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Text: Matthew 10:28; 13:36-50; Revelation 20:11-15
Theme: Hell is real, it’s eternal, and it’s the destiny of all who fail to come to Christ.
Date: 02/24/19 File name: Hell_Judgment.wpd
ID Number:
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been eight years ago when mega-church pastor Rob Bell ignited a theological firestorm over hell and eternal judgment.
It ultimately cost him his church.
Bell wrote a book entitled, Love Wins: A book about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived.”
Here’s the gist of Bell’s thoughts: “Hell is what we create for ourselves when we reject God’s love.
Hell is both a present reality for those who resist God and a future reality for those who die unready for God’s love.
... But hell is not forever.
God will have his way.
How can his good purposes fail?
Every sinner will turn to God and realize he has already been reconciled to God, in this life or in the next.
There will be no eternal conscious torment.”
In the end, Bell rejects the orthodox doctrine of hell, and judgement for universalism — the belief that everybody goes to heaven; God’s love wins out in the end, he says.
It sounds oh so good, but it is oh so heretical.
When Jesus told his disciples that hell was a horrible place of punishment for unrepentant sinners for all eternity, Bell essentially responds “Jesus didn’t really mean that.”
Last Sunday I told you that we needed to take some time to look specifically at the topic of hell, judgment, and eternal condemnation.
The Book of Revelation repeatedly tells us that, in the Last Days, God will pour out His judgment and wrath on unrepentant sinners.
The end for all those who oppose God is the Eternal Lake of Fire.
Last week we saw that at the Battle of Armageddon, Jesus captures the Antichrist, and the False Prophet and the two were throne alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur (Rev.
19:20).
For many Christian theologians the doctrine of hell is seen, at the worst — as odious, and at the least — as embarrassing.
Even Pope Francis around Easter of last year came out and denied the existence of a literal hell, that God doesn’t send people to hell, and that hell is a human invention.
The official Vatican response was, “Well, he really didn’t mean that.”
The doctrine of hell is uncomfortable for most of us.
Even some of the great Evangelical Bible scholars and theologians of our era are hard-pressed to understand hell.
Some months before his death, R. C. Sproul was asked which biblical doctrine he struggled with most.
He replied: “Hell.”
If we don’t accept the reality of hell, we won’t rightly understand the glory of the gospel.
I. JESUS TAUGHT THAT HELL IS AN ACTUAL PLACE
1. one of the fundamental questions people ask about eternity is, “Is hell real?”
a. in a word ... “Yes, hell is real”
2. even a quick read-through of the Gospels reveals that Jesus talks about hell and judgment more than any other person in the Scriptures
a. Jesus talks more about hell than he talks about heaven
b.
Jesus describes the horrors of hell much more vividly than he describes the glories of heaven
3. the central truth that Jesus taught about hell is found in Matthew’s gospel:
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
(Matthew 10:28, NIV84)
a. in Matthew, chapter 10 Jesus is getting ready to send the Apostles out into the cities and towns of Galilee to preach the gospel of the kingdom and to heal the sick and afflicted
1) before they go he gives them a series of instructions, and reminds them that not everyone will like their message
2) in Matthew 10:22 he bluntly tells them, “You will be hated by everyone because of me ... “
3) and because people will hate the gospel the disciples preach, they may find themselves arrested, they may be jailed, and they may be beaten
b. but God’s people are not to fear men — the worse they can do is kill the body
1) as unpleasant is the thought of being killed because of our devotion to the gospel, the harm they do is temporary
c. but God’s people are to fear the Father who can destroy both body and soul in hell
1) but Jesus quickly adds, “ ... even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
“So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven,” (Matthew 10:30-32, NIV)
4. Jesus reveals important things about hell and judgment that we need to tell others
A. HELL IS REAL AND MANY WILL GO THERE
1. the unrepentant sinner needs to be warned that this life is not all there is
a. there is a heaven to be gained and a hell to be shunned
b. unfortunately, we live in an era when many professing Christians are ashamed of the doctrine of hell, and see it as a blemish on the faith that must be covered up with the cosmetic of diving love
c. the idea that there is a place of eternal torment awaiting people simply because they have not believed the right religious truths is absolutely repulsive to many
ILLUS.
British Philosopher Bertrand Russell rejected Christianity, and Jesus Christ primarily because of the doctrine of hell.
He wrote: “There is a very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral character, and that is that he believed in hell.
I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment.”
1) how’s that for chutzpah?
2) Russell essentially says, “Jesus was a pretty good person except for this one fatal flaw in his character — he chose to believe in hell, and therefore, Jesus is not as moral as I am!”
2. a philosophical objection to hell does not somehow make hell go away
ILLUS.
In 1967, the group Blood, Sweat and Tears released their version of a song entitled, And When I Die.
The song is about death, but also about living, reflecting on one’s limited time on Earth and the futility in wasting that time worrying about what comes next.
The hard truth of life is that when we die, another will be born to replace us.
The song echos the hopes of men like Bertrand Russell, and millions of other skeptics.
The 5th stanza reads ...
My troubles are many, they're as deep as a well
I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell
Swear there ain't no heaven and pray there ain't no hell,
But I'll never know by living, only my dying will tell,
Only my dying will tell, yeah, only my dying will tell
And when I die and when I'm gone,
There'll be one child born and a world to carry on, to carry on
3. to wait until one dies to find out if hell is real is a sad mistake
a. Jesus taught us that hell is real and many will go there
B. HELL IS REAL BUT TEMPORARY
1. the New Testament contains three words that are usually translated as hell
a. one of them is Hades which Jesus used in Luke 16 to describe the temporary location of the unsaved dead as they await the final Great White Throne Judgment
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table.
Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.
The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.”
(Luke 16:19–23, ESV)
2. you say, “How do we know that hell is temporary?”
a. Revelation plainly tells us so
“And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, the lake of fire.”
(Revelation 20:13–14, ESV)
3. just because hell is temporary doesn’t lesson it’s horribleness
a. Luke 16 is explicit ...
“and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’”
(Luke 16:22–24, ESV)
4. Jesus taught us that hell is real but temporary
C. THE LAKE OF FIRE IS REAL AND ETERNAL
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