Is Hell Real?

“And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And 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.” Luke 16:23-24

This scripture came to mind this week when I saw an article on Facebook that said, “Pope Francis says Hell does not exist”, so I clicked on the article to find these words. (“There is no hell where the souls of sinners suffer in eternity”, Pope Francis was quoted as saying in a Thursday interview with Italian daily La Repubblica. Francis said: “after death, the souls of people who repent are pardoned by God and join in his contemplation, “but those who do not repent, and therefore cannot be pardoned, disappear.”) Now as a Baptist Pastor and as a Christian in general I would never look to the Pope for bible commentary, words of wisdom, or even biblical truth, however, you would think even the Catholics could get this right, but as you can see even the Pope refuses the simple truths of the bible. I think this shows the pure evil ignorance of the Catholics and reason for the people to make a mass exit from Catholicism today. But, they will not and when they all die, they will find out that “hell” is a real place just as the rich man did when he died. I’m not going to spend my time on Catholicism except to point out their pure ignorance on biblical issues. This is absolute proof that all the education the world has to offer will not make you literate in God’s word. Just because a person has a Ph.D. does not make them smarter than an “old uneducated country boy”. God calls the weaker vessels of the earth and makes them bible intelligent. “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty…And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are…That no flesh should glory in his presence.  (1 Corinthians 1:27 - 29) Folks, you do not need a Ph.D. nor do you need a great biblical education to know that hell is real and all lost people will enter the eternal fires of hell when they die, even many who call themselves Christians. Matthew penned these words, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) and please notice God sends them there because they do not believe in Jesus Christ as their Saviour. “but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Lost souls like the Pope teach what their evil heart tells them to preach, they do not recognize biblical truth as fact. God said in Matthew, “But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up…Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.  (Matthew 15:13 - 14) Jesus said in Revelations these words, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works…And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death…And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.  (Revelation 20:13 - 15) Folks, people who are not taught by the Holy Spirit do not understand the bible. “For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.” (Isaiah 28:26) While a seminary can train a person in most everything aspect of a church function, they cannot give biblical knowledge to lost people, nor can lost people make sense of the bible. James penned these words, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.  (James 1:17 - 18) Apparently Pope Francis is not a believer in Jesus Christ because he has said many very ignorant things about the scriptures that should be basic teachings. Follow him and people like him in biblical teachings and you to will see that hell is a real and a horrible place. As God said, “And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” Please read these scriptures, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved…He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  (John 3:17 - 18) Hell is real and all who do not trust Jesus Christ as their Saviour will enter it when they die, will you find it, I hope not.