Hell is just a Halloween fable. Isn't it?



A nationwide survey about fears reported that most people in the general population are afraid of losing their jobs or their livelihood while only eight percent of people surveyed are afraid of going to hell when they die.


What do these figures mean? If unsaved people are not afraid of going to hell, it's safe to assume either they don't know about hell or they think it's some kind of fable and don't take it seriously.


Actually, we hear very little about hell today. That's why unsaved people aren't afraid of it. Maybe it's time Christians stopped avoiding the issue and began to tell people '" yes, hell is a real place just as heaven is a real place. And hell is the most horrible place you can imagine and even more horrible than you can imagine. Heaven is the exact opposite, the most wonderful place you can image and even more wonderful.


There are people on the earth today who have died and been at the gates of hell ready to go in and somehow their lives were spared and they returned to earth to tell about it.


'Well, I don't want to get saved just so I'll miss hell,' some may say.



'My God,' said Kenneth E. Hagin, 'they wouldn't say that if they'd ever been there.' Hagin, a church member, baptized in water, but not born again, died as a young man. His spirit left his body with his mind and memory intact and fell through darkness down to the center of the earth.


He was escorted by some alien being to the very gates of hell ready to go in. He could see the flames flickering on the walls of the enclosure where he stood.



Then suddenly he was called back to the earth. You can read the details of his horrible experience in the booklet 'I went to Hell.'


Hagin said he knew if he had ever entered those gates that he would have been there for eternity. There would have been no getting out and no hope.


The Bible says people in hell are crying out and saying 'Go and tell my family members not to come to this place of torment.' (See Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus, Luke 16). People in hell have their memory intact. They know what they've done. They remember every opportunity they had on the earth to receive Jesus and know they will never have another opportunity. They have sealed their fate for eternity. They have no hope, nothing but torment. Shouldn't we as Christians be out trying to tell people '" don't go to this place.


You may ask, why would a loving God make such a place and send people there? God planned hell for satan and his angels who rebelled against God, not for man. People go there because of Adams's sin. Unless we receive Jesus, satan is our god. We have inherited that spiritual condition from Adam.


When God the Father saw that satan had caused man to sin and to lose his fellowship and his relationship with God '" He began to make provision, to bear the penalty for that sin Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was crucified, shed his blood, died, and actually went to hell in your place. The penalty for your sin has already been paid. You don't have to pay it. The debt is marked CANCELED.


One minister said it this way. It's like God has said 'Everybody has to have a red coat on to get into Heaven and not go to hell '" Here's a red coat. Put it on.' That is the provision God has made through the sacrifice of Jesus. But you're not born with that coat on. Your parents can't put it
on you. You have to choose it yourself.


You may say, 'I've not chosen satan as my god.' But Adam has already chosen for you. 'The sins of the fathers are visited on the children.' No choice on your part means you choose satan by default. And you will spend eternity where satan is '" in hell.


You may say, 'I've been good. I've not murdered or raped or fornicated or committed adultery, or lied. I belong to the church. I've been baptized in water. Will I go to hell?' Jesus said you must be born again or you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. You must receive eternal life, the life of God, into yourself. It's not your works that will get you into heaven. It's Jesus' works and His life inside of you.


You must choose to believe. You must come to God and say 'Father, I believe. I receive the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior. Forgive me and cleanse me of all sin.'


Then when you've received Jesus and been born again, begin to tell people. 'Jesus is my savior. I'm born again. I'm a new creature.' The Bible says we overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Rev. 12:11). If we believe in our heart and confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. (Rom. 10:10)


Get into the Word and into fellowship with other Christians. Find out from God's Word what God has provided for you through the sacrifice of Jesus '" not just that you don't have to go to hell '" but that you now have everything you need for this life in Jesus. Establish yourself in the Word
and begin to tell others.



Hell is a real place. It's not a fairy tale or a myth or a fable. The devil and demons are real '" not just a child's Halloween fantasy. If people really believed hell and the devil were real, they wouldn't dress their kids up in devil costumes and take eternal matters so lightly. It's serious business.



Our life on earth is short. Then we'll have eternity in one place or the other. If you know Jesus, tell those who don't know. If you can't talk to people face to face, hand out tracts. But tell people '" Hey, here's good news. You don't have to go to hell. Jesus already went there for you and paid the price. You can spend eternity in happiness and bliss, in fulfillment, in never ending fellowship with God, not because of what you've done, but because of what He's done.