Daniel chapter 12, the part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on is beginning in verse two there where the Bible reads; many of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt, and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.
Tonight I want to preach on the subject of hell, and when you're going to preach a sermon about hell, you really have to just focus on one aspect or one emphasis, just because there's so much scripture about hell. Anybody who reads the Bible knows that this is something that comes up a lot, especially when you're reading the New Testament. Over and over again, Jesus Christ talked about hell, the epistles mention hell, and so on and so forth. Tonight what I want to focus on is the fact that hell is an everlasting punishment. The fact that hell actually goes on forever is what I want to emphasize here.
The Bible says here in verse two, many of them that sleep in the dust shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. If you would, go to Matthew chapter number 25. The title of the sermon tonight is, The Everlasting Punishment of Hell. The everlasting punishment of hell, look at Matthew chapter number 25, and really, every scripture that I'm turning to tonight in my several pages of notes here, all deals with the fact that hell is eternal. It all indicates that, that's the way the Bible speaks about hell.
Look at Matthew chapter number 25, verse 41, the Bible reads; then shall he say also to them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Look at verse number 46; and these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Now, when you read that right there and it says everlasting punishment, that tells us it's a punishment that lasts forever. It's not a punishment that ends, because I've heard some people say, well, you know, it's everlasting fire, but when they get there they just burn up, but the fire just keeps burning. I've heard people try to get around the fact that he talks about everlasting fire, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever, well you know, the smoke just keeps ascending, the fire just keeps burning with no one in it.
No, no. The Bible says they're going to a place of everlasting punishment, and if we just take that for what it says, it's a punishment that lasts forever. It's everlasting shame and contempt. Go to second Thessalonians chapter one. Another thing I'd like to point out to you is that the doctrine of hell is something that is taught in every part of the Bible. If we look at the New Testament, for example, we find it taught in the four gospels, probably more than anywhere else. Then we find it also in epistles of Paul, and then we find also in the other epistles like by Peter, and Jude, and then we also find it, of course, heavily taught in the book of Revelations. Every part of the New Testament emphasizes this doctrine, yet it is a doctrine that is not being preached very often today in pulpits in America, and I'll be honest with you, it's a subject that's easy to skip.
Sometimes I find myself going a long time between sermons on hell, and here's why I think it's easy to skip. A couple of reasons, number one is that it's not a pleasant subject, so sometimes it's not something that you would gravitate toward when you're picking sermons to preach on. Secondly, the reason I think the reason that it's to often being preached is because when we give people the gospel out Soul Winning, we always mention hell. I mean, I don't know about you, every single time, you ought to, every single time you give someone the gospel, you start out by showing them that we're all sinners, and that we all deserve to go to hell, so the fact that you're constantly bringing up hell when you're out Soul Winning, make you feel, as a pastor, like oh I've already talked a lot about that, I talk about that all the time, I've covered that all the time.
Sometimes we need a sermon preached about hell to get the doctrine of hell ingrained in us so that we don't get tossed to and fro with every wind of false doctrine where people say, maybe hell's not eternal, maybe it just wouldn't be fair for God to send people to hell for all eternity. People start questioning these basic questioning these basic teachings of the Bible because they're not being taught in church. Plus, there are those in the church who don't go Soul Winning, unfortunately, and they especially need a reminder of why they need to get out there and go Soul Winning, because hell is a real place, and that that's what we're out there doing Soul Winning, is trying to deliver people from hell by bringing them the gospel.
Look at Second Thessalonians chapter one, verse eight. The Bible reads; in flaming fire, taking 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, and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe because our testimony among you was believed in that day. Some people will get hung up sometimes when the Bible uses the word obey n regard to salvation. Here's a great example of how obey the gospel means to believe the gospel. It says in verse number eight, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and then that's compared in verse ten with those who believe, all those who believe, because our testimony was believed among you in that day it says.
The word obey means something different depending on what the command is. I mean, if I said, would you go open that door, how would you obey that command? You'd open the door. If you said, here, bring me a drink of water, then you'd obey the command by bringing me a drink of water. The action is different based upon what the command is. Well, here's the commandment, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. The gospel is about the fact that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life. How do you obey that? By believing. You say, I don't think believing is a command, but the Bible says in First John, chapter three, verse 23, this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his son Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave his commandment.
There's a command to believe on Jesus Christ, there's a command to love one another, these commands in the Bible, so it's obedience to believe and be saved. A lot of people will take versus that talk about obeying the gospel, or obeying the Lord Jesus Christ in regard to Salvation and say, see, you have t obey everything he commands. Good luck with that. Good luck obeying everything he commands in order to make it into Heaven, because the truth is we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
We see here again, and reference to flaming fire. People say, the fire in hell's just figurative. How about flaming fire? I mean, just to make sure that there's no doubt what we're talking about here. Flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God. I also want to point out the word vengeance there to show you that hell is a punishment, okay? We talked about in Matthew 25, the shall go into everlasting punishment. In Second Thessalonians, it says in verse nine, where you're at there, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction. Taking vengeance, vengeance implies a punishment for something that's been done. It's the punishment for sin. The Bible says, the fearful and unbelieving, the abominable, murderers, whore-mongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. It's sin that condemns people to Hell. It's a punishment for sin, and it's an everlasting punishment.
Go to Second Peter, chapter two. Yesterday I saw that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died, and it reminded me of back in 2009 where I saw video of him saying that torturing people does not violate the eighth amendment. Remember, the Supreme Court is supposed to interpret the laws of our country and to provide righteous judgement, and they're supposed to look at the Constitution and decide if laws are constitutional and so forth. The question came up, is it constitutional for our country to torture people? Of course, in the Bill of Rights, the eight amendment says, cruel and unusual punishments shall not be inflicted. Now, people know all about the second amendment, and they talk a lot about the right to bear arms, they know a lot about the first amendment, the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, but there are several of the amendments in the Bill of Rights that people just completely ignore and think noting about.
The problem with that is that if you ignore a few of them and you give the government an inch, what are they going to do? They're going to take a mile. We've been ignoring the sixth, seventh, and eight amendments for years and nobody cares, then all of a sudden you're shocked when they start taking away the second amendment and the first amendment. You have to stop it at the beginning when they start taking away the trial by jury in the sixth amendment. See, the sixth amendment says that you get a trial by jury for any crime. Any crime, but they say, well, no, only serious crimes. How about this? How about you only arrest people for serious crimes? Sounds good? If it's not serious enough to have a jury trial, maybe it should just not even be against the law. Did you think about that?
Or, in the seventh amendment, it says that any ... Let there me light, and there was light. In the seventh amendment it says that any civil dispute, any disagreement with two people over more than $20 gets a trial by jury. Now you say, come on, that's stupid. Okay, well then why don't you just throw out the whole thing and just have a communist government then, if you think the Bill of Rights is so stupid. Actually, it's not stupid at all, because when that paper was written, $20 actually meant something. You know why they wrote $20 in the Constitution? Because they actually assumed that $20 is still going to be $20. They didn't know that there was going to be this criminal banking enterprise known as the Federal Reserve System that was going to print all this fake money and drive up the ...
See, if you would've actually stuck with what the Constitution said, you couldn't have a Federal Reserve inflated currency because they say, now everybody who has a disagreement about 20 bucks, we have to have a trial by jury, but was that ever amended, was that ever changed? No. To this day, the seventh amendment says that if you have a dispute with someone over $20 or more, you get a trial by jury. But they'd laugh at you if you went to court and asked for that. They laugh at you and say that's ridiculous, that's stupid. So, if the sixth and seventh amendments aren't worth the paper that they're written on, then why do you think that they're never going to take away the first, the second, the fourth ...
You have to either stand up for these things or not. The eight amendment is important because the eighth amendment says that cruel and unusual punishment shall not be inflicted. Well, hmm, that sounds like torturing people is something that is against the law in this country, or at least it's supposed to be against the law in this country. But this judge, Antonin Scalia, he said, well no, torturing people doesn't violate the eighth amendment because they're not really being punished, it's not a punishment. It says cruel and unusual punishment shall not be inflicted, and he was asked, what if a police officer just beats the whatever out of you, isn't that a punishment? No, they're not being punished, it's not because you've done anything wrong. He's just basically inflicting pain on you to get information out of you, and that's not a punishment.
Basically, according to this guy, according to the world's judge ... and this kind of goes back to my sermon a couple weeks ago about First Corinthians six. According to the world's judges, it's okay to torture people as long as they haven't done anything wrong, because if they've done something wrong then that would be punishment, but as long as they haven't be charged with any crime, you may torture them. Oh man, I'm so sorry that we've lost this guy in the Supreme Court. This guy was such a righteous judge.
Here's my question for you. Now that Antonin Scalia is burning in Hell, right now, because he's a Roman Catholic, not a Bible-believing Christian ... I'm sick of people lifting up Roman Catholics as being these Godly ... oh this Godly Christian. No, he's a Roman Catholic. That is not Christianity. That is paganism. That is a false religion. You say, how do you know? I know that everybody who believes in Roman Catholic religion is going to Hell when they die. I know that because the Bible teaches that you have to have all of your faith in Jesus to be saved. Bowing down to a statue, and confessing your sins to a priest, and working your way to Heavan is not the way to get there. You can't buy your way in. You can't work your way in. You either go by grace through faith or you don't go at all, and many who will say to Jesus in that day, Lord, have we not prophesized in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works, and then will I profess on them, I never knew you, depart from me the work [iniquity 00:14:02].
See, those have that have done many works in his name, they don't get into Heaven based on that. No, it's based on your faith in Jesus Christ, and the Catholic does not teach salvation by faith at all. They don't teach it. Go Soul Winning with me, and just this week I knocked on the door of a Roman Catholic. He said, you have to do the works, it's by being a good person, it's by obeying, it's this prideful, arrogant way of making your own way of Heaven. That's what Catholicism is. You say, well there's some Catholics who are saved. Look, if they're saved then they're no a Catholic, because the word Catholic ... I remember when I was in elementary school they taught us how to dissect words and figure out where they come from, and that I-C ending, they taught us, that's someone who believes in that. In order to be a Catholic, you have to be somebody who believes in Catholicism.
Now, I know that there could be somebody who goes to a Catholic church because they're forced to by their parents, or they're forced to by their spouse, that doesn't believe anything the Catholic church teaches, and vexes their righteous soul every time they walk into that den of idolatry and iniquity and says, wow this is stupid. They might saved, by anybody else who says, I beleive that the Roman Catholic church is the true church is going to Hell. Period. You know, I could get up here and lie to you about it and tell you, yeah there's lots of saved Catholics, and saved Muslims, and saved Buddhists, and saved Mormons, and saved Jehovah's Witnesses, but it would be a lie. I'd rather tell you the truth and just tell you that's there's no ... Somebody said, there's no salvation outside the Catholic church. I'll tell you this, there's no salvation inside the Catholic church. That's the true story, my friend.
People don't want to say that because it offends people, but it's truth. This Antonin Scalia, in addition to promoting his false, wicked religion, is one who said, hey it's okay to torture people. He thought it was great that we're torturing people, apparently. He said, it's totally legal to arrest someone, not bring any charges against them, and torture them. Here's the thing, he's in a place of torture right now, literally. I wonder if he still thinks that torture is not a punishment, because he's there right now, and he's there for one reason; because he's sinner. We'd all be going there if we didn't beleive on Jesus, if we followed that pagan religion.
You know what, why don't you go around ... You say, well no, I think Catholics are going to ... Why don't you go around and ask all the former Catholics in our church. Who here used to be Catholic at some point in your life? Okay, look around. These are the people you can talk to and you can ask them if the Catholic church taught them how to be saved, if the Catholic church is preaching the true gospel, or if they'd rather have you warn their Catholic friends and relatives that they need to be saved instead of just telling them, we're all going to Heaven, we're just taking different paths to get there.
Look at Second Peter chapter two, verse four. You say, why do you delight in someone going ... I don't delight in anyone going to Hell. I'm just stating the fact that he's in Hell. And you know what? I'm telling you he's in Hell because he deserved to go to Hell, and God is just to send him to Hell, and he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword, and he's one who thought that's it's okay, and he's using his power to say, yes, keep torturing people. You know what? Then that's coming back around to get him now, and this is a lesson to everyone.
Look at Second Peter, chapter two, verse four; 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 judgement. Now, right away let me point out that these angels that sinned that were cast down to Hell, it says, to be reserved unto judgement. So, are these people just getting to Hell, burning up ... I'm sorry, not people, these angels. Do they just get there, burn up, and they're gone, according to this passage? No they're not. He says that they're in Hell, in chains, under darkness, and that they're reserved unto judgement. So, they're in Hell suffering until the judgement. Then is says in verse five, spare not the old world but save Noah the eight person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemn them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly, and deliver just Lot vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. That righteous man dwelling among them, and seeing, and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the Godly out of temptations, referring to Lot, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgement to be punished.
Now you can see very clearly here, that just as the angels the sinned were cast down to Hell, and he says reserved unto judgement, just as they were sent to Hell for that reason, he says that God knows how to deliver the Godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust, meaning unjust man, unsaved people, unto the day of judgement to be punished. Look if you would at the book of Jude, just a few pages to the right, which is a parallel passage of what we just read in Second Peter chapter two. The Bible says in Jude verse five; I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not, and the angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgement of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Again, we have the same themes coming up again, punishment, vengeance, and eternal fire. He said, Sodom and Gomorrah was an example to those that after should live ungodly. God spared not the angels that sinned. God, when the people came out of the land of Egypt, destroyed those who believed not, and these are all pictures of the fact that Hell awaits those who do no beleive on the Lord Jesus Christ alone as their savior.
Look at Revelation chapter 20. This is the first Bible verse that I ever memorized on my own. As a very small child I memorized this verse on my own, besides verses that I learned in Sunday school, versus that I learned in Christian school, this is one that I learned on my own as a very small boy, and I learned this verse to be able to tech others, and preach to others, that Hell is eternal. This was my go-to verse as a six year old, okay, to know this. The reason I got this verse is because my parents, in the back of their Bibles, they had all the major doctrines of the Bible written down and verses to prove it, sort of like a cheat sheet, if anybody was questioning something, or they were giving somebody the gospel and they had a question, then they would go to that cheat sheet and they had one point that said, Eternal Hell, Revelation 20:10. I thought, I should memorize that verse, I need to be able to warn people about Hell.
Even as a six year old boy, not having the understanding of the world that I have today, I understood that we that are saved need to warn the unsaved. That was just obvious to me even as a little kid, wow, we need to warn people so that they don't go to Hell. I didn't really know how to go about doing that. I wasn't good at doing that. I didn't have any experience with that, and it wasn't until I was about 17 years old that I actually started winning people unto the Lord, because of just not knowing what I was doing, and not being trained, and just being too worldly. I'll tell you right now, even as a six year old by, I understood the need to warn people about the eternal punishment of Hell, and that's what the sermon's really about to night.
It says in Revelation ... By the way, if the Catholics are all going to Heaven, then the way isn't narrow, you know, because the Bible says, enter ye inneth the straight gate. It says, wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there we which go in there at, because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth the way to life, and few there be that find it. A billion Catholics is not a few people, okay? It's a false religion, my friend. I'm not going to back down on that at all. I'm not going to say, well, you know ... No, there's no ifs, ands, or buts, and the orthodox church is the same exact thing as the Roman Catholic Church. The devil has his counterfeit, the great whore mystery Babylon religion of worshiping idols, and worshiping goddesses, and all this stuff ... I mean, look, the Catholic religion goes back even before Jesus even walked on this Earth, where they're baking cakes to the Queen of Heaven. You know, all these different ... I mean, go look at ancient Egypt, ancient Babylon, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, you'll find all the Mother Mary statues you want, except they're called Athena, and everything else.
The Bible says in Revelation 20:10, this is a key verse, I've known this verse my whole life; 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 forever and ever. Now, if you get the context here, this is after a thousand years have gone by, of the millennium earlier in chapter 20. At the end of chapter 19, the beast, the Antichrist is who that is, and the false prophet, which are human beings between, the Antichrist and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire n chapter 19. Then a thousand years go by, then the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet were? Beast a false prophet used to be? No, it says where the beast and the false prophet are, present tense, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Look what it says in verse 15, where people who aren't saved are going to the same place; whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
It's that simple. Anyone whose name is not found written in the Book of Life is going to the lake of fire along with the Antichrist and the false prophet. Now, the Bible does teach right before this, in the verses in between ten and 15, that there's going to be a judgement. It says in verse 11; 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, and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was open, which is the Book of Life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in these books according to their works.
Let me stop and point out that you and I will not be judged at this judgement as long as we're saved. The reason why I say that is because it says the dead stood before God, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. Here's the thing, we have already been resurrected long before this. The Bible even talks about, in verse number five, the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are finished, this is the first resurrection. Verse six, blessed and holy is he that have part in the firs resurrection, on such the second death have no power, but they should be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. Those of us that are part of the first resurrection, when Christ comes in the clouds and the trumpet sounds, we're not going to be dead at that great white throne. We're not going to be the dead standing before God small and great.
Look, verse 13, the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hell delivered up the dead which were in it. We're going to be in neither of those places. We've already been resurrected long before this at the first resurrection. And they were judged every man according to their works, 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, a lot of people would look at this and say, what's the purpose of judging when these people are already dead? They've already been in Hell. Hell is delivering up the dead that are in it so they can be judged according to their works. What's the purpose? This is basically just a sentencing hearing, is what this is, for these people that are unsaved that have already been in Hell.
You see, the Bible's clear that the moment a person dies without Jesus Christ as their savior, that they're immediately in Hell. Go to Luke chapter 16 and we'll see that. Luke chapter number 16. You say, well that's not fair, what about the judgement day? The Bible says, he that beliveth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. God doesn't have to bring you before a judgement and have trial to determine whether not you're going to Hell, if you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, you're condemned already. You're already guilty, and you will just go straight to Hell. What's the purpose of being in Hell? It's a punishment, it's fire, but he says, you're also reserved unto the day of judgment. You're basically reserved there, according to Second Peter two and Jude, you're basically there waiting for your sentencing hearing.
This is the way it is even in our nation, where someone gets arrested and they're put in jail. Now, they're not put in prison, they're put in jail, because there is a difference between jail and prison, right? Jail is your local lockup, your county jail or what have you. Prison is somewhere that people go long term. Jail is somewhere that you go short-term. Does everybody understand the difference? Basically, Hell as we know it in the heart of the Earth, in the center or core of the Earth, is like jail in a sense. Then, lake of fire is like prison. Does everybody understand? Because it's the longer-term holding tank. Basically, the moment that a person ... let's go back to the illustration of someone who gets arrested.
Somebody get arrested and they're in jail, right? Then they go to their trial while they're in jail, and they're tried, and let's say they're convicted. Then they're sent back to jail and they say, okay, we're going to have sentencing in a couple weeks. They don't always do the sentencing right then and there. A lot of times there's a delay. So they'll say, okay we're going to come back in two weeks for sentencing, but you're still in jail in the mean time. You've already been condemned. Then they get out the sentencing hearing where they take testimony, and take things into account, and then they roll out the punishment. Now you say, isn't everybody's punishment exactly the same? I don't believe so, because Jesus talks about some people receiving a greater damnation. He talks about some people going to the lowest Hell, and I do believe that there is a difference in how people will be punished.
The Bible uses a parable about this, and he talks about how the children of Israel would be punished more severely than the gentile nations if they don't beleive on Jesus Christ, because of the fact that they had the privilege and the advantage of hearing the word of God their whole lives, in the synagogues, and being exposed more to the one true God than other nations. He used an illustration about disobedient servants, and he said the servant that did not know his Lord's will and disobeyed is going to be beaten with few stripes, because he didn't really know. He still did wrong, he should've known, so he still gets a beating. But it says that he that knew his Lord's will and did it not shall be beaten with many stripes. So there's going to be a judgement to determine the level of punishment that people are going to experience in the lake of fire for all eternity.
Whether they first of all had heard the gospel, and the more that they have known and heard the gospel, or had access to the gospel, they're going to get a more severe punishment, or the more sins that they've committed in their life, they're going to get a worse punishment. Here's the thing, don't get this idea of, well, it's not going to be that bad for some people. It's Hell. It's a lake of fire. Either way, it's torment, it's fire, it's burning. Jesus talked about different rewards in Heaven, that's not all equal either. You get to Heaven, some people are going to get man crowns, and great rewards, other people will be saved by the skin of their teeth, as it were, and have no rewards, and all their works will be burned up, but he himself shall be saved, thank God, because it's not works that gets us in. All your works are burned, you yourself still shall be saved, yet so is by fire, the Bible says, so you still make it into Heaven.
You know, a guy says to Jesus, you know, blessed is he that eateth and drinketh in the Kingdom of Heaven, and honestly, just to be there is enough. I mean, think about it. I'd rather be the biggest loser in all of Heaven ... Think about this now. I'd rather be he that is called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. I'd rather be the guy who's mopping the floor in Heaven, somebody else is ruling over ten cities, and I'm just kind of sweeping the floor. I'd rather be the lowest guy in Heaven than to be the guy in Hell where God says, well, this guy didn't know, and we're going to give him the least punishment. There's a huge difference. It's not like there's this whole spectrum, and you know, right in the middle ... No, no, no. There's this huge empty space in the middle. Hell is fire, it's torment, it's punishment, it's a horrible place, and Heaven is a perfect place. Even if you get no rewards, just to eat and drink in the Kingdom of Heaven is a great thing, according to the Bible.
Look at Luke chapter 16, verse 19. 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' table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. It came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hell he lift up his eyes being in torment. Now, notice how fast he's there. I mean, he dies, and it's like he just lifts up his eyes and he's in Hell, and he's in torment, and he 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 his water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.
Don't tell me this is figurative. Well that's just ... the figurative of what? Okay, let's just say for a minute, because everybody tries to say, oh its just figurative, it's just a parable. Figurative of what? I mean, what does this represent? What is this symbolic of? They say, well, it's symbolic of thirsting for the presence of God. You know, they're apart from God and they're just thirsting for God. Here's news for you, unsaved people for God aren't thirsting for God. In fact, what does the Bible say about those who've been given over to a [inaudible 00:34:21] mind? It says they didn't even like to retain God in their knowledge. They would love nothing more than to be separated from God, according Romans one.
The Bible says of the wicked, God is not in all his thoughts. They don't want to think about God. What about those who are haters of God? But I'd really like to see him right now because I'm in this Hell of godlessness. No, no, they like to be in a godless place. You see, what would this be symbolic of? Some other torture? The guy's in pain. The guy's begging for water. The guy's in fire, and if this is symbolic, then wow, God sure used that parable a lot, since he mentioned everlasting fire, and torment, and the furnace of fire, like, a hundred times. That's one parable that continues all the way through the whole Bible, from Deuteronomy all the way to Revelation. That's a serious parable.
What kind of nonsense is that? What does this represent, then? If Hell's not fire, then what does this symbolize? It's not a thirst for God. The unsaved don't want God. If they wanted him, they'd come to the light right now, but they don't want to come to the light. They don't want their deeds to be reproved. This is the kind of nation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. If people love darkness rather than light, then why would they be in some dark place thirsting for the light? No, they love darkness. They don't want God, they don't want the Lord. They said of him, we will not have this man to rule over us. That doesn't make any sense to say it's just a parable.
If it's just a parable, how come when a volcano erupts it sprays fire and brimstone? Is our whole Earth just one big parable? Why is it that the core of the Earth is thousands of degrees Fahrenheit? Why is it that it's all fire, and brimstone, and molten lava, just like the Bible said it would be in the heart of the Earth? Is that all just a parable? Is that all just symbolic? There's nothing symbolic about it. Its literal. It's real, and there's so much scripture on it it boggles the mind. You say, I just can't beleive that a loving God ... Well, there's not a loving God, there's just the loving God. THere's no A God, there's only one God, and he does whatever the Bible says he does. A loving God that won't do this and won't do that might be somebody that you just made up in your own imagination where you form and fashion God in your own image instead of acknowledging that you've been formed and fashioned in his image. You've got is backwards.
The Bible says here; I'm tormented in this flame. In verse 25 we pick up the story and it says; But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receiveth thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he's comforted and thou are comforted, beside all this, between us and you, there's 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. There's no getting out of hell. Once you're there, there's a great gulf and he says, no one can switch. You can't go ... you say, why would anyone want to go from Heaven to Hell? Maybe to bring somebody a drink of water. You know, he saying, send Lazarus. He's like, well, he can't. There's no getting out. Once you're there, you're reserved under that judgement of the Great White Throne. If you're name's not in that Book of Life, you're going to be cast in the lake of fire for all eternity.
Then he said, I pray thee therefore father, that thou would ascend them to my father's house. Why is he calling him father? Because he's a Jewish man, and he's a descendant of Abraham, so he's known him his whole life as Father Abraham. It's his literal forefather. He says, five brethren that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this place of torment. Torment means torture. Abraham sayeth unto him, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, nae my 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.
Flip back to chapter 12. You're in chapter 16, flip back to chapter 12. Now, it's like I said at the beginning of this sermon. I don't often preach sermons on Hell because it's an unpleasant subject that I do not delight in. Sometimes a year or more will go by without a sermon on Hell, but the Bible has so much scripture on it, I don't see how as a pastor you could justify going years and years without doing a sermon on Hell when there's so much scripture about it. It has to happen. I remember when I was a teenager I got a record, I got an LP of a sermon that was recorded in, I think, 1971 or so, by Glen Schunk, preaching on the halls of Hell. I remember me, and my siblings, and my parents sitting around the living room, and we went out ... I think we even bought a record player just to listen to this thing. We went out and bought a record player, you know, because who had a record player in the 90s, right? I'm not that old people, all right? They didn't have records when I was a kid.
Anyway, he got out the record player, we all sat around and listened to that crackling. It just made the sermon that much more intense, that crackling, and I mean, it was a good sermon. I mean, we were blown away, and we hadn't heard hard preaching in years. We'd been going to this really liberal, watered-down, NIV, rock-n-roll church. So, we're sitting there and we're just, like, silent, and just listening to this sermon, The Halls of Hell by Glen Schunk. I uploaded it to YouTube a couple years ago. I got the record from my dad and I uploaded it. I remember just ... I mean, it was a sobering sermon. I mean, it was a sermon that had a profound influence on my ... I mean, I sat there and listened to this thing ... Keep in mind, I hadn't heard hard preaching in years, and we sat and nobody ... I mean, we sat there just listening to this thing, just fixated on it. I mean, we walked away like, wow, we need to get people saved. I mean, we need to do something for God. We need to get serious about living for God. This is real.
I said to my dad, I said, why doesn't our pastor ever even mention Hell? I said, we've been going to this church for two years or so, I've never even heard him say Hell once. He said, I'm going to ask him. He said, let's make him a tape of this sermon. So we made it, you know, we hoked up the cassette deck to the record player. Kids in the auditorium have, like, no idea what I'm talking about right now, all these strange machines that we hooked up to make this happen. We hooked up the record player, and the cassette deck, and we made him a tape, and we gave him the tape, and said, here, listen to this sermon, the Halls of Hell. We said, why have you never mentioned Hell?
Here's what he said. He said, well you know what, I know I should preach on Hell, but I just don't like to, it's just not pleasant. I just don't want to. I probably should but I just don't. Shame on you. You know, you're commanded to preach the word. You're commanded to warn all men, and it's not that we delight in ... Oh, you just delight if people ... No, no, no. Here's the thing. I can't control whether people go to Heaven or Hell or not except to go out and preach the gospel to every creature. That's the only control I have over it. Me getting up and saying, hey, Catholics are going to Hell, that doesn't just suddenly make a bunch of Catholics go to Hell now because I said that. I don't have that kind of power. You know what?
If I could snap my finger right now, just humanly speaking, in the flesh, you know, this isn't the Holy Spirit talking here, this is just Steven Anderson as a human being talking. If I could snap my finger right now and all Catholics would get a free pass into Heaven, I would do it. I'd say, yeah, just forgive them all. You know, Father forgive them, they know not what they do. But you know what? I don't make the rules, and you know what, God's not going to allow people who reject the free gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ to enter Heaven. He's not going to. He has said what he will do, and that's what he's going to do.
It's not that God's not loving, because he made it real easy for people to be saved. Couldn't be any easier. It's so easy. Just beleive. It's so easy. He's no making us jump through a bunch of hoops, but it's the one thing that people's pride won't ... No, no, you've got to earn it. I've got to chant all these prayers, and whip myself, and do all these works. What does the Bible say in Luke 12? You know, in these closing moments here I want to get back to the emphasis of the sermon, is the fact that Hell's not a temporary thing. It's not something where you just burn up. It's funny, whenever you try to tell Seventh Day Adventists, and you tell them, Hell's eternal, here's what they'll tell you; yeah I know you showed me a verse where it says it goes on forever, but there's another verse where it says they burn up.
If that were true then that would mean the Bible's contradicting itself. If in one place it says it goes on forever, and another place says they're burned up, that would be contradiction, wouldn't it? The fact is, it doesn't say that they're burned up. It says that they're destroyed. That's what they're referring to, the destruction, but here's what they're forgetting, that it's an everlasting destruction, that it's a destruction that lasts forever. It's a continual destruction.
I remember one time I was giving a guy the gospel, and I asked him at the end ... I presented the whole gospel and I asked him if he had any questions, and he said, yeah, here's my question, how can a person go to Hell and keep burning but yet they're not burned up? How does that work? I told him, I said, you know what, what about Moses when he stood before the burning bush, and the bush burned and was not consumed? He said, I understand now, and he got saved. He realized, look, it's God, it's supernatural. Look at Luke chapter 12 verse four, tell me if this sounds like people are just being burned up. You know, the Seventh Day Adventist doctrine of annihilation.
Luke chapter 12, verse four; and I say unto you my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body ... and this is a really key statement. Usually we always ready this in Matthew, but it's worded a little differently in Luke. Look what he says; be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. That's key right there to say, look, they kill the body and then it's over. They have nothing more that they can do. Verse five; but I will forewarn you whom you shall fear, fear him which after ye have killed have power to cast into Hell, yea I say unto you, fear him. Now why would that be so much more fearful than what people can do to you on this Earth? I mean, think about it, people on this Earth can torture you, right? They can put you through a lot of pain, and misery, and suffering. They can lock you in a cage. They can put you in a prison cell. They can hurt you and harm you, but all they can do is just hurt the body, and then when they kill you there's nothing more they can do. That's being compared to God on the other hand, who then after that sends you to Hell.
Now, if it were just something where you burn up and you're gone, why would that be so much more fearful? I mean, somebody could burn you up on this Earth. They could burn you alive like people were burned at the stake by Roman Catholic church, and they can burn you alive for believing the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and then there's nothing more that they could do to you. Clearly, Hell is different than that, isn't it? It's clearly a place where you don't just burn up and then there's nothing more that can happen. No, it's something that goes on. It's everlasting punishment. It's everlasting fire.
The says in Matthew 10, you don't have to turn there but flip over if you would ... I'm kind of running out of time. Flip over to Matthew 12. In Matthew 10 it says, in this parallel passage that we're probably more familiar with than the Luke passage; fear not them which kill the body but are not able kill the soul, but rather fear them which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell. Now, here this is where the Seventh Adventists say, see, he'll destroy the soul, but here's the ... it's an everlasting destruction, and if it were something that ended immediately then it wouldn't be that scary. It wouldn't because it's not even to be compared with somebody who can kill the body and there's nothing more they can do.
Oh, then he'll kill the soul, and then there's nothing more that he can do. Oh, so it lasted a few extra minutes? Doesn't make any sense, my friend. It's an everlasting punishment. Matthew chapter 12, verse 40; for as Jonah's 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. Now flip back to the book of Jonah. We're going to go to Jonah chapter two, then we're going to go to Isaiah 66. Now, here the Bible tells us that Jonah, being three days and three nights in the whale's belly, was a picture of Jesus being three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth, or in Hell in the core of the Earth.
Well, where's the artichoke heart, by the way? You know what I mean? It's in the center of it, right? And that's the way Hell is. It's in the center of the Earth in the same way. Look what the Bible says in Jonah, because remember this is a picture of Hell, the Bible tells us, in Matthew. Jonah 2:2 says; and said, I cried by reason of my affliction to the Lord, and he heard me out of the belly of Hell, cried I, and though heardest my voice. Now, of course Jonah was not in Hell. Jonah is where? The whale's belly. But because it's prophetic of Jesus being in Hell for three days and three nights, he talks about it as if he's in Hell, right? So he says, out of the belly of Hell cried I and though heardest my voice.
Look at verse six; I went down to the bottoms of the mountains, the Earth with her bars was about me for a little while and I was annihilated. Look what it says. The Earth with her bars was about me forever. This shows that Hell is a place of eternal punishment, eternal suffering. Between, the word about means around, or compassed about, the Bible talks about. This is talking about being in the center of the Earth, having the Earth with her bars, the bars of the Earth are the same thing as the pillars of the Earth. Those words are synonymous. So, in Hell you are surrounded by the bars, or the pillars, of the Earth. They're around you. They're about you. Notice, he says, forever.
There's an eternal aspect to Hell. It's not something where you just burn up and it's over. Go to Isaiah. While you're back in the Old Testament anyway, flip over to Isaiah chapter 66. I'm turning to Isaiah 66 because this is the source of a great quote in Mark chapter nine. I'll read for you Mark nine, you go to Isaiah 66. Mark 9:43; if thy hand offend the cut it off, it is better to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into Hell into the fire that never shall be quenched, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. If thy foot offend thee, cut if off. It is better to enter [halt 00:50:17] into life than having two feet to be cast into Hell into the fire that never shall be quenched. Where there worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. If thy eye offend thee, pluck it out. It is better to enter the Kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.
T hat's a pretty powerful passage where he talks about the fact that it goes on forever, literally, six times in six verses. I mean, he just pounds it in that it's everlasting, it's eternal, it goes on forever. That phrase, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched, is a reference back to Isaiah 66, and if you look it up in Isaiah 66 it actually makes more sense when you read it in Mark chapter nine. It says in Isaiah 66:22; for as the new Heavens and the new Earth which I will make shall remain before me sayeth the Lord, so shall your seat and your name remain, and it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me sayeth the Lord. They shall go forth and look upon the carcasses 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 onto all flesh.
The reason I point out the difference here is that in Mark when it's quoted it says, their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched, whereas here it says, their worm shall not die and neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. The picture here is of people going out and looking at the dead bodies, literal carcasses, of people that had rebelled against the Lord, and they're actually seeing the dead bodies, and God's telling them that that's not the end of these people's punishment. He's saying they're going to go out and look upon the carcasses of them that have transgressed ... and he said, but their worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched.
He's saying that that physical death is not the end, but that there's another punishment of unquenchable fire, and you know, those worms that were eating those physical bodies that they saw, those worms are eventually going to die. Those worms are eventually going to run out of food, by the way, but he says, those that are in Hell, their worms shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
The last place we'll turn is Revelation 14. Revelation chapter 14. The Bible reads in Revelation 14 verse nine; and the third angel followed them saying with loud voice, if any man worship the beast, and his image, and receive his mark on his forehead or in his hand ... Now, let me just stop right there and say that we already know that the beasts and the false prophet are going to the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever and ever, but they're not the only ones that are going there, because the people says that whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast in the lake of fire. The Bible says that if anyone worships the beast and his image ... Now let me ask you this, are there going to be few people worshiping the beast in his image, or a lot of people worshiping the beast in his image? Well, then the previous chapter, chapter 13, talking about all the people dwelling on the Earth whose names are not found written in the Book of Life are going to be worshiping him, so this is consistent with Revelation 20.
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 forever and ever, and they have no rest, day nor night, who worship the beast in his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. The Bible's very clear here. Let me tell you something, when the beast comes, when the Antichrist comes, and the Bible talks about all nations of the world worshiping him whose names are not found written in the Book of Life.
Don't beguile yourself for one moment that the Roman Catholics aren't going to be worshiping the Antichrist when he shows up. I mean, do you really think that all the Catholics are going to go, No? They're going to embrace the Antichrist. The pope's going to tell them, this is the second coming of Jesus Christ, they're going to embrace him as such because the one true church told them so. Don't be deceived into thinking that the orthodox will reject the Antichrist. They will accept him. Don't be deceived that the Hindus are going to reject the Antichrist, or that they Buddhists are going to reject the Antichrist, or that the Muslims will say no, no, this is not.
They're already set up to receive the Antichrist. They already talk about the fact that Imam Mahdi is coming, and it's the second coming of Jesus, which is the Antichrist, and the false prophet, who they're getting ready for, those two figures. Where does the Bible say that those people are going to end up for all eternity? It's not that we're mean or unloving. I'll tell you who's unloving, the pastor who won't preach the Bible, because this needs to be preached, because maybe if you stop and think, hey wait a minute, there are a lot of people in this world who are on their way to a horrible place, that knowing the terror of the Lord, we would persuade men, we would warn all men.
See, it's ridiculous for someone to say, Pastor Anderson, you don't have love, what kind of a pastor would preach on Hell on Valentine's Day? Number one, I don't give a rip about Valentine's Day, number one, okay? I'm not against you if you celebrate Valentine's Day. I personally don't celebrate Valentine's Day. If you celebrate it, more power to you. I celebrate my daughter's birthday today. My daughter had a birthday, I took her out on a Daddy Date. Is that all right? All right. But here's the thing, what kind of preacher are you? You don't have love, preach on love. Hey, God so loved the world ... Here's the love. This is the love sermon tonight; God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him ... what are the next words? Should not perish.
So, the sermon tonight is about John 3:16, it's just we're focusing on these three words of John 3:16, should not perish. What is involved in that perishing? Is that perishing just a physical death? Is that perishing just, you burn up and it's over? No. That perishing is what we've been talking about for the last hour, an everlasting punishment in Hell. So, if we have love, you know, we're going to go down to some small town in Arizona and win people to Christ in Sells, Arizona, or we're going to go down to the west side and go Soul Winning, or we're going to go to Tempe, or Scottsdale, or Mesa, or the Gilbert Group, or somewhere, and we're going to go Soul Winning. That's the measure of love. This is love, that we walk after his commandments. You know, if we really love people, then we're going to warn them, and we're going to tell them the truth, and we're going to get them saved, not just sit around talking about, these fundamentalists are so unloving, as they sip their pink tea and lemonade, and sit on their rear ends and never get out Soul Winning while the world goes to Hell, but they're so loving the whole time.
They're so loving. Let me ask you this, do you think that that pastor that we gave that cassette to, do you think he was a loving guy? This is how loving he was, he went golfing with his next door neighbor once a week, and he'd been doing so over a year, and he said, I'm still waiting for an opportunity to give him the gospel. Same guy who won't preach on Hell. Goes golfing with his unsaved ... he said, he's not saved, and I go golfing with him every week, and I'm still waiting ... you know, your opportunity is when you go golfing, every week. I mean ... Let me ask you this. Do you think he loves his neighbor? I mean, how is that ... what kind of love is that where you just don't tell people about Jesus? That's not love.
We've got love all mixed up today. We think love is just being nice and just telling everybody what they want to hear. If you love your children, you just be nice and just give them everything, and you don't spank them, and you don't discipline them, you just give them everything and just be nice to them, that's love. If you love Muslims, it means you tell Muslims, hey we're all worshiping the same God, that's how you love Muslims, right? If you love Catholics, it's when you tell them, hey as long we name the name of Jesus we're all getting to Heaven, and just ignore Matthew seven where he talks about people trusting in their works being damned. You know ... oh, if you love the Indians today, you know, you're going to tell them, you know what, as long as they just add Jesus to their other millions of Hindu Gods they're going to ... you know, throw Jesus a bone, burn a little incense for him too once in awhile. That's not love.
If you think that you have love when you don't open your mouth and preach the gospel to your friends, family, loved ones, co-workers, neighbors, you need to get right with God. You need to get in this book and figure out what love is, because love is what constraineth us to go out and bring the good news to the lost so that they don't end up in this horrible place of torment. I mean, even the rich man burning in Hell in Luke 16, even he saw that. Wow, we need to go tell people so they don't come here. Even he got that.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for saving us from Hell, and Lord, many people today, they don't like the doctrine of Hell, they're not comfortable with it. I can see why they're not comfortable with it, Lord, because it is a very rightful doctrine, but Lord, I love every part of your word, and I will fulfill the command to preach every part of your word, Lord, including Hell. And I pray that every person that's here would get in the Word and figure out that this is real, and that they would go out and warn all men as you've commanded us to do so, and to bring the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ on the lost. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
