Destiny of the Damned!

There are only two eternal destinies -- the blessed abode of the saved and the flaming abyss into which the lost souls will be eternally doomed. The Bible speaks of Paradise and of the pit of hell, of glorious light and of a place of total darkness.

On the Judgment Day only two groups of people will step forth, "they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:29).

When the lost shall hear the great Judge declare their sentence of guilt "Sorry, I never knew you; depart from Me you workers of iniquity," where will those doomed souls go? When two are living and working side by side and only one is taken, what will happen to the one left behind? When the righteous eyes of the King pierce the unholy one and no excuse rings true, what will happen? When the Book of Life is opened and someone's name is missing, what then?

A short distance south of Jerusalem, a deep ravine cuts across the landscape. During the reigns of Ahaz and Manasseh, this valley was used as a place of unthinkable evil worship. Here followers of Molach dropped their children into the red-hot arms of an immense brass idol. They sang and danced to drown out the anguished cries as their little ones burned to death. The Hebrews called the place the Valley of Hinnom. In Greek the name of the area is translated Gehenna.

At the time of Christ's earthly life, the Jews used the valley as a place to dump their waste and filth. Into it were cast dead carcasses, as well as the corpses of outcasts and criminals. The air was thick and putrid. In a vain attempt to maintain a semblance of purity fires burned eerily day and night; the stain of smoke never disappeared from the sky. Scavengers scoured this repulsive valley. The worms never died and the fires never went out.

Just as the Jews' city, Jerusalem, typified New Jerusalem -- the Holy City of God from heaven -- so this valley provided a vivid example of damnation and hell. It proved easy for Christ's listeners to envision an intolerably horrid place where one would burn forever. Eternal punishment after the judgment is an established truth in the Bible.

What will hell be like? Its horrors can't be comprehended. However, Scripture does provide some comparisons -- a devouring fire, unquenchable fire, outer darkness, everlasting punishement, torment, and a lake of fire.

Fire and burning are mentioned so frequently and forcefully that we cannot ignore that fact of a literal hell fire. The Bible states that the weeping will be real and the wailing and gnashing of teeth will be real; then how can we but accept the fire also to be real?

On the Judgment Day the unsaved shall arise to "the resurrection of damnation." In the resurrection the lost will be given an immortal body, not glorious like the saved, but one suited for eternal torment. It will be a body made for hell, one that feels and experiences constantly the sting of death but never dies. Hell will be a place of rememberance. Like an avalanche, memories of all the opportunities for salvation, the chances for repentance, the gift of grace neglected, and more, will overwhelm the lost. They will remember what they loved in life -- wealth, fame, a good time, and themselves. On and on the memory reels, bringing up all the evil thoughts, the secret sins, and the lies. And with the impossibibility of forgetting comes the bitterest cry of remorse: "Had I only given my life to the Lord and served him completely!"

Hell will be a place of guilt and shame. The prophet Daniel wrote, "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt". When the eternal sentence of guilt rings from the throne on The Judgment Day -- and the angels will be there to witness -- it will descend like an immense millstone about the necks of the condemned, dragging them down into a burning sea of shame from which there is no hope of return.

Hell will be a place offering no rest. "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night" (Revelation 14:11). In our world, those in pain and suffering find moments of rest. Even the tortured have times of sleep or faint into welcome unconsciousness. Finally death brings its relief. But in hell there will be no relief. The torment will thunder down in unending torrents. The lost will cry out for relief but their cries will not be heard. The lost will gnash their teeth forever as they toss and turn, searching endlessly for a bit of a haven, a moment of relief, but finding absolutely none.

Hell will be a place of utter hopelessness. The desperation that comes from knowing that those who enter there have no ray of hope -- no chance of ever leaving -- will crush the lost. They will become a forgotten people in a forgotten place. When God turns away and disclaims His ownership of the soul, doom will be complete. In hell there will be no mercy, no love no acts of kindness, and no grace. Hate will reign supreme. The intense wrenching remorse and sorrow, the begging, and the pleading will be to no avail. No one will listen and, worse, no one will care.

Hell will be a place of outer darkness. God is light, and in Him is no darkness. Eternal damnation is the opposite. In the Bible, Jude calls it the very "blackness of darkness." With darkness comes fear. It is the second death. The first will be terminated in judgment; the second will have no termination. Forever and forever -- in ten million years hell will have just begun. The torment and the weeping will continue, and yet the dying live on eternally. Hell was not prepared for God's children. It was prepared for the devil and his angels. These fallen beings wait in chains of darkness, fearing and trembling, knowing full well their eternal destiny.

But the Bible is clear in stating that those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, those who do not repent, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the whoremongers, the idolaters, and the liars, shall be cast into the lake of fire. Today we are serving one of two masters. One, the heavenly Father, is loving and righteous. The other, satan, is desperately evil. It is certain that the master we serve in time will be the one with whom we spend eternity. When the final judgment exposes our allegiance, on whose side will we stand?

God cannot save those who refuse to serve Him. However, He will be entirely fair and just. No one will go to hell undeservingly. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and live. God is calling us to choose His kingdom, to stand on His side. He is pleading to save us because He loves us. Those who find themselves in hell will have by their choices and pursuits in life decided their fate. Will we hear, "I never knew you, depart from me forever"? or "Come, ye blessed of my Father."

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