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Hell may not be a popular subject, but one that needs to be addressed. The modern church does no service to their flock by putting it on the back burner, the flames are still lit.

Q. Is hell real?
A. Yes it sure is, sorry to say.

Q. What is it like?
A. There is some misunderstandings as to what hell is. It comes from misreading the Bible and confusion between hell and sheol.

Q. Is hell forever?
A. For me this was an answer that I didn’t what to believe. But yes it’s forever.

    First we need to understand what hell is. Hell was never intended for man. Hell was made for the devil and his minions. At this time no humans are in hell, and there won’t be any for at least 1007 years (there’s a reason for that 1007 number). Hell may have residents at this time (if the abyss is hell), mainly demons that couldn’t play by the rules, and they’re waiting for their “week end pass”, which is approaching, now that mankind is finishing his “6 day” work week.

    So were does man go after he dies? Well that depends on when he died, and whether he was/is saved or not.

    Before Jesus came to earth and died for the worlds sin, all people went to sheol after they died. Sheol is a place in the “heart of the earth”. Sheol had two areas, “first class” and “luggage”. People in either section could (only at times I believe) see each other and it seems that maybe at times (I think it was the exception more then the rule) could communicate (Luke 16:19-31).

    First class was the “Arms of Abraham”. It was a kind of paradise. Life was good, no pain, illness, just a general vacation after a life of faith and work. Even then many knew that this wasn't Heaven, it was just a lay over for the Old Testament Saints (Ps. 49:14-15, Ps.16:10-11 others speak of being bought out of this to eternal life Deut. 32:39, Dan. 12:2, Isa.26:19)

    “Luggage” was the area that was/is nothing more then a holding compartment. Not a nice place, little more then a staging area till the inhabitants could be processed (judgment) and then rerouted to their final designation. Conditions aren’t pleasant, seems that it’s a little warm and the “luggage” isn’t very happy. It's pain (Ps. 116:3), weakness (Isa. 14:10), hopelessness, helplessness, weakness (Isa.14:10, Isa 38:10, Ps. 88:4) But it’s not hell, and the residents haven’t gone though the second “death”. Some of the "luggage" is rather well known, Egyptians (Ezek. 31:15-17) and Kings (Isa. 14:10-14) and all become equal. If you become luggage you won't be any different then anyone else. There are no ranks, rich, upper class, or CEO's. Your all the same. Speaking of CEO's, the foolish rich will be shepherded by death straight there (Ps.49:14).

    Misreading of the Bible verses about sheol (some by accident, some on purpose) by the Catholic church is were they got the idea of purgatory. There is no purgatory, no one can “buy” you out, no one can “work” for anyone’s release, and there’s no “get out of jail free” card that can be earned here on earth. Once you’ve been classified Luggage, your just waiting for transportation (with a quick layover in Heaven) to terminal hell.

    Another thing about sheol was that God had access had to it. The crappy side was cut off from God morally and spiritually (Isa. 38:18, Ps. 6:5-6), which is real death. But physically God could go, because you can't escape God (Ps. 139:8, Amos 9:2). And all of sheol had at least one visit from God when Jesus made a drop in. I said that it mattered if you were saved, and when that was, as to who was in sheol. That visit by Jesus changed the reservations of some of the visitors.

    Before Jesus was crucified everyone went to sheol, first class and not. But after Jesus died He took a swing by Paradise (with one of the thief’s from the crucifixion (Luke 23:43)) to tell first class their transfers had been processed and they were moving uptown. He spent three days “in the earth” proclaiming the Gospel to all who resided there. If you know the Apostles creed this is included (most don’t learn that anymore, shame). After the three days first class was sent ahead and the luggage remained. Some of the first class that knew the Gospel was sent for a quick stop on earth right after the crucifixion. They had a walk-about then caught up with the rest (Matt. 27:52-53). They were the “first fruits”, Jesus always gets the first of everything, if you don’t give it voluntarily, God makes it up somewhere. Whether the paradise part of sheol is still there, out of reach of the luggage, or whether it was closed and dismantled, I don’t know. What I do know is after a believer dies on earth now, they go straight to Heaven to be with the Lord (Phil. 1:23, 2Cor. 5:8).

    So what is hell? At this time it maybe a home to the demons that couldn’t follow the rules. In 2 Pet. 2:4 the Greek word Tartarus is use for hell. It's the only place in the Bible that it is. Ancient Greeks knew of this place as the holding place of rebellious gods and nasty people. In Tartarus they were punished. Peter said the angels that sinned were being held till judgment there. Fitting since the gods of the Greeks were more then likely rooted from fallen angels from before the flood (Gen. 6:4). But all other times the word Gehenna (Hell) or Hades (sheol) is used.

    Hell (gehenna) was built to be the final holding cell for the devil and his buds (Matt. 25:41). The devil and company have been sentenced to life in prison and since they have eternal life (like man) a life sentence isn’t going to ever end. No parole, no stay, and they have already been judged by the most Supreme Court in the land. The demons that now inhabit hell many believe will be allowed a short time of freedom to “raise hell” here on earth, and I’m afraid they’ll make the most of it (Rev. 9:1-12). Here in Rev. 9:1 we have may demons commended by God to take on a certain locust like shape. God can do that, the demons begged for Jesus not to cast them into hell, they were more then happy to take on the bodies of pigs. Demons would be happy to take any form if they have freedom for a while. Or it's bugs from hell, either way it won't be pretty. You don’t have to be here when that happens, God has given man a option.

     After the 1000 year reign of Jesus the luggage goes to Heaven for judgment, then all of it goes to hell. When all is finished death and hades (hell as in sheol) will be cast into this hell (gehenna) This is the second death (Rev. 20:14).

    What about when the Bible speaks about being burned up forever like the weeds. Can that mean those in hell will be destroyed and hell is not forever? Yes the unbelievers will be cast body and soul into hell (notice they are being cast into it physically, a real tangible hell, not some spiritualized place), but only the body has a chance to be burnt up. When we are raptured we are given a eternal body that will last forever, the damned maynot be likewise outfitted. The spirit is eternal and can't die, the body, well, does burn. Remember plants aren't ever said to die, they writher and fade. Man (and animals) die, and that death is of the body (first death). Maybe you will have somewhat of a body like what you had on earth till the second death, but the promise of a eternal one is for the heaven bound.

     Please, again, hell was never intended for man, man chooses hell all by himself. Sin gets you a ticket to hell, but Jesus can upgrade your ticket to first class, the upgrade is free and nonrefundable. It’s nonrefundable because you don’t pay for it, Jesus has taken care of the cost, and at the same time He paid all the rest of your outstanding balances. You just need to accept it from the one true Jesus. Who is Jesus? Click to find out.

    One of the truths that I had fought and tied my best to rationalize myself around was the idea that hell was forever. I wanted to believe that hell was like sheol, a unpleasant holding area that held man till judgment. Once judged then throw into the lake of fire to be consumed like the weeds. The more I learned the more I started to see hell was this lake of fire (Rev. 20:14), and man was going to spend time in it. But forever? Maybe just to the end of the millennium and then God would just snap His fingers, and all would be gone. I mean why would God have anyone suffer forever, to what purpose would this be? We in Heaven won’t know of them, after the final judgment. All who reside in Heaven, and earth, will never sin again so no example of consequents will be needed. What I came up with is, God just can’t do it.

    God can’t do a few things, He can’t stop being Himself. God can’t lie, sin, cheat, or be anything but Holy. If He could then He wouldn’t be God, and God can’t be anything but Himself. Now God is eternal, always was, always will be, so His life not only had no beginning, it has no end. Once life like this is started (God had no start) it can’t end. But Angels and man were created.

     God made man to be in His image. Capable of deciding right and wrong, making decisions for himself, along with this man was given eternal life. As with God once He started our lives, it was a gift that no one could end, not even God. Why? Because (like Salvation by the death of Jesus) it was a gift, He promised it to everyone. Everyone born had (has) just as much a chance at this life as everyone else. With this gift we could use our abilities to decide were we where going to spend it. No one was made for hell, we all were made to spend life in Heaven, and it’s our decision to go to hell. God promised the gift, to take it back would be a lie. He couldn’t offer the gift to only the ones that would choose Salvation, that wouldn’t have been fair, that would have been playing favorites, this was (and is) a fair offer to everyone. Man wasn’t made for judgment; man brings judgment to himself, and in that judgment payment for his sins with the second death (separation from God and hell).

    God doesn’t wish anyone to spend life in hell so He sent Himself by way of Jesus to pay for our sins and avoid hell, but again our freewill comes into play. He has made it so easy, all we have to do is have faith in that payment. This is more then was offered to the Angels, the Angels could see God in all His glory and had no excurse not to believe.

    Even though man is prewired with a understanding that God is out there, He took into consideration we didn’t have "on site" knowledge. So next He presented a deal to the Jews, all man needed was (is) faith that He existed, and to follow his laws. When that didn’t work He even dropped the laws and just required faith (Grace). To make it easier He came himself to give us that “on site” knowledge. If that wasn’t enough He even paid for the sins, and still only asked for us to have faith. How much more can He do.

    God asks from us just our love, and our faith. He could have built cyborgs, life that was programmed like a computer to love Him, but even we humans have to admit that there’s little feelings from a computer. The devil has just an ego to satisfy, he has his pride to feed, he’s happy with submission (did you know that the word islam means submission? Coincident…I think not), but God wishes for faith and love, just as any good Father desires.

    The angels are created beings that will live forever, they won’t change their minds, they had complete knowledge from the beginning of who God is. So hell was built for them that rebelled, does God now tell them that man is exempt from the same fate, once we had all the info they had. Is man to be exempt after a plan was given to pay for our rebellion, would that be fair. The devil knows that, he’s trying to take as many as he can out of spite. He may even be thinking that if he gets enough, God will change His mind about sending man to hell for his sins. The devil knows Gods love for mankind and maybe thinks, "He'll call it off if enough of man is heading to hell". If man was made exempt, then he knows that God would have to waver his sentence to be fair. The devil is the father of lies so God changing his mind doesn’t seem to him to be a big deal. But God can’t be anything but himself, and can’t lie, which is what changing His mind in this case would amount too. God is Holy and can't abide with sin, that's why Jesus died, to pay for that sin. If God made a exception then Jesus died for nothing.

    So God promised life forever, to everyone. God is Holy and can’t accept anything less then perfection. Jesus died for our sins and in that death God can only see His Son’s perfection, in place of our imperfections. If we don’t have faith in Jesus we die in our sins. To not send us to hell would mean that He isn’t being fair to the devil, and company, in dealing with their sins, (and God by his own nature is fair). To not send sinners to hell wouldn’t be fair to the men who did have faith. To end our spirit lives short is a lie (and God can’t lie) because He promised eternal life to all. To program our minds to not sin, removes our freewill (and that would be cheating, and God can’t cheat) and the love we would have for Him would be programmed, and little more then the love a computer has.

    So hell is real, it was created for the devil and the jerks that sided with him. Angels (demons are just fallen angels) and man were created to live forever. So hell is forever. Ending our spiritual life early would be reneging on the offer of eternal life and there by mean God lied, and He can’t lie. Not to send man would mean the devil was cheated and God can’t cheat. To just absolve mans sin after offering payment for his sins by the death for them with Jesus, wouldn’t be fair, and God is always fair, He can’t be anything but that, or He wouldn’t be God.

    Do you think that if you were created an Angel, instead of human, you would have done better? Don’t, all sin is rooted in the first sin. That sin is pride. Pride is the sin that was the downfall of Lucifer; pride is what changed him from Lucifer (meaning light) to satan; meaning adversary or devil; meaning slanderer. The same pride is what keeps a man from accepting Jesus as his Savior. It’s pride that makes man believe he can be good enough, smart enough, that he is all there is, that he can work his way in. It’s pride that makes man think that there can’t be anything higher then himself. If you have chosen this sin (pride) as a human, you would have chosen it as a Angel, you would have sided with satan. God is more then fair. Do you think that even with that pride, if God would have given you a set of rules to follow you could have made it, He did, they were called the Law, and pride decimated them also. Do you think that a "one on one" relationship with God, in person, would have made a difference? What if the modern world didn’t have so much influence? Didn’t work for Adam and Eve, pride had them believe they had every right to be like God.

    So man has condemned himself to a never ending life in hell unless he has faith in the death, resurrection, and payment for his sins in Jesus.

    So how bad can that be? What is hell like? Well it’s not what you think.

    We picture hell as a bunch of lost souls wandering around some flame ridden cave. The horns and pitchforks we know aren’t true, but they’re cute and make for a great halloween costume. There’ll be lots of company and if you stay away from the “really bad ones”, like Hitler and the Jack the ripper types, you can make it. This may in some vague way be closer to the luggage department of sheol, it’s not what hell is.

    First no one but maybe some fallen angels are in hell now (if the abyss is hell), because no one has gone though the second death. Everyone, whether saved or not (unless you’re raptured) goes though the first death. This is the death of the body, after that one goes to sheol, or if their saved, to Heaven. But there is a second death that comes after judgment for those that aren’t saved. This isn’t a death of the spirit, we now know that the spirit is eternal. So what is this second death? The Bible said that this death is separation from God. Separation forever. Never to see Him, or anything in his creation but hell. No windows to look out, no word from the outside, no "one phone call" to your lawyer (God has appointed you a lawyer, His name is Jesus, reject him and you agree to go to court on your own). How bad will this be, well since rewards are given in Heaven based on your works (Salvation is offered no matter what works you do), wouldn't it be fair to believe that hell has degrees of punishment? Fact is that Jesus attested to this when He told the Pharisees they would receive a harder punishment. In fact He said whole cities of people will be judged easier then others. Matt:11:23 "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day". Mat:11:24 "But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee".

    The Bible says that we will be cast into eternal darkness (Matt. 8:12, 22:13 and many others). That hell is like a fire that can never be quenched (Mark 9:44). Those who are saved are given new bodies that will live forever, it doesn't say those going to hell will get the same body. You may feel pain but have no body, you may not be walking around, and if you can, walk to where? Separation from God is separation of anything good, and any blessings, for they all come from God. No love, peace, security, joy, or anything that we take for granted that makes us happy. No light and nothing to hear, or, maybe just the roar and flames of a eternal fire.  The discomfort and pain will be proportionate to the sins we have done. That won't be any comfort, for you, if you have sinned little, you won't have anyone in worst shape around you to compare with.

    Ever heard of cases were someone is in a coma trapped in their bodies but could still feel pain. Just think of that state, utter blackness, no sensory input but pain, and all by yourself. There's nothing to imply you will have any interaction with anyone else. Time was made for man, God has no time and neither will Heaven or hell, in any sense we can now understand. You’ll have no days to count, no years to mark off, no time to look forward too, no end in sight. You will be locked in this state forever. Without a body designed like yours on earth you won’t need sleep, you’ll be awake for ever.

    There are no tears in Heaven, nor will there be sadness. This means that those you loved, and may have loved you, will more then likely not remember you. Like God chooses not to remember the sins of those who have Salvation, more then likely you will be washed from your loved ones minds. Or since the saved will have a mind designed in thought like that of Jesus, any memory of you, and the sins you committed, will just degust them so much any memory of you would be brief and not pleasant. I lean to the idea even degust, and anything less then pleasant, won’t be in Heaven. I think there’s a good chance you won’t even be a memory.

    That is more like what hell may be. A timeless wide awake coma of pain were your not remembered, and trapped inside yourself. You die in your sins so that pride will eat at what thoughts you have, and you’ll never believe you deserved it, even though it was your choice. A timeless limbo of regret, anger, feeling sorry for yourself, and discomfort to pain. No friends in hell to meet, no gambling with the devil. Do you think you will be sent somewhere were you can continue a life style that you had chosen here on life? Do you think you will have the capabilities to part take in that life style?

    Not pleasant and most churches don’t wish to cover this. They’re seeker friendly and they don’t want to scare their people. Guess what? God gave us fear for a reason, this is a valid reason to be scared.

    Maybe hell will be better then this...not, or maybe it will be worse then this, maybe it’s something that no one can imagine, either way do you wish to find out in person? It was meant to punish the devil, it’s not going to be nice.

    Like I said hell was not made for man, Heaven is, it’s your choice but you can’t chose after your die, and you don’t know when that may be, maybe before you leave this web site. Do yourself a favor, if your not saved do it now. A couple minutes spent accepting Salvation, when weighed against a forever in hell, is time well spent.

Let's surmise.

P.S. I almost forgot. The reason 1007 years before any of mankind is in hell is, after the rapture there will be 7 years of hell on earth during the tribulation. Then 1000 years for the reign of Jesus. After that the judgment, then it’s either Heaven or hell.

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Last modified: 12/15/07

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Proverb:30:4: Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in His fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is His name, and what is His Son's name, if thou canst tell?

Proverb:30:5: Every Word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

Proverb:30:6: Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Re:22:18: For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Re:22:19: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Re:22:20: He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Re:22:21: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

 

 

 

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