Table of Contents

A Fearful Introduction

Chapter 1

The First Place of Torments

Chapter 2

The Second Place of Torments

Chapter 3

Hell and Our Kind of Soul Winning

Chapter 4

A Comparison Between Hell and The Lake of Fire

IS THERE A PLACE

Worse Than Hell?

A Fearful Introduction

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with not having more of the compassion I know I should have for lost souls. As a saved person; I am thankful for The Lord Jesus saving me from Hell. As a Bible believer; I understand that God’s inspired, perfect, and preserved plan of how to be born again has been written for us to show to the lost. As a professing Christian; I know I am to tell others how they can be saved from the penalty of their sins. As a Disciple I practice witnessing to the lost. As a Preacher; I preach about being about the business of the winning of lost souls. As a Pastor: I am working to lead the saved in the local assembly of my oversight to be soul winners.

But in all of that, I too often find myself letting the reality of people going to Hell fade from my heart, because of the ‘other things’ to be done in the ministry. The main purpose often becomes the thing that is not practiced as the #1 priority. More stress seems to be generated from any number of other good things to accomplish; but actually feeling the pressure over the need for winning the lost does not get taken to God’s Throne with enough heartfelt pleas to help to win the lost!

Yes, we go soul winning. We believe it is right! We preach it is still God’s main method to reach the lost! But is something missing as we go? Do you know of this absent factor in your feelings for the lost?

I often teach that every problem in the life of the saved is a doctrinal problem. Doctrine tells us how we are to practice God’s inspired words. Simply identify what part of The Doctrine of The Faith is being violated or neglected; confess that as sin; and do what the inspired words of that doctrine tell us to do. I wonder how many saved people have never knelt at an old-fashioned altar; confessing the sin of not physically going soul winning? But there is another aspect of this to be considered. We are commanded to go soul winning. But if I read The Scriptures correctly; we are also commanded to have “…compassion...” for the lost before and while we are going! Isn’t “…compassion…” a feeling based on seeing the hurt or misfortune of others which moves us to action? Are we in violation of The Lord’s command to “…have compassion…?” Are we neglecting the confession of the sin of not feeling something for the lost while we obey and go soul winning?

“And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Jude 1:22-23

Those are not only words to practice in going soul winning; but are a command to feel while we are going after lost souls!

It is my hope that this simple book will ignite a stronger passion for the winning of the lost now, before our souls are literally faced with feeling and seeing their terrible loss on that final Judgement Day.

We had better face it; As Independent, Fundamental, Separated, King James Bible Believing Baptists; we will still go soul winning even if we do not feel “…compassion…” But wouldn’t it be wonderful, if we could have The Holy Spirit use The Scriptures written about Hell and The Lake of Fire; to lite a fire in our saved hearts for the souls of the lost?

It’s time that we not only obey The Lord and practice the doing of winning the lost; but that we find the way to be obedient to also feel the “…compassion…” necessary to make “…a difference…” as we attempt to win souls!

Part of The Lord’s command to win souls says in the doing of it, we are to, “…save with fear, pulling them out of the fire…” That “…fear…” is not only a reverential conscience soothing fear. That “…fear…” is not only the “…fear…” we will face at The Judgement Seat of Christ because we did not go soul winning! But that kind of “…fear…” is also feeling for and what the lost will feel in Hell and The Lake of Fire; if we do not help them to hear a clear, Biblical, personal presentation, of how not to have to suffer and live in those places of torment.

T.S. Luchon

Chapter 1

The First Place of Torments

Luke 16:19-31 “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

That Scripture, spoken and written by The Lord Jesus, is an actual account of a physical person who lived, died, and ended up in a real place; “…tormented…” in “…flame…” The Lord was not speaking here to only the lost religious Pharisees; but also to His disciples! Every born again believer must take the time to ‘live’ and to do something as a result of these inspired words about Hell.

It is in that passage of God’s Book where we are told some of what it will be like for a soul to be in Hell. Have you ever looked heartfully at every word in Luke 16:19-31? Have you attempted to put yourself in the place of that poor rich man? Have you tried to feel the emotion caused by leaving this life and suddenly being in that fearful place of flame? Has your mind imagined what that soul was and is right now experiencing? Do your ears hear the begging of one who once heard the begging of others? Have your eyes lived for even a moment as seeing everything through fire? Has your soul ever tried to feel with that man’s finality of no hope of the smallest amount of relief from such unbearable “…torment...?”

But most of all; have you personally come to the place, where you desire to have the lost hear the gospel from your own tongue; as passionately felt and expressed by that living, crying soul in Hell? Is it so strong in your soul, that you would risk sounding as if you were contending with The Lord as that lost man did with Abraham; as he begged him to “…send…” someone who was still on earth to his family to warn them? Have you felt that kind of overwhelming passion; fueled by compassion, for your lost loved ones, friends, acquaintances, co-workers or others? That rich, poor lost soul had no other hope for the gospel to be preached to those he knew. No lost soul living around us should have to wait, to have one of their loved ones end up in Hell to plead for us to go to them! That man’s pitiful request was quickly turned down, because no prayers get answered in Hell! But you and I can do something about keeping lost souls from entering into that place. We can now get up; get over ourselves; get rid of our excuses; and get out soul winning!

Hell is not just to be preached to the lost; but to the saved! The Lord Jesus did this in Luke 12:4-5 “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.” But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.”

The Lord was preaching to His “…friends…” about Hell. Are you one of His “…friends…?” If that is carefully considered; perhaps more of the saved who have been freed from the penalty of sins, would be about the business of attempting to win the lost from Hell to Jesus. We Baptists speak of the unsaved needing the “…fear…” of God’ put in them; but what of the “…friends…” of The Lord? What about us? Where is our “…fear…” for their souls?

If we, as born again people, do not take the time to contemplate what Hell is now, and what it will be for those whom we do not reach with the gospel, we will not carry out our God commissioned responsibility to be soul winners effectively. There will be souls in Hell on our account. No doubt; there are some in that place right now because we did not give them the gospel.

Saved person; born again by the sacrifice and shed blood of The Saviour, does your heart, your emotions, your soul; do you “…fear…” God in this matter of lost souls going to Hell?

Lost souls who are actually on their way to Hell, think Hell is no more than a cussword, a joke, an allegory; a fable that does not really exist! Oh if they only knew! But wait! If we do not “…fear…” that they will go there; how will that place become real to their souls? We must learn to “…fear…” Hell for them! It must be real to us; we who are not going to that place have got to see the lost around us in that fire. This must affect us first, or we will not have the compassion that the lost need us to own for their souls!

You would think that getting a glimpse of Hell would begin this process of making any thankful saved person to be a soul winner. But look around! Thank God for those who do go soul winning in our kind of Baptist Churches. But those are usually only a small portion of the membership in the average soul winning Church!

Have we as saved people become indifferent and unfeeling when we hear about Hell? If that is the case; and I fear it is; then how do we get back the ability to fear Hell as we should? We do not fear our going there; but what about our fearing of Hell for the lost?

Hell to the lost is no more than a word in their daily vocabulary. They feel nothing as they speak it themselves. The fear once caused at the hearing of the flames of Hell seems to have been quenched by an unapplied and unholy familiarity of the term by both the lost and the saved. Why even in some churches, parents get upset if the preacher uses the word Hell; feeling as if their children will use it only as a slang or to cuss!

Hell is none-the-less still a reality for today, whether it is felt to be so or not. Hell is real right this moment for someone you know. They are either in the flames now or they will be soon. But if we will take a step up, further into the future; and see ourselves standing near those lost; there at that other place called The Lake of Fire; perhaps then we will take the keeping of folks from Hell today, much more seriously than has been practiced.

Chapter 2

The Second Place of Torments

Revelation 21:5-8 “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

It used to be that old fashioned preachers would preach about a place called Hell. Now a day, it seems this subject is mentioned in sermons; but it is not the entire sermon itself. Hell is a hard place to really take to heart. But I want to get you to consider another aspect of the punishment for sins which is by far much worse than Hell. Bible believers know that Hell is the holding place of all the souls who die without having received the gift of eternal life by faith from Jesus. Hell is the first place in which lost souls will go at their first death. But Hell by itself is not the final place in which a lost soul will spend eternity. There is another place; a place of “…the second death…”

If the place called Hell is terrible; and it is; then what of The Lake of Fire? You see, after the first death of a lost person; their physical body is placed in the ground, buried at sea, or burnt with the fire of the pagan practice of cremation. Their unregenerated souls; along with their dead, unquickened spirits, are separated out from their bodies at the moment of their first death; only to be held and tortured in the flames of Hell. But those dead bodies will not remain in the dirt of graves and waters of the seas of this earth. They will be resurrected. Just as God once separated their soul from their bodies at their first death; He will reverse the process and reunite their souls and bodies to face a “…second death…”

Revelation 19:20 “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

The “…them…” are real people. The Scripture says that devils and people: “… both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone...” Did you read that word “…alive…?”

We are given more about this to think on in Revelation 20:10-15

“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

The “…they…” are the lost people, whose bodies at their first death, ended up in the sea or the ground. Those bodies will be resurrected when this present earth explodes! They, once again in their bodies, will “…stand…” before Jesus. Some of these who will face The Judge, will have been in Hell for perhaps just a moment of time before the elements of earth are melted! Others such as Cain will have been in Hell for nearly seven thousand years. No matter if it was a moment or centuries in that flame; Hell’s torments are still terrible at best! But the truth is, that decades upon decades in Hell, are only a tiny ripple of time, when compared to the eternity of days they will soon begin to count off in the next place of torment: The Lake of Fire!

In The Book of The Revelation, we are given an awesome and an awful picture in words about this second place of torment. We are told in Revelation 21:1, that the old earth and old heaven are now gone.

Revelation 21:1 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”

The words, of the prophesy of II Peter 3:10-11, have in that hour become reality to the lost. But please keep in mind and in heart that these words are written so we will be moved to go soul winning! God points us to this very event in the future and asks you and I what we will do about it today!

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness…”

The wording of God’s Book is absolutely amazing. He speaks of our “…holy conversation…” of today; which is in direct relation to that prophesied moment in the future. According to John 5:29, it is right here at the destruction of this planet in the future; when “…the resurrection of damnation…” will occur. When “…the elements shall melt…” the souls who have been in Hell, have no choice but to stand in their resurrected bodies before The Great White Throne; only to soon be cast into The Lake of Fire.

Look at the words of Revelation 20:11-12 “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

The Scriptures give us a chilling chronology of these events. The Just Judge takes His place on the Throne. With only a glance from those thrice Holy eyes; “…the earth and the heaven…” are gone; melted, “…dissolved…”, “…burned up…” The “…resurrection of damnation…” has begun! At that glance of God seated on that Great White Throne; all the dead bodies of the lost that were in the earth and its seas; whether whole, maimed, turned to dust or burnt to ashes; are put back together. All the souls that where in Hell are rejoined with their resurrected body and lifted up from that first death to “…stand…” before God; for they have nowhere else left…except The Lake of Fire which is before them!

They are moved there to the next step of their judgement; because the Hell which housed them will have lost its earthly real estate! Connecting these things to the winning of the lost should not be a hard thing for us to understand and do. Our answer to God’s question: “… what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness…” needs to be: “I ought to be doing my best to use my conversations and my lifestyle to keep as many souls as I can out of both of those places of torment.”

These words must become part of our being! When those words in II Peter 3:10-11 are fulfilled, the winning of souls is over! The time lost souls spent in Hell is done! The earth which housed Hell has then been destroyed! Those who suffered only the first death and its consequences, are about to enter another place which is much more terrible than that first fiery holding place of souls! The dead without Christ who heard and mocked those very words about this earth being “…burned up…” by God, will tremble as their ears are deafened by the fulfilling of them! Immediately following that “… great noise...;” the percussion of which has never before been experienced; their dead bodies will be released from the earth and the sea. And even Hell itself; which has imprisoned all their never dying souls for all those years will deliver them “…up…”! The “…elements…” all around them are melted and “…dissolved…” with a “…heat…” far greater than the flames in which they were just in. That great explosion causes all previous physical things to disappear out from underneath them; and they then find themselves standing; not before the beckoning Lamb of Calvary, but before The Lion of the tribe of Juda as The Judge!!

Can you picture the fear in their eyes; as they so suddenly appear before The Father they despised; The Saviour Who could have been theirs; and The Holy Ghost Who so often strove with their souls to be saved? This is their beginning of eternity! This is the first day before their first night in The Lake of Fire and melted rock!

In our sight! One by one, each of the damned; now in body and soul; will bow their knee to the Just Judge; knowing full well that this was ultimately their own fault! He Whom they had rejected; and what they pursued instead; this is why they are there; and is about to be the cause of their own eternal, everlasting hurt.

God: The Three yet One Witness; will then open “…books…” which will show them…real lost people… that all of their good works, all of their good intentions; were never enough to keep them from that Lake so near to the throne! As they bow in open admission of their guilt and condemnation; their minds will race with the thoughts of words such as: “Why! Why did I not bow to this One on His Throne when there was still an Earth?” “Why did I not ask Jesus to save me, back when that soul winner I see in the crowd, tried his best to lead me to be saved from this moment?” “Why did I choose to mock the Name of The Saviour Who has now become my Judge?”

But then, as the verdict of everlasting torment is sounded at the bench of God; each of the dead; will be sentenced to “…the second death…” Can you try to feel what these will feel, when these lost ones begin to understand this next death they are about to face? Back at their first death; no matter how terribly and painfully they suffered; it will then seem like the best day of that past life! They will wish that their once dead bodies were still in the earth, and that their never dying souls could go back into Hell!

Then, with all of this; seeing with their once again physical, resurrected eyes, in the thoughts of their resurrected, still sinful brains; and in the overwhelming anxiety that is rushing into and filling their lost souls; causing their wicked physical hearts to beat at their limit; they then will feel the grip of a mighty hand as it picks up their resurrected body; as they are lifted for the last time from any solid footing; then we will see them, one by one, being “…cast into the lake of fire.” Put a name and a face to them!

Can you try to imagine that day? Will you? We could ease our consciences by saying; “Well, they made their own choice.” And that is true. And God will judge them for their part of that eternal choice. But you and I have been commissioned: commanded to do our part to win those people! And we too will be judged for our part in their eternal torment! We have to own this responsibility now!

Will you do so for the sake of some lost soul who can still be rescued from that hour by your efforts in soul winning? Will you ask God’s Spirit to help you to have the “…compassion…” to see and to feel what those lost ones will experience just before they enter the eternal Lake of Fire? Will you beg The Lord to give you a “…fear…” for their sakes?

That day will come! You and I will witness it then! We, perhaps with the “…blood…” of some of them on our own hands. I believe Ezekiel 33:7-9 can be directly applied to that day and to you and I as soul winners.

“So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”

For their sakes we must take those words as being preached to us! In that hour, we will see their faces; and they may see ours.

That will be where our part of that awful reality ends. But soon after that, because we were given an opportunity to receive Jesus by faith in His gospel; you and I will get to enjoy the bliss of one eternal day in Heaven. But not so for them. For from the end of that last day; it will be their end of seeing or being in the sight of God, angel, devil, or any other human being. They will be marking the days and the nights, in the darkness of the hottest, blackest flames ever lit; one day and one night…one more day and one more night…another set of days and nights one after the other, without an end in sight, nor in any hope of those countless hours ever ending! They will be forever in that Lake; falling, forsaken, and forgotten!

Someone once said in witnessing to a lost man who rejected the gospel, “Eternity in The Lake of Fire is an awfully long time to figure out where you went wrong.” I’d like to add to that soul-searching statement; that if we do not get more to the work of going soul winning; there will be people; living breathing, twice dead people; people that we now know; who might spend many centuries of those never ending days and nights; wondering why you and I went wrong in not giving them the gospel!

We could use the excuse that they rejected another soul winners witness; and that may be true; but what if it was us who would have been the soul winners used by God to keep them from The Lake of Fire?

As I just read that last paragraph in proofing this manuscript, I had this terrible but sobering thought. You and I may never know who else witnessed to those lost ones beginning their everlasting, eternal punishment. But I have to believe that they will remember every one of those soul winners. I almost cannot stand the thought, that some of those who will be in that Lake of Fire, perhaps many; may also know that I…me…I was the one saved person who did not “…warn…” them when I could have done so!

In “…compassion…” caused by The Scriptures; and in “…fear…” led by The Holy Ghost of God; will you please try to imagine them remembering your face forever? There will come a time when God will make it so we will not remember them at all. But what of their memories of us?

Whether you or I faithfully witnessed to them or not is not the real issue right now. But now; please try to imagine those around you today; dying, going to Hell; and then ultimately ending up in that horrible Lake! We must see this now! We must feel that “…compassion…” now! We must gain that holy “…fear…” now!

Hey! We who are saved will see that Great White Throne and those who are condemned there. But we must not let that be the end of the story! We can do something now to keep many out of that place!

If we are to gain the heart and mindset needed for this great work for souls; we must put ourselves there in that future… right now… as if it were today.

I believe The Lord has presented us with this actual account in the Revelation for motivation to go soul winning! Those words surrounding that Lake are not just a sad allegorical or hypothetical story. It is not a metaphor, a simile, a tale or a fable. God gave those future, actual events, to John to record for us to do something about it. We must make it personal! While that man was still alive on Patmos; he with the help of God’s Spirit; wrote as he saw the future of this very subject just as if he were standing right there at The Lake of Fire!

Revelation 20:11-15 “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Did you read the words “And I saw…”? Do you see that it was real to John? It needs to be real to you, to me, to us, and to those to whom we teach and preach! Have you considered this thought? Those words are also part of our own future history! We will see it then! Why not now?? John saw those actual events; and you and I will see those things take place. Is this personal to you yet?

Believers; do we own this? Christians; are you living to stop souls from being there? Disciples of The Lord; are we out soul winning? Saved people of God; will we determine to be seeking to see more lost souls saved than we have before? What about you, preacher; are you challenging folks to be soul winners?

It is no stretch or exaggeration to say that some of these facts surrounding The Lake of Fire get drowned out by the mere flames of Hell. The differences between these two places are not thought of as much by we who are saved as they should be. And, even less so within the souls of the lost.

They are used to hearing about Hell. But what if they are brought to hear of The Lake? As the time of The Lake of Fire draws nearer than ever; perhaps we should begin to include it in our preaching to the saved, and to our witnessing to the lost. Both we and they need to be brought before this place. It may be that they will understand that in their first death, the pain of their physical bodies will be traded for what their souls will feel in the flames of Hell. But in their “…second death…,” both their body and soul will be engulfed; not only in emotional, mental pains; but physical, bodily torment as well.

Hey Christian; let that settle into your soul for just a moment! Then seek to understand and to feel the reality of it! Then ask yourself: “What am I going to do to keep the next lost soul from having to suffer the terrible consequences which will come to pass? What of them: the lost; if I do not become a better soul winner?

The “…friends…” of Jesus are those who are both willing and at work in getting the gospel to the next lost sinner! He Who is THE final Word in this; ought to be enough for more of His “…friends…” to be soul winners. Let’s work to keep some out of Hell as the “…friends…” of our Saviour.

“And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” Luke 12:4-5

The Lake of Fire was never intended to be chosen instead of “…the love of God...”

The Lake of Fire will imprison less souls; if “…the mercy of our Lord…” is preached by more of us.

The Lake of Fire was not the place in which God wanted souls to spend an “…eternal life...”

The Lake of Fire will bring us to a new level of “…compassion…” in winning souls to Christ.

The Lake of Fire has to make “…a difference…” in us first; or it will not affect the lost.

The Lake of Fire will help us to preach the gospel to the lost “…with fear…” for their sake.

The Lake of Fire will make us more proficient in “…pulling them out of the fire…”

The Lake of Fire; as we warn the lost of it; will help us in being more “…faultless…” before God.

“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” Jude 1:21-25

Chapter 3

Hell and Our Kind of Soul Winning

In Luke 6:4, The Lord teaches us the principle, that what is in our hearts, will be known by what is spoken. Does Hell affect your heart as you go soul winning? Try to hear the heart behind these next words.

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

Bitterness in the heart comes out with tones of disdain. Anger in the heart acts out in our words which hurt. Fear in the heart causes our words to make others to tremble. Good and bad in our hearts will both show themselves in the words we speak. Faith in the heart comes out as inner strength. Scripture hid in the heart comes out in words of spiritual power. Love in the heart comes out with challenges to be charitable. Joy in the heart comes out to cheer the discouraged. Peace in the heart comes out in comfort to the confused. And a heart filled with compassion comes out while leading a lost soul to Christ. What is in our hearts is going to be heard by others. Whether in specific words or in the tone and attitude of their intent; spoken words are a mirror of the heart.

The words, from the heart of The Saviour in Luke 6:4, must be considered, contemplated, pondered in the mind and then applied to our hearts, as we prepare to speak the gospel to the lost in our kind of soul winning.

In this chapter, I have asked The Father, The Lord Jesus, and The Holy Spirit of God to help those who will read this to have something taught here to the filling of their hearts: to the end that more lost souls will be witnessed to with words which will demonstrate, more spiritual “…compassion…,” “…fear…” and power.

Paul The Apostle spoke from a heart filled with this truth as he was used to say in I Corinthians 2:1-5,

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

That is exactly what we as soul winners need at this very hour! We must get this! Perhaps if we are filled with this; more of the sinners we help to pray for salvation; will have a faith that does “…not stand in the wisdom of men…”

It is obvious that much of what is in this chapter will not be explained to a lost soul before they are saved. God even told us of this in Paul’s words of that same passage of Scripture, when he wrote in I Corinthians 2:6, “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect…” These things need to be spoken to and received by us: the saved! The lost and unregenerate “…natural man…” (I Corinthians 2:14) is not capable of receiving such things before they are born again. But for the sake of their souls; we, as the redeemed of God, had better have our hearts full of the truth of these things!

When you are out soul winning, and you show a lost person how much The Lord loved them; if your heart is full of His love for you; your words will have a better effect on the soul of that lost person. When our heart is full of thankfulness for Jesus having died in our place; our words will be a much more powerful witness to their souls. When you and I have our hearts full of the fact that Jesus paid the price for all our sins; we will be better at convincing lost people, that Jesus has done the same for them.

According to I John 2:2, It was Jesus Who has paid for “…our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” The price for all sins has already been paid!

Let’s get Biblically correct here. I know many have said if a lost soul does not receive Jesus as their Saviour, that they will have to pay that price for themselves in Hell. But that is not accurate. We know that “…the wages of sin is death…” All men have sinned and therefore all men have earned the wages of sin which is death. But sinners can’t pay that price which they have earned! Only Jesus could do so! Jesus has already paid for what all people have earned because they have sinned. No person will actually pay the price of their own sins. The Scriptures make it absolutely clear, that it was Jesus Who did that for all. When a soul goes to Hell and then later into The Lake of Fire; they are not paying for their sins; they are suffering eternally because they did not take “…the gift of God…” which is “…eternal life…” which was bought and paid for by Jesus! That price, “…the wages of sin…,” has already been paid “…through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) No sinner is qualified to pay the price for their own sins! That would take away from “…the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23) It was His “…glory…” to pay that price! No lost soul should ever think that they have the right to take that work of sacrifice away from God’s Son! No sinful soul can pay the price for sins! Only the Sinless Soul of The Lamb of God could do so!

We must have it in our hearts that the price paid by Jesus alone is the only way a sinner can be born again. No sinner must be left to feel or think that they are good enough to pay the price for what their sin cost The Saviour!

The Scriptures give you and I more about this price paid in the inspired words Isaiah 53:9-12,

“And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Let the answer to this next question fill your heart. According to those inspired words; exactly where was it, that the “…soul…” of Jesus, paid the awful price of all sins?

We know Jesus took our sins “… in his own body…” (I Peter 2:24) on the Cross; that is when He in His body paid “…the wages…” for all sins. That was one part of the price He paid. The second part of that price was paid for as “…his soul…” was made “…an offering for sin…” Death in God’s Book is not just the fact that the body dies! The soul is also involved in death! Has that Biblical facts about the full price paid for your salvation, filled your heart as you attempt to win souls?

But there is more in The Scripture about this second part of the one-time “…offering for sin…” In Psalm 16:9-10, this truth is written of by the words of God through David’s pen; and it is a prophesy speaking directly about the death of The Lord Jesus. These words speak of two parts of the death of Jesus. That is: His body will be preserved and that His soul will not stay in “…hell.”

Psalm 16:9-10” Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

In Peters sermon, just before 3000 souls got saved; The Apostle uses the truth of these words about the soul of Jesus in Acts 2:24-32. These inspired words interpret and further explain the words of Isaiah 53 and Psalm 16.

“Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.” This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.” Acts 2:24-32

Are those words; and the full truth of them in your heart, as you explain the awful price paid for a lost soul?

The Lord Jesus paid for all sins in His death. That death was in two parts. In the death of His body; and the death of His soul! We know the first death suffered is not an annihilation of the body or soul; but it is a separation of the soul from the body. The Scriptures speak in II Corinthians 5:8 of being “…absent from the body…” When a saved person dies; our bodies go into a grave while our soul and born again spirit go to be with The Lord. When Jesus died; His spirit went to be with The Father; His body went into a grave; and “…his soul…” was made “…an offering for sin…” And on top of those facts; Jesus then conquered that two-part death by raising up from death and from Hell on the third day! Amen! That is our message! That is The Gospel! And more of the lost need us to be passionate as we speak that Gospel! Those Bible facts need to be rightly divided, understood, and applied properly to our hearts!

Soul winning is doing our part in attempting to convince a lost soul to personally ask Jesus for the gift of eternal life. This must be done from words which come out from our thankful saved hearts. As we lead lost souls to receive God’s gift by faith; we must understand the price Jesus paid with His body and soul in their place for that gift! If that is in our hearts as we speak to them, we will be more consumed in our desire to lead that soul to ask Jesus by name, for the gift He alone bought for them.

God help us! How many lost people pray some prayer without understanding the price Jesus paid! This is not complicated! Their souls are worth it! Moreover; what Jesus did for lost souls deserves this kind of heart behind our words! We may not be able to tell all of these things to a lost soul before they receive Jesus; but it had better be the force and the fullness of our heart behind our words to the lost!

With all that said; we cannot afford to leave Hell and the Lake of Fire out of the words of our kind of soul winning. Many of us Independent Baptists use Revelation 21:8 in leading a soul to see that they are lost. But are we moved at heart by that terrible place? Hell is Hell; and it is still as terrible as the day it was kindled. But The Lake of Fire is “…the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

We have that verse in our tracts. We use and say those words in our preaching of the gospel. But is the awful truth of those words the fire behind our words to the lost? Thank The Lord for the many soul winners who can honestly say yes to that pointed, probing, and prodding question! But what of the others who are not seeing as many saved as they would love to see? We must get our hearts filled with this kind of “…demonstration of the Spirit and of power…”

Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Chapter 4

A Comparison Between Hell and The Lake of Fire

Revelation 20:10-15 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Could it be, that part of the reason that the internal thoughts of going to Hell have little or no visible effect on a lost soul, has more to do with the soul winners then it does with the lost sinners?

It seems that some years ago the lost were more fearful when they heard of a place called Hell. But now, Hell to many is just another word. I can understand that being the case with the religiously lost of this world; but what about you and I who know 100% for sure that we will never see the flames of Hell?

Have we lost the fear that the fires of Hell were designed and ignited to produce? Because lost people will perceive and hear the “…abundance…” of our hearts in our words to them; we have got to ask The Holy Ghost to search deep for us to be able to see what is in our hearts in this matter.

Consider this carefully. We cannot see souls enter into Hell; but we will see people; soul and body, cast into The Lake of Fire. If your heart has grown cold at the hearing about souls entering the flames of Hell; what about the fire and brimstone of The Lake??

Here are some comparisons between Hell and The Lake of Fire to consider adding to your heart.

Jesus wrote to tell us about the Hell where lost souls go, while awaiting another part of their judgement; But in The Lake of Fire, only those souls, with their lost bodies; will know the horror of a place far worse than Hell.

Still suffering from the everlasting flame of Hell, while standing at The Great White Throne; the lost will begin to realize, the coming torment of a flame far worse.

Hell itself will lose its temporary occupancy in the heart of earth; only to gain permanent residence in The Lake of Fire.

Hell’s flames will be engulfed by the terrible fire of The Lake.

The flames of Hell were premeditated to punish the realm of the spiritual; the flame of The Lake of Fire was planned to torture the physical!

Hell is only the beginning of a lost soul’s eternity; The Lake of Fire is the final place; for all the endless infinity, of the balance of eternity.

Hell is the holding place of lost souls whose bodies are still in the earth; The Lake of Fire is the eternal home of all lost souls and their bodies.

In Hell, the dead body of those souls, is temporarily deposited in the earth; released from the pain that once put it in the grave; In the Lake of Fire, they and their bodies, will be resurrected only to be “…cast alive…” forever suffering pain in that place!

Hell is the temporary place of transfer to The Lake of Fire; which is permanent.

In Hell souls are carried there by angels; In The Lake of Fire body and soul are thrown into its flames.

The flame of Hell is seen only through the eyes of the soul: The Fire of The Lake will be viewed and felt by every physical eye.

In Hell others can be seen by its occupants through those flames; In The Lake of Fire nothing will be seen in the blackness of the darkness.

In Hell a good place could still be viewed in the distance; In The Lake of Fire there is nothing left to see.

We know Hell is in the heart of the earth: The Lake of Fire is just somewhere else.

From Hell saved people can still hear the cry of the lost: Not so in The Lake of Fire.

In Hell, souls still ask others for things; In The Lake of Fire there will be no voice answering back!

In Hell, requests are made by its occupants for soul winners to go to their loved ones; In The Lake of Fire, those we do not reach will be there with them.

In Hell lost souls will remember one who could have told them the gospel; In The Lake of Fire we will no longer remember them.

In Hell, there is still a small but unfulfilled hope for comfort; In The Lake of Fire, hope for its tenants will no longer exist.

In Hell other voices can be heard speaking to them; in The Lake of Fire, the roar of the flames will drown out the sounds of their screams.

From Hell, Heaven could still be seen; from The Lake of Fire there is nothing outside of it to see.

Hell will offer one last meeting before God: But in The Lake of Fire, God will never be seen or heard from by them, for the rest of all eternity.

In Hell, we are not told that souls are aware of time: but in The Lake of Fire, the endless counting of those days and nights, will only serve to be part of the torments of that place.

When a person died, and their soul entered Hell; a human eye may have witnessed the physical part of their death; but those dead; with their soul and body, will be “…cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone…” while we who are saved and safe; will watch with our resurrected eyes; till that last one disappears beneath the melted rock!

Jesus now speaks about souls in Hell: But those who go into The Lake of Fire will be remembered by God no more!

I believe we need a revival of the effect of The Lake of Fire; in us and on the lost! Is there a place worse than Hell? YES there is!