Hello beloved creatures of God, I hope you’re fine by God’s grace.
Today in Salvation 101 we’ll talk about the reality of hell and the guilt and danger of sinners.
If you’ve not read the previous posts I invite you to check them out here
Many people do not believe in hell. This doesn’t just concern atheists, even some self-professing Christians do not believe in hell. In order to lay a foundation today, we’ll highlight a few Scriptures about hell.
1. The Reality of Hell
The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Matthew 13:41-43 NKJV
The verse above reveals to us that there is a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth (suffering) for those who practice lawlessness. In this verse, this place is called the furnace of fire.
But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Revelation 21:8 NKJV
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 20:13-14 NKJV
From these verses we understand that those who practice such things shall be put in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. Notice here that once again, the Bible is talking about hell, and it’s more than obvious that it is a place of torment. Also, remember that we talked about the fact that once your physical body dies, your spirit and soul still exist for eternity. Those who would have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ and believed in Him will spend eternity with God, but those who would have remained in sin, serving the devil, rejecting Jesus Christ, will spend eternity separated from God. Through these verses on hell, you have an idea of what eternity separated from God means (hell, fire, suffering for eternity).
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
Matthew 25:41-43 NKJV
Hell fire was originally prepared for the devil and his angels, but there are human beings too will be cast into that everlasting fire, because they would have rejected Jesus Christ /refused to believe in Him/refused to obey His commandments and surrender their lives to Him.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—
Mark 9:43 NKJV
The Lord Jesus Christ talked about hell, and once again the Bible shows that it is a place of fire, and by the way, a fire that shall never be quenched. This means that those enduring those sufferings will suffer forever. There is no way back unless if your spirit and soul return to your body and you repent and believe in Jesus and submit to Him. Which could happen if soon after your death God miraculously raised you from the dead to give you a last chance. This is very rare, and generally happens a short time after the death of the person concerned. However if the person has already been buried for a long time and the body completely decomposed, it is impossible. Thus, instead of counting on a miraculous resurrection for you to repent, you’d better repent now.
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. “Then 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.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’
Luke 16:19-31 NKJV
2. The Guilt and Danger of Sinners
Irrespective of whether you agree with the existence of God or not, He still exists. The same goes for hell. You may choose not to believe in it, but it doesn’t change the fact that it exists.
Since hell exists, you have to ask yourself “When my physical body dies, where will I go?” or “Where will I spend eternity?”. There are only two options, there is no middle ground. Some churches teach about “purgatory”, but it’s not a Biblical doctrine, as such it is a lie from the devil. There’s no middle ground. Which means that either you’ll spend eternity enjoying with God or you’ll spend eternity suffering and separated from The Lord forever.
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
I Corinthians 6:9-10 NKJV
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
Revelation 22:14-15 NKJV
While reading through the previous verses did you relate with any of those sins? Do you recognise that you practice fornication, or idolatry or adultery or homosexuality or theft or lies telling etc.? If God had to judge you today on the basis of His Word where would you go? Heaven or Hell?
This is the moment to start naming your sins one by one to God, and to ask for His forgiveness, to ask Jesus Christ to save you. Indeed God sent Jesus Christ to die on the Cross of Calvary, to pay the punishment for our sins. He rose again and today if you believe in Him and surrender your life to Him to obey Him sincerely you will be saved.
who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
I Peter 2:24-25 NKJV
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
John 3:16-20 NKJV
However, if you reject this invitation you are guilty of unbelief. Guilty of rebellion. Guilty of not benefiting from the free gift of salvation for which Jesus Christ died for you. You now know the truth, will you refuse to follow Jesus? Will you claim that you are saved while refusing to surrender your life to Him? Will you continue in sin while claiming you believed in Him?
Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
Hebrews 10:28-29 NKJV
Today I’m inviting you to choose between heaven and hell, between spending eternity with God or away from Him. It all starts with a decision. It’s not about saying you’re a sinner but continuing to live in sin. There must be a radical change (which we shall talk about in future blog posts).
Some people consider hell as a joke and they imagine that there they’ll dance with the devil and throw parties. Hell is not at all like that. It’s not a place of joy but of suffering. Think about it, you may not have another opportunity to make a decision to serve Jesus Christ. If you don’t repent, change, turn your life around in Christ, you will keep serving sin and the devil and you will end up in hell forever.
God puts before you life and death today. Choose life that you may live.
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 NKJV
Prayer To Surrender Your Life To Jesus Christ and Choose Life
Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, I have sinned against you (list your sins one by one. All the sins that you can recall of since childhood) and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I make the decision today to turn from my sins and I invite You to come into my life, to set me free, to give me a new nature, to transform my life so that I live a holy life. I surrender myself completely to You Lord, spirit, soul and body. I choose today to trust and follow You as my Lord and Saviour. My life is Yours. I choose to obey You. Amen
Weekly Prayer Meeting
I would like to announce that every Saturday from 11:00-11:40 PM (GMT+1) I host a prayer meeting on Zoom (online) to pray for the salvation of our loved ones, our friends and acquaintances etc and to minister healing to the sick. You can join and invite others to join with you, believers as well as unbelievers. You can click on the link here to register for the event.
Looking for a Church?
I can recommend to you Dominion Life Church with General Overseer Apostle Curry Blake. In case there is no campus near you, you can watch online every Sunday at 3:00 PM (GMT +1) for first service and 4:00 PM (GMT +1) for second service
God bless you and contact me on social media for your prayer requests and also to share about your story/testimony with Jesus.
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