Of course, God knows everything,
but He's got it also recorded.
00:00:01.36\00:00:03.80
Now I don't know
how He does all of that.
00:00:03.83\00:00:06.13
We have video recording today.
00:00:06.33\00:00:08.07
We understand you can
just record a person's life,
00:00:08.10\00:00:11.07
as it were.
00:00:11.27\00:00:12.61
We're all on camera, it
seems, everywhere we go.
00:00:12.64\00:00:14.24
But God is
watching everybody's life.
00:00:14.28\00:00:16.18
It's all recorded.
00:00:16.21\00:00:17.55
There's not going to be any
question about who did what.
00:00:17.58\00:00:20.78
Let's go back to
verse 12 of Revelation 20,
00:00:20.82\00:00:23.89
the great white throne judgment.
00:00:23.92\00:00:25.79
"And I saw the dead, small
and great, standing before God,
00:00:25.82\00:00:29.12
and the books were opened.
00:00:29.22\00:00:31.63
And another book was opened,
which is the Book of Life."
00:00:31.99\00:00:35.66
Now that's the
one you want to be in.
00:00:35.70\00:00:37.53
"And the sea gave up
the dead who were in it,
00:00:38.00\00:00:41.07
and Death and Hades..."
00:00:41.10\00:00:42.44
Or the grave.
00:00:42.47\00:00:43.81
Hades is another
word for the grave.
00:00:43.84\00:00:45.17
"...delivered up the
dead who were in them.
00:00:45.21\00:00:47.88
And they were judged,
each according to his works."
00:00:48.04\00:00:52.58
Now people are
going to be judged fairly.
00:00:52.85\00:00:55.35
They're going to
be judged righteously.
00:00:55.45\00:00:57.45
That means that some
are going to be judged
00:00:57.95\00:00:59.52
more severely than others,
according to their works.
00:00:59.55\00:01:02.12
In fact, these
text say that twice.
00:01:02.16\00:01:05.43
Verse 14 says,
"Then Death and Hades
00:01:05.46\00:01:08.66
were cast into
the lake of fire."
00:01:08.70\00:01:11.80
The lake that's on this earth.
00:01:12.27\00:01:14.00
"This is the second death.
00:01:14.47\00:01:17.44
And anyone not found
written in the Book of Life
00:01:19.04\00:01:22.64
was cast into the lake of fire."
00:01:22.68\00:01:26.72
So this is a repeat and enlarge
picture of the preceding verses.
00:01:27.42\00:01:31.42
The one who sits on
the great white throne
00:01:31.45\00:01:33.62
is none other than
the Judge of the universe.
00:01:33.66\00:01:36.52
And at the resurrection
of the dead at the end
00:01:37.76\00:01:41.10
of the 1000 years...
00:01:41.13\00:01:42.90
I'm just recapping here
what the Scripture said.
00:01:42.93\00:01:45.77
The dead come from
anywhere they were buried.
00:01:45.80\00:01:48.64
None of these people who
are judged have taken advantage
00:01:49.70\00:01:54.54
of the blood of Christ.
00:01:54.88\00:01:56.21
None of them have taken
advantage of the gift of life
00:01:56.24\00:01:59.45
that Jesus has
offered to all of us.
00:01:59.48\00:02:02.52
And since there's a
careful record, the Bible says
00:02:03.25\00:02:06.09
that some will be
beaten with many stripes
00:02:06.19\00:02:08.89
and some with few.
00:02:09.09\00:02:10.66
So if you punish
everybody for eternity,
00:02:10.99\00:02:14.16
aren't you punishing
them basically the same?
00:02:14.20\00:02:17.37
No, the Bible
says God is a just God.
00:02:17.77\00:02:21.17
He's a fair God.
00:02:21.27\00:02:22.90
And He takes no
delight, by the way.
00:02:23.14\00:02:25.21
The Bible calls this in
one place, His strange act.
00:02:25.24\00:02:28.78
It's not
something He likes to do.
00:02:28.81\00:02:31.21
So we want to notice that
the lake of fire, once again,
00:02:31.78\00:02:34.88
is here on the earth.
00:02:34.92\00:02:37.02
It's on the
surface of the earth.
00:02:37.49\00:02:39.65
They're cast into
this lake of fire.
00:02:39.69\00:02:42.49
And the lake of fire is
the end of death and the grave,
00:02:43.06\00:02:48.00
because it puts an end to sin.
00:02:48.10\00:02:51.17
It's also, as I call it,
the dreaded second death,
00:02:52.00\00:02:57.44
from which
there's no coming back.
00:02:57.54\00:03:00.04
So is there a contradiction
between these phrases,
00:03:00.48\00:03:02.88
"forever and ever," and
the declaration that this is
00:03:02.91\00:03:06.85
the second death?
00:03:06.88\00:03:08.82
It seems like
it's a contradiction,
00:03:09.18\00:03:10.95
but it's not really.
00:03:10.99\00:03:12.45
We need to look at the context.
00:03:13.02\00:03:15.62
Now I want to say this,
that this burning forever ends
00:03:16.16\00:03:20.03
the second death.
00:03:20.40\00:03:22.06
Hell fire does come to an end.
00:03:22.56\00:03:24.80
In fact, we'll look
at that word, "forever,"
00:03:25.00\00:03:28.04
and we also want to
look at the context.
00:03:28.07\00:03:29.87
The context is crucial.
00:03:29.90\00:03:32.64
I always say to people,
"What is the context saying?"
00:03:33.38\00:03:37.85
Well let's look at the context.
00:03:37.95\00:03:39.45
Now the next
chapter, the chapter divisions
00:03:39.48\00:03:43.12
were not inspired.
00:03:43.15\00:03:44.49
When John wrote this, he
just wrote it right through.
00:03:44.52\00:03:46.99
He moved from chapter 20 to 21.
00:03:47.02\00:03:49.49
And he just keeps
moving after he talks about
00:03:49.69\00:03:52.83
death and hell being
thrown into this second death
00:03:52.86\00:03:55.50
and this forever
and ever business.
00:03:55.66\00:03:57.73
Now listen to
what he goes on to say.
00:03:57.77\00:03:59.53
"Now I saw a new
heaven and a new earth,
00:03:59.57\00:04:04.31
for the first heaven and
the first earth..." Were what?
00:04:04.34\00:04:07.94
"...passed away."
00:04:08.34\00:04:09.68
So he sees a new
heaven and a new earth,
00:04:10.01\00:04:13.65
for the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away.
00:04:13.68\00:04:15.98
So you can't have it both ways.
00:04:16.02\00:04:17.72
You can't have this earth where
the devil and his evil angels
00:04:17.75\00:04:21.52
and the wicked are judged with
fire that comes down from God
00:04:21.56\00:04:25.59
out of heaven,
they're standing on the earth
00:04:25.63\00:04:27.73
in front of the New Jerusalem,
00:04:27.76\00:04:29.46
this thing
creates a lake of fire,
00:04:29.56\00:04:32.30
and it's called
the second death,
00:04:32.50\00:04:34.64
and then this thing passes away.
00:04:34.80\00:04:36.44
Of course, the
apostle Peter describes that,
00:04:36.47\00:04:39.34
how that the earth burns
like an oven, as it were.
00:04:39.37\00:04:43.58
It becomes a molten mass.
00:04:43.61\00:04:45.81
And then he says the same thing,
that you get a new heavens
00:04:45.85\00:04:48.92
and a new earth
made out of the old earth
00:04:48.95\00:04:52.09
and the old
heavens, if you please,
00:04:52.12\00:04:54.52
that have been burned up.
00:04:54.56\00:04:56.69
They've been destroyed.
00:04:56.73\00:04:58.06
And when they're destroyed,
they're destroyed with the
00:04:58.09\00:05:00.06
wicked in it.
00:05:00.10\00:05:01.66
Just like the flood destroyed
the antediluvian world,
00:05:01.76\00:05:04.83
so now a flood of fire
destroys these wicked people
00:05:04.87\00:05:10.24
at the end of time.
00:05:10.27\00:05:12.64
So the context does not allow
you to have a forever and ever
00:05:13.24\00:05:18.51
burning hell fire here,
00:05:18.55\00:05:20.48
because you have a new
heavens and a new earth.
00:05:21.05\00:05:23.59
The first heavens, the
first earth have passed away.
00:05:23.62\00:05:25.75
The apostle Peter says it's all
been consumed away, so to speak.
00:05:25.79\00:05:30.53
So what is going on here?
00:05:30.69\00:05:33.26
Since the lake of fire
is on this earth, that means
00:05:33.29\00:05:36.83
the earth is going to pass away.
00:05:36.87\00:05:39.00
It can't be the smoke of
their torment ascending up
00:05:39.03\00:05:42.17
forever and ever
because it's coming to an end.
00:05:42.20\00:05:45.97
Well let's look a little bit at
that phrase, "forever and ever."
00:05:46.01\00:05:48.31
I got very fascinated by that.
00:05:48.34\00:05:49.84
And I can give you a
lot of text in Scripture
00:05:50.25\00:05:53.08
that will tell
you that the wages,
00:05:53.31\00:05:55.88
and we'll talk about that,
the wicked are going to die.
00:05:56.08\00:05:58.95
That the
penalty of sin is death.
00:05:59.09\00:06:02.16
We'll look at maybe one or two
of those before we're done here.
00:06:02.26\00:06:05.49
I mean, there's just mountains
of those text in Scripture
00:06:05.59\00:06:09.26
through the Old Testament,
through the New Testament.
00:06:09.30\00:06:11.90
This is an eternal fire,
meaning its effects are eternal,
00:06:12.27\00:06:15.74
but it's not an
eternal punishing.
00:06:15.77\00:06:18.54
It is a fire that has
an end, but not an ending.
00:06:18.77\00:06:24.18
Meaning, the results never end.
00:06:24.21\00:06:26.85
It's an eternal decision.
00:06:26.88\00:06:29.48
These people
are not coming back.
00:06:29.68\00:06:32.25
I also did some looking,
and the early church fathers,
00:06:33.36\00:06:36.32
I'm talking about real
early before the popes,
00:06:36.36\00:06:39.23
they didn't believe in
this ever burning hell part.
00:06:39.26\00:06:44.67
But let's go back to this
phrase, "forever and ever."
00:06:44.70\00:06:48.10
I did a little look to that, and
actually the literal translation
00:06:48.84\00:06:53.64
is, "to the ages of the ages."
00:06:53.68\00:06:57.15
In other words, the smoke
of their torment ascends up
00:06:57.18\00:07:00.02
to the ages of the ages.
00:07:00.15\00:07:01.98
That's what John actually wrote.
00:07:02.02\00:07:04.15
And it can be
translated, "forever and ever."
00:07:05.42\00:07:08.62
But when you look up the word in
Strong's Analytical commentary
00:07:09.32\00:07:14.63
and lexicon, and so forth,
or dictionary, it will tell you
00:07:14.66\00:07:18.47
that the word also
allows for a period of time.
00:07:18.50\00:07:22.57
But let's look at
it a little different.
00:07:22.60\00:07:24.04
Let's look at it
the way John wrote it.
00:07:24.07\00:07:26.71
"To the ages of the ages."
00:07:27.11\00:07:29.34
What ages of the
ages is he talking about?
00:07:29.38\00:07:32.25
Well, I think that...
00:07:33.62\00:07:35.45
Let me give you
some other translations.
00:07:35.85\00:07:37.95
Because I think sometimes
our translations have been
00:07:38.95\00:07:41.36
influenced by Roman
Catholicism that basically
00:07:41.39\00:07:44.79
invented this ever burning hell.
00:07:44.83\00:07:46.90
We'll talk a little bit
about that in a moment maybe.
00:07:46.93\00:07:49.36
But let me give you
Young's literal translation.
00:07:49.40\00:07:52.33
He says, "Tormented day and
night to the ages of the ages."
00:07:52.53\00:07:57.41
That's different.
00:07:57.51\00:07:58.91
"...to the ages of the ages."
00:07:59.31\00:08:01.34
And that, "to," is a
very fair translation.
00:08:01.38\00:08:03.65
I looked it up.
00:08:03.75\00:08:05.08
And here's
Weymouth's New Testament.
00:08:05.11\00:08:06.85
He translates it,
or they translate it,
00:08:06.88\00:08:08.58
"The day and night they
will suffer torture until..."
00:08:08.78\00:08:12.59
That's even better.
00:08:12.79\00:08:14.16
And it can be
translated that way.
00:08:14.39\00:08:16.12
"...until the age of the ages."
00:08:16.16\00:08:19.06
So this literal translation
then makes a lot of sense,
00:08:19.49\00:08:23.77
given the context.
00:08:23.80\00:08:25.33
Let's just take a
look at this literal sense.
00:08:25.37\00:08:27.60
First of all, the
punishment goes on until
00:08:27.64\00:08:32.14
the ages of the ages,
00:08:32.17\00:08:33.91
or until the
beginning of the new age
00:08:33.98\00:08:37.88
which starts with the new earth.
00:08:37.98\00:08:40.45
Now let me give you
some of the insights to this
00:08:40.48\00:08:44.05
from the teachings of Jesus.
00:08:44.15\00:08:46.22
In Matthew 12:32, Jesus
says, "Anyone who speaks a word
00:08:46.99\00:08:54.30
against the Son of Man,
it will be forgiven him;
00:08:54.33\00:08:59.13
but if he speaks
against the Holy Spirit,
00:08:59.23\00:09:01.34
it will not be forgiven him..."
00:09:01.37\00:09:03.41
Now notice what else He says.
00:09:03.74\00:09:05.81
"...either in this
age or the age to come."
00:09:05.94\00:09:11.08
And that's a theme that
runs through the New Testament.
00:09:11.11\00:09:13.98
This age that we're
in is coming to an end.
00:09:14.08\00:09:17.99
This age.
00:09:18.25\00:09:19.59
But there's
another age that's coming.
00:09:19.62\00:09:22.52
And that's the age of the ages.
00:09:22.56\00:09:24.99
That age of the
ages will never end.
00:09:25.03\00:09:27.26
That's the age we
want to be part of,
00:09:27.30\00:09:29.93
because this age that we
are in, it's coming to an end.
00:09:29.96\00:09:35.70
So notice again
in Matthew 13:37-40.
00:09:36.87\00:09:42.38
In Matthew, He's talking
and telling the parable of,
00:09:43.38\00:09:46.88
and He's interpreting here, of
the sower who went out to sow.
00:09:47.08\00:09:50.65
"And He answered
and said to them,
00:09:50.89\00:09:53.42
'He who sows the good
seed is the Son of Man.
00:09:53.46\00:09:56.22
The field is the world...'"
00:09:56.52\00:09:58.13
That's the world
we're living in right now.
00:09:58.16\00:09:59.89
This is the interpretation.
00:09:59.93\00:10:01.46
"...the good seeds are
the sons of the kingdom,
00:10:01.50\00:10:04.43
but the tares are the
sons of the wicked one.
00:10:04.63\00:10:09.24
The enemy who sowed
them is the devil..."
00:10:09.77\00:10:12.54
Now listen carefully.
00:10:12.57\00:10:13.91
"...the harvest is at
the end of the age..."
00:10:14.14\00:10:18.48
This age is coming to an end.
00:10:18.51\00:10:21.72
But hallelujah, there's
another age that's coming.
00:10:21.75\00:10:24.82
"...the reapers are the angels."
00:10:24.85\00:10:26.76
Verse 40, "Therefore
as the tares are gathered
00:10:26.79\00:10:30.33
and burned in the fire,
00:10:30.36\00:10:32.53
so it will be at
the end of this age."
00:10:35.66\00:10:40.10
If the
translators had translated
00:10:40.37\00:10:42.07
the way John wrote it, it really
wouldn't have been a problem.
00:10:42.10\00:10:45.14
No, he's saying it's
going to continue until the
00:10:45.54\00:10:48.51
start of that new age.
00:10:48.54\00:10:50.11
The context is
very clear about that.
00:10:50.15\00:10:53.48
So Revelation 19:3 gives
us again a picture of that.
00:10:54.25\00:10:59.79
It says, "'For true and
righteous are His judgments,
00:10:59.82\00:11:01.79
because He has judged the
great harlot who corrupted
00:11:01.82\00:11:04.79
the earth with her fornication;
and He has avenged on her
00:11:04.83\00:11:07.70
the blood of His servants...'
00:11:07.73\00:11:09.10
Again they said, 'Alleluia!
00:11:09.93\00:11:11.50
Her smoke rises up
forever and ever.'"
00:11:11.53\00:11:15.60
In other words, her
smoke rises up to, or until,
00:11:15.64\00:11:19.74
the new age.
00:11:19.77\00:11:21.74
The age that will
last into eternity.
00:11:21.94\00:11:24.85
This age, though,
is coming to an end.
00:11:24.88\00:11:28.75
"Strong is the
Lord who judges her."
00:11:28.92\00:11:31.69
She will be utterly consumed.
00:11:31.99\00:11:34.32
And by the way, the
Bible says in Revelation 18:8,
00:11:34.59\00:11:38.03
"She will be
utterly burned with fire."
00:11:38.26\00:11:40.70
"Utterly," means to be utterly
consumed, to be done away with.
00:11:40.73\00:11:44.90
So there's
really no contradiction,
00:11:45.47\00:11:47.30
if they had
translated it the way that John
00:11:47.34\00:11:50.24
had really written it.
00:11:50.27\00:11:52.51
The book of Malachi, I'll
give you this one really quick,
00:11:52.54\00:11:54.84
Malachi 4:1-3.
00:11:54.88\00:11:56.31
"For behold, the day is coming
that shall burn as an oven,
00:11:56.34\00:12:00.52
And all the proud and all that
do wickedly shall be stubble."
00:12:00.82\00:12:04.29
And then it says that
they will be like ashes
00:12:04.32\00:12:06.99
under the feet of the righteous.
00:12:07.26\00:12:08.96
Why? Because they are burned up.
00:12:08.99\00:12:11.99
It was Voltaire, that
atheist, that helped bring on
00:12:12.03\00:12:16.36
the French
Revolution, who hated God.
00:12:16.40\00:12:19.23
And the way he
learned to hate God was he
00:12:19.33\00:12:21.30
sat on his father's
knee, and his father told him
00:12:21.34\00:12:23.77
if he didn't be good,
that God would burn him
00:12:23.81\00:12:25.77
forever and
ever without ceasing.
00:12:25.81\00:12:28.28
That little boy looked
at his father and he says,
00:12:28.31\00:12:30.78
"Then I hate God."
00:12:30.81\00:12:32.91
God is a God of justice.
00:12:33.25\00:12:35.18
This whole idea of
an ever burning hell
00:12:35.22\00:12:37.19
was invented by a church
that was cruel in the Dark Ages
00:12:37.22\00:12:41.59
in order to
keep people in place.
00:12:41.69\00:12:43.99
In order to make them so fearful
that they could control them.
00:12:44.03\00:12:48.73
But God doesn't want
that kind of control.
00:12:48.86\00:12:51.10
God wants you to respond
to Him because you love Him,
00:12:51.27\00:12:54.87
because you choose Him.
00:12:54.90\00:12:56.57
No, if you are lost,
it will be your own fault.
00:12:56.77\00:13:01.14
And I pray that you won't be.
00:13:01.74\00:13:03.31
But I have a question to ask.
00:13:03.35\00:13:05.05
If you're lost, God is
going to wipe away the tears
00:13:05.65\00:13:08.78
of the righteous,
but if you're lost,
00:13:08.82\00:13:10.89
who is going to
wipe away God's tears?
00:13:11.59\00:13:14.22
He really loves you.
00:13:15.12\00:13:16.69
He gave His Son so that
you would never have to go
00:13:16.73\00:13:20.00
to this place.
00:13:20.03\00:13:21.43
He cares about you.
00:13:22.23\00:13:24.00
Who is going to wipe away,
if you're lost, God's tears?
00:13:24.83\00:13:30.21