Have you ever loved someone with such deep passion that when you try to express your love, you feel “I love you” simply isn’t enough? You search the data banks storing your vocabulary and feel exasperated because you can’t come up with any words adequate to convey the level of your love. It seems the words just don’t exist.
Or, you go on a trip to Pago-Pago and shoot a picture of a big orange sun setting between two palm trees-the most beautiful sunset you’ve ever seen. Then, upon returning home, you share the picture with friends and feel disappointment because you realize the picture comes nowhere near your real life experience that you wanted to share.
This is the best way I know to describe hell-that is, there are no words that can accurately describe the reality or the horror of hell.
First, we must realize that hell is a real place. Hell isn’t like the planet Krypton, the Land of Oz, or any other fictitious location. It’s as real as New York City or Davenport, Iowa. It isn’t some New Age notion that exists only in the cosmos or the mind of the progressive thinker. It is a real and living geographic location with a very wide gate. It’s the future home of Satan and all non-believers.
Scripture tells us hell is in the earth. Psalm 55:15 says, Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them. Ezekiel 31:16 says, I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. And, finally, at Matthew 12:40, Jesus said, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly: so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Villarrica
In 1990, I was blessed to be a part of a six-man team that spent two weeks in Pucon, Chile building a church. The church was within about five miles of Villarrica, an active volcano. At night, we could clearly see the red glow from the molten lava lake inside. The temperature of the lava was probably in the range of 2,000 to 2,400 degrees. If one were to fall into the lava, they would probably die before ever hitting the surface, and then be immediately consumed. But, imagine falling into lava and not dying-just feeling the burn. Forever. And ever.
In Luke 16, Jesus spoke of the horrors of Hell. Hell is a place of torment in which its inhabitants, those who reject Christ, will burn forever in a fiery furnace. It is estimated the temperature at the center of the earth is around 12,000˚F. Imagine living in such an environment without death; with no relief from the pain. It is worse than anything you and I can imagine. Relentless suffering. In other words, there are no words I can find to give accurate description of the horror millions of non-believers will experience for all eternity.
The Lake of Fire: Future Home to Non-Believers
It‘s easy to go through life-giving little, if any, thought to the reality of heaven or hell. Sadly, millions will do just that. Life is about choices. Don’t make the wrong choice and reject the Savior. I promise, you will regret it.
Writings and Musings by Bill Taylor 