Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. This is the Lamp and Light broadcast coming to you from Central Baptist Church in beautiful Ocala, FL. Lamp and Light is a ministry that takes a book of the Bible, verse by verse, teaching it as it is, to men as they are, without compromise or apology, while at the same time speaking the truth in love. giving the lamp and light to all. Last week, in our study of Revelation chapter 20, we were shown two scriptural truths in this passage in Revelation 20, that morality is not salvation, and that the heart of man is desperately wicked. Let's continue with that thought today. And now, here is our teacher and radio pastor, Dr. Andy Bloom. 2 Peter 3.9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You see, He's not wanting anyone to perish. In 1 Timothy 2 He said that He'd have all men to be saved. In John 3.16 He says, For whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So again, he is wanting people to be saved. Revelation chapter 22 verse 17, we get there, he'll say, whosoever will, let him come. Romans 10, 13, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I mean, there are many other verses that show whosoever will. Because we're created in the image of God, we have a free will. And this time of the millennium will show that very thing. They have free will, but not necessarily wisdom. In that the devil will deceive them in only a short season. Now friend, you may have a lot of things in this life. And you may think that you have attained by your hard work, and you may have attained much by your hard work. But remember, you are to be walking with God. Walk with God and trust Him implicitly daily. Know His Word. The way to overcome, just like the people that tell counterfeit bills, they don't study all the counterfeits, they study the genuine article. They can usually tell a counterfeit because they know the genuine article so well. So my friend, the way for us to know the devil's deceit is to know our Lord so well, to know that He is holy. When we know God is holy and He does not will sin, He does not predestine people to sin, you'll know that that holy God then is such that when somebody comes up with something that sounds good and if there's a question in your mind you can measure it by your knowledge of God through His Word and overcome the tempter. Now, there are two scriptural truths I see here. First of all, morality is not salvation because During the millennium they had a thousand years of morality. Morality is not salvation. The second truth that I see here is that the heart of man is desperately wicked. In Jeremiah chapter 17 verses 9 and 10 says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? That's interesting that phrase who can know it. Because this is the idea of it. Take all the ability of man and his knowledge, his sciences, mathematics, and all other accumulated knowledge, and put together with an all-out effort, it still cannot know the depths of how desperately wicked the human heart is. However, Jeremiah 1710 says, I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. God searches the heart. God knows your heart. My friend, that is a fearful thing. And so we see that they're gathered together, and he's gathered them together for battle. And then verse 9 here of Revelation 20 says, And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. Well, this is at the end of the little season, of course. and Satan leads this following against Jerusalem and against the camp of the Christians and they may be gathered together but these are the people that are trusting God although the multitude is as the sand by the sea because they know the power of God is greater than their numbers by the way we need to understand that in the church the power of God is greater than numbers The power of God is greater than the numerous enemy. The power of God is greater than the flesh. Don't rely on the enemy. Don't rely on the flesh. Walk in the Spirit. And God sends fire and he destroys them. The devil is cast alive into the lake of fire forever. And that reminds us of Matthew 25, verse 41, where it says, Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Well, that place was prepared for Satan, my friend. God doesn't want you to go there. It's for the devil and his angels. Some people say, well, boy, there's the devil and he's just tormenting people in hell. No, he doesn't. Hell is so bad it torments the devils, the super-spirits. They're tormented there because it was prepared for them. Then you see verse 10. He says, 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 forever and ever. Now, it's unfortunate, but I even hear Christians lately that say mockingly, oh, he's one of those old fire and brimstone preachers. Well, it's a truth. It is a truth. Now, there are some men out there that are supposed to be preachers, that are supposed to be men of God, and they say, oh, I cannot see a real literal lake of fire where people are tormented and there's a flame. No, but hell is just being separated from God, and there is no chance ever again of communion with Him. And oh, what a torment that is. Well, there are people that don't commune with Him in this life, and they don't feel tormented. And this ignores Bible truth. No wonder they got to come up with new Bible versions. Because Bible truth is too hard for them to swallow. That brimstone comes from an old English name for sulfur. Brim developed into burn, sulfur being the stone that burns. When sulfur ignites, it burns with a very bright light and with the noxious odor of sulfur dioxide. That smell, by the way, was noted by the ancients both in lightning storms and volcanic So both become known as fire from God, and hence the Greek words for brimstone came to be therion and theriotis. Whether or not the lake of fire and brimstone will actually incorporate burning sulfur as we know it, the use of the term indicates that this fiery lake will have brimstone and I don't think it's going to be any less than what we know of brimstone today and it will be a part of the fiery judgment of a holy God and we must remember revelation is not a revelation of prophecy although that's a byproduct of this book it's a revelation of Jesus Christ and right now we're seeing the revelation of his holiness The beast and the false prophet are imprisoned in this lake of fire. They've been there a thousand years earlier. They were satanically controlled men, humans. But they're there. Their bodies are not consumed away. They're still there. God has made their body to where it feels the pain. And yet it doesn't consume away. The worm dieth not. My friend, the person dies and their sin goes to hell, they're going to have a body that feels pain, that feels the burning fire. But that body will not pass away. That body will not be devoured. and they'll be tormented day and night forever and ever that torment is going to be worse for some than it is for others and we'll see that a little bit later in this chapter the great thing is Satan is tormented night and day forever and I am so glad when I think of the great troubles that he has brought to this earth the way that many people have been hurt by him. Now, the word translated tormented, bassanazo, also has the sense of torture, to be harassed and distressed. Although there be no day or night in hell, John used those familiar terms to describe the endless, never-ceasing suffering It's inflicted upon the devil forever and ever, the beast, the false prophet, and it'll be from the ages, and to the ages, and to the ages, to the ages. That's Satan who had so personified evil. and has been the instigator thereof down through the ages, now faces the same forever in the endless age to come. He is tormented day and night forever. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! He is holy. He is just. Vengeance belongeth unto me, saith the Lord. I will repay. aren't you thankful for the God that you and I have and for the God you and I serve and I'm glad that we have a living Savior and He is just now that takes us to the fourth point here and we see the votes of judgment in verses 11 through 15 this is your radio pastor, Pastor Andy Bloom saying May the Word of God be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway today. We want to thank you for listening to the Lamp and Light Broadcast. If you would like a CD or cassette tape of today's message by Dr. Bloom, send us your name, mailing address, the radio station by which you are listening, the date of the broadcast, and a gift of $5 to Lamp and Light Broadcast. 1714 Southeast 36th Avenue Ocala Florida 34471 We also welcome your comments on the broadcast and Bible questions. Again you may write us at the same address which is 1714 Southeast 36th Avenue Ocala Florida 34471 You may also visit us on the web at www.centralbaptistocalla.org. No breaks. Click Sermon Library. Again, that web address is www.centralbaptistocalla.org. This is your announcer, Jerry Banks, saying, May God's peace be with all that are in Christ Jesus.