EVERLASTING NATURE OF HELL
I’m preaching today about the EVERLASTING NATURE OF HELL.
& I understand that Hell is separate from the Lake of Fire, & we’re gonna get to that tody also …
But in Matthew 25, Jesus separates the sheep from the goats when He returns ….
… & in v. 41, He says to the goats: “… Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”
Notice that the FIRE there is EVERLASTING.
And in v. 46 He says: “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
So we see EVERLASTING FIRE in conjunction with EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT.
& We see a CONTRAST between those who receive ETERNAL LIFE & those who are receive eternal punishment …
… punishment that never ends …
… in a fire that will never be quenched …
And this has been the FUNDAMENTAL, CLASSIC, ORTHODOX understanding of the EVERLASTING, CONSCIOUS PUNISHMENT of the DAMNED.
& by ORTHODOX, I don’t mean the Eastern Orthodox church …
…. I’m using that word in the PURE sense …
… meaning the ORIGINAL, fundamental, apostolic view of HELL & the LAKE OF FIRE.
But the doctrine of Hell, the Lake of Fire, and the Everlasting punishment of the unbeliever …
… a very fundamental, core doctrine of the faith …
… is & always has been under attack …
… and this attack is gaining new steam & beginning to even infiltrate Christian & evangelical circles.
I read you a quote to you last from JOHN PIPER, & although I disagree with him in much of his doctrine …
… this quote happens to express the contrast between EVERLASTING LIFE & the EVERLASTING NATURE of HELL:
Piper’s quote, explains the parallel eloquently:
“It would be unrighteous to acquit sinners as though their sin was insignificant, when in fact sin is an insult against the value of God’s glory. And since the value of God’s glory is infinite, the offense is infinitely outrageous. Therefore Jesus bears the curse, which was due to our sin, so that we can be justified and the righteousness of God can be vindicated.”
You see, God is infinitely offended by sin.
& therefore, the punishment for sin is infinite as well.
There’s a PARALLEL there between the enormity of the offense in relation to God’s holiness …
… & the just punishment of the offense.
As such, the only justifiable penalty for sin would be everlasting punishment in Hell.
That alone can satisfy God’s justice.
But those who deny the EVERLASTING NATURE OF HELL …
… TWIST THE WORDS to claim that “EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT” means the PERMANENT ANNIHILATION or DESTRUCTION of the UNBELIEVER …
… & that this will occur @ when they are thrown into the LAKE OF FIRE, which is called the SECOND DEATH.
& here is how they PARSE the individual words of Scripture & TURN THEIR MEANING AROUND …
They say that EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT means that the PUNISHMENT is PERMANENT …
… and then they jump from there to say that that = being burned or blotted out of existence in the Lake of Fire.
That’s the argument.
And it’s a VERY SEDUCTIVE argument.
And so you need to be aware of it, so as not to fall headlong into heresy with them.
… because a lot of believers have loved ones and friends that they would rather see BLOTTED OUT …
… then to think of them BURNING in A CONSCIOUS STATE of TORMENT FOR ALL ETERNITY.
But the danger to that doctrine, is that it will demotivate you to preach and to try to save lost souls …
… It’s not so bad to blotted out into a state of non-existence …
… It’s much worse to be tormented in flames and darkness for ever and ever.
And so their claim is that if the final state of the unbeliever was everlasting torment without end …
… that it wouldn’t say “EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT”, but rather, “EVERLASTING PUNISHING”.
That the PUNISHING would go on for ever and ever.
But there’s many things wrong with that statement, including the obvious improper & awkward syntax if the Bible read that way.
& this can easily by refuted by simple ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
“EVERLASTING” is the ADJECTIVE describing the OBJECT & the NOUN, “PUNISHMENT”.
EVERLASTING describes PUNISHEMENT.
Its the PUNISHMENT itself that continues in an ongoing and everlasting state.
EVERLASTING means ONGOING.
So if you say ONGOING PUNISHMENT … that doesn’t mean annihilation.
They do the same thing w/ 2 Thess. 1:8-9, where the Bible says that at Jesus’ return, God will:
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
And so rather than seeing EVERLASTING as the ADJECTIVE that describes the ongoing “DESTRUCTION” …
… They claim that EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION is referring to the WICKED being DESTROYED FOREVER …
It’s a SUBTLE & CRAFTY WORD CHANGE …
… The way that Satan twisted God’s Word & used it against Eve, in a subtle & seductive alteration of His Word.
You see, Satan knows God’s Word …
… otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to TWIST it so well to teach so many false doctrines.
But the Bible is clear that the punishment of the wicked is an ongoing state of conscious & everlasting PAIN & TORMENT …
& SO WHAT THE DOCTRINE I’M REFUTING TODAY is the false teaching of ANNIHILATIONISM …
This is a heresy taught by such false religious groups as Jehovah’s Witnesses & 7th Day Adventists & other fringe “Christian” groups …
That alone should tell you something …
… but now it’s being taught by a new & – hopefully short-lived – group of so-called Christian evangelicals …
… who call themselves CONDITIONALISTS …
… meaning that IMMORTALITY is conditional upon faith in Christ …
… and so only believers receive IMMORTALITY …
… and so the DAMNED remain MORTALS who will be destroyed in the Lake of Fire …
Let me first say, that whenever a FALSE TEACHING or MOVEMENT gets seriously EXPOSED …
… Satan & the people behind it, change the NAME of the MOVEMENT or it morphs or branches into a new movement …
… so that they can begin to REBRAND and REMARKET it all over again …
I was debating an annihilationist recently, from a devilish ministry called, “RETHINKING HELL” …
& let me tell you, there is absolutely NO REASON to RETHINK HELL, other than to meditate upon its everlasting terrors anew …
… in order to incentives us to preach the Gospel even harder.
& so ANNIHILATIONISTS or CONDITIONALISTS …
…. refute the idea that everybody – the saved & the damned – will be raised in an IMMORTAL STATE …
… that we will continue to exist forever, either to life in heaven or punishment in hell …
CONDITIONALISTS believe that IMMORTALITY is given only to the believer …
… & that the MORTAL UNBELIEVER will be destroyed.
But I even have a problem with their name.
This is what happens when you don’t understand the true meaning of Biblical words or misapply their meaning.
THE BIBLE DOES IN FACT TEACH that only the SAVED receive IMMORTALITY.
But this doesn’t mean that the DAMNED cease to exist …
… or that they are not CONSCIOUS while being TORMENTED DAY & NIGHT.
It’s just that they are using the SECULAR definition of IMMORTALITY …
Both the saved & the damned will exist forever …
But the Bible only uses terms like LIFE and IMMORTALITY to describe the state of the BELIEVER.
Because being burned forever in a state of torment is not what the Bible considers IMMORTAL LIFE or EVERLASTING LIFE …
… both phrases used to describe only the state of the believer.
The Bible, rather, refers to them as THE DEAD, even while they are walking around being judged.
When the Bible speaks of the lost, they are still called DEAD, because they are DEAD in their SINS …
… they have not been REGENERATED unto LIFE …
… this doesn’t imply that they aren’t CONSCIOUS, but just that they are DEAD, which is the opposite of having LIFE.
BUT LET’S FIRST LOOK UP the verse for IMMORTALITY & define our words from the BIBLE …
… & Then we’ll look at the DEAD or the DAMNED.
OF IMMORTALITY, Romans 2:7 says: “To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:”
So the first time “immortality” appears in the Bible, it is defined as “ETERNAL LIFE” …
… life that continues forever.
& It’s only for the REGENERATED, SAVED BELIEVER.
It describes a REGENERATED NATURE, a life without sin, perfect, & everlasting.
DEATH & SIN has no power over the regenerated believer …
… who is regenerated unto what the Bible describes as EVERLASTING LIFE.
1 Corinthians 15:53-54 says:
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
The annihilations uses this passage to say that only the believer will receive a glorified, incorruptible body.
And the unbeliever will be consumed.
1 Timothy 6:16, speaking of Jesus, says: “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”
2 Timothy 1:10: “And finally, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:”
These are the only times that the word, “IMMORTALITY” appears in the Bible.
IMMORTALITY ascribed only to Jesus Christ & those who are begotten of Him.
Jesus said in John 6:47: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
Jesus also said in John 11:26: “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
Jesus has promised the GIFT OF EVERLASTING LIFE to the believer.
This is never promised to the damned.
But the CONDITIONALIST or the ANNIHILATIONIST doesn’t understand the BIBLICAL MEANING of IMMORTALITY.
They mistakenly think that Christianity teaches that everyone – saved or damned – is raised to immortality.
But we actually teach is that the SAVED are RAISED to IMMORTAL LIFE & the LOST are raised to everlasting torment & damnation.
Even when you DIE the FIRST DEATH, the PHYSICAL DEATH, you are not in a state of unconsciousness.
It just LOOKS that way to people who are still living.
The Bible teaches that the UNBELIEVER goes straight to HELL at the moment of DEATH to suffer torment …
… that he is fully conscious during after death.
& the Bible teaches that the soul and spirit of the BELIEVER immediately goes to be with CHRIST, awaiting the resurrection of His body.
UNCONSCIOUSNESS doesn’t follow the FIRST DEATH …
… so what makes them think it follows the SECOND DEATH?
There are no clear passages in the Bible to indicate that the DAMNED will cease to exist.
What’s simple & plain to understand is what Jesus said in Matthew 25:41 & 46:
41 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:
…
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Why would FIRE need to be EVERLASTING if the DAMNED will cease to exist?
If it’s a powerful enough FIRE from God, I would say that only an inconsequential instant would suffice to BURN THE DEAD into non-existence.
WHY WOULD THAT FIRE NEED TO CONTINUE FOREVER, unless the TORMENT also continues forever?
Revelation 20:12 also describes the scene of the dead (who are the damned) at the White Throne Judgment.
And this is where we see that though conscious, the DAMNED are referred to as the DEAD, because they don’t have the LIFE OF CHRIST in them: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God;
[The Damned even when described as the “dead” are in a conscious state & standing before God awaiting judgment.]
… and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”
So it is only THE DEAD who are JUDGED at the WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT.
They are judged according to their WORKS.
Their WORKS are as FILTHY RAGS.
They will come short of the GLORY OF God.
The SAVED BELIEVER will not be judged at the WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT …
… but will awake to EVERLASTING LIFE & IMMORTALITY.
THE ANNIHILATIONISTS are simply confusing the SECULAR meaning of “IMMORTALITY” – meaning to exist forever …
w/ the Biblical meaning of IMMORTALITY, which means the EVERLASTING LIFE for the BELIEVER.
& AND SO THEIR ARUGUGMENT …
… based on this false, secular definition of IMMORTALITY is that everybody dies once in the FIRST DEATH …
… & that only believers will continue in an IMMORTAL STATE …
but that the UNBELIEVER will go through the SECOND, PERMANENT DEATH.
… which they define as permanent destruction or annihilation.
But God has said in His Word that the torment & punishment of the unbeliever continues without end.
LET’S LOOK @ THE SECOND DEATH …
& see what the Bible says & compare it against the annihilations argument to see if they are consistent.
REVELATION 20 is one of the passages which speaks of the SECOND DEATH.
Revelation 20:10-15:
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
[So the picture we have is of the LAKE OF FIRE.
And it is clearly described as a place where the DEVIL, the BEAST, and the FALSE PROPHET are “tormented day and night forever and ever.”
SO THERE IS NO DOUBT, FIRST …
… that the LAKE OF FIRE is DESCRIBED as a PLACE of EVERLASTING TORMENT …
… that’s what the Bible describes. That’s the FUNCTION of the LAKE OF FIRE.
& then the NEXT VERSE …
… we see that the FATE OF THE UNBELIEVER is to suffer the same fate as the DEVIL, the BEAST, & the FALSE PROPHET.
There’s no reason to believe that their everlasting habitation would be any different …
… since they are ALL thrown into the Lake of Fire together.
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
There’s no reason to believe that somehow the DEVIL’S punishment is everlasting pain& torment in the Lake of Fire …
… but that the BELIEVER gets annihilated instead in the same place where the devil is.
WE ALSO SEE IN REVELATION 14:11, the same exact outcome for the unbeliever …
If I had to pick just 1 VERSE to refute ANNIHILATIONISTS, it would be REVELATION 14:11.
This verse tells us DIRECTLY & PLAINLY that not only SATAN but the UNBELIEVER will be tormented DAY & NIGHT FOREVER: “And the smoke of their torment [speaking of those who worship the beast & the unbeliever] 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.”
So we have a PICTURE of this SMOKE rising up forever and ever …
Now let me ask you: if you’re burning something, once that thing is consumed and no longer exists …
… will there still be smoke?
The answer is no. If there’s nothing left to burn, the SMOKE ALSO goes out …
THAT’S the FIRST THING …
& the SECOND THING, is notice that AFTER the SMOKE there’s a “:” – which indicates that the sentence is not yet finished …
… the Bible is going to expand on the first half of the sentence, which is about the SMOKE RISING UP FOREVER …
…. and it says – directly of the unbeliever : “and they have no rest day nor night.”
If you have no rest day nor night …
… that means you’re in a state of unrest.
You can’t be in a state of UNREST, if you do not exist.
By very definition, not having rest day nor night means that you are consciously in a tormented, unrested, state without any peace or reprieve or intermission …
… it is just a CONTINUAL of TORMENT ….
which is the WORD that the BIBLE uses in the same verse to describe the ANGUISH of the WICKED.
But they have 2 arguments for this:
1. It’s all SYMBOLIC. This is just a VISION, and visions are 100% symbolic and those symbols have to be interpreted.
That’s the first argument …
Everything’s symbolic … and you can’t really have any true understanding of what it’s saying …
Well, you know from the CONTEXT if it’s symbolic or not …
I asked one of them if they believe BOOK OF LIFE is symbolic …
(because the book of life is mentioned at the second death and the white throne judgment).
… I asked if the WHITE THRONE & he who sits on the white throne is symbolic …
I asked if they think there’s an actual LAKE OF FIRE … or if that’s symbolic …
… & THEY’RE was that it’s ALL SYMBOLIC.
Who do you logically argue against someone like that?
They’re rooted in the same hermeneutical understanding of the Bible as we are.
So they don’t even believe in a LITERAL BOOK OF LIFE and a LITERAL WHITE THRONE where God will judge the wicked, A literal LAKE OF FIRE ….
But I take those verses VERY LITERALLY.
But even if you were to conceded that this passage is SYMBOLIC …
… and that you have to INTERPRET THE SYMBOLS …
… what possible meaning could these symbols convey other than everlasting torment and suffering for the unbeliever?
When the Bible says there will be NO REST NIGHT NOR DAY for the wicked and they will be burning in a LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER …
… what other interpretation options do we have, other than LITERAL PAIN & SUFFERING FOREVER?
AND WE SEE HERE, in this passage, that DEATH & HELL themselves are THROWN into the LAKE OF FIRE.
When people DIE, there are 2 immediate outcomes:
(1) For the believer, the moment we die, we are present with the LORD, awaiting the resurrection of our bodies.
2 Corinthians 5:6-8:
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Our soul and spirit will be immediately present with God …
… but we won’t be united w/ our bodies until the first resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:23, speaking of the resurrection of our bodies, says: “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”
So it won’t be until the COMING OF THE LORD, that the RESURRECTION occurs.
But that’s speaking of being re-united with our BODY vs. …
… our SPIRIT which will be w/ the LORD the moment, Paul says, we are ABSENT from the BODY.
Philippians 1:23 affirms this. Paul says: “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:”
2. But the unbeliever will go immediately to Hell, awaiting the White Throne Judgment.
We know this because we see that at the WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT which we just read in Revelation 20:13:
“ … and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.”
So we see that people who are “DEAD” are already in “HELL” being delivered up to be JUDGED.
And then after this, DEATH & HELL themselves are THROWN into the LAKE OF FIRE …
… which is the permanent RESIDENCE of the LOST.
There is also NO DOUBT that there is TORMENT in HELL …
Not even most ANNIHILATIONISTS disagree with this one (although their views differ):
Jesus spoke of Hell in Mark 9:43-48:
43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
[Notice that He says that the FIRE of HELL shall never be QUENCHED. That means it will never be put out.
That’s because HELL itself will be TRANSFERRED to the LAKE OF FIRE and HELLFIRE will continue on forever.]
44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
He tells them 3 times … it’s better to suffer pain and loss in this life …
… then to suffer everlasting pain & torment in Hell.
What does it mean that the WORM DIETH NOT?
What do WORMS do when they’re around DECAYING DEAD, BODIES?
WORMS CONSUME the DEAD BODIES, helping with the natural decomposition process.
It’s God’s way of geo-recycling.
But Jesus says that in HELL, the WORM NEVER DIES …
Why? Because they will have an eternity to GNAW AWAY at the bodies of the damned.
It’s a PICTURE of NEVER-ENDING TORMENT.
And this will continue when Hell is thrown into the Lake of Fire.
This refers back to Isaiah 66:24, where the same language is used in the OT: “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.”
Notice that THEIR WORM & THEIR FIRE is personal.
It’s THEIR worm, and THEIR FIRE.
Again, it says that that FIRE shall not be QUENCHED, or PUT OUT.
Why would THEIR FIRE not be put out? and THEIR WORM never die?
Because they will exist in a CONSCIOUS STATE of EVERLASTING TORMENT.
And then it says that THEY SHALL BE an abhorring to ALL FLESH.
This is describe in an ONGOING, FUTURE TENSE: THEY SHALL BE an abhorring to all flesh …
But the ANNIHILATIONISTS says that once they cease to exist, they will be abhorred by all people.
And, so again, they CHANGE the SNYTAX of the Bible …
… & usually use LEXICONS to do it, instead of relying on the clear words of the Bible …
And they say well, IS 66 is about carcasses (dead bodies) being consumed …
But what they fail to understand is that Isaiah 66 is an EARTHLY, temporal picture of what will occur in the Lake of Fire forever.
It’s a prophetic foreshadowing of Hell & the Lake of Fire.
That’s why eternal language is used to describe it …
… along with verses which speak of “the new heavens and the new earth” which God mentions in Is. 66:22.
Daniel 12:2 describes this as SHAME & EVERLASTING CONTEMPT: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt.”
Here we see that it is the UNBELIEVER who will feel SHAME & EVERLASTING CONTEMPT.
How can you FEEL EVERLASTING CONTEMPT if you are ANNIHILATED?
Again, the ANNIHILATIONIST reverse the syntax & the meaning …
& says that this means that the wicked won’t feel contempt, but will be contemptible to the host of heaven after their annihilation.
They change the meaning.
WE SEE ALSO, in LUKE 16, that without doubt, there is SUFFERING in HELL.
Speaking of LAZARUS and the RICH MAN who had died and woke up in Hell, Jesus relaying this story in Luke 16:23-24:
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 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.
Again, we see conscious TORMENT in FLAMES.
And we see Lazarus w/ a body here.
This is consistent w/ both HELL & the LAKE OF FIRE.
… both Hell & the Lake of Fire are places of everlasting fire & torment.
Psalm 116:3 also says: “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.”
We read earlier in Revelation 20:14 that: “… death and hell were cast into the lake of fire …”
So one way to understand this is that HELL is a temporary, intermediary state for the LOST …
… a PLACE OF TORMENT …
… and that HELL (which I believe to be at the center of the EARTH currently) …
… will be RELOCATED to it’s permanent abode, which is the LAKE OF FIRE.
God is going to DESTROY the EARTH & create a new heaven & a new earth …
And the earth being perfect, will no longer contain the souls of the damned.
Hell will have to be relocated elsewhere.
Notice that in REVELATION 21:1, it says: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”
When the current EARTH is destroyed, HELL will be relocated permanently to the LAKE OF FIRE.
Jesus says in Matthew 12:40: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
He’s referring to His own descent into Hell for 3 days, after His death.
Jonah 2:2 says: “And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.”
… one way to think of it (and this is just an analogy) …
… is that HELL is a JAIL or HOLDING CELL for the DAMNED …
until they can be judged at the White Throne Judgment ….
… and that the LAKE OF FIRE is the PERMANENT PRISON …
Essentially Hell & the Lake of Fire aret he same thing, but one a temporary abode before the judgment, and one a permanent abode after the judgment.
The final verse from their side of the isle that I’d like to cover today is Matthew 10:28. Jesus says: “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.”
And their argument is that God will DESTROY both body & soul in Hell and associate that with KILLING the body.
But there’s a difference between “killing” something & “destroying” something.
& we see other places where destroy is defined as “everlasting destruction”, “everlasting fire” and “torment” and “no rest day nor night”.
So the DESTROYING that Jesus is talking about here is the everlasting torment I’ve already covered.
the bottom line is: all of their arguments fall short:
They either have to change the syntax and meaning of the Bible …
… or go back to lexicons for their interpretation, or explain it all away as symbolic.
When you add up the arguments for everlasting punishment in both Hell & the Lake of Fire …
… we witness a consistent messaged preached by the Bible, and Jesus Himself – and a warning to the unbeliever …
… to do everything in your power to avoid the EVERLASTING FLAMES of HELL.
HELL, ultimately, is synonymous, for all intents and purposes, with the LAKE OF FIRE …
… the only distinction we make there is that one is the temporary abode and one is the permanent abode of the unbeliever …
… both serve with the same function: the everlasting & on-going conscious irrevocable punishment of the unbeliever.
Once you die, it is too late.
And if we remove the FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE of EVERLASTING TORMENT IN HELL & the LAKE OF FIRE ….
many will in fact choose to be annihilated.
It’s not such a bad punishment for most people who have gone through the pains of this life …
… annihilation would be a welcome rest.
But the Bible says that the unbeliever will have NO REST DAY NOR NIGHT.
That’s the 1 thing that cannot be refuted.
But Jesus invites you to believe.
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT parallels LIFE ETERNAL.
Both describe a state of endlessness, one of bliss and one of torment.
Do you want eternal life?
Turn to Jesus, if you have not, by faith alone, be saved, and escape the EVERLASTING FIRE.