Participants: Doug Batchelor
Series Code: 17SCM
Program Code: 17SCM000022A
00:14 Welcome to 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting 2017,
00:19 Exposing the Counterfeit. 00:24 Hello, and welcome back to 3ABN Camp Meeting. 00:27 We've been having a wonderful time, haven't we? 00:28 Amen. 00:30 I'll tell you what, 00:31 I felt the anointing of the Holy Spirit 00:32 this whole week but we are winding down. 00:35 We just have a couple more sermons. 00:38 And then afterwards 00:40 we're going to have little after glow we call it, 00:41 little time of renewing 00:43 our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:45 How many are thankful 00:47 for what Jesus has done for you? 00:49 And I just praise the Lord for each and every one of you 00:51 and for those of you at home, 00:53 thank you for your love 00:54 and your prayers and financial support 00:56 because without you, 00:57 we couldn't take this gospel to all the world. 01:00 And all of you here, you guys you're the die-hards, 01:02 we call that 3ABN die-hard. 01:04 Somebody said, 01:05 "They're the ones that's right on the frontlines." 01:07 You're the one that's taken these books and pass them out, 01:10 those of you at home that are doing 01:11 that too they couldn't make it and joining with 3ABN. 01:15 Thank you because Jesus says when this gospel of the kingdom 01:18 goes into all the world, guess what happens? 01:21 The end comes which is really the beginning, right? 01:24 It was my privilege tonight 01:26 to introduce Pastor Doug Batchelor. 01:28 And Doug is a household name, 01:30 been on 3ABN for well over 25 years, 01:34 speaker director of Amazing Facts. 01:37 He's an author and speaker. 01:39 And Doug as I would say, 01:42 I can say this through all the speakers 01:44 that we've ever had on 3ABN. 01:46 I'm sure we have seen thousands and thousands of people, 01:51 letters that people have written us, 01:53 emails over the years that said, 01:55 "Thank you for 3ABN and I came to the Lord 01:58 through Pastor Doug Batchelor. 02:00 Thousands of people all around the world, 02:02 and so we praise the Lord for his ministry, 02:04 for he and his wife 02:05 for what they're doing for Amazing Facts. 02:08 And right after Brother Tim Parton, 02:10 I think we're going to have to come out 02:12 and to do special music for us. 02:16 And right after that, 02:19 the next voice you'll hear is Pastor 02:20 Doug Batchelor. 02:32 I'm kind of homesick 02:38 For a country 02:43 To which I've never 02:50 Been before 02:56 No sad goodbyes 03:02 Will there be spoken 03:08 For time won't 03:15 Anymore 03:21 Beulah Land 03:27 I'm longing for you 03:33 And some day 03:39 On thee I'll stand 03:46 There my home 03:51 Shall be eternal 03:58 Beulah Land 04:04 Sweet Beulah land 04:11 I'm looking now 04:17 Across the river 04:22 To where my faith 04:28 Shall end in sight 04:34 There's just a few 04:39 More days to labor 04:45 Then I will take 04:51 My heavenly flight 04:56 Sing with me if you know. 04:57 To Beulah Land 05:03 I'm longing for you 05:09 And some day 05:14 On thee I'll stand 05:21 There my home 05:26 Shall be 05:29 Eternal 05:34 Beulah Land 05:39 Sweet Beulah Land 06:05 Beulah Land 06:12 Amen. 06:17 Amen. Thank you so much, Tim. That was a beautiful song. 06:20 Amen. 06:22 Well, this is have been a wonderful time together 06:26 this week is gathering together 06:28 with brothers and sisters and hearing the Word of God. 06:30 And it's just been a joy, I was thinking about it. 06:34 And I have been coming to 3ABN for over 20 years. 06:39 I remember Mitch just met me backstage 06:41 and prayed with me. 06:43 I remember when he would be show up, 06:44 you know, I get in late from California 06:46 like one in the morning 06:48 he'd be upstairs in master control 06:50 and he was sort of the innkeeper also, 06:53 he give me my key to my little room upstairs 06:55 and boy, things have come a long way, 06:57 I'll tell you. 06:58 We didn't even know 07:00 what the Internet was back then. 07:02 But it's just so exciting to be back. 07:04 Almost every year we do something with 3ABN, 07:07 Amazing Facts and 3ABN partner. 07:09 And this fall, 07:10 we're going to be doing another special program 07:13 called Foundations of Faith. 07:15 So I hope you'll be watching for and praying 07:18 for that event it's November 3-11. 07:21 And it's going to be up linked 07:23 from the General Conference world headquarters. 07:26 It's going to be very interesting 07:28 right after October 31, 07:30 the 500 year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. 07:34 I understand some interesting things 07:36 are going to be happening in Rome 07:37 during that time. 07:39 So I expect to have something to talk about. 07:41 So I already have something to talk about. 07:49 You know, after both of the programs tonight, 07:53 they were telling me 07:54 that we're going to gather together 07:55 as they often do during the camp meeting. 07:57 And they said, 07:59 "We're going to have this so, Doug, 08:00 make sure that you don't forget that after your sermon 08:03 we're going to have an after glow." 08:05 I said, "My sermon tonight's on hell, 08:06 what do you mean by that?" 08:13 But it's actually not directly after my sermon, 08:17 but Pastor Rafferty will preach and he'll make sure 08:20 there's no confusion 08:21 what our after glow is all about. 08:25 Our message tonight is dealing with the subject of hell. 08:29 And is hell a place of unending torture? 08:34 And this actually is one of my favorite subjects 08:36 because when I understood this, 08:39 it enabled me to love God. 08:42 And I will say more about that. 08:44 But let me pray with you before we begin. 08:47 Loving Father, 08:49 we are so thankful for the truth of Your Word 08:51 that helps us see 08:52 who You are and how we can love You. 08:54 And we just pray right now 08:56 that Your Spirit will be present. 08:57 I pray that my mind will be clear, 08:59 my sins forgiven and ultimately 09:01 that it will be Your voice that we hear. 09:04 And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. 09:06 Amen. 09:10 It made me shudder 09:12 when I saw the news back in 2015, 09:16 a Jordanian pilot was either shot down 09:20 or there was a mechanical problem 09:21 and he went down in Syria, and he was captured by ISIS. 09:25 Well, ISIS went through the charade of pretending 09:27 they were going to do a prisoner exchange 09:30 with this man and some prisoners 09:32 that were held in Jordan. 09:33 And it turns out they had other plans. 09:38 The man thought he was going to be set free, 09:39 and they brought him out, 09:41 and they had him say some kind of confession 09:42 or something on tape, 09:44 and they put him in a metal cage, 09:47 and they doused him with diesel or gasoline not exactly sure, 09:52 and then ISIS, 09:54 if you don't think they're wicked, 09:56 they then rolled video as they set it on fire. 10:00 And, yeah, I was wondering 10:03 whether or not I could even share this with you. 10:05 But the reason I'm sharing it with you 10:08 is anything natural within you 10:10 unless you've got some kind of sadistic problems, 10:15 you would recoil at the thought of somebody... 10:18 I could not even watch the video, 10:20 I couldn't bring myself to do that. 10:21 I'm sure it would cause nightmares. 10:26 We're horrified by that. 10:29 And we think that the people that would do that, 10:33 that would put a person in a cage 10:36 and burn them alive 10:37 while they videotape it, it's Satanic. 10:42 Now with that in mind, 10:44 what do you exactly think it is 10:46 that most Christians say about God? 10:50 What is He going to do to the lost? 10:52 Is He going to burn them for 10 minutes, 5 minutes? 10:54 I don't even know how long His sufferings lasted. 10:57 Let's hope not long. 10:59 No, they say that, "God if you don't know Jesus, 11:02 if you're born and you die lost. 11:06 That He will then put you in this place of torture 11:09 where you will feel 11:10 the writhing flames of brimstone and fire 11:13 and burning all over every nerve of your body 11:16 in completely indescribable agony. 11:21 Not for 10 minutes, or 10 hours, 11:24 or 10 days 11:26 but for ever and ever and call that justice. 11:32 Now, I remember I used to go to a couple of Catholic schools 11:36 and that's where I was taught you're good you go to heaven, 11:39 you're bad you go to hell. 11:40 And so what's hell? 11:41 Well, it's a place where you burn 11:43 for ever and ever. 11:45 And I thought, now wait a second, 11:46 you're telling me everybody in the world 11:48 since were all born with this bent toward sin. 11:53 And if we don't figure out how to do it right 11:56 that God is going to take the objects of His creation. 12:00 And for the sins of maybe 50, 60, 70 years 12:02 maybe 15 years burn them through ceaseless ages. 12:07 When I heard that, I thought, 12:09 I don't think 12:11 I'd ever want to serve a God like that. 12:14 So our subject today is on trying to understand 12:19 what is the punishment of the wicked, 12:21 and actually I'll be sharing 12:22 with you the good news about hell. 12:24 Matter of fact, I might even tell you 12:26 the good news to start with right now. 12:28 First of all the good news 12:29 is no one is burning in hell now. 12:31 Amen. 12:32 I'm going to tell you what I'm going to tell you 12:34 then I'll tell you what I told you. 12:37 No one is burning in hell now, 12:39 no one is going to burn there forever. 12:42 Hell fire will put sinners out of their selfish misery. 12:46 Hell will purify the universe. 12:50 And the really good news is, you don't need to go there. 12:54 Whenever I talk about this, 12:56 I'm surprised how many people ask me 12:57 a lot of questions afterward 13:00 and they don't ask me near as many questions 13:02 about heaven 13:04 which makes me wonder where they plan on going 13:07 because it seems like you 13:08 want to prepare more for your destination. 13:12 All right, first question. 13:14 What two cities are given in the Bible as an example 13:17 for the destruction of the wicked? 13:20 It says here, "Sodom and Gomorrah, 13:22 and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, 13:26 having given themselves over to sexual immorality 13:29 and going after strange flesh..." 13:32 We talked about that earlier today, 13:33 what that means? 13:35 "Are set forth as an example, 13:36 suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." 13:40 And people are wondering, 13:42 well, there you have it, Pastor Doug. 13:44 And I don't want to deny, 13:46 there are some difficult passages 13:47 but I think they are easy to explain. 13:50 And there are a lot more passages 13:52 that make the subject clear. 13:54 And so you need to weigh the preponderance 13:57 of evidence on this. 13:59 Now just to go back to what the story was, 14:02 if you look, you remember that in the Old Testament 14:05 there in the Book of Genesis, Abraham and Lot parted ways, 14:09 Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom. 14:12 The Bible says the people of Sodom were sinners 14:14 before the Lord exceedingly. 14:17 And eventually God sent two angels 14:19 because they were going to judge Sodom. 14:22 And he gave Lot an opportunity to escape, the angels, 14:28 you know, after the people in the town 14:29 tried to accost them 14:31 and they were stricken with blindness, 14:32 they said to Lot and his daughters and his wife, 14:35 "Escape for your life: look not behind thee, 14:39 escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed." 14:43 What was going to happen to those 14:45 that stayed in the city? 14:47 They'll be consumed. What is the fate of the wicked? 14:50 The Bible says, 14:51 "Sodom and Gomorrah are set forth 14:53 as an example of those 14:54 who are suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, 14:57 while it says the eternal fire consume them." 15:01 And then of course it says the Lord rained upon Sodom 15:04 and Gomorrah brimstone 15:05 and fire from the Lord out of heaven, 15:08 and the Lord looked toward Sodom and he, 15:11 he and Abraham look toward Sodom and Gomorrah, 15:13 and, lo, the smoke of the country went up 15:15 as the smoke of a furnace." 15:18 But you know the story, 15:20 "His wife looked back behind him, 15:22 and she became a pillar of salt." 15:25 And so this is very important story 15:27 about what judgment is for the wicked, 15:29 and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah explained. 15:32 And now notice what Peter says, we read what Jude says, 15:34 look at what Peter says, 15:36 "Turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into what?" 15:40 This eternal fire burned them up forever. 15:44 The reason it's called eternal fire 15:46 is 'cause the result of the fire was eternal." 15:49 Have Sodom and Gomorrah ever been rebuilt? 15:51 Matter of fact number of prophets point 15:53 back to Sodom and Gomorrah 15:55 and use them as an example of a city 15:56 that would never be rebuilt. 15:58 And he said this regarding Nineveh, 16:00 he said it regarding Babylon, he said, they'll be like Sodom, 16:03 it'll never be inhabited again and it never was. 16:06 "Making them an example under those 16:08 who should after would live ungodly." 16:10 So if we want to know 16:12 what the fate of the lost or ungodly is, 16:15 the Bible says, 16:16 "Sodom and Gomorrah are an example of that, 16:18 they were consumed, 16:20 they were burned up with eternal fire, 16:21 and they perished." 16:23 This is the picture of that region, 16:24 I've been down to the Dead Sea 16:26 in the southern part of the Dead Sea. 16:30 It's nothing there. 16:31 Matter of fact, 16:33 I've got a friend 16:34 who's made several trips down the area 16:36 and he says, 16:37 "He digs the sulphur balls out of the ground, 16:41 that you can take 16:42 and put a match to and they'll lignite." 16:44 Yeah, I've got one, I've tried it before it works. 16:45 I don't do it in church 'cause it stinks. 16:47 But I did it once that's how I know. 16:50 But it's real, 16:52 I mean it's the only place in the world 16:53 you can find these sulphur balls 16:54 embedded in the ash, 16:56 in the ground 16:57 that you can pop out of the ground, 16:59 put a match to it and they burn. 17:00 So quite literally 17:01 there is a least sulphur in brimstone in that place. 17:04 Second question to consider, 17:05 "When will the wicked be destroyed in hellfire?" 17:09 2 Peter 2:9, 17:11 "The Lord knows how to reserve the unjust..." 17:15 What do they do? 17:16 They're reserved. 17:18 When you call ahead to a restaurant you say, 17:20 "Can you reserve me a seat?" 17:22 That means they're holding a place for you. 17:25 Are the wicked burning in hell now or are they reserved? 17:28 "How to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment..." 17:31 When will they be punished? 17:32 The day of judgment to be punished. 17:35 And again Jesus said, John 12:48, 17:38 "The word that I have spoken, 17:39 the same will judge him in the last day." 17:43 You can read John 6, John 11. 17:46 Over and over Jesus is the judgment, 17:48 the last day, the last day. 17:50 So the idea that as soon as people die, 17:52 they go to hell 17:54 and they start to burn is not biblical. 17:56 First of all why would you give a person the punishment? 18:00 And then when the Lord comes pull him out of hell, 18:02 in judgment say, 18:03 "Sure enough you were guilty 18:05 and put him back in hell again." 18:06 That wouldn't be very just. 18:09 Jesus tells a parable 18:11 and, you know, the parable of the wheat and the tares. 18:14 I remember when I first read this, 18:16 I said, what is a tare? 18:18 Tare is where it's another crop, 18:20 it's actually weeds 18:21 but when they first sprout up, 18:23 they look very similar to wheat. 18:25 As enemy sows the tares 18:27 and the servant says, "What do we do? 18:28 We go pull up the tares." 18:30 He says, "Let them grow together 18:31 until the harvest, then you separate the two." 18:34 And Jesus makes it pretty clear, 18:35 He says, "As therefore the tares are gathered 18:39 and burned in the fire, 18:41 so shall it be in the end of the world." 18:44 When were they gathered and burned? 18:46 It will be the end of the world. 18:48 And he says, you read on, 18:49 "The Son of man will send forth his angels, 18:51 and they will gather them that do iniquity. 18:54 And they'll cast them into a furnace of fire, 18:58 where they are consumed..." 19:00 And the Bible says, "They are devoured, 19:01 and they are burnt up." 19:03 These are words 19:04 that the Bible uses to describe that. 19:06 You know, I remember years ago, 19:09 I was a long, must been 30 years ago, 19:12 I think I can be very honest with you now. 19:14 I was listening to family radio, 19:17 and they have a Bible Answer program 19:21 as called Open Forum, and Pastor Harold Camping, 19:25 the late Pastor Harold Camping was answering Bible questions. 19:29 Now I'm up there, I've no telephone, 19:31 all I've got is a radio up on the hill same place 19:33 where we have our cabin now but this was a long time ago, 19:35 was a lot more primitive, these kerosene lamps back then. 19:39 And I used to love to listen to the radio, 19:43 they had some great Christian music 19:45 and they'd read the Bible. 19:46 And they really had some nice programs. 19:47 But then he would come on, 19:49 now you know who Harold Camping is. 19:50 He predicted the second coming two or three times. 19:52 And obviously he was wrong. 19:55 And he would get on, and he would answer questions, 19:58 and I used to listen that, 19:59 he used to get me all worked up. 20:00 But I remember 20:03 one particular day a college student called up 20:08 and she said, 20:09 "You know, I've been reading the Bible 20:10 and I'd like to believe in God, 20:12 I'd like to believe in Jesus 20:13 but I just don't understand how a God of love and Jesus 20:16 seems so loving, 20:17 He would take the creatures 20:19 that He's made and torture them if they don't love Him. 20:21 It's like basically saying, "Love me or burn in hell." 20:24 And the student was thinking, 20:26 you either can love me 20:28 or I'm going to torture you and that was her question. 20:30 And his answer was, 20:31 "Well, who are we to question God? 20:33 And this is what the Bible says and... 20:34 Oh, that made me so mad as I hear someone searching 20:36 for the truth 20:38 and they're being fed this nonsense. 20:40 Immediately after that a lady called. 20:43 And she said 20:44 and you could tell her voice was breaking. 20:47 And she said, "My son was not a Christian. 20:51 He had a problem drinking, 20:52 he died instantly in a car accident. 20:56 I just need to know is he burning in hell now. 20:59 Very direct question. 21:01 He tried to evade it for a moment 21:03 and finally he came right out and said, 21:04 "Well, according to the Bible there's only two destinies, 21:06 he's either with the Lord in heaven 21:08 or he is burning now in hell." 21:09 And you could hear the lady kind of choke. 21:12 And she hung up the phone. 21:13 Well, at this point I'm jumping up and down. 21:16 I don't have a telephone. No cell phone back then. 21:20 And so I jumped in my car and I drive 12 miles 21:24 a very bad dirt road to the nearest telephone 21:27 it was at our member's house, 21:29 her name was Dr. Lolita Simpson and I came charging in. 21:32 It was like 8:30, 9 o'clock at night. 21:34 And I knew it was a one hour program 21:35 and I needed to get on the air 21:37 'cause I thought I've got to hope 21:38 those people are still listening 21:40 'cause I'm gonna see if I can get through 21:41 and I'm going to give the answers to these things. 21:43 And so I got to her house and I said, 21:45 "Dr. Simpson, I got to use your phone real quick." 21:48 And I had the number and I called, 21:49 and I got a busy signal, 21:50 I've been praying all the way down 21:52 that I get through. 21:53 And I called again and they picked up they said, 21:55 "Oh, please stand by and you'll be taken in line 21:58 and I said, Lord, Lord... 21:59 Next thing I knew I hear his voice 22:01 "Welcome to Open Forum. 22:03 May I have your question please?" 22:05 I didn't even know what I was going to say. 22:08 And I said, "Yes, sir, Brother Camping, 22:10 I said I'm a Christian and then I said 22:13 I'm a Seventh-day Adventist Christian." 22:15 'Cause I hope that whoever is listening 22:16 would know where to go for the right answers. 22:19 And I said, "And I believe the Bible clearly teaches 22:21 that first of all the dead are sleeping in the graves 22:23 until the resurrection 22:24 and that no one is burning in hell now. 22:26 And hell does not burn forever and ever. 22:27 Can I please share a few scriptures? 22:29 Thank you." 22:30 You got to keep talking or he cuts you off. 22:33 And so I started saying, 22:35 it says, "That they will burn up, 22:36 and they are consumed, and they perish. 22:37 And there's no more pain." 22:39 And I've given him all 22:40 these verses and pretty soon..." 22:42 She had a radio and I could notice, 22:43 I didn't hear my voice anymore. 22:45 He kind of cut it. 22:47 He responded a little bit then he let off the mute button 22:50 and he let me respond again, I said, "Yes, 22:52 I've heard those verses before and here's what this 22:53 and this means 22:55 and I've given him all the answers 22:56 and then he cut me off, 22:57 he didn't take another phone call 22:59 for the last 20 minutes of the broadcast. 23:01 He just kept trying to untangle the scriptures that I've given. 23:08 And I remember driving home that night, 23:09 I was praying that those people were listening and I said, 23:13 "Lord, boy, I would love to have a radio program 23:15 where I could give people the answers." 23:17 Amen. 23:18 And you know for the last 20 years 23:20 we've had Bible Answers Live. 23:21 Every week we're calling people 23:23 and hopefully hearing the truth. 23:26 And we meet people... 23:28 We meet people all the time that say... 23:30 I've got the letters from kids and, you know, 23:32 it's the ones that break your heart are the teenagers. 23:34 "Said Pastor Doug, I couldn't sleep at night, 23:36 I lived in terror that I was going to die lost. 23:39 I go to church and they preach about the hell. 23:41 And I was so afraid of God and I was so afraid I die lost. 23:43 I was in misery and then we heard your program, 23:46 and we did the lesson, 23:48 and I have peace for the first time in my life." 23:50 Those, that just brings me such joy to know that. 23:53 Now before you take it too far, 23:58 we do believe in hellfire. 24:01 And there is a punishment 24:02 for the wicked and it does burn. 24:05 So don't misunderstand that. 24:07 Number three, "If the wicked who have died are not in hell, 24:10 where are they?" 24:11 Well, we sort of touched on this. 24:12 They're in their graves. John 5:28, 29. 24:15 "The hour is coming Jesus said 24:17 in which all that are in the graves 24:19 will hear his voice and they will come forth, 24:21 they that have done good will come forth, 24:24 or they that have done evil 24:25 unto the resurrection of damnation." 24:27 It's the resurrection of the just 24:29 and the resurrection of damnation. 24:31 And so the dead in Christ rise first. 24:33 In the second resurrection, 24:35 you've got to lost 24:36 and they're brought forth for their judgment. 24:38 The wicked is reserved to the day of destruction. 24:41 Yet he will be brought to the grave 24:43 and remain in the tomb until that day," 24:46 until the judgment day. 24:47 So nobody is burning in hell now. 24:50 You know, that's driven some people 24:51 to absolute distraction. 24:53 Christian believing parents, 24:55 they've got children that die 24:56 and they question their salvation. 24:58 And the idea that all the time they walk the earth 25:01 that they're writhing 25:02 in some diabolical torture chamber. 25:06 You know, how many of you have heard that, 25:08 you know, hell is down under somewhere. 25:12 That's not really taught. 25:13 There's four words 25:15 that you find translated hell in the Bible. 25:18 The most common is Sheol. 25:20 Sheol is a Hebrew word and simply means the grave. 25:24 Then you've got the word Hades. 25:26 Hades comes from Greek mythology 25:27 and it's a place of darkness, 25:29 Pluto was the god in charge of Hades. 25:31 And then you got one time it mentions the word Tartarus, 25:34 and that just means again a place of darkness. 25:37 And then you've got Gehenna, 25:39 there was a valley outside of Jerusalem 25:42 called the Valley of Hinnom and it was the city dump. 25:44 And it was often smoldering and full of worms 25:47 and dead things and... 25:48 And you'll see how 25:50 that fits into some of the scriptures that come up. 25:52 So what is the reward, or punishment for sin? 25:56 The Bible says, 25:58 "The wages for sin 26:00 are everlasting burning in fire." 26:03 Is that what it says? 26:04 No, the wages for sin is death. 26:07 But the gift of God is eternal life. 26:09 See in the very beginning God told 26:11 Eve if you sin, you will die. 26:14 And yet the sad thing is and here it is in Genesis 3:22. 26:18 "Lest he put forth his hand 26:20 and take also of the tree of life, 26:21 and eat, and live forever." 26:23 God said, "Man was not to have eternal life." 26:28 And the devil said to Eve, "You will not surely die." 26:32 And this lie goes all the way back to the devil 26:34 that you don't really die, 26:35 you sort of die 26:37 but you really transmigrate you instantly 26:39 go to be with the Lord before the judgment 26:41 or you go to a place of torment, 26:43 or you go to limbo, or purgatory, 26:45 or Abraham's bosom 26:47 and they get all these other scenarios. 26:49 But the Bible is pretty clear, they're dead, 26:51 and they remain in their graves. 26:53 Now you know it confuses people, 26:56 it's because you read these verses and say, 26:57 "To be absent from the body 26:59 is to be present with the Lord." 27:02 And that's true for the Christian 27:05 when you're saved, 27:07 your next conscious thought after you die, 27:10 is the presence of the Lord. 27:11 Thousand years could go by but you're not there yet. 27:15 King David, Acts 2, Peter says, 27:17 "David is dead and buried in his grave 27:19 is with us to this day." 27:22 And then he goes on and said, 27:23 "David is not ascended to heaven." 27:25 I mean how much more clearer it could be. 27:27 He's dead, buried, not ascended to heaven. 27:29 And we all agree David will be saved, right? 27:32 Bible is pretty clear on that. 27:34 So here's a saved person who is dead, buried, 27:35 not in heaven and Peter says this, 27:37 "After the resurrection by 40 days..." 27:40 Some people say, "Well, at the resurrection, 27:42 then all the Saints went to heaven." 27:44 They would still dead, buried, and not in heaven. 27:47 But for David when he died about 3,000 years ago, 27:50 how long will it seem? 27:52 David slept with his fathers and next thought 27:54 he has it's going to be the moment 27:55 the twinkling of an eye absent from the body, 27:58 he'll know the resurrection and the presence of God 28:00 but it hasn't happened yet because we live in time, 28:04 we live in the dimension of time. 28:05 When you're dead, 28:07 you lose all consciousness of time. 28:08 Any of you sleep like that in the night? 28:10 I mean, maybe you know somebody 28:12 who sleeps like that if you know. 28:14 Well, yeah, you go to sleep and it says 10 o'clock, 28:16 you wake up and it's 7 o'clock 28:17 and it feels like two seconds went by. 28:21 That's pretty nice when that happens. 28:26 "What are the only two choices that all people have?" 28:31 John 3:16, "For God so loved the world 28:35 He gave His only begotten Son 28:37 that whosoever believes in Him believes in Him, 28:41 believes in Him, should not perish, 28:45 but have everlasting life." 28:46 So what are the two options we have? 28:49 Perish or everlasting life. 28:53 The idea that the punishment for sin 28:57 is everlasting torture well, how in the world... 29:01 If Jesus died for our sin, 29:03 if He did not suffer forever how did He pay our penalty? 29:06 You see what I'm saying? 29:08 If the penalty for sin is death that Jesus died. 29:11 But if the penalty for sin is not perish, 29:13 you know, death, 29:14 if the penalty for sin is everlasting torture, 29:16 well, Jesus was in the grave and He rose after three days. 29:21 And Jesus said, there's two options, 29:25 "So the penalty for sin is not eternal burning." 29:28 Number six, 29:30 "What will happen to the wicked in hellfire?" 29:33 Proverbs, I'm sorry Psalms 37:10, 20, 29:36 "For yet a little while, and the wicked will not be, 29:40 the wicked shall perish into smoke 29:42 they will consume away." 29:44 They'll perish, they will consume away, 29:46 they will not be, Malachi 4:1 and 3, 29:48 "The day that comes will burn them up 29:51 as an oven, 29:52 all that do wickedly shall be stubble. 29:55 Leaves them neither root nor branch, 29:57 the day that comes, 29:59 that you will tread down the wicked, 30:00 for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet." 30:03 It is so clear, they perish, they're consumed, 30:05 they're destroyed, they're burned up, 30:07 they're burnt with an eternal fire 30:09 because the results of the fire are eternal. 30:13 You know, God is so merciful, He's trying to make it clear, 30:15 this is the final fire, there's no second chance. 30:19 Now this is what confuses people, 30:21 "Where will hellfire be?" 30:25 People say, "You know down in hell." 30:26 I remember one time I was... 30:30 Well, I'm a little embarrassed to admit it 30:32 but when I stand in line and I'm at Walmart, 30:37 where I buy all my finer clothes. 30:39 And I was actually just bought a nice tie 30:43 it sounds like a commercial, isn't it? 30:45 Anyway I read the covers 30:51 of the tabloid magazines. 30:54 I would never buy one, 30:55 unless I do it 30:57 as a sermon illustration like now. 30:58 But I read the covers 30:59 and I remember a few years ago, 31:01 I saw one and it said, 31:03 "Oil drillers in Siberia drilled deep well 31:07 and reach hell, 31:08 demons are escaping or something like that." 31:12 But, you know, a lot of people think 31:14 that's way down under, hell is down under. 31:17 But Bible is pretty clear 31:19 that fire rains down on the earth 31:21 and that becomes hell just like Sodom and Gomorrah. 31:24 You can read in Revelation 20:9. 31:27 "Speaking of the wicked Gog 31:28 and Magog they go up on the breath of the earth 31:30 and they surround the camp of the saints, 31:32 the beloved city," and the Bible says, 31:35 "Fire comes down from God out of heaven, 31:37 and devours them." 31:40 They're devoured, they're all eaten up. 31:43 Again 2 Peter 3:10 says, 31:45 "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, 31:47 in which the heavens will pass away 31:48 with a great noise, 31:50 the elements will melt with fervent heat, 31:53 the earth also and the things 31:55 that are in it will be burned up." 31:57 Now at this point the dead in Christ have risen. 32:00 All that's left is the lost. 32:03 That's why Jeremiah says, 32:04 "I behold the surface of the earth 32:06 and it was broken down, and all there is no man, 32:10 all the birds of heaven 32:11 had fled at the coming of the Lord." 32:13 So there's desolation left behind. 32:16 So will the devil be in charge of hell? 32:20 No. 32:22 You know, how many of you when you picture the devil, 32:24 you see something like this? 32:25 You got this guy 32:27 he's, you know, sometimes has bat wings 32:28 and he's got the horns of course 32:30 and he got a goatee 32:31 which is why it won't grow on anymore. 32:33 Beards are back in, aren't they? 32:35 And it seems like everybody, all these pastors have beards. 32:37 And I grew a beard years ago, and people told me, 32:40 I look like a sinister minister. 32:42 And so, not so bad one, it's a great one. 32:45 But when I was younger it was black, 32:47 and I did look kind of devious. 32:49 So I thought, that's not good. 32:51 Get rid of it if you're an evangelist, 32:52 we already have a bad reputation, don't we? 32:54 Evangelists, yeah. 32:56 So anyway how to get off that, oh, the devil's got a beard. 32:59 And he's got the red leotards, 33:01 you know, and he's got the tail 33:02 with the point on it, 33:04 he's got the pitchfork, why, because he's in charge of hell, 33:06 and he wants to make sure everyone cooks evenly. 33:08 And, or he's like bales of hay, 33:10 he's heaving the lost sinners into hell. 33:12 And this is actually 33:14 a combination of Greek mythology 33:17 with Christian myths. 33:19 Nothing in the Bible says 33:21 that the devil is in charge of hell. 33:22 What does the Bible say? 33:23 Revelation 20:10, 33:25 "And the devil that deceived them 33:27 was cast into the lake of fire 33:30 and brimstone which is the second death." 33:34 Satan is cast into the lake of fire. 33:37 And Bible tells us again in Matthew 25, 33:42 "That he declares to the lost, 33:43 depart from He cursed into fire prepared 33:46 for the devil and his angels." 33:48 God didn't prepare it for you, 33:50 He's going to prepare a mansion for you, 33:51 if you don't get the mansion 33:53 it's be because 33:54 you didn't want to follow Jesus, 33:55 but you wanted to follow the devil 33:57 so you'll get his reward. 33:58 But if you want what Jesus has prepared, 34:01 then you need to trust and surrender your life to Him. 34:05 So will the fires of hell ever go out? 34:08 Or does it just burn on through endless eternity? 34:12 Isaiah 47:14, 34:14 "There will not be a coal to warm at, 34:17 nor fire to sit before it." 34:20 It goes out, it's consumed, they're burnt up. 34:24 "Are both the soul 34:25 and the body destroyed in hell?" 34:28 You can read this in Matthew 10:28, 34:31 "Fear not them that kill the body, 34:33 but are not able to kill the soul, 34:35 but rather fear him 34:37 that is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." 34:43 And I remember hearing people say before, 34:44 "Well, yeah, Pastor Doug, 34:45 your right that it is true 34:48 that the bodies are burnt up, but the soul is immortal. 34:52 The soul is burned forever." 34:54 And we have immortality, 34:56 you will either be in heaven with the Lord 34:58 or you're going to be burning forever. 35:00 And I ask where in the Bible 35:02 does it say we have immortality? 35:05 Paul says, "We are seeking for immortality." 35:08 Paul says in 1 Timothy, "God alone has immortality. 35:14 And when Jesus comes, 35:15 the saved will hear Him say 35:17 this mortal puts on immortality. 35:21 But we're not gods, we don't have immortality. 35:24 This is what the devil said to Eve, 35:25 "You cannot surely die. 35:28 You are gods. 35:30 You are going to live forever." 35:31 Let's see what the Bible says, 35:33 "Eternal life is promised to the redeemed, 35:35 death is promised to the lost. 35:38 Two choices, life or death." 35:40 Quick story. 35:42 I was driving back from Lubbock, 35:45 Texas to Dickens, 35:46 Texas where I was living at 70 miles 35:49 across the Texas plains. 35:52 And at Christmas Eve, I was with the family, 35:55 came on this great big, I'm driving a little Mazda GLC. 35:58 And I came across 36:00 one of these big old Texas Buicks, 36:03 and there was a family, 36:05 a father, mother, and two daughters 36:06 and their car broke down. 36:08 Well, I actually used to do mechanic work. 36:10 I mean, I've gone in the crank 36:12 all the way up building engines. 36:14 So I pulled over to see if I could help. 36:16 And he said, "You know the lights went out, 36:18 the alternator is so and so..." 36:20 So I looked at it and I said, 36:21 "Yeah, let me tow you over to my house." 36:24 It was the funniest thing you've ever seen 36:25 this little Japanese Mazda 36:28 with my family towing him and his car 36:30 with his family with big rope. 36:32 And anyways we towed him about 20 miles. 36:36 I had the poor little thing wide open. 36:38 And they came and I looked at his car I said, 36:40 "Look your alternator brushes are bad, 36:43 it's Christmas Eve, 36:44 we can't do anything until the stores are open. 36:47 So why don't you stay with us?" 36:49 So he and his family stayed with us, 36:51 it turns out he was a baptist pastor. 36:53 And so, you know, 36:57 it's a lot easier to witness people 36:58 when they sort of owe you, you know. 37:02 That's why I pick up hitchhikers 37:03 and they say, "Oh, you're so nice. 37:05 I say, oh, good, 37:06 you've listen to me preach now." 37:08 And anyway so we started talking and he said, 37:14 "Well, you're Christian, I'm a Christian. 37:15 What church? I'm a Seventh-day Adventist." 37:17 He said, oh, I know a little bit about Adventist, 37:18 you guys don't believe in hell. 37:19 I said, no, I believe in hell. 37:22 And as I like to think Pastor John stole my line 37:23 the other day, I said, 37:25 "My hell is hotter than your hell." 37:27 I said, "Your hell just kind of roast people forever, 37:29 mine burns them up." 37:32 So we started talking about that subject. 37:34 We talked about a lot of things, 37:35 but I remember 37:37 while we were talking about the subject of hell, 37:39 there was a very friendly conversation. 37:42 I just gave him one scripture after another. 37:45 And he got real quiet 37:47 and he said, "You know, brother Doug, 37:49 " he said, 37:51 "I've seen these verses before and it's really made me wonder 37:53 but he said 'I'm afraid if I were to tell my people 37:57 that they wouldn't come to church anymore." 38:00 If I were to tell him the lost is burned up 38:03 and then they're gone. 38:04 He said, "If it wasn't the fear of hell, 38:06 are they want to come to church anymore?" 38:10 I said, "Brother, you telling me 38:11 they're coming because they're afraid, 38:13 that's the wrong reason." 38:15 "If they want to come because God is love, 38:18 not because fire insurance of some sort." 38:24 I mean, who wants to serve a God, 38:26 the only thing, reason you're serving Him 38:27 is because you don't want to burn in hell 38:29 because if that's the only reason 38:30 you're serving Him should you ever get to heaven, 38:32 you've now lost your motivation. 38:36 Then you'd be a real threat in heaven 38:37 because you say, no more hellfire. 38:39 We're having good time here, right? 38:42 No, you got to serve Him because you love Him. 38:46 All right, number 11. 38:49 "For whom will hellfire be kindled?" 38:51 It's as I mentioned 38:53 before it's not for he doesn't want it for us. 38:55 Matthew 25:41, "Depart for ye, cursed, into everlasting fire, 39:00 prepared for the devil and his angels." 39:02 And I've told you before the everlasting fire, 39:04 the eternal fire is reminding us 39:06 that the results of this fire are eternal. 39:09 There is no second chance. 39:11 Amen. 39:12 "How does the Bible refer to God's destruction 39:15 of the wicked?" 39:16 God is not willing that any should perish. 39:20 It says in Isaiah 28:21, 39:22 "The Lord shall be wroth 39:24 that he may do his work, his strange work, 39:27 and bring to pass his act, his strange act." 39:31 It's a strange thing for the Lord, 39:33 God is a God of love. 39:35 And Jesus is a loving God, He wants to create life, 39:38 He wants to give life, He wants to save from death. 39:41 The punishment of the wicked 39:42 and the destruction of the wicked, 39:45 it breaks His heart. 39:48 Yeah, some of you had to do this before. 39:51 We had a couple of dogs, 39:54 I remember bringing a brother and sister 39:56 two dogs home years ago 39:58 when our boys were young, the older boys. 40:01 And we named one Duffy. 40:04 And Duffy he was very clumsy dog. 40:08 And Daniel sort of adopted Duffy 40:10 and Michael wanted Candy. 40:11 Candy was a beautiful, 40:12 that you would never believe they were related 40:14 but they are brother and sister. 40:15 Candy was a chocolate brown dog with the yellow eyes, 40:17 very sharp, very tender. 40:20 Duffy, he just went, 40:22 he bit a rattlesnake or something. 40:24 He wasn't very smart dog. 40:26 And he didn't last very long, 40:28 we never quite found out what happened. 40:30 Candy was with us 16 years. 40:33 And she was just, 40:35 you know, one of those pets 40:36 that'd become a part of your family. 40:39 In fact, Candy outlived our son that adopted him. 40:44 And so finally when Candy got to that point 40:46 that dog's typically, 40:48 you know, people outlive them generally. 40:51 She was in pretty bad shape. 40:53 And I went back home one time 40:55 and I saw Candy was just dragging around, 40:57 looking just miserable 40:58 and I know in the city you go see the vet, 41:02 that's not what you do in the country. 41:06 And I realized the time was coming 41:07 and I told the family, 41:08 I said, you need to say goodbye to Candy 41:10 'cause I got to do something, 41:11 it's going to break my heart 41:12 but it's going to be the loving thing to do 41:14 because she can't get up, she can't walk around, 41:15 she's laying out there in the mud right now, 41:17 and it's quite literally what was happening. 41:20 And so I needed to take her out into the woods 41:23 and do a strange act. 41:27 And it made me cry. 41:29 And I thought, 41:30 you know, when God punishes the wicked, 41:31 He loves His lost children. 41:35 God is love, 41:36 infinitely more than we love our kids, 41:40 let alone our pets. 41:42 And so if it would break my heart like that 41:47 to have to put down a dog. 41:50 The idea that God would find any justice 41:54 or any kind of satisfaction in torturing 41:57 the lost objects of His creation 41:59 through endless ages. 42:01 And, you know, there's no justice in that, 42:02 that would mean 42:04 if people burned forever and ever 42:05 that would mean that Cain 42:07 who died about 5,000 years ago, 42:11 who killed one person that we know of his brother 42:14 has been burning 5,000 years longer 42:16 than Adolph Hitler and Stalin 42:18 who were responsible for millions of deaths. 42:22 That would mean that the confused teenager 42:25 that reaches the age of accountability, 42:27 but they commit suicide. 42:30 And they die without Jesus. 42:31 I know it breaks your heart but sometimes that happens 42:34 that they would get the same punishment as Hitler. 42:38 The idea there's justice in that. 42:41 But the Bible is pretty clear 42:43 to whom much is given much is required. 42:47 And those who knew their masters well 42:48 and did not do it 42:50 they are beaten with many stripes. 42:52 And those who did not know 42:53 and did things worthy of stripes, 42:54 they are beaten with few stripes. 42:56 So the Bible is clear there are varying rewards. 43:00 Indeed the Spirit of Prophecy says, 43:02 "There are some 43:03 who have been born into and live 43:04 such miserable lives in such ignorance 43:08 that they will just be as though 43:09 they had not been. 43:10 God out of mercy for them 43:12 because they had no light at all, 43:13 they lived in total pagan darkness, 43:15 they will be as though they had not been." 43:18 That's mercy. 43:20 God is a loving merciful God. 43:22 People are going to get what they deserve. 43:25 Now you need to behave because you know too much. 43:28 Number 13. 43:31 "Does the Bible phrase unquenchable fire indicate 43:34 that the fire never goes out?" 43:37 As it's unquenchable fire. 43:39 Well, let's look at some examples in the Bible 43:40 that explain that Matthew 3:12, 43:43 "He will thoroughly purge the floor, 43:45 and gather his wheat into the garner, 43:47 but he'll burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 43:50 And I believe these are the words 43:52 of John the Baptist. 43:53 Burn up the chaff, 43:55 it's like the wheat and tares, unquenchable fire. 43:57 Jeremiah 17, 43:59 "The prophet here warn the people of Israel, 44:01 if you will not hearken to me to hollow the Sabbath day, 44:04 and not to bear a burden, 44:06 even entering in the gates of Jerusalem 44:08 on the Sabbath day, 44:09 then I will kindle a fire in the gates there of, 44:13 and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem, 44:15 and it shall be burned 44:17 with a fire that is not quenched." 44:19 It says, it shall not be quenched. 44:21 And again he says in Mark 9:47, "If your eye causes you to sin, 44:26 pluck it out. 44:28 It's better for you to enter the Kingdom of God 44:30 with one eye, rather having two eyes, 44:32 to be cast into hellfire 44:34 where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' 44:37 " By the way here is where he uses the word 44:39 be cast into Gehenna, the city dump, 44:41 they kept it burning all the time 44:44 so that it would keep the gases down 44:46 and they were thrown in old baskets and trash, 44:48 they were burning it. 44:50 And they had dead animals in there. 44:51 There was worms, he talked about the worm doesn't die, 44:53 it's always a place of revolting. 44:57 But he says the fire is not quenched. 45:00 If you're burning garbage do you call the fireman 45:02 to put it out or you let it burn? 45:05 Why do they call it unquenchable fire? 45:09 Because you don't want to quench the fire. 45:13 There's no firemen in hell. 45:17 Isn't that right? 45:19 And when the wicked are burned, 45:22 they're going to be burned according to what they deserve. 45:24 Some is going to be quick, some it's going to be longer. 45:27 The Bible actually says, 45:28 "Satan, day and night for ever and ever." 45:30 And you're probably wondering, what does that mean? 45:31 We'll better get to it. 45:32 Number 14. 45:34 "Doesn't the phrase everlasting fire mean unending?" 45:38 Jude tells us in verse 7, we read this, 45:40 "Sodom and Gomorrah are set forth 45:42 for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." 45:46 That means what happens through the fire is forever, 45:50 there will never again be any wicked. 45:53 And you can go down 45:54 to the lowest part of the earth now. 45:56 It's there in the Jordan Valley 45:58 where Sodom and Gomorrah were once located 45:59 they're not burning today, there's nothing there. 46:03 When Revelation 20:10 says, 46:04 "That the wicked will be tormented 46:06 for ever and ever, 46:07 doesn't that indicate endless time?" 46:11 Read in the Book of Jonah 2:6, 46:14 Jonah was in the belly of the sea monster 46:17 and I bet you that felt like Hades. 46:20 Can you imagine that? 46:21 I used to think 46:23 if Jonah somehow was still alive inside 46:25 the digestive system of that sea creature, 46:28 there might have been other things 46:30 that were on the menu still alive in there. 46:32 Had to be bad enough 46:34 if you can just imagine being inside some monster 46:38 you're all in one piece and then he decides to have 46:40 an appetizer and some dessert, 46:43 and in comes the sea urchin in this stinking jellyfish 46:47 and bioluminescence flashing and scaring you half to death. 46:51 And you're in there 46:52 and can you imagine three days like that, 46:56 how long would have that had seemed to you? 46:58 Have you ever said to someone 47:00 why I haven't seen them for ever? 47:04 And then you might say and they came over to my house 47:06 and I thought they were going to stay forever. 47:12 But Jonah says, 47:14 "The earth with her bars was around me forever." 47:16 But how long was he there? 47:18 You keep reading same, in chapter 1 it says, 47:20 "Three days and three nights." 47:21 It did have a limit on it. 47:23 You can also read in Revelation, it says, 47:25 "The smoke of their torment ascends up. 47:27 Revelation 14:11, "Forever and ever." 47:29 What does this mean? 47:31 Now first of all we talked about the smoke. 47:32 I remember when I used to drive across Texas I would see the... 47:35 Every 10 miles they had a city, 47:38 is started out as a big farming state. 47:41 And all the cities had their own dump 47:45 and people would burn the trash in the 55 gallon drums 47:47 and eventually when it filled up, 47:49 they take it all, and they dump it. 47:50 But frequently it was still smoldering 47:52 and wherever the dumps were, 47:53 you could see little rivulets 47:57 of smoke ascending up out of sight forever and ever. 48:01 And so the smoke, 48:04 you remember what I said about Sodom and Gomorrah, 48:06 Abraham looked and he saw 48:07 it was like the smoke of a furnace, 48:08 it ascends up to heaven. 48:10 And so when the wicked are all burned, 48:13 it's going to look like Sodom and Gomorrah, 48:14 the smoke ascends up forever and ever. 48:16 So what does this expression forever and ever mean? 48:18 Now you got to be careful 48:20 'cause as soon as you try to say, 48:21 well, forever doesn't always mean forever. 48:23 People gonna say, 48:24 "Well, aren't we getting life forever? 48:26 Does that mean our eternal life is not forever?" 48:29 Now we're gonna get eternal life, 48:30 you need to read it in its context 48:32 but you can't deny there are examples in the Bible 48:34 where it uses the word forever and it had a definitive end. 48:39 For example, Exodus 21:6, 48:43 "If you had a servant that you liked, 48:46 and he wanted to stay with you 48:47 even after he was allowed to go free, 48:49 you went through this ceremony and he says 48:51 he would be your servant forever." 48:54 Well, that doesn't mean even on into heaven, 48:55 it meant until you die. 48:58 When Hannah brought Samuel to the temple, 49:00 she brought him to abide there for ever. 49:03 Well, that was then she goes on, 49:05 she says in verse 28 and that was 1 Samuel 1:22. 49:07 Go to 1 Samuel 1:28. 49:09 That means as long as he lives, that's what it says. 49:12 So forever meant what? As long as he lives. 49:16 And the reason the Bible uses a vague term 49:18 to describe the punishment of the wicked 49:20 is 'cause it's different for everybody, 49:22 people are going to get different rewards, right? 49:25 Are there different rewards even in heaven? 49:28 That's right. 49:29 And there are different rewards for the wicked as well. 49:32 "Forever and ever is a biblical expression 49:35 which means until the end of the age, 49:37 it's not necessarily an infinite, 49:39 unending length of time." 49:41 You need to read that in its context. 49:43 Now when you run 49:44 into difficult verses like this, 49:45 you need to explain them. 49:47 Someone's going to say to me, Well, Pastor Doug, 49:48 what about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus?" 49:52 And it seems like that poor beggar died 49:55 and the next thing he knows he's in Abraham's bosom 49:58 but the rich man dies 50:00 who would not share his crumbs, 50:02 he goes to Hades and he's in torment. 50:05 And he says he's in the flame 50:06 and he sent Lazarus with a drop of water to cool me 50:09 from tormented in this flame. 50:11 And you can read about that in the Gospel of Luke. 50:13 It only appears in Luke 16:19. 50:18 "That is a parable, 50:20 and Jesus uses incredible paradoxes 50:24 in that parable." 50:25 You've got Lazarus who represents the gentiles 50:28 who is outside hungering for the crumbs 50:32 that fall from the table of the rich man, 50:34 the Jewish nation that has the bread of life. 50:36 They're feasting on the word and arguing among themselves. 50:39 And the gentiles were dying around them, 50:41 hungering for the crumbs. 50:42 Remember the gentile woman came to Jesus, she said, 50:45 "Yeah, even the puppies get the crumbs." 50:47 So it's pretty clear. 50:49 But what Jesus does is very ironic, 50:51 it says, 50:52 "The poor beggar who represents the gentiles he dies, 50:55 he goes to Abraham's bosom, 50:56 only time that's used in the Bible. 50:58 Every Jew wanted to be with father Abraham. 51:00 They want to sit down 51:02 in the kingdom with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 51:04 And here Jesus has got, 51:06 the gentile going to Abraham's bosom, 51:08 and the rich man dies 51:09 and he goes to the Greek place of torment Hades." 51:13 All the Jews understood Greek mythology. 51:16 If I were to tell you a story right now and say, 51:18 "All right one day Alice was walking in Wonderland." 51:21 You all know right away 51:22 because you're acquainted with English fairytales 51:26 that I'm not serious, 51:27 I'm using an illustration, right? 51:30 Jesus used the term 51:31 they all understood, it's a parable. 51:34 So the idea that you die 51:36 and go right to heaven or hell is not what He was teaching. 51:38 He was saying, 51:39 if you don't believe Moses and the prophets, 51:41 then you won't be persuaded that one should rise 51:42 from the dead 51:44 because remember in the story, they said, oh, 51:46 but if Lazarus would rise from the dead, 51:48 then my father's house would believe. 51:51 He said, "Let them read Moses and the prophets." 51:52 Jesus, it was a parable for the Jewish nation 51:55 and for the church 51:57 that if we're not feeding those 51:58 who are hungering for the truth that falls from our table, 52:00 we might find that we're on the outside 52:03 and the ones who love the truth are in the inside." 52:06 Has nothing to do with the state of man and death 52:08 or hellfire in that parable. 52:11 And someone else is going to be wondering 52:13 about the thief on the cross 52:16 and there we've got some of these... 52:17 Oh, by the way 52:20 there's a website, 52:21 it's very popular, it's called helltruth.com. 52:26 It's got all kinds of studies and videos 52:28 and you can recommend it to anybody helltruth.com. 52:31 We get a lot of people that come there 52:33 and they learn the truth about this and are happy. 52:36 Number 16, 52:37 "After sin and sinners are destroyed, 52:40 what will Jesus do for His people?" 52:43 Nevertheless we according to His promise look 52:45 for a new heaven and a new earth 52:48 where indwells righteousness. 52:51 "And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes, 52:54 and there will be no more death, 52:56 no more sorrow, no more pain, no more crying, 52:59 neither shall there be any more pain 53:01 for the former things are passed away." 53:03 Bible says, "No more pain. No more crying." 53:07 How can all things be made new 53:09 and there will be a torture chamber 53:10 full of sinners crying in pain? 53:13 God is trying to cleanse the universe from pain. 53:16 He doesn't want an eternal place of pain. 53:18 He wants all things to be made new. 53:21 And so the more and more people even from other churches 53:25 are learning the Bible truth about this. 53:27 This all came down to us from mythology, 53:30 and church tradition to try to scare people. 53:32 A lot of it was used to manipulate people 53:35 and try to get resources from them. 53:37 I remember years ago, when I lived up in the cave. 53:40 That my cat caught a little kangaroo rat, 53:44 it was right around dinnertime, had a campfire going on. 53:47 And, you know, 53:49 cats are kind of sadistic, a dog, 53:50 if he catches a rat, one gulp it's gone. 53:53 A cat likes to play with its food, 53:54 they like the entertainment before dinner. 53:58 You know, they catch, and they let it go, 54:00 and they battle, and they jump on it again, 54:02 and then they let it go and they carry it over 54:04 and they show you they've got it, 54:05 and they let it go, and they pound... 54:07 And I, you know, 54:08 my cat had to eat so I didn't interfere 54:09 but he brought me this kangaroo rat, 54:11 the poor thing was, 54:13 you know, all beat up and dazed and my cat let go of it again 54:17 and it gave one final hop 54:18 except it hopped into my campfire. 54:22 Listen to you. 54:26 I just talked about the rat fallen in the fire, 54:28 you could not bear the thought of a rat falling on a fire. 54:33 And yet some people think this is what God's going to do. 54:38 Years ago, 54:42 my mother was very worried 54:43 because her daughter used to walk two miles to school, 54:46 this was back when the country was safe 54:48 and you could send your kids off to school, 54:49 when the weather was good 54:51 she had her kids walk to school, 54:52 and she noticed that afternoon the thunder clouds came up, 54:56 and there was a tremendous lightning storm, 54:58 and she figured based on the clock 55:00 that her daughter was going to be caught 55:01 right out in the middle of the plains 55:03 in this very fierce violent lightning, 55:05 so she thought she's going to be scared, 55:06 she's going to get struck by lightning 55:08 and she hopped in the jalopy 55:10 and went down the road to try to pick up her daughter. 55:12 And as she could see over on the hills 55:14 her daughter walking on the trail, 55:15 whenever there was 55:17 one of this terrifying flashes of lighting, 55:18 her daughter would standstill, 55:21 she turned up to the sky and she'd smile, 55:23 and then she start walking down the road. 55:25 She saw two or three times her daughter, 55:26 lighting would flash she'd stop, 55:27 she look up where the flash came from, 55:29 and she'd smile, as she keep walking. 55:30 Finally she got up to her daughter 55:32 and, you know, at this point rain's coming on she said, 55:34 "What in the world were you doing? 55:35 I saw you every time there's lightning 55:37 you turn around and you'd smile." 55:40 She said, "Well, I figured that God 55:41 was taking pictures and I wanted to look pretty." 55:48 Now there is a kid 55:50 that has the right idea of her heavenly Father. 55:55 She was not afraid, 55:57 God doesn't want us to live in fear. 56:00 And you know my heart goes out to people, 56:02 that's why I love this message 56:03 because when I learned the truth about this, 56:05 for the first time in my life I thought, 56:08 "I could be a Christian. 56:10 I think I could love a God like this." 56:13 And I was so happy to learn that the Lord Jesus died 56:18 to save us from the lake of fire 56:20 because He doesn't want us to perish, 56:22 He wants us to have eternal life. 56:25 And that He's going to purify the universe 56:27 and there's going to be no more pain. 56:28 The wicked are going to be gone. 56:30 How could you ever enjoy eternity 56:32 if lost people that you may have known 56:34 and loved are outside some torture chamber, 56:38 burning through eternity? 56:39 Will God erase all natural emotion 56:41 from our hearts? 56:43 No, God is going to deal with it in a just 56:45 and a loving way where we will be able to trust 56:47 and love Him all through eternity. 56:49 Amen. 56:50 And don't you want to do that, friends? 56:52 Amen. God is good, God is love. 56:55 And we need to get the truth about this out 56:56 'cause a lot of people are living lives of fear 56:58 and they can't trust and love God. 57:01 And I'd like to just pray with you as we close 57:03 that we can have that relationship. 57:06 Father in heaven, 57:08 we are so thankful for the truth, 57:10 that shows You are a loving God, 57:12 the truth that sets us free. 57:14 Help us all come to know Jesus in that way. 57:17 I pray for all those that are listening, 57:18 or watching that they might know 57:20 that You are just a God of love. 57:22 There is a reward to be had, 57:24 eternal life and the lost will perish. 57:27 Help us to choose Jesus in life, 57:29 in His name we pray... 57:30 Amen. Amen. |
Revised 2023-05-02