By Gerald Inyang
“Lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.” – Hebrews 12:16.
I have had interaction with a couple of people who made light of the matters that concern their immortal soul and their eternal destination. A few years ago, one of such people said he really looked forward to being in hell because he believed it is a fun-filled place since he reasoned there will be a large population of hip hop and rap stars and so many other musicians and comedians. A lesbian also said she wants to be in hell to meet her homosexual partners and continue in her depraved lifestyle after death. These are a few of the very shocking things people say in the height of their reprobacy. Such people are indeed to be pitied because their unbelief cannot change the reality of what hell is as the Bible records and as have been confirmed by the accounts of very many afterlife experiences. What party can they enjoy in the unending inferno of the lake that burns with fire and brimstone? Can the screams of anguish of a million souls be the music that will cheer anyone condemned to such fate? What a pity that anyone would wish to experience hell for one second!
However, it does not matter what the scornful mockers fancy of what they will do in hell, the fact remains that there is only one thing that those in hell really want to do. Those in hell aren’t looking forward to any parties nor pleasures but a way out of their unending torments. They wish to repent of the sins that separated them from God and condemned them to their terrible agony. They remember all the opportunity they had to have repented of their sins and surrender their lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ and wish for just one more chance to make that decision. They would give anything and everything to have just that one more chance to repent but it is too late for them, their judgment is passed and their condemnation is sealed (Hebrews 9:27). Now they seek desperately to believe and put their trust in Jesus Christ no matter the unbelief and disdain they had for Him while they were still alive. Their case is only comparable to that of Esau who sold his birthright and having lost his father’s blessing sought to have it back with bitter tears and weeping but could not have it back. Those in hell desperately cry and seek for God’s mercy and forgiveness but they can have none of it for they rejected it when it was freely offered to them while they were alive. There is only one thing those in hell want to do, they want to repent, but they cannot because it is too late to do so.
There are a thousand ways that lead into hell but there is no way that leads out of it. No one who is cast into hell has a way to come out. It is a place of indescribable pain, sorrow and regret. About 2000 years ago, our Lord Jesus Christ told the story of two men, the rich man and Lazarus, who both died and went to spend their eternity in hell and heaven respectively (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man must have found no need for Jesus Christ while he was alive since he was deceived by his wealth and influence. In hell, he was in grave agony in the lake of fire and cried out for just a drop of water to quench his thirst but he could get no such thing. He sought God’s mercy but it was too late for him and he at last made an earnest plea for his family members who were still alive to be warned of the terrors of hell. If only we will heed this warning and turn to God today while we still have the chance, we would be saved that terrible sorrows of hell.
My friend this is the time we have to repent of our sins and turn to God. Do not mock anymore the gospel message and continue in willful disobedience to God. Do not wait to see if hell is true for some had so surmised and having gone there in the end want to be let out but cannot. Repent while you now can. Turn away from telling lies, cheating and deceiving people, wickedness and evil. Give up your illicit and immoral sexual relationship, give up fornication and adultery. Stop stealing and embezzling public funds. Say no more hateful words and abuses. Abandon your craving for the things of this world and seek the things of God. God’s ark of mercy is at this moment wide open for you if you may only come to Jesus Christ and trust Him as your Lord and Savior. Realize your danger if you fail to have this free salvation Jesus Christ purchased for you with His own blood. Cry out to God wholeheartedly now that His mercy is still available. He will save you today if you will but only come to Him.
O Christian, remain faithful to your Lord for he that put his hand on the plough and looks back is unworthy of eternal glory. You may fall sometimes but never stay down and strive to stand at all times. Repent, confess and forsake all sins you may have been overtaken. Heed the warning lest you trade your eternal glory for the fleeting pleasures of sin now. Remember that they that endure to the end shall be saved. May all who read this message run from hell today and do that one thing that those who are already in hell wish they could do.