ONE MINUTE AFTER YOU DIE
HEAVEN, HELL, & WHO WILL GO WHERE
SELECTED SCRIPTURES
THE SECOND DEATH
REVELATION 20:11-15
INTRODUCTION
- As we begin our second look into the subject of the afterlife, let’s review briefly what we covered last time. We introduced our topic by assuming that someday we will all die because we are under the curse of sin; and that when we die our souls continue to exist and await the resurrection of our bodies when Christ returns.
- We started specifically, then, by looking at the intermediate state of unbelievers. We answered the question “What happens to the souls of those who do not have Christ as Savior one minute after they die?” Our answer was that they are immediately sent to a place of torment where they await final judgment.
- We looked in detail at that place of torment; noting that the New Testament, particularly in Luke 16, calls this location Hades. In the 16th chapter of Luke Jesus tells the Pharisees, and by secondary means, tells us that in Hades the wicked will be tormented with fire, by memories, by irrevocability, and by lost relationships.
- We concluded by looking briefly at the centrality of the Word of God as the means by which a person avoids going to this place of torment. We saw how Abraham, in Jesus’ parable, highlighted the importance of Moses and the Prophets – the Scripture that they had at the time.
- And I emphasized the fact that the only way the soul is not sent to Hades is if a person, while they are alive, accepts and obeys the truth of God’s word summed up in the Gospel. A person must repent of their sins and trust fully in Christ as Savior and Lord. Anyone who does not, rich or poor, famous or obscure, religious or irreligious, will be sent to Hades upon death.
- Now at various points during our look at the intermediate state of unbelievers, we reminded ourselves that Hades is not the end. Immediately after death the souls of the unregenerate go there, but there will be a time in the future when they will be resurrected.
- It is to this time of resurrection that we turn our attention this morning. We will now look at the Scripture we alluded to last time: Revelation 20:11-15. As you turn there in your Bible let me set the stage for you.
- A revelation is the disclosure of something; the revealing of something. The book of Revelation consists of the visions of the Apostle John – the things that Christ revealed to him concerning what would happen in the future. In Revelation 1:1-2 we read: The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
- So Revelation is the account of what Jesus showed John concerning the future.
- The first three chapters consist of letters written to seven historical churches in Asia Minor. Asia Minor was an area to the north and west of Israel. Then beginning in chapter 4 John begins to describe what Jesus in 1:19 calls the things “that are to take place after this.”
- There are a variety of visions of judgment and spiritual warfare that follow; and when we come to chapter 20 John is describing what is going to happen at the very end of history. Let’s pick up the story in v.11 of chapter 20.
Read Revelation 20:11-15
- Let’s address briefly what the word “then” refers to at the beginning of v.11.
- Revelation 20 is an important chapter to the discipline of eschatology; the study of last things. One’s understanding of Revelation 20 influences how you see the events of the end times playing out. And I think it’s best to read it as straight forward as possible within the context of type of literature Revelation is.
- We read of a thousand year period, which is usually called the Millennium, when Christ binds Satan in the pit and reigns on the earth with believers. Some other time we will look at the different views of what this time period represents. What’s important for us to understand today is that Christ has already returned to the earth.
- We are viewing a future point in history. Christ returns, reigns for a thousand years, and after the Millennium will be the final judgment. That’s where we are in the grand scheme of things – the final point in history.
- V.12 says that the dead, great and small, will stand before the throne of God and Christ, and books will be opened. So all unbelievers of all time are here standing before the King.
- Death and Hades, and the sea, give up the dead in v.13; which is a another way of saying that all the souls from the place of torment have been resurrected – and that’s our first point:
THE SOULS IN HADES WILL BE RESURRECTED FOR JUDGMENT
- Again, this is order of events: immediately after an unbeliever dies they are sent to a place of torment. All of the souls of unbelievers will remain there until Jesus returns. Then, at the end of history, he will resurrect them in order to judge them.
- Now, we mentioned last time that going to Hades, this place of torment, is irrevocable. So there is no chance that any unbeliever will be resurrected in order to receive eternal life. Every last one will be resurrected for judgment.
- Scripture speaks of this judgment several times. In fact, Jesus himself spoke about it often. We read this is Matthew 25: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 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 foundation of the world...“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels...And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- The same thing is found in John 5:28-29: an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
- And if you look at the end of v.12 and the end of v.13 you will see that these people will be judged according to what they have done. The books that are mentioned contain every detail of every life lived.
- The other book mentioned, the book of life, we noted last time is the record of those whose sins are forgiven, those who will inherit eternal life. None of these unbelievers, who were punished in Hades, will be found in that book. And so, like Death and Hades, they will be thrown into the lake of fire. That’s point two:
THE SOULS IN HADES WILL BE GIVEN ETERNAL BODIES AND CAST INTO HELL
- V.14 says “this is the second death, the lake of fire.” This lake of fire, that we call Hell is the eternal destiny of all without Christ. You are either born twice and die once, or you are born once and die twice. Meaning: if you are born again by trusting in Christ as Savior you will only experience physical death, and then you will live forever. But if you are only born once, and you are never born again by the Spirit of God, you will experience the second death – eternal death in Hell.
- Now we gather from what Scripture says about believers’ resurrection bodies that unbelievers will be given some sort of eternal body as well. It will be a body that will exist forever. A body that will be capable of enduring physical as well as emotional and spiritual torments.
- We read about some of the torments of Hades in Luke 16; and:
IN HELL, THE TORMENT OF HADES WILL BE INTENSIFIED
- That Revelation calls Hell a lake of fire shows us that the fire in Hades will be present in Hell. Unbelievers will be punished in a fire that never consumes them but always burns.
- The Bible is not shy when it describes the final state of Hell. In Matthew 13 Jesus is explaining a parable and says: Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- In Mark 9:48 Jesus describes Hell as the place ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ And in 2 Thessalonians 1 Paul calls it “the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” You get the picture.
- This final state of Hell will be the most unimaginable place of torment. And it is precisely this truth that raises many questions in our minds. And I would like to address what I see as the three most common questions about Hell. They are: #1 - Does Hell purify a person in order to make them ready for Heaven? #2 – Since Hell is described as eternal death and destruction, do people who are sent there eventually go out of existence? #3 – How can a loving God send someone to Hell forever?
- Let’s consider that first question. Does Hell purify a person in order to make them fit or ready for Heaven? The answer to that is that:
HELL’S TORMENT IS RETRIBUTIVE, NOT RESTORATIVE
- In other words, the purpose of Hell is to torment sinners, not to purify them.
- Ken Boa and Robert Bowman Jr. have written a good book entitled “Sense and Nonsense About Heaven and Hell”. I don’t agree with everything they write, but in one of their chapters on Hell they wrote this: “The purpose of Hell is not to make those who go there better people or to help them see the error of their ways and come to repentance. Hell is not like the Betty Ford Clinic. It is not even like a modern prison, where most prisoners are encouraged to become rehabilitated so that they may reenter society as useful citizens. The purpose of Hell is to punish sinners. It is about retribution, not restoration.”
- Some of you may know that in Roman Catholic theology there is what is called the doctrine of purgatory. Purgatory is a place where people who aren’t bad enough to go to Hell but aren’t ready for Heaven are sent in order that they might be purged; or made fit for Heaven. Hell is not purgatory. In fact, purgatory does not exist. It is not found in Scripture.
- We’ve got to come to grips with the fact that God is not only a God of love but also a God of wrath. He not only shows mercy, he punishes. He not only gives eternal life, he judges with eternal death.
- Society has gotten so used to this cotton candy Christianity where Jesus is seen as this sappy self help instructor that when the biblical Jesus shows up they gasp in disbelief. It is such a far fetched thing to some people that Jesus would punish anyone. Those people haven’t met the real Jesus, the judge of the living and the dead. The one who will judge the world in holiness and righteousness.
- It is because of this misconception of who Jesus is that Revelation 1:7 says that all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him when he returns. When they see him coming, they will know that judgment is at hand.
- So, no; Hell is not a place of restoration. It does not prepare people for Heaven.
- What about that second question: Since Hell is described as eternal death and destruction, do people who are sent there eventually go out of existence? The answer to that is that:
HELL’S TORMENT IS ETERNAL, NOT TEMPORARY
- Those who are sent to Hell do not ever cease to exist. Hell’s torment does not end.
- The view that Hell is not eternal is called Conditional Immortality or Annihilationism. People who hold this view propose that since the Bible describes the judgment of the wicked as death and destruction, the wicked are consumed when thrown into Hell. Their judgment is that they cease to exist. They are, as the title would suggest, annihilated.
- What you need to know is that the Bible always describes the punishment of those who do not know Christ as everlasting, eternal, and never ending. I’ll give you just a few examples.
- This one I already read. 2 Thessalonians 1:9: They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.
- The book of Daniel, in chapter 12 says that Hell will be a place of shame and everlasting contempt.
- And as we would expect, the book of Revelation is replete with references to the eternality of Hell. Revelation 14:11 describes the torment of those who have taken the mark of the beast: And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night...
- And in Revelation 20:10 it is the same for Satan and his demons: they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
- Understand this brothers and sisters, the eternality of Hell is what makes it so horrible. We talked about this with reference to the irrevocability of Hades last time. If Hell is not eternal then it is scarcely to be feared.
- Most people wouldn’t mind living how they want to live in this life, rejecting Christ until they die if they knew that eventually they would just cease to exist. But if they knew that rejecting Christ resulted in eternal, never ending punishment, they might think twice about such a destiny.
- I’ve never quite understood those people who tell you that you should never tell people about Hell in order to scare them into trusting Christ as Savior and Lord. Certainly we don’t want to manipulate people into believing something, but the fear of everlasting pain in Hell is a very good reason to come running to Christ for forgiveness – when you understand that it is your sin against God that will send you there.
- Eternity is not something you want to take lightly. And the eternality of Hell is its most fearsome aspect.
- But this begs the question then, “Why would people believe that Hell is only temporary or that those who go there are ultimately annihilated?” What motivates someone to think this way, despite the clear teaching of Scripture to the contrary?
- What motivates them is this last and most important question: How can a loving God send someone to Hell forever? To this we answer that:
HELL’S TORMENT IS JUST, NOT UNFAIR
- To some the concepts of a loving and wrathful God just don’t mix. If God is loving then he cannot be wrathful; and vice versa – if he is wrathful, he cannot be loving. Love and punishment are seen as incompatible.
- Let’s just start with life experience on this one. I’m sure you’ve heard this analogy before. When a child disobeys his or her parents, the parents discipline the child. They discipline the child because they love the child; in fact we could argue that if they did not discipline the child they are not showing love for the child. So love and discipline are not mutually exclusive.
- In fact, Hebrews chapter 12 tells us that God even disciplines believers; and he does this because he loves us. So this idea that a loving God could never show wrath is simply a misunderstanding of what true love is.
- But the deeper and more complicated objection to Hell being a place of eternal bodily torment, is that the punishment does not fit the crime. This argument goes something like this: God would be unfair to punish people for eternity for sins they committed in time.
- So God might be more fair to punish someone who lived 70 years for 70 years and then either let them into Heaven or annihilated them altogether. Eternal punishment is too harsh a judgment for the crimes committed.
- Clark Pinnock, who advocates a Conditional Immortality view of Hell; again meaning that the wicked are annihilated; words his argument like this: “How can one reconcile this doctrine with the revelation of God in Jesus Christ? Is he not a God of boundless mercy? How then can we project a deity of such cruelty and vindictiveness? Torturing people without end is not the sort of thing the “Abba” Father of Jesus would do. Would God who tells us to love our enemies be intending to wreak vengeance on his enemies for all eternity? What does this tradition do to the moral goodness of God? Torturing people forever is an action easier to associate with Satan than with God, measured by ordinary moral standards and/or by the gospel. And what human crimes could possibly deserve everlasting conscious torture? The traditional view of hell is a very disturbing concept that needs reconsideration.”
- You can understand his concern. But Mr. Pinnock badly misunderstands the situation. He is viewing the punishment of Hell through the wrong lens – a man-centered lens.
- We will only understand the fairness of eternal Hell when we consider the magnitude of God and stop looking at man. Ultimately, men and women are sent to Hell because they have offended an infinitely holy God.
- The perfect, holy, just, awesome, jealous God is the one who has been offended. Anything less than eternal punishment wouldn’t be punishment enough. The sentence would be too lenient. Offending an infinite God demands infinite punishment.
- So to these questions I answer: Is he not a God of boundless mercy? Yes, and he is also a God of infinite holiness. One doesn’t cancel out the other.
- How then can we project a deity of such cruelty and vindictiveness? Because the Scriptures do so, and God tells us that vengeance is his.
- Would God who tells us to love our enemies be intending to wreak vengeance on his enemies for all eternity? Yes, and it is precisely for this reason that he tells to love our enemies, because he will be the final Judge.
- What does this tradition do to the moral goodness of God? It magnifies it. God is so good and so perfect that he could do no other.
- And what human crimes could possibly deserve everlasting conscious torture? Sinning against the perfect God of the universe and refusing to submit oneself to him.
- So I agree with his assessment that the traditional view of hell is a very disturbing concept; but it needs no reconsideration.
- How could a loving God send someone to Hell forever? The better question is “How could a loving, perfect, infinite, holy God not send someone who has rejected him to Hell forever?” What kind of perfect God would that be – one who allows himself to be eternally spurned without handing out eternal judgment? No kind of perfect God at all.
CONCLUSION
- Well, let’s summarize what we’ve seen. The souls currently in Hades and those who will enter that place in the future will be resurrected for judgment, given eternal bodies and cast into Hell where Hades’ torment will be intensified. And this torment is retributive, eternal, and just.
- As we leave this place then, we must arm ourselves with this knowledge and allow it to motivate us to share Christ with those who need him. Because he alone has the power to save someone from this dreadful destiny.
- And as much as thinking about these things may cause discomfort, I encourage you to keep them in mind, because next week we will look at what awaits believers upon death. And a proper understanding of what Christ is saving us from will allow us to rejoice greatly when we see what he is preparing for us in Hell’s stead.
