There is only one of two places in eternity that we can go: Heaven or Hell. Each one of us will be placed in one of these two places on Judgment Day to be there forever and ever. In speaking of eternity in Matthew 25:46, The Lord says, "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life". We notice that the duration of the lost in Hell is exactly the same as the duration of the saved in Heaven, "forever and ever". It is hard for our puny minds to grasp how long eternity will be, but after we have been there a billion years, eternity will have just begun.
According to a PEW survey, July 22, 2008, 41% of people do not believe in Hell, while just 59 percent think there is a hell. Hell is a real place. To say there is no Hell is to make God a liar. “Let God be true and every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). Satan does not want you to believe in Hell. Satan is accomplishing his purpose since there is very seldom any teaching on Hell today. It is not a “politically correct” subject. A person who does not believe Hell is real will most likely go there. Ignoring it, pretending it does not exist or scoffing at Hell will not do away with it.
We do not like to think about eternal punishment. But it evidently must be very important or God would not have told us about it. In our thoughts today I want us to begin to consider what the Lord says about eternal punishment of Hell. Jesus spoke as much about the eternal punishment of Hell as He did any other subject. He took our punishment on Himself and gave His life to keep us out of Hell. In His attempt to persuade us not to go there, He has given us many warnings in His Holy Word.
Christ, in describing how horrible Hell will be for the many who will end up going there, says in Matthew 13:42, "And will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth". This definitely will be a horrible and terrible place beyond description. Christ says in Mark 9:43-48 concerning those who are lost, that they will be "cast into Hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched: where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched".
Christ tells us if there is anything in our life that is going to cause us to be lost, we need to correct it today or to get rid of it now. Notice Christ says a person is cast or thrown into Hell. The worm is a flesh-eating maggot that does not die, but will continuously feed forever and ever on the lost in Hell. In Hell, one is burning over every square inch of his body and even all on the inside but is never consumed. The continuous fire and the worms will never accomplish the annihilation of any of the lost. The lost in Hell will prefer to cease their existence, to committ suicide, but they cannot. Their perpetual nightmare of torment will continue forever and ever. It will never cease. The lost “shall be tormented with fire and brimstone…and the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night” (Revelation 14:10-11). The occupants of Hell will never know relief or rest from their torment. Hell is such a horrible place. Hell is not a fictitious place, it is real.
There will be no reprieve or appeal to a higher court, because we will have been judged by the highest. The Lord is trying to get our attention and to give us fair warning even today. He is pleading with us not to go there because He has already paid our price and taken our punishment. But we make the choice. The choice is ours. We will bear the responsibility and the consequences.
One of the many warnings Christ gives us is the true account of the rich man and Lazarus. “There was a certain rich man” and “there was a certain beggar named Lazarus”. [The rich man was lost],“And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, son remember…and besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us” (Luke 16:19-20, 23-26).
I will end here and pick this up next time looking at this passage. God bless and stay faithful...
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