Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - A Perspective From Hell

Every day, 150,000 people will go into eternity, ready or not. And most of them not. The Bible gives the descriptions of two places that hold people's eternities - heaven and hell. Today we will try our best to discuss hell, and in our next blog we will discuss the place called heaven.

There's no way that our human minds can comprehend the place that the Bible calls hell. The concept of an eternal place of torment by fire has fascinated many, scared some, and has become the laughing stock of much of the lost world. Sadly, it has become a place where millions are heading and the Church merely shrugs a shoulder, much like we do at a dirty house that needs to be cleaned but nobody wants to mess with it.

"This is hell," one lady once told me in the inner city. And by taking a look at her surroundings and what she had to live with on a daily basis, I think she was partially right. When a person loses hope and a purpose for living, life on earth can quickly turn into hell on earth. Perhaps some of you reading this could relate to this lady at some time in your life or another. Maybe you feel like you are there right now.

For every one time that Jesus preached on heaven, he preached on hell ten times more. And the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 is the most graphic depiction of hell that the Bible gives. It is a first-person account of what hell is like as given by the rich man who went there, not because he was rich, but because he allowed his wealth to keep him from recognizing his need for God. Here are some distinctives about hell that Jesus wanted us to know.

• It is a literal place (Luke 16:23 ).
• It is the exact opposite kind of place than where Lazarus ended up (Luke 16:22-23 ).
• It is a place of continual torment (Luke 16:23-24 , 28).
• A person experiences hell without their body being there (Luke 16:22 ), but there will come a time when their body will also be thrown into hell's fire (Revelation 20:11-15 ).
• Once a person is in hell, there is no relief from the burning and agony, and it is a place that no one can rescue you from (Luke 16:24 , 26).
• Once a person is in hell, the only hope of their loved ones not ending up there is if they hear the truth of God's Word and believe it in faith (Luke 16:27-31 ).

Here are a few more references to hell:

• It is a place of darkness and weeping (Matthew 7:12 ).
• There are gates to hell (Matthew 16:18 ).
• Jesus holds the keys to hell (Revelation 1:18 ).
• It is a lake of fire (Revelation 20:14 ).

Growing up on a farm, I have had a few unfortunate close calls with fire. On more than one occasion while burning brush piles, I have singed the hair on my hands or eyebrows. The stench was almost unbearable. Think for a moment about the different elements that always accompany fire. Intense heat. Smoke. And in hell's case, the unforgettable, undeniable, and unimaginable, and unending odor of burning flesh, along with the sounds of people screaming and wailing, like in a horror film. We truly cannot grasp how awful hell really is.

I personally believe that one of the worst torments of hell is the memory. The rich man had a mind, he could think. He had a throat, it was parched. He had a voice and he cried out. And he had a memory, knowing that he himself and his family had all rejected the truth in God's Word.

If I were to ask you what you believe actually sends a person to hell, what would you say? As Christians, we like to classify certain sins to make us feel better about ourselves, especially when we aren't willing to expose our own dirty laundry. In our minds, our own sin isn't "that bad." So we put other people's sins, like adultery, a pornography addiction, murder and the like at the top of the "biggies" list where most of us feel safe and unscathed. But according to Jesus, "Whoever believes in him (Jesus) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son" (John 3:18 ). According to this verse, the only sin that condemns a person to hell is their refusal to embrace Jesus Christ as the rescuer and controller of their life.

Where does this leave us as followers of Christ? Where does it leave you personally? As harsh a reality that hell is, it must be something we are reminded of often as believers, and it must motivate us to do whatever God calls us to do to keep people from going there. In our next blog, we will talk about the subject of heaven and hopefully dispel some long-standing myths that have been held up as the banner of truth.