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| Home | Where do I go from here ? |
| Tough Questions |
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| Is sin serious? | |
| Can religion help? |
| There are many ideas
about what happens when we die. Some say we are all annihilated, some that we all
annihilated, some that we all go to heaven. Others believe in a place where sinful souls
are prepared for heaven. But nothing in the Bible supports any of these ideas. Instead, we read this: 1man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement. Those in a right relationship with God will then be welcomed into heaven, to spend eternity in His glorious presence. All others will be 2punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power. The Bible's most common word for this is 'hell'. Here are four important truths about it: Hell is factual. It is not something 'invented by the church'. The Bible says more about hell than it does about heaven and leaves no doubt about its reality. It speaks of people being 3condemned to hell and 4thrown into hell. Hell is fearful. It is described in the Bible as a 5place of torment; a fiery furnace; a place of 6everlasting burning and 7unquenchable fire. It is a place of suffering, with 8weeping and gnashing of teeth and in which there is 9no rest day or night. These are terrible words, but they are true. Those in hell are cut off from all good, cursed by God and banished from even the smallest help or comfort that His presence brings. Hell is final. All the roads to hell are one-way streets. There is no exit. Between hell and heaven 10a great chasm has been fixed. The horror, loneliness and agony of hell are not in order to purify but to punish - for ever! Hell is fair. The Bible tells us that God will 11judge the world with justice, and He is perfectly just in sending sinners to hell. After all, He is giving them what they have chosen. They reject God here; He rejects them there. They choose to live ungodly lives; He confirms their choice - for ever. God can hardly be accused of injustice or unfairness! In light of these terrible truths, you need
to think very carefully about a question once put to a group of people in the New
Testament: 12How will you escape being condemned to hell? |
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