Saved From Hell = Life of Gratitude: At least it should!

What is so terrible about Hell anyways?
Three times in Mark 9, Jesus describes the torments of Hell as a place "where their worm does NOT die, and the fire is NOT quenched." What a horrific thought! The thought we entertain for the majority of our lives is the eternality of heaven and what a wondrous thought! But oh, if we would consider just for a moment what awaits those who do not repent and trust Christ for salvation. They do not have any hope for heaven or any comfort to anticipate. Their only promise is found in an eternity of torment in Hell, where pain and anguish (physically, mentally and spiritually) will never cease to exist. That is all that awaits an unbeliever. The next time you begin to think about what joy a Christian has to look for eternally in heaven; first consider what would have been your home for eternity, if it had not been for the shedding of Christ's blood. It would have been Hell, forever. When we come to see not just what we have been freed for but all that we have been rescued from, our lives will become springboards of gratitude toward God. We will seek to be transformed into the image of Christ and we will be earnestly seeking to share what a great salvation we have been given to those who are destined for eternal torment. To better grasp the terror and eternality of Hell, John Bunyan wrote,

"In Hell thou shalt have none but a company of damned souls with an innumerable company of devils to keep company with thee. While thou art in this world the very thought of the devils appearing to thee makes thy flesh to tremble and thy hair stand upright on thy head. But O what wilt thou do when not only the supposition of the devils appearing but the real society of all the devils of Hell will be with thee; howling, roaring and screeching in such a hideous manner that thou will be even at thy wits end and ready to run stark mad again for anguish and torment. If after 10,000 years an end should come, there would be comfort. But here is thy misery; here thou must be forever. When thou seest what an innumerable company of howling devils thou art amongst, thou shalt think this again; this is my portion forever. When thou hast been in Hell so many thousand of years as there are stars in the firmament or drops in the sea or sands on the seashore, yet thou has to lie there forever. Oh this one word 'ever' how will it torment thy soul. A many are in the net moving toward that furnace of fire."

Think about these things. Mourn for those whose eternity lies in Hell, but do not mourn only. Praise God for the wondrous salvation He provided and declare to the world that "Jesus is the way the truth and the life."