It's not my story, but it can be true and probably is: An evangelist came to a small church for revival. One night while he was preaching on the penalty of Hell, a teen boy on the second row would laugh each time Hell was mentioned. He asked just loud enough to be heard “Where is this Hell, Preacher?” He would then turn to his peers and laugh heartily. He was surely provoking God, although the preacher remained calm. At the end of the service the preacher had an altar call. He told the church of God's love and Jesus' sacrifice and the punishment those in rebellion will receive in Hell. The teen boy continued to snicker under his breath. He failed to respond. “Where is this Hell?” That was a dire mistake!
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Within minutes of the end of service a great commotion brought all the congregants outside. There had been a collision. As the preacher ran outside toward the flaming car he could see the same teen boy trapped inside. He was screaming “Save me! Save me!”, but just as the preacher got closer an explosion occurred and the car went up in flames. The teen died screaming. It's a sad story. Where was this Hell of which the preacher spoke? It was a few yards from the altar and a few minutes from the rejected altar call. The teen went to his eternal home. He went to a place even hotter than fire!
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Psalm (KJV) 21:9 “Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.”
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Jonathan Edwards wrote a sermon on July 8, 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut entitled “Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God”. In those days as in the larger churches of today, pastors read their sermons. While Edwards was reading he was interrupted repeatedly by parishioners in anguish asking "What shall I do to be saved?" This is one of the finest sermons of the “Great Awakening” where people in Protestant Continental Europe, Britain and the Colonies responded with great emotion to the call of the Holy Ghost! Hardened hearts were brought to repentance out of fear!
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Fearing God in itself won't save you, but it will cause you to look at the rebellion in your own heart. You don't revere the Lord? Your king (sATAN) doesn't either! You'll both pay and pay and pay:
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Revelation (KJV) 19:20 “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
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If you're a sinner, this is you! You along with your earthly father, Satan, will be thrown into a burning lake of fire. The fire will be burning brimstone, what's known as sulfur. How hot's that? Sulfur boils at 833 degrees Fahrenheit. That's one-hundred times hotter than Miami beach on a hot day! You think you suffer with a sunburn? The suffering will be beyond imagination and without relief.
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You can't hide from it. You can't be buried deep enough to escape it. You'll still be found hidden in the seas. If you're a lost sinner, there is no escape! Dying once is bad enough, and we dread it, but the second death is more than a mere second... it's forever!
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Revelation (KJV) 20:13 “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”
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You know... I'm a Christian. In spite of my sins, Christ wiped my slate clean! I don't deserve it, but he's going to say “Well done, good and faithful servant!” That's mercy! I'm going to skip the eternal fireworks show and I'm so indebted... I actually owe my eternity to Jesus because he died in my place. My work by which I will be judged is one, the work of faith! It's work because I have to have the faith. Although my faith is a gift from God, I have to exercise it. You will burn, burn, burn in a lake of fire if you don't have faith yourself! No one can do it for you. You're on your own except for the grace of Jesus.
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When I was a child I was setting off a firecracker. Some of the black powder spilled onto my hand and fingers. When I lighted the match the powder burned. It was the most painful burn imaginable. It burned oh so hot. My skin bubbled. It was cooked by the flame just as a deep fried chicken would be. It was a small part of my body and of short duration, but I'll never forget it.
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Matthew (KJV) 25:41”Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”
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That firecracker actually burned for a short second. It burnt out. I sought and found relief with ice. Conversely, Hell is “everlasting”. There will be no relief. You'll be there in your fleshly body, but the fire will still consume you. Some believe that the skin will be burned and shed, burned and shed, burned and shed... and burned and shed for eternity. There will be no relief, no breaks and no friends to comfort. Your companions will be the devil and evil spirits who will taunt you and say “You fool! You believed our lies!” It'll be too late for help. No one will answer your cries. There'll be a chasm between you and the righteous such that you're beyond help. All this misery because you're too proud to admit your sin and ask forgiveness!
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Luke (KJV) 13:28 “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.”
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You won't get used to Hell. Day after day for eternity you'll wish you'd listened. It'll be painful! You will hurt so bad, both physically and emotionally that crying out with screams of anguish will be constant. You'll grind your teeth in pain. I remember how bad my kidney stones were. It was like passing glass through my urinary tract. I hurt so bad that I stood on my head and ground my teeth in agony. I was a grown man, crying in pain. That will be mild compared to the agony of Hell.
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How long is eternity, the everlasting? One description didn't even come close: If a swallow flew by a brass ball the size of the sun one time each ten-thousand years and gently brushed the brass, when the massive ball is completely worn away... eternity has just started! You not only get the intense heat, but it's unrelenting and forever!
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We joke about Hell and even some admit that they deserve Hell. We forget the isolation since our loved ones who're in Heaven won't be there and our loved ones in Hell, we'll hate... we'll despise. Those friends and kin helped lead you there! Instead of listening to the righteous, you listened to the pleasured ones. Those folks you love at the bar... you'll hate them in Hell. You'll blame and hate them... forever. Those folks at the gambling hall... you'll hate them. Those who neglected God for pleasure... they'll be your bunk mates and you won't be able to escape them.
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Along with your friends in Hell, you'll have the company of Hitler, Himmler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Gacy, Dahmer and the worst of the worst. Also there will be some of our leaders who we admired. You'll scream at them for leading you to destruction. Rock stars and movie stars won't be so famous. They'll burn just like you and as you hate them, so will they hate you! Madonna and Lady Gaga, unless they confess, will be mere fuel to stoke the fires of Hell!
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Do you want this? Do you eve think about Hell? Do you even believe in Hell? If you don't you're calling God a liar because he tells you all about it and that you deserve it! But, you say “A loving God wouldn't send me to Hell!”. Tip: He won't! You choose Hell. You don't have to. Read John 3:16 and go from there. God doesn't want you to burn, but you will unless you obey. Make that choice now!
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