Participants: Pastor Charles Byrd
Series Code: IST
Program Code: IST000008
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00:05 Hell. Absolute finality.
00:08 Hans Memling, a fifteenth century artist, 00:11 pictured hell in his painting entitled "The last judgment". 00:15 And where did I see this picture? 00:17 In a religious book? 00:18 On a church wall? 00:20 No. 00:21 In "Newsweek". 00:23 It says here and I quote: 00:25 "Thinking of the end of the world," 00:27 "by contemplating ones own end," 00:29 "is a painful process." 00:31 "Sinners have reason to fear a God" 00:34 "who having chosen to create the world" 00:35 "can also choose to destroy it." 00:37 Hello! 00:38 I am Karen Byrd. 00:40 Would you believe a book that could predict 4 world empires 00:43 and now a divided Europe thousands of years in advance? 00:47 If you answered "yes", 00:49 you need to know this book also predicts the complete 00:51 destruction of the Earth as we now know it, 00:54 with a cataclysmic fire. 00:57 "Hell" is the term applied to this event. 01:00 There is a great deal of misinformation 01:02 about this subject. 01:03 So today Charles is going in search of the truth about hell. 01:07 He'll even be showing us the place in the Middle East 01:09 where hell got its bad reputation. 01:12 Join us as we go in search for the good news about hell. 01:55 Last time we learned that the judgment ends in a bad way 01:59 for those who are lost. 02:00 We read from Revelation 20 verses 9 and 10: 02:13 Burning in a lake of fire. 02:15 This whole thing seems so gruesome. 02:17 But most Christians, Protestants and Catholics alike, 02:20 believe in hell. 02:21 And most believe that this punishment of the wicked 02:24 goes on and on for a billion millennia 02:27 and then hell is just beginning. 02:30 Can you see it? 02:31 Mothers who are lost burning in pain but never able to die, 02:35 listening to the screams of their small children 02:37 begging, pleading for mercy that will never come. 02:41 Young men writhing in agony 02:43 cursing their fathers and mothers for giving them life. 02:48 Someone like Adolph Hitler would deserve that much pain 02:51 for all the grief that he caused. 02:53 What about the construction worker who lived his whole life 02:55 minding his own business. 02:58 He never murdered anyone, he paid his taxes, 03:00 held a steady job provided for his family 03:03 but never quite got around to considering eternity, judgment 03:07 and God. 03:08 Never actually accepted Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. 03:12 Never really knew God. 03:14 Would a God of love burn him for eternity? 03:17 Tormented and screaming in pain just like Hitler? 03:20 Always burning, burning but never able to burn up? 03:24 I believe that honest people can make honest mistakes. 03:27 And in my search for the truth I have gone through this book 03:30 from cover to cover multiple times. 03:33 Read casually, there are a few texts that can make you come 03:36 to the conclusion that there is a hell burning right now. 03:39 And those who are lost go there and burn forever. 03:43 Unfortunately less than honest clergy have used these passages 03:47 of Scripture to scare people into being good 03:49 so they will be able to go to Heaven. 03:52 Some even used these texts to encourage donations 03:54 to a particular church to ensure they will not end up in hell. 03:59 But wouldn't that be the righteousness by fear 04:02 instead of righteousness by faith? 04:05 Today we're going to take an honest look at hell. 04:08 And even visit the valley of Gahanna, outside Jerusalem. 04:10 And I believe that when we are done, your picture of God 04:14 and His love will be much clear. 04:16 I'm not going to give you my opinions or my preferences 04:19 but a plain "Thus saith the Lord". 04:22 Today as you listen you'll learn the good news about hell. 04:27 While we'll wont be able to look at every text on this subject 04:29 in the time we have together, we will make available to you 04:33 a study guide at the end of the program 04:36 that will be an excellent tool in considering this topic frame. 04:40 The first thing that may surprise you is that I know 04:42 exactly how many souls are in hell at this very moment. 04:46 No I don't get an early edition newspaper each day 04:49 but I do have the Scriptures. 04:51 Let's look at what it says together. 04:53 In Mathew, chapter 13. 04:56 Jesus was telling a parable, a story to help people 05:00 understand His Kingdom. 05:01 He told of a man who had a field planted with wheat 05:04 and one night an enemy of his came into the field 05:07 and planted tares or weeds. 05:10 The weeds were most likely the bearded darnel. 05:14 This common Palestinian plant grows about 2 feet tall 05:18 and in its earlier stages it's indistinguishable from weed. 05:22 Only when the plant matures 05:24 and the seeds of the darnel turn black 05:26 is easy to tell the difference. 05:27 These seeds are poisonous. 05:29 And if eaten produce a violent nausea, diarrhea, convulsions 05:33 and sometimes death. 05:36 The growing season begins and the servants are positive about 05:39 a good crop growing in the field. 05:41 But as the weeds turns of golden brown 05:43 and the bearded darnel turns black 05:46 they realize they have a problem. 05:48 The master of the field tells his workers that he'll let them 05:51 alone until the harvest. 05:53 And at that time they will separate the weed and the tares. 05:57 The tares will be burnt with fire. 06:00 Listen carefully as Jesus interprets this parable 06:03 for his disciples. 06:06 The enemy that sowed them is the devil. 06:09 The harvest is the end of the world. 06:13 Notice this: when is the harvest? 06:14 The end of the world. 06:17 And the reapers? 06:18 They are the angels. 06:20 As there for the tares are gathered and burnt in the fire 06:24 so shall it be in the end of this world. 06:28 It is clear that we cannot have come to the end of this world 06:31 because we're still here. 06:33 So the burning cannot have started yet. 06:35 And our last problem we learned that the judgment has 3 phases 06:39 It is the third, the last phase, the penalty phase that Jesus 06:43 is talking about in John chapter 12 verse 48 when He says 06:53 The last day judgment is when sinners will be cast 06:56 in the hell fire at the end of the world 06:59 not when they die. 07:01 God would not punish that person in fire until his case was tried 07:05 and decided in court. 07:07 This is the very reason for the first 2 phases of the judgment. 07:12 So how many lost souls are being punished in hell today? 07:16 None. 07:18 There is not one single soul in hell fire today. 07:21 It's true 07:22 Look what Peter says: 07:34 Yes, there is a day when punishment will happen. 07:37 Indeed there is a day when the tares, the wicked will be 07:40 burned up. 07:42 But is not going on right now, not yet. 07:45 Not until the end of the world in the final phase of judgment. 07:50 So where are sinner who have already died? 07:54 Where is Genghis Khan or Adolph Hitler? 07:58 They where bad people. 07:59 And undoubtedly they will not be in Heaven. 08:02 So, didn't they already go to hell? 08:04 No. 08:06 Jesus is absolutely clear on this point. 08:26 Jesus said that there would be a resurrection 08:28 and that will be for the purpose of damnation. 08:31 If you look up the word "damnation" 08:33 in the American Heritage Dictionary 08:35 it gives you the following definition: 08:45 That's the same definition found in Mathew 25,46. 08:49 But notice the word doesn't say "punishing" it says "punishment" 08:55 What is that everlasting punishment? 08:58 The Bible clearly teach us what that punishment is. 09:01 Romans chapter 6 verse 23 says: 09:07 But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. 09:11 James 1, 15 says: 09:17 John 3, 16 says: 09:26 Death is the termination of life, 09:28 the extinction of something. 09:31 The Bible is clear on this. 09:32 The wages or punishment for sin is death not everlasting life 09:38 in hell fire. 09:40 The wicked perish says Jesus in John 3, 16; in contrast to those 09:45 who are saved and who receive everlasting life. 09:49 And some might honestly ask: "But doesn't Jesus in His 09:53 parable of the sheep and the goat say to those who are lost 10:03 "Doesn't everlasting fire means it burns forever?" 10:06 At first glance I would say "Yes". 10:09 But we must let the Bible explain itself. 10:13 I'd like you to consider another passage with the very same 10:16 Greek word only this time it's translated "eternal". 10:20 "Eternal", "forever" it's the same thing. 10:23 It's found in Jude verse 7: 10:35 Sodom and Gomorrah were such wicked cities that we still use 10:38 the word "sodomy" in our legal system today to describe 10:41 heinous immorality. 10:43 The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were so corrupt that God 10:47 destroyed them with fire. 10:49 And not just any fire according to Jude: 10:57 While in the Middle East, I took these pictures very near where 11:00 Sodom and Gomorrah would have been. 11:02 There is no fire burning there. 11:05 I can assure you if it was it would be a tourist site. 11:08 So why do the writers of the Bible use the word "forever" 11:12 if they don't mean "forever"? 11:14 The answer is actually simpler than you might think. 11:17 They use the word in just the same way we use it today. 11:22 Sometimes when we use "forever" we mean "forever without end" 11:26 and we say things like "no one can live forever, we all have" 11:29 "to die sometime." 11:31 But sometimes we use "forever" to mean a certain amount of time 11:35 we say things like "Bob was forever complaining about" 11:37 "the job" or "you kept me waiting forever". 11:42 In fact, did you know that the term "forever" is used 56 times 11:46 in the Bible in connection with things that have already ended? 11:51 Jonah, for example, was in the belly of a fish for 3 days 11:54 and nights. 11:55 And he said in Jonah 2:6 that he was imprisoned there forever. 12:01 Here "forever" equals 3 days. 12:03 In Deuteronomy 23,3 the word "forever" means 10 generations. 12:09 This is what we've learned from an exhaustive study of the term. 12:13 "Forever" means: As long as the nature of that thing is. 12:19 For example: 12:20 Hannah, the mother of Samuel, gave her son to the service 12:23 of the tabernacle to there abide forever. 12:26 We're told in 1Samuel 1,22. 12:30 What is the nature of man? 12:31 To live so long and then die. 12:34 So in this case "forever" was the lifetime of Samuel. 12:39 What is the nature of fire? 12:41 Well the nature of fire is to burn for as long as it has fuel 12:43 and oxygen. 12:45 Could God give hell enough fuel and oxygen so that it would burn 12:49 forever? 12:50 Of course He could. 12:51 But will He? No. 12:54 How do I know? 12:55 How is it that I can be so confident? 12:58 Again we go to Scripture for the answer. 13:01 Revelation tells us: 13:07 "Devour" means to "consume". 13:09 Once you've devoured your piece of German chocolate cake 13:12 it is consumed, it is gone. 13:15 Perhaps one of the clearest descriptions of the finality 13:17 of hell is found in Malachi: 13:44 Notice the verse does not say the wicked will burn like 13:47 asbestos as many today believe. 13:49 But rather like stubble which will be burned up. 13:52 Nothing but ashes will be left when the fire goes out. 13:57 David tells us the same thing in Psalm 37, 10: 14:22 I'm glad that God destroys all the wicked people that makes 14:25 this life so painful and this world a terrible place. 14:29 But I'm also glad He is not a hideous tyrant. 14:32 Some sadistic monster who allows people to burn and burn forever. 14:39 The teaching of eternal torment has done more to drive people 14:42 to atheism and insanity than any other invention of the devil. 14:47 It is slander upon the loving character of the tender gracious 14:50 Heavenly Father. 14:51 And is an untold harm to the Christian cause. 14:55 Where is hell? 14:57 Is it under the earth? 14:59 Or is it some distant planet? 15:01 The disciple Peter gives us this insight: 15:19 Hell is going to be right here. 15:21 Hell fire just as big as this Earth. 15:24 Because it will be this Earth on fire. 15:27 This fire will be so hot as to melt the Earth and burn up 15:31 all the works that are there in. 15:34 This is important because God is going to recreate the Earth. 15:38 The righteous are going to live there. 15:40 I was privileged to live on the Island of Saipan. 15:43 Did you know that when people dig in their gardens 15:45 they are still finding bombs and bullets and grenades 15:49 left over World War II? 15:51 God has to destroy all that junk. 15:54 All the aluminum cans and the plastic litter 15:56 will be burned up. 15:58 All the toxic waste dumps, all the nuclear garbage, 16:01 all the buried trash heaps will be cleaned up. 16:06 All the thoughts don't die easily, do they? 16:09 I can hear somebody say: "Will the fire really go out?" 16:13 Let's look at what the prophet Isaiah says: 16:30 Yes, indeed the Bible specifically teaches 16:33 that hell fire will go out and that there will not be left 16:36 a coal to warm at nor a fire to sit before it. 16:41 The fire must go out for another wonderful reason. 17:06 The Bible also teach us that in God's new kingdom all former 17:10 things will be past away. 17:12 Hell, being one of those former things, is included. 17:15 We have God's promise that it will be abolished. 17:18 But what about the wicked? 17:19 Will they enter into hell in bodily form to be destroyed 17:23 both body and soul? 17:25 According to the teachings of Jesus in Mathew 5, 30 the whole 17:29 body will be cast into hell. 17:31 In chapter 10, verse 28 17:33 we are reminded by Jesus to fear Him. 17:37 Which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 17:41 Notice that both the soul and the body are destroyed 17:45 not perpetually tormented. 17:48 The fire from Heaven will blot people out of existence. 17:53 If God tortured His enemies in a fiery horror chamber 17:56 throughout all eternity, He would be more vicious and 17:59 heartless than men have ever been 18:01 in the worst war atrocities. 18:04 An eternal hell or a continual torment would be a living hell 18:08 for God also. 18:09 Who loves even the violous sinner. 18:12 Here is one important question that I would like 18:14 to see straightened up. 18:16 Will the devil be in charge of hell? 18:19 You don't have to question this one at all. 18:21 Here are the words of Jesus: 18:33 How long is this "forever"? 18:35 What is the nature of the thing? 18:37 He too will burn until he burns up and out. 18:42 Look at this passage in Ezekiel: 18:59 The devil will be cast into the lake of fire which will be 19:02 on this Earth and it will burn him to ashes and he will be 19:06 no more. 19:08 That is clear. 19:11 Let me show you something that I think that you'll find 19:13 very interesting. 19:15 The word "hell" is in the Bible only 54 times 19:18 translated from several different Hebrew 19:20 and Greek words. 19:21 Of the 54 times, 41 of them come from the words that simply 19:26 mean "grave". 19:28 One of them comes from the word which means a place of darkness 19:32 which is what a grave is. 19:33 That leaves only 12 times left. 19:37 And they come from the Greek word "Gehenna" 19:40 which means "place of burning". 19:42 The Greek word "Gehanna" is a transliteration of the Hebrew 19:46 "Ge-Hinnom", which means "the Valley of Hinnom". 19:49 Here are some pictures that I took of Gehenna for you to see. 19:52 This valley, which lies immediately south and west 19:56 of Jerusalem, was a place where dead animals, garbage and other 20:00 refuse were dumped. 20:02 Fire burned constantly as it does it some sanitation 20:06 dump sites today. 20:07 The Bible uses "Gehenna", or "the Valley of Hinnom", 20:11 as a symbol of the fire that will destroy the lost 20:13 at the end of time. 20:15 The fire of Gehanna was not unending, 20:18 otherwise it would still be burning south-west 20:20 of Jerusalem today. 20:22 We have time to look at just one more truth about this 20:25 most sad and destructive conclusion to the many lives 20:29 God intended to live forever. 20:31 What kind of a God is it that would destroy so many lives? 20:36 What kind of a God would create life and then destroy it? 20:40 what kind of a God would kill men and women and children? 20:44 The Bible tells us that He is a God that created us 20:47 in His image. 20:48 He gave us the power to think and to choose 20:51 and to rule the Earth. 20:52 And even though mankind has chosen to use that power 20:56 to run away from God, to choose their own way, God chose to pay 21:00 the penalty for their disobedience. 21:03 He loved us enough not to change the commandments 21:06 but to live by the rule of His law of love. 21:10 This running away from God has cost humanity dearly. 21:14 Now we die from cancer, we experience drive-by shootings. 21:19 Now we die alone in nursing homes and suffer from abuse 21:22 of every kind. 21:24 And God is asking: "Would you join my kingdom?" 21:27 "I loved you enough to die for you." 21:30 "Satan only wants to destroy you." 21:33 "I'm working right now to win you back to my Father's" 21:36 "kingdom of love." 21:38 "Satan is working to make your life a living hell." 21:42 "And I want you to know that right now I am making plans 21:46 to destroy everything and everyone who chooses to continue 21:50 living lives that hurt others." 21:53 "Selfish lives." 22:28 Yes, the work of God has always has always been to save 22:30 rather than destroy. 22:32 The work of destroying the wicked in hell fire 22:34 is so foreign to God's nature. 22:36 The Bible calls it "His strange act". 22:39 God's great heart will ache at the destruction of the wicked. 22:43 Oh, how diligent He works to save every soul! 22:48 But if one ignores His love and clings to sin 22:51 God will have no choice but to destroy the sinner 22:53 with his sin. 22:55 When He rids the Universe of that horrible, malignant growth 23:00 called disobedience in the fires of the last day. 23:03 And there is another reason for God to destroy both sin and 23:06 sinners in hell. 23:08 He has some fantastic plans that sin is getting in the way of. 23:13 What are God's post-hell plans for the Earth 23:16 and His people? 23:47 After hell fire goes out God will create a new Earth 23:51 and restore it to His people with all the beauties and the 23:55 glories of Eden before sin entered. 23:58 The horrors of sin and the past will be forgotten. 24:02 Pain, death, tragedy, woe, tears, sickness, disappointment, 24:06 sorrow and all sin will be banished forever. 24:10 And this forever is the one that counts. 24:15 And God promises in Nahum 1,9: 24:24 There is so much more we could talk about 24:26 if time would permit. 24:27 But I hope that you'll request our free study guide 24:30 and take time to look deeper into this subject as you learn 24:33 for yourself of the good news about hell. 24:37 But for now let me just say that the good news about hell is: 24:40 the devil will not be in charge. 24:42 In fact he will also be destroyed 24:44 along with all the evil angels that joined him in rebellion 24:47 against God. 24:49 The good news about hell is it will purify planet Earth 24:52 with a cleansing fire that will consume all traces of sin 24:56 and evil. 24:58 And the good news about hell is: 25:04 it doesn't last forever. 25:10 There is an end to hell. 25:12 That's encouraging. 25:14 But the results of hell will be eternal. 25:16 It would be easy at this point to slip into the fear mode. 25:21 But that is completely unnecessary. 25:24 You can know for yourself when hell will happen, 25:27 how long it will last, and best of all, 25:30 how to avoid it all together. 25:32 Get your pen and paper ready 25:34 because we are offering a free study guide that will answer 25:37 most of your questions about hell. 25:40 Like how big is hell, how long will it burn and what is God's 25:44 real purpose in hell fire and much more. 25:47 Sneak preview? 25:49 The size of hell is 25000 miles in circumference. 25:53 All these answers come right from the Bible. 25:56 Here is the information you will need. 25:59 Is the devil in charge of hell? 26:02 Can he be trusted to be impartial? 26:05 To access this powerful resource go to www.amazingfacts.org 26:11 and simply select the studies button. 26:14 From there you can order the entire set of these study guides 26:18 or look and listen to this particular study guide. 26:22 You can even enroll in the free online Bible study course 26:26 which will answer many of your Bible questions. 26:29 Again, this study guide is available to you 26:31 anywhere in the world at www.amazingfacts.org 26:37 In our next program Charles is going in search of the truth 26:40 concerning the prophetic gift. 26:43 We will join him on Mount Carmel in Israel where he is footage 26:46 of the place where the prophets have failed and prophet Elijah 26:49 had a life and death duel. 26:51 He'll also look at the questions 26:53 "Are there still prophets today?" 26:55 "And if so, how can we tell the real from the frauds?" 26:59 I hope you'll join us as we go in search of the truth 27:02 concerning the spirit of prophecy. |
Revised 2014-12-17