"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better to enter heaven with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands.  If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better to enter heaven with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet.  And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out.  It is better to enter the Kingdom of God half blind than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 'Where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out.'" Mark 9:43-48 (New Living Translation).

 

"Go to hell!"  "My life is hell."  "I've been through hell."  "It was hell on earth."  We've all heard these expressions in which the word "hell" is used to describe a bad experience or tough time.  But the truth is that hell is far worse than anything we can ever imagine or endure on this earth.  It is a thousand times worse than the most horrible nightmare we could ever dream.  There is no book that Stephen King could write that would equal the horrors of hell.

 

You don't want to go there.

 

Jesus describes hell as a place where there is unquenchable fire.  As I thought of this, I remember just a couple of weeks ago burning my hand while cooking out on the grill.  The fire was going really good and I got my hand too close to it.  The pain was immediate.  I quickly withdrew my hand and put cold water on it.  But imagine my hand being pushed into the flames and being held there.  The pain would be unimaginable and unbearable.  That's what hell is like.

 

It is a fire that never goes out.  It is pain that never stops.  It is agony that never ceases and anguish that is never over.  There will be no rescue and no fire fighters will ever be able to extinguish the flames.  The fire burns forever and ever and ever.  The very concept is beyond our ability to comprehend.  Suffice to say, "You don't want to go there."  Don't even think about it.  Don't joke about it.  It isn't funny.  Nothing you can ever imagine is even remotely as bad as hell.  You've never been through hell on earth - - not even close.  You don't know what you're saying when you say this.  You don't even begin to imagine the pain and torture of hell, and neither do I.

 

Jesus says it is a place where "the worm never dies."  He is quoting Isaiah 66:24 where the prophet describes a scene of dead bodies eaten with worms.  The dead bodies are the people who rebelled against God and refused to repent.  The "worms" are maggots.  So Jesus is describing hell in some of the most gruesome terms.  He says it will be a place where people will not only be burned with unquenchable fire from without, but eaten by maggots from within and the maggots will never die; they won't be killed by the flames.

 

I know.  It's disgusting and graphic, isn't it?  But that's hell.  And Jesus isn't teaching about it here to gross us out or make us sick.  He's teaching about it to keep us from ever going there.  In fact, he loves us so much that he died on a cross and rose again to keep us from having to go there.  But sin can send us there if we're not careful.  If we live a life of sin and never repent or turn to God for salvation, we are headed there.

 

In the context, Jesus is specifically referring to the sin of pride.  Remember the apostles were arrogantly discussing who was the greatest among them (See Mark 9:33-37)?  That pride led them to reject and mistreat others who weren't of their "elite" group (see Mark 9:38-41). 

 

So Jesus has pride in view when he speaks of hell.  He is warning us against self-indulgent conceit that can send us there.  He is also warning us against any sin in our lives that has enslaved us.  He tells us that we need to take extreme measures to free ourselves of sin that could eventually send us to hell.  This is what he's talking about when he speaks of cutting off a hand or foot, or gouging out an eye.  He doesn't mean that we should literally mutilate our bodies.

 

What he's saying is that if we have sin in our lives that is keeping us from God, or making us backslide away from our faith, or stopping us from accepting Christ for salvation, we must take whatever measures are necessary to forsake it.  No amount of pleasure or self-gratification is worth going to hell over.

 

If there is a relationship you have to end to stay out of hell - end it.  If there is a habit you have to break - break it.  If there is a place you must leave to avoid sinning - leave it.  If there is a job you must quit - quit it.  If there is a support group you must join to overcome an addictive sin in your life - join it.  If there is medical help you require to unshackle yourself from soul-damning iniquity - then get it.  If there is a filter for your computer that you need to buy in order to avoid seeing images that draw you into sin - than buy it.  If you need to throw the television into the trash because it constantly drags you into sin - then throw it.  If there are people you hang out with that drag you away from God and into sin - forsake them.  If you own music or videos that inspire sinful thoughts in your mind and points you down the wrong path away from God - trash them.  Forget how much it cost you to buy them, it will cost you far more to keep them!  If there is pride in your heart that is making you too stubborn to fully embrace Christ - crucify it by any means necessary.

 

Whatever it takes; whatever it costs; whatever you must do to embrace God and stay out of hell " do it" now - today.  Don't wait one more second.  Embrace Jesus fully "now" right now.  Don't make any more excuses.  Don't put it off.  Don't rationalize or try to think it over anymore.  Just do it!  Embrace him!  He alone can save you from hell.  And you don't want to go to hell.

 

For in hell the fire is never quenched, and the maggots never die.