I know it's not pleasant to take a hard look at such a grim place as hell. But it's absolutely necessary if you're going to truly comprehend the glory of heaven and the depth of God's mercy and love, and share the Truth with unbelievers.

Here are some additional aspects of hell of which you ought to be aware.

• First, hell is a place of sorrow.

  The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me.
  (2 Sam. 22:6)

  Make no mistake about it, hell is a place of unending, gut-wrenching sorrow. Sorrow for missed opportunities to surrender to Jesus Christ. Sorrow that comes when a human soul is separated from God.
  
• Second, hell is a place of captivity.

  Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
  
  Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
  (Isa. 5:13-15)

  Notice that first verse. A man who has no knowledge (of the Word of God) goes into captivity. He is in bondage in this life and, unless he changes his heart, he goes into the ultimate bondage in the life to come.
  
  This passage also tells us that "hell hath enlarged herself." I once heard a foolish man speculate that maybe hell would run out of room before he got there. Not a chance. Hell has been enlarged.
  
  In fact, Proverbs 17:20 says: "Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied."
  
  Please don't pin your eternal destiny on the flimsy, foolish hope that hell will run out of room. It has been enlarged without measure and will never be full.
  
• Finally, you need to be aware that hell is a certainty for all those who reject God's offer of love and grace in Jesus Christ.

  For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eight person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
  
  And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
  
  (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds); The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.
  (2 Peter 2:4-9)

Hell is a certainty. If God didn't permit you to reject his offer of salvation and go to hell He would owe Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.

God is love, but He is also just. If all the wicked of the earth were destroyed in the time of Noah, what makes you think you can live any way you want and escape judgment?

Heaven. That's the other side of this coin. Now that you've looked squarely at the horror of hell, let's catch a glimpse of the glory of heaven.

Capturing the Reality of Heaven
The Bible has much to say about heaven. No one passage of scripture will give you a complete picture, yet when you look at the whole scope of God's Word a clear image of the heavenly kingdom begins to emerge.

It's a picture that, once you grasp it, will change your life forever...it's a place called Heaven.

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
(Eccl. 5:2)

It may seem elementary, but the first thing you need to know about heaven is that God dwells there. The King and Creator of the universe makes His home in heaven. It is also the seat of His government. It is where you'll find His throne.

"Thus says the Lord, The heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool" (Isa. 66:1)

Heaven is the primary realm of God's angels as well.

"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven" (Mark 13:32).

Don't ever doubt it. Heaven is a real place. A place more solid and substantial than the room you're sitting in. Don't let Hollywood's images of some ethereal, wispy place color your concept of Heaven. It's a real place, just as surely as earth is a real place.

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