Page 89 - THE REVELATION OF THE THIRD HEAVEN and THE MEAT OF THE WORD

logical inconsistency to our minds, an antinomy, as death usually means non-
awareness and torment involves awareness (Rev 20:10). However we know that
God can regard someone as dead who is yet sentient (Mat 8:22, Luke 9:60). We
are left in the certain knowledge that Hell is both death and tormenting (Rev 14:9-
10) for men as well as devil spirits (Rev 14:9-11, 20:10, 15) and is, by default,
everlasting destruction (2 Thes 1:8-9). The fact that it is tormenting for men means
that it is worse, for example, than being drowned and then dead and unaware of
anything (Mark 9:42). Also the distinction is drawn between pain in this life and
the worse fate of Hell which suggests an eternal, sentient torment in Hell (Mark
9:43-48). The devil, beast and false prophet are also to be tormented for eternity
i.e. indefinitely (Rev 20:10) whilst in the lake of fire which is the second death and
yet tormenting (Rev 14:9-13, 20:10, 14) until they are saved after which only the
smoke of their torment ascends (Rev 14:11). Anyone in the second death is in the
lake of fire (Rev 20:14) and all the damned are there including men (Rev 20:15-
21:8). Once someone repents out of the second death then only the smoke of their
torment ascends forever (Rev 14:11).

All those who die the first death and are left in the ‘grave’ (Eccl 9:10), i.e. the
unsaved dead who do not respond to the gospel in Heaven or Hell, then return to
their default status in the ‘grave’. They are unaware (Eccl 9:10) and await the final
judgement whereupon they will go to Hell for the second death (Rev 20:6, 15).
Therefore the lake of fire is the second death (Rev 20:14) which is being in Hell
forever, Hell itself eventually being inserted into it (Rev 20:14) and it is a place of
eternal torment for all those within it (Rev 20:10) and there is no respect of persons
(Acts 10:34) or distinction between the devil or men in this matter (Rev 14:9-11,
20:15). The false prophet is a man and he is tormented (Rev 20:10). As a further
mystery the eternal state of torment allied to death, the second death, continues
after death and Hell is itself destroyed by the second death (Rev 20:14). Hell is a
generic term covering both ‘Prison’ (Luke 16:23, 1 Pet 3:19) and the Lake of Fire
(Mark 9:43, Rev 20:14-15).

God reveals Himself interactively and progressively (Prov 1:23, 2:3-5, Heb 5:13-
14, 8:10) and never absolutely (1 Cor 2:11, Eph 3:8). The mystery of salvation (1
Cor 4:1, Eph 3:9, 5:32, 1 Tim 3:9) which had been kept hidden of ‘Christ in you’
(Col 1:26-27) and the salvation of the Gentiles (Eph 3:6) was only hidden by the
flesh and in the flesh because Man chose it to be so by the hardness of his heart
(Rom 1:18-21). The other aspect of this mystery was the revelation of the gospel
to the powers of heaven via the church (Eph 3:10). The knowledge of salvation
was available always to all men, including Gentiles (Acts 15:14, 17, 19), and the
spirit of man always has known it (Acts 15:18, Rom 1:18-21, 2 Pet 3:5-6). [The