FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHY WAS HELL MADE?

Matthew 25:41 tells us that Hell was prepared for the Devil and his angels. That’s why such a place was prepared in the first place.

It was not by original plan and design for men and women--for human sinners. It was prepared for the Devil and his angels. The Lord Jesus tells us that Himself.

When you put together all the things the Lord Jesus said, the picture of Hell is pretty horrible. He talked about a day coming when there would be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth--language like that from the Lord Jesus. Think of language in which He said, "cast him into outer darkness." Symbolic language? Okay, if you want to put it that way, but the reality has got to be worse than the symbol. It just doesn't sound very nice, and it doesn't sound very pleasant.

Jesus taught about Hell, and He said it is so bad that if keeping your two hands or your two feet or your two eyes meant Hell, whereas if you were to cut one off it would get you into Heaven, by all means, cut it off--that's how bad it is. (Mark 9:43-48)

Obviously, that is not to be taken literally, because if a man were to cut off his hand or take out one eye, he would still be as much of a sinner as ever, because sin is in the nature and in the heart of man. What the Lord is saying here is that you should be willing to give up anything, to forgo anything, to make any sacrifice, to give up any pleasure to get into Heaven. You should let nothing come between you and being in the Presence of the Lord.

Returning to Luke 16, and the story of the rich man and Lazarus, I’d like to mention that there is no indication here that this is a parable. It doesn’t start out like a parable, but says, there was a rich man, and a man by the name of Lazarus, specifically named. Parables don’t usually take that turn. And the one was carried to Abraham’s bosom and the other one was a lost soul who went to a place of punishment and torment. But I want you to notice in this story that when the rich man was in eternity without God, without hope, his memory was very much alive. He said, “Send Lazarus to give me a little relief.” At another point he said, “Send him to tell my five brothers, lest they also come to this place of torment.”

As I said earlier, It was prepared for the Devil and his angels. But the example of rich man shows that there will be humans also. It is equally true that there will be judgments that will take place upon sinners for deeds that will happen long after they have left this world, because the effects of a sinful life can go on for generations after the person has died. He has sown a terrible harvest and has reaped some of it after he lies in the grave. And that will be a factor in that person's ultimate and final judgment.



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How can a God of love send anybody to Hell?