Eternity! Where Will You Spend It?

  We like to use euphemisms when we talk. A euphemism is defined as, “a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.” I used to work at a retirement facility and we would have a daily staff meeting. At the meeting when a person died, we never said they died, they simply “passed.” We didn't even say they passed away, they just passed. I received an email from a friend that was one of those forwarded emails that contained a very interesting video of a preacher who was exposing false teachers. In that video he made the comment that we often soft sell what hell is like. We sometimes simply say that hell is an eternal separation from God. Now the statement is true but doesn't give the true picture of hell, but only part of the picture. If a person says, “So what! I don't believe in God anyway.” They then figure that hell will just be like life here on earth and that they can go on and not really be concerned about something they don't believe in anyway. We have used a euphemism to describe one of the most terrible places ever mentioned. Revelation 20:14-15 says, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” 

        The passage mentioned, is perhaps one of the last writings in the Scriptures about this place of eternal punishment. It is true that will be a place without the presence of God and so that part is correct, but what is missing is the rest of the description that is mentioned in various other parts of the Scriptures. Jude describes it as like being a wandering star in total blackness for all eternity. Others describe it as a place of gnashing of teeth and where the worm does not die. The most terrible aspect of hell is the one that is given in these final verses of the book of Revelation. It is a lake of fire. Who could imagine the torment of a lake of fire? I have yet to read an obituary that stated that the person died and went to hell. Those obituaries are filled with the euphemisms of the person's death and how good they were on this earth. It is true that they have gone on to their “eternal reward” but that reward has two faces. One of which is with God for all eternity in what we call heaven and the other is in a lake of fire that will last for all eternity. The Lord Jesus Christ reminded us in John 14:1-6 that there is only one way to God the Father and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. Any other attempt to make to heaven will end up in hell. All of the false teaching in the world and all of the other spiritual platitudes will not end up in heaven, but in the lake of fire. There is only one way to heaven. If you now say, “so what?” then you have not realized the meaning of the lake of fire and the result that you see in the Great White Throne judgment. If you have a true picture of eternal separation from God AND where that will take place, then you will be motivated to tell others of the salvation that ONLY the Lord Jesus Christ offers. You will know and believe the message of John 3:16 and Romans 5:8. You and I do not know the fate of a person who dies, but God does. You and I don't know where they ended up, but God does and if it is in heaven it is because of the Lord Jesus Christ. I accidentally grazed a hot pan from the oven with my finger the other day. I didn't leave it there long and say, “Oh, that's not too bad.” I jerked it away instantly. This should be how you see the lake of fire. You should have a tendency to run away from it as fast as you can. When we see someone else casually on the road to hell, we should warn them. This is what the gospel is all about. The gospel is the “good news” of Christ's death, burial and resurrection to make salvation possible for you and for me. I would much rather, in fact “rejoice” in my salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ and praise God for it everyday than to see even one go to an eternity of punishment. So, we can and should praise God for salvation.