Hell's Terror
A doctrine we would rather forget
about...
A New Book on Heaven Hell and Salvation.
Click Here for Details
Hell's
Terror
by. Dr. C. Matthew McMahon
Hell
is becoming a byword. The
concept of the eternal torment of the damned is something people do
not care to teach, talk about, preach about, or believe. (Even by
Christians!) Hell has
come to take on many different meanings. Some people believe this
world is our own "hell."
There are those who believe hell is a state of mind. Some
people associate hell with the river Styx and the boat-keeper Charron
of Greek mythology, a place fairy tales are made of. The philosopher
Sartre thought "Hell is people." But what does the Bible say
concerning hell, and what does Jesus Christ, the Almighty God, say
about it?
Jesus
Christ taught about the reality of a literal hell. What do we mean
when we say "literal?" Hell is a real place, with real fire,
and real darkness, and the utterly real wrath of God. It is the
eternal abode where imperfect, sinful souls reside when they die. The
wicked are those who have not been redeemed by the blood of Jesus
Christ. They are those who will forever spend eternity under the
torment of the judgment and wrath of God because of their sin and
rebellion against Him. Sin
against an infinite God deserves infinite justice.
The eternal locality of God’s justice is called hell.
Hell is the spiritual and material lake of fire where the never
dying souls of men are unspeakably tormented in their minds, bodies
and souls according to their just measure by the wrath of God’s
eternal justice, the presence of wicked men and devils, the worm of
their conscience, without any hope of relief, pity, compassion, mercy
or help from God. This is
the place those who rebel against God and die in their sins reside for
eternity.
The
Bible is dreadfully explicit about reality of a literal hell. The
Bible tells us that hell has an appetite, and its appetite is never
ending. Proverbs 27:20 states, "Hell and Destruction are never
full..." The Bible describes hell as a dark place. Jude v. 13
says, "for whom blackest darkness is reserved forever." The
Bible describes hell as a place of anguish and incredible torment.
Matthew 8:12 says that the torment is so great, that "…there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." The Bible depicts hell as
a place of intense fire, likened to a great furnace. Matthew 13:42
declares, "...and will cast them into the furnace of fire."
The Bible says that the fire in hell is a means of great pain and
sorrow; Matthew 13:50, "The angels will come forth and separate
the wicked from the just and cast them into the furnace of fire. There
will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." The Bible reveals that
hell is a place of eternal, or never ending torment.
Revelation 20:10 states, "And they will be tormented day
and night forever and ever." Hell is filled with destruction and
wrath as 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 states, "These shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from
the glory of His power." It is impossible to go away from the
Bible without a clear and precise picture of the torment of the
never-dying souls in hell. Hell
is the place of the damned where God’s justice perfectly executes
the necessity of eternal wrath and torment, for all eternity, upon the
souls and bodies of all unsaved people who are judged in their sin.
One
of the most graphic illustrations of hell is a parable that Jesus gave
entitled The Rich Man and Lazarus in
Luke 16:19-31. The rich man enjoyed all the riches of this world; a
fancy house, exquisite food and the like. Lazarus on the other hand,
begged at the step of the rich man and never received anything; not
even scraps from the rich man's table. Jesus says, "So it was
that the beggar died and was carried to Abraham's Bosom (heaven). The
rich man also died and was buried. And being in the torments of hell,
he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his
bosom. Then he cried, "father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus that he may dip his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I
am tormented in this flame." Jesus demonstrates that the rich man
experienced 1) no mercy (for later we find that Lazarus was not
allowed to dip his finger in the water and cool the rich man's
tongue), 2) excruciating torment, and 3) hell-fire. The rich man
experienced a real hell with real flames and real torment without
mercy. Why was he there? "But Abraham said, "Son, remember
that in your lifetime you received good things, and likewise Lazarus
evil things; but now he is comforted and you are
tormented."" The
life we live determines where we will end up. I am not saying that if
we are "good" we go to heaven, and if we are "bad"
we go to hell. Rather, God says that unless we are perfectly
holy as He is, then we will reside in hell for all
eternity. The only means
of escape is through the Savior Jesus Christ.
Through His work on the cross men may be born again by the
Spirit of God. Christ and the transforming power of the cross must
cover the soul with His blood. Only by the power of Jesus' shed blood
may we escape the torments of hell.
However, not everyone has obtained this redemption through the
blood of Christ. As a
matter of fact the road to destruction is very wide, and its end leads
into the gaping mouth and hearty appetite of hell.
Narrow is road that lead to life, and there are few who find
it.
Jesus
also another term for hell; Gehenna.
The reason this term is important is because of the significance of
its origin. Christ says in Luke 12:4-5, "And I say to you, My
friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that
have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should
fear; Fear Him, who after He has killed, has the power to cast into
hell [Gehenna]; yes I say to you fear Him."
The word "Gehenna," here translated "hell,"
is from the Hebrew word "Gihinom" which signifies the valley
of Hinnom just outside of Jerusalem.
Now many people will say that Jesus uses this picture word
because the valley was the town garbage dump where worms do not die,
and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:35). But Jesus' illustration goes
much farther. In Joshua 15:8 and Nehemiah 11:30 this valley was owned
by Hinnom, or possibly his son. Hell has the allusion to this place
because in this valley the idolatrous Jews set up an idol called
Molech which was made of brass in the form of a man. It was hollow so
that the people could stoke wood in it and make a raging fire burn
within. The brass would grow to be incredibly hot, as you would
imagine; metal becomes red and glowing under an intense flame and
heat. The Jews then took their children, and offered them to this idol
by placing them in its hands and burned them to death. The Jews
thought that if a father sacrificed a child as an offering to this
"god", then the rest of his house and family prospered. They
set a continual fire in the idol, and thus a continual shrieking and
crying of burning children being sacrificed could be heared from the
valley. The wailing and screaming of the children was so horrific and
disturbing that the Jews rang bells and played music to drown out the
noise of burning children. (See 2 Chronicles 33:6; 2 kings 16:3;
Jeremiah 7:31; 32:35; Leviticus 18:21.) From this picture the Greek
word Gehenna comes. Jesus'
words are no doubt unreservedly explicit and awfully disturbing. But
his intention was to screw the truth of the reality of hell into the
minds of those who listened to him.
Hell is not a place where people have parties, or where all the
bad guys hang out together and have barbecues. Hell is the eternal
residence of the tormented wicked. It is the place where unending
suffering is poured out on the souls and bodies of all the damned of
God.
There
are many questions people have concerning the doctrine of endless
punishment. One of the most common is this, "If people live 80
years on earth and commit 80 years worth of sin, then why do they have
to spend eternity in hell for only committing 80 years worth?"
The Bible is very clear on why people spend eternity in hell. God
requires that we be as holy as He is - that means we are to be perfect
(Leviticus 19:20). Since we are born in sin, we are not perfect (Psalm
51:5). And because sin reigns in us, we are punished for it (Romans
6:23a); and we are punished only if Jesus Christ does not save us.
Because of our sin nature, we sin. Each sin we commit, is a sin that
is committed against an infinitely Holy God. God is infinite which
means He is without bounds in any way. So God, who is holy, and
opposes all sin because sin is the opposite of His holiness, must hate
the sin we commit infinitely and must punish that sin infinitely
because we sin against His infinitely holy character. 80 years does
not matter. All that means is we have accumulated 80 years worth of
sins which are in rebellion of God's infinitely holy character.
These sins must be dealt by an infinitely just standard.
If we die in our sin without the salvation of Christ, our sins
have offended a holy God who is limitless, and thus, He must punish
those sins completely which means infinitely, or for eternity.
Another
question arises from God's attributes. People ask, "If God is
love, why would He send people to hell?" God is love (1 John
4:8), no doubt about it. But that is not all He is. God is also Just
(Deuteronomy 32:4), Wrathful (Psalm 88:16), Holy (Isaiah 6:3ff),
Jealous (Exodus 20:5), Angry (Psalm 7:11) and the like. God has many
attributes. He is love, but not just love. He loves the righteous whom
He saves, and hates the wicked who are in sin (Romans 9:13). God would
be an unjust God if He didn't punish sin. God must punish sin and send
people into hell under his wrath.
God is love, but He is also wrath.
God is who He is in Himself.
He is not made up of parts.
God must punish the wicked because God is God.
Many
have questioned God’s own presence in hell. Some think that hell is
horrible because of the absence of God’s presence. Hell is hell,
i.e. tormenting, dark, painful, fiery, and the like, because God is
not there. But if we were to say that God is not in hell, then we must
say that God is not Omnipresent - or “everywhere present”.
That would limit God’s omnipresence by saying He is not in
hell. That produces
another question, "If God is love, how can a loving God be in
hell? I always thought
those in hell wanted God to be present there since they are
"separated" from Him?" The Scriptures show that God on
His judgment seat, says this in sending wicked rebellious sinners to
hell, "Depart from Me you cursed, into the everlasting fire
prepared or the devil and his angels...(Matthew 25:41)"
Some attempt to interpret the word depart
as, "depart from my very presence because I am not
there." But the
Bible does not interpret itself in that same way.
Psalm 139:8 states, "If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there." God is in hell.
How can we reconcile this? Matthew
25:41, in its proper context, means, "departing" from
the blessing and glorious presence of God in eternal bliss,
not "departing" from God all together. God is in hell at
this very moment eternally tormenting the damned. Hell is hell because
the wrath of God is being poured out on the wicked.
Hell is hell because God is there.
The eternally damned would do anything have 5 seconds of relief
from the presence of God. They
would give anything for God to depart from them for a moment so they
could rest from their eternal pains. The reason hell is hell is
because God is presently pouring out the cup of His wrath upon the
sinful and disobedient. All those in hell deserve every measure of
destruction, every measure of torment, every flame, every spark of His
wrath.
Not
only will the eternally tormented souls of the damned be under the
most excruciating pains of God’s wrath, but they also have other
wicked men to deal with, as well as the devil and his demons.
Imagine the resentment and anger of the devil, demons and other
wicked men scratching at one another for all eternity.
Though they be tormented themselves in that fiery furnace,
their presence will make the damned even more terrible.
They will hate God more and more as eternity stretches forth,
and their hatred will be expressive.
God’s judgment on that expressive sin will grow and ripen
them more and more for further judgment under His wrath.
It will be a never ending cycle of ripening in sin and
wickedness, and being eternally condemned for it.
This
should come as a grave warning to everyone who reads this tract. Hell
should have an effect upon both the redeemed and the lost. For the
redeemed of God, you should be eternally grateful and exceedingly
humbled before God's throne for His mercy towards you.
It was in no way obligatory.
It was in no way deserved.
You were once children of wrath.
You were once enemies of God.
Your mind and heart were like the wicked’s in hell, but God
saved and changed you through Jesus Christ.
If you were, this very day, exuberant in thanking, praising,
and blessing Him for rescuing you from such a horror for the rest of
eternity, you would not thank, praise or extol Him enough.
You could not cry enough tears of joy or praise him with enough
song. God did not have to
save you through the blood of Jesus Christ, but He chose to do so. How
does being delivered from hell's terror cause you great joy?
Hell makes heaven more sweet for the saint.
How sweet is the prospect of heaven to you?
Those in heaven gaze over to that place of wrath and torment
and they rejoice over the Lamb of God all the more.
The saints know the wicked are fitted as vessels of wrath and
they are damned according to their fittings.
But the elect-redeemed of Christ gaze upon their due course and
they rejoice that God’s mercy is so great and so wonderful; they
extol the Living God all the more.
Higher praise should be heard blessing the One who saved you
from death and hell!
And
what of the wicked? What
of the lost? What of you
who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?
What of you who despise the richness of God’s willing grace
to save sinners from such a torment?
As it stand now, you are the ones for whom blackest darkness is
reserved forever. It is a
wonder to me why anyone would desire to go to hell.
Men must be masochists to do so.
They must desire death and love death and crave eternal death
as something great. But
how can this be? Hell is
no safe haven or resting place. It
is not a place where you will love the friends you are with.
On the contrary it is the place where you will hate them for
distracting you from considering salvation in Jesus Christ.
You should consider your life here if you are without Christ.
Every rejection of God’s good gifts to you is another stripe
of justice treasured up for you when you reach hell.
Your sins will exact a warrant for justice which equals your
offense against the One true God.
He gives you children, friends, a place to live, food to eat
and the like, but you spit in His face and hate Him for it all.
You suppress the truth that He exists and you wallow like a pig
in your sin and unrighteousness before Him.
You think judgment will never come because it has not come yet.
But you are only ripening yourself for hell.
You are storing up the wrath of Him who will exact it upon you
perfectly. There is a day
that is appointed just for you, a day of judgment, to die and face the
Creator. Why will you
stay in your sin and wait for a such a day?
That day could be in 5 minutes, or in an hour, or in the
morning or the evening. There
is no telling when it may be. That
thought alone ought to prick your conscience that men die and you may
be next. It may \very
well be that by the time you finish reading this tract, you may be
standing before the judgment seat of God.
God’s finger is never too far from any soul.
With a single touch He could require your life.
Your heart could stop beating, your breath would leave you, and
off before the seat of the Judgment.
He will condemn you, and cast you into a hell which is just and
right. It will be an
eternal torment fitted just for you.
You who are reading this tract, hell should cause you to
shudder uncontrollably. It should force you to throw yourself upon the
mercy of Christ and call out before Him that He would save you from
the torment that awaits you. If you do not repent of your wicked ways,
and if you do not turn from your sin through the power of the Spirit
of God who may be pulling at your heart and pricking your conscience
right now, then you will spend eternity in the flames of everlasting
pain and torment. God's cup of wrath will be poured out upon you and
you will share the pit of hell with demons and devils. You may be
taken from this earth at any moment. You may stand before God in
judgment to give an account. If you are not saved, you will be
tormented in hell forever: always burning but never being consumed. |
|
Back to the
Tract Series
|
