If anyone's name was not written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire,

Revelation 20:15, NIV (1978)

One of the things that rightfully scares us is the prospect that either we or our loved ones might be going to Hell. It is a reasonable concern, for Hell is a real place of genuine punishment. As the Apostle John pointed out in the verse above, everyone whose name is not found in the Book of Life will be going there. Having pointed out the obvious, we should be quick to say that God does not want us there anymore than we want to go. So, the wise thing to do now is for us to do our absolute best not to go there.

Easy to say, but hard to do - right? 

Well, it's not as hard as we might first imagine. Look at it this way: Suppose you are driving in your car and suddenly realized that you were heading directly for a lake. If you don't stop in time, you will end up in that lake and probably drown. What do you do?

This is not a trick question, by the way. The correct answer is that you stop driving towards the lake. Then you turn around and start heading in a direction that will take you away from that lake. "Well, thanks for the advice", you might be thinking, "but isn't that rather obvious?" And the answer, of course, is that it should be. But since this is so obvious, why do you think that there are so many people who are steering straight for the lake of fire, especially since no one in their right mind wants to end up there?

And the answer is this: It's just that they are not paying attention! Either they are ignorant of what the Bible states about the certainty of Hell for those who refuse to change their direction, or they don't believe it. They can read for themselves in the Word of God that Heaven lies in the opposite direction of Hell, but they stubbornly stay on a collision course with the lake of fire. Why would they do that? I think it's because they have convinced themselves that God will "switch things around" for them at the last minute so that the road to Hell will be changed to the road to Heaven.

This is a foolish and dangerous belief to maintain, but what other explanation could there be? If we believe that the Bible is God's Word, and we believe that He is not lying about the warnings of Hell anymore than He would mislead us in His promise of Heaven, then why would we think we could head in the direction of one but then magically end up at the destination of the other?

The point of all this is that God has made both the directions to the lake of fire and to the Gates of Heaven equally plain. We don't have to worry that we are going to end up in the lake of fire if we stay on the opposite path anymore than we would worry that we were going to end up in a lake of water if we were heading in the direction of dry land. The fact is that we have a "map" that gives us clear directions to our desired destination if we will just use it. Hell is not something that God made up in order to scare us. We are told that it is impossible for God to lie, so if our plan of salvation includes that idea that God is just kidding about Hell then we need to put that childish belief behind us.

Hell is a very real place and everyone whose name is not found within the Lord's book of life really will be thrown into that lake of fire if they don't change direction before it's too late. Heaven is also a very real place and everyone whose name is found within that book of life will be saved. So, how can we be sure that our name is there? We are told in Acts 2:47 that the Lord Himself will add us to the number of those who are saved. We know that this does not occur without His grace or Jesus' shed blood, but we are also told that He adds us to that number when we have believed in Christ and called upon His name, and when have repented of our sins (changed direction) and have had our sins forgiven by having them washed away in the waters of baptism.

There are many, many people who do not accept these truths, and that is certainly their privilege. There are many people who believe that Hell is not a real place, even though it is Jesus Himself who has told us it is. Again, that is their privilege. And there are many more who believe that though they continue on the path to Hell, that God will change their direction for them and place them in Heaven anyway. Once again, that is their privilege.

But for those who will accept God's way, for those who will change their direction to the one that God has given, there will be Heaven. He has promised this and those who love Him will believe Him. And then we won't have to worry about going to Hell someday. And that, my dear brothers and sisters, is a comforting thought indeed!