THE PLACE OF TORMENT!
THE PLACE OF TORMENT!
“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ “ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
It is hard to wrap our minds around eternal life in a place of pleasure— Heaven where everything is going to be perfect. But Heaven is easier for me to understand than “this place of torment.” The Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15), eternal fire (Matthew 25:41), Hell (II Peter 2:4), Hades (Luke 16:23) and so many other portions of God’s Word speaks to this terrible place. Part of Hell being hard to understand is because we do not truly understand the eternal absolute wicked darkness of sin and the affront it is to God.
Sin is the issue, our rebellion against God. This is what will send people to Hell. Hell is what all people deserve because of our sinful rebellion against God. Those who do not understand this think higher of themselves than they are. They do not have a proper perspective of who they are before an absolute Holy God who cannot have sin in His presence. Heaven will be sinless! Oh, I long for that day!
The rich man in the verses above had no thought about eternal torment until he was in it and then he had a desire for his brothers to know the Truth so they would end up where he was. There is only one way to avoid Hell— it is hearing and obeying the Word of God through His servants— “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13) and “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjkzW8oNlvg
Servant of God, may you be faithful in sharing God’s Word with those around you. Yes, Father, may this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus.