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HELL

INTRODUCTION
THE RICH YOUNG MAN There was a man who lived in luxury and had everything that money could buy. He lived to work to get to be even richer than he already was, he would retire at a young age and travel around the world. One day he heard that there was a teacher who worked miracles and spoke about eternal life. It was just a question of meeting this teacher and asking how much it would cost for him to buy eternal life. On meeting him he said, Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life The teacher told him that to enter into life he would have to keep the commandments. The answer was supposed to tell him that he couldnt earn eternal life, however he was not easily put off, so he got out his notebook and said which ones. The teacher then told him not to murder, shall not to commit adultery not to steal, not to bear false witness, Honor his father and your mother and to love his neighbor as himself.'" The young thought to himself, this is easy I havent murdered anyone or done any of the things above, I may have thought about them but I did not actually do them. Then he said I have kept them from my youth. At this point Im not sure whether Jesus wanted to laaugh or cry at this outrageous statement. Instead he probed deeper and said sell all that you have and give to the poor. This was too much for the rich man, he was not willing to give everything he had to gain eternal life and so he walked away. Now living near this rich was a poor man, who was very ill and dying, but the rich man had no time for him, he was too busy making money. The poor man eventually died. Meanwhile the rich man had great plans, So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' and so this rich man died on the same day as the poor man The story is continued in Luke 16:22-26 Luke 16:22-26 22 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' 25 "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' Mark 8:36, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and LOSE HIS OWN SOUL?"

Heb 9:27 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. DIFFERENT WORDS USED FOR HELL SHEOL Ps 16:10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption - The place of the dead, not the grave but the place of those who have departed from this life. Reference to both righteous and the wicked TARTARUS 2 Pet 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment - Special place in hell in which God imprisons those fallen angels who chose to defile mankind in the ancient past by having sexual relations with the women of the earth. Gen 6:2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day HADES Luke 16:23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom Refers to the underworld or region of the departed, the intermediate state between death and the resurrection. Hades describes the place where all departed spirits wait until the Day of Judgement. Even before the resurrection of Christ, Hades was divided into two portions that were divided by a great gulf. On one side was that part of Hades known as Abrahams Bosom which held the souls of all those who died in faith in the Old Testament. Those souls in Abrahams Bosom were in a pleasant place of waiting until Jesus Christ descended into Hades to preach to the spirits in prison. On the other side, were those souls who rejected whatever of Gods truth was presented to them, went to the part of Hades known as the place of torment. GEHENNA Matt 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. - The abode of lost spirits. The eternal state of the lost after resurrection. Hades is intermediate whereas Gehenna is eternal. All references are to pain, torment and punishment. LAKE OF FIRE Rev 20:13-15 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Rev 21:8 8 "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Brimstone is sulphur. In order for sulphur to form a lake, it must be molten. Thus, its temperature must be at or below 444.6 C or 832 F.

In the time of Jesus the Valley of Hinnom was used as the garbage dump of Jerusalem. Into it were thrown all the filth and garbage of the city, including the dead bodies of animals and executed criminals. To consume all this, fires burned constantly. Maggots worked in the filth. When the wind blew from that direction over the city, its awfulness was quite evident. At night wild dogs howled and gnashed their teeth as they fought over the garbage. Jesus used this awful scene as a symbol of hell. Jesus spoke more about hell than heaven, on scholar that there are 162 references to hell in the new testament with 70 attributed to Jesus.

WHAT IS HELL?
HELL IS A PLACE OF SEPARATION FROM GOD Matt 7:22-23 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' Hell is depicted as a place of banishment or separation from God. These words, "Depart from me," describe the essence of Hell. Hell is banishment from God. HELL IS A PLACE OF TORMENT AND EXTREME THIRST Luke 16:23-24 23 "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' It is humanly impossible to understand the Bible description of hell. Nothing on earth can compare with it. No nightmare could produce a terror to match that of hell. No horror movie could describe its fright. No crime scene with all it's blood and gore could begin to match its horror. You'll see HELL, You'll smell HELL, You'll breathe HELL, You'll hear HELL, and Youll feel HELL. It'll be beyond anything humanly imaginable! After air, water is the second most important requirement in order to live, however in hell you will live and suffer from thirst. HELL IS A PLACE OF UNQUENCHABLE FIRE AND IMMORTAL WORMS Mark 9:44 44 "where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'- This is a fire which cannot be put out, it will burn forever and ever. The immortal worm is repeated three times in this passage for emphasis. One point of interest is that the author of Mark refers to "their worm" not to "the worms." That seems to imply that each prisoner has his own worm. In Hell Mary Baxter saw the skeleton form of a woman in a pit. Decayed flesh hung by shreds from her bones and as it burned, it fell off into the bottom of the pit. Where her eyes had once been were now only empty sockets. The fire started at her feet in small flames and grew as it climbed up and over her body. The woman seemed to be constantly burning. She was screaming out to Jesus to get her out of that place. Worms were crawling out of the bones of her skeleton; the fire did not harm them. Jesus told Mary, that the woman knows and feels those worms inside.

HELL HAS DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PUNISHMENT Matt 23:14 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for pretence make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Luke 12:47-48 47 "And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. Matt 11:20-24 20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works, which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 "But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 "And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 "But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you." HELL IS A PLACE OF OUTER DARKNESS WITH GNASHING OF TEETH Matt 8:12 12 "But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." referring to the sons of the kingdom. Matt 22:13 13 "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' friend without a garment. How did he get into the wedding hall in the first place? E.g. gate crashing a party once the married couple have done their round. There can rely on both parties thinking it is a friend of the other, but with God being the groom and the church being the bride very unlikely that a groom wouldnt realise his bride. Matt 25:30 30 'And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' A servant of the lord who hid his talent rather than use it In Mary Baxters visit to hell, she says that there is a part of hell called Outer Darkness, where people who knew Jesus and turned away are sent. It is like a disk with a fire in the centre. Outside the disk was the blackest of darkness. The people in this sea of fire would try to swim to the edges of the disk. Some of them would almost reach the sides when a suction force from inside the disk would drag them back into the flames.

WHERE IS HELL?
Prov 15:24 24 The way of life winds upward for the wise, that he may turn away from hell below

Amos 9:2 2 "Though they dig into hell, from there my hand shall take them; though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down; Matt 12:40 40 "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Jesus went down into the heart of the earth. Eph 4:9-10 9 (Now this, "He ascended"-- what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) Jesus went to the lower parts of the earth Rom 10:6-7 6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, " 'Who will descend into the abyss?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). The abyss is hell Acts 2:31 31 "he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. Jesus went to Hades, but his soul was not left there The Apostles Creed "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty" Num 16:32-33 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. 33 So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the congregation. here an account is given of people falling into hell alive! The Birmingham News, April 10, 1987 had an article entitled "Earth's Center Hotter Than Sun's Surface, Scientists Say". The article stated that scientists have recently discovered, "the earth's inner core has a temperature of over 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit!" The earth's crust on land is normally 50 miles thick. You'd have to go down 50 miles before the edge of the fire. But in parts of the ocean floor, the earth's crust is less than a mile thick. Scientists recently discovered cracks on the ocean floor where fire was leaking out. Do you know what they found around these fire-breathing vents in the crust? Eight-foot long worms, found no other place in the world! The book, The Deep Sea, by Joseph Wallace (p.39), reads, "Perhaps the strangest of ocean creatures recently discovered are Riftia, the giant tube WORMS. Measuring up to 8 feet in length, the worms are only found near deep sea vents." Kenneth Hagins Experience At the age of 15, he was a very sick person, he had been baptised in water, was a member of the church but had not been born again. In 1933, his heart stopped beating 3 times, each time he died and went to the gates of hell. This is his account. When death seized his body, the inner man rushed out of his body and he went down, down, down. He saw the fires of hell. The giant flames pulled him to the entrance, however he did not want to go in. A spirit being laid his hand on Hagins arm to escort him in. Then a voice spoke from far above and he was brought back to life, this happened three times. As you can imagine, he gave his life to Jesus after that experience.

Mary Baxters Experience Jesus took her to hell, so that she could write her experiences in order to warn people away from that place. Jesus took her high into the heavens, so that she could see the earth below. Coming out of the earth and scattered about in many places were funnels spinning around. Jesus told her that these were the gateways to hell. Immediately they entered one of the funnels. A deep darkness descended upon them and with the darkness came a smell so horrible it took her breath away. Mary held on tightly to Jesus hand. The power of Jesus prevented any of the evil forms from touching them. Mary had all her senses working in hell.

WHO IS GOING TO HELL, WHEN AND FOR HOW LONG?


Matt 25:46 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." - Jesus talks about "eternal punishment" right alongside of "eternal life." In both cases, "eternal" means forever and ever. Rev 14:11 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." - What could possibly be worth eternity in hell? GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT Judgment of the wicked. The final judgment for the wicked is a frightening picture. Called the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). Jesus Christ is the Judge. Judged are all the wicked dead from all nations and all times. They are judged according to their works while living. The purpose of this dreaded Great White Throne judgment day is to give every man a fair trial before God the Father and Jesus Christ. The souls of all men who have died in their sins will be released to join their resurrected bodies for that ultimate judgment day. One of the most tragic verses in the bible is this verse about the opening of the book of life. The book of life contains only the names of those who have won eternal life because they have accepted the pardon of Jesus Christ for their sinful rebellion. Basically someone who has rejected Christ will go to hell once they die, where they will suffer, at some point in the future all the people who have rejected Christ will appear before him at the great white throne. The book of life will then be opened. Since their names will not appear on it they will be cast in to the Lake of Fire where they will suffer for an eternity Rev 20:11-15 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things, which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

WHY DOES HELL EXIST?

CHARACTER OF GOD Matt 25:41 41 "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels hell was prepared for the devil 2 Pet 3:9 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. God does not anyone to perish John 3:16 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God does not send you to hell, sin sends you to hell, since Gods holiness and sin cannot mix HOW COULD A LOVING GOD MAKE HELL What's the point of torturing someone eternally when there is no lesson to be learned from it? Isnt the level of punishment out of proportion to the crime? Only those who wilfully turn from His Son Jesus as their source of salvation go to hell. In this life we are constantly confronted by the overtures and invitations of a God of love. But He is also a holy and just God. He must punish the wicked that turn away from His holiness Trusting God It's hard to imagine how a simple choice not to trust in Christ could result in something of this magnitude. The Bible teaches that God is most fully revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. We all would agree that in Jesus we see love, wisdom, compassion and justice. Isnt what is plain to see about Jesus enough to make you trust him, even in light of things that dont make perfect sense? The Love And Justice Of God But how could a just God mete out an infinite punishment for what seems to be a finite choice? Isn't the nature of the punishment unequal to the crime?" Jonathan Edwards dealt with this question. He pointed out that whenever we sin, an infinite factor is involved, and thus an infinite punishment is required. He said that sins committed against anyone must be judged according to the dignity of the one being offended. So all sin, however small it may seem, has an infinite factor in it because it is an offence against an infinite God. That is why the cross was necessary. Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, provided an infinite sacrifice. God's justice was completely satisfied by his death. We have to choose to believe that. Hell is also consistent with a God of love. As a matter of fact, Hell may be a direct consequence of his love. The nature of love is such is that it requires freedom to choose for or against the object of love. The God who loves us also respects our decisions. He loves us, but he doesn't force love on us. To force love is to commit assault. He allows us to decide. If God were to have programmed us to love him, there would be no choice. But that wouldn't be love, would it? Would you want a wife or a husband or a friend who didn't choose you out of their own freedom? True love always involves a kind of dangerous freedom to choose for or against someone. God gives us that freedom. He leaves the choice to us. The choice of man C.S. Lewis said that sin is man saying to God throughout his whole life: "Go away and leave me alone." Hell is God finally saying to man: "You may have your wish." The alcoholic chooses his bottle above his wife and children and home. Finally, his wife and children say: "We've had enough. You're on your own." Then he has his bottle all to himself. He ends up getting what he loves. He is miserable, but it is a misery of his own choosing. In the same way, Hell is a misery of our own choosing.

WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD? Are they declared wicked because they have never accepted Christ's work of redemption? We must trust the Judge of all the earth to do right in these matters (Genesis 18:25). Gen 18:25 25 "Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Rom 1:20 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, Rom 2:15 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) Rom 10:13-15 13 For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15And how shall they preach unless they are sent?

CONCLUSION
Those who have rejected Christ will be cast into the everlasting fire, i.e. they will spend an eternity in torment. The resurrected bodies of these sinners will never die. To illustrate this nightmare, imagine that you are in this prison with the worst murderers and torturers in history. However there are no guards or even cell bars to protect you from their cruelty. The most you could hope for is that you would have a swift death. In hell, there will be no swift death, it will go on and on and on and on forever. On this earth, some prisoners will change their attitude in the hope of having a release for good behaviour. However with no chance of an early release in hell, there will be no change in the behaviour of the people who have gone there. Some say that people would be in hell for only a limited time despite the overwhelming evidence in scripture with regard to its eternity. Ask yourself this question, would God have put his Son through the horror of crucifixion if He knew that sinners would eventually survive a period in Hell and then qualify for Heaven. God is not a sadist that he would do such a thing. Three people die every second ONE THING IS CERTAIN -" . . .it is appointed unto man once TO DIE DON'T BE CAUGHT DEAD WITHOUT JESUS! There are no second chances in Hell. There is no point where, following a time of suffering to pay for their sins, people are let out to enjoy the wonders of heaven. Some people say that they would rather rule in hell than serve in hell, Satan will not share his kingdom with anyone. If you believe that lie, then Satan has deceived you. Prov 27:1 1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth - Don't wait until you die to find out the truth about Hell! Tomorrow may be too late! Today Jesus gives you two choices spiritual life or spiritual death, which one will you choose.

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