People burning forever in the centre of the earth. Where did this picture of hell come from? How’d it make its way into Christianity? The answer may surprise you! Join us tonight as we discover good news through the Bible’s truth about hell.

<p>People burning forever in the centre of the earth. Where did this picture of hell come from? How’d it make its way into Christianity? The answer may surprise you! Join us tonight as we discover good news through the Bible’s truth about hell.</p>

North New South Wales Conference

Is Death the End?

Justin Torossian

01 Halloween’s Haunting History

Lyle Southwell

02 Spirits, Demons and the Dead

Charissa Fong Torossian

03 Who are the Spirits?

04 Death’s Surprising Truth

05 Your Questions Answered

09 Does Heaven Exist?

06 Is Death the End?

08 Hell Truth: Death of Death

Cathy Hookham

07 Cathy’s Story: Clairvoyant to Christianity


If a judge pronounced a sentence of 30 years of torture for someone, people would think he was out of his mind. But interestingly enough, many people believe God will do far worse than that and try to say that it's in the Bible. Stay with us as we talk about the hot topic of hell. Topic of hell. As we kicked off this series, we learned that as a part of the ancient Celtic New Year ritual called Halloween, there was a massive bonfire built.

In order to appease Samhain, the Celtic god of death, the costumed villagers would haul off any villagers suspected to be possessed by a spirit and cast them alive into the bonfire for an agonizing death. Screams would fill the air while druids and their followers who were responsible for their pain would jump through the flames, dance, and chant to try to drown out the screams. If you have a single just bone in your body, you're no doubt horrified at the Druids and villagers for burning innocent animals and humans alive. Yet, many Christians somehow believe that an all-loving God will do far worse than this. Their belief makes him out to be a monster much more wicked than these Druids during ancient Halloween.

The hot topic of hell is 1 of the most misunderstood subjects in all of the Bible. Bill Weiss, a Christian who supposedly had a vision of hell, wrote a book called 23 Minutes in Hell. Listen to this. I noticed there were these 2 creatures in the cell. I didn't realize what they were yet, but they were pacing, and they had a hatred for God and for me.

They weren't animal, and they weren't human either. I don't know what they were, but they were like large, protruding jaw, huge teeth, claws. I was taken out of the cell and I was placed over next to this large pit of fire, raging flames, hundreds of feet in the air. And this is where I first saw people. There were people actually burning, literally burning in hell.

It was not metaphorical or allegorical fire. It was real, literal fire. And the people were screaming. It was so loud and deafening... ...To hear all these people scream.

And the most awful sight I can't even really describe to you. There were all kinds of creatures around this perimeter, you know, deformed, twisted looking creatures. There were snakes and maggots and creatures that were large, 12 and 13 feet tall, and some small. Everything had a distinct evilness about it. I wouldn't want to go back there for 5 seconds.

If anybody could see it for just that amount of time, they would change real quick. The fear level in hell is so intense, It's so far beyond anything I can describe. I felt completely isolated, lonely, hopeless. There's no 1 going to come rescue you, no 1 to protect you. There's no cavalry coming over the hill to protect you.

You're alone there. There's no angels, there's no God. It's the most horrific thing anyone can ever imagine. You wouldn't want your worst enemy to end up in hell. Hell is a real place.

You want to avoid it at all costs. Bill Weiss has traveled the world sharing this, But is it true? Will the lost suffer forever, with Satan and his demons employed by God to roast those who haven't accepted his grace? Does God hate sinners and love to see them burn? Whether Bill Weiss had this vision or not, I don't know.

But if he did, it wasn't from God. How do I know? Because there's absolutely nothing biblical about it, and God would never give a vision that contradicts his word. Wrong views of hell have led millions of people to turn away from Christianity in disgust, many becoming atheists and agnostics. When Mary Ellen was asked why she was a witch, she replied, "'I was raised in a hellfire and brimstone-spitting church.

I was told that God would burn people, even old people and babies, for as long as time should last. And I decided that if that's what God was like, I'd be better off without him. Mary Ellen is 1 of many who have been pushed away from the Bible by a wrong picture of God. Most people don't realize that these ideas of hell don't come from the Bible, but from Greek mythology. What does the Bible have to say about hell?

Just a few quick verses. Psalm 97 verse 2 says, when the wicked spring up like grass and when all the workers of iniquity flourish, it is that they may be destroyed forever. In fact, their destruction shall be so complete that Obadiah verse 16 says that the wicked shall be as though they had never been. And this makes perfect sense in line with the most famous words in all of the Bible, John 3, 16, where Jesus said, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. So those who have everlasting life are those who believe in Jesus, and those who do not will perish.

If the lost were kept alive eternally to be tortured, they'd have eternal life too, right? But Jesus is clear. Eternal life belongs only to those who accept Him by faith. Paul echoes Jesus' words in Romans 6, 23 where he says, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Notice, the wages of sin is not eternal torment, it's death.

What the Bible calls the second death, actually. Complete annihilation and complete non-existence. So how did this idea come into Christianity? According to Greek mythology, 3 brothers divided the world between themselves. Zeus got the Heavens, Poseidon got the sea, and Hades the underworld.

Like most ancient religions, the Greeks believed that everyone has an immortal soul. Supposedly, at death, the soul is separated from the corpse, and it takes on the shape of the former person and is carried to the entrance of the underworld where good and bad people would separate. The bad sentenced to suffer in the kingdom of the dead, deep in the earth's center, and the good sent to the kingdom of the gods up in the sky. Sound familiar? As we learned before, Greek mythology was picking up on Satan's ancient lie of humans having an immortal soul.

The Greeks adopted it from the Persians, and the Persians taught dualism. That means that good and evil were both eternal and could never be destroyed. Then, 1 of the greatest tragedies of history happened when this pagan concept was introduced into the church. Around 188 AD, Athenagoras, who was 1 of the Christian leaders, became the first to contend that the soul is immortal. A few years later, Tertullian further developed this error into a system adding in the idea of eternal torment.

The conclusion was if God cannot put an end to sin and sinners, he has to consign them to a place of eternal burning to be punished because they are indestructible. Kind of like a mad scientist who created a Frankenstein monster that even he could not destroy. Thus, God became no better than the pagan gods of Greece and Rome. So if you believe that God will burn wicked people eternally, Your God isn't powerful enough and his hell is not hot enough. But I'm so glad that the Bible paints a different picture.

God promises that he can and that he will purify the universe from evil forever. We've seen together what hell is. Now let's answer the when and the why of hellfire. And remember, we're only looking at a few key verses, but contact us for some more resources for deeper study. When is hell?

It's simple, at the end of time. Notice what Jesus says in a parable in Matthew 13 where tares or weeds symbolize the lost. He says in verse 40, When? At the end of this age or the end of time. Revelation 20 verses 8 and 9 describe it.

Satan will go out and deceive the wicked who have been resurrected. It says, whose number is as the sand of the sea. Then 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. This will be by far the most tragic event in the history of the universe, and it will break the heart of God.

But he never forces his creatures. He even respects their decision to repeatedly reject his gift of eternal life. So we've read and seen together that hell is not a place, it's an event that is still yet to happen. So if the fires are not unending, how long will they last? Malachi 4 verse 1 says of the wicked, And the day which is coming shall burn them up.

Not just burn them, but burn them up. Verse 3 then says, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet. Isaiah chapter 47 verses 12 to 14, a very appropriate verse for Halloween time. God says, Stand now with your enchantments and your multitudes of your sorceries. Let now the astrologers and the stargazers and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from what shall come upon you.

Behold, they shall be as stubble. The fire shall burn them up. They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame. Now catch this, it shall not be a coal to be warmed by, nor a fire to sit before. So after the fire burns them up, it will burn out.

Not a single coal left. Dr. Richard Weymouth, a Greek scholar who translated the New Testament into modern English said this, My mind fails to conceive a grosser misrepresentation of language than when 5 or 6 of the strongest words in the Greek tongue signifying to destroy or destruction are translated to mean maintaining an everlasting but wretched existence. To translate black as white is nothing compared to this. Whew, he's crystal clear.

This idea is foreign to the Bible. Before we finish with the why of hellfire, you need to know there are many Bible scholars who are coming to the conclusion that hellfire will burn out. Dr. William Temple, former Archbishop of Canterbury, said, 1 thing we can say with confidence, Everlasting torment is to be ruled out. Another 1 is Dr.

Edward Fudge. In fact, look up and watch the movie, Hell and Mr. Fudge. It's an amazing true story. These are just 2 of the many who are coming to the biblical conclusion that hellfire does not burn forever.

Now, what about Satan? Will he be managing the flames? Notice Revelation 20 verse 10. It says that he'll be in the fire. The devil who deceived them, it says, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.

Ezekiel 28 verse 18 leaves no question when it describes the destruction of Satan in the past tense because it's as good as done. God says, Therefore I brought fire from your midst, it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth." Friends, Satan will be left as nothing but ashes. This is wonderful news. The Bible says that God is a God of love, justice, and mercy. In Ezekiel 33 verse 11, he solemnly swears, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

He extends his mercy in a way to avoid hellfire to each of us. Psalm 11 verse 6 says, upon the wicked he will rain coals, fire and brimstone, and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup." Now notice Jesus' thrice repeated prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane as the sins of humanity were being placed upon Him. Matthew 26 verse 39, He says, "'O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. What cup was Jesus talking about?

The cup of complete destruction as a consequence of sin. Jesus, friends, he died in our place and no human need be destroyed in those fires that are yet to come. So then why will God do it at all? Why destroy lost human beings? To purify the universe of evil.

This is the primary purpose of hellfire. Hebrews 12, 29 tells us that God is a consuming fire. Sin is flammable in His presence. And it's kind of like we all have petrol-soaked clothes. Through accepting Jesus' death in place of our own by faith, we receive clean, pure, fireproof robes from Jesus and we become ready to live in God's glorious presence forever and ever.

But if we insist on holding onto the petrol-soaked clothes of our sin, then when God destroys sin once and for all, we'll be destroyed along with it. But none need be lost. Jesus drank that cup of damnation so that we wouldn't have to. He died the death that we deserve so that by accepting His grace by faith, we can live forever. Forever with Him and with each other in a universe with no evil, no pain, no sorrow, no suffering, no cancer, no death.

And friend, This can be yours. God, your loving Father, offers it to you freely through faith in Jesus. Won't you accept it just now? Friends, I hope you enjoyed that look at the Bible and history as we learned more about the truth about hell. You may still have some questions and if you do, text us the number 708.

We'd love to share a resource with you called the Hot Topic of Hell by a man named Steve Wahlberg. You're not gonna want to miss this resource as it digs a little deeper into some passages that we didn't get to tackle here in our study. We'd also, along with it, send you a Signs of the Times magazine called The Surprising Truth About Hell. It goes into the topic and with beautiful clarity brings out some beautiful truths about God being a God of love and the truth about hell that we didn't get to cover. So message us 708 and we'll send this resources to you.

God bless and we'll see you tomorrow night.

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Series

Is Death the End?

08 Hell Truth: Death of Death

Description

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Other Teachings in Series

01 Halloween’s Haunting History

14m

02 Spirits, Demons and the Dead

17m

03 Who are the Spirits?

19m

04 Death’s Surprising Truth

15m

05 Your Questions Answered

49m

09 Does Heaven Exist?

18m

06 Is Death the End?

17m

08 Hell Truth: Death of Death

14m

07 Cathy’s Story: Clairvoyant to Christianity

25m

Sound Doctrine