ETERNAL FIRE

From a message of 08Nov92 from a Curious Questioner--
>CQ> Subject: HELL TOTALLY EXPLAINED

>>>Earlier Person>-There is no eternal hellfire. (Revelation 20:14,15)

>>Previous Person> ... I'm most surprised you pick these verses. I only have to show you Rev 20:10 to refute your claim.

"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Rev.20:10)

>CQ> Contrary-wise; Scripture does not support your conjecture that because these two, otherwise unproclaimed entities --not at all designated as human in substance, are, or will be experiencing eternal torment.

Technically, the words "shall be" in Rev.20:10 apply to "the devil". It is ASSUMED that the beast and the false prophet in the same fire, SHARE that torment. As for your "human" contention, well, the word "human" does NOT appear anywhere in the word of God (A.V.1611,) but we see that the number of the beast is that of "a man". (Rev.13:18p)

>CQ> Eternal means 'forever and always' and not "forever and ever".
>CQ> There is a significant distinction between these expressions.

So, do you think "the devil" (Rev.20:10p) will EVER be released from being "tormented day and night for ever and ever." ???

>CQ> There is absolutely no instruction in verse that points anyone towards reading scripture backwards.

(Are we instructed in verse to read the Bible front to back ONLY? :)
(Have ye not read? "Search the scriptures..." :)

>CQ> Nothing there that tells us the keys for discernment are found in the last volume.

The "keys of hell" (Rev.1:18p) are indeed found in the last volume; And a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment. ("But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God... because they are spiritually discerned.")

>CQ> Proper discernment about eternity, immortality, and the human element begins with Genesis...
>CQ> So how should we discern "forever" by first teachings?...
>CQ> Firstly, the Greek "eis aionas aionon" is literally "unto ages of ages".

So, after all the "to do" about discerning "for ever" from those things in the beginning, you jump over the 39 books of the old testament and entangle yourself in greek word studies, instead of comparing scripture with scripture "progressively"? (Can that be because the Hebrew for "for ever" is also used for ETERNAL? :)

Grace be to them that love the truth, for Jesus' sake. Amen. --Richard

WORMS IN TORMENT

From a message of 08Nov92 from a Curious Questioner--
>CQ> Subject: HELL TOTALLY EXPLAINED

>Curious Questioner> The meaning of this compound expression is derived, not from the expression itself, but from that, the subject proper, with which it is associated.

As associated with God, "for ever" is timeless, i.e. eternal.

>CQ> Do the 'beast' and the 'false prophet' have an eternal attribute?

"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." (Rev.14:11)

PLAINLY it is not the smoke of their annihilation, but of their: TORMENT!

>CQ> These are cast away not for the sake of eternal existance within the confines of some Godly induced void for eternal punishment.

"And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous unto life eternal." (--The Lord Jesus, Matt.25:46)

>CQ> The fires of Hell originate from heaven at the end of this age. Not some hot spot in the earth (Rev.20: 9). These fires come to devour and not to continually torment without annihilation.

No, there is already fire in the HEART of the earth NOW. There will be fire in the "lake of fire", into which the beast and false prophet are cast ALIVE, for a thousand years BEFORE that "fire" of Rev.20:9 is sent from heaven to devour the nations that rebel against the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. The lake of fire is still around AFTER the earth and the heaven are destroyed and the new heaven and new earth and new Jerusalum appear; And those cast into the lake of fire will STILL be outside the new Jerusalem. (Rev.21:11,15; 21:8; 22:15)

>CQ> Anything that is able to experience punishment must have life to have the experiences of pain and suffering.

The Bible speaks of the "pains of death" (Acts.2:24p) and "pains of hell." (Psa.116:3p) So it is obvious that being tormented in fire is not all hunky-dory.

>CQ> The souls that failed to reach the mark of God's saving grace will have a resurrection. But it will not be into immortal bodies. They will be the same bodies they had before; only rejuvenated for the purpose of destruction:

The saved people will be "conformed" to the image of Christ the Lord; and the lost will evolve into the image of THEIR father the devil, that old serpent that crawls on its belly eating dust, as a writhing WORM: "tormented day and night for ever and ever."

"Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
(--The Lord Jesus, Mk.9:44,46,48) ("dieth not" - immortal worms?)

Remember that Jesus is the Lord and be not found among them, but by the grace of God, RECEIVE the FREE GIFT of eternal life in Christ Jesus the Lord. Grace be unto you in love. Amen. --Richard