Chapter Six
The Reality of Hell
Satan has muted one of the most viable messages the church possesses to bring people to their knees in repentance. It’s the reality of hell.
There’s no lack of teachings and books about heaven, hell is hardly ever mentioned or written about any more. Sermons on heaven are four to one over those concerning the reality of hell, and while there are plenty of books talking about heaven, only a few cover the topic of hell.
When we neglect this vital doctrine we’re actually doing irreparable harm and damage in understanding God’s love and grace. To preach the good news of Jesus Christ, we also have to preach the hard truth of God’s justice, holiness, righteousness, and yes, hell.
The doctrine of hell is all but forgotten. It is one of the most neglected doctrines of our day. The topic of hell seems to have fallen on hard times because the church has moved toward a more consumer-oriented seeker-friendly establishment. Words like “hell” and “sin” are not looked upon favorably.
It wasn’t always like this. Only a generation ago the majority of Christians believed in the reality of hell. The very thought of being in hell, along with the pain and the torment attached, was enough to bring sinners and saints to their knees in repentance.
Preachers of old talked a lot about hell, none more effectively than Jonathan Edwards. When Edwards talked about hell in his sermon, “Sinners in the hands of an angry God,” people began to shake under the conviction of sin. They felt hell’s fire, smelled the smoke, and fell to the floor crying out for mercy. This was one of the major sermons God used in the Great Awakening revival that swept America.
Using as his text Deuteronomy 32:25 he said, “Their foot shall slide in due time.”
Edwards explained that everyone is exposed to sudden unexpected destruction and is liable to fall at any moment. The only thing that keeps men out of hell is the mere pleasure of God.
I have taken experts out of Edward’s sermon to give a feel of its the intensity.
“We find it easy to tread on and crush a Worm that we see crawling on the Earth; so ‘tis easy for us to cut or singe a slender Thread that any Thing hangs by; thus easy is it for God when he pleases to cast his Enemies down to Hell.”
“The Wrath of God burns against them, their Damnation don’t slumber, the Pit is prepared, the Fire is made ready, the Furnace is now hot, ready to receive them, the Flames do now rage and glow. The glittering Sword is whet, and held over them, and the Pit hath opened her Mouth under them.”
“There is the dreadful Pit of the glowing Flames of the Wrath of God; there is Hell’s wide gaping Mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, not any Thing to take hold of: there is nothing be-tween you and Hell but the Air; ’tis only the Power and mere Pleasure of God that holds you up.”
“Your Wickedness makes you as it were heavy as Lead, and to tend downwards with great Weight and Pressure towards Hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend & plunge into the bottomless Gulf, and your healthy Constitution, and your own Care and Prudence, and best Contrivance, and all your Righteousness, would have no more Influence to uphold you and keep you out of Hell, than a Spider’s Web would have to stop a falling Rock.”
“O Sinner! Consider the fearful Danger you are in: ‘Tis a great Furnace of Wrath, a wide and bottomless Pit, full of the Fire of Wrath, that you are held over in the Hand of that God, whose Wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as against many of the Damned in Hell: You hang by a slender Thread, with the Flames of divine Wrath flashing about it, and ready every Moment to singe it, and burn it asunder.”
But there is hope, and Edwards ends with these words,
“Therefore let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the Wrath to come. The Wrath of almighty GOD is now undoubtedly hanging over great Part of this Congregation: Let every one fly out of Sodom: Haste and escape for your Lives, look not behind you, escape to the Mountain, least you be consumed.’”
For years hell was looked upon as the realm of Satan and his demons and the place where evil people, unbelievers, go once they die. But hell has changed in the minds of most. Hell is now more a state of mind, a curse, or a metaphoric description about anything that is hard or difficult. We say, “War is hell,” or something “hurts like hell,” or even traffic can be “hell.” But if the reality of hell were truly understood, these would seem like heaven.
Dr. Maurice Rawlings who specialized in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and who taught at the National Teaching Facility of the American Heart Association specializing in the retrieval of patients from sudden death, wrote a book entitled, “Beyond Death’s Door,” where he documented one such case. He resuscitated a man who started crying out terrified because he had been in hell.
“Each time he regained heartbeat and respiration, the patient screamed, ‘I am in hell!’ He was terrified and pleaded with me to help him. I was scared to death. In fact, this episode literally scared the hell out of me! … Then I noticed a genuinely alarmed look on his face. He had a terrified look worse than the expression seen in death! This patient had a grotesque grimace expressing sheer horror! His pupils were dilated, and he was perspiring and trembling — he looked as if his hair was ‘on end.’
“Then still another strange thing happened. He said, ‘Don’t you understand? I am in hell! Don’t let me go back to hell!’ … He was in a panic like I had never seen before.”
After several more near death episodes the patient asked Dr. Rawlings to help him stay out of hell. Drawing back on his Sunday school teachings Dr. Rawlings suggested Jesus. And the man said, “Pray for me.” After Rawlings prayed what he had learned so long ago, the patient’s condition stabilized, and Dr. Rawlings dusted off his Bible and started reading it to find out what hell was supposed to be like.
Hell today, unfortunately, is mostly relegated to mythology and folklore, or outdated religious teachings and traditions. It’s considered to be archaic and barbaric to think that such a place even exists and that those who don’t believe in Jesus will spend an eternity there.
In his book, “Victory Over the Darkness, Neil T. Anderson said, “Not believing in hell doesn’t lower the temperature there on degree.”
William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, said, “I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost; Christianity without Christ; forgiveness without repentance; salvation without regeneration; politics without God; and Heaven without Hell.”
Why do we so readily accept the existence of heaven, but are so reluctant to believe in the reality of hell? It may be because belief in hell is uncomfortable. If hell is real then what the Bible says is true, which calls for us to turn away from our sins, repent, and turn toward God and live in accordance with His word.
People, however, don’t like the idea of being held accountable for the way they live with a holy and righteous God as their judge, because they love sin and don’t wish to depart from it.
Jesus said, “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (John 3:20)
Billy Graham said, “If we had more hell in the pulpit, we would have less hell in the pew.”
When people look at the Bible thumping fire and brimstone preachers of the past they think they’re using scare tactics, and that Jesus would never preach anything like that. But over half the references to hell in the Bible come from Jesus. With all His kindness and mercy toward sinners, Jesus was actually a fire and brimstone preacher.
Why A Hell?
Before we can go further as to the existence of hell and what it’s like, we have to answer the question, “Why would God create hell in the first place?”
Hell was never created for humanity. God created hell for Satan and his angels. In His parable of the sheep and goats, Jesus said to those cursed and headed to hell:
“Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41)
Hell is the residing place for Satan and his demons, those who rebelled against God. But God never intended it for humanity, that is, until humanity rebelled against Him. And so hell will be the place of judgment for those who do not believe in Jesus Christ.
In John 5:28-29, Jesus said, “For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”
God, however, doesn’t want anyone to go to hell.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Since God doesn’t want anyone to perish in hell for eternity, why do people end up going there?
They chose to do so!
Many people today reject the idea of hell because they simply don’t understand why a loving God would send anyone to such a horrible place. They see hell as a place of punishment, and while it is, it’s also a place of choice. God gave man a choice to spend eternity with Him or to be eternally separated from Him.
Jesus said that those who refuse to believe condemn themselves, John 5:29. The Apostle Paul says God will give rest to the righteous, but the wicked He will judge because they refuse to know God and obey the good news of Jesus Christ.
“(God will) give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes.” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10a)
Hell was prepared for those who, like the devil, choose themselves over God.
God’s justice demands payment for sins. Further, the Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of God’s holy and righteous standards for life, Romans 2:32, therefore death awaits everyone because “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23a)
This was why Jesus came, that all who accept His wondrous gift of grace through His death upon the cross will be saved from God’s wrath, like Paul went on to say, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b)
But those who do not avail themselves of God’s gracious gift will not be saved from God’s wrath.
“These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
What Will Hell Be Like?
A place of endless torment
Jesus’ description of what hell will be like should bring shivers to everyone who contemplates its reality.
In the parable of the talents Jesus said, “And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:30)
In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus describes hell through what the rich man was feeling after he landed there.
“And being in torments in Hades … 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.’” (Luke 16:23-24)
Some translations use the word “agony,” but torment better describes hell where there is eternal physical, emotional, and spiritual pain, along with eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Hell is a place of unspeakable suffering. Jesus described the pain in a way that most of us can understand.
“And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire — where ‘Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’” (Mark 9:47-48)
The pain we would feel gouging out our eye is unimaginable, but according to Jesus it’s nothing compared to what it will be like to be cast into hell as punishment for our sins where hell’s fire is not quenched and where worms continually eats away at our flesh.
Many people say the difficulties and trials they’re now experiencing is “hell.” But that’s the furthest thing from what hell will be like. Their worst day will be like a vacation on the beach when compared to what hell will be like.
A place of complete darkness
Jesus describes this place of torment as a place of outer darkness.
“But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:12)
It’s a darkness that causes pain. It’ll be a darkness that is felt, much like the ninth plague of Egypt, Exodus 10:21, and it will be like this forever.
Jude describes the place as the deepest blackest darkness anyone could ever imagine.
Speaking of the outcome awaiting those who have turned God’s grace into a license for immorality and who deny Jesus Christ, Jude describes them as having reserved for themselves “the blackness of darkness forever.” (Jude 13)
A place of unquenchable fire
In the parable of the talents, Jesus described hell as a place of eternal fire.
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” (Matthew 25:41)
Jesus also described hell as a fiery furnace.
“The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:41-42)
In the end, the Lord will toss hell into the lake of fire.
“Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” (Revelation 20:14)
This idea of continual burning is seen in Greek word Jesus uses for hell, “Gehenna,” which literally means, “Valley of Hinnom,” which is a valley outside of Jerusalem that was used as a garbage dump. All of the city’s garbage was thrown into it, including the bodies of dead animals. To consume the garbage and carcasses, fires would continually burn and maggots would do their work.
Jesus used this awful scene in describing hell, where it would always be on fire, and where the worm doesn’t die, but thrives, Mark 9:48. One could say that hell is God’s garbage dump for those unfit for heaven.
A place of eternal separation
In 2 Thessalonians 1:9, Paul said that all those who do not know God nor obey the gospel of Jesus Christ that they “shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”
This is probably the worst torment of them all. The only companionship a person will have in hell is their memory of rejecting God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Hell is not some eternal sleep; rather it’s a place where there’ll be no rest day or night, Revelation 14:11.
In Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus we see the rich man pleading with Abraham, which means that everyone in hell will be conscious, never forgetting that they forever missed out on heaven and the presence of God.
Every moment for all eternity those in hell will be in mental anguish because they’ll remember every time the gospel was presented, and every time their family and/or friends told them of their need to accept Jesus Christ, and they didn’t. They will remember every excuse they ever used, every lie they ever accepted as truth, and they’ll be in agony over all their missed opportunities.
Christian apologist and author, C. S. Lewis, was told about an inscription on a gravestone saying, “Here lies an atheist – all dressed up and nowhere to go.” Lewis said, “I bet he wishes that were so.”
Misconceptions concerning Hell
Besides covering over this vital doctrine, Satan has also created a campaign of misdirection and misconceptions. These make hell into something God never intended, making the message of the church concerning the realities of hell irrelevant.
Hell is only temporary
The misconception is once a person dies they go to a holding area for further purification to receive the holiness and righteousness that’s required to get into heaven. It’s the teaching of purgatory. The only problem is that it’s not found in the Bible. It was something created around the Middle Ages by the Roman Catholic Church.
The writer of Hebrews said that it’s been given unto man to die only once, and then face judgment, Hebrews 9:27.
Our location in eternity is permanent. Once we cross over, it’s done, it’s final, there’s no coming back, no reincarnation, and no second chance in purgatory.
When Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus, he said that there existed a great chasm between hell and Paradise, so that no one can cross between the two, Luke 16:26.
This chasm can be bridged while someone is alive. The bridge across this chasm is the cross of Jesus Christ and our belief in what He did as He died to forgive our sins and give us eternal life in heaven. But once death occurs, this chasm is un-crossable.
One’s permanent residence, heaven or hell, is decided by what we choose here and now. When this life is over so is that choice.
If you die in your sins, you will recall these exact words. You will remember having the opportunity to respond, but rejecting the offer. And the sad reality is that you’ll regret that decision forever.
Hell is one big party
People who think hell isn’t going to be that bad, and that hell’s going to be some great big party with all their friends and family really don’t get it. Hell is not a party.
Hell is darkness and fire. Think about what that would be like for an hour, day, year, and now think about what it will be like for all eternity. It should send chills down our backs, where we will do whatever it takes to escape it.
In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man doesn’t say, “Hey, can’t wait for my brothers to get down here so we can party hardy.” Instead his hope is that they don’t come and experience the horrors and torments of hell.
“I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.” (Luke 16:27-28)
We don’t see the rich man partying with others; instead he’s all alone and in complete torment.
Hell is symbolic
This is the favorite saying of many. They don’t believe in the reality of hell and of its necessity, not to mention its nature. But according to R.C. Sproul, Christian theologian, author and pastor, this misconception makes hell an even scarier place than it already is.
“If these images are indeed symbols, then we must conclude that the reality is worse than the symbol suggests. The function of symbols is to point beyond themselves to a higher or more intense state of actuality than the symbol itself can contain. That Jesus used the most awful symbols imaginable to describe hell is no comfort to those who see them simply as symbols.”
Making hell symbolic is not only a misconception, but also a really scary one.
God’s love will keep us out
This is the most popular belief people have. Because God is a God of love, God would never send anyone to hell. But they have misunderstood the nature and character of God and the greatness of His love.
God is not only a God of grace and mercy, but He’s also a holy and righteous judge who must judge and condemn sin. But in His love He’s made a way for everyone to beat hell’s heat, and that’s through sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to take our place and die the death we all deserve.
God’s love will keep us out of hell, only because He sent His Son to become sin for us and die upon the cross. Deliverance from hell comes only to those who believe in the sacrifice Jesus made.
Conclusion
Most mainline and even some evangelical churches have stopped believing in hell years ago. Hell made both newcomers and regular attendees uncomfortable. Hell is now considered too old-fashioned for our modern sensibilities. On the practical side, hell was simply bad for business, or should I say hell was bad for the church’s bottom line.
But the realities of hell need to be told, because hell doesn’t have to be a person’s ending. Hell is avoidable.
It isn’t about trying to be good enough. No one is good enough. The Bible says there is no one who is righteous, not one single person, Romans 3:10.
So no one can be good enough and miss going to hell.
The only way you miss hell and make heaven is through belief in Jesus Christ. This is at the heart of what Jesus says.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
There is only one way to heaven and that’s through Jesus Christ.
In John 14:5 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus saves us not because of the righteous things we’ve done, but because of the richness of His mercy, grace, and love.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us … having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Romans 5:8-9)
So the choice is ours.
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil … I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19)
Reflection and Discussion
