A place to be avoided at all cost Hell A place to be avoided at all cost

Hell We have mentioned in recent lessons our two possible destinations when this life is over. The righteous will spend an eternity in Heaven with God. The Bible describes Heaven as a wonderful place. It is eternal in nature John describes it in the book of Revelation as a very beautiful place where there will be no death or sorrow. Only those found in the Book of Life will be there

Hell The destination of the wicked is nothing like Heaven. It is a place many pretend does not exist It is a place many claim a loving God would not send anyone We need to understand Hell is real and it will be filled with many surprised people on the day of judgment. The first thing we want to notice is that the Bible speaks of Hell as being every bit as real as Heaven.

Hell Jesus talks about Hell being a real alternative to Heaven. Mr 9:43 "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched-- 44 "where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.‘ Jesus uses an extreme example to point out how much better it would be for us to go into Heaven than into Hell.

Hell Mr 9:45 "And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched-- 46 "where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'

Hell 47 "And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire-- 48 "where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'

Hell 3 times in these verses Jesus mentions Heaven and Hell. Jesus taught the existence of Hell. Someone who claims there is no Hell simply does not believe what the Bible plainly teaches. It is not some mythical non-existent place. Hell is as real as Heaven! Not only do these verses teach the existence of Hell but they also teach it is a terrible place!

Hell It is a place where: The fire the shall never be quenched and their worm does not die The imagery here is intended to demonstrate the terrible eternal conditions that will exist in Hell. Jesus also describes it as a place of everlasting fire. Mt 25:41 "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 Jesus also describes it as a place of “wailing and gnashing of teeth” Mt 13:41 "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 "and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. The cries and grinding of the teeth in anguish will continue thru out eternity in Hell a place of no escape.

Hell It is a place where the wrath of God will be unleashed on the disobedient. Ro 2:5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who "will render to each one according to his deeds": 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;

Hell Ro 2:8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; This will be where God will punish with everlasting destruction those who don’t know Him and those who know Him but refuse to obey.

Hell 2Th 1:7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

Hell John describes it as a Lake of Fire. Re 20:15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. What a terrible place Hell will be. The scriptures teach Hell is real, it is a place of eternal suffering and should be avoided at all cost! That was the point Jesus was making in Mark 9 when He mentioned cutting off our hand, foot or plucking out our eye.

Hell Mr 9:47 "And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire These extreme examples should impress on us how important it is to avoid an eternity in Hell. Jesus even uses the example of us giving up our own lives if necessary in order to avoid this eternal damnation

Hell Mt 16:25 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Hell The man who will deny Christ in order to save his own life will lose eternal life and spend an eternity in Hell. Even if a man were to be able to save his life and gain all the wealth in the world, it still would not be worth spending an eternity in Hell.

Hell This place is real, it’s terrible and a place to be avoided at all cost. Who will spend eternity in such an awful place? Several of the verses we have already read tell us who will spend eternity in Hell Those who practice Lawlessness will be there

Hell Mt 13:41 "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 "and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Hell Those who practice lawlessness are those who do not abide by the Law of God Those who don’t obey the Truth will be there Ro 2:8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;

Hell The Truth that must be obeyed is the Word of God Those who don’t know God and those who don’t obey the Gospel will be there 2 Thes 1:8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power

Hell We have two groups addressed here. Those who don’t know God will go to Hell. That would be those who have never heard the Gospel. Ignorance of the scriptures is not going to be an excuse of the day of judgment

Hell And those who don’t obey the Gospel. This would be those who have heard it but have chosen not to obey it. Those two categories include everyone who is not a Christian.

Hell It will be filled with the worst men who have lived. It will also be filled with some we might consider to not be “bad” people. Re 21:8 "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.“ That is a pretty bad group of people.

Hell Most of them would seem to care nothing for God But Jesus says there will even be “religious” people there Mt 7:21 ¶ "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Hell 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!‘ No doubt these people were sincere in their religion. But, they were sincerely wrong!

Hell Hell will also be the eternal home of the devil himself. On that great day of Judgment, God will sentence the unrighteous to an eternity in Hell with the devil and his angels. Mt 25:41 "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: What a miserable eternity it will be in Hell

Hell Thanks be to God that He has devised a plan for us to avoid this terrible place! We can avoid it by obeying the Gospel! Ro 1:16 ¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. The Gospel has the power to save us from this terrible fate.

Hell The scriptures tell us what to do in order to be saved from this terrible place Hear the Gospel: Ro 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Hell Believe It: Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Hell Repent of our sins: Ac 3:19 "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Hell Confess Christ before men: Mt 10:32 "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. Ac 8:37 Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

Hell Baptized in water for the remission of sins: Ac 22:16 'And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'

Hell At this point we have become a Christian But this is not all that God requires of us. We must remain faithful for the rest of our lives. Re 2:10 "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Conclusion Hell is a very real place It is eternal It is described as a place of great torment Where the fire is not quenched and their worm does not die As a lake of fire Filled with wailing and gnashing of teeth

Conclusion None of us would want to spend eternity there. What a shame it would be for us to know how to avoid it but end up there anyway! Have we obeyed the Gospel of Christ? 2Th 1:8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.