Why we should teach the doctrine of hell (2)

Luke 16:19

19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, 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.

25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

PRAY:

Today I will be talking about the importance of teaching the doctrine of hell. Many will say. Those of us who are here are all saved. So.....

Why should we teach on the doctrine of hell?

Without a doubt it is a very unpleasant subject. It is one of the biggest horrors of Gods universe.

Sometimes we are put off by the way hell has been misrepresented by other ministers. I have heard preachers talk about the wicked hanging by their tongues from hooks while the flames of fire torment them from beneath.

One preacher I heard sounded as if he was happy about hell describing it as a place where children beat against the roof of an oven turning and twisting themselves in the fire.

Such statements are not sober or restrained. They are crude, inaccurate and unbiblical.

It is understood how some ministers are reluctant to bring up the doctrine of hell. Not long ago I was visiting a church that had been looking for a pastor. And I came a week early to listen to the current pastor and to get an idea of what the people were like.

The minister gave a 45-minute discourse on Hades. And the worst he could muster was that it was unpleasant. As you can imagine, I did not feel as though I would be a good fit there.

It is indeed a heavy subject. And ministers are only human. We want to be liked just like everyone else. But it is a duty we dare not shirk knowing we will soon face a Holy God.

So again, I ask why should we teach on the doctrine of hell?

Hell is a key doctrine that we dare not neglect. Here is why?

We should teach the doctrine of hell because it is a very important subject. Every doctrine in the bible is important. And there are some things that are more important to know than others. If we were talking about the details of Old Testament food laws for example.. It is not as necessary as the teaching and understanding the doctrine of hell.

Quoting Richard Baxter

“Other things may be known but these MUST be known or man is undone forever.” And hell is such a doctrine.

It MUST be known.

First there is massive amounts of biblical evidence for hell. It is not just in some obscure passage of scripture. There are more references to the wrath of God in the bible than to the love of God. The Old Testament is full of Gods fierce judgement on His enemies.

AND..

Jesus Christ had far more to say about hell than He did about heaven.

One scholar said that there are 1,870 versus in the New Testament and 13% of them deal with judgement and hell. Which is more than any other subject.

The word for hell is Gahana. And every single time but one the word is used by Jesus Christ.

THE ONE TIME SOMEONE OTHER THAN JESUS USED IT WAS IN JAMES 3:6

We cannot neglect to study this doctrine because there is so much about it in the bible.

Then we have the content of the doctrine. It tells us of a place of eternal torment. Where millions of humans will be enclosed forever in torment and agony.

When we consider that:

Somewhere around 95 million people die every year. That means that every second, 3 humans are entering hell or heaven. In the time it will take me to preach this message 11,000 humans will have passed on to either heaven or hell. It is doubtless an important doctrine.

As we count one dying, two dying, three dying. As the second -hand passes tick, tick, tick.

When a major tragedy happens like a plane crash or a tornado it is all we talk about. We become full of grief and pray for those affected. And it is all we can think about for a while.

Yet every hour of every single day 11,000 people die. Every year every week and every day. 11,000 people per hour. That makes the teaching of the doctrine of hell of utmost importance.

It is also important because this doctrine impacts our lives. As Sam Waldron wrote. “Death is not a spectator sport.”

When some people attend the funeral of their loved ones, they have a tendency to want to distance themselves from death. To think to themselves. I have plenty of time. I will worry about this when I am 80 or 90. But the bible tells us that God gives us no such guarantee. That our life is but a vapor that appears and vanishes.

But there is no distancing ourselves from the truth of death and hell. We all deserve hell. The bible tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It also tells us that the wage of sin is death. There is no escaping sin, or death. Death comes for us all. And after that comes judgement.

It seems it is in our nature to ignore the bible doctrines that we believe is no concern for us. You might skip over a number of bible doctrines thinking that they are of no concern to you. But nobody can say this about the doctrine of hell

It is also very important because there is only one way of escape from hell. Too many people falsely think that all they need to avoid hell is to believe in god. Some even take it so far as to say that believing in any god will help them avoid hell. Some will say well I have been baptized so I’m going to be fine. Even others will say that they were baptized or sprinkled as children and therefore they have nothing to fear.

But there is only one truth and that is Jesus Christ. There is only one way and that way is through Jesus Christ.. There is only one door. And that door is narrow and few there be who find it.

It makes the teaching of hell of greater importance than we can possibly imagine. When we realize that there is only one way to avoid it. He who believeth not shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him. If you reject Christ, you are going there. Unless you find the way the truth and the life.

Having been a minister as long as I have, there have been countless times where I have heard people complain about the pastor speaking on hell. Sure, it is an uncomfortable topic. But how many of those same people would condemn a group of doctors meeting to discuss various cancer treatments? Would you say to them how morbid they are. What a horrible group of people studying such an awful disease.

I think most of us would be thankful. Most of us would be glad that those doctors are looking for a cure. The only difference is the preacher is diagnosing the disease of sin and offering you the cure of Jesus Christ. The divine physician. We should thank God for those who study cancer and by that same measure we should thank the men of God who take the time to study and to teach on the harsh and dreadful reality of hell.

The most responsible thing we can do is study and teach the doctrine of hell. So that we can be used to deliver men and women from it.

We should teach on hell

Because too many people reject the belief in hell. Even many who call themselves Christians either neglect or deny the teaching of hell. Oh, it is far too negative a teaching for me. Oh God is love and I just can’t accept that God would allow such a thing. Are two things I often hear said among church goers.

It’s important to remember that the most accepting loving person in the Universe is Satan NOT God. Satan says that we should accept and be tolerant of sin. Satan says that we should tolerate the killing of babies. After all, the mother should have the right to choose. Satan says we should tolerate any and every sin. That if we don’t tolerate sin that we are unloving people. But God tells us that sin brings forth death. And God tells us that sin is a destructive force in our lives. Who is really showing you love? The one who tells you the truth or the one who lies to you in order to lead you to your own destruction? Tolerance is not always a good thing.

Now

denial of hell is prevalent in our churches imagine what it is like in the world? If everyone in the world believed in hell and knew it to be a fact. Then there would be no need to worry about it.

In modern times the belief in hell has almost disappeared. Today people mock the doctrine of hell.

Heaven and hell are themes in advertising and television shows. The television makes a joke out of hell. They mock hell fire preachers non-stop.

The idea of hell has become morally disgusting to the modern thinking man. They have set themselves up to judge God rather than to be judged by God. Let me assure you, this is a grave mistake. One that is made far too easily in today’s society. Let me ask you this. Do you even know what to say to such a person?

Perhaps if we studied on the doctrine of hell a bit more. Not only would we be able to talk to these people. But we would have a sense of urgency to do so. Understanding the truth about hell should motivate us to understand the word of God. To be able to teach it. To be able to answer any opposition to the truth of Gods word.

Hebrews 5:12 tells us:

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

Is there any greater motivator to learn the scriptures than our love for our fellow man? And if you have no such love this morning. I am forced to wonder. Why not? To me there are few things more ironic than when the same Christian who judges God for hell, refuses to share the gospel with his fellow man. And can’t even be bothered to invite people to church. We have compassion for those lost in a tornado or a plane crash or an earthquake. But where is our compassion for those who will spend eternity separated from God in torment and outer darkness?

And today we are dealing with serious people. Who falsely believe that the idea of hell is morally wrong. To them it is a primitive superstition, and they are offended by it. They think of hell as a boogey man that is being used by a corrupt church to scare people.

Bertrand Russell wrote.

“I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment.”

We need to realize that those we live among and work with daily will despise us for believing in hell. People will find our belief in hell contemptable and wicked. The world is quite serious about its disbelief.

Then there are those who profess to be evangelicals who have begun to question the doctrine of hell. Today many of them teach that many unbelievers will simply pass into nothingness.

Other teachers have begun teaching a doctrine known as postmortem evangelism. This is the belief that people will get a second chance after they die. That once they see there is an afterlife that God will give them a second chance to accept Him. Ladies and gentlemen there are no second chances after death.

Then there is this universalist belief. That God will accept anyone into heaven as long as they have some type of religion. These people teach that Buddhists and Muslims all go to heaven and seek to abolish and attack the doctrine of hell. One example is Clark Pinnock who was a very influential theologian who said.

“I consider the concept of hell as endless torment an outrageous doctrine. A theological and moral enormity how can Christians possibly project a deity of such cruelty and vindictiveness. Surely a God who would do such a thing is more like Satan than like God. Everlasting torment is intolerable from a moral point of view. It makes God into a bloodthirsty monster who maintains an Auschwitz for victims who are never allowed to die.”

This is a guy who claimed to be a bible scholar. What a horrible thing to say. And what a thing to have said before being taken himself to a Holy, Just God.

Why should we think about hell?

Because it is a very important doctrine that is under a savage and sustained attack from both within and without the church. I love what Martin Luther said.

He said:

“If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except that little point which the world and the Devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”

It is easy to claim to be a soldier where there is no battle. But in the blood and guts and the danger of the fight. That is where the soldier is proved. And here is a doctrine that is being attacked by the devil. Here is a doctrine where even members of our churches are seeking to attack.

Would you be comfortable sitting in a church where hell is taught as hades and as some type of myth? I would hope not.

Again, why should we teach hell?

Because it is extremely important. And what’s more it is true.

We should teach the doctrine of hell because unbelief is a symptom of a deeper problem.

And there is a very deep malady that is pervasive in our churches today. And unbelief in hell is a symptom of the wicked sin of a theology that is based on the thinking of man.

Charles Spurgeon said.

“If you meet with a system of theology which magnifies man, flee from it as far as you can.”

It is a theology in which man judges God, rather than the natural course of God judging man.

This thinking goes back to the garden of Eden. When Satan told Eve that she would be like God and when Satan said to the most High that he himself would be like God.

This sin of humanism has completely overwhelmed and saturated and dominated our culture. To the point that it masters the entire world. Man, centeredness is as pervasive as the air we breathe and every bit as un-noticed. It is pollution and is as inescapable as air.

And at the root of it is the objection to the teaching of hell.

Folks there are no new discoveries on the doctrine of hell.

There is no new light from the bible on the subject of hell. But there is new darkness within our culture and that darkness has invaded many of our churches.

It is a darkness of humanism. And it is leading people to hell and leading people away from Christ. It is in our bible colleges and our pulpits. Just like feminism. And the LGBTQ. Which stands for leprosy, Gonorrhea and Tuberculosis. Humanism seeks to defy everything that is Holy and good. And has done so to the point that some churches have homosexuals pretending to be pastors.

Can they be saved? Sure. But he who practices sin is of the devil. And I would say the same of a straight man who practices adultery.

Let me give you three quick examples of how the spirit of humanism has hurt our churches.

1. The idea that human well-being and happiness is the reason for life. That people must be happy. And the doctrine of hell is a HUGE threat to humanism for that very reason. And it teaches that millions will be in torment forever and ever. And they simply cannot accept it. It is not Gods love they reject. It is His holiness and their desire to hold on to their sin.

Have you ever heard a Christian ask. How can we be happy in heaven knowing that there are people in hell?

Think about being in heaven. You are there with the Lamb of God. With the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. How could you not be happy?

That question itself is man centered.

2. It opposes man’s view of sin. What is sin? Disobedience to God. Something we do that hurts other people. Of course, they don’t mind killing babies. Or sucking a baby through a vacuum cleaner. And they don’t mind killing the elderly when they are too old to care for themselves. But they have no sense of sin as being against God.

They can accept don’t kill or commit adultery. But they will reject keeping the sabbath or making graven images. As Christians we should be faithful to the house of God. Oh, this is MY day off. People often say. I want to sleep in, we say. This is how the world thinks and not how we should think.

Hell says there is a great awesome Holy God. And pronounces us all as guilty.

Finally, hell contradicts the humanists view of God.

For some time, the word fundamentalist has been a bad word in many of our churches. There have been some fundamentalists who have done us a great dis-service by adding legalism and a type of moralism to biblical truth.

But you can believe in and teach the doctrine of hell. Without forcing your ridiculous personal convictions on people.

You can teach the true doctrine of the virgin birth. Without forcing ridiculous personal convictions on people.

You can teach the truth of the doctrine of personal salvation. Without forcing personal convictions on people.

I came up in the independent Baptist circles. And they were very proud to call themselves fundamentalists. But many of them were more Pharisee than they were fundamentalist.

Folks you can be a fundamentalist without being legalistic. How you ask? Though I speak with the tongues of men and Angels and have not charity it profits me nothing.

Going around and telling ladies they are going to hell because they put on makeup or a pair of pants is ridiculous and unbiblical. Going around telling men that they are going to hell because they chose to wear a beard is shameful and it is complete garbage. There is no such nonsense in the bible.

But do not allow those who pervert the word of God from identifying yourself as a fundamentalist. Because the true definition of fundamentalist is one who accepts ALL the biblical doctrines of God’s word and rejects secular humanism in all its forms.

And Finally:

3. Hell rejects a man centered view of God. Folks God is not some genie in a bottle. Man, only views God as someone to do their bidding. Answer my prayers. Do for me. Be my puppet. Be my very own personal Jesus. But the doctrine of hell presents us with a God who is Holy and a God who is sovereign.

A true God cannot be ordered about. A true God is sovereign. A true God isn’t some wishy washy limp wristed indecisive weakling. No. He is all powerful. He is all knowing. He is all present.

And hell says I am a God who takes us and does as He pleases. He is a God who cannot be taken and marginalized or used. In other words. He is by definition the one true God. And there is none other like Him.

People today will reject any God who brings us face to face with the Holiness of God.

The doctrine of hell will force you to ask yourself the question. Am I God centered or am I man centered. Do I reject the truth of God in favor of my own truth?

Hell will test you. If you reject the belief in hell, you are rejecting Gods sovereignty.

And this is why this doctrine is so important. Hell makes no sense to you until you see God. Once you gaze into the face of the Holy majestic powerful God then you are ready to understand all that God says.

If you have ever said. I just can’t believe that God will send anyone to hell. Then you are rejecting God’s authority. You are rejecting truth. And you have not seen God.

Why should we teach hell? Because it brings us face to face with a Holy God.

I want you to know this morning. That we must take hell seriously. And once we do then we will understand the importance of getting our family, friends and loved ones in church. We will understand the importance of praying for those in your life who do not know Jesus Christ.

Accepting the sovereignty of God over that of our own. Is just one step in our growth as Christians. To surrender ourselves completely to the knowledge that God knows what is best and what is JUST far more than we do.

For a Christian to reject the doctrine of hell is to be in open rebellion to the will of God.

Let us pray: