“When men talk of a little hell, it is because they think they have only a little sin, and they believe in a little Savior.  But when you get a great sense of sin, you want a great Savior, and feel that if you don’t have him, you will fall into a great destruction, and suffer a great punishment at the hands of the great God.” -C. H. Spurgeon

Hell is a reality that the world ignores It is the butt of jokes and a swear word that to most has lost any since of meaning. What does the Scripture teach about the final place of punishment?

Hell, the Lake of fire, the final judgment that was made for the Satan and his followers is a place of rejection. Matthew 7 describes people being sent away from the presence of the Master, “depart from me, I never knew you”. This image of being in the presence of God and being sent away is a startling one. It shows not only are they sent away and not allowed to enjoy the presence of God, but that for a moment they new the presence of God and will have that knowledge for eternity.

The Lake of fire is pain. Its name befits the type of punishment that will be executed there. Mathew 13:40-43, along with other passages uses the imagery of a fiery furnace where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is a pain that is worse then we can understand here on earth. Christ warns us not to fear those who can hurt the body, but He who can destroy it in hell.

Hell is a place of loneliness and darkness. Mathew 22:13 says, “Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness, in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” This is in contrast to the presence of God who is the light of New Jerusalem. Away from God man is in utter darkness without hope and alone.

The most sobering thought about the doctrine of Hell is that it is the eternal judgment. This will not just be for a moment but forever: “everlasting punishment” (Matt. 25:46), “everlasting fire” (Matt. 18:8), “the fire that will never be quenched” (Mark 9:45) and “the worm that never dies” (Mark 9:46). There is no easy way out, only the grace of God. And so as the Apostle Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:11, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.”

Kevin Farmer, Will Uminn, Dana Arledge, Phil Meade