What will hell be like? From
the Bible, some words that might open the eyes of the
blind are; unquenchable
fire, weeping, regret, gnashing of teeth, fear, despair, eternal punishment,
away from God, tormented day and night, no rest, foul smelling, darkness, this
is the second death. Most of these words can be found in the very, very few
Scriptures I selected about hell found below.
“And do not fear those who
kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both
soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
“and throw them into the
fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
(Matthew 13:50)
“And these will go away into
eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46)
“And if your hand causes you
to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two
hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. (Mark 9:43)
“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)
“And the smoke of their
torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these
worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its
name.” (Revelation 14:11)
“and the devil who had
deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and
the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and
ever. (Revelation 20:10)
“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)
“But as for the cowardly, the
faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers,
idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with
fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)
The Bible has more to say
about hell than Heaven. Jesus said more about hell than He did Heaven. The
reason is obvious. God wants everyone to know just how terrible hell is. He
does not want anyone going to hell. Jesus gave Himself as a sacrifice so that
any who would come to Him through faith would be exempt from hell. There is
nothing more He can do however, for those who refuse to put their faith in Him.
No person will be able to blame anyone on judgment day except themselves.
What will Heaven be like?
From the Scriptures we have covered and many we haven’t, several words can
describe Heaven, such as; in the presence of God, no sin, no pain, no
heartache, eternal happiness, laughter, eternal peace, eternal joy, total
satisfaction, worship, beauty beyond description, safe, secure, and many more.
From what I read in the
Bible, there still remains much, much more that we don’t know on this side of
that portal we’ve talked about, but there remains much we can be excited about.
The Bible teaches that we
will judge angels and nations. We will be placed in areas of responsibility,
for example, in the Millennium.
One thing is for sure, we
will not be floating around doing nothing.
“One of the Cretans, a
prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy
gluttons.” (Titus 1:12)
Notice that lazy people are
classified with liars, evil beast and gluttons. No, we’ll have Heavenly bodies
that are eternally energized and ready to do whatever our Lord asks. As an
adult I sometimes notice the little young’uns with so much energy, thinking of
myself, “What happened?” In Heaven our ‘batteries’ will never run down. We’ll
be like the Energizer bunny.
I believe that we will
traverse different parts of the heavens in our assignments given to us. We will
be active on the new earth, the New Jerusalem and throughout God’s universe.
Remember, unlike this earthly body suited only for earth, we will have Heavenly
bodies suited for the heavens.
Are there other ‘beings’ of
some kind in other galaxies? I don’t know, but I know that our God is a
Creator. He likes to create. He created the angels, the universe, humans,
animals, birds, fish, trees, mountains, water, grass, flowers, and on and on. Maybe
there are other beings He hasn’t told us about, maybe not. We’ll find out when
we get there.
Can you imagine the beauty of
the New Jerusalem? There will be a New Heaven, a New Jerusalem and even a
restored Eden. The New Jerusalem alone will be about two million square miles,
which would equal about fourteen states of California. Will the earth be larger
to accommodate this size? I don’t know, but if not, maybe the New Jerusalem
will be above the earth as the sun and moon are today.
By the way, there will be no
need of sun or moon. God has always said that He is the light of the world, and
He will literally be just that.
The greatest thing about our
exit from this world by death, going through that portal and entering Heaven is
that we will be in the presence of God. Yes, we’ll be with our family members
who preceded us, friends we knew, all the holy angels, even Abraham and Sarah,
Moses, Ruth, Peter, Paul, etal., but nothing can top being in the very presence
of God.
I can’t imagine the
exhilaration in seeing Jesus. Read Revelation chapter one to see how much
different Jesus will appear than when He came at His first advent. Some
blasphemously think they’ll pat Him on the back and call Him, “O buddy,” but in
reality we will fall on our face before Him. That is exactly what the Apostle
John did and he called himself, “the one Jesus loved.” (John 20:2; 21:20)
“When I saw him, I fell at
his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I
am the first and the last, and the living
one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death
and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17-18)
Christians, from the mouth of
our Savior and Lord, He says, “Fear not.” Jesus has “the keys of Death and Hades.”
Let us not fear when the time comes for our body to die. Let us not fear when
death is staring us in the face, and let us not fear what lies ahead. Jesus is
in control. We are not alone, and when we pass through that portal, we’ll never
want to return.
If you are not a Christian,
there is nothing for you but an eternity of hell, literally, when you pass
through the portal of death. While on this side of the portal, you can change
that by putting your faith in Jesus Christ and following Him. Allow Him to be
your Savior and Lord, because if you do not, He will be your Judge on the other
side.
“And I saw no temple in the
city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. But nothing
unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false,
but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.” (Revelation 21:22,
27)
Those who know Jesus can say
along with Paul, “And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the
prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.”
(2 Timothy 4:8)
Sooner or later, excluding
the Church at the Rapture, we will all meet who the world calls “the grim
reaper” or “the angel of death.” However, this is not so for all those who know
Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. When we breathe that last breath and
step through the portal of death, we will be met by “Heaven’s Welcoming
Committee,” the very Son of God, Jesus Christ, the One spoken of throughout the
Bible we love so much. What a wonderful day that will be!
“And beginning with Moses and
all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures
concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)
Let me close in saying that
we should never add to or take away from what has been revealed to us in God’s
Word, the Bible. If it isn’t covered in the Bible, accept the limitations He
has placed on us and move on.
“The secret things belong to
the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children
forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29)
“Now, brothers and sisters, I
have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you
may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “DO NOT GO BEYOND WHAT IS
WRITTEN.” (emphasis mine) Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of
one of us over against the other.” (1 Corinthians 4:6)
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
