Is the Unbeliever Not Being Judged Twice - First in Burning Hell and Then Second at the Lake of Fire?
No. It’s not two judgments. The unbeliever is condemned already, held in a place of torment now, and then brought up for one final judgment at the Great White Throne and cast into the lake of fire—the second death.
The Bible says, “He that believeth not is condemned already” (John 3:18). After death there is a holding place of torment—“in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments” (Luke 16:23–24)—and Scripture speaks of “spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:19). But the formal judgment is future: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). At the Great White Throne, “the dead…were judged… and death and hell delivered up the dead… and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Revelation 20:11–15).
Now notice the simple truth: prison is not the court. A man may be held in jail awaiting trial—that’s not a second judgment. So the torment in hell is the holding of the already-condemned; the Great White Throne is the court where the sentence is set and executed; the lake of fire is the final end, the second death. The wicked are burned up, not given eternal life in flames (Malachi 4:1,3; Ezekiel 18:4).
So it’s not double judgment. It’s one condemnation carried from prison to court to execution: hell now as a holding place, the White Throne as judgment, and the lake of fire as the final, second death.
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What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
To see Jesus
54-0718E §41
Drinking, smoking, gambling, doing evil things: that isn't sin; that's the attributes of unbelief. You do that because you're an unbeliever. If you was a believer, you would not do those things. It bears the fruits of joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, patience, holiness. That's the fruits of the Spirit. But the fruits of the evil spirit is doubt. "He that believeth not is condemned already." Then if the truth comes to you in such a way that you have a knowledge of it, and then refuse to receive it, there rema...
Questions and Answers, Part 3
64-0830M §156
Another book was opened which was the book of life, and those who had their name on the book of life had to be judged out of that book. And Judas Iscariot professed to be a believer, and he had his name written among them on the book of life. Is that right? He claimed to have eternal life. And his name was put on the book of life. So he has to... Why, he has to be judged then to see why did he condemn the Word of life then, sell out for thirty pieces of silver. Some sells out to be a Methodist, Baptist or whatmore....
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 10:E-36
...upon death each went to his own place. The Spirit of Christ later came back upon the true church, and the spirit of Judas came back upon the false church. It is right there in Rev. 6:1-8, "And I saw, and behold a white horse; and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take...
Church Ages, part 4: The Smyrnaean Church Age
60-1206 §79
Now remember, if hell is eternal, then the Bible's wrong when it said hell was created. And then if a man's going to burn for eternity in hell, then he'd have to have eternal life to be conscious, to burn. Is that right? Well, how many forms of eternal life is there? One. That's right, just one eternal life. Now, don't go away and say, "Brother Branham don't believe in hell." Brother Branham does believe in hell. The Bible teaches there's a hell. Just as sure as there's a place for rest, there's a place of punishme...
The Angel of the Lord
53-0604 §34
Who's got prayer card O, number...? [Break in tape.] ... the fire, probably that ... a light that shone around Paul, that knocked him down on the road to Damascus. Is that right? It was a fire. That fire was a pillar of fire. Now watch: A pillar of fire. He never said a thunderhead of fire. He never said a big bank of fire. He said, "A pillar of fire." You know what a pillar is? of fire. Now, Mr. George J. Lacey... Here's his copy of this. You can have a photostatic copy, if you wish. It's in the book here, (on bot...