Lake of Fire? Could there be any such thing??
Two alternatives.

Most churches seem to have dropped the idea of hell or eternal punishment because it might upset some, even frighten them away from the Church, but if it is true as Jesus himself taught, then people should be made aware of the impending dangers of "non-compliance" to the love and guidance that Jesus taught. Some churches have ignored anything that may upset people to the extent that the church is so little different from the general population that it basically becomes irrelevant, so why would people come when there is no exhortation to become a far better person, and to dedicate oneself to Jesus if he is also no different to the general society? Some even teach against his divinity, and claim he didn't rise from the dead, such people are in terrible danger for eternity.

The usual assumption is that Hell is in the center of the earth, the "bottomless pit". Imagine that the earth is like a tennis ball, a hard crust and soft inside. If you start from just inside the crust and head to the bottom you come to the top at the other side, so there is no bottom. It is believed, in common language usage that Hell is down there, the devil is in control and bad people are imprisoned there. However in Isaiah Ch65:v17 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth." and in Ch:66 v22-24 new heavens and a new earth, so will the present location of Hell be recreated in the new earth? There is plenty of heat inside the earth, and as spirits you would be able to have some movement but not escape. In the workings below I assume that possibly the final location might be outside the earth, but this is mainly to make the explanation clear that we know of a horrific permanent fire that is possible. Ephesians Ch:4:v9 that Jesus descended into the lower earth. In Numbers 16:v31-35 gives an account of people falling alive into the Pit, AKJ, grave in NIV. However the end of Isaiah Ch 66: v24 indicates that it will be close at hand for people to go and see the evidence and be warned.

In Luke Ch.16:22-28 Jesus tells of a man who was sent there, though the actual characters may be fictional Jesus tells the story to explain what will happen to those who reject his offer of eternal life in a glorious Heaven with him. He spent three years teaching about God, morals, the Law and what God requires of people, so why would he tell this story if it was not a true representation of what judgement will be like, and what will happen to those who have not bothered to pay attention to the message that Jesus so desperately taught and paid for with his life so we could be cleansed of all unrighteousness and faults?

Many people are being caught out by the "small print" of contracts which enables suppliers and insurance companies to avoid liability, and some people and public minded services are warning people to take care. But Jesus is not like that he wants you to succeed and avoid the possible disaster, that is why it is not small print but openly declared that there is disaster for those who do wrong but don't repent, and don't accept Jesus as savior. If you have accepted Jesus as savior and are keeping to it, then these verses are no threat to you, enjoy the relief from what could have been for you and do something prompted by your faith to draw others to Jesus so they can rejoice for all eternity. (2Thessalonians Ch1:v11)

Jesus doesn't want you to go hell, that is why he came and paid the full price for your release so you can go to heaven, if you accept his offer.

This is more than Gehenna the local Jerusalem rubbish dump which was continually burning.

Jesus taught:-
Matthew 13:41. "The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil".
Matthew 13:42 "They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 13:50 "and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Obviously with so much said about eternal fire we should take the idea seriously and look into what the Bible says. Given that the real you is an eternal spirit that can never die, and so must always exist somewhere, and be aware of it's existence, you need to plan ahead for the best outcome, a happy eternity. Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. ( Rev:22,v17)

First let's look for some possible example that indicates if such a thing as the fiery furnace, or lake, is possible, and then at two less extreme alternative explanations. If it is inside the earth it is very hot, even over 12000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Supposing you were in a spaceship orbiting the earth and about to head for Mars. In the last few orbits of the earth a computer glitch fires the main solid fuel rocket, and it cannot be stopped, and you go into a quickly decaying orbit around the Sun. From all sides it looks like a lake of fire. Everything fails and your body dies but you find you are a spiritual entity, and you enter the Sun. As you go down into it you get caught in the downdraft of the mass of a returning solar flare, and are driven down into the Sun. You find that it is fire all the way down, just under greater pressure and turbulence.

As you come up and are thrown across the surface in one of the solar flares, you find that though you are a spirit and have virtually no weight, you still cannot escape the Sun's gravity, and realise that you will be stuck there tossing about for ever! The lake is not the sun as that flees away, before the judgement, but it could be something like it.

Compare the above paragraph with the meaning of these verses.

The escape contract

But take heart!

Is God just using the description of fire, as a way of getting through to us the absolute terror and eternal hopelessness and the continual regret of being separated from God because we chose to separate ourselves, so we could control our own lives, without having any regard for God's advice about a good lifestyle? What other ways could He express the continued torment of realising you missed a wonderful eternity, and reaped eternal torment, because you chose that option, intentionally or by default?

An alternative No. 1.

Perhaps it isn't a Lake of Fire, perhaps God doesn't have a way of describing it to us. Remember how as a toddler you didn't understand such things as "HOT" or "BURNING" as this was beyond your experience, until you disobeyed and touched "HOT" . Perhaps God finds it hard to explain to us the absolute desperate feeling of being totally lost, rejected, and the horror of being separated from God, thrown in with all the evil people who have ever existed in the whole of the world's history, in a place that is worse than we can imagine. Perhaps you are in separate "pigeon holes" with the depressing angry thoughts of others echoing around in everybody's head. The chemistry of the human body can easily be destroyed, but the real you is an eternal spirit, and perhaps it cannot be destroyed, so must go on for ever, in continuous horror, and regret that you hadn't taken a bit more time to investigate the claims that there is a God who loved you so much that He sent His only Son to pay for all your sins, because God knew that you could never be good enough to qualify for entrance into Heaven.

An alternative No. 2.

God gave you free will

If God was to judge your life now?

Did you worship the God who explained that he created the heavens and earth? No! Bad karma!!

Did you accept that Jesus paid for your sins, and worship Him out of reverence? No! Join the legion of the lost!!

Did you pray for, and respect God's chosen people? No! Very bad response!! Hang your head in shame!

Have you read God's Bible to find out how to relate to him and the promises he has given to you? However God put his laws in everybody's heart/mind so you knew until you overwrote them with your own desires. No! Ignorance is no excuse, initially his desire was in you, you should have talked to him or studied his word if it was available!

Did you prefer a belief in saying a Mantra, Rosary, or doing good works, worshiping idols, or dying in Jehad and getting 27 gorgeous wives (a carrot for the donkey) ? Yes You are way off the mark, forever lost!

Did you attend a "Christian Church" because it was a pleasant place with soothing words, nice singing, makes you feel good, but didn't take it seriously, and not during the week? Even some Atheists and agnostics attend for those reasons. Perhaps you attended because your parents said you should, or the Priest warned of dire consequences if you didn't, but your heart and mind was not attending to honour God, but possibly even with a grudge. Is that your level of commitment? Not good at all, a miserable failure!!

So what is your standing with God? Will He be endeared to you, as a reliable friend, or will you be thrown out in the rubbish?

Do you understand what awaits those who oppose God?
The questions above give you the solution if you want it.

Some quotations from the Bible to give a better understanding of God's love and how to relate to Him.

John 1:10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
John 1:11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--
John 1:13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

Receive him, believe in his name, study His word.

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

My Comment:-

God's higher law is love your neighbour as yourself, but our occasional slip-ups don't condemn us, as they would if under the law alone. Your sins are forgiven by Gods grace, even though you don't deserve it. It is for God's glory that he is a forgiving and loving God, not a hard and demanding tyrant of a God, as many picture Him. When the Jews entered the Holy Land God took them to, He ordered them to completely wipe out certain tribes. This was because they sacrificed their children in the fire to evil spirits, such as Moloch. It was not God being evil, but that he wanted to wipe out evil from the land, so that the Jews would not be contaminated with the evil practices of the former occupants of the land. But they messed up, but that didn't break God's Covenant with them, because Abraham didn't promise anything, as he slept while God made the covenant.

John 3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
John 3:15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (A happy eternal life,instead of a bad one.)
John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
John 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
John 3:20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
John 3:21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
John 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
Hebrews 10:15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
Hbr 10:16 "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds."
Hbr 10:17 Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."
Hbr 10:18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
Hbr 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
Hbr 10:20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,
Hbr 10:21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
Hbr 10:22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart (not just a pleasant Sunday outing at church) in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Hbr 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Hbr 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
Hbr 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hbr 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
Hbr 10:27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Hbr 10:28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Hbr 10:29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Hbr 10:30 For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."
Hbr 10:31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

For help in fixing your relationship problems go to:The Bible verses that you need to understand to get right with God.

You have to settle it in this life, because once you enter the spiritual realm, everybody wants to be friends, even those who campaigned against God, so no change of mind can be accepted once you realise you are in the spiritual realm.

The verses from the Bible that refer to the "Lake of Fire" or
the "fiery lake of burning sulphur" (sulphur being the colour of the sun)

Revelation 14:9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand,
Rev 14:10 he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."
Rev 14:12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. 666.html An explanation of what the "Trading mark of the Beast" might be.

Revelation 19:19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army.
Rev 19:20 But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
Rev 19:21 The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

Comment:-
The sword that came out of the mouth could be the stream of words or commands from the Bible or the Holy Spirit, that can cut you to the quick.
The dragon, the beast and the trading mark which is used to sever connection with God, are covered in Revelation Ch.12 v 13 through to the end of Ch 13. during the reign of the ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT which is slowly coming to fruition.
worldgov.html Some insight into the world government that is already being imposed upon us.

After this the Jew's Messiah (the Lion of the tribe of Judah), Christ Jesus will reign on earth for a thousand years. During this time the redeemed will live with God, some will live for a time on the earth, and the rest will be put in storage in the "Bottomless Pit" until the time for judgement after the thousand year reign, when the sea, death and Hades also give up their dead. (Rev 20:13) They will be judged by the Jew's Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Then:-

Rev 20:7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison
Rev 20:8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth--Gog and Magog--to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.
Rev 20:9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves (Jerusalem). But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
Rev 20:10 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. (God does not believe in euthanasia)
Rev 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
Rev 20:12 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.
Rev 20:13 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 he had done.
Rev 20:14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
Rev 20:15 If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Rev 21:6 He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Rev 21:7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Rev 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

Ps. It is also the continuous (never ending) last deathlike experience. If you are alive with God, as a spiritual being, after this point, you are safe for all eternity. There is a lot at stake, so make sure you get to know Jesus as your Lord. Just sincerely ask him, but only if you are serious about it. Saying the prayer just because someone says you should, or claims that God has a better plan for your life, can have a bad result alienating you from God because the changes God wanted did not suit your idea of what your life should be like. Then you might reject God, severing the relationship. God wants to change your heart attitude so the bad things and hurts from the past will drop off. God doesn't like wild parties and drugs, crime etc, so you might not like the changes, which may come slowly, which are actually for your good, but different to what you want at the present. But this does not stop God accepting you, come dirty, filthy, drug addicted, evil and get cleaned up, even if you have pillaged, dealt drugs, raped or murdered. If you do truly repent and want to change your ways, God can still accept you into full fellowship.

For help in fixing your God relationship problems go to:The Bible verses that you need to understand to get right with God.

You have to settle it in this life, because once you enter the spiritual realm, everybody wants to be friends, even those who campaigned against God, so no change of mind can be accepted once you realise you are in the spiritual realm.

For an understanding of what God is doing, and why in this manner instead of appearing before us and giving clear instructions about our behaviour and responsibilities, go to In the beginning, why God created the world, and us, and why there is sin in the world. Humans choose to do the SIN. WE have corrupted society, so don't blame God for our choices!