Is there really a Hell? Truth revealed: What does the Bible say? #bibleschool #lecture

[0:00] Welcome everyone. Tonight we've got another subject and it's a very sobering one. the doctrine of hell. So it's certainly something we should hear about what the scriptures tell! us about the subject and how it should motivate us. The doctrine of hell. The doctrine of hell and the lake of fire. Hell's been called the prison house of despair. It's a sobering doctrine but it's true and for those who don't take refuge in Christ they will meet a bitter end that never ends and of the 260 chapters of the new testament someone reckons there's 234 contained warnings about a place of eternal punishment but for us the saved we can know eternal shelter and unending joy in the presence of our lord but the lost face that horror of being consigned to hell the place of everlasting punishment where god meets out his wrath against sin so we see the word of god tells us about the eternal state about death and that releases us into the eternal realm and of course the righteous they dwell eternally with christ while the wicked dwell for eternity and suffering and torments and eternal existence is a certainty because man is a soul everyone will spend eternity somewhere the eternal destiny of man is determined this side of the grave and every individual determines by their acceptance or rejection of christ where they will spend eternity so let's have a look at what the scriptures tell us there is no intermediate state between life and eternity there's no purgatory no soul sleep there's no reincarnation no second chance we see luke 16 gives us an account that's very clear about these things for example it reads there luke 16 we read from verses 22 to 23 and it came to pass that the beggar of the dead and the dead and the dead and the dead and the dead and the dead and the dead and the dead the rich man also died and was buried and in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments and seeth abraham afar off and lazarus in his bosom so it tells us there that the saved and the lost are conscious after death at the moment of death believers are absent from the body and present with the lord as we see there 2 corinthians 5 verse 8 we see our lord address the thief that trusted him by his side on the cross he says to him verily i say unto thee today shout thou be with me in paradise so at the moment of death that man went to paradise with the lord we see that the abode of the damned is called the lake of fire so these are very sobering thoughts it tells us of that in revelation 20 verse 15 and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire certainly very important that we make sure that our name is written in the lamb's book of life then we see revelation 21 verse 8 tells us but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death so we want to make sure whatever our sin and really we're all guilty of lying we want to make sure that it's forgiven because we're saved and christ has paid for our sin whatever it be thank god then we don't have to go to that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death so eternal punishment is one of the most solemn doctrines of the bible

[4:04] and the future punishment of the wicked it is eternal the bible is very clear about that as much as some might dispute that the sinner receives an express translation at his death into hell as we just read there he died was buried and in hell he was in hell and so the truth is that at death the lost go to hell and it says of hell it describes it in mark 9 verses 44 through 48 as where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched now these are very somber sobering words aren't they that the fire will not be quenched and then it tells us in deuteronomy 32 22 for a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto the lowest hell and 2 thessalonians 1 tells us that as the lord jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels it tells us in flaming fire he's going to take vengeance on them that know not god and that obey not the gospel of our lord jesus christ who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord from the glory of his power christ taught that the suffering of hell was forever we see that there in matthew 25 46 it tells us these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal and these words everlasting and eternal is the same word in the green the punishment is as everlasting and eternal as the eternal life is everlasting and eternal hell is forever this is a very sobering thought so if we're on the wrong side of eternity that's where we're going we want to make sure that we're saved so the fact of hell it's very clear from the word of god hell is a scriptural fact it's mentioned in the bible many times 88 times our lord warns men of hell more than he spoke of heaven our lord says fear him our lord's description of judgment is truly forcible coming from his own lips when you think he is the very judge of what he himself will do and he spoke of hell as though he actually believed that hell was real christ spoke many times of hell he referred to hell as a place where the soul goes after one dies and it's a place of conscious and eternal suffering like we just read in luke 16 so christ describes hell as a place of horrendous sufferings and it's got spatial dimensions it's a place the rich man talks about the place of torment in luke 16 28 and we don't know where in the universe this place is but it has a precise location it's got this truth that it is a place it's the greek word topos from which we get the word topography which is the science or the study of places so it's a tangible place is the point and the bible indicates its remoteness from god from his light and life it's described as out it's described as without and it's described as outer darkness revelation 22 15 talks about that some are without they're outside so without the the the holy place without heaven so it's a tangible place it's got a spatial element to it and then we see matthew 22 13 it's how bind him take him away cast him into outer darkness so there's a sense of place to it there it's very graphic descriptions of the fact that it's a place and christ used graphic language to describe hellfire for example it talks about fire eternal fire

[8:12] destruction away from his presence being thrown outside a blazing furnace it tells there that of some he says i never knew you depart from me some will be sent to a furnace of fire it tells of everlasting fire everlasting punishment so these are all very graphic terms aren't they very graphic language essentially we've got two options live with god or live without god and when you consider the horrors of hell it should lead us to a gratitude and a worship we see that there in psalm 86 12 to 13 i will praise thee o lord my god with all my heart and i will glorify thy name forevermore for great is thy mercy toward me and they must deliver my soul from the lowest hell so we can have gratitude and thankfulness and worship and it should also prompt us to have a heart to share the gospel too to witness to reach out to motivate us to share the gospel more eagerly we see that in luke 16 verses 27 through 28 that even the man in hell the rich man he says to abraham i pray thee therefore father that thou would have sent him lazarus to my father's house for our five brethren that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this place of torment again place of torment we see that the truth the reality of this doctrine of hell it should motivate us we want to tell people how to be saved how to avoid this place of hell why does hell exist why is there a hell when you think about it hell is necessary because god is just he's holy and he's just and we see the word of god tells us that justice is his nature it's his character you see those scriptures there hell is necessary because god is holy and just and hell was originally prepared for the devil and his angels we see that there in matthew 25 41 everlasting fire was prepared for the devil and his angels but of course we know that the devil seduced mankind into rebellion against god and now man continues in that rebellion against god and so there's a needful punishment that awaits them men continue in their allegiance to satan and rebellion against god we see in revelation 14 talks about of course in the end time context of those that face this the mark of the beast situation and it tells of those there that they shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever and they have no rest day or night who worship the beast and his image and he so ever receive it the mark of his name very sobering isn't it then we've got revelation 19 2 talks about for true and righteous are his judgments for he have judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and have avenged the blood of his servants at her hand so the punishment of angels and men in hell brings glory to god there's it's righteous judgment it's rightful judgment because it's god's judgment of course we know other things about hell it's a reasonable fact that there is a hell there's a principle of separation we know the sheep must be separated from the goats we see there's principle of consequence that hell is the logical outcome of sin you reap what you sow the principle of restraint if there were no hell man would feel free to live as he pleases but there's restraint there think of hell the reality of

[12:15] it the principle of justice too that god is just and in his justice he must deal with all those who have rebelled against him then of course the principle of calvary just the very fact of calvary is a proof of hell that god would so extend his love in sending his son to die for us on that cruel cross when he suffered such a awesome death immense pain slowly suffocating to death and because god is holy sin must be punished and that's why sin was punished in the person of our saviour as the sinner substitute if we'll trust him so the principle of calvary there the principle of evangelism again we're commanded to take the gospel to the world and it's a motive isn't it we don't want to see anyone go there and neither does god yet man makes his own way there we see what is hell like we see some scriptures here 1 peter 3 it tells us that christ preached unto the spirits in prison we'll unpack that a little more later on but for the moment hell is like a holding place for disembodied spirits and we see judgment day is coming when there'll be this trial where the lost are raised tried and found guilty tells us that there in john 5 28 the resurrection of damnation and then we see that really christ is that prosecuted judge and executioner all of those on that dread day as we see there in 2 thessalonians 1 we see that some are going to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord and hell tells us that the wicked are punished in body and soul see that there in matthew 13 he's going to cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth i know there's one preacher talking one time and some old lady piped up and said i don't have any teeth and the preacher said teeth will be provided that's the fact there's going to be wailing and gnashing of teeth hell is described as a furnace of fire a lake of fire one that is not quenched it does not burn out a place of torment everlasting punishment a place where people pray but are not heard a place where they cry for mercy but there is none a place where they can never repent a place of blackness and darkness a place where people have no rest day or night a place where the smoke of their torments ascends up forever and ever i know this are very sombering words tonight and i know it's quite a graphic picture that i'm painting but we need to be alerted we need to be informed what the scriptures tell us the bible talks about an eternal fire it's an unquenchable fire it's interesting where it says the fires are not going to be quenched it's the word asbestos in the greek it's a very unquenchable it cannot be extinguished kind of fire says their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched so in other words the suffering is not going to end it's not going to be extinguished it's inextinguishable thoughts about the nature of hell again hell is a place it's got a definite location we see it described there variously again as a furnace of fire we see that hell from beneath is moved in isaiah 14 ezekiel 31 tells us those that are going there will go down to the pit and proverbs 15 24 talks about the way of life is above to the wise that he may depart from hell beneath so there's a sense where it's downwards and located in the lower parts of the earth we could understand from these scriptures that seems the logical conclusion in amos 9 2 it talks about they dig into hell it's interesting just as an aside that we know scientists tell us that the center of the earth is full of hot molten lava reaching temperatures of 5 000 degrees celsius so it's quite conceivable that fits with that view that hell is beneath us it's a place

[16:22] hell is a prepared place as well as was prepared for the fallen angels prepared for the devil and his angels it was not prepared for man per se for god is not willing that any should perish in fact you could say god never sends anyone to hell it is sin not covered by the blood of christ that does that so if we've not got our sins forgiven then it's sin that sends us to hell and lost sinners will have really no one to blame for the torments of hell but themselves and their own unbelief some further thoughts as we start to look into luke 16 which is the classic account of hell luke 16 of these two men that went to hell and we see from the account really hell is very clearly a painful place it tells us that these men went to hell and nowhere is it said to be a parable it's names them it names lazarus it shows how to be a place of torment of course one went to the paradise section one went to the torment section which we'll unpack a little as we go so this passage it tells of two real men who once lived on the earth as we do now but then they died and they now exist in eternal destinations so in luke 16 it is i put to you a literal place some try to spiritualize it call it a parable but no i believe very clearly scripturally it's a literal place a real place with literal fire and torment from which those who reject christ will never escape and so these descriptions of these two men are literal as well death was certainly literal abraham was a historical person fire is obviously literally hot and stimulates thirst and pain after these men died one went to be eternally glorified and one went to be eternally horrified one entered into the joy of the lord one went to the judgment of the lord one went to the happiness of heaven one went to the horror of hell one man went from rags to riches while the other man went from riches to rags interesting thoughts there heaven and hell are real they're definite they're tangible they're locatable they're physical places because christ said they exist hell is not figurative hell is real and of course in the account it tells us that lazarus was comforted lazarus was comforted and he was hungry no more for he was dining at the master's table sick no more because he was permanently healed by the great physician he was poor and homeless no more now living in a mansion custom built by the master carpenter and alone no more now standing with a friend who sticks closer than a brother see the contrast here between the rich man and lazarus of the rich man we see there verse 23 it tells how he had an immediate fate after his death he was in hell the word torment is used and it's used four times in luke 16 and in verse 23 it's plural torments there's many pains and miseries and sorrows in hell we see this rich man he had all his senses something that the dead can not have consciousness but no in luke 16 this man clearly had all his senses he could see hear speak and feel and he could still think and even though his body was in the grave the soul of the man lived on in this place called hell so a real place called hell real fire real pain real torment so hell is a place of an ending misery in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments think of the pain the torment here it's very graphic and that will endure till the bodily resurrection and judgment before god matthew 25 41 tells us that he'll say to the ones on the left depart from me you cursed into everlasting

[20:29] fire prepare for the devil and his angels there's no parole from punishment there's no relief no deliverance from doom there's no escape there's no fire exit hell is a place of hopelessness and we don't know in this world what it is like not to have hope when you think of it these days if you're sick there's always hope you're going to get better in business there's always hope the economy's going to turn around but in hell there's no hope as dance inscribed on the door of his inferno he's a poet he says you who enter here leave all hope behind when you enter hell there's no hope there's no hope for you what happens when we die we can learn this from luke 16 about the afterlife the dead are still alive both lazarus and the rich man survived their own funerals in the sense that their soul lived on we think this is the land of the living but really it's the land of the dying when we die we wake up to spend eternity in either heaven or hell and the dead retain their personalities their essential character lazarus is still lazarus the rich man still the rich man even in hell the rich man could see hear feel recognize remember speak reflect plead suffer and think ahead there's only one thing the rich man could not do he couldn't get out death marks the final separation between the saved and the lost once in heaven always in heaven once in hell always in hell there's no passing between each place hell is a place of personal suffering again our lord mentioned the torment the suffering the agony hell is where god's wrath is poured out tells us of a fire that never burns out the place where the worm does not die could reflect on that as meaning the conscience a place of darkness and gloom continual weeping and gnashing of teeth we see that there verse 24 tormented in this flame and it says he cried out literally it screamed in agony is the sense of it there verse 24 as he cried he screamed in agony father abraham have mercy on me there's real torment and pain here and misery there's no water for the fire no medicine for the pain no comfort for the suffering the torments of hell transformed this self-centered man into a compassionate evangelist but it was too late he thought of his brethren back home and he wanted someone to go and tell them and the emphasis here is on the message of salvation the prophets abraham says if they hear not the moses and the prophets nothing's going to persuade them and so we see if men reject salvation nothing else can be done to help them escape damnation verse 24 it talks about an unfulfilled thirst he says get lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in some water to cool my tongue i'm tormented in this flame and one of the ways that sinners are tormented is this insatiable thirst that goes unquenched and one of the last statements of christ on the cross was i thirst he endured that for us he suffered our hell that day the penalty of our sin on the cross he thirsted so that all we who believe will never have to there's an emotional torment too as he thinks of the joys and blessings that he sees of the saved dead and he knew that his brothers weren't coming there he couldn't do anything to help them and so as much that's unsatisfied in hell the adulterer will never be able to satisfy his lust the drunkard will never be able to quench his thirst the junkie will never be able to satisfy his habit and the glutton will never be able to satisfy his hunger verse 26 it tells us there's a great gulf fixed so that you cannot go from hell to heaven there's no way out so hell is a place of undying memory and remorse i know these are quite saddening words tonight but this is the reality these are the truths about hell we see verse 25 it tells us of this memory of this remorse abraham said son remember in hell this rich man he possessed the ability to remember he remembered all the good

[24:36] that he had all the comfort all the friends all the luxuries all the pleasures you could wonder the lost opportunities that haunted his memory and that could be true of the loss that maybe they'll remember the opportunity they heard the gospel and they rejected salvation they rejected the savior and they'll have memories a regret of what could have been we'll move on to the characteristics of hell what is hell like and the lord jesus speaks of hell the reality of it describes it as a pit of fire wailing weeping gnashing of teeth the book of revelation describes it as a lake of fire burning with fire and brimstone and we see in revelation 2010 that the torment the smoke of their torment it says will go on day and night forever and ever so friends it's a real place a literal place the severe torment it's a place of god's wrath of damnation of sorrow of hopelessness of tormenting memories a place of fire it tells us it's a place of everlasting burnings and this word everlasting it's got the sense of perpetual endless as you see that word hebrew o lamb and it talks about tophet the valley of tophet is the gehenna it's the valley of the drum they would beat the drum as they would sacrifice the little children into the mouth of the idol as it was heated up it's a graphic picture of hell it's a gruesome place hell is a place of worms of a bottomless pit place of unanswered prayers a place of everlasting destruction of abandonment of god's wrath there's easy access but there's no exit and it's a place of no rest so friends there's much sobering words here about hell again it's an unquenchable fire the fire shall never be quenched it tells us of a place of consciousness of torment of darkness think of the pain of hell the pain of hell it's conscious pain the man in hell again he could see hear feel and thirst all of his senses sight hearing speaking thirst pain was conscious he was a conscious man some again would try to say you're not conscious after death you go into some kind of soul sleep or unconsciousness but no the bible says that you go straight to hell or to heaven there's physical pain there's mental pain he was told to remember he could remember if it perchance was that he heard a sermon a prayer he heard an exultation that he refused he'll have that mental anguish that mental pain that spiritual pain again concern for his lost brethren and then that eternal pain hell is no reform school there's no second chance it's not you get some punishment and then you're out of hell it's eternal it's eternal it's as everlasting as our salvation as we see Matthew 25 46 it's one of the really central verses you can use when you're speaking to those that would deny the eternality of hell Matthew 25 46 makes it very clear because the the punishment of hell is as everlasting and eternal as the eternal life that we have as safe people so it's very clearly it is eternal there's no getting around it further we think about the degrees of punishment it's clear in the scriptures that some sins are counted more heinous or worse god is just in his punishment there's degrees of punishment and it seems to be apparent from these kind of verses that god will meet his punishment according to the degree of sin of sinfulness but you don't want to be a good sinner in hell better to be a saved sinner in heaven because whatever the case there's punishment in hell but there's just degrees of it

[28:38] according to those scriptures you could reflect that supports that concept that there's degrees of punishment so moving on to the implications of the doctrine because there is a hell what should that mean for us of course it means we should be very clear about the gospel about the way to be saved and we should make sure that we are saved that we got faith in christ that saves us we believe in christ because really at calvary's cross that's where the crossroads are to heaven or hell are we going to trust christ took upon himself our penalty for our sin that he took upon himself the death and hell that we deserve so there's very literally a road that leads into hell but there is no road that leads out of hell and really there's the road that leads to hell is a one-way dead-end street the pop star singer of the highway to hell there is a highway to hell but thank god there is a highway from earth to heaven it's the way of the cross jesus says i am the way the truth and the life here's that one way to heaven here's the one way the way to hell is called the broad way you could say there's probably multiple ways to hell but there's one way the narrow way which leads to life and it's christ isn't it and so we must take action to trust him to humble ourselves to believe to trust that he is our substitute for our sin and another way that hell should motivate us is compassion for those who don't know christ that it should move us to want to tell them the perishing of the way to be saved from such a dread eternal punishment and it should prompt us to zeal we'd love to see more people taking evangelism seriously in this church that we should want to see the perishing rescued it should prompt us to thankfulness that he saved us and we could think we should take no pleasure in the death of the wicked when you hear some wicked man who dies really but for the grace of god we could be that wicked man but we can be thankful that final justice is coming think of all those who might commit gross sins justice will be done god will bring justice final justice and we can be glad about that we can be glad and joy in our salvation that we're saved from sin and it should bring a thought of prioritization we should think seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness that we should put that which is most important as the most important in other words we should value god's kind of values the kingdom of god more than the kingdom of self some other thoughts we should think about the reality of eternity that really it's only a few breaths away really isn't it in the scheme of things eternity where our life is just a vapor that is going to vanish away and what we do now has eternal consequences if we refuse christ or if we trust christ there's eternal consequences we should learn to hate our sin think of the horror of hell it should waken us to the horror of sin of unfaithfulness of lovelessness the horror of being cold toward god learn to love jesus more he's died for you he took the horrors of hell for you and so we should learn to hate our sin get a heart for lost people we want to see people save from eternal ruin we want to see people flee from the wrath to come and to come to the knowledge of the truth it's the lord's desire in one something to four so our lord was moved to passion to compassion it was his life wasn't it and so should we be if we really believe in hell we should act like it shouldn't we and think of those who know not the savior the gospel is the message of salvation so we should pray we should be serious about sharing it and know it for ourselves and be saved and want to be a communicator of it the next point is that judgment looms ecclesiastes 12 talks about the the truth that we should fear god

[32:46] and keep his commandments this is the whole duty of man it says for god shall bring every work into judgment every secret thing nothing's going to be hidden and so we should think about our present actions in the light of a future judgment of eternity god's going to bring everything into the light judgment judgment is coming it's coming soon the day of judgment and we're all going to stand before god so i'll put it we're all going to have our day in court of course for saved people we're before the judgment seat of christ is for rewards but for the lost there's no getting out of the judgment for you that are lost he's going to bring every deed into judgment the lord describes the final judgment where he's going to separate the righteous from the unrighteous for some he's going to say depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire the fire prepared for the devil and his angels and these are going to go away it says into everlasting punishment but the righteous it says into life eternal want to make sure on the right side when that time comes don't we the righteous is going to enter into eternal life it's a life that will never end and again matthew 25 46 again i'll repeat repeat it that those who go away into eternal punishment everlasting punishment it's the same word it's the same word so the punishment for the unrighteous will never end just as the life eternal will never end for the saved so moving on following the final judgment those who have rejected god's offer of salvation and have been suffering in hades join the devil and his cohorts to be tormented forever and ever revelation 20 from verse 11 there you can read it right through how it talks about the books opened it talks about the people judged it tells about death and hell cast into the lake of fire so we see that judgment is definitely talked about there at the back of the book revelation 20 in john 5 it talks about how the father has committed all judgment to the son so he's going to judge perfect righteous judgment according to the will of the father so god's judgment may not be immediate but it is inevitable sometimes we think why doesn't god do this or do that inevitably he will inevitably the judgment will come and sooner or later we'll all have to face another truth when you think about hell is the omnipresence of god tells us in psalm 139 that god is in the heavens above the grave below and even the most remote portions of hell i know some like to say hell is separation from god but the truth is that god is still there god is still there in a sense because theologically speaking god is omnipresent it's one of the core attributes of his being of course we kind of fellowship with god but god will still be in some present form he'll still be around he still has really rule some people like to say the devil has the king of hell the devil's going to rule hell but no really god is the ruler of hell god alone reigns and hell is not some demonic kingdom the devil is just one of the inmates in that place and it tells us that god has power to cast into hell luke 12 verse 5 god has prepared its fires matthew 25 41 he's present in hell it says the damned are tormented in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb revelation 14 10 so it's not that god is away from hell god is everywhere present he's omnipresent but of course we'll be excluded from the fellowship of his presence that could be truly put that way i think some other truths about hell is

[36:46] that hell as we said and some of these are repeating but hell is a place of torment we need to realize that there's many images about hell that the worm does not die the sense where there'll be an undying element that it will not die the flames are never going to be quenched it tells of eternal destruction eternal punishment god's going to pour out his wrath and we see luke 16 really tells us the rich man he's still there he's still there he's still in suffering hell is torment we see that hell is eternal revelation 14 11 talks about the smoke of their torment it's going to ascend forever and ever tells of no rest day or night for those who worship the beast in his image those who receive the mark of his name 2 thessalonians 1 talks about how the unrighteous are going to face eternal destruction from the lord's presence so there's an eternality of heaven and hell hell is also a punishment as well and ephesians 2 3 talks about how the unsaved are children of wrath so we're subject to god's wrath and punishment we want to make sure we stop being one of the children of wrath and we become one of the children of god amen and become one of his children to as many as received him so then gave he power to become the sons of god even so they don't believe on his name so ephesians 2 talks about the the wrath there of god and really we're all subject to wrath without the cross we're all really due god's wrath it's only by his grace we can be saved from his wrath another truth about hell is that hell and the lake of fire are distinctly different they're distinguished so we see that there in revelation 20 verse 13 it tells us that the sea gave up the dead which were in it death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them they were judged every man according to their works and then it says verse 14 and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire so really this is the final hell the eternal hell the lake of fire is different from the word hell so hell is hades we could see that the eternal hell the lake of fire we could see that is also referred to as gehenna we see revelation 20 that the inhabitants of hell are going to be brought to judgment and then cast into along with hell itself into the lake of fire so it's just important to get that distinction i know some have compared it it's a bit of a poor example but you could put it for example that hell is like the remand center like the lock-up where the prisoner is held awaiting trial in adelaide we've got the remand center where they just await the trial you could reflect that's a light to hades and then you see the trial is the great white throne and then you see the lake of fire as the ultimate prison the ultimate place where the sentence is executed of course the parallel breaks down because of course some people in the adelaide remand center are going to be declared innocent and are not going to be punished but the truth is with the kind of place of remand or lock-up that is held today everyone who is in hell is going to end up in the lake of fire so it says that all that are in the graves are going to hear his voice they're going to come forth talks about those to the resurrection of life those that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation so here's how someone's put it as a picture just to hopefully help picture it more for you there are different words underlying the word hell in our bible and so in the old testament the hebrew word that is translated hell is sheol and then the parallel to

[40:52] that in the new testament the greek word is hades so you see that sheol and hades are the same thing and from the luke 16 account we could understand that there's a paradise compartment abraham's bosom and then there's the torment compartment which is where the rich man was and then there's also tartarus which we'll go on to talk about that's just one way we could reflect it there's probably different theological views and viewpoints about all of these things but to me just as a student myself i can see that seems to make sense to me and we'll unpack that view a little bit further as we go here's how someone's pictured it too that ultimately the lake of fire is going to happen after the great white throne judgment so you see there christ is going to come there's the millennial kingdom we see satan's cast into the lake of fire then we see the various judgments there the great white throne judgment and then it says all the wicked will go to the lake of fire so that's just another way to picture it of course people might differ on some of that too but i think it makes the most sense that's the kind of sequence of events and then we see further description here about those things that we just talked about eternal fire we see unquenchable fire again this reality that there's an unquenchable fire which speaks of gehenna the eternal hell we see of eternal fire and this word eternal is in the greek ionos some would try to dispute that eternal doesn't mean eternal but the same word ionos tells of god being everlasting in romans 16 26 so hell is as forever as god is forever as everlasting as god is everlasting and the eternal punishment is as eternal as god is eternal the kind of false ideas of skeptics who try to say that eternal does not mean eternal it really doesn't stack up it's very clear that eternal means eternal as translated in the king james bible there's no question tartarus is another place that is called hell and we see that there it's talked about in 2 peter 2 verse 4 and the underlying word is tartarus it talks about how god did not spare the angels who sinned he sent them into hell this tartarus in this gloomy pit of darkness where they're held until the day of judgment and 2 peter 2 4 talks about how they're held in everlasting chains until the judgment of the great day jude 1 verse 6 talks about the same thing so from how you could interpret this i think it's a fair interpretation is that there is another place that's specifically for these angels for these fallen angels it's not really elaborated on we can only perhaps conjecture some of this but the the truth is that it tells us that some angels are being held in this kind of holding place awaiting judgment another thought about hell is it appears that some change happened to hell around the resurrection and the ascension so as we talked about luke 16 talks about hades this place where all the dead went but it had a righteous compartment and an unrighteous compartment so we see that the rich man went to hades in torment

[45:02] and then lazarus the righteous went to abraham's bosom in paradise and some put the view and i think it makes sense to me that they all went to the same place but it was two compartments of the same place and then the lord jesus went to that paradise section as he told the believing thief that he would and we know that after the ascension paul was caught up into the third heaven or paradise so we could interpret it that as we talked about last time when paul was caught up to the third heaven which was called paradise the abode of god that there was a change in the location of paradise and the souls of the dead are now the dead saints and now with the lord and some understand that this change in the location of paradise happened at the ascension of christ when it talks about how he led captivity captive now some of this is a degree of interpretation i've got to say but it makes sense to me how this is being put this chart might illustrate it just a bit better for you to follow it we see that prior to the resurrection prior to the ascension we see the grave sheol hades hell had two compartments and so the righteous were in the compartment called abraham's bosom the righteous were in that compartment and the lost were in the torment compartment if you like and so that's prior to the resurrection the ascension and then what happened afterwards is that the saved then went to the new location of paradise there to heaven the third heaven but the unsaved are still there in that holding place of hades that's how we would see it at this present time and then ultimately at the great white throne then the unsaved are judged and they're consigned to the lake of fire so that's yet to happen that part so hopefully it helps i know there's a degree of conjecture with some of this but i think that makes the most sense to me here's how someone else has put it see that paradise abraham's bosom is a place of comfort of fellowship now it's heaven we see gehenna is the place of torments ultimately this part of hades will become gehenna the lake of fire and then we see the abbess or the pit is where the angels are in this holding place called tartarus and they too are going to be destined for the lake of fire the lord jesus as he said to the thief he said today there shall be with me in paradise so he went to paradise we could understand that prior to the resurrection the ascension that all the righteous and wicked were in this same area but christ went to the paradise compartment of it and we know of course he was in the earth three days and nights in the heart of the earth and then it tells us that really paradise was part of hell the thief could not enter into heaven without the resurrection of christ talks about in acts 2 there are the very scriptures that talk about in the context of the resurrection that thou shalt not leave my soul in hell so the sense where to some degree he visited certainly went to the paradise component of hell and then he took captivity captive we could understand at his resurrection at his ascension that those spirits that were in hell are now in paradise in heaven so that's the concept it seems to

[49:10] fit the scriptures as the most logical way to see it in my point of view now just some last considerations further and some people might question things like if god is so good why did he create a place like hell or we could ask the same if our government is so good why would it create prisons because there has to be a consequence doesn't there there has to be a punishment the question of why is there a hell it perplexes many people but god does not force us to love him or follow him we're not puppets or robots he desires that we choose to love him and some would say that's not fair that a loving god would set up such a system but it's precisely god's love for us that he allows us that choice he allows us that decision and will we trust christ or will we not it's in our hands and because god is love he's got to have justice and there's got to be consequences for sin but thank god he's done everything possible to save us some would say what kind of a loving god would he be if the wicked were never punished now that would be a worse thing wouldn't it if the wicked were never punished why would he have sent his son to die for our sins if we could reject that redemption and not eventually pay the price we would not want this lack of justice in the streets of our cities and towns so it's only right that there is justice and god is the ultimate just judge to believe in heaven without hell is like believing in good without evil and thank god he's provided a way out of hell hasn't me a way to stay out of hell redemption through christ some would say why doesn't god save everyone but why does god save anyone we're all equally undeserving of his grace aren't we lastly it tells us that there is a judgment coming but thank god we can't avoid this judgment we can't avoid hell it tells us that it is appointed unto man once to die but after this the judgment thank god we can be saved we can be saved for the lost they're going to enter into everlasting doom it tells of hell there that some shall awake some to everlasting life some to shame and everlasting contempt what does a person do to go to hell nothing you're condemned already because you're a sinner but thank god he that believeth on him christ hath everlasting life one preacher put it the saddest road to hell is to bypass the word of god the saddest road to hell is to close your ears to the warning of the blessed holy spirit your eyes to the son of god and pass from the gospel message to the blackness of darkness forever i say to you as we gaze out into the darkness of hell into the loneliness of hell into the restlessness of hell into the endlessness of hell make haste to calvary wash in the saviour's blood come this night to the saviour and in god's name be in time proverbs 14 27 the fear of the lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death thank god we're saved by christ dying not by our doing there's many ways to hell but there's only one way to heaven and there's two different destinies as we saw in luke 16 we do well to read that account in full there's a great chasm fixed between them what you do decide about christ determines your destiny so trust christ hell is real thank god if you trusted christ you're on the way to heaven

[53:12] you're forgiven but if you do not believe in christ you're headed to hell and it's a terrible place like we've heard tonight so do whatever it takes to make sure you're going to heaven and it's not by anything you do simply by your trusting in christ i should go to hell because that is where i belong but i'm going to heaven because christ died on the cross he took my punishment so i could be free and it's the same for you that can trust him tonight