Truths of the Lake of Fire CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Before getting into the truths about the lake of fire and the main part of the sermon we will first look at some scripture to show the difference between Hell and the Lake of fire. Now this is a very important subject even though many people today including professing Christians do not even believe in hell. The word hell is found 54 times in a King James Bible and Jesus himself used it 16 out of the 54 times, which is right at 30% of the uses. So if Jesus spoke that much about a place then we can guarantee that it is not symbolic or figurative but it is a real place. Let us therefore look at the scripture and see what it says.
Facts about Hell:
1) Hell is in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40 ; Acts 2:27-31)
- According to theses two scriptures Jesus said that he would be in the heart of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights. Then Acts tells us that he God did not leave Jesus in Hell.
- The truth of the matter is that when Jesus died he went to both hell as we see here and he also went to the other compartment called Abraham’s bosom and paradise (Luke 23:43).
- Now from this comes a very interesting thought if God sent his own son to hell, as part the payment for our sins, then why would you think that God would not send you there if you reject his son?
2) Hell is the place that Lost people go when they die (Luke 16:19-31)
3) Hell is an awful place of torments (Luke 16:19-31)
- In this passage we see some tremendous truths about hell and the people who go there.
- Notice the rich man has a bodily shape. It is the soul that goes to hell and the rich man has eyes, a tongue and can feel pain. Note he desires water because he is tormented in this flame.
- The rich man also has a memory as he is told to remember his former life. He also desires for none of his brethren to come to a place like this, but there is nothing he can do about it.
- Can you imagine going to a place like this.
Facts about the Lake of Fire:
1) The Lake of Fire is different than Hell (Revelation 20:1:15)
- Note here in this passage that after Jesus returns at the second advent he puts the beast(anti-christ) and the false prophet into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:11-20). Then satan is bound in the bottomless pit for 1000 years. This is when Jesus Christ will reign for 1000 years. At the end of the 1000 years satan is loosed for a short season then his army that he gathers is destroyed and he is thrown into the lake of fire.
- Next is the great white throne judgment. This is where all the dead are resurrected and if you are not in the book of life then you are cast into the lake of fire.
- Note that death and hell are said to be cast into the lake of fire, therefore they are not the same place.
2) The lake of fire is the eternal punishment for lost people (Revelation 20:15)
- Technically when a person dies right now if they are lost they go to hell, but one day many years from now they are resurrected to face God at the great white throne judgment. At this time they are thrown into the lake of fire and this is eternal with no end.
- Therefore technically you could say that you will get out of hell but only to be cast into the lake of fire. This is like getting out of the pot and into the fire.
Truths about the Lake of Fire: (Matthew 25:41)
This passage is dealing with the lake of fire which as we have showed above is eternal punishment for those who die lost without Jesus Christ. Let us look at some truths from this passage.
1) It is a real place (“Depart”)
- The lake of fire is real because Jesus says that people are told to depart to this place.
- You may say I do not believe in this place but that doesn’t change the fact that it is real.
2) It is for a cursed people (“ye cursed”)
- The law put us under a curse because it shows us that we are sinners even Gentiles are sinners (Romans 3:23). This is why the last verse in the Old Testament is curse. Look it up Malachi 4:6.
- Jesus Christ became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), so that we could become the righteousness of God. This is the only answer to the problem of the curse.
- You must accept Jesus and trust his finished work on Calvary to pay for your sins.
3) It is an everlasting place (Revelation 14:11 ; Revelation 19:20 ; and Revelation 20:10)
- The beast and the false prophet were thrown into the lake of fire in Revelation 19:20 in Revelation 20:10 we see that they are still there.
- This shows us that the lake of fire is an eternal place of torment.
4) It is not prepared for you (“prepared for Satan and his angels”)
- This verse plainly shows us that the lake of fire was prepared for satan and his angels.
- You do not have to go there as a matter of fact God doesn’t even want you to go there.
(2 Peter 3:9)
- This is why he sent his son to die on the cross and be the mediator and ransom for your soul. (John 3:16 ; 1 Timothy 2:4-6)
The lake of fire was not created for you, but you must choose to not go there. What will your choice be?