1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 Revelation: The Justice of Hell Scripture Reading: Revelation 20:7-15 In the middle ages, the Italian theologian and poet, Dante Alighieri, wrote his famous Inferno.&amp;nbsp; In this lengthy poem he described the horrors of hell.&amp;nbsp; The sign above the gateway to Dante's hell read:&amp;nbsp; ABANDON HOPE, ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE.&amp;nbsp; It is a fitting statement.&amp;nbsp; There is no hope in hell, no community, no joy or peace or love. John's phrase for the place of eternal punishment for sins is 'the lake of fire,' which is found five times in Revelation 19-21.&amp;nbsp; The description in Revelation is that this place &quot;burns with fire&quot; (Rev 19:20; 21:8) and that it is a place of &quot;torment&quot; (Rev 20:10). From Jesus' own words we see the reality and horror of hell.&amp;nbsp; It is a real place of darkness, weeping, and the angry gnashing of teeth (Mt 8:12; 22:13; 25:30).&amp;nbsp; It is an existence of loneliness, apart from God (2 Thess 1:9) and torment (Rev 20:10).&amp;nbsp; And these horrors will be unending (Mt 3:12; Mk 9:47,48; Jude 12,13; Rev 20:10,15).&amp;nbsp; Let us never speak of hell with glibness, but with shuddering, broken hearts.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The notion that the punishment in hell must be everlasting rises out of the fact that God is an infinite being.&amp;nbsp; When someone wrongs the infinite God, in order to satisfy an infinite justice and holiness, there must be an infinite punishment.&amp;nbsp; The punishment fits the crime because the crime was committed against an infinitely holy God.&amp;nbsp; Hell is utterly indescribable in its horrors, but it is also utterly unnecessary if someone will but humbly hope in Christ.&amp;nbsp; The justice of God causes the heart to tremble in dreadfulness … but the mercy of God, rightly considered, causes the heart to rejoice in hope.&amp;nbsp; Bethel Baptist Church https://bethelbaptistscs.org/ <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/41133995/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/201512470