Endure Chapter 19: Hell

Welcome to chapter 19 of Endure. My name is Ben Greenfield, and each week on this podcast platform I'll release to you a small snippet of my new book, Endure, which you can find@getindure.com in a physical and digital version. Chapter 19 Hell well, in the previous chapter, I'm afraid I may have finished quite abruptly in a bit of a cliffhanger, if you'll pardon the pun. If you recall, or if you go back and listen to or read that chapter, you'll you'll find that while I described what the passage into the eternal afterlife will be like after departing one's physical body, and how one's eventual resurrection to live forever in a new heaven and new earth will manifest for those who believe in Jesus and have cast their burdens upon him. I didn't exactly get into too much detail about what happens when you die if you don't believe. Ah, so am I about to answer the classic so you're saying I'm going to hell if I don't believe the way you do? Question? Well, not exactly Whether or not you're going to heaven or hell is between you and God. I'm not here to judge you or to judge the answer to that question. It's not my role or responsibility. But in this chapter, I would like to at least clear the air about how things will actually be well down there. Which seems quite a logical next step since I've talked so much in my last book, Fit Soul, about Jesus Journey to Hell as part of his hero's journey what Heaven will be like, and in the previous chapter of this book, what death will be like Heck. Sorry, I just did it again. I'd be remiss not to address this topic. After all, if you were giving a friend directions to get to a restaurant and you knew that one road led to the parking lot, but a second road ended at a broken bridge over a dark chasm, you probably wouldn't just tell them about the safe road. Instead, you would likely mention the existence of and warn them of the dangerous wrong road what will Hell be Like? One of the most well known descriptions of hell comes from the Roman catechism of the Council of Trent. In it, hell is described as a most loathsome and dark prison in which the souls of the damned are tormented with the unclean spirits in eternal and inextinguishable fire. This place is called Gehenna, the bottomless pit. And is hell strictly so called? This description is most likely derived from the words of Jesus in Mark 9, 43 in which Jesus says, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna into the unquenchable fire. Gehenna was the Greek name for a valley southwest of Jerusalem where pagan sacrifices occurred, including the burning sacrifice of children. In Jesus time, Gehenna was a garbage dump where trash from the city was continually burned. Thus hell is associated with a place of perpetual fire and pain. But Jesus thought of hell as more than just an evil trash heap. Let's look at how Jesus viewed hell, since he spoke quite often about hell, more in fact than any other character in the Bible and in quite bleak terms, and also as a deity and the Son of God possessed a knowledge of hell that surpassed anything any mortal human might have. In passages such as Matthew 10:28, Matthew 13:40, 42 and Mark 9:43 48, Jesus not only referred to hell as a real place, but also described it in quite graphic terms, including as an eternal fire that burns but doesn't consume, a never dying worm that slowly eats away at the damned, and a lonely all enveloping darkness with complete separation from God the Father. Jesus also says in Matthew 8:12 that sinners will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And in his parable of Lazarus and Abraham, which I explained to you in the previous chapter, refers to an uncrossable chasm that separates the wicked in hell from the righteous in paradise. Go back to chapter 18 and read that section from Luke 16:19 31 to see what I mean. This passage implies that those in hell will not only suffer terribly, but will also remain entirely conscious and able to feel intense pain, able to retain their memories of life on earth long incessantly for relief from loneliness and pain will never find comfort, cannot escape, and have lost any semblance of hope. Again, it's important to understand that this fire and darkness is eternal and not a temporary punishment or eventual burning away of one's sins, after which one is free to go after all. In Matthew 25:46 Jesus says, and these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Revelations 20:10 tells us of Satan being cast into a lake of fire and tormented day and night forever and ever. And Revelation 14:11 says, and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever compared to accepting God's free gift of salvation and simply believing in the deity, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Something so simple that even a child can do it. This picture of hell that Jesus painted is quite bleak indeed, but it really isn't even the worst of hell. Will there be different levels of Hell? Before telling you what the worst part about hell will be, there's one question that I need to address because I think it's important. The question of whether or not there will be differing degrees of torment or intensity in hell. Well, for the answer to this question, we can once again turn to the Bible. In Luke 12:47,48, we are told that servant who knew his master's will, but did not get ready or act according to his will will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. Then there's Matthew 10:15, which says, truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. And in Matthew 11:21 22, it says, Woe to you, Choraz, and woe to you Beth. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyr and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyr and Sidon than for you. Finally, Romans 2:4,5 tells us, do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance, but because of your hard and impotent heart, you are storing up wrath. Each of these passages implies that there will not only be greater and lesser amounts of suffering in hell, but in the same way that we can lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven here on earth, as it says in Matthew 6, 20, we can also accumulate a greater intensity of wrath poured down upon us in hell when, as Romans 2, 5 says, God's righteous judgment will be revealed. I can't say I know exactly what that will look like, but rest assured, these sections of Scripture do indeed indicate that sinners will be punished according to the magnitude of their sinful deeds and unbelief. The worst part about Hell but the intensity of the levels of suffering, the consciousness, the ability to feel pain, the memories of life past, the longing for relief, the inability to ever escape, and souls burning alive for eternity of hell are not the worst parts about Hell. There is indeed, in my opinion, one primary reason for which we should most greatly fear eternal damnation. See, the chief punishment of hell is as Second Thessalonians 1:9 says eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord. The Greek word for destruction used here is an interesting choice. It does not mean annihilation, which as non existence could technically not refer to an eternal disappearance, but rather refers to the loss of everything worthwhile. In First Corinthians, Paul used this same word to speak of the devastating temporal consequences of sin. Here Paul uses the word to refer to the eternal consequences of sin, a penalty that isn't annihilation but rather eternal separation from the love of Christ. This means eternal separation from the source of love itself and a place of extreme loneliness, the complete opposite of the glorious union with God that we can experience in heaven, rather than the popular cartoonish portrayal of a Vegas esque party of sinners. Hell also in a manner completely opposite of fellowship, reunion, laughter, relationships and happiness you can read about in books such as Randy Elkhorn's book, Heaven is actually a place where you are cut off from everybody. Every friend, every family member, every loved one, every pet, every possession, and most importantly, God. That amount of loneliness combined with no hope, no good, no beauty, no pleasure, no satiation, no satisfaction, and complete eternal separation from the source of all light and love should be terrifying to you. It means an eternity of solo darkness separated from all humanity and from all that is true, good and beautiful. Considering the hidden killing epidemic called loneliness that we humans sometimes experience during our mortal life, that amount of complete darkness and separation should well, scare the hell out of you. As C.S. lewis so succinctly says in his book the Problem of Pain, which is an excellent treatise of why God would allow his creation to suffer pain in the first place. To enter heaven is to become more human than you ever succeeded in being on earth. To enter hell is to be banished from humanity. Finally, as to why on earth God would have even invented such a concept as eternal damnation in the first place, which I'm sure you must be wondering or have wondered at some point. I'd like to acknowledge and quote one of my followers on Instagram who shared this excellent thought on the matter in a post I had made regarding death. Here's what he had to say. I struggled with the concept of eternal damnation for a long time. I think most people do. What has really helped me is to study and focus on the holiness of God. When we can begin to see God for who he really is, we start to see ourselves as we really are. Sinful, utterly depraved. Part of God's holiness is that he is just. He has to judge sin. It's his mercy and grace that he put that judgment upon Christ and then he gives each of us a choice. Either see in our sin for what it is, an affront to the holy God or need for a Savior, and choose to be in Christ accepting the forgiveness offered because of his sacrifice, or be judged ourselves for our sin. That's what eternal damnation is. People who didn't choose to have their sin judged in Christ, but to be judged themselves. It's eternal separation from God because He's not going to force somebody to spend an eternity with him if they don't want that is choose to so I guess we really do get what we wish for, don't we? If it's independent from God, God's law and the free gift of salvation that we crave. God serves all of that up on a silver platter to us at the very end for eternity. Summary so there you have it. Hell is loneliness, separation, eternal suffering, and completely necessary is an integral part of God's perfect and holy character and our own utter depravity. I'm afraid I can't paint it any differently than that. And yeah, it's quite sobering to think about, but there's hope. As Randy Elkhorn, author of Heaven, writes, for Christians, this present life is the closest they will come to hell for unbelievers is the closest they will ever come to heaven. In other words, for those who believe in Jesus, you're about as close now as you'll ever get to experiencing hell. But for those who don't believe, the loneliest moment you've ever experienced in your life comes nothing close to what you'll experience for eternity in Hell, completely separated from your Creator. Sadly, many do not embark upon the narrow road to heaven, but fortunately, the steps to begin down that road are not a hidden secret. Just believe in the message of simplicity that I'll tell you about in the next chapter and then say a simple prayer. What about you? What do you think hell will be like? Have you experienced a taste of union with God here on earth and found it to offer just a tiny glimpse of what could happen if that intense feeling of joy, satisfaction, connection and hope completely disappeared for all eternity? What are some times you've experienced just a little bit of heaven here on earth? And what are some times you've experienced loneliness, lack of meaning, distance from God, and a brief glimpse of what an eternity and hell will feel like? Well, I'd encourage you to go to getindore.com where you'll find a physical and digital version of this book with ample note taking sections for your reflections on those questions that I've asked you, including the questions for all the other chapters as well. And for resources, references, links, and additional reading and listening material for this chapter you can Visit getindoor.com Chapter 19 that's getindoor. Com Chapter 19.