Hell is Real
Transcript of FLOT Line Episode 531 aired on November 8, 2015
Good morning and welcome to The FLOT Line. I’m your host Rick Hughes and for the next few
minutes I’m going to ask you to stay tuned. It will be a short time of motivation, some
inspiration, education, and we always do this without any type of manipulation. That’s right, we
don’t ask for money. We’re not selling anything, we’re not hustling anything. We’re not trying to
get you to join up, fess up, or give up. Our entire objective is to get you to listen up, listen up as I
try to diligently explain to you how the plan of God works. If I can give you some accurate
information and verify how God’s plan works, then you can orient and adjust to the plan if you’d
like to do so. We always keep in mind that you are free. You’re a free American. A lot of
wonderful men and women sacrificed their lives and their time so that you can be free. But most
importantly, Jesus Christ our Lord, the anointed Son of God, sacrificed His life so that we might
be free from the penalty and the payment of sin. Recently I had a conversation with my grandson
and the conversation was concerning hell and what he thought about hell. He wanted to know if
the sun was where hell was. In my many years of traveling and speaking to students and
churches in various venues across the United States, this is a question that interests many people.
Is there really a hell? There are some new doctrines that float around, especially the doctrine of
universalism, that seem to say that there is not really a hell. They say that everyone is going to be
saved eventually and that hell is not even in the Bible. So we want to talk about what the Bible
really says about hell. The Bible uses several terms to identify hell. I want to go over these with
you. Some of the information that I’d like to quote today comes from Dr. Elmer Towns. Dr.
Towns was the co-founder of Liberty University along with Jerry Falwell. Let me preface this by
saying,
you are either going to be born twice or you will die twice.
I’m going to say it again,
listen carefully. Either you’re going to be born twice or you will die twice. The Bible talks about
two births and the Bible talks about two deaths. The first birth is when you’re born physically and
you didn’t have anything to do with this. You just showed up one day and your dad said, “It’s a
boy, have a cigar.” He was very happy or “It’s a girl, have a cigar.” The second birth is all about
your decision. The second birth is when you’re born again spiritually. If you read John chapter 3,
you’ll see where Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and asked Him questions about His true
identity. Jesus said,
“You need to be born again”
(John 3:7). He didn’t quite understand this. He
said,
“How can I go back into my mother’s womb and be born again”
(John 3:4)? Our Lord
explained that it was a spiritual birth. The reason we have to be born a second time is that when
we come into this world, we are identified with Adam’s original sin. Romans 5:12 says,
“For
through one man sin came into the world, and death by sin and now death is passed on all for all
have sinned,”
and
“The wages of sin is death”
(Romans 6:23). When we were imputed with
Adam’s original sin at birth, we died spiritually. Yes, we were born physically but we were born
spiritually dead. In order to have a relationship with God you must be born spiritually. Thus
531-Hell-is-Real-transcript.pdf
when you believe in Jesus Christ and receive Him as your Savior, you are in effect born again
spiritually. You have the same body, the same soul but spiritually you are made alive. Prior to
this, spiritually you were dead. And so being saved or accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior
means that you have a second birth. Now the first death, Ephesians 9:27 says,
“It is appointed
unto man once to die and after that the judgment.”
We all must die. There’s no way around it.
You may be feeling yourself getting older already. I spoke with a man today who knew that he
was going to die. He’s making preparation for this death. We know we will die. We don’t want to
think about it, we don’t like to think about it, but it’s inevitable. Everyone has to die and there’s a
reason for this. The reason is that this body we now occupy cannot inherit heaven. Flesh and
blood cannot get there. We can’t operate in heaven in this body. This body has a genetically
formed sin nature. In order to function in heaven, we have got to get rid of this body. There can
be no sin in heaven so there’s a new body, a resurrection body. The first death is when you die
physically. The second death is found in Revelation 20:14 and this is when any person who never
believed in Jesus Christ as his Savior is cast into the Lake of Fire. You definitely don’t want to be
there so keep this in mind. There are two births and two deaths. Now the Bible uses several terms
to identify various purposes and descriptions of hell. Please note this, there’s a big difference
between hell and the Lake of Fire.
I use to tell people, don’t worry about hell, you’re not going to
stay there forever.
There is a worse place than Hell. Unbelievers are brought out of Hell to
the Great White Throne of Judgment. Once they are found lacking, they are then cast into
the Lake of Fire, the second death.
These are two totally different places. Both of them are
separation eternally. Once a person dies without knowing Jesus Christ as his Savior, he goes to
hell. His body goes to the grave, his soul goes to hell. Then at the Great White Throne of
Judgment he is brought out of hell. He’s evaluated as seen in Revelation 20:12-15 and then he’s
cast into the Lake of Fire. When the unsaved die they go immediately to a place called hell and
later the Bible indicates that those in hell are given up and cast into the Lake of Fire. Even
though they seem to be a different place, the inhabitants are the same people and the punishment
is going to be the same, eternal separation from God.
The place of judgment for the unsaved is
called the Great White Throne and the Lake of Fire follows the Great White Throne.
Anyone who does not accept Christ as his Savior will enter the first punishment, that is
they will go to Hell. Then once they’re in Hell, they cannot escape the second death which is
the Lake of Fire.
Some people think that hell is just a myth designed by religious people to
scare folks into joining up, fessing up, giving up. They even say sometimes that it is child abuse
to tell a child that there is a hell. Well, hell is a reality. It is an unbelievably tormenting place and
we should speak up and we should warn people about it. The common word for hell in the Old
Testament is the Hebrew word
sheol
and it means the grave. It’s where people went when they
died. For example, in the King James version of the Bible
sheol
is translated “hell” 31 times and
“the pit” 3 times. In the Old Testament when people died, both saved people and unsaved people,
they were said to go to
sheol,
the grave. The Hebrew word
sheol
was then translated into the
531-Hell-is-Real-transcript.pdf
Greek New Testament as the word
hades
.
Now in Sheol there were two compartments. There
was a place of torments and the place of blessing, two different places.
If you take your Bible
and turn to Luke 16:19-31 and read the Parable of Lazarus, you will find Jesus talking about the
rich man and Lazarus. He said Lazarus had gone to a place called Paradise – Abraham’s Bosom
and that the rich man had gone into the place of Torments. In their afterlife they were treated
totally different, Lazarus in the place of Abraham’s Bosom and the rich man in the place of
Torments. The rich man at his death in Hades was tormented in flames, Luke 16:24. This is the
punishment of Hades. It’s burning, it’s separation and loneliness, and it’s conviction by memory.
For example, he remembered his family and he was thirsty, Luke 16:24-26 says this. He wanted
Lazarus to come across the gulf that separated the place of Torments from Abraham’s Bosom
and put a drop of water on his tongue. Then he wanted someone to go warn his family so that
they might not come to this place. You see, he did have memory. He did have thirst. He could
look across the great gulf and see where the saved were located. According to Dr. Elmer Towns,
the Scripture is silent whether a saved person could look back and see the torment of the
unsaved. We don’t really know. But we do know this, we know that the one thing the rich man
could not do is he could not escape his torment. He could not even send a warning to his family.
There was no way he could get a letter out, no way he could make a cell phone call, no way he
could send a text, no way. He was in torment day and night, in Sheol or in Hades.
After our
Lord Jesus Christ came and died on the cross, the Bible identifies Him as descending into
Hades, not the place of Torments, but into Abraham’s Bosom, into the place of blessing. All
of the saved people of the Old Testament, He took them, according to Ephesians 4:8-9, and
He led them to heaven. He took them into the presence of the Father in heaven. Then all of
Sheol
became Torments.
There was no longer separation. There’s no longer a place of blessing
and a place of torments, it all became Sheol. There is another word for hell used in the Bible and
it is
gehenna,
used in Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:29, Mark 9:43 and Luke 12:5. Gehenna is where
the soul and the body are cast into. This word appears only 12 times in the New Testament and it
is always translated hell. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself used this term 11 times and the name is
probably related to what’s called the Valley of Hinnom. You see, during the reign of Ahaz, Israel
participated in the worship of the false god Moloch. In his attempt to please Moloch, Ahaz
actually engaged in human sacrifice. This is a Jewish king, a child of God’s people, and he
sacrificed his own son to the fiery god of Moloch. You can read about this in 2 Chronicles
28:1-4. Archaeologists have now learned that Moloch was represented by a golden calf and it
was in the region of Canaan. The idol of this golden calf had the head of a bull and he had
outstretched arms and a fire burned in his hollow stomach. A child was sacrificed on the arms of
the head of the bull. This practice was stopped during the reforms of Josiah in 2 Kings 23:10.
Then the Valley of Hinnom became a dumping ground for the city of Jerusalem. It was a garbage
dump. During the times of our Lord Jesus Christ it was used to burn garbage. It’s where all the
garbage was taken and burnt, the refuse.
Hence the Lord Jesus Christ Himself used this word
531-Hell-is-Real-transcript.pdf
Gehenna to describe the place of eternal punishment because it was a place of filth, a place
of stench, a place of smoke and pain, and a place of fire and death. Gehenna is what we call
Hell.
Whenever anyone dies without believing in Jesus Christ and receiving Him as their Savior,
this is their first stop. It’s not because God delights in doing this. See, here’s the issue. God is
absolutely perfectly righteous and there can be no sin in God. In order to make sure that there’s
no sin in God, the justice of God is the guardian of the righteousness of God. Now if we want to
approach God, we must have the absolute same righteousness that God has but we have a
problem. Romans 3:10 says,
“There are none that are righteous, no not one.”
Isaiah 64:6 says,
“All of our good works are like filthy rags in God’s eyes.”
So how can I, a filthy rag, be as
righteous as God? I could never get to God because the justice of God would stop me. It guards
the righteousness of God. Thank goodness 2 Corinthians 5:21 says,
“He who knew no sin was
made sin for us so that we may be made the righteousness of God through Him.”
When I come to
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and I believe that He is my Savior, the anointed Son of God,
acknowledge this and receive Him as my Savior, John 1:12 says,
“To as many as received Him,
to them God gave the right to become His children, even to them that just believe in His name.”
Sometimes people will tell you, “You’ve got to repent.” Well, there are four words for repent in
the New Testament. Some of them are
metanoeo,
metanoia,
metamelomai,
different words.
When we repent what we’re doing is we’re changing our mind,
metanoia.
We’re changing the
way we think. We have been unbelievers, now we repent and we become believers. It does not
mean you repent of all of your sins. Come on, you still have a sin nature. You’re still going to sin.
You recognize that sin is an affront to God. But if you think that you’re going to repent of all of
your sins to get to heaven, this is not going to work. You can tell God you’re sorry for all of your
sins but unless you receive Christ as your Savior, you can’t go to heaven. You will be at the
Second Judgment, the Great White Throne. But when you receive Christ then obviously you
want to turn away from your sin.
Turning away from sin is not how you get saved. It is the
result of being saved.
This is when you want to turn away from your sin, after you receive
Christ as Savior and after you learn some things from the Bible, such as you have a sin nature.
This is what your sin nature does, you have the Holy Spirit, there’s a war going on inside of you,
it’s the flesh trying to control you and the Holy Spirit is seeking to control you, and there’s a war.
Galatians 5:17 talks about,
“The flesh wars against the Spirit, the Spirit wars against the flesh.”
Yes, you want to repent of your sin. You want to turn away from sin after you’ve received Christ
as Savior but this is not how you get saved. How do you get saved?
“Whosoever believes in Him
shall not perish but have everlasting life”
(John 3:16). “Believe in Him,” John said, and you will
have eternal life. 1 John 5:1,
“He that believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.”
I need to
ask you a simple question. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the anointed Son of God? Do you
believe this? If you were to meet Him, would you call Him Lord? This is what it means to be a
Christian. This is what it means to be saved. Often we identify with Christ by being baptized in
a church but how do I actually get saved?
“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
531-Hell-is-Real-transcript.pdf
be saved”
(Romans 10:13). In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, you can bow your head. If
you’re driving, don’t do it. You can say, “Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son and I’m
willing to accept Him as my Lord and Savior.” Bingo, you have eternal life. Now the Bible goes
on to use a word called the Lake of Fire. Yes, it uses
sheol
, yes it uses
gehenna,
and it also uses
the Lake of Fire. John refers to Hell in the terms of the Lake of Fire in Revelation 20:15. Some
people say, “Well, it’s just a metaphor to describe the place of suffering.” No, it’s a real place. It’s
a real thing. It is like a vast sea covered in flames and that’s only the beginning of the suffering
that he saw there is what John said. The Lake of Fire is a place of eternal retribution (Revelation
20:10). Who goes to the Lake of Fire? In Revelation 20 there are two ways God uses to
determine. First of all a book is opened. It’s called the Book of Life. Is your name in the Book of
Life?
If you have died without accepting Christ as your Savior, your name has been blotted
out of the Book of Life Revelation 3:5 tells us, so no, it’s not there.
Everyone who is born has
their name in the Book of Life. Die without receiving Christ as Savior, your name is blotted out.
Why? You’ve died the first death. Now, if your name is not in the Book of Life, Revelation 20:12
says then various books are opened and these are the books of your production, the books of your
works. For example, you gave money to the church. You paid your taxes on time. You never
cheated on your spouse. You never said a dirty word. You were a nice, moral, good person, but
this is not being saved. Matthew 7:22-23 says,
“In that day many will say to Me, ‘And Lord,
Lord, did I not do many wonderful works in Thy name?’ And ‘I will tell them,’ Depart from Me; I
never knew you.’”
You can be a nice, wonderful, moral person and die and spend eternity in
the Lake of Fire because you cannot manufacture perfect righteousness.
Romans 3:10 tells
you,
“There are none that are righteous, no not one.”
I’ve already quoted that verse for you out
of Isaiah, you cannot manufacture perfect righteousness.
The only way you can be on equal
standing with God is to receive the righteousness of Christ.
Again, I’ll quote 2 Corinthians
5:21,
“He who knew no sin was made sin for us so that we may be made the righteousness of
God through Him.”
By means of Him the very righteousness of Christ is given to you. Think
about this. Was it not sort of a trade out. What did He take on the cross? My sin. What did He
give me when I come to the cross? His righteousness. Why am I now able to have a relationship
with God? Well, I’ve been born again and I have equal righteousness. My righteousness is the
righteousness of Christ. It’ has been given to me, imputed to me. It’s a real imputation. I’m given
His righteousness and I am on equal standing with God. Now, this is my position. In my
experience am I still a jerk? Yes. In my experience do I still have a sin nature? Yes. In my
experience can I still sin? Yes. When I sin am I going to lose my salvation? No. Jesus said,
“I
will never leave you. I will never forsake you”
(Hebrews 13:5).
“I give unto them eternal life,
and they will never perish, neither shall any man ever pluck them out of My hand”
(John 10:28).
Hell is described as a place of eternal retribution or punishment.
Speaking of the unsaved
Jesus said this,
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into
eternal life”
(Matthew 25:46). The righteous, what does this mean? It means you have received
531-Hell-is-Real-transcript.pdf
His righteousness. You believed in Him and His righteousness was given to you. It’s not
something you produce. It’s not something you earn. It’s not something you purchase. You
receive it by faith. I know that eternity is incomprehensible, that we can’t figure it out. There’s no
way we can comprehend how long eternity is.
But the Lake of Fire will be there as long as
heaven is there for the Scripture calls both of these everlasting – everlasting punishment
and everlasting life. It’s your choice.
Everlasting punishment is used throughout the Bible to
identify duration without end. “Eternal retribution would be horrible if we only thought of it as
lasting a million years,” says our friend Dr. Elmer Towns. “But because it’s eternal, a million
years of time could be removed from its duration without in any way affecting the time of the
duration.” The worst part about the Lake of Fire is that the people that are in the Lake of Fire,
they know it will never end. No one is there yet. They will go there after the Great White Throne
of Judgment. This hasn’t taken place yet.
So eternity is beginningless and endless. It cannot be
measured. It doesn’t have a beginning. It doesn’t have an ending.
There’s no way you can
measure it. You do not want to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. Matthew 25:46,
“And these
shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
The righteous,
those who believed in Jesus Christ and received Him as their Savior were given His
righteousness. Think about it. If you’ve never trusted Christ, I pray you will do it today while
there is time. Until next week, this is your host Rick Hughes saying thank you for listening to
The FLOT Line