Revelation 20:2-10
He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
The Saints Reign with Christ 1000 Years
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. 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.
Satanic Rebellion Crushed
7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
What is God Saying about the people that are lost forever? The majority of Christians believe if you are lost you will burn forever. This false belief is the cause of more people turning to atheism than any other Christian teaching.
The reason churches grow fast is that people are scared and want to be saved from perishing so they join a church. The Roman Catholic Papacy receives a very large amount of money each year from people that die. The dead are trying to buy their way into heaven so as to not perish. Would a loving God cause you to suffer forever? What does the Bible say about this matter?
Psalms 11:5-6
The LORD tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. 6 Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup.
The Bible teaches there will be hell fire but it does not go on forever. Fire cleanses. All sin will be removed from the earth when Jesus comes. The second death comes to the unsaved at the end of the thousand years.
Malachi 4:1-3
The Great Day of God
1 For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up, Says the LORD of hosts, That will leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
3 You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this, Says the LORD of hosts.
Burned up means they are gone. All wicked will be stubble. There is nothing left to burn. In verse 3, the wicked shall be ashes. You have ashes when the fire has gone out.
Isaiah 47:14
Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame; It shall not be a coal to be warmed by, Nor a fire to sit before!
Once again, as stubble means the fire goes out. This is what God wants us to understand. Let us say you are a lost soul on earth for 85 years and then you are burned forever. God is not a cruel God. This is a tricky deception of Satan to cause people to not trust God. The Bible says the wicked will be burned up, will be stubble and then ashes.
Psalms 37:20
But the wicked shall perish; And the enemies of the LORD, Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.
This passage is a direct contradiction to burning forever. The Bible says the wicked shall perish. If you stick a piece of paper in a fire, the paper burns up and vanishes. Will there be hell fire at the end of the world? Yes! Will the wicked burn forever? No! People are scared into church or become atheist because of this deception of Satan.
Psalms 37:38
But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
The wicked will be no more means they are gone.
2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Revelation 2:11
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.
There is a second death. God wants us to see that there is no such place as hell. If there is a hell the results of sin live forever and ever. That would mean that Christ sacrifice at Calvary did not work.
Nahum 1:9
What do you conspire against the LORD? He will make an utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time.
Revelation 21:1
All Things Made New
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
At the end of the one thousand years, there is nothing left. The saved watch Jesus create a new earth. Imagine being present when God created the world and all that is in it the first time he created the world. This will be supernatural and most incredible event anyone has ever seen. God will say let there be light, trees, grass, water, rivers, animals and creatures. The greatest 3D show anyone will ever see.
The earth will be completely restored like it was in the time of Adam and Eve before sin entered the world. We will have immortality.
Luke 12:45-46
But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
Portion means reward.
Matthew 25:41
Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
John 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Destroy means totally dead.
Mark 9:43-46
43 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— 44 where
‘ Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’
45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 46 where
‘ Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’
Outside of the walls of Jerusalem, in a deep narrow valley, a fire was kept burning. This fire was known as the Fire of Gehenna. When you quench a fire you extinguish it-the fire goes out on its own. The fire is not deliberately put out, it just goes out on its own like a campfire that goes out when no more wood is put on it.
Let us look at what the Bible means by the word forever.
1 Samuel 1:22
But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the LORD and remain there forever.”
Samuel is not alive now. Verse 28 Therefore I also have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.
The Bible uses the word forever to mean as long as he lives.
If there is an eternal burning hell, that means Jesus death at Calvary did not do enough to destroy the devil and sinners.
Jude 7
As Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
The effect is eternal and the results are eternal. Many Christians do not want to believe there is an eternal hell. Yes, the wicked burn, yes, there is fire, but NOT forever! Think on the character of our Loving God.
Jeremiah 17:27
“But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.”’”
Did Jerusalem burn when the Romans burned the city in 70AD? Yes! Is Jerusalem burning right now?
Luke 3:17
His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”
The Fire just goes out.
Luke 16:19-24
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’
Six reasons that this passage of the Bible is not literal. This is a parable. Jesus is telling a story.
1. Abraham’s bosom is not the home of the saved. This is a figurative representation of heaven.
2. Those in heaven won’t be able to talk with those in hell.
3. Bible indicates the good and the bad are in their graves right now and won’t hear anyone.
4. The Bible teaches that man (both saved and wicked) receive their reward at the second coming.
5. Would make Jesus contradict himself. The Bible clearly says God’s word is constant and HE changeth not.
6. Lazarus represents the Gentiles. The end to fire is when literal Israel rejected Jesus. The bread is the Word of God. The Gentiles accepted the crumbs and as a result there are hundreds of millions of Christians today.
This was our Wednesday night Bible Study given by Pastor Korter on 30. March 2011.