IS THERE REALLY A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT?
Revelation 20:11-15
INTRODUCTION: There are times in the Scriptures when our Lord choses to pull back the vail between this world and the world beyond this world. Our Lord allows us to look into that world that is beyond this world. There are really two worlds. The world we now live in and the world we will live in for all eternity. The Bible makes it clear that there really is a place of eternal blessings and a world of eternal torment. The Bible tells us why people go to one or the other of those places. It also tells us that once we go to heaven or the Lake of Fire there will never be a change of location for us. Jesus showed two men who lived in this world and then moved on to the next world and what happened to them: Luke 16:19-31.
I. BEHIND THE VAIL!
Let’s look again at Who it is that is quoting what the rich man said: Luke 16:23-26. None other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is quoting the rich man. The Greek word for hell is “hades” while the Hebrew word for “hell’ is “sheol.” So what does the Bible say happens to us after our physical death?
II. AFTER DEATH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT!
Before the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, when people died the same thing happened to their bodies as happens now to the bodies of those who die. Our real question thou is what happened to the souls of those who died before our Lord Jesus rose from the dead. The body went into the grave or tomb but the soul went to a place called hades or sheol which had two compartments. One of those compartments had fire, torment, memories, and thirst. The other place was a place of comfort. Luke 16:25-28; Matthew 7:13-14; Matthew 7:21-23. The Bible tells us what the Father’s perfect will is regarding hell or heaven: John 6:35-48. In the Old Testament, those who trusting in God for salvation went to hades, a place of comfort. Those who did not believe God and tried to either ignore God or tried to get to heaven by keeping the Law went to hades a place of torment: Daniel 12:1-3; Luke 12:42-48. Our Lord tells us what the worst sin is in His eyes: Luke 10:5-12. A rejection of a clear presentation of the Gospel is in God’s eyes the worst of all sins. Jesus tells us that those who die in their sins will be confined forever in torment: Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10. Jesus used the word “Gehenna or the Valley of Hinnom to describe hell: Matthew 5:27-32; Hebrews 9:27.
III. AFTER DEATH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT!
Again in both the Old and New Testament the same thing happens to our physical bodies: Genesis 3:19. But, once again our real question is what happens to our soul at death? If we have Christ as our Lord and Savior 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 our soul will go to heaven. After the rapture of the Church the Judgement Seat of Christ will take place: 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. The unsaved in the New Testament will one day face the Great White Throne Judgment: Revelation 20:11-15. The second death is not annihilation: Revelation 19:20. 1,000 years later the devil will also go to that place and guess who is still there? Revelation 20:7-10. If you wind up one day in the Lake of Fire it will literally be over Jesus dead body: Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins. All you need do is place your faith in His death, burial, and resurrection as total payment for your sins and you too can live forever with God: Romans 10:9-10, 13; Matthew 11:28-30.