Hell is eternal, just like Heaven is!

In my last blog I began to write about the horrible place we know as hell. The story recorded in Luke 16 of “The rich man and Lazarus” is one of the best in the Bible on this topic.

If a person who rejected Christ while on earth were to die and be blotted out forever, cease to be, that would be a terrible punishment. If a lost person died and they missed out of the wonders of Heaven, that would be a terrible punishment. If a sinner were to die and suffer for a little while in Hell, until he could not endure the punishment any further, then mercifully just cease to be, that would be terrible. In fact ten minutes in hell would be a horrible punishment.

The problem is that none of these things are true. The bible teaches that hell is a place of eternal punishment. The rich man in these verses is burning in hell as I speak. He has had no relief for over 2,000 years now.

When the rich man died, he immediately went to hell. As long as his body is in the grave he will remain in hell. There will come a time however, when the rich man will be called out of hell, reunited with this body, judged and then cast into the lake of fire.

“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15

At this time, the rich man, with millions of others in hell know that one day they will face God in judgment. Their ashes will form together; they will come out of hell, bow their knees before Jesus, confess that He is Lord, and then enter the suffering of the lake of fire.

Judgment of the lost

Just as the saved will stand before God and give an account for the deeds done in their body, so will the lost.

“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all who are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28-29

Torment is forever

As I have said, if every sinner could suffer for just a short period, maybe a couple hundred years, in hell then that would be terrible. Just to stand before God in judgment will be a terrible punishment. But the bible is careful to teach us that the punishment of hell is eternal, and that it continues on in the lake of fire.

“But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.”  Mark 3:29

“The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”   Revelation 14:10-11

Jesus warns that hell is a place “where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”

An unpopular subject

Hell is a horrible place. We don’t like to think about it, talk about it, and we certainly don’t want to think about our families going there.

The only place to learn about Hell is in the Bible. Human experience does not go beyond the grave. Everything we know about life after death is learned from the pages of the Bible. No man has ever journeyed to hell and returned. Everything that lies after death can only be learned in the pages of the scriptures. Heaven, hell, rewards, punishment, happiness and sorrow beyond the grave can only be learned by reading the Bible. It is the only authority on such matters.

One of the greatest stories we have given to us in the Bible concerning Hell, is found in Luke 16. It is the story of the “rich man and Lazarus.” When Jesus spoke these words, He spoke words of history, not fiction. No where does the Bible say that these verses are a parable. These verses do not have the marks of a parable. Abraham is mentioned by name along with Lazarus. There are no fictional characters. No doubt the rich man would have been given a name as well, but God in his mercy did not mention his name, maybe to protect the family.

Because the thought of hell is so terrible many have tried to explain it away, or explain away its suffering. There are many fables concerning hell.

From the Garden of Eden until today the devil has been busy leading men to rebel against God. The best way that he does this is to convince man that there will be no punishment for sin committed.

When the serpent spoke to Eve in the garden he asked her why she did not eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. Eve replied and told him that God said, “In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” To which the devil answered, “Ye shall not surely die.”

The devil would like nothing more than for you to believe that God will not punish sin. If he can get you to believe that there is no hell, that hell is the grave, in hell you will be burnt up without much pain or that you will have another chance to be saved once you get to hell, then he has accomplished his goal. In fact the great lie that the devil tells people today is that God is “too loving” to send anyone to hell.

Let me quickly list some of the most popular myths about Hell

Hell is not a real place – Looking at the story in Luke 16 this rich man certainly believed Hell was a real place. For over 2,000 years this man has been suffering in Hell. He certainly did not want his brothers to come to this terrible place of torment.

Limbo or Purgatory – Some believe that a person will have another change to repent after death. The problem is that this is not supported by one verse of scripture. This man died and immediately opened his eyes in Hell. His soul did not sleep. He immediately went to Hell.

We are just spirits in Hell – This man was more that a spirit. He was suffering in a body. He had a mind. He remembered his brothers. He remembered that he had not repented and wanted his brothers to repent.

Let me also point out that in hell this rich man was the same man, with the same desires as he was when he was upon this earth. There is no indication in these scriptures that this man desired, or wanted to do right any more than he did while alive. He cared for his brothers and did not want them to come to hell, but he did not care for God any more than he did while alive. His nature did not change.

There is no real fire in Hell - We have seen that hell is a real place, where real people dwell in real bodies. The next question will be if there is real fire in hell. We can see the answer to this question in this chapter. The rich man cried “I am tormented in this flame.”

In the book of Revelation we are told that there is a literal lake that burns with fire. If we believe the word of God, then we must believe that hell is a place that burns with literal fire.

I’m sure that most of you have heard at least one of these myths concerning Hell. Keep in mind that these are just myths and are not supported by the Bible. I wish these things were true. I don’t want anyone to have to suffer in this horrible place. The fact is that the majority of the world will one day open their eyes in Hell. Are you ready to face God? If today was your last day on this earth, where would you be tomorrow?

In my next blog I will talk about the fact that the punishment of hell is an eternal punishment.