Is God Everywhere…even in hell?
God is everywhere through His Holy Spirit (1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chronicles 6:18; Psalm 113:4-6). However, it is up to us humans to allow the Holy Spirit to stay with us or to grieve Him away (Ephesians 4:30). Usually, in worldly places such as gambling and prostitution houses, the spirit of God is not welcome, however, it can be there to act as a conscience and convict the sinners to accept God’s love (John 8:9).
There was once a preacher who felt impressed to walk into a playboy bar and tell one of the gogo dancers that Jesus loves her. The preacher at first resisted the impression, but it was so strong, that he went in and told one of the gogo dancers that Jesus loves her. She immediately stopped dancing, and came down, and started to cry and accepted Jesus as her personal Savior on the spot. Evidently, the Holy Spirit was there working on her, and working on the preacher to preach to her.
As for the Holy Spirit being in churches that do not fully obey God, the Spirit of the Lord is there to take the opportunity to impress the minds with the truth, so that hopefully they may be motivated to search for it in its purity from the scriptures (John 16:13). Without the work of the Holy Spirit, men’s hearts can’t be touched by the truth and be convicted of sin.
Also, some may argue that hell is a place of utter separation from God (Matthew 25:41), therefore, God cannot be in such a place. This paradox can be explained by the fact that God can be present—because He fills all things with His presence (Colossians 1:17) and upholds everything by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3)—yet He is not necessarily everywhere to bless but sometimes He is in a place to execute judgement. And the scriptures confirm that the wicked in hell will certainly receive their judgment according to their works (Revelation 14:10).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
