God said these cities were “set forth for an example” to those who live at the end of time. In the same way God rained fire and brimstone on these cities, He will pour it out upon the wicked.
Notice what kind of fire fell on the cities of the plains. “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Jude 7. (See also Jeremiah 17:4.27 of the burning of Jerusalem)
Below -- sulphur ball in crystalline casing, which has been broken off to reveal the ball. When covered, it would have snuffed out the fire when it had done its work.
There are some important points we need to discuss about the second death.
The second death is a fiery HELL.
The punishment is DEATH. It is not life in an eternal lake of fire.
No immortal soul will BURN IN HELL FOR ETERNITY.
There are no immortal souls burning in hell right now. Hell does not exist until the execution of the lost.
Remember, human beings are mortal, not immortal.
It is only the righteous saints who will receive the gift of eternal life. It is only they who will live for eternity. The wicked do not receive eternal life, therefore they cannot live for eternity in a fire that never goes out.
Yes, there are verses that appear to show the fires of the second death (or hell), to be eternal. They must be read aright. We must put Scripture with Scripture, rightly dividing the Word of God.
Some Christians believe that because God is eternal, His punishment must be eternal. This is not so. God is not a monster who punishes all men for eternity. Would we call a judge just who sentenced every crime, no matter how minor, to hard labour for the term of his natural life?
Of course not.
Would God sentence every single sinner to hell fire for eternity? Is this justice? No. It is far worse than an earthly judge giving a life sentence.
Is God a monster? A tyrant?
The belief has turned millions of men, women and children to atheism over the centuries. It turned Robert Ingersoll into an atheist. This man became the most well-known atheist of the past century. Today he has been eclipsed by Richard Dawkins, an acclaimed atheist and evolutionist. (Over the past one hundred years, Evolution has achieved what an eternally burning hell once did to believers, although hell and purgatory are still turning many into atheists)
Ingersoll was brought up a Roman Catholic, he denounced God as a child because of the church’s teachings on hell fire. He wrote, “If there is a God who will damn his children forever, I would rather go to hell than go to heaven and keep the society of such an infamous tyrant. I make my choice now. I despise that doctrine. It has covered the cheeks of this world with tears. It has polluted the hearts of children, and poisoned the imaginations of men. It has been a constant pain, a perpetual terror to every good man and woman and child. It has filled the good with horror and with fear; but it has had no effect upon the infamous and base. It has wrung the hearts of the tender; it has furrowed the cheeks of the good. This doctrine never should be preached again.
What right have you, sir, Mr Clergyman, you, minister of the Gospel, to stand at the portals of the tomb, at the vestibule of eternity, and fill the future with horror and with fear?
I do not believe this doctrine; neither do you. If you did, you could not sleep one moment. Any man who believes it, and has within his breast a decent, throbbing heart, will go insane. A man who believes that doctrine and does not go insane has the heart of a snake and the conscience of a hyena.” Lectures and Essays. R.G. Ingersoll. p105.
On speaking to a believer as to whether a mother or father would be happy seeing their children burning in hell replied, “I tell you, yea. Such will be their sense of justice that it will increase rather than diminish their bliss.” To which Robert replied, “There is no wild beast in the jungles of Africa whose reputation would not be tarnished by the expression of such a doctrine.” Ibid p106.
My friends, I will not quote twenty-first century men who believe the above, but there are many.
Ingersoll understood the teachings of the Catholic Church when he wrote, “We read the Bible under the scowl and threat of God. We read by the glare of hell. On one side is the devil with the instruments of torture in his hands. On the other God, ready to launch the infinite curse. And the Church says to the readers: ‘You are free to decide. God is good, and he gives you liberty to choose.’
The Popes and the Priests say to the poor people: ‘You need not read the Bible. You cannot understand it. That is the reason it is called a revelation. We will read it for you, and you must believe what we say. We carry the key of hell. Contradict us, and you will become eternal convicts in the prison of God.’ This is the freedom of the Catholic Church.” Lectures and Essays. R.G. Ingersoll. p12.
If Ingersoll had been brought up in a Christian home, he may have become a Christian, but he died an ardent atheist. This is what he said about Jesus. “And let me say here, once for all, that for the man Christ I have infinite respect. Let me say, once for all, that the place where man has died for man is holy ground. And let me say, once for all, that to that great and serene man I gladly pay the tribute of my admiration and my tears. He was a reformer in his day. He was regarded as a blasphemer, and his life was destroyed by hypocrites, who have, in all ages, done what they could to trample freedom and manhood out of the human mind. Had I lived at that time, I would have been his friend, and should he come again he will not find a better friend than I will be.” Ibid p69.70.
Although Robert Ingersoll had a high regard for Jesus, he did not surrender his life to him. He may have been deceived, but this did not alter his sin in not surrendering his life to the Saviour. (Eve was also deceived, but it was still sin and she was punished)
One more quotation to show that he understood the mindset of the Papal Church, especially as it relates to the infliction of pain and the fires of hell. “The Churches said to the unbelievers, the heretics: ‘Although our God will punish you for ever in another world – in his prison – the doors of which open only to receive, we, unless you believe, will torment you now.’
And then the members of these Churches, led by popes, priests, and clergymen, sought out their unbelieving neighbours – chained them in dungeons, stretched them on racks, crushed their bones, cut out their tongues, extinguished their eyes, flayed them alive, and consumed their poor bodies in flames.
All this was done because these Christian savages believed in the dogma of eternal pain – because they believed that heaven was the reward for belief… In all ages most priests have been heartless and relentless. They have calumniated and tortured. In defeat they have crawled and whined. In victory they have killed…
They put a monster – a master – a tyrant in the sky, and seek to enslave their fellow-men. They abhor the courage of manly men. They hate the man who thinks. They long for revenge. They warm their hands at the imaginary fires of hell.
I show them that hell does not exist, and they denounce me for destroying their consolation.” Ibid p13.
Let us now compare true justice.
God gives an eternal sentence, and He uses eternal fire. But we need to understand the meaning of the words.
First of all, the sentence is eternal.
This means there can never be another trial. There is no possibility for a retrial. The verdict can never be changed; it carries for eternity.
And there is an eternal fire.
But it does not mean the fire will never go out. It is a fire that cannot be put out. The sinner is not able to quench it. It will burn until it has done its work. (See Jeremiah 4:4. 7:20. God speaks of unquenchable fire)
Remember Sodom and Gomorrah?
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Are Sodom and Gomorrah still burning today? No.
These cities were completely reduced to ash. Today they have been discovered west of the Dead Sea. Eternal fire destroyed them, a fire that could not be extinguished until it had consumed all burnable material. (Both the subject of death and the subject of hell are linked together because no immortal soul is in either)
The second death will destroy the wicked “according as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:12. This means that not everyone will suffer the same length of time, for God is just in His judgment.
When the fire has done its work, it will go out.
This is the fulfilment of the third angel’s message. “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” Revelation 14:10.11.
Yes, it will be “without mixture”, for God’s mercy has been withdrawn. It will be “in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb” -- all the universe will be watching. Although many will be destroyed in a moment, others will “have no rest day nor night” until they are consumed.
Hell is a fire, yes. But, God in His mercy (to the redeemed), and judgment (upon the lost), uses it to cleanse the universe from sin.
It is God’s “strange work… his act, his strange act…” Isaiah 28:21.
In the ancient deluge, Noah’s ark was surrounded by water, and God’s people were safe in the boat. When this earth is destroyed, God’s people will be surrounded by a liquid sea of fire, but they will be safe in the city.
Hell will be on this earth. God says that all who forsake the Lord will be “written in the earth”. Jeremiah 17:13. “Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.” Proverbs 11:31.
When God destroys the sinner, he will cease to exist. The psalmist says, “And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off.” Psalm 94:23.
“Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more.” Psalm 104:35.
This is necessary because the earth is the home of the saved. “For the evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Psalm 37:9-11. (See also Matthew 5:5)
What is the end result of fire?
It turns to ash and smoke. The “smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.” Revelation 14:11. This is the nature of smoke from a fire. It just goes up and disappears.
When speaking of Satan, Ezekiel says, “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty… thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the mist of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee… and never shalt thou be any more.” Ezekiel 28:17.18.19.
Praise God the great Deceiver will never again be able to tempt the faithful. He will be gone; cease to exist.
My Friend, hell is not burning somewhere in the centre of the earth. There are no souls writhing in agony at this very moment, neither in hell or purgatory. (Purgatory is a fictitious doctrine)
Hell does not exist right now.
You are able to hear these words because you now understand the subject, but many people are absolutely horrified when they hear the words ‘Hell doesn’t exist’. They think it is a denial of the justice of God. But no, it is the Word of the Lord.
And what about the rest of the lost – Will they also turn to ashes?
Yes. Isaiah says, “Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame:… None shall save thee.” Isaiah 47:14.15.
In the last book of the Old Testament, the prophet Malachi says, “For, behold the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch…for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 4:1.3.
This is a warning as well as a fact.
If you have believed in an ever-burning hell, you can rejoice that now you know the truth about our God. He is just and merciful.
“The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Psalm 1:6.
“Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men, for they intended evil against thee… Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.” Psalm 21:9.10.11.13.
Dear Friend, after God has completed His “strange act”, the fire will go out and there will be nothing left but ashes. Then God will make the new earth for the redeemed to enjoy throughout eternity.
I want to be there, don't you?
This is a subsection of Study 28 and Revelation 20
Death, Hell and the Second Death
Right - sulphur ball from Sodom compared with sulphur from elsewhere.
Contents Revelation 20B Next Study
Do You Want to Know the Future?
Everything in these pictures is ash. If you take a piece in your hands, it will crush like talcum powder.