Listen:  124.3

Hell is indeed a real place.  In His Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus spoke of Hell three times.  He said in Matthew 5:22, “But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”  He then said in Matthew 5:29-30, “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” 

Notice how that in Matthew 5:22, the Lord spoke of the fire of Hell.  The Lord said in Matthew 23:33, “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”  Here He speaks of Hell as being a place of damnation, or judgment.  We learn in Revelation 20:15that the unsaved are cast into Hell, or the lake of fire.  That says, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” 

Hell is real, but Hell was not created for people.  In the judgment of the nations at the end of the Tribulation Period, the Lord says to the disobedient ones in Matthew 25:41, “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”  Hell was created as a place of judgment for Satan and his demons.  It is so sad, that many people will be cast into Hell because of their unbelief. 

Hell is really not a place of eternal burning for people who have committed sin against God.  In truth, we have ALL committed sins against God.  Romans 3:23tells us, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”  Hell is a place for all those who refuse to bow their knee before the Lord and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior.  In Mark 9:48the Lord speaks of Hell as the place, “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”  This speaks of a place where, even though fire is burning those who are without Christ, the fire never completely burns up and is never quenched.

One day, the Lord Jesus will come to judge all those who have refused His kind offer of salvation.  2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 says, “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:  Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”  How terrible this day will be!  To obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is to repent of your sins and put your faith in the Holy Son of God who died on Calvary’s cross to save us from our sins.  To those who refuse, the Lord will take His vengeance in flaming fire.  Those unrepentant sinners will suffer ‘everlasting destruction’.  Can you imagine that?  A destruction that never ends!  As the Lord says of those who refuse to bow their knee to Him in Matthew 25:46, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment…” 

Yes, Hell is real.  But, Heaven is real, also.  The Lord Jesus came from Heaven, that He might save us from our sins and take us to Heaven to be with Him for eternity.  Let’s read the Lord’s words in John 14:1-6, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  Eternal life or everlasting destruction…the choice is yours.  The Lord says to us in Deuteronomy 30:19, “…I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life…”  Romans 10:9assures us, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  (124.3)