What Does the Bible REALLY Say About Hell?

Well, we do want to welcome those that are with us today. Whether you be here today in this room, or whether you hear this message in the days, months, and sometimes years down the line, it is amazing the shelf life of a message that might be sent out into a home. We're here today at an open house at the United Church of God, Redlands, and we're going to be speaking about the subject that was advertised, and that is, what does the Bible really say about hell?

I'd like to begin the discussion about the subject by sharing a story. On an American troop ship, the soldiers that were about to see combat crowded around a chaplain, and they asked him a question. They asked him, do you believe in hell? And he replied, I do not. Well, then they all shouted, well, then resign! For if there is no hell, we don't need you. And if there is, we don't want to be led astray. Now, these soldiers on board a ship confronted with the reality of death, voiced a concern that's on the mind of many individuals, and that is, what is hell really like? These individuals were searching, as have many of us over the years, and people continue to search as far as the very real and tangible answers that the Bible before us can offer. Because when you think about it, there seems to be a conflict going on. How is it that a almighty, all-wonderful, and all-loving God at the same time can produce this seemingly everlasting, tortuous, burning, inferno called hell? Before we go any further, allow me to supply you a working definition of hell, as discovered in the Encyclopedia Americana. And that way, we'll all be working off of the same page, the same definition. But this is a definition that basically many Christian denominations uphold, both Catholic and Protestant.

As generally understood, hell is the abode of evil spirits. The inferno region, with their lost and condemned souls, go after death to suffer indescribable torments and eternal punishment.

Some have thought of it as the place created by the deity, where he punishes with inconceivable severity. And throughout all eternity, the souls of those through unbelief or through the worship of false gods have angered him. It is the place of divine revenge, untempered, and yes, never-ending.

Now, this may be what many, many people believe, but we need to ask ourselves today, as students of the Bible and as followers of God, is this really true? And like the soldiers that were on board many a year ago facing the chaplain, we need to ask ourselves some very, very big questions, and also pray to God that he will deliver to us in the course of this message some big answers directly from the pages of your Bible. Because there is that quandary, again, all loving, all powerful, all mighty, and an all-knowing God, and most importantly, all loving.

And then we have this place called hell. How do we put it all together? Does God want us to put it all together? Is it sensible? Should we take it seriously and or is it just simply silly?

These are questions that we need to have the answers to. And beyond that, allow me to draw your attention into the message. What about the billions with a B that have never heard the name of Jesus Christ? That have never had the opportunity to have a Bible spread before them and opened, and hold the gospel message? Does that somehow mean that they are lost? Does that mean that because they never came up against the name of Jesus Christ, never had an opportunity to hear His message? That somehow they are damned as it were, and in hell, ever burning fire in that divine inferno forever and ever and ever? I would suggest that such a belief system can only create fear, cynicism, and perhaps contempt. Let's open the Bible to begin with and come with me if you would, and let's go to Hebrews 6. In Hebrews 6, we find some of the foundational understandings of the church. We might say some of the legpins or the foundational elements of what God wants us to know about, and we find it in Hebrews 6. And let's look at verse 1. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection. Now, notice what are some of the things that God wants us to focus on, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works. So, the subject of repentance is something that we need to focus on. And of faith towards God, another subject, faith. Of the doctrine of baptisms, of the laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead. And notice then at the end of verse 2, and this is what we want to spotlight. And of eternal judgment. So, the Bible clearly states that there is an eternal judgment. Let's make no mistake about that. And there is a judgment, and there is a sentence.

Now, that's not necessarily negative, because the part of that judgment is to the righteous, and to those that are the followers of God. And there is going to be a blessing. And we talked about that last week, about what does the Bible really say about heaven. But there is a judgment, and there is a sentence. But I think we're going to come to see that there's a difference between eternal torture, as was described out of the Encyclopedia Americana, and eternal judgment.

And you can know the difference, whether you're here today, and you're listening to this message via tape, or CD, or DVD, and all the other things along the line, beyond something else by the time this message comes up. You can know it, and your Bible does explain it. So, what does the Bible really say about hell? We might ask ourselves, where in the world did our common concept of hell come from? And we need to ask ourselves, why? Because we're going to come to find that hell, as we know it, as is commonly thought of down here below, did not come from up above. Hell is basically man-made. I know we often use that kind of terminology that, well, there is a man-made hell. Well, really, when you come to understand it, hell, as most people believe in it, was created by man, not by God. So, we're going to take, for a moment, a walk through history, as it were, a walk through the history of hell.

And we're going to come to see how it developed over the thousands of years back of us. Let's begin with the stories of Homer, the Greek poet of Asia Minor, around 700 B.C.

He was the first one who called the place of the dead the house of Hades, after the god of death, after the god of the underworld. Eventually, that term, Hades, became the common name for what everybody called the underworld.

Now, the reason I am bearing this out, have you ever been at a party or been in a neighborhood where something is mentioned and it's kind of out there? Before you know it, the story gets bigger and bigger and bigger, just like those fish stories that get bigger and bigger and bigger. And, of course, those of you listening to this on an audio tape don't see my hands going out and out how a story can get bigger and bigger and bigger. But let's understand the flow of the story down through the ages. We can use the story of Homer as he began to describe the house of Hades.

Further in his classic, The Odyssey, his hero in the story Ulysses, who is the lost and the wandering king of Ithaca, finds his way into the abode of departed spirits. He wants to learn from a famous seer about how he might find his way home on that Odyssey that lasted over 20 years to get home to his wife Penelope. And it was described in that ode as a shadowy place of dreaded, dreary darkness lying underneath the secret places of the earth. And though it is depicted as a place of doom at this point, there is not the tortures or the other scenario that we associate with El mentioned at this point. But the story builds over time, and we go to the Roman poet Virgil in his epic called the Aenad, where he depicts the Trojan hero Aeneas, beseeching the ferryman Charon for passage into the infernal region to consult his dead father, the spirit thereof.

And it is here that Virgil uses the word tardorus rather than Hades to describe a world that Aeneas enters, a world wrapped in shadows and now with numerous horrors and frightful terrors.

It's amazing how a story grows over 700 years. Now, what is interesting as we move forward in history, this dead place of restraint and terror is granted extended life as we see the development of Greek philosophy, especially with Plato as he writes the Theodos, which is really his treatise on the immortality of the soul, which we covered last time, and I hope that you'll listen to that tape, that it is a fallacious teaching on the immortality of the soul. God did not create an immortal soul. But Plato, the Greek teacher, introduced this concept of the immortal soul, and now we're going to begin to see it attached with what was slowly developing as the thought of Hell. Hellenized and Latin thought and teaching concerning, now, number one, the underworld and number two, the soul, couldn't help but condition an individual that you've heard of, Augustine of Hippo in the fourth century A.D. In Augustine, some of who call him Saint Augustine, was the one that cemented into Christianity the concept of temporary cleansing of souls in purgatorial fire. Think that through for a moment. The cleansing of souls in purgatorial fire.

Augustine was at the end of a long line of a century of what we call Neo-Platonist, those that were trying to couple together the teachings of classic Greek culture with what they were coming to terms with in the Bible. And there was a synchronization or a molding together, putting it all in the middle, trying to mix it up, put it together, make sense of bringing them both together. And when you do that, it doesn't make sense. But we don't want to leave it just simply, are you with me? With Augustine. Let's take it a step further. Because ultimately, all of these ideas, Homer, Virgil, Augustine, had great influence on a gentleman named Dante Alighieri.

And Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet of the high Middle Ages in Italy, who describes a trip among the damned in a work entitled The Divine Comedy, especially that one chapter that focuses on this, which is called The Inferno. Now, what is interesting, how many of you heard of Dante before?

Got a well-read audience here. And we know that, in a sense, he takes a journey through hell. We all know the story. But you know who his tour guide is in the story. His tour guide is none other than Virgil, the same man that borrowed from Homer and not only showed a world of dread and drear underneath, but then added the tortures, etc., etc. And here is Dante now taking a tour of hell with none other than the Roman poet or the spirit of the Roman poet known as Virgil. And it is over the gate of hell that comes the famous inscription, abandon every hope you who enter here. And it's interesting that Dante describes hell as being divided into various levels, descending comically into the earth. And souls suffer punishment according to their sins. And the imagery is colorful, and it's bright, and it's scary. It's, in one sense, it's a literary masterpiece.

It's a satire on Italian society and politicians and nobles of their time that, basically, ultimately, they're going to reap what they sow. But it's interesting that there are these different levels. Where do you read about that in your Bible, that there are different levels of punishment or different levels of an area called the underworld? Where do you find that in the Bible? What does the Bible really say about hell? Well, what is very interesting, while it is a satire, there can be no mistaking, and you can read the history book, to recognize that Dante's work, while it may be interesting, while it may be colorful, is based on the Italian theologian and philosopher named Thomas Aquinas. Thomas Aquinas, who sought to, again, much like Augustine did 800 years before, to synchronize the teachings of the ancient classical world with the words of Scripture. In other words, if you want to all look up for a moment, here is the classic world of ancient Rome and ancient Greece, and here are the scriptures of the Bible. And somehow, we've got to make sense of all of this and kind of fit it together. Let's let's make it work, and let's borrow from both and come up with a new product in between.

So, we find this development over hundreds, if not thousands, of years of the story, the attitude, and attitude, and attitude, to where today we basically look at hell and that word as a word of dread, and terror, and fear, and eternal punishment. Not a place that we want to go, not a place that's going to be nice, like the old story of every man, the preacher that stopped, but he's going on and on as a preacher will say, and you had better repent, because if you do not repent, you are going to go to a place of fire. You're going to, there's going to be weeping, and there's going to be torture, and there's going to be gnashing of teeth.

And the little old lady raised her hand and said, preacher, can I ask you a question? She says, what? He says, I wonder if you don't have any teeth?

And the preacher looked down at her, strongly said, teeth will be provided. But we have those common associations with the subject called hell. Hopefully, by now, we recognize that if we're going to do a serious study on the subject of hell, we cannot rely on Homer or Virgil or even Dante to unlock that mystery. But we need to go to who can unlock it. I want to focus on a scripture found over in the book of Revelation. Revelation 1. Join me, if you would, please. And if you're at home, you might want to go get a Bible, because for the rest of the message, we are going to be moving through the scriptures of the Bible itself. Now that we have walked through a man-made hell, what does the Bible really say about hell? And in Revelation 1, we go to the one that can unlock this subject to us. And when I saw him in verse 17, Revelation 1 and 17, I saw him, and I felt a dispute as dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, and I am he who lives and was dead.

And behold, I am alive forever. Amen. And I have, notice, I have the keys of Hades and of death.

It is Jesus Christ that holds the keys literally, and through His teachings, on this subject, to understand what the Bible really says about hell. Now, the good news is, as I just mentioned, we don't have to sink any further into this man-made hell. Let's recall the words of God. Maybe we should turn over there for a moment to focus on it. And Isaiah 55, join me if you would, and let's explore this very important basic equation. Isaiah 55, because I think it is important.

In Isaiah 55, and let's pick up the thought in verse 8. God speaking, My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Eternal. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts your thoughts.

God is basically saying, if you're going left, I'm going right. If you're going down, I'm going up. If you think this, understand my ways are different. Man, by his stories, his inventions, because he rejected God's revelation from the beginning, has created a hell that God never thought of. That a loving, all-merciful and generous God would not do to someone that is made in his image and after his likeness. When we understand that, that God's ways are not man's ways, that only man could think of that kind of thing, not a God, then we need to come to the next step. We need to allow the Bible to interpret the Bible. Go a little bit deeper. We'll excavate, and we'll come to understand what the Bible really says about hell. Join me, if you would, in the Gospels. Let's go to the second Gospel of Mark, and let's focus on Mark 9, as we begin to now really focus on what the Bible says. In Mark 9, and let's pick up the thought in verse 42.

Mark 9 and verse 42. Because let's make no mistake about it, the Bible does speak about judgment. We don't want to move away from that. There is a judgment, and we do need to understand that. Luke 9 and verse 42. But whoever causes one of these little ones, who believes in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed rather than having two hands to go to hell into the fire. That shall never be quenched.

Hmm. There it is. It talks about going to hell. You heard that phrase recently at school, at the office in the neighborhood. It's right here in the Bible. It's talking about going to hell.

And it talks about the worm that does not die and the fire that is not quenched. There it is. It's right in the Bible, the fire that is not quenched. So, end of sermon, right? Wrong.

Now, it's very interesting. It goes on in verses 45 through 48 to, again, mention the thought. And I'll allow you to read it on your private time. Again, the fire that is not quenched. Now, it's very interesting here that the Bible, and in front of you, uses a four-letter word.

It's called hell, H-E-L-L. But in the original language, it is translated from the word is Gehenna. The word is Gehenna. And what we need to do is come to understand. Now, we're going to go a little bit deeper. So, you may not be used to all of this. It may be a little new to all of you, but please stay with me. Let's understand something.

The Bible basically is written originally in two different languages. One is Hebrew.

Basically, the Old Testament. The other is Greek. Basically, the New Testament.

Now, the word hell is one English word that is used for a variety of words in the Bible. One English word translated from four different words with three entirely different meanings. In a sense, you might say there is more than one hell in the Bible. And you say, wait a minute, one is enough based upon what's been described to me in the past.

But we need to understand that. Number one, the Bible uses a word called Sheol.

And also, that's a Hebrew word, but there's also another Greek word that's called Hades. We mention that especially in the times of Homer. These are two different words, two different languages, but basically means one thing. And you might want to drop this down if you're following along as a student of the Bible and write some notes. Hades and Sheol mean grave. When the Bible was originally translated nearly 400 years ago under King James of what we now call the authorized version, the translators lifted all of these different words and basically branded them with one English word, the English word being hell. Allow me to share something with you of note and interest, kind of one of those things that you could use on Jeopardy or a trivia quiz. A lot of people don't realize that 400 years ago, the English common folk used to talk about putting their potatoes into hell in the winter.

What do you mean, putting potatoes into hell? Well, the English folk back then, to them, a good way of preserving potatoes was in a hole in the earth that was cool, that was dark and covered. In other words, in a sense, they put their potatoes in hell or in a grave, kind of like a pantry, to preserve them. But common misperception, basically and dramatically affected by Dante's writings and others tended to make things blend into the common perception of hell that we have today. Let's notice a couple verses in the Bible so that we can become familiar with this. Join me, if you would, in Psalm 16, right in the middle of Scripture, right in the Old Testament, in Psalm 16, verse 10. Let's see how this word is used. In Psalm 16, verse 10, we're going to notice the word, sheol, which means grave. Psalm 16, verse 10, for you will not leave my soul in sheol. You might have that right in your Bible, in that translation that you're using, the Hebrew word, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. It's basically saying you will not leave my soul in the grave.

Doesn't say that you won't leave my soul in hell, but in the grave the word sheol is used there. We can also look at another use of it. Come with me, if you would, to Acts 2, 27, which again is basically a repeat of this thought. But now, in the New Testament, in the original New Testament sermon offered by Peter on the day of Pentecost, we find it in Acts 2, verse 27. But now, not using the Hebrew word, but the Greek word, Hades, which is again a reamplification of what we just read in Psalms. Verse 27, for you will not leave my soul in Hades and or in the grave. Doesn't say hell, as you perhaps thought up to this point. For you will not leave my soul in Hades or the grave, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. Let's skip over to verse 29. Well, no, that's basically what I wanted right there. I actually want verse 31. And he foreseen this book concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul was not left in Hades or left in the grave, nor did his flesh see corruption. So, we see that usage there.

Now, when you put this all together, in a true sense, Hades does refer to the state of the dead, but not as mortal spirits in some dreary realm of the underworld. Hades is simply the abode we call the grave. Now, one way of thinking about this is simply this. In that sense, all the dead go to this hell. All the dead, in that sense, go to this hell, the hell of Sheol and Hades, and or all the dead go to the grave. Point number two, the second word is tardarous. Tardarous is an interesting use of the word. Join me if you would in 2 Peter, because that's the only place that we find it in the Bible. In 2 Peter 2, and let's pick up the thought in verse 4. The second epistle of Peter, the very end of the New Testament. You're there, and now I'm there. And let's pick up the story. 2 Peter 2 and verse 4. 4, If God did not spare the angels who sinned, this is speaking of the demons, but cast them down to hell. Oh, there it is. Hell is in the Bible.

Says He cast them down to hell and delivered them into the chains of darkness to be reserved for notice, judgment. Isn't that what we talked about over in Hebrews 6? 1 through 2? How then do we understand this usage of hell? Well, let's understand this. We look at the Bible in context, which is always very important. As a student of the Bible, we must always come to understand what the Bible is saying, what it is not saying, and who it is talking about in a given verse.

The context here is not discussing humanity. This is not talking about flesh and blood.

This use, the one time in the Bible of Tartarus, the same word that Virgil used about restraint, is not talking about humanity, but it's talking about the punishment that is acted out upon the fallen angels and or the demons, that they are ultimately going to be restrained.

And what is interesting when you recognize that this is more than just not knowing that there is an assumption going on that Satan and his demons would like us as human beings to think that our punishment is actually what is going to be acted out upon them. You know why? Because misery loves company. And Satan always takes a little bit of truth and mixes it with a little bit of error, in hopes that you and I are not studying our Bibles carefully enough to know what is going on.

But now, what about the third Greek word, gahina? Now, I already mentioned that in Mark 9 and verse 43, that there is a gahina fire and there is a judgment. But now, let's move over to another verse that discusses the same word.

And let's find out if you'll join me, please, over in the Gospel of Luke, the third Gospel, and in Luke 12 and verse 4. In Luke 12 and verse 4, let's carefully notice what it said here. And I say to you, Luke 12 and verse 4, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.

But I will show you whom you should fear. Fear Him. Who? After he is killed, has power to cast into him. There it goes. Fear Him. Now, we're told here to have a large measure of respect to recognize that there is a judgment beyond this life, because if we do not live our life properly and accordingly, we may be cast into hell.

The question is, what is that hell? Because here, if you're like me, and I'm reading this, sounds pretty final, and this is where things seemingly begin to what? Heat up. The question is, how long? The word gahinnom, I'd like to put that out there for you for a moment. The word gahinnom is a word that is used. You might want to jot this down in your notes to follow a student to the Bible. It is used 12 times in the New Testament.

And the word is a derivation coming off of what in Jerusalem was known as the Valley of Hinnom. The Valley of Hinnom was basically one big, great gigantic—those are three adjectives, I don't think I'll add another one—but it was out there and outside the city walls. It was the junkyard. It was the garbage yard. It's where everything in town was burned up.

Garbage went in. The corpses of dead animals went in. The corpses of criminals and meadow walls, they also went in. They went into the garbage fires of Hinnom. And like any garbage yard, some of you come from the farm. Some of you come from the country where you can still burn out there, where you've had garbage disposals.

When you throw something in and you go back the next day, it is basically gone or it's almost gone. There is this fire that was always kind of going or smoltering. But when it was all said and done, everything was eventually consumed. Now, if you'll stay with me for a second, and I hope I have your attention to understand this important point.

When Christ used this term regarding unrepentant sinners, that we have found both in Mark and Luke, the significance of the dread and the destruction and the separation and even the ceremonial uncleanliness was not lost on the audience.

Remember out of the Old Testament that a person of covenant could not touch the dead or the unclean thing. And so there's a symbolism here that is not lost on that audience that was listening to Jesus. Simply this, you don't want to be there. You don't want to be near there because if you are, you are outside the camp. You're already outside the walls with the junkyard, but now you're actually ceremonially outside the camp. You're separated from the people of covenant, and you are, for that moment, separated from God.

If your actions, if your life is not correct, to Christ's audience, Gehenna was simply this, a place of death and destruction, not perpetuation. His audience understood that. As an audience today in 2005, we need to understand that the dead are dead and that they're not living now.

Now, we need to understand that and to grasp that. And as I say that, that's not a simple statement.

Adam and Eve didn't understand that. Augustine didn't understand that. Dante didn't understand that. Thomas Aquinas did not understand that. They all bit into that bad apple, that proverbial fruit that was wrong at the Garden of Eden. When they bit into the first slide that is recorded, when the serpent in Genesis 3 and verse 4, and having a talk with Eve, said, Oh no, you're not hearing God right. You will not surely die. Now, Eve had known better before.

She knew that before she got into that conversation with the serpent, that there were consequences, positive and minus, for the actions that she exhibited before God. But basically, what the serpent said, no matter what you do, good or bad, you're not going to die. And really here, we have the introduction of what we call the immortality of the soul. But what is important is not what the serpent said, but what does God say? Join me, if you would, in the book of wisdom, in the book of Ecclesiastes. And let's understand the plain teaching of Scripture. In Ecclesiastes 9, and let's take a look at verse 10. In Ecclesiastes 9 and in verse 10.

Now, we've often used this as an encouragement to our children to work hard, but there's also a theological understanding that we need to understand. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. For there is no work. There is no device. There is no knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. Basically, what Scripture is informing us is that when you're dead, you're brain dead. You don't have knowledge. You're not thinking. You're not planning. You are not active. Why? Why? Because you're dead. You know, we've often talked about our friend, the dog, Rover, and like Rover, dead all over. When human beings die, the powerful force of Scripture is that when you die, you die. You are asleep. Jesus used that in talking about his very good friend, Lazarus, when he says, Lazarus, our friend, is asleep. And that's what death is like. It's like asleep. You don't know what's happening. And then, of course, later on there is a resurrection, which we'll be getting into a moment. I don't want to get ahead of myself. But why is this? Why is this mentioned in Ecclesiastes 9? Well, we find the answer over in John 5 and verse 26. It's allowed the Bible to move towards more answers in the Bible. John 5 verse 26.

Now, maybe you've never centered on this Scripture. Maybe you didn't know that this Scripture even existed. But let's take it word by word, and then the great challenge will be to take God at His word and understand His plan for humanity. In John 5 and beginning in verse 26, verse 4, as the Father has life in Himself. Now, that's very important of and by itself.

Humanity is not a wandering, immortal soul. Humanity of and by ourselves, we do not have life self-inherent. Only God, who was and is and is yet, has life self-inherent. That's what makes Him God. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.

That again is why the one that was the Word that became Christ, and now our Savior, and at the right hand of God, is also in that sense, God. And has given Him authority to execute, speaking of Jesus, because He is the Son of man. Now, verse 28. Interesting. Do not marvel at this. Why does God always say that? Because we will. He kind of gets ahead of us. He knows the human condition.

He knows that we will marvel, so He says, don't marvel. Get ready. In a sense, put your seatbelts on. Get your airbag ready. We're going somewhere. And understand what's about to happen. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming, in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life. Does everybody think that's a good sentence? Everybody like that? Resurrection of life? So, when we are sentenced, a part of that, you know, when we think of the term sentencing, we think of something negative. Some are going to be sentenced, in that sense, to eternal life in the wonderful Kingdom of God. So, we notice that, and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. Now, a few things that we want to center on.

Number one, in verse 28. Verse 28, number one, the hour is coming. If the hour is coming, I have a question for you. Does that mean the hour came already? It means that the hour is coming. Are we talking about the past? Help me. Thank you. Are we talking about the present? You're sure.

Louder. No. It says the hour is coming. The hour is coming. That's why you need this message.

We need some of those responses a little bit louder. The hour is coming. When it says the hour is coming, it doesn't mean that it came. It means it is a future event. Notice, when the hour does come, where are they going to be? Are they going to be in Heaven? Are they going to be in Hell? No, it says. Are you with me? Since they're going to be in the grave. Notice, God is good at His word because He adds a little salt and pepper here. It says that they're going to come forth. They're not going to come forth out of Heaven or come down. They're not going to come up. It says they're going to come up. Isn't that kind of easy? It doesn't say they're going to come down. It doesn't say they're going to come up. It says they're going to what? Come forth out of the grave. Now, why is this so important? A couple of reasons. Number one, this is a second giving of this thought. It originally was mentioned in Daniel 12, verse 2, by the prophet Daniel, 600 years before Christ. What this encourages us with is to recognize that God does not change His mind. He has a plan. The second point is simply this. As mentioned, the hour is coming. They are in their graves. The power of all of this is simply this. If there were a fiery inferno, that condemnation of which it surely would be if it were true, and we believe Homer and Virgil and Aquinas and Dante, if there was a fiery inferno, if there were condemnation, that would precede judgment and sentencing. Throughout the Bible, God offers judgment, and then He offers sentencing. This would completely reverse everything else that is in the Bible. If the condemnation was already in place, God always, first of all, states His law. He states either the blessings or the cursings are following that law or not following that law. He offers a judgment, and then He certainly does say that down the line that there is a sentence.

If there were hell, as man has created and or expressed it, and unfortunately, so many people believing it, I'll just simply state this. It would go against the biblical sequential norm of everything that is in the Bible from a just God. Now, again, like last message, let's go to Romans 6. Romans 6 and verse 23. Probably one of the great clarion scriptures throughout the Bible of talking about God and talking about our future.

A lot of people just have not focused on this verse. This verse pinpoints two key biblical truths. For the wages of sin is death. For the wages of sin. What you have bought into, what you've worked for, what you've labored towards. For the wages of sin is death. It does not say immortality.

It does not talk about sliding down to hell or being bumped into heaven at this point. For the wages of sin is death. Not immortality. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. God, the good news is simply this. On this day, is that God has a gift for us. God wants to grant us something. And through His great love, through His incredible mercy, and through His Son Jesus Christ, He wants to give us the gift of eternal life. It's not something that we can buy. It's not something that we can work up to by our works, by our doings. It is something that God gives as a gift through His grace and through His mercy. We need to understand that. But when we understand that, then, we have either eternal life and or death, we need to come to understand something else.

And I think this will interest you, those that are here today and those that may be listening to this message in the days, months, and years ahead. What about those that have never been exposed to the name or the purpose of Jesus Christ? This is a very profound thought in a lot of people's minds. What do we do with the indigenous individual on the plateau of Tibet, fifteen thousand feet up in 1500 A.D., that never heard the name of Jesus Christ? Never had the Gospels opened up to Him. Does God have something against Tibetans? What about the young girl growing up in the tropics in Africa in the 12th century A.D.? What do we do with her? Where do we place her? What happens to her because she did not hear? We have the opportunity to come to believe on the name and the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What would you do with that individual? I know what some people have done because some have created a man-made hell and because they don't have the answers, there's only one answer. Anybody that has never been exposed to the name of Christ or what He did or accepted Him in their life, there's only one place that they go. Now, I ask you, is that a God that you want to worship? Is that an understanding of God? And or better still, do we understand truly what God is doing? Are they condemned to hellfire? Where and when do they enter God's picture? Well, the really good news is this, that God declares in His Word that everyone is going to have a fair and a square opportunity to come to know, to accept, and to surrender to God's will through our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. God is not an absent-minded Father. He didn't wind up the universe and He didn't wind up His plan to simply snap like a bad rubber band and leave some people out, especially those that are made in His image and in His likeness. Join me, if you will, for just a few minutes as we begin to conclude this message. Let's look at the hope that God has for humanity. No, no, no, not everyone is going to be damned that has not heard the name of Jesus Christ. God is a God of hope, and I hope that's the kind of God that we worship and that we love. And we find a part of that plan revealed at the end of the book in Revelation 20. Join me, if you would, in Revelation 20. And let's pick up the thought in verse 4. In Revelation 20 and in verse 4.

This is speaking of the first fruits from the time of Christ to His Second Coming, those that He is going to have entered into that eternal rest to be a part of the kingdom of God, as we covered last time, that they are going to be kings. They are going to be praised, as we see here, that judgment, real judgment, is going to be committed to them to put upon others, even as Paul said, those that are the saints of God one day are going to judge the angels. So, in a sense, this is showing the reward of the saved, the redeemed, the saints. Okay, and hopefully that's going to be our reward. But what about everybody else? Verse 5, but the rest of the dead.

Have you ever noticed that verse?

But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.

Now, there's a parenthetical thought of which follows in this sentence, this is the first resurrection. This is the first resurrection is really the definition of what followed in the other paragraph about the reward of the redeemed and of the saints. But now it goes a further step, talking about the rest of the dead.

Bless and holy. No, this is the first resurrection. So, there's a resurrection of the saints, of the redeemed, of the first fruits of God. And notice what it is called. It is called the first resurrection. Now, if you think this through for a moment, please stay with me for a moment. Those of you that are here and those who are listening home, if the Bible mentions a first resurrection, what does a first resurrection demand? I'm sorry? They can't hear you on the tape. Thank you, Roberta. Sign her up for the choir. Okay. A second resurrection.

Notice verse 6, Bless and holy is he who has parted the first resurrection over such a second death. Oh, now there's a first resurrection.

And a part of the reward is, and we don't want to get our numbers mixed up, there is a second death has no power. So, that tells you and me that, okay, for the saints, the second death has no power over them. But that makes me to think that the second death, and there is a second death, has power over others. And then it goes on back to talking about the saints, but they shall be the priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Now, what we need to recognize is that God does yearn and has a plan for these people. Join me if you would in Ezekiel 37.

In Ezekiel 37, which is, again, we've all heard the old Negro spiritual called them bones, them bones, them bones, them dry bones. And that is actually taken right out of the Scripture, because there was a time in the African-American community in America where there was no hope.

There was no hope a hundred, two hundred years ago as a people were in slavery.

And they went to Ezekiel 37 because it is a chapter regarding hope. And we find here in Ezekiel 37 something happening. In verse 2, he caused me to pass by them all around in this valley that was full of bones, as mentioned in verse 1. And indeed, these bones were very dry. And he said to him, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, you know. And again, he said to me, prophesy to these bones, speak to them and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. And thus the Lord God said to these bones, Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. And I put sinews on you, and I'm going to put flesh upon you, cover you with skin. And I'm going to put breath in you, and you shall live. Now, why are they going to live? Because they need to come to an education.

Then you, and it's only then you shall know that I am the Lord.

These were either people that did not, at that time in their life, comprehend what God was doing, or perhaps unwittingly, unknowingly rejected God, or had never heard of God, even among his first few people of Israel. And he said, I prophesied as I was commanded, and I prophesied there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling, and the bones came together bone to bone.

And it goes on to talk about what's going to happen here. Notice verse 11, where the whole house of Israel is mentioned, and they say, our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off. And then God comes back and says, behold, my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and I'm going to bring you into the land of Israel. And then you will know that I am the Lord. When I have opened your graves, not bringing people up from hell, not bringing them down from heaven, but opening their graves. And I'm going to put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Now, let's understand, because somebody will come back to me, listen to this message, and say, well, Mr. Weber, that's well and fine, but you're talking about the house of Israel. You're talking about the twelve tribes. This is only one segment of the people. This is a people that had a covenant relationship with God. But let's understand, since the time of Jesus Christ, it is not simply race. It is about grace. And throughout Scripture, it talks about the Gentiles, and the light, and the message going out to the Gentiles.

So, we understand that in the past and even in the future, the house of Israel is simply continued to be used by God as a first-fruits model for all the nations to follow. Not that they're less, because they are as well going to come along in this resurrection to life and understanding. They're not lost. That Tibetan lad, that little lady in 12th century Africa, is not lost. Join me, if you would, in Matthew 11. And Matthew 11. And let's see what God is going to do with what the Bible calls the Gentiles. The other people outside of Israel. Matthew 11 and verse 20. Then he began to rebuke the cities, speaking of Christ, in which he did most of his mighty works that had been done, because they did not repent.

For tire and fiden in the day of judgment. Then for you. And the Euchapernaeum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades, to the grave. For the mighty works which were done and you had been done in Sodom, and they haven't been yet. This is propelling us towards the future. It would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment. Now we know that a judgment was rendered upon Sodom and Gomorrah. A terrible one, humanly speaking. But is that where God is going to leave them as so much burnt up French fries? Join me, if you would, in chapter 12, verse 41.

The men of Nineveh are going to rise up. Now, Nineveh did something. They did heed an immediate response to Jonah. But the men of Nineveh did not have an opportunity to come to know Jesus Christ, His life, His death, His resurrection. They did not in that sense have revealed to them the love, and the wisdom, and the all-knowing care of a loving Heavenly Father. What they did is admirable, but there is more to the story. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation in condemn it because they repent it at the preaching of Jonah. Indeed, a greater than Jonah is here, and the queen of the South will rise up in the judgment. So, people are going to come up in this judgment and condemn it, for she came from the end of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed, a greater than Solomon is here. I want to show you a verse that I think puts us all together over in Isaiah 25. Join me, if you would, in Isaiah 25. And let's notice in Isaiah 25 and verse 7, speaking of a time in the future, because this has not been totally fulfilled, and he will destroy on this mountain, speaking of God, the surface of the covering cast over all people. There has been a covering that has been cast over all people, and the veil that has spread over all nations. And he will swallow up death forever. And it goes on to talk about how the Lord will wipe away tears. And again, we can read about that in Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, of which this comes from. But it speaks of a covering being cast off. It speaks of a veil being lifted.

This gives you and I an understanding, friends, whether here or listening to this message.

And you perhaps have never heard this before. But this simply is not the only day of salvation.

God is not a butterfingers with those that are made in His image and in His likeness.

If we care about our children, our sons, our daughters, our grandchildren, some of you that have great-grandchildren, look around this audience. Some of you that might have great-great grandchildren. No, I'm not sure. If we love them and have a plan for them, and we long for them to see them again and to be with them, how much more than does God Almighty above have a plan for us?

There is hope in the Bible. There's a future. Now, let's focus on this point as we begin to conclude and come to appreciate that one side of eternal judgment, as was mentioned in Hebrew 6, does include eternal death. Eternal death, not eternal torture. Why is that? Because there are those, and I think you can be very few, that are in rebellion against God, that are in conflict with the ways of God, and those people that are in conflict with God are not going to be rewarded with immortality. God is simply not in the process of creating and establishing eternal problems.

Would you do that for yourself? No, you wouldn't store up a problem. Why share a thought with you? Maybe you've never heard this before. But a careful reading of the Old Testament will help you as a student of the Bible to come to understand the beauty of God's system. In the Old Testament, in His instruction to a covenant people, you will never see that God established with His covenant people prisons or jails or penitentiaries. God's system was always one of repentance and restoration. God and His system never put a bunch of proverbial bad apples together in the same crate and left them there, as we see, unfortunately, so much in society today.

You do not see a prison. You do not see a long-term county jail facility. You only see that in the pagan kingdoms. You see that in Egypt. You see that in Babylon, Daniel, etc. But you never see that in God's system. God is not in the process of incarcerating eternal problems. He is in that sense in the business to calling the work of bringing glorified children who come to Him in faith, accept His grace, follow the example of Jesus Christ, remember His life and death, His resurrection, and as they give their past, their present, and their future to God, it is by His grace that He gives them eternal life. But these others that are going to come into conflict with God are not going to be rewarded with immortality. Now, let's make no mistake that there is a kind of fire in that sense. Join me in Revelation 20, verse 6. Let's notice that there is going to be a judgment, and we find that in Revelation 20, verse 6. It says, "...over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years." Now, we notice as we go down in verse 11, "...I saw a great white throne, and the hem who sat on it, who from faith the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead and the small and the great standing before God, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books.

And then the sea gave up the dead, who were in it, and death and the grave and or Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one according to his works." A part of that judgment is going to be towards life. But we also notice that then death and Hades and or the grave were also cast into, notice that word, the lake of fire. And it is right here that the lake of fire is defined as the second death. So the Bible tells us what the second death is. It is the lake of fire, and anyone I've found written in that book was cast into the lake of fire. Yes, yes, we need to live our lives carefully. Yes, we need to live them before God. Yes, there is reward for the safe. Yes, there is also a judgment for those. I think it's going to be on very, very few, but there is also a judgment for those that just will completely reject the ways of God. We find that further illustrated in 2 Peter 3, just for a moment. In 2 Peter 3, it shows us, in a sense, gives us a type, gives us a feeling, as it were, of what's going to happen in the future. That in this sense, before the new heavens and the new earth come, that this earth is going to pass away. And it's basically, in a sense, going to be just like a ball of fire.

In 2 Peter 3 and verse 7, But the heavens and the earth, which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment. So there is a day—let's not make any mistake about that—and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing that with the Lord one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day, and God is not slack concerning His promise, as some count it slackness, but His long suffering, that everyone should have the opportunity to come to repentance. Verse 10, though, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it are going to be burned up.

Now, God never states something without a qualifier, and we find it in verse 11, recognizing then that there is before us eternal life by God's grace and eternal death, that second death that is mentioned here. God asked us a question through Peter, Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of person ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? How will we take this message, and how will we receive it, and how will it change our life? Even the thought of this understanding of the lake of fire, which actually is the fire that shall never be quenched. Remember we discussed that in the Book of Mark about never being quenched? What happens when you never quench a fire? Have you ever thought about that? Now, I don't want to start something here, but I'll kind of start something.

Now, children, kind of listen. If you do this, do this under the jurisdiction of your parents in the kitchen. But take a piece of paper, trample it up real good so that you can get a fire going. Oh boy, it sounds bad, doesn't it? Put it in a pan, please. Then take a match, and then light it.

And then let it go. Don't quench it. This is a fire that shall never be quenched, because you're not going to do anything with it. So, what happens? How long is that piece of paper going to be going on fire in your pan? Is it going to go forever and ever? Is it going to go on and on, forever and ever, and ever and ever? No. Basically, what happens when you have the fire that shall never be quenched, when you don't quench something, ultimately it goes out on its own. Maybe that's what makes sense of when you think of what it mentions in the book of Malachi 4 and verses 1 and 2, where it talks about the righteous and how they are going to come up and how it is those that have been wicked that will be as stubble underneath their feet, the ashes and the stubble of those lives that will not come into correctness with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. Well, I've given you a lot to think about today, and I realize that. The most important thing I want to leave you with is simply this. How we view and how we understand the subject of heaven and hell that we've been discussing these last two messages is basically how we define and how we view God. That's what's really important. How do you view God? Do you view God as one that is full of love, full of desire for you to be in his kingdom, has a future, has a plan for you? There's a lot to grasp and there's a lot to know. And I've only been able to scratch the surface today. I'd like to recommend and offer two booklets for you. Those of you that are either here today or listening to this tape down the line. The United Church of God has two booklets. One is What Happened After Death, which will cover so much more than I've been able to cover these last two messages. And also another book entitled Heaven and Hell. Again, we've just touched the tip of the iceberg. I will mention that you can get them by simply calling in to, and here's the number, 1-800-55-UNITE. That's 1-800-55-UNITE.

And or you can just go to the web and go to www.ucg.org and you can order them over the web. All of the series have been possible, each and every one of us. There's a lot to understand.

The best way of understanding God is to take God at His word. As you do, I hope that the days, the years ahead of us that are listening to this tape abroad from us today here at the United Church of God, at Redlands, that your walk with God, your journey with God, will be one that continues to grow in spirit and in truth. Thank you for having been a part of this open house series of listening to these messages. And truly, I hope that there will be a reward in them for each and every one of you.