“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46 NIV).
They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (2 Thessalonians 1:9 NIV).
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 blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:49, 50 NIV).
If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. (Mark 9:43 NIV).
In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1:7 NIV).
Hell is scary. People should fear it. God is greater than them and has the final judgement. God created all the good in the world and He also created the place for the sinners and evil hearted. If He can create a glorious and awesome heaven, it is my guess that He can make a pretty horrible and terrifying hell. When this life is over we can't suddenly choose God after all of our lives saying no I want to drink this, go here, sleep with them, or buy everything I want. God loves righteousness. He loves and is proud of those that change their ways and repent and turn to Him.
In 1st kings 18 there is a very interesting story about Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord ’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.” Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “ Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord —he is God! The Lord —he is God!” (1 Kings 18:19-39 NIV). God always proves faithful. He never fails. I like all of the careful steps Elijah took here. He clearly submitted His life to God and trusted His word. And God consumed the earth with fire. Showing that God can bring destruction and fire.
But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. (Malachi 3:2 NIV). The fire of God is a source to purify and make holier. When God brought the fire to Elijah's pile of wet wood it brought many to trust in Him and turn from other gods. Gods consuming fire is not necessarily to just bring destruction and horror. I believe there is an element that it is meant to bring Gods glory and refine people just a fire refines metal today. I believe that Gods consuming sure is meant to wash out the old and evil and bring purity and cleanness. Sometimes things do have to get worse before better. You have to go through the fire of sin to see the glory of God.
By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. (Exodus 13:21 NIV). Here God is leading them out of the storm with fire. The fire is meant to awaken the people and bring them out of destruction here. It is a light for the people. God lights the way to new light for them with fire. Our old self has to die and be burned by Gods consuming fire. It must die and nothing remain.
Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:2-5 NIV). Isaiah sees the true glory of God and falls and realizes how sinful we are. I believe one day we will just truly fall and barely be able to stand at Gods glory! As it says above the temple also filled with smoke. A new light was shed on Isaiah and God filled the temple with smoke. He took away the old and didn't leave space for it to return. I love these scriptures and I pray that the fire is shed on my life now and not later after I die. There is fire we must go through now so that we do not for eternity. The fire God brings us makes us stronger in our faith! He is almighty and He is a consuming fire!
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