(#473) Romans 15 - The Lake of Fire is a Choice, Not a Punishment From God.

Class Outline:

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Eternal torment is a penalty we choose by not making one decision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome To 

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries… a small, intimate, and local Christian Church with worldwide impact.  My name is Pastor Rory Clark.  At Barah Ministries, our God is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We make a difference by teaching the Word of God from God’s perspective, and not from man’s perspective…because how God sees things is very different from how we see things. 

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - The Lake of Fire is a Choice, Not a Punishment From God

 

Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 9 creates an immediate dilemma for the unbeliever, for the atheist, for the agnostic…it says…

 

SECOND PETER 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise of salvation, as some accuse Him of, instead He is patient toward you unbelievers…NOT WISHING FOR ANY OF YOU TO PERISH in the Lake of Fire but for all of you to come to repentance (a change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).

 

Thanks to Satan, the enemy of God, and thanks to his principle strategy against the human race…religion…people think of God as a punishing God rather than as who He is…a God who loves all of us unconditionally. So, if GOD IS NOT WILLING FOR ANYONE TO GO TO THE LAKE OF FIRE, why do so many people spend eternity there?  In today’s lesson, we’ll learn more about the Lake of Fire, and we’ll see that spending eternity in the Lake of Fire is simply God allowing your choice…it is not a punishment from God.

In the opening of every lesson at Barah Ministries, we learn something about God.  Today, a reminder that God is ALWAYS there for you!

 

There are so many things that bother us as human beings.  There are so many things we allow to get in the way of being the amazing creatures God intends for us to be.  God wants us to know He is there for us through all of these things.

 

When we are burdened by something, what is our typical response? We go inside of ourselves looking for answers.  We hide inside of ourselves.  How well does that work?  It really doesn’t.  There are no answers inside of us… at least no answers that are supportive of our sanity. The Lord tells us what to do when we are weighed down with the trials of this life in Matthew, Chapter 11, Verse 28…He says…

 

MATTHEW 11:28 “COME TO ME…all of you who are weary (tired from the day-to-day toil)…COME TO ME…all of you who are heavy-laden (loaded down with mental burdens)…and I (the Lord Jesus Christ) will give you rest for your souls.”

 

There is no rest finer than soul rest…and that is the rest that comes from God.  You can’t get soul rest from sleeping.  All the comforts we want as human beings we typically seek from people or things.  We want to talk about our problems…we want to “communicate” … and that typically makes things worse.  The comfort we seek is only readily available from God.  When we go to God’s Word there is rest for our souls, in every situation we face.  There is a divine solution for every human problem.

 

When others put us down…the Lord says, in Psalm 9, Verse 9…

 

PSALM 9:9 I will be a stronghold for the oppressed…a stronghold in times of trouble…

 

When we self-sabotage… the Lord says, in Psalm 46, Verse 1…

 

PSALM 46:1 I am your refuge and strength…I am a very present help in times of trouble.

 

When there is too much month at the end of the money…the Lord says, in Matthew, Chapter 6, Verses 31 and 33…

 

MATTHEW 6:31 “Stop worrying…saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’”

 

Instead…

 

MATTHEW 6:33 “Seek first My kingdom (salvation) and My righteousness (sanctification)… and all these other things will be added to you.”

 

When we engage in “stinking thinking” … a fixed mindset…the Lord says, in Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 2…

 

ROMANS 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world’s system of thinking…instead, keep on being transformed by God through the renewing of your mind (with biblical thought) … so that you may be able to prove through testing what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is...

 

When we give up on ourselves…the Lord says, in Deuteronomy, Chapter 31, Verse 8…

 

DEUTERONOMY 31:8 “I am the one who goes ahead of you…I will be with you…I will not fail you or forsake you…so do not fear or be dismayed.”

 

When we are obsessed with the past, especially our mistakes…the Lord says in Philippians, Chapter 3, Verses 13 and 14…

 

PHILIPPIANS 3:13 Brethren, I (Paul) do not regard myself as having laid hold of spiritual maturity yet…but one thing I do…forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead…

 

PHILIPPIANS 3:14  …I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God the Father in union with Christ Jesus.

 

When we are overly concerned with the opinions of others…the Lord says, in Proverbs 29, Verse 25…

 

PROVERBS 29:25 The fear of man (especially his opinions of you) brings a snare (an animal trap)…but the one who trusts in the Lord will be exalted (in due time).

 

When we procrastinate the vital things in this life…the Lord says, in Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 28…

 

ROMANS 8:28 And we know that God the Father causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him…to those who are called according to His purpose.

 

So, when you are down, and troubled, and you need a helping hand…as James Taylor would sing…remember that you have a friend in the Lord.

 

June Murphy will be recording her fifth CD this month…here’s one of her new songs…being heard for the first time!  It’s called YOU CAN’T UNDO THE CROSS.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

YOU CAN’T UNDO THE CROSS

June Murphy

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Thank you for giving us the Bible so that we can understand You and Your exact thinking…thank you for sending Your uniquely born Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to shed His blood and to die on a Cross so that we can have eternal life in union with Him…thank you for God the Holy Spirit whose enabling power helps us grow by means of Your grace through the knowledge of You…

 

Give us the courage to evangelize…help us to tell people the good news concerning what Your Son did to save them…bring us the hearers of Your messages and set the divine appointments that put us in a position to share Your Word…open the hearts of those to whom we evangelize so that they are receptive to the truth You want to share with them through us…

 

…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s

name...Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - The Lake of Fire is a Choice, Not a Punishment From God

 

We continue our study of Romans, Chapter 15, Verses 14 to 21…and we are parked on the subject of evangelism.  Specifically, we’re looking at what the Bible has to say about hell…The Lake of Fire.

 

The Bible divides creatures into two categories…BELIEVERS…those who have made the decision to count on a relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for their salvation…and UNBELIEVERS…those who have rejected a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

By rejecting a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, unbelievers are choosing to live in The Lake of Fire for all eternity.  Hebrews, Chapter 9, Verse 27 says…

 

HEBREWS 9:27 …it is appointed for men to die physically once…and after this comes the evaluation…

 

Thus, prayers for the dead are pointless.  Genealogies are pointless.  Once a person is dead, it is either heaven or hell based on their decision about a relationship with Jesus Christ.  

Here’s how the Bible describes hell…also known as The Lake of Fire… Mark Chapter 9, Verse 43…

 

MARK 9:43 …to go into hell…into the unquenchable fire…

 

Mark, Chapter 9, Verses 48 and 49…

 

MARK 9:48  “…where the worm (the internal torment) of those who are there does not die…and where the fire (the external torment) of those who are there is not quenched.”

 

MARK 9:49  “For everyone who is there will be salted with fire (they will be preserved for an eternity of fiery judgment).”

 

For unbelievers, their final evaluation has a name…it’s called The Great White Throne Judgment…Revelation, Chapter 20, Verses 11 to 15…

 

REVELATION 20:11 Then I (John) saw a Great White Throne and the Lord Jesus Christ who sat upon it…from whose presence earth and heaven fled away…and no place was found for them to live.

 

REVELATION 20:12  And I saw the (wicked) dead (not the righteous dead)…the great (the famous) and the small (the not so famous)…standing before the Great White Throne, and books were opened…one of which is the Book of Life…and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

 

REVELATION 20:13  And the sea gave up the (wicked) dead which were in it…and death and Hades gave up the (wicked) dead which were in them…and the (wicked) dead were judged… every one of them…according to their deeds (not according to their sins).

 

REVELATION 20:14  Then (spiritual) death and Hades were thrown into The Lake of Fire. This is the second death…The Lake of Fire.

 

REVELATION 20:15  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into The Lake of Fire.

 

Eternal condemnation by conscious choice.  When confronted with the sober nature of the gospel message, many people ask the question, “What if a person didn’t know about Jesus Christ?” The Bible answers their question in Romans, Chapter 1, Verses 18 to 23…

 

ROMANS 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and against the unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness…

 

ROMANS 1:19  …because that which is known about God is evident within those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness…for God made knowledge of Himself evident to them.

 

ROMANS 1:20  For since the creation of the world the Lord Jesus Christ's invisible attributes, His eternal power, and His Deity, have been clearly seen by all mankind…being understood through everything that has been made in the entire created universe…so that all mankind, especially those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness are without excuse in the matter of knowing there is a God.

 

Jesus Christ is God and He makes Himself visible in ways that make sense to all mankind.

 

ROMANS 1:21  For even though those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness knew there is a God…they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him for creating them…instead, they engaged in futile speculations about God… and their foolish heart was darkened.

 

ROMANS 1:22  Professing to be wise, those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness became fools…

 

ROMANS 1:23  …and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for idols in many forms…they worshipped corruptible man…they worshipped birds…they worshipped four-footed animals…they worshipped crawling creatures. 

 

What is the lifestyle of the unbeliever?  Revelation, Chapter 21, Verse 8…

 

REVELATION 21:8 “But for the cowardly and UNBELIEVING and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars (as a lifestyle)…their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

 

The counterfeit trinity will be in the Lake of Fire as well…the beast…the false prophet…and Satan…Revelation, Chapter 19, Verse 20…

 

REVELATION 19:20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image…these two were thrown alive into The Lake of Fire which burns with brimstone.

 

Satan joins the beast and the false prohet in The Lake of Fire…Revelation, Chapter 20, Verse 10…

 

REVELATION 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into The Lake of Fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also…and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

 

When we return from our five-minute break, we’ll take the offering and then we’ll continue our look at The Lake of Fire.

 

 

FIVE MINUTE BREAK

Unconditional Love

Donna Summers

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - The Lake of Fire is a Choice, Not a Punishment From God

 

Matthew, Chapter 22, Verses 35 to 39 say…

 

MATTHEW 22:35 A lawyer asked the Lord a question, testing Him…

 

MATTHEW 22:36  “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Mosaic Law?”

 

MATTHEW 22:37  And the Lord said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” 

 

MATTHEW 22:38  “This is the great and foremost commandment.”

 

MATTHEW 22:39  “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor unconditionally as you love yourself…unconditionally.’”

 

One of the Greek words that describes a gift is the word charisma.  You are demonstrating charisma when you make giving a habit.  Great things come from God to those who remember to love others with their gifts, the same way they love themselves.  Let your giving today reflect your love for the Lord and your love for others.

 

Let’s welcome Deacon Denny Goodall with today’s offering message.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

REVELATION 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into The Lake of Fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also…and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

 

OFFERING SONG

THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU

David Bauer, Instrumental

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - The Lake of Fire is a Choice, Not a Punishment From God

 

One of the best words to describe God is in our next song by Rich Mullin…AWESOME GOD. 

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

AWESOME GOD

Rich Mullin

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - The Lake of Fire is a Choice, Not a Punishment From God

 

Welcome back!

 

First Thessalonians, Chapter 1, Verses 6 to 10 describe who will be in The Lake of Fire…this place absent of the presence of the Lord…

 

FIRST THESSALONIANS 1:6 …it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you…

 

FIRST THESSALONIANS 1:7  …and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels (the elect angels) in flaming fire…

 

FIRST THESSALONIANS 1:8  …dealing out retribution to those who do not know God the Father and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

 

FIRST THESSALONIANS 1:9  These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power…

 

FIRST THESSALONIANS 1:10  …when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day…and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.

 

God is omnipresent…He is able to be everywhere simultaneously. Unfortunately for those who go to The Lake of Fire, He is present in all the ways they wouldn’t want Him to be…His power is there…His Word rules…no one can hide from Him…His fierce and completely righteous anger, described as wrath, is quite present.

 

What is absent is all the things about Him anyone would want to be present.  In other words, He is absent in all the ways you would not want Him to be absent.  God allows this eternal torment.  Matthew, Chapter 10, Verse 28…

 

MATTHEW 10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul…rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

 

What is the end like?  Matthew, Chapter 13, Verses 49 and 50

 

MATTHEW 13:49 So it will be at the end of the age…the elect angels will come forth and take out the wicked (unbelievers) from among the righteous (believers in. Christ)…

 

MATTHEW 13:50  …and will throw them into the furnace of fire…in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

For the believer in Christ, the opposite happens at the end…Psalm 16, Verse 11…

 

PSALM 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life…in Your presence is fullness of joy…in Your right hand, there are pleasures FOREVER.

 

In John, Chapter 17, Verses 24 to 26…the real Lord’s Prayer…Jesus says…

 

JOHN 17:24 “Father, I (the Lord Jesus Christ) desire that my believers also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me unconditionally before the foundation of the world.”

 

JOHN 17:25  “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You…yet I have known You…and these have known You that You sent Me…”

 

JOHN 17:26  “…and I (the Lord Jesus Christ) have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the unconditional love with which You loved Me may be in them…and I indwelling them.”

 

Matthew, Chapter 25, Verse 46 says…

 

MATTHEW 25:46 “These (unbelievers) will go away into eternal punishment (penalty)…but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

 

False teachers and religions spread lies about The Lake of Fire.  Take the Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example. Here’s an excerpt from their doctrine…

 

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES ON THE LAKE OF FIRE

The five Bible verses that mention “the lake of fire” show it to be a symbol rather than a literal lake.  For example, the Bible says that Jesus has “the keys of hell and of death,” showing that he has the authority to release people from the death brought by Adam’s sin.  

 

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES ON THE LAKE OF FIRE

However, neither Jesus nor anyone else has a key to the lake of fire.

That symbolic lake represents eternal punishment in the form of

 permanent destruction.​

 

The Bible says these thoughts are a lie.  Revelation, Chapter 1, Verses 17 and 18…

 

REVELATION 1:17 When I (John) saw Him (the Lord Jesus Christ), I fell at His feet like a dead man. And the Lord placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid…I am the first (the alpha) and the last (the omega)…

 

REVELATION 1:18  …and I am the resurrected (still living) One…and I was dead…and behold, I am alive forevermore…and I (alone) have the keys (the authority over) death and of Hades.

 

It is Jesus who throws death and Hades into the Lake of Fire.  Nahum, Chapter 1, Verse 6…

 

NAHUM 1:6 Who can stand before the Lord’s indignation?  Who can endure the burning of His anger?  His wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken up by Him.

 

So before we go around calling God a punishing God…check your choices.  It is not His will that anyone go to the Lake of Fire.  And as for us, The Lake of Fire isn’t a fate we would wish on our worst enemy.

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

The closing moments of our study are for the benefit of anyone who does not have a personal relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We want you to know that GOD WANTS YOU. 

 

What does God want for you?  Two things.  First Timothy, Chapter 2, Verses 3 and 4…

 

FIRST TIMOTHY 2:3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of the God who is our Savior…the Lord Jesus Christ…

 

FIRST TIMOTHY 2:4  …who wants all men to be saved and who wants all men to come to the knowledge of the truth.

 

First and foremost, GOD WANTS YOU TO BE SAVED.  Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 9 affirms His intentions for you…

 

SECOND PETER 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise of salvation, as some accuse Him of, instead He is patient toward you unbelievers…not wishing for any of you to perish (in The Lake of Fire) but for all of you to come to repentance (a change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).

 

This immutable and irrevocable fact may contradict the thoughts placed in your head by God’s enemy, Satan, who contends that God is always looking for ways to come down on you.

 

Are you saved? 

 

Second, GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW THE TRUTH.  So, God provides you with the Bible…which contains the absolute truth…His exact thinking.  John, Chapter 20, Verses 30 and 31…

 

JOHN 20:30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book (the bible) …

 

JOHN 20:31  …but these things written here (in the bible) have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah)…the Son of God in human form…and that by believing in Him you may have the resurrection life in Hisname.

 

Do you know the truth about God?

 

Maybe you don’t believe in the Lord Jesus Christ…and maybe you don’t think the Bible is His exact thinking.  Maybe you don’t even think you need to be saved.  The bible says that being saved…salvation…is exactly what all humans need from the moment of physical birth.  Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verse 1…

 

EPHESIANS 2:1 At physical birth, all mankind were born spiritually dead in trespasses and sins…

 

First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22 says…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22a For all in union with Adam at physical birth (and that is every human who comes to earth) are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…

 

The bible says you need to be saved when you are spiritually dead.  The Lord Jesus Christ volunteered for the task of saving you.  Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verses 4 and 5 say…

 

EPHESIANS 2:4 But God the Father…being rich in mercy…because of His great unconditional love with which He loved all of us…

 

EPHESIANS 2:5 …even when we were spiritually dead in our transgressions…made us believers in Christ spiritually alive in union with Christ…by grace you have been saved…

 

When you were spiritually dead…when you were ungodly, unrighteous unbelievers…here’s what God the Father planned for you…Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 8…

 

ROMANS 5:8 But God the Father demonstrates His own unconditional love toward all mankind, in that while we were yet sinners (as spiritually dead, ungodly, unrighteous unbelievers), Christ died as a sacrifice for us.

 

Who is this God who saves you?  The apostle Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ…in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verses 3 and 4… 

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:3 For I (Paul) delivered to you as of first importance what I also received… that it was Jesus Christ who died for our sins according to the Scriptures…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:4  …and that He was buried…and that He was raised from the dead on the third day…according to the Scriptures…

 

Because of the Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, right where you sit right now, you can have eternal life…the resurrection life…by simply taking the suggestion in Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…

 

ACTS 16:31  “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

You would also do well to heed the warning in John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…

 

JOHN 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life right at that moment… but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life…instead the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”

 

If you reject a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, eternity will not go well for you.  Acts, Chapter 4, Verse 12 says…

 

ACTS 4:12 “…there is salvation in no one else…for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).”

 

You don’t have to work to be saved…it’s a free gift from a gracious God… Titus, Chapter 3, Verse 5…

 

TITUS 3:5 The Lord Jesus Christ saved us…not on the basis of deeds which we have done in self-righteousness…but according to His mercy…by the washing of regeneration and through the renewing by God the Holy Spirit…

 

There is no excuse for not knowing how to be saved.  It’s SO simple.  Why?  It’s simple because God does the saving for you.  All you have to do is invest your gift of faith…a gift you received from a loving God…and place that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation.  Do it now!  There is no time to waste.

 

When you come before God to ask for salvation, you don’t have to dress up! Crystal Lewis says in song…COME JUST AS YOU ARE!

 

CLOSING SONG

COME JUST AS YOU ARE

Crystal Lewis 

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

Thanks for coming!

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Thanks for listening!

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