INTRODUCTION: Edgar Welch, Pizzagate and Conspiracy Theories
Reasons people believe Conspiracy Theories:
Our need for knowledge and
Our need for
Our need to be
Review: Q16: Since Christ died for all, do all go to heaven?
Some social media examples of people tripping over Hell.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DEATH? 8 VIEWS…
Cease to exist.
Reincarnation.
Mummified in prep for the journey to the afterlife.
Greek ferryman across river Hades. Good to Elysium. Bad to Tartarus.
Judaism: Sheol - a place of stillness
Islam: all cross bridge. Wicked pushed off. Righteous continues to heaven.
Baha’i - beyond understanding but souls will finally reach God
Bible - heaven and hell
THREE CLEAR CONCEPTS IN THE BIBLE…
1) There is definitely an
Mark 12:26-27 - 26 “But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—haven’t you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 27 So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error.”
John 3:14-17 - 14 … Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. 16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.
2) There is definitely a
Matthew 25:31-45 - 31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit upon His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in His presence, and He will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at His right hand and the goats at His left.34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world… 41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons…’
3) The unbeliever / unrighteous will definitely experience
Matthew 7:13 - 13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.
John 3:18-19 - 18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘THY will be done.’ All that are in Hell choose it. Without that self-choice, there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek, find. To those who knock, it is opened.” - C.S. Lewis
Ezekiel 18:23, 31-32 - “‘Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?’…‘Instead, don’t I take pleasure when he turns from his ways and lives? … Throw off all the transgressions you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die…? For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death…So repent and live!’
3 DIFFERENT VIEWS OF HELL:
They argue about…
-
- duration
-
1 Universalism
- refer to Q16’s answer
2 Annihilationism
Matthew 10:28 - 28 “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Galatians 6:8 - 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
Greek word: αἰώνιος aiōnios ‘eternal’, ‘everlasting’
3 E.C.T. - Eternal Conscious Torment
Matthew 25:46 - 46 “And they will go away into (aiōnios) eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into (aiōnios) eternal life.”
Matthew 25:41 - 41 “Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the (aiōnios) eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!
”An endless Hell can no more be removed from the New Testament than an endless Heaven can.” - J.I. Packer
Mark 9:43-48 - 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’
Jesus described Hell as a place of…
- Eternal torment - Luke 16:23
- Unquenchable fire - Mark 9:43
Where the worm never dies - Mark 9:48
Where people gnash and grind their teeth in anguish - Matthew 13:42
From where there is no return - Luke 16:19f
- A place of outer darkness - Matthew 25:30
- Compared to Gehenna - Matthew 10:28
Q: Why did Jesus talk about Hell so much?
A FLY ON THE WALL WITH THE JESUS & THE PHARISEES
Luke 16:19-31 - The story of the rich man and Lazarus
What we learn from this story…
The rich man was
The
The rich man was not
The rich man begged and pleaded for someone to
CONCLUSION:
Q: What happens to those who don’t trust Christ for salvation?
A: Those who do not trust in Christ for salvation face the reality of hell—a realm of eternal separation from God. While its exact nature is uncertain, its essence as profound spiritual and emotional suffering is undeniable. God does not send people to hell; without Christ, it is the default destiny for all. Yet, our hope lies in the saving grace of Jesus Christ to avoid this eternal consequence.