Hell

Daniel 12:2,3 - And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Hebrews 9:27 - And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment….

John 5:28,29 - Do not be amazed at this; for a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come out: those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the bad deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

Mark 9:43-47 - And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.  And if your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life without a foot, than, having your two feet, to be thrown into hell.  And if your eye is causing you to sin, throw it away; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be thrown into hell….

Matthew 13:41,42 - The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 13:47-50 - “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they pulled it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25:41-46 - “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Revelation 20:10 - And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.  Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them according to their deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8 - But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

2 Thessalonians 1:5-9 - This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you indeed are suffering. For after all it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us, when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power….

Annihilationism – a false doctrine

The following words that are highlighted and in italics are the same Greek word origin showing that the Matthew 25 and Revelation 20 scripture has the same meaning as the other scriptures using eternal and forever and does in fact mean eternal, in perpetuity, everlasting, forever and ever.

2 Corinthians 4:18 - while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Galatians 6:8 - For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

Genesis 1:26 - Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; …..God is an ETERNAL being.

Hebrews 13:20,21 - Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, that is, Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Mark 3:29 - but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”

Matthew 9:17, 10:28 - “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined (apollumi); but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” --   “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy (apollumi) both soul and body in hell.   ** In this case, ruined and destroyed both use the same word (apollumi) which emphasizes the idea of eternal ruination.

Matthew 13:50 - and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [In order to have weeping and gnashing, one must exist.  Why even emphasize this if they are to be destroyed?  Why not just say…..where they will be destroyed]

Matthew 18:6 - but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea. [Again, as in Matt 26:24….see note]

Matthew 23:15 -  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. [To make a son of hell is no small statement…If destruction is the focus then why not say “when he becomes one, you destine him for destruction?]

Matthew 25:41,46 - “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 26:24 - “The Son of Man is going away just as it is written about Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” [Why emphasize never been born?  This seems to emphasize that there is terrible punishment awaiting this person.  If destruction is the final reality, why emphasize this?]

2 Peter 1:11 - for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

Revelation 14:9-11 - Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will 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 ascends forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.

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

Revelation 20:12 - And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. [Why judgement if destruction is the end?]

Revelation 22:5 - And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will reign forever and ever.

Romans 16:26 - but now has been disclosed, and through the Scriptures of the prophets, in accordance with the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith

2 Thessalonians 1:8,9 – His mighty angels… in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power

Degrees of Punishment

Hebrews 10:29 - Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

Luke 10: 13,14 – “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.

Luke 12: 47,48 - And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

Mark 12:40 - who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.”

Matthew 10:15 -  “Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment, than for that city.

Arthur Pink – Eternal Punishment

• Denial of hell is a rejection of God’s truth
• Every modification of eternal punishment only serves to minimize the evil of sin.
• Between light and darkness there can be no fellowship. God’s love is a holy
• To reason, then, that because God is merciful He will not cast into the Lake of Fire every one whose name is not found written in the book of life, is to fly in the face of all God’s judgments in the past!
• Sin has so enfeebled our power of righteous judgment, so

darkened our understanding, so dulled our conscience, so perverted our wills, so corrupted our hearts, that we are quite incompetent to decide. We are ourselves so infected and affected by sin that we are altogether incapable of estimating its due merits. Imagine a company of criminals passing judgment on the equity and goodness of the law which had condemned them!

• If the sinner has despised and rejected eternal happiness, is there any reason why he should complain against the justice of eternal misery? Finally, if there is an infinite evil in sin—as there is—then infinite punishment is its due reward.
• That God will triumph over evil is most certainly true. His triumph will be manifested by incarcerating every one of His foes in a place where they can do no more damage, and where in their torments His holy hatred of sin will shine for ever and ever. The Lake of Fire so far from witnessing to Satan’s victory,

will be the crowning proof of his utter defeat.

• If men who died rejecting the Savior are yet to be saved, if the fires of hell are to do for men what the blood of the Cross failed to effect, then why was the Divine Sacrifice needed at all—all might have been saved by the disciplinary sufferings of hell, and so God could have spared His Son.
• If the lost are ultimately to be saved, it must be either because they shall have satisfied the penalty; or else through redemption because Christ has borne that penalty for them.

1. If sinners can be saved by satisfying Divine justice in enduring the penalty due to sin, Christ need not have died.
2. If the sinner should be made to pay a portion of his debt (the idea that hell is for cleansing), and then released because someone else had paid the whole before he was remitted to full punishment; is inconsistent with grace alone, in Christ alone.

• Punishment is not designed for the good of the one who suffers it. It is intended for the enforcing of law and order; it is necessary for the preservation of government.
• What can be too severe a judgment upon those who have despised so great a Being as the Almighty? If he that is guilty of treason against an earthly government deserves to lose his life, what punishment can be great enough for one who has preferred his own pleasure before the will and glory of a God who is infinitely good? To despise infinite excellence merits infinite misery. God has commanded the sinner to repent, He has courted him with overtures of grace, He has bountifully supplied his every need, and He has presented before him the Son of His love—His choicest treasure —and yet men persist in their wicked course. No possible ground, then, will the sinner have to appeal against the sentence of the Judge of all the earth, seeing that He not only tendered mercy toward him, but also bore with him in so much patience when He might justly have smitten him down upon the first crime he ever committed and removed him to Hell upon the first refusal of His grace.
• The young are occupied with pleasure (lust of the flesh), the middle-aged with worldly advancement (lust of the eyes), the aged with their attainments or lack of them (the pride of life). These things banish from the mind all serious thoughts of the life to come. "The heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead" (Eccl. 9:3). O the blinding power of sin! O the deceitfulness of riches! O the perversity of the human heart!
• Remember that "there is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way of death" (Prov. 14:12)
• If you have no love for souls, it is greatly to be feared that your own soul is in imminent danger. If you can witness, unmoved, men and women hurrying down the broad road which leadeth to destruction, then it is seriously to be doubted if you have within you the Spirit of that One who wept over Jerusalem.

Erasing Hell – Francis Chan

1 Corinthians 16:22 - If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.

Jude 1:10 - But these people disparage all the things that they do not understand; and all the things that they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.

Matthew 5:22 - “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Matthew 25:32 - “And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;

Philippians 1:28 - and in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and this too, from God.

Philippians 3:18,19 - For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even as I weep, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who have their minds on earthly things.

Gehenna in the Hinnom Valley is where some OT Israelites worshipped the Canaanite gods Molech and Baal and sacrificed their children.

Jesus spoke in terms and according to long understood traditions like the other writers and teachers of His day.  He used commonly understood Jewish images such as outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth when referring to judgement day and consequences.

While “death” could refer to finality it is often used in the NT in a non-literal way to describe spiritual death but you physically go on living.  This seems to explain what happens in the final destination of the Lake of Fire.  This is total separation from God – FOREVER - in an ongoing state of punishment.

How sobering should the reality of hell really be?  Consider Matthew 5:22 where Jesus threatens hell to those who curse their brother.          * …..  whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Matthew 7:22,23 -  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; LEAVE ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

We MUST judge and measure ourselves.  Ask ourselves, what evidence do you have that you really know Jesus?

We need to stop explaining or hiding God’s ways of justice and the reality of hell and start talking about the solution.  (The Potter and the clay)