A singer, I am not. Give me whatever note you need and I'll flatten it. If you have your Bibles, turn to Psalm chapter 9. One of the more popular topics, if you turn on the radio or television and tune into a televangelist or one that has some nationally syndicated something or other, this isn't a topic that's hit upon very often. If you go to a Christian bookstore and look around, you're not going to see a lot of books written about this particular topic. If I were to title this, it would be called, Things Hell Will Never Have. Because if you contemplate what things are, I like to think of what makes something up. I use water, H2O, two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. Those three things, the two parts of hydrogen and the one part of oxygen, you put those together, that makes water and that's what it is. If you add something to it or take something away from it, it's no longer water, right? I remember when my brother's youngest, Noah, was little and he would want to drink nothing but pop. I mean, just he wanted pop all the time. And one night, my mom and my dad and my brother, they were like, no, you got to drink some water. You've had enough pop today. You got to drink some water. And he didn't want it. He was pitching a fit. And I said, hey, how about some H2O? He goes, what's that? Because he was still little. He didn't know what it was yet. I think, oh, it's the best, man. Let me go get you some. H2O, man, it is just, it tastes so good. It's so refreshing. And I go, and I pour some in a cup, and I give it to him. And he drinks it, and he swallows it, and gets a sour look on his face. He goes, it's water. Yes, it is. It's water. Everything in our physical world possesses certain qualities that make it what it is, right? For instance, again, that water is two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. Any other mixture, you wouldn't have water anymore. You would have something completely different. But what something doesn't have makes it what it is too. And there are five things we're going to look at here this evening. And the Bible talks about hell quite a bit, describes hell quite a bit. Well, we're going to look at some things that hell doesn't have that the Bible talks about as well. And God created this place and it is an awful place. That's why people don't talk about it very often. It's not going to get a lot of folks in the doors, right? You talk about hell for very long. I worked with a lady in Virginia. She goes, I just, I don't want to go to church because I don't want to hear about how bad of a sinner I am. Well, you know, it's pretty critical that sin and the punishment of sin is preached because, you know, you talk about being saved, saved from what? You have to get into these things. And I believe God wanted to make hell horrible so people would be repulsed by it. So we're going to look at some things this evening that hell does not have. And we'll begin by turning to Psalm chapter 9. We'll read verse 17. The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God. So is this a pleasant topic to discuss? No. There are a lot of misconceptions about hell. We'll talk about some of them as we go along. Some people like to make jokes and wisecracks and make light of hell, and we're going to find that that's just not something one should do, and one day their jokes will be proven incorrect. But we find here in this verse, the wicked shall be turned to hell. Hell was created for the wicked. for Satan and his demons and also the wicked and unsaved who are enemies of God. All of those folks will be cast into hell. If you turn to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew 25 and we'll read verse 41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepare for the devil and his angels." So we see again just who hell was created for. The Bible teaches that all who reject Christ will wind up there. The first thing we're going to look at, the first thing that hell is never going to have will be no light. Just over a few chapters to Matthew chapter 8. You might want to hold your place towards Matthew 25 because we'll be turning very close there. Again, go backwards to Matthew chapter 8. We'll read verse 12. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out. Have you ever known casting out to be a pleasant experience? No. So we find here, the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Does this sound like a pleasant experience? I remember when my brother went off to college, he went to Moorhead State. And he came back and was visiting one weekend and we would give devotions on Sunday evenings, much like you all do on Sunday mornings. So I think this was probably his first devotion back and he was still in town for Sunday evening. And he referenced, I think it was this passage, and he talked about he was taking a science class and he had He started one semester of college and all of a sudden he thought he was really smart. You can tell him I said that. I'm not afraid of him. But anyway, he was taking a science class and he thought, you know my professor, I'm going to give you all the scientific definition of darkness. Y'all ready? And he thought he was just, he thought he was something. And he said, the absence of light. Well, thanks Einstein. I think we all knew that, but thank you for that. In hell, we find that they're cast into outer darkness. Back in Matthew chapter 22, close to where we were there in chapter 25, and we'll read verse 13. Matthew 22, 13, then said the king to the servants, bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness. There should be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And then over in second Peter chapter two, in verse number 17, These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest, to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever. So we see this mist of darkness is reserved forever. And turn over just a few pages to Jude. We'll read verses 12 and 13. Jude, verses 12 and 13. These are spots in your feasts of charity. When they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear, clouds they are without water, carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth, and without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming out of their own shame, wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Can you imagine, just for a moment, never seeing light again? Never ever seeing light. Again, all you've heard the phrase is, so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face. When we were in Philadelphia last summer, we went to the Eastern State Penitentiary because I am a dork and I like weird history stuff, so we went to Eastern State Penitentiary. And they would have their own cells, you know, and when they were taken in back in the 1800s, they were taken in with blindfolds on, and any time they were to move within the prison, they put a hood over their head. You never knew what any other prisoner looked like. You didn't know what the guards looked like. That's how they dealt with you. They put a hood over your head. They would have one hour Outside but they had a door right out their cell and on the other side of that door There was no roof, but there were four walls all around them. That's all they got Now that's just a little bit of darkness. That's just a little bit of wondering what's going on out in the world Can you imagine being in total pitch blackness all of the time? Often think of the plague of darkness that the Egyptians had to endure where it was so dark they couldn't move where they were and That's how dark it was. That's how hell is going to be. That's how it's described. Just complete darkness. I read a book a number of years ago called Tortured for His Faith, and it was about a man who lived in a Soviet country, a communist country. And he was a pastor, and they were rounding pastors up, and they were throwing them in prison. He was able to get his wife and children out, and they went somewhere else in Europe, but he was captured and put into prison. And the prison he was put into, you go into it, you don't come out alive. And he was put into a cell by himself, no windows, the door sealed shut. Complete pitch blackness for days upon end. He didn't know if it was morning. He didn't know if it was night. He didn't know what day of the week it was. He had no idea anything that was going on outside of the cell walls that he was in. Can you imagine how horrible and torturous that would be to just sit in darkness in a jail cell in a communist country and just not have any clue? day, night, no idea. You'd think that would, that does mess with your mind, but you know what he did? They developed a knocking system. and were able to knock to the cell next door on the wall and tap, almost like a Morse code, and he was preaching. And then the person would hear it and go tap on the other wall, and it was just amazing. You'd think, sitting in such darkness like that, he would just want to give up, but he was so faithful that he was preaching sermons even in the pitch blackness of his prison cell. He eventually, he was tortured a lot, he eventually found a Bible that He was standing out, lined up, and looked in a trash can, and one of the guards had confiscated a Bible from, I guess, a new prisoner coming in, and threw it in the trash, and he was able to take it, and keep it, hide it, and had it with him. And he eventually was released from this prison that no one was supposed to be able to leave. He was eventually released after enduring a lot of torture and persecution and hardships, and he still had that Bible. And you would think having endured the darkness and the hardships and the torturing that he had to live through because he was a preacher, you think maybe he would cool it for a little while once you get out of prison, right? He started having church back in his home. And this girl would come and he would preach and she would come up to him after the service and say, can I take this Bible home? He said, sure, and so she would take it home and then bring it back, and he would use it and preach, and then she would ask, can I, and this went on for several weeks. And one day he said, what are you doing? You're taking this Bible home, are you just reading it? She goes, no, I'm hand copying it. Can you imagine wanting the Bible so badly that you take it and you hand copy it because you couldn't go to the bookstore and buy one? They were illegal. You couldn't own it. She was taking it home and hand copying it. That really said something to me. It's hard to imagine just never ever seeing light, again never feeling the sun on your face. That's a good feeling, to get outside and feel the sun on your face and to feel the breeze. The lost souls have suffered in the darkness of hell for thousands of years and they are going to be tormented by the memories of light forever and forever and forever, thinking and remembering the time they had the sun shining on their face. one of God's wonderful creations. The sun shines on the just and the unjust right now, doesn't it? The lost are reaping benefits of God's blessing right now. There's going to come a time when they're not going to have this blessing of light anymore that they are taking for granted right now and are never going to feel it ever again and just tortured by the memory of the light they had when they were here on this earth. In John 3.19 it says, men love darkness rather than light. Well, guess what? That's what you pursue on this earth. One day you're going to get exactly what you pursued on this earth. And when you are in darkness forever and forever. Total, total darkness. In John chapter 8. John chapter 8 and verse 12, Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. You want to walk in the light, you're going to need Christ. There are people in this world, as they love darkness rather than light, that they don't want anything to do with Christ. They don't want anything to do with church or the Bible or God's people. In fact, they would love it if all of God's people would just be rounded up and exterminated, to be honest with you. There are people like that in this world. They hate God and hate His people and hate His Word that much. Well, one day, they're going to get what they wish for. When they're in this outer darkness, this complete pitch black darkness for all of eternity in the light of the world, Christ is not there. You don't want Him? You won't have Him. But you'll be tortured for the rest of eternity, for all of eternity. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Second Corinthians 4, we'll look at verse 4. In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. So there are a lot of people walking in this spiritual darkness, this spiritual blindness. Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. So we point you to Christ today. If you are in spiritual darkness now, we point you to the light of the world, the light of the gospel, that is, of Jesus Christ. That's where we point you. If you do not believe, you will be cast into this outer darkness. The second thing we're going to look at, we'll find in Luke chapter 16. The second thing that hell will never have. A very well-known passage of scripture in regards to the rich man and Lazarus. We're going to read Let's just start in verse 19. I was just going to read verse 24. Let's go back a little bit. There was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. There was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried." Notice here in verse 23, "'And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.'" What's this rich man's response? Now there are a lot of people who joke and say, well, you know, when I go to hell, I'll be there with my buddies and we'll be playing cards and we'll give the devil a run for his money and they make all these jokes and make light of hell. Is that what is described to us here in Luke chapter 16? Look at verse 23, it says, being in torments. You ever been tormented? probably not anywhere close to this degree. Only people in hell understand this level of torment. We don't even understand what torment is. Verse 24, and he cried. When's the last time you cried? Can you imagine being in this darkness? Remember, we're in outer darkness, but this torment's here. And said, Father Abraham, well that's a change of tune, isn't it? A little too late though. Have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame." So we find that hell is not going to have any liquid. When I'm out doing yard work, I have, actually it's out in the car right now, I usually, when we go on a trip, I'll fill it full of water. I drink a lot of water. I probably drink too much water. I drink a lot of water. Coffee, sweet tea, and water, those are my three go-tos. I drink a lot of water. When I'm cutting grass, I'll, you know, about halfway, I'll stop. get a drink of water, and I love just ice cold water. I love it. I want it as cold as I can possibly get it. Rachel, on the other hand, she'll just go out in the garage where we keep the bottles of water and just grab a warm one and start drinking it, and I think that's just, there's something wrong there. Pray for her, that's just, that's not right. Water is supposed to be ice cold. There's just nothing as refreshing as a cold drink of water. Can you imagine being like this rich man here who, being in torments, the one thing he's asking for is to send Lazarus down and just get one drop of water on his tongue because he is tormented in the flames of hell. And in this darkness, remember, can you imagine being in the flames of hell but in pitch black darkness? All you want is that cool drink of water. Talk about distress and talk about torment. I can only imagine just how dry and parched they are. The swollen tongue where they just beg for one drop of water. And it's never going to be satisfied. They can't just walk over to the faucet and get a cool drink of water or go to the refrigerator and get some ice and get some ice water to quench their thirst. Forever. Parched. It's part of this torment. But we find also here in verse 23, as he lifted up his eyes being in torments, the third thing we want to look at. There's no laughter. Torment means you're absolutely tormented and miserable. You're not in a good mood. You're tormented. It's dragging you down. You know there is no hope, there's no relief, there's no way out. That's torment. In this flame forever, in this darkness forever. We find there in verse 24 at the very end where the rich man says, for I am tormented in this flame. We read just a little bit ago in Matthew where it talked about there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That is not laughter, that is pain, agony and despair forever and forever. Same thing in Matthew 13 and verse 42, it uses the same phrasing, wailing and gnashing of teeth. It's described there as a furnace of fire. but also again in Matthew 23, which we read earlier, weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let's go to Revelation chapter 14. We'll read verse 11. And the smoke of their torment Are you sensing a theme here? Over and over we've seen the word torment. The smoke of their torment ascendeth up. And often, you know, when we're in a bit of discomfort, right now it's usually pretty temporary, right? yesterday after the wedding, you know, it started in the morning time getting things ready. And then we had the ceremony. We have pictures in the early after morning or late morning, early afternoon. Then we had the ceremony, had the whole food over. We performed the ceremony and had to clean everything up. Let me just tell you, at the end of the day, I was ready to take these shoes off. I was in torment in these dress shoes. My dogs were barking and it felt good to take them off. I think Rachel was saying the same thing about the shoes she had on. That's just a little bit of discomfort, right? It's a little painful. You just can't wait to get it off and just put your feet up in rocks. The torment never stops in hell. There's no kicking your shoes off and getting a cold drink of water and enjoying some nice sunlight. It's gone. There's no laughter. There's no being there with your buddies and cracking jokes. It's torment. Torment all of the time. The smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever. And they have no rest, day or night. I'm going to tell myself, I'm the one that told Brother Jared, I'm going home to take a nap. I usually don't take a Sunday afternoon nap. I dozed off a little bit, not much this afternoon. If I take a nap, it throws me off at night. If you can't tell, I'm a little bit hyper. If I took a long nap, I would never go to sleep tonight. Can you imagine no rest day or night? You just go, constant, torment, over, all, all the time, torment, torment, torment, and it never stops and there's no rest. It's just constant. who worship the beast in his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." So just no rest, day or night. I don't know about you, but I used to work sometimes 80 hours a week, especially around election time. I get a little bit grumpy. There's an Amish restaurant in Sarasota called Yoder's and we would stop there and it's one of our favorite places to eat. And they were on man versus food and he went there and had the pie. And we're sitting there eating one day and I look over on the wall and of course they had some decor on the wall and the sign on the wall said the best times in life are spent doing nothing. Amen. If I have a chance to do nothing for a little while, I will jump at that chance. It doesn't happen a lot, but it's nice to be able to sit and do nothing. Can you imagine just the constant torment, the never-ending, it just never stops. No rest, no laughter. If you ever hear someone making light of hell, remember these verses. Proverbs 17 has the verse where it says, a merry heart doeth good like a medicine. There's no medicine down there. There's no merry hearts down there. In John chapter 8. The fourth thing we're going to look at is no liberty. John 8, verse 36. If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. So those who are saved through Christ are free forever. What's the opposite of that? What's the flip side of this? And second, Thessalonians chapter 1. We're going to find those rejecting Christ are fettered forever. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, we'll look at verses 8 and 9. taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." So we see this casting into this outer darkness, being punished forever in hell, chained down there in this flame, Can you imagine being in this flame and never just burning up? But you're just constantly roasting all of the time in this flame. Fettered down here in hell, no escape, no exit sign. There's no way out. You're there to be punished forever and forever and forever over in Revelation 20. In verse 10, the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet are shall be tormented day and night forever and forever. We just heard that same phrase forever and forever just a moment ago. The pain will be forever. The darkness will be forever. The thirst will be forever. The languishing and torment will be forever and forever. There's, again, no escape. It's not like Alcatraz where you can have some miraculous escape. There was a prisoner at Eastern State Penitentiary who had tunneled his way out. The hole is still there, you know, and he got all the way on the other side of the wall. He was captured. He didn't get very far, but he still tried. There's just no way out. No escape. Once a person arrives in hell, it is forever. So there's no liberty. And fifthly, over in John chapter six, We're going to look at no one who isn't lost. So it's going to be all lost people there. There aren't going to be any saved people there. John 6 and verse 47, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. The exact opposite of this everlasting torment, right? This everlasting punishment. Everlasting life. This is the only way. to avoid hell is through the Lord Jesus Christ. Just over a couple chapters in John chapter 10 in verse 28, and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Why do I believe the security of the believer right here? No one can, not even ourselves. We can't even pluck ourselves out of his hand. Once we're saved, we are always saved. Now do we, I know sometimes people think, well you Baptist, you can just, you believe you can live any old way you want to and still go to heaven. Well, the Bible also says, shall we continue in sin? The words used are God forbid. We're to strive to live a holy life. We're going to sin, I understand that, but we have a responsibility to live a holy life. We have this eternal life where they have eternal destruction. And I'm so thankful that no one can pluck us out of his hand, not even myself. In Luke chapter 13, verse three, I tell you, nay, But except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." So that's the opposite of this eternal life that we were just reading about there in John chapter 6 and in John chapter 10. In the latter part of verse 36 of John chapter 3 it says, "...he that believeth not the Son shall not see life." But the wrath of God abideth on him. And finally in Revelation chapter 20. Revelation 20 and verse 15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So in hell, there'll be no light, no liquid, no laughter, no liberty, and no one who isn't lost. Absolute, no hope at all. Just being in torments for all of eternity. So the only thing I can say is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.