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"And
if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast
it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one
of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole
body should be cast into hell" Matthew
5:29.
People
do not like to think about hell--especially those who
are headed there! But that doesn't mean hell isn't
real.
We
need to know that our Lord Jesus Himself often warned
about the reality of hell. Our text is in His Sermon
on the Mount, a message often quoted because of its
wonderful promises. Hell is also mentioned in the same
sermon in Matthew 5:22 and 5:30. Jesus also stressed
in that sermon that "broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in
thereat" ( Matthew
7:13). He
later warned that we should "fear Him which is
able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew
10:23).
There
are many false teachers today preaching a false
gospel, which many
are receiving. They all will perish if they don't
repent! The religious leaders of Christ day were not
exempt. To them, speaking of their religious
hypocrisy, He said, "Ye serpents, ye generation
of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of
hell?" (Matthew
23:33).
Hell
is also a place of fire which is a fearful environment
that could only be described adequately as a firey
furnace. "Depart from Me," He will say to
the lost souls at His coming judgment, "into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels" (Matthew
25:41).
Hell
is called a "lake of fire" by Christ in
John's vision of Him on His great white throne, where
He will have to say, "But the fearful, and
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all
liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone: which is the second
death" (Revelation 21:8).
Hell
will indeed be very real--eternally real! Since Christ
is both our Creator and our Savior, who died for our
sins and defeated death by His resurrection, it is
foolish for anyone to reject His revelation about
hell. HMM
INSTITUTE
FOR CREATION RESEARCH
www.icr.org
Concluding
thoughts: The sin of unbelief and failing to heed and
practice the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only sin
that will condemn every person to hell. All other sins
must be repented of, if accomplished before death.
But
lastly consider 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10.
"For they themselves shew of us what manner of
entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God
from idols to serve the living and true God; And to
wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the
dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to
come.
But
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10, revealed a sobering truth as
to what will actually take place when Christ
returns.
This
scripture reveals two sobering realities. Therefore
read and heed: this two stage event:. "And to you
who are troubled rest with us, >when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
> In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that
know not God, >and that obey not the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ: <>Who shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,
>and from the glory of His power; Secondly
:the blessed purpose of His coming: >"When He
shall come to be glorified in His saints, >and to
be admired in all them that believe (because our
testimony among you was believed) in that day."
There
is only one escape from hell > to Believe and Obey
the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ > or eternally
perish.
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