Heaven, Earth, and Hell - Lake of Fire

well thank you for coming to comb this Bible Church today this is my first time speaking so we'll see how long I can last up here the topic I want to cover today is there are a number of topics what I want to cover is heaven earth and hell slash the lake of fire so the the individual topics are God does not reside in the heaven of heavens paradise is not a specific location what happens to the Old Earth in the old heaven the new heaven and the new earth hell and the lake of fire and then to wrap it up we're going to just discuss salvation so I will try to slow down and allow you guys to get to those locations because we're gonna be all over the Bible today so let's go ahead and start with the first one which is God does not reside in the heaven of heavens and before we start that I'll go ahead and open us up in a word of Prayer dear Heavenly Father thank you for allowing us to meet here this morning without threat of persecution and I do pray that you help bless this lesson and help teach us through your word in your name I pray amen so the the statement that God does not reside in a heaven of heavens almost sounds a little contradictory if you were to go up and ask the standard person out on the street does God reside in a heaven of heavens that just sounds something that that's it just sounds correct well of course he resides in the heaven of heavens but I'm going to prove to you today that it's not through the Bible so let's first discuss the different levels of heaven so the first heaven is what we think of as the air in the atmosphere so go ahead and get with me Genesis 723 and this is the account of the flood says in every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground both Man and cattle and the creeping things and the fowl of the heaven and they were destroyed from the earth and Noah only remained alive and they that were with him in the ark so right here it talks about the fowl of the heaven of the birds so that's our first instance given that the first heaven is just the air in the atmosphere above us the second resource I'd like to go to is in Jeremiah 425 and this is Jeremiah's prediction of the destruction of Israel I behold and lo there was no man and the birds of the heavens were fled so again we see the birds of the heaven so again the the birds we know birds don't fly up in outer space so the birds of the heaven here again is the air above us in the atmosphere and then finally we will go to Matthew 8:20 and this is Jesus speaking here and jesus saith unto Him the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head so I would conclude here that the first heaven is the domain of the birds it is just directly above us so that the second heaven is the is the interesting part this is where we see that God does not reside in the heaven of heavens so there are three passages all in the Old Testament that indicate this the first one is first Kings 8:27 and that says but will God indeed dwell on the earth behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee how much less this house that I have builded so right here we have very explicitly that it says behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee but that isn't the only passage in scripture that indicates that God is not in the heaven of heavens the other one there's two more in second crime equals to six but who is able to build him and house seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him Who am I then that I should build him and house save only to burn sacrifice before him so this is yet again almost verbatim and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him and the final one is second chronicles 6:18 which is but will God and very deed dwell with men on the earth behold heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee how much less this house which I have built so the conclusion I have here is that God does not reside in the heaven of heavens and what I would say the heaven of heavens is and this is not necessarily biblical but this is my interpretation of it is this is outer space it's what we would think of is outside the domain of the earth in the atmosphere but again that's not something I have scriptural proof for that's just what I would say to you regarding that so the third heaven is only mentioned once in the Bible explicitly and that's back in the Pauline epistles so go ahead we're gonna read a big section here so go ahead and get second Corinthians 12:1 and this is Paul speaking here alright we're gonna read verses 1 through 7 it is not expedient for me doubtless to glory I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the body I cannot tell God knoweth such an one cut up to the third heaven and I knew such a man whether in the body or out of the body I cannot help that looks like a no sorry I I cannot tell God knoweth how that he had was caught up into paradise and heard speakable words which is not lawful for a man to utter of such an one will like glory yet up myself I will not glory but in mine affirm anis for though I would desire to glory I shall not be a fool for I will say the truth but now I forbear lest any man should think of me above that which he see it me to be or that he heareth of me unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buff at me lest I should be exalted above measure so again this is the only area in Scripture where the third heaven is explicitly mentioned and it's also kind of confusing at first who is this man verse 1 mentions visions and revelations and we know this is Paul speaking so verse 5 goes back to first person and when it says of such an one will I glory yet of myself I will not glory but in my infirmities so I would say that this is Paul speaking here so Paul is the one that is seeing this vision of a vision of revelations of the Lord so that is my conclusion here that the God does not reside in the heaven of heavens and then we we took a look at the the first heaven the heaven of heavens or the second heaven and the third heaven so we will go ahead and move on to the next section which Paradise is not a specific location throughout the Bible paradise as mentioned in multiple locations or residing in multiple locations so the first one will take a look at is Luke 23:43 which this is where Jesus Christ was on the cross and Jesus said unto Him verily I say unto thee today thou shalt be with me in paradise so right here Jesus Christ says that he will be in paradise with the thief on the cross now we know that paradise cannot be heaven in this instance or rather the third heaven because that's not what it was prophesied to be so it in Matthew 12:40 which go ahead and get that we see that for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whales belly so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth so we can clearly see here that when Jesus died he did not go up to the third heaven the Tree of Life is also mentioned as paradise in Revelation 2:7 it says he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of pepper which is in the midst of the paradise of God so again we've got the we've got another instance where paradise is not specifically referring to the heaven of heavens or rather I should say the third heaven s incorrect so and then finally we have Paul refers to the third heaven as paradise and what we just read in 2nd Corinthians 12 for just a moment ago how that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which is not lawful for a man to enter so my conclusion is that paradise is not a specific location but rather a list of locations so the next thing I'd like to talk about is what happens to the old heaven in the Old Earth so we have two verses or two reference to two verses in Isaiah so go ahead and I'll try to slow down here get Isaiah 60 5:16 Isaiah 65 16 so the first thing to note is the soros of this earth will be forgotten so Isaiah 65 16 that he who blesses himself and the earth shall bless himself and the god of truth and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by God I swear by the God of truth because the former troubles are forgotten and because they're hid from my eyes and then the verse right after that Isaiah 65 17 for behold I create new heavens and a new earth and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind so it's comforting to hear that the surahs of this earth are not going to be remembered it's not something we have to worry about and then let's go ahead and talk about the old heaven and the Old Earth what happens to them so go ahead and get Psalm 102 25 we're gonna read verses 25 and 26 a bold hast thou laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands verse 26 they shall perish but thou shall endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed so we see here that the old heaven and the Old Earth are going to pass away but I would also say that it is not just the old heaven and the Old Earth that are going to pass away but the entire universe as we know it Isaiah 34 for so we were just there in Isaiah and all the hosts of heaven shall be dissolved and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll and all their hosts shall fall down as a leaf fall it off from the vine and as a falling fig from the fig tree so the first thing to note is what is this host of heaven I would suggest it's the stars in the other celestial bodies that make up the rest of the universe so in Genesis 2:1 thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them here we see that the host of them is separate and distinct from heaven and earth and Jeremiah 32 32 we see as the hosts of heaven cannot be numbered neither the sand of the sea measured so I will multiply the seed of David my servant and the Levites that minister unto me here we see the hosts of heaven it's quantity as countless and the heavens we've already counted we've already counted the first heaven the second heaven of the third heaven so it's interesting that today we there there's a lot of talk about saving the earth and I'm not saying that it's incorrect to want to take care of what God has given us here on this earth but it's ultimately a fruitless endeavor to try to save this earth because everything around us is earth the old heaven and the universe itself is going to be destroyed so let's go ahead and talk about the new heaven and the new earth what we have to look forward to so perhaps one of the most famous examples of the new heaven of the new earth is found in Revelation so go ahead and get revelation 21:1 this is John speaking and I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more sea and I John saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband so we're not going to talk today about the differences between where the body of Christ will be compared to Old Testament Saints David just spoke on that a few weeks ago so if you're interested in that I suggest you go look at the archives for that but here we see John talking about the new heaven and the new earth and there's just one interesting note here I'm not gonna spend a whole lot of time on it because it's not very clear what's going on but I'll just leave you with this something to think about at the end of Revelation 12:1 it ends with and there was no more sea so again this is not very clear to me what this means but I would just leave you these two verses in Revelation 13:1 we see that the Beast comes out of the sea and then we also see at the great white throne judgment in revelation 20:13 that the sea gives up the dead so I just thought that was interesting it's something I would normally skip over but I decided to just take a look around to see if there was anything else so it's just something I encourage you if you're interested in that study it out and yeah so the the next thing we'll look at is the new heaven and the new earth will be righteous so in 2nd Peter 3:13 nevertheless we are no scuse me nevertheless we according to his promise look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness and there are 535 instances of the word righteous and righteousness found in the Bible I just found that is interesting it's quite prevalent and then my favorite verse on righteousness is Romans 3:10 which says that is it as it is written there is none righteous no not one and then it's also important to keep in mind that and it we'll get to this later when we get to salvation you can't get to heaven by good works because as we just saw in Romans 3:10 there are none righteous so and then we are given heavenly rewards based on our works on this earth so salvation is not determined your works which we will talk about later but it doesn't mean that you shouldn't do good works so go ahead this is another five verses that we will read go ahead and get first Corinthians 3:10 yeah first Corinthians three 10 according to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise masterbuilder I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon for other foundation can no man lay than what is laid which is Jesus Christ now if any man build upon this foundation gold silver precious stones wood hay stubble every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is if any man's work abide which he hath built up thereupon he shall receive a wort a reward if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss but this is what I find most encouraging here but he himself shall be saved yes so as by fire again we're not saved by our works but we will be judged on our works and we will be given rewards based upon those so and then this is called the judgment seat of Christ we won't go into it right now but the judgment seat of Christ is later referenced in 2nd Corinthians 4:5 and again I just find it comforting one of the most explicit verses about eternal security is in verse 15 if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved so the second-to-last section which I see I'm only 20 minutes in but that's okay I kind of knew this is gonna happen we're gonna talk about the hell on the lake of fire now this is my longest and it's the most sobering for me I think sometimes as Christians we lose fact of just the horrors and the torment that will come for our unsaved for other for mankind that is not saved so it's it's very sobering to read these verses and it should encourage us to want to share we just had a great opportunity a few weeks ago with the Delaware County Fair and I think as others have said it definitely is the best opportunity of the year that at least that I have for the amount of people that you can reach and again that the really interesting thing about that is we have people come up to us so we're not wasting our time with people that aren't interested that are genuinely interested in that so this is another section we're gonna raise so go ahead and get mark 942 mark 942 and whatsoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me it is better for him than a mild millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea and if thy hand offend thee cut it off it is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands go into hell into the fire that shall never be quenched and where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched verse 45 and if thy foot offend me cut it off it is better for thee to enter halt into life than having two feet to be cast into hell into fire into the fire that shall never be quenched where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched and if thine eye offend thee pluck it out it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire were their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched so we're told here specifically three times that the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched I think it's just it's very clear because jesus said this three separate three separate eyes in just a span of six verses that Hell itself is not something that will end it will be there for all of eternity and the souls that perished there will not be quenched it is just a very sobering thing to think about and then we're also told in Isaiah 66 24 you don't have to turn here this is another another area where we see the worm mentioned verse 24 and they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me for their worm shall not die neither shall their fire be quenched and they shall be in a pouring unto all flesh so we see in Isaiah it talks about the worm shall not die and then we see in mark the worm shall not die so it's it's almost unfathomable to think for it's it's very difficult to think about eternity from our finite human minds where on this earth we have the concept of time and things end but to be an eternity there is no end so we will just let's just keep that in mind as we go about our daily lives if there's an opportunity to share something to share the gospel with someone I'd encourage you to take it so Hel's initially in 10th Matthew 25:41 then shall he also say unto them on the left hand depart from the depart from me ye cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels so hell wasn't prepared for mankind it was prepared for the devil and his angels let's go ahead and get Luke 16:19 this is another long section we will read Luke 16:19 we're gonna go to verse 31 there was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table moreover the dogs came and licked his sores and that came to pass that the beggar died and he was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom the rich man also died and was buried verse 23 and in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments and see if Abraham afar off and Lazarus Lazarus in his bosom and 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 but Abraham said son remember that thou and thy life time receivest thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and now art tormented and beside all this between us and you there is a great gulf fixed so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot neither can they pass to us that would come from thence verse 27 then he said I pray thee therefore father that thou would had sent him to my father's house for I have five brethren that he may testify unto them lest they also come into his political and Abraham saith unto him they have Moses and the prophets let them hear and he said nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent and he said unto Him if they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead so there's a lot to unpack here the first thing I'd like to say is that it's clear that in Hell memories are intact some would say that this is just a parable but we see here a specific name mentioned which is Lazarus and in all the parables that Jesus talks about there's never a specific person mentioned so I would view this as not a parable but as something that really happened so the in Hell memories are not forgotten and we can see here that the rich man is being tormented the next thing that I found just really interesting was the rich man made an extremely small request he he requested just a drop of water on the tongue just that that would be gone in an instant in a fire so it's just that would have but in that case it would have brought the rich man so much comfort to even have just a just a drip of water on his tongue just for an instant and then as I said before the rich man remembers his earthly life he had five brothers and he doesn't want his brothers to suffer with him and then perhaps the most sobering thing is found towards the end when the rich man asks for more direct evidence to be presented to his brothers we see they were we often here why can't God just prove himself why can't he come down here why can't he show himself then I would believe so I would first say that in Romans 1:20 we are without excuse so it says for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse so we see here that without direct evidence as we do not have direct evidence here in the discipline station of grace we go by faith and we we see here that there God does provide in the creation of the world his presence and then we also see something that will happen in the future in Revelation 27 through 10 and go ahead and get that relation twenty seven twenty verse seven here we see that after being justly ruled for a thousand years with direct evidence all a man I shouldn't say Allah but mankind will become deceived again verse seven and when the thousand years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and choked and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle the number of whom is as the sand of the sea and they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about in the beloved city and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them and the devil that deceived them was cast in the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever forever and ever so even with direct evidence after being ruled for a thousand years justly that is mankind will immediately be deceived by Satan so it's the fact that people say well why doesn't God just prove himself it's clear from Revelation even when he does that's not enough so let's go ahead and move on to the next section so this is just a little bit about the lake of fire so the lake of fire will contain how so revelation 20:14 and death and he'll were cast in the lake of fire this is the second death so that is hell is in the center of the earth today and it will be cast in the lake of fire in the future and finally we'll take a look at revelation 21:8 the lake of fire will contain more than just Satan and his minions but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters all Liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death so this is very sobering to me as I've said before but we don't have to be worried about that so the final section I just want to touch on quickly is salvation so my favorite passage regarding salvation is X 1632 31 and and he brought them out and said sirs what must I do to be saved and they said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house it's just is very simple that's all you have to do and today and the dispensation of grace so and again as I mentioned earlier it's not based on works Ephesians 2:8 and 9 for by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast and there are two other passages I have here 2nd Timothy 1:9 who has saved us and called us with an holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began Titus 3:5 not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost so the second the last verse I'd like to take a look at is Ephesians 4:32 and be kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you so we see here that faith is all that is required faith that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and rose again so one of the things that I thought about before it was well is faith at work it's not the Bible says that explicitly at Romans 4:5 but him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness so we see here but to him that worketh not so therefore there is no work being done his faith is counted for righteousness so faith itself is not a work so thank you for your attendance today and I appreciate everyone coming out we'll go ahead and close in a word of Prayer dear Heavenly Father thank you for letting us meet in this building today thank you for letting us learn from your word and thank you for your salvation that you have given us that is not any work that we have to do but simply faith in Jesus Christ in your name I pray amen

Channel: Columbus Bible Church

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Length: 33min 55sec (2035 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 04 2019