Revelation 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
It has been said that for the Christian, earth is the only hell that he/she will ever know. For the Non-Christian, earth is the only heaven that he/she will ever know. Sadly, many people do not believe in the reality of hell. Many conclude that God’s love will allow many, if not all, to be saved; after all, how could a loving God condemn a decent person to hell?
They have forgotten God’s justice. Some even believe that hell is only annihilation; an absence of after life. Nevertheless, the Bible teaches the reality of hell. The Unbeliever once asked the Christian: Suppose you learn there is no Heaven? The Christian replied, then I still would have lived a good, wholesome life. Then the Christian turned and asked the unbeliever: Suppose you learn there is a Hell?
The Purpose of Hell
The very first point of interest for our consideration is that hell was not built for fallen man. Jesus tells us that hell was prepared for fallen heavenly hosts.
Matthew 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…”
The apostle Peter, while writing about the certain judgement that awaited false teachers, wrote about several examples of God’s condemnation of the wicked in 2 Peter 2. One such example is in verse 4, 2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
Now this would be an appropriate place to discuss the different uses of the english word hell in the Bible. The word “hell” in 2 Peter 2:4 is the Greek word Tartarus. This verse contains the only use of this word in the New Testament, so we can deduce that this is a special place where the fallen angels await the judgement.
In the Old Testament the Hebrew word most commonly translated “hell” is sheol, the grave. In the New Testament there are two Greek words most often translated as “hell”—hades and gehenna. Hades is used eleven times, and gehenna twelve times.
The term “hades” comes from Greek mythology. It was the world of the dead and Hades was the God of the underworld. Most of the times the word is used in the New Testament it can be translated as “the grave.” For example, when Peter was preaching in Acts 2 about David’s messianic prophecy he said Acts 2:27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
David prophesied that God would not allow Jesus to remain dead, or in the grave, or in Hades.
In 1 Corinthians 15:55 the KJV actually translates this word as “grave”: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” This understanding should help clarify Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (or death, or the grave) shall not prevail against it.
Jesus was saying that even his own physical death at the hands of their adversaries could not prevent Him from building His church.
Carrying through with that idea are the four times in Revelation where the word is used (1:18, 6:8, 20:13, 14), where it is always used with the word “death.” Hades is cast, with death, into the lake of fire (Rev 20:14), so is not equivalent to the final punishment.
Jesus gives us the greatest insight into this realm of death where souls await the resurrection and judgment in Luke 16, in the story of the rich man and Lazarus.
Luke 16:19-23 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared 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. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Now one thing to note here is that both of these men died and went to what we would call Hades. But Jesus here, paints us an amazing picture of one man being comforted in Abraham’s bosom, and the other being tormented.
Luke 16: 24-26 “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 besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
Here is a place of torment, and the only time it is mentioned in connection with fire. It is contrasted with “Abraham’s bosom,” where Lazarus was taken. It is clearly distinct from the pleasant place of the dead, which Jesus called Paradise when He said to the thief on the cross who repented in Luke 23:43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
It is pictured as a place of the dead while there are still others on Earth—therefore we know it is where souls dwell as they await the resurrection and final judgement. Because of this I believe the scriptures teach that when a man dies he goes either to a place of torment in hades in anticipation of eternal punishment or to “Abraham’s bosom” or Paradise. Then when Christ comes again for the final day of sentencing those who are in “Abraham’s bosom” will be judged and taken to heaven, while those in hades will be sentenced to eternal punishment in the lake of fire, which is gehenna hell.
The term “hell” in the New Testament is generally from the word “gehenna”, which is a variation on the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom. This was a valley outside the walls of Jerusalem where, in the years shortly before the Babylonian captivity, some people burned their children to “Molech”, the King of the Gods. It later became a city dump, and fires were constantly breaking out there. In the New Testament gehenna is often associated with fire, which we’ll notice in more detail shortly.
So the essential difference between hades and gehenna is that hades is generally associated with death and the grave while gehenna is generally associated with eternal burning and punishment.
The second purpose for eternal condemnation in hell is God’s justice demands that man pay for his sins. The Bible teaches us that Jesus dies for all sins. Hebrews 2:9-10 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
And we see a continual theme throughout the Bible that those who accept this free gift will be saved from God’s wrath. Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
But, Hell became necessary for man because we sinned, and there have been and always will be those who do not accept this gift; they will meet God’s wrath. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8in 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. 9These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, II. The Place of Hell (The Seven Wonders of Hell) 1. It is a lake of fire. Revelation 20:14-15 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire here, spells out how the unrighteous will be doomed to a punishment which will be well represented by their lingering in a sea of fire forever. This is the termination of the judgment; the winding up of the affairs of men. The vision of John here rests for a moment on the condemnation of the wicked.
Jesus spoke of this eternal flame as a fire that is not quenched in Mark 9. Three times, the savior of men said that if there was anything that causes you to sin, whether your hand, your foot, or even you eye, that it would be better for you to cut it off, or pluck it out than for you to sin by it and be cast into hell, where the fire is not quenched.
Matthew 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…”
This is not a pain, you’ll eventually become numb to. You’ll never just get used to it. Eternal flame, horrible fire… Have you ever been burnt before? I have, but only in a very mild fashion, and even then I experienced quite a bit of pain.
Several years ago during a safety training at my last job, a burn victim came in to speak on the importance of using safety equipment while at work. This was a man who was involved in an severe industrial accident where 2/3 of his body was covered in 2nd and 3rd degree burns. He talked about the agony, pain, and suffering he endured both in the accident and during treatment. The doctors, he said, had given him the maximum dosage of morphine allowed, and still he remembers lying in bed, screaming throughout the night in misery. There were at least two occasions he recalled, where he had asked his wife to kill him, because he couldn’t take it anymore.
Over time, after years of treatment, surgery, and pain medication, this man has recovered to a point where he can at least function, though he still takes pills for the pain. But friends, in hell, there is no burn treatment center. There’s no surgery room to graft on new skin, and there’s no morphine to dull the pain of this lake of fire.
2. It is a place of consciousness.
Luke 16:23-26 And being in torments in Hades, 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 besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
Jesus here teaches us that the afterlife is a place of total consciousness. We’ll be totally aware of our surroundings, of our situation and of our earthly life.
To me, one of the saddest and most bone chilling statements in all the Bible is when Abraham said to the rich man, “Son, remember.” Remember the life you lived. In life, you were rich beyond most, and you enjoyed all of the comfort of earth’s life; but you neglected God. Now, you’re in torment.
There is a lot of debate in the religious world about both degrees of reward in heaven and degrees of punishment in hell. For the sake of time today, we won’t examine all of the different theories concerning degrees of punishment, we’ll instead look at one passage on the subject.
2 Peter 2.20-22 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”
I believe the concept that this, and other passages like it teach, is that there will be degrees of punishment and reward, and these degrees will be based on one’s knowledge.
Abraham said to the rich man, “Son, remember,” and this statement certainly made things worse for the rich man because he surely remembered his upbringing in the Jewish faith, how his parents brought him to the synagogue for worship on the Sabbath, how he had been taught from the book of the law, and how he had an opportunity to live a life which would have please God; but he rebelled.
This place of consciousness, suddenly becomes much scarier for those of us who sit in a pew every Lord’s Day, and reject the invitation of the gospel.
3. It is a place of total darkness
Matthew 8:12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness.
Matthew 22:13 Then the king said to the servants, “Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness;
Matthew 25:30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.
Many years ago I had an opportunity to visit some of the great caverns of the southwest. It was a truly inspiring experience to see the grandeur of these underground rock formations. As we traveled deeper and deeper into the caves the light which had poured into the entrance began to grow dim. After several turns and drops deeper into the earth, the only sources of any light were our flashlights.
We had journeyed for quite some time when our guide finally stopped us. He instructed us to find a comfortable place to sit and rest. He then told us all to turn our flashlights off. I can safely stand here today and tell you that I’ve never experienced greater darkness. In the absence of all light, you have the strongest sensation of loneliness imaginable. After less than a minute of silence, people in my group began to talk to each other, trying to reassure ourselves that we weren’t alone. It’s never a feeling I want to experience again.
In Hell, you won’t be hanging out with your fiends, you won’t be throwing parties with your neighbors, you won’t be meeting the others who have been condemned to this horrible place; instead you’ll be alone, in total darkness, burning.
4. It is a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Five different times, Jesus makes this horrid declaration of hell. One occasion of this phrase is in Luke 13.
Luke 13:22-30 And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, “Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, “I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, “We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, “I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.
There are few sounds that are more disturbing to us then the sound of crying. When a baby cries, their parents seek to decipher their need, when a child comes in from outside crying, their parents first want to make sure they’re not injured, when an adult is crying, we seek to comfort them.
Imagine being in a place of total and complete darkness, you yourself writhing in pain, and all around you are the screams and weeping of your fellow condemned. The picture here, is that of endless unrest, never a moment to sleep, never a silent second for yourself.
Not only will you be weeping, inconsolably, and not only will you hear others weeping all around you, but you’ll hear the constant sounds of teeth gnashing. Webster defined the verb “gnash” as “to grind the teeth, to rage even to collision with the teeth, to growl.” Webster defined the noun “gnashing” in this way: “striking the teeth together, as in anger, rage or pain. A grinding or striking of the teeth in rage or anguish.”
My sister, when she was younger, used to grind her teeth in her sleep. Now she is several years younger than I am, so growing up she had an earlier bedtime than me. I can remember many occasions when my mom and I would be watching TV in the living room, and behind the closed door of her bedroom Lizzie would be grinding away. We couldn’t handle the horrible noise for more than a minute. We had to turn the volume on the TV up, or wake Lizzie to try to get her to stop. It was the kind of sound the made your arm hair stand straight up. Weeping and gnashing of teeth.
5. It is a place where the worm does not die.
Earlier we referenced Mark 9 as the place where Jesus said if there is something that causes you to sin, you need to remove it so you can avoid hell. Let’s read those verses now.
Mark 9:43-48 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– where “Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’ 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– where “Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’ 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– where “Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’
So what does this phrase mean, the worm does not die? I believe the picture here is of rotting and decay. The worm feasts on corpses in this life. Here, I believe Jesus is drawing a truly disgusting picture, not that there are necessarily worms in hell, but that those who are there, burning, will be as rotted, decaying corpses.
Try to imagine the stench. Billions of burning, rotted bodies all around you. My uncle has an extremely sensitive nose. It’s remarkable really. For years I’ve tried to talk him into eating fish with me, but he is so sensitive to the smell, he can’t even bring himself to take a bite. Friends, the strong odor of fish comes no where near what the smell of hell has in store for the lost.
6. It is a place of absolute torment.
We’ve seen already that different aspects of punishment in hell have focused on different senses. Weeping and gnashing of teeth to your sense of hearing, fire and pain to you sense of touch, unquenchable thirst like what the rich man experienced to you sense of taste, total darkness blinding you sight, and rotted bodies to your sense of smell.
The Bible teaches you and me that in every way, we as humans can imagine complete and utter torment, hell will offer it all. And not only all this, but the constant reminder within your own mind that you didn’t have to be there. You could have avoided it all together. It’s no wonder Jesus said of the rich man in Luke 16:23 “And being in torments…”
Notice the word torments, plural.
7. It is a place where you are eternally separated from God’s presence.
Physical death is the separation of body and spirit according to James 2:26. Hell is called the second death because it is also a separation, a separation of You and God.
In my life, there have been times where I have felt all alone. There have been occasions when I’ve felt totally abandoned. My family wasn’t there, my friends were gone, it was total a feeling of separation from the entire world.
But even in those moments, I still had God. Even in the most desperate situations, I still had God. Even in my darkest of hours, I still had God. Even when no one in this entire world cared about me, I still had God.
But friends, in hell you’ll have NO ONE. No family to comfort you, no friends to laugh with you, no education to figure a way out, no money to buy relief, and worst of all you’ll have NO GOD to cry out to, to plead with, to beg for mercy; because your life and your choices have separated you for all time from the one who created you, loved you and sent His son for you… Hell is a total separation from the presence of God.
III. The People of Hell
According to 2 Thessalonians 1.7 and 2 Peter 2:20-22 there are essentially three classes of people who will find themselves in hell one day. Those who do not believe in God, those who do not obey God, and those who did obey but have fallen away.
Simply, those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Revelation 20:15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
Conclusion: It has been said that heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. Similarly hell is a prepared place for procrastinating people. Sure there are those in this world who are wholly bent on doing evil, and hell is for them too, but in my estimation the majority of people who will reside in hell someday will be those who put off the life changes they needed to make. Those who put off obedience to the gospel, those who put off repenting of their sins and making a change, those who put off the study of God’s word that they might find how to truly please Him.
There’s an old story about a preacher who worked tirelessly to save lost and dying sinners, but he was frustrated. He was frustrated because it seemed that no matter what he preached to people, they just sat there and did nothing. Finally, in a last ditch effort the preacher printed thousand of copies of a new tract he had written on hell. The title of the tract was “What You Have To Do To Go To Hell.” He put a copy of the tract under every seat at the church house that Sunday. When he stood up before the congregation he instructed them to bend over and pick up the tract, which they did. On the cover read the title, “What You Have To Do To Go To Hell,” but when they opened the tract all they found were blank pages.
The Portuguese Proverb reads “Hell is paved with good intentions, and roofed in with lost opportunities.” Don’t put off another opportunity today!
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