Is Hell Real?
By Radio Pastor Perry F. Rockwood
Published by
The Peoples Gospel Hour
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Here for a Printable Version
1. Hell is Today’s World
An evangelist once encountered a sceptic who, when asked to receive
Christ, said, "I'm not afraid of Hell - all the Hell we will ever
get is right here on earth!" The preacher's reply was quick and
devastating, "I'll give you three reasons why this cannot be Hell.
First, I am a Christian, and there are no Christians in Hell!
Secondly, there is a place just around the corner where you can
slake your thirst, but there is no water in Hell! Thirdly, I have
been preaching Christ to you, and there is no Gospel in Hell!"
Dr. R.A. Torrey, who succeeded D.L. Moody, believed in the plain
Bible teaching on Hell. He said, "We know absolutely nothing about
future punishment but what God has been pleased to tell us in the
Book; just as we know absolutely nothing about the future
blessedness of the saved except what God has been pleased to tell us
in this Book. If you are truly logical and not merely sentimental,
if you give up what the Bible teaches on one subject, you will give
up what it teaches on the other. If a man will believe that part of
the Bible that he desires to believe and rejects that part of the
bible that he does not desire to believe, in plain unvarnished
English, he is a fool."
If the Bible is not true, we have no real proof that there is either
a Heaven or a Hell. If the Bible is true about Heaven, it is also
true about Hell.
Whenever I speak on this subject of Hell there are those who are
bound to write and ask, "How do you reconcile the doctrine of Hell
with the fact that God is a God of love?" I answer with this
question, "How do we know that God is love?" We know this only from
the Bible. If the Bible is not true we have no proof that God is
love. Friend, if you reject what the Bible says about Hell you must
in simple logic give up your belief that God is love.
Of course today the words "Hell" and "damn" are a part of the
everyday language of most people- including our politicians, radio
announcers and TV personalities. The use of such four-letter words
portrays their lack of education and inability to express themselves
forcefully in the English language. Such conversation surely reveals
a mental vacuum.
"See you in Hell tonight!" cried one friend to another. They planned
to meet in a night club which chose this name for the sake of
publicity. Hell is fast becoming a joke word and people are laughing
at the very idea of such a place. They scoff at the Word of God
which teaches the eternal punishment of all who reject the Lord
Jesus Christ as Saviour.
"Why, man, I'm getting my Hell here upon the earth!" This is what a
business man said to me recently. I replied, "Sir, the Hell you are
getting upon earth is but a Sunday school picnic compared to the
eternal torments you will suffer unless you repent of sin and turn
to the Lord."
A young man carelessly boasted, "Well, if I go to Hell think of all
the company I'll have." I said to him, "Don't deceive yourself.
There is no company in Hell. It is a place of total separation from
everyone. Although there may be many famous people there, they will
give you neither joy nor pleasure. Hell is a place of suffering and
there will be no companionship whatever to help relieve the agony."
A common expression used by many people who are rude in their speech
is, "Go to Hell." The same ones, however, say they are not sure
there is a Hell. They live and act as though death ends all or as
though they can get by without meeting God. The very fact that they
tell people to go to Hell shows an inner conviction that those who
do wrong should be punished.
Perhaps you are thinking, "But Pastor, you do not understand my
situation. My life is truly a Hell on earth." Oh, but I do try to
understand. The mental anguish and heartache caused by unhappy
circumstances is very painful. Many are constantly struggling with
difficult situations. Life is hard. Yet, there is some relief here
upon the earth. There is some charity, some mercy, some easing of
pain by drugs and sleep - and there is always hope. But in Hell
there is only suffering - absolute physical and mental torment - and
there is no hope.
Most seminaries and theological colleges either play down the Bible
teaching on Hell or do away with it altogether. This has resulted in
the subject hardly ever being mentioned from our modern-day pulpits.
When was the last time you heard such a message in your church?
Today we have a movement called Neo-Evangelicalism or New
Evangelicalism which teaches that the Bible is not the literal,
verbally inspired Word of God but that it contains the Word of God.
If you will look at the proclamations issued by various Evangelical
groups over the past fifteen years, you will see that the majority
make no mention of the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, or of
the inerrancy of the Bible, or of its preservation.
The late Bishop J.C. Ryle, who died in 1900, said:
"If you would promote faith, defeat the devil and save souls, preach
Hell!"
"The conscience of man cries out of Hell. Go to the bedside of some
dying child of the world and fear not to talk to him of God's
judgment upon sin and wrath upon the sinner. Preach to him of a
Saviour who went into the yawning jaws of Hell that forgiveness
might be purchased at great price - His own shed blood - and offer
him mercy but only by faith in that blood; and watch his restless
anxiety about the future turn to calmness, and marvel as he departs
in peace.
"The interests of holiness and morality cry out of Hell. Tell men it
matters how they conduct themselves, that there is an eternal
difference between Abraham and the Sodomites, between Paul and Nero,
between the drunkard who dies unrepentant and a Baxter, a
Wilberforce, or a McCheyne. Preach Hell as the final end of men who
will not have the Christian whom they may 'live soberly,
righteously, and godly.'
"The Bible speaks of Hell from beginning to end. Hundreds of texts
in God's Word remind us of the wages of sin, the end of the flesh
and the reward of ungodliness. Jesus cried that the gate to Hell is
wide, the road is broad and well travelled. When you stand before
the people, preach that!"
Thank God for those who have stood for Biblical inspiration among
the scholars and believed in Hell. I think of Dr. R.A. Torrey who
said, "I claim to be a scholarly preacher. I have a right to so
claim. I have taken two degrees, specializing in Greek
in one of the most highly esteemed universities in America. I have
also studied in two German universities. I have read the Bible in
three languages every day of my life for many years. I have studied
a large share of what has been written on both sides of the question
in English and in German. I have written thirty or forty different
books which have been translated into many languages. Yes, I believe
in scholarship and I believe in the old-fashioned doctrine regarding
Hell."
Yes, and we could mention other men, greatly used of God, who
believed in Hell. D.L. Moody, "The same Christ that tells us of
Heaven with all its glories, tells us of Hell with all its horrors."
Henry Ward Beecher, "The thought of future punishment for
sinners which the Bible reveals is enough to make an earthquake of
terror in every man's soul. "Dr. W.N. Clarke, "The principle of
retribution is right because good ought to work good and evil ought
to work evil." Billy Sunday, "You will not be in Hell five minutes
until you believe there is one."
But hear now the voice of Christ: "Then shall He say also unto them
on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels: ... And these shall go away
into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal"
(Matthew 25:41,46).
There is a real Hell for everyone who rejects the salvation offered
in the Cross-work of Christ.
2. What the Bible Teaches
It is not easy to be a Bible preacher in these days of compromise
and anti-Bible preaching. But we have the plain command in Ezekiel
3:17,18: "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of
Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning
from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou
givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his
wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand."
Dr. Charles J. Woodbridge, author of the book, THE NEW
EVANGELICALISM, speaks concerning the compromises of our day: "The
very existence of this so-called 'neo-evangelicalism' implies a
discontent with and disapproval of the old-fashioned approach. It is
felt that there must be a new, more moderate definition of
orthodoxy, a milder view of the inerrancy of Scripture, less
contending for the faith and more friendly give-and-take with
modernists. The 'neo-evangelicals' desire seems to be to make as
much common cause as possible with the enemies of the cross, to
regard ministers who deny the Bible as 'fringe-friends', to
fraternize with believers as though we were all the family of God,
and to do theological evil in order that good might result. This
Jesuit attitude is not advocated in the Bible. Indeed, it runs
counter to the plain commandments of the Word of God. The true
believer is to have no spiritual traffic with sin or error" (from
The King's Business, p.14, may 1958).
Irrespective of what modernists and modern-day appeasers teach, the
Bible declares there is a Hell.
HELL! the prison house of despair,
Here are some things that won't be there:
No flowers will bloom on the banks of Hell,
No beauties of nature we love so well;
No comforts of home, music and song,
No friendship of joy will be found in that throng;
No children to brighten the long, weary night,
No love nor peace, nor one ray of light;
No blood washed soul with face beaming bright,
No loving smile in that region of night;
No mercy, no pity, pardon nor grace,
No water; O God, what a terrible place!
The pangs of the lost no human can tell,
Not one moment's peace - there is no rest in HELL.
HELL! the prison house of despair,
Here are some things that will be there:
Fire and brimstone are there, we know,
For God in His Word hath told us so;
Memory, remorse, suffering and pain,
Weeping and wailing, but all in vain;
Blasphemers, swearers, haters of God,
Christ-rejectors while here on earth trod;
Murderers, gamblers, drunkards and liars,
Will have their part in the lake of fire;
The filthy, the vile, the cruel and mean,
What a horrible mob in Hell will be seen!
Yes, more than humans on earth can tell,
Are torments and woes of eternal HELL!
-Catherine Dangell
JESUS ON HELL
Any child reading the Bible will understand that Jesus spoke time
and again about a place of eternal punishment. This is the same Lord
Jesus who spoke words of comfort to those in trouble, who healed
diseases, who raised the dead, and who went
to the Cross.
Here are some of the passages of Scripture that record our Lord's
teaching on Hell (Gehenna).
"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother
without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever
shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council:
but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of
hell fire" (Matthew 5:22).
"And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from
thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should
perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell"
(Matthew 5:29).
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and
body in hell" (Matthew 10:28).
"And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee:
it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than
having two eyes to be cast into hell fire" (Matthew 18:9).
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea
and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him
twofold more the child of hell than yourselves" (Matthew 23:15).
"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the
damnation of hell?" (Matthew 23:33).
These are sober words coming from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If He believed in a place called Hell, I do; and since He preached
on it, certainly all Bible preachers must do likewise.
I am thinking today of so many of you who have loved ones not saved.
They are without hope. When members of our families are ill or in
trouble of some kind, it is easy for us to be concerned and to weep
for them. How much greater our concern ought to be if they are not
saved and on the way to a Christless eternity. Jesus wept for lost
souls. He had compassion on the unsaved multitudes. Yet we have
ceased our weeping. We have lost our compassion.
THE OLD TESTAMENT
Not only do we have the words of Jesus, but we have the simple,
plain Bible teaching on Hell from cover to cover. In Jeremiah 23:12
we read of the peril facing every unsaved person each hour he lives:
"Wherefore their way shall be unto them as
slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall
therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their
visitation, saith the Lord." Just think seriously of the peril of
standing on slippery grass in the darkness facing the judgment of
Hell.
Isaiah 14:9: "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at
thy coming ..."
Job 21:29,30: "...do ye not know ... That the wicked is reserved to
the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of
wrath."
Psalm 9:17: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the
nations that forget God."
What we have learned today from the Word of God is that there is a
place called Hell. In the New Testament alone there are 264 chapters
and 27 books. 234 times God speaks of a place of judgment and
eternal punishment. If you were travelling along
life's road and saw 234 signboards within 27 miles with the warning,
"THIS ROAD LEADS TO DESTRUCTION", I am sure you would turn around
and get on another road. Yet, how careless the multitudes are
concerning their eternal destiny. God's warnings go unheeded, but at
death it will be too late to change directions. The following poem
reiterates this solemn fact:
FIVE MINUTES AFTER I DIE
Loved ones will weep o'er my silent face,
Dear ones will clasp me in sad embrace,
Shadows and darkness will fill the place,
Five minutes after I die.
Faces that sorrow I will not see,
Voices that murmur will not reach me,
But where, oh, where will my spirit be,
Five minutes after I die.
Quickly the years of my life have flown,
Gathering treasures I thought my own,
There I must reap from the see I have sown
Five minutes after I die.
Naught to repair the good I lack,
Fixed to the goal of my chosen track,
No room to repent, no turning back,
Five minutes after I die.
Now I can stifle convictions stirred,
Now I can silence the Voice oft heard,
Then the fulfilment of God's sure Word,
Five minutes after I die.
Mated for aye with my chosen throng,
Long is eternity, O, so long,
Then woe is me if my soul be wrong,
Five minutes after I die.
O, what a fool- hard the word, but true,
Passing the Saviour with death in view,
Doing a deed I can ne'er undo
Five minutes after I die.
If I am flinging a fortune away,
If I am wasting salvation's day
"Just is my sentence", my soul shall say
Five minutes after I die.
God help you to choose! Your eternal state
Depends on your choice, you dare not wait;
You must choose now; it will be too late
Five minutes after you die.
3. A Picture of Hell
Hell is neither a matter of circumstances here upon the earth nor a
state of mind. It is a definite place. It is a place just as real as
Heaven - as real as any city in our nation today.
In Luke 16:19-31 we have a description of this awful abode:
"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine
linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain
beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to
pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into
Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, as was buried; And in hell
he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off,
and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham,
have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this
flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime
receivedst thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art
tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great
gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot;
neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he
said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to
my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify
unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham
saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear
them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them
from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear
not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though
one rose from the dead."
Notice carefully that Hell is spoken of as a place of everlasting
fire. Yes, there is fire torment in Hell. The Holy Spirit uses the
word "fire" in speaking of the eternal punishment of the lost.
" ... hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched" (Mark 9:47,48).
" ... everlasting fire" (Matthew 18:8).
" ... everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels"
(Matthew 25:41).
" ... a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth" (Matthew 13:42).
And here in Luke 16 the rich man cried: "I am tormented in this
flame."
We do not need to prove that the fire of Hell is literal fire any
more than we need to prove that the gold of Heaven is literal gold.
I believe that when God says fire He means fire, and when He says
gold He means gold.
Hell is a place of torments. Three times in Luke 16 we read of the
rich man being tormented. In Revelation 14:10,11 we also read: "The
same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured
out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy
angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their
torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day
nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever
receiveth the mark of his name."
Hell is a place for all sinners whether vile or self-righteous. My
friend, if you die unsaved, this will be your sad destiny. All the
unrepentant of the land will be there. Romans 1:29-31 is a picture
of the sinfulness of the human heart: "Being filled with all
unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity,
whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters,
inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without
understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection,
implacable, unmerciful." And Revelation 21:8, in speaking of Hell,
says: "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." The Devil and all his demons
will be there, too (Revelation 20:10).
Hell is a place of no escape. There is no Purgatory where the dead
can be released through prayers and money. In all the public
buildings of our cities the word "EXIT" is a word not found in Hell.
Jesus said, "there is a great gulf fixed."
Hell is an eternal place. "And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment: But the righteous into life eternal." (Matthew 25:46).
Most people want to believe in life eternal yet they reject
everlasting punishment. The words "eternal" and "everlasting",
however, have the same meaning.
Hell - a place where the Holy Spirit never strives; where every soul
is left to its own depravity; and where there is neither leisure nor
repentance.
Hell - where there will be gnawing of tongues and blasphemy against
the God of Heaven.
Hell - immortal pain and tears; an infinity of wretchedness and
despair; the blackness of darkness forever; weeping and wailing and
gnashing of teeth; a long, long eternity - oh, miserable condition
of the damned!
Yes, Hell is a lake of fire (Rev. 20:15). A devouring fire (Isaiah
33:14). A bottomless pit (Rev. 20:1). Everlasting burnings (Isaiah
33:14). A furnace of fire (Matt. 13:41,42). A place of torments
(Luke 16:23). Where they curse God (Rev. 16:11). Where they can
never repent (Matt. 12:32). A place where they have no rest (Rev.
14:11). A place of everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46). A place of
blackness of darkness forever (Jude 13). A place where they gnaw
their tongues (Rev. 16:10). A place where their breath will be a
living flame (Isaiah 33:11). A place prepared for the Devil and his
angels (Matt. 25:41). A lake of fire into which the Antichrist and
the False Prophet are cast alive (Rev. 19:20). A place from which
the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and forever (Rev.
14:11). A place where they drink the wine of the wrath of God (Rev.
14:10). A place where they do not want their loved ones to come
(Luke 16:28). A place where there are murderers, liars, the fearful
and abominable (Rev. 21:8).
You may smile now at these serious words. You may fall back on your
conceited intellect and your college degree, but there will be as
many - if not more - educated people in Hell as of any other group.
In fact, it is as easy to go to Hell from a university as it is from
a booze joint or gambling den.
You are either on the way to Heaven or Hell right now. You are
either lost or saved. You are on the broad way with the crowds, or
on the narrow way with the people of God. One day your destiny is
going to be forever settled and you will be either in Heaven or
Hell. That is why the Holy Spirit pleads with you today to come to
Christ. He alone is able to save you having paid the penalty for
your sins on Calvary's Cross. "Wherefore He is able also to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever
liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25).
4. Hell and the Lake of Fire
Three different words are to be found in the Bible all of which have
been translated "Hell." A proper understanding of these words is
very important for they are often used by false cults to destroy the
true meaning of Hell. The three words are Tartarus, Hades, and
Gehenna.
"Tartarus" is found only once in the New Testament. 2 Peter 2:4:
"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to
hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved
unto judgment." This word "hell" has reference only to the angels
who sinned and to their place of confinement until they are brought
before the Lord in judgment.
The word "hades" is found ten times in the New Testament. Matthew
11:23, 16:18; Luke 10:15, 16:23; Acts 2:27,31; Revelation 1:18, 6:8,
20:13,14. The most familiar passage is Luke 16:19-31 which we
studied in our last message.
Hades is not the final resting place of those who reject Christ, but
it is the place where the unsaved dead now go to await their
judicial sentence. This final judgment will take place after the
resurrection at the Great White Throne (Rev. 20:11-15).
We saw from Luke 16 that there is no such thing as "soul sleep."
This is a false doctrine which teaches that the dead are unconscious
until the resurrection of the body. Not at all! The rich man in
hades was fully conscious. He had all his faculties and was
tormented day and night. He was also tormented by the fact that his
five brothers were unsaved and would also come into hades unless
they repented and turned to the Lord.
The word "gehenna" is found twelve times in the Gospels as follows:
Matthew 5:22,29,30, 10:28, 18:9, 23:15,33; Mark 9:43,45,47; Luke
12:5 and James 3:6. Then, of course, it is found in Revelation
20:15.
Let us examine some of the passages where Jesus used the word "gehenna"
in referring to the final hell of unbelievers:
Matthew 5:22: "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his
brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and
whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the
council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of
hell fire."
Matthew 5:29: "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and
cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy
members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast
into hell."
Matthew 10:28: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not
able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell."
The Bible clearly teaches that Gehenna, the final Hell, is a place
of fire: "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life
was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:15). Matthew 18:8 says: "to
be cast into everlasting fire." Mark 9:43,48: "fire that never shall
be quenched ... where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched." Revelation 21:8: "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."
There are some who tell us that the fires of Hell are not literal
fires but are only symbolic of the punishment of Hell. Certainly
there is no reason to believe that these fires are only symbols, but
rather they are literal fires. However, let us suppose they are
symbolic. Would that make the punishment any easier to bear? Not at
all! The reality would be greater than the symbol and the punishment
awful and terrible.
The Bible gives another picture of Hell in Matthew 8:12, 13:42,50,
22:13, 24:51, 25:30, and Luke 13:28. These verses speak of being
"cast into other darkness" and of "weeping and gnashing of teeth."
ANNIHILATION
Now there are some who teach that the wicked dead are annihilated at
death, never to be brought back into existence. Others teach that
they are annihilated in Hell. The Jehovah's Witnesses say that the
wicked are annihilated at death, then recreated to be given a second
chance. But those who refuse this second chance for eternal life
will be annihilated. They will cease to exist.
Those who believe in annihilation tell us such words as destroy,
destruction, perish, and consume - mean annihilation. One of their
favourite texts on this point is @ Thessalonians 1:9: "Who shall be
punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power."
Let us now study some of these words in the light of the Bible to
see their true meaning.
FIRST, the words destroyed or destruction cannot be translated as
annihilate or annihilation. Job 19:10: "He hath destroyed me on
every side." Job could not have been annihilated and still live to
tell about it.
Job 21:17: "How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft
cometh their destruction upon them!" How could they be put out of
existence many times?
Isaiah 34:2: "For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations,
and His fury upon all their armies: He hath utterly destroyed them."
The nations are not yet out of existence.
Hebrews 2:14: "That through death He (Christ) might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is, the devil." The devil is not out of
existence yet.
2 Thessalonians 1:9 reads: "Who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His
power." Those who teach the annihilation theory say that no one
could go out of the presence of an OMNIPRESENT GOD without being put
out of existence. Our reply is that Cain went out from the presence
of the Lord (Gen. 4:16) without being put out of existence.
Those who are banished from the presence of the Lord are banished
from His presence in Heaven. The word destroy does not mean
annihilate.
SECONDLY, the word perish never means annihilation. Yet false
teachers use such verses as John 3:16 which says, "whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish," to try to prove their theory
that the wicked shall go out of existence for ever.
The Greek word for perish is apollumi and means "to render unfit for
the intended use." In Matthew 9:17 the bottles into which the new
wine is put are said to break: "the bottles break, and the wine
runneth out, and the bottles perish." This simply means that the
bottles are rendered unfit for their intended use. They have not
been put out of existence.
In Luke 15:17 we hear the prodigal son say, "I perish with hunger."
He was certainly not annihilated.
In 2 Peter 3:6 we read: "Whereby the world that then was, being
overflowed with water, perished." But the world was not put out of
existence.
FINALLY, the word consume does not mean annihilation. In 1 Samuel
27:1, David said: "I shall now perish (the literal Hebrew is, be
consumed) by the hand of Saul." David certainly did not mean he
would go out of existence at the hand of Saul.
Galatians 5:15: "Take heed that ye be not consumed one of another."
Paul was not referring to them annihilating one another.
We can therefore see from the Bible that the words destroy,
destruction, and perish, do not mean annihilation.
RESTORATION
There are some teachers who believe that after the wicked have been
punished in the lake of fire, they will then be taken out and
transferred to Heaven. The main verse they use for this theory is
Acts 3:21: "Whom (speaking of Christ) the heaven must receive until
the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the
mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began."
Let us notice, however, that the restoration is to be for all things
"which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets." There
is not one place in the Bible where it is taught that the wicked and
Satan will be restored unto Heaven after their
punishment.
All who believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God know that
there is no escaping the truth of the lake of fire for those who die
in their sins. I do not know how it is possible for believers to say
they believe in Hell, and yet do so little to rescue the perishing,
and care for the dying."
It is because of the reality of the Lake of Fire that we broadcast
the Gospel and send forth Christian literature. The time is short
and whatever we are going to do to warn lost souls, we must do it
now.
If you are not yet saved, I plead with you in Jesus' Name, to turn
from your sins and receive Christ as your own personal Saviour. He
is waiting to save all who will come to Him by faith.
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