Is Hell Real?

Have you ever burned your hand on a stove, or a fire? When it happens, you immediately pull back your hand because of the pain. Now imagine not just a finger or two in pain, but instead your whole body. In hell, there is no pulling away from the source of pain. There is no escape. Hell is the eternal punishment for sin.

The way we live our lives on this earth determines whether we go to heaven or hell. Those who serve Christ and follow His teachings will go to Heaven. But for those who reject God’s Son, who don’t accept and follow His teachings, those people will be sent to the lake of fire.

Revelations 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

I have read that in the last 20 years, the number of Americans who believe in hell has dropped from just over 70 percent, down to just under 60. Meanwhile, most of those people believe in Heaven. The reason why is because they don’t want to live in love towards others. They want to do what they want, instead of following the teachings of the bible. They want to feel warm and fuzzy and believe that they can do whatever they want because “hell isn’t real”. They want to be told that they are going to heaven when they die, and “hell is just a myth.” They tell themselves, “God wouldn’t punish people for eternity, the bible says He loves us.”

Yes, He does love us, but we are commanded to love Him back. We are commanded to love others, to obey the teachings of Christ. Sadly, many people don’t love Him. Instead, they love themselves, they do what they want over what He wants. It is the rejection of His Son, and refusal to obey that they will be condemned to hell.

In Luke 16, Jesus gives an example. Verse 19, “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And dersirinig to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: 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. And 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.”

This is not a figurative story. The fires of hell are real. Matthew 13:50, “And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” 

Imagine you are in a burning building. There are several doors that lead out of this building. Only one door leads to safety and the others just lead to another empty room. Your time is limited, so you need to quickly find out which door leads outside. However, once you go through a door, it locks behind you. Right now you don’t know what door to choose, but others have already exited that building. How did they know which door to go through? 

You look around. Eventually you see that there is a fire escape plan showing which door leads to the outside, to safety. Unless you follow the map, unless you go through the correct door, you will be locked inside the building and burn alive.

Unless we follow Jesus’ instructions, we will suffer that fate. Hell is no myth. If hell was a myth then those who say that are calling Jesus a liar, and as we read earlier in Revelations, liars will have their place in the lake of fire.

Hell is reserved for the disobedient. If you are doing the will of God, then you don’t need to worry about, “Am I going to be in Heaven?” You can have peace in your heart knowing that Jesus will save us. It is those who are disobedient to Him that need to be afraid. Matthew 10:28, “And fear not them which can kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

The Lord protects those who love and honor him, who do His will. Psalm 145:20, “The Lord preserveth them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.”

Make sure you follow the map which Jesus has provided for us. It is found inside His holy word.

In Christ,

Andrew