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UNDERSTANDING THE END TIMES: THE LAKE OF FIRE
BY CHARLES F. STANLEY
But some believers find this hard to reconcile with biblical teachings
about God’s love, forgiveness, and grace.
They consider it excessive for a God of love to send people to hell
forever.
After all, they reason, how can 70 or 80 years of
sin merit an eternity of torment?
That question reveals an error in their understanding of sin and God’s
nature.
If man’s eternal destiny were a matter of counterbalancing his bad
deeds with good, these questions might have some merit.
If hell were part of a system that allowed a person to repay the Lord
for sin, 70 years versus eternity would seem disproportionate.
If God arbitrarily decided the rules about who goes to heaven or hell,
we would have good cause to call His fairness into question.
But hell is a reality because we have an incompatibility problem.
God’s holiness cannot coexist with man’s wickedness. And no amount of
time spent away from His presence will change that.
The rules that determine who goes to heaven and hell are established
by God’s holy nature.
It is hard for us to grasp the power and awesomeness of His glory and
holiness.
John — who also knew Jesus well — saw the Savior in all His divine
splendor and fell down like a dead man (Revelation
1:16-17 - New American Standard Bible).
Why? He was overwhelmed by the magnificence of God.
The only solution to this dilemma is for the Lord to change us, which
is the very reason Christ came and died — to pave the way for change in our
very nature.
Those who accept Jesus’ death as the payment for their sin are made
holy (2 Corinthians 5:21 - New American Standard
Bible).
That is why we who believe in the Savior are referred to as saints,
and the Holy Spirit is able to dwell in us.
At salvation, there is a fundamental change in our nature, and we
become one with Jesus Christ.
Those who reject the gift of salvation go to hell because their
natures are incompatible with heaven.
The quantity or severity of their sins doesn’t send them there. The
problem is that they have not been cleansed of sin, so they remain unholy.
Although hell isn’t the most pleasant topic discussed in the Bible,
there is some good news about it.
Like heaven, hell will not be the same for everyone there.
On one occasion when Jesus was sending His disciples out to preach in
the surrounding villages, He made a notable comment about the final judgment:
“Whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its
streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe
off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has
come near.’ I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than
for that city” (Luke 10:10-12 - New American Standard
Bible).
The phrase “more tolerable” indicates that there will
be different degrees of punishment.
The judgment — and hell — will be more unbearable for some than for
others.
Because they had been exposed to more teaching and miracles, people
from the towns visited by Christ’s disciples would be held more accountable
than the residents of Sodom — having received more truth, they had less excuse
for not believing.
In John’s description of the final judgment, we find further evidence
for hell not being the same for everybody: “And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them;
and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds” (Revelation 20:13 - New American Standard Bible).
What a person does in this life does not determine where he
will go when he dies, but it does affect what it will be like when
he gets there.
The Bible doesn’t elaborate on how punishment in hell will differ from
one person to the next. Neither does it outline which sins will incur a greater
punishment.
All we know is that before handing down a sentence, Christ will take
into account the type of life each person lived.
Now, this in no way implies that hell will be a good place for
anybody. People in hell will forever be separated from God and all that is
good.
As much as I dislike the idea, I do believe that the lake of fire
(hell) is a real, literal place.
And as hard as it is to grasp, I do accept the Bible’s teaching that
people will eventually be sent to remain there for eternity.
I believe this because of the sacrifice Jesus made.
If He had not thought hell was real, He would not have gone to
such extreme measures to pay the price for humanity to avoid it.
His belief was so deep, and His mission so clear, that it drove Him to
leave His throne in glory and die an excruciating death.
So how should you respond? Christ’s desire to rescue you from hell
motivated Him to give His life for you.
If you haven’t already accepted His sacrifice on your behalf, I
encourage you to do so.
Jesus wants to cleanse you of sin and give you a brand-new life.
Confess your wrongdoing to the Lord, ask Him to forgive you, and
invite Him to be the leader of your life. Then you can be sure of spending
eternity in the God’s presence.
If you are already a follower of Jesus, let His sacrifice motivate you
to reach out to and pray for lost people.
Ask God for divine opportunities to share about new life in Christ.
Allow the Lord to speak through you and use you to rescue people from eternity
without Him.
Charles F. Stanley is the founder of In
Touch Ministries and a New York Times best-selling author.
While his teaching is transmitted throughout the world to millions of people,
Dr. Stanley has been said to demonstrate a practical, keen awareness of
people's needs and provide Christ-centered, biblically-based principles for
everyday life.
Dr. Stanley’s motivation is best represented
by the truth found in Acts 20:24, “Life is worth nothing unless I use it for
doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the
Good News about God's mighty kindness and love.” This is because, as he says,
“It is the Word of God and the work of God that changes people’s lives.”
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