The Reality of Hell
God is kind, full of mercy, and slow to anger. He is also holy, just, and will judge us for our sins. One day we all will be judged by Him (Romans 2:2). We will either be judged guilty or not guilty for what we have done. The not guilty will go to heaven and the guilty will go to hell. No one wants to think about the reality of hell, but the reality is, it is real. It is not a place we want to go. The Bible mentions a lot about it and Jesus even talks about it (Mark 9:43-48).
Hell is a place of torment that lasts forever (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Once there, there is no leaving (Revelation 20:10). There is no way to escape from the pain either. It is a very painful place. The Bible describes hell as a “dark, blazing furnace where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain” (Matthew 13:50), (Matthew 8:12). The blazing furnace in hell burns with sulfur that is never put out. There will be no rest, day, or night (Revelation 14:11).
The Bible mentions a man who went to hell. In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus talks about his experience that teaches us that hell is real and what it will be like. The man was rich and always had the finest clothes and lived in luxury every day while he was alive. At the rich man’s gate laid a very poor man named Lazarus, whose body was covered with sores. Lazarus only ate small pieces of food that fell from the rich man’s table and the dogs would come and lick his sores. Later, Lazarus died, and the angels carried him to the arms of Abraham. The rich man died, too, and was buried.
In the place of the dead, the rich man was in much pain. He saw Abraham far away with Lazarus at his side. He called to Abraham saying, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am suffering in this fire!” But Abraham said, “Child, remember when you were alive you had the good things in life, but bad things happened to Lazarus. Now he is comforted here, and you are suffering. Besides, there is a big pit between you and us, so no one can cross over to you, and no one can leave there and come here.”
The rich man said, “Father, then please send Lazarus to my father’s house. I have five brothers, and Lazarus could warn them so that they will not come to this place of pain.” But Abraham said, “They have the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets; let them learn from them.” The rich man said, “No, Father Abraham! If someone goes to them from the dead, they would believe and change their hearts and lives.” But Abraham said to him, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not listen to someone who comes back from the dead” (Luke 16:19-31).
God even sends angels there when they sin (2 Peter 2:4). He did not let them get away with sin and will do the same with us. He cannot let us get away with sin because He is holy. There is hope for eternal salvation through Jesus. Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross, so we do not have to suffer eternal punishment in hell (John 3:16). Jesus is the only way to heaven
(John14:6).
But for those who do not believe in Jesus and continue to do evil things like “who kill, who sexually sin, who do evil magic, who worship idols, and who tell lies—all these will have a place in the lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).
Sadly, hell separates those who are in hell from God (2 Thessalonians 1:9). They will never be able to experience heaven or the pleasure of worshipping God again. Hell is a very lonely place even though there will be many there. The gate is wide, and the road is wide that leads to hell, and many people will enter through that gate. The gate is narrow, and the road is hard that leads to heaven, and not many will enter through the narrow gate that leads to true life. Only a few people find that road (Matthew 7:13-14).
It is not too late, repent, and accept Jesus as your savior today.
