Death Discussions Part 12: The Hot Topic of Hell

 We are nearing the conclusion of this series exploring the biblical doctrine of Hell. After this article, there’s one more to go – the grand finale. By the time you read this, this material will have been organized into a small booklet entitled, The Hot Topic of Hell , which will soon be available from White Horse Media.

My own mother – who recently turned 73 years old – is not presently a believer in Jesus Christ. Neither is my brother. Nor are many of my Jewish relatives. According to many well-meaning Christian teachers, if nothing changes, these relatives of mine are doomed to eternal flames.

Throughout this series, I have tried to disprove this popular teaching from God’s Word. I’ve quoted Scriptures like, “the wages of sin is death ” (Romans 6:23), and Jesus Christ’s own words, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Based on my research, words like “death” and “perish” do not mean “conscious eternal torment.” Rather, they mean just what they suggest, that the unsaved will someday cease to exist. Because of their sinful choices, the lost have forfeited eternal life. After the Day of Judgment and a just sentence, the only thing a merciful God can do is to finally pull the plug, thus ending their existence. I pray that my family members will wake up before it’s too late.

In the last few posts we have closely examined key passages that seem, at least on the surface, to contradict my conclusions. We’ve discussed “absent from the body” (2 Cor. 5:8), the dying thief (Luke 23:43), the appearance of Moses and Elijah (Luke 9:28-36), and souls under the altar (Revelation 6:9-11). It’s now time to zero in on the Mother of all Hell Verses – the Rich Man and Lazarus. More than any other passage, this section is used to prove that lost sinners don’t sleep unconsciously in their graves awaiting the resurrection (which so many Bible verses plainly teach – see Eccl. 9:5, 10, Ps. 13:3; Acts 7:60; John 5:28, 29; 6:39, 40, 44, 54; 11:11-14, etc.), but that they plunge instantly into flames at death, and sizzle eternally. Let’s take a closer look.

The story is found in Luke 16:19-31. Because of space limitations, I will not quote the entire passage. Jesus Christ declared:

There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 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.’

After denying his request, Abraham finally told the rich man,

‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’

To begin with, I want to make one highly significant mega-point: This is the ONLY place in the entire New Testament that says that a lost soul descends into a fiery hell immediately at death! Such a doctrine is not taught anywhere else – not by Matthew, Mark, John, James, Peter or Paul. Did you get that? Paul wrote most of the New Testament, and he didn’t teach it even once . Let this fact sink into your soul.

Second, Jesus often told “parables” or stories that were symbolic of deeper truths. Although parables contain many practical lessons, not every item should be taken literally. Is this story a parable? We believe so.

Here are 7 reasons why:

1. Jesus often began His parables with the phrase, “a certain…” this or that (see Luke 14:16; 15:11; 16:1; 19:11, 12; 20:9, KJV). If you look up these verses in Luke’s gospel, you will discover that they are all parables. Thus it’s logical to assume the Rich Man and Lazarus story is also a parable.
2. A man cannot physically enter into “the bosom” or chest of another person as Christ described.
3. Can someone literally burning in flames carry on a normal conversation?
4. Can those in heaven and hell talk to each other?
5. Jesus represented the rich man as being bodily in hell, with eyes, a mouth, a tongue, etc. This is obviously symbolic . If you were to dig up a real rich man’s grave, wouldn’t his body be there? Of course!
6. A real burning man would not request a little water to cool his tongue alone. What about the rest of his body?
7. Consciousness at death contradicts the rest of the Bible .

Significantly, Jesus didn’t interpret every parable He told. Yet when His disciples asked Him to interpret another parable about weeds in a field, Jesus plainly explained that hellfire occurs at “ the end of this world ,” rather than at death (see Matthew 13:36, 40-42, KJV).

The context of Christ’s parable shows He was talking directly to wealthy Pharisees who were mocking Him with their tongues (see Luke 16:14). Those Pharisees believed the rich were blessed, while the poor lived under God’s curse. Jesus flipped things upside down by describing a saved poor man, and a lost rich man. The part about the rich man asking for his tongue to be soothed was a direct warning to those Pharisees that their lips were catapulting them toward hell-fire. Finally, at the end of His parable, Jesus declared that even resurrecting Lazarus from the dead wouldn’t convince the doubters.

This leads to the next point: Why did Jesus specify the name Lazarus? Because His parable was also a prophecy. Later Jesus would resurrect a real person named Lazarus, yet this miracle would not convince the Pharisees that He was the Messiah (John 11:1-53).

Here’s a solid principle: We should interpret parables in the light of the rest of the Bible, rather than the rest of the Bible in the light of one parable.

And the rest of the Bible is unmistakably clear: the dead are dead, sleeping in their graves, silently waiting for Resurrection Day .

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Death Discussions Part 13: The Hot Topic of Hell

 To nearby residents, it will always be remembered as the “Esperanza Fire.” Deliberately ignited by an evil arsonist, the October 2006 wind-driven blaze destroyed nearly 60,000 acres and 34 homes 100 miles east of Los Angeles, California. Worst of all, it killed five firefighters who were suddenly immersed in flames when the wind unexpectedly shifted. On Sunday, November 5, nearly 10,000 mourners attended a memorial service for the fallen fighters at an outdoor amphitheater in Devore, CA. “We will never forget their sacrifice,” Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared. As the ceremony concluded, a group of U.S. Forest Service airplanes soared overhead while bagpipers played “Amazing Grace.”

This article concludes my 13-part series about what happens when we die, the perils of trying to talk to dead people, and the final fate of the lost in a horrific place that the New Testament calls, “the lake of fire.” Believe me, as awful as the Esperanza Fire was, it bears no comparison to the fiery sea of judicial punishment described in Scripture. West of Palm Springs, CA, five men lost their physical lives. At the end of the world, the consequences are infinitely more serious. Notice carefully the net result of being in cast into Revelation’s apocalyptic furnace:

Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death (Revelation 20:14, 15).

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8).

Twice the book of Revelation states that the fate of sinners who suffer in “the lake of fire” is “ the second death .” Underscore that last word: death . Throughout these “Hot Topic of Hell” posts I have contended that, contrary to popular opinion, the final fate of the damned is not to sizzle endlessly in conscious torment, but to ultimately “perish” (John 3:16) and become “ashes” (Malachi 4:3). “‘The day which is coming shall burn them up ,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘that will leave them neither root nor branch’” (Malachi 4:1). This is God’s Word, not my opinion.

But I have saved my best argument for last. Every true Christian who believes the gospel accepts the fundamental truth that, on the cross of Calvary, Jesus Christ paid the “full price” for the sins of the world. Agreed? The Bible says unequivocally,

Christ died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3).

He Himself is the propitiation for our sins , and not for ours only but also for the whole world (1 John 2:2).

This truth is basic. Jesus Christ paid the full price for our sins. Isaiah predicted, “The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). “Chastisement” means “punishment.” It was our “punishment” that Jesus Christ endured in Gethsemane and on the cross. In other words, what should have happened to us, fell on Him . What we deserve, He endured . He took our place. Again, all true Christians accept this, but only a few realize the inescapable implications.

Think about it. If “the wages of sin” were conscious, unending, never ceasing, eternal torment, then the ONLY WAY that Jesus Christ could experience the full penalty for our sins would be for Him to consciously suffer eternal torment in our behalf . “I’m so glad we don’t have to sizzle forever,” the righteous would be saying throughout endless ages, “because Jesus Christ is burning right now for us!” Do you see my point?

There’s really no way around it. To say that “the wages of sin” is burning forever, and then to deny that Jesus Christ will burn forever, is to deny that Jesus Christ paid the full penalty for our sins . In that case, He really didn’t. He would only have paid a mini, 3–day discounted price — between Friday and Sunday. And even then, “eternal torment” believers don’t believe that Jesus was consciously suffering from Friday to Sunday anyway. At least I’ve never heard anyone say this.

The only way to escape the proverbial horns of this dilemma is by accepting the Bible as it reads – “the wages of sin is death ” (Romans 6:23). Each time a lamb was sacrificed in the Jewish Temple, this message was proclaimed. Those animals died, and then portions of their bodies were consumed on Jewish altars. Period. That was it. On the cross of Calvary, after 6 hours of unimaginable horror, Jesus Christ breathed His last breath, and then He died . Paul wrote, “ Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

But here’s a key question. What kind of death did Jesus die? It wasn’t a normal death, like we die, at the end of our lives. When people die today, their deaths are not “the wages of sin.” Nowadays, death comes alike to us all – the saved and the lost. Everyday deaths are called “sleep” in the Bible (see Psalm 13:3; Daniel 12:2; Acts 7:60; 1 Cor. 15:6, etc). Today, when lost sinners die, they sleep in the grave. At the end of the Millennium, they will be resurrected, judged, and then punished in the “lake of fire,” which is “the second death” (see Revelation 20:5a, 11-15). This “second death” is the full penalty of sin. It will be horrible. It will go beyond the pain of flames. And then, it will be over. Finished. Done. This is the death that Jesus Christ died when He cried out, “It is finished!”

“We will never forget their sacrifice,” Schwarzenegger declared about the five lost firefighters. I pray we will never forget the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in our behalf. And part of this remembrance is to teach the truth about hell. If we say, “the wages of sin is eternal torment,” then we are really denying that Jesus Christ paid the full penalty for our sins. May we “never forget” the Word of God, which declares,

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord ” (Romans 6:23).

What “Amazing Grace”!

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Harry Potter: Is there a Menace behind the Magic?

 Countdown-to-midnight excitement mounts daily as July 21, 2007 creeps closer. On that Saturday night, at 12:01 a.m., kids and adults worldwide will eagerly seize Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final installment in J.K. Rowling’s series. As Pottermania rolls relentlessly toward its dual-to-the-death climax between the teenage wizard and the evil Lord Voldemort, so does the raging controversy over whether the Potter novels themselves are healthy or harmful; a gift from heaven, or a gateway to hell.

Before I express my opinion, let me ask you a personal question: Do you believe what the Bible says about the dangers of witchcraft? When one boils the issues down – inside either cup or cauldron – this is the biggest question. If you believe God’s Book, then this article will make sense. If not, no amount of reasoning will change your mind. Notice carefully what the world’s all-time bestselling volume says about sorcery:

There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer , or one who conjures spells , or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD (Deuteronomy 18:10-12 NKJV, emphasis added).

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23 NKJV, emphasis added).

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19, 20 NKJV, emphasis added).

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8 NKJV, emphasis added).

You’ve just read God’s words, not mine. No matter how you slice it, the fact is that the Bible plainly teaches that witchcraft is a sin, casting spells is an abomination, sorcery is a work of the flesh, and that all occult practitioners are destined for “the lake of fire.” Does this sound intolerant? If I told you that 2 +2 = 4, and that there is only one right answer to this equation, would you consider me intolerant? I doubt it. It’s the same with what the Bible says about witchcraft. It’s dangerous. This is the truth.

Harry Potter attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He takes classes on Divination, Spells, Charms, and Potions. If Harry were a real teenager, and if he suddenly decided to follow the Bible, he would have to break his wand, renounce his spells, and abandon Hogwarts in order to line up with God’s Book. It wouldn’t matter how conscientious his life may have been as a young sorcerer. Magic would have to go.

Perhaps you haven’t noticed the witchy trend, but real witchcraft (called “Wicca”) is now experiencing explosive growth throughout North America and around the world. Wicca is considered to be the fasted growing religion on high school and college campuses. “The area we live in is FULL of Wicca and Paganism,” declared a woman in Northern CA who wrote to me recently, “members of my own family are struggling with beguilement from current TV programming, Harry Potter, and occultic influences. Our children really need to be properly equipped to spot all this and avoid it.” I receive many letters like this.

So now the issue isn’t just Harry Potter , but real witchcraft. I realize that those who have chosen the Wiccan Way are people just like me, and that most are sincerely searching for spiritual power to help them cope with the stresses of life. Yet based on what the Bible says, they are in great danger. They think they are practicing “white magic” and are connecting to “nature spirits” in their rituals, yet the Bible warns that those spirits are really “seducing spirits” (1 Timothy 4:1) who are masterfully and systematically leading them toward a fiery future. Am I being intolerant for sounding a sensible warning?

Is Harry Potter leading kids toward hell? If reading Harry Potter makes witchcraft seem fun and creates even the slightest interest in checking out real magic, or if it creates distaste for biblical truth , then the answer is yes. Remember, all “sorcerers” will end up in “the lake which burns with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8). Only those who follow truth are on the path toward heaven (see 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11).

Consider this: “People line up at my cash register to purchase Harry Potter books and books about Wicca,” declared a young woman who works at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Nashville, TN. Another woman called the radio show,Live from Seattle , which interviewed me about the growth of Wicca. “My daughter read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” this mother told us, “and then she started buying real witchcraft books.” I realize that not all kids are doing this, but many are. The truth is that the Harry Potter novels and films are part of a deceptive trend now sweeping the globe that is desensitizing young and old to the incredible dangers of sorcery. They are aiding the Wiccan cause.

Let me clarify something: Jesus Christ loves J.K. Rowling, every boy or girl who reads Harry Potter , and real witches. Yet life is not a game to the one who agonized on a cruel cross paying the penalty for “the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). Jesus longs to open our eyes to His love, grace, mercy and truth, before it’s too late.

Make no mistake about it. The Devil is real (see 1 Peter 5:8), and he is behind all forms of occult magic and sorcery (see Deuteronomy 18:9-14). Lucifer promotes these things, yet God strongly opposes them because they are deceptive, dark and dangerous. Witchcraft connects people with invisible demonic powers, whether they realize it or not. It also leads to feeling no need for a Savior from sin and guilt, or for His gracious gift of eternal life (see Romans 6:23).

I have a two-year-old son named Seth. When Seth gets older his daddy and mommy will continue teaching him to love God, the teachings of the Bible, and the truth.

He won’t be reading Harry Potter.

Sabbath Basics

 The Sabbath originated at the creation of the world: Genesis 1 and 2 reveal that God made our world in six days, “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Gen. 2:1-3. Thus God rested upon, blessed, and sanctified the seventh day of the week as a memorial of creation. He didn’t rest upon the seventh day because He was tired or weary, but as an example for man whom He had just created in His own image. Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day (Gen. 1:26, 27), and thus the seventh day would have been their first, full day of being alive in the Garden of Eden. And what a joyful day it was! Their first day was to be a day of grateful rest , so that they could focus on the goodness of their Creator who had just formed them, apart from their own works. Thus the Sabbath day, from the very beginning, points to rest, not works.

The fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8-11): After the fall of man, God wrote the Ten Commandments with His own finger on two tables of stone (see Ex. 31:18). The Ten Commandments reveal “His will” (see Rom. 2:18) for every descendant of Adam and Eve. The fourth commandment states:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Exodus 20:8-11 NKJV.

Of all the Ten Commandments, the fourth is the only one that starts with the word, “Remember.” Because of the supreme importance of remembering our roots (that we didn’t evolve, but were created “in the image of God”), the Lord wants to make sure that we don’t forget the seventh day Sabbath. The reason for the commandment goes back to creation week. If any of the commandments could be changed (which they can’t), surely it wouldn’t be theonly one God told us to “Remember” and not to forget!

Jesus Christ kept the Sabbath: “As his custom was , He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day [Saturday].” Luke 4:16. Luke wrote that this was Jesus Christ’s regular “custom,” which means He would have kept over 1500 Sabbaths during the 33 years He walked this earth.

The Sabbath remains after the cross: After Jesus Christ died, His followers “rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56. Thus “the commandment,” meaning the fourth commandment (see Ex. 20:8-11) was still in force after the cross. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D., almost forty years after Christ’s crucifixion. Looking ahead to that time, Jesus told His disciples that they should pray that their “flight be not in winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” Matthew 24:20. Many years after Christ’s resurrection, Luke wrote, “And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river.” Acts 16:13. Thus Luke, who was a Gentile, and Paul, who traveled with him, kept the Sabbath day holy far from Jerusalem, in Philippi, which was Gentile territory.

The Sabbath will continue forever: The Sabbath will continue, even into eternity, for Isaiah wrote that even in “the new earth … from one Sabbath to another , shall all flesh come to worship before me, says the Lord.” Isaiah 66:22, 23. This is what God says, not man. We should trust His Word first and foremost.

For more information, read Truth Left Behind by Steve Wohlberg, Sunday: The Origin of Its Observance in the Christian Church, by E.J. Wagonner, or watch the fascinating 5-part TV documentary, The Seventh-day: Revelations from the Lost Pages of History, produced by LLT Productions. All three are now available from White Horse Media. www.whitehorsemedia.com. 1-800-78-BIBLE.