Below is a portion of a teaching that I am reading regarding the topic of hell. As I read through I am reminded of how short time is, of how precious this life is and how often I have wasted it in things that have no real value. I long to share the love of my LORD JESUS with others around me but that is not enough alone, just telling someone JESUS loves them is a pleasant thought but does not give them any understanding to the reality that awaits them after this life passes away if they choose to continue in their sins. In order for those who are lost in sin and rebellion to see their need and understand how desperate their situation is they need to know the realities of the consequence of the decision to live in rebellion to GOD will bring upon them. I read a quote that said, "Hell is not on trail, you are on trail." and I thought it very fitting. Each one of us has fallen short, we are all sinners and we stand already convicted in our sins unless we turn to JESUS, cry out to HIM, repent of our sins and seek to live being born of HIS HOLY SPIRIT in submission unto HIM. The reality of hell is not spoken of nearly enough by many today and many young ones have the attitude that it either does not exist or that it is no big deal. I know JESUS is loves, I know HE cares for us and wants to gather us to HIMSELF but HE will only accept a heart that is fully committed to HIM not one that is divided. There can be no living for self and professing to live for HIM, a heart that is divided is still a wicked thing and the LORD will not have it. This has been on my heart much lately and I just want to offer prayer for sons, and daughters, sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers, cousins and friends, young and old that today GOD would draw us near to HIM gives us greater understanding of the need to pray for the lost and a deeper desire to demonstrate HIS love for them by being honest no matter what the consequence to self is. Just as JESUS lives and reigns, hell is real and HE longs to save us from such a place!

Just my heart on this if you feel so led please take a moment and join me in prayer

God bless
maryjane




++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++



Hell Does Exist

Let’s go back and talk some more about this modern day deception that says, “There is no Hell.” There is an old saying that says, “The man who tries to prove that there is no Hell generally has a personal reason for doing so.” The fact is that Hell does exist. Since that’s true, God, who cares for His Creation, certainly wants to make that information available to us! He wants us to have an understanding of the fact that Hell is very real. It’s something that we can’t eliminate just because it’s unpleasant. Ignoring Hell won’t make it go away any more than ignoring death will make death go away. Hell is real, and we need to understand that it’s real—just as Heaven is.

No Fun and Games

I’ve heard some people make a joke out of Hell. They say, “Well, that’s where all my friends are going to be anyway, so that’s okay. At least I’ll have friends to keep me company down there. We’ll just have one big party there.” I want you to know that is a very, very dangerous way of thinking. For one thing, it’s ignorant of the Scriptures—it’s also distorted, unbiblical and suicidal. There won’t be any fun and games in Hell at all! It will be a place of total darkness. It will be a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. It’s hard to have a lot of fun with your friends when you’re in total darkness and agony. God is light and God will not be present there. You won’t even be able to see your finger in front of your face. There will be no light and no comfort of companionship.

In Revelation 14:11 it says, “The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever.” Revelation 20:10 says, “There is no rest day or night.” There is no entertainment or recreation there. It continues on and on. No fun and games—just a pathetic loneliness and a deep crying out for something or SOMEONE that is not there. Total loneliness. You will be all alone in this place of torment.

Total Darkness Forever

The worst part is that Hell is eternal. If it would just last 1,000 years, after I made it through the first day I could say to myself, “Well, just 999.997 more years to go.” But it doesn’t work that way. Hell is eternal.

Matthew 25:46 “They will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Hell is an eternal punishment—weeping and gnashing of teeth. There is eternal punishment for those who are apart from Christ, and there is Eternal Life for those who are righteous. Some have said that this punishment is a one-time thing—that our souls are totally destroyed and that’s the end of it. Some people will tell you that in Hell we will have no more problems because we are destroyed once and for all. This totally neglects what God has said on that subject. “The smoke of their torment cries out forever and ever.” Jesus used the same word for “eternal” life as He did for “eternal” punishment. However long Heaven is, that’s how long Hell is. The two are synonymous in that way. They run parallel to each other. Life doesn’t end in one fell swoop.

Hell is a place of fire. We find that description over and over again. You ask yourself, “Well, how could it be a place of fire and not be consumed?” Is God who created all things not capable of doing ANYTHING (remember Moses and the flaming bush that wouldn’t burn up)? Regardless of whether our feeble minds understand it, God is capable of doing anything like that. If we refuse to change our lives and to live for Christ and obey Him in every area, then we will find ourselves in that place of fire that is never consumed. That’s a promise that God has made. God doesn’t lie. He will fulfill that promise.

“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of man will send out his angels and they will weed out of the kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Matthew 13:40-43

Apparently, Jesus was dealing with a people who didn’t want to listen. Jesus said, “if you have ears, please hear what I am saying.” Christ certainly didn’t come to destroy the world, but to save it. He doesn’t desire for anyone to fall into Hell’s grasp. He wasn’t saying, “Ha, Ha, Ha, some of you are going to burn in Hell.” He was saying, “Please listen to what I am saying. Hell is real. It does exist.” Please judge and deal with your life accordingly. There is going to be fire—it’s REAL! We are not talking about the fairy tale version of life after death. Hell is something very real that Jesus spent much of His time talking about. It’s a place of fire and a place of darkness. Here are some more of Jesus’ words on the subject:

“Throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Matthew 25:30

“If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off, for it is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands and to go to Hell where the fire never goes out.”

Mark 9:42

Again, for those who claim that Hell is instantaneous annihilation, we know that Jesus can’t be wrong. And Jesus said that Hell is a place of weeping, and Hell is a place of gnashing of teeth. How does a person that’s instantly vaporized have time to weep? How do they have time to gnash their teeth? Obviously, Hell is not instant annihilation as some might claim.

“…the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.”

Mark 9:48

_____________________________________

Praying for the lost has been on my heart to. I just wanted to bring this post back up so that others might see it. I am praying for those in my family who have rejected Jesus and am happy to pray for or along with others as well.

rdg

Such a burden on my heart!! Yes, MaryJane, I join you in prayer...