["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Good morning and welcome.
Let's find our seats and take our song books.
Turn to song 247.
Song number 247.
Two, four, seven.
247, let's sing it out on the first.
I found a friend who is all to me.
His love is ever true.
I love to tell how he lifted me.
His grace can do for you.
Saved by his power divine.
Saved to new life sublime.
Life now is sweet and my joy is complete.
For I'm saved, saved, saved.
247, sing it out on the second.
He saves me from every sin and harm.
Secures my soul each day.
I'm leaning strong on his mighty arm.
I know he'll guide me all the way.
Saved by his power divine.
Saved to new life sublime.
Life now is sweet and my joy is complete.
For I'm saved, saved, saved.
247 on the last.
When poor and needy and all alone.
In love he said to me.
Come unto me and I'll lead you home.
To live with me eternally.
Saved by his power divine.
Saved to new life sublime.
Life now is sweet and my joy is complete.
For I'm saved, saved, saved.
Amen.
We want to welcome you to Verity Baptist Church this morning.
We're so glad that you are with us.
The Bible says the Lord's mercies are new every morning.
Great is thy faithfulness.
And it's good to be able to be in God's house this morning.
Let's begin the service with a word of prayer.
And let's bow our heads together.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you.
And we thank you for allowing us to gather together today.
Lord, we pray that you'd bless the service today.
Lord, we pray that you'd meet with us as we sing praises to you.
As, of course, as we study God's word together.
We pray that you'd be with the fellowship.
That everything that's done today would bring honor and glory to your name.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Turn to Psalm 145.
Psalm 145, it is well with my soul.
Sing it out on the first.
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot now hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet,
Or trial should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed his own blood for my soul.
It is well with my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Thy sin, O the bliss of this glorious heart,
Thy sin not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
It is well with my soul.
It is well, it is well.
Good, just the voices on the third.
My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin not in part, but the whole,
Good, sing it out.
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
It is well with my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
On the last and Lord haste a day,
When my face shall be sighed,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend.
Even so, it is well with my soul.
Sing it out.
It is well with my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Good singing.
Amen, good singing. We'll go ahead and take our bulletins and look at some announcements real quickly.
If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you.
If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we will get one for you.
And if you open up the bulletin there, you'll see our service times Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m.
We're glad, of course, that you're with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day for church.
We do invite you to be back tonight at 6 p.m. for the evening service.
The evening service is different than the morning service.
Different songs that are sung, different sermon that's preached.
Just one more opportunity to be in God's house with God's people under the preaching of the word of God.
And then, of course, we have our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m.
And we'd love for you to join us for that.
If you look at our soul-winning times, our main soul-winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m.
And then we have additional soul-winning times on Thursdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Soul-winning, of course, is when we go out in the community.
We knock doors, we invite people to church, and we preach the gospel to anyone who's interested.
So if you'd like to go soul-winning, we'd love for you to join us for any of those times.
If you look across the page at the announcements and upcoming events, of course, we have the Spirit World Sermon Series we're in.
We started last week with a study of heaven.
And today we're going to look at what the Bible teaches about hell.
Next time we're in the series, we'll be talking about angels and demons, the devil, and spiritual warfare.
So we encourage you to join us and be with us, of course, for those things.
And then we want you to notice that we have our next Spanish service scheduled for Saturday, October 19th at 5 p.m.
And last night we had our first Spanish service, and we had 136 in attendance for the Spanish service,
which was a lot more than I expected, not what I expected at all.
But, of course, we were glad to have it.
And we had a great time of singing and preaching and a potluck afterwards and fellowship.
Everything went well.
And we, of course, want to invite you to join us for the next Spanish service on Saturday, October 19th at 5 p.m.
And then just want the men to be aware, those of you that are signed up for the Biblical Leadership Institute,
that we do have class this Tuesday at 7 p.m.
And I'll be doing a leadership live stream at 6 p.m. on Tuesday as well.
So if you're interested in that, you can catch that.
It's about a 30-, 35-minute live stream, and we deal with leadership lesson and then a leadership question.
If you have a question that you'd like for us to answer on the broadcast, then you can write it in your communication card,
and we'll take a look at that.
Homeschool group, they've got PE class this Thursday, October 3rd at 10 a.m.
And Ladies Weight Loss Accountability group, if you'd like to meet the ladies with that, they meet on Wednesdays at 615.
My wife leads that group, and they meet in her office.
Upcoming cleaning crew, you can check for your name there. We appreciate your faithfulness with that.
If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of September,
today is Brother John Reed's birthday, so happy birthday to Brother John.
And also this week, we have Scarlett Lee Wilson's birthday on the 30th.
Miss Cricket Duran has a birthday on October 5th.
Madison O2 and Brother Darryl Venable both have a birthday on October 5th.
They have Praise Report, Money Matters, all of those things are there for you to look at.
I do have a baby announcement to give real quick.
And Mariah Truth Lunsford was born today, September 29th, at 2.13 a.m.
And she weighs 6 pounds, 15 ounces, 20 inches long.
Baby's doing well. Mother's doing well.
So congratulations, of course, to Brother Josh and Miss Rebecca Lunsford.
My wife is going to have the forum to do a meal train for them tonight.
So if you'd like to sign up to bring them a meal and help them during this time,
then you can see my wife at the service tonight.
She'll have all of that information for you.
And then, of course, if you are a first-time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church,
we're so glad that you're with us.
We have a gift we'd like to give you.
As you walk out of the church building this morning, as you go out the main foyer,
you'll see a little table set up.
And on that table, you'll see these little gift bags.
Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest this morning.
There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have.
The one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made.
It's called Being Baptist.
It's very well made, very interesting.
We think you'll like it.
And we wanted to give this to you as a gift.
So please make sure you don't leave here this morning without grabbing one of those gift bags on your way out.
And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment to fill out the communication card,
which is inserted in your bulletin.
And we would love to have a record of your attendance.
We actually would like to send you a little gift, but we need your information to do that.
So please take a moment to fill the card out.
When we're done with the announcements here, we're going to sing a song.
When we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering.
And as the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate at that time.
And I think that's it for all of the announcements.
So we're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week, which is the insert in your bulletin.
And we're going to sing, Here Am I, Lord.
And let's go ahead and sing it out on the first.
Here am I, Lord. Send me.
We'll serve you faithfully.
Here am I, Lord. Send me.
Good. Sing it out on the second.
Lord, I want your perfect will.
Be my faithful guide.
I will never be afraid.
You are close beside.
Here am I, Lord. Send me.
I will serve you faithfully.
Here am I, Lord. Send me.
Good. Sing it out on the last.
Let me see my mission field.
All around each day.
Fill my heart with Jesus love.
Use me, Lord, I pray.
Here am I, Lord. Send me.
I will serve you faithfully.
Here am I, Lord. Send me.
Amen. All right.
Well, before the guys come up, I would like to remind you that we, of course, are a family-integrated church.
What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the service.
We do not separate children from their parents for any reason.
We do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience.
All of the rooms have comfortable seating.
They have monitors or windows set up so you can watch the service and listen to it.
So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service, if you need some privacy, we would encourage you to use those rooms as needed.
If you're not sure where they're at, you can look at the back of the bulletin.
You'll see a layout of our church building.
It'll show you where the mother-baby rooms are, where the daddy room is.
It'll show you where the restrooms are.
And if you're here, of course, and you need to be baptized, please let us know.
We'd love to baptize you.
And we've got everything you need.
The baptistry is filled. The water is warm.
And you can let us know on your communication card.
On the back of the card, you can check off that you'd like information about baptism.
And we'll follow up with you and talk to you about that.
Of course, if you've already spoken to somebody about that and you need to be baptized today, then all you need to do is at the end of the service, after the preaching, while we're singing the last song, if you step out the back doors into the foyer, one of our staff guys can meet you there and we'll get you situated for baptism.
And of course, we want to remind you to please make sure you turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody.
And right now would be a good time to look at your phone and make sure it's on silent or vibrate or off so that it doesn't go off in the middle of the preaching.
We'd appreciate your help with that.
We'll go ahead and have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you.
And we thank you for allowing us to serve you.
And Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering, the gift and the giver.
Lord, we pray that you would continue to meet our needs here financially.
Lord, we pray that you'd bless the preaching of your word and the fellowship afterwards.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 16.
Luke chapter 16.
If you do not have a Bible, raise your hand and an usher will bring you one.
Luke chapter 16.
We will read the entire chapter as our custom.
Luke chapter 16.
Just keep your hands up and an usher will bring you a Bible.
Luke chapter 16, the Bible reads,
And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man which had a steward,
and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
And he called him and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee,
give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward?
Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do?
For my Lord taketh away from me the stewardship.
I cannot dig. To beg I am ashamed.
I am resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship,
they may receive me into their houses.
So he called every one of his Lord's debtors unto him and said unto the first,
How much oest thou unto my Lord?
And he said, A hundred measures of oil.
And he said unto him, Take thy bill and sit down quickly and write fifty.
Then said he to another, And how much oest thou?
And he said, A hundred measures of wheat.
And he said unto him, Take thy bill and write fourscore.
And the Lord commanded the unjust steward, because he had done wisely.
For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of the unrighteousness,
that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much,
and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon,
who will commit to you your trust, the true riches?
And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's,
who shall give you that which is your own?
For every servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him.
And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men,
but God knoweth your hearts.
For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
The law and the prophets were until John, since that time the kingdom of God is preached,
and every man presseth into it.
And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, commiteth adultery.
And whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband, commiteth adultery.
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, and was buried.
And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments,
and seeing 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 receiveth 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 would ascend 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.
I pray. Father God Almighty, thank you for this opportunity to come together and for this day.
Please bless pastor in the message. Please let it bring glory and honor to you.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
Amen. Alright, we're there in Luke, chapter number 16.
And of course, last week we began a sermon series on the subject of the spirit world.
And we've been studying the doctrines of the spirit world.
And we began last week with a sermon on the subject of heaven.
We looked at the wonders of heaven.
And today we are continuing that study.
And we're going to study something that many churches today don't want to study, don't want to think about,
preachers don't want to preach about.
But we're going to look at the subject of hell and the horrors of hell.
The Bible talks a lot about hell.
And I think that this is something that we need to know what the Bible teaches about this.
We need to understand it.
And it's in the word of God for a reason.
And I want to begin by giving you the description of hell and answering this question, you know, what is hell like?
And in Luke, chapter 16, we have a story by the Lord Jesus Christ regarding an individual that went to hell.
If you look down at verse number 19, Luke 16 and verse 19, the Bible says,
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 designed to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.
Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.
And then it says there in verse 22,
And it came to pass, like it will come to pass for all of us, that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.
The rich man also died and was buried.
And the Bible tells us here in verse number 23 about this rich man.
And in hell, he lift up his eyes being in torment.
And here we see the Lord Jesus Christ giving us a description,
the first description that we see about hell, and it is this.
I think it's a description. It's something that we all need to come to terms with.
And it is this that some people die and go to hell.
The Bible tells us here that this rich man, when he died, he was buried.
Verse 23, And in hell, he lift up his eyes being in torment and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me.
And sent Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue.
And I want you to notice what the rich man says from hell.
He says, For I am tormented in this flame.
And what we see is that the Bible describes hell as a place where people will be tormented by fire.
And again, today there are people that try to dismiss this and will try to act like this is just mythology or this is some sort of an illustration.
But the Bible over and over again tells us in Scripture that hell is a place where people are tormented by fire.
In verse 23 we see again that the rich man in hell, he lift up his eyes being in torment.
In verse 24 we hear him say, For I am tormented in this flame.
I'd like you to go with me if you would to the book of Revelation.
Last book in the Bible should be fairly easy to find. Revelation chapter 14.
And while you turn there, let me just read to you from the book of Mark.
You go to Revelation 14 and in Mark chapter 9 Jesus is teaching and he's talking about hell and he gives us some descriptions about hell.
I'll read these for you. You go to Revelation 14.
In Mark 9 in verse 43 the Bible says this, And if thy hand offend thee, this is what Jesus said,
Cut it off, it is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell.
And here's how Jesus described it, Into the fire that never shall be quenched.
And then in verse 44 he says, Where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
He goes on to say, 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.
Where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
And if thy hand 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.
And of course what Jesus is teaching here is that there's no good reason for anyone to ever go to hell.
And anything that is keeping you from getting saved and from going to heaven, you should be willing to rid yourself of it.
And he's using this illustration. He says, If it's your eye that's keeping you, then pluck it out.
But the idea is this, that you should not allow anything to take you to hell, to send you to hell.
Why? Because it is a place here described by Jesus.
He says, To go into hell into the fire that shall never be quenched, and the fire that is not quenched.
So again we see that in Luke 16, the rich man, in the story of the rich man we see that in hell he lift up his eyes being in torment.
He said, I'm tormented in this flame.
Jesus said about hell that it is a place where people are cast into hell into the fire that never shall be quenched and the fire is not quenched.
He said to be cast into hell fire. Are you there in Revelation 14?
Look down at verse number 10. Revelation 14 and verse 10.
The Bible says this, of course Revelation is a book of end times prophecy and we are reading about when the end times and the coming judgment.
Revelation 14 says this, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.
Notice these words, And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
And again we could look at many more verses. I won't take the time to show you more just on this subject.
But I think it's clear from scripture that all throughout the Bible hell is described as a place of flames, as a place of fire and as a place of torment.
And it is a place where the fire is not quenched. It's a place where people will be tormented in flames for all of eternity.
Now I think that's probably not new to you. I think everyone who knows anything about hell knows that hell is described as a place of fire and torment.
But there's other descriptions as well. Look down, you're there in Revelation 14. Look down at verse number 11. Revelation 14 and verse 11.
We read verse 10 and we saw the description of hell there in verse 10 where he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone.
In verse 11 the Bible says, And the smoke of their torment, again that's a reference to the fire, ascendeth up forever and ever.
But I want you to notice here's another description about hell. And they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast in his image and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
And of course we're learning here that in the end times those that receive the mark and those that worship the beast are going to go to hell.
But in that we find another description of hell, not just that it is a place of torments by fire, but also that it is a place, the Bible says, where there is no rest day or night.
No rest day or night. The Bible says there in verse 11, and they have no rest day or night. So it's a place of fire and torment.
But it's also a place of no rest day or night. Now that might not seem like a big deal to you, but if you go in any period of time without getting a good amount of rest, you know that that in itself is torment.
In fact over the ages people have used this as a way to torture people in history where they would not allow someone, a prisoner that they wanted to torture.
One way that they would torture them is by not allowing them to sleep and every time that they begin to kind of doze off, waking them up or doing things to keep them awake for days at a time.
And this is a form of torment. It's a form of torture. And the Bible tells us that hell is a place of fire and that hell is a place of torment and that hell is a place of no rest day or night.
Let me give you another description. You're there in Revelation. Go backwards just into the book of Jude right before Revelation.
You have the one chapter book of Jude and look at verse number 6. Jude chapter 1 and verse 6. Here's another description. Jude 1 and verse 6.
The Bible says, And the angels, which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved, and of course this is talking about the fallen angels.
We'll have a whole sermon on the fallen angels in a few weeks and we'll talk about this, but what the Bible is talking about here is the fact that the fallen angels are going to be sent to hell as well.
And the Bible says that he hath reserved, notice these words, in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
So we see here that the Bible also describes hell not just as a place where people will be tormented by fire, not just as a place where people have no rest day or night, but also as a place where people are delivered into chains.
They are in everlasting chains the Bible says. Let me show you another verse. Go to 2 Peter chapter 2. You're there in Jude. Do me a favor. Keep your place in Jude.
Put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to Jude, but I'd like you to go to 2 Peter.
So keep going backwards. You'll go past 3 John, 2 John, 1 John, and then you'll go into the book of 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter number 2.
Jude 3, 2 and 1 John, and then the book of 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter number 2. And look down at verse number 4. 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 4.
The Bible says this. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, again same context about the fallen angels, but cast them down to hell and delivered them, notice the description here, into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment.
So here again we see another description of hell. It says that he's going to cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness.
We saw in Jude 1.6, in everlasting chains. So we see that hell is described in the Bible as a place of fire, as a place of no rest, day or night, as a place where people are delivered into chains.
And again we can just read these verses and you can just read them, but consider and put yourself in this situation. Imagine being chained up, not allowed to rest, and set on fire.
You say that's offensive to me. Well it ought to be offensive to you. I think that's the point. I think that's what God is trying to do with these descriptions of hell.
He's trying to wake us up to the reality of the horrors of hell. Go to Isaiah if you would. Keep your place in Jude and go with me to the Old Testament book of Isaiah.
It's not just the New Testament that speaks about hell, also the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 14. If you open your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms.
Right after Psalms you have the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and then the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 14.
While you turn there, I'll read to you from Mark 9. Now when you get to Isaiah, do me a favor and put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there.
I know I've asked you to keep your place in Jude, but I also want you to keep your place in Isaiah. We're going to go back and forth between Jude and Isaiah.
Isaiah chapter 14. Let me give you the next description we get in the Bible about hell.
First we saw that it is a place where people are tormented by fire. It is a place where people have no rest day or night.
It is a place where people are delivered into chains and they are put into everlasting chains.
But then I want you to notice, fourthly, the Bible says that it is a place where people are covered by worms.
In Isaiah 14, I want you to look at verse 9 just so you can see the context. The context is about hell.
Isaiah 14 says, Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming.
It stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
That's the context. We're talking about hell. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming. It stirreth up the dead.
But I want you to look at verse 11, and in verse 11 we're still continuing this description of hell.
Verse 11 says, Thy pomp is brought down to the grave and the noise of thy vials. Notice what it says at the end of verse 11.
The worm is spread under thee and the worms cover thee.
So I want you to notice that the Bible describes hell as a place where people are going to not only be chained, not only be tormented by fire,
not only not be allowed to rest day or night, but the Bible says that the worm is spread under thee and the worms cover thee.
In Mark 9 44, I already read these verses to you. You don't have to turn here, but I'll just highlight for you that Jesus not only said that it is a place where the fire is not quenched,
but he said two different times, Where their worm dieth not.
And the fact that he says the word their worm seems to indicate that in hell people will have worms that are their worms, I don't know, assigned to them.
And I'm not going to pretend that I understand how all of this is going to work, but the Bible tells us that hell is a place where the worm is spread under thee and the worms cover thee.
Jesus said, Where their worm dieth not. And this is the description of hell.
And if you want to get a description of hell and you want to understand what hell is, don't get some sort of a Hollywood description of hell.
And today people want to minimize hell and they want to act like hell is no big deal and they just act like it's going to be the opposite of heaven.
And they think of heaven as some sort of religious place and some sort of a church building with a high steeple and very heavenly music and somebody playing the harp.
And then they'll act like hell is where the party is going to be at and hell is where all the cool people are going to be and there's going to be music and dancing.
And today people often mock and they'll say, Well, I don't want to go to heaven. I want to go to hell where all the fun is going to be.
And people try to mock at this thing, but when you actually study the Bible and read the Bible, and again, I understand that this is not something that you and I like to think about.
I don't like to think about it and it might even be offensive to you and I don't mean to offend you, but if the Word of God offends you, if you want to consider what hell is going to be like for an unbeliever,
it's going to look like an individual that is chained up, that is thrown into, set on fire, worms covering their body, worms eating their body, no rest, no day or night for all of eternity.
That's how God describes hell. That's the description of hell. You say, Why would God be so descriptive? Why would God be so offensive in his description of hell?
I think he is trying to make a point that he doesn't want anybody to go there.
See, oftentimes people ask the question, Why would a loving God send people to hell? And what you and I need to realize is that God doesn't send anybody to hell, we send ourselves to hell.
And the Bible says that hell was created for the devil and his angels, hell was not created, it was never created for mankind, it was not created for human beings, it was created for Satan.
We'll study Satan later on in the series, we'll study the fallen angels later on in the series. They sinned against God, they made a choice against God, they fell from their state in heaven and they sinned against God.
And because they rebelled against God and because Satan rebelled against God, God created this place called hell for the devil and his angels.
But of course we know that Satan understood because Satan hates God and Satan wants to attack God.
And what Satan often does is when he wants to attack God, he'll attack what God loves most which is mankind.
And Satan knew that God was a holy God and God was a just God and that God is no respecter of persons.
And Satan understood that if he himself was condemned and damned to hell as a result of sin, then God would also have to condemn mankind if man sinned.
And that's where we see the story of Adam and Eve, where the serpent comes and beguiles Eve and Eve and Adam make a choice to sin and they put God in this position where God had already decreed the wages of sin is death.
The wages of sin, not just the physical death but the second death of hell and we have condemned ourselves to hell.
Now you know the story of Jesus Christ and God of course made a way for us to flee hell and to be saved from hell but I think it's important for us to understand exactly what hell is like.
So we see here the description of hell. I'd like you to keep your place there in Isaiah. We're going to come back to it.
And go with me back to the book of Jude if you would if you kept your place there.
We saw the description of hell but I'd also like you to notice this morning the duration of hell.
Not only what is hell like but how long will hell last? How long does this last for?
In Jude 1 and verse 6 the Bible says this,
And the angels, we already saw this verse but I just want to highlight this for you again,
And the angels, which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in,
Now I want you to notice this word, everlasting chains.
Everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment 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, notice this word, eternal fire.
And what the Bible teaches us is that hell is forever. It is everlasting. It is eternal.
And look, in the same way that for those of us that are saved, we love these words, everlasting life, eternal life,
And the idea that our salvation will be forever, will be forever in heaven with God,
The Bible teaches that the reverse is true, that those who go to hell will be there forever.
Everlasting chains. It's called eternal fire. How long do the chains last for? Forever.
How long does the fire last for? Forever. You're there in Jude. Go back to Revelation, if you would.
Revelation chapter 20. Just flip back into the book of Revelation chapter 20.
Look down at verse number 10. Revelation chapter 20 and verse number 10.
Revelation 20 and verse 10, the Bible says this,
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,
Look at the words there, forever and ever. This is what the Bible says.
What is the duration of hell? It is forever and ever.
Now today there are religions like the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Seventh-day Adventists,
Who want to dismiss these verses and they'll say, oh no, hell is a place of annihilation.
You just go there and you burn up and then you're done. You don't exist anymore.
And they'll say things like, we hear when the Bible says forever and ever, it doesn't mean forever and ever.
It just means like a few years or something.
And again, that's not what the Bible says. Look, we need to just, as Bible-believing Christians, as Baptists,
We're just going to, we're going to be biblicalists and we're going to say what the Bible says is what we believe.
And what the Bible says is that in the same way that you have a never-ending soul,
And when it is saved, you'll spend eternity with God in heaven,
Those that die in their sin are going to spend all of eternity in hell.
Forever and ever. In fire. It's an eternal fire. In chains. It's an everlasting chain.
These are the things that the Bible teaches. Here's what Jesus said.
You go back to Isaiah if you would. I think you kept your place there.
Continue to keep your place in Jude and go back to Isaiah chapter 5 if you would.
But while you turn there, let me read to you from Matthew 25.
Jesus said these words, Matthew 25, 46,
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.
So Jesus said that when people go to hell, they go to hell into everlasting punishment.
And by the way, that's what hell is. Hell is punishment for sin.
It's where we go to be punished for our sins. To pay for our sins.
And the Bible says that it is an everlasting punishment.
So we see the description of hell. We see the duration of hell.
And I want you to notice, thirdly this morning, the depths of hell.
And I want to answer the question, because we've answered the question,
What is hell like? And how long does hell last for?
But I also want to answer this question, where is hell at?
And the Bible tells us over and over again about the depths of hell.
Are you there in Isaiah chapter 5? Look down at verse number 14.
Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 14, the Bible says this,
Therefore hell hath enlarged herself.
And I want you to notice that the reason that hell has enlarged herself,
One of the reasons is because people are dying every day and going to hell,
And it continues to have to get bigger and bigger,
But one of the reasons that it had to enlarge itself,
Is because again, remember that hell was originally meant,
It was created for the devil and his angels,
But when mankind was also condemned to hell as a result of being a sinner,
Then hell had to enlarge itself.
But here we see in Isaiah 5 14,
Therefore hell hath enlarged herself,
And openedeth her mouth without measure,
And their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp,
And he that rejoiceth, notice these words,
Shall descend into hell.
So the Bible teaches us about the depths of hell,
And the fact that hell is beneath.
The Bible talks about heaven as heaven being above,
And of course we studied last week,
That it's not the sky, it's not outer space,
There is a third heaven out there,
With the throne of God in it,
But the Bible tells us about hell,
That you descend into hell.
Go to Isaiah chapter 14 if you would,
Look down at verse number 9,
You're there in Isaiah 5, just flip over to Isaiah 14 and verse 9.
We saw this verse, but I want you to see it again.
Where is hell?
It is beneath.
People descend into hell.
Isaiah 14 and verse 9, the Bible says,
Hell from beneath is moved for thee,
To meet thee at thy coming,
It stirreth up the dead for thee.
Notice the Bible describes hell as being beneath.
Hell from beneath, they shall descend into hell.
Notice verse 15, Isaiah 14 and verse 15.
The Bible says this,
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell,
To the sides of the pit.
The Bible also uses the word pit,
Synonymous for the place called hell.
But I want you to notice here in Isaiah 14 and 15,
That people are brought down to hell.
They descend into it.
Hell from beneath, hell is beneath,
Is what the Bible teaches.
Now please continue to keep your place there in Isaiah,
But go with me to the book of Matthew.
Matthew chapter 12.
I know we're looking at a lot of verses,
But we're studying the subject of hell,
And we want to get all the different references
And see it in a thorough matter from the Bible.
We're not going to look at every single verse on the subject of hell,
But we want to look at enough verses to make sure we understand.
Matthew chapter 12, first book in the New Testament should be easy to find.
While you turn there, let me read to you from Deuteronomy 32 22.
You go to Matthew 12, and Deuteronomy 32 22 says this,
For a fire is kindled in mine anger,
This is God speaking.
Notice the reference to fire.
For a fire is kindled in mine anger,
And shall burn unto the lowest hell,
And shall consume the earth with her increase,
And set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
The foundations of the mountains,
If you think of the word foundation,
A foundation is often referring to something that is beneath,
Something that you build a house on a foundation.
Here the Bible says, talks about the foundations of the mountains,
And God says that I'm going to set a fire,
He said I'm going to set on fire the foundations of the mountains,
And he said I will kindle a fire in mine anger,
It shall burn unto the lowest hell.
Proverbs 15 24 says this,
The way of life is above to the wise,
That he may depart from hell beneath.
So the Bible over and over again refers to the fact that hell is beneath.
Hell from beneath is moved to meet thee.
People descend into it.
People are brought down to hell.
It is the lowest hell.
It sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
We're told to depart from hell beneath.
Now why do I make a big deal about this?
I make a big deal about this because of the fact that people today will like to say,
Oh these are just myths, these are just stories,
The Bible is just this ancient book,
And what we need today is science,
And of course no true Bible believing Christian is against real science.
We know that there is a science falsely so called,
That does give stories and myths that aren't true.
But of course we don't shy away from real science.
What I think is interesting is this,
That people look at the Bible and they'll say,
Oh that's a mythical book.
That book isn't accurate.
It's inaccurate.
And you ask them, Well what do you mean?
Give me an example of something mythical.
And they'll say, Like hell!
Hell is a mythical place.
I mean, are we really supposed to believe that there's a place with fire and brimstone,
And that this actually exists?
And then you look at the Bible,
And the Bible tells you, Well yeah,
There actually is a place with fire, with brimstone, with lava,
And you say, Well where is it?
And God says, Well it's down.
It's in, you descend into it.
It's hell from beneath.
He says, In fact, if you want to get scientific,
And you want to get technical about it,
God says that He sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
And then science comes along and says,
The Bible is fake.
The Bible is not real.
Let me teach you real science.
And then you learn science and you know what you learn about science?
That there's a place in the center of the earth called the core of the earth,
And it's filled with fire and brimstone and lava.
Let me tell you something.
It's hell!
How does a book that's thousands of years old,
How did prophets that wrote thousands of years ago,
How did they know that there was a place in the center of the earth
that was filled with fire and brimstone?
And people say, Ah, it's just a coincidence.
The Bible teaches about hell, and let me tell you something.
God said there's a place in the center of the earth filled with fire.
It's a place called hell.
And science proves it.
Science always catches up to the Bible.
Matthew chapter 12, look at verse 39.
Notice what Jesus said.
Matthew 12, 39.
But He answered and said unto them,
An evil and an adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,
and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas.
Jesus says, Here's the only sign you're going to get from me,
for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly,
He's using this as an illustration.
He says, In the same way that Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly,
Jesus said, So shall the Son of Man, referring to Himself,
be three days and three nights, look at it, in the heart of the earth.
You say, Where was Jesus for three days and three nights after He died?
We know that He died on the cross.
His body was buried, but where was His soul?
Where did He go for three days and three nights?
Jesus tells us that He went to the heart of the earth.
He said that in the same way that Jonah 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.
I'd like you to just flip over to Acts real quickly, Acts chapter 2.
You're there in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts.
Acts chapter 2.
And look down at verse number 31.
Jesus said that He was in the heart of the earth.
We would call that the core of the earth.
We know that the core of the earth is a place of fire and brimstone.
We know that the Bible tells us that hell is beneath,
that hell is in the sides of the pit, that people descend into it,
that it sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
In Acts 2.31, the Bible says this about the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's seeing this, talking about David and the prophecy that David gave.
He's seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ.
So David in the Old Testament gave a prophecy of the resurrection of Christ.
What was it? Here it is.
That his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
So his flesh did not see corruption because after three days and three nights,
his flesh that had been buried in a tomb was resurrected.
We know that his body was in a tomb, but where was his soul?
The Bible tells us his soul was in hell.
The Bible says he's seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul was not left in hell.
Jesus said that he would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Now people don't like this oftentimes when you show them from the Bible
that Jesus went to hell and they'll think it's some sort of disrespectful thing
and we obviously don't mean it in any sort of disrespect,
but we need to understand this, that the wages of sin is death
and death is not just a physical death, it is a second death of the lake of fire.
And the reason that you and I are condemned to hell or were condemned to hell,
the reason that unbelievers are condemned to hell is because of their sin.
Where you pay for your sin is hell.
Hell is a punishment for sin.
And if Jesus wants to pay for your sins, he had to go to hell to pay for your sins.
Now you and I get a choice.
We can either pay for our own sins by going to hell or we can let Jesus pay for our sins,
which he already has done, but by receiving his gift of salvation, his forgiveness for our sins.
But he did that by going to hell.
He paid for our sins by going to hell.
His soul was not left in hell, neither his body did see corruption.
So we see the description of hell and we see the duration of hell and we see the depths of hell.
I want to deal with one more subject, but before I do that, I want to spend a moment
and just kind of deal with something a little more technical when it comes to the doctrines of hell.
And it is this.
I want to answer the question, what is the difference between hell and the lake of fire?
Because if you've read the Bible, you've probably seen this term or heard this term, the lake of fire.
And this is something that sometimes can be confusing to people and I want to explain that to you.
We've already looked at hell and hell, again, is a place of torment by fire.
It's a place of no rest, day or night.
It is a place where people are chained up, they're delivered into chains, they're covered by worms.
It is a place where people are there for all of eternity.
We talked about the duration of hell.
We saw the depths of hell, it's in the center of the earth, it's in the core of the earth,
it's in the heart of the earth and science backs that up.
But what about the lake of fire?
Now, here's what I want you to understand, okay?
Hell is in the center of the earth and it is where souls of unbelievers go when they die.
In fact, we just saw in Acts 2-38 that it is the soul of where Jesus went.
When he died, he went to hell to pay for our sins.
Now, the body of Jesus did not go to hell.
The body of Jesus was buried in a tomb on earth, but his soul ascended down to hell.
And for those that are unbelievers, the same thing happens.
When somebody dies today and they're not saved, their body is buried.
Their body is buried somewhere on this earth, their soul goes down to hell.
After somebody dies, if they've been dead for weeks or even years, you could pull them back out of the grave
and their body is still going to be there.
Obviously, we know bodies decay over time, but their body will be there.
Hell is in the center of the earth and hell is a place where the souls of unbelievers go.
We've already seen some of these things.
I won't have you turn to them again.
In fact, I'd like you to go to Revelation chapter 20, if you would, Revelation chapter 20.
We saw Isaiah 14, 9, where the Bible says,
Hell from beneath is moved for thee, and it stirreth up the dead for thee.
So we know that the dead are in hell. Their souls are in hell.
Their bodies are buried in the earth, cemeteries all over the world, in the ocean, in the seas.
Their bodies are on this earth. Their souls are in hell.
Jesus said in Matthew 12.40, three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
So hell is in the center of the earth and it's where souls of unbelievers go when they die.
However, what I want you to understand is this, that hell is different than the lake of fire
because of the fact that hell will one day be cast into the lake of fire
and hell and the lake of fire are actually in two different locations.
Revelation 20, let me prove this to you. Look down at verse number 11.
Revelation chapter 20 and verse 11.
The Bible says, And I saw a great white throne.
Now I don't have time to talk too much about this and develop this, but let me just say this.
There are two great judgments that are coming, a judgment for believers and a judgment for unbelievers.
Believers will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ.
We will not be judged for our sins.
If you're saved, your sins were paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross
and with the three days and three nights in hell and of course his resurrection.
If you put your faith in that, then your sins have been forgiven.
You will not be judged for your sin.
You'll be judged for how you lived your life on this earth.
You'll be rewarded or you'll lose rewards for how you lived your life.
However, for unbelievers, there is a day of judgment coming called the great white throne.
We read about it here in Revelation 20 and 11.
And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heavens flood away
and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead. I want you to notice that.
The Bible doesn't refer to Christians as being dead necessarily.
It talks about the fact that they're asleep.
It talks about that they're dead in Christ or they're asleep.
But here this is referring to people that were not saved and they are experiencing eternal death.
He says, and I saw the dead small and great stand.
I want you to notice it because when the Bible tells us that the dead stand,
this is talking about a resurrection of the dead.
In a minute, I'm going to show you that there are two resurrections.
There is a resurrection of the saved and of the living.
That's the resurrection that you and I will be a part of if you're saved this morning.
But there's also coming a resurrection of the dead.
The Bible says in verse 12, 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.
They're going to be judged for their sin and they're going to be judged for the fact that their names are not written in the book of life.
Notice what it says.
And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works.
Verse 13, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it.
What is this referring to?
It's referring to their bodies.
I saw the dead small and great stand.
It's referring to their bodies.
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.
Now I want you to understand what the Bible is saying here.
When the Bible says and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them,
what the Bible is saying is that death delivered up the bodies, hell delivered up the souls.
This is a resurrection of damnation.
Look, one day you and I, we're looking for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We're looking for the rapture and the resurrection of believers.
What's going to happen on that day?
Our souls are going to be reunited with our bodies.
Our bodies will rise from the dead.
They'll be resurrected and we'll be given a glorified body.
And our souls and our glorified bodies will be reunited and we'll spend eternity with God forever and ever.
But something similar is going to happen to unbelievers where the Bible says that death is going to give up their bodies
and hell is going to give up their souls and their soul and their bodies will be reunited
and they will stand before God at the great white throne.
Judgment of God.
Look at verse 13.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell were delivered up the dead which were in them
and they were judged every man according to their works and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
And I want you to notice the Bible said death.
That's a reference to their bodies.
Hell, that's a reference to the place where their souls were.
The Bible says that God is going to take death and God is going to take hell.
Where's hell?
It's in the center of the earth and he's going to cast it 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 I want you to notice that hell and the lake of fire are two different places because hell is actually going to get cast into the lake of fire.
So then the question is, okay, well if hell is in the center of the earth, we saw many references to that.
Three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, Jesus said.
His soul was not left in hell.
Then where is the lake of fire?
We'll go to Matthew chapter 22.
In the New Testament, first book of the New Testament, Matthew 22.
Look at verse number 13.
Matthew 22 and verse 13.
Matthew 22 verse 13, the Bible says this,
Then said the king to the servants.
This of course is a parable about judgment.
The Bible says,
Then said the king to the servants, bind him hand and foot.
That's the same as chains, everlasting chains.
Bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him.
Notice, it doesn't say into the pit, down to the pit, beneath.
Here the Bible tells us,
Cast him into outer darkness.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Now when the Bible uses the term weeping and gnashing of teeth, they use it a lot.
It's always a reference to this eternal damnation.
Hell or the lake of fire.
Now why don't you notice here we're told that they're cast into outer darkness.
And this is actually not referring to hell in the center of the earth,
but it's referring to after the great white throne,
when death and hell deliver up the dead that are in them,
they're judged at the great white throne,
and death and hell are cast into the lake of fire.
Where is the lake of fire?
The Bible tells us that it is in outer darkness.
Now what does that mean?
I don't know.
I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I understand all of this,
but to me, I think it means it's out there, somewhere in space out there.
Further than you and I can look and any telescope can see.
There's a place of outer darkness called the lake of fire,
and after the great white throne,
God is going to take hell, which is in the center of the earth,
and all the souls of the damned are there.
He's going to resurrect their bodies.
He's going to deliver the souls out of hell.
He's going to reunite them.
He's going to judge them,
and then He's going to cast them into the lake of fire.
He's going to take hell out of the center of the earth,
cast it into the lake of fire.
Why does He get rid of hell in the center of the earth?
Because when we go into eternity,
there will be a new heaven and a new earth,
and that earth will not have a place of torment,
a place for sin.
There will be no sin.
So God gets rid of hell and throws it into outer darkness,
which is the lake of fire.
Now let me just, I hope you understand this.
The lake of fire is pretty much the same thing as hell.
It's called a lake of fire.
So there's fire, there's brimstone.
We saw that He said bind Him hand and foot.
That's the same as hell where they're bound in chains.
It's fire, it's torment, it's forever.
It's pretty much the same thing,
but technically, and just to be doctrinally correct,
we need to understand that there's hell
and there's the lake of fire.
And if you're wondering, well, why have two?
What's the difference?
Here's what you need to understand.
The major difference between hell and the lake of fire is this,
that hell is where souls go and bodies do not go,
and it's where the damned are condemned,
but it's really just a holding place
until the great white throne.
And at the great white throne,
both soul and body of unbelievers will be resurrected,
they'll be judged at the great white throne,
and then both soul and body will be cast into the lake of fire,
hell will be cast into the lake of fire,
and that's where they'll spend all of eternity,
in outer darkness in the lake of fire.
The major difference is that hell is where souls go, not bodies,
because when somebody dies today, their soul goes to hell,
their body is buried, they can go to a cemetery and excavate it out,
and it's there.
But in the lake of fire, it'll be both soul and body.
Now let me just show you a verse on this,
you're there in Matthew 22, flip over to John chapter 5,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
I hope that's clear, that hell is in the center of the earth,
but there's this other place in outer darkness,
hell gets thrown into the lake of fire,
hell is souls, but then there's a resurrection of the dead,
and then both body and soul get cast into the lake of fire.
John 5, 29, the Bible says this,
Jesus says this, John 5, 29,
And shall come forth, they that have done good, look at this,
unto the resurrection of life.
That's you and I, if you're saved.
The resurrection of life.
Some are going to be resurrected unto the resurrection of life,
and they that have done evil, look at this,
unto the resurrection of damnation.
So notice there's two resurrections.
There's the resurrection of life,
where we're raptured, our bodies is corruptible,
put on incorruption, there's more to put on immortality,
we're given a glorified body,
our souls and our bodies are united,
and we spend eternity with God,
that is the resurrection of life,
but then there's coming also a resurrection of damnation,
where those souls are brought out of hell.
Revelation says, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it,
death and hell gave up the dead which were in them,
and God's going to bring those souls out of hell,
and resurrect their bodies, unite them,
and judge them at the great white throne.
That's what the resurrection of damnation is referring to,
and after the great white throne,
hell, which is in the center of the earth,
is cast into the lake of fire, which is outer darkness,
but here's the thing,
hell and the lake of fire are pretty much the same thing.
In fact, God refers to both places as hell,
because they're practically the same thing.
Hell in the center of the earth is just a holding place
for the lake of fire,
which is where people will actually spend eternity forever and ever.
Let me show that to you, go to Matthew chapter 10.
Matthew chapter 10.
Lots of people are in hell.
No one's actually gone to the lake of fire yet.
In fact, the Bible tells us,
I don't have time to develop this or to show it to you.
You can study this on your own if you want,
but if you read the book of Revelation, it's very clear.
The very first person that actually gets thrown into the lake of fire
is the antichrist.
After the great white throne,
everyone in hell is going to get cast into the lake of fire,
but nobody's actually in the lake of fire right now.
All the souls of the damned are in hell,
and all their bodies are still on this earth.
Matthew 10.28.
This is what Jesus said.
And fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul.
That's encouraging.
And the idea is this, don't be afraid of man.
The worst thing that man can do to you is take your life.
And if you're saved, that's not a threat.
If they kill my body, okay, well, I don't want that,
but they can't kill my soul.
And fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul.
But here's what Jesus says, and here's what I want to show you,
but rather fear him, this is referring to God,
which is able to destroy both, look at it, soul and body.
So what is this referring to, soul and body?
Because we know that in hell, the Bible says about Jesus,
David spake, seeing the spake of the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul was not left in hell.
So we know that in hell, it's only the souls of mankind right now.
Their bodies are buried and scattered throughout the earth.
But here Jesus says, you need to fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body.
What is that referring to?
That is referring to the lake of fire after the great white throne,
after the resurrection of damnation,
where both soul and body are cast into the lake of fire.
But notice what Jesus says, he says,
but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Now he's talking about the lake of fire,
because the lake of fire is the only place where both soul and body are destroyed,
but he calls it hell. Why?
Because hell gets thrown into the lake of fire,
and the lake of fire is pretty much hell.
If you think about it, it's like when somebody gets arrested,
and they're just put in some holding cell until they go see the judge,
and then they're sentenced.
That's the idea.
People go to hell, and they're waiting for the great white throne,
and then at the great white throne, both soul and body are cast into the lake of fire.
And hell is cast into the lake of fire, which is in outer darkness.
And God refers to both places as hell,
because they're both pretty much the same thing,
but there's coming a day when both body and soul, soul and body,
will be cast into hell.
Now I wanted to just take a few moments to explain that,
because I think it's important to understand these doctrinal differences and distinctions,
because someone might try to show you a verse,
and show you some sort of contradiction,
and if you don't understand that, well there's a difference.
There's actually two places, a place called hell and a place called the lake of fire.
And I think it's good for us to understand those things.
You're there in Revelation.
Go to Revelation chapter 14.
Revelation chapter 14.
I'm sorry, you're in Matthew, but go to Revelation chapter 14 if you would.
We talked about the description of hell.
We talked about the duration of hell.
We talked about the depths of hell.
But let me give you another point, and it is this.
Let's talk about the director of hell.
And what I mean by that is, who's in charge in hell?
And today again, people have this idea that the devil's in charge in hell,
and you see these little cartoons,
and they show the devil with a pitchfork,
and it's like he's running the show in hell, and he's tormenting people in hell.
The truth of the matter is this, that the devil's never actually been to hell yet.
He will spend a thousand years in the bottomless pit,
referring to hell in the center of the earth,
during the millennial reign of Christ.
And then he'll be loosed, and he'll try to battle against God,
and then he'll be thrown into the lake of fire.
He will spend all eternity in hell.
The devil's never been to hell.
He's not been cast there yet.
The devil's not in charge of hell.
He's not running hell.
You say, well, then who is running hell?
Well, in Revelation 14 and verse 10, the Bible says this,
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, Revelation 14, 10,
which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation,
and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone.
Why don't you notice what the Bible says here?
In the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
Who's the Lamb?
The Bible tells us that John said about Jesus,
that he is the Lamb slain from the foundation.
He's the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.
Revelation tells us he's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And the Bible tells us here that these people in hell
will be tormented in the presence of the holy angels,
and in the presence of the Lamb.
So we see that it is God.
It is Jesus who is running and the director of hell.
Go to 2 Thessalonians, if you would, chapter number 1.
2 Thessalonians, if you find the T-books, they're all clustered together.
1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, Titus, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1.
While you turn there, let me just read to you some verses.
Proverbs 15 and 11 says this,
Hell and destruction are before the Lord.
How much more than the hearts of the children of men?
So the Bible tells us hell and destruction are before the Lord.
So the Lord is the one who is in charge of the Lamb, the holy angels.
All of this is happening in the presence of the Lamb,
in the presence of the holy angels.
And it kind of makes sense, right?
Because we see Lazarus in hell, lifted up his eyes, being in torment,
and he's talking to Abraham.
And the Bible tells us that this happens in the presence of the Lord.
Hell and destruction are before the Lord.
Psalm 13, 9, 7, you go to 2 Thessalonians,
Psalm 13, 9, 7 says,
Whither shall I go from my spirit?
Talking about the spirit of God.
Or whither shall I flee from my presence?
This is in reference to the omniscience of God.
He says, if I ascend up into heaven, thou art there.
If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
So God, you say God is in hell?
Yeah, God is running hell.
Jesus is running hell.
Hell and destruction are before the Lord.
If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
The Bible says that they're tormented with fire and brimstone
in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 8, the Bible says this,
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.
Look at it.
From the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
It's from the presence of the Lord.
The director of hell is not Satan.
Satan didn't make up hell and he's running it.
The director of hell is God.
It comes from the presence of the Lord.
The one who's running hell is Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit
and the holy angels.
If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Hell and destruction are before the Lord.
So we've seen the description of hell.
We've seen the duration of hell.
We've seen the depths of hell.
We've seen the director of hell.
What's hell like?
Torment, no rest, delivered into chains, covered by worms.
How long will it last?
Forever.
Where are the depths of hell?
For now, it's in the center of the earth.
Eventually, it'll be in outer darkness, in the lake of fire.
Who's in charge of hell?
The Lord Jesus Christ.
It comes from the presence of the Lord.
But I'd like to end by just making a couple of applications.
And it is this, that hell is filled with people who do not have to be there.
I've already mentioned it, that hell was not created for us.
It was created for the devil and his angels.
The Bible says here in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 8,
In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who's going to go to hell?
Those who know not God.
Those who obey not the gospel.
See, the truth of the matter is this, that it's not that good people go to hell.
It's not that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell,
because there's no such thing as good people.
The Bible says there is none that doeth good and know not one.
The Bible says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Good people don't go to heaven and bad people go to hell.
The truth is this, forgiven people go to heaven,
and those that have rejected the forgiveness of God go to hell.
Because God made a way for everybody to be saved.
God made a way for salvation.
The way is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He found the cross for our sins. He paid for our sins in hell.
He resurrected to prove He was who He said He was.
And anyone that calls on Him by faith can be forgiven
and can spend eternity in heaven with Him.
But the Bible says that those that know not God
and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,
they are the ones that will be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord.
What that tells me is this, that there are people in hell
that did not have to be there, did not have to go there.
They could have known God. They could have got saved.
They could have obeyed the gospel.
This is why the Bible tells us, if you could go back to Jude,
I ask you to keep your place there.
This is why the Bible tells us that we should try to save them from hell.
Jude 1, 22, And of some have compassion,
and of some have compassion, making a difference,
and others saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire,
hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Somebody might listen to this sermon and say,
Are you trying to scare people?
I'd rather scare you into heaven than comfort you into hell.
Others saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire.
But the question is this, do you have compassion?
I mean, I understand that what we're looking at and studying,
what we're reading about, is not a happy thought.
It's not something people...
There's a reason why most churches don't preach on the subject of hell.
It's an offensive thought.
It's an offensive thought to consider.
And everybody that you know that's not saved,
your coworkers, your neighbors, your lost loved ones,
everyone that you know that is not saved,
the Bible teaches that they will be chained.
They will be bound.
They will be thrown and tormented in fire.
There will be no rest day or night,
delivered into chains, in darkness, covered by worms,
eaten by worms for all of eternity in hell.
The Bible tells us about the rich man,
that he lifted up his eyes being in torment.
And I've got to ask the question,
if you believe the Bible, and maybe you don't,
but if you believe the Bible, does that not break your heart?
And of some, the Bible says, have compassion,
making a difference.
The fact that there can be somebody in the city of Sacramento
that would get saved if someone brought them the gospel,
does that not matter to you?
That they might spend eternity in hell?
I remember when I met my wife, we were teenagers,
and she was not saved.
And I spent many weeks and months giving her the gospel,
and eventually she got saved.
And at first, she didn't know if she believed in the Bible
and believed in God and these things.
Of course, she eventually made a choice to put her faith in God
and in the Lord Jesus Christ, and she got saved.
But I remember when I was giving her the gospel,
and I was talking to her about hell,
and she was still not sure whether she believed this or not.
I remember she made the statement to me,
because I was talking to her about hell,
and explaining hell as a place of torment and fire,
and no rest, day and night, people are chained,
horrible, a worm-dyed knot, they're tormented,
they're tortured forever and ever.
I remember she looked at me and she said,
if I believe that, and at this moment in her life,
she wasn't sure if she believed it,
but she said, if I believe that,
I would spend the rest of my life
going up and down the streets of this city
telling people how to not go there.
Now at the time, she didn't know if she believed it.
To her credit, when she believed it,
she has spent the rest of her life doing just that.
But I ask you, do you believe that?
Do you believe that there are people
that are going to die and go to hell and you can save them?
Does it matter to you?
And if some have compassion, the Bible says,
making a difference, and others save with fear,
pulling them out of the fire,
hating even the garments spotted by the flesh.
I don't know what you'll do,
but I think I'll just spend the rest of my life
going up and down these streets
telling people and warning people,
I understand, you work all week
and you're tired on Saturdays, I get that.
You got garage sales and gardening to do,
I understand that.
But there's coming a day called the Great White Throne
and those garage sales and those gardenings
and the nap you got to take and all those things
are going to seem real silly
when we watch people that we knew
that we could have given the Gospel to
be bound and cast into hell.
So I ask you the question, do you care?
Because the Bible says, and if some have compassion,
making a difference, and others save with fear,
pulling them out of the fire,
hating even the garments spotted by the flesh,
let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you.
Lord, I thank you that someone cared enough about me,
that someone cared enough about where I would spend eternity
to give me the Gospel.
In fact, I remember getting saved as a young child
specifically because I was afraid of going to hell
and I'm thankful for my parents and my dad
who gave me the Gospel and got me saved.
And I think all of us that are here this morning
that are saved can look at an individual
and say, I'm so thankful for that person
taking the time, caring enough about me,
to give me the Gospel, the good news of salvation.
There's a place called hell, but I don't have to go there.
Lord, I pray that you would revive us,
that you would give us a Holy Spirit concern and compassion
for people that are going to hell
because it's a real place.
People will spend eternity there.
Lord, help us to do everything we can
to keep people from going to hell.
In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
Well, God bless you.
I want to thank you for being here this morning.
I do want to invite you to be back tonight at 6 p.m.
for the evening service, and of course,
it'll be another sermon.
You say, I didn't like that sermon.
Well, it'll be a different sermon, all right?
And you can come back for that,
and just another opportunity to be in God's house
with God's people under the preaching of the Word of God.
I want to encourage you to invite somebody.
Bring somebody with you next week,
and start caring about the souls of people around you.
I think we all, it's good for us to,
every once in a while, consider hell and the horrors of hell.
I appreciate you being here.
If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know.
We'll have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song.
Turn to song 304.
304.
304 on the first.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior
Not of this world's delusive dream
I have renounced all sinful pleasure
Jesus is mine, there's nothing between
Nothing between my soul and the Savior
So that His blessed face may be seen
Nothing preventing the least of His favor
Keep the way clear, let nothing between
Nothing between like worldly pleasure
Habits of life, though harmless they seem
Must not my heart from Him ever sever
He is my all, there's nothing between
Nothing between my soul and the Savior
So that His blessed face may be seen
Nothing preventing the least of His favor
Keep the way clear, let nothing between
Nothing between like pride or like station
Self or friends shall not intervene
Though it may cost me much tribulation
I am resolved, there's nothing between
Nothing between my soul and the Savior
So that His blessed face may be seen
Nothing preventing the least of His favor
Keep the way clear, let nothing between
Nothing between in many hard trials
Though the whole world against me convene
Watching with prayer and much self-denial
I'll triumph at last with nothing between
Nothing between my soul and the Savior
So that His blessed face may be seen
Nothing preventing the least of His favor
Keep the way clear, let nothing between
Amen.
.