy God!!

One last picture. Each month and each week, we will be worshiping together. Congregating will be continued on the new earth!

“For as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord,
“So shall your descendants and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass
From one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord. Isaiah 66:22-23

Just as the Sabbath of the 10 commandments commemorated the creation of the earth, this “new” Sabbath will honor the new earth…a new creation. And as on the first earth, we will work six days and then worship on the seventh day.

They shall build houses and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
They shall not plant and another eat;
For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people,
And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. Isaiah 65: 21-22

Heaven, as we call it, will be a real place on a real earth.

Summary of the Fate of all People

In this simple chart, we see the fate of everyone who has ever lived on this planet. There are only two places: eternal life on a new planet or eternal death. You can have the promise of eternity today through Jesus. Will you repent of your sins and turn to Him? He will gladly save you from yourself and the wiles of the enemy.

RedeemedLost
Both dead and alive, go where Jesus is now at His second coming.Destroyed by the brightness of His coming
Spend 1,000 years in New Jerusalem-A Honey Moon of sortsLay in the grave for 1,000 years
At the end of the 1,000 years, the redeemed come down in the New Jerusalem with JesusAre resurrected in the resurrection of the condemnation.
Resurrected and then try to attack the New Jerusalem. God sends fire down from heaven. This is the second death for the wicked. They died once on earth and once at the end of the 1,000 years. They perish for eternity.
The redeemed enjoy eternity without any more pain or death. They build houses and plant vineyards and enjoy the work of their hands in immortal bodies. They worship on the Sabbath.Like Satan, never shall they be anymore. Ezekiel 28: 18-19
Hell, Pain and Suffering, What is God Like?

KNOWING GOD-PART 3-HIS CHARACTER

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Those who know God know His character.

But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:24

The platform for understanding God’s character must start with John’s bedrock description of God Himself:

All Biblical understanding must conform to this grand description of God the Father and Jesus Christ.

If God’s character of love does not transfer into our own experience, it is a demonstration that we don’t really know God. If we don’t have love in our hearts for God and other people (even our enemies), we don’t know God. John said this very clearly:

 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 

1 John 4: 7-8

If our understanding of God rejects these characteristics, it is likely due to a misunderstanding of who God is. If this is the case, certain Bible texts about the nature of God will be twisted to make God uncaring and cruel beyond belief.

A Modern Parable

There was a certain young boy who loved his father very much. We will call him Jim. His Dad, Bill, took an interest in everything Jim did. They often talked about life while fishing or working around the house. His Dad taught him many things about relating to family, friends, and even enemies. He encouraged Jim to love them all and to honor each person. To love them as God loves them.

As far back as he could remember, Jim’s Dad read to him. Nightly, many good books, including the Bible, brought peace and understanding to Jim. Dad taught him how to pray. In the morning, Jim would see his Dad on his knees at the window, praying to God.

When war came, Jim’s Dad volunteered for service and went away to war. Bill was a good soldier that could be trusted. He was promoted rapidly as a leader and was in charge of taking men into battle. After the war, Bill was decorated for his bravery and leadership. Jim was so proud of his father!

The boy grew, and so did his relationship with his father. The boy knew his Dad better than anyone else. He wanted to be like his brave and kind father.

Jim went off to college. While there, he met some young men whose dads had also been to war. They remember the stories told to them of the war. One young man, in particular, had heard of Jim’s decorated Dad. The young man said his father had told stories about Bill torturing the enemy troops that were captured. In detail, Jim’s classmate described the torture of burning a prisoner a little at a time and keeping them alive to suffer even more. The prisoner would cry out for mercy and even death, but Bill ignored them.

Jim was shocked!. He knew his Dad was not that kind of person and rejected the gruesome story of torture.

After discussing this with his Dad, the true story came out. The father of the young man at college was someone who disliked Jim’s Dad and was angry because he did not get the promotions in rank as did Bill. He began to spread rumors and lies to smear Bill’s good name and character. The truth was turned into lies and events twisted to satisfy the narrative of cruelty.

Jim knew his Dad. Because of this, he was certain Bill was not capable of torturing anyone. It was beyond reason and contradicted everything he knew about his Dad. The lessons taught to Jim about God’s love and compassion, even for enemies, did not square with the conflicting characteristics of someone who did not know his Dad nor his God.

God’s Character

Image a God who tortures his enemies for eternity. Is this a God of love and mercy? To believe that God gives no relief from the flames lost sinners can suffer without end means one of a couple of things:

1.) Passages of scripture have been twisted to teach that the lost have eternal life in burning flames even though the Bible clearly states that the wages of sin is eternal death, not eternal life in flames. We may have created a God, in our heads, where His wrath is never satisfied. Unlike God, we want revenge on the evil person and for them to pay for their wrongs through suffering. We want revenge, but God wants justice.

How is it justice that my lost relative who refused to believe in Jesus or go to church should burn without end for his free choice?

2.) We don’t know God. We like the idea of hell where people burn for their evil deeds, but remember…When we talk about salvation, we are talking about the good moral people who don’t care for Jesus or religion. They pay their taxes, have families, and are good neighbors. Should they burn forever along with Hitler? Is it justice to live for 30 years in riotous living, die in a car wreck, and then burn for 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 + years?

Someone suggested I don’t believe in hell. I always tell them, “I believe in a hell that is hotter than the one you support. The hell of the Bible burns up and leaves no root or branch. It is not meant to torture.

For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“That will leave them neither root nor branch. Malachi 4:1

This means nothing will be left of the person for eternity. Even Satan is turned into ashes:

Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you.

Ezekiel 28:18

So yes, I believe in a firey END…not firey torture. Sodom and Gomorrah are no longer cities, but they are examples of what will happen to the ungodly at the end of time:

 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;

2 Peter 2:6

Destruction awaits the lost. Jesus tells it plainly:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

Matthew 7:13

Do you know God?

Do you know God like Jim knew his Dad bill? If God takes no delight in the death of the wicked, He would take no delight in unmerciful torture.

‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. 

Ezekiel 33:11

Do you really believe our Heavenly Father, that sent Jesus to die for our sins, would make the penalty of unbelief flames licking at their body parts of melting skin and bones in a torture chamber where people cry out to die? We would need to alter several verses to support this idea. The most famous one of God’s love, John 3:16 would need to be changed to read:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish (burn in flames) but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16

Wages of sin is death life in a burning hell for eternity.

Romans 6:23


He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. has a life in burning flames called hell.

1 John 5:12

Friends, salvation is a matter of life or eternal death. Eternal death is punishment enough. But it is also an act of mercy. Heaven is not the place for those who love sin. Their reward or their heaven is while they are on earth living a life of selfish indulgence. Their philosophy is “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.”

Salvation also includes the victory over the sins that we love. A born-again follower of Jesus is given a new heart, God replaces that love of the world of sin with a love for Him and other people.

Salvation and eternal life are more about who you know rather than what you know:

Author

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

John 17:3

We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 1 John 5:20

God does not scare people into accepting Him. He uses powerful words of reason, demonstration, and understanding. It is His love, mercy, compassion, and kindness that win people to Him for eternal life. It is the cross of Christ that draws people to Him.

“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

Jeremiah 31:3

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.

John 12:32

This is the God of love that we serve and preach to a dying world. There is no opposing character in our God. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He never changes (Hebrews 13:8, Malachi 3:6).

He loves even the sinner and desires him/her to turn (repent) and live. If this is you, will you do that just now?

Hell, Reasons to Believe, What is God Like?

Hell-LET US REASON TOGETHER

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I once heard a pastor preach on the topic of hell.  It was called “Why the Intellectual Honest is Not Christian.”   A catchy title, but it is often true.  The teaching of hell, a place of torture and non-stop punishment in flames without end, doesn’t line up with the character of God.  If a person thinks it through, the sacrifice of God the Father by giving His Son Jesus so that we might not perish (John 3:16) is at the extreme opposite end of God’s supposed solution and punishment for the lost.  Mercy, justice, or torture with skin on fire; Which fits the character of God?  John, the beloved, described the essence of God’s character this way:

“…God is love.”

1 John 4:8b

From the central concept of God is love, all other doctrines of the Bible must line up.  If not, we have a massive misunderstanding about who God is.  How can He be merciful and full of love for even the worse of lost sinners?  Then respond to rejection by torturing them forever? If this is true, it would be the ultimate form of unsatisfied, unquenchable revenge. Can you think of anything more cruel? Maybe driving straw under the fingernail every second of the day.

God’s Glory and Goodness

Moses was allowed to see God’s “glory” and His “goodness” as He walked by. 

And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.

After seeing God walk by, Moses didn’t describe God’s physical appearance, but the characteristics of God:

“The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,

Exodus 34:6

This is where we must start understanding who God is and what His name represents.  This goodness, this kindness, leads someone to want to follow Him. God gave us the ability to reason. Non-Stop torture for quadrillion years, then starting over makes no sense for a merciful, loving God.

 Only after we understand that God is love, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness can we look at God’s plan for those who are “lost.”  No, not all are saved and live forever. It is the opposite; they die forever, They would not be happy in heaven.

This question must be asked: Which is God’s method of reaching the lost: The threat of personal eternal punishment or falling in love with a sacrificial God?

Popular Teachings on Hell

Hell is taught as a place either under the earth or somewhere in the universe where the souls of those who reject Christ spend eternity in flames and torture. Hell, and mercy cannot be in the same sermon or teaching for this idea. They are mutually exclusive because the burning flames of punishment would eliminate mercy. 

Before accepting Christ as an unbeliever, this idea of God’s punishment created a crisis of faith for me.  How could I trust a God who held this threat over my head?  Love me, or I will torture you. It made no sense. There was no logic there.

What if I had tried to win my wife by saying, “If you don’t love me, I will torture you.”  Would that attract her to me?  Sadly, I know someone who is caught in this type of Godless marriage.  The husband has (on several occasions threatened to kill the wife and her father if she left him.  What do you think her life is like? Is she free or in captivity? Is she in love or in shackles?

As an atheist, this idea of burning anyone for eternity gave me more reasons to believe that the Bible and religion were all about controlling people and scaring them into submission. 

What amazed my rational, logical thought process is this fact:  Many Christians, in particular, get angry if someone rejects the idea of such a place or a God that doesn’t put the sinners into a living place of flames.  They think it is unchristian and unbiblical not to believe the lost stay alive in hot coals of fire, crying for relief.  They insinuate it is what the sinner chooses, and it serves them right for rejecting Christ or living a life of rebellion and sin against God.

God and the bible teach justice. Is eternal torture justice?  Does punishment fit the crime?

Life In Prison-Justice?

A man was driving on the freeway going 75 mph in a 55 mph speed zone. He is taken to court, where the judge sentences him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  Is this justice? 

Another man is caught in the same speed zone and is brought to the court. The judge hears the charges. He had been at a bar and left at 10:00 PM to head home.  He drifts over the double yellow line and kills an innocent family.  The dirty, smelly man is unrepentant.  The judge gives him life in prison without parole. Is this justice?  Likely.  But here is the sad thing, some teach that God says, “No!” This is not justice!   God condemns him to life in flames with no parole after He dies in prison, not because of the act of murder, but because he rejected Jesus and never repented. But here is something else to consider. The loving, hard-working husband and father also killed by the drunk is also condemned to flames because he rejected Christ and hated going to church with his wife and children. He was a good man but didn’t believe in Jesus and Christianity.

A rational person has a hard time wrapping their head around eternity, much less the idea of the unbearable stinging of flames on the skin, lips, arms, and legs kept alive FOREVER by God to “punish” the lost.  These human torches cry out for actual death to escape the flames, but the merciful God says, “No!”  The human torches, or as we call them, “lost,” can be anyone from Hitler to Uncle Bill who never attended church, never opened a Bible, didn’t believe in Jesus but was a good faithful husband and father. It includes all those who worship other gods or who never heard the story of Jesus. Their punishment is never satisfied by a loving, merciful God.  

WHO IS GOD?

Let’s explore this topic.  It is essential for Christians to know the truth and know their heavenly Father and His character.  Would a merciful, loving God do such a thing?  What method did God and Jesus employ to bring people into a loving, saving relationship with Him?

Following are the two typical modern understandings of hell.  This is what a majority of protestant Christians trust to be true.

View 1:  If you die and are unsaved (e.g., did not profess Christ), your immortal soul immediately (or after a quick judgment scene) goes to a place under the earth where the devil resides, and blistering hot flames torment your soul throughout eternity without end.  You will scream and desire to die, but you will stay alive in flames, never finding relief.  This could be called the immediate and present Hell.

View 2:  If you die and are unsaved, your immortal soul is judged at the Great White Throne judgment at the end of time. Your soul and body are cast into the lake of fire prepared for Satan and his angels, where flames torture you throughout eternity.  You will scream and desire to die, but you will stay alive in the fire, never finding relief.  We will call this future Hell.

The Catholic church throws in a couple of “holding” places, such as purgatory, and some talk about a place called “Abraham’s bosom.” Those in these places can be prayed into heaven. In some cases, money can pay them into heaven.

There may be other slight variations of hell, but if you ask a Christian or a pastor about hell, this is very close to the answers given.  It is often softened up to take out the idea of a Holy God torturing the unsaved by saying non-biblical things like,

“The lost choose hell.”  

Is that right?  Who in their right mind would choose to be tortured? The Bible teaches they choose death over eternal life not so much from a conscious choice but instead through unbelief in Jesus and rejecting the pull of the Holy Spirit to repent and turn away from the sins that lead to death.

The common idea with both basic views about hell involves non-stop burning, which is a miracle!  The miracle of staying alive with a body to experience pain! It also requires an immortal soul.  A term not used in the Bible.   We often hear preachers say, “You will live eternally in one of two places.”  Is this true?  Does the lost also have eternal life?  Are their souls immortal?  What is tortured by the flames?  The soul? The body?  Both?

What does the Bible have to say about all this?

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The Bible’s Teaching on the Fate of the Lost

Some will say, “The immortal soul is being punished, not the body.“  Of course, there is no biblical proof for this. It contradicts those who support a literal interpretation of the Rich Man and Lazarus, where the rich man has a tongue and gets thirsty in flames. He has a body!

Some will say, “God is just, and this is their fate.  We can’t understand it and aren’t supposed to.”

Is this true?

Indeed, our thoughts and ways are not like His, but there are things He has revealed that we can know with certainty. “

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to our children and to us forever,

Deuteronomy 29:29

Is the fate of the lost one of those things revealed to us?  Yes! But we must understand it from ALL that has been shown to us!

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JESUS’ APPEAL

The Bible tells us that eternal life is based on knowing God and having a relationship with Him.  We are drawn to Him as He is lifted up (Cross).  Is a torturing God the One we want to get to know?  Or is God like a father who loves his child?  Does God use hell to scare us into coming to Him, or does he draw us in a different more divine way?

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

John 17:3

Knowing God The Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is essential in our experience and salvation from death.  To have a false conception of God is dangerous, as we shall see.

We are not scared into a relationship with the Lord; He draws us with “lovingkindness.”

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

Jeremiah 31:3

It is the cross, not hell that draws people to Jesus.

‘”…And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.‘  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.”

John 12:32-33

That day on a lonely hill, Jesus dying on a rough wooden cross is the ultimate demonstration of the sacrifice and love God offers to all people. A clear view of the things leading up to the death of Jesus and the day He said, “It is finished,” will bring the sin weary to repentance, forgiveness, and salvation from eternal death.

His death was what all lost people would experience—an end without hope.  When Jesus “became sin for us,” He felt the separation from God the Father.  He felt forsaken.

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The Rest of The Story

It is unbiblical to think that the soul is immortal.  The soul is not eternal.  Only God has immortality.  The saved are not given immortality until Christ returns.

If a soul can die, it is not immortal.

“ Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die..”

Ezekiel 18:4

Only God has immortality!

I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:14-16

Immortality is not given to us until Jesus returns and we are changed.  We “put on” immortality then and not before.  

Want to know a mystery about death that has been solved? Something God has revealed to us and our children?  Listen closely to the words of Paul:

 “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.””

1 Corinthians 15: 51-54

Is this not as clear as a bell?  Immortality is “put on” when Jesus returns!  We sleep in death, waiting for the resurrection just as the Bible describes.  This waiting is like a mere micro-second.  A person dies.  Years if not millennia, pass, and they come forth in new immortal bodies at the return of Christ. The same is true for the “lost.”  Except, they meet a different fate.

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Eternal Death

“Death has come upon all men by the offense of one man. But, through grace and the gift of righteousness, life came by Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5:12, 17

Wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 3:23.

Wages are something due to us for our work of sin.  Sin leads to death, not life. Both are mutually exclusive.  You can’t have both.  You must have one or the other. The gift of eternal life is reserved only for the saved.

He that has the Son has life.  He that does not have the Son does not have life.

1 John 5:12

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16

Here is a simple, straightforward comparison of what awaits the lost VS the saved:

Believes in Jesus = everlasting life

Not believing = perish (eternal death)

“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life….”

John 3:36

Believes in the Son = everlasting life

Does not believe in the = shall not see life.

The Lord can destroy the soul,

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Matthew 10:28

The body and soul are destroyed in hell.  It is not kept alive to suffer throughout eternity. If there is a fear to be taught, it is the fear that both the body and the soul are forever destroyed, while the redeemed have a new immortal body and life without end.

The Power and Miracle of the Resurrection

As described before, the belief in God AND the resurrection of Jesus are both vital to receiving salvation from eternal death:

… if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

It was Paul’s goal to be raised from the dead…Not to die and be with Him,

” if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:11

The mortal “puts on” immortality, and death is no more when Jesus returns.

The dead in Christ are resurrected.

“For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words”

1 Thessalonians 4: 15-18

Note:  Those who died in Christ and those alive when He returns start to “be with the Lord forever” when He returns.  So, the resurrection is our hope…Our eternity with the Lord does not begin until He returns.

Jesus will raise the saved from the grave on the last day.

“This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.”

John 6:39

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:44

“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:54

“Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

John 11:24

The teaching of resurrection as our hope is an ancient truth.  Example: Job said,

“my redeemer lives and I will see God in the flesh in the latter day upon the earth.”

Job 19:25, 26

The resurrection is crucial because we are lost if it doesn’t happen.

Our faith is futile without the resurrection. Our hope is in the return of Christ and the Resurrection, not in dying and floating off to heaven.

“And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”

1 Corinthians 15:14-19

The Rich Man and Lazarus

The Rich Man and Lazarus story does not include the resurrection in its story.  It is clearly a parable directed at the snooty self-righteous Pharisees.  To say it is literal brings many contradictions to other clear verses that are not parables. This parable comes near the end of a long series of parables spoken by Jesus.  There was a resurrection of another Lazarus that clearly describes the state of those who die.  The event is described in John 11.  Here Jesus compares Lazarus’ death with sleep:

“Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep…Then said Jesus, unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.”

John 11:14

Notice something else; When Jesus brought Lazarus back to life after being dead for four days, he did not say to him to come down but rather come forth (v. 43). If Lazarus had been in heaven, he would have had many things to share, don’t you think?  Why is he silent?  It is because he was unconscious until Jesus called for him to “come forth.”

The Resurrection of the Lost

The unjust have a resurrection, too (after the millennium): 

“I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.”

Act 24:15

The “rest of the dead” come up long after the first resurrection:

“And they (the saved) lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.”

Revelation 20: 4, 5

The second death is the fate of the lost who are not part of the first resurrection but rise in the 2nd resurrection. Revelation 20:6

“Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power….”

Revelation 20:6

At the end of all things, the saved may have died once, but they will never have to die again because they have been given immortality.  But the lost who died once will die again, fully aware that their death will be forever. This knowledge is their quick punishment. They acknowledge they were wrong and dismissive of Jesus:

As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.”

Romans 4:11

At the end of time, fire destroys the earth, Satan, and sinners:

Jesus comes as a thief in the night in which the heavens, earth, elements, and all the works are burned up.

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

2 Peter 3:10

Everlasting Destruction

“The Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”

2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9

What is everlasting?  The destruction. This is the punishment, never existing again.

The wicked are destroyed forever (Psalm 92:7, Psalm 9:5)

“When the wicked spring up like grass,
And when all the workers of iniquity flourish,
It is that they may be destroyed forever.”

Psalm 92:7

Death and hell (grave) are destroyed!

“Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

Revelation 20:14

Fire comes down from God when the resurrected lost try to surround the beloved city. This fire devours them. When something is consumed or devoured, there is nothing left.

“They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.”

Revelation 20:9

“For our God is a consuming fire.”

Hebrews 12:29

The Anti-Christ (lawless one) is destroyed when Christ returns by the brightness of the Lord’s coming.

“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.”

2 Thessalonians 2:8

Wicked is burned up, reducing them to nothing

“For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,
Says the Lord of hosts,
“That will leave them neither root nor branch.”

Malachi 4:1

Satan is burned to ashes and shall never be anymore

“You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth.
In the sight of all who saw you.”

All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
You have become a horror,
And shall be no more forever”

Ezekiel 28:18, 19

So, Scripture is clear: sin’s wages are death, not eternal life in burning flames.  There is a hell of fire, but it is a work of eternal destruction. Even Satan’s fate is total destruction.  God’s end-time plan will wipe the universe clean of sin and its results. There won’t be some special corner of the universe for people to suffer forever. 

Eternal life is given only to those who turn to Jesus and trust Him. Life eternal is given to those who know Him and not just about Him. It is all about Jesus.  He holds the keys to the grave and death:

I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold; I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

Revelation 1:18

Because we believe He can resurrect us and give us immortality, we have passed from death to life. I want to be part of the first resurrection, don’t you?

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

John 5:24

I often wondered why God wipes away all tears. The passage in Revelation 21: 4, Revelation 7:17, and Isaiah 25:8 are in the context of the end of time when all of God’s people arrive in heaven at the same time after the resurrection, as described in 1 Thess. 4:15-18

The saints will spend their first day in heaven wondering about a loved one who didn’t make it. Then they will understand from the Lord Himself that they were lost and will never be anymore. There will be tears in heaven, but Jesus will literally and symbolically wipe away the tears.  He will explain and show them the many opportunities given to them to receive eternal life as a free gift, but they refused it.

Then all the saints will bow, throw their crowns, and proclaim

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure, they are and were created.

Revelation 4:11

God is just! God is worthy! For this, he receives glory, honor, and power!

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The Truth About The Fate of The Lost

CONTEXT CONCLUSION-RICH MAN AND LAZARUS

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In our study regarding context, we have discovered that a “text without context is pretext.” When one verse is used to support a popular idea or doctrine without the preponderance of context, we can know we are on shaky ground. Context is on several levels:

1.) Lowest level: The passages surrounding the verse, the chapter, and the other writings of the author.

2.) Mid-level: Other writers of the Bible including the writers of the old testament.

3.) Highest level: Context of what has been revealed about God through His revealed character of love, mercy, and forgiveness.

The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus tests positive on all three levels. But, how can we know it is a parable? Is it a literal example of a rich man in torture who is able to communicate with the living about torture to give warning? Is that the purpose of the parable?

Characteristics of a Parable

1.) Often there is a trigger by the Pharisees or person that starts the parable. In the case of the Rich Man and Lazarus, the religious leaders had heard Jesus’ parables and were not happy about it. Luke records in 16:14 that they “loved money and derided Him” (turned up their noses at Jesus.). The parable has its context in the fact that the Pharisees loved luxury and also changed the law to fit their desires regarding divorce (Verse 18). The parable was directed at them as a group through the abstract story of one man and a theoretical situation. He used a popular story often taught by them to show that wealth, position, and lineage were a sign of their acceptance of God. The poor and sick were excluded in their mind and teaching. But, Jesus reversed the character’s positions in His story.

2.) The Rich Man and Lazarus are among a string of parables. In the book of Luke, it is twentieth of twenty-five parables in that chapter.

3.) Many of Jesus’ parables start with the phrase “there was a certain man” as does the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. A certain man can be specific or non-specific. Again. you can know by its context. Some parables do not start with an introduction as being a parable, but we can know by context.

4.) The point of the story is usually said specifically at the end of the parable. The point of the parable is “ ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets (aka Scripture), neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ Verse 31

5.) Mark 4:33, 34 clearly shows that Jesus’ lessons of the kingdom were almost always couched in parables:

“And with many such parables spake he the word unto them: as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them; and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.”

What is a Parable and Its Purpose?

The Random House College Dictionary describes a parable as “a short, allegorical story designed to convey a truth or moral lesson.” Cruden’s Complete Concordance further expands this concept, saying  parables in the Bible were used “more generally than elsewhere.” We know that the Bible writers used situations both imaginary—as in the trees asking the bramble to be king over them (Judges 9:8-15)—and realistic in parables. Whatever form the parable took, it was only a vehicle for the moral lesson being taught.

Jesus recognized the value of parables in teaching the people. He desired to stimulate their deepest thought and contemplation, and He knew that if He spoke too literally, certain of His hearers would quickly forget His words. For some,  his speech sometimes contained stern rebuke.  No doubt he knew straight talk would anger them and they would attempt to silence Him by violence.  Jesus recalled the words of Isaiah 6:9 and told His disciples,

“Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.”

Luke 8:10.

Cruden’s Concordance explains: “Our Savior in the gospels often speaks to the people in parables. He made use of them to veil the truth from those who were not willing to see it. Those who really desired to know would not rest till they had found out the meaning.”

It is appropriate here to ask to whom Jesus was speaking in Luke 16:19-31. Which category of people was He dealing with? The last verse before Jesus begins tells us.

  “And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.” 

Luke 16: 14

Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, a class of men who were notorious all through the Gospels for their refusal to deal honestly with Him and the truths He taught.

We can be sure that of all the people Jesus taught, none were handled more guardedly than the wily Pharisees. They dealt in deception and subterfuge, but Jesus dealt with them wisely and truthfully. The safest way for Him to do this was by parable and allegory. Evidence that they did not understand many of His teachings can be found in Jesus’ prayer:

“I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hath revealed them unto babes.”

Luke 10:21

Examination of the Rich Man and Lazarus

Now we are ready to examine the story of the rich man and Lazarus itself, and try to ascertain the real message Jesus was seeking to convey through it.

“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”

Luke 16:19-21.

Who was the symbolic rich man? The Jews had been blessed above measure by a knowledge of God and his plan of salvation for all mankind. They had received

“the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.”

Romans 9:4.

Only a Jew would pray to “Father Abraham,” as we find the rich man doing later in the story. The Jewish nation was clearly represented by this character.

By contrast, Lazarus symbolized all those people in spiritual poverty—the Gentiles—with whom the Israelites were to share their heritage. The words of Isaiah were well known to the Jews.

“I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”

Isaiah 49:6.

Unfortunately, the Jews had not shared their spiritual wealth with the Gentiles at all. Instead, they considered them as “dogs” that would have to be satisfied with the spiritual crumbs falling from their masters’ tables. The metaphor was known. Jesus had used it before in testing the faith of the Canaanite woman.

“It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” She responded accordingly: “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ tables.”

Matthew 15:26, 27.

The rich Jews had hoarded the truth, and in so doing, they had corrupted themselves. Only moments before relating this parable, Jesus had rebuked the Pharisees for their spiritual conceit.

And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Luke 16:15.

What was to be the result of this terrible conceit?

22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’

Luke 16:22-26

The Jews had enjoyed “the good life” while on earth but had done nothing to bless or enrich their neighbors. No further reward was due.

“But woe to you who are rich,
For you have received your consolation.
25 Woe to you who are full,
For you shall hunger.
Woe to you who laugh now,
For you shall mourn and weep.

Luke 6:24- 25.

Conversely, the poor in spirit, symbolized by Lazarus, would inherit the kingdom of heaven. The Gentiles who hungered and thirsted after righteousness would be filled. The “dogs” and sinners, so despised by the self-righteous Pharisees, would enter heaven before they would.

“Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.”

Matthew 21:31.

The parable concludes with the rich man begging for his brethren to be warned against sharing his fate. Asking Abraham to send Lazarus on this mission, he alleges

“if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.” Abraham replies,

Luke 16:30.

“If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

Verse 31.

Jesus thus rebuked the Pharisees for their disregard of the Scriptures, foreseeing that even a supernatural event would not change the hearts of those who persistently rejected the teachings of “Moses and the prophets.”

The miracle of raising the real-life Lazarus from the dead soon afterward confirmed the accuracy of Jesus’ conclusion. One did rise from the dead, yet the brothers of the “rich man” did not repent. In fact, the Pharisees even plotted to kill Lazarus after his resurrection. His very life was a reminder to them of their own hypocrisy.

The Challenge of Taking the Parable Literally

Today many Christians believe that the story of the rich man and Lazarus is a historical account of two individuals’ literal experiences in the afterlife. Based on this belief, some people teach that those who are consigned to the fiery torments of hell will never stop burning throughout all eternity. As with the parable of the trees and the bramble (Judges 9:8-15), however, serious problems arise with a literal interpretation of the story elements.

Can we believe that all the saints are even now gathered in Abraham’s bosom? If they are, in whose bosom does Abraham rest? And if there is really a great gulf fixed between heaven and hell, how could the rich man possibly have been heard by Abraham? Perhaps more disturbing, how could the saints enjoy the comforts of heaven while enduring the cries of the wicked being tormented?

Another dilemma that arises with a literal interpretation of this story could be called “the mystery of the empty graves.” If this is taken literally, apparently neither of the two leading characters spent very long in the grave—both being whisked away rather quickly to their respective places of reward. Their bodies obviously came along, for we find the rich man lifting up his eyes, and desiring to have his tongue cooled by a drop of water from the finger of Lazarus who was resting, as we have seen, in Abraham’s bosom. Enough graves have been exhumed in recent years to know that the bodies of the deceased are carried neither to heaven or hell after burial. They finally turn to dust and await the resurrection.

From these few examples, we begin to see that in this parable, Jesus was not trying to explain the physical realities of the afterlife. Instead, He was referring to the unfaithfulness of the Jews regarding their assigned responsibility. As stewards of the special message of truth, they utterly failed to share it with the Gentiles, who were eager to hear it. In fact, the entire chapter of Luke 16 is devoted to the subject of stewardship.

Beginning in verse one, Christ gave another parable about stewardship of money or property.

“There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.”

After dealing with the principle of being entrusted with material goods, Jesus opened up the issue of being entrusted with the truth. By the parable of another rich man, He graphically illustrated how they had proven just as unfaithful with spiritual riches as the steward had been unfaithful with physical wealth.

To attempt to stretch the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to cover the doctrine of hellfire is to miss the point Jesus intended to convey. The Bible speaks with unmistakable clarity on the subject of hell in many other places. Nowhere do the Scriptures teach that the wicked will continue to suffer in the fires of hell through the ceaseless ages of eternity. Rather, they will be utterly destroyed. Jesus never would have compromised the integrity of the Holy Scriptures by teaching a doctrine contrary to its own overwhelming testimony on the subject.

The Truth About the Fate of the Lost

The truth about hell and the fate of the lost may be ascertained by examining even a few of the many Bible texts that speak directly on the subject. Before examining these, however, we must remember that

“the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life.”

Romans 6:23.

There are only two alternatives for every soul. Those who accept Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice will live forever; those who do not accept Jesus will die. If the wicked suffered without end, eternal life—however painful—would be theirs. But we know that eternal life is available only to those who accept Jesus.

Consider these clear texts of Scripture that speak of the reward of the wicked:

“But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.”

Psalm 37:20.

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”

Malachi 4:1.

“And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 4:3.

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Matthew 10:28.

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

2 Peter 3:10.

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Revelation 21:8.

Many other texts could be cited, but these clearly illustrate that the ultimate fate of the wicked is eternal death. Notice that the Scriptures choose the strongest possible words to describe the complete destruction of the wicked. In no way should these clear words be misunderstood by one who honestly desires to know the truth. There is a fire reserved for the wicked, but a fire so hot it will utterly destroy all who are engulfed by it. When the fire has done its work, it will go out. Eternally burning fire is not taught anywhere in the Bible—not even in the story of the rich man and Lazarus. (Some people have wondered what the expression “forever” means in the usage of Revelation 20:10. Other similar passages demonstrate this merely to mean as long as a person lives. See Exodus 21:6; 1 Samuel 1:22; Jonah 2:6, etc. Also, the expression “eternal fire” may be understood in terms of consequences rather than duration, as in the example of Sodom and Gomorrah in Jude 7).

It would be tragic to miss the actual point of the parable by removing it from the setting in which Jesus gave it. Let’s accept the lesson He was trying to teach and apply it to our own lives. Are we doing all we can to spread the message of salvation to others? Do we have a genuine love for those around us, and have we invited them to share our spiritual inheritance? If we hoard our riches, like the Jews of old, we will become self-righteous and corrupt. In contrast, by active, loving service, our relationship with Christ as well as with others will become stronger and more meaningful.

Let us not make scary stories the basis of our Christian experience. Instead, let us understand that

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16.

_________________________________________________

Is Eternal Torture in the Nature of the God Described as Love?

After all of this, the pivotal question must be asked,

Do you know God enough to know that He is a God of mercy and not a God who tortures his creation for rejecting Jesus? …even though He  gave man the freedom to choose.

Choose this day whom you will follow.

Joshua 24:15

Sin comes with its own penalty….eternal and non-ending death. This is in itself mercy. The sinner gives in to the carnal nature and chooses a life of pleasurable sin and its ultimate penalty of death rather than a born-again life of service in Christ that brings satisfaction and real joy.  The rebel to God’s Spirit will one day cease to exist in the lake of fire.  They choose this world and its temporary pleasures rather than Jesus and His eternal riches of life and discovery.

It is not what your choose, but rather who.  If you choose Jesus, then eternal life is yours.  Will you choose Him today?

I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

Deuteronomy 30:19

Hell, What is God Like?

The Bible’s teaching on the Fate of the lost (Part 1)

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The Rich Man and Lazarus

Luke 16: 19-31 (NIV)

 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.  At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores  and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.  In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.  So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them,so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

 “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

Much argument has taken place over whether the words of Jesus in Luke 16:19-31 were intended to be understood literally or as a parable. Some Christians feel that in this story, Jesus was offering His hearers a glimpse of what existence in the afterlife is like.

Others, citing numerous passages of Scripture that seem to contradict the portrayal of heaven and hell contained in this passage, feel that Jesus was teaching an altogether different kind of lesson. Unfortunately, many modern religious teachers have isolated the story from its original context and used it as a device for scaring people. Religious “conversions” resulting from a fear of hell as it is depicted in this passage have indeed occurred, but are based on a foundation sorely in need of the strength that comes only from a genuine appreciation of God’s character and a proper understanding of Scripture. To begin this study, we’ll take a closer look at just what a parable really is, and then examine the setting in which Jesus told this story. Perhaps then we will better understand what lessons there are for us in the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

The Random House College Dictionary describes a parable as “a short, allegorical story designed to convey a truth or moral lesson.” Cruden’s Complete Concordance further expands this concept, saying that parables in the Bible were used “more generally than elsewhere.” We know that the Bible writers used situations both imaginary—as in the trees asking the bramble to be king over them (Judges 9:8-15)—and realistic in parables. Whatever form the parable took, it was only a vehicle for the moral lesson being taught.

Jesus recognized the value of parables in teaching the people. He desired to stimulate their deepest thought and contemplation, and He knew that if He spoke too literally, certain of His hearers would quickly forget His words. Not only that, but others, for whom certain of His parables contained stern rebuke, would be so angered by straight speaking that they would attempt to silence Him by violence. Wise as a serpent but harmless as a dove, Jesus recalled the words of Isaiah 6:9 and told His disciples,

“Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.”

Luke 8:10.

Cruden’s Concordance explains: “Our Saviour in the gospels often speaks to the people in parables. He made use of them to veil the truth from those who were not willing to see it. Those who really desired to know would not rest till they had found out the meaning.”

It was Jesus custom to talk to the people with parables.

It is appropriate here to ask to whom Jesus was speaking in Luke 16:19-31. Which category of people was He dealing with? The last verse before Jesus’ voice begins in this passage tells us.

  “And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.” 

Luke 16: 14

Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, a class of men who were notorious all through the Gospels for their refusal to deal honestly with Him and the truths He taught.

We can be sure that of all the people Jesus taught, none were handled more guardedly than the wily Pharisees. They dealt in deception and subterfuge, but Jesus dealt with them wisely and truthfully. The safest way for Him to do this was by parable and allegory. Evidence that they did not understand many of His teachings can be found in Jesus’ prayer:

“I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hath revealed them unto babes.”

Luke 10:21,

Mark 4:33, 34 clearly shows that Jesus’ lessons were almost invariably couched in parables:

“And with many such parables spake he the word unto them: as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them; and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.”

Mark 4: 33, 34

The rich man and Lazarus is at the end of a long list of parables that start in Luke chapter 14:7 before he turns to the disciples and begins to speak to them plainly.

Now we are ready to examine the story of the rich man and Lazarus itself, and try to ascertain the real message Jesus was seeking to convey through it.

“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.”

Luke 16:19-21.

Who was the symbolic rich man? The Jews had been blessed above measure by a knowledge of God and his plan of salvation for all mankind. They had received

“the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.”

Romans 9:4.

Only a Jew would pray to “Father Abraham,” as we find the rich man doing later in the story. The Jewish nation was clearly represented by this character.

By contrast, Lazarus symbolized all those people in spiritual poverty—the Gentiles—with whom the Israelites were to share their heritage. The words of Isaiah were well known to the Jews.

“I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”

Isaiah 49:6.

Unfortunately, the Jews had not shared their spiritual wealth with the Gentiles at all. Instead, they considered them as “dogs” that would have to be satisfied with the spiritual crumbs falling from their masters’ tables. The metaphor was known. Jesus had used it before in testing the faith of the Canaanite woman.

“It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” She responded accordingly: “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ tables.”

Matthew 15:26, 27.

The rich Jews had hoarded the truth, and in so doing, they had corrupted themselves. Only moments before relating this parable, Jesus had rebuked the Pharisees for their spiritual conceit.

“Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”

Luke 16:15.

What was to be the result of this terrible conceit?

“And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”

Luke 16:22-26.

The Jews had enjoyed “the good life” while on earth but had done nothing to bless or enrich their neighbors. No further reward was due.

“Woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger.”

Luke 6:24, 25.

Conversely, the poor in spirit, symbolized by Lazarus, would inherit the kingdom of heaven. The Gentiles who hungered and thirsted after righteousness would be filled. The “dogs” and sinners, so despised by the self-righteous Pharisees, would enter heaven before they would.

“Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.”

Matthew 21:31.

The parable concludes with the rich man begging for his brethren to be warned against sharing his fate. Asking Abraham to send Lazarus on this mission, he alleges

“if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.” Abraham replies,

Luke 16:30.

“If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

Verse 31.

Jesus thus rebuked the Pharisees for their disregard of the Scriptures, foreseeing that even a supernatural event would not change the hearts of those who persistently rejected the teachings of “Moses and the prophets.”

The miracle of raising the real-life Lazarus from the dead soon afterward confirmed the accuracy of Jesus’ conclusion. One did rise from the dead, yet the brothers of the “rich man” did not repent. In fact, the Pharisees even plotted to kill Lazarus after his resurrection. His very life was a reminder to them of their own hypocrisy.

Today many Christians believe that the story of the rich man and Lazarus is a historical account of two individuals’ literal experiences in the afterlife. Based on this belief, some people teach that those who are consigned to the fiery torments of hell will never stop burning throughout all eternity. As with the parable of the trees and the bramble (Judges 9:8-15), however, serious problems arise with a literal interpretation of the story elements.

Can we believe that all the saints are even now gathered in Abraham’s bosom? If they are, in whose bosom does Abraham rest? And if there is really a great gulf fixed between heaven and hell, how could the rich man possibly have been heard by Abraham? Perhaps more disturbing, how could the saints enjoy the comforts of heaven while enduring the cries of the wicked being tormented?

Another dilemma that arises with a literal interpretation of this story could be called “the mystery of the empty graves.” If this is taken literally, apparently neither of the two leading characters spent very long in the grave—both being whisked away rather quickly to their respective places of reward. Their bodies obviously came along, for we find the rich man lifting up his eyes, and desiring to have his tongue cooled by a drop of water from the finger of Lazarus who was resting, as we have seen, in Abraham’s bosom. Enough graves have been exhumed in recent years to know that the bodies of the deceased are carried neither to heaven or hell after burial. They finally turn to dust and await the resurrection.

From these few examples, we begin to see that in this parable, Jesus was not trying to explain the physical realities of the afterlife. Instead, He was referring to the unfaithfulness of the Jews regarding their assigned responsibility. As stewards of the special message of truth, they utterly failed to share it with the Gentiles, who were eager to hear it. In fact, the entire chapter of Luke 16 is devoted to the subject of stewardship.

Beginning in verse one, Christ gave another parable about stewardship of money or property. “There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.” After dealing with the principle of being entrusted with material goods, Jesus opened up the issue of being entrusted with the truth. By the parable of another rich man, He graphically illustrated how they had proven just as unfaithful with spiritual riches as the steward had been unfaithful with physical wealth.

To attempt to stretch the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to cover the doctrine of hellfire is to miss the point Jesus intended to convey. The Bible speaks with unmistakable clarity on the subject of hell in many other places. Nowhere do the Scriptures teach that the wicked will continue to suffer in the fires of hell through the ceaseless ages of eternity. Rather, they will be utterly destroyed. Jesus never would have compromised the integrity of the Holy Scriptures by teaching a doctrine contrary to its own overwhelming testimony on the subject.

The truth about hell may be ascertained by examining even a few of the many Bible texts that speak directly on the subject. Before examining these, however, we must remember that

“the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life.”

Romans 6:23.

There are only two alternatives for every soul. Those who accept Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice will live forever; those who do not accept Jesus will die. If the wicked suffered without end, eternal life—however painful—would be theirs. But we know that eternal life is available only to those who accept Jesus.

Consider these clear texts of Scripture that speak of the reward of the wicked:

“But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.”

Psalm 37:20.

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”

Malachi 4:1.

“And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 4:3.

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Matthew 10:28.

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

2 Peter 3:10.

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Revelation 21:8.

Many other texts could be cited, but these clearly illustrate that the ultimate fate of the wicked is death. Notice that the Scriptures choose the strongest possible words to describe the complete annihilation of the wicked. In no way should these clear words be misunderstood by one who honestly desires to know truth. There is a fire reserved for the wicked, but a fire so hot it will utterly destroy all who are engulfed by it. When the fire has done its work, it will go out. Eternally burning fire is not taught anywhere in the Bible—not even in the story of the rich man and Lazarus. (Some people have wondered what the expression “for ever” means in the usage of Revelation 20:10. Other similar passages demonstrate this merely to mean as long as a person lives. See Exodus 21:6; 1 Samuel 1:22; Jonah 2:6, etc. Also, the expression “eternal fire” may be understood in terms of consequences rather than duration, as in the example of Sodom and Gomorrha in Jude 7).

(We will talk more about this next time.)

It would be tragic to miss the actual point of the parable by removing it from the setting in which Jesus gave it. Let’s accept the lesson He was trying to teach and apply it to our own lives. Are we doing all we can to spread the message of salvation to others? Do we have a genuine love for those around us, and have we invited them to share our spiritual inheritance? If we hoard our riches, like the Jews of old, we will become self-righteous and corrupt. In contrast, by active, loving service, our relationship with Christ as well as with others will become stronger and more meaningful.

Let us not make scary stories the basis of our Christian experience. Instead, let us understand that

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16.

_________________________________________________

After all of this, the pivotal question must be asked,

Do you know God enough to know that He is a God of mercy and not a God who tortures his creation for rejecting Jesus? …even though He  gave man the freedom to choose.

Choose this day whom you will follow.

Joshua 24:15

Sin comes with its own penalty….eternal and non-ending death. This is in itself mercy. The sinner gives in to the carnal nature and chooses a life of pleasurable sin and its ultimate penalty of death rather than a born-again life of service in Christ that brings satisfaction and real joy.  The rebel to God’s Spirit will one day cease to exist in the lake of fire.  They choose this world and its temporary pleasures rather than Jesus and His eternal riches of life and discovery.

It is not what your choose, but rather who.  If you choose Jesus, then eternal life is yours.  Will you choose Him today?

I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

Deuteronomy 30:19

Much thanks to Doug Batchelor with Amazing Facts

Essential Christian Beliefs, Hell, The Truth About The Fate of The Lost

Were Adam and Eve Immortal?

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  1. The Plan of God From the Beginning

The plan for mankind can be found at the beginning of the Bible (Genesis).  Often Jesus would refer back to the beginning when explaining the original desire of God for His creation.  For example, in the area of divorce, Jesus illustrates God’s accommodation for it, but this was not in the desire of God nor His original plan; it was because of our hard hearts:

 He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered (allowed) you to put away your wives: but from the beginning, it was not so.

Matthew 19:8

God’s original will and His clarity on certain topics can be found by going back to the time before mankind sinned and fell from God’s desire for His creation.  For example, the debate over gender designation; the ceremony of marriage;  God’s law; and even the purpose of the Sabbath can be clearly understood by studying mankind’s beginnings.  Even death is made clear by going back to the beginning.

In the beginning, God made man upright; He gave him noble traits of character, with no desire for evil. He endowed him with high intellectual powers and presented before him the strongest possible inducements to be true to his allegiance. Obedience, perfect and perpetual, was the condition of eternal happiness. On this condition, he was to have access to the tree of life.

Patriarchs and Prophets p. 49

This was the desire of God.  His will was to give only happiness and the ability for satisfying production of life to the beings created in His image, but it was conditional on the law of God’s government.  The law of love and trust. Mankind would remain safe and free from death by listening to and believing His words.   Originally there was only one literal law designed to protect the holy pair from the wiles of the enemy of God (Satan). This singular prohibition would give Adam and Eve the ability to continue in happiness.  The law was quite simple:

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you[f] shall surely die.”

Genesis 2: 16-17

Death Passes Upon All

But, Eve left the side of her husband and began to converse with a disguised Satan made to look beautiful and intriguing.  Soon, Eve gave way and disobeyed God because she relied on her own sight and her own reasoning rather than exercising faith (trust) in God’s word…which contained a promise of death for disobedience.

In the garden of Eden, Satan tells the first lie that continues to this day,

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3: 4-5

Even to this day, it is proclaimed in man’s teaching or imagination that man does not die at death; He has an immortal soul that will live through eternity.  Or, the dearly departed returns in a different form, body, or person (reincarnation). Even the leaders of the Christian church tell the bereaved that the person’s “immortal soul” continues to live in the bliss in heaven or the pits of hell. Or, the dead person is now an angel that guards their loved ones.

The Bible has a different take on what happens to someone who dies. As death is understood from God’s word, it will give comfort to the saved or distress to the lost.

Death From The Beginning

What happens at death and after death has been a mystery to both believers and non-believers.  The images and ideas on this depressing subject have been influenced and shaped by superstitious pagans, unbelieving scientists, and sadly, the church itself (In its well-meaning effort to comfort the bereaved.) The Pagans point to tradition and made up scenarios to bring fear and control.  Some patients in the hospital can point to examples of people “dying” and being brought back to life after seeing a bright light.  Even the preachers/teachers paint a picture of life after death often not supported by clear scripture.  Lastly, the atheist or unbeliever simply says you die and that’s it…Nothing beyond…only death, dirt, and eternal meaninglessness. Who is right?

What is the most reliable source on this topic? Is it personal experience?  Tradition? Can you trust other people’s opinions?

  There have been “saved” people as recorded in the Bible who had been dead for more than three days and returned to life (Lazarus, Jesus, and the saints resurrected when Christ died. See-Matt 27: 51-53).  None described heaven or bliss after death.

If Lazarus had been in heaven for four days and then jerked back down to earth, one would think there would be a book of Lazarus telling us about the beautiful places he visited for a few days.

The Only Reliable Source To Explain Being Dead:

The Bible is clear.  It is supported from multiple inspired writers in both the old and new testament. God’s word cuts across tradition and popular, but erroneous, teachings…  But, an understanding of this often taboo subject includes not only God’s word but the common sense to understand it.  It is all made clear in the light of scripture and the character of God who desires all to repent and to keep all from “perishing”

The Bible discloses a loving God who would not have us be ignorant on this topic.  Once understood, it will reveal what we have to gain and what we have to lose.  Most importantly, the love of God as demonstrated in the plan of salvation gives us hope of something more than a mere grain of sand in time.

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

1 Thessalonians 4:13

The Walking Dead

I have always been amazed by the title of the TV series, The Walking Dead.  The title contradicts itself.  Walking indicates life and the action of the brain telling the legs to move forward.  Dead means….well dead. Being dead means, you no longer have these abilities. No desires, no feelings…

The wise man Solomon said,

For the living know that they will die;
But the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For the memory of them is forgotten.
 Also, their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 9: 5,6

The Bible describes the elements of life and the reversal of these elements to produce death. The formula for the creation of life has never changed from the beginning except when God gave mankind, through a man and a woman the ability to procreate. Originally, God took elements/chemicals from the earth and made it come alive in the form of man:

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

Genesis 2:7

This is a simple mathematical formula:

Dust of the Ground (Elements) + the breath of life (from God) = Living Soul. Notice man did not already have a soul, he was given life and he became a living soul.  The soul is the combination of the body and the life-giving breath of God (Spirit).  Man does not possess a soul separate from his body, rather he is a soul because of the combination of the two critical elements for life.

Image result for images of dust plus breath equals living soul

At death, the elements of life are reversed as explained by God to Adam and Eve after the fall and repeated by men inspired by the Spirit of God.

You will eat bread by the sweat of your face because of hard work until you return to the ground because you were taken from the ground. You are dust, and you will return to dust.”

Genesis 3:19

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Ecclesiastes 12:7

You hide Your face, they are troubled;
You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

Psalm 104:29

Here is the mathematical formula for death, which is understandably the opposite from the formula above:

Dust (body) minus God’s spirit (His breath) = Death. There is nothing indicating the soul continues to live on or is “immortal”.  In fact, it is the opposite for sinful man,

The soul who sins shall die.

Ezekiel 18:4

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 10:28

(Note: the term hell here is the Greek word geenna.  Jesus refers to a place that was originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned.  But, also noticed the keyword i.e. destroy.  The future of the lost is destruction, not life. More on that in other studies. )

How the Bible Describe The Condition of Death

If a soul can die, is it immortal? No!  Death is just what it is, death where man is not living or aware of anything done here or anywhere. They no longer participate in anything under the sun.

But man dies and is laid away;
Indeed he breathes his last
And where is he?…His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;
They are brought low, and he does not perceive it

Job 14:21

How God Describes the State of Death

In both the Old Testament and New Testament, the condition of the dead person is compared to unconsciousness. A dreamless sleep, where the passage of time is a mere micro-second for the redeemed.  At a point in the future, the dead in Christ are awakened to see the Coming of Jesus where they then receive immortality.  The lost are resurrected after 1,000 years later to meet their fate (Revelation 20:5).

Let’s start looking at a few Old Testament references beginning with the oldest book of the Bible.  Job’s “friends” have a multitude of words about God to make sure Job is correct in his understanding of God and why Job has all his problems.  But, only Job spoke the truth about God. Job 42;7

Job understood death and end-time events. In Chapter 14, he begins to talk about the mortality of man and what would take place when he would receive eternal life (Chapter 19). His description matches Paul and Peter’s description in the New Testament:

Job:

“Mortals, born of woman,
    are of few days and full of trouble.
 They spring up like flowers and wither away;
    like fleeting shadows, they do not endure. 

Job 14: 1,2

Only God has immortality.  As humans, we are mortals subject to death. Adam and Even had conditional immortality.  It was subject to a law meant to protect them from sin.  The tree of life perpetuated eternal life and immortality.

But a man dies and is laid low;
    he breathes his last and is no more.

Job 14:10

When a person dies, it is like they are no more, but Job knew there is a time when his mind and body would be renewed (restored)

If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my hard service I will wait,
Till my change comes.

Job 14: 14

I know that my redeemer[ lives,
    and that in the end, he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet in my flesh, I will see God;
I myself will see him
    with my own eyes—I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns within me!

Job 19: 25-27

Is this not clear that Job understands that man dies, his body returns to dust, he waits and then is resurrected, even “after [their] skin has been destroyed”? 

That great prophet Daniel also understood that man’s hope and future is in the resurrection that occurs when Jesus returns:

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

Daniel 12:2

Job and Daniel’s statements were understood by the New Testament writers and believers. Paul’s statement is echoed in his letter to the Thessalonians;

 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18

Did you catch the last part of this verse?  We are to comfort one another with the words he just spoke, which is Jesus is coming back to resurrect those who died “in Christ.”  What a glorious family reunion day that will be!  The righteous dead of all the ages will meet at the same time, in the air, for a trip back to where Jesus is!  Father, sons, daughters, mothers, children, friends all come together for a family trip to heaven.  Jesus promised to come back and take us to where He is now (heaven).

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions (dwellings); if it were not so, [b]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 receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14: 1-3

The false comforts from the pulpit and vain philosophies ignore or minimize the truth of the coming of Jesus and the joyous events around the resurrection. Instead, they make up words like,

“Uncle George is now looking down on us and enjoying hunting with his favorite dog.”

At one funeral I actually heard a pastor say, a deceased person was likely playing cards (his favorite past time) with Saint Peter.

The best comfort we can know is that the deceased person is resting from the pains of this mortal world (for a moment) before the Lord returns.  This is how Paul told us to look upon death.

Jesus refers to His resurrection as the hope of all those who died knowing Him when he resurrected Lazarus.

 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

John 11: 21-26

What confuses people is the fact that there is a second death that is eternal, while the first death (the one that passes upon all men) is a death because of sin that started in the garden of Eden. But, immortality will be a gift at the 2nd coming of Christ. The second death is eternal.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Romans 5:12

All of us die, but if we don’t trust and live in God, we won’t be part of the first resurrection and we will “perish”

 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.

Revelation 20: 14, 15

 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Often overlooked in this well-known passage is the truth about the penalty of unbelief in God i.e. They perish.

It does not say, they have an eternal life of torture in fire called hell. Only those who “have the Son” have life.  All others do not. When the lost are thrown into the lake of fire, it is a death, not a life of toruture.

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

1 John 5:12

Adam and Eve did not have unconditional immortality, neither do we. They could have maintained access to the tree of life which has elements to perpetuate life.  After they sinned, this tree was guarded by angels so they could not eat of it and live.

So He drove out the man, and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:24

The Bible opens up with the Tree of Life and it being taken away, but the Bible closes with the redeemed having access to it once again.

Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

Revelation 22: 14

Summary Points:
  • Mankind is under the penalty of sin i.e death. It began in the garden of Eden.
  • Mankind is not immortal nor do they have an immortal soul.
  • The good news (gospel) is that Jesus paid the penalty for sin i.e death, but was resurrected the third day to become the first fruits of the resurrection.

But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 1 Corinthians 15:  20 

  • Death is exactly what the word means.  There is no life, no thoughts, no feelings. It is often referred to as sleep.
  • Our comfort at funerals, particularly if we know the deceased is a follower of Christ, is that they are in a very short sleep of peace from the sin of this world awaiting the return of Christ to bring the dust of their decayed bodies back to life and give them immortality.
  • The tree of life has a very practical application of perpetuating life and the healing of nations:

The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:2

We end on the clearest verse regarding the return of Christ and when we receive immortality.

 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—  in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

1 Corinthians 15: 51-54

Only when Jesus returns can it be said: “death has been swallowed up in victory.” The victory is the redeemed are brought back to life. At the second coming, we are “clothed in immortality”….not before!

If you don’t have the assurance of eternal life with Jesus, please let us know and we will help you, through God’s word, to find a saving relationship with Him and faith to live happy while you await His coming.

For a more entertaining view on this topic, please watch this short video:

Hell, The Truth About The Fate of The Lost, What is God Like?

Lord Teach Me About Hell-Conclusion-Personal Experience

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God’s Character Maligned

Since my conversion to Christ over 40 years ago I have learned through God’s word (and practical experience) that our beliefs about God’s character affect our relationship with Him and our salvation.  I know people who turned away from God when a loved-one died either suddenly or slowly over time.  Maybe you do too. Some have stopped associating with Christians, praying, or reading their Bible because they feel God allowed (or caused) something in their life to make them sick, uncomfortable, unhappy or inconvenienced them.

If we believe God is angry and looks for reasons to keep us from peace or repays evil for evil we are sure to rebel.  Lucifer’s original rebellion in heaven included the charge that God’s character and actions were harsh, secretive and selfish.  Listen closely to the lies and charges of Satan in the garden as he worked to convince Eve about a false picture of God’s personality.

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3: 4-5

To paraphrase:  “Eve, forget this idea of dying….You are going to live forever.  God is someone who is not telling you all the truth.  He knows your eyes are going to be open when you eat this fruit and you will be like God Himself!  He’s holding back!  He is not as good as you think!”  Sadly, these are often the general thoughts of people who do not know God personally.

It is important that we know God’s character and His word, especially in the context of His temperament and our troubles.

Understanding and knowing God the Father and Jesus is vital to our salvation.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

John 17:3

Jesus Clears up the Wrong Ideas About God

To have a false conception of God is dangerous and will lead to death.   It is Satan’s desire to give the world a wrong impression of the only true God and Jesus. By doing so, the enemy turns people away from the source of peace and happiness.  If the storms of life come to the professed Christian and there is no trust (faith) in the goodness and mercy of God, apostasy is sure to come.

To “know” someone means you have an understanding of who they are.  After spending time with them, you learn to either trust them or not.  You know their heart; their emotions; and how they feel about you as a person.  Knowing someone takes time and events.  That is often why people wait about marrying.  They want to know the person and how they will respond to things like their family.

Let’s consider another question:

Is Jesus different from the God of the Old Testament? The answer is a resounding, “No!”

By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, the professional teachers and leaders had made God out to be something He wasn’t.  The life of Jesus was a demonstration of what God is like….in the flesh!  His actions showed us the will and the character of the Father.  God loved us and wanted us to know Him, so He sent Jesus on a mission of salvation that included the opportunity to know the Creator.

Jesus’ coming as a babe, a youth, a young man and an adult demonstrates how important it is to know the true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent.

Yes! Jesus came to this earth to show to people the true nature of God.  He said, to his disciples, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father:

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

John 14:9

“By coming to dwell with us, Jesus was to reveal God both to men and to angels. He was the Word of God,—God’s thought made audible. In His prayer for His disciples He says, “I have declared unto them Thy name,”—“merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,”—“that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26)

Desire of Ages p. 19

God desires for his Creation to know him.  Knowledge of God is both power and peace.  We are invited by Jesus to learn of him. When we take up the invitation, we will know more about God the Father.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

Did you know Jesus was this kind of God? He wants us to learn from Him and about Him. Jesus is the perfect reflection of what God the Father is like!

Jesus offers us rest for our souls if, by faith, we come to Him. He is gentle and lowly in heart!  His burden is light and His yoke easy! How many Christians think the opposite?  Sadly, so many, even those who claim to be His followers, fail to go to Jesus when trouble comes…instead, they go to pieces!

Unending Torture in Hell Teaching Makes Unbelievers

 Someone once said that the concept of unending torture has turned more people into atheists than most anything else.  I don’t know if this is true, but it certainly must have a negative effect on a true understanding of God.

When I was young, I could see the gentle Jesus in the experience of my grandmother, but something would change all that and I would begin to see an angry God, with arms crossed, frowning at me for being such a terrible person. In my mind, He was looking for ways to make sure I was left out of heaven and burned at the stake.  As I got older, I went into total unbelief.  The Bible and God became a fairy tale created by men to keep society in line and have power over people. I hope the following will show how wrong I was and encourage you to search out God for yourself.  Here is how it started.

When I was about 8 years old, my saintly grandmother sent me to Vacation Bible School.  I recall loving everything about it except for the last day.

I liked the teachers and the programs.  The cookies, milk, and rest time in the church were enjoyable.  Of particular joy to me was the arts and crafts where I was making a jewelry box for my beautiful mother. She was a single mom (My Dad left when I was 6 years old) and pleasing her was something I cherished. The jewelry box, made from a King Edwards cigar box, was carefully painted with a dark color and little small shells and decals carefully attached to it.  To this day, I can still smell the fresh paint on it!

On Friday, the parents were going to join us for cookies and milk and they would get to see what we had created.  I was so excited, but something would happen that would change my view of God for a very long time.  It would eventually turn me to unbelief and to embrace atheism.

As we prepared for our parents, the teachers told us that we were all going to gather in a room and listen to one of the elders of the church talk about God.  We sat around him on the floor with our legs crossed and our eyes bright with anticipation.

I can still recall his name.  It was Mr. Hale.  Mr. Hale wanted to know how many of us knew about God and how to have eternal life?  Only a couple of hands went up.  I was not sure, but I knew my grandmother would know.  She knows the Bible better than anybody! Maybe I should ask her tonight, I thought.

Mr. Hale then begin to tell us that we could have salvation and be free from the “horrors of hell” if we accepted Jesus as our Savior.  We should acknowledge it by responding to the preacher’s altar call on Sunday.  Then we should be baptized.  If we did, we would escape the “horrors of hell.”

Next, he began to describe hell as the place where “our flesh would almost melt, but it would keep burning.”  Our blood “would boil like hot water.  We would scream for mercy and find none.  This will go on forever and forever.”

I was scared.  This did not seem like the same God my grandmother was always describing in her stories.  Many of the kids began to sob.  Mr. Hale wanted us to raise our hands if we wanted to “go forward” when the preacher had the altar call on Sunday.  We all raised our hands!

As promised all of us kids went forward that next Sunday when the preacher made the altar call.  There were many “Amens!” and “Praise The Lords”  throughout the congregation.

After church, my grandmother seemed troubled instead of excited about my decision to be baptized and escape the “horrors of hell.” When we got home, she looked at me with those kind and understanding eyes and said these words, which many may think to be wrong, but looking back I think it was the wise counsel of a Godly woman who knew her Father well.

“Eddie, you are too young to know why you need to give yourself to God.  You don’t understand sin, repentance, and confession. When God brings conviction on you, you will know it.”

I was not baptized.

The description of hell by Mr. Hale was reinforced many Sundays afterward.  It may not have been described in such detail, but all the teachers and preachers said my soul was immortal and that it would spend eternity in one of two places:  Heaven with Jesus or Hell with the devil.

As I contemplated it, I began to see God as an angry old man waiting for me to make a big mistake so He could send me to the flames forever.  This was the God I knew for a long time as I tried to be good and earn God’s love.

After a while, the contradiction of my grandmother’s God and the God of Mr. Hale and the preachers led me to believe there is no God and perhaps the Atheists were right.  God is an invention of mankind to keep everyone in line and as a tool for power over the people.

Is God like Mr. Hale’s description or that of my Grandmother’s?  Is He like Jesus or like the strict destroying God of the Old Testament?  How do we reconcile the two?

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How Unending Torture Maligns God’s Character

We have seen in this series that Jesus did not teach more about hell than heaven (Did Jesus Really Teach More About Hell Than Heaven?) This is a false statement meant to insinuate the “horrors of hell” are so bad that you should want to come to Jesus on the basis of fear.

As we studied verses that seem to indicate an everlasting fire, we discovered that context is important in understanding everlasting fire….It is everlasting punishment, not everlasting punishing.  The fire is everlasting in its effect, not its duration. Lord Teach Me About Hell-Part 2-Difficult Verses

We also saw that “hell” is a word used by the Hebrews and Greeks to signify the grave.  But, it is also the ultimate destruction of the sin problem at the end of time. This hell is hotter than any because it burns up the earth and all its elements.  Lord Teach Me About Hell-Part 3 Eternal Death Not Torture.

Now that we have sufficient proof about the ultimate fate of the lost, let’s consider the character of God further and why it makes no sense for our Creator to burn people without mercy or rest for all of eternity.

Some may think “torture” sounds like too strong of a word especially in the context of a Holy omnipotent God and Creator.  They will try to separate hell from God, but hell as described Mr. Hale cannot exist without an omnipotent God allowing it to.  Wouldn’t you agree?

What would you call it if you were burning constantly and no one was there to put out the flames or give you relief?  That is the highest form of torture someone could think up.  Imagine if our prison system used flames that kept the person alive while burning their tender skin as a form of punishment?  Would that be called torture?  Would it be justice?  What is its purpose other than cruel torture?

Let’s think this through.

The unsaved could be someone like uncle  Harry who never went to church with his wife and children because he was an unbeliever and life kept him busy and with different priorities.  By society’s standards he was a good man; never arrested nor did he break the law. He visited a few prostitutes when he was young private in the army.  At one time when he was younger, he secretly looked at pornography, but as he got older, he lost interest.  He pays His taxes.  He is faithful to his wife and loves his kids and grandkids, but he never professed Christ.  He just enjoyed life and saw it as a few good years then he would turn to dust.

One day uncle Harry dies of a heart attack from years of not taking care of himself. He enjoyed food so much that he could be described as a glutton.  In many cases, the preacher will talk about Harry as if he is in heaven enjoying his gardening with the Lord, but in the sermon at church the next Sunday, this same preacher will talk about salvation in Christ alone, which is true.   The preacher would never describe Harry as being lost and in eternal flames even though the congregation could put two and two together to come to some simple conclusions.

According to most preachers, Uncle Harry is lost and will be tortured without end for his bad decisions and sin.

This seems to be the philosophy of many who live on this planet.

Jesus said,

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:13-14

Did you notice that Jesus talks about a way that leads to destruction? This would have been the perfect time for Jesus to say that the broad way leads to hell that would burn forever, but no…it is destruction.  Uncle Harry got his desire of enjoying his short time of life on earth, but then it will be over.  He does not have an immortal soul.

The soul who sins shall die

Ezekiel 18:20

Jesus said that the lost soul would be destroyed

But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28

The hell here is the grave, but even if you wanted to think of it as the place of burning, the soul is destroyed!

Without a doubt, there are more on the path to “destruction” than those who are not.

Here is the first hint of the fate of the lost, the continued use of the word “destruction.”  “Destruction” and “Perish” are the favorite words used by Christ, Peter, and Paul to describe the fate of the lost (Collectively used 42 times).  This happens by fire, but there is no eternal life for the lost in flames.

True, only God can determine who is ultimately lost and who is saved, but Jesus gives us plenty of reasons to know the character and life of the saved compared the character and life of the lost.  Not all have death-bed conversion.  They are probably the minority.

“Wherefore by their fruits, ye shall know them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘ I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Matthew 7: 21-23

Notice, that even those who claim to “know” the Lord and done incredible works in the name of the Lord missed out because they practiced lawlessness.  These might be called hypocrites and religious. Their habits of sin showed they did not “know” the Lord.

At the other end of the spectrum are guys like Hitler and child molesters, and those who cursed and mocked God believing there was no accountability for their blasphemy.

If all are tortured if hot flames for eternity according to the Mr. Hale’s of the world.  Harry and Hitler (although hugely different in their lives) have the same fate and will live with no rest from the flames.  Every day is the same.  There are no lunch breaks, no sleeping, no vacations. no water.  No medications to help endure the pain.  Only intense, torturous non-stop pain and unending weeping.

Many teachers will try to minimize this by saying, “God does not send them to hell, they send themselves.”  But, even if it was so, it takes a miracle of God to keep them all alive so they can burn more.  It would take a miracle to keep the flesh from consuming.

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God’s Character is Longsuffering and Merciful

“I take no delight in the death of the wicked.”

Ezekiel 33:11

God does not want anyone to die or perish.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

There’s that word again, “perish.”  God’s longsuffering with us means He desires more people to have life and not “perish.”

Our God does not torture.  He wants people to come to repentance so that they will not have to experience eternal death (non-existence).  Their fate (death, perish, destruction) is horrible enough. But to root out the seed of sin, God performs his “strange act” of eternal destruction.

Do you know God?  Your eternal life depends on it! We are invited to learn about Jesus.  This takes a personal experience.  It is His loving kindness and its demonstration on the cross that draw us to Him.

Lord, thank you for your word and the life of Jesus that teaches us about who you are.  May we each have an experience with you that will lead us to trust you more. Amen.

 

Hell, The Truth About The Fate of The Lost, What is God Like?

Lord Teach Me About Hell-Part 3 Eternal Death Not Torture

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There is a hell, but is it like some teachers describe?

I once had a lively discussion with a relative about hell. When it seemed like we were going nowhere,  I asked her if she had asked the Lord to reveal to her, through His word, the truth  about hell.  She said, “No!”  It led me to think, do people really want to know what the Bible teaches about the ultimate fate of the lost or are they satisfied with the descriptions portrayed by well-meaning teachers and pastors.  What if we were to simply pray, “Lord Teach Me About Hell.”?

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Are the tortures of hell in line with the character of God and the many  teachings of the Bible about His great mercy and love?  Some preachers have said they need to preach hell to bring fear into the heart of a person so they will turn to Jesus. They conclude that anything other than an unending burning hell is letting the sinner off too easy.

Some hell-fire-and-brimstone preachers portray a God whose vengeance is so great that it is never satisfied, hence the non-ending torture. But, the Bible tell us that He takes “no pleasure” in the death of wicked.

 As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked

Ezekiel 33:11

If God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, He certainly would not take pleasure in their torture.

For the last few studies, we have discovered that Jesus taught more on the kingdom of God and heaven than he did about hell.  We also saw how many Bible verses used to support everlasting torture were simply misinterpreted in the light of the whole scripture and the character of God. The Bible is clear that the fate of the lost is eternal death.

Let’ now compare the terrible picture of people roasting in a fire that offers no hope and no relief for eternity with the character of God as revealed in the Bible and in the teachings of Jesus.

Is it true that non-ending torture is “justice” for the three score and ten (70) years of life?  Does a holy and just God give a sinner trillions and trillions of years of pain and torture in exchange for 70 years of life without Christ?

Is there something we have missed?

Lord Teach Me The Truth About Hell.

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Following are the two typical modern understandings about hell.  This is what a majority of protestant Christians believe.

View 1:  If you die and are unsaved (e.g. did not profess Christ), your immortal soul immediately (or after a quick judgment scene) goes to a place under the earth where the devil resides and your soul is tormented by blistering hot flames throughout eternity without end.  You will scream and desire to die, but you will stay alive in flames never finding relief.  This could be called the immediate and present Hell.

View 2:  If you die and are unsaved, at the end of time your immortal soul is judged at the Great White Throne judgment and your soul and body is cast into the lake of fire prepared for Satan and his angels where you are tortured by flames throughout eternity.  You will scream and desire to die, but you will stay alive in flames never finding relief.  We will call this future Hell.

The Catholic church throws in a couple of “holding” places such as purgatory and some talk about a place called “Abraham’s bosom.” There may be some other slight variations, but if you ask a Christian or a pastor about hell, this is very close to the answers given.  It is often softened up a bit to take out the idea of a Holy God torturing the unsaved by saying non-biblical things like, “The lost choose hell.”  Is that right?  Who in their right mind would choose to be tortured? The Bible teaches they are choosing death over eternal life not so much from a conscious choice, but rather unbelief in Jesus and the pull of the Holy Spirit to repent and turn away from the sins that lead to death.

The common idea with both basic views about hell involves non-stop burning and torture.  We often hear preachers say, “You will live eternally in one of two places.”  Is this true?  Do the lost also have eternal life?  Are their souls immortal?  What is tortured?  The soul? The body?  Both?

What does the Bible have to say about all this?

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Some will say, “It is the immortal soul that is being punished not the body.“  Of course, there is no biblical proof for this Also,it contradicts  those who support a literal interpretation of  the Rich Man and Lazarus where the rich man has a tongue and gets thirsty in the flames. He has a body!

Some will say, “God is just and this is their fate.”  We can’t understand it and aren’t suppose to.”

Is this true?

It is true that our thoughts and our ways are not like His, but there are things He has revealed that we can know with certainty.“

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, 

Deuteronomy 29:29

Is the fate of the lost one of those things revealed to us?

Yes! But we must understand it from ALL that has been revealed to us!

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The bible tells us that having life eternal is based on knowing God and having a relationship with Him.  We are drawn to Him as He is lifted up (Cross).  Is a torturing God, the One we want to get to know?  Or is God like a father who loves his child.  Does God use hell to scare us into coming to Him or does he draw us a different more divine way?

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

John 17:3

Knowing God and Jesus Christ and their character is important in our experience and in our salvation from death.  To have a false conception of God is dangerous as we shall see.

We are not scared into a relationship with the Lord, He draws us with “lovingkindness.”

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

Jeremiah 31:3

It is the cross, not hell, that draws people to Jesus.

‘”…And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.‘  This He said, signifying by what death He would die.”

John 12:32-33

That day on a lonely hill dying on a rough wooden cross is the ultimate demonstration of the sacrifice and love God offers to all people. A clear view of the things leading up to the death of Jesus and the day He said, “It is finished” will bring the sin weary to repentance, forgiveness, and salvation from eternal death.

What confuses me is that people get angry over this topic of unending torture.  It’s as if they want this type of fate for the lost.  Each person who is lost had a mother, dad, and perhaps a loving family.  Will they be remembered when the saved portion of the family gets to heaven?  How could it be heaven knowing Uncle Harry is burning in hell non-stop?

There is something missing in all this.  For the next few moments, lets look at the rest of the story.

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  The soul is not immortal.  only God has immortality.  The saved are not given immortality until  Christ returns.

If a soul can die, it is not immortal.

“ Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die..”

Ezekiel 18:4

Only God has immortality!

I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:14-16

We all die and do not get immortality until Jesus returns and we are changed and “put on” immortality then and not before.  IT IS ONLY WHEN JESUS RETURNS, THAT WE CAN CLAIM IMMORTALITY AND SAY THAT DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. IMMORTALITY IS NOT GIVEN AT DEATH.

Want to know a mystery about death that has been solved. Something God has revealed to us and our children?  Listen closely:

 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, THEN shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 Corinthians 15: 51-54

Is this not as clear as a bell?  Immortality is “put on” when Jesus returns!  Until then we sleep in death.

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Eternal death, not torture, awaits the lost

“Death has come upon all men by the offence of one man. But, through grace and the gift of righteousness life came by Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5:12, 17

Wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 3:23.

Wages is something due to us for our work of sin.  Sin leads to death, not life. Both are mutually exclusive.  You can’t have both.  You must have one or the other. The gift of eternal life is reserved only for the saved.

He that has the son has life.  He that does not have the son does not have life. 

1 John 5:20

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16

Here is a simple straightforward comparison of what awaits the lost VS the saved:

Believes in Jesus = everlasting life

Not believing = perish (eternal death)

“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life…”

John 3:36

Believes in the Son = everlasting life

Does not believe in the = shall not see life.

Man, nor his soul, is immortal.  As shown above, immortality is not given to the saved until Jesus returns and resurrects the saved:

The soul can be destroyed,

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28

The body and soul are destroyed in hell (aka the grave).  It is not kept alive to suffer through out eternity. If there is a fear to be taught, it is the fear of both the body and the soul are forever destroyed, while the redeemed have a new immortal body and life without end.

As described before, the belief in God AND the resurrection of Jesus are both vital to receiving salvation from eternal death:

… if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

It was Paul’s goal to be raised from the dead…..Not to die and be with Him,

” if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:11

The mortal “puts on” immortality and death is no more when Jesus returns.

The dead in Christ are resurrected

 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words”

1 Thessalonians 4: 15-18

Note:  Those who died in Christ and those who are alive when He returns start to “be with the Lord forever” when He returns.  So resurrection is our hope…Our eternity with the Lord does not start until He returns.

Jesus will raise the saved up in the last day.

“This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.”

John 6:39

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:44

“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:54

“Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

John 11:24

The teaching of resurrection as our hope s ancient.  Example: Job said,

“my redeemer lives and I will see God in the flesh in the latter day upon the earth.”

Job 19:25, 26

The resurrection is extremely important because we are lost if it doesn’t happen.

Our faith is futile without the resurrection. Our hope is in the return of Christ and the Resurrection, not in dying and floating off to heaven.

“And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”

1 Corinthians 15:14-19

The Rich Man and Lazarus story does not include a resurrection and is clearly a parable because it comes at the end of a line of parables.  But, there was a resurrection of another Lazarus that clearly describes the state of those who die.  The event is described in John 11.  Here Jesus describes Lazarus’ death with sleep:

“Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep…Then said Jesus, unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.”

John 11:14

Notice something else, when Jesus brought Lazarus back to life after being dead for 4 days, he did not say to him to come down, but rather come forth (v. 43). If Lazarus had been in heaven, he would have had many things to share, don’t you think?  Why is he silent?  It is because he was asleep.

The unjust have a resurrection too (after the millennium): 

                Resurrection of unjust.

“I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.”

Act 24:15

Rest of the dead live again after the 1,000 years Rev. 20:4, 5

“And they lived and reigned with Christ for a[a]thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.”

Revelation 20: 4, 5

The second death is the fate of the lost who are not part of the first resurrection, but rise in the 2nd resurrection. Revelation 20:6

“Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power…”

Revelation 20:6

At the end of all things, the saved may have died once, but they will never have to die again because they have been given immortality.  But the lost who died once, will die again fully aware that there death will be forever. This knowledge is their punishment and it creates wailing and gnashing of teeth.

At the end time, fire destroys the earth, Satan, and sinners:

Jesus comes a thief in the night in which the heavens, earth, elements, and all the works are burned up.

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” 

2 Peter 3:10

Everlasting Destruction

“The Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”

2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9

Wicked destroyed forever (Psalm 92:7, Psalm 9:5)

“When the wicked spring up like grass,
And when all the workers of iniquity flourish,
It is that they may be destroyed forever.”

Psalm 92:7

Death and hell grave are destroyed

“Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

Revelation 20:14

Fire comes down from God when the resurrected lost try surround the beloved city. This fire devours them. When something is consumed or devoured, there is nothing left.

“They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.” 

Revelation 20:9

“For our God is a consuming fire.”

Hebrews 12:29

The Anti Christ (lawless one) is destroyed when Christ returns by the brightness of the Lord’s coming.

“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” 

2 Thessalonians 2:8

(Read the preceding verses for context)

Wicked are burned up reducing them to nothing

“For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,
Says the Lord of hosts,
“That will leave them neither root nor branch.”

Malachi 4:1

Satan is burned to ashes and shall never be anymore

“You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.”

All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
You have become a horror,
And shall be no more forever”

Ezekiel 28:18, 19

So, scripture is clear, the wages of sin is death, not eternal life in burning flames.  There is a hell, but it is a work of eternal destruction. Even Satan’s fate is total destruction.  His end will wipe the universe clean of sin and its results.

Eternal life is given only to those who turn to Jesus and place their trust in Him. Life eternal is given to those who know Him and not about Him. It is all about Jesus.  He holds the keys to the grave and death:

I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

Revelation 1:18

Because we believe He can resurrect us and give us immortality, we have passed from death to life. I want to be part of the first resurrection, don’t you?

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

John 5:24

I often wondered why God wipes away all tears. The passage in Revelation 21: 4, Revelation 7:17, Isaiah 25:8 are in the context of the end of time when all of God’s people arrive in heaven at the same time after the resurrection as desribed in 1 Thess. 4:15-18

The saints will spend their first day in heaven wondering about a loved one who didn’t make it. Then they will understand from the Lord Himself that they were lost and will never be anymore. There will be tears in heaven, but Jesus will literally and symbolically wipe away the tears.  He will explain and show them the many opportunities given them to receive eternal life as a free gift, but they refused.

Then all the saints will bow, throw their crowns, and proclaim

 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Revelation 4:11

 

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Further Study:

Want to go deeper?  below is information for those who might want to look at things a little closer.

The Word “Hell”

Hell is an English word coming from the same root as: heel, hill, hole, whole hall…etc. Its original English meaning was any place, or someplace covered over. This sounds like a grave which is confirmed by the following Hebrew and Greek words.

The writers of the Bible had several words to choose when talking about what we call “hell”:

1.) Sheol/Hades

2.) Gehenna

3.  Tartarus

Sheol is a Hebrew word used 63 times in the Old Testament (KJV).  The New Testament equivalent is Hades which is used 11 times. Both are proper names for a literal place (grave) and figurative place (destruction). What is notable is that righteous men such as David, Jacob, Jonah, and even our Lord are described as going to Sheol or Hades! To go to Sheol means to be cut off from life, to die. It is the state or place of the dead.

Jesus compared death to “Sleep.” (e.g. Lazarus- John 11:11, and a 12-year old girl-Mark 5:39). Paul used it often (e.g. 1 Corinthians 15:51, Ephesians 5:14, 1 Thessalonians 4:14) as did David (e.g. Psalm 13:3) and Job (Job 14:12). Daniel used it in a Paul like vision of both the righteous and the unrighteous coming up from sleep (resurrection),

“And many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

Gehenna

Gehenna is a Greek word derived from the Hebrew words ‘ge hinnom’ meaning the Valley of Hinnom. Used 12 times in the new testament.

“Gehenna was a well-known valley, near Jerusalem, in which the Jews in their idolatrous days had sacrificed their children to the idol Moloch, in consequence of which it was condemned to receive the offal and refuse and sewage of the city, and into which the bodies of malefactors were cast and where to destroy the odor and pestilential influences, continual fires were kept burning. Here fire, smoke, worms bred by the corruption, and other repulsive features, rendered the place a horrible one, in the eyes of the Jews. It was a locality with which they were as well acquainted. But in process of time Gehenna came to be an emblem of the consequences of sin, and to be employed figuratively by the Jews, to denote those consequences. But always in this world. The Jews never used it to mean torment after death, until long after Christ. The word had not the meaning of post-mortem torment when our Savior used it.” –J.W. Hanson’s, Bible Threatenings Explained.

When Jesus used it 11 times, he was not referring to a place under the earth, or even the lake of fire described by John in Revelation, but rather a valley where the refuge of the city continually smoked and the ultimate fate of dead animals.  It was not a place of unending torture, but rather a fitting symbol of death and destruction.

Jesus again used the word “Gehenna” when he described the destruction of both the body and soul in hell.  “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna).

Tartarus

Tartarus is used only once to mean ‘to cast down to Hades’, referring to the angels who sinned in 2 Peter 2:4. The angels described in Jude 1:6 are told to be reserved in everlasting chains until judgment. If Tartarus means a burning hell, why would the angels be there before judgment?

Contradictions?:

The origin of a place of eternal torture for rejection of God comes from Egypt and was adopted by the church during the dark ages to scare the people into submission to the church.  The teaching of purgatory was also used by the church to obtain money for the lost.  That is another study in itself, but I will stop here.

But, how do we understand those verses that describe everlasting fire, eternal fire, and unquenchable fire? The answer is very simple in the light of the context about the final destiny of the unsaved i.e., eternal death, destruction and ashes.  The fire that burns up the earth, the elements, and the unsaved is eternal in its results, not in its duration.  It is unquenchable in that it can’t be put out.  But once it has done its work of destruction, it goes out. Ask any fireman about an unquenchable fire and they will tell you that they can’t put it out, but that does not mean that it does not go out. Once all the wood is burned up, there is nothing left to burn, so the fire goes out.

How about the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16? This has to be a parable and not an actual teaching of the fate of the lost because of these reasons:

1.)  It is the last parable in a series that starts with the parable of the lost coin in Luke 15:8. While it doesn’t specifically say it is a parable, neither does it say that the parable of the lost son is one either.  The point of the parable is not what happens to the lost, but rather the Pharisees (who loved money, Luke 16: 14 would never believe Jesus even if He was raised from the dead because they had not heard (believed) Moses and the Prophets.) They had the idea that being rich and because of their ancestry (i.e., Jacob) they would be in heaven and the others would be tormented in hell.  They made all this up because there is not Biblical example.  Just like they made up all the Sabbath laws without any scriptural authority, they made up this scenario. Jesus turns their story around and the non-Jewish poor man winds up in the place they thought was theirs automatically because of who they were.

2.) Jesus typically talked to the religious leaders and the people in parables.  Yes, He spoke very directly to them on several occasions, but when he was attempting to teach them or show them the truth, he would use parables. Those who wanted to know the truth would go looking for it as did the disciples. “All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them.” Matthew 13:34. “Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.” Matthew 15:15. Peter is a good example for us.  If we don’t understand a teaching, simply go to Jesus and ask him. If we really want to know the truth, He will tell us.  Don’t you think?

Conclusion:

There is good reason to believe from scripture that the unsaved die and await their final judgment which is destruction by the lake of fire as described in Revelation and many other Bible verses.

But, to use the teaching of eternal torment where a person’s life is maintained by God himself to simply let him suffer more is beyond reason and scripture.  Is this suppose to scare someone enough to start a loving relationship with Jesus?  Did your wife scare you into a relationship or did she “woo” you?  If she is like my wife, she did everything she could to show me that she loved me.  I was drawn to her spirit of kindness and love for me.

The scriptural way to bring people to Christ is by lifting Jesus up for all to see His great sacrifice, goodness, kindness,  mercy, forgiveness, and power!

“Come to me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

When the disciples were trying to win souls to Christ, they never used the threat of unending torture, but words like:

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

Romans 2:4

It is not the fear of eternal torture that leads people to a relationship with Christ!

The Holy Spirit brought convicting power to the sermon of Peter and the disciples when they showed how Jesus died for their sins.  The people were “cut to the heart and asked, ‘What can we do?’” (Acts 2:37) Peter said, to them:

“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2: 38, 39)

Thousands that were converted to Jesus in the early church came from the topic of Jesus and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.  Not one sermon about the possibility of being tortured without end!

But, Peter did let us know that the fate of the world and ungodly is destruction when Jesus returns…everything will be burned up!

There are, perhaps, no clearer words about the fate of the lost and this world as these passages from Peter.  If you want to know the truth about the fate of the lost and this world, listen closely to what is being revealed to you and your children and follow the instructions to eternal life reserved only for the saved:

“…knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,  by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3: 1-9

Notice Peter again uses the word “Perish” as the fate of all those who do not come to repentance!

The Day of the Lord

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3: 10-13

My brother or sister, here is your hell.  It is hotter than the one taught.  It is not a slow roast, it is immediate and it makes way for a heavens and earth where only righteousness dwells.  They is no corner of the universe somewhere where people are writhing in pain.

The time of Jesus must be soon.  It is time to turn to Jesus and ask Him about things we don’t understand so we can be more powerful preachers and teachers for Him!  Don’t you agree?

Hell, The Truth About The Fate of The Lost, What is God Like?

Lord Teach Me About Hell-Part 2-Difficult Verses

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Some Difficult Texts Explained

We have studied the topic of hell and the error of teaching that the God of John 3:16  tortures the lost non-stop without mercy for eternity.  A few verses misapplied weave the terrible story of a wrath so horrendous that it cannot be satisfied.   People (you and I have known for a lifetime)  have no way to escape the terrible agony of frying in the pan of a burning hell.

So far, we have seen this horrific misconception falls under the weight of a multitude of Bible passages that says clearly, the lost will die with no hope of eternal life and happiness. We have discovered using a systematic approach that it is not true that Jesus taught more about hell than heaven:

Did Jesus Really Teach More About Hell Than Heaven?

The parable of Jesus about the Rich Man and Lazarus is not a story of literal events, but a parable with a different objective than scaring people into a saving relationship with Jesus.

Lord Teach Me About Hell-Part 1 (Rich Man & Lazarus)

This time, we look closely at verses seemingly supportive of the idea of eternal torture. We will view comparable verses to get clarity.

 

1.)  “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Matthew 10:28

Jesus clearly teaches in this text that the soul is not naturally immortal. It can and will be destroyed in hell. But what does He mean about killing the body, but not the soul? Is it possible for the soul to exist apart from the body? Some say it is, but the Bible indicates otherwise.

The Hebrew word “psuche” has been translated “soul” in this text, but in forty other texts it has been translated “life.” For example, Jesus said,

“Whosoever will lose his life [psuche] for my sake shall find it.” Matthew 16:25.

Obviously, “psuche” could not mean soul in this instance, or people could be said to lose their soul for Christ’s sake. It is properly translated “life.”

But what of Matthew 10:28? Put in the word “life” instead of “soul” and the text makes perfect sense in its consistency with the rest of the Bible. The contrast is between one who can take the physical life, and He who can take away eternal life. Here is proof in the words of Jesus:

“And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell.”

Luke 12:4, 5.

In other words, the word “soul” here means not only life, but also eternal life. Notice that Luke says everything just like Matthew except that he does not say “kills the soul.” Instead, he says, “cast into hell.” They mean the same thing. Men can only kill the body and take away the physical life. God will cast into hell and take away eternal life. Not only will their bodies be destroyed in that fire, but also their lives will be snuffed out for all eternity.

 “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

Matthew 25:46:

It is well to notice that Jesus did not say that the wicked would suffer “everlasting punishing.” He said “everlasting punishment.” What is the punishment for sin? The punishment is destruction, and it is of eternal duration

“Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”

(2 Thessalonians 1:9).

In other words, it is a destruction which never ends, because there will be no resurrection from that destruction.

Paul says,

“the wages of sin is death.”

Romans 6:23.

John describes that death as “

the second death”

Revelation 21:8.

That death or destruction will be eternal.

2.)  “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”

Mark 9:43, 44:

In this verse, the word “hell” is translated from the Greek word “Gehenna,” which is another name for the Valley of Hinnom just outside the walls of Jerusalem.There the refuse and bodies of animals were cast into an ever-smoldering fire to be consumed. Maggots that fed on the dead bodies were constantly destroying what might escape the flames. Gehenna symbolized a place of total destruction.

Jesus taught in this verse that the fire of hell could not be quenched or put out by anyone. Isaiah said,

“They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame.”

Isaiah 47:14.

Yet, he hastened to say in the same verse,

“There shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before it.”

So the unquenchable fire will go out after it has finished its work. Jerusalem burned with unquenchable fire

….then swill I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

(Jeremiah 17:27)

yet it was totally destroyed

And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.

(2 Chronicles 36:19-21).

The flames and worms of Gehenna represented the total annihilation and obliteration of sin and sinners. With the fires of Gehenna burning before their eyes, Jesus could not have spoken a more graphic word to the Pharisees to describe the final total destruction of sinners.

As a fireman if they have seen an  “unquenchable fire.” They will tell you it is a fire they cannot put out, but eventually it will go out, once it has consumed the fuel it is burning. It does not continue to burn with no end.

Those who cite this text to support their doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul are thrown into a real dilemma. Why? Because the fire and worms are working, not upon disembodied souls, but bodies! Christ said, the

“whole body” would be cast into hell.”

Matthew 5:30

In Isaiah 66:24, the same Gehenna picture of hell is presented with the unquenchable flame and the destroying worms. But in this case, the word “carcasses” is used, revealing the fact that the fire consumes dead bodies, not disembodied souls.

And they shall go forth, and look

Upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me:

For their worm shall not die,

Neither shall their fire be quenched;

And they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Isaiah 66:24

3.) “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

Luke 23:43:

Some have assumed from this verse that souls go to their reward immediately after death, contrary to scores of other Bible texts. But notice two things wrong with this assumption. First, even though Jesus told the thief,

“Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise,”

three days later He told Mary that He had not yet ascended to His Father.

Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father:

John 20: 17

His Father is in Paradise.  Here is the evidence  Revelation 2:7 says the tree of life

“is in the midst of the paradise of God,”

and Revelation 22:1, 2 describes the tree of life by the side of the river of life which flows, in turn, from the throne of God.

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

So there is no question about Paradise being where the Father’s throne is located. The question is: How could Jesus tell the thief that he would be with Him in Paradise that day, when He did not go there until three days later?

In the second place, Jesus and the thief did not even die on the same day. When the soldiers came just before sunset to take the bodies off the cross, Jesus was already dead (John 19:32-34). The thieves were very much alive, and their legs were broken to hasten death and to prevent them from escaping. They undoubtedly lived on past sunset into the hours of the Sabbath and possibly longer. So how could Jesus assure the thief of being with Him in Paradise that day when they did not both die on “that day”?

The apparent contradictions clear up when we consider that the punctuation of Luke 23:43 was added by uninspired men when our English Bible was translated. They placed a comma before the word “today,” when in reality it should have been placed after “today.” Then the verse would correctly read,

“Verily I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.”

In other words, Jesus was saying, “I give you the assurance today, when it seems I can save no man; today when my own disciples have forsaken me and I’m dying as a criminal dies—yet I assure you of salvation right now.”

Please notice that the thief did not ask to be taken to Paradise then. He asked,

“Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”

That’s exactly when he will be remembered and taken into that Kingdom.

4.) “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: … We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 5:6, 8:

In verses 1-8, Paul is contrasting the present mortal state with the future immortal life in heaven. Notice the expressions he uses for the two conditions:

Mortal Immortal
earthly house building of God
this tabernacle house not made with hands
mortality our house from heaven
in the body absent from the body
absent from the Lord present with the Lord

He also speaks of being clothed with “our house which is from heaven,” (verse 2) and again, he longs “that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” Verse 4.

But the key to the entire discourse lies in the description of a third condition. After desiring to be clothed upon with immortality, Paul states that “being clothed we shall not be found naked.” Verse 3. Putting it yet another way, he said,

“not for that we would be unclothed.”

Verse 4.

Clearly, the naked or unclothed state was neither mortality nor immortality, but death and the grave. Paul realized that one did not pass instantly from being clothed with this tabernacle into being clothed with our house from heaven. Death and the grave came in between, and he referred to it as being unclothed and naked.

In another text, Paul spelled out exactly when that change from mortality would take place. In 1 Corinthians 15:52, 53 he wrote,

“The trumpet shall sound and this mortal must put on immortality.”

That will be when Jesus comes.

5.) “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”

1 Peter 3:18-20:

There has been considerable misunderstanding of these verses of Scripture. It has been preached that Christ actually descended into the lower regions of the earth and preached to lost souls that were imprisoned in some purgatory or limbo.

This is very far from what the text actually says. Let’s look at it closely now and get the real message of these verses. It says that Christ suffered once for sin that He might bring us to God by being put to death in the flesh. But He was quickened by the Spirit by which also He went and preached.

First of all, notice how Christ preached to those spirits in prison. He did it by the Spirit, and that word is capitalized in your Bible. It actually refers to the Holy Spirit. So whatever Christ did in preaching during this period of time, He did it through or by the Holy Spirit.

With that in view, let’s ask this: When was the preaching done? The answer is plainly given in verse 20,

“When once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing.”

So, the preaching was actually done while the ark was being built—during the preaching of Noah to that antediluvian world. Now, one more question: To whom was the preaching done? The text says here “to the spirits in prison.”

Throughout the Bible, we find this terminology used in describing those who are bound in the prison house of sin. David prayed,

“Bring my soul out of prison.”

Psalm 142:7.

Paul spoke of his experience in these words:

“bringing me into captivity to the law of sin.”

Romans 7:23.

What Peter is telling us here is simply that Christ through the Holy Spirit was present while Noah preached; Christ was there through the Holy Spirit to speak conviction to their hearts and appeal to them to come into the ark. There is absolutely nothing here that indicates that Jesus departed from the body during the time He was dead to go to any subterranean place to minister to wicked spirits. The three questions are clearly answered in the text itself, that He preached by the Holy Spirit, He did it while the ark was being prepared, and He did it to the spirits in prison or to those individuals whose sinful lives were bound in the prison house of sin.

“The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”

Revelation 14:10, 11:

The words “for ever” do not necessarily mean “without end.” In fact, the Bible uses the term 56 times (“for ever” can be found in your biblical concordance under “ever”) in connection with the things that have already ended.

In Exodus 21:1-6 the Hebrew servant was to serve his master “for ever,” but it was obviously only as long as he lived. Hannah took her son Samuel to God’s house to abide “for ever,” but she plainly limited that time to “as long as he liveth.” 1 Samuel 1:22, 28.

The term is very clearly defined in Psalm 48:14,

“For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.”

The desolation of Edom was to continue “for ever and ever.” Isaiah 34:10. Christ is called “a priest for ever” (Hebrews 5:6), yet after sin is blotted out Christ’s work as a priest will end. The Bible states, “The wicked … shall be destroyed for ever.” Psalm 92:7.

1 Samuel 28:14:

“And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.”

This spiritualistic séance has been cited as evidence for life after death. However, here are points to the contrary:

  1. Wizards had been sentenced to death and banned from the land (verse 3; Leviticus 20:27).
  2. God had left Saul and would not communicate with him (verse 15).
  3. Samuel was supposedly “brought up.” Other expressions: “ascending out of the earth,” “Cometh up,” and “Bring … up.” Is this where the righteous dead are—down in the earth? Not according to those who believe in the immortal soul. 4. Samuel is described as “an old man covered with a mantle.” Is this the way immortal souls appear? And where did the soul get the body? They’re supposed to be disembodied. Was there a resurrection? Did God obey the beck and call of the witch, and raise up Samuel? If not, can Satan raise the dead?
  4. The apparition of Samuel told Saul, “Tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me.” Saul committed suicide on the battlefield the next day. Where did Samuel dwell, if the wicked Saul was to go to the same place?
  5. The record never says that Saul saw Samuel. He received his information as second hand from the witch, and only concluded it was Samuel from her description. The truth is that the devil deceived the dissolute old woman, and she deceived Saul. It was nothing more than a devil-generated séance.
  6. The enormity of Saul’s sin is revealed in these words, “So Saul died for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; And inquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him.” 1 Chronicles 10:13, 14.

A careful study of these difficult passages show that they line up with the true fate of the lost.  It is not a non-ending torture chamber, but a fate of eternal death and destruction. It will be as if they had never been.  Because of this, when we arrive in heaven, there will be tears for them knowing they have passed away forever.  These tears will be wiped away by a loving and understanding Savior who guarantees no more pain, sorrow, crying, or pain.

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.

Revelation 21:4

If there were some space in the universe where uncle Bob was roasting in agony, would that be heaven for you?  Would those tears every go away?

NO!  God loves His creation so much that He sent His only Son to die for us so that we don’t have to die forever.  We will not perish like the lost, but have eternal life.

 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16