Mark 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: 48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.Scriptures use three words that are translated "hell:"
Sehol, the realm of the dead. To this place all the dead go. It is the grave in 1 Sam. 2:6, &c.
Hades. This is used in the New Testament to describe the realm of the dead. Before Christ, both the saved and the lost went to this place, Luke 23:43, 16:22.
Gehenna. This place describes the destination of the lost. It is described as a place of everlasting fire and torments of the worse possible kind.
It was named after a narrow ravine close to Mount Zion. In the Old Testament, it was the place was where the Jews burned their children alive to Moloch and Baal. After the Jews returned from their exile in Babylon, they showed how much they hated this place by making it the garbage dump. Fires were kept burning there to consume the garbage.
The word Genhenna was always used in Christ's time to refer to the future punishment of the damned.
We should note that Christ preached more messages about the torments of hell than he did about the glories of heaven.
I only know of two times the Lord repeated himself, word for word, and both times it was in his messages about hell:
Matthew 5, 29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.In fact, here he repeats himself twice:
Mark 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: 48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.Christ gave at least three basic messages about hell:
1) Mt. 5:29, 30 (above)
2) Mt. 18:6-11 (Look up)
3) Lk 16:19ff. (Look up)
Only fools fail to take Christ's message of warning seriously.
Yet how many messages are heard today about hell?
We want to hear about the glories of heaven and the good life of being a Christian while the world goes to hell.
In both Matthew 5 and 18, the Lord is telling us of the importance of overcoming the lusts that so easily control us. Paul gives the same message:
Romans 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God..When we are tempted to think how hard it is to bring our body under control and how much we might have to give up, we should remember how much harder it will be to lie forever in the lake of fire.
Some points from Mark 9:43ff.
1) Revelation 21:8, hell is not a slang word; it is the name of a literal place. It consists of a literal lake burning with fire and brimstone.
2) The natural man would rather risk the lake of fire and brimstone than give up the things he enjoys.
3) We are told by Christ himself, at least twice, that the whole body will be case into hell. Every part of the body will be tormented forever. There is absolutely no way to describe the torment Christ warned us of.
Matthew 18:8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
Mark 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.4) Matthew 18:11, The purpose of Christ coming into the world was to save the lost.
A) if the Lord's words are true, then hell is real. We must take the busness of evangislism seriously.
In Jude, it speaks of preaching about the fires and torments of hell, so people will hear and turn to Christ.
22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.Satan knows what lusts to use to keep Christians quiet about the terrors of hell so they fail to speak up for Christ.
B) are you certain of your slavation?
We see from both Mark 9:43ff. (little ones, worm dieth not), and from Matthew 5 (adultery), that Satan uses lusts of all kinds to keep a person on their way to hell. The devil knows what kind of snares to use to capture the soul.
The enemy tells people that:
Romans 3:10-18 (There is no fear of God before their eyes.)There is no fear of God today, so there is no fear of God's judgement of those outside of Christ, eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone.
A person is either willing to sacrifice those lusts that keep him from Christ, or he will spend eternity in hell, the fire that never shall be quenched, where the worm dieth not.