It is important to understand that the way you live your life now affects the way you will spend your life eternally. You will reap what you sow. The Bible says so. And the same passage of Scripture goes on to say, "For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Gal. 6:8).
What is the corruption that you shall reap if you do not choose life everlasting? What are the realities of hell's torment?
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
(Mark 9:43-44)I want you to read verse 43 carefully. It says "...into the FIRE THAT SHALL NEVER BE QUENCHED." That means that the fire department can't put this fire out! There is nothing that can put this fire out—it is eternal.
This passage goes on to say, "Where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (v. 44). Those in hell not only have to deal with the roasting of the fire that never consumes, but they also feel worms going through their burns for eternity.
Hell is definitely not a place you want to go!
Saving Others From Hell's Fire
God has given mankind the opportunity to be saved from death and to live victoriously on the earth. Many Christians don't want to think about the reality of hell, because their focus is on the reason God gave us His Word—so we could be delivered from death.
He gave us His Word so that we could walk victoriously. But victory can be emphasized to the point that we forget about the reality of hell. Hell is a real place.
God didn't give us the opportunity to walk in His victory and prosperity just so we could drive a luxury car or live in a wonderful home. Now there's nothing wrong with that as long as your priorities are right concerning these things.
The real reason God prospers us is so we can put as much money as possible into making sure that the Gospel message gets out and seeing that as many people as possible are saved from the place where the fire is not quenched and the worm dieth not!
That is what this life is all about. And if we really believe that hell is real, it will make us talk to our relatives about it even if they don't like it. It will make us tell other people about hell, because we will want to do everything we can to save someone from hell's fire.
Let's look at another verse in Mark 9:46: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." This is the second time in this passage in Mark 9 that Jesus said this about hell.
Anytime you find the same thing twice in the Word of God, God is emphasizing the point. Hell is real. It's hot, and it's eternal.
The Torment of Eternal Judgment
All of us have made mistakes in life. But for the mistakes we make in this life, if we still have breath, we have a chance to try to fix them and make them right. We can repent before God.
While we are on the earth, we get to make things right. But in hell, you don't get that chance. It's too late to try to make it right. There are no more second chances. In hell you can't say, "God, I'm sorry that I put this person or that thing before You. I now realize that it wasn't worth it."
It will be too late.
The Father God will say, "I love you. Oh, how I love you. That's why I sent My Son. He bore the penalty for your sin. He paid the price for your salvation. All you had to do was receive Him and live for Him."
He will also say, "I sent My ministers. I sent some of the best apostles, prophets, and evangelists to your church. I gave you a pastor and sent some of the best teachers in the world to teach you not to go to that place, and you still didn't listen. The judgment is thereby set."
The judgment was set for the rich man that we read about in Luke 16. He's been in hell for centuries already, and he's going be there for many more centuries.
You Don't Belong in Hell!
Hell was not designed for mankind. It wasn't God's intention for any human being to go to hell. Hell was designed for Satan, who rebelled against God, and for the angels who rebelled against God and followed Satan. Those were the only ones hell was designed for.The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.But, now, anyone who rejects God as Satan did, goes against God as Satan did, and rebels against God as Satan did will wind up at the same place Satan did—hell. And all the nations that are determined to come against the Gospel will end up there too.
(Ps. 9:17)Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.Hell has enlarged itself for folks who right now think that partying and satisfying their flesh is the most important thing in life. Hell was originally designed just for Satan and his crowd, but since there are so many folks who want to reject God, hell keeps getting bigger. Because so many people are going there, it has to keep enlarging.
(Isa. 5:14)
The Power of Choice
In hell, everyone has an individual flame to burn in. In other words, there is no place in hell to escape its fire. God cries at the fact that there are people who go to this place, but they are the ones who made the decision.
The choice was theirs.
God said that He has set before you life—the life of God—and death (Deut. 30:19). Then He told you what to do: Choose life! Choose it! Where is the life? It's in Jesus. It's in living holy before God.
Deuteronomy 30:19 says to choose life that you and your children may live. You see, there are many who have led their whole families into hell. But there are also many who have led their whole families into Heaven. In which category are you going be?
Heaven is real, and so is hell. When God first dealt with me about sharing this message, I had just finished ministering a different message entitled, "Increase: God's Will for the Church" at the church I pastor. The Lord reminded me that, yes, there's an increase that's available, but there is also decrease.
God wants you to increase all the way to Glory, but you will decrease, regardless of God's perfect will for your life, if you make certain wrong choices. Let's make sure our choices always reflect life and blessing!
Source: Hell: You Don't Want To Go There by Keith Butler
Excerpt permission granted by Word Of Faith Publishing