God wants you to live while we wait for His coming. Luke 19:13 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. #new Matthew 24:43 43 rBut know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night sthe thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 2 Peter 3:10 10 But zthe day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then athe heavens will pass away with a roar, and bthe heavenly bodies1 will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Matt. 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. 36 No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.… Courtesy of Knowing Jesus Ministries: It could easily be argued that the majority of people in our culture no longer believe in a biblical Hell. We can see this by simply examining the casual way it is used in everyday speech. We don't hear people using the term “concentration camp” in such a relaxed manner. That's because if one understands the history of concentration camps, a rational person with any sort of conscience would never refer to them with any sort of passive irreverence due to the disturbing nature of what happened in them during the Nazi regime. Christians must recover the biblical view of Hell. This is important for two reasons; First, that in rightfully understanding this doctrine, we might more effectively purify our lives before God. And secondly, we would be more apt to warn people not to enter this most dreadful place. To that end, what follows are some basic questions and answers meant to unpack the biblical doctrine of Hell. Is Hell a Real Place? And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. - Revelation 20:15 ESV They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might - 2 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV I once spoke with a man who thought there was no way Heaven could be a real place. “How will you fit all the people? Heaven must be a state of consciousness.” I imagine some believe the same about Hell. The Bible describes Hell as a real place—just as real as heaven above and the earth below (Philippians 2:10). However, Hell is in a spiritual dimension that can't be seen or traveled to. You can't enter Hell into Google Maps, find directions and get an ETA. The only way we can be sure about Hell is from a reliable, objective source, and that's exactly what we have in the Bible. The Bible is the word of God. Jesus is the Son of God, and both Jesus and the Bible reveal to us the reality of Hell. Jesus referred to Hell more than He did Heaven, and when He spoke of it, He described it as a place that some will go (Matthew 5:30). Hell is a place where our bodies and souls will be destroyed (Matthew 10:28), and it is away from the presence of the Lord (2nd Thess. 1:9). In Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man specifically calls Hell, “a place of torment” that he doesn't want his family to come to (Luke 16:28). Imagine being in a terrible prison where you are tortured night and day. That's a specific, real location that you wouldn't want others to visit. That's how the Bible describes Hell. What is Hell Like? Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. – Matthew 25:41 ESV while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 8:12 ESV A word often translated into Hell is the Greek term, “Gehenna.” This phrase was first used in the Old Testament to refer to the Valley of Hinnom, a ravine outside of Jerusalem. It was a place of death (Jeremiah 31:40), idolatry, and even child sacrifice (Jeremiah 7:31). King Josiah, however, put an end to these wicked practices (2nd Kings 23:10), and the Valley of Hinnom eventually became a trash and sewage dump where fires burned continually to eliminate the waste. Jesus used the Valley of Hinnom as an illustration to describe Hell, and for good reason. Hell is a place of eternal fire (Matthew 25:41) and utter darkness (Matthew 8:12). For many, this seems hard to believe. How could a place with eternal flames also be a place of darkness? But with God nothing is impossible. Additionally, Hell is described in Scripture as punishment, everlasting destruction and alienation from God for all eternity (2nd Thessalonians 1:6-9). It's a place where God's wrath will be poured out onto those who've sinned against Him (Romans 2:8).
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