Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: Seek ye first the kingdom of God. He has to be first above anything in my life. And when he becomes number one in my life, then I can walk by the Holy Spirit. I can have the peace of God in my life and I don't have to worry about hell. That's for people that don't know him, people that are walking in the flesh.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Today, as we continue our study of what the Bible says about life after death, it's good to have you with us. Considering Jesus' clear teachings on heaven and hell, Raul will urge us to choose eternity with God. You'll see that the Lord doesn't want anyone to experience separation from him, and he invites us all to receive his gift of an eternal home in heaven. Here is Raul Ries now with our study, The Person Who Studies Hell.

Raul Ries: Let's begin by chapter 21 of Revelation, beginning with verse five. John says, "Then he who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new,' speaking of Jesus. And he said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.' And then he said to me, 'It's done. I am the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, the end. And I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who is thirsty.

He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.'" Hell is mentioned more by Jesus than any other prophet or any apostle, Jesus in the New Testament. I don't know where you're heading. I don't know who you've chosen.

Church doesn't save you. Denominations don't save you. Nobody can save you, I don't care what denomination you are, what religion you are. There's only one way, one truth, and one life, and that's Jesus. He's the only one. A lot of times you get people come to church, and they come because they want to be religious. But you can be all religious that you want to be, but you need a relationship.

And that relationship comes through Jesus Christ as you repent, as you have a new life, and then the grace of God in your life. Then you've got to find out about eternity. What happens in eternity? The first time we have a mention of hell in New Testament, it's out of the words of Jesus. Passages given to us, you'll begin to see that those passages that God gives to us are those passages that are going to warn you before you know about that place.

So when you know, to much is given, much more is required. By you coming here on Sundays or Wednesdays, whenever, maybe your first time here, but anytime you step into a place where they teach the word of God, you are responsible. You're held accountable. Well, you say, "Well, if I only came one time," you're still accountable. Once you get a little taste of the gospel, you're accountable. It'd be better off never to hear the gospel.

Jesus in Matthew 5:21-22 said, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder. Whoever murders will be in danger of judgment.' But I say unto you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, 'Raca, fool,' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be in danger of hell and fire."

So Jesus wants to make sure that we understand that our communication can send us to hell. You've heard people cuss all the time. We used to do that when we were in the world. But as Christians, we've had a change of speech. We're reading, we're praying, we're listening to music, different lyrics. So we're getting brainwashed in a way.

So sometimes you'll be vacuuming or whatever, and you're singing this song that you learned in church or here on radio. It is a song of worship. And all of a sudden you start worshipping the Lord. And that's what God desires within our lives. Hell is a place of fire. In Matthew 25:41, Jesus said, "Then he will also say to those on his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'"

God never made hell for us, for man, but for the devil and his angels. Man chooses hell by his own choice, by his own will. You can't ever blame God you send me to hell. He never sent you to hell. You send yourself to hell. And when you get to hell, you'll wait a period of time, and then you'll cast yourself into the lake of fire. Your name won't be found in the book of life.

And so Jesus here is preparing the way. Job 14:14 says, "If a man dies, will he live again?" Question. "All the days of my struggle I wait until my change comes." See, there's a change coming. For us, we're going to have a brand new body. This shell, this little shell here, this tent that is getting old. If you've been camping a long time, you know you have a tent and all of a sudden you use it all the time and pretty soon it's got little holes. It starts raining and the actual leak comes to the tent. You start getting wet. It's time to get a new one.

So our tent, our body, when it dies, it goes back into the ground and we receive a new body. The moment you take your last breath, you have a new body. And it's incredible when Jesus describes hell through the scriptures because when he describes it, he wants us to really catch that picture so that we now know the truth. In Matthew 5:29, Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you.

For it is more profitable for you that one of your eyes or members perish, than for you to have your whole body cast into hell." He's not literally saying, "Go home, pluck your eye, cut your arm off, your leg off." He's talking about an illustration, how to get rid of your sin. Get rid of your sin. Don't have your sin. Get rid of it.

And he goes on not only to declare that the body is not going to be there when you die, but in Matthew 16:18, this is Jesus speaking to Peter. "And I also say to you, Peter, that you are Peter, and on this rock," he looks at this big old rock. When you go to Israel, you'll see that. "This rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against us."

So he picks up a little stone, he says, "Peter, you're this little stone. You see that big rock? That's me. I'm going to build my church. I'm going to use you to build my church." And by the way, Peter was never the Pope. They're lying to you. He was just a common person like you and me that God used like he uses you, any one of us here.

And it's important because in Revelation 1:18, it says, "I am he who lives. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. He died, he rose. Amen. And I have the keys," notice keys plural, "of Hades and death. I control death. I have the key." There's a lock that when you come to the last chapter, and you come to the last seven years of world history, Satan, between that 43-period of judgment before we go into the kingdom, the Lord takes that lock, unlocks it, and throws Satan in that pit and locks the door.

Until after a thousand years, he goes and unlocks it, says, "Go, and go attempt one more time." And he goes into the kingdom at the end and tempts people and deceives people. But Satan's controlled by the Lord. There's only one Satan, but he has a lot of army. He has a big old army. One-third of heaven fell with Satan. How many millions? I don't know.

Two-thirds of the angels are with the Lord in heaven. So imagine the army that the Lord has. At the second coming, he's coming with you, he's coming with me, and he's coming with his angels, and we're riding upon white horses, and he's leading the battle. All these things we have in scripture as we are being taught about hell. It's a place of damnation.

In Matthew 23:33, he says, "You snakes, you brood of vipers, how will you escape being condemned to hell?" And then when he speaks about the fire in Mark 9:43-48, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed, than with two hands and go to hell where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell where their worm doesn't die and the fire is never quenched." So again, the illustration. Get rid of your sin, or you'll end up in hell.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. We'd like to take just a moment and remind you that we're here to equip you with biblical truths that will solidify your faith and guide you in step with God. Visit somebodylovesyou.com for resources, including Raul's insightful four-part Heaven or Hell series on CD and USB. Now back to more with Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: And then the portion of scripture Jesus spoke about three times: fire. The word of God is unquestionable here teaching us that hell is real and it has fire and brimstone. You can't get away from that. And hell was created for Satan and his angels, and yet we, people, make the choice to go to hell. Imagine.

So simple to go to heaven. You have to believe, repent, believe, read the word of God, feed upon God's word. You start developing and growing, and then you share with other people. You're pulling them out of the fire, like Jude said in the last chapter, verse 23. He says, "Some of them reach down and get them out of the fire." Can you imagine how many people are on their way to the fire?

And we have the truth. Our families, our friends, our enemies, those that we work with, those that we go to school with, young people. And when you do that, you're doing what God called you to do. You're an ambassador, you're a servant, you're a real Christian. It's not about being religious, but it's about having a relationship with him, a personal relationship with him.

In Matthew 25:41, he says, "Then he will say to those on his left side, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" The Hebrew word Sheol is found 65 times in the Old Testament. 31 times it's translated hell, 31 times grave, and three times translated the pit. So Sheol, hell, grave, and pit. Those are the titles.

In the New Testament, the corresponding word in the Greek here is Hades, speaking of death, Sheol, hell. Ten times it's used. In the Old Testament Sheol, in the New Testament Hades, have the same meaning: the unseen state of the underworld. Imagine as we sit here today, straight down the earth, in the middle of the earth, is hell.

People screaming, yelling, wanting to get out, they can't get out. For eternity they're there for a while because later on, they're going to be thrown into the lake of fire with the Antichrist, the false prophet, every demon, Satan himself, and death. So for me, it's important to teach this to the body that I love, to you. I don't want any one of you to go to hell.

I want you to go to heaven where we'll all be one day together forever and ever as the Lord will be our shepherd, will be our Lord and our savior. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Gnashing of teeth.

Very descriptive. I mean, he gave it to us straight on. He didn't wash it down. He says, "This is the way it is, and you can't avoid it if you're going to go there." Revelation 9:1-2, the fifth trumpet, "I saw a star, an angel, that had fallen from the sky to the earth. And the star was given a key to the shaft or the abyss," that's where the demons are kept.

"And when he opened the abyss, smoke came out of there like the smoke of a giant furnace. The sun and the sky would become dark by the smoke of that abyss." Imagine that. When the abyss is opened, the smoke will come out. Revelation 14:11 says, "And the smoke of the torment rises forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast Antichrist and his image, and for anyone who receives the mark of his name in the tribulation period."

And then the punishment for the wicked is what? It's eternal. Revelation 19:20, "And then the Antichrist was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived the whole world and received the mark and the beast and those who worshipped the image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone."

In Matthew 25:41, he says, "Then he will say to those on his left side, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil his angels.'" Psalm 90:1-2, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God, mighty God."

Revelation 4:9, 10, and 11, "Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to Jesus who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fell down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever, and they lay their crowns before the throne and said, 'You are,' and this is so cool because we'll be there, 'you are worthy, our Lord our God, to receive all the glory and all the honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they were created and have been brought forth.'"

We will be there in the presence of God. Revelation 5:14, "The four living creatures said, 'Amen,' and the elders fell down and they worshipped the lamb." Revelation 10:6, "And he swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said there will be no more delay."

Seek ye first the kingdom of God. He has to be first above anything in my life. And when he becomes number one in my life, then I can walk by the Holy Spirit. I can have the peace of God in my life and I don't have to worry about hell. That's for people that don't know him, people that are walking in the flesh. People that come to Christ and they go back to drugs, go back to alcohol, go back to all these things that the Lord brought you out of, erased your record, and you're going back like the dog going back to his own vomit, Peter said.

You don't want to be like that. The Lord brought you out of the mud. You're not eating your own barf. God has given you manna, bread from heaven right here, bread from heaven so you can grow spiritually. And people can see your growth in Jesus Christ. And that's why in the book of Matthew 11:20-24, Jesus said, "Then Jesus began to denounce the cities which were most miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.

Woe unto you, Chorazin. Woe unto you, Bethsaida. If the miracles that were done or performed in you had been performed in Tyre or Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will be lifted up for the skies? No, you will be going down to the depths. If the miracles they were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

The judgment of God is great. People don't realize it. It's tremendous. The grace of God is so wonderful. The peace of God, the mercy of God, all these things that God blesses us with as believers. And when he blesses you, when he blesses me, people look at our lives and they go, "How, why are you so happy?"

Well, let me tell you, Jesus. He's the only one. Well, what do you do? Well, I accepted him, I feed upon God's word, and I want to share with you. And they either reject it or they accept it. Don't force yourself on people. Don't do that. Allow the Holy Spirit to open the door and have people hear the word of God through your life. You will blow your mind what God will do.

Luke chapter 12:47-48 says, "That servant who knows his master's will, so that's us, he does not get ready and does not do what the master wants him to do, will be beaten with many blows. But one who does not know and does things deserving of punishment will be beaten with few blows. For everyone who has been given much, listen, much more will be demanded. And from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked for."

So when we leave here and one day you die, you're going to be accountable for what you've learned in this church. And when you go home, too much is given, much more is required. So if I'm really a good steward, God's going to give me more. But if I'm a poor steward, what can he give to me that I can't use because of my life? And yet Jesus loves you. He loves you so much that he's not willing that anybody should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Guest (Male): Contemplating death and what comes afterward can feel a bit uncomfortable, but we hope today's message has been a challenge for you to keep eternity in view, making sure you're ready to meet the Lord in heaven and living a life that points others to Jesus.

You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Our study today was titled, The Person Who Studies Hell. We've made an unedited version available to you for a donation of five dollars or more. If you'd like to get a copy, just call us at 800-634-9165.

Now, we'd also like to tell you about Raul's series titled, Heaven or Hell. It's a four-part study conveniently available on CD and thumb drive. Underscoring the reality of these two destinations, every lesson will help you better understand the crucial decision each person has to make either to receive or reject Christ.

Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to purchase Raul's four-part Heaven or Hell series. We'll send you the CD set for eighteen dollars, or if you prefer, the flash drive for just ten dollars. Once again, our phone number is 800-634-9165. This resource is also available when you write to us at Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765.

Whether you're at home, on the road, or taking a work break, you can visit the Somebody Loves You Worldwide YouTube channel for a comprehensive array of messages from scripture, both live-streamed and as podcasts. You can also join Raul on that channel for Straight Talk every Tuesday at 10 AM West Coast time.

Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries is completely listener-supported. We're so grateful for your partnership and thankful for your generous tax-deductible gift. Join us next time for more from this series. We'll contemplate the common question of why good people suffer while the wicked seem to prosper. Along the way, we'll find assurance that God sees everything and his justice is perfect. That's next time on Somebody Loves You Radio. This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.