Naylor Community
Christian Church
I. Introduction
-- turn in your Bibles to Revelation
20:11-15
Revelation
20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth
and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And
I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were
opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were
judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea
gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that
were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the
second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life
was thrown into the lake of fire.
-- two men were standing on the side
of a road holding signs that read, “The End is Near” -- a car came flying up
beside them and the driver rolled down his window and screamed at them -- “You
religious nuts! You make me mad! Stop preaching your hate to the world!” --
and with that, he floored his accelerator and took off again
-- a moment later, the two men heard
a big splash -- one of them turned to the other and said, “I told you our signs
should say “Bridge is Out” rather than “The End is Near””
-- this morning, we’re continuing on
in our sermon series Afterlife -- our look at what happens to us after our
lives -- a study into heaven, hell and everything in-between
-- as we’ve progressed in this
study, we’ve reached the point where we know that all the believers -- past and
present -- are currently with the Lord in Heaven -- and that all unbelievers
and those who have rejected the offer of life from Jesus and who have died in
their sins are being held in the place of torment in Hades
-- today, we’re going to finally
answer the question about what happens to these unbelievers -- where do they
ultimately end up and what happens to them after their judgment before God
II. Synopsis of Revelation
-- we find the answer to that
question towards the end of the Book of Revelation -- in Revelation chapters 19
and 20
-- but before we turn there, I
thought it would be helpful to give you a quick synopsis of end times theology
from a conservative viewpoint -- there are many different interpretations and
understanding of end times theology -- of what the Day of the Lord means and
what will happen before, during, and after the return of Christ
-- I follow a literal understanding
and interpretation of the events of the Book of Revelation -- I was taught the
principle of Occam’s Razor in science -- that the simplest explanation is
usually the correct one -- and I apply that to my biblical understanding, as
well
-- I think it makes more sense to
read the Book of Revelation from a literal perspective than to try to interpret
it as entirely symbolic or historic
-- so, my interpretation tends to
line up more with the teachings of people like Tim LaHaye -- David Jeremiah --
Hal Lindsey -- and others in that camp who read Revelation and interpret it
from a literal perspective
-- some in the church reject these
interpretations as misguided and incorrect -- they teach that the Book of
Revelation is not a prophetic book, but instead a coded picture of the events
occurring in Rome during the Apostle John's lifetime -- in other words, they
contend the events of the Book of Revelation have already occurred and are not
future events
-- others believe the Book of
Revelation is simply a picture of the grand sweep of history, showing the rise
and fall of nations and the advent of the Christian faith through the symbols
and messages given by John in this book
-- finally, others see the Book of
Revelation as simply an allegory of our spiritual lives -- a story or an
illustration given by John to describe our struggles with good and evil in our
lives which should not be taken literally
-- I believe in a literal
understanding of all Scripture, including the Book of Revelation, which puts me
into the literal, fundamentalist camp when it comes to end times theology --
so, I try to read and interpret Revelation from that perspective
-- once again, this is one of those
areas of secondary importance -- and if you believe differently, that’s okay --
but I’m going to give you a real quick synopsis and overview of end times
theology from this perspective because it impacts the question of what happens
to unbelievers and the timing of those actions
-- so, in the Book of Daniel, we
read that God has allotted 490 years for the people of Israel following their
captivity in Babylon and beginning at the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in
Jerusalem
-- this is known as the Time of Jacob’s
Trouble -- from the rebuilding of the Jewish temple, the Jewish people would
only have 490 years until the end
-- Daniel prophesied that the Messiah would
come at the end of 69 sevens -- that’s 483 years -- at which point, he writes
that the Anointed One would be cut off from the people of Israel -- this refers
to the rejection of Jesus by the Jewish people and His death on the cross
-- people who hold to a literal
interpretation of scripture believe that at this point, it’s like God stops the
clock for the nation of Israel -- 483 years have passed -- but He stops the
clock because the nation has turned away and rejected their Messiah
-- God then turns His attention to the
Church and we enter the age of the Gentiles -- the age we are currently in --
the time when God is building His church through the presence of the Holy
Spirit indwelling believers
-- so, there are seven years left
for the nation of Israel -- and at some point in the future, God will start the
clock again -- this seven year period is what we read about in the Book of
Revelation and what we call the Tribulation Period
-- right before the clock starts
again, the Bible teaches there will be a rapture of the church, when believers
-- both living and dead -- will be resurrected -- this is the first
resurrection, when we receive our eternal imperishable bodies
-- after that, a world ruler will
arise that we know as the antichrist or the beast of revelation, because he
will be indwelt by Satan himself -- he will make a covenant with Israel for
3-1/2 years -- allowing them to rebuild the temple and begin sacrifices again
-- at the end of the 3-1/2 years, the antichrist will break his covenant with
Israel, which ushers in the part of the Tribulation that we call the Great
Tribulation
-- the antichrist is aided by a
false prophet -- during the tribulation period, this is the time of the mark of
the beast and world domination by the antichrist -- at the end of the
seven-year tribulation period, Jesus returns to wage war against the antichrist
and the false prophet, defeating them and throwing them into the lake of fire
-- look with me at Revelation
19:19-23
Revelation
19:19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered
together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the
beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs
on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark
of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into
the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming
out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves
on their flesh.
-- so, that ends the reign of the
antichrist
-- immediately after that, Jesus
binds Satan and throws him in to the Abyss for 1000 years and begins the
millennial reign -- the thousand-year reign of Christ on the current earth
-- at the end of the thousand years,
Satan is released and goes out to deceive the nations again -- there is a final
battle and fire comes from heaven and devours those who followed Satan -- the
devil is then thrown into the lake of fire, where the beast and the false
prophet had been thrown
-- look at Revelation 20:1-3
Revelation
20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss
and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient
serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He
threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from
deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that,
he must be set free for a short time.
-- Revelation 20:7-10
Revelation
20:7 When
the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will
go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and
Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the
seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the
camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and
devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of
burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They
will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
-- that concludes the Millennial
Kingdom and the earthly reign of Christ on the current earth
-- that’s a quick synopsis of the
events of the Book of Revelation, omitting all the plagues and trials that come
on the earth during the Tribulation period -- just a broad brush overview
III. The Fate of Unbelievers
-- while all this is going on,
unbelievers who have died apart from Christ are still being sent to Hades and
are still there in the place of torment awaiting judgment
-- so, let’s look at what happens to
them -- look back at Revelation 20:4-6
Revelation
20:4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to
judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their
testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped
the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or
their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The
rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.)
This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the
first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be
priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
-- here in these verses, the Apostle
John references two terms -- he talks about the first resurrection and the
second death
-- to understand these references,
you need to know that Scripture speaks of two births -- two deaths -- and two
resurrections
1.
Two births -- this refers to our physical birth and our spiritual birth
-- all humans have a physical birth -- every
person who has ever lived experienced a physical birth -- a birth of water, as
the Scripture terms it
-- some of us have experienced another
birth -- a spiritual birth -- or, as Jesus told Nicodemus, we are born again --
that is the Scriptural term for those who have received Jesus as Lord and
Savior -- we are born again as new creations into the family of God -- this is
the second birth -- and not everyone experiences it
2.
Two deaths -- Physical death and an eternal death
-- it’s an accepted fact that everyone who
is alive will die a physical death at some point -- our bodies that our souls
and spirits currently reside in are mortal bodies -- they will eventually wear
out and die -- or we may die from other causes -- accidents, disease, violence
-- some other aspect that is a consequence of living in a fallen world
-- unless the Rapture occurs in our
lifetime, every person in this room will experience the first death -- it is
natural and part of the cycle of life that God began with Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden
-- it is the fate of believers and unbelievers
-- we all die -- some of us, those who have been born again, will go to heaven
when we die to be with the Lord -- the rest will go to Hades to await final
judgment -- that is the first death
-- the second death is what happens to
unbelievers and all those who reject Jesus -- as we discussed last week, the
Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death -- eternal death -- spiritual
death
-- this is something that only happens to
those people who have not received Jesus as their Lord and Savior -- it is the
fate of the ones the Bible calls wicked -- not wicked because of their actions
-- but wicked because their sins have not been forgiven through the blood of
Jesus
-- we’ll talk more about this in just a
minute
3.
Two Resurrections -- so, we have two births -- two deaths -- and two
resurrections
-- what does the Bible mean by the term,
“resurrection?” -- well, it means more than coming back to life -- it means
being fully alive
-- as we’ve been discussing, when
believers die, they do not cease to live but go to be in the presence of the
Lord immediately -- that is not the resurrection -- the resurrection is when we
put on our immortal and imperishable bodies -- when we receive our permanent
bodies that our souls and spirits will inhabit for all eternity -- that is the
resurrection
-- so, think about the rapture -- in 1
Corinthians 15, Paul teaches us about our immortal and imperishable body -- and
in 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, Paul talks about what happens at the rapture and the
first resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:51 Listen, I tell you a mystery:
We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead
will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must
clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When
the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with
immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been
swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
-- so, even those believers who are alive
-- as Paul puts it -- who do not “sleep” -- even those believers who are alive
are part of the first resurrection because they put on the immortal and
imperishable body they will reside in for all eternity
-- that’s what the Bible means by
resurrection -- not just alive -- but fully alive
-- now, the first resurrection is
referenced here in Revelation 20:4
Revelation 20:4 I saw thrones on which
were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of
those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because
of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not
received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and
reigned with Christ a thousand years.
-- the first resurrection comes in phases
-- Jesus was the first to be resurrected -- the Bible tells us He was the
firstfruits of resurrection
-- the second phase are those believers
who are resurrected at the coming of Christ at the end of Revelation 19 -- that
would be every believer who has ever lived from the beginning of time all the
way up to this point in the Book of Revelation
-- everyone who has died in Christ up to
this point -- when Christ returns, they will put on their immortal and
imperishable body -- they will be resurrected and fully alive with Christ
-- these are the ones we read about at the
start of verse 4 -- the ones who are sitting on thrones with the authority to
judge
-- the others who take part in the first
resurrection are the saints who were martyred during the Tribulation period --
believers who were killed during the reign of the Antichrist because of their
faith -- those are the ones described in verse 4 as the “souls of those who had
been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of
God” -- the ones who hadn’t received the mark of the beast or worshiped his
image
-- everyone who is part of the first
resurrection -- all the believers from the time of Adam and Eve all the way up
until the end of the Tribulation period -- these are the people who are part of
the first resurrection
-- look at the end of verse 5
Revelation
20:5b This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in
the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will
be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
-- because we are blessed and made holy
through the death and resurrection of Christ -- through the forgiveness of our
sins and Christ’s imputation of His righteousness to us -- we have part in the
first resurrection and the second death has no power over us
-- as it says in Revelation 2:11 in the
letter to the church in Smyrna, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. He who
overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death”
-- believers are born twice, die once, and
then take part in the first resurrection -- they are not affected by the second
resurrection or the second death
-- what about the second resurrection? --
look back at verse 5
Revelation 20:5a (The rest of the dead did
not come to life until the thousand years were ended.)
-- this verse is referencing the second
resurrection -- the resurrection of unbelievers -- of all of those who have
died and reside in the place of torment in Hades and those unbelievers who are
alive at the end of the Millennial Kingdom
-- they will be resurrected at the end of
the 1000-year reign of Christ and will face judgment at that point -- only
unbelievers take part in the second resurrection, because all believers were
part of the first resurrection
-- skip down to verse 7
Revelation
20:7 When
the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will
go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and
Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the
seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the
camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and
devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of
burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They
will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
-- as we mentioned, after the 1000-year
reign of Christ, Satan will be released from the Abyss and will go out and
deceive the nations -- the people who are living on earth who have not died and
been resurrected
-- while it is hard for us to imagine,
some of the people who are alive and who are born during the reign of Christ on
this earth will not put their faith and trust in Him -- they will reject Him
and believe in the devil’s lies and will revolt against Jesus, ultimately being
killed when fire from heaven comes down
-- the devil will be finally be thrown
into the lake of burning sulfur -- the same lake of fire that the antichrist
and the false prophet were thrown into at the end of Chapter 19
-- the lake of fire is hell -- where the
place of torment in Hades is a temporary place, the lake of fire is permanent
-- for all eternity, the fires in the lake of burning sulfur will continue to
burn -- tormenting the devil and the antichrist and the false prophet forever
-- this is the place that Jesus warned of
in the gospels -- in our English Bibles, we translate this as Hell, but the
Greek word is Gehenna
-- Gehenna was the word the Israelites
used for the valley of Ben-Hinnom -- a valley located southwest of Jerusalem --
In Old Testament times, idolatrous Israelites burned their children in the fire
there as sacrifices to false gods
-- In Jesus’ day, Gehenna was the site of
Jerusalem’s garbage dump -- the Israelites would burn their garbage and trash
in the valley of Ben-Hinnom -- the fires never went out, but were kept burning
constantly -- and foul-smelling smoke came off of it
-- so, Jesus used this as a symbolic
picture of what the eternal Hell would be like -- a place of burning sulfur and
never-ending fire -- a place that was originally prepared for the devil and the
demons who followed him -- not for humans -- according to Matthew 25:41, which
we looked at last week
-- and we read here in verse 10 that Hell
-- the lake of burning sulfur -- is the place where the devil will be thrown,
along with the antichrist and the false prophet
-- verse 11
Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white
throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his
presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and
small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened,
which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done
as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and
death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged
according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the
lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was
not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
-- and here we find the answer to our
question of what happens to the unbelievers in Hades -- they will experience
the second resurrection -- they will be brought up out of Hades to stand with
any unbelievers still alive in front of the great white throne
-- the great white throne is the judgment
seat of the Father -- all of us will stand before the great white throne and
will be judged by God -- this is the same judgement that Jesus spoke of in
Matthew 25 when He talked about the sheep and the goats
-- all the dead -- great and small --
stand before the throne and books are opened -- these books record our deeds --
both good and bad -- but the most important of the books that are opened is the
Book of Life, for that is where those people who have received Jesus as their
Lord and Savior are recorded
-- believers are also judged, but since
their names are in the Book of Life, they are judged based on the blood of
Jesus and His imputed righteousness -- they are declared innocent in the eyes
of God, and are granted eternal life with Him
-- believers also face an additional
judgment -- the judgment seat of Christ -- where their deeds are measured and
rewards and positions of authority are given -- the rewards are the crowns and
other accolades that are mentioned throughout the Bible and that are mentioned
as being laid down and offered before the throne of God in Revelation 4:10-11
-- note that these rewards and positions
of authority are proportional -- they are based on what we have done or not
done for Christ in our life -- those who have done a lot or fulfilled what
Christ has called them to do are rewarded more than those who did not do
anything for Him after salvation or who failed to do what He had called them to
do -- you will be rewarded by God with crowns, accolades, and given a position
of authority in proportion to your obedience and faithfulness to God
-- the unbelievers are also judged based
on what they have done as recorded in the books -- like we discussed last week,
the Bible tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and
that the wages of sin is death -- since these people have not received the
mercy and grace of God and received forgiveness for their sins and the
imputation of Christ’s righteousness to them, they must atone for their sins on
their own -- they must pay the penalty themselves
-- so, we read in verse 15 that if
anyone’s name is not in the Book of Life, they are thrown into the lake of
fire, which is the Second Death
-- now, remember what I said about
believers being rewarded for their deeds in proportion to their obedience and
faithfulness -- that same principle also holds for the unbelievers in regards
to their punishment -- there is a principle in Scripture that does teach
degrees of punishment based upon degrees of sinfulness and knowledge -- in
addition to being judged for your sin, you are also judged based on the light
you received and your response to that light
-- for instance, in Matthew 11:20-24,
Jesus denounces the cities in which most of His miracles had occurred because
they did not respond in proportion to the light that was given to them -- even
seeing the miracles, they refused to repent -- Jesus declared woe to Korazin,
Bethsaida, and Capernaum, and said because they had received greater light and
greater knowledge and refused to repent, they would receive greater punishment
than Tyre and Sodom
-- similarly, in Luke 12:47-48 we read
that the servant who knows what the master’s will is and refuses to do it will
receive greater punishment than the servant who did not know what the master’s
will was
-- so, there is proportionality in reward
and punishment -- this means that unbelievers will be punished in proportion to
the extent of their disobedience and unfaithfulness -- those who knew what God
wanted and refused to follow His word or who did greater amounts of evil in
their lives will be punished more than those who didn’t know what God demanded
or who were less evil in their lives
-- to put it plainly, Hitler and Saddam
Hussein will be punished to a greater degree than someone who tried to live a
good life but who never received Jesus as their Lord and Savior and never had
their sins forgiven
-- last week, we talked about the eternal
punishment for our sin -- and I pointed out that the Bible clearly teaches that
the wages of sin is death -- we read the same thing here in verse 15 -- those
whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are thrown into the Lake
of Fire, which is the Second Death -- death is the ultimate punishment for
rejecting Jesus’ offer of forgiveness and righteousness
-- we also talked about how the church
traditionally has taught that sinners whose name is not in the Book of Life
will suffer punishment for their sins eternally -- a doctrine known as Eternal
Conscious Torment or ECT
-- however, as we discussed, the Bible
doesn’t teach that the punishment of unbelievers will be eternal torment but
death -- but it does indicate that there will be some level of punishment based
on proportionality -- on the degree of sinfulness and disobedience in their
lives
-- so, some believe -- and I have come to
agree with them based on my studies -- that when unbelievers are thrown into
the Lake of Fire, they are put into torment for a time proportional to their
sin -- and when they have paid that proportional cost, they experience eternal
death -- the cessation of existence -- a form of annihilism -- of total
destruction
-- in this interpretation, it is like the
unbeliever is put on death row -- where they are in torment until they are
finally executed and destroyed and fully experience the second death
-- for some, this is a short period
between torment and death -- for others, it is longer -- based on the degree of
sin and disobedience and their response to the light they were given
-- so, to sum up the question that
we were trying to answer, “What happens to unbelievers after they die?” --
unbelievers go to a place of torment in Hades until after the end of the
Millennial Kingdom, the 1000-year reign of Christ on earth -- at which point,
they experience the second resurrection -- they come back to life and stand
before the Great White Throne -- where they are judged based on their works and
their sin and their response to the offer of grace and mercy from Jesus -- and,
since their names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, they are
condemned to torment in the Lake of Fire proportional to their sin and
disobedience, until they finally experience the second death and cease to exist
forever
-- all who are part of the second
resurrection, which emptied death and Hades of those who were left in their
grasp, are ultimately bound for the lake of fire
-- and death, representing the
bodies of the dead which had lain in the earth and the sea, and Hades, the
place of torment for the unrighteous dead between death and their judgment,
will be completely destroyed and symbolically be thrown into the Lake of Fire
for there will be no more death after this point
IV. Closing
-- three and a half hours north of the
capital of Turkmenistan -- in the middle of a flat and empty desert -- there is
an infernal abyss, with bright orange flames rising above the sand day and
night -- it smells faintly of propane and is reportedly loud, sounding like a
jet engine revving up -- this pit is known as the Gates of Hell
-- legend has it that the Soviets were
drilling in the desert for natural gas in 1971, when there was an accident --
the drilling rig collapsed into the earth -- and the Soviets tried to burn off
the methane gas that was released from the collapse by setting it on fire --
they thought it would burn off the methane in a day or two -- but fifty years
later, the desert is still on fire
-- no one has been able to extinguish the
flames, even though politicians have promised they would succeed -- pouring
sand into the pit did not work -- putting fire retardants in the pit did not
work -- the flames still persist
--
George Kourounis reported that as he dug around the surrounding area to gather
soil samples, fire would start coming out of the holes that he just dug -- so
even if you were to extinguish the fire and cover it up, there’s a chance the
gas could still find its way out to the surface and a single spark would ignite
it again
[Source:
Sarah Durn, “Will the Gates of Hell Be Closed Forever?” Atlas Obscura (1-19-22)]
-- one day, this manmade fire may be
successfully extinguished -- but the real fires of hell in the Lake of Fire
will burn forever -- and even if we do not believe in ECT -- in eternal
conscious torment -- the Bible still teaches that unbelievers will suffer
torment proportionally for their sin and unbelief before facing eternal
annihilism, destruction, and death
-- I think we can all agree that this is
not a fate that we would wish on anyone -- especially for those in our family
or those of our friends who are unbelievers
-- the Bible is frank about the fate for
those who do not receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior -- for those who reject
His offer of forgiveness for their sins and His righteousness in place of their
unrighteousness
-- it is not meant to scare us, but to
inform us -- and to encourage us to go forth and tell others about the good
news of the gospel of Christ -- of the eternal life that we can have in Him if
we only turn to Him in repentance and ask for the forgiveness of our sins and
live in faith and trust and obedience to His word
-- rather than just present to you more
information and knowledge about what the Bible teaches about the end times and
the fate of unbelievers, I want to encourage you to do something about it -- to
apply what you know -- to let this build a sense of urgency in your life to go
out and share the gospel with others
-- Jesus left us with the great commission
in Matthew 28:18-20 -- in those verses, He told us to Go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey all that He had commanded us to do
-- that is our mission -- that is why we
are here -- that is what this study should be leading you to do
-- so, as we close in prayer, let us pray
for the lost -- for those that we know and those that we don’t know -- for our
friends and our enemies -- for those we support politically and those we do not
-- for our leaders and those who serve us -- let us pray for all, that they
might come to a saving knowledge of Christ because we don’t want anyone to
suffer the torment of the second death in the Lake of Fire
-- let us pray
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