Hell, Jesus graphically describes, is Gehenna, the cesspool of Jerusalem. Here demonic rituals took place (Jer 7) sacrificing to Molech the god of human sacrifice. This graphic, gruesome, and grisly place depicts hell both physically and spiritually. As a physical place, cesspools depict perfectly what hell is like. Worse than to see such a place is to sink and be swallowed up in the mire. Enticed then seduced, thinking of the past pleasures and powers, we become trapped, swamped, and debauched. We are powerless. Fear controls. We are in chains. Evil ecstasy possesses us. Ask anyone steeped in sin. They are addicted and cry out but feel absolutely powerless. They are choiceless.
Hell, as a state of being, strangles us. Trapped, yet longing for God, we grasp and gasp. We long for the Holy Spirit to intoxicate us with his joy, filling us with his divine presence; yet despair purges hope. The Psalmist captures our state:
“For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me” (Ps 69:1–2.
Lost is the source of our well-being. No longer do we have the divine presence dwelling within to combat the evils we face. We live by fear not by courage. We despair for we are hopeless. Falling into the abyss where no one can help, futility swallows us.
Hell experiences the loss of God. We abandon trust. Heaven, however, contradicts hell. Instead of allowing our addictions to debase us, the power and presence of the Holy Spirit comes and lifts us out of the abyss. His strength becomes our strength. His life-giving love becomes ours once again. His Spirit breathes new life into our lives. True, we are not in control because the Holy Spirit controls us. His control fills us with his Spirit Who pours into our souls a joy so powerful that no evil can touch.
The Spirit gives us sobriety, a harmony of our minds, hearts, and wills, which fills our lives with heavenly joys. His Spirit empowers us to live outside ourselves by giving ourselves over to divine ecstasy. This ecstasy, in contrast to the evil ecstasies that enslave, sets us free. His Spirit enhances, improves, and embellishes our life adorning us with wonder and awe, counsel and courage, knowledge and understanding, fear and wisdom of the Lord. Life becomes abundant, filled with hope, courage, and fulfillment. A new awareness arises. We are fearless because Jesus tells us “Do not be afraid!” I am with you.
Becoming secure, empowered, and fearless, we drink in the Holy Spirit and cut ourselves free from the roots of debauchery: our undisciplined senses, frayed emotions, and the various lust in our hearts.
Intoxicated by the Holy Spirit, we experience true ecstasy, not the ecstasy of escape: sin makes us escape from the dangers, powerlessness, and fears through our faulty passions, but the ecstasy that comes from the Divine. We are not stupefied as drugs and alcohol make us, but we elevate to another plane, intoxicated by the presence of God dwelling within us.
Drinking from the Spirit heightens our senses. We think clearly and concisely. We choose wisely and correctly. Our whole being is aflame, intoxicated with the Holy Spirit. Instead of becoming beastly, losing control over our passions and emotions, we become mystical, living through divine inspiration. Heightened, the Spirit empowers us to cast out demons, confront our sins, control our passions, and live in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, True Love!