6 - How to Escape Hell

What about the thief on the cross?

Trying to understand

any Bible question

study all verses

on the topic.

Yesterday presentation

70 verses!

Today

118 verses!

Fence Post

God’ word does not

contradict itself.

Luke 23:43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

•Did Jesus promise

•the thief on the cross

•that he would be

•with Him in heaven

•that day?

•No, I don’t believe so.

•First, Jesus didn’t go

•to heaven that day.

•Two and a half days later,

•at the resurrection,

•Jesus said to Mary:

John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father…”

•Jesus didn’t go

•to heaven that day.

•He was not there

•with the thief.

•In fact,

•He did not go

•to heave for

•40 days.

•(See Act 1:9-10)

•So then,

•What did Jesus say?

•You must learn

•something about

•the way the scriptures

•were developed.

•In the first century

•there were no

•punctuation,

•spaces

•chapters

•verses

•all caps

•Bible translators

•came and added

•all of those things

•later.

•Suffice to say this,

•Although I believe

•God watches over

•His word.

•The punctuation

•is not inspired.

•Look at the sentence.

•The meaning changes

•based on

•where you put the comma.

•The first example

•is as it read

•in the Bible.

•Jesus promises

•he will end up

•in paradise

•that day.

•Second option

•Jesus makes a

•statement that day…

•that will eventually

•end up in paradise…

•Some of you

•may be thinking.

•I don’t like

•what he is saying.

•He is rearranging the Bible.

•Let me show you,

•another place

•in the KJV

•where there is

•a grammatical

•error involving

•a comma.

Acts 19:12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

•based on the way this is written,

•the handkerchief are sick.

•There should be a comma

•after the word sick.

What about “Absent from the body but present with the Lord?”

First,

remember Paul wrote

13 books in NT

Same writer

same God

same Spirit

does not contradict.

Absent from body

verse is little confusing

look first

at other verse

from Paul.

1 Corinthians 15:51–55 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 imperishable, and we shall be changed.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

•Paul looks forward

•to the time when

•we get new bodies.

•We are going to

•trade in this jalopy

•and get a

•nice, new, Ferrari!

•And,

•when does that happen

•according to Paul?

•At the second coming.

•At the resurrection.

•Now we go,

•to key verse about “ absent from body present with Lord”

2 Corinthians 5:1–8 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

tent = earthly mortal physical body

building = glorious physical body

He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

While in this body

we are away from Lord

We would rather be

away from this body

present with God.

Why,

because if we

get away form

this body

we get

glories body!

at 2nd coming!

•This verse is

•talking about heaven.

Isaiah 65:21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

•We will build houses.

•Have vineyards.

•

•How can you enjoy

•those types of things

•without a body???

What about Saul talking to the spirit of Samuel through a medium?

•Let’s explain some background.

•You have to know

•The context.

•Earlier in his life,

•When he was selected

•to be the king

•he was very humble

•and God had

•especially blessed him

•with His Spirit on him.

•By this time.

•King Saul had

•repeatedly disobeyed God.

•He was in effect

•rejecting God from his life.

1 Samuel 16:14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.

•God’s spirit would not

•dwell in Saul anymore

•because he was rejecting

•the Spirit of God.

•As a result,

•God allowed evil

•spirits to come

•and torment him.

•He was also told.

1 Samuel 15:28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.

•Saul became

•angry

•jealous

•evil.

•To the point

•that God would

•not talk to him.

1 Samuel 15:35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

•Saul was,

•by his own choice,

•cut off from God.

•The prophet would not

•talk to him anymore.

•God’s spirit did not

•dwell in him anymore.

•He was rejected as

•the king of Israel.

•Then problems arose.

•God allowed his enemies

•to some and surround him.

1 Samuel 28:3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land.

•This was a command

•from God to kill all sorcerers.

•Saul followed this command

•when he was with God.

•God hated them,

•and had them killed,

•because God would

•never work through

•the forces of evil.

1 Samuel 28:5–6 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.

•Saul sees the enemy army.

•He knows he is going to lose.

•He is terrified.

•He tries to seek God.

•God will not answer.

•Explain Urim and Thumin.

•Saul,

•realizing he has been

•rejected by God.

•Resorts to the

•only option he has left

•Goes to the dark side…

•The ones that he

•had been killing

1 Samuel 28:7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at En-dor.”

•They find a witch and

•they prepare to go

•there.

•The witch is scared that

•Saul will kill her.

•He promises not

•to have her killed.

•(on the name of the Lord).

1 Samuel 28:13–14 The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.

•A few things.

•God has cut off

•Saul from communication.

•God would not

•cooperate with this.

•This has nothing

•to do with God.

•If something supernatural

•is a happening

•it has nothing

•to do with God.

•Next.

•Sees “a god”

•“coming up out of the earth.”

•Two things:

•Is Samuel a god?

•no.

•Where comes from?

•heaven?

•purgatory?

•earth…

•You cannot use this

•to teach that we go

•to heaven when we die…

•Next Saul identifies him.

•“Saul knew” that it was Samuel.

•Who decided who

•had come up?

•A man without

•with spirit of God

•in his life says,

•“it is Samuel.”

This demon

makes prediction

Saul and family

will die in battle.

•The prediction is right.

•But,

•It would have

•happened anyway!

What about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus?

That is a good question.

Thanks for asking that question.

I’m going to answer it,

in this message tonight.

How to Escape Hell

•Door to door salesman

•Talk to lady

•Unusual dress.

•Says,

•“I used to go to church.

•twice.

•Guy asks.

•She explains.

•Church I grew up in.

1 John 4:8 tells us very plainly that, “God is love.”

In fact,

the Bible says

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

•How to we reconcile

•“God is love”

•with

•“I’ll burn you in hell forever?”

•Topic today,

•Revelation’s Lake of Fire

•Where is it?

•What is it like?

•When will it happen?

•And who will go?

•Jesus believed in hell.

•He said this in

Matthew 10:28, "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."

•So, according to Jesus,

•hell is where people

•will go bodily,

•not just as disembodied spirits.

•So, when is hell

•going to take place?

•Let's get some background

•that will really help us,

•Oddly enough,

•there are two topics

•that are basically inseparable

•hell and

•the millennium.

•Lets first tackle

•the millennium.

•the 1000 years of peace.

•The millennium

•is a period of

•one thousand years,

•generally believed to be

•a time of peace and prosperity

•when the saints will

•reign with Christ.

Revelation 20:1 “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand."

Revelation 20:2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,

Revelation 20:3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

•At either end of the millennium

•we have the binding of Satan

•and the loosing of Satan.

•They’re like bookends

•at the beginning and end

•of Revelation's

•one thousand years.

•We find here

•that the devil is put

•into a bottomless pit.

•The Greek word is abussos.

• Back in Genesis 1:2,

•that same word is

•translated as "the deep,"

•in the Septuagint,

•or the Greek translation

•of the Old Testament.

•It represents the earth

•in a dark,

•desolate,

•uninhabited,

•chaotic state.

•This is where

•the devil will be during

•Revelation's one thousand years.

•We'll come back to

•why the earth would be

•like that in just a moment,

•but first, let’s look at verse 4.

•We want to find out

•where we, the people who

•have faith in God will be,

•during Revelation's one thousand years.

•The latter part of

•Revelation 20:4 says,

•"And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."

•It talks about people

•who had given their lives

•because they had not

•worshiped the beast

•or his image

•or received the mark

•of the beast.

•Now they are with Christ.

•Some of them were dead,

•but now they're alive.

Revelation 20:4-5

They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.

•What else has already happened?

•First resurrection.

•Let’s learn more about this.

John 5:28,29 says, "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."

•Here we see two resurrections,

•with a thousand years

•between them.

•Earlier on we found

•the binding of Satan

•was at the beginning

•and his loosing at the end.

•No we see,

•there are 2 resurrections

•we know the first one

•happens at the

•beginning of the millennium.

•Because God’s

•people are alive

•and living with him.

•We will see

•in just a minutes

•a few verses down.

•The second resurrection

•happens at

•the end of the millennium.

•We read that the saved

•live and reign with Christ

•during the thousand years.

•Where will that be?

•There are those that believe

•they want to be on the earth

•with Christ during

•the thousand years.

•Dispensationalism

•teaches this.

•Jerusalem rebuilt

•on the earth.

•Reigning on earth.

•We will see

•there is a Jerusalem

•but it is not on earth yet

•Plus earth is

•the last place

•you want to be.

•In John 14:1,

•Jesus said,

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; ...

if it were not so, 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."

•Jesus said,

•"I'm coming back

•I'm going to take you

•with Me, to be

•with Me

•in My Father's house."

•That's heaven,

•clearly.

•During Revelation's

•one thousand years,

•we spend that time

•with Christ in heaven.

•The saved will be

•in heaven for

•a thousand years.

•But what about

•the lost?

•What happens

•When Jesus come

•back for 2nd coming?

•Remember Jesus told us,

"And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man."

•Eight people got on the ark

•and were saved,

•What happened

•to the rest?

•They died, and their bodies

•were everywhere.

•Where were the dead?

•“and the flood came and destroyed them all.”

•One taken

•one left..?

Luke 17:37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

•The dead

•strewn across

•the earth

•by the flood.

Revelation 6:14-17 says, "Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

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?’”

•When Jesus comes back

•many will say,

•"We don't want to even see Him.

•We don't want to see the Lamb!"

•When Jesus comes back,

•the saved will be safe

•and they'll rejoice.

•The lost will not.

But that is not

the only option

Only for those

that reject the pardon.

Back in 1830 George Wilson was convicted of robbing the U.S. Mail and was sentenced to be hanged. President Andrew Jackson issued a pardon for Wilson, but he refused to accept it. The matter went to Chief Justice Marshall, who concluded that Wilson would have to be executed. "A pardon is a slip of paper," wrote Marshall, "the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged."For some, the pardon comes too late. For others, the pardon is not accepted.

2 Thessalonians 1:7–8 “…the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

•In the next chapter

•same idea.

2 Thessalonians 2:8 “…the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.”

•Only 2 groups of people

•when Jesus comes back.

•Saved go to heaven.

A new believer was on a plane with an intellectual (a man educated beyond his intelligence). He sneered at her reading the Bible. Asked if she believed it? "Yes." "Jonah and the whale story?" "Yes." "How did it happen?" "Don't know, but I'll find out when I get to heaven." "What if Jonah isn't there?" "Then I guess you'll have to ask him for me."

•Lost are destroyed

•with the brightness

•of His coming.

Four groups of people

Saved Living:

Saved Dead:

Lost Living:

Lost Dead:

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

•Righteous Dead:

•resurrected

•go to heaven.

•Righteous Living

•translated alive

•go to heaven

•Wicked Living

•Die at 2nd Coming.

•Wicked Dead

stay dead!

•Speaking of the

•righteous dead:

Revelation 20:4-5

They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.

•Wicked dead

•stay dead

•until the end

•of the 1000 years.

•The earth is left desolate,

•during the thousand years.

•Jeremiah wrote about this.

•In Jeremiah ...

Jeremiah 4:23 ESV

I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light.

•Same phrase as

•Genesis 1

•“earth was without form and void”

•Hebrew word, bohu,

•which means “emptiness.”

•"I saw the earth.

•It was emptiness."

Jeremiah 25:33, "And at that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground."

•Brightness of Coming

•Kills all the living wicked

•Bodies strewn everywhere.

•Satan is confined

•to the earth.

•At this state

•the earth is

•“a pit”

•The word “pit”

•same word used

•in Gen 1:2

•spirit hovered over

•the “great deep”

•When world

•was empty…

•Satan has essentially

•1000 yeartimeout…

•You sit there and

•think about what you’ve done.

•Rev 20:3 says:

Revelation 20:3 (ESV)

and threw him into the pit, .... so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

•With nobody to deceive

•on time-out…

•Do you think

•he changes?

•he repents?

•We will see…

•But first,

•what else is going on?

•What are the saints doing?

Revelation 20:4,

"And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them."

•What are they doing?

•Judgment…

•How?

1 Corinthians 6:2,3 says, "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?"

•God allows us

•to look into

•all the judgments

•He has made

•Including, judgments

•against fallen angels…

•But also including

•judgments about people.

•People you did expect

•to see in heaven.

•People you didn’t expect

•to see in heaven.

•We will all say,

•God is good.

•During the Millennium,

•Saints in Heaven

•Earth is desolate

•The devil on the earth.

Revelation 20:7 says, "Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations "

•What does that mean?

•How did that happen?

REVELATION 20:5 "But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished."

•What else happened?

•Wicked dead resurrected!

•Second resurrection..

•Satan is released.

•Now he can deceive again.

•Satan is back in business.

•Righteous get perfect

•bodies when they resurrected

•Wicked, same old

•wretched bodies.

(zombie apocalypse true?)

•At this point,

•you may be wondering

•Why?

•God will explain…

•What happens next?

Revelation 21:1 says, "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."

•There it is,

•Jerusalem,

•but it was not on earth

•during the millennium.

•it was in heaven.

•And the saints were inside.

•But what happens now.

•It comes out of heaven

•Comes down to earth.

•What happens next?

•So to review,

•there's a thousand year period.

•At the beginning,

•the first resurrection and

•the 2nd coming take place.

•At the end,

•the second resurrection and

•holy city descends from heaven.

•This explains

•why there is so

•much confusion

•about where saints go

Heaven?

Earth?

•It is BOTH!.

•First, we go to heaven.

•After 1000 years,

•heaven comes to earth!

•This explains why

•Jesus can say:

Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

•But also say:

Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

•They are not

•going to different

•places to spend

•eternity.

•Let’s go back to:

Revelation 20:7,8. "Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea."

•No, Gog and Magog

•aren’t Russia

•and Iran,

•or Moscow

•as some speculate.

•This is Old Testament imagery,

•This comes from Ezekiel 38 and 39.

•They’re the enemies of God."

•Who are the enemies

•of God right now?

•All the wicked dead

•that have just been

•resurrected.

•Plus,

•Satan and his angels.

•They come for war.

•They want in the city!

Revelation 20:9 goes on to say, "They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city."

•what happens next?

•Continuing

•second have of verse.

"And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them."

•That’s it..

•That’s Revelation's lake of fire

Lord Kenneth Clark, internationally know for his television series Civilization, lived and died without faith in Jesus Christ. He admitted in his autobiography that while visiting a beautiful church he had what he believed to be an overwhelming religious experience. "My whole being," Clark wrote, "was irradiated by a kind of heavenly joy far more intense than anything I had known before." But the "gloom of grace," as he described it, created a problem. If he allowed himself to be influenced by it, he knew he would have to change, his family might think he had lost his mind, and maybe that intense joy would prove to be an illusion. So he concluded, "I was too deeply embedded in the world to change course."

God edoes not

send peoiple to hell

we choose

where we want to be for

all eternity

Go provies

opportunities to

be converted

changed

we have to

reject all offeres

to go to ehll.

Wheat and Tares

Jesus told a parable

•wheat and the tares.

•The workers said,

•"Look, there are wheat

•and tares growing together.

•What should we do?"

•Jesus said,

•"Let them grow together

•until the harvest."

•Then in that parable,

•the land owner said,

•at harvest time,

•they would be separated

•and the weeds would be burned.

•Disciples ask what it means.

•Jesus explains.

•In Matthew 13:39,

•Jesus says,

The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

•He said that the weeds

•would be burned

•at the end of the world.

•So the answer

•as to when hell fire burns

•is very easy to see.

•Has the world

•come to an end?

•No!

•Then hellfire

•is not buring…

John 5:28, 29 say, "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."

•That first resurrection

•takes place when

•the 2nd Coming happens.

•It hasn’t happened yet.

•The resurrection of

•damnation takes place

•1000 years after

•Jesus returns.

•It hasn’t happened either.

•So it’s not possible

•anyone could be

•in hell right now.

•We ought to be relieved.

•No

•family

•friend

•is body is burning

•in hell yet.

•God has not been

•burning people

•for 6000 years.

•He is not

•creating more flesh

•to keep them burning.

2 Peter 3:7 says, "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."

•According to this passage

•what is going burn

•with the fire on the

•day of judgment

•Current heavens and earth.

•Heavens is where

•birds fly.

Revelation 20:9 says, "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."

•Where are the wicked

•when this happens?

•“on the breadth of the earth“

•when hell fire happens.

•Why is that?

•God is going to

•purify the earth.

•Fire purifies

•pollution

•garbage

•evil

•So we answer when.

•Next question

•How long?

•If you believe

•in a God who burns people

•in hell forever

•and ever and ever and ever,

• then you have a God

•who is

•worse than Stalin

•and worse than Hitler.

•Because they eventually

•put their victims

•out of their misery.

•He would make

•Stalin and Hitler

•look like Boy Scouts.

•The fact is

•hell cannot

•burn forever.

•Hell happens

•on the earth.

•After hell

•few verses later

•in the very next

•chapter.

Revelation 21:1 ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

•If he recreates

•the same earth

•where the

•New Jerusalem

•is seated.

•Then the fire must

•have stopped.

•Last night,

•we learned

•Only God has immortality.

•Therefore,

•people don’t

•live forever

•in the flames.

•Listen to 1 John 5:12,

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

•People in hell

•don't have life,

•because they don't

•have Jesus.

•They cannot possibly

•live forever without

•a connection with Jesus.

•Consider these verses.

Ezekiel 18:4 says, "The soul who sins shall die."

•Romans 6:23 says,

•"The wages of sin is …”

•Eternal life in hell?

•No. "The wages of sin is death."

Revelation 20:14 ESV

Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

•refers to the lake of fire

•as the second DEATH.

•People die there.

•Psalm 37 says

•“the wicked will be no more”

•and they will

•“consume away into smoke.”

Psalm 68:2 As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God!

•I want to show you

•what happens

•to the devil.

Ezekiel 28:18 says, "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."

•Satan is

•reduced to ashes.

•The devil will be destroyed,

•root and branch.

•He's the root

•and what happens

•to the branch

•is found

•in Malachi 4:1.

MALACHI 4:1, 3 “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."

•Those who don't

•love God won't be

•given immortality.

•Consider with me

•Revelation 21:4.

•John either

•understood this

•or he's a liar.

•You decide.

"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."

•If hell burns forever,

•there'll be pain forever.

•There'll be sadness forever.

•God promised

•no more pain

•death

•sorrow

•tears.

•In order to do that,

•God's going to

•get rid of

•every last trace of

•sin and rebellion.

•No more sin,

•no more suffering,

•no more sadness,

•no more pain.

•All gone,

•and gone forever.

•It'll never come back.

Nahum 1:9 states, "Affliction shall not rise up again the second time."

•Sin will be gone,

•and thank God

• it will never

•come back.

•Imagine God reserving

•a corner of the universe

•for all eternity

•will be filled with

•fire and brimstone

•and people in agony

•writhing in pain

•because God

•is torturing them.

•That’s unthinkable.

•This is not

•the God of

•the Bible.

•God is love.

•A perfect universe

•with a permanent stain?

•Impossible.

•Instead,

•God is going to

•clear up this universe.

•Sin and suffering

•will be gone.

•There are other times

•in the bible

•When God sent

•fire from heaven

•Mount Carmel

•Sodom and Gomorrah

•What happened?

•Ashes.

•Immediately.

•People have used

•the idea of hell

•to scare others

•into being saved…

•Think about that…

•Fear is a great

•motivator for

•a short amount of time.

•God does not want

•heaven filled with

•people who

•are there because

•they were scared

•of Him….

•Hell is not

•so much about

•physical pain

•as it is

•mental/spiritual

•pain.

•Guilt

•Shame

•Worst of all…

•Separation from God.

•This idea

•that we should

•be scared of God

•like he enjoys

•punishment

•is crazy.

Ezekiel 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”

•Does God enjoy

•torturing sinner?

•No!

•He will not

•do it for all

•eternity…

In 1981, a Minnesota radio station reported a story about a stolen car in California. Police were staging an intense search for the vehicle and the driver, even to the point of placing announcements on local radio stations to contact the thief. On the front seat of the stolen car sat a box of crackers that, unknown to the thief, were laced with poison. The car owner had intended to use the crackers as rat bait. Now the police and the owner of the VW Bug were more interested in apprehending the thief to save his life than to recover the car. So often when we run from God, we feel it is to escape his punishment. But what we are actually doing is eluding his rescue.

•Speaking of the

•punishment of the wicked

Isaiah 28:21 …That he may do this act, his strange act; And bring to pass this act, this alien act.

•This act

•of destruction

•is alien to God.

•Now I know

•as well as you do

•that there are

• a couple of places

•in the Bible

•that use the words

•“forever” or

•“forever and ever.”

•I'll read one to you.

Revelation 20:10 says, "The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

•But in the same chapter

•it says that the fire

•that came

•from heaven

•devoured them

•Devoured means.

•consumed

•destroy

•made nothing.

•Forever does not always

•literally mean Forever.

1 Samuel 1:22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.”

•go down 6 verses

1 Samuel 1:28 Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.

•How long was forever?

•“As long as he lives”

•Same with hell.

•Jonah swallowed by whale.

•Poetically talks about

•what it was like in there.

Jonah 2:5–6 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

•In the previous chapter

•it clearly says.

Jonah 1:17 And the Lordappointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

•I’m sure it

•felt like forever.

•Same with hell.

•Bible says,

•feast days

•are perpetual commandment

•Do you celebrate them?

•Did you kill a goat

•on Passover?

Shopping Forever

•No,

•Because true lamb

•was already slain.

•The destruction is forever,

•the destroying is not.

•The destroying

•will go on

•for as long

•as it needs to

•to get the job done.

•How long?

•I don't know.

•If you're worried about it,

•you need to have

•a good talk with God

•and make your peace

•with God.

•But you say,

•what about

•the verse

•that says

•unquenchable fire?

•or eternal fire?

•Yes,

•What does that mean?

•I’ll show you

•a couple of

•other verse.

Jude 1:7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

•According to this

•Sodom and Gomorrah

•also suffered “eternal fire”

•Quick question

•Is it still burning?

•No!

•2 Peter 2:6 tells us,

•"Sodom and Gomorrah were turned into ashes."

•Now

•I promised I

•would cover

•the rich man

•and Lazarus.

•We have a

•mountain of evidence

•showing us

•hell fire will

•turn sin and sinners to ashes.

•They’ll be devoured.

•Gone into smoke.

•Jesus tells parables

•for a reason

•Jesus lists the reason

•a couple of verses

•earlier in the chapter.

Luke 16:14–15 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

•Who was he

•talking to?

•Pharisees

•What does it say

•about them?

•“Lovers of Money”

•“Justify themselves”

Luke 16:19–23 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.

Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 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. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

•Let’s pause here.

•This is a parable.

•this is figurative language.

•Heaven is not

•in the bosom of Abraham…

•Parables are not

•meant to be taken

•literally…

•In the OT

•there is a parable

•with a talking tree…

•Meaning of Parable

•“a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson”

•Parables are

•allegorical

•symbolic,

•metaphorical,

•figurative,

•representative,

•emblematic

•Don’t take them literally…

•Let’s pause here.

•This is a parable.

•this is figurative language.

•Heaven is not

•in the bosom of Abraham…

•Parables are not

•meant to be taken

•literally…

•In the OT

•there is a parable

•with a talking tree…

•Meaning of Parable

•“a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson”

•Parables are

•allegorical

•symbolic,

•metaphorical,

•figurative,

•representative,

•emblematic

•Don’t take them literally…

Luke 16:24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’

•Now,

•if this were literal,

•the fellow would

•have been asking for

•Niagara Falls,

•not a damp fingertip.

•You know,

•again,

•this is figurative.

•Anyway, according

•to the parable

•Abraham tells him no.

•What next.

Luke 16:27–28 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’

Luke 16:29–30 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

•Remember

•what the problems

•of the Pharisees were?

•“Lovers of Money”

•“Justify themselves”

•They believed

•if they were rich

•if they were good Jews

•ticket to heaven.

•Jesus flipped

•the story over

•on them.

•It is also

•very interesting

•In the parable

•Rich Man asks

•for Lazarus to

•come back from dead.

•Jesus actually does

•raise a man named

•Lazarus from the dead.

•Did it work?

John 11:45–50 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.

If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”

•So,

•Did Lazarus

•coming back from dead

•convince anyone?

•NO!

•What did they do?

•The parable ends

•with this verse:

Luke 16:31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

Three Points

1.Rich don’t have advantage.

2.Jews don’t have biological advantage.

3.If you reject the scripture, you will reject the author of the scripture.

1 John 5:12. says:

"He who has the Son, has life."

"And he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life."

One author writes: “To each of his disciples, Jesus simply said, “Follow me.” That was an invitation, not a requirement. An invitation respects the freedom on the invitee to accept of decline. That men and women can go to heaven is an expression of God’s love; that they can go to hell is an expression of the value he places on their freedom. God desires, not requires, a relationship with us. It is not a one-sided affair; we are co-participants with him, both in our relationship with him and in our work in the world. God does not pull all the strings. He counts us too important to do that. To find without seeking, to hear without listening, to say yes without the possibility of saying no is to negate the value of my seeking, my hearing and my participating. God did not make us to be puppets.”

•New Jerusalem

•Walls are see through.

•Fire on outside

•Wicked on outside

•righteous on inside.