Contrary to popular belief, there is a door to hell.
Turkmenistan is a flat, very arid country in Central Asia. In the 1970s an oil rig to drill petroleum was set up not far from the village of Derweze. After a couple of months of drilling, quite unexpectedly a giant sinkhole opened up beneath the oil rig. The oil rig disappeared completely into the earth and all that could be seen was a round shaped divot 50 feet deep, 100 feet wide and 200 feet long.
Fortunately, no human life was lost in the incident. However, a large volume of methane gas began escaping from the sinkhole and entering into the atmosphere. Concerned about the health of nearby villagers, engineers figured they could get rid of the natural gas by burning it away. The gas was ignited, and red and orange flames leaped up towards the sky. The sides of the hole from which the gas was emanating glowed bright red. Forty years later the pit is still burning as fiercely as the day it was ignited. It turned out that what engineers thought was a small pocket of natural gas was an almost limitless supply.
Locals began to call the site “The Door to Hell.” Hardy tourists even began to travel to see it. Some walk up to the edge and look over the side to peer into the glowing pit. That is a foolhardy thing to do because if the ground, which looks none too stable, gave way at the edge and a person fell into the pit, there would be no getting out.
Although that burning site, with its smoke and fire and the zero probability of escape if fallen into, is an appropriate picture of hell, it is not the real thing. The real thing is even more dreadful. It is the place where souls who have never come to repentance and faith in God will go when they die. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:1717The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. (Psalm 9:17)).
The real door to hell is simply the death of a sinner. Death is the door through which sinners will pass into a lost eternity. There is a door to hell, and sadly because life is so short and uncertain it is not far from any who are living without a saving faith in God. Once a sinner passes through that door, there will be no escaping the eternal punishment of hell.
The time to escape is in this life. This is done by turning to God through Jesus Christ, God’s Son. God has given us this very moment to make the all-important decision to trust Christ. “I am the door,” the Lord Jesus said. “By Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)).
The Lord Jesus went to the cross and offered up His life as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:2929The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)). Because of what He did at Calvary’s cross, all who now trust Him receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. It is by faith that we pass through Christ the door and find salvation for our souls.
There is a real door to hell, and it is not in Turkmenistan. It is at the terminal, or end, of every person’s life that never comes to love and know God through Jesus Christ. Wouldn’t you rather pass, by faith, through Christ the door into eternal life and joy forever?
There’s another unpopular and unseen reality that you need to know about, and it is presented in Beware!