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If you are not able for any reason to read this thoughtfully at this time, this page is printable for later reference. Do it - don't pass up this opportunity to know the Truth! Will there literally be a burning fire in Hell? In Mark 9, notice that the Lord Jesus repeats three times about Hell, "where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched." Now, I personally feel that it is a great waste of time to quibble and argue with people about whether it is literal, real fire or not. And it seems there is some reason for saying that it need not necessarily be a real fire, or that this is a literal, real worm that is referred to here. But it is interesting to note that one of the Bible words used to describe Hell is Gehenna, and that referred to the garbage dump of the valley of Hen, where there was fire constantly burning, and the worm and maggots never lacked something to eat. They were always alive, always in existence. Will there literally be a burning fire in Hell? The fact of the matter is that if this is just symbolic language, it's bad enough for me, and certainly the reality will be worse than the symbol. And fire isn't very funny. If you've ever been badly burned, as I was as a little boy, you never forget it. And if the Lord is simply using symbolic language, how much more terrible must the reality be? You don't need fire to be in pain. Now, I don't think physical suffering is the worse kind of suffering. We know that when Jesus was on the cross He took and an awful lot of abuse. He was spit on and mocked. They pushed sharp thorns down into His head, shredded His back with the cat-o'-nine-tails, drove the nails in and the spear. He was even deserted by His own disciples. The physical suffering was so great that in Isaiah 53 it says that His face was not like the face of a human being. They even plucked the beard out of His face. But you never hear the Lord Jesus complaining about any of that. Rather, the peak of His agony and His suffering is when He cries out, "My God, my God why has thou forsaken me?" The real pinnacle of suffering for Jesus was to be God-forsaken and to be left alone. That hurt more than thorns and thistles and spears and nails and whips and spit and all the rest--to be God-forsaken. I honestly don't think that those of us in America can appreciate or understand that as much as some missionaries who have gone out to some of the most primitive parts of the world, where some have told me that the spiritual darkness is so heavy you feel you could cut it with a knife. The presence of the Demonic and the Devil and the powers of darkness are felt keenly. We can't really understand what it would be like to be in a place where the hard Satanic atmosphere has not been broken, shattered, or in some ways penetrated through the persistent preaching of the Gospel. When we read in the Old Testament, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:4), really the idea of the word is that it shall be separated. It is not non-existence or annihilation, but rather it is separation from God.
In Hades, what do people remember? Returning to Luke 16, and the story of the rich man and Lazarus, I'd like to mention that there is no indication here that this is a parable. It doesn't start out like a parable, but says, there was a rich man, and a man by the name of Lazarus, specifically named. Parables don't usually take that turn. And the one was carried to Abraham's bosom and the other one was a lost soul who went to a place of punishment and torment. But I want you to notice in this story that when the rich man was in eternity without God, without hope, his memory was very much alive. He said, "Send Lazarus to give me a little relief." At another point he said, "Send him to tell my five brothers, lest they also come to this place of torment." Every once in a while, you'll hear somebody say concerning some member of their family whom they know is unsaved, "Well, if he's gone to Hell, or she's gone to Hell, I want to go there and be with them." I've got news for you--they don't want you there. The rich man said, "Go tell my five brothers, lest they also come to this horrible place." He got very missionary-minded and very evangelistic a little late in the game. What did the Lord say to him? "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime had thy good things." I don't really think we need to talk about fire. I think one of the most horrible, terrible features of eternity without Christ would be to have your faculty of memory--to remember the gospel services you sat through and kept saying "no" to Christ--to remember your hardness and coldness of heart to somebody that was a testimony--to remember your indifference--to remember programs and meetings in which you emotionally were stirred and maybe tears came to your eyes and a lump to your throat, and you said "No!" to Christ. I can't think of anything that would be more horrible than that. "Son, remember." You don't need fire to be in pain. You don't need physical suffering. Just to be God-forsaken--separated from God and all that is good and holy and to have your memories along with it. To remember a mother and dad who prayed for you, who tried to lead you right. You took the bit in your mouth and decided to go your own way. You wouldn't listen. A horrible thing memory can be if we're outside of Christ. "Son, remember." And evidently, man in eternity could see, he could remember. He didn't need to have fire to make him uncomfortable. There were plenty of other factors to make Hades and Hell very unfunny. To be out in eternity without Christ is very unfunny.
Is there an actual place called "Hell"? The answer to this question rests in the authority of the Scripture, because the Bible certainly teaches us of a very real and very terrible place of punishment for those who keep Christ out of their lives. It's very sad to me that we so often hear people speak of Hell lightly. To many it is something to be joked about, or a curse word used casually. The fact of the reality of Hell is taught throughout the Bible in innumerable passages, but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself probably had more to say about it than anyone else. He was a teacher with the most impressive credentials--a sinless life, a miraculous ministry, and an empty tomb that could not hold Him. Christ is often spoken of as "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild," but that label hardly fits with the language we find in Mark chapter nine as He affirms the fact and reality of Hell. We read these strong statements:
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.In another passage Christ calls the Scribes and Pharisees a "generation of vipers," and warns them, "How will you escape the damnation of Hell?" Those are pretty strong words from the Lord Jesus. He laid it on the line. He told it like it is. When someone questions the fact and reality of Hell, he's actually questioning the authority of the Bible, and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Christian faith is all tied up together, and when it is attacked at one point, it becomes vulnerable at all. It holds together beautifully. If Christ is the Son of God, and if He came into time from eternity, and came into the world from Heaven and died and rose again from the dead, then anything He ever said on any subject is worth hearing and ought to be heeded. And is really to be received without question. So people who have problems with the fact and reality of Hell sometimes do not realize that their real problem is with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and who He is and why He came to the world.
Is it possible that the unsaved will simply be annihilated and pass out of existence? There have arisen some among evangelical Christians who argue that these traditional views are founded on early Greek philosophy and that the biblical texts are capable of an alternative interpretation. There are two texts of Scripture that suggest to me that Hell involves everlasting punishment. Matthew 25:46 sums up the judgment on the "sheep and goats" with the words. "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." The same word aionion (eternal) is used to describe the punishment of the wicked and the blessing of the righteous. Whatever we say about the duration of "eternal" life for believers must be said about "eternal" punishment for unbelievers. Since "life" for believers is everlasting (John 10:28), so must be the punishment for unbelievers. In a second text, Revelation 20:10, John describes those in the "lake of fire" being "tormented day and night forever and ever." The expression day and night is used in Revelation to express the concept of "forever." The lake of fire is described in Revelation 19:20 as a place that "burns with brimstone." In the saddest verse in the Bible, John declares that anyone whose name is not written in the book of life is "thrown into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:15). The doctrine of eternal punishment for those who have rejected Christ appears to be thoroughly biblical. This is not an easy teaching or one that brings us joy. But the unpleasantness of a doctrine should not cause us to deny biblical truth. Author: Dr. J. Carl Laney, Answers to Tough Questions (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 1997), pp. 205-206. Copyright © 1997, 1999, Kregel Publications, All Rights Reserved. Book available at your local Christian bookstore.
What if I don't believe in Hell? You probably have purchased some sort of insurance--first, theft, car or personal liability--you name it. Insurance is a multibillion dollar business. But have you ever stopped to think that the whole business is built on the one word--MAYBE. I get my car insured. I'm not looking for an accident. I don't expect one. I'm going to try not to have one, but maybe I will, and it would be awfully nice to be covered. Hospitilizations? You don't expect to be sick, you're not planning to be sick, but maybe you will be, and boy, the hospital will take you to the cleaner if you're not ready. To the person who finds the whole subject of Hell and judgment distasteful, and who refuses to believe it, even if Jesus Christ taught it, I ask the question: What about that little word "maybe"? Maybe there is a Hell. "Maybe" your car will have a wreck, and because of the little word "maybe" you'll spend hundreds of dollars on car insurance. And yet you'll walk around town without ETERNAL life insurance. You walk the street, cross the highways, in a world of crime and terrorism and potential accidents all over the place, yet you gamble with eternity! You are living one big risk 24 hours a day! It just doesn't make much sense, does it? If there is no Hell, I've lost nothing; but what a benefit it is just to have the joy of the Lord, to know your sins are forgiven, to go to bed at night and to know that if you don't make it through the night, you'll wake up in Heaven! To have something forever settled. My it's great. That's finished business. Whatever comes my way, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). Jesus taught about the reality of the fact of Hell for certain. We may agree on difference angles or interpretations in our understanding of it, but I just leave this with you. Our Lord spoke about it in a very unfunny manner. He wept over communities going to judgment. he prayed in Gethsemane with strong crying and tears because He knew about all these realities for which He has provided a way of escape. I hope that you have settled this issue, and that you've opened your heart and your life to Christ. Make yourself safe either way. If there is a Hell, you're safe. If there is no Hell, you still get the best out of this life. And you can't lose on a deal like that. Make sure today that your trust is in Christ.
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