Hell

Almost all the biblical teaching about hell comes from the lips of Jesus. It is this doctrine, perhaps more than any other, that strains even the Christian’s loyalty to the teaching of Christ. Modern Christians have pushed the limits of minimizing hell in an effort to sidestep or soften Jesus’ own teaching. The Bible describes hell as a place of outer darkness, a lake of fire, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, a place of eternal separation from the blessings of God, a prison, a place of torment where the worm doesn’t turn or die. These graphic images of eternal punishment provoke the question, should we take these descriptions literally or are they merely symbols?

1. The suffering of hell is beyond any experience of misery found in this world.
2. Hell is clearly included in the teaching of Jesus.
3. If the biblical descriptions of hell are symbols, then the reality will be worse than the symbols.
4. Hell is the presence of God in His wrath and judgment.
5. There is no cruelty in hell. Hell will be a place of perfect justice.
6. Hell is eternal. There is no escape through either repentance or annihilation.

Biblical passages for reflection: Matthew 8:11-12, Mark 9:42-48, Luke 16:19-31, Jude 1:3-13, Revelation 20:11-15.

 Jesus taught much about Hell. He did so out of love--to warn us not to reject Him which would result in us going to Hell for eternity.
Jesus told the story of a rich man and a poor man, and the rich man ended up in Hell, describing it as a place of torment (Luke 16:22-28). The rich man actually cried out in Hell: ". . .I am tormented in this  flame" (Luke 16:24).
Read the story of the rich man here. 

What Jesus said about Hell.

"The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matthew 13:41-43).

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats . . . And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:31-46)?
Read the above Scripture in its context here.

Jesus taught that Hell is a place of torment and fire as these Scriptures reveal:

The man in Luke 16:24 cries: ". . .I am tormented in this  flame."

In Matthew 13:42, Jesus says: "And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire . . ."

In Mark 9:46, Jesus speaks about Hell: "Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched."
Revelation 20:15 says, "And whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Here is another related link. 

It is very important that we take Hell seriously. More important still is that we choose to go to Heaven (and not Hell) by receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior. There is no other way. He is the way to Heaven - and He died on the cross so that we wouldn`t have to go to Hell.

  Confusion has arisen in the minds of many Christians as to the doctrine of hell.  This has resulted largely from the modernistic attacks on the teaching of Jesus upon this subject.  It is natural that those who ridicule the teaching and claims of Jesus should especially concentrate their opposition upon the proposition of eternal punishment since the continual warnings of Jesus confront them in their hostile attitude.

  It seems strange that so many preachers should be found in American pulpits who do not believe either in heaven or hell; many of them do not even believe in the existence of a personal God. They preach "a social Gospel" for the reform of society.  

A questionnaire among all the Protestant preachers in Chicago indicated that fifty percent did not believe in a heaven and that seventy percent did not believe in a hell.  The larger percentage of skeptics concerning the latter subject shows again how people like to believe what is pleasant and to disbelieve what is unpleasant. 

Having surrendered any divine foundation for their convictions, they wander about in a darkened wilderness of their own creation.  Since they have shut their eyes to the facts and the proofs of the gospel, they seem blind also to the facts of life about them.  It is not surprising with so many blind leaders of the blind in places of leadership in the nation, the darkness of unbelief and misery that accompanies such hopelessness should increase.

Hell Exists

That’s right. Hell is a real place. In the New Testament Hades is referred to as a definite place 10 times (Matthew 13:42; 16:18; Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31).

Hades is probably a temporary holding jail for those awaiting final judgment (Revelation 20:13, 14).
The final place of torment is variously described as “furnace of fire...lake of fire…prison…abyss…tartarus” (Matthew 13:42; Revelation 20:14, 15; 1 Peter 3:19; Luke 8:31; 2 Peter 2:4).

Another word Jesus used to describe the final prison for the Satan, his angels, and all unsaved people is Gehenna. It is used 12 times in the NT. He called it a place of eternal fire, and a fiery hell (Matthew 18:8, 9).

 Taken together, all these references indicate a localized place. Hell exists.

 Jesus made a very somber declaration regarding who would inhabit Hell, the length, and nature of their existence. Jesus said, “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels…And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life’” (Matthew 25:41, 46).

 Paul writes, “And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Punishment is not temporary, nor annihilation, but eternal and conscious. The impact of destruction, or ruin, could not be eternal if the penalty was merely annihilation. Destruction, in this context, means punishment. The nature of the destruction is defined as being away from the presence of Christ and His power.

 Mark records Jesus’ words regarding the denizens who, “go into hell, into the unquenchable fire…where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire” (Mark 9:43, 48, 49). The thought of salt is this: just as salt preserves, so the sinner will be preserved eternally in their punishment.

 “If sinners be dammed, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

 How can we not teach about it?