Why the Doctrine of Hell Is No Laughing Matter

When sinners stand before God at the great white throne, they will realize the name and the renown and the glory of Christ is a big deal. They will be standing before the sovereign God of the universe.

REVELATION 20:12-13

Acts 10:34 teaches that “God doesn’t show favoritism.” There will be no ethnic, social, or economic discrimination at the great white throne. Now, I do believe there will be a spiritual discrimination. And though good Bible students disagree, I also think there is a distinction between the great white throne judgment and what is called the judgment seat of Christ. Jesus Christ is the Judge at both. However, those who are judged and for what they are judged is radically different, as shown in the following chart:

John here only sees “the dead” (i.e., the spiritually dead; see Eph 2:1-3), those who died apart from Christ. They are called “the dead” four times in these verses. The words “dead” or “death” appears a total of seven times. Further, it is “the great and the small, standing before the throne.” One’s status in this life will have no bearing at this judgment. John then sees books (plural) opened. These are the books of works, which contain every action, thought, and emotion of all unsaved persons. To say it is something akin to a heavenly video recorder is not enough. It is more than that. In fact, the theology of a comprehensive judgment for all persons finds repeated biblical support:

Wouldn’t God have found this out, since He knows the secrets of the heart? (Ps 44:21)

For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil. (Eccl 12:14)

For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done. (Matt 16:27)

For nothing is concealed that won’t be revealed, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known and come to light. (Luke 8:17)

On the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus. (Rom 2:16)

Because their name was “not found written in the book of life” (20:15) and because in unbelief they rejected the perfect imputed righteousness of Christ, they now stand spiritually naked, fully exposed before the all-seeing, omniscient Judge of the universe. And no one escapes, as verse 13 makes clear. The sea, often an image of the evil turmoil of this world system, forfeits its dead. Death, that which claims the body, gives up its dead. Hades, that which claims the soul, gives up its dead. With resurrected bodies fit for hell, peoples from every corner of the earth will stand before righteous King Jesus.

Verse 12 tells us an important theological truth: the spiritually dead are “judged according to their works by what was written in the books [of works].” Verse 13 reinforces this truth: “[A]ll were judged according to their works.” Here is a theological principle we must not miss: At the great white throne, every single person will be judged fairly and equally. But the people there will not all receive the same penalty and punishment. Everyone will be “thrown into the lake of fire” (20:15; 21:8), but there will be varying degrees of punishment and suffering. You see, revelation brings responsibility. The more you know and reject, the greater and more severe is your judgment. You may ask where such an idea comes from, and the answer is simple and important: from Jesus. Hear the words of Christ:

If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town. I assure you: It will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. (Matt 10:14-15)

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago! But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you. (Matt 11:21-24)

He also said in His teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes, and who want greetings in the marketplaces, the front seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher punishment.” (Mark 12:38-40)

Yes, there will be degrees of torment in the lake of fire, but do not be deceived. Everyone in hell will suffer terribly in a place where no good thing is present. And why is no good thing present? Because God is not there in His grace, love, and mercy. Randy Alcorn is right: “The unbeliever’s ‘wish’ to be away from God turns out to be his worst nightmare” (“Banished”). C. S. Lewis would add, “To enter heaven is to become more human than you ever succeeded in being on earth; to enter hell is to be banished from humanity” (Problem of Pain, 127–28).

REVELATION 20:14-15

Human language is incapable of describing both the glories of heaven and the horrors of hell. Take all the images that appear in the Bible, including “the lake of fire” (20:14-15) and “the lake that burns with fire and sulfur” (21:8), multiply it ten billion times, and you will still not give an adequate description of those who experience the second death. Jonathan Edwards tried to illustrate the horror:

The pit is prepared. The fire is made ready. The furnace is now hot, ready to receive them. The flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit has opened her mouth under them. . . . O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in. (“Sinners”)

Christians, too, should consider the peril of hell and be spurred towards faithfulness in missions and evangelism:

It is an unworthy motive to preach on hell to frighten people into the family of God. . . . We preach it because it tenders the hearts of the Christians and creates within them a concern for the lost people. . . . No redeemed child of God can look through the eyes of the scriptures at the awful glaring destiny of the lost and not have a grave concern about the sinners on their way to eternal damnation. . . . The mantle of the prophet falls upon the shoulders of a preacher who can look through the eyes of this great doctrine at a lost world. (Autrey)

“Death and Hades” (i.e., body and soul joined together) are cast into hell, the lake of fire. “This is the second death.” Spiritual death. Eternal death. Permanent separation from God forever. Alone. Trapped. Imprisoned. No way out. No second chance. What an awful and great punishment! Yes, in one sense God is there (see Ps 139). However, the lost will have no sense of His gracious presence, only His terrible wrath.

Finding their names absent from the book of life, they are all, each and every one, “thrown into the lake of fire.” Language like this leaves no room for any form of universal salvation, a second chance, or annihilation of the wicked. This is the eternal infliction of punishment resulting in the physical and spiritual and mental misery mentioned by Jesus (Matt 25:41,46). The wicked will be tormented without rest, day and night, forever (Rev 14:11), for “it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment” (Heb 9:27). This day is coming, and it will be impossible to avoid it.

Dorothy Sayers was a close friend of C. S. Lewis. She died in 1957. When it comes to the doctrine of hell, she was filled with insight and wisdom. We do well to consider her words:

There seems to be a kind of conspiracy, especially among middle-aged writers of vaguely liberal tendency, to forget or to conceal, where the doctrine of hell comes from. One finds frequent references to the “cruel and abominable doctrine of hell,” or “the childish and grotesque mediaeval imagery of physical fire and worms . . .”

But the case is quite otherwise; let us face the facts. The doctrine of hell is not “mediaeval”: it is Christ’s. It is not a device of “medieval priestcraft” for frightening people into giving money to the church: it is Christ’s deliberate judgment on sin. The imagery of the undying worm and the unquenchable fire derives, not from “medieval superstition,” but originally from the Prophet Isaiah, and it was Christ who emphatically used it. . . . One cannot get rid of it without tearing the New Testament to tatters. We cannot repudiate Hell without altogether repudiating Christ. (Matter of Eternity, 86)

Accordingly, the great patristic preacher John Chrysostom wisely advised, “If we think always of hell, we shall not soon fall into it” (Homilies, 476). And Charles Spurgeon would add, “Think lightly of hell, and you will soon think lightly of the cross. . . . He who does not believe that God will cast unbelievers into hell will not be sure that He takes believers into heaven” (“Future Punishment”).

In an interview the great heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali said, “The most important thing about life is what’s gonna happen when you die. Are you gonna go to heaven or hell, that’s eternity.” He then added, “[It] just scares me to think I’m gonna die one day and go to hell” (“World Heavyweight Champion”). Muhammed Ali is wise to have such a fear, because the doctrine of hell is no laughing matter.