But if we go back to Revelation chapter 20, Revelation chapter 20, the title of the sermon
comes from verse 15, Revelation 20 verse 15, and whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
The title of the sermon tonight is cast into the lake of fire.
Now we had Luke read out that chapter for us earlier, and I would say in my personal
opinion, Revelation 20 is the scariest chapter of the whole Bible.
The scariest chapter, it's that final judgment to the lost, it's a final judgment to those
that have rejected Jesus Christ, and their ultimate end is torment forever and ever in
the lake of fire.
We also see that the beast and the false prophet, future personalities in the future, are also
there in the lake of fire.
Now one common question that usually gets brought up, and we're not going to focus on
it, but just very quickly, look at verse 14, Revelation 20, it says, and death and hell
were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
So you see straight away that the Bible differentiates between hell and the lake of fire.
In the future, at the end of the millennium, hell itself is cast into the lake of fire.
Now you say, what are the differences?
Well it's basically this, hell is a temporary place right now, okay?
Now when we go out, we knock doors, we often talk about spending hell in eternity, but
it also does carry on into eternity, because hell is then cast into the lake of fire, and
the lake of fire is forever and ever, okay?
That's really the only differences, is that the hell is a temple place, then the non-believers
are taken out of hell and stand before the judgment seat of Christ, or sorry, the great
way from judgment I should say, and then they will be cast into that lake of fire, okay?
And at the end of the day, they're both a place of fire, they're both a place of torment,
and there really is a, besides that, there isn't much more difference between them, okay?
Between those two things.
And so I'm not going to spend my time differentiating between those two, I'm going to be talking
about hell and the lake of fire as though they're the same thing, because at the end
of the day, hell is cast into the lake of fire, so it doesn't really make that much
difference, okay?
But look at verse number 12, let's start from there, Revelation 20 verse 12, it says,
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, okay?
And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life.
So the dead, those that were in hell, those that had rejected Christ, not those that are
alive, if you're saved, you have everlasting life, okay?
The Bible does not categorise you as one of these dead, okay?
If you believe Christ, you have life, okay?
And it's the dead, small and great, that will stand before God.
Small and great being, you know, the greatest politicians, the great, are those that have
the greatest riches, those that have the greatest name throughout the whole world,
it's going to be the great, but also the small, those that weren't much in the world, those
that, you know, just were your regular people, going throughout life, but whatever the case,
it's those that had rejected Jesus Christ.
And it says the books were opened, there's a lot of thoughts as to what those books are,
if you were to ask me, I'm just giving you my opinion, I'm not saying this is necessarily
bound in the Bible, in my opinion, those books that are opened are the same books that we
read here, the Bible, okay?
The Bible is made up of 66 books, and it contains the laws of God, it contains the
commands of God, it contains the law that God gave to Moses, okay?
And you know, the Bible obviously explains to us what it means to be a sinner, what it
means to transgress the laws of God, so I personally believe the books that are opened
are the books, the 66 books of the Bible, or at least make the first five books, the
books of Moses, okay?
And then it says, and another book was opened, which is the book of life.
Now, let's look at this, and it says, and the dead were judged out of those things which
are written in the books, okay?
That's why I believe it's probably the Bible, because it's like their life is being judged
based on something that they should know, based on something that they're commanded
to do, okay?
So we see that the judge of those books are called into their works, okay?
They're not judged according to their faith in Christ, they're not judged on any church
they went to, they're judged according to their works, okay?
And this should bring, you know, before we continue reading, this should really make
people question, you know, so-called Christians that are trusted in their works for salvation.
They say, hey, I'm a good Christian, I've gone to church my whole life, I've done all
these great things for God, but yeah, well, these people are being judged by their works
as well, okay?
And then let's have a look, verse 13, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it,
and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, so you see there that hell delivers
up the dead, those that went to hell are being brought forth before this judgment of God,
and they were judged, every man, according to their works, verse 14, and death and hell
were cast into the lake of fire, this is the second death, and then verse 15, the scariest
verse in this chapter, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire.
So all these people, all these dead, before standing before God, being judged for their
works, how well did your works line up to what's in the scriptures and then cast into
the lake of fire?
Okay?
Now these are people that are trusting their works, trusting their works for salvation.
That is not true for the believer, the believer does not trust in their works, they trust
in the work of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ who lived a perfect life, Jesus Christ who
kept all the laws of God, and he asked us to just put our simple faith and trust in
his death, bury our resurrection, and his righteousness is imputed upon us.
And so if God came and judged you according to your work, it's actually the work of Jesus
Christ, the finished work of the cross, because his shed blood has covered and cleansed us
of all our sin.
So our position for God is perfection, not because you're perfect, but because Jesus
Christ was perfect, okay?
Now if you have a look at Revelation 21 verse 1, let's have a look, just turn the page there
if you need to turn, Revelation 21 verse 1, it says, And I saw a new heaven and a new
earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more
sea.
And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband.
So once God has judged all the unbelieving world, and they're cast into the lake of fire,
we see the new heaven and the new earth descend out of heaven, okay, and prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband, and then just drop down to verse 27, drop down to verse 27, Revelation
21, Revelation 21 verse 27, it says, And there shall no wise enter into it anything that
defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or make of a lie, but they that are written
in the Lamb's book of life.
So who's allowed to enter into this holy city?
Who's allowed to enter into the presence of God at the end of this, when God creates a
new heaven and new earth?
Those that are written in the Lamb's book of life.
And who was cast into the lake of fire?
Those that were not written in the book of life, okay?
So at the end of Revelation 20, we see that all the damned are done with, they're all
in the lake of fire, and all the righteous, in the righteousness of Jesus Christ that
is, that are written in the Lamb's book of life, they are permitted to come into this
holy temple and partake and fellowship with God in this new heaven and this new earth.
So you can see how important it is to make sure that your name is in the book of life,
okay?
Your name is in the book of life, you do not want your name to be missing out of that book,
okay?
How has my name added to that book?
Well, if you've studied out the book of life, we're not going to do a great study here,
but if you studied out the book of life, every name is written in the Lamb's book of life.
Every name of every person that has ever been born, that's ever come into this world, has
their name written in the Lamb's book of life.
But the Bible talks a lot over and over and over again about the name being blotted out,
about the name being removed out of that book of life, okay?
And some people mistake this as a loss of salvation.
Oh, if my name is in the book of life, I must be saved, and if your name gets removed, as
we see in many passages of the Bible, then that person must have lost their salvation.
No, you've got it the wrong way around, okay?
It's that salvation was made available to all men.
When Jesus Christ came and died on the cross for all men, okay, He died for the sins of
everybody.
So everybody starts with the name written in the Lamb's book of life.
But if you go about life, you become reprobate and rejected by God, your name is blotted
out of that book.
We'll see soon, okay?
Or if you go and you die without believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, your name is removed
out of that book of life.
Let's have a look at some of this.
Go to Exodus.
Keep your finger in Revelation.
Oh, you don't need to.
It's the last book of the Bible, so you don't need to keep your finger there.
But go to Exodus 32.
Go to Exodus 32, verse 31.
I just want to show you a little bit from the Old Testament and also show you a little
bit from the New Testament.
Exodus 32, Exodus 32, verse 31.
Now we pick up the story of Israel when Moses went up to the mount to get the Ten Commandments.
Remember, they get the two tables with the Ten Commandments and it comes down and because
he took a long time, the children of Israel wanted to worship another God.
And they went to Aaron, they went to Moses' brother and said, look, give us a God that
we can worship.
It looks like Moses is not coming down.
And so they take their gold and they create a golden calf and they start worshipping and
praising this golden calf instead of the God of the Bible that delivered him out of Egypt.
Now, Exodus 32, verse 31.
Moses realizes what Israel has done and this is what Moses does.
And Moses returned unto the Lord and said, oh, these people have sinned a great sin and
have made them gods of gold.
Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book
which thou hast written.
So Moses, I mean, I don't know if I could even say these words, and Moses says, Moses,
look, please forgive Israel for what they've done.
And if not, then blot me.
Instead of them, God, take me, take my name out of the book that thou hast written.
Now, I love how God responds in verse 33.
Obviously, nobody can pay for the sins of another man.
Everyone is accountable for their own sins.
Everyone's accountable as to whether their name is in the book of life or not, verse 33.
And the Lord said unto Moses, whosoever have sinned against me, him will I blot out of my
book.
So you see, when Israel came out of Egypt, their names were written in the book.
And God says, those that have sinned against me, hey, if that's the God they want, if that's
the one they want to worship, then it's those people that will have their names taken out
of the book and blotted out of the book.
Now, that word blot can be understood in two different ways.
Blotted out of the book could be physically removed, or it's kind of like, if you've got
a lot of ink, and you dropped ink, and you say, well, that's been blotted out.
That's been hidden.
If I got a text up, like a permanent marker, and I took out some words, I could say I blotted
out that word because you can't see it anymore.
That's kind of the two ways.
Either way, your name's not there anymore.
And so you can see that Moses said, look, take out my name, because he wanted Israel
to not be punished.
He had an amazing heart, Moses.
I don't think I could say that about anybody.
I want to be found in the land of the book of life, and I know that I am because of my
belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But I just want to show you there in the Old Testament that your name could be removed
because these people made their gods gods of gold.
And then later on, if you watch another story, Moses gives them an ultimatum.
Hey, choose this god.
You can choose that, the golden calf, or you can choose the god that delivered you out
of Israel.
And those that went with the golden calf, they ended up being destroyed by God, going
to hell basically.
Now, go back to Revelation.
Revelation 22, verse 19.
I want to show you something else you can do to have your name removed out of the book
of life.
OK?
Revelation 22, verse 19.
The Bible says, and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city.
So you can see how those two things go together.
If names are not in the book of life, you can't go to the holy city.
And from the things which are written in this book.
OK?
So we see there that if you go and you corrupt the word of God, and in this particular case,
the book of Revelation, but I do believe this applies to the whole Bible.
If you're someone that creates your own Bible, you remove things or you add things, you change
the word of God, God says if you do that, you change my word, remove or add, that I'm
going to take your name out of the book of life.
I mean, that should give great fear to the Bible translators.
OK?
To those that are taking the scriptures, and we've got so many corrupted modern Bibles.
OK?
And I've gone through this already, why we're King James only.
You know, and for these people that intentionally took out the word of God or changed things
and added heresies to the word of God, their names have been taken out of the book of life.
OK?
And they're still walking today.
They're still walking among us, but their opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ has
been taken away.
It's been removed.
Their name has been removed out of the book of life because they've corrupted the word
of God.
OK?
So we see even in the New Testament, you know, your name being taken out for doing certain
things, in this case, changing God's word.
OK?
Now, go to Revelation chapter 3.
Revelation chapter 3, verse 5.
This goes with the hymn that was sung before the sermon.
It says,
He that overcometh
Remember that?
We're singing about overcoming the world.
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out
His name out of the book of life.
That's the promise of God.
If you've overcome, if you're an overcomer, your name will not be blotted out of the book
of life.
That is eternal security, my friend.
If you're an overcomer, we'll see what it means soon, what it means there.
And then it says,
But I will confess His name before my Father and before His angel.
OK?
And I'll just quickly read to you from 1 John 5, 4 and 5.
1 John 5, 4 and 5.
It says,
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.
So how do we overcome the world?
How are we an overcomer?
How do we ensure that our name will never be removed out of the book of life?
It says,
Whosoever is born of God.
If you've been born again, if you've been born of God, if you have the new man, if you
have the Holy Ghost indwelling in you, you are an overcomer.
OK?
And it says,
And this is the victory that overcometh the world.
What's the victory?
Even our faith.
What's the victory that helps us overcome the world?
What makes us born of God?
It's our faith.
OK?
And then verse 5 continues,
Who is he that overcometh the world?
But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God.
OK?
So this is what you need to do to be sure that your name is found in the book of life.
You need to believe on Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
OK?
And if you put your faith on him, then you've overcome the world.
You've been born of God, and your name will never, ever be removed out of the book of
life.
It would be impossible for a believer in Christ, a true believer in Christ, to have their name
removed out of the book of life.
OK?
Now, if you go back to Revelation chapter 17, Revelation chapter 17 verse 8, Revelation
17 verse 8, because surely some of you might be wondering, you know, how can our names
be written in the book of life even before, you know, we'll have a look at this, I just
want to show you this.
Revelation 17 verse 8, Revelation 17 verse 8, it says,
The beast, speaking of the antichrist, the beast that thou sawest was and is not, and
shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition.
And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, so who's going to wonder after the beast?
Who's going to wonder and be amazed by the antichrist?
It says, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.
Do you know that this book of life is written from the foundation of the world?
OK?
And these people in the future that decide to worship the antichrist and reject the God
their names are going to be taken out of that book.
It's not written in that book anymore.
OK?
And it's from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was and is
not and yet is.
Now, keep that in mind about the foundation of the world, go to Revelation 13, Revelation
13 verse 7, Revelation 13 verse 7, because I think this is going to help put it all together.
Revelation 13 verse 7 and 8, verses 7 and 8.
The Bible reads, and it was given unto him to make war with the saints.
Who's this?
It's the antichrist.
OK?
The tribulation period, the antichrist making war with the saints, making war with the Christians
and to overcome them.
And power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations and all that dwell
upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
You see that?
Those that are worshiping the antichrist, their names are not written in the book of
life of the Lamb.
It's the book of the Lamb which was slain from the foundation of the world.
So let's put this together.
Jesus Christ obviously 2,000 years ago came and he died on the cross.
OK?
And yet somehow, spiritually speaking, with eternity in mind, something that we can't
fully comprehend as human beings, somehow the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ the Lamb
was slain from the foundation of the world.
OK?
And why is that significant?
That means that everybody that was saved from Adam all the way to you today and beyond from
the foundation of the world, you know, Christ had paid for their sins.
This is why even before Christ came and was crucified on the cross, people could be saved
because his salvation was already in effect.
It was already in God's plan.
It was already in God's plan even before he created the world that there would be this
sacrifice for the Lamb that would pay for the sins of the whole world.
And so if Christ has paid for the sins of the whole world, it makes perfect sense that
this book which comes from the foundation of the world would contain the names of every
person that's ever lived.
And if you deny Christ, you choose to reject him, then your name is going to be blotted
out, your names are going to be found there and written anymore.
It's going to be gone.
OK?
So God actually removes names out of the book of life, OK, for those that have rejected him.
And again, those that have the names removed out of that book, they're liquefied.
That's the ultimate destination, which is a sad thing.
OK?
Now, I want to change topics a little bit.
And if you guys can go to Matthew 25, 41, Matthew 25, verse 41.
Because this topic of hell upsets a lot of Christians.
This topic of the liquefied upsets a lot of Christians.
In fact, I was just talking to my parents and we were talking about how in the church
that I went to as a child, the pastor would never talk of hell.
I mean, it was zero mentions, zero sermons on hell.
In fact, zero sermons on sin.
I mean, I'm not even sure what's being preached.
If you're not talking about sin, if you're not talking about hell.
I mean, this was in the 80s, OK?
I grew up in the 80s.
I would say even less so today.
Even less so people want to hear a sermon about hell.
OK?
But let's see.
Why did God create hell?
Matthew 25, verse 41, Matthew 25, verse 41.
Then shall he say unto them on the left hand,
depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels.
Why did God prepare hell?
Why did he make hell?
For human beings?
Was that the intention?
No.
For the devil and his angels.
For the devil and his fallen angels, the other devils,
or the demons or whatever you want to call them.
And notice it says, into everlasting fire.
We like the idea of everlasting life.
OK?
In fact, you can almost use those words fire to spell life.
What do you need to remove?
The R. Change the R to an L and then jump all around.
You know, everlasting life, OK?
But we rejoice in everlasting life.
We love it, you know?
We love hearing about it, that we're saved for eternity.
Everlasting, we can never lose it.
And we rejoice in that.
But the same length of everlasting, which is forever,
is the same fire that will burn everlasting or forever
for those that end up in that place.
That's a scary thought for those that will end up there.
OK?
And I hope as I preach through this,
it burdens your hearts as believers to understand the need of the gospel.
To understand the need to get out there in our community
and preach the gospel because otherwise our friends,
our family, our relatives, our co-workers,
whoever it is, will end up into this everlasting fire
that was actually prepared for the devil and the angels.
OK?
Look at verse 31.
Move up a little bit, same chapter, Matthew 25 verse 31.
I'll just show you what was prepared for man.
OK?
It says,
When the Son of Man shall come in his glory,
and all the holy angels with him,
then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory,
and before him shall be gathered all nations,
and he shall separate them one from another,
as the shepherd divided his sheep from the goats.
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand,
but the goats on his left hand.
Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand,
Come ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
OK?
There's the foundation of the world again.
What happened in the foundation?
Christ was slain.
The lamb was slain from the foundation of the world.
The names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life,
from the foundation of the world.
This place, this kingdom of heaven,
was prepared from the foundation of the world,
is prepared for man.
That's why God created the kingdom of heaven.
It was for man, and hell, the everlasting fire,
was prepared for the devil and his angels.
OK?
And so we need to understand this, OK?
That we need to get out there with the gospel,
and make sure that people are not rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ.
That they understand that God has prepared for them the kingdom,
and they can get there should they just overcome the world
by putting their faith on Jesus Christ.
OK?
But should they reject Christ,
the names will be taken out of the book,
and they're going to end up in the lake of fire with the devil and his angels.
OK?
Yeah, that's the scary thought.
So, I want to cover right now some myths of hell.
There's several myths of hell.
And if I'm honest, I fell for some of these myths as well, growing up.
OK?
And part of this, myth number one,
I actually fell for this as well as a child,
and part of the reason is because,
have you guys never heard of the chick tracks?
They're gospel tracks, but they're called chick tracks.
They're like comics, little cartoon.
I used to love them as a child,
because children tend to love, you know, cartoons and comics and stuff like that,
so I used to read a lot of those.
Now, the big problem,
well, actually, there's two major problems with the chick tracks.
Many times, the message in the track itself is, OK,
the gospel's quite clear,
but at the back of every chick track,
it basically says, what do you need to do to be saved?
You've got to repent of your sins.
Like, every single one of them, OK?
Though the message in the comic itself might be right,
it's the back page that's always wrong.
OK, the back page is always wrong.
That's one problem. That's not what I'm talking about.
The problem that I would discover as a child growing up,
reading these comics,
was that hell was pictured as the kingdom of Satan.
Hell was pictured as a place that Satan would rule and reign, OK?
And when God would throw souls into hell,
then the devil and his angels and his demons
would be basically torturing those people.
Torturing them, you know?
And so, in my mind,
I don't know if you guys have that in your mind,
that hell's a place where Satan rules and reigns.
That's not true.
What did we read about?
Why was it created?
It was for the devil and his angels to be tormented there, OK?
Not for them to rule,
but for them to be tormented by God forever and ever.
And I'll just read to you from Revelation 20, verse 10.
It says, and I think we did read this yet.
It says, and the devil, Revelation 20, 10,
and the devil that deceived them
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.
The devil's cast into the lake of fire.
Why is he cast there?
To rule and reign?
It says, and where the beast and the false prophet are
and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Is Satan ruling in hell?
In the lake of fire?
No.
He's going to be tormented there day and night forever and ever.
He's not doing the tormenting.
God's doing the tormenting on Satan, OK?
So hell is not this wicked place.
It's actually a place of God's judgement,
of God's wrath,
of God's righteous anger to the wicked, OK?
God's in control of hell.
It's not Satan.
God is the one that's in control of hell.
He's the one that casts people into hell
and he's the one, as we'll see later on,
he's the one that does the tormenting in hell, OK?
And again, people don't want to talk about this
because they just want to talk about loving that with God.
You know, God in the clouds and loves everybody.
Hey, God is also an angry God.
God is also a God that judges the wicked
and he tortures them in hell.
We'll see that soon, OK?
Now, let's see.
So that's myth number one,
that Satan and the devils rule from hell.
That's not true.
Myth number two,
I'll get you guys to turn to 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1.
2 Thessalonians, chapter 1.
Myth number two,
and, you know, well-meaning preachers say this all the time.
They say it all the time.
Well-meaning, OK?
I don't think they're trying to be deceptive
but I think they're just parroting things that they've heard,
you know, from other preachers and then they end up saying it.
But have you ever heard that hell is eternal separation from God?
They say, you don't want to go to hell
because if you go to hell, you're eternally separated from God.
Well, if we just discovered that hell,
well, I told you, I'll prove it to you soon,
that hell, God is actually there.
God is the one doing the tormenting.
You're not separated from God.
In fact, those that are in hell
probably wish they could be separated from God
to avoid the torment that comes from his righteous anger.
But 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verse 8.
2 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verse 8.
It says, pay attention to this.
You've got to read it carefully
and we believe the King James Bible is the perfect word of God.
Let's have a look at this.
It says, inflaming fire taking...
There's something about God here.
God inflaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God
and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You see how God takes flaming fire
and in vengeance takes it upon those that do not obey the gospel.
How do you obey the gospel?
You believe the gospel, okay?
Now, verse 9.
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power?
Now, I won't go into verse 9 for a minute.
I'm going to read to you the same verse, this time in the NIV,
the New International Version.
The NIV, the New International Version, verse 8.
You guys look at your King James.
I'm going to read to you from the NIV.
Notice what's missing. Notice what's different.
In the NIV, it says, he will punish those who do not know God
and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
What's the difference there?
Verse number 1.
There's no fire.
There is no flaming fire.
It says you'll punish them, but it doesn't say how.
Whereas the King James was in flaming fire.
Now, verse number 9.
I'll read from the NIV.
Keep reading.
They will be punished with everlasting destruction
and shut out from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of his might.
What does it say in the NIV?
They're going to be shut out of his presence.
Meaning that they're not going to be in the presence of God.
Okay?
Now, that's what a lot of preachers say.
They parrot that over and over again.
But when you look at your King James Bible, it says,
who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord.
What's the source of the everlasting destruction?
Where's it coming from?
It's coming from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of his power.
You see, we rejoice in the glory of God.
I can't wait to see God in his full glory,
my resurrected bodies, when I can see God face to face,
when I can see the Father, when I can see the Holy Ghost,
and I can see Jesus Christ in the full power and majesty and glory.
We're going to love it.
We're going to rejoice.
It's going to be amazing for us.
But that same glory for the sinners,
for those that stand before God in their self-righteousness,
is going to bring everlasting destruction.
It's going to destroy them.
It's flaming fire to them.
And it tortures them there.
You know, day and night, forever and ever.
But it would say they're everlasting destruction.
It's forever.
They're going to be destroyed over and over and over and over again forever.
And just in case you think I've got this wrong,
I want to prove this to you again.
Go to Revelation 14.
Revelation 14, verse 10.
Because we should always build a doctrine on at least two or three witnesses.
Okay?
So let's go to Revelation 14, verse 10.
Revelation 14, verse 10.
Look at 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.
And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone
in the presence of the holy angels
and in the presence of the Lamb.
So it's not just the source that's coming from God,
his glory that's destroying them,
that flaming fire coming from Jesus Christ,
but they're actually in the presence of the Lamb.
Okay?
Look, you can't get away from God.
You can't.
If you're in heaven, you're with God.
If you're on this earth, God is here as well.
And when you make your bed in hell, behold, he is there.
What's that Psalm? Do I have it down here?
Yeah, I do. Psalm 139, verse 8.
If I send up into heaven, thou art there.
If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Okay?
You cannot get away from the Spirit of God.
You cannot get away from the presence of God
when we're in the presence of God in heaven,
amazing, rejoicing, fantastic,
but in hell in the presence of God.
It's the worst place possible to be.
Okay?
Because His Holiness will be destroying the sinners,
will be destroying the wicked,
those that are not found in the Book of Life.
Okay?
This is the reality.
Okay?
This is the reality.
And these are two myths that creep into the churches,
and then people don't even understand what hell is,
because hell is a place that is actually righteous judgment of God.
They deserve...
And look, we don't like saying that,
but these people that are wicked, rejecting Christ,
we don't like saying that
because we probably know people that we love,
you know, families that have gone to hell,
and we don't like to think about it,
but we're going to...
Maybe we don't accept it fully right now,
but we should, because it's in the Bible,
but definitely when we're before the Lord,
we're going to fully understand
why God had to be so extreme in His punishment.
Okay?
So extreme.
We're going to understand that,
and we're going to say,
yes, that's just, that's perfect,
that's righteous, and that's just.
It makes perfect sense.
Okay?
Now, go to Mark 9, verse 43,
Mark chapter 9, verse 43.
I want to show you this.
This is something I found myself,
and I'm not having a lot of preaching on this,
but I believe I've got the right interpretation here,
so I want you guys to see it with your own eyes.
But what is hell?
What is hell like?
First of all, obviously, it's a place of fire.
Okay, that's obvious.
It's a place of fire that is tormenting the unbelievers.
Mark 9, 43, Jesus says,
Now notice verse 44.
Now, first of all, just to answer,
why did Jesus talk about cutting off your hands?
You know, and some people, you know,
actually think, God, Jesus Christ is saying,
cut off your hands, like literally,
cut off your hands, take out your eye,
cut off your feet, cut off parts of your body
to be sure you're going to heaven.
Okay?
Now, first of all, that can never happen
because the Bible tells us that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
It doesn't matter how much you cut off,
whatever's left, it's still not going to make the kingdom of God.
Okay?
Because we have a sin nature.
What Jesus Christ is teaching
is just showing just how severe hell is.
That if you could cut off your hand,
if you could do these things,
you're better off doing that
than being fully thrown into hell fire.
Okay?
But please, don't think, oh man,
I've stolen something, you know, stole this pencil,
now I've got to cut off my hand to make sure I'm going to heaven.
It's not going to happen
because the rest of you are sinful anyway.
Okay?
Flesh and blood, the sin nature that we have,
will not inherit the kingdom of God.
That's why we need it to be born again.
That's why God comes back
and promises us those new resurrected bodies.
That's how we enter into the kingdom of God.
Okay?
Now, what I want you to notice though, in verse 44,
it says, where the worm dieeth not.
There's a lot of people that wonder, what does it mean, sir?
The worm dieeth not and the fire is not quenched.
So we understand the fire.
We understand it's straightforward.
Okay?
You're being tormented by fire.
And what I want to propose to you
is that they're also being tormented by worms.
Okay?
That worms is part of the torment in hell.
Now, you can keep your finger there if you want just to compare.
Go to Isaiah 66.
Go to the Old Testament, Isaiah 66, the last chapter of Isaiah.
Isaiah 66, because this is what Jesus Christ is quoting.
He's actually quoting Isaiah 66, verses 22 to 24.
Isaiah 66, verse 22 to 24.
The Bible reads, and look at the consistency of the Bible.
Okay, remember?
We talked about the new heavens and the new earth, right?
It says here in Isaiah 66, 22.
For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make
shall remain before me, saith the Lord,
so shall your seed 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, saith the Lord.
And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men,
look at this, that have transgressed against me.
For their worms shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched,
and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Okay, do you see that?
So, yeah, okay, so the point that I wanted to bring to your attention there,
in verse 24, let's talk about the fire,
because the fire is easier to understand.
We know the fire is torment.
And it says, neither shall their fire be quenched.
Do you see how it says their fire?
So when you're cast into hell fire,
when you're cast into the lake of fire,
the fire that is tormenting you is your fire, is their fire.
It's fire that's specific to them.
It's torment that's specific to them,
to those that have transgressed against the Lord.
This is why I believe, and I can give you many reasons for this,
it's sort of like the Sabbath and the Scroll of the Sermon.
This is why I believe that those that were extremely wicked in the world
will be suffering greater in the lake of fire.
And those that probably were just your average person,
went about life in general, rejected Christ,
but weren't really the most wicked of the wicked people out there,
are definitely suffering in hell,
but I don't believe their fire will be as hot as those that were extremely wicked.
That's the topic for another time.
But notice that it's their fire, their fire.
And then when you look at Isaiah 6.24, it says,
For their worm shall not die, and neither shall their fire be quenched.
Okay, so it looks like, and go to Isaiah 14,
go to Isaiah 14, I want to put this a little bit further,
but it seems like when you put these verses together,
that the worm, because everyone thinks the worm is like the unsaved body,
that somehow it becomes a worm and that's the body,
but I think it's the torment.
Okay, there's worms and there's fire that are in hell,
are in the lake of fire, that's tormenting them forever and ever.
Go to Isaiah 14, Isaiah 14 verse 4.
Isaiah 14 verse 4, let's prove this a little bit further.
That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon.
So this proverb that we're about to read is to the king of Babylon.
Okay, it's to a real king, but as we'll soon see,
it changes talking about Satan. Why?
Because Satan is basically the god of this world.
Okay, a lot of kingdoms, corrupt governments, corrupt kings,
their master is ultimately Satan.
Okay, but look at this, and say,
How hath the oppressor ceased? The golden sea ceased.
The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked and the scepter of the rulers.
He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke,
he have ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted and none hindereth.
The whole earth is at rest and is quiet, they break forth into singing.
Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, the cedars of Lebanon saying,
Since thou art laid down, no fellow is come up against thee.
Look at verse 9, look at verse 9.
Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming.
It stirs up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth.
It hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
So say, look, you king of Babylon, hell is moving for you,
it's getting ready to receive you,
as it has all the other kings that have come before you,
all those wicked kings that have done wickedly against God.
And verse 10, all they shall speak and say unto thee,
Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?
Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy vials.
Look at this, the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
Do you see that? These people that have been cast into hell,
there are these worms waiting to cover them.
Okay, in verse 12, this is now the change to Lucifer, to the Satan.
It says, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning?
How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations?
So we can see if we put these verses together, there are these worms in hell, okay,
and it seems like they're part of the torments that somebody goes and suffers there.
You know, part of it is a fire, and part of it is this worm, I don't know.
It's, you know, worms, like maggots and things like that,
maybe eating away at dead flesh or something like that.
Maybe it's the same kind of idea that these worms are somehow eating through, you know,
I don't know, you know, the souls of men or something like that.
You know, it sounds pretty bad, it sounds pretty gruesome,
a place that we definitely don't want to go, okay?
A place that was not prepared for man, definitely prepared for Lucifer, though.
He was prepared for Lucifer, and those worms will definitely cover him, okay?
So, what is hell, what is life? It's a place of fire, it's also a place of worms, okay?
And go to Luke 16, go to Luke 16, verse 24.
Luke 16, verse 24 is a place of unquenched thirst.
Luke 16, verse 24, the Bible reads,
Hey, hell is a place of unquenched thirst,
that you would just want a drop of water on your tongue, just to give you some relief, okay?
Have you ever been so dehydrated, where you've not drunk water in a long time,
you've gone for a run, you've done some exercise, you know,
and I've been at times where I'm so dehydrated, just drinking water nonstop,
I mean, full of water, it just doesn't seem to satisfy me,
because it's taking a while for my body to rehydrate, okay?
It's not a comfortable feeling.
Imagine just wanting just that one drop, just to give you some level of satisfaction,
okay, it's a place of unquenched thirst, there's no water in hell.
Go to Luke 13, just a couple of chapters back, Luke 13, 27.
It's a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, okay?
Luke 13, 27,
in the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
So be weeping, sorrow, regret, remorse, you know, no hope,
you know you're stuck here forever.
And the gnashing of teeth, it's kind of like that grinding,
grinding of teeth, you know, striking of teeth, making anger and pain.
I'm someone that at 19 times I grind my teeth, my wife hears it, my teeth, just grinding.
I don't know why is that, I don't know if it's stress, I don't know what it is,
but I do it, I've been doing it since I've been a child, okay?
And that's what's going on, you know, but it's out of pain, it's out of anger, out of anguish,
with the weeping, with the weeping of sorrow.
Now I want you to turn there just so I can speed up a little bit,
but it's a place of darkness, Matthew 22 verse 13 says,
And then said the king to the servants, bind him hand and foot,
and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, outer darkness.
So when we think about fire, we think about the place being lit up, okay?
And yes, it is lit up, but it's not lit up with light, it's fire, but it's darkness.
It's complete darkness, okay?
So you can't see, I guess your hand from your face, you won't be able to see other people,
you might be able to hear the screams of people, you know, you might hear your own screams,
you know you've been burnt to fire, but it's a place of outer darkness,
just complete darkness at the same time, okay?
And they say, I don't know if you've done this science experiment,
that some of the hottest flames are like the naked flames,
you know, the ones that can barely be seen, okay?
Like the blue flame, you know, is really hotter,
and then I think you can get to like a white flame, and even like a, almost like a sea fruit flame,
and apparently that's like one of the hottest ways you can get fire.
So maybe that's why it's completely dark, maybe it's just the type of fire that's in hell.
And it's also a place, and obviously I'll just read this, a place of everlasting punishment.
A place of everlasting, the reason I say this is because there are some that teach
that when you get to hell, they believe in hell, but they believe in annihilation.
So once you get there, you're destroyed and that's it.
You don't suffer anymore, you know, you're thrown in there, destroyed,
and your consciousness ceases to exist, and you don't really feel pain when you just sort of,
it's like a, I don't know, a place of destruction.
And Matthew 25 verse 46, Matthew 25 verse 46, Jesus says,
And these shall go into everlasting punishment.
The punishment is everlasting, okay?
But the righteous unto life eternal.
Okay, but it's everlasting punishment.
And I'll just read to you from Revelation 14 and 11, we already read this.
The smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever.
And they have no rest, day nor night, who worship the beast in the image,
who also receives the mark of his name.
So there's no rest, day or night.
So are they annihilated when they go into hell?
No, they go through days, they go through nights, day and night, day after day after day after day,
continual torment.
The smoke of the torment goes up forever and ever.
There's no way into that torment.
It's a scary thought, you know?
And honestly, we've got the words of everlasting life.
We have the gospel.
If we're not going out and preaching the gospel, there's something wrong with us
when we understand the reality of hell.
When we understand, hey, this is a place that can be avoided, okay?
It's a place that God does not want man to go, okay?
He's given us that ministry of reconciliation so we would get out there
and do something for these people, okay?
I mean, maybe you don't have a love for the lost.
I don't know.
All I'm going to say to you is, if you don't have a love for the lost,
get out there and knock doors.
Because when you start talking to these people,
when you start seeing that they want to go to heaven,
they don't want to go to hell, and they don't know what they need to do,
they think it's their worst, they think it's their religion,
they think they've been good enough, that's going to give you a tear in your eye.
Because you know they want to be saved.
And still, they reject the simple gospel because they think it's worse.
And that's going to, I promise you, if you don't have a love for the lost,
just get out there and knock on doors and we'll give you love.
Because you're facing real people.
Real people that are on their way to hell, okay?
So, in conclusion, go to Luke 16.
Go to Luke 16.
Obviously we want to avoid hell.
Luke 16.
We read a little bit of this.
This is the story of Lazarus and the rich man.
The rich man that went to hell and Lazarus that went to Abraham in paradise.
And this is a story, this is not a parable, okay?
Jesus Christ gives us their names.
Or at least gives us Lazarus' name here.
It's not some parable, it's a real story of real people.
Luke 16 verse 19.
The Bible reads,
There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fed sumptuously every day.
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gates 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.
So we have a rich man who's living that up, doing well,
and then a beggar who just wants the crumbs to eat from the table of the rich man, okay?
Verse 22.
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, look what the rich man does when he dies,
and in hell he lifts up his eyes, being in torment,
and see if Abraham are far off and Lazarus in his bosom.
Now when this rich man dies, he lifts up his eyes, immediately he's in hell, okay?
And it's not like he's comfortable.
It's not like he's getting used to the temperature.
He's immediately in torment. Do you see that?
As soon as he realizes I'm in hell, I'm in torment.
He's been tormented, okay? Immediately.
This isn't something they get used to.
It's not something that builds up and gets worse over time.
It starts bad from day one.
It starts bad as soon as you realize you're in hell, okay?
And then it says here, verse 24,
And said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me.
He wants mercy. It's too late for mercy.
Okay? He's in hell.
And said 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.
So what do we see?
If you find yourself in hell, there's no way to cross that great gulf.
Once you're in hell, you're there forever.
Well, ultimately, the life of fire, okay?
And if you're in heaven, like Lazarus, he can't cross over either.
He can't dip his finger in water and bring it across.
He can't cross.
Once you have died, once your eternal destination has been fixed,
you can't go anywhere else, okay?
Today is the day of salvation.
Right now is the time for people to either believe or reject the Lord Jesus Christ.
There'll be no other time once they go into heaven,
or heaven, obviously, you're there, you're happy,
but once you go to hell, there's no second chance, okay?
Verse 27.
Now, this is what I want you to see.
This is what I want you to see.
Because we all have loved ones, we all have family,
we all have friends that we know that have gone to hell, okay?
And we don't like to think about it.
We don't like to think about it because we care about these people, okay?
And this is the only comfort those people that are in hell can ever have.
This is the only comfort that they can have.
Look at verse 27.
Then he said,
I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house.
Look, send Lazarus, send him back, send him to my family,
send him to my father's house.
For I have five brethren that he may testify unto them,
lest they also come into this place of torment.
What do people in hell want?
What do they want?
Yes, they want to be relieved from the torment.
Yes, they want a bit of water.
But they also want their loved ones to avoid this place.
They want people to go out there and preach the gospel
so their brothers and their fathers and their loved ones don't have to come here and be with them.
You know, are we going to fulfil that role?
You know, Lazarus couldn't.
He was already dead.
But we're not dead yet, all right?
Are we going to fulfil the desires of our loved ones that are in hell, okay?
They want you to go out there to your family and get them saved.
Verse 29.
Abraham saith unto him,
They have Moses and the prophets.
What's Moses and the prophets?
This.
This is the book that we take out, okay?
This has the writings of Moses.
It has the writings of the prophets.
This is what we need.
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.
And this is a true saying.
Because we know of one that rose from the dead.
That was the Lord Jesus Christ.
And people still reject him, okay?
Even though one rose from the dead,
even though, and I've not done the research here,
but people are saying, hey, it's without a shadow of a doubt,
it's factual that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead.
The fact that Christianity even exists,
the fact that God's disciples were so emboldened
to go and preach the gospel at the loss of their life,
the fact that there were so many witnesses,
the fact that Jesus Christ is recorded in history books,
you know, we know the truth that he was,
you know, even outside of the Bible,
that he rose from the dead.
And people still reject him.
Abraham knew what he was talking about, okay?
What do they need?
What do people need to hear?
They need to hear Moses and the prophets.
Hey, when we go out there and we knock doors, okay,
we need to take the Bible with us, okay?
You trying to explain the gospel in your own words,
without the word of God, you're going to fail, okay?
You need the word of God, you need Moses and the prophets,
and you need a soul winner to get out there and knock doors
and preach the gospel, okay?
We need to deliver these souls from hell before they go there, okay?
God does not want them.
God wants you going out there knocking doors.
God has prepared for them the kingdom of heaven.
God has got their names written right now in the Lamb's Book of Life, okay?
And your passed away loved ones that are in hell,
they want you going out preaching the gospel.
I want you going out preaching the gospel.
I know you like it.
I know when you're out there and you're enjoying it, okay?
Now, if you're like me, you might not want to do it,
but when you're out there doing it, you're loving it,
you're enjoying it because it gives joy to the new man,
maybe not to his flesh,
you know, his flesh is lazy, he wants to stay in bed and sleep in,
but it gives the new man enjoyment, okay?
And it gives praise to God.
And there's no reason why we cannot be doing that, okay?
Now, you know, I thank God that on Sundays
some of the men are going out and preaching the gospel.
I would encourage you if you're not doing it, you know,
let Luke know, let Luke know,
hey, you know, I'll be there next Sunday, I'll be there,
what time do you start?
You know, apparently you're going out in the morning
and even after noon sometimes.
So, you know, please, you know, make an effort.
I don't want this church to exist
if there's nobody doing something, okay?
And I know it's hard because I'm not here, you know,
every day of the week
and I can't really get you motivated and pushing you guys to do that.
You know, please, think about hell.
Think about the sermon you've heard tonight
and this is a reality.
This is a place you don't want to go.
You're not going there anyway for saves.
This is a place you should not want anybody to go, okay?
And yet at the same time, those that do go to hell, okay,
they're there because God is righteous and is just, okay?
And it's a proper place for them to be.
It's the proper punishment,
but the punishment and the torment of hell comes directly from God, okay?
And if we just understood His perfect holiness,
if we knew His perfect righteousness,
then we would be able to turn around and say,
yeah, you know what?
Hell is the right place for the non-believer, okay?
If we think hell is too harsh of a punishment,
then at the end of the day you're too soft.
You don't know the God of the Bible
and you don't know how much He hates sin
and how much He hates people that reject His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's given them all opportunity to be saved, okay?
And we need to play a part in that.
We need to get out there to our community and see souls saved.
Okay, let's pray.