Hell – The eternal abode of the wicked

I. Bible background on hell

Is. 66:24 [24] And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Dan. 12:2 [2] And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Gehenna This word appears 12 times in the Greek N.T. – Eleven times it is used by Christ and one time by James

Hell (Gehenna) A place of eternal torment “No comfort will be found, in any form, in this place. It is a place of anguish and torment to the degree of which man cannot yet imagine…” J.D. Sweeten

Mt. 25:26 [46] And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Mt. 3:11 [11] I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

2 Pet. 2:4-9 [4] For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

[5] And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

[6] And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; [7] And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

[8] (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

[9] The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

II. The punishment of hell

A. It is a place of separation from God! Mt. 25:41 – “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”

Mt. 25:30 [30] And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Darkness - symbolizes the desolation of that place Weeping – symbolizes the sorrow Gnashing of teeth – symbolizes the anguish (McGarvey)

“The darkness is that which lies outside of all the light and blessedness which the faithful servants are to enjoy with their Lord.” (McGarvey)

Rom. 6:23 [23] For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rev. 21:8 [8] But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Death – Second death “These shall all have their part in the lake of fire; this unending condemnation to the fiery pit is called the second death, for it is an eternal, painful separation from God.” (Bob Winton)

Note that the death referred to in Rom. 6:23 is earned – “wages” “People lost in hell deserve it, they will have earned it.” (Robert R. Taylor, Jr.)

B. It is a place of suffering Rom. 2:8-9 “[8] But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, [9] Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile”

Indignation --- Wrath = refer to the punishment God will pronounce upon the wicked Tribulation ---Anguish = the wicked will have a conscience punishment in the hereafter

Heb.10:27-29 [27] But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. [28] He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

[29] Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,

The lost will not be annihilated --- they will be punished!

C. No relief Rev. 20:10 Tormented day and night “[10] And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

Luke 16:24 - Unquenchable thirst [24] And 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.

III. The people of hell

1. Those ignorant of the gospel 2. Those who are disobedient to the gospel 3. Those person who have obeyed the gospel but have gone back into the world

Conclusion Hell is a real place! A place of conscious, eternal punishment beyond anything we can imagine! Mt. 11:28-30

References Outline by Rod Halliburton