Hebrews 10:31 says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It is scary because hell is frightening and irreversible when we enter there. There are personal accounts of others who have visited there and were by grace allowed to return. Some say it is a lovely and warm place for friends and family. Others say it is a place of torment and anguish.
We are strict agents of scripture and hold on to only the biblical account. We accept only what the bible says because it is the word of God. The conflicting accounts are not surprising because the devil disguises himself as an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11:14. We should therefore test all spirits, 1 Corinthians 12:10. We will live only when we are in subjection unto the Father of spirits, Hebrews 12:9. When we submit to Jesus we cannot be deceived by the disguised angel of light with his fables.
Life or living conditions
1 Corinthians 3: 17 says if anyone destroys God’s temple God will destroy him for God’s temple is holy and you are that temple. The destruction means ruin, damage, torment, torture, obliteration, annihilation, or devastation. The extent of torment or deprivation is discussed in the story told by Jesus of the rich man Dives and poor Lazarus in Hades when they died. Luke 16: 23 says there was not even a drop of water to quench Dives’ thirst; there was no support or help; no one heard or listened to his cry; and there was no opportunity to come back or repent or send any messages back to earth.
Our fate is sealed eternally after death. It is a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth, Matthew 8:12; 13: 42, 50; 22:13; 24:51. It is without peace or comfort but violation and abuse. It is a slippery path and in darkness. Jeremiah 23: 12 says the ways of sinners shall be like slippery paths in the darkness. No one can climb out but slip to a bottomless pit or shaft or tunnel or abyss. When Jesus likened what Capernaum will suffer in Hades to what Sodom suffered, he meant burning destruction of fire and sulphur, Matthew 11: 23; Luke 17:29-30. It is a place of abandonment, and loneliness without hope. Acts 2:27 says thou will not abandon my soul in Hades. Souls of sinners will be punished in hell fire.
Christ was not abandoned in Hades because his flesh saw no corruption, Acts 2:31. Hell is a place for sinners who die without accepting Jesus as their Lord and savior.it is a place for those who also refuse to live by God’s word. We cannot accept Jesus yet refuse or disobey his word. We accept Jesus with obedience. Hell is a lake of fire for dead sinners and Hades, Revelation 20:14. This verse explains that those who think they will be saved or sheltered in Hades will be grossly disappointed because they will be thrown into the lake of fire.
The passage calls it the second death. The first death is our mortal bodies. It is a bottomless pit and it is locked with the keys taken away by their king, Abaddon or Apollyon, an angel of the bottomless pit, Revelation 9: 11. It has indescribable beasts; Revelation 17: 8. The beasts are designated for torment the extent of which is indescribable and neither can the mind conceive or imagine. The inmates of hell are eternally chained, Revelation 20: 1. There is no room for escape, or bribery or influence or favours. Those who think an escape from their crimes or challenges is by suicide rather than calling on Jesus may have to think twice or rethink. The life we have is not ours but God’s and he alone can take it back.
The lake of fire is unquenchable and sinners are likened to chaff to be burned, Matthew 3:12; Mark 9:43; Luke 3:17. Sinners are also referred to as weed which will be burned at the close of the age, Matthew 13:40. Men will weep and gnash their teeth, Matthew 13:50. It is a place of fury of fire to consume God’s adversaries, Hebrews 10: 27. It has blazing fire, darkness, gloom and tempest, Hebrews 12: 18. In hell, the evidence against us will be the rust of our wealth, James 5: 3. We therefore must be careful about our sources of wealth. Jude 1: 7 cites Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of the eternal hell fire.
Hell is a place of no rest but torment with fire and sulphur and smoke of torment and scorching fire, Revelation 14: 10-11; 16:8. They grope in darkness without light like drunken men, Job 12: 25. Sheol is a place of thick darkness, worms without hope and not a place of family, Job 17: 12-14. Some of the beasts of torment in hell are fearfully described in Revelation 9: 19.
We can safely and prudently avoid this unpleasant place of eternal gloom if we will call on the name of our Lord and saviour Jesus now with an embrace for his salvation and cleansing in his precious blood. What are we waiting for? From a biblical perspective, hell is real. God does not lie, Numbers 23:19. Every word of God shall come to pass, or be accomplished, Matthew 5:18; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33. Let us not harden our hearts, Hebrews 3:8. Hell is real and we have to pray about it.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, we now know what it means to be in hell fire. We submit to you now, wash and cleanse us in your precious blood and save our perishing souls today in your holy name, Amen!!
