To Destroy Both Soul & Body In Hell

Jill is a three-year old who constantly talks back to her mother. Drake is a twelve-year old who is sent to the principal’s office at least once a week because he disregards the class rules. Charles is a sixteen year old who already has a record with the police because he refused to comply with a police officer’s orders when pulled over for speeding. Sue is twenty-seven and about to lose her third job because she refuses to get to work on time.

These situations could be multiplied many times over in our society. Each case represents a lack of respect for authority. From an early age, children must be taught to fear, that is, respect and reverence, those who are in charge. If this is not done, the child will grow up constantly disregarding boundaries and ignoring rules. When authority figures confront them, they will have to deal with a disrespectful, belligerent individual. In adulthood, the rebel will continue to experience problems. His lack of fear for authority will cause many difficulties in his daily affairs of life.

When a person fails to fear human authority, it usually carries over into the person's spiritual life as well. The person does not fear God. He has no regard for God's laws that are found in the pages of the Bible. He will laugh and scoff at anyone who tries to point him in the direction of obedience to the will of God.

Those who have no fear of God are in for a big surprise on the Last Day. They will find out that God is not an abstract concept. They will learn He is not a mythical being. They will find out that He is a real being. They will learn that He is the Governor of the Universe. They will learn that it is with Him they have to do. At that time, it will be too late. Their ungodly actions will cause God to pronounce the sentence of eternal condemnation upon them. They will hear the words: “Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Dear reader, all men must learn to fear God. This fear involves a healthy respect for who God is and what He can do. This fear manifests itself in submission to God. When a man fears God, the commandments of God found in Holy Scripture become a vital part of the person’s life.

A healthy respect for God can be developed when one looks at the ultimate consequence of rebelling against God, the destruction of body and soul in hell. The Bible reveals the horrible realities of this place.

- Outer darkness: “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness” (Matt. 25:30).

- Weeping and gnashing of teeth: “…there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 25:30).

- Fellowship with evil, especially the devil and his angels: “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).

- Everlasting punishment: “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment” (Matt. 25:46).

- Torment: “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 16:24).

- The sting of memory: “But Abraham said, Son remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou are tormented” (Luke 16:25).

- Indignation, wrath, tribulation, and anguish: “But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil; of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile” (Rom. 2:8-9).

- Separation from God: “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (2 Thess. 1:7-9).

These are some of curses of the place called hell. If contemplated by honest and rational thought, it is not a place to which one longs to go. Dear reader, don’t go to this place. Heed the words of our Lord Jesus Christ that are recorded in Matthew 10:28. He says: “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.”