I’m going to cite what are probably the three most in depth Scriptures on judgment day for unbelievers and the reality of Hell. Note the following points in their appropriate colors:
Hell is eternal.
Hell is a place of punishment.
Hell is fair.
Matthew 25
41"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
42for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
43I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'
44"Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'
45"Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
46"These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
2 Thessalonians 1
6For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
7and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
8dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
9These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
10when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed--for our testimony to you was believed.
Revelation 20
10And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.
12And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.
14Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Hell lasts forever. It is not a temporary place of punishment like purgatory. The bible doesn’t teach purgatory, it teaches a burning lake of fire that last forever and ever (literally into the ages of the ages). It is not a correctional facility designed for man’s good. It is a place of God’s wrath and anger in which he justly punishes and torments the sinner. They don’t burn up, or cease to be, they continue under judgment.
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If all this is true, one final and important consideration should come up: Hell is fair.
I’ve heard people talk about how Hell is fair because its door is “locked from the inside” and even when men are given a chance to repent in the face of judgment they still won’t. This is true according to the Scriptures. The wrath of God brings out even more anger and hostility from man, not repentance (Rev. 16:9). So in this sense eternal punishment is fair, because men don’t repent in Hell.
However, the primary reason why Hell is fair – even when it is as severe and everlasting as it is, is because man’s sin really is that bad. If the bible says God is a righteous judge who deals justly and fairly (Gen. 18:25, Ps. 97:2), and that hell is eternal (as seen above), then we can know the punishment fits the crime in and of itself. End of story. Hell is fair, because everything God does is fair. Men deserve any judgment they get (Rev. 16:6).
You may not have committed an infinite number of sins, but your finite sins have been committed against an infinitely holy and good and worthy God; because of this you deserve everlasting punishment, one of infinite duration. The crime you’ve committed is unimaginably wicked and horrid. We can’t even begin to comprehend what how evil sin is and how good and Holy God is. If man could see him for a moment in the fullness of his deity and awesome nature every hell-hating mouth we be stopped. This will happen on judgment day. A day is coming in which God will vindicate his holiness and justice, in which he will say to man, “You thought I was just like you…” (Ps. 50:21).
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Here is a sermon about Hell that I recommend: "Hell is Necessary" by Tim Conway.
O thank God today if you are not on your way to this factual, final, and fair place the bible calls Hell.
