FromNowUntilForeverBook8.5x5.5 REV.indd

anticipate joyous fellowship with Jesus, angels and other saints in their afterlife, the unsaved can expect nothing but loneliness and isolation. Touring a prison recently, I was shown the tiny, solitary confinement cells reserved for unruly inmates. For extended periods of time, they remain isolated, without media, inmate interaction, and family visits. Obviously, this is viewed as ex- treme punishment, otherwise, why would it serve to deter bad behavior? Likewise, banishment and separation are part of the extreme sentence that awaits unbelievers. Hell is characterized by unending hopelessness. What beyond hope keeps us going on this fallen, sin-soaked planet? As the rain pours down, we anticipate sunny days. As the winter winds blow and trees stand gray and bare, we can anticipate the warmth and growth to come. We struggle through the fever and pain of the flu, knowing that recovery is just days away. The loneliness of time spent apart from those we love gets quickly pushed aside by the thought of reuniting. We toil away at difficult and demanding jobs day after day, week after week, month after month, eagerly anticipating a much-needed vacation or well-deserved retirement. While still alive on earth, nearly everything can be taken from us but hope. In hell, however, even that gets stripped away. In 1927 the Coast Guard cutter USS Paulding rammed a Navy S-4 submarine off the coast of Massachusetts.The crew of the vessel became trapped in an underwater prison of death. Great lengths were taken to rescue those on board, but ultimately, they all failed. Near the end of the tragedy, a diver heard tapping on the steel wall of the vessel. He placed his helmet next to the side of the sunken sub and recognized Morse code. One of the doomed sailors repeatedly spelled out the question, “Is . . . there . . . any . . . hope?” 124

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