Friend, I want to talk to you today about a very heavy subject, and that is the reality of hell. Friend, people do die — that is the only thing guaranteed about your life — and the spiritual condition you are in when you die will be your condition for all of eternity. If you are spiritually alive in Christ, then you will be with Christ for all of eternity, but if you are spiritually dead, then you’ll be spiritually dead for eternity in hell. Once death comes, there are no second chances, and to teach that there are is simply a false doctrine. It is not found in the Bible.
Therefore, this question of whether you’re saved or not is not just about improving your life or making you a better person here and now — it is a question with eternal consequences. Once you leave this world, you cannot alter your spiritual status.
I know we like to talk about God’s grace, mercy, and love, but we also need to acknowledge that He is just. He does not overlook sin. Exodus 34:7 says God will not clear the guilty. Acts 17:30 tells us, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.”
I don’t tell you these things to frighten you, but hell is a real place, and so many people don’t realize that in today’s world. Some think they are safe even though they haven’t accepted Christ. They say, “Well, I’ve never rejected Him, and I’m still a good person,” but they don’t understand that a lack of decision is still a decision. God commands all men to repent, so if a person does nothing, then he has made a decision to ignore the law of God, and that has eternal ramifications. Other people treat hell as a joke, and sometimes, unbelievers even say, “Why would I want to go to Heaven? All my friends will be in hell.”
They don’t know what they are talking about, friend! This is a real place, and it is horrible! It is filled with hopelessness, torture, demonic creatures, devouring worms that never die, fire, absolute darkness, and absolutely no presence of God whatsoever. It is a vacuum from which there is no escape or deliverance.
Jesus understood the seriousness of hell, and He talked about it more than anyone else in the Bible. In fact, in Luke 16, He gives us the most authoritative scripture on hell in the Bible. In this passage, Jesus tells the story of a rich man and the beggar who lived at his gate, and it says that both of them died. While the beggar was carried by the angels to Heaven, the rich man was buried and went down to hell (Luke 16:22). This story is where we get some of the clearest details and characteristics of hell that we have.
The first thing I want you to notice in this passage is how verse 23 starts: “And in hell he [the rich man] lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom” (Luke 16:23).
This rich man was in the pit of hell, and from this deep, deep, horrible place, he lifted up his eyes. This is important because it tells us that people in hell can see. You see, some people think that when you die, you just go into some kind of an unconscious soul sleep, but the Bible does not teach that. It is clear that you are conscious and aware for all of eternity. You have the ability to know what is happening, and if you are in hell, what is happening, according to this verse, is “torment.” Friend, this word refers to a pain that we cannot even understand from which there is no relief, and in that situation, there is a hopelessness that engulfs people because they know that now there is no chance.
The next verse tells us that he cried out (Luke 16:24), which means the voice still works in hell. If there was suddenly an open door to hell, we would be able to hear people screaming and crying and yelling as they are tormented. There is no peace or rest in hell. This is truly an awful place, and no one who understands that would want to go there or let anyone else go there.
In fact, I want to highlight for you the rich man’s plea in Luke 16:27-28: “Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” This man, being in hell and having no way to escape, truly wanted somebody to go to his brothers to bring salvation to them. He didn’t want his loved ones to come be with him — he wanted them to be saved!
Friend, no one has more compassion for the lost than those who are in hell. They are already experiencing the torment of that place, and they have absolutely no desire for anyone else to experience that. I promise you, if hell could speak, it would cry out the names of people. Those who have already been lost would cry out to their friends, to their family, to their parents, “Repent! Do not come to this horrible place!”
The way to avoid hell is a narrow way, and many people will miss it, but that doesn’t mean any of us are without hope, friend. Jesus told us in Mark 16:16, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” No one has to go to hell — we have the solution!
We find more instructions on how to be saved in Acts 2:38, where Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” He’s talking about real conversion — not just praying a prayer of repentance, but really following Jesus and responding to the command of God. The way to escape an eternity in hell is very clear in Scripture, and anyone can be saved if they choose!
Friend, there are so many churches nowadays that just skim over the subject of hell. They don’t really address it, or they say that it doesn’t really exist, but that is absolutely false. We have to understand just how real and horrible it is so that we can awaken compassion for the lost in our hearts, because it is so important to God that as many people as possible are saved. He makes our responsibility clear in Ezekiel 3:18-19:
“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”
I know people don’t like that first verse, but it’s the truth. When we stand before Christ, He will reward us, but He will also correct us. Jesus will say, “Why didn’t you help that person? I gave you the words of life. You had the ability to warn someone, and you didn’t.” God will hold us responsible.
I want you to think of how merciless it is to go day after day with a person — whether living with them, working with them, or just seeing them in passing day after day — and never saying a word to them about salvation. You may not be trying to be heartless, and maybe you just don’t feel comfortable sharing the Gospel, but just think about what you’re condemning them to by not opening your mouth. This is why we have to be aware of and have an understanding of hell, not because God wants to scare everyone, but because that knowledge will spur us to save as many people as we possibly can here on earth!
For further study
There are many qualities and details of hell that I did not have time to touch on in this article, but I do want you to be informed about this important subject. If you would like to look for yourself at the picture the Bible paints of hell, this list includes many of the scriptures that mention and describe this awful place:
- Psalm 55:15
- Psalm 86:13
- Proverbs 15:24
- Matthew 12:40
- Ephesians 4:9
- Luke 16:19-31
- Revelation 9:1-3
- Isaiah 66:24
- Mark 9:43-44
- 2 Peter 2:4
- Proverbs 27:20
- Isaiah 33:14
- Matthew 3:12
- Matthew 13:42, 50
- Matthew 25:41-46
- Revelation 14:9-10
- Matthew 8:29
- Psalms 9:17
- Revelation 20:15
I pray that these passages open your eyes and equip you with the courage and compassion that you need to share the good news of salvation with the lost people in your life.