Many of you reading this, myself included, do not possess even the beginning of wisdom alluded to in Psalm 111:10 because we do not truly fear God as He so clearly dictates in His Word. If this be the case then we are most likely going to spend eternity in torment and agony.
So how do we begin to persuade ourselves of the dangers of hell and prostrate ourselves at Christ's feet begging for mercy as though we had a noose around our neck? We know that hell is literal and infinite misery for both body and soul with no hope of early release for good behavior. We also know that we all have an aversion to misery, danger and pain on this earth and we will do anything to avoid or mitigate such experiences. If we are so willing to avoid such unpleasant situations on earth, should we not be even more diligent to do what we can to avoid the eternal punishments that God has threatened?
We live in a society today that rewards bad behavior with little or no consequence of punishment. Where do you think this kind of idea of little or no consequence comes from? Hello, news flash, the church! As goes the church, so goes the country. I can assure you that God will execute eternal capital punishment and torture beyond anything that man has every invented or imagined here on earth, and He will start with the church.
Most of us have never had our senses trained to the real truth about hell. The selfish pride of man will attempt to soften the hard edges and truths of eternal damnation to make it more palatable and inconsequential to our finite human mind. So what is hell actually like? Scripture lays it out for us to prayerfully meditate upon. Hell is eternal, as the great puritan theologian Jonathan Edwards said, "Eternity is forever but beginning..." Eternity has no end and no beginning. Our finite minds will seize up and begin to puff black smoke trying to grapple with such a truth.
Hell is described where the worm does not die. On earth we have all seen dead carcasses along the roadside and eventually those carcasses will be eaten up by worms and other animals and ultimately disappear. But in hell, the body and soul of the damned will continually be gnawed and devoured upon by worms, yet never consumed. You will have a heightened awareness of being eaten by worms throughout your body, but you will not be eaten into oblivion as carcasses here on earth are now. You will try to scratch and gouge your rotting flesh to rid yourself of this loathsome creature that will never stop eating away on your body.
As the book of Isaiah 14:11 so clearly states, "Your pomp and music of your harps have been brought down to Sheol; maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you and worms are your covering." The Lord Himself warned us in Mark 9:44-48 about the seriousness of sin and its consequences. "If your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched." Better to be a worm in hell enjoying an endless buffet of rotting carcasses for all of eternity rather than a man who does not heed the dire warnings of scripture and true gospel from a loving God.
Many of you have experienced a minor burn on your hand or finger. You know how painful it can be, yet you are hopeful and confident that the pain will subside and disappear with some treatment and time. But in hell that pain and agony will be infinitely worse with no hope of relief. In fact, hell is depicted in Mark 9:42 as a "furnace of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
A furnace of fire would be akin to what we would understand through the process of using intense heat to melt steel into liquid form. This type of heat is far hotter than your ordinary campfire or stove. Many of us have experienced dehydration and thirst on a hot summer day and try to take precautions to help mitigate life threatening situations. But in hell you will give anything for one drop of water to cool your tongue, as the rich man requested in Luke 16:24 and was denied that drop of water by our Lord. Your entire body will literally be on fire, including all your internal organs with the most excruciating pain you can possibly conjure up here on earth.
Many of you reading this believe that this does not apply to you because you are confident this hell is reserved for other people who are more sinful and wicked than you are. It obvious that many of us are not cognizant to the dangers of hell and our senses have been dulled into a state of spiritual stupidity. I pray that both you and I would exhibit more sobriety in heeding the many warnings and dangers God has spoken of in His Word.
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