Hell Is Real

One of the greatest deceptions in the world today is that there either is no hell, or hell is a place where the ultimate party bash will take place celebrating their arrival. Nothing could be further from the truth. The simple, plain, stone cold truth of the matter is hell is a very real place. A place of unspeakable eternal torture and punishment with no escape in sight. Jesus referred to it as a place where there will be "weeping and the gnashing of teeth". Think about that. Does that sound like the ultimate party bash to you? No. I don't know about you, but it sounds like a place of absolute anguish to me! So, why would anyone actually brag about going there?

Social media is flooded with posts from people talking about how great hell is going to be when they get there. All over Facebook, Twitter and other popular social media websites, people boast about how forward they look to going to hell. They post cartoon like pictures of the people who have died and have gone to hell adorning horns, colored red, dancing with girls and chugging beer by the gallon. How blind can you be? If ever there was a place that lived up to its name, it's hell! Why would it be called hell if it was such a "great" place to go to?

Other people refuse to believe in hell. There are people in the world who believe in Heaven, but not hell. Some believe that hell is a place on earth. Wrong. Hell is in the center of the earth and it's the most horrible place there is. Our feeble minds will never be able to grasp the utter horror and reality of what hell is really like! And yet, despite all the warnings and descriptions of hell in the Bible, people either refuse to believe hell is such a horrible place or they refuse to believe in hell entirely!

The world media reported that the pope made the shocking statement that there is no hell: that in eternity, you just simply disappear. The Vatican was greatly alarmed, and the world was stunned, as they should be. Theologically, if there is no hell, what did Jesus die on the cross to save us from? If there is no hell where the ungodly pay for eternity for their sinful conduct, why is the Bible saturated with that reality from the Old Testament all the way through the new?

And I know some of you are questioning, "Preacher, why preach on hell to our "enlightened" generation?" The answer is because our "enlightened" generation is turning America into a life like replica of hell here on this earth. What we are experiencing right now is moral and spiritual insanity. Mass killings of innocent school children are transforming our public schools into a slaughterhouse. We have kicked God out of our public schools, period. We have mocked the Ten Commandments with its simplistic rules. One of them is "Thou shall not kill," which is something public schools could desperately use right now. America must have a moral and spiritual revival or get prepared for a revolution in the streets of this nation.

If there is no hell, why did Moses write about it in Deuteronomy 32:22, saying, "For a fire is kindled in God's anger, and it shall burn in the lowest hell"? That's hard to misunderstand. If there is no hell, why did king David write in Psalm 9:17, "The wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God"? "All nations" include the United States of America. If there is no hell, why did Jesus say, "If your right eye offends you pluck it out"? He says, "It is more profitable for one of your members to perish than your whole body to be cast into hell," Matthew 5:29 and 30. Jesus said that. A Jewish Rabbi.

If there is no hell, why did John the revelator write in Revelation 20:14, "Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire"? If there is no hell, why did Jesus give us the story of the rich man and Lazarus? This is not a parable. You don't give first names in a parable. These were real people. They were in a real place. They had self-awareness. They knew who they were. They knew where other people were. They knew how it was with other people. From this day forward, you're going to live forever somewhere, either in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, or in the place called hell. Those are the only two options. There is no third or fourth. Let's read together Luke 16:19 and following. Ready?

"And there was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and faired sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And so it was that the beggar died and was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torment in hell, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then 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.' but Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise, Lazarus, evil things. But now he is comforted, and you are tormented. And beside all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who would want to pass from here to you cannot: nor can those from there pass to us.' then he said, 'I beg you, therefore, Father, that you would send him to my father's house: for I have five brothers: that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' and Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them.' and he said, 'No, Father Abraham. But if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' but he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead'.