Is Hell Everlasting Fire? Part 1

INTRO: David Raegan has a prophecy ministry and he puts out a monthly magazine called the "Lamplighter". In the March/April 2006 edition the title is, "The Reality Of Hell". And in the magazine is an article about whether hell is eternal punishment or eternal torment. He refutes the teaching that hell is everlasting. A number of years ago I set out to answer his teaching. I never got around to giving those messages. And as I took a little break from the Ephesians series I thought I would cover these messages at this point. Our subject is not whether there is a hell. Our subject is, is hell forever?
When I studied the subject of hell in my earlier years I did it as a matter of theology. The question was, what does the Bible teach? If the Bible is God's Word, all our answers must be found there. As I mentioned in the New Year's message, there are two ways in which we determine truth as best we can if we are objective. There is the scientific method. We prove things by whether they are repeatable and observable and measurable. There is another method which we call the judicial method. Here we gather all the facts and see if they give enough evidence so that something can be shown to be true beyond reasonable doubt. I believe anyone who is objective in their search for truth in the spiritual realm and takes the evidence available will come away saying it is the truth beyond a reasonable doubt. The scientific method gives us evidence beyond a reasonable doubt by sight. The judicial method gives us evidence that the Bible is the Word of God beyond reasonable doubt by faith.