Hell is a real place filled with real people. It is a place of unceasing conscious torment. It is not an escape from God but a place where the wrath of our Holy God is justly endured for all eternity. It is a place where both the body and soul are constantly punished in fire and darkness. The pain, smells, cries, screams, wailing, fear, and hatred in that place cannot be fully comprehended by our finite brains.
Hell never ends. It is an irrevocable sentence. You will not eventually get out nor will your body or soul ever cease to exist. Day and night for 10,000 times 10,000 years and then an eternity behind that, those in Hell will be punished without any hope of escape or parole.
Despite the ‘Hell Houses’ you may have taken your youth groups to, Hell is not ruled by a goofy man in a red suit. It is still God’s domain. It was created for Satan and his angels. And all those who follow in those ways will go there. It’s not just for the Hitlers and Stalins of the world. It’s for all those who have rejected our great and glorious God. Many ‘good’ (from our perspective) and upstanding people will be there. Many who professed and *knew* they were Christians in this life will be there (Mt. 7:21-23).
God is worthy of praise not in spite of Hell but BECAUSE Hell exists. Hell means that God will justly punish all sin. The wicked will not have the final say. God’s honor and majesty will be vindicated. Hell helps us see the reality of sin. All sin is an affront to God’s holy character. The least of sins is an act of rebellion against God. Let us not take sin lightly! Hell also helps us see the reality of the cross. The necessity of Jesus the God-Man bearing the weight of God’s holy wrath. In that sense, Jesus did descend into Hell when He ascended Calvary.
Will you go to hell?
If you do, it will be your just sentence for rejecting God. Sure, maybe you half-heartedly gave lip service to God. It’s not that you thought you ‘hated’ God (in fact, you even said you loved Him), He just wasn’t really what you wanted in life. You were fine with a ‘nominal’ faith and just enjoying life. And on that last Day God will be vindicated—as the truth that you already know will be revealed: you didn’t want God.
Will you go to hell?
This all depends on whether or not you are trusting the gospel by faith. Not a mere mental assent to the facts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. But are you banking everything you are on the Gospel? Is all your hope of righteousness in Christ? Is all God’s approval of you based on Jesus’ work? Are you treasuring Christ? Are you glad in God? Are you living a life of repentance surrendered to the Lordship of Christ?
Hell is a sobering doctrine. Let us not take it lightly. Jesus didn’t use it as a scare tactic. He simply stated it as a matter of truth. Many…MANY will go to this unbearable Godforsaken place (Mt. 7:14).
But today is a day of grace. While there is breath in your lungs call out to Jesus in faith! And if you are already a believer, then be resolved like Spurgeon:
“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”
