“For every living soul belongs to Me, the father as well as the son - both alike belong to Me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.” HE does NOT say “The man who sins”, OR “the one who sins”; either one would clearly indicate death. He says “THE SOUL”...clearly indicating something FAR BEYOND the end of flesh as we know it. (Ezekeil 18:4)

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to EVERLASTING life, others to shame and EVERLASTING contempt. (Daniel 12:2)

“I (John the Baptist) baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come One who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn, and BURNING UP THE CHAFF WITH UNQUENCHABLE FIRE.” {“If you are not with Me, you are against Me”...Matt. 12:30} (Matt 3:11-12)

When He arrived...two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him...”What do You want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us BEFORE the APPOINTED time?” There IS something coming, and it is NOT the sweet sleep of oblivious death.....be SURE of it! (Matt. 8:28-29)

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. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Weeping and gnashing....hard to do if you don't exist after you leave the body... (Matt. 13:41-42)

Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the ETERNAL fire”....then they will go away to ETERNAL punishment... (Matt 25:41, 46)

“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed then with two hands to go into hell, where THE FIRE NEVER GOES OUT. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled then to have two feet and to be thrown into hell, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is NOT QUENCHED.’” He is absolutely not (make NO mistake about it!) telling you to hack off your hand with an axe! He IS telling you to go to EXTREMES, if necessary, to resist the evil. Do what it takes, WHATEVER it takes...do you hate it? Do you REALLY?? Does it LOOK to GOD like you REALLY do? FIGHT IT AT ALL COSTS!!! What is a little pain, discomfort, unpleasantness, compared to what WILL be?? (Mark 9:43-45; Matt. 5:29-30; 18:8)

“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you SHOULD fear: Fear him who, AFTER the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him.” AFTER the killing of the body....there is more, AFTER physical death...in the following verse, Matthew hears a slightly different version, indicating that physical death should be THE LEAST of your worries! ...“be afraid of the One who can destroy BOTH soul AND body in hell.” (Luke 12:4-5; Matt. 10:28)

“It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them ready...Who, then, is the faithful and wise manager? (servant)...suppose the servant says, ‘My Master is taking a long time coming’...The Master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect HIM...HE WILL CUT HIM TO PIECES AND ASSIGN HIM A PLACE WITH THE UNBELIEVERS.” (Luke 12:38-46)

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. I know that the way Jehovah's Witnesses try to squirm out of dealing with this passage is by saying that it is a parable. I do not believe that it is a parable because the Bible doesn't say that it is a parable and Jesus didn't use proper names when He told parables (such as He uses here in calling Lazarus by name). But if it is a parable, that would make Hell worse than if it isn't a parable! A common principle about parables is that the parable itself is never quite as forceful as the truth which the parable is illustrating. For example, Jesus told the parable of the father receiving the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) in order to illustrate God's love for wayward sinners. Obviously, no earthly father loves his son as greatly as God loves sinners. So the reality is greater and more forceful than the parable which illustrates it. Thus if the story of Lazarus and the rich man is a parable, and in the parable Jesus pictures the rich man in Hell suffering such awful agony, how terrible must the reality be! (Luke 16:22-23)

I believe everything that agrees with the law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of BOTH the righteous and the wicked. If, when the ‘lost soul’ dies it simply ceases to exist, why is it brought back for Final Judgment? (Acts 24:14-15)

He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our LORD Jesus. They will be punished with EVERLASTING destruction and shut out from the presence of the LORD and from the Majesty of His power. (2 Thess. 1:8-9)

Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance....and ETERNAL judgment. (Hebrews 6:1,2)

But now He (Christ) has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and AFTER THAT to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people... Again, if the ‘lost’ sinner simply dies and ceases to exist, why does God so clearly say that judgment comes AFTER death? (Hebrews 9:26-28)

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to BE HELD for judgment... You don't need to hold the dead, right? This says THERE is awareness in the Darkness (2 Peter 2:4)

And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home - these He has kept in darkness, BOUND with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of ETERNAL FIRE. If there is no actual life (existance) in the Great Darkness, the absense of God, why do the angels need to BE BOUND IN CHAINS? If, when the ‘lost soul’ dies it simply ceases to exist, why does the fire NEVER go out??? (Jude 6-7)

And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest, day or night...(Revelation 14:11)