Revelation 20:10, "They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever!" Imagine what it would be like, to be in Hell for an hour! What a sobering call to reflection! Even a fleeting thought of an eternity under the wrath of Almighty God, ought to arrest our hearts and awaken our consciences. Hell is not a metaphor or a scare tactic--it is a real place, a place of justice, a place prepared for the devil and his demons, and for all who die outside of saving union with Christ. To be in Hell for an hour would be to taste the outer darkness where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth! (Matthew 22:13). It would be to feel the full force of God's holy hatred for sin, without a drop of mercy to soften the blow. In this life, the wicked sip from God's kindness--sunshine, breath, family, pleasure. But in Hell, all these common graces are forever withdrawn. It is to be shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power (2 Thessalonians 1:9), to face the righteous punishment for every evil thought, word, and deed! One hour in Hell--how unbearable! Yet Scripture speaks not of one hour, or even one lifetime, but of eternity. The punishment does not purify; and it does not end. It is "eternal destruction" (2 Thessalonians 1:9), "eternal fire" (Jude 7), and "eternal punishment" (Matthew 25:46). The worm never dies. The fire is never quenched (Mark 9:48). And the soul, still conscious, bears the weight of God's vengeance, without hope of relief. Why did Spurgeon urge us to imagine such a thing? Not to cause despair, but to magnify the Gospel. When we glimpse even faintly, the horrors from which we have been rescued--the grace of Christ shines a