What the Hell?

Intro

Let’s recap what we have learned in our sermon series so far:

We need to be present minded in our ideas of the afterlife, recognizing that our obedience and actions can bring more heaven (or hell) to earth

A foreign outpost of the kingdom of heaven, breaking through

Those that pass away in Christ are present with Him in heaven, and those not in Christ experience the “outer darkness”

Both of these states are temporary; present heaven, awaiting...

Jesus Christ will return as He has promised

We don’t know when, but we need to live in constant readiness

When He returns, He will judge the living and the dead

All will be resurrected and stand before judgment; those in the book of life to eternal life, and those standing on their own merit to eternal condemnation

It is these final eternal destinies that we will focus on the next 2 weeks

I’m gonna be honest; I procrastinated quite a bit this week

I would much rather NOT talk about hell

Yet this is the primary reason I felt God asking me to preach through this series; we should not ignore a topic that the Bible speaks much about

One of the reasons this is a sore subject is that I have experienced spiritual abuse with the doctrine of hell

Share the story of going to a “hell house” with youth group in Texas

I’m certain many of you have had similar experiences

Fire and brimstone services, turn-or-burn evangelistic messages, fear of hell being used to bring about good behaviour, etc.

My hope is that together we can handle this topic with care

Pillar: Hell is for Real

As a result of some of the abuses and caricatures of hell, it has been in vogue in evangelical circles in the last few decades to get rid of the doctrine altogether

Rob Bell’s book Love Wins drove this conversation to the forefront

History is not tragic, hell is not forever, and love, in the end, wins and all will be reconciled to God

He teaches a form of universalism: God’s love will wear everyone down and all will eventually come to Christ (this life or the next)

Gives voice to the sentiment, “A loving God could never...”

But, is this idea biblical?

I understand that the reality of hell is difficult, offensive, charged with our own experiences

While we should handle with care, our desires do not change the reality of what the Bible teaches is true or not true

Francis Chan wrote a book with Preston Sprinkle in response, called Erasing Hell

He opens with a story of being on the deathbed of his Chinese, athiest grandmother as she passed away

I would love to erase hell from the pages of Scripture… Part of me doesn’t want to believe in hell. Don’t believe something just because you want to, and don’t embrace an idea just because you’ve always believed it. Believe what is biblical. Test all your assumptions against the precious words God gave us in the Bible.

When we do this, we come to the conclusion that hell is for real

Remember, this is NOT the same as “sheol” (grave/pit) in the OT

This was much more the place of the dead; the end of ALL people

Yet in the NT, Jesus talks about the reality of hell quite a bit

He uses the word gehenna (translated as “hell”) 12 times

Gehenna = local garbage dump; constantly on fire

Cultural imagery that also clearly referred to a real place

Cf. Mark 9:43-48.

Jesus quotes for Isaiah 66:24 in the last verse (itself is a clear promise of the new heavens and new earth vs. what Jesus calls “hell”

Not to mention that Jesus teaches about the reality of hell in other passages without using “gehenna;” especially in a destination after judgment

True of John 5 (resurrection of life vs. resurrection of judgment), and also Matthew 25:31-46 (read this passage)

Parable; main point is that our trust in Jesus is displayed in our care for the “least of these”

Also contains some important information on the reality of hell:

“Depart from me”

Out of the presence of God

“into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”

Cf. Rev. 20:10; Rev 20:15.

Points to the destination after judgment

“these will go away into eternal punishment”

Eternal speaks to the finality of hell; punishment is another descriptor

In addition to the teachings of Jesus and the book of Revelation, hell is taught and referred to throughout the NT

2 Peter and Jude are full of references to condemnation; punishment; judgment and utter darkness (go for a fun read!)

We will work through 2 Peter in our next sermon series

Pillar: Hell is the Absence of God’s Presence

Paul chimes in clearly in 2 Thess. 1:5-10.

Recap of what we can expect (present heaven/hell, return of Jesus, righteous judgment; eternal destinies)

Here we are given our second pillar that describes the nature of hell: Not only is hell a real place, it is best described as the absence of God’s presence: Hell is the absence of God’s presence

See this described in both Matthew 25 (depart from me) and 2 Thess. 1:9 (away from the presence of the Lord)

This is where the eternal destination of believers and unbelievers are constrasted:

Believers into the presence of God (no more pain or suffering)

Unbelievers away from the presence of God (full of pain and suffering)

There are many symbolic images used to describe the absence of God’s presence (hell)

Outer darkness; weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth; and FIRE

As N.T. Wright reminds us, signposts NOT photographs

It is highly unlikely (and not necessary) that hell be a place of literal fire

Yet it gives us an important clue; this fire is one of punishment and not refinement

Refining fire = biblical idea = maybe be rationale for hell being a place where people are refined to choose Jesus?

Fires of hell = clearly denotes punishment; designed for the devil and his demons; does not speak of refinement

So the imagery helps us understand the truth while not painting a literal picture of what hell will be like; incredibly unpleasent and undesireable… away from God’s presence

Pillar: Hell is Forever… Right?

3 Views of Hell:

Christian universalism

Hell is temporary, and everyone will end up in heaven

STILL hold that this happens through Christ, and Christ alone

Based on a wide reading of the Bible, picking up on passages that use “universal” language as proof

Cf. 1 Timothy 2:3-4.

Will all people be saved, or will God not get what God wants? Does this magnificent, mighty, marvelous God fail in the end? (Rob Bell)

This logic is applied to other passages to draw the conclusion that God’s love will “win” by wearing everyone down after death until they accept Jesus

Not a new or recent idea; taught by Origen in 200 AD

Let me be clear: I desire that universalists are right! I do not wish hell upon anyone

There are other nuanced ideas (i.e. Arden Thiessen’s “grace beyond the grave”)

God is love; yet He defines what is love… is this biblical?

Conditionalism (annihilation)

Hell is a place of destruction where people will eventually cease to be (annihilated)

Unlike universalism, there are explicit Bible passages that seem to indicate this to be true

In passages we read (Rev. 20 = second death; 2 Thess. 1 = destruction; John 3:16 = perish)

All of these passages choose words of finality to describe the fate of those outside of Christ

Also an old and contemporary idea

First seen in the teaching of Clement of Rome (AD 100); taught today at Crossview Church

Traditionalism (eternal conscience torment)

Hell is a place of eternal conscious torment

Most widely held view in evangelical churches today

For every Bible passage about “destruction;” we also see “punishment”

In passages we read (John 5 = judgment; Matthew 25 = eternal punishment)

Especially Revelation 20:10; 15. (share same fate)

Which of these views gives us the best biblical understanding of hell?

I share Michael Zwaagstra’s conclusion (3 views of Hell course/5 minutes):

The biblical evidence is clear that hell’s duration is eternal. Once people are sentenced to hell, there is no way out and no further offers of salvation. This excludes universalism as a viable view and leaves us with either traditionalism or conditionalism

I hope that I am wrong; but I sense the danger of preaching a second chance if God has not revealed this to be true

There is biblical merit to the other two understandings of hell

Depending on what passages you focus on, it is possible to make a compelling case for either framework

Both agree that hell is forever; either by destruction or by punishment

Conclusion

Hell is real, and it is a fate that is to be avoided at all costs

Matters to us personally

Talk about my own reason for accepting Jesus

There is an invitation to life in Jesus; I urge you to consider this

Matters to how we share with others out of love and concern for them

Not to scare them into a decision; not to use hell as a threat; but to honestly seek what you believe is best for those you love

No matter how it looks, our response to the reality of hell is love