Hell... The Place I Deserve To Go

Psalm 26:9 “9 Do not take my soul away along with sinners”

Matthew 8:11–12 “11 “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.””

INTRODUCTION:

There comes a time for the farmer, when after many months and days of toiling in the field, finally the day comes when his crops are ready to be gathered up for harvest… and when those crops are finally taken up, they are divided the good and the bad… the clean and the spoiled… and so TOO God will do with us on the last day!

There will be a moment in which all of us are gathered up.

It may come tomorrow

It may be deferred for a number of years

But sooner or later the words of Job will ring clear:

Job 34:14 “14 … [God] should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath”

It’s because we’re certain of that day, that we seek after God all the more.

And we pray the prayer of Jesus on the cross: “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit” — Luke 23:46.

And we pray the prayer of David in the Psalms: “Gather not my soul with sinners”

Our greatest need is to be saved from eternal condemnation, and the more "practical" needs of this present age become trivial in comparison.

CONTEXT OF Mat 8:5-13:

This Roman centurion came to Jesus on behalf of his paralyzed servant

And when Jesus said “I will come and heal him” the centurion said NO!

“I am not worthy to have you under my roof, just say the word and my servant will be healed”

And Jesus… MARVELED… at his faith.

The most intriguing part of this passage to me, is NOT just that his servant was healed… or that his faith was highlighted by Jesus (what a MOMENT! right?)… But the most intriguing part of this passage is what… Jesus… said. Verse 11.

Matthew 8:11–12 “11 “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.””

“Many will come from east and west:”

This speaks of the people who are OUTSIDE Judaism!

Jesus uses the centurion as a PARADIGM to say that ONE day the WORLD will have access to our God! That many people like this centurion will flock to me from the land of the gentiles.

It’s the same phrase found in Psalm 107:3 “3 And gathered from the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south.”

But what makes this verse so POWERFUL and JAWDROPPING is this:

“but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Matthew 3. Paradigmatic Healing (8:1–9:35)

many from within Judaism (“subjects of the kingdom”), who by ancestry believe themselves still part of God’s covenant, will discover that they are not in the kingdom at all but painfully and eternally excluded from God’s presence.

What’s described here, is a place for those who do not believe in the deity of Christ.

This place, is the topic of our sermon this morning which is entitled: “HELL… The Place I Deserve”

What has been said about Hell

Hell has been depicted as a dark, fiery place where we will burn for eternity

poets / authors / philosophers

Homer described it as “the undermost limits of earth and sea”

What is Hell?

Definition:

Hell is the state where those who do not have faith in Christ are consigned to suffer eternally.

Bible definition:

The Lake of Fire that burns with brimstone — Rev.21:8.

The place where the devil has been cast and will be tormented day and night forever and ever— Rev 20:10.

Hell was created, not for you, but for the devil and His angels

41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;” — Matthew 25:41.

However, Hell exists as a result OF sin.

Descriptions of it:

Sheol… realm of the dead

Hades… the place of the dead

Gehenna… Hell… valley near Jerusalem

Furnace

Unquenchable Fire

The entry to Hell is easy!

Matthew 7:13–14 “13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Matthew 8:11–12 “11 “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.””

#1 They Will Be Cast Out

When they arrive at the gates of heaven, they are not told to “go” as if they have a choice. They will be cast out.

I can imagine an angel binding him from head to feet.. and lifting him over the mouth of that great abyss hearing the screams, and groanings, and cries for mercy from those below.

They shall be cast out.

Where is their power? Where is their might? Where is their boasting? Where is their pride?

When all hope is gone and eternal death is CERTAIN!

They shall be cast out

Will God be absent? Separated from God? Because hell is often described as a place of torment outside of the presence of God?

2 Thessalonians 1:9 “9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,”

Revelation 14:10 [For those who worship the Beast / Satan] “10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

The greek word for “presence” is different in each verse

Revelation 14 the word mean BEFORE or IN THE PRESENCE OF...

Whereas 2 Thessalonians the word describes A PERSONS FACE or APPEARANCE

It is not the absence of God that makes hell a place of torment, but the absence of His favorable presence. In fact, hell is hell because God is there in the fullness of His justice and wrath… God is and will forever be omnipresent. He will forever know what is happening in hell. But His presence will only be manifest in JUDGEMENT!!

Romans 9:22 “22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?”

2 elements of God will be demonstrated in Hell… His power, and His wrath

So those who in this life do not cling to the words of Jesus, will experience the unfavorable presence of God’s wrath in Hell.

#2 They Will Enter Eternal Darkness

Where are they to be cast to? Into outer darkness… a place where there will be no hope

“Light” in the scriptures equals: “hope”

And for those thrown into outer darkness there will BE… no hope.

While we are alive, we still have hope:

That our debt will get paid...

That my life will turn around...

That my friend will be healed...

But in Hell, there is no hope. They don’t have the hope of:

restoration

relief

returning

rest

They shall remain their FOREVER in-chained in that great blaze!

Charles Spurgeon spoke these words in :

It is a terrible truth, for it says, "the children of the kingdom shall be cast out!" Now, who are those children? I will tell you. "The children of the kingdom" are those people who are noted for the externals of piety, but who have nothing of the internals of it. People whom you will see with their Bibles and Hymn Books marching off to chapel as religiously as possible, or going to church as devoutly and demurely as they can, looking as sombre and serious as parish beadles, and fancying that they are quite sure to be saved, though their hearts are not in the matter; nothing but their bodies. These are the persons who are "the children of the kingdom." They have no grace, no life, no Christ, and they shall be cast into outer darkness.

#3 They Will Weep & Gnash Their Teeth

Portrays the agony of separation from Christ

There never was anyone else so kind and compassionate as Jesus was—yet He clearly taught the dreadful truth that unrepentant sinners will be punished in Hell forever!

If you and I understand for just a MOMENT… that the sinners of the earth are condemned and on a path to Hell… WHY do we hesitate to grab their arm and teach them the right way to go?

And if they do deny the truth and prance their way into Hell let them be bruised and scarred by our PERSISTENCE of the Great Commission!!

For once their life is over… eternal punishment and suffering begins!

“They will weep and gnash their teeth”

Conclusion:

Why do we talk about Hell today? To scare you? To hurt you? No. To show in plain colors what awaits the rejector of Jesus Christ.

Friends, there is more to be known today than just a fear of eternal fire. True salvation comes, by the knowledge of our sin and death YES!… but true salvation culminates in our faith and acceptance as GOD becoming the ruler of my life! Intellect can only take you so far, RELATIONSHIP is what we desperately need!

Do you fear God?

Luke 12:4–5 “4 “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. 5 “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!”

The fire shouldn’t be concerning! For all men desire not to be burned and tortured! The fire should be convicting! To the point where I stand AMAZED at my God and my King and proclaim with the loudest voice: “Gather NOT my soul with sinners!!” — Psalm 26:9.

Hell is a horrible and fearful thing… which teaches us that our sin is a horrible and fearful thing.

And God’s holiness is a horrible thing if we oppose it, and the cross of Christ, who endured hell for all who would come to believe Him

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."

What is it to believe? It is to put your trust entirely upon Jesus.

What is it to be baptized? It is to have your sins washed away and be added to the Church.

Then you can rest tonight, knowing that your soul is right with God

There is no rest in hell, but there will be rest in heaven.

The fear of the Christian is not going to hell. The fear of the Christian is being separated from Christ. — Paul Washer

We long for heaven, not because of what will be there, but because of who will be there.

My thoughts:

If the christians citizenship is in heaven, then the earth’s citizenship is in hell! And they need to cross the spiritual divide ad place membership in another land! Far greater and far richer

“How to guarantee you won’t be cast into Hell”

One of the early reformers from the Catholic Church, John Calvin, upon seeing the sculptures and depictions of Hell in His day: “its real dreadfulness in alienation from God’s presence and experience of the never-ending effects of His wrath”