Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. We have no doubt as to the existence
of hell, nor to its eternal nature, nor the fear and torment that
are associated with it. It is not a welcome place, nor
is it a place where the living would have any desire to be.
We do wish to make a distinction, however, between hell and the
lake of fire, which John mentions in the book of the Revelation.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is
the second death. And whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. The concept
that many have of hell is solely described as this lake of fire.
We do not claim to have unequivocal answers to many questions which
arise in the study of such an august and frankly terrifying
subject. Yet we feel compelled to go to
the scriptures alone to discover what little knowledge we might
possess on the matter at hand. There is only one Hebrew word
which is translated into English as hell, 31 times in the Old
Testament. That word is sheol and is literally
defined as a grave, a pit, or the place of the dead. There
are basically two Greek words which are translated into English
as hell in the King James Version New Testament. One is Hades,
which literally means the abode or place of the dead, and is
most analogous to the Hebrew word Sheol in its use. Another
is Gehenna, and it is often associated with fire. This word derives
its usage from the Valley of Hinnom, which is generally thought
to be the place where a refuge was burned outside of Jerusalem.
When John describes the lake of fire into which death and
hell are cast, he uses none of these words. Hell and the lake
of fire cannot be said to be synonymous unless one is willing
to turn a blind eye to the fact that the lake of fire is the
place of destruction for both death and hell. We would never
deny that there is a lake of fire which is prepared for the
destruction of the beast, the false prophet, death, hell, Satan,
and all whose names are not written in the book of life, of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Any man who does not
tremble at such a prospect has never learned the fear of him
who is a consuming fire. So when we read the words of
the psalmist, as he says, thou hast delivered my soul from the
lowest hell, we understand that he has no reference to a place
of burning, gnashing of teeth, nor everlasting torment, but
rather the finality of the grave. The very first lie that Satan,
the father of lies, told to Eve is when he said, ye shall not
surely die. He was wrong, dead wrong. The
Lord commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, and prophetically told him what would occur in
the day that he ate of it. In the day that thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die. There were no ifs involved in
his decree, nor was any probationary period set forth. Adam demonstrated
what he was by nature, and embraced his own free will, which resulted
in his death. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. All of Adam's posterity have
followed their father's footsteps according to their nature, which
they have inherited from him. Not only are they sinners by
choice and action, but they are born into this world with the
same sentence of death hanging over their heads, since Adam's
sin was imputed to them in the same fashion in which the righteousness
of Christ is imputed to his seed. Believing that the Psalms are
by and large the utterances of the Lord Jesus, as he prayed
when he learned obedience by the things which he suffered,
and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him, called of God and high priest
after the order of Melchizedek. We rejoice to see him called
upon his father, seeking deliverance for our sake. He came into the
world surrounded by this promise, for thou wilt not leave my soul
in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to seek corruption.
Yet in order to fulfill all righteousness and to be manifested as that
one who was able to take away sin, it was necessary that he
tread the winepress of God's wrath alone, with no one to aid
him, nor any eye to pity him. If any man has ever been fully
acquainted with the import and horror of death, it was Jesus
Christ, as he poured out his soul unto death and was heard
in that he feared. His deliverance from the lowest
hell, which is the utter finality of death, was absolutely necessary
to the resurrection of those whom he came to save. Thus, upon
the third day, he broke the shackles of death, which had long bound
every human being which sprang from the loins of Adam. He arose
as a victor over sin, death, and hell, that is, the grave
or abode of the dead, and became the firstfruits of them that
sleep, that is, are present in a state of natural death. His
resurrection is the grounds upon which the hope of the sons of
God rests. We expect to be delivered yet from the lowest hell, since
he has triumphed over it. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.