Mike,

I am really learning a lot from your website and teachings! Everything is lining up with what the Holy Spirit and scripture is telling me.

I hope to understand better the Lake of Fire soon. I’m still chewing on the blotting (or not blotting) of names out of the book concepts.

I am currently reading The Law of Moses versus the Law of the Spirit. SO glad you have a website!!
In Christ,
J____

Hi J____,

Thank you for taking the time to express your gratitude for the truths you are finding. I find it interesting that you say the the holy spirit and scripture are telling you the same things you are reading on the site. That is how God works. He “prepares our hearts” for the good work He is doing in us.

1Ch 29:18 O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:

Psa 10:17 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

You certainly will understand the lake of fire much better soon if you will read all the articles with Revelation 20:6; 29:14; and 20:15 in them. Just type those verses, one by one, into the search box, and you will find all that is written on iswasandwillbe. com, concerning the lake of fire.

In the meantime, let me assure you that if you do continue reading what is on the site, you will certainly come to see that the ‘fire’ of “the lake of fire” is the same fire that is found throughout the word of God. That fire is the Word of God, and Christ is that Word because that fire is the spiritual Word of God, and Christ is “the Word” (Joh 1:1) which dwells in all who dwell in Christ and in whom Christ dwells.

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

According to the doctrine of our Lord, He only dwells in a ‘few’ of the “many [who are] called”.

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

That is why it is a “lake of fire” instead of a sea of fire. The waters of the sea are the Biblical symbol of the multitudes of mankind, from whence we all arise.

Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

So, while it is true that “many are being called, but few chosen” at this time, it is also true that it is through those chosen few, as a small fiery lake, God will deliver the multitudes and the sea of all mankind from death. That is why the “lake of fire” is also known as “the great white throne” judgment. It is not call ‘the black throne judgment’, but it is referred to in scripture as the “great white throne judgment”.

Rev 20:11 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.
Rev 20:12 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.
Rev 20:13 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.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

What did Christ tell us would judge us all? Here is what this “lake of fire… white throne judgment” is:

Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last [great white throne judgment] day.

That is how a vast “sea” can be cast into a diminutive “lake” and be judged at a “great white throne”.

What is one of the most prominent symbols for God’s Word throughout scripture? Here it is:

Deu 4:36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

Deu 5:24 And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

Deu 33:2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right handwent a fiery law for them.

This is what God’s Words are. They are fiery words which give us His laws, and when they are in us they proceed out of our mouths as a fire which will consume all of our enemies.

Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

The number ‘two’ in scripture is the number of witness. Be sure to read and listen to the studies on Numbers in Scripture, on iswasandwillbe. com. The two witnesses are simply the Biblical symbol of all who, down through all the generations since Christ, have remained faithful to the words of God. Here is what happens when someone withstands God’s Words in the mouths of any of His witnesses:

Rev 11:3 And I will givepower unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies [Jer 5:14]: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

Who are these “two olive trees”? Here is who they are, and what they are:

Zec 4:1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,
Zec 4:2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all [of] gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which [are] upon the top thereof:
Zec 4:3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
Zec 4:4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
Zec 4:5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
Zec 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

That spirit is His Words:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. (ASV)

According to Revelation 11, these two olive trees have fire that goes out of their mouths and kills those who would harm them. So it is God’s Words which are both fire and the oil for the fire of the seven candlesticks within the temple of God.

Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth.

Whoever is given this fire is chosen to judge and burn up all of their enemies. But this is accomplished only “through death”, and it is in the “losing of our lives” and the burning up of all this world has to offer within us, that “through death” we are delivered from death.

Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Is this “death” just for Christ? Absolutely not! It is given to us to “suffer with Him” and to be “crucified with Him”.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Php 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

These are not the words which attract great numbers or multitudes of people at this time, and consequently the masses of the sea of humanity will be cast into the few who will comprise the few of that small “lake of fire”. This “lake” is comprised only of those who long ago learned to be at home in those “devouring flames and everlasting burnings” of the Word of God.

Here now is the revelation in the Old Testament of what the “lake of fire” is comprised. Here are those who make up that “lake of fire”.

Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

“Those who speak uprightly” are those in whose mouths are found the fiery words of God. “Zion” is Bible-speak for the people of God. It is through the unbelief of the multitudes of the sea (of humanity) that the few of the lake of fire will believe, and it will be through the mercy of those “few called and chosen and faithful to the end” that the many, who are blinded by their own Creator, will be given mercy.

Rom 11:8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them [the multitudes who come to Christ] it is not given.

So it is through those who have that fiery word in their hearts and mouths, that all who are yet bound up in unbelief at the time of the “great white throne judgment” will be granted mercy and life. It is through the greatest work of God’s mercy mankind will ever experience, and that event is also known in scripture as “the lake of fire” which will destroy death itself by giving life to all who have ever lived.

Rom 11:30 For as ye [and I] in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Rev 20:12 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.
Rev 20:13 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.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

I hope all of these verses of scripture help you to understand what is the function of, and who comprises, this thing in scripture called “the lake of fire.”

Concerning the blotting out of our names from God’s book of life, this is whom He will blot out:

Exo 32:33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

Who has sinned against God?

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

If God tells Moses he will blot out of His book all who have sinned against Him, and then tells us all in Romans that “all have sinned” against Him, you might very well ask me, “Why doesn’t God just tell us straight out that all things come alike to all, and that all things are ours, even if we are God’s elect? Why doesn’t God just tell us plainly that all of mankind will live by every word of His word?”

Contrary to what we have all been taught, that is exactly what the scriptures have taught from the very beginning, and that is what they still teach. Just look at these three verses which say that very thing in a clear, consistent and very concise way:

Deu 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man [Hebrew: adam – mankind] doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man [adam] live.

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

Here is Christ repeating Deuteronomy 8:3:

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man [Greek: anthropos – Hebrew: adam – mankind in both languages] shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Finally this “one event” is spelled out as applying to God’s elect first and foremost in these verses:

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

So the blessings of being God’s elect are not a matter of avoiding the fiery trials of life which will try all men. The blessings of being God’s first fruits are simply a matter of timing and of having “died daily… being crucified with Christ” and having died first so as to “not be hurt of the second death”.

Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

The blessing of being God’s first fruits is simply a matter of enduring the fiery trials first, and being privileged to show mercy to those who are the second to die daily, be crucified with Christ and be cast into our merciful care, if we are faithful to the end, as that lake of fire, those in whose mouth are the fiery words of God (Jer 5:14).

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. [Having “all things present and to come” behind us]

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

“Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear” if we are “scarcely saved?” Here is where they will appear so that you and I may be granted, through Christ, the honor of causing them to destroy their old man and “through this lake of fire… which is the second death” deliver all men from and “destroy death… through death”.

Rev 20:11 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.
Rev 20:12 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.
Rev 20:13 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.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

The fact that all have sinned against God and all have had their names blotted out of that book and have all experienced the same “one event” which is common “to all men”, and yet we read here that some were found in that book, tells us that some were reinstated, after having repented and after Christ has lived His life of fiery trials within them, and being judged now, “beginning first at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17).

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike