Revelation Bible Study Part 31 (Judgement Day, Chapter 20)

[Music] so amen if you'd like to take your seats praise the lord okay so this is very unusual our first ever social distinct distancing semi-quarantine mask wearing bible study so can anyone remember what we did last time because it was almost a year ago you know it's been a strange year one of the strangest years ever in my lifetime definitely and i can't help thinking it's sort of been a dry run um like a dress rehearsal for everything we've been looking at in the book of revelation we've been looking at plagues coming well we've had a taste of a plague it's not a very big one certainly not as devastating as what's in the bible of what we know is coming but we can see humanity's response to it panic fear distress irrational actions they're just breaking out everywhere we've seen our first ever in my lifetime probably ever system of monitoring where everybody is track and trace download this app so that somebody somewhere where the computer knows everywhere you are everything you've purchased every place you've been everyone you've been in contact with we can see these systems being put in place that the bible tells us will be in place at the end times where people receive a number and can't buy or sell unless they have that number that's actually upon them it's not just on their phone it's in their physical being we've seen freedoms and restrictions just removed at the drop of a hat doesn't matter what laws existed we've seen a pronouncement from the government and suddenly you can't go out you can't do this you can't do that just at the drop of a hat just a stroke of a pen of legislation we can see whatever freedoms we have can be restricted or even removed at any moment i think one of the most distressing things that i've seen in this in this panic over this last year is it's very difficult to get out what the truth is you know jesus won four times that in the last days he says the greatest problem will be deception you'll not be able to find out what's really true and you hear in these statistics and these statistics and experts saying it's a major problem and other experts saying there's no problem at all we should just do this and we can see all this very hard to get at real truth jesus says his word is truth that deception is rampant we've seen the effects on the church 90 percent of churches in our country have been closed and a lot of those churches are not going to open again it's been a testing ground for real christians what do we really believe some people not bothered not just not going to come to church anymore some people using it as an excuse because they're jesus says in the last days the love of many will grow cold they're not even bothered that they can't gather and worship god anymore and even in the past few months i don't know if you've noticed it's been on the news an awful lot i've been following it closely arab nations are making peace deals with israel have you noticed that did you know that's not happened before like this bahrain united arab emirates sudan have always hated israel always and refused any peace terms with them these past few months they're agreeing peace covenants we know very well as we've read that this is one of the signs of antichrist that all these arab nations the enemies of israel are going to make peace deals with israel and then after three and a half years they're going to break them when they sign that covenant i'm not saying that's definitely it what's happening but this has never happened before but it's happening right now and so we can see all these things happening and even now we're restricted in what we can do very much so still there could be greater restrictions coming in but we need to look at what god said is going to happen and we need to be prepared for what the lord has said is going to happen because this is the reality so let's go where we looked last time revelation chapter 20 and verse 7. we'd actually just looked at the millennium and we just looked at the reign of christ on earth when christ returns and we had seen that when he returns there's going to be the millennium the thousand years of christ rule and prosperity and blessing but when the thousand years are over we'll just keep reading down satan will be released from his prison remember satan had been bound and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth gog and magog and to gather them for battle in number they are like the sand on the seashore they marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of god's people the city he loves but fire came down from heaven and devoured them we looked at this last time we looked at um how jesus would remove this final rebellion one more verse then and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown they will be torment tormented day and night forever and ever that's where we got to last time okay and so now here's what happens next verse 11. then i saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it the earth and the heavens fled from his presence and there was no place for them so let's just stop here so now what we're looking at we're looking at judge what we call judgment day the day where god is going to sit on his throne and he's going to judge everything righteously everything from the beginning to the end everything that's been happening god is going to pass judgment upon it now before we look at this in detail we've got to sort of understand what judgment is we sort of grasp there's going to be a final judgment anyone who's read the bible knows there is going to be a final judgment what's called judgment day they're going to stand before god and give an account and everyone's going to be judged on that day that's very clear in the bible we understand this seven times in revelation that word judges used it's actually the greek word we still use the word crisis crisis it's where we get our word when you hit a crisis you've got to pass judgment because you've hit the crisis so now something's got to be done uh slightly different use of the the term in our language or crisis or crino and so there's going to be this judgment now throughout the old testament there's loads of examples of god's judgment many many examples of god judging nations judging people judging his own people judging individuals we see that all the way through the old testament but from the time of christ throughout the church age there is still judgment just because there's going to be a judgment day doesn't mean there isn't judgment happening now there is god is still passing judgment on things now this is going to be the final judgment and so basically from the time of jesus till this final judgment there's there's basically seven types of judgment seven things that are being judged or have been judged that god god has or is passing judgment or is going to pass judgment on and they told us very clearly in the bible now put a little powerpoint together so we can just look at these can we put that up please the first one now the first one's obvious if you're a christian the first judgment that god has brought since the time of christ until judgment day is number one christ was judged on the cross so that sin could be removed yeah now i'm pretty sure none of us disagree with that we all accept that that's the the cornerstone of our salvation that that on the cross of jesus as jesus died the wrath of god was satisfied god put his judgment on christ no one thinks jesus wasn't judged he was judged more horrendously than any man has ever been and i've put up a couple of scriptures there if you've ever read isaiah 53 the whole chapter the punishment our punishment our iniquities were put upon him and isaiah 53 is it is a is a whole chapter of the messiah the anointed one of god being punished on our behalf so jesus took our judgment yeah sin was judged now jesus himself referred to this if you go to john chapter 5 please ethan john chapter 5 and verse 24 jesus himself talked about uh this aspect of judgment very truly i tell you whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life why when someone believes in jesus are they not going to be judged on judgment day because you are accepting god's judgment now a christian does not get out of judgment we accept it now we accept god's righteous judgment that because of my sins i deserve judgment and punishment but i believe in jesus who took away my sins i accept that on the cross the judgment of god was fully and righteously and judicially exercised so i accept that judgment so by accepting that judgment i am accepting it upon me that christ took it in my behalf that's why you die to self a christian doesn't get out of death we just choose to die to self now we don't want to wait till the time that we die we accept it right now so we accept that we are crucified with christ we accept that we are in christ we accept that the judgment of god was put on christ we're not waiting for judgment there to find that out we're accepting it right now okay let's go back to the chart then so that's the first aspect a christian should understand of judgment a second aspect number two is that satan and this world have also been judged already now they're going to be judged on judgment day in finality we've just read that satan is going to be cast into the lake of fire and the things of this world but if we go to john chapter 12 and verse 31 john chapter 12 and verse 31. now is the time for judgment on this world so this is jesus talking as he's going to the cross he's not saying on judgment day he's saying now is the time for judgment on this world now the prince of this world will be driven out you see on the cross satan was also judged jesus defeated the devil on the cross his kingdom was judged this world was judged it was done on the cross you are not waiting for judgment there to see if this world is evil you are not waiting for judgement day to see if satan has been judged as evil and all his antics and all his lies and all his tricks and everything of this world you know that judgment's been passed already you're not waiting for judgment day when you're watching a movie and you know that movie is blaspheming and and showing things it shouldn't show you know by the holy spirit in you god's already judged that you're not saying well i'll wait on judgment day to see if i should have watched it or not you know right now you shouldn't have watched it you know right now what's evil because it's already been judged now on judgment day the finality of that judgment is going to be revealed even more clearly but we know that now jesus came to drive out the devil and judgment on this world we've looked at that over and over again the difference between this world the earth dwellers and the heavenly kingdom those who dwell in heaven okay next one this is 1 corinthians 11 verse 27 believers are judged now isn't that a contradiction of what we've just said no let's go to first corinthians 11 27 so then now this is talking about when you take communion whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the lord just keep reading down everyone ought to examine themselves now some versions will say judge themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup for those who eat and drink without discerning the body of christ eat and drink judgment on themselves two more verses that is why many among you are weak and sick and a number of you have fallen asleep that's the new testament called for death but if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves we would not come under such judgment paul writes to the corinthians actually tells them over and over again one of the biggest problems is they're not judging things they should be judging sins they should be judging sexual immorality they should be judging things that are happening that shouldn't be done and here he's talking to them about the consequences of coming and saying they believe in the lord and coming to church and taking communion and not actually living the life that god has called them to live he says that judgment's coming upon you because you're saying you believe in it but you're actually not judging yourself you're not examining yourself you're not confessing your own sins jesus told us to do that all the time give us this day our daily bread so it's a daily prayer forgive us our sins we are supposed to be judging ourselves every day confessing our sins to god every day some of you are obviously much more holy than me and can get through a day without thinking something you shouldn't think or doing something you shouldn't do but i can't i have to confess it every day sometimes several times a day sometimes i don't need the holy spirit my wife tells me you know paul would say i i judge myself i die daily yeah i i i'm judging that and i have to that's dead i'm not doing that i'm dead to that i die daily paul would say that is the life of a of a christian you are judging yourself by god's standard and accepting the cross that's why jesus says take up your cross daily make sure the reality of your sins being judged is a daily thing that you're confessing it to god daily don't just assume that you did it once several years ago make sure that it's a process occurring in your heart judgment repentance confession restoration that's how god works okay it's something we're doing continually okay next one on the chart not just believers do you know the church is judged now the church is never condemned ultimately not the true church but once again the bible's very clear judgment begins with the house of god god says that very clearly god will judge his children ask my kids if they get judged they'll probably tell you every single day am i doing that to condemn them no i'm doing it because i love them and i don't want them to have bad moral characters and i don't want them to have flaws and it's because i love them that i pass judgment on them and discipline them all the time god disciplines those he loves so there i'll give a scripture one corinthians 6 verse 1. let's go there one corinthians 6 verse 1. if any of you has a dispute with another do you dare take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the lord's people you see what the christians at corinth were doing they were suing each other and prosecuting each other and paul's saying well can't you just pass judgment within the church it's amazing how many people will come and say oh you mustn't judge people say to me oh there's somebody there punching someone in the face oh you mustn't judge yes i should i should tell them to stop it there's someone committing sexual immorality well you shouldn't judge yes i should i've got to judge it and say stop it lying deceit anything sinful it is our role to say that is wrong stop it don't be a coward and hide behind the oh i mustn't judge which you're taking actually out of context anyway anyway the bible says judge not lest ye be judged and he'll always be very careful if you have to pass judgment because you will also be judged according to the same standard that's what it means so here paul's rebuking the church for not judging let's read down verse 2 do you not know that the lord's people will judge the world when christ returns he's going to put his people remember jesus says you've been faithful with two talents take charge of two cities he's going to put you in areas of judgment well how can he do that if you won't tell somebody in the church that what they're doing is wrong and if you are to judge the world are you not competent to judge trivial cases especially christians in leadership it's their job to make sure things are done correctly right you're all wearing masks do you know why you've been judged dr mark judged you when you came in he checked your mask and if you take it off our judgment is no you have to put it on because they're the rules you are also socially distanced why they're the rules it that's our judgment you can't come and say oh you mustn't judge i'm going to sit where i want you can't do that well you can but you'll be in the car back what a nasty pasta no that's the judgment that's how we're doing it go to the next verse just read down to verse five do you not know that we will judge angels how much more the things of this life a couple more verses therefore if you have disputes about such matters do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church some people that they want judgment from the government or judgment from the authorities but they don't want the church to exercise judgments nonsense i say this to shame you is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers well hopefully there is because judgment is happening in the church and if you've read the new testament you'll see that all the time you know the story of ananias and sapphira you know they came and they claimed they were giving this money and actually they were keeping it some back for themselves and peter confronted them and said hold on a minute are you lying about this what did god do he killed them he killed them well if peter had not confronted them god couldn't have killed them could he because no one would have known why they were dead so it's the pastor's fault for bringing it up he should have just let it slide and then when his wife came in he asked the same question and god killed her as well why god doesn't want the church to fall into this era of sinfulness and deceit so he brings judgment on the church as well as individual believers okay we'll leave that one there let's go back to the chart then 2 corinthians 5 verse 10 this is one that some some people confuse because even even though you are a saved christian and you are you are going to be with the lord in his kingdom we're still going to stand before christ and give an account of our lives this is mentioned in 2 corinthians 5 verse 10 let's go there 2 corinthians 5 verse 10 you remember in the parable when jesus gave everyone certain amount of talents it says when he returned he called for an accounting as to what everyone had done with his talents now these were all his servants these weren't unbelievers these were all people who belonged to him jesus is going to ask us for an account what did you do with what i gave you what did you do with it we must all appear before the judgment seat of christ right now in english they use the word seat yeah they do that because it's not the word throne it's not thronos it's the greek word bhima it's not a throne it's a seat the bema seat was the seat they would had when they had the olympic games it was the it was the seat where the the king or the one giving out the awards he would sit to give out what we'd call the gold medals or the laurel wreaths as it were in the olympics the bema seat is when we come to jesus he's going to reward us according to what we have done according to our faithfulness according to what we've used our gifts for according to our fruitfulness all the things he's asked us to do you're going to stand before him and he's going to give judgment on that this is not the great white throne judgment at the end of time this is believers who meet jesus paul's making this clear in the context so that each may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body whether good or bad okay so every single one of us when you meet the lord you're going to be judged according to what you've done not not what we're going to look at in revelation you don't want to be in that judgment that's a totally different judgment this is the judgment of believers for what they have done okay we'll look at that again as we go through this let's go to the next one then so not only the churches and believers but nations are going to be judged as a whole now jesus tells us this in the the story uh the olivet discourse at the end of matthew chapter 25. let's go there matthew 25 verse 31 matthew 25 31 and 32 so jesus was telling his disciples what was going to happen when he returned to israel to jerusalem he says when the son of man comes in all his glory now this is at the beginning of the millennium this is not the great white throne judgment although it does have similar aspects to it and all the angels with him he will sit on his glorious throne remember he's going to rule from the throne of his father david in jerusalem all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people from one another as uh as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats so we'll just leave that one there there's going to be a judgment on all nations no nations are going to get away with things you do know some nations are far more evil than other nations you only have to study history to know that there's been some nations so wicked so demonic there's been some nations that have been very good and it appears they're going to be judged according to how they've treated god's people primarily that's that appears to be the context of what jesus has said jesus is also going to judge israel according to what they have done we find this in the old testament where he says he will take them out into the desert and he will he will he will judge them so nations are going to be judged okay then finally then we've got the great white throne judgment okay which is the one we're looking at now so let's go back to revelation chapter 20 and verse 11. so what what's different about this judgment than all the other judgments well this is the final one this is the final judgment of god this is where god is gonna finally sort everything out finally get rid of all evil finally destroy all iniquity and he is finally going to give a full verdict on everything including everybody and so i saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it the earth and the heavens fled from his presence and there was no place for them whenever god shows his face in the bible for example exodus 32. you remember moses says let me see your glory and god says i i'll i can show you the back of me but you can't see my face because you wouldn't be able to live you remember when jesus appeared to er saul on the road to damascus he says he saw a bright shining light greater than that of the sun couldn't look at it mounted transfiguration is the same john on the island of patmos is the same when you see god christ as he really is you will not be able to look at him it's it's more powerful than the sun is face many times more powerful you will not be able to bear that and even the earth and the heaven the earth and the heavens flee from that so you can't have a more awesome statement than that the whole of creation can't look god in the face if you've got children you'll know how hard it is to get them to look you in the face because they feel guilty even when they haven't done anything but they've always done something haven't they we can't overestimate the awesomeness of this event this great white throne judgment now who is it on the throne well it's god we know that and there's lots of different arguments about whether it's god the father whether it's god the son whether it's god the holy spirit i tend to think it's all three of them if you can get your head around the trinity you're a genius some people say it's jesus because jesus says the father has entrusted all judgment to the son and so they pin it on it it's jesus but then uh in other places in the bible you'll find that jesus says i judge nothing i interest all judgment to the father and then when he talked about the holy spirit he says when the holy spirit comes he will judge things so my understanding is it's it's one of them are all three of them yeah um it doesn't really matter which one it is it's god himself who's going to pass this judgment so let's just read down now to the end of the chapter to the end of chapter 20 and hopefully we'll finish this chapter tonight okay and i saw the dead great and small standing before the throne and the books were opened another book was opened which is the book of life the dead were judged according to what they had done in the books let's just keep reading down the sea gave up the dead that were in it and death and hades gave up the dead that were in them and each person was judged according to what they had done let's keep going then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire the lake of fire is the second death anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire okay so that's the end of chapter 20. so we've got a brief outline there of what happens at this great white throne judgment so there's a lot of things in there that can appear quite confusing death and hades and the dead and the sea and all these places where the dead come from so what i just want to make clear which will help you in all your bible study is what you could call the places of the dead or the abode of the dead where are the dead christians tend to think or when you die you go to heaven or you go to hell that isn't what the bible teaches that's an oversimplification of a process that god reveals throughout the bible so if we can go to the next um the next powerpoint let's just look at what the places of the dead are and it will probably help us hopefully help us understand god's places now in the old testament you find a word in hebrew called sheol can we put this up sheol now sheol literally means the place of the dead so in the old testament when somebody died they went to shia it means the place of the dead now often that is translated grave but it doesn't mean a coffin or a tomb it's a much broader concept than that they they understood that the grave this this sheol which we might translate as grave in in english it's a place where you join all where all the dead are joined together so i'll give you different examples there if you look at genesis 37 verse 35 genesis 37 verse 35 this is where jacob is mourning for joseph because he thought joseph was dead and so he says all his sons and daughters came to comfort him but he refused to be comforted he said no he said i will continue to mourn until i join my son in sheol in other words until i go to be with him their understanding was that you would you would you would be connected again with your ancestors in this abode of the dead in this place of the dead now they believed that there was a response from those who had already died there would be a response between us and them if you've read your bible you understand this but i just want to make it clear so if you go to isaiah 14 isaiah 14 and verse 9 when god is talking about people going to the place of the dead the realm of the dead below is all a stir to meet you at your coming it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you all those who were leaders in this world it makes them rise from their thrones all those who were kings over the nations they will all respond they will say to you you also have become weak as we are you have become like us so you can see there is a consciousness there is a response there is an awareness that when you die you go and you are consciously aware of other people now there's a whole chapter on that in ezekiel chapter 32 where it's talking about all the nations and it's as if the the place of the dead all the kingdoms and all the peoples are together and they're even discussing things and they have consciousness now jesus talked about this in his parables he clearly said that people who had died were fully conscious fully aware and fully able to understand what was happening to them then in the past and in the future there's no doubt about that when you read the bible we'll look at this uh in more detail in a minute now when you get to the new testament obviously it's not written in hebrew it's written in greek so the word shill is not used they use the equivalent greek word which is the word hades now unfortunately some older versions of the bible translated the word hades as hell hades is not hell hades is the old testament equivalent of the place of the dead and so when jesus talked about hades let's go to luke chapter 16 and verse 22. and jesus talked about it an awful lot by the way so when jesus gave us an illustration of what happened in hades he gave the story of uh the the poor beggar called lazarus now this is not a parable because these are named people jesus is giving us an illustration of an actual event so the time came when the beggar lazarus died and the angels carried him to abraham's side the rich man also died and was buried in hades jesus is now showing us a picture of what this realm of the dead is even in all greek classical and literature of antiquity by the way you they use the word hades in almost identical uh ways the place of the dead in hades when he was in torment he looked up and saw abraham far away with lazarus by his side one more verse so he called to him father abraham have pity on me and send lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because i am in agony in this fire the king james calls abraham's side abraham's bosom that's the phrase it uses it means in in an embrace but i think it means more than that because where was eve taken from adam's side it was a picture of the original bride so there appears to be two very different conditions in this place of the dead doesn't there because one's in torment and one's in bliss is in the bosom of abraham and there's a if you read the whole story there's a gulf between the two you can't cross from one to the other but those in torment are conscious that there's another place that they could have gone to in fact if you read the story the man says can i go back and tell my brothers not to come to this place he recognized there was an ability to not go there so this there's two compartments if you like there's certainly two aspects of this place of the dead there's two parts to it one is abraham's bosom where the believers go now it's interesting that there was a believer called lazarus and lazarus did die and lazarus did come back from the dead now most people think it's not the same person but it is a strange coincidence because jesus in the parable in the story rather said if you don't believe god's word you won't believe if someone rises from the dead and that's so true isn't it it's no good asking for god to do a miracle if you don't believe what he said so that these two parts now this part the bad part of torment jesus that's the part jesus called hell not the other part now the word hell is not the word hades jesus used a hebrew word called gehenna or gena that's the word he used now gehenna in in in jerusalem is a valley it was the valley where they burnt things it was the garbage um tip of jerusalem it's where they put dead bodies it's where they put dead animals it's where all it's where it was covered in flies remember satan's name is beelzebub lord of the flies it was the the place of torment it was a picture of all bad stuff death um it's where malek those who worship malek would sacrifice children in in in general it means the valley of hinom the hinom valley and and so it was it was it was a picture of a terrible place you know like blackpool las vegas it was the it was the place where it's like what obviously i'm i'm joking it was it was it was like ugh it was the worst place you could imagine no no jew would then go anywhere near it because of the it was a place and they use that phrase where the worm doesn't die because there were continual dead bodies so it will maggot infested continually with flies and vermin and rats and burning and you know just a just a terrible place this is what uh gehenna means in fact go to revelation 20 verse 14 revelation 20 verse 14. death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire now the lake of fire we're going to come into in a minute these pla these places are not the lake of fire that that's coming but but can you see hades is thrown into the lake of fire this aspect of it the death torment aspect not paradise and abraham's bosom that's not thrown into the lake of fire but that part the death part and hades is thrown into that yeah there's two parts to it so this this place now funnily enough a few years ago when we went to jerusalem we always arrange a day off where we we have a day free to walk around jerusalem and i've always wanted to go to gehenna because it's mentioned i know that's weird but everyone wanted to go to nice places i wanted to go to hell for the day and i took my wife took my wife to hell and uh joseph and ruth came with us i think john munk came with us as well and so we walked i've told you this story before and so we walked down the valley of ben hinnom by the way in that middle of that valley that's where the field of aquel dhamma is the field of blood where judas hung himself and you remember they used judas blood money to buy a cemetery to bury the poor people in this is a terrible place everything bad happened in that place when king josiah brought his reforms in the old testament he took everything into gehenna and he burned all the statues to malek and all the false idols it's a picture of all where all the false gods and idol worship and evil is and so we went for a walk down and we got about halfway down and i i i've told you this story before but i turned to them i said i can smell a dead body because i used to come across that in my previous profession in managing houses i could tell if there was a dead body in the house when you smelt a decomposed body it's a stench that never leaves you and and i think they thought i was exaggerating because i was talking about this is the place of the the torment and yes and and i stopped and says i can really smell a dead body and then we went about another 20 30 yards and there was a dead monkey or a baboon strong across the path down in the the valley of gehenna and that's what i could smell a dead monkey smell just like a dead human body and i i remember thinking lord what are you playing at i mean how many times have you gone for a walk you've come across a dead monkey and i remember thinking thank you i've got the greatest illustration now in any sermon that anyone could ever have i've been to hell and i smelt the stench of dead bodies and i've been down there i took my wife but i brought her out as well i didn't leave it i've took my wife to hell and back so that's the place of torment it's a different part of hades it's a different part of the place of the dead that's hell that in your in this version of the bible gehenna that's the word translated hell not hades hades is just the place of the dead god's going to get rid of hades altogether because he's creating a new heavens and a new and earth new earth but death itself is going to be cast into the lake of fire god's going to get rid of all that on judgement day okay so go back to the chart if that's the bad bit what about the good bit abraham's bosom or abraham's side so we've looked at what sheol is we've looked at the next one hades then there's gehenna which is one of the compartments of hades so the next one that's the bad compartment hell obviously abraham's side or abraham's bosom that we've just read in jesus story in luke chapter 16 verse 22. well that is obviously the the place of rest and the place of bliss that believers went to when jesus was telling that story now there is actually illustrations of this in the old testament can you remember the story of king saul where he went to the witch at endor and and she said contact one of the dead for me now normally she would contact demonic spirits that would mimic dead because demonic spirits obviously can travel and and have knowledge we don't have and she would use that as a medium for a demon to work through her to give her incantations but on this occasion she screamed out and was terrified because she actually said i see an old man coming up from out of the ground it was samuel and when samuel arose you can read this story in the first book of samuel he actually says why have you disturbed me why have you brought me up i was at rest i was in abraham's bosom because samuel was a righteous man by faith so he came up from a place of rest he wasn't tormented he was disturbed from being brought back if you've ever heard testimonies of people who've who've died and then come back to life often you know you'll hear believers say i was a perfect rest i wasn't afraid i was at peace and so abraham's side is that place where the believers in the time of jesus went however when jesus died what did he do if you go to ephesians 4 verse 8 ephesians 4 verse 8 you see have you ever wondered what jesus did for three days this is why it says this is the book of ephesians when he ascended on high when jesus went to heaven he took many captives who's he taking and gave gifts to his people what does he ascended mean except that he also descended to the lower earthly regions well we'll just stop there so paul's telling the the ephesians here jesus didn't just rise he went into the remember the gospel he said jesus died and went into the tomb went into the grave went into shale and he got all those in abraham's bosom and he took them where did he take them well we know where he took them because we've got a place that's mentioned to us several times when jesus died on the cross and the thief said lord remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus didn't say today you will be with me in abraham's bosom he said today you'll be with me in paradise so when jesus ascended he descended those who belong to him he took to paradise and paul says when he died because this is after christ's resurrection when paul rose from the when paul was caught up into heaven because she remembered they stoned paul to death but he came back to his body we've covered that before he says he went to paradise and saw inexpressible things things he's not permitted to tell he was taken to paradise not abraham's bosom so abraham's bosom appears to have been the place of the dead in in rest and comfort and peace until jesus proved he was the first fruits of those rising from the grave and then he took all those who believed in him to paradise okay which is nearly heaven but not quite the new heavens is going to be much more than paradise itself so can you see there's a process now the the gehenna in hades is a place of torment but it's not the lake of fire abraham's bosom was a place of rest for the righteous dead but then jesus opens paradise remember paradise means a walled garden it's if you like a return to eden a return to the presence of god and so you've got this process of good and bad flowing through different aspects of places and so if you go to revelation 2 and verse 7 now we looked at this three years ago revelation 2 and verse 7 he was he is to hear let them hear what the spirit says to the churches to the one who is victorious i will give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of god so jesus reminding the church so the church is never said to go to abraham's bosom and the church obviously isn't going to the place of torment the church is going to paradise yeah where's paradise it's the place of the righteous dead that jesus tells us about okay so go up back to the next uh item on the slide so the zebra abraham's side there's paradise now there's another place if we can bring this up now this is given another name now i've used the original greek word there tartarus but in your bibles it won't say tartarus it might say hell but it's a totally different word it's not gehenna it's not hades it's not shall it's not paradise it's a totally different word and this word is mentioned and then alluded to in in peter's epistle so if we go to 2 peter 2 peter chapter 2 and verse 4 2 peter 2 and verse 4. what is tartarus if god did not spare the angels when they sinned but sent them to hell put it but that word hell there this this chains of darkness to be held to the day of judgement that is the word tartarus it's not hades it's a place where god puts the fallen angels you remember the abyss now tartarus according to greek uh literature was as far below hades as earth is below heaven so it's an even worse place than hades it's the lowest form of punishment the the abyss the pit the depths of dead the bottomless pit the the place where the the most wicked spirits are put so this version sent them to hell other versions might have another word there putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment day you remember the demons that jesus cast out they said don't send us to the abyss then it's a hades then it's a shale they said the abyss the worst place of all so jesus clearly um understood that there was an even worse place the bible teaches us that very clearly if you go to first peter chapter 3 1 peter 3 and verse 18 1 peter 3 and verse 18. for christ also suffered once for sins the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to god he was put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit after being made alive now this is one of these verses you've probably read and thought what on earth does that mean after being made alive he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned next verse spirits those who were disobedient long ago when god waited patiently in the days of noah while the ark was being built in it only a few people ate in all were saved through water what did jesus do on those three days well he rescued all his people but he did something else he went there to proclaim to all the evil spirits to all the fallen angels remember what the fallen angels had done they were disobedient long long ago in the days of knowing remember what the fallen angels did they took brides for themselves and they thought they had won now when jesus went and proclaimed some translations of the bible the king james has preached it doesn't mean he's preaching the gospel to them he's giving them a proclamation he's saying you lost your evil plan to take bribes for yourselves and bring wickedness on the earth i'm here to tell you now you've lost i'm going to take all my people out of this next compartment the bosom of abraham and i'm taking them to paradise and you're going you're now going to be stuck here till the day of judgment until that tribulation period actually some of them are going to be left they're going to be let out during the tribulation period but god's bride's not there during that period what's the proclamation jesus is giving you thought your wicked way the fallen angels you would pervert mankind and you would take them for yourselves but jesus says i'm here to tell you i've got my bride and you've lost and i'm taking her before you're ever let out and you can have the dust of this world remember he said to satan dust will be the serpent's food you think you've got humanity you've just got dust you don't have the bride i've got i remember the bride wasn't dust the bride was taken out of the side jesus says no i've gotta you won't get my people now you won't have my church you won't have anything even this world is going to be made in you and even the heavens are going to be made in new heavens you've lost everything you might think you're getting out of the abyss but you when you get out of that a base you're going to be thrown into the lake of fire which is even worse you've lost and that that was tartarus that was an even worse place the abyss the pit that we've looked at in the past so finally then the last one is the lake of fire that we've just looked at in revelation chapter 20 verse 14 and 15. so the lake of fire jesus already told people about it he mentioned it there in matthew chapter 25 and verse 41 so let's just look at it there then matthew 25 and verse 41 this is when jesus was saying what was going to happen at the end of the age and here's what he said he will say to those on his life remember these are the people and nations that had disobeyed he will say to those on his left depart from me you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels this is the final judgment that lake of fire that eternal fire now we've just read hades itself and death will be cast into that fire that's why in the new heavens there will be no more death there won't be a hades a good part and a bad part there won't be one because there'll be a new heavens and a new earth paradise will be realized so everything will pass away there won't be a tartarus there won't be an abyss there won't be a pit they won't be a gegenna in that sense there'll be that lake of fire where that torment will continue for all those who have rejected christ but god created a new heavens and a new earth notice there he says depart from me you are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for who the devil and the fallen angels the lake of fire was never created for people it was only created for satan and the evil spirits the fallen angels the only people that go there are the ones that want to follow the devil and his angels that's why i often say god never sends anyone to hell but you can reject god and choose to go there if that's your choice but god never even created hell for people never god never created that eternal fire for people it was created for evil and hades itself is going to be cast into that lake of fire so that's what jesus said about that lake of fire even before the book of revelation was written so we can see what this lake of fire is and when we get to revelation chapter 21 when that lake of fire is uh has been finally revealed and then it's drawn aside and then god shows us the new heavens and the new earth in revelation chapter 21. okay let's go to the next slide then so what we'll have noticed an awful lot from what we've read tonight in revelation is that at the end of the millennium when there's the huge rebellion the the people are destroyed by fire and then we've got the lake of fire we'll notice that fire is very important in god's judgment process so what does it actually mean judgment by fire now in the old testaments there's lots of examples of god judging things by fire yeah when people mess with god fire turned up and people got burned out of god's judgment but just in the new testament because we can't cover it all we'll be here forever um we understand that there is a fire coming it's interesting that even the scientists are saying environmental and solar disasters it's now going to be as though there's a there's a warming up and a burning process coming to the earth if you go to the first one then now we've just read in revelation that judgment day there's going to be firefalls on god's enemies and there's going to be a lake of fire but even before revelation was written we were told in the bible many times that on judgment day it's going to be a day of fire if we go to 2 p to 3 in verse 6 2 peter 2 peter 3 and verse 6 here's how the apostle peter describes this final process of god but as the waters of the world of that time talking about the time of noah were deluged and destroyed let's just keep reading down to verse 13. by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly but do not forget this one thing dear friends with the lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day the lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness instead he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance but the day of the lord will come like a thief the heavens will disappear with a raw the elements will be destroyed by fire by the way ask any scientist this is this is how the earth will be destroyed it will basically be dissolved its elements will melt the heavens will disappear with the raw the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare three more verses since everything will be destroyed in this way what kind of people ought you to be you ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of god and speed it's coming that day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire and the elements will melt with the heat but in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwelts so peter never read the book of revelation but under the inspiration of the holy spirit he's basically describing exactly the same process we've just read in revelation there's going to be a new heavens and a new earth in keeping with god's promise but there's going to be fire first bringing judgment now notice he contrasts the original judgment of god with water in noah's time with the final judgment of god a fire in the final judgment you'll find this over and over again it's mentioned many times in the old testament they all knew that god's next judgment was by fire now fire is far more destructive than water in its basic element obviously a flood is very destructive but fire purifies to an extent the water doesn't water cleanses and washes stuff away but fire totally destroys everything and you'll find that whenever this is mentioned there's often a contrast between water judgment and fire judgment all the way through the bible go to jude chapter 1 and verse 6. jude chapter 1 and verse 6. the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling these ears kept in now this is talking about the same thing we've just looked at the angels put in tartarus the the spirits that sin put in the bottomless pit the abyss but abandon their proper dwelling these ears kept in darkness bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great day one more verse verse seven in a similar way sodom and gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion they serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire what what you'll find that sodom and gomorrah knowers flood and the fallen angels are always the three examples that are given throughout the bible of god's final judgment yeah have you noticed there's one constant theme in all those three examples they perverted marriage the fallen angels took the women which creates the sexual immorality in the time of noah and in sodom and gomorrah they were doing the same things that brings fire if there's one thing god will not allow it's his marriage covenant to be broken and humanity's changing it for it to become something else god says when that happens the fire is coming i cannot allow that to happen because it will change the whole purpose of creation and so you'll find these things are always used as the example that god washed it away the first time but the next time he's going to burn it away he's going to destroy it totally get rid of it all together go back to the chart then so that's the one we just looked at in jewelry remember it's an eternal fire it's not a temporal thing that fire burns forever the fire at gahenna it burned all day and night they never put the fire out because it was a continual burning it's when when we've just read there in revelation after a thousand years remember at the beginning of the thousand years the the antichrist the beast and the false prophet were thrown into the lake of fire a thousand years later at the judgment seat when death and hades are thrown into the lake of fire the false prophet and the beast is still there they've not gone anywhere they've not been annihilated they're still there conscious so the next one that's peter and jude but even way back at the beginning when the gospel starts let's go to this one matthew 3 and verse 10. if you go to matthew 3 and verse 10 you remember john the baptist when he starts preaching repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand he's preparing the way for the gospel jesus repeated this by the way every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire which fire i baptize you with water for repentance but after me comes one who is more powerful than i whose sandals i am not worthy to carry he will baptize you with the holy spirit and fire his winnowing fork is in his hand and he will cleanse his threshing floor gathering his wheat into the ban and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire john the baptist kept kept pointing out over and over again a threefold repetition there there's fire coming there is a fire coming anything that rebels against god and doesn't produce good fruit it's going to be cut down and thrown into the fire there's a holy spirit coming he's going to bring fire and then he's going to cleanse everything from his threshing floor he's going to gather all the good stuff he's going to catch away all his good stuff into his house his barn his place and then he's going to burn everything else up with unquenchable fire now isn't it strange that john the baptist was sent to put people in water clues in his name john the baptist i baptize with water but someone's coming who's going to baptize you in fire he was cleansing people he was getting people repentant the confession of their sins in preparation for messiah but right from the beginning of the gospel it was made abundantly clear jesus said the same thing jesus that first sentence there jesus said exactly the same any tree that does not bear fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire so it's not just john the baptist jesus said it as well jesus says i have come to bring fire on the earth and how i wish it was already kindled so john the baptist says yeah i'm baptized you're in water so you're ready for the fire because it's coming and so when jesus came he took that to another level and jesus said the same things and so here we've got the understanding all jesus disciples remember they were all baptized by john and they were all baptized in the holy spirit and when they were baptized in the holy spirit what came upon them fire why they'd now been judged a christian does not get out of judgment we accept it we don't sidestep it a christian grabs the cross and holds it a christian dies to themself i accept that judgment because if i accept that judgment paul said i am crucified with christ yet i live because he rose i rise because if i'm in christ in his judgment then i am with him in his resurrection but if you if you reject that judgment then it's still coming that's why the cross is so important that's why paul boasted in the cross and that's why we must as well because if we go to the next one hebrews just go down hebrews chapter 10 verse 26 and verse 27 let's go there hebrews chapter 10 verse 26 and 27 if we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth no sacrifice for sin is left if you receive the knowledge of the cross the gospel of jesus christ and you choose to sin instead of receiving that there's not going to be another sacrifice only a fearful expectation of judgment and of a raging fire that will consume the enemies of god we know that fire's coming so we choose not to reject it to turn from sin because we know a sacrifice has been made we know there's not going to be another one there can't be another one that was the all-sufficient sacrifice the atonement for our sins that god proved by rising christ from the dead there's no other sacrifice you can make saying sorry or repenting won't make any difference if you reject that there's just the fearful expectation of judgment of fire coming it's the knowledge that that is going to happen now hebrews here is written to believers they're saying do not think that you can receive god's grace and then keep sinning you're rejecting the sacrifice the fire's coming and so we should have a fearful apprehension of that and with awe and reverence worship god knowing that the sacrifice for sins he gave was sufficient and we cling to jesus and our faith is in him not in anything else okay then go back to matthew 24 25 and verse 41. matthew 25 and verse 41. we've just looked at this but another aspect of the fire where he says to those depart from me you are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels you'll notice there there's three different things thrown into the fire and it's the three rebellions we've been looking at through this whole process remember rebellion is the essence of all evil the devil rebelled the fallen angels rebelled and then fallen humanity rebelled those who have taken part in those three rebellions are thrown into that fire god is going to destroy rebellion he's going to burn it away whether it was from a cherubim whether it was from an angel the fallen angels or whether it's from humanity we've looked at that over this past study those three rebellions are dealt with they're all put into that fire okay let's go to the next one then then one more mark 9 verse 48 mark chapter 9 and verse 48. we can go straight to it so here jesus is talking about the place of torment gehenna which is what leads into the lake of fire and he says here it's where the worms that eat them do not die and the fire is not quenched now jesus is talking here about hell in gerhenna but he's quoting you see the speech marks there he's quoting isaiah and he's quoting the last bit of the last chapter of isaiah because isaiah if you've ever noticed the 66 chapters in isaiah and the 66 books in the bible and so the last bit of isaiah is that so isaiah isaiah ends where the old creation in the last book of the bible ends at the place of torment where the worms that eat them don't die and where that fire is not quenched so jesus isn't just quoting isn't just telling us what that fire is like it's a place of torment that doesn't die it's eternal consciousness punishment but he's quoting the old testament of isaiah showing us that that's actually going to be the end because that was isaiah's final words so jesus is pointing us back to the old testament understanding of what this place is he's not just saying it's a place of torment he's saying you know it's a place of torment you've known for thousands of years it's a place of torment don't go there final one then on the chart is uh the last one first corinthians chapter 3 and verse 13. can we go there first corinthians chapter 3 i'll go to verse 12 first yeah first corinthians 3 verse 12. so here paul's writing to the church yeah he's talking about what we do as christians what our works are what our services what our motives are if anyone builds on this foundation which is christ himself using gold silver costly stones would he or straw let's keep reading down their work will be shown for what it is because the day will bring it to light it will be revealed with fire and the fire will test the quality of each person's work now this is not the lake of fire but remember we're looking at that god's judgment is always going to be by fire christians are not going to be thrown into the lake of fire god's not going to throw his church into the lake of fire people who believe in him because he's not but the fire is still going to test everybody's work and he gives different comparisons there would hay and stubble gold silver and precious stones now what's the d if you put fire to those things what happens they all get burned the difference is some get totally destroyed you put you put fire to here it's gone there's nothing some christians their work for god is just here when god tests it he'll say you did nothing that was just a show some people's work is a diamond now do you know what happens when you put a diamond under extreme heat and pressure fire it actually gets better that's how diamonds are formed it's basically coal that's been had a bad day a diamond been put under a lot of pressure i mean massive amounts of pressure from the earth crushing it um gold will you put gold in the fire what happens i mean it might melt but actually all that happens is impurities are removed from it it just becomes more pure how many times does god say that god's people are tested has gold refined in the fire seven times and so some people's lives are going to be hay wood stubble it's just going to go and god's saying well it was just a show there's nothing of substance there sums is going to be gold silver precious stones eternal the fire is not going to destroy it it'll last forever and so we're going to be tested don't ever think as a christian you're not going to be tested you are and if you read the bible people who are really godly and holy usually are tested more than anybody else because it's refining the gold all it's doing is removing the dross removing the impurities so that your faith as precious as gold will come forth so that on judgement day when that fire comes remember shadrach meshach and abednego what did they do they just walked about in the fire on judgement day when the fire comes do you know what shadrach mesa will do they'll just jump into it not the lake of fire i mean the testing of they'll just go been here before i trust him who walks with me in the fire they won't reject god judgment they'll accept it i'm crucified with christ i'm dead now remember that's not the lake of fire that's the fire of testing i'm just saying judgment day there's fire in all its aspects and then evil itself is cast into the lake of fire but we accept the fire now just like the apostles when the uh when the holy spirit came upon them fire came upon them in the bible fire would always come upon people serving god you remember aaron was to give fire as the high priest the fire would come from heaven and he would take the sensor which is like a torch and he would take the fire but his two sons who weren't being obedient they were priests it doesn't mean they were being good just because someone's a pastor you know doesn't mean they're good you do know that don't you i mean i'm all right but this is i hope i'm all right the fire will test me but it's two sons it says they took unauthorized fire and it says fire came out from god and killed them don't you mess with the fire don't you think i've got fire god will test whether it's this fire or not what did elijah did the same thing didn't he says the god who answers by fire he's the real god fire came down and burned up the sacrifice and then when the soldiers were sent to arrest him he said exactly the same thing elijah was happy to accept the fire he says if i'm a man of god let fire come and devour you now they'd come to elijah and the fire came and killed them didn't kill elijah because he was the prophet of fire so the fire comes to test as well as uh refiners now then because of social distancing and we have to keep our meetings short i think i'll have to stop there so i haven't finished the chapter which is what i wanted to do we're going to look the books are being opened so we'll look at them next time the books and the book of life and we'll get ready for the new heavens and the new earth amen amen okay well god bless you all

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Id: amz7C-Jw2_g

Length: 81min 36sec (4896 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 08 2020