Ecclesiastes 4:10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

There is no greater fear in this world than being alone. It is the same in the secular world as it is in the spiritual world. I would be lying to you if I were to say that Christians do not feel alone at times. We are human, that does not stop just because we are in Christ.

The secular world will try and service the homeless, destitute, disenfranchised but the numbers are too many for any organization or government to handle. Only God is everywhere. Only God can touch everyone. Only God can end loneliness. People have to turn to God and seek Him before that will happen.

We in Christ have fellowship, a bond which is created in Christ. This is not a replacement for God in our lives, it is the vines of the branch growing outward and providing cover, support and entanglement. It is not a choking entanglement, it is a strengthening intertwining of our lives with one another. This is why verse twelve follows today’s opening verse.

4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Threefold, intertwined, strengthening, supportive, an active part of one another’s lives.

The secular world will serve to glorify self. When they are through for the day, they go home to an empty shell of a body that is more alone than the people they just left. Good works cannot erase the emptiness inside. Only God can do that.

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

One of the more popular lies going about is that there is no hell. On one side you have the loving God advocates that say God loves so much He would never send anyone to hell. On the other side is the non-existent hell because dead is dead and then it’s over, i.e. no life after death. Various reincarnation theories avoid the issue altogether by multiple escape clauses.

My blog on resurrection dealt with those aspects, so what is the devotional all about? Why does there have to be a hell and what is it? The basic issue of why there has to be a hell comes from a proper understanding of God’s character. Which characteristic of God is responsible for hell? No, it is not justice. While we do have a just God, that characteristic is how God deals with the unresolved issues of His Holiness.

If you do not believe God is Holy, then you have a different problem, see my blog called No God. Since we already dealt with that lie, let us address the specifics of hell. Since God is Holy it is His Holiness that destroys any sin that even tries to approach Him. I’ve written extensively about how God’s characteristic of justice deals with sin. Let us reduce that down to the basics, God has resolved His issues with sin.

Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

It comes down to one and only one issue, is your name written in the book of life? If it is there, you get white robes, His righteousness and you are able to approach the most Holy God. If not, you are not covered and separated into a group that does not have access to our Holy God. So what is hell?

The company you keep.