Does purgatory exist? Now, this is a Catholic doctrine, and
the reason why I like going to this question right after is simply because
when you read
in these verses about
how they're going to be tormented with fire and brimstone,
the next verse says, very clearly in verse 11, it says, "...in the smoke of their torment has ended up forever and ever,
and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast in his image, and
whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." So according to the Bible, hell, there's no rest day or night.
Now if you look up the definition of purgatory,
just Google it or something like that, it'll say, "...a state in which the souls of those who have died in grace
must expiate their sins." And expiate is kind of a strange word,
but it's talking about make amends for or to pay for in kind of a sense. And so what their
Catholic doctrine is, is that people who die
will go to this temporary state of punishment, and then once they've done their time,
they'll eventually get out.
So they kind of have a modern version of jail,
where you just go to jail and you get a 20-year sentence or a 50-year sentence or whatever, and once you've paid your time,
paid your dues, then you eventually get out. Now you're reformed, now you're better.
But those who know anything about jail, people come out not reformed, number one. And number two,
purgatory is not a word found in the King James Bible. Purgatory is not a doctrine taught in the King James Bible. There is no such
temporary state of punishment. The Bible gives us clear scripture that it's a forever punishment.
Not only this, other verses give the same picture. Mark 9, verse 44,
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Mark 9, 46, Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Mark 9, verse 48,
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Jesus said this three times in a row
to really drive in the seriousness of hell, the seriousness of
eternal and everlasting punishment. The Bible used the phrase
everlasting punishment, everlasting destruction, because it's something that is going to be permanent and last forever.
That's probably the worst part of hell, is the fact that it's forever. A forever punishment that never ends. There's no escape.
There's no getting out. There's no
bribing your way.
Technically the only
event that will occur is that those are in hell right now will one day stand before God at a great white throne judgment, and
they will be judged according to their works. Even every idle word that they spoke will be judged, and then one last
throwing into the lake of fire where they're going to be permanently destroyed, permanently
you know, on fire. And of course when the Bible used the word destroyed, some people get this picture of
well, I guess you eventually are just gone. But according to the scripture, your worm dieth not. So whatever you are, your
internal soul body is going to just feel the pain and suffering forever.
The rich man lifted up his eyes in hell, and he wanted water on his tongue.
So obviously whatever the soul is, it still seems to have all the different various body parts, and
that they're all
experiencing suffering at the same time. I mean if you're on fire, but yet you're still concerned with your tongue,
this tells me that you are feeling the most excruciating pain in every square inch of your body,
which
would
motivate me or motivate anyone to want to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only that,
but if you are saved, if you've already believed on Jesus, and you've accepted the free gift of eternal life, if
you don't love
someone
enough to give them the gospel, you know, I really question if you believe in hell.
Because hell is just so bad. It's so awful.
I think that anybody who noticed a loved one trapped in a house that was on fire
would scream and yell and do everything in their power to rescue that person from
physical fire on this earth. And how much more is hell? How much more is the suffering of eternal
punishment and everlasting destruction? And yet so many Christians are not preaching the gospel. They're intimidated. They're scared. They
compromise. They use toned-down language such as, well, it's separation from God.
That's much more than separation from God. And
of course, because hell is so awful of a punishment, Catholics invent this idea of purgatory
to try and make people think, oh, it's not as big a deal, or, well, I'll do my time.
But there's no getting off, folks.
Your loved ones that have already perished, I'm sorry, but they will not go to heaven if they didn't believe in Jesus.
They are gonna be eternally damned in hell. The only thing we can do at this point is to save and rescue those who
still have a chance. And so it's important that we take this serious. It's important that we don't believe in
strange doctrines or make-up doctrines of convenience.
Purgatory is not a real doctrine, and God is not someone to be messed with.
This is our opportunity to be saved. This is our one chance in life, and we need to redeem the time because the days are evil.