Hell, According to Jesus
If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where
“their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.”
Everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.
Hell has lost its fire in the minds of most Americans and brimstone no longer holds the terror it once did. A poll conducted in January 2000 for U.S. News & World Report revealed that more people believe in hell today than believed in hell in the 1950s. However, many of our contemporaries think of hell as a state of existence where a person suffers deprivation from God rather than as a physical place. While 64% of respondents said there was a hell, 53% agreed it is “more of an anguished state of existence eternally separated from God” than an actual place. Thirty-four percent said hell is an actual place where people suffer eternal fiery torments. Not even the dramatic conversion of many people to a hope that a hell exists for terrorists has really changed the essential views of our contemporaries concerning hell.
Much to the surprise of many people, no man ever spoke stronger words about hell than the loving Son of God. However, it is of significance that His words on this dark topic were addressed either to His disciples, as in the text before us today, or to professed religious leaders (as in Matthew 23:33). We never hear of Him expounding this topic to publicans and sinners (although John the Baptist does seem to have struck this note widely [cf. Matthew 3:7]). The Master spoke of hell to professed saints—and of heaven to acknowledged sinners. We tend to reverse the process today.
What did Jesus say concerning hell? Perhaps it is time that we who are called by the Name of the Master of Life would review what He said concerning hell. Join me in exploring the dark side of God’s love as we focus on the burning issue of hell.
Hell is a Real Place — It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell… It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell… It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell… [Mark 9:43, 45, 47]. These are the words of Jesus, our loving Saviour. When Jesus uttered these words, He addressed one of the most chilling concepts in mankind’s ken. The Master did not give us the luxury of debating whether there is a place where sinners are separated from the love of God—He assumed it to be real, giving us fair warning and affirming our worst suspicion.
When “free-thinkers” pose what they assume to be the unanswerable question, “How could a loving God send anyone to a place of eternal torment?” they ask the wrong question. They should ask, “How could a holy God tolerate sinners in His presence?” Unfortunately, modern Christians have so focused on the love of God that they have forgotten that this God is a holy and righteous God. When were we last reminded from the Word of God that God cannot overlook sin. It is an axiom of the Faith that all sinners must be held to account or no sinner may be held to account.
There are many sins which a man may commit. Perhaps we think of sin as only sin against a fellow mortal. However, I am driven to the conclusion that no greater sin can be imagined than that of rejecting divine mercy and grace. Should the rebel show despite toward the grace of God displayed in the sacrifice of the Son of God, how much greater do you imagine the punishment will be? This is the awesome message of the author if the Hebrew letter.
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgement and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the Law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God [Hebrews 10:26-31].
The doctrine of eternal punishment is not attacked half so much from the outside of the church as it is from the inside of the church. You may be surprised to discover that the Bible says more about judgement and eternal damnation than it says about heaven. You cannot come to the Scripture selectively as though it were a cafeteria line and say, “I believe I’ll have a little of this, but I don’t care for that over here, and so I’ll leave it out.” If you’re going to accept the afterlife at all, if you’re going to embrace heaven at all, if you’re going to embrace salvation at all, it all has its meaning against the backdrop of possible judgement, possible hell and possible eternity separated from God.
When the Master concludes the account warning of the judgement of the nations (at the conclusion of the Great Tribulation Period), He appends this pointed commentary. Then [the wicked individuals] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life [Matthew 25:46]. It is impossible to make eternal [aijwvnion] mean one thing in speaking of punishment but mean quite another when speaking of life. If you wish to declare that life in Christ is eternal, then you must accept that outside of Christ there exists a punishment which is eternal.
We Christians have never said that the doctrine of eternal punishment isn’t in the Bible; we are simply silent concerning the possibility of eternal punishment. We don’t want outsiders to think that we believe such a thing and so we refuse to warn them of eternal punishment. Too many of our preachers have chosen to remain silent concerning the fate of the lost, thus those occupying the pews of our churches are equally silent with the complicit cowardice of the pulpit. We have just been so frightened of the doctrine of eternal judgement and afraid of what society would say to us about such a politically incorrect doctrine in an “I’m OK, you’re OK” generation that we simply don’t talk about hell anymore. This does not change the truth that hell is a real place.
Hell is a Place of Eternal Torment — Hell is described as a place where
“their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.”
[Mark 9:48]
Though the KJV translates both alike, one should always distinguish between Gehenna and Hades. The latter is the place of the dead, or simply the grave. Perhaps the word most commonly translated as hell into our English tongue is a{/dh"//. The word simply refers to the unseen world beyond the realm of human sight. It is the equivalent of the Hebrew lwaoV]. This is not to say that there is no torment in Hades—there is.
Perhaps you recall an account of a rich man who died without salvation. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up [Luke 16:22b, 23a]. The Word of God indicates that this unnamed rich man anticipated that death ends all. However, the words of Jesus are stunning. The rich man … died and was buried. Then, without pause Jesus spoke those next staggering words: kai; ejn tw'/ a{/dh/—and in hades [Luke 16:22b]. Whatever he may have anticipated, the rich man opened his eyes in hell.
The teaching of Jesus is that torment for the lost begins immediately with the transition from this existence to the eternal realm. If it holds true that for the Apostle Paul to be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord [2 Corinthians 5:7], then it must be equally true that for the lost to be away from the body is to enter into their eternal damnation. Likewise, if for the Christian to die is gain [cf. Philippians 1:21], it must also hold that for the lost to die is loss.
The word translated hell in verses 43, 45 and 47 of our text is gevennan. The Greek word is a transliteration of two Hebrew words meaning Valley of Hinnom. The reference is to the deep valley on the south and on the west side of Jerusalem. In pre-Israelite time, it was the site of child sacrifice to Molech. Some Israelites, in times of spiritual decline, seem to have adopted the same practise [see Jeremiah 7:31; 19:6; 32:35; cf. 2 Kings 16:3]. In an attempt to stop the practise, Josiah desecrated the site [2 Kings 23:10].
During the intertestamental times it became the garbage and sewage dump of Jerusalem and a symbol of the place of punishment [see 1 Enoch 27:2; 4 Ezra 7:36] because worms and fires were always consuming the refuse [verse 48]. Wild dogs roamed the area seeking a rotting corpse of a dead animal which they might devour. The smoke and the stench of burning, rotted garbage must have made a powerful impression on those who first heard Jesus’ words. The symbol of lostness must surely have weighed powerfully upon His listeners when they heard this awful comparison.
John witnessed an awesome vision related to this frightful spectre of the eternal abode of the damned. In the Apocalypse he wrote: I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire [Revelation 20:11-15].
The fiery lake is that awful place where the Beast and the False Prophet of Revelation are eternally incarcerated. There, the damned are eternally tormented, the smoke of their torment rising forever and ever [cf. Revelation 14:9-11; 19:20]. This fiery lake—gevenna—allows no rest ever. We cannot imagine what torments are described by this place since God has chosen not to inform us of it as He did with the torments of Hades.
There is yet another reference to hell within the Word of God. Peter speaks of gloomy dungeons where the most evil demons are held. He identifies the place as tartarovw [2 Peter 2:4]. At the sounding of the fifth trumpet (described in the Apocalypse), the Abyss is opened and demons of a most malevolent sort are unleashed on the earth [Revelation 9:1-11]. It is a frightening picture which John describes in that passage.
These demonic powers of whom John warned would appear to be the incarcerated angels of which Peter spoke. No man has ever been incarcerated in tartarovw. Furthermore, only Satan and his angels will be incarcerated there throughout the millennial reign of Christ. At the conclusion of that time, the evil one and his demonic hordes will be released for a brief period, but their release will conclude with their defeat and with them being cast into the Lake of Fire—gevenna. Tartarovw is of no lasting concern to the lost among us since it appears to be specially designed to hold Satan and the fallen angels at the command of God.
When an individual passes from this life without having received the free gift of salvation, he or she passes immediately into a{/dh"//. At the time of the Great White Throne judgement when all the lost of all ages stand before the Son of God, they shall receive eternal sentence and be cast into the lake of fire—gevenna—which is described in our text. All we know of these awful places is what God in mercy has disclosed. Do not think that God tells us of these places of torment for any other reason than to warn us against rejecting His grace and His mercy. For the dark side of God’s love is His wrath.
Jesus’ words clearly teach us that death is not an end. Those who have lived for self must know that death serves to eternally separate the lost from a God they would not own during the days of mortality. Thus having lived without regard for Him or His will they must now spend all eternity separated from Him. That separation ensures that for all eternity the lost will experience an existence without goodness and without God.
What a strange fire is this fire of hell! In Gevennan it burns eternally [a[sbeston] so that those tormented therein are said to experience eternal torment. It is true that the primary thought of a[sbeston is not one of duration; but it does seem to be that of absolute immutability.[1] The rich man pleaded because the fire caused intense suffering for him. How much greater must the torment of the fiery lake be for those within.
Jesus’ teaching about the rich man and Lazarus and the warning which He provides in our text should alarm each of us, for by His Word He warns that the eternal destiny of man outside of Jesus Christ is one of incredible, unceasing and unbelievable torment. The Bible describes hell’s torment as never-ending physical, spiritual and mental anguish. The first words of the rich man were a plea for pity that he might have even a wetted finger touch his tongue. He especially states that he was in agony in this fire. What fire can he refer to other than the eternal fire of hell? I remind you that though Hades is temporary, the torment of Gehenna is eternal—the former leading to the latter.
The lost when cast into the lake of fire are said to be tormented eternally. There is no rest, no cessation of torment, not even for a moment. There is no rest day or night [Revelation 14:11]. What a contrast with the condition portrayed for the redeemed of God! There remains a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His [Hebrews 4:9, 10]! The saved look forward to rest. The lost anticipate no rest by reason of the torment to which they are consigned eternally. The torment of hell is eternal. Whatever else may be said of these flames, they cause intense agony for those incarcerated there.
Those who are excluded from the mercies of God are said to have been cast into the outer darkness [Matthew 8:12 NASV]. Some have imagined that since there is no light there can be no fire. I caution any among us who have so deluded themselves that the God who calls all things into existence can easily make an eternal fire which casts no light. Even within the realm of physics, we speak of black holes and quasars which burn but whose gravitational fields are so intense that no light escapes.
The rich man was conscious in hell [Luke 16:23, 24]. He recognised Abraham. He recognised Lazarus. He was aware of his own fixed eternal sentence [Luke 16: 24]. He realised the peril hanging over his five brothers [Luke 16:28]. He knew what he had forfeited by choosing to live for himself. In hell every single solitary individual there is fully aware of what he has missed and what that he has forfeited in the choices that he has made in this life. He remains undyingly conscious of that which he could have had and which he forfeited.
If there is a faculty that is made more conscious in hell rather than less, it will no doubt be the faculty of memory. Every single solitary moment a person spends in hell, there will be the constant recurring uninterrupted memory of every gospel sermon that he ever heard on television, on radio, or in person.
Knowledge of the torments of hell pales into absolute insignificance compared to the great gulf fixed eternally separating the unrepentant sinner from God. That chasm which is powerfully described in Luke 16:26, ensures that those incarcerated in a{/dh" may never again pass into the presence of the blest. To know that goodness exists and to know that one shall never again experience good, but that the lost shall only receive condemnation eternally, is perhaps one of the most awful aspects of hell. Clearly, the chasm which Jesus described would indicate that hell is a place and not a condition.
It is not hell’s fire, however frightful that may be, which looms so alarmingly. It is not the memory of hell which terrifies. Neither is it the knowledge remaining in hell that is so frightful. It is rather the [separation] forever from the only thing in the entire universe that is wholly good and wholly love and wholly righteousness. While alive on this earth, even those who are not Christians are the recipients of God’s rich blessings. The Bible says, [God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous [Matthew 5:45]. But in hell, there is only eternal despair, despondency, desperation, hopelessness. Abandon all hope ye who enter here was Dante’s statement overarching hell. These words speak the truth, for there is no hope in hell.
Hell is a Place to be Avoided — Perhaps you recall my earlier mention of the fact that Jesus never warned publicans and sinners of hell, but rather he seems to have spoken to “good people” about hell. At the time I mentioned this fact I said there were good reasons for this observation. I must address those reasons at this time.
Since the Master was speaking either to those supposed to be His disciples or to religious people, He first warned hearers against presumption. Professing Christians may readily fall into presumptuous sin. We do not deserve to be saved because we are Canadian, nor because we live in a land of wealth, nor because we are better than others. We do not deserve to be saved, but if we are saved, it is because of God’s mercies. If I truly understand what it means to be saved, I will be humble and consider my salvation a divine stewardship. I am responsible to tell others about Christ the Lord and of His love.
I suggest that too many professed Christians are described by the Master’s scathing words recorded in Matthew’s Gospel. They do not practise what they preach [Matthew 23:3]. They love the honour of their positions [see Matthew 23:6, 7]. They exalt themselves and are insulted when others fail to recognise their importance [Matthew 23:8-12]. They are not only failing to enter Heaven themselves, but they are hindering others who would enter [see Matthew 23:13]. They make converts to themselves instead of converts to Christ [see Matthew 23:15]. They have twisted and distorted the Word of God until it is unrecognisable [see Matthew 23:16-22]. They can split a theological hair twenty-seven ways without whetting their knife, but they cannot hear the voice of the Risen Son of God through His Word. They have majored on the minors and minored on the majors [Matthew 23:23, 24]. They are inwardly they are filthy [Matthew 23:25-28]. They congratulate themselves that they are not like sinners who were previously excoriated by God [Matthew 23:29-31].
The redeemed need not fight battles which are decades old nor cry about some past slight—real or presumed! The redeemed gather to worship and give no thought to some slighting remark which was likely unintended! The redeemed seek to win their world to faith in the Risen Son of God! The redeemed weep over the condition of the lost and rejoice at the salvation of every soul instead of grumbling because the new saints didn’t have jump through the same hoops in order to join the church!
Listen to the challenge of the Word. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test [2 Corinthians 13:5]? As one who is deeply concerned for the condition of your souls, I urge you to ensure that your faith is in the Risen Son of God. Should you have faith in this church, faith in this denomination, faith in your own goodness—I warn you that you are in danger of the fires of hell. Christ alone is worthy of our devotion and of our faith.
Causing others to sin really is something each disciple should be concerned about. If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin… These little ones [verse 42] may be a reference to these little ones of verse 37, referring to our particular responsibility not to lead the young astray. Alternatively, it might be a reference to little ones in the faith, to new believers, even to those in verses 39 & 40 whom the disciples had prohibited from performing miracles. It is not at all unusual for new believers to have the ability to witness powerfully for Christ, nor is it unusual for those in leadership positions or more established in the Faith to be extremely nervous about such activity.
God warns religious people concerning hell in part because He seeks to deter us from deluding ourselves. In part, this warning is issued because of the danger to little ones from those who hold a faith which misleads, just as we saw in the twenty-third chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. Our children turn from the Faith, in part because they have never seen it exercised among us. Young Christians turn from the Faith because of our rank hypocrisy. We who profess the Name of Christ should be deeply concerned.
Permit me to present this teaching in a positive form. Listen to the Word of God. If you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God [Romans 8:13, 14]. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming [Colossians 3:5, 6]. Whatever endangers spiritual life must be totally removed even as a surgeon amputates a limb that endangers the life of the rest of the body.[2]
According to public opinion polls, most Canadians believe in heaven, while far fewer believe there is a hell. Modern Canadians are quite certain their democratic deity wouldn’t do anything so rash as to consign their neighbours to eternal punishment, much less themselves. In addressing a misguided culture, Christians need to be faithful to the teaching of Scripture. There is coming a day when the clock ticks its final time and there is a separation that occurs, so that no longer is any goodness possible, no longer is any love possible. Hell is a place of eternal selfishness because all those incarcerated there can do is be consumed with their own situation and circumstance.
The Pope and his minions may speak of purgatory—an intermediate state which supposedly will permit those who are only somewhat sinful to painfully make atonement for their own sin. There is no Scriptural support for purgatory—it is the stuff of mediaeval fantasies formulated in the rich imaginations of the sin-darkened halls of the Vatican. The belief that there is an intermediate state immediately after death where the body and soul lie unconscious until the return of Christ and the final judgement is not consistent with the Bible’s teaching about eternity.
At the moment of death, there is no soul sleep. Such is not the case, though Luther made the mistake of believing that when you die you simply are not cognisant of anything; [or] you are unconscious until the last trumpet sounds. The Apostle Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. He wasn’t looking forward to a long snooze in the tomb; he was looking forward to immediate gain. In the same manner, the lost are immediately in hell after passing from this life.
No child of God will be in hell, for the Lord has promised that He will not lose one of those whom the Father has given Him. You no doubt remember those comforting words Jesus spoke in the present of the Jewish leaders even as they were attempting to kill Him. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one [John 10:27-30].
No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand are words which will forever serve as a soft pillow for the weary head of God’s child. No child of God shall be lost. No rebel to grace can avoid hell for they are even now under condemnation. If we understand the terror of that awful hold and if we view hell with appropriate dread, we will find ourselves moved with compassion to warn the lost against going to that awful place.
I recall an incident related by Bill Bright, long head of Campus Crusade before assuming a role as president of a Christian University. He was speaking of the motive for witness and related the following story.
Mr. Bright had spoken to a young Muslim, a citizen of a Middle Eastern nation in attendance at a southern California university. Mr. Bright had presented Christ and the love of God to this man. You see, Allah, the deity worshipped in Islam, is distant and remote, austere and aloof, whereas Christ our Lord is present and comforting. The God we serve is a holy God, but He is a loving God who reaches to fallen man in compassion.
The young Muslim man had listened with growing interest in Mr. Bright’s presentation. At last, he responded. “Sir, do you believe your God is a loving and compassionate God?”
“Absolutely,” responded Mr. Bright.
“And do you believe your God will accept anyone who comes to Him?” the young man again asked.
“Without question,” was the evangelist’s response.
Such questions are relatively easy to answer, but the following question would give pause to any thoughtless individual. “Do you believe that man without this Jesus will die and spend eternity in hell—a place of fire and torment?”
Mr. Bright spoke with deep sorrow, “Yes, I believe that those who die without Christ as Lord will spend eternity away from the love of God and in everlasting torment.”
“If I believed what you say,” said the young Muslim, “I would be prepared to crawl across a desert littered with broken glass if I could save only one person from hell.”
You see, that is the issue. Our knowledge of hell, if we truly believe the words of the Saviour, will prompt us to exhibit compassion toward the lost. How can I be silent if I believe that man without God will spend eternity in a place of darkness and torment? How can I surrender my child to such torment? How can I remain silent as my own parents stumble toward destruction? How can I fail to warn my dearest friend against eternal condemnation? Only if I shut my heart against all compassion and fail to believe the gracious warning of the Master can I refuse to speak to another of the love of God to turn them from the coming wrath.
Verse 49 is found only in Mark’s Gospel. The verse presents both a textual difficulty and an interpretative difficulty. The textual problem is that a small group of witnesses belonging to Western type of text has every sacrifice will be salted with salt. This variant is preserved in the KJV and in the NKJV. The allusion preserved in these few variants appears to be to Leviticus 2:13, which some scribe evidently thought was the key to the meaning of the reading above. There seems to be no question but that the text which was read and employed in virtually every contemporary translation is the correct reading: everyone will be salted with fire.
The interpretative difficulty surrounds the meaning of being salted with fire. What does that mean and who will have such an experience? The key to the meaning is to recognise that fire has a different reference from what it has in verses 43 and 48. In the latter, it is obviously a symbol of punishment. In verse 49, however, both salt and fire symbolise purification.[3]
Put the verse in context. Jesus has demanded that disciples deal drastically with sin, even cutting off offending appendages or gouging out their eyes if those parts of the body lead them into sin. Listening to this drastic appeal for radical action, some sensitive soul may argue that such extreme action is too high a cost to deal with sin.
Jesus used the concept of living sacrifices to illustrate His point. The sacrifice ends up on the altar and is consumed in the flames. Would you rather endure the fires of hell as a lost sinner or the purifying fires of God as a sacrifice for His glory? Satan promises glory now, but the pain comes later. Jesus calls us to suffering now, risking everything for His cause, and we enjoy the glory later.
The disciples should have been salt and light, but instead of being salty, they had wasted an opportunity to extend the Kingdom as they rebuked others who were making an effort to serve God [see Mark 9:38].
It is easy to lose our saltiness and become useless to God. Christians need to stand together, no matter who is the greatest! Commitment and character are the essentials, if we are to glorify Him and have peace with each other. As we see the teaching of the Master concerning that dreadful place called hell, we will be cautious—examining our own heart and our own service to Him. As we heed His warnings concerning hell, we will gain confidence, knowing that He died to keep us from hell. As we think of the terror of hell, we will be moved with compassion and become effective. Perhaps we should spend more time thinking of hell then we do thinking of heaven. Amen.
Hell has lost its fire in the minds of most Americans and brimstone no longer holds the terror it once did. A poll conducted in January 2000 for U.S. News & World Report revealed that more people believe in hell today than believed in hell in the 1950s. However, many of our contemporaries think of hell as a state of existence where a person suffers deprivation from God rather than as a physical place. While 64% of respondents said there was a hell, 53% agreed it is “more of an anguished state of existence eternally separated from God” than an actual place. Thirty-four percent said hell is an actual place where people suffer eternal fiery torments. Not even the dramatic conversion of many people to a hope that a hell exists for terrorists has really changed the essential views of our contemporaries concerning hell.
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[1] See R. Alan Cole, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Mark (Vol. 2), (Grand Rapids, MI InterVarsity 1961) 152-3
[2] James A. Brooks, New American Commentary: Mark Vol. 23 (Nashville Broadman 1991) 153
[3] Brooks, op. cit., 154