Plain Truth 1962 (Vol XXVII No 08) Aug - Lcgmn.com

----------~-----~
Page 46
menrs pur criminals in a condition of
restraint-where they must remain until
rheir rime of judgment (J lIde 6).
Science has never observed this tattaroo~heW
Churchmen are confounded
by it! God's truth is very plain concerning
ir!
The REAL Hell
The Greek word geheml.tt denotes a
place of punishment. Gehenna, or the
Valley of Hinnom, is a place juSt outside
Jerusalem where trash, filrh and dead
bodies were rhrown ro be b'fl.rned 1I,P. It
was a city dump and there was always
a fire burning ro C01Hmne the refuse
that was thrown there. J eSlis Christ and
the disciples and apostles after Him used
this word consistently when they were
referring ro thar "hell" which will BURN
UP .rinners.' Gehenna-hell is a synonym
for the lake of fire into which the unrepentant
dead are to be caSt at the end
of time. This is the only hell in the
Bible which is associated with flames
or fire. No inner caverns in the bowels
of the earrh are mentioned. No icefilled
rooms where people's feet are
sticking oue and being tickled by dememed
spirits are talked about in God's
Word in reference ro this gehenna-hell.
It is never described as a fire in which
the damned li've J
but a fire in which the
damned DIE!
To explain rhe usage of the twO basic
words used in rhe Greek language and
translated "hell" in the English language
in the King James Version: "And death
and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second DEATH. And whosoever
was nOt found wrinen in the book
of life was cast into the lake of fire"
(Rev. 20:14-15). The word rranslared
"belr' in Verse 14 is hades, the grave.
The grave itself and those which are
nat found written in rhe book of life
are going to be cast into the lake of fire
- gehenna-hell. This will empty the
grave-hades-hell-and it will cease co
exist- no dead w ill ever again be buried
in the grave. They will be burned up.
Those who refuse t? live by God's
law, who insist on rebelling against the
way of life that God knows brings happiness,
health and peace, are going CO be
caSt bodily into rhis gehenna-hell, the
lake of fire, CO terminate [heir miserable
existence, co pur them out of tbeir
The PLAIN T RUTH
miJery. to END their life!
Why Does God Use Gehenna-Hell ?
God's plan of salvarion is a 7000~year
pbn. For 6000 years of this time God
Ins allowed mankind to go his way,
under the influence of his own m ind and
directed also by the m ind of Saran the
Devil. Man has tried every way he can
think of to govern himself to bring
peace, happiness, health, prosperity, bur
has failed miserably! Down rhrough the
ages God has selected some few whom
He called om of rhis world (0 realize
H is plan of salvarion, to repent of their
ways which are contrary to His laws,
and ro change rheir way of life to agree
with God.
When Jesus Christ rerurns to this
earth in the very next few years, He will
f01' the first time in mankind's hisrory
ser His hand to save the whole worIdthar
is, all people who are alive on the
eJ.fth at thac time. He will offer rhem
[he same salvarion that He has in the
past only offered to a few whom He has
called 01l.t of the world. Then, at rhe
dose of a thollsand years of this reign,
all of (hose who have ever died, but
never had a chance to know rhe True
Jeslls and H is [rue Gospel message, will
be resurrected and given rheir ONE opportunity
ro obey and by tbe strength
of God's Holy Spirit enter into His
Kingdom!
At one time 01· CHtother every man
who has ever existed will stand w ith
his m ind open and his understanding
clear to live a life of overcoming with
God's Spirit and endeavor to enter into
His Kingdom.
There have been, and there will be,
however, SOfTIe few who will 'lttterly
REBEL against doing God's will-who
will set their wills against obedience to
His laws so completely that notbing can
be done with them. These will be the
individuals God refers to in His Word
as (hose who have commiHed rhe UN­
PARDONABLE SIN!
God in His mercy has planned that
these individuals should be completel')'
done awa'}' witb-made to CEASE TO
EXIST! It is set down very plainly: "For
the wages of sin [the transgression of
God's law, living contrary to the very
nature of life itself] is DEATH [the cessarion
of life}" (Rom. 6:23).
August. 1962
Lest anyone should question what
God meant by rhis, H e firmly· stated:
'·Behold. all SOltis are mine; as the s01ll
of the father, so also the S01ti of rhe Sal
is mine: THE SOUL THAT SINNETH, I T
SHALL DIE" (Ezek. 18:4). Regarding
this to be of utmost importance, God
was nor satisfied with scaring it once
bue restated it so that there 1lI01t!d be no
question thar He did not mean JUSt the
body and nor the soul, bue very firmly
reaffirmed, "THE SOUL THAT SINNETH,
IT SHALL DIE" (Ezek. 1820).
God's promise to all people is life or
cletltbl Not life or lifel
God realizes thar men are weak, that
they are subject to vanity-He creared
them that way! He has nor devised this
lake of fire in order ro tOrture human
beings, but only to rid them once and
for all from off the face of the earrhto
do away with theif lives. Knowing
rhat tbey cannot continue to live the
way rhey wartt to live, but that rhey
would only bring misery and pain and
mfJering on rhemselves throughOut
eternity if He allowed [hem to live, God
mercifully purs an end co their life. And
even in this acr God is NOT pleased. "For
I have NO PLEASURE in the death of him
rhar dierh" (Ezek. 18:32). God does
nOt WtEn! anyone to be thrown into rhis
lake of fire! But those who insist on
living contrary to the laws of life arc
going to be mercifully sm4fe(/. lro1Jl,
existence by rhis method.
"For if we sin wiiftdly AFTER that we
have received the knowledge of rhe
truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice
for sins, but a certain FEARFUL looking
[or of judgment and fiery i'ndignatioll J
which shall DEVOUR [he adversaries"
(Heb. 10:26·27).
Therefore we see from God's Word
that hell fire is NOT held over the head
of every individual to force him into
accepting Jesus Christ as his personal
Savior- it is NOT a threat of pain and
eternal pllnishitzg that the Merciful and
AlI·Powerful Erernal God is levying
against rhose who refuse ro hear His
Gospel-bur a final judgment, a doingaway-with
the individuals who -reject
Him AFTER they have received a knowl·
edge of His truth.
The time when the .REAL Jetlr of a
REAL bell fire comes on an individual
is AFTER he has sinned wilfully against