What is Hell?

What is Hell?
What is Hell? Is it a place with pitchforks and demons? Does Satan lounge around in red tights sipping Mint Juleps while others slave over hot burning coals? Is it true that it will never freeze over? Much is said and much more joked about Hell. Let us examine what God says about Hell by studying His word.
Scripture Passages:
Matthew 5:22, 18:8-9, 23:33-35; Rev. 20:12-15; Luke 16:26; Luke 12:45-48; John 5:28-29; 2 Peter 2:4, Rev. 21:8
Main Point: Hell is an awful place of punishment where all will be judged by God's perfect righteousness -- then you literally get what you deserve. It is not God's choice to send you to Hell but rather your choice to reject God's marvelous grace in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Outline:

Hell is a place of punishment for you should you reject God's grace.

Hell is for those who do wrong.

Hell is a place of punishment with unimaginable consequences.

Hell is a place where you are separated from the love of God forever.

Hell is a place where you will be confined forever with wicked people.

Hell is both a holding place and an eternal destiny for you should you reject God's grace.

Hell is a holding place for the wicked when they die.

Hell is also the place where the wicked will spend eternity.

Though there will be degrees of punishment, Hell is a place of unimaginable horror.

Hell is a place, not where God desires to send you, but where you choose to go.

God pursues people to the end with His grace, not wanting them to go to Hell.

Hell is a place that people choose to go when they reject Jesus Christ.

1. Hell is a place of punishment for you should you reject God's grace.
a. Hell is for those who do wrong.
Jesus said: "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell" (Matt. 5:20-21 NIV).
Jesus was quite concerned about our relationships with others. So much was He concerned that He warned about letting anger drive how we treat others. The roots of murder are found in anger that despises another. When such anger denigrates the very essence of who a person is -- right or wrong, a human made in the image of God -- then your eternal destiny is in question for you show evidence that you are not in a right standing with God. Hell, then, is a place of judgment for those who do wrong.
b. Hell is a place of punishment with unimaginable consequences.
Jesus said: "If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell" (Matt. 18:8-9 NIV).
In the South, they used to punish prisoners on what was called a "chain gang." The prisoners were all shackled at both feet and then each was chained to the other. All day they worked out in the blistering heat building roads, grading hills, picking up trash, cutting grass. Drenched by the heat of the day and the sweat of their brow, the prisoners were exhausted and spent. Their only hope was that they might sleep a few hours, only to wake up to another day in the hot rays of Southern sunshine. Day after day, week after week, they literally slaved away. No matter how popular Sam Cooke's "Chain Gang" tune became, no one ever wanted to get sent to the "chain gang." As bad as the chain gang was, Hell is worse. Hell is a place of unimaginable horror -- eternal fire. A place where you never die. A place where redemption is no longer possible.

2. Hell is a place where you are separated from the love of God forever.

And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us. (Luke 16:26 NIV)
Where is Hell? No one knows exactly where Hell is located. All we do know is that Hell is a place where the wicked are separated and contained from the righteous who are with God. As this verse explains, no one has the opportunity to repent in Hell. I think rather that those in Hell have been forced to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord of all and so understand completely that their judgment is totally just. There is no plea possible. No one can cross over from Heaven to Hell or leave Hell to visit Heaven. Jesus' point in this verse is that eternity is a fixed state of being forever.
In Hell, you are forever separated from the love of God and from all hope of redemption. That indeed is Hell? Hell is that place where God is not. No one in Hell will be wondering where they are -- all will know they are in a place of eternal punishment. And no one will object to the punishment -- all will know they have been justly condemned. The only thing those in Hell will want is to keep other people from following in their footsteps. As a rich man in Hell exclaimed: "Then I beg you, Father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment" (Luke 16:27-28, NIV).
Everyone in Hell will want to warn their loved ones not to reject the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ. Think of all the people in your own life. Are you influencing them toward Heaven and are you dragging down with you toward Hell?

3. Hell is a place where you will be confined forever with wicked people.
Who will be in Hell? I have heard many say in jest, "Well, if I go to Hell, at least all my friends will be there..." But according to Scripture, in Hell we find, "the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death" (Revelation 21:8 NIV). This is not exactly the crew of the SS Minnow -- no Gilligan, Skipper, Thurston Howell III...This is definitely "not Kansas" Toto! Hell is an eternity with Hitler, Stalin, terrorists, adulterers, witches, Satanists, those who are greedy and those who are liars. All will be confined to an eternity in a sin-corrupted body that will not die.
Let's not forget Satan and the Antichrist -- they are thrown into the lake of fire also (Rev. 20:10). Satan will not rule Hell but will be tormented forever. Not far behind will be the angels who rebelled against God and followed Satan (2 Pet. 2:4). Who will be in Hell? Hell will be a cesspool of wicked people and wicked angels for all eternity. Will you be there also? And do you forsee your friends there? Best that you get your relationship right with God in time BEFORE this awful eternity.

4. Hell is both a holding place and an eternal destiny for you should you reject God's grace.
a. Hell is a holding place for the wicked when they die.
When do you go to Hell? Hell is for those who reject the grace of God demonstrated in the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, on a cross. When you die, you go to Hell or, more specifically, Hades. This is sort of a holding place for the wicked until the final day of judgment. In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus gives an account of a rich man named Lazarus and a poor beggar. In this account, we see that the wicked who die are tormented in Hades awaiting the day that God raises the dead for their final judgment.
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:14-15 NIV)
b. Hell is also the place where the wicked will spend eternity.
When do you go to Hell? At an event called the "Great White Throne Judgment" when all the wicked dead in Hades are resurrected in permanent bodies to face their final judgment. Hell is the final, eternal destiny of all who reject God.
During your life on earth you have a choice to make. Those who respond to God's offer forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ have their names permanently etched in the book of life. Those who reject God do not have their name written in the book of life. The last day of history as we know it will record a final rejection -- those who rejected God are sent away from His presence to spend eternity in Hell.

5. Though there will be degrees of punishment, Hell is a place of unimaginable horror.

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. (Rev. 20:12-13 NIV)
How can Hell be eternal burning for everyone -- doesn't this make God unjust? In this verse, we see that those condemned to Hell will be judged according to their deeds which clearly indicates there certainly are degrees of punishment. Other references in Scripture point this out as well -- Luke 12:45-48, Rom. 14:12 in particular. If there were no degrees of punishment, this giving of an account would be meaningless. Having said this, you must realize that no one gets a "light" sentence. A sentence to the "Chain Gang" is Hell no matter how long it lasts. And everyone in Hell is separated from the love of God forever where "...their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:47-48 NIV).
This is horrible no matter how you look at it. It should give motivation to each one of us who knows the Lord Jesus Christ to do everything in our power to let everyone possible know of the glorious salvation found in no other name but Jesus Christ -- the name above every name! And "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Rom. 10:13 NIV).

6. Hell is a place, not where God desires to send you, but where you choose to go.
a. God pursues people to the end with His grace, not wanting them to go to Hell.

You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. (Matt. 23:33-35 NIV)
Jesus condemned the Pharisees who, despite all the miraculous signs and irrefutable truth that Jesus gave them, refused to believe in Him as their Savior. Yet Jesus made it clear that He would continue to send them preachers and teachers to proclaim clearly the gospel of Jesus Christ. In spite of our sinful rejection of God's love, He continues to send the message of grace to us so that we have a choice: for God and eternal life or against God and eternal damnation in Hell. God cannot and will not make this choice for us -- He gave us a will to exercise in faith toward Him or in faith toward ourselves.
b. Hell is a place that people choose to go when they reject Jesus Christ.
So why would a loving God send anyone to Hell? This is a good question. When someone thought of the most awful, most vile, most horrible place they could imagine, they named it "Hell." God has taught us that He loves us and has done everything needed to redeem us and bring us home to Heaven. But if you choose to reject this grace of God, He has no choice but to judge you by your own works. The "Hell" of Hell is that you will get exactly what you deserve. The only place God can separate you from His love is in Hell. If you choose to reject Him and live life on your own terms, He has no choice but to give you your heart's desire -- and separate you from His presence in the place called Hell forever, and ever, and ever.
Friends, choose today to repent of your sin and turn to the God who loves you and does not desire that you or anyone else go to Hell. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who fulfilled all righteousness and then gave His perfect life on the cross, dying for your sins. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and lives to give you that same eternal life. Receive today the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and walk with Him all the way home to Heaven.

End Notes

Note - English definitions derived from Random House Webster's Dictionary, New York: Ballantine Books, copyright 1996. Greek/Hebrew definitions derived from Strong's Greek/Hebrew Concordance. Also, Vine's Expository
Dictionary of Biblical Words, Vine, Unger, and White, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1985.

1. hell (Matt. 5:22)
English: The place or state of punishment of the wicked after death [physical death is implied].
Greek/Hebrew: 1067. geenna, gheh'-en-nah; of Heb. or [H1516 and H2011]; valley of (the son of) Hinnom; gehenna (or Ge-Hinnom), a valley of Jerus., used (fig.) as a name for the place (or state) of everlasting punishment:--hell.
Analysis: This is the most commonly used word for the punishment of the wicked in a fiery place.

2. hell (Luke 16:23)
English: The place or state of punishment of the wicked after death [physical death is implied].
Greek/Hebrew: 86. haides, hah'-dace; from G1 (as a neg. particle) and G1492; prop. unseen, i.e. "Hades" or the place (state) of departed souls:--grave, hell.
Analysis: This word is used to indicate a place where the wicked await the final judgment, though they are clearly in torment in this place too.

3. hell (2 Peter 2:4)
English: The place or state of punishment of the wicked after death [physical death is implied].
Greek/Hebrew: 5020. tartaroo, tar-tar-o'-o; from Tartaros (the deepest abyss of Hades); to incarcerate in eternal torment:--cast down to hell.
Analysis: This word is only used once in the New Testament where it references a place for wicked angels to be confined awaiting the final judgment.

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Copyright 10/28/2001, Randy Lariscy.