Is Hell a Real Place?
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Language is funny. It morphs and changes and every family, every culture has a different set of what they believe is acceptable language. Growing up, words like “stupid” or “fart” weren’t taboo in my family, but I quickly learned that they were in other families when I said them in front of my friend’s mom.
One word, if you were to look at it that has been changed by society is the word “Hell.” Do a google search of the word “Hell” and what you will find is that this biblical term, designed to describe a place of conscious, eternal torment under the just weight of God’s wrath, is used with a careless flippancy by most people in the world today – Christians included.
“That was a hell of a game.”
“What the hell are you doing?”
“My boss is making my job a living hell.”
From the flippant way this word is used, it’s apparent that our world, and many in the church don’t really believe in a literal, bodily, eternal conscious place of eternal torment.
Reality (v. 23)
Reality (v. 23)
But it’s clear from scripture, that hell is important, and more than that, that it is a real place.
Jesus, the savior of our souls, talked about Hell more than any other person in the Bible. In Matthew alone, we see Jesus over and over talking about the reality of Hell. In Matthew 5, Jesus warned that person who cursed others were in danger of the fires of Hell, and instructed us to pluck out our eyes if they would cause us to sin, because it was better to blind than to allow our eyes to condemn us to hell.
In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus proclaimed that the gate to heaven was narrow while the road to hell was wide and most would find their way there.
In Matthew 8:12, Jesus commended the faith of the centurion proclaiming his acceptance into heaven while warning that many jews would be “thrown into the outer darkness” of Hell.
And in Matthew 10:28
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.
Not only did he talk about it, he described it in great detail.
He said it was a place of outer darkness and the weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12)
while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
He said it was a fiery furnace where those who cause sin and all lawbreakers will be thrown (Matthew 13:41-42)
The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,
and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
He calls it the “hell of fire” in Matthew 5:22
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
He called it an “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43), a place of eternal punishment prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41, 46)
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
John Piper notes, “This last description—“eternal punishment”—is especially heartrending and fearful because it is contrasted with “eternal life.” “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” In this contrast we hear the tragedy of loss as well as suffering and endlessness. Just as “eternal life” will be a never-ending experience of pleasure in God’s presence, so “eternal punishment” will be a never-ending experience of misery under God’s wrath (John 3:36; 5:24).”
Hell is a horrible place. A place of eternal torment for men. But the question is often asked, “doesn’t hell seem like overkill?” Or put another way, “Why does God send some people to hell?”
Rebellion (Luk 16:25, Mat. 24:48-51)
Rebellion (Luk 16:25, Mat. 24:48-51)
So why do people go to hell? Is it because of our sin? Or put another way, do we simply go to hell because of bad choices we make. Well, that answer to this question is no. I know this might be shocking to you. Culturally, we tend to think that good people go to heaven, and bad people go to hell, but that’s not what scripture teaches.
Our sins are not the cause of our judgment, but the symptom of our problem. The problem is not what we do, but who we are. The problem is a heart problem, not a behavior problem. Hell is the rightful punishment for rebels.
Another passage that shows this clearly is Matthew 21:33-41, the parable of the Tenants.
“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.
When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.
And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.
Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’
And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
Notice the problem is a heart problem. The servants did not desire to serve the vineyard owner, the desired to rule themselves. The problem is a rebellion problem more than an action problem. In the story of the Ten Minas in Luke 19, this is explicitly stated.
But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’
for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’
Hell is the wrath of God poured out upon a rebellious people and is a punishment for rebellious people. Yes, our sins matter, but the issue is our rebellious hearts.
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
REGRET (Luke 16:27-28)
REGRET (Luke 16:27-28)
Second we see the great regret in Hell The rich man, despite his great wealth is marked by regret. In v. 24 he calls out in regret for his anguish, but he also regrets the impact lostness has on those he loves.
This is why the Bible describes hell in Matthew 13:50 as the place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This is in stark contrast to the proclamation of no more tears in heaven. Whereas Christ will wipe every tear or regret from the eyes of the saved, for those who are in hell, the eternal torment of their regrets will linger for eternity.
And there will be no comfort found in hell for the sinner.
As William Shakespeare said, “Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”
Reconciliation (Luke 16:31)
Reconciliation (Luke 16:31)
But there is promise in this verse.
He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
Notice the promise is the promise of the Gospel.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
if we repent and believe we can have reconciliation with God.
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