HELL

Of all of the subjects I preach about, the one that I dislike the most is hell. Frankly, nobody likes to think about hell. In fact, some folks dislike the subject so much that they will never preach about it, never consider what God's Word has to say about it, and maybe even flat out deny that it exists. But it does exist, and God's Word has a great deal to say about it. I believe it is important for us to address that subject.

In Matthew 25, our Lord gives us a partial view of the final judgment. In verses 41 & 46 we see what the lost will hear and what their fate will be. In verse 41 Jesus said, "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. " In verse 46, we find, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment...." Jesus came into this world to seek and save the lost, but those who choose to reject Him will be lost. The scriptures reveal that one of two destinies awaits us all and that by our lives we are choosing which one will be ours. Jesus put it so clearly in John 5:28-29 when He said, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." Most people don't like to think about this sort of thing, but hell is in God's Word and it is there for a reason. Some say, "You are just trying to scare people when you preach about hell." Well, to tell you the truth, if you are on the road to hell you need to be afraid-very afraid. Jude 23 says, "And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." So, friends, let us see what hell is like.

First of all, we must understand that those who end up in Hell will be there eternally. There are different phrases and words used to describe the duration of Hell but all of them indicate that it will never end. Jesus spoke of "unquenchable fire... where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. " John wrote of people being in "torment day and night forever and ever." Again, Jesus said, "These shall go away into eternal (or everlasting) punishment." How long will hell last, or how long will those confined there suffer? The answer is "eternally" or "for ever and ever." The word that is translated as "eternal" or "everlasting" in Matthew 25:46, is the same word that is used to describe the Holy Spirit in Hebrews 9-14 and to describe God the Father in Romans 16:26. It is also used in Matthew 25:41 to describe the fire of punishment. Let me ask you, How long will God last? How long will the Holy Spirit last? That is, according to the scriptures, precisely how long the wicked shall be punished in hell.

Many people, with great indignation, contend that the biblical concept of hell is unfair. Why should someone suffer forever for a short lifetime of sin? Their argument is not with me, or anyone else who simply believes and presents what the Bible says about the subject; their argument is with God. It is God who determines what is "fair" and what is "just." Moses put it this way in Deuteronomy 32:4, "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." The psalmist had it in the right perspective when he wrote in Psalm 100:3, "Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." Isaiah sounded this ominous warning in Isaiah 45:9, "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?" It is both silly and dangerous for man to attempt to sit in judgment of God.

It is important that all understand that hell is a place of punishment. A very popular view of hell is that it is a place where the wicked will simply be burned up and cease to exist. I imagine that that is a very comforting thought, just a brief period of pain and than it is over, but there is no scriptural support for that position. It isn't only that hell is eternal but the punishment to be endured there is eternal as well. Remember, "These shall go away into everlasting punishment."

In Matthew 13, the Lord presented the parable of the tares. The explanation of that parable is found in Matthew 13:36-42. The passage says, "Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 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." Hell is a place of conscious pain and suffering.

A passage that is often brought up in an attempt to support the idea that hell is simply a place of alienation, where a sinner is burned up and ceases to exist, is Matthew 10:28. There our Lord said, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." The word that is translated as "destroy" in that passage does not mean extinction, it means loss, not of being, but of well-being. They will continue to exist, but not in a state of well being.

I believe it is important and interesting for us to be aware of the fact that 'fire" is the most frequently used word to describe the nature of the punishment that awaits those who are lost. Jesus talked about the "furnace of fire", the "eternal (or everlasting) fire", where "the fire is not quenched." Paul spoke of the Lord returning "in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel our Lord Jesus Christ." John wrote of the "lake that bumeth with fire and brimstone."

I have been burned before, but never severely. I have been told that the pain of a severe burn is almost unimaginable. I have not had that happen to me, and I don't want to find out. But when Jesus describes hell by saying, "Where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched", we should begin to get a picture of the kind of unending pain we are talking about when we talk about hell fire. Just picture the kind of suffering that would lead a person to plead for someone to "dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame." Think of how just a drop of water on the tongue could be such vast relief Then we can begin to get an idea of how terrible will be the suffering of the sinner.

Some strenuously object to the idea of "hell fire" because we will not have physical bodies after death, but will be spiritual beings. That is true, we will be spirit beings. Paul in I Corinthians 15:50- 53 told us, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." However, when it comes to the suffering the lost will experience, we are just going to have to leave that to God don't you think? The God who raises us from the dead to stand before Him in judgment is certainly capable of describing for us the "fire" of hell that will cause the "spiritual body" to feel unending pain. No, I am not sure how it will happen, just that it will happen. And no, I don't like to think about it, but hell is a place of suffering.

Another frightening aspect of hell to consider is that when the day of judgment comes, if we hear the Lord say, "I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity", if we hear the Lord say, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.' we will know that we have absolutely no one to blame but ourselves. I won't be able to shift the blame and say, "he made me do it," or "she made me do it." It will be my fault. God is just, and His judgments are right. If we wind up in hell, it will be our own fault. And that is a terrible thing to have to realize for an eternity. We will have the bitter realization that we brought it all on ourselves.

The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." Whatever the judgment of the Lord is, it will be based upon our response, or lack of response, to His love and salvation available in Christ. I truly think that hell will be a place for remembering. Those who are lost will remember opportunities to do right, invitations ignored and rejected. Hell will be regret and remorse - forever.

And then perhaps the most discouraging aspect of all - hell is a place without hope. Most convicts in prison live in hope of their release. Even if their sentence is a long one, most can "mark the days off" and look forward to the release date. That keeps them going. There is an end. There is hope. From hell there will not be a release. Jesus said, "These shall go away into eternal punishment." It will not end. No release, no escape, no hope!

I have been with people who were suffering from very serious sicknesses and yet they maintained good spirits, realizing that "this too would pass." They had every reason to hope they would get better, or this life would end and they would go to a much better place. But take away that hope, and what do you have? Nothing. Nothing but despair and fear. There will be no hope in hell, only the certainty that we are there forever and that the suffering will never end.

What is hell like? It is eternal it is despair, pain and suffering; it is fire of punishment, remorse and shame. It is also absolutely unnecessary for any of us to go there. Jesus came to make salvation possible to all people. He came, so that in the judgment He can say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. " God gives us the choice but we have to make it. I am reminded of Deuteronomy 30:19, where God, through Moses said, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live".