If your life is a drama, the last scene of the drama is mentioned in Revelation Chapter 20.
"I saw a great white throne and Him that sat on it" (Revelation 20:11). God's throne is called white throne. White stands for purity. On the final day of judgment there will be no difference between men and women, rich and poor, literate and illiterate, great and small - the only difference will be between the holy and the unholy. "Him that sat on it." It is our Lord Jesus Christ. Today Jesus is calling everyone saying, "Come unto Me and I will give you rest." Now if you reject this invitation to come to Christ, one day the same Jesus will be Judge and He will say, "Depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity." "And I saw the dead small and great stand before God" (Rev 20:12). Whoever you may be, you will have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
"And the books were opened" (Rev 20 : 12). Today your life may be like a closed book. Nobody has seen the secret sins you have committed. But they are all recorded in a book and that book is going to be opened one day. You may be saved, you may have received the Holy Spirit, but still your life may be a closed book. If your life is not an open book now, one day it will be opened. Another book, the Book of Life, is also opened. Why is it called the book of life? In a spiritual sense, all sinners are dead. This book is called the Book of Life because the names of those who got new life, the life of God, through salvation, are written in it. You may have been saved fifty years ago, you may have taken water baptism and received the Holy Spirit, and you may be living a good life. But the day you commit sin and hide it without repenting and confessing it, your name will be blotted out of the Book of Life. One Christian lady, Mary Baxter, had visions of heaven and hell. She was shocked to see in hell many Sunday School teachers, youth leaders, pastors, great preachers, prophets, singers, etc. They had been hypocrites. Dear reader, don't wait for the day of judgment to open your book.
"The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works" (Rev 20:12). Everybody is not going to have equal suffering in hell. The punishments or the judgment will differ according to each one's works. Proverbs 9:18 says that immoral people, those who commit fornication, adultery, etc. will be in the depths of hell or in the hottest place in hell. That is why David who committed sin with Bathsheba says, after God forgave him, "He delivered me out of the lowest hell." The judgment of God is going to come even on immoral thoughts and looks. So, child of God, show a zeal for purity of life.
"And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them" (Rev 20:13). Sinners and backsliders go to the places, "death" and "hell," as soon as they die, and await judgment. A person who has committed a crime is first remanded to custody before he is judged and condemned, isn't he? It's like that. "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death" (Rev 20:14). Why is it called "second death"? Death means separation. When the prodigal son returned home the father said, "This my son was dead." That is, he had been separated from the father. Physical death is the soul and spirit getting separated from this physical body. The second death is, dead people getting eternally separated from God.
The Word of God tells us what type of life people will have in hell. They will be suffering in hell in three ways. First, thinking about their past - what they lost, etc. will bring them suffering. Secondly, there is their existing suffering - what they are undergoing at the moment. Thirdly, thoughts about their future suffering - what they are going to go through, will give them suffering.
In hell people will feel sorry for all they have lost. They have lost the blessed presence of God forever. This is what really makes hell. They have lost the company of the holy angels forever. And they have lost the fellowship of the true saints. All they have now is the demons that torment them. They have lost heaven, the most blessed place in Eternity. Teir constant thought is, "O, never will heaven's gate be opened for me - even for one second!" Everyone is disappointed in hell - "I had many opportunities to come to God, to receive forgiveness, to accept Christ, but I rejected them all." The mind will be tormented with such thoughts. There is a real story in the Bible about a man who went to hell - the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke Chapter 16. The 25th verse is really a cutting verse. Abraham says to the rich man, "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things." In hell the rich man had quite a lot of time to "remember." On earth he must have been very busy - he had no time for God. In hell people will get enough time to remember how many times they rejected the counsel of the saints, how many times God had urged them to take the right water baptism, how many times God had warned them of the coming judgment, how many times God and the saints pleaded with them to give up their smoking, drinking, immorality, etc., how much money they wasted on the vanities and comforts of the world, etc. Remembering all these things in hell will be too late; it will only bring torment.
Also, the suffering one continuously undergoes in hell each moment is indescribable. There is so much fire that even if all the water in the whole world is poured into hell, the fire cannot be quenched. There's no rest or peace there. Pain in hell will be such that no words can express it. The people in hell are tormented, not only by the fire, but in a million other ways too. Every part of the body, from head to foot, will be tormented to the utmost in every possible way, every single moment. People who are suffering on earth manage to getr a little relief through at least a litle sleep, but those in hell will not have even a wink of sleep or rest for all eternity. In addition, there is the torture from "worms that die not." Isaiah 14:11 says that there will be worms under them and worms covering them all over! They cannot rid themselves of the worms as their hands and feet will be bound with fetters. They will also have to constantly keep seeing the horrifying sights of the grotesque, ugly demons and the sight of others being tortured most inhumanly. Dark smoke will suffocate them - taking each breath would be as agonizing as if one were breathing his last. The loud shrieks of the demons and the screaming and groaning and wailing of the damned souls in hell will keep ringing in their ears all the time. And imagine the awful smells one has to endure there - the strong smell of the burning sulphur, the foul stench of burning and decomposing flesh, etc! Extreme and unquenchable thirst is another unbearable suffering in hell - there being not even a drop of water. Another thing is that, althoughhell will be crowded, everyone will be lonely there. Everyone there will hate one another. Even a family of a husband, wife and children who loved one another very much while on earth, would start hating one another with perfect hatred as soon as they land in hell. Nobody will be caring, loving, or compassionate. Backsliders will have worse torment than sinners. Of backsliders we read that they shall be bound hand and foot and thrown into outer darkness. Revelation Chapter 16 says that the darkness in hell will be a tormenting fire - like darkness. Everyone will be gnashing their teeth, and cursing themselves and God for their terrible plight. Friend, if you have gone back after receiving Jesus, heed Jesus calling you back to Himself today.
Another terrible torment one has in hell is in looking to the future. Those in hell know that their misery will never have an end. When they think of their future they have nothing at all to hope for. They have lost all hope of ever receiving forgiveness for their sins, all hope of getting any mercy or help from any source, of finding comfort or blessing even in the remote future. On earth, the gates of even the worst prison are open for atleast a short time now and then. But the people in hell know that their doors, their gates will never be opened. Never will the burning chains be removed. There will be no breaking away from the suffering even after ten million ages. The sufferings are only going to increase. This very thought will give them all the more torment.
In the 16th Chapter of Luke we find some frightening facts about hell fire. The first part of the body that appears to have been tormented, as soon as the rich man entered hell, is his tongue. In the 24th verse we read he cried and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." Although the whole body was tormented, particular mention is made about the torment in the tongue. The Word of God says, "The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity." Why is it written a world of iniquity? Your tongue creates your heaven or hell. If your marriage is hell it is because your tongue is hell. If your family is hell it means your tongue is hell. How many times your tongue has set others on fire! I Peter 3:10 very clearly says that if your tongue is evil your future is going to be evil. If you often speak evil of others you can expect a grim future. Abraham's reply to the rich man's request was, "Impossibile." This shows that praying to great saints or to dead people is in vain. One of the greatest saints of the Old Testament is Abraham. But the prayer made to him was not answered.
Precious friend, you have a very precious soul. Once you close your eyes your destiny is determined and sealed. It will be too late to repent or turn to God after that. If your life is a closed book, open it today. Let heaven come into your heart right now. Get the assurance that if you close your eyes now, you will be with Jesus in heaven.
