God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
Five times in this passage Christ speaks about the fire of Hell that will not and cannot be "quenched." It is very clear that this fire will "never be quenched." Christ twice uses the word asbestos which means 'not extinguished, perpetual, not to be quenched.' He also uses another term three times which is sbennumi. It means 'extinguish' or 'to go out' and He clearly states each time that it will "not" be extinguished. By using two different terms about the same fire and the same Hell Christ makes Himself perfectly and clearly understood that this is eternal fire.
There are those who like to believe that this fire will one day be extinguished and be no more but Christ taught that this would never happen. Who are we to believe?
But is this eternal fire literal fire? The Rich man Christ spoke of certainly thought that
the fire of Hell was literal for in Hell he cried out: "...have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." This was a man who knew the fire of Hell was real and who would have been glad for just a drop of water on his tongue.
In Matthew 13 Christ gave the parable of the wheat and the tares growing together until the the harvest time which represented the end of the world. He said: "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world" (v40). After stating in the parablle that the tares, which represent sinners, will be burnt He goes on to explain the interpretation of the parable by stating that the Angels "shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth" (v42). In other words Christ not only used fire in the parable but went on to explain and interpret the fire in the parable as a representation of real fire by which wicked men and woman will be punished without end.
This is the Christ who came into the world seeking sinner's. He so loved the world that He gave His life as a sacrifice at Calvary that we might be forgiven, saved, redeemed, justified, and delivered from the fire of an eternal Hell. In the above teachings and warnings He was not playing games or playing on emotions. Neither did these warning in any way contradict His character of love, grace and mercy. He was speaking the truth in love. He was seeking to save men from a real place, a terrible place, a place of literal fire. Hell was made for Satan and his demons - not man. But if man die's in His sin without accepting the love of God and the forgiveness of Christ he will suffer the penalty of His sins.
Again Christ said: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Mt.10:28). Again here is a clear command to fear Him that can cast men into such a Hell. We should fear God. That is what Christ is telling us. This is not a subject to be silent on. This is not something that Christians should not mention or avoid. Quite the opposite. Paul could say that "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (II Cor.5:11) and Jude said "And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh" (Jude 1:23).
This fire is eteral fire, literal fire, tormenting fire...and the only means of escape is to repent and turn from your sins and to trust only in the precious Blood of Jesus Christ which will wash away all of your sin and make you perfectly clean.