Episode Transcript
Welcome to Countdown. Back to the future. In this presentation, we're looking at the assassination of God to hell and back. What on earth is all that about? You're probably wondering, have you noticed that in recent times there've been a lot of books and films put out about people going to hell? For example, 23 minutes in hell, says Bill Weiss. Then another one, I died and came back from hell to hell and back. What's going on here? Did people really go to hell and come back again? What do we make of this vital topic, what we're going to be talking about in this presentation? Notice what America's so called greatest theologian had to say back in the 18th century. And he's regarded, as I said, about the greatest. He was the greatest American theologian. He had a sermon called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Notice what this gentleman, Jonathan Edwards, had to say. Sinners in the hands of an angry God. He said erring sinners would be held like loathsome insects by the hand of God over the fiery pit of hell. And when they cry out for mercy, how will God respond? Edwards answered, he will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him that it is said he will only laugh and mock at those who rejected his mercy and reaped their just reward. Whoa, that's powerful words. America's greatest theologian. Let me tell you, my friends, there are serious consequences for such beliefs. Robert Ingersoll, famous agnostic. His father was a minister and used to share with Robert Ingersoll bedtime stories. Notice what he used to tell his son, Robert Ingersoll, there were babies in hell not more than a few inches long who were destined to burn there throughout eternity. Now you can understand why Robert Ingersoll became an agnostic. Well, if that's what God's like, said Robert Ingersoll, I hate him. In fact, if that's what God's like, he needs a savior. You know, there are more people who are atheists today because of this one teaching that that has come from Christianity than we would care to imagine. We need to answer some questions here. Number one, is hell real? And number two, are there really people suffering in hell right now while you're watching this presentation? Do people suffer in hell on and on and on throughout eternity? And a very important question, one which needs to be addressed is this one. How can you have hell and a loving God? Very important. So let's begin with this last question first, how can you have hell and a loving God? There are three facts that we must understand to understand how we can have hell and a loving God. Number one is sin. What is sin? The Bible describes sin in this way. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life. Now, you will notice this eternal life is contrasted with death, which means he's talking about eternal death in contrast to eternal life. That's why it's there. So, eternal life, eternal death. Now, eternal death, it's called in the Bible, the second death. Notice what the Bible says in Revelation, chapter 2, verse 11, he who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. Now, you recall when we looked at the subject of the thousand years, the millennium, we saw that this period of a thousand years is bound by two resurrections. A resurrection to life at the beginning for God's friends, and a resurrection by or called the second resurrection of condemnation for those who cling to sin. Once this resurrection takes place, and God has to destroy these people because they don't want to give it up, this death that they have is now called the second death. The Bible says blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death that comes after the second resurrection has no power. Now is the eternal death, the second death, because God gets even with people. You know, it's as if God is saying, you didn't accept my offer of eternal life, so I'm going to wham you1. I'm going to get you because you didn't go my way. Is that what it's about? No. Notice the way the Bible puts it for us. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. You will notice that eternal death is contrasted to eternal life, which is said to be a gift. But eternal death is called a wage, which means something that you earn. In other words. So that's the difference. One is a gift, the other one is a wage. That's something you earn. You imagine. I think you can see the difference if you come to work with me, work for me, and you work there all day. And at the end of the day, I come and I give you a packet and I say, here's your gift. Here's your gift. You're going to say, this is no gift. I worked all day for this thing. This is my wage. This is the consequence of me working for you all day. It's not a gift, rightly so. So it's something that we earn, the second death. In other words, it's the consequence of your choice and my choice. That's the second death. The Eternal death from which we never wake up. Now I'm sure you've been to a hospital. Maybe you've had a loved one who's been put on life support system. Now your loved one or some one of you could actually reach over and turn off the switch or whatever it is, pull out the plug and life would cease to be. Now in the Bible, Christ is our life support system. He's the one in whom is life. Now we can unplug from the life support system or even decide not to plug in in the first place and the consequence will be death. The Bible says these words, those who have the Son have life. Those who do not have the Son do not have life. These things I've written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. Do you see what the Bible is saying? Life is only in God. And therefore if we're not connected to God, we cannot have life. It's not because God gets even with us. It's just that we're not plugged into the life support system or we've disengaged from the life support system. Notice what the Bible says again. That you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey his voice, that you may cling to him, for he is your life. Life is only in God. That's why Jesus and the Bible said, if you have the Son who is life, you have life. If you don't have Jesus, you don't have life. We're not plugged in to the life support system or we are plugged in to the life support system. So Christ is our life support system. And the consequence of not plugging in is eternal life, eternal death. It's not because God gets even with us. You don't do what I want you to do, so wham. No, no. It's the consequence of our choice. We have unplugged from the life support system, the eternal life support system. So it's your choice or my choice. That's what it is. Not because God gets even with us. The second thing we need to understand if we want to understand how we can have hell and a loving God is we must understand something about parenthood according to the Bible. Notice what the Bible says. Jesus is talking. Or what man is there of you who if his son shall ask him for bread, will he give him a stone? Hey dad, can I have a piece of bread? Yeah. Chew on this rock. Of course, we would never do such a thing. Let's continue what the text says, or if he shall ask for a fish, will he give him a snake? Hey, dad, love a piece of fish. Yeah, chew on this snake. Course we wouldn't do this sort of thing. And that's Jesus point. Notice if you then, being evil, meaning being sinners, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them? Who? Ask Him. Now, let me tell you, my friend, there's not a different God in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. God the Father and God the Son, both Old and New Testament are the same. Jesus said these words. Jesus said, he who has seen me has seen the Father. I've come to reveal what the Father is like. He's like me, the God of the Old Testament, same as the God of the New Testament. The same God. Now, do parents discipline? Well, of course. Any parent worth their salt is going to discipline. That means disciple their children, make them better. So what would happen? Let's say you have a bunch of biscuits in your cupboard and you tell your little boy and little girl, don't eat the biscuits between meals. I don't want you to do that. Then you won't eat your dinner. So don't eat the biscuits between meals. So you come home or out of the garden or somewhere and you find that, hey, someone's taken some of the biscuits between the meals. So what are you gonna do? Are you gonna call your little boy, your little girl in and pour, pour petrol over them and satellite to them? Maybe for five hours. How about an hour? How about ten minutes? Of course you wouldn't do such a thing. At the most you would say, let the punishment fit the crime. But we'd never do that. Yet that's exactly what people say God is going to do. But not just for five hours, not just for five minutes, but for eternity. That's why Jesus said these words. If you then being evil, you are sinful people. You know how to give good gifts to your children. You know how to treat your children. How much more shall your Father who is in heaven? Are we better than God? Yet this is what has been put on to God. God, this is what yout're like, this is what yout'll do to youo children whom youm created, if they don't follow youw, you're gonna set a light to them for eternity. They're going to roast and toast on and on and on into eternity. That's what we say about God. Many people, are we better than God? The third thing we need to understand when we're seeking the answer to this question, how can we have hell? And a loving God is Calvary. You see, when we go to the cross of Calvary, we read these words about the cross of Jesus in Isaiah 53. But he was wounded for our transgression. That's yours and mine. He was bruised. That word means he was crushed. For our iniquities, you, yours and mine. The chastisement for our peace was upon him. And by his stripes we are healed. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity or the sin of us all. That's why the Bible says these words in the Book of Corinthians, Paul is speaking. He, God the Father, made him Jesus, the Son of God, who knew no sin. He never sinned to be sin for us because he took on himself our sin. What was the result? When Jesus took on himself your sin and my sin, what was the result to him? The Bible is very clear. Death at Calvary. Because the wages of sin is death. Now, was physical death the main result for Jesus taking your sin and mine? Well, hardly. Otherwise it would be just like the death of somebody else. No, the Bible makes it very plain what happened at Calvary. Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why have you abandoned me? When Jesus was on the cross taking your sin and mine, he felt separated from the Father. He felt that there was a barrier between him and his Father. Christ felt abandoned by God because the Bible says in the book of Isaiah, your iniquities have separated you from your God. They have broken the relationship. And your sins have hidden his face from you. So the wage or the consequence of sin, what was it? Christ experienced? Eternal separation from God. That's what he really experienced at the cross. He experienced what? One day the person who clings to sin is going to sense an eternal separation from God. Christ felt that when he went to Calvary. Why? So that we might never experience this eternal separation. Notice what the Bible says in the Book of Hebrews, chapter 13, he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. I wouldn't think of it, but that word forsaken is the same one as Jesus on the cross. My God, why have you forsaken me? The reason is so that I will never leave or forsake you. What an amazing God. A God that's willing to go to the cross and take our sins upon himself and feel separated from his Father, His Father, God. Amazing grace. Amazing Grace. That God was Willing to die eternally for you and me. Because that's what he was willing to do. Christ was willing to be separated eternally from God for you and me. You don't believe that. Think again. Let's go back with Moses. Remember, Moses was given the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. When Moses came down from the mountain, he discovered that the the Israelites were having a big party. We could call it an awgie. Because they were dancing around this calf naked, many of them. And when Moses had those 10 commandments, when he came down, he smashed them on the ground. He broke them because they had broken the commandments, broken the covenant. And then he went to God and he pleaded with God that he would forgive the Israelites, that he would cleanse them from their sin. Notice what he said in his prayer. Yet now, if you will forgive their sin. But if not, I pray, blot me out of your book which you have written. God, if you won't forgive them, take my name out of the book of life. I'd rather not live forever if you can't forgive these people. Wow. Moses was willing to give up his eternal life. But how much more would Jesus be willing to do that? That's what he experienced at Calvary. He was willing to give up his eternal life for the likes of you and me. What a God. Eternal separation from God is what hell is ultimately all about. Ultimately. However, let's think again. How can we have hell and a loving God? We must understand three things. Number one, Sin. The wages of sin is death. God does not destroy people because he gets even with them, because they wouldn't accept him. It's the consequence of our choice to parenthood. Are we better than God? We would never roast and toast our kids for eternity. Yet we say God is going to do that. Many people believe, are we better than him? And then Calvary. Eternal separation was what God himself was willing to go through, so we would not lose eternal life. But there will be fire. There will be fire. Cause the Bible says so. Notice what Jesus said in a parable about a farmer. He told about a farmer who planted some wheat. His servants planted it. And then some enemies came along and they planted some weeds among the wheat. And the servants said, hey, someone's sowing weeds among the wheat. Shall we pull up the weeds and and get rid of them? He said, no, no, no, no, don't do that, because you'll pull up the good wheat with them. So let both grow to the harvest. Now notice Jesus interpretation of this parable. Notice his explanation. Very clear. In the Bible, Christ's parable of the farmer. Notice what he said. He answered and said, he that sowed the good seed, the wheat, this is the Son of Man. That's me. Jesus was saying. And the field is the world. I've got children everywhere in the world. And the good seed are the children of the kingdom. And the weeds are the children of the evil one. The ones who hold on to sin and will not let it go. The enemy that sowed them is the devil, Satan. And the harvest is the end of the world. Don't miss that. And the reapers are the angels. As therefore, the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, and so shall it be in the end of the world, the Son of Man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling and those that sin and will throw them into the furnace of fire. But did you notice what Jesus is saying? Hell, my friend, is at the end of the world. Not now. He was very clear. It's at the end of the world. The fire is not now. Now, Peter said a very similar thing when he wrote to his friends. Notice what Peter said that the day of the Lord will come, meaning this is future. This is ahead of us, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Fire. Both the earth and. And the works that are in it will be burned up. Did you notice what Peter is saying? The fire is at the end of the world. And that's when people will be burned up. So there is no one suffering in hell right now. Now that should give a tremendous sigh of relief to many of us. Nobody suffers in the fires of hell till the end of the world. That is very clear from Jesus. Not now. Is anybody in hell? Well, when hell does happen, does hell last forever? So when you think about this, these films, these books, I was in hell for what, 43 minutes or whatever it was. They never went to hell. They never went to hell because the Bible is plain. Hell is at the end of the world. That's the words of Jesus. So when hell does come, does it last forever? This is a very important question. Notice what the Bible says. And fire came down from God out of heaven. This is at the end of the thousand years. Fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. Now that word devoured means it completely consumed them so that nothing is left. The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone devoured. The Bible says this is what the Bible calls hell. The fires at the end of the thousand year period that we saw in a previous presentation. Satan and those who cling to sin are completely destroyed. Nothing is actually left, according to the Bible. Notice what the Bible says. For behold the day is coming, its future burning as a furnace. And all the proud and all that do wickedly, that is they cling to sin and hold onto it shall be stubble. And the day that is coming shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that it will leave them neither root nor branch, nothing left, completely consumed, as we said. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be. What? What's that next word? They shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make, says the Lord. Nothing could be clearer, my friend. Those who cling to sin, the fire completely consumes them and leaves just ashes. Nothing going on. Burning and burning nothing. Ashes is the very clear teaching of the Bible. But not just the people. Satan himself, according to the Bible will be reduced to ashes. Also notice in those passages dealing with the devil in the Old Testament. Notice what it says here in the Bible. The Bible says you were perfect. Talking of this, this one who was the front for the king of Tyre, the dragon devil behind him. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created till iniquity was found in you. Your O covering, Cherub, the anointing, the guardian angel. Remember your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. Pride we saw in that presentation on where this being fell. Therefore I brought fire from your midst. It devoured you and I turned you to ashes. And upon the earth you have become a horror and shall be no more forever. God is making a prediction. This is what's going to happen to this being. He's going to be reduced to ashes and he will be no more. Forever. Not roasting and toasting for eternity. He's going to become ashes. In other words, the total annihilation of Satan and all who freely choose to live without God. That's the final end. They cease to be. They don't want to live with God. They make a choice. We don't want God. We want to unplug from the very life support system of the world. You see, hell is the consequence of disconnecting from Christ, our life support system. That's what hell is. That's the consequence of that choice. The consequence of using our freedom to say no to God. Not because God wants to get even with us, but because we disengage from the life support system. We make A choice not to be plugged into that which is the source of life. Life is not found in the devil. He's a created being. Life is only found in God. And that's the consequence of unplugging. Now, why does God have a hell? Why does God have a. Have fire? Well, I think we understand enough of why we have to get rid of some things that would make things worse for others. You know, we say a rotten lemon will make the rest of the lemons rotten. A rotten apple will make the rest rotten. It's true, isn't it? You have to get rid of that which is rotten and separate it from that which is not yet rotten and don't want to become rotten. We even do it with farming animals, don't we? If there's foot and mouth disease, the herd has to be culled. We have to get rid of those which have the disease, lest they spread it to others. It's the same with God. God knows that people have made their choice. They would be miserable for eternity if he let them live. There's no joy in sin on the long term. It's only short term. It brings all sorts of heartaches and miseries. And God knows people living in his presence who hate Him. It would be like hell. So he has to put them down, and if left, they would disturb the harmony of the universe if allowed to continue on. So he puts them down. But when the fire has done its work, the fire goes out. That's very clear in the Bible. And earth becomes the site of. Of the last empire when the fire has gone out. Notice what the Bible says very clearly in Revelation. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth. Where the fire had been, in other words, had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. God's not going to make another planet. It's going to be this planet, but fixed up. Because Jesus said the the meek will inherit the earth. Now let us be very clear, my friend. God takes no pleasure and no joy in destroying those who cling to sin. That gives him no joy. He says so in the book of Ezekiel. Notice what Ezekiel said. Say to them. As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn from your evil ways. He goes on to say, for why would you die? I don't know what Bible that America's greatest theologian, Jonathan Edwards was reading, but it sure wasn't true to what the Bible really says. He said God takes pleasure. He enjoys seeing people roasting and toasting. That's not what God says. I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. No pleasure at all. Now, there are some questionable texts in the Bible that some people may wonder. But how do you reconcile what you are saying, Gary, to what some other parts of the Bible say? So let's have a look at some of those questionable texts in the Bible that seem to say something different than what I've just been sharing. How about this one? What about the idea of eternal hell fire? Doesn't the Bible talk about an eternal fire? Well, let's go to the text comes from Jesus himself. Let's notice what Jesus says then. He will also say to those on the left hand, depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Now you say that looks like a fire that never goes out because it's called an everlasting fire. Well, let's notice what the Bible says. When we go to the Bible, we discover that Sodom was to be destroyed with eternal fire according to the book of Jude in the New Testament. Notice what Jude said on this occasion. As Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, there were a number of cities, five cities of the plain as Sodom and Gomorrah. And the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of what? Eternal fire. So it says here in the book of Jude that Sodom was destroyed with eternal fire. That means on the surface it seems the fire cannot go out because it's an eternal fire. But what does Peter say? Notice what Peter says. Peter, writing to his friends, said these words and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly. So who was right? Eternal fire, says Jude. Yet Peter says these cities are turned to ashes. In fact, you can visit what many believe today is Sodom. It's in the right place there in Jordan and across from the city of AI in Israel. I've been here two or three times. It's called Tel El Hammam in Jordan, not too far from the city of Amman, the capital of Jordan. When you come here, you can see some of the things the archeologists have uncovered and discovered here, including a huge layer of ash. Whenever you see this gray bit there down from the bottom right up to the middle there, this is ash. That means there's been a lot of destruction. And they discovered that some of the things they found indicate the temperatures were enormously high, almost like what you have in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when those atomic bombs were dropped on those two cities. And, you know, everything turned completely melted plates and everything. That intense heat, well, they found the same here. Intense heat here in this place, Tel el Hammam. So what does it mean? They suffered the vengeance of eternal fire and Sodom had an eternal fire. What does it mean? It means this. The results of the fire are eternal. Not the process of the burning. It's the effects are eternal. Sodom is no more forever. It's gone. Eternal fire. That's what it means. Otherwise, Peter is contradicting Jude. One says ashes, one says eternal fire. And it's all ashes now. No, it's the effects that are eternal, not the burning. It's the punishment that is eternal, not the punishing. It's the effects of the fire that are eternal. They live no more forever, these people. Now here's another one. Someone says, but doesn't the Bible talk about an unquenchable fire? Isn't that what the Bible says? Well, yes it does, but let's go to those texts where it talks about that. Jesus is speaking again. And Jesus says these words, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. Now, he doesn't literally mean chop your hand off. He means get radical. Get rid of that stuff that's in your life. It is better for you to enter into life maimed rather than having two hands to go to hell into the fire that shall never be quenched. Well, that looks like a fire that won't go out. Someone says, well, let's come to Jerusalem. We want to come to Jerusalem 2,600, 500 years ago. This is the time when the Babylonians destroyed the city of Jerusalem. Notice what Jeremiah says of this occasion. The Bible says In Jeremiah, chapter 17, verse 27, God says, I will kindle a fire in its gates. That's Jerusalem's gates. And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and it shall not be quenched, says the Bible. Now, I visited Jerusalem a number of times, and I've been to the very places that were destroyed by the Babylonians. You can see them there. The House of the Bull, the burnt room, and so on. They even had Babylonian arrowheads and so on found in them. But it's not burning today. It's not an unquenchable fire in the sense that it never goes out, not at all. In fact, the gates. You can see the gates of Jerusalem. These are more modern gates, but underneath they've evidently found down way the gates of the old city. But it's not on fire today yet. God said I'll burn the gates with an unquenchable fire. But they're not burning. There's no fire down there. So what do we mean unquenchable? What it means is this. It means man cannot put it out. When it's done its work, it goes out, but you cannot put it out. It's unquenchable. Man cannot put it out. When it's burnt up everything, then it goes out to ashes as the Bible says. Well here's another one. What about this one? Doesn't the Bible talk about a forever fire? Isn't that in the Bible? Yes, it's right there in the book of Revelation. When we go to the book of Revelation, notice what the Bible says. The smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever. Well you say Gary, that sounds like a fire that just keeps burning and burning and burning. Well let's have a look at the way this word forever is used in the Bible. Cause we better let the Bible explain itself here. Let's go to the story of Jonah. You remember the story of Jonah? He went into the fish's belly. The Bible says. Now notice what the Bible says about this. I went down to the moorings of the mountains. He's thrown overboard by the sailors. And he goes down, down. I went down to the moorings of the mountains. The earth with its bars closed behind me forever. Was Jonah down there, down there in the bottom of the ocean forever or in the fish's belly forever? Was he there that long? No. The Bible tells us something different. In the New Testament. The Bible says, for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. Now to poor old Jonah, it might have felt like forever. But he was only there three days and three nights. In other words, forever must be interpreted upon what the Bible's talking about. Forever had a limited period of time. Right here. Three days and three nights. Here's another example, this time from the prophet Samuel. Remember the prophet Samuel? Samuel was a child that was prayed for before he was born by his mother. His mother, Hannah longed for a child. She couldn't have children. And she prayed to God. And God said, all right, I'm going to give you a child. Notice what Hannah did when this child was born, what she promised God. The Bible says Hannah did not go up. That's to the temple at this time, for she said to her husband, not until the child is weaned. Then I will take him that he may appear before the Lord and remain there for how long? Forever. Was Samuel in the house or the temple of God Forever? No. And she didn't mean forever as we understand it, on and on and on and on and on into eternity. She didn't mean that because she explains, I'm lending to the Lord forever. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he shall be lent to the Lord. So you see, forever had a time limit. According to the Bible. There it was a limited period of time. Forever. Fire. As long as the thing lasted or as long as he lived, as long as it lasts. Now, whether it goes on into eternity depends on what you're talking about. When God says you will never die, there's no death. That means you will go on and on and on into eternity. But when he's talking about the fire that going to go out and devour and people are left to ashes and the fire is quenchable, meaning it goes out once it's done its work. And it's a forever fire in the sense that its effects are forever. It's got eternal consequences for those who cling to sin. They will cease to be for eternity. They will not be here. So it's the subject and it's the context that determines the length of forever that we're talking about. If we're talking about living on and on and never dying. Well, of course it's the sense that we use it in modern times. But we must let the Bible explain what it means by the word forever, not impose upon it what we think forever always means in the Bible. It can be a limited period of time. All right, now there's a couple of things we need to understand very clearly. Eternal torment in hell denies the truth of death. You see, the Bible is very plain. The Bible says for the living know that they shall die, but the dead know nothing. Now, these people die, but people say they roast and toast on and on into eternity. Well, let me tell you, they know plenty. If that's the case. They lots of pain. They understand, they feel. That's what Jonathan Edwards said, remember? Yet the Bible is plain. The Bible is very plain. The dead do not suffer on and on and on into eternity. This teaching denies the truth of death. When a person dies, they cease to be. The dead know nothing. They can't remember anything. They have no love, they have no pain, they have nothing. They are like they're asleep, unconscious, not suffering, on and on into eternity. But there's a more serious thing about this teaching, and that is this eternal torment in hell denies the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's one of the reasons this teaching is very destructive. I want you to think of what the Bible says. Jesus is talking to Nicodemus under the night heavens there in Jerusalem. He's talking to this man who wants to know, how can I have eternal life? How can I be part of God's forever kingdom? What do I need to do to be saved? Notice what Jesus said to this man. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. God had only one son, and he gave him what for. So that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Yet, my friends, if people go to hell for eternity, they have everlasting life. They have eternal torment in hell, don't they? That's what's happening. They have life. I'll admit it's not good quality life, but it is life according to this belief. And they got it without believing in Jesus. Because you see, the Bible says the only way you get to live forever is to believe in Jesus. Yet these people didn't believe in Jesus. Yet they get eternal life in the fiery pit of hell without believing. You see, there's a problem here. It contradicts the Bible. And finally, this idea of eternal torment in hell ever on roasting and toasting. This assassinates God's character. It really does, big time. Notice what some theologians are now discovering. Exactly what the Bible teaches. Many of them are coming to the realization that what has been taught for many, many hundreds of years is not true. This is Charles Pinnock. Notice what he wrote. Everlasting torture is intolerable from a moral point of view because it pictures God acting like a bloodthirsty monster who maintains an everlasting Auschwitz. You know the fires in Auschwitz which burned up tragically the Jews, but it never goes out. He has an everlasting Auschwitz for his enemies, whom he does not even allow to die. I suppose one might be afraid of a God like that. I reckon you would, my friend, be afraid of a God who roasts and toasts people for eternity. And they never get out of it. They continue on and on like that. I guess you would fear a God like that. But what does he say? But could we love and respect him? I don't think you could, my friend. How can you love a God who delights in roasting and toasting people for eternity? Could you Love and respect him? No, you could just fear him from a fear of terror. Could we love and respect him? Anthony Flew. Now, Anthony Flew was an influential atheistic philosopher, one of the great atheists in the past. He actually became a believer. And I mentioned that in a previous presentation when he saw the way that there's fine tuned universe, but before he came to believe in a God. Notice what he said. Anthony Flew, an influential atheistic philosopher, was right to object that if Christians really believe that God created people with the full intention of torturing some of them in hell forever, they might as well give up the effort to defend Christianity. Good point, good point. Anthony Flew might as well give up defending Christianity. If that's what God is like. If he delights in roasting and toasting people and they never get out of it. They have eternal life, but they never believe. And not good quality. Something's wrong, you see. And what this writer is saying is this, listen, if this is the truth, that when you die, you go straight to hell or heaven, you go straight to hell, let's say, and you're gonna roast and toast for eternity, then if that's the truth, one day God is going to have to apologize to Adolf Hitler, of all people. Why? Well, you think about what happened in those Nazi concentration camps. They took them, mostly women and children straight away to the gas chambers and they were burned and some of them actually put in there alive, tragically, but at least the fire killed them and they were put out of their misery. But God, according to many Christians, he is going to let people roast and toast on and on and on, and the fire never goes out. They just keep being in pain on and on, zillions of years after zillions of years. And he takes great delight in it. God would have to apologize to Adolf Hitler. That's the point that Charles Pinnock is making. It makes God look like a bloodthirsty monster who maintains an everlasting Auschwitz, a concentration camp fire that never goes out. That's what he's getting at. What a tragedy, my friend, that some people have this viewpoint of God and this teaching of God as one who has a hell burning right now and is going to let that go on for eternally. It makes God looked like a monster. It assassinates the character of God. And that's why we called this presentation the assassination of God, because it destroys his character. If God's like that, he needs a savior. If God's like that, he's a monster. It happened actually in Western Australia some years ago. A farmer had all his outhouse farm buildings burnt to the ground in a fire. When he woke up the next morning, he came out to survey the damage. And as he's walking around the farm, he came across a pile of feathers. And he gave the pile of feathers a kick. And when he kicked it out, from underneath came a bunch of chickens. And the farmer, looking at that, realized, this mother hen has given her life for these chickens. He could see what must have happened was as the fire raged, mom called the chickens to get underneath her wings. And there she paid the ultimate price for her chickens. You know, it's like that with Jesus on a grander scale, because he could see that you and I would one day be consumed by the fires which will go out eventually, which when they've done their work, they will go out and earth will replace all the bad stuff. It will be a renewed earth. He could see that many people were going to one day have to suffer and be destroyed in the fire that will destroy them completely, leave them to ashes. And because of that, looking down through the ages, he made a decision. I will take their place. I will suffer the eternal separation that they will experience if they continue to hold on to sin. I will take their place so they don't have to go through that. You know, what a God we have that's running our universe. What an amazing God. Thank God there is no such thing as a hell that's burning right now. There is no such thing as a hell that will go on and on and on into eternity. No. Yes, there is a fire. But when it's done its work and destroyed those who cling to sin, it goes out and God creates a pristine new world. Thank God he's not like people picture him in this terrible teaching that's found sadly in Christianity. Let's thank God for the teaching of the Bible that helps us understand clearly what sort of a God we have. Father, we want to thank you for the Bible. We want to thank you that you help us understand very clearly here that you are not like people have said you are. You're not a bloodthirsty monster that maintains an eternal Auschwitz where people are roasted and toasted on and on. We thank youk. You're not like that. We thank youk, Lord. Yes yous do have to put away sin and sinners. You do have to have a fire to destroy them. Otherwise they would destroy the happiness of the universe. But we thank youk that Jesus gave His life so none of us ever has to be destroyed by the fire. Jesus paid the price. May we right now put our life in his hand and allow him to come into our life and say, Jesus, change me. Jesus, come in. Thank youk, Lord. When we mean that, you do that for each one of us. Bless us now in Jesus name. Amen. Well, we're so glad you were with us today in this Countdown Back to the Future presentation. Whatever you do, don't miss the next presentation where we'll be talking about global economic meltdown and the keys to financial security. Why not invite a friend to watch the presentation with you? Or send them a link. They'll be so glad that you did. We look forward to seeing you in our next presentation.
