Isaiah 33:14 – The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
This is a message for all of us. It is what the Bible says, not what I am saying. It is not fun, it is not enjoyable, but it is truth. John 17:17 – Thy word is truth. Do we want to know the truth, even if it is inconvenient and makes us uncomfortable? 2 Peter 3:9 says God is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Hell is a reality. Hell is a real place. It is not fun to talk about hell. However, the Bible talks about hell, Jesus talked about hell. The Bible has been provided by God for us so that we do not need to go to hell. Hell is is not a party, it is not where the fun is at, old friends are not reunited, good times are not had. It is a place of fire, darkness, pain, torment, weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mark 9:48 – Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of the rich man and the beggar. The rich man went to hell because he was not saved. The Bible says in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments. We do not cease to exist when we die. We are not annhilated. We do not go to purgatory. We do not return in a new form. We are not mystically reunited with mother earth. If we are saved, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. If we are not saved, we are in hell immediately. We are only one heartbeat away from our eternal destiny, we have no guarantee for the next minute, hour, day, week, year. Jesus said our time is always ready. Once we are in hell, it is irreversible. It is an eternal reality. The Bible says that hell is in the heart of the earth. Isaiah 5:14 says hell has enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure. Hell is never full – Proverbs 27:20. Hell and death is ultimately cast into the lake of fire at the end of time, which is the second death – Revelation 20:14. Revelation 14:11 says the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever.
The sad reality is that many people are going to hell. Matthew 7:13,14 – Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
The reality also is that many who profess to be saved are going to hell. Matthew 7:21-23 – Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
This is why the message is to all of us. People that profess to be saved can be just as lost, and if not moreso, than those that are just downright lost. It doesn't have to be so but it is so. As Jesus said, the condemnation is that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil – John 3. The Bible says the flesh is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it? The Bible says Jesus knows what is in man. Jesus came so that we do not need to go to hell, but when we reject him, there is no other place for us to go. We are not even meant to go there, it is a place prepared for the devil and his angels – Matthew 25:41. But God's holiness accepts no sin. God as a righteous, perfect judge rightfully condemns sinners. We are all guilty before God. That's why we need Jesus, he is the only one who is perfectly righteous. He bore the sins of the world. Believe in Him and he will save you. 1 John 5:19 says that the whole world lieth in wickedness. It's not a case of I'm better than you because I'm a Christian, it's a case of I'm a Christian because I am not better than you. I see my need for a Saviour. I am not good enough to go to heaven on my own merit. We all need to come to the foot of the cross. The Bible says, Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? – 2 Corinthians 13:5.
Jesus sorts the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares. What are we? If we can live unchecked in sin, this is an evidence that we are not saved. If we truly know and love God, we keep his word and his commandments – 1 John 2. If we claim to be saved and have the Spirit of God, how can we justify our sin – Romans 3:8? The work of the Holy Spirit is to reprove the world of sin, righteousness and judgement – John 16:8. How can the Spirit of Christ cause us to sin, when he did no sin? The Bible says Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill – Matthew 5:17. As Christians, we do not make void the law, we establish it – Romans 3:31. Being saved does not give us the license or liberty to sin – Romans 6. If we think that salvation means we can live however we want to, than we do not understand what salvation is at all. This is evidence that true repentance has not taken place. If we can live in sin, be proud of it, and even justify it, it shows we do not truly fear God – the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is also idolatry, which is creating a god our imagination that excuses our sin, that fits our lifestyle and what we want to do. But it is not the God of the Bible. Yes, we still sin, because we still have the flesh to deal with, but the Bible tells us to crucify the flesh, to make no provision for the flesh – Galatians 5:24. The flesh is condemned. Jesus made us free from being slaves of sin – John 8:36. The Bible does not excuse sin. As Christians we do not want to sin anymore, because we love God, because God's grace gives us the victory. God chastens us when we sin, if we lack God's chastening, we are spiritual bastards, we are not truly his children despite claims to the contrary – Hebrews 12. 2 Timothy 2:19 – Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Jesus said, Ye MUST be born again – John 3. It is not about trying to do better next time, turning over a new leaf or endless, futile attempts at self improvement.
Revelation 20:12 – 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, according to their works. We will all stand before God. We will be held accountable. This will not be a time to justify ourselves and give God a piece of our minds. This will be the worst moment of your eternal existence if you are not saved. You will be standing before the true God of the Bible. Those cast into hell are cast, because they are unwilling to go. They will be dragged kicking and screaming to their eternal reality. Please don't go there.
Is your name written in the Book of Life? Revelation 20:15 – And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. – Acts 16:31.
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