The Reality of Hell
Hell Is Real
This year I wanted to surprise my husband with a fun “experience” for his birthday.
I promised him that it would be “intense,” so he was a little nervous going in.
Can you guess what we did?
Here are some hints and the rules we had to follow:
- Water bottle a must
- Cotton shirt a requirement
- Closed toe shoes a necessity
- Sunglasses recommended
- Hair pulled back tight
Any ideas what we did?
How about a hands-on, authentic glass-blowing class!
If you haven’t done that yet, I highly recommend it.
Here are our finished projects:
The whole experience of glass blowing was exciting, and the cool factor was off the charts.
But, it wasn’t cool temperature-wise. (See what I did there?)
One of the furnaces in the studio was heated up to about two thousand degrees!
Some people might say that is “hotter than hell.”
Which brings up an interesting question . . .
Is there really a hell?
Here’s just one of many Bible verses describing the reality of hell.
49 So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous, 50and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 13:49-50, (NASB).1
Our ultimate authority for us today on the absolute truth of God’s Word is what God says in His Word.
Jesus spoke about hell in the Bible.
Denying the existence of what Jesus clearly said, is calling Him a liar.
The reality of hell some day will be a devastating, eternal, wake-up call for those who doubt the words of Jesus.
The Reality Of Hell
Does hell exist?
The verse stated above describes a “furnace of fire . . . “
Here are some other frightening descriptions of hell in the Bible:
- the unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43).
- the punishment of eternal fire (Jude 1:7).
- the lake that burns with fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8).
- away from the presence of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
- outer darkness (Matthew 22:13).
The book of Matthew describes the “fiery” and outer darkness nature of hell.
Here’s one commentary of note. Notice the finality of the last sentence.
The scriptural descriptions of hell are meant to emphasize the torment and suffering that will be experienced by those sent there. The “fire” may picture the wrath of God that is experienced by unbelievers in hell, whereas the “outer darkness” may picture the alienation from God’s love, mercy, and grace. Whether the vivid language is symbolic or literal, we can be assured that hell is a terrible, terrifying place. Possibly the most terrifying aspect of hell is its duration. The suffering is eternal. It has no end. For us, here and now, the concept of hell should drive us to the cross of Christ. It is only by repentance and faith in Christ that we can be saved from the wrath to come.– Got questions website.2
Many people today refuse to accept the reality of hell.
Sadly, that kind of destructive thinking is to be expected, considering the dark times we are living in.
Think of this: whole congregations of people are being misled and directed down this dangerous path.
. . . if the culture imposes no consequences, and the family imposes no consequences, the society places no stigma on people for the kind of behaviors that are sinful behaviors, people get so used to sinning without consequences that when you introduce the idea that they will pay in full forever for every sin, that is just alien to their thinking. People sin without immediate consequences, and to try to convince them that there are somehow, down the road, decades from now, if they live, deferred consequences, is a hard sell. – Pastor John MacArthur, Pastor and Bible teacher from Grace To You.3
Aren’t you glad that, through Jesus Christ, we have the way (the only way) out of this torment?
We need to pray for the lost sinners in our lives that they will accept the truth of God’s Word – before it’s too late.
36The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. – John 3:36, (NASB).4
# # #
1 & 4All Scripture verses are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
2 Quotation courtesy of Got Questions, “What does hell look like?” Accessed October 15, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.gotquestions.org/what-does-hell-look-like.html
3John MacArthur quotation, courtesy of GTY.org/library/sermons-library. 4 December, 2011. para. 9. Web. Accessed 15 October, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/80-376/the-truth-about-hell
