Is Hell Real?
The last book of the Bible tells us that the wicked will be cast into a LAKE OF FIRE
Revelation 20:15
Jesus says that some will be cast into EVERLASTING FIRE
Matthew 25:41
Jesus says that in this fire there will be WAILING AND GNASHING OF TEETH
Matthew 13:42
Jesus tells the story of a man who cries out in hell because of the TORMENT
Luke 16:24
According to Jesus and the Bible, Hell Is Real!
Revelation 20:15
Jesus says that some will be cast into EVERLASTING FIRE
Matthew 25:41
Jesus says that in this fire there will be WAILING AND GNASHING OF TEETH
Matthew 13:42
Jesus tells the story of a man who cries out in hell because of the TORMENT
Luke 16:24
According to Jesus and the Bible, Hell Is Real!
Hell is a place of Torment
The word "torment" comes up three times in the brief story Jesus tells of a man who went to hell
"And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in TORMENTS. . . " Luke 16:23
24 ". . . for I am TORMENTED in this FLAME." Luke 16:24
28 ". . .PLACE OF TORMENT." Luke 16:28
Hell will be beyond anything humanly imaginable!
In speaking of hell, the Bible describes it using the following words...
weeping - Matt 8:12,
wailing - Matt 13:42,
gnashing of teeth - Matt 13:50,
darkness - Matt 25:30,
flames - Luke 16:24,
burning - Isaiah 33:14,
torments - Luke 16:23, NOTE: there is more than one kind of torment. "Torments" is plural!
everlasting punishment - Matthew 25:46,
everlasting fire - Matthew 25:41, NOTE: this fire was originally prepared for the devil. So the devil will not be doing the tormenting. The devil will be just one of the tormented. Hell is God's wrath, not the devils!!!
Hell is Forever
There will be no hope in hell.
If you go there, it won't be for the weekend.
Consider the many ways the Bible speaks about the ETERNITY of hell.
". . . Depart from me, ye cursed, into EVERLASTING fire, . . ." The words of Jesus in Matthew 25:41
"The smoke of their TORMENT ascendeth up for EVER AND EVER: and they have NO REST DAY NOR NIGHT." From words spoken by Jesus in a vision of end time events in Revelation 14:11.
Consider other examples of how the Bible warns of the eternity and permanence of hell!
everlasting fire - Matthew18:8, 25:41
everlasting punishment - Matthew 25:46
everlasting chains - Jude 1:6
eternal damnation - Mark 3:29
eternal judgment - Hebrews 6:2
eternal fire - Jude 1:7
unquenchable fire - Matthew 3:12
the fire that never shall be quenched - Mark 9:43, 44, 45, 46, 48
fire unquenchable - Luke 3:17
mist of darkness is reserved for ever - 2 Peter 2:17
the blackness of darkness for ever - Jude 1:13
In the whole of the Bible, there is not one verse that offers hope for anyone who enters hell. The rich man in Luke 16 never even asked to get out - only that his family might be warned not to come there. He knew there was not way out.
HELL IS FOREVER AND EVER!
Your life will end in a heart beat. The next one could be your last!
What could possibly be worth eternity in hell?
Even if you became the richest person in the world or the ruler of the world, it would do you no good if you lost your soul and were damned to hell forever!
Mark 8:36
No wonder Jesus Christ warned so much about hell!
Please take that warning seriously.
What Jesus said about Hell
Jesus spoke about hell more than any other person in the Bible
You could say he tried to scare the hell out of people. Or more correctly, as in the quote below, tried to scare people out of going to hell. Fear is an important motive here just as it is when faced with any danger, it causes us to flee! People will not flee danger until they see it. Jesus, in his love and compassion for the lost, explained the danger they were in and showed them the way out.
Jesus says in Mark 9:43-47,
"And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: and if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire"
Jesus Christ took hell very seriously - He could say without the slightest hesitation to remove your eye, cut off your hand or foot, if that would keep you out of hell!
WHAT JESUS CHRIST SAYS ABOUT HELL!
Jesus Christ spoke more on hell than any other subject. Just look at how Jesus described hell:
"fire" - Matt 7:19, 13:40, 25:41
"everlasting fire" - Matt 18:8, 25:41
"eternal damnation" - Mark 3:29
"hell fire" - Matt 5:22, 18:9, Mark 9:47
"damnation" - Matt 23:14, Mark 12:40, Luke 20:47
"damnation of hell" - Matt 23:33
"resurrection of damnation" - John 5:29
"furnace of fire" - Matt 13:42, 50
"the fire that never shall be quenched" - Mark 9:43, 45
"the fire is not quenched" - Mark 9:44, 46, 48
"Where their worm dieth not" - Mark 9:44, 46, 48
"wailing and gnashing of teeth" - Matt 13:42, 50
"weeping and gnashing of teeth" - Matt 8:12, 22:13, 25:30
"torments" - Luke 16:23
"tormented in this flame" - Luke 16:24
"place of torment" - Luke 16:28
"outer darkness" - Matt 8:12, 22:13
"everlasting punishment" - Matt 25:46
What could possibly be worth eternity in hell? Hell will not be a party. You have been warned!
You need to ask...
Am I a good person - in the eyes of a Holy God?
Am I innocent or guilty - in the eyes of a Holy God?
Will I be welcomed into heaven or cast into eternal hell?
Not only have you been warned but God has provided you with a way out. You will be without excuse on the day of judgement! You need to understand what God has done for you through the shed blood of Jesus.
Hell is NOT annihilation
If hell was a place where you were destroyed and then ceased to exist, then that means people like Hitler would suffer no eternal consequences for their crimes. It means that we may as well all "eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die" and ceas to exist. Surely non-existence cannot be seen as punishment. If you don't exist, there are no regrets, no suffering, nothing. You could do what you like in this life and then you would cease to exist.
You think the world is a mess now.
Imagine what it would be like if there was no conscience - none at all - in the heart of any man, woman or child.
Imagine if there was no healthy fear of eternal consequences holding people back.
If death is the end and there are no eternal consequences for choices made in this life and good and evil are only what YOU want them to be, then everyone would be a law unto themselves and this planet wouldn't last five seconds!
Apart from these things, the things we have considered above about hell, tell us very clearly that it is a place of torment, it is forever and there is no getting out.
The idea that death is the end, fits very well with evolutionists who teach that your meaningless existence is just the result of random atoms bumping together. We all came from a big bang they say. A cosmic accident that sparked life in the universe. So you are just a meaningless accident - even your thoughts are meaningless because they too are just the result of random atoms bumping together. If you say you've found meaning and purpose in life, you are deluded because that belief in itself is just the result of random atoms banging together.
In the end, death is just the end to a meaningless existence. That is if you follow evolutionary theory through to its meaningless conclusion.
However, your life is not meaningless. You were created for a purpose.
And that is the reason for hell. Hell is the final result of rejecting the purpose for which we were created. The purpose for which we were created is to have a relationship with God. Take the Good Person Test now and see how that can happen for you today, as you are sitting in front of your computer. Right now, you can have your sins forgiven, be born again into God's family and have eternal life. God does not want you to go to hell. Don't put this off. Please, do it now.
CLICK HERE and do a short test that will show you where you will go when you die.
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Could Hell be symbolic?
Imagine for a moment that the "fire" of hell is just symbolic. If this were true, then please understand that a symbol is merely "symbolic" of a greater reality. It's not the REAL thing! It only symbolises the real thing.
So if what the Bible says about being thrown into a lake of fire to be tormented DAY AND NIGHT FOREVER AND EVER is just a symbol, then the REAL THING behind this symbol must, in REALITY, be much worse!
Can you see then that there is no relief in believing that the "fire" of hell is just a "symbol" for God's wrath against unrepentant sinners.
If "fire" is just a symbol, then you have something much worse to endure.
The fact is that even if the fire of hell were not real, hell is still to be avoided at all costs.
THREE CLEAR TRUTHS ABOUT HELL
The three main things we learn about hell fire is that
(1) hell involves unimaginable torment or suffering
(2) hell fire is eternal or everlasting
(3) hell is GOD'S wrath
So even if hell fire is just symbolic, you are still left with eternal torment from God as just punishment for your sin!!! Can you see that it provides no comfort for the damned to tell them that the fire is just symbolic!
If fire was just symbolic, then the unbearable and eternal suffering and torment it portrays should still be enough to "scare the hell out of you!" And the fact that God has the authority to throw you into hell fire to be tormented forever, should give you cause to fear God.
Please note: God is the only one who can damn you to hell and also save you from hell.
"And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him." (Luke 12:4-5)
Please realise that ultimately it is not hell you need to fear. It's God!
If you are willing to take a step further on your journey here in discovering what the Bible says about life after death, then CLICK HERE and find out if you'd be good enough to make it to heaven when you die.