Thought for Today - October 9
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, even 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, Emanuel, 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 deeds 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. - See Matthew 8: 12
and Mark 9: 43-48.
“The children of the kingdom shall be cast
out into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,”
“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. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better
for
thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast
into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. And if thine eye
offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the
kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell
fire, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.”
The Lord Jesus Christ confirmed the fact that Hell is a real place of
fire and eternal punishment, and gave us warning that it is to be
avoided at all cost
There is a great gulf fixed between Heaven and Hell, between the good
and the evil. That gulf cannot be crossed. No one is able to go from
one to the other. God is kind, and merciful and long suffering, but he
has warned us that “his spirit shall not always strive with man.” Gen
6: 3. One day God will close the doors of Heaven and all who have
refused to hear his call will be shut out, and then all there is left
is Hell forever. Today, the door of Heaven is wide open, God is
calling. If you hear his voice, answer his call and be saved: “Now is
the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians
6: 2.
Tomorrow may be too late. The door might be shut.
In Luke's gospel chapter 16, verses 19-31, Jesus told of one who was
rich in this world's goods and thought he had no need for God; but when
he died he went to Hell: “And in Hell he lift up his eyes being in
torments, and seeing Abraham afar off and Lazarus ( a poor beggar, who
in his lifetime knew and trusted God), in his bosom, he cried and said,
father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip
of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this
flame” Now it was too late for him to repent. The door had been
closed. He was there in Hell forever, forever to be tormented.
Don't fool yourself, my friend. Don't take foolish chances, and gamble
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 or 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 and
soul is to be separated from our physical body), “ and after that the
judgment.” Hebrews 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.” Matthew 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 secomd 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 whore mongers, 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 so 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 Philippian 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, and 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 draws 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 sai 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.” Hebrews 7: 25.
He is able to save all who will come to him by faith, and admit their sins and by faith 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 fellowshipof 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, follow the Lord in believer's baptism as a testimony of your
new life in Christ.
Read your bible and pray every day, and walk by faith in the spirit with the Lord
May the Lord lead you and bless you and save you from the horrors of Hell which otherwise you will find is no joke.
