The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:41,2)

The Kingdom of God will be purged in the last days.

Conclusion

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. (Revelation 2:11)

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. (Revelation 20:6)

"Shall not be hurt of the second death."

"On such the second death hath no power."

Now our passages can be understood. The second death is the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. The fire is the Divine Fire, the fire that destroys all worldliness, all the works of the flesh, all self-will and rebellion.

The works of every individual shall be subjected to the Divine Fire. Every individual who has followed the Lord Jesus in stern, cross-carrying obedience will shine as the sun in the Kingdom of his Father. He shall be rewarded by the Lord for his faithfulness in bringing forth the fruit of Christ in his own life and in the lives of others.

But the person who has rejected Christ, or who has been a neglectful, lukewarm "Christian," will lose all he or she has accomplished. He will enter eternity as a naked spirit, terrified because of his closeness to the burning sulfur, without reward or inheritance. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when those who have been lazy and careless with the things of God see the unimaginably marvelous rewards that will be handed to the faithful, while they themselves are clothed in rags.

And then the fate of the thoroughly wicked! The panic of seeing the gates of the Kingdom closed and to be on the outside! To realize one is lost forever to the Presence of God! To never again know love, joy, peace. To never again hear the happy laughter of children. To never again be allowed to visit with the loved ones who chose to follow Christ.

To be led away to the vast sea of burning sulfur, there to be confined with Satan and his angels, the Antichrist, the false prophet, the hideous demons. To never again hear music—only the maniacal laughter and screaming of the wicked. Such a fate is as incomprehensible in its horror as the Kingdom of God is in its wondrous loveliness.

Some have taught that after a period of time Satan and the wicked will have been purified by the fire and will come back into the family of God. There is no passage of Scripture that suggests this. When an angel sins it becomes sin itself. When a human being chooses to sin and will not accept redemption, he or she also becomes sin itself. There is no other aspect of personality remaining. All has become sin and all is doomed to remain in the fiery burnings for eternity.

God opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing.

Let the holy remain holy and the filthy remain filthy. Make straight the way of the Lord.

The promise is in writing to the person who chooses to avail himself of the grace of Christ in order to put away all worldliness, the sins of the flesh, and self-will and disobedience: You will not be hurt by the second death. The second death no longer has authority over you. (from The Divine Fire)