"...the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his
eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his
bosom. An 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 in torments in this flame."
Luke 16:19-31,
excerpt.
Now and again Christ The Way Bookstore gets a visitor with
interesting questions. Many times I am saddened by the disbelief of the
lost, which is not surprising because the natural man cannot discern
without the Holy Spirit. One such topic is the question of hell. I have
heard many people claim there is no hell. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe
this. Hindu’s believe this and there are some others also. If we are
honest with ourselves and we do not add or remove anything from God’s Word
and study the issue in context, it becomes abundantly clear that there is
indeed a tangible location called hell. This hell contains flames of fire,
brimstone, outer darkness, and worms that do not die. Worst of all, hell
is inhabited by many dear friends and loved ones that did not accept Jesus
as their own Saviour, never again to perish, but to exist in eternal
torment, screaming, while gnashing on one another with their teeth. I
sincerely hope the following few words help convey this graphic image
using God’s Holy Word.
-
Hell Is Burning Flames of Fire
-
According to our
text in Luke 16, verse 23 talks about the rich man being in torments.
Some people have explained this to be figurative or a persecution of
some sort, but never means fire. However, if we read this passage in
context God’s Word goes on to explain in verse 24 that the rich man
was burning hot. He was so hot in fact that he “cried” for Lazarus to
come and cool his tongue with some water. His torment was quite
simply, flames of fire.
-
Hell is not only
burning, there is something fueling this fire. There are fourteen
occurrences in God’s Word of the word, “brimstone”. What is brimstone
exactly? The Webster’s dictionary calls brimstone, “sulfurous”. Have
you ever lit a match too close to your face and breathed in while it’s
igniting? Not very pleasant. Involuntarily, your throat and your
muscles immediately clench while your head lurches backward, your
muscles contort, your eyes water, and you end up coughing violently.
Now imagine being held captive in an area that is constantly burning
with brimstone producing this acrid smoke and never burns out. What
you are experiencing is a simultaneous burning; on the inside and on
the outside.
-
What Else is Down There?
-
Darkness
– I have heard those arrogant individuals who say, “I’m going to party
with all my friends down there…” – you will not even be able to SEE
your friends down there! God’s Word calls this place, “outer darkness”
in Matthew 8:12. There will be no chance, while you are dealing with
your pain and anguish, to even think about anything but your pain and
anguish.
-
People That Bite
– the definition of “gnashing” is grinding and chattering of the teeth
and also as in biting each other, as in Matthew 22:13, “gnashing on
one another with their teeth.” Worst thing is, you can’t tell where
the biting is coming from because you can’t see anything.
-
Worms That Don’t Die
– Mark 9 stated three times, “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire
is not quenched.” This fact that hell is a burning fire is solidified
by prophesy in the final verse of the book of Isaiah, verse 66:24;
"...for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be
quenched."
-
The Devil and his
Angels - God’s Word says that
this place was custom-made for the Devil and his angels. There are
already many demons there and Satan will be cast into hell after the
second coming for a time. There are many people there. God’s Word says
wide is the way that leads to destruction. Don’t be fooled, there is
no purgatory! Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto man once
to die, but after this the judgment:” No second chances! You must make
your decision for Jesus now.
-
The Inhabitant’s Victim State.
-
Physical
i.
Smells – acrid smoke that enters into the lungs, burning from the
inside and quite possibly the smell of worms
ii.
Sights
– You will not see anything but thick blackness that will feel like it’s
closing in on you
iii. Sounds
– an enormous crowd of weeping, sobbing, with blood curdling screams
iv.
Feeling
– demons and people biting you, worms crawling all over you .
-
Emotional
– The security from fear that you enjoy in your life right now is good, and all
good comes from God. Now know this: God is not there in hell. Also, the Holy Spirit,
(also known as the Comforter), is not there and Jesus cannot no longer
save you from there at that point. Your senses of smell, hearing and
feeling with are naturally all intensified to compensate for the lack
of sight, which will have a psychological effect in the psyche. All
the terrifying negative human traits warned of in God’s Word are
there, because God is not there to shield you from it. Fear, sheer
terror, bitter hatred, jealously, anger for one another, for God and
against yourself for knowing the Truth but not having accepted Jesus, for
everything unseen in that outer darkness; all experienced
simultaneously for all eternity.
-
Mental – The
inhabitant will experience extreme insecurity, fear, hate, torments of memory and that
constant thought about why didn’t I listen to God’s messenger? Yes,
you will remember everything in your life. You
see, everyone is given the opportunity to accept what Jesus did
on the cross at Calvary as payment for his or her sin, a chance only
offered while here on earth. Sorry to say, few will take that narrow
road.
-
There Is No
Other Way to Escape.
-
The worst part
is, it an everlasting punishment for all eternity. There is a great
gulf fixed as it says in our text in verse 26. There is no coming or
going from one place to the other.
-
Only Jesus
provides a way of escape.
The point is: to see
you saved from all of this for eternity. This message you have just read
is your chance. God is speaking, calling for you to come and eat at His
banqueting table. A life obedient to God through His Word is a life of
mercy from the one who created you! Won’t you accept His invitation today?
If you are already
saved, don’t you need to win the lost again now that you are reminded of
what we are saved from? Have you lost that compassion for the lost? Do you
think it’s useless? God is still on the throne! You need to fall on your
knees and confess your sin and get up and get back to work sharing the
good news of the gospel so noone else needs to fall into this everlasting
damnation.~R.
Do you know 100% for sure that you are
going to heaven after you die?
You can right now!
If you have yet to seek
repentance from your sin and are looking for that
assurance of where you will spend eternity when you die, please
consider the following:
A. ACCEPT (Romans 3:23)
You are a sinner in need of repentance;
B. BELIEVE (Romans 10:9)
Jesus died and rose again to save you of
your sin; and
C. CONFESS (Romans 10:13)
Confess your sin with your mouth to Jesus
Christ in prayer.
God is ready to hear
your prayer directly to Him and accept you into His eternal family. Won't
you make that decision right now?
God bless
you! Let us know if you have made this decision. It would be a great
encouragement for us to hear about it. We would also be happy to send you
a free package of material to help you in your new life with Jesus!
As
always, thank you very much for all your prayers and words of
encouragement for us and the bookstore. The Lord continues to richly bless
us through your prayers and for staying true to His Word in obedience to
Him.
Feel free to contact us to be placed
on the Christ The Way e-mail list. You'll be blessed to hear about
our great specials firsthand in addition to new items and upcoming events.
Thanks for taking the time to visit
our website. Feel free to contact me by e-mail at: ctwpub@yahoo.ca
and I will attempt to reply as soon as possible.
Again, many thanks for your continued
support and may God richly bless you!
Mr. Remi Fernhout
General Manager
Christ The Way Bookstore
 
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