Hell: October 5, 2012

OCTOBER 5 2012. TODAYS WORD FOR FRIDAY OCTOBER 5, 2012.

HELL

 DEFINITION:  

The place of punishment of the wicked after death; the abode of evil and condemned spirits; any place or state of torment or misery.

SCRIPTURE:

The wicked shall be turned into Hell, and all the nations that forget God. Psalm 9:17

"Then He will say to those on the left hand, depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:41.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The verse above from Psalms says that the wicked shall be sent to Hell. It is most important for us to tell you that if you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord then we can say with total confidence that you are on the way to Hell. Hell is not fictional. Hell is a real place for real people who reject the only true God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Making no decision about Jesus is saying no to Jesus and an eternity in heaven. God's Holy Word, the Bible, makes this very clear.  John 3:36 states, "Whosoever believes in the Son has eternal life, and whosoever rejects the Son will not see life." There are no alternatives available.

PLEASE LET US EMPHASIZE - UNLESS YOU KNOW JESUS AS YOUR SAVIOR YOU ARE HEADED FOR HELL! There is no compromise and the decision is yours and yours alone.

In Acts 1:25 we are told that hell is the sinner's own place of torment. After Judas betrayed Jesus and saw that Jesus was condemned to die (Matthew 27:3), he was remorseful. He returned to the chief priests and elders and tried to make restitution. The scripture says that after he threw down the 30 pieces of silver, he received for betraying Jesus, at the feet of the chief Priest, Judas went out and hanged himself. As a result of his own transgression, Judas went to "his own place." Judas had chosen to team up with Satan (Luke 22:3) and turned against Jesus, so he deserved his own place in hell with Satan.

In the verse above from Matthew we see that hell is an eternal place that God prepared for Satan and his angels. They are anti-God and have no choice but to go to hell. We have a choice. We can choose Satan's prepared hell or the heaven which God has prepared for those who believe in Him.

The day before Jesus died on the cross He said to His eleven disciples: "Let not your heart be troubled, I go to prepare a place for you." That place that He is preparing for us is in His "Fathers house," which is heaven. The choice we have is either hell, which is prepared for Satan, his angels and those who follow him, or Heaven, the place in God's house that Jesus has prepared for those who follow Him.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, "Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction (death in hell) and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, (heaven) and only a few find it." Jesus is the only way to heaven. 

You have a choice either to follow the many on the broad way that leads to eternal hell or you can join the few and follow Jesus on the narrow road that leads to eternal life in heaven.

When people are angry with someone we often hear the words "Go to hell." People do not think how awful that statement is. Hell is a place of eternal fire, a place of darkness and a place of torment. In Matthew 13:50 we are told that those that are in hell will weep and gnash their teeth. People gnash their teeth when they are in pain. Hell is eternal and when one is once there, there is no escape.

LEARNING: 

Our memory verse for this week is found in John 3:16.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

PRAYER:

Thank You for preparing a place in heaven for me. Thank You for sending Your Son to this earth to pay the penalty for my sins. And thank You that Jesus is in heaven and preparing a place for me for eternity. Give me a new dedication to serve you and use every opportunity to tell others that Jesus loves them.