Where are the lost & spiritually dead?
What did Jesus mean when He spoke about Hell?
Luke 15 The father described the man who was once his son as dead & lost.
Luke 19:10 'For the Son of Man came to seek & save the lost.' Matthew 15:24 ' I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel'
2 Corinthians 4:3 'If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing'
Jesus claimed that none of the lost He came to save would remain lost:
John 6:39 'And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose none of all that He has given me but raise them up at the last day.'
John 17:12 'While I was with them I protected them & kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled'
John 18:9 'This happened so that the words He had spoken would be fulfilled. “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”'
Luke 15:32 'My was lost & is now found. My son was dead & is alive again'
Saved: Those who trust Jesus for salvation. Lost those who do not trust Him.
Heaven
Where God lives 1 Kings 8:43 'Hear from heaven, your dwelling place'
Jesus is there Acts 1:11 'This same Jesus has been taken from you into heaven'
The saved dead are there now Philippians 1:23 'I have a desire to depart & be with Christ'
Philippians 1:21 'For me to live in Christ & to die is gain.'
2 Corinthians 12:2 Paul was taken up in his spirit by the Holy Spirit to the third heaven.
A new heaven & a new earth 2 Peter 3:13
Preceded by the return of Christ. 2 Peter 3:10-12 The day of the Lord will come like a thief, the heavens will disappear, the elements destroyed by fire, the earth laid bare.
The Judgement Hebrews 9:27 'Appointed unto man once to die & after that the Judgement.'
Heaven where God exists & our home after judgement.
In the meantime, what?
Revelation 6:6-11 How long Lord God until you judge....Wait a little longer
Revelation 7:9-17 A great multitude from every nation
Paradise Luke 23:43 'Today you will be with Me in paradise.'
Hell The destiny of the lost. Tartarus 2 Peter 2:4 God sent them to hell putting them in gloomy dungeons waiting for judgement. Where Satan lives.
Hades means the grave or death. Luke 16:23 Souls alive & conscious of suffering.
Gehenna Luke 12:5 Fear Him who after death has power to throw you into hell. James 3:6 The tongue is set on fire by hell.
Place of darkness Matthew 8:12 Thrown out into the darkness, weeping & gnashing of teeth
Fiery furnace Revelation 21:8 Fiery lake of burning sulphur, the second death
Eternal fire Matthew 25:41 'Depart from Me to the eternal fire prepared for the devil & his angels'
Everlasting destruction 2 Thessalonians 1:9 'And shut out from the presence of the Lord'
Weeping & gnashing of teeth Matthew 8:12
Torment Revelation 14:11 'Smoke of his torment rises forever'
God’s wrath Romans 5:9 'Saved from God’s wrath' 1 Thessalonians 5:9 'God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.' With the mark of the beast. Destiny of the devil & the lost. A place of conscious suffering. Torment, Permanent, Everlasting.
The Lake of fire is the final destiny of the devil for ever Revelation 20:10 Destiny of those in Hades Matthew 25:46 They will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
Annihilation? As though we never existed
Agnostic? No knowing what happens after death
Universalism All saved, none lost.
Conditional Endless life not due to creation, but by faith. God is eternal, but gives eternal life to believers only. Given by God. Man must receive it. Those who reject Christ lose existence.
Conscious endless existence, endowed by creation also in the image of God. Will exist after death but rejoicing or suffering.
Annihilation. Eternal suffering horrific. God is love. Fire burns up Annihilates.
Only God is immortal 1 Timothy 6:16 God the blessed & only ruler who alone is immortal
2 Timothy 1:10 'Our Saviour Christ Jesus who has destroyed death & brought light & life.'
1 John 5:11 'He that has the Son has life.'
Hell - destiny unchanging. No eternal life then will cease to be. Like the body the soul ceases to be.
Final resurrection of the body - good & bad - only the righteous will live.
Jesus did not soften the awfulness of hell. Very clear. Of Judas? Better if he had not been born. God so loved us that He gave His only Son so that we might not perish.
Genesis 18:25 'Will not the judge of all the earth do right?'
Isaiah 55:9 'As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways & my thoughts than your thoughts.'
Mark 9:48 'Where their worm dies not & the fire is not quenched.' Eternal sorrow & suffering.
Destroy really means 'a write off' not 'no longer exists'. The word in Jesus day for 'no longer existing' was not used in the Bible.
God has immortality in Himself because He is God. He made man in His image. Immortality was given to every man John 1:9 Light & immortality are used to mean the same thing.
1 Timothy 6:16 God the blessed & only ruler 'who alone is immortal dwells in unapproachable light'
2 Timothy 1:10 'Appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus who has destroyed death & brought life & immortality to light through the gospel'
Matthew 25:46 Eternal punishing not punishment. You cannot cease to weep or gnash your teeth if you no longer exist.
Our response should be for the Lord to give us liberty & insight in how we rescue the lost & dead that they may be found & come alive in Christ.
