EIGHT CHARACTERISTICS OF HELL FROM REVELATION 14--Part II

WHO HAS PURPOSED THIS AGAINST TYRE, THE BESTOWER OF CROWNS, WHOSE MERCHANTS WERE PRINCES, WHOSE TRADERS WERE THE HONORED OF THE EARTH? THE LORD OF HOSTS HAS PURPOSED IT TO DEFIE THE POMPOUS PRIDE OF ALL GLORY, TO DISHONOR ALL THE HONORED OF THE EARTH.
Isaiah the prophet, chapter twenty-nine, verses eight and nine.

Part 2 of 4 from Revelation 14:9-12

PREVIOUSLY COVERED:

I. Hell Is One of God's Great Passions. IN THE CROSS HAIRS.

II. Hell Is Punishment. NO EXCUSES.

III. Hell Is Public. THE DISPLAY OF THE DAMNED.

IV. Hell Is Permanent. NO BACK DOOR.
Not long ago, it was my job to remove welds inside a coal mill. The welds were overhead and the only tool I could use was an oxy-acetylene torch. For those of you who haven’t worked metal, an oxy-acetylene torch removes the steel by bringing it to melting temperature and actually burning the steel, some of which oxidizes and some of which simply melts and falls to the floor in red hot droplets. Therein lay the problem. I was between the floor and those tiny, molten balls falling from the fixture I was trying to remove. I was the foreman on the crew and it was a very time-sensitive job. What was I to do? I had no choice but to find a way to get this job done. And being the first day, I dare not tell one of my guys they needed to do this because I thought I was too good to do the dirty jobs along with them. So I had to do it. The droplets of fire rolled down my collar, into that little cup formed between the two inner ends of the collar bones, the top of the breast bone, and the bottom of my throat. I had to keep cutting. Because it was overhead, and because I had to reach up quite high with at least one arm to make the cut, I had molten steel going past the cuff of my gloves and into the sleeves of my protective welding coat at the wrist and rolling down to my elbow, where they burned into the flesh either at the side of my elbow where the muscles attach or just shy of the point of my elbow on the tender skin of the underside of my forearm. It hurt.

In such a situation, you can play a number of games to beat the pain. For one you can work as hard as possible and take a break every couple of minutes. I did that. For another, you can try to think of other things. I did that for a while. Even singing. Another thing you might try is to grunt in pain. Yes, I said “grunt”. Don’t cry out. That only intensifies the pain because you have given in. Instead, grunt like you’re angry. Fight the pain. For awhile that helped. In the end, I just was out of ways to do the job without just going through mind-boggling pain. The only thing that helped was to get out of there. If I had that sort of pain on an ongoing basis, I’d be insane. I can’t describe it.

In verse 11, we read, “And the smoke of their torment will go up forever, and they will not have rest day and night…”

In hell, you won’t have the chance to get out for a minute to let the burning coals cool and the pain lessen. You, no doubt, will try to find ways to endure. But you won’t. Try to play mind games. They won’t work for long. The pain will be too strong and too long. Try grunting. Try singing. Try thinking of soothing experiences you had as a youth or a young man. It won’t work for more than a few seconds--IF AT ALL. You can’t step out for a break. You can’t call someone to take your place.

Forever.

Take a second look at the passage. Notice the emphasis on eternity. Why did John, under orders of the risen Jesus, say it twice? Forever. Day and night. It must be important. When Jesus mentioned hell, He often made sure His hearers got that same message: Hell is permanent.

Matthew 18:8--If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble lop it off and cast it from you. It’s better to enter into this life crippled or lame than, with two hands and two feet, to enter into eternal fire.

Matthew 25:41--Then He will say also to those on the left, “Go away from Me, Cursed Ones, unto the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.

Matthew 25:46--And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

John 3:16--For God loved the world in such a way that He gave his one and only Son so that each one who believes won’t be destroyed, but have eternal life.

Notice John 3:16. “Be destroyed” is eternal. Something destroyed isn’t around anymore. It’s done. This is in contrast to the life eternal.

Unlike my little problem with the red hot falling steel droplets, hell is permanent. In the coal mill I had a little job. It was bearable because it would only last 30-45 minutes and I could get out of the pain any time I wanted. Not so with hell.

V. Hell Is Painful. NO RELIEF.
Look now to verses 10 and 11. There we read, “And he himself will drink of the wine of the passionate anger of God, poured out unmixed into the cup of the wrath of God, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will go up forever and they will have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image and if anyone receives the mark of his name.”

As we noted earlier Jesus often mentioned the permanence and forever nature of hell when He spoke of hell. However, never did He speak of Hell without directly mentioning the pain. And it isn’t little pain. In the coal mill, I got little spots burned. Not so in hell. Verse 11 speaks of the smoke of their torment, indicating a fire, not just some dots of hot metal on a few tender spots. Fire engulfs. It licks up the body just like a burger patty on a grill is heated all over and through and through. Jesus made mention of hell using Gehenna as a metaphor. Gehenna was the city dump. It was filled with not only trash, but the sewer of the community. It was where spoiled food was dumped. Spoiled meat. Excrement. Soiled, worn out clothes. It all went there. And it had to burn. It burned continually. It is here that we see what it means to perish or be destroyed in John 3:16. It isn’t annihilation. It is defilement, and destruction of all usefulness. If something was in Gehenna and not consumed by the flames, it would still be eternally ruined and polluted beyond any future redemption.

So it is with the human body and soul in hell. You will live, but you will wish otherwise. It is often said that the souls of the damned will be in hell, experiencing some sort of indescribable discomfort. The Scripture, however, makes sure to tell us that in the final state, even the damned will be given new bodies. Bodies, not for pleasure and life, but bodies that will be forever the vehicle that carries the soul into pain for the eternal ages. Revelation 20:11-15 says this:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.--ESV

Notice that all will be raised from the dead, but the damned will go to the lake of fire with bodies.

In a lake.

Of fire.

Jesus said the body would be involved in the pain in Matthew 10:28. We read, “Don’t fear those killing the body, but unable to kill the soul. Rather, fear the One able to destroy soul and body in Gehenna.”

Jesus made very clear the pain of hell two ways. First, He described it as fire and burning. Now many things hurt. Cuts hurt. Bruises hurt. Sprains hurt. Even broken bones hurt. But nothing hurts like fire. Cuts may be sharp and fast so that the pain is lessened by the quickness of the knife. Not so fire. Nothing quells the fire of the pain or the pain of the fire.

Second, He spoke of the pain by describing the response of those IN the pain. This is how Jesus spoke about the pain of hell:

Matthew 22:13--Then the King said to the attendants, “After you’ve bound them hand and foot, throw them out into outer darkness where there is the weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Matthew 24:45-51--Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.--ESV

Matthew 25:30--And throw out the worthless slave into outer darkness where is the weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Interestingly, the term weeping is repeated many times along with the gnashing of teeth. The gnashing of teeth The gnashing of the teeth underlines extreme feeling. The gnashing of teeth is the result of either great anger or great pain. In hell, there will be extreme physical pain. Many of God’s judgment on this earth cause physical pain and death. Will there be reason for anger in hell? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. The vile creatures that will inhabit hell will be angry as they watch God, their tormentor, celebrating with His holy angels and saints. Before hell those who were on their way toward hell hated the God of Scripture. He is seen as mean in their minds. Just who does He think He is to tell them what to do? And just who are His people that tell them they are sinners! People are already mad at God. But in hell there will be two reasons that the anger will be ramped up severely.

First is the focus of the anger. Before hell, they didn’t have to look at, or think of, God all the time. Once in awhile one of His people would come and try to evangelize them, but most of the time the damned on earth remain undisturbed. In hell, however, each individual will see the God they hate. AND they will see Him doing the very thing for which they hate Him so. He will be ruling, forcing His holy will on every being in the universe and not asking anyone’s opinion about it.

But there will be a second, even harsher, reason for the anger of the damned. That is they will know every second of the rest of eternity just Who it is that threw them into the flames. It is the same God Who will be keeping them under the oppressive pain and judgment this moment, the next moment, and the next moment, and all the moments throughout eternity. HE is the one Who charged them with the crimes that put them in hell. HE is the one Who judged the case and found them guilty. HE is the one Who sentenced them. HE is the ONE!! And they will hate Him forevermore.

Then there is the weeping. This word can refer to simply weeping or to the tears that come from mourning great loss. Again, will not those in hell realize their loss just as much as the rich man who asked that Lazarus be sent to keep his family from experiencing the same? Of course they will. Forever. The rich man was tortured with his own pain AND with the impending loss that his children were about to suffer. Indeed, the soul in hell is without comfort, without wealth, and without companionship. He is lost forever. He has lost all that CAN be lost.

Finally, on the pain of hell, look again at an interesting word in verse 10, where we read, “He himself will drink from the wine of the passionate anger of God, poured out unmixed into the cup of His wrath…” Notice that word “unmixed”? Why did God say that? What is the wine? It’s the suffering. (That will be made clear when we get to the eighth characteristic.) The suffering of hell will be unmixed. It will be pure pain. Total torment. Nothing partial exists in God’s plan to punish the wicked. The experience of the damned won’t be lots of pain with a little humor. It won’t include compassion, or love, or comfort, or companionship, or delight, or any sort of pleasure. When I was in the coal mill and I ran out of the mind games to forget the pain, pain was almost all I could think of. In hell it will be all you ever experience.

The most excruciating pain ever known. Bone-deep hatred for your Captor and all that He has. Jealousy for those who don't share your fate. And the unending loss of everything, including your sanity--except just enough so that you will know where you are, what you're experiencing, and Who put you there. That’s all you'll have.

COMING UP:

VI. Hell Is Personal. GOD KNOWS YOU.

VII. Hell Is Certain. NO WAY OUT.

VIII. Hell Is Appropriate and Measured. NO APPEAL.