...those who reject Gods gracious offer of salvation in Jesus Christ, they then become servants or angels of Satan:
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
-Matt. 6:24 (KJV)
And:
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
-Matt. 12:30 (KJV)
There is no gray area in this respect. Either God is your master, or Satan is your master. Either you work for the master, or you work for Satan. So if God isnt your master, what awaits the servant whose master is Satan?
The book of Revelations describes the lake of fire as a bottomless pit. (Rev. 9:2) It is a place where the unsaved person will be falling forever downwards , deeper and deeper with each passing second. But if that was all there was to it, it wouldnt be so bad. But that isnt the whole picture. Another aspect of the lake of fire is just that, fire. Jesus said:
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
-Matt. 25:41 (KJV)
The prophet Isaiah warned of this terrible place centuries before Jesus teachings:
For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
-Isa. 30:33 (KJV)
In this passage, Isaiah tells us that this place was made long ago. It was prepared for its king. It is large and deep. There is a pile of much wood that is on fire. And finally, just as fire and brimstone destroyed the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gods breath is like a stream of brimstone that keeps feeding the fire thus enabling it to continue burning continuously. Jesus Himself said that the lake of fire was a:
...lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.
-Rev. 21:8 (KJV)
The Bible also says that it will be a place where the unsaved that are cast into this place will:
...Bind him hand and foot, and take him away and cast him into outer darkness.
-Matt. 22:13 (KJV)
Well this poses another question, how can there be absolute darkness where the ungodly, unsaved will be? Jesus said:
...I am the light of the world.
-John 9:5 (KJV)
Likewise, in heaven Jesus is the light of heaven. (Rev. 21:23) While we were lost in sin, it is said that we were in darkness and:
...stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
-John 11:10 (KJV)
So that we now know that because Jesus is the light of this world and the world that is yet to come, we have the light of Jesus within us. This means that those who dont have the light in them are left in darkness. So that while Jesus is the light of heaven the lake of fire, the other place, is without the Light. And those who are cast into this place will be bound hand and foot so that they cant move and cast into outer darkness. There is another passage that tells us it will be a place of great sorrow:
...there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
-Matt. 23:13 (KJV)
When one weeps, they are crying. On the way to Calvary, women were crying when they looked upon the Savior. Beaten, scared, battered, and bleeding, carrying His cross to Calvary, but our Savior said to them:
...Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me.
-Luke 23:28 (KJV)
On could say the ungodly are crying because they are in so much pain from the burning of the fire. And they would be only partially right. King David said:
...my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
-Psa. 51:3 (KJV)
Two possible explanations come to mind when speaking of the weeping in the lake of fire. In one sense, it could be that every sin the unsaved ever committed flash before their eyes as they are in torments in that place. The sorrow and regret they experience will only add to the pain as every sin, every curse word, every evil thought comes up before them to remind them of what they did to be cast into this place. And in another sense, it could be that they will remember every person who called on them and witnessed to them of Gods gracious offer of salvation and a chance to escape this awful place. Every church they passed, every Sabbath when they were playing golf, or washing the car, or cutting the grass, or boating out on the lake, could come to mind. When they should have been in church, worshipping the Lord, they were too busy thinking of self. To think of just how easy it would have been to escape this place if they would have only asked God to come into their life and save them.
Another aspect of this place will be their worm:
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
-Mark 9:44 (KJV)
As to the absolute full meaning of this verse, no one is for sure. It could be a literal worm eating away at the person. It could be a worm eating away at their conscious as previously stated. Either way, whatever its meaning, it will be there.
And one last final thought before this is summed up. That temporary place called hell, when the souls of the ungodly, unsaved are brought before the righteous judge, that place will not be a place where sins are purged as one religion likes to teach. Whenever the sinner stands before Jesus to be judged, whatever sins the person has committed will cling to them like static electricity holds a sock to a pair of pants. What is sowed in corruption will be raised in corruption. The Bible says:
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still:
-Rev. 22:11 (KJV)
The great Puritan John Bunyan said:
all these places, with many others, do rather point at a corrupt soul, than a corrupt body; for, indeed, sin and all spiritual wickedness, they have their seat in the heart and soul of a man, and by their using this or that member of the body, so defile the man; the weaknesses of the body, or that attend our material flesh and blood, they are weaknesses of another kind, as sickness, aches, pains, sores, wounds, defection of members, etc. Wherefore, where you read of flesh and blood, as rejected of God; especially, when it speaks of the flesh and blood of saints, you are not to understand it as meant of the flesh, which is their proper human nature, but of that weakness which cleaveth to it.
[1]
Scriptures show that Jesus taught this doctrine. Jesus told His disciples that they were to teach others what He had taught them. (Matt. 28:19-20) If we leave this doctrine out of the Sunday school, or the pulpits, or even out of our seminaries, then we have not preached the whole gospel of God.
The doctrine of hell is rejected because God is not pictured as dispensing righteous judgment, rather in these modern days, God is pictured as the grandfather type who gives nickels, dimes, quarters, or dollars to those who are good, and spanking the wicked with a pillow covered paddle when they are bad.
The scriptures set forth here are a surety. Our God has not given revelation all at one time. He has chosen to reveal this progressively in time culminating in the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the duty of every Christian not only to believe these doctrines, but we must preach and teach them to the generations living now as well as to those who will follow them.
The gift of God is eternal life with Him through Jesus Christ. The wages of sin is death, and to those who reject Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, the wrath of God abideth on them. To a minor degree, this wrath is revealed in the reality of hell. But yet in the worse degree, it is revealed to all the unsaved when they are cast alive in the lake burning with fire and brimstone, there to be tormented day and night for ever in the presence of the angels in heaven, and in the presence of the Lamb. And there you have it. Hades or hell is a reality. For our Savior preached more on this subject, than He did of the Fathers love. Hell is not eternal. It is only a temporary holding place. Hell is for all intents and purposes, is more like a holding cell, much like the drunk tank down at the county jail, the exception being that when one sobers up, you can be released from the drunk tank. Only when you sober up in hell, there is no release. No amount of bail or no amount of bond posted will secure your release from hell. Hell is not a place of purging ones sins. You can rest assured that whatever sins you committed here on earth will still cling to you on the resurrection day because you will be filthy still. And finally, hell is only a type or shadow of punishment that is worse in nature, yet still to come.
So dear reader, if you have rejected this doctrine, please before another minute passes, re-read the scriptures. Examine your beliefs and doctrines and see if they match what God has revealed through His word and His Son.
Dear reader, if you dont know the Lord as the righteous judge, who will reward us according to what we have sown in this body, whether good or bad, before another minute passes, please kneel and ask for His forgiveness before it is really: Too Late!