God is Love!..God loves us soooo much that he knows if your not burning for Jesus Christ here on earth, or saying if you don't want anything to to with God, then why would he want to take you to heaven?..You would suffer more in heaven then hell because you wouldn't like being in the presence of God. God wants ALL of us to be with Him forever. He wants ALL of us to be saved!.But, it's up to YOU to make that decision. For God still LOVES us in that he would rather cease your existence then burn forever in heaven.God Bless

This has been a subject for debate for a long time. I'm torn on the issue to be quite honest, I'd like to believe that God wouldn't punish someone for eternity but who am I to say what's just and what's not.

Concerning Hell- First of all,Hell was made for the Devil and the fallen angeles,demons,God did not make it for people.Because of this,it is etenal,for this is the punishment for that being,creature,that brought open, evil rebellion aganest God.

God is not just a God of love.Hs is also a just God.Every goverening athority must impose the maximum penilty for the worce crime.
The worst thing a person can do is to reject God and His nrightousness unto death.
Satan not only rejected and rebelled aganest God but he is a mass muderer.A muderer of the human race.Because of him,all will die and all of the most ,horrific deeds ever known to man has been done by his influance.He is the distroyer of mans souls.
I don't know why you don't know the word of God better than you do.Thoes who instruct others should know the materal of which they teach.
Satans eterrnal damnation is the just penalty for his crimes.If we go there to be with him it is our own choice. God dose not send us there.There are only 2 places of chiice and sin cannot enter heaven so those who have not recieved Christ and been cleansed of sin cannot go anywhere elce. They have the nature of satan,he is thier father,they are his children so hell will be thier abode.
mark9:43-48
matt.3:10&12,13:40&42&50,18:8&9,25:41&46,Rev.20:14&15,21:8
I be3lieve that the word "everlasting" means "forever" and "forever"
There are meny more scriptures. Short----There is a Hell,it is forever,God dose not put us there. We choose to go there by rejecting christ,those there will burn forever with the falce prophet and the anti Christ.
I sugest that everyone read the Bible and believe without indocternation of any religion. Read it like it is ,believe it like it is and know that God gave His Son so that we don't have to go to that horrable place
called hell.
God bless all!!

kids wont be judged till 7 or 8 years of age? doesn't that classify as favortisim on jesus/gods part?

I'm sorry but this is all human tradition this idea of "immortal soul" or "child baptism." In the Bible you will never find the word "immortal" next to "soul" why? Because death is the end of existence, not the ticket for another life. Why use the word "death" if there was ever "life" in "death." Why would Jesus actually die for someone who's "immortal"? I'm just curious.

(Romans 7:4) "to him who was raised from the dead" Why would he need to be 'raised from the dead' if he has an 'immortal' soul? This is the sole reason why God gave Scriptures so that they would be no confusion. Some will try to interpret it their own way but here is what Isaias and Peter say:

"But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; LINE UPON LINE, line upon line; here a little, and there a little..." (Isaiah 28:13)(emphasis added)

"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of ANY PRIVATE INTERPRETATION." (emphasis added) (2 Peter 1:20)

Well, you can argue all you like but it's clear, hell or "hades" or "sheol" is not eternal. You can believe that God would not destroy anyone but ask yourself, why would the gospel be preached to all the world? Some will accept, some won't. There'll also come a time of great tribulation and during that time men will curse God rather than repenting. So will there be any excuse for sin? Not at all. Obedience leads to life, sin to death end of the matter.

The following is an excerpt from a book by the notable author Rev. CLARENCE LARKIN: "DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH" or
"GOD'S PLAN AND PURPOSE IN THE AGES"

When a man dies his soul and spirit separate from the body, and the body is laid in the grave, but the "spirit" is not "bodiless," it has what Paul calls its "Psychical" or "Soulish" body. This may be illustrated by a peach. A peach is a trinity. It is composed of the "flesh of the peach," the "stone," and the "kernel." Let the "flesh" correspond to the "body" of man, the "stone" to the "soul," and the "kernel" to the "spirit." Remove the "flesh" of the peach from the stone, and the "kernel" still has a "body," the "stone." So when a man's "body" is separated from his "soul" and "spirit" at death, the "spirit" is not "bodiless," it still has its "Soulish body." As this "Soulish body" can hear, and speak, and think, and feel, it must have some "tangible" form. It is not a "ghostlike" structure. There are doubtless limitations in its use, or there would be no need for it to recover its physical body at the Resurrection.

That there is such a thing as the "Soulish Body" is brought out in the story of the "Rich Man and Lazarus." Luke 16:19-31.

The story is not a Parable, but a description by Christ of something that really happened in the other world to his own personal knowledge. It declares that both Lazarus and the "Rich Man" died and were buried. That is, their bodies were left on the earth. What happened to them in the "Underworld" then, is descriptive of what happened to them in their "disembodied state." In that state they were conscious and the Rich Man recognized Lazarus, which he could not have done if Lazarus had not a body, not his "physical" body, he left that on the earth, but his "Soulish" body. This is proof that the "Soulish" body is not simply a body, but that in its outward form and appearance it conforms to the earthly body of the owner, otherwise he would not be recognizable in the other world. Again the "Rich Man" could see, and feel, and thirst, and talk, and remember, proving that he possessed his senses and had not lost his personality. This proves that there is no break, as "Soul Sleep," in the Continuity of Existence, or Consciousness, in passing from the "Earth- Life" to the "Spirit-Life." The one life merges into the other' just as the "infant-life" merges into the "boy-life," and at the Resurrection the "Spirit-Life" will merge into the "Resurrection-Life," just as the "boy-life" merges into the "man-life." I am just as much myself when I am stripped of my clothing, as when I had it on. So death, though it strips me of my "material" body, only changes my environment but does not destroy my Personality or BODILY FORM. CLARENCE LARKIN

Jesus is God. Part of the trinity. God the father, God the son, God the holy spirit.

Sara;
That is a interesting point.Since the men often over shadowed women , in those times. He was picked by God to raise his only Son.with out Him , Mary would have been stoned to death , for being with child.Jesus was saved from death , because of a warning in His dream.He was content to be in the back ground.But He is part of the Holy Family.

"As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you. Jesus replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."—Luke 11:28,29

Beloved,
. . There is no doubt that Mary was blessed among women. Our God found a womb from which He could come into the world. She nurished Him, she bore and raised Him from birth, she loved Him, and He loved her, and He was taught the law of God at her feet. Great was the responsibility that rested upon her. In His final breaths of life, while upon the cross, no selfish thought came into His mind; but in love and pity for the one whom He called mother, He called for His beloved disciple to care for her as if she was his mother. Our Saviour's heart went out in love at the sight of His mother's suffering; He loved her. The Law of God was fulfilled in Christ: "Honor thy father and thy mother."

. . O beloved, do not forget that Christ is from everlasting to everlasting. He formed Mary in the womb; while her substance was yet without form He knew her, and He appointed her as His chosen vessel. Mary needs a Saviour as do we. Christ died for her sins, as for ours. Christ loved her as much as He loves us! Beloved never forget the true nature of Jesus: "Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life.."—Hebrews 7:3. He was, and is, and always will be Eternal. He became a Man that He may be aquainted with our weaknesses. He is not ashamed to call us bretheren. O how little we appreciate His sacrifice! He took upon Himself our death, that we may partake of His life; He clothed Himself with our filthy rags, that we may be clothed with His righteousness.

. . O beloved, we are not to pray through Mary to intercede for us, for God Himself is eager to hear the plea of His children. Therefore Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. "The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." James 5:11. His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest. "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." Psalm 147:3. The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son.

. . Beloved, do not be afraid of strange doctrines when you hear them, but weight everything and measure it carefully to see if it is from God. And His Spirit will guide you. This is my prayer, and my thoughts on the matter.

"Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our weakness: for we know not how we should pray, as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings too deep for words"—Romans 8:26

lynda- I agree with you mary is a very good example but i don't think she's perfect but it is true that her life can be an inspiration like david', samuel's,joshua's and a lot of other historical characters of the Bible, but we shouldn't forget that Jesus is the perfect example. I always wondered why people put so much emphasis on mary rather than.... joseph for example ...

Tomaz,
maybe the way i am writing it on the computer seems that i am being rough, but i am not. I am not trying to be.
I AM SORRY TO EVERYONE.

Is she in heaven? No. sinless people do not live on this sinful world. Jesus Did NOT SIN however. He wanted to show us an example on how to live. Thats why he is our example. He intercedes for us in front of our Lord His Father. And Yes she sinner. She cant guide you. Jesus guides you. And if you are saying that that means that Jesus didn't have to come to this sinful world and die for us. It would be worthless. Do you believe that Jesus came to die for us? What Religion are you anyways? Just asking. Don't get it personal. Im Just trying to show you the way. OK.

Lynda, Ann is only telling you what is in Romans 3:23 (New International Version)

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, that includes Mary.

The focus must be on the God head. Anything else works in our enemies favor. Let us not be distracted by the traditions of man.

Your brother in Christ.

Ann
How can you think Our Blessed Mother was a sinner.
But there it goes again, Disagreeing and making a bad statement about the Blessed Mother.With statements like that Your dividing the Good side And giving Satan something to smile about.
I read the Bible and The Blessed Mother was with out sin.Of Course I don't talk to Marry. I meant I admire Her and If I ask in pray for her guidance threw Her Son Jesus , I feel I get the answers and the Strength to get threw hard times.
Hail Mary , Full of Grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are You Among women.And Blessed is the Fruit of thy whom Jesus.Holy Mary Mother of God , Pray for Us Sinners....
The is a war of good & evil . We need to remember to be mindful of this, or the evil side gains .

Dear Ann Pierre, I hope you take this as positive remark. l really think you should read Ephesians 4, where in the beginning there is a powerful line with an advice we often like to ignore. Apostle Paul says: As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own. Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other.
Lynda has her way of seing things, and I understand her, because some 15 years ago my belief system was the same as hers - that is, in my searching for God I was first baptised as an adult into catholic church. After many trials and some truly amazing stuff God has put in front of me and my wife Andreja, we realized that the adventist theology was much closer to the biblical truth. But it was a spiritual journey that took some six or seven years.
We were fortunate, that people we dealt with, went easy with us, and only gave us the information we were able to process at the time. So please, when you talk to somebody about God, consider their feelings, consider that they were presented with different ideas and belief system and this is not at all something easy to change. So go easy, and primarily - do it with a lot of patience, humbleness and love for every individual: Let your heart be on fire, but not your mouth. God works over years sometimes, and there is no need for us to rush things.
Be a good worker for God and may He be with you.
All the best,
Tomaz

you cant talk to Mary! She is Dead and just like everyone else. She was a sinner and plus the holy spirit came upon her so she can bare Jesus. Jesus is God also ( just saying).
Jesus is our exampple. He came to Earth to show us how to live. We should only look at Jesus for HE is the one that knows.

Thank you Tomaz

Tomaz;
I will always seek the truth. I will always follow Jesus. I will always Pray And talk to our Blessed Mother.{ for Our Blessed Mother was human, so she can relate to our short comings, and give me strength, from her example.}
I understand your take on this.But in my heart I still believe in our Lord God and his Son Jesus.I love that you are a devoted follower, to the law of God.
I feel I have fallen short , and I Strive to live His word.As a mere human I will never be perfect, But in the eye's of God , I am right where I should be,I work hard , I have raised my Children.I have a good Marriage, which is only possible because of the Grace of God...God has always given me the way the truth and the Light.God Has never given up on me or turned his back on me. When I was Lonely, Sad, Angry,disappointed,feeling all alone. He walked with me,Showed me the right path.
I believe in the Grace of God.So shoulder to shoulder his People will march.We will not always agree , But I love each of You in God's Name.
In this conflict with Staten and his army, We need to Walk as One to win over evil.Letting our self's divide over trivial things only helps Staten.He wants to see us disagree & part company. We each bring something to the quest to over come evil.We have our differences, which is understandable , considering we have taken different paths to reach this place in our Faith.
May God Bless You and All Soldiers in God's Army.May Our Children find their way and stay on The right path.
God bless
Each of You.

Dear Lynda, I really hope you read this, and give it a thought.
First considering purgatory - we are saved by the blood of Christ. If we accept him, confess our sins, and sin no more (try not to repeat the same wrongdoing over and over again cause that would be just hipocritical I guess :-) then we are saved without need for further cleansing. After reading and studying the topic I really don't think purgatory is a biblical concept.
About the dead mentioned - they are actually people who are still alive and living, but do not accept Christ's sacrifice or refuse to listen to their conscience (so they are dead because of their sins, dead for the future in Kingdom of God which they will not be able to enter). Check Luke 9,60 (what Jesus say's about people, who do not follow Him).
On both subjects I think you will find a good explanation in Ephesians (2nd chapter).
So, to be saved, you don't need to suffer in purgatory (I think our life is as close to it as you can get :-), you just need to accept Jesus' sacrifice and be saved by faith in Him. Do not seek the answers with people (including priests) but try to find it through your own study of the Bible, just make sure you ask God for his Spirit to help you get through it.
I sincerely hope that my writing will be of help to you and wish you to be a seeker of God's truth and kingdom.

OK, Hear it is:
I' am tired as I worked to-day. Maybe I am missing your twist on things. As I try to understand .
But I will tell you this.The Blessed Mother is Honored not worshiped.We refer to Mary as the blessed Mother of Jesus.
I do believe there is a Hell.I believe a person's Soul will or will not go to heaven.
Not every one will go to heaven. God's Final judgment will decide.
I believe that Jesus did already die, That on the 3 rd day after his death, He rose from the dead , and ascended into Heaven .I believe You can count one sin lesser than another.God made us,we are not perfect ,so even a small sin can be forgiven.You can do your best to never do wrong,But We can fail, because we are not God.
We ask for forgiveness and try harder after that.
But try to remember to strive to be free of sin, and live in God's commandments.
God bless

awww whe shouldn't be so hard on lynda i'm sure she's feeling as though everybody's against her but you know purgatory seems plausible because there is always the question "what will happen to those who didn't knew or the miscarriage babies... but i think that God will judge according to their works (of people who haven't heard the gospel), He will take into consideration if they obeyed or didnt care about His voice speaking through their conscience. But Lynda you have to know that even though your spirit is in the right place God wants us to praise Him in spirit and in truth we have to pursue the truth.

To Lynda,
Do you believe in Hell? Do you believe that Jesus is coming soon? Do you believe that Everyone is going to heaven? Do you believe that the bible says that the dead in Christ will rise first? Doesn't that mean that they are dead and not in hell, or in heaven?Do you believe that after Jesus dies thats when people will burn in hell? Think about it. If you don't believe me read the Bible for yourself and find out what God really says. Dont believe easily what others say until you find it out for yourself. That is my advice. Plus PLEASE ask for the HOLY SPIRIT so HE can GUIDE you

To Lynda and everybody else,
When someone dies, they do not go to heaven or hell. They just die. They do not know anything! Keep asking questions by the way!

Purgatory is not mentioned in the bible. I see it as a lie from the pit of hell. It was created just as was the worship of the Mother Mary. Just as this same church disregarded the Commandment "Thou shalt not make any graven image of things in heaven or on earth" , etc, and is now one of the greatest promoters of graven images in the world. All of the above cater to a weakness in the human condition. Be very careful. Yours in Christ,
RA S

Sara;
I looked up this; to explain;A priest by the name of Father M. Philipps . (whom is a Rector of St. Josephs Church in Buffalo NY.),Seems to have a handle on this topic.
The bible does not mention the word purgatory,but it says we should pray for the dead .It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead,that they may be loosed from sins. 2 March. 12. These dead cannot be the dead in heaven,because they do not need our prayers,nor the dead in hell where there is no redemption,but it means the dead who are still in purgative state.
What is purgatory?
Purgatory is a state where those go to suffer for a time,who die having venial sins,but will enter heaven when they have satisfied God's Justice for their sins.

To Lynda,
Every sin listed in the bible will cause you to go to hell. For the wages of sin is death. Point final. You cannot count some sins as less or more bad. They are all bad according to the bible. But because Jesus died we have the opportunity to be saved. And only through Jesus. Let me say something else. you can sin without it being one of the ten commandments and in the Bible. For example when God gives you explicit details on how to do things and on what to do and you disobey, thats a sin. There is no such thing as purgatory!!!!! For one thing if you love god, you want to do his will then you will ask for forgiveness of your sins. And if you really love Him, and you want to do his will, you will be very sorry for what you did then God will forgive you. Again there is no purgatory for the people example mentally challenged, or the slaves that new NOTHING absolutely NOTHING about God. you want to know what will happen to them? They just wont resurrect to get burned or saved or go to the purgatory because you have to know Jesus, testify, have faith to be saved. If your not forgiven that means that you didn't ask for forgiveness, or you didn't know God before it was preached to you or u just didn't Love God or accept Him. Wait hold on now. EVERYONE WILL KNOW, HEAR ABOUT JESUS BEFORE HE COMES BACK!!!!!!!!!! YOU WILL GET YOUR ANSWER IN THE BIBLE , REVELATION and other books in the books in the Bible AND THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECIES. And of course if there IS a purgatory that means that EVERYONE would be saved. Because the murderers also have the opportunity to ask for forgiveness and in your message you said that the unforgiven will go to Purgatory which is wrong.

Lynda- where is purgotary mentionned in the Bible?

Sara;
sounds about right.
Ann Pierre ;
It is confusing , But You seem to have the right idea. But there is a Purgatory,
for the souls not baptized or the unforgiven .
Hell is for the Very evil.Whom have murdered and so on.
If You have seeked out forgiveness and did restitution,for your sin, And God will be the final judge to weather or not your sincere, for he can not be fooled.Then you will avoid Hell.
If The Gospel and knowledge of it, has not reached a soul, like the unborn, the mentally challenged,or ordinary souls whom don't know about our Heavenly Father, they would be in Purgatory waiting till the final day of judgment from God. At that time most would be blessed by God for their Goodness.
But what we need to concentrate on is OUR souls.If You Kill a unborn Child,{ or encourage a women too.}If You Cheat on Your Husband or Wife.If You Steal, If You Lead some one to do wrong by your example. Then Your need To seek Forgiveness.If You Do and your very sincere ,Our Merry full God Will forgive You.
Sincerely Seeking God's Blessing's
Lynda

i know and believe that the ones that are not going to heaven will not get burned forever. For one, the land in which they are going to get burned will get purified and that's where the New Jerusalem will be. And for second if they get burned forever then they would not be killed. It is logical. if you get burned forever that simply means that you will not die, you will live forever and get burned. Remember, the salary of sin is death. Which means that they will not get burned for eternity.

i asked that question ( is hell eternal) to my cousin and that's what he answered i thought it was wise : "the wages of sin is death" but Jesus tooked our punishment upon himself and died on the cross for our sins and he resurrected on the third day right? So if our punishment would be eternal torture he wouldn't have resurrected, he wouldn't have came back. If he didn't resurrect, we wouldn't be saved. I think that if we die before Christ's return, we will sleep until judgement day and then all will be judged according to their faith and works...

Dear Bryan, D Escobar, Carl and anyone I may have missed. Thank-you for your critical input. Like iron sharpening iron, brothers and sisters are made white. I am going to go back to the original issue for me of the above article. The statement:

(First, hell won't exist until “the end of this world.” )

This is pointedly refuted by the scripture in 2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;

For me the above mentioned dungeon is in the earth and as most know below the crust of the earth is a mantel and core and the core is magma...very hot molten lava or "hell fire"?. My guess is that this dungeon is very close to the core of the earth therefore my presumption of heat upon those chained there. The Lazarus parable is an indicator of intense heat, but, also that it is not all consuming as will be the "hell fire" judgment.

It should actually read: First, "hell fire" won't exist until “the end of this world” with regard to judgment.

Hell exists, as we know there are angels imprisoned there awaiting the judgement of "Hell fire". 2 Peter 2:4

Revelation 19:20
But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

Revelation 20:10
And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Revelation 21:8
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

It is a small point of issue for me with regard to properly disseminating scripture amongst ourselves.

Your brother in Christ,
RA S

Hi Dotti;
I went to Google and put in the word Purgatory;
It will open your eyes.The Word Purgatory in Latin means Purgare ; to make clean, purify.
There is a Purgatory, if you read the rest of the text you will see.
May God Bless You.

RA S,
The word for Hell used there is the Greek word Tartaros. It means deepest abyss,a place of darkness, to incarcerate; In Greek mythology it was the deepest part of Hades. Angels are held prisoners on this earth, being cast out of heaven; forced to wander to and fro on it.

"Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him."--Revelation 12:9

Notice after saying the angels are in tartaros, it says they are in gloomy dungeons to be "held for judgment" Compare that with this passage were the angels saiy:

"Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?"--Matthew.

So notice that the angels are not being punished in hell today. They are reserved for that judgment which will take place at the last day.

So even if there is some place where fallen angels are held prisoners outside this earth (a doctrine which has not been revealed, and can only be inferred from obscure passages such as this one), that place is not the hell we think off. Notice these passage I put together.:

"'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."--Matthew 5

"...the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur..."--Revelation 20:10

Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels, and they are in this earth until the last day, and then they will be judged and cast into lake of fire which has been prepered for them. But the end result for them will be the same as for men:

"So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more."--Ezekiel 20:18-19

I have a Question what can you tell me about the verse in the bible that seas Is on revelation 14:9-11 it clearly states that those people will burn forever and ever just read it yoursef.

Lynda...Purgatory???
How can you put your faith in something that is not found in the Bible...in fact is pagan.

Dear RA-S

2 Peter 2:4 "cast to hell" the original greek does not actaully use the word hell it was translated into english over a thousand years later, by people who had an incorrect concept of what was originally intended.

In greek the word we now have translated as "hell" was "tartaros". This word was only used this one time in the entire sacred writtings. Our best guess is from what other scholars have deducted from other clasical / contemporarly greek writtings in that era.

Tartaros was considered the deepest holding place of Hades.

Hades was simply a greek idea where the dead were held. Jesus nor his disciples were greek, they did not believe in the greek religions, deities. What the writter in this passage was trying to imply was more likely that the evil angels were cast into the depths where they could not have ultimate control, severe limitations would be placed on them.

The concept of a burning hell is one which signifiy's that judgjent has been completed along with the sentancing, and now punishment is executed.

Interesting if you read the rest of the that particular text in context with itself, you will notice that their judgement has not actually been completed or taken place, the text makes it clear that they are in that location awaiting future "Judgement".

Yes some have made the distinction that this text and the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus indicate that Hell as popularized in today's christian circles and in the media is going on now somewhere in the universe or underneath the crust of the earth somewhere,

this is in direct conflict with many, many other bible verses which directly stipulate that, that God will reward the righteous and the wicked approptiatly At His 2nd Comming, that the wicked will eventually be destroyed, turned to ashes, burned up, be no more, a new heavans and earth will be created out of the ashes o the old.

The only logical way to reconcil these two opposing views without chucking the authority of the bible due to this apparent conflict, is to consider the possibility that Jesus was speaking a parable with the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

If eternal burning is not biblical, what is Jesus teaching in Luke 16: 19-31? I know that parables always have a meaning but was is it that Jesus is telling the pharisees in that parable?
Can anybody please help me, I don't understand that passage..

Christiana: If someone does something bad and knows that he is going to be punished for it, it is my guest and from experience that person would not want to go done alone. So is it with Satan, he is aware of his wrong and wants as many of us to perish with him. God could have destroyed Satan but then that would have made Satan's accusation against God true. Go to you tube and look at the cosmic conflict by Ps Doug. Only the people who are of an age of understanding will be judge according to their works. Babies and children up to about 7 -8 etc will not be judged on judgement day.

Hi Sara,
While Amazingfacts does has a team of evangelists that go country wide, in addition to Sacramento Central Church (Doug Batchelor's church) they also have a website where you will find a host of bible materials on every subject at: AMAZINGFACTS.ORG

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3. About Us:
> "our other websites.
You will find many other Amazingfacts websites on specific topics like hell, death, etc.

4. Also, you can search for a particular topic by typing in the search box. Do a search for "Joe Crews" you'll love his short audio sermons.

5. Watch amazingfacts.tv

You will find anything you ever wanted to know about bible truth Sara. And, don't forget to ask Jesus in prayer, He will guide your path.

God Bless in your journey to finding truth!

Carl

I agree with you Carl and i love the amazing facts ministry, but I thought they just preached and had Bible lessons is that what you're talking about the Bible studies. If I take them they'll explain the Bible's common misunderstandings?

This artical doesn't really give the question asked a complete answer..
God gave us the the gift of choice. We choose what will happen to us(heaven or hell) by what choice we make when confronted with His Son Jesus the Christ, who paid the price for our sins If we ask Him to forgive us and to come into our life and be our Lord & Savior,He forgives us. John 3:16-18 says that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condem the world, but that the world thru Him might be saved.He who believes in Him is not condemed; but he who does not belive is condemed already,because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
So The reality is that God Made a way to escape going to hell.
So it is a Chioce people make.
Jesus said" I AM The WAY The Truth and THE LIFE, NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER BUT BY ME"

I seemed to have miss referenced in my initial post. It should have been referenced to:

2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; Thank-you for your input. His peace be with you. Yours In Christ RA S

Dear friends, whatever your concern or question, the most important thing you can ever do in your life is:

~ Take it to the Lord in prayer ~

Jose Agdalapiz, Jr.

A good way to spread the message would be to simply direct them to the Amazingfacts website.

You will find on the AF website many brochures, media, and booklets to help you get the message out.

(I am not connected with AF in any way, I just know they have the truth)

Most important of all, talk to Jesus about any question you have.

Bless you brother!

RA S: Your talking about the PARABLE of Lazarus. One must make the distinction between what is physically real and a parable or illustration like the rich man and Lazarus.

The answers to ALL these confusions are clearly explained at the Amazingfacts website.

There is great confusion on the word "forever". As used in Revelation to hell, forever means the lost will be GONE forever. NOT burn forever.

Do not fall for what Satan wants you to think, that a God of love will burn his errant children forever. Satan WANTS you to think God is a sadist.

Sodom and Gomorrah were burnt with eternal fire. Are those cities burning today? absolutely not.

Again, it simply means they will never live again, to be gone forever. Please read the Amazingfacts website where truth is. Remember there is only ONE truth, the truth that Jesus taught in His first century church.

God Bless folks!

sara: Babies, no matter what their circumstance would never be condemned to hell. Whoever you heard that Satan's version of the bible from is absolutely wrong! please listen to truth. Does this even make sense to you? a God of pure love sending babies who's minds are not even developed yet to hell?

People who didn't have a chance to know the gospel, God will judge on how much they knew. If a person honestly believed a wrong gospel but they didn't know any better, God will certainly take that into consideration.

sara, please seriously go to the Amazingfacts site and study the material and you won't go wrong. The devil is hard at work spreading lies and deceptions, please do not fall for it.

God Bless!

But if Hell won't exist until the end of this world how do you explain the passages of scripture:

2 Peter 2:23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'

Luke 16:24 So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'

Those scriptures place Hell in real time and not at “the end of this world.” , as you say. How do you reconcile your conclusion with these points of scripture?

Yours In Christ,

RA S

i believe what is written i agree with it , we are all born sinners it say,s in the bible so the whole world would have burned in hell it makes no since god is love god is good only devil like people may burnif they keep believing in the devil over god!!why some one would do that? who knows i believe in the lord jesus christ died on the cross to save our sins and i will also die someday believing he has a place for me even tho i have sinned he is a fair and loving god and he know,s of me amen

this is what i think...
Why would God go through all the trouble of sacrificing His one and ONLY son if everyone is going to be saved anyway, whether they believe in Him or not?
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoeve......r believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

and if people's souls will just 'die' as in 'cease to exist' forever, what gain will the devil have? why is he fighting SOOO hard to win souls too, to make people not believe in God? just to say 'ha God you won't get all the souls you created"?
Nah, I don't think that would hurt God as much as knowing that the person He created is going to suffer forever.
It hurt God SOOOO much knowing the punishment that awaits the sinners that He gave His only begotten son to pay for our sins (who did so out of His (Christ's) own free will) through his suffering on the cross!
But we must believe in that and repent. We cant just go on living sinful lives and expect to go to heaven. There is no sin in heaven!
And God can help people live a life that conforms with His word so that they DON"T END UP in hell.

What was Adam and Eve's greatest sin?... disbelief in God peeps. That's what is keeping people out of heaven. Coupled with selfishness and pride...

"This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:49-50)
So, if you gonna just die once and for all, you just die, no weeping and gnashing of teeth necessary, maybe a bunch of screaming and then you die, you don't have time to weep. Then its going to be too late, our chance to save our souls is given to us in this life, not in the life after. Jesus died for us to believe before we physically die.
"The unsaved people in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?"" (Isaiah 33:14)
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Matthew 25:46)

Do not be deceived but "live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."(Ephesians 5:2)

Take care now peeps! and Thanks for reading! I really do mean well. God is not a mean evil God. He is not throwing people in hell because He wants to. They go to hell themselves :/
""Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it."(Matthew7:13)

Dear Sara.
Our God is a loving God - period. There is no reason for him to send unbaptised babies (I believe that is your concern) to hell, only a sick human mind could attribute something like that to him, him who sent his only son Jesus to voluntarily die on the cross on our behalf, to pay for our sins. Jesus was not baptised until he was ready to surrender himself into the active service to save us. Jewish custom was to bring the little child to the temple to present and dedicate him before God - the same was done with Jesus. God does not act as we humans do. His ways are far above ours. He does not look the man on the outside (traditions and all) but into his heart. So you can believe, you should believe, that whatever he does and will do, he will do out of his fantastic, total, absolute love for you.

Same with people that didn't recieve gospel. God presents himself not only through 1. Bible and 2. Jesus, but also through 3. nature - God's creation that inspite effects of sin still shows the majesty, splendor and beauty of his work and 4. our conscience - the tiny voice inside of us that we tend to ignore sometimes and by doing this we move ourselves further and further from God and his will. I believe you'll agree that to certain extent all the people in the world feel what is generally right and what is wrong.

So, everyone who looks for God is able to find him - one way or another.

GBWY

Do you consider yourself to be a good person? If you say yes, let's look at God's law and find out if it's true. Have you ever lied, stolen anything:(regardless of it's value), used God's name as a cuss word: that's blasphemy, and have you ever committed adultery: (Jesus said,"Whoever looks upon a women to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart"---Matthew 5:27-28; this also includes sex before marriage.)
This is only 4 of the Ten Commandments, have you kept the other ones as well? The Bible warns that all murderers, idolaters, liars, thieves, fornicators, and adulterers will end up in Hell---See Revelation 21:8;
1 Corinthians 6:9,10. God will even judge our words and thoughts.
Hell Does last Forever!! Hell isn't just a place with an absence of God's Blessings, it is Punishment for Sin! It is literal torment, Forever---
Mark 9:43-48. For more about what Jesus says about Hell, see Luke 16:19-31.
To receive the gift of eternal life (Heaven), you must Repent of your sins (turn from them), and put on the Lord Jesus Christ as you would put on a parachute---Trusting in Him alone for your salvation. That means you forsake your own good works as a means of trying to please God (trying to bribe him), And trust only in what Jesus has done for You!!
God will hear you, if you approach Him with a humble and sorrowful heart. Confess your sins to God, put your trust in Jesus to save you, and you will pass from death to life. You have God's promise on it---John 5:24.

Thank very for this amazing truth. I want to spread out this truth. but how to sharing this message?

Actually Revelations and Isaiah mentions burning forever and eternally. Not sure if it is a translation error but does make that statement. That's why there is that confusion. Personally I'm just trying to get to heaven so i don't think much about hell. rev. 20:10 ...will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Isaiah 66:24 refers to carcases and worms not dying.

Hi Sara;
I believe that in Baptism a baby or adult is blessed threw Jesus,a special grace.
I believe that a child or adult whom had no knowledge of God 's Grace is not condemned to Hell.In stead their Souls are resting in Purgatory till the last day's.When a" paraphrase" puts it that the Chaff will be weeded out ,and the Chaff falls to hell and gets burned up.But the wheat gets claimed by God and is lifted up into heaven.If the soul is evil ,it is the Chaff.If a soul is good it is the Wheat.Knowledge of good & evil gives you the right & wrong,in life.
Knowing Jesus And living his word gives You Eternal Life.[ Your body would turn to dust,after death, But You Soul will live for ever. ]

I really agree with you! I know my God wouldn't take pleasure in torturing people but I have a question though some people say that miscarriage babies and babies who died very soon after they were born will go to hell I personally think God should be able to know if they would've turned out alright or mean... or God would act as if they were never born let them sleep forever or something. My second question is what about people who just didn't have the chance to receive the gospel because us christian didn't do our job very well...