The Place Called Hell

Rev.20:15 - And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Hell. Even secular writers portray it as an awful place. In scores of places in the Scriptures we are given glimpses, and Jesus Himself first used the word Gehenna to depict it. Gehhenna was the refuse dump outside Jerusalem that was kept burning day and night to keep disease from spreading. Now this place of post death fear has tortured men and women since Adam sinned. It is the message that Lucifer aggressively fights to either keep hidden or at least on the back burner of Christian presentation so as to lull people into a sense that we consider it somewhat of a fairy tale.

Hell. If it does exist as the Bible describes it, what else could take priority over avoiding it. In this candy store theological genre of today we have minimized eternal life as well as eternal damnation. I want you to think about that for a minute. The Lord Jesus Himself taught that if a person dies without Christ they go to a place of torment - FOREVER. That, brothers and sisters, is an incredibly hard reality to believe. Every one of our lives falls way short in substantiating the fact that we believe it.

Hell. Right now there are people burning in this awful place. Tormented and in pain. They are there forever and they know it. When I was about 10 years old I burned my finger on a fourth of July sparkler. I was in real pain and I thought it would never end. If someone had told me I'd have to live with that pain for the rest of my life I would have despaired. That was a finger. A FINGER! You cannot legitimately argue that the average preacher really believes in the reality of hell. Why would he not constantly beat the warning drum for every sinner to hear? Does he not care about people? I think that if we really believed in hell in a deep and profound sense, we would constantly have to reign in our emotions and people around us would certainly feel more uncomfortable than they do. When was the last time you wept openly as you considered the plight of the lost? Yea, me too.

Hell. You would think this would be the chronic warning from the church who professes to believe it. Imagine the meteorologist in New Orleans in 2005. As he teaches people what the weather will be in the coming week, he fails to mention a gigantic, counter-clockwise swirl moving north from the Caribbean. When asked about it, he replies, "Oh yes, that is hurricane Katrina". When pressed further he acknowledges that he believes that Katrina is going to come up through the Gulf of Mexico and devastate New Orleans killing hundreds. When asked why he isn't warning people he replies that people don't want to hear it, people don't like that kind of weather report, and he wants to have an upbeat program that makes people feel good about the weather. Even the world would arrest a person like that, but we in the church put up with and even lift up "preachers" who never warn anyone about hell.

Hell. Have you ever seen a person die a painful death? Imagine a man in the agonizing last moments of his death. You go into the room to say good bye and there he writhes in excruciating pain. You leave and return a month later and there he is, still in painful death. You go away and return one year later and still he pulsates with pain but he cannot die. Ten thousand years passes and still that same man, in mortal agony, cannot die. One million years and no change. The heavens and earth roll away and are replaced with a new universe, but still that man lies there dying but not dead. This is a humble picture of what God calls the "Second Death". If Jesus had warned that all lost sinners will spend a million years in unbearable torture, and then are released to heaven, that would offer a little hope. But the truth is that when a sinner is cast into hell he can never, ever, ever, ever, EVER be released. God help us. Selah.

Hell. Women boldly remove their clothes for men. Homosexuals boldly show public affection. Politicians boldly lie to their constituents. Infidels boldly blaspheme God. Muslims boldly murder Jews and Christians. Hollywood boldly makes its immoral movies. Evolutionists boldly spread their theories. But the church is almost silent concerning the greatest and most profound threat to a sinner's soul. Like a dinosaur, Jonathan Edward's sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is considered a classic that has long since died out. A museum piece, but not relevant. If you remove the cultural clap-trap that passes for preaching, you can hear an ominous Spiritual pin drop, interrupted only by the screams of hell's new arrivals.

Hell. One horrible day the lake of fire will be full. No more games, no more chances, no more extreme makeovers, and no escape. There is no seeker friendly hell. No purpose driven hell. No wealthy hell. No relevant hell. No self esteem hell. No contemplative hell. No emergent hell. No, these are just earthly vessels that are taking millions on a one way cruise to THE EVERLASTING LAKE OF FIRE. This is no game and I am not being melodramatic, this is Spiritual reality. How can we spend so much time with trifles, that at their core are nothing more than attempts to improve our hedonistic lifestyles, and call it "preaching" when eternal death awaits billions? So let us purify our message to include the "should not perish" aspect. Let's ask God to awaken a boldness in our witness that shines His light on the kingdom of darkness. Let's speak, praise, pray, worship, read, and walk in holiness and in such boldness that the world may not believe what we say, but they must believe that we believe it!!!

May the Lamb that was Slain receive the Reward of His Sufferings!!!

THROUGH OUR LIVES!!!