Jess Whitlock
Many people do not believe in the biblical doctrine of hell. Guess what? Fire will burn whether we believe it or not. Frost will freeze whether we believe it or not. Poison will kill whether we believe it or not. Hell is real and the lost will be there in eternity whether any man believes it not!
I once read a denominational preacher’s thoughts on the subject of hell. He concluded: “The doctrine of an eternally burning hell is not found in Scripture; it is tradition.” John said, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try [prove—ASV] the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
What saith the Scripture? Christ said hell was an “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels…everlasting punishment” (Mat. 25:41, 46). Jesus said that it is a place where “the fire…never shall be quenched…Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:43-44). Hell isfurther described as a place where “the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever” (Rev. 14:11). Along with Satan the lost will be “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Rev. 20:10). Please consider: Matthew 3:12; 8:12; 25:12ff; Hebrews 6:8; and Revelation 14:10; etc. The Bible teaches hell is real! The Bible teaches hell is a place of torment, fire, pain, and that it is everlasting!
The Northwestern University School of Education distributed a questionnaire to 500 ministers of various man-made denominations in 1995. They were asked to respond to a number of questions. One questions was: “Do you believe the Bible’s teaching of a literal hell?” In this survey 69% denied the Bible’s teaching, while 31% said they agreed! There will always be those who deny what the Word of God so plainly teaches! I once had a man contend that it is wrong to take a man who has lived in disobedience to the will of God for 50 or 60 years and then condemn him forever. I responded that if it is wrong to take a man who has lived in disobedience for 50 or 60 years and condemn him forever; it would be equally wrong to take a man who has lived in obedience to God for 50 or 60 years and bless him forever! If not, why not? This man failed to recognize sin for what it is! He refused to realize that Christ died on a Roman cross because of the sins of man! (Rom. 5:8;John 3:16). Note the words of Matthew 25:46, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Notice the duration of time for the wicked in hell is exactly the same as the duration of the righteous in heaven! “Everlasting” and “Eternal” are both taken from a Greek term, aionios, and that word means “eternal, without end, never to cease, everlasting, indeterminate as to duration.” If the wicked in hell cease to be punished after 1,000 years or 100,000 centuries, then at that point in time the righteous in heaven will cease to be blessed! How do I know? For the same word is used to describe the duration of both in Matthew 25:46! The Word of God is the Word of God and hell is hot!
