Lesson 3
Eternity
There is only one of two places in eternity that we can
go: Heaven or Hell. Each one of us will be placed in one of these two
places on Judgment Day to be there forever and ever. Our Lord in speaking
of eternity in Matthew 25:46 says, "And these will go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life".
Notice
that the duration of the lost in Hell is exactly the same as the duration
of the saved in Heaven, "forever and ever". It is
hard for us as mortals to grasp how long eternity will be, but after we
have been there a billion years, eternity will have just begun.
According
to the U. S. News & World Report, January 31, 2000, 36% of people do
not believe in Hell. But Hell
is a real place. To say there
is no Hell is to make God a liar. “Let
God be true and every man a liar” (Romans 3:4).
Satan does not want you to believe in Hell.
Satan is accomplishing his purpose since there is very seldom any
teaching on Hell today. It is
not a “politically correct” subject.
A person who does not believe Hell is real will most likely go
there. Ignoring or scoffing at
Hell will not do away with it.
We do not like to think about eternal punishment.
But
it evidently must be very important or God would not have told us about
it. Let's first consider what the Lord says about eternal punishment
of Hell
and then we will turn our attention to a more pleasant thought,
Heaven. Jesus spoke as much about the eternal punishment of Hell as He
did any other subject. He took our punishment and gave His life to
keep us out of Hell. In His attempt to persuade us not to go there, He
has given us numerous warnings in His word.
Our Lord in describing how horrible that Hell will be for the many who
will end up going there, says in Matthew 13:42, "And will cast them
into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth".
This definitely will be a horrible and terrible place beyond description.
Jesus says in Mark 9:43-48 concerning those who are lost, that they will
be "cast into Hell, into the fire that shall never
be quenched:
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched".
Jesus tells us if there is anything in our life that is going to
cause us to be lost, to correct it or to get rid of it now.
Notice Jesus says a person is cast or thrown into Hell.
The worm is a flesh-eating maggot that does not die, but will
continuously feed forever and ever on the lost in Hell.
In Hell, one is burning over every square inch of his body and even
all on the inside but is never consumed.
The continuous fire and the worms will never accomplish the
annihilation of any of the lost. The
lost in Hell will prefer to cease their existence, but they cannot.
Their perpetual nightmare of torment will continue forever and
ever. It will never cease.
The lost “shall be tormented with fire and brimstone…and the
smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day
or night” (Revelation 14:10-11). The
occupants of Hell will never know relief or rest from their torment.
Hell is such a horrible place.
Hell is not a fictitious place, it is real.
There will be no reprieve or appeal to a higher court, because we will
have been judged by the highest. The Lord is trying to get our attention and
to give us fair warning. He is pleading with us not to go there
because He has already paid our price and taken our punishment. But we
make the choice. The choice is ours. We will bear the responsibility and
the consequences.
One of the many warnings Jesus gives us is the true account of the
rich man and Lazarus.
“There was a
certain rich man” and “there was a
certain beggar named Lazarus”.
[The rich man was lost],“And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw
Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
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.
But Abraham said, son remember…and besides all this, between us
and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from
here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us” (Luke
16:19-20, 23-26).
Notice it says there was a certain
rich man and a certain beggar
named Lazarus.
This is not a fictitious fairy tale.
In Hell people will be in continual unceasing torment and pain in
which all will be constantly pleading for mercy.
With their unquenchable thirst they will beg for even one drop of
water, but they will not receive it.
How much relief and how long would one drop of water last on the
tongue of those who are being eternally tormented in the burning fires of
Hell?
It would not last even one second.
We must wake up and heed our Lord’s warning.
Their desperate and hopeless state is permanent where they will
remain eternally.
They are condemned there forever.
In Hell people are conscious and will see, feel, wail, and remember
as they endure the continual intense pain and suffering.
The many who end up in eternal punishment will not be
there alone. They will have company. Revelation
20:10 says, "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". Not very good company to be in.
Notice that the
torment goes on "day and night forever and ever".
There are many people who scoff at the idea of eternal
punishment, but they are scoffing at what God says. The fire will
burn forever and
those who are lost will be there in the fire for eternity whether they want to believe
it or not. In eternity their
scoffing will quickly change to weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
We must take what our
Lord says in the Bible seriously. Hell is real! There is no way for
the horrors of Hell to be adequately described in human language.
Many people do not realize the danger of eternally losing their
souls. This is very serious!
Those lost in Hell will be those “whom is
reserved the blackness of darkness forever” (2 Peter 2:17).
Those in Hell will attempt to find God, “Then
they will call on Me, but I will not answer; they will seek Me diligently,
but they will not find Me” (Proverbs 1:28).
They will not be able to forget their rejection of God. There
will be no atheists in Hell, because all those in Hell will believe that
there really is a God, but it will be too late then.
“The Lord knows how to…reserve the unjust
under punishment for the Day of Judgment” (2 Peter 2:9).
Hell must be avoided at all costs.
No one can begin to exaggerate how horrible Hell is going to be.
Its misery and anguish is beyond description.
It will never, never, never, ever end.
We are being warned, “It is a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31) and “Knowing,
therefore, the terror of the Lord we persuade men” (2 Corinthians
5:11). We
must make sure we don’t end up in Hell, and we must warn other people
who will listen.
We “must be even more diligent to make your
calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10).
Jesus has promised, “Be faithful until
death and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).
Anyone who ends up in Hell will only have himself to blame.
In Hell there will be billions of people crying out in
indescribable pain and agony for which there will be no relief or hope
that things will ever get better. There will be haunting memories of
all the opportunities of salvation that they passed up. Eternity is
forever and has no end. There will be no opportunity for second
chances. Hell is eternal, final, and irrevocable.
We read in Revelation 14:11, "And the smoke of
their torment ascends forever and ever, and they have no rest day or
night." But reading further we see in Revelation 20:15,
"And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the
lake of fire". It is imperative that our name be found in the Book of
Life. Is your name in that book? Do you know for sure, or are
you making a
wishful assumption? It will be too late on the Day of Judgment to find out that
your name is not there.
Heaven
Now let us turn our attention to something more
pleasant, Heaven. Our Lord says in John 14:2-3, "In My Father’s
house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you
may be also". Heaven will be a very wonderful place.
For the
few
who go there it will be beyond their wildest dreams and they will be
totally surprised and amazed. As we read in 1 Corinthians 2:9, "Eye
has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the
things which God has prepared for those who love Him." There is no way that the glories of Heaven
can be adequately described to us mortal beings. The only way will be to
see it.
Heaven will be the very opposite of eternal punishment.
Revelation 21:4
says, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall
be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more
pain, for the former things have passed away". There will be no
weeping, and no wailing, and no gnashing of teeth as will be happening in
eternal torment. But there will forever and ever be nothing but joy, and peace, and
happiness, beyond description. What a wonderful place Heaven will be.
But
again, the choice is ours. We cannot escape the consequences if we make
the wrong choice. We will not accidentally end up in Heaven. Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people.
Our Lord says in Matthew
6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God, and His
righteousness." Going to Heaven has got to be our number one goal in
this life. We must want to go to Heaven more than anything else.
Questions Lesson 3
Eternity
(click on the button of the answer of your
choice)
1) (Matthew 25:46) Those who are lost will go into
Purgatory.
Annihilation.
Everlasting punishment.
2)
All
people will be placed into one of two places in eternity.
3) (Matthew 13:42) Eternal punishment is described as
A furnace of fire.
Not very hot.
There will be no eternal punishment.
4)
Eternal
punishment will be horrible and beyond description.
5) (Mark 9:45-46) The fire of hell
Will never be lit.
Will soon go out.
Will never be quenched.
6)
If we end up in eternal punishment we will be able to appeal our sentence.
7) (Revelation 20:10) Eternal punishment will last
1000 years.
A short period of time.
Forever and ever.
8)
Satan
will also be punished in the lake of fire and brimstone.
9) (Revelation 20:15) If we are not found in the Book of Life
We will cease to exist.
We will be cast into the lake of fire.
We will have another chance.
10)
Even after death we can have our name added to the Book of Life.
11) (John 14:2-3) Heaven is described as
Many mansions.
The earth made over.
A bad place.
12)
Christ
will be in Heaven with the few who are saved.
13) (Revelation 21:4) In Heaven there will be
Sorrow and crying.
No sorrow or crying.
Pain and suffering.
14)
People will die after they get to Heaven.
Home
Lesson 2
Lesson 4
Copyright © 2000-2001 internetbiblestudy
|