Have you ever had a conversation with someone about Hell, or overheard a conversation between two people on the subject of Hell, and the subject was often not taken very seriously? There are many people who believe that we are living in Hell here on earth. They equate the bad times and influences we encounter as being signs of living in Hell. Others will remark that there is no Hell, that it is a place religious people created to scare and control others. And then again, there is that really uninformed group who will tell you that they know they are going to Hell and, do welcome it, because it is where all their friends are, or are going, so this is also where the party will be.

The truth of the matter is that nobody really likes talking about Hell, which is why there are so many different opinions concerning it, whether it is an actual place, or a state of being. But the only true reference we have concerning what Hell is and what it consists of, and who gets to go there, is the Bible. And the one thing that the Bible is clear about when it speaks of Hell is that Hell is not a place where a party will be going on or will be in effect.

The first fact the Bible informs us about Hell is that it is never full (Proverbs 27:20), and that, since the beginning of time/creation as we know it, “Hell has enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure” (Isaiah 5:14). So, no matter how many people have died, have been born, or are yet to be born, there is room enough for each and every one who goes there.

For all of us who, for whatever reasons, believe that Hell is some sort of joke and party place we go to socialize after death, Jesus describes this way, “Where the worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Mark 9:44; Matthew 13:42). Neither of these descriptions in any way insinuates that there is a party going on in Hell, or that it is a place anyone would be anxious to visit, let alone stay.

Hell according to the Bible, is a place of torment originally created for Satan and the fallen angels who rebelled against the authority of God: “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to Hell, and delivered them into fire that never shall be quenched, to be reserved until judgment” (2Peter 2:4).

Hell was not meant for people at all. Yet, because people have chosen the path of rebellion against God, as did Satan and his demons, Hell has enlarged itself to accommodate people as well. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” and, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:23; 6:23). By God’s standards, all who sin are worthy of going to Hell.

Nevertheless, because Hell was not created for people, God, through a show of divine mercy, has made a way that anyone who truly desires to escape the judgment of Hell, can: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18).

Make no mistake about it – all wicked and ungodly people are going to be sent to Hell by God. There will be no fanfare upon arrival. There will be no friends welcoming you with party favors to join the party. There will be no parade, no laughter, and no pats on the back and high-fives given. What will be there, however, is what Jesus has said would be there, “Weeping and gnashing of teeth, worms that never die, and fire that is never quenched.”

Do not allow anyone to fool you into thinking or believing that you are living in Hell while you are alive on earth. What you are now living, no matter how bad you may classify it, is nowhere near in comparison to what Hell is truly like! “It is appointed to people once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). And the sea gave up the dead, which were in it; and death and Hell delivered up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every person according to their works. And death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:13)

Oh, and one final point – Hell will last throughout all eternity!!!

By Robert Jones