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Hell
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0:00
Hi, I'm Dave DeWitt, and today I want to talk a few minutes about the subject of hell.
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Christians don't talk much about hell anymore, even though it's a major subject in the Bible.
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So I thought we should have a look at it.
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After a few general comments, I'd like to ask and answer some of the common questions
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like where is it?
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What's it like?
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Who will go there?
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How long will they stay?
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Hell experientially.
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Well, experientially, there's a lot of I died and came back stories.
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The most popular are the I saw the light at the end of the tunnel stories.
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But I also talk to people who are frequently around death and near death experiences who
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report on believers screaming in torment before they die.
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I'm not suggesting we should give credibility to experiences.
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Experiences are not a good test for truth because they don't carry their own interpretations.
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Meaning must be brought to an experience.
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It could be that the light at the end of the tunnel that the liberals think is such a good
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thing may be the fire of hell.
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My only reason for mentioning it is to show that there are many different near death recovery
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experiences.
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They're not all pleasant ones.
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Hell is a prominent subject in the Bible, New American Standard Bible, and the New Testament
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has a reference to Hades.
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Some King James translates that hell some of the time.
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There are 10 references to Hades.
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There's 13 references to Gehenna, including Jesus references to a fiery Gehenna, fiery
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hell in Matthew 5, 22 and 18, 9.
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There's six references to the lake of fire.
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All of them are in the book of Revelation.
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Jesus also talked about a place of outer darkness, a place where there'll be weeping and gnashing
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of teeth.
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In addition to these, the Old Testament has 67 references to Sheol, but it's hard to equate
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Sheol with hell.
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Sometimes it's just equated with death and sometimes a place where the dead go.
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It's never seen as a good place, but neither is it always a place of suffering.
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The Old Testament authors seemed to only understand that there is a afterlife in an actual place
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called Sheol.
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Jesus referred to hell more than any other biblical character.
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Jesus also clarified for us the Old Testament concept of Sheol.
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In Luke 16, 19-31, Jesus told about the beggar named Lazarus and a selfish rich man, both
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who died and went to the same general place.
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This seems to be the Old Testament Sheol, but Lazarus was in a good place, a good part
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of this place, and he was with Abraham in the place called Abraham's bosom, and the
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rich man was in a place of torment from flames.
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These two places are separated by a great chasm, so unbeknownst to the Old Testament
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prophets, Sheol seems to have a good part, also known as the bosom of Abraham, and a
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bad part, elsewhere referred to as Hades.
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The Apostle John records that the people kept in a place called Hades and are resurrected
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and judged at the Great White Throne Judgment, Revelation 20, 13, and 14.
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Death and Hades gave up the dead which are in them, then death and Hades were thrown
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into the lake of fire.
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This is the second death, the lake of fire.
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So although it seems that the unbeliever goes to this temporary place of torment called
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Hades, he or she will be resurrected to the Great White Throne Judgment and thrown into
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the lake of fire.
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So where is hell?
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Well some have suggested that hell is in the center part of the earth.
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A prophet, Ezekiel, and the Apostle Paul refer to a place called the lower parts of the earth,
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it's in Ezekiel 26, 20, and 32, 24, and it's in Ephesians 4, 9.
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Ezekiel records God saying, quote, then I will bring you down with those who go down
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to the pit, to the people of the old, I will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth
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like the ancient waste places with those who go down to the pit, close quote.
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Henry Morris records this comment, quote, to say this is not scientific is to assume
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science knows much more about the earth's interior than is actually the case.
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The great pit or hell would only need to be about 100 miles or less in diameter to contain
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with much room to spare all the 40 billion or so people who have ever lived, assuming
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their spiritual bodies are the same size as our physical bodies, close quote.
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This is from Henry Morris in his book, The Bible Has the Answer.
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Although it's possible that Hades is somewhere in the earth, there are a few things to consider.
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First, even if the lower parts of the earth is descriptive of Hades, that's not possible
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for the lake of fire because this earth is completely destroyed.
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Peter says the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed
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with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up.
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And John tells us the first heaven and the first earth pass away.
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So even if the lake of fire is connected to earth, it would be a new earth, not this earth.
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And second, it's also possible that the lower parts of the earth is simply a metaphor referring
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to a remote unknown place.
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David refers to the depths of the earth both as a time of trouble and his mother's womb.
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So it may not be a description of a location.
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At any rate, the final place of suffering for the unbeliever is the lake of fire located
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outside this present realm.
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So what is hell like?
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The most basic description of hell is the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.
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Brimstone is a reference to the rotten egg smell of a burning sulfur.
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Jesus acknowledged it three times as a place of the outer darkness, a place where there'll
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be weeping and gnashing of teeth, and twice he calls it a fiery hell.
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But we must also conclude that there must be different kinds of suffering or different
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degrees of suffering or different places of suffering in hell.
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First of all, people go based on great white throne judgment where the dead are judged
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from the things which are written in the books according to their deeds.
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So their deeds determine their judgment.
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Also, Jesus told Pilate, he who delivered me to you has the greater sin in John 19 11.
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So some sins are greater than other sins, and as Abraham asked, shall not the judge
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of all the earth deal justly?
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Also, Jesus told a parable where he concluded, quote, and that slave who knew his master's
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will and did not get ready or act in accordance with his will will receive many lashes.
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But the one who did not know it and committed deeds worthy of a flogging will receive but
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few.
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From everyone who has been given much, much will be required.
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And to whom who haven't been entrusted much of him, they will ask them more.
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Close quote.
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That's from Luke 12 47 and 48.
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Also speaking about the scribes, Jesus said those who devour widows houses and for appearance
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sake offer long prayers, these will receive greater condemnation in Mark 12 40.
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So we can conclude that not everyone who goes to hell will have the same suffering in hell.
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Therefore, although the whole place is extremely undesirable, a lake of fire and outer darkness,
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a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, it seems that not everyone suffers the same.
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So it is very likely that some places in hell are worse than other places.
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Who goes to hell?
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Well, it's been said that those who go to hell choose to go there.
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No, I doubt it.
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They may choose to rebel against God, be independent of God, blaspheme God and want to be their
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own God.
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People who reject God and his goodness enjoy being sinners, but it's unlikely they desire
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punishment for their sin in hell.
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Hell's also not just a separation from God.
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Atheists would think that would be more like paradise.
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Hell is a wrath of God based on the justice of God, not a choice of sinners.
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Salvation is to be delivered from what we desired because of our sin and our sin nature.
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Salvation delivers us from the lake of fire which we deserve.
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So those who go to hell are the unsaved, the unbelievers who have not received Jesus Christ
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as their Savior.
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The justice of God requires the wrath of God upon sin.
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Hell satisfies the justice of God.
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So if you're not saved by grace through faith in the blood of Christ that paid for your
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sin and absorbed the wrath of God, then you're going to a place where you will experience
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the wrath of God for your sin.
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He who believes in the Son has eternal life.
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He who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him,
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John 3.36.
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How long do people stay in hell?
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The often stated idea that unbelievers are simply thrown into the lake of fire and are
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burned up is without biblical support.
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Actually, those thrown into the lake of fire are in a resurrected body, not a physical
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body that can be burned up.
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The only actual statement about the duration of hell is given concerning the devil, the
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antichrist, and the false prophet, quoting Revelation 20.10, and the devil who deceived
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them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet
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are also, and they'll be tormented day and night forever and ever, close quote.
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But we should not conclude that the place described as the lake of fire is only for
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these three, because at the judgment after the second coming, Jesus said to those on
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his left, depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared
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for the devil and his angels.
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So the judgment of those who received the mark of the beast in the tribulation sounds
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like forever, quoting Revelation 14.11, and the smoke of their torment goes up forever
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and ever, they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast in the image
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and receive the mark of his name.
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It can be argued that the Greek Hebrew and the Greek words for eternal and forever often
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mean until the end of the age and don't necessarily have the same meaning as the English words
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eternal and forever.
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And of course, we do not know what God's going to be doing in the far distant future.
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But we can confidently say there is nothing in scripture that would indicate that hell
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is temporary or that anyone is ever delivered from it or given an opportunity for repentance
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or forgiveness after they go there.
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It would also seem that those in hell are not interested in repentance, in which case
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the termination to their stay would not be justified.
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Now a conclusion about the questions we asked.
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Where is hell?
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It's a place not yet occupied somewhere beyond this physical earth in another dimension
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which God has prepared for the unbelievers of the earth to join the devil and his angels
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in eternal punishment for their sin.
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What's hell like?
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Well, it's described as a lake of fire, a place of outer darkness where there'll be
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weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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Who goes there?
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Everyone whose name has not been written in the foundation of the world in the book of
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Life of the Lamb according to Revelation 13a.
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How long can people stay in hell?
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There's nothing in scripture that would indicate that hell is temporary or that anyone is ever
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delivered from it.
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If we take the Bible seriously, if we listen to the warnings of the prophets and the apostles,
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if we take the words of Jesus as true, then there's no way to deny the reality of hell.
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The Bible clearly teaches us about a real physical place of afterlife suffering, a lake
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of fire, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth and outer darkness known under the general
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description of the word hell.
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It's not what Wikipedia calls mythological folklore and religious tradition.
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Hell is not an idea born of conservatism or legalism or sadism.
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It's not a tool for Christians to use to scare people into conversion.
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It's just not an idea created by the imagination of the writers of the Middle Ages.
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It's not a condition of suffering while living on earth, psychological depression, or a bad
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date.
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This is something that cannot be denied by any serious follower of the word of God.
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If the Bible's true, then hell's a real place, and everyone who has not personally received
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Jesus Christ, inviting him into his or her life by a decision of faith, will go there.
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The justice of God requires it.
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Well thanks for listening.
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If you're interested in a paper on the subject, check our website relationalconcepts.org.
