1. What did Jesus compare death to?   John 11:11-14.

Answer: .

Jesus did not say Lazarus was in heaven.  He said that he “sleepeth” in death!  It would have been cruel for Jesus to call His friend Lazarus from the joys of heaven back to this earth.  But Jesus didn’t call Lazarus from heaven.  He called him from his tomb where he lay in the sleep of death!  See John 11:39-44.

2.  How much are the dead aware of?  Are they conscious somewhere in another realm of existence?   Ecclesiastes 9:5-6.

Fill in:  The dead not .

Doesn’t it give you peace to know that a family member or loved one is sleeping till Jesus comes and does not see all the terrible things going on in this world?

3.  Who was the first one to teach man that he has unconditional immortality, and that he cannot die?   Genesis 3:24.

Answer:  .

It was the devil that first said, “ye shall not surely die”!  This idea that man has an immortal soul that lives on after his death is of pagan origin.  Satan’s original lie forms the basis of modern spiritualism and “New Age Movement.”  The teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism, reincarnation, séances, channeling etc. all are just other way of repeating Satan’s lie that “ye shall not surely die.”  But God’s Word says that the wages of sin is “death”!

4.  Who alone has immortality at the present time?   1 Timothy 6:14-16.

Answer:  .

5.  When will men and women receive immortality?   1 Corinthians 15:22-23.

Fill in:  "For as in all even so in shall all be made .  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at ."  See also verses 53-55.

When Jesus returns in power and great glory, then shall come to pass the saying that death is swallowed up in victory!  Immortality will be given to the righteous at that time, and not before!

6.  Can a “soul” die?   Ezekiel 18:4.

Answer:  .

The word soul in the Bible simply means person or being.  It is used today in the same way.  For example, someone might say that ten souls perished in a plane crash.  What does this mean? Does it mean that ten invisible, immortal essences died, or that ten people died?  When God breathed into Adam the “breath of life,” the Bible says that Adam became a “living soul.”  Genesis 2:7.  Newer translations render this verse “living person.” Nowhere in the Bible does it say that a soul is immortal!

7.  Is the word soul ever applied to other living creatures besides man?   Revelation 16:3.

Answer:  .

If the word “soul” always refers to immortality, then that would mean the fish in the ocean are immortal!

8.  After Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord stopped them from eating of the “tree of life.”  Why did He do this?   Genesis 3:22-24.

Answer:  Lest they should eat and .

Adam and Eve needed to eat from the “tree of life” in order to “live forever.”  Their immortality was conditional and based on their obedience to God’s commandment!  They were not inherently immortal.  They had the possibility of immortality IF they passed the test of love and loyalty to their Creator.  In the earth made new, the tree of life will be restored to those who have proved loyal to God!  See Revelation 22:1-2 & 14.

9.  Are the dead now praising God in heaven?   Psalm 115:7.

Answer:  .

10. When did Jesus say that He would raise up the dead who sleep in Him?   John 6:40 & 44.

Answer:  On the .

11. What will the wicked unbelievers finally be turned into?    Malachi 4:1-3.

Answer:  .

12.  What about the word hell in the King James Version of the Bible?  Doesn’t it mean that the wicked will be tortured in flames forever, suffering unimaginable pain and anguish?

Answer:  No!  The word translated hell in the King James Version of the Bible is the Greek word Hades, and merely means “the grave” or the “abode of the dead.”  In Revelation 20:14 it states that death and hell (Hades) will be cast into the lake of fire.  In other words, death and the grave will be destroyed forever.  How could hell be thrown into the lake of fire if it already were burning?

The wicked will be burnt up in the Lake of Fire after the 1000 years we studied about in an earlier lesson.  God will torture no one forever and ever!  This monstrous idea about God causes many people to reject the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! The Godhead is not made up of heavenly ghouls who delight in the screams and torture of their children throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity!  It is terribly painful to the Godhead to have to see any children destroyed.  For this reason our heavenly Father sent His only Son so that “whosoever believeth in Him should not PERISH, but have eternal life.”  John 3:16.

13. What fate will the wicked suffer?   Matthew 25:46.

Answer:  .

They suffer “everlasting punishment,” not everlasting “punishing.”   There is an important difference here!  The effects of the punishment are everlasting, not the punishment itself!

Another verse that is often used by some who believe in eternal torture of the wicked is Mark 9:43 through 48 where Jesus speaks of a fire that “is not quenched.”  Jesus is there quoting Isaiah 66, verse 24 where it talks about their “worm shall not die; neither shall their fire be quenched.”  But in that verse it says the righteous shall look upon the “carcasses of the men that have transgressed!”  They were not alive screaming in agony!  The fire God sends will not be able to be quenched by anyone until the work of destruction that God has ordained is completed!

14.  What are the wages of sin?   Romans 6:23.

Answer:  .

Is this not plain?  The wages of sin is DEATH, not an eternal life of torture!  The opposite of eternal life is eternal death or destruction.  Revelation calls it the “second death.”

15.  What will the wicked be punished with?   2 Thessalonians 1:6-11.   (The answer is in verse 9.)

Answer:  Everlasting .

If I burn up a piece of paper, it has undergone “everlasting destruction.”  It cannot be brought back again.  But that piece of paper will not be burning forever!

16.  What about Revelation 20, verse 10.  Does this not teach that the devil and his angels will be burning forever and ever?

Answer:  No.  First of all, Revelation is written in symbolic language and must be understood that way.  Not all of Revelation can be taken literally.  For example, in Revelation 19:3, it mentions a “great whore.”  But the great whore is not a literal prostitute running around drinking a cup of blood as it says in Revelation 17:6!  The great whore is a representation of the false church as is the “beast and the false prophet” mentioned in Revelation 20:10.  There are many representations or symbols used in Revelation that cannot be taken literally such as Satan being a literal “great red dragon” (Revelation 12:3) or the true church being a literal woman “clothed with the sun” as described in Revelation 12:1.  The “for ever and ever” smoke mentioned in Revelation 19:3 and the “for ever and ever” torment mentioned in Revelation 20:10 must be understood as a symbolic representation of the utter destruction of the enemies of God!  If we took this verse literally, it would contradict all the very plain non-symbolic texts in the Bible that tell us that the wicked will be burned up, destroyed, and turned to ashes!  Besides, in Revelation 21 verse 4, which is not symbolic, but rather a literal pronouncement of God, it states that there will be no “pain” in the new heaven and new earth.  So where then will these millions of people screaming in torment be if the Lord says there will be no pain in the entire universe (which is what “new heaven and new earth” represent)?

17.  How long does it say that Jonah was in the belly of the whale?   Johah 2:1-6.    (The answer is in verse 6.)

Answer: .

Notice that Jonah used the term "for ever" as a figure of speech as we might do today.  For example, I might say, “I waited forever to get my new car.”  Did I really wait “forever”?  So there are a few instances in the Bible where the term “for ever” cannot be taken literally.  Context and common sense controlled by the Holy Spirit must be used when reading the word of God. Another example of the symbolic use of the term “for ever” is found in Philemon, verse 15.  This is the same Greek word used in Revelation 20:10 we spoke about earlier.

It also says in Jude 7 that Sodom and Gomorra suffered the “vengeance of eternal fire.”  But these wicked cities are not still burning today!  It is the effects of their punishment that will last eternally!

18.  What does Psalm 37:20 say will happen to the wicked?

Answer:  They will .

19.  When did the apostle Paul expect to receive his “crown of righteousness”?  Was it when he died or when Jesus returned?   2 Timothy 4:8.

Answer:  When .

20.  Will some burn in the "lake of fire" longer than others?   Luke 12:47-48 & 58-59.

Answer:  .

The wicked receive their recompense in the earth.  Proverbs 11:31 says “They shall be as stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up,” saith the Lord of hosts.  Some are destroyed in a moment, while others suffer many days.  All are punished “according to their deeds.”  The sins of the righteous have been transferred to Satan.  He is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion, but also for all the sins which he has caused God’s people to commit.  His punishment will be far greater than that of those whom he has deceived.  After all have perished who fell by his deceptions, he will still live and suffer on.  In the cleansing flames, the wicked are at last destroyed both root and branch -- Satan the root, his followers the branches.  The full penalty of the law will be visited upon the wicked, and the demands of justice will be met, and heaven and earth, beholding, will declare the righteousness of Jehovah (Yahweh).

21.  Do you know that when Jesus returns you will be given eternal life, and made immortal?

Answer:  .

If you're not sure, why not make sure now by praying the simple prayer of faith found below:

Father, forgive me of my sins.  I accept Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.  Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross for me, and I receive the free gift of eternal life.  In Jesus' name I pray.  Amen.

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