Heaven or Hell?
Today, I will be speaking to you on a very important and serious matter. It is about your eternal destiny. It is about where every one of us will end up after death. There are only two places that everyone will end up after death and they are either Heaven or Hell. There is no middle place. There is no purgatory. Purgatory is a Roman Catholic human invention and is not found in the Bible. There is no annihilation or reincarnation either. These are all lies from the devil. Once you die you will either go to Heaven or Hell. There is no second chance to be saved. Once you die, your eternal destiny will be sealed for all eternity. It is very important that you take heed to what I say. This is a very sobering matter! Hell is a real place and Jesus preached more on Hell than on Heaven when He was here on the earth. Preaching on Hell is not very popular today. But I must preach to you the whole counsel of God. Paul said, “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). I must warn you to “flee from the wrath to come” (Matt. 3:7). The Devil and all his demons will be cast into Hell and he wants you to go with him. Therefore, it is of utmost importance, that you take heed to the words of Jesus on how to avoid going to Hell.
First, I will be talking to you about the terrors of Hell and then I will tell you how to avoid going there.
1. HELL IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS
Hell is no respecter of persons. If you are without Christ, you will surely end up there though you might be rich, famous and prosperous on the earth. The rich man, in Luke 16:19-31, with all his wealth did not know Christ and went straight to hell. It does not mean that all rich people will go to hell. There are rich people who are Christians who will end up in Heaven. But most rich people in the world do not feel the need for Christ and their money and possessions are their “god.”
“So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom” (Luke 16:22-23).
“And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:24).
2. HELL IS A PLACE OF EXTREME TORMENT
Hell is a place of extreme torment, pain and suffering. There is no joy in hell. No laughing and no joking in hell.
And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame’ (Luke 16:23-24).
“So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:4-50).
3. HELL IS A PLACE OF EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT
Hell is a place of everlasting punishment. There is no rest in Hell. Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher said:
"In hell there is no hope. They have not even the hope of dying--the hope of being annihilated. They are forever--forever--forever lost! On every chain in hell, there is written "forever". In the fires there, blaze out the words, "forever". Above their heads, they read, "forever". Their eyes are galled and their hearts are pained with the thought that it is "forever". Oh, if I could tell you tonight that hell would one day be burned out, and that those who were lost might be saved, there would be a jubilee in hell at the very thought of it. But it cannot be--it is "forever" they are cast into the outer darkness."
“And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46).
“…when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thess. 1:7-9).
“And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name” (Rev. 14:11).
4. HELL IS A LAKE OF FIRE
Hell is a lake of fire. The sinners will be the fuel for the fire just like wood is the fuel for the fireplace. The sinners will be burning up forever and forever but will never be consumed. They will never die. They will feel pain forever and forever. They will be conscious forever and ever when they suffer. The fires we recently had in California are just a small picture of the fires of hell that will never be quenched.
“Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Rev. 19:30).
“The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:10).
“Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Rev. 20:14).
“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15).
5. HELL IS A PLACE OF DARKNESS
Hell is a place of “outer darkness”. Most people are afraid of being in the dark. You won’t believe how dark hell would be!
“But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12).
“Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matt. 22:13).
“And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matt. 25:30)
6. HELL IS A PLACE OF EVERLASTING CHAINS
Hell is a place of “everlasting chains”. You will be chained and there is no way to get out! You will be chained along with the Devil, Hitler and the worst of sinners.
“And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:6).
7. HELL IS A PLACE OF EVERLASTING GUILT
Hell is a place of everlasting guilt. It will be too late to get saved. The people in hell will be tormented with their guilt of sin forever and ever.
“Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matt. 22:13).
8. WHY DID GOD CREATE A HELL?
God is a holy God and He demands punishment for sin. God’s justice and holiness demands that sin be punished.
“You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness” (Hab. 1:13).
“For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29).
“The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet” (Nah. 1:3).
THE ONLY WAY OF ESCAPE & THE URGENCY OF TAKING HEED TO THE GOSPEL
1. THE URGENCY OF BELIEVING THE GOSPEL
It is very urgent that we take heed to the gospel NOW! There is no guarantee of tomorrow. We all have an appointment to keep and that appointment is death. The Bible says, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). We are all going to die one day. There is no guarantee we will live to be 70 or 80 years old. Many people die as a child; as a young person; middle age; and as an older person. According to statistics, 105 people die each minute around the world. We are born to die. Many people will say “O, I don’t have time to think about the gospel. I am too busy with my life and my career and my dreams.” Remember what God said to the rich fool:
But God said to him, “‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:20-21).
Do not harden your heart when you hear the gospel:
“While it is said: Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” (Heb. 3:15).
“…Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
2. YOUR CONDITION BEFORE GOD
We are all sinners by nature and by practice. All our good deeds before we are saved are like “filthy rags” in the sight of God. We are tainted by sin.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).
“What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin” (Rom. 3:9-13).
“But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us because of our iniquities” (Isaiah 64:6-7).
3. YOU ARE A LAWBREAKER
We have all broken God’s law in our hearts.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matt. 5:21-22).
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matt. 5:27-30).
4. YOU NEED TO REPENT
You need to repent and turn from your sins.
“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17).
“But unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5).
“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).
“He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Prov. 28:13).
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).
5. JESUS IS YOUR ONLY HOPE TO BE SAVED. BELIEVE IN HIM! PUT YOUR TRUST IN HIM! LOOK TO HIM AND BE SAVED. HE IS THE ONLY MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. HE IS THE DOOR BY WHICH WE CAN BE SAVED.
“Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22).
“Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God” (John 3:14-21).
“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12).
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).
6. WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH AND NOT BY WORKS. SALVATION IS BY GRACE AND NOT OF WORKS. WE CANNOT EARN OUR WAY INTO HEAVEN. WATER BAPTISM, COMMUNION, GOING TO CHURCH AND DOING GOOD DEEDS CANNOT SAVE US. WE MUST BE “BORN AGAIN.”
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10).
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28).
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:12-13).