Have you ever seriously contemplated what it would
be like to die unsaved? I am sure that if people had any concept
of what hell is actually going to be like they would give anything/everything
to avoid it as their eternal destination. Consider what it would
mean if I were to die lost.
It would give me the unpleasant opportunity(?)
to live with the most wicked people who have ever lived. Not
only so, but I would live with them forever. We hear a lot today
about the fact that sex offenders need to register their addresses
so people will know where they are. The reasoning behind this
is that I have the right to know if such a person lives next door
or down the street from my house. If I die lost I will get to
live in eternity with all the sexually immoral of all times (Revelation
21:8). In fact, if you read that verse, you will learn that you
will be living (perhaps co-existing would be a better word) with
people you wouldn't want next door to you now.
It will cause me to live in misery forever.
I read that hell is like being thrown into a furnace of fire (Mt
13:41-42). I also read that people will weep and gnash their teeth
in hell (Matthew 25:30). Every once in awhile I hear a radio commercial
that features grinding of teeth. They are trying to sell some
sort of dental appliance (I do not recall the product's name)
that stops such grinding in one's sleep. It would be more bearable
in hell if I would gnash (grind) my teeth while sleeping. However,
there will be no sleeping in that awful place.
It will cause me to be punished forever. I
was raised by a wonderful Christian mother who was an expert at
administering punishment. She could make five minutes of punishment
feel like a lifetime to a little boy who had committed some infraction.
No, she did not abuse me. She punished me! There is a difference
in the two; a difference I wish our society would grasp. Anyway,
hell's punishment is an eternal one (Matthew 25:41). Unlike my
mother's punishment, it really will go on forever and ever. You
might be able to endure 5 seconds or 5 minutes of hell, but you
would not want to endure it forever with no hope of cessation,
would you?
I will not be able to profit from the consoling
touch of a heavenly father. It is of great encouragement that
the Bible compares his comfort to that which is given here on
earth by a mother (Isaiah 66:13). "As a mother stills her
child, Thou canst hush the ocean wild; Boist'rous waves obey Thy
will When Thou say'st to them, 'Be still!' Wondrous Sov'reign
of the sea, Jesus, Savior, pilot me." My mother not only
knew how to punish, but she also knew how to comfort. To this
day when I suffer pain, I wish I could have my mother's comfort
again. Hell will be an awful place because God will not be there
to comfort us (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
A deceased preacher used to get his audience to
try to imagine just how awful hell would be. He would then say
it will be far worse than anyone can imagine. We plead with you
to live in such a way that you will never find out. 90 Waverly
Ct., Martinsburg, WV 25401.