Thought For Today -January 11
Hell Is No Joke! 
By: Robert A. Searles
 
    Has anyone ever told you to "go to hell"? Have you ever told anyone to "go to hell"? Have you heard any "jokes" about hell? Have you told any "jokes" about hell? My friend, allow me to tell you and warn you, by the authority of the Word of God, The Holy Bible, that hell is no joke and is not to be trifled with and taken lightly.

    Hell is a real place, just as earth is a real place, and heaven is a real place. Hell is a place of continual fire, kindled by the anger of God: "For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains." Deuteronomy 32:22. 

    Hell is a place prepared by God for the devil and all the rebellious angels who followed him, and the eternal abode of all who willfully reject the love of God: "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:41 

 No one will automatically go to heaven; but everyone WILL automatically go to hell unless they are SAVED. There is no middle ground where we receive a second chance. Someone has rightly said: "Going to hell requires no decision, and no reservation is necessary."

    Unless we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ: that he is God manifested in the flesh, Immanuel, God with us, and that he came to offer himself a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins; and unless we confess that we are all sinners and need a savior and recognize Jesus Christ as our redeemer and rescuer, and call upon him to have mercy upon us and save us, our destiny will be to spend eternity in that horrible, eternal place called hell.  Being in hell forever is the natural state of mankind without God, just as cold is the natural state without heat, and darkness the natural state without light.

    To be condemned by God and separated from him forever means hell, indeed! The bible says: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God, and this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deed were evil." John 3:18,19

    My friend, if you would rather "hide out" as it were, in the darkness of sin and rebellion rather than to enter into God's light of love; if you are a lover of this world rather than a lover of God, then on the authority of God's word, hell is your inheritance forever. When our blessed Lord Jesus Christ walked on the earth, he taught and warned of the dangers of hell fire more than the glories of heaven.

    Hell is a place of continual, everlasting sorrow, grief, anguish, pain and suffering; it is a place of perpetual darkness where there is "weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth," and as the scripture says: "the worm dieth not", that is - the fire is never extinguished, the thirst is never quenched, the pain is never eased, the loneliness and despair of being forever separated from a loving God and godly loved ones is never abated.    Don 't fool yourself, my friend. Don't play Russian roulette with your eternal destiny. any moment could be your last on earth, and then where will you find yourself, in heaven or in hell? "It is appointed unto man once to die" (young of old, rich or poor)"and after this the judgment." Hebrews 9:27

Where will you stand at the judgment? If you were to die today do you have the assurance of heaven or is the mouth of hell gaping wide open, waiting to receive you into everlasting habitations and torment? 

Death is not the end of your existence, my friend, but commencement, as it were, when you are either promoted to heaven, or consigned to hell forever. When God created you and me, he gave us a life that would go on forever. You and I will spend eternity some place, either in heaven or in hell. The bible says:” it is appointed unto men once to die" (that is - our spirit is to be separated from this physical body)"and after that the judgment" Hebrew 9;27. 

How will you be judged when you find yourself before the judgment throne of God? Jesus said: "At the end of the world, the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." Mathew 13:49-50

. How will you be judged, as among the wicked or among the righteous?  In the book of Revelation John tells us: "And I saw the dead, small and great stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, every man according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:12-15

. "The fearful and unbelieving and the abominable, and murderers and whoremongers, and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death." Revelation 21:8

    My friend, is your name written in the lamb's book of life? Have your sins been forgiven? Have you believed since you heard the Word of God? Have you asked God to show you his loving kindness and tender mercies and apply the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to your account that you might be declared righteous in his sight? As you read these words and hear his voice, the opportunity is still available to you, but consider the awesome alternative that lies before you if you refuse.

    My friend, don't expect to party with your drinking "buddies" in hell. Hell fire always burns, but never consumes. A split second after you leave this physical body, if you find yourself in hell, it will be a terrible unnecessary situation because God in his love and mercy has provided a way of escape from the horrors of hell to enjoy the pardon of God forever. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” Revelation 21: 6-7.

    The good news is: that God himself so loved you and me that he took upon himself human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, and came to earth to rescue from hell, and to save all who will believe and trust in him. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3: 16.

    "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved and thy house." Acts 16: 31. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. "As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one." Romans 3:10. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. "The wages of sin is death(separation from God in hell forever), but the gift of God is everlasting life (with God forever in heaven) through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23 "What must I do to be saved?", the Philippians jailer asked. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:31 was the answer.
    My friend, while there is still time for you to avoid the horrors of hell forever, won't you heed the warning? Hell is no joke: it is a horrible certainty for you unless you believe God, ask for his mercy, and trust in his promises. If you have read thus far in this message, if you have in your possession a copy of the Word of God, the Holy Bible, and if you have ever heard the preaching of the Word of God, perhaps the Holy Spirit is tugging at your heart, even perhaps causing you to be quite uncomfortable and miserable, convicting you of the truth of what you have heard and read. If that is so, then this is good evidence that God is drawing you to himself to be saved. the bible says that no one can come to Christ except the father draw him. No one can earn salvation by any amount of good works or good intentions or good deeds, for salvation is a gift from God. "For by grace are ye saved, through faith and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8,9

    My friend, God sends no one to hell willingly, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. If you go to hell it will be because you have trampled on the love of God and the prayers of Christian loved ones and friends, the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and the working of the Holy Spirit. Don't be a fool. "the fool hath said in his heart there is no God." Psalm 53:1

    Believe the gospel that : “Christ Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." 1 Corinthians 15:3- 4." Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Heb 7:25  He is able to save all who will come to him by faith, and admit their sins and ask for his forgiveness.

    Will you dear reader consider doing this if you have not already done so, before the door is eternally closed and it is everlastingly too late, and you learn for sure that hell is no joke because you find yourself there? When you have received Christ into your heart, and have become a born again child of God, confess him with your mouth. The bible says that "With the heart man believeth and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:10 

 Tell your friends, your wife, your husband, your children, your parents and co-workers.  You ought to seek the fellowship of other believers in a bible believing fundamental church where the bible and the bible alone is the sole authority for faith and practice. You ought also, after you are saved, to follow the Lord in believer's baptism as a testimony of your new life in Christ.  May the Lord lead you and bless you and save you from the horrors of hell which otherwise you will find is no joke. 

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