What is Hell Like?
And Who will Go There?
The Story of Hell and
the Lake of Fire.
(Part Three)
Some people (both inside the church and outside), don’t believe Hell really exists.
They choose to believe that it is just an allegory, or an archetypal symbol,
to scare people out of doing wrong–sort of like the Boogie Man.
They say, “If God is really a God of Love,
Why would He send anyone to Hell?”
Apparently, such people are not aware of God’s Clear Testimony.
They have not taken a moment of time to investigate it for themselves.
And instead, keep listening to the wily testimonies of men and devils.
They have chosen to listen to the philosophies of men;
And have chosen to disregard the Testimony of God.
This in my humble opinion is a grave and perilous mistake.
And that is not just my opinion, but it is the clear testimony of Scripture, from beginning to ending.
In this section we are going to two critical factors concerning:
Jesus Testimony about the Sheep and the Goats, pay careful attention to the criteria being judged, it is not what people typically think about when evaluating their own lives, and judging themselves fit for Heaven or Not.
The Sheep and the Goats:
Matthew 25:31-46 (KJV)
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,
Depart from me, ye cursed,
into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
You can see the heavy use of Hebrew Parallelism, (very typical of Hebrew Prophetic Literature) comparing the two groups strictly showing what is lacking and what is not, and clearly showing the rewards and punishments for both (a strong, clear, practical method of Hebrew Parallelism teaching).
The above Testimony answers two really big questions about “Who is Going to Hell? and “Why?”
Hopefully, you will notice one Big Deal, right away.
First: Did you notice that the Goats, could have been good religious People, even good church going people, they could have been hard working people, busy people, successful people, even upstanding citizens in the community. Possibly even good tithers, and faith teachers. But something was missing that was critical to their salvation and their eternal acceptance into the Kingdom of Heaven. Can you identify what that one thing was? (Compare this teaching and doctrine with Matthew 7:15-23)
What was that critical factor, the missing element, that the goats lacked, that the sheep had?
Works. Yes. There–it’s been said. Yes. Jesus was looking at their works, not their faith statements, not their church affiliations, not their denominational doctrines, but their works were being evaluated. And the goats came up short, real short.
The goats didn’t have any works to show forth, that were acceptable to the Son of God. Imagine that? What if that were you or I on the Day we stand before God?
I have heard so many preachers, teachers, pastors, evangelists and the like saying, “we are not saved by works, lest any man should boast” ad infinitum. Then I have heard them preach against works. Like works are something bad.
Apparently, they are not so bad to Jesus, or his half brother James, who repented of his sins and unbelief after Jesus was raised from the dead, and he became the leader of the Church in Jerusalem of a number of years. He taught this:
James 1:21-26 (KJV)
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was [being like a Goat]. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. [Being Like a Sheep]
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. [like the goat’s religion]
Dear Friends,
This is a huge revelation: Jesus is sharing with the entire World, not just those in Judaism, not just those in Christianity, or Catholicism, or Protestantism, or any other –ism, or religion. None of that holds any water in the above evaluation. It all comes down to Putting LOVE in Action. Loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself, which is the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets. Loving Jesus, means Loving His Kids, and taking care of them in a meaningful way. Taking care of the widow and the orphan. And Blessing His Children–through physical acts of kindness, mercy, giving gifts and alms, caring, serving, and nurturing those in need.
May this be our wake up call:
People are being sent to Hell, because of what they did not do. Wow! That one will catch many by surprise, Eh?
In other words: Going to Church, Singing Hymns, Giving Tithes, Singing in the Choir, Teaching Sunday school classes, preaching from the pulpit (in all those religious things), will be meaningless on the day of judgement if we have not taken care of the needs of those people around us, in a real way.
None of our religious things were even evaluated in Jesus’ Sheep and Goats Testimony.
Not only are we accountable for what we have done, but even more so, here, for what we haven’t done.
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Depart from me, ye cursed,
into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels:
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:
Second Vitally important take away point:
For whom was the everlasting fire prepared?
It was never prepared for men, women, and children.
It was prepared for the Devil and His Angels, those demonic spirits that chose to follow Satan, instead of following God.
What is true for demon and devils, is equally true for men as well.
When men reject God’s Word “The Truth”, and Follow Satan’s Words, “The Lie,” the set themselves up for failure. They set themselves up for destruction. They set themselves up for eternal damnation. They set themselves up for the Wrath of A Holy God, against all those who follow Satan in sin, rebellion, hatred of God, hatred of Truth, hatred of His Son, and hatred of his children.
This is why Hell was prepared.
As mentioned already, it is a place and a space provided where God is not present. And all will suffer the just punishment of God against Satan and his devils who committed murder, raped, lying, stealing, extortions, and poisoning the minds of people to follow after lies. Fake Teachers. Fake Scientists. Fake Preachers. Fake leaders of every kind world wide who listened to the voice of the evil one, and ridiculed and rejected the very voice of God.
End of Part Three.