THINK ABOUT IT! PHASE # 4

The past three weeks, we’ve been talking about preparing to spend eternity in one of two places: heaven or hell. We talked about how to get to heaven—repenting of our sins and placing our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, because He died in our place on the cross. We also talked a bit about heaven: It is God’s home: an elegant place with no pain, tears, or suffering. Only the saved (faith in Jesus) will go there, and when we’re there, we will be worshiping God Almighty! I promised to describe hell, the alternative to heaven, this week.

Hell, according to the Scriptures, was created for the devil and his demons. It is a place of eternal fire (see Matthew 25:41); “The devil who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev 20:10 NLT).   But a people who want nothing to do with God will also go there: “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life” (Matt 25:46 NLT). Those who go there will be in torment, “And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur … The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night … ” (Revelation 14:10-11 NLT). 

Does the description of hell concern you? “Forever and ever” means just that! Can you stand being tormented day and night, non-stop? Think about it! I wouldn’t wish this kind of suffering on even my worst enemy, let alone on myself. Please, please, please, if you’ve never given eternity much thought in the past, or if you simply don’t care, please reconsider. If you don’t repent now, nothing is going to change your destination when the time comes. No excuse you could come up with will change anything. This is your opportunity; don’t miss it!

Please think about this question, and respond honestly to yourself; the Bible asks, “What makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus” (Hebrews 2:3 NLT). In other words, if we ignore this invitation, we cannot escape the consequences -- hell!