Sermon Tone Analysis

have to say this right up front: I hate talking more about the enemy up here than talking about God but I think that understanding what hell is like and getting some information from the Bible will help us in our own lives, as well as in the urgency for us to not let anyone spend any time in hell.

So with that said, let me pray to get things started:

God help us tonight as we look at what eternity in hell looks like.

Protect our minds and thoughts from the enemy, and help us to understand—to know—that this is NOT what you want for us.

God, remind us that you love us, that you want us to spend eternity with You, and that You made that possible through Your son Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection.

Amen.

Intro:

You remember we talked about eternity last week—and that it is forever.

I know it is impossible for our minds to really wrap our heads around that idea, but as best as possible, just know that our bodies won’t last forever, but our souls will.

The stuff around us is just temporary, but the spirit that God breathed into us—what makes us who we are—is eternal.

yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.

What is your life?

For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Remember our life is like this match.

[Repeat the illustration from the previous week, lighting a match then shortly blowing it out] It burns bright for just a short while, and then its done.

Remember our life is like this match.

[Repeat the illustration from the previous week, lighting a match then shortly blowing it out] It burns bright for just a short while, and then its done.

All that is left is a small trail of smoke, and the rest just vanishes into the expanse out here.

But this space is like the eternity our soul will live on in.

It goes on forever—far beyond the life we have here now.

All that is left is a small trail of smoke, and the rest just vanishes into the expanse out here.

But this space is like the eternity our soul will live on in.

It goes on forever—far beyond the life we have here now.

If we choose to surrender our lives here on earth to God and receive His forgiveness through Jesus, we will end up spending eternity in Heaven with God.

But if we choose to reject God, and go through life without Him, we will spend eternity that same way—separated from God.

Next week we will look at heaven, but this week let’s take a look at what hell is like.

There are a few outlines on the tables and I would definitely encourage you to grab one of those and take some notes.

In fact, right away, I know we have some creative people in the house, so flip it over and check out question number 1.

In the space provided, draw a picture of hell.

Draw whatever comes to mind while I read a ton of these Scripture passages on hell.

Then in a few minutes you will get to share your pictures with the people at your table.

So go ahead and start drawing, as I read these verses.

The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, 50 throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

(NLT

9 They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power.

(NLT)

2 Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting disgrace.

(NIV)

4 For God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;

(NLT)

41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.

(ESV)

2 

but your iniquities have made a separation

between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden his face from you

so that he does not hear.

(NLT)

13 They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds.

They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.

(NLT)

10 Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet.

There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

(NLT)

8 “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

This is the second death.”

Ok stop drawing.

What I want you to see is that the Bible has a lot to say about hell.

Those were just a small sample of different verse across all of Scripture that talk about hell.

So here is what I want you to do: Take your outline and pass it to the person on your left, and look at their drawing, then pass it again to your left, and pass them all around until you get your back.

Go ahead, and see what others have drawn.

I bet there is a lot of fire!

Teaching:

It is funny when you ask people what will happen when you die.

Overwhelmingly, people believe in heaven.

In fact, according to a recent poll 87% of people believe in Heaven.

What is kind of strange is the number drops significantly when asked about hell.

Only 74% believe in hell.

The majority of the people who believe in hell feel only the strongest of evildoers, like murderers, rapists, and horrible criminals will ever see hell.

But what does the Bible teach us?

There is so much I could teach you about hell.

I could go on and on for hours, probably, looking into what we can know about hell.

For some of you, that sounds like hell!

But tonight I just want to show you four simple things we do know about hell.

Hell is not a party

One of the things that I get bugged about, when I hear people talk about hell, is that they sometimes make it seem like they want to go there!

I mean, sometimes people think that if all the sinners go there, meaning all the people who are sexually promiscuous, people who party all the time, people who drink and get high, that to them, that sounds like a really fun place!

Or people who think that hell is a heavy metal concert.

Let me tell you, I think it’s obvious based off the scriptures we read, but Hell is Not A Party.

Write that down and then look up at me.

I think we can all agree on that—but one of the things we will encounter with people who don’t want to deal with any sort of consequences, is that they feel like they are actually excited to go to hell.

But that is just the thing— all of the stuff in life that is sinful does have consequences.

Pain, hurt, guilt, physical consequences, emotional consequences, you name it.

I am sure if you listed out all the sinful stuff you could think of, you could easily figure out some of the consequences.

Check out this story that Jesus told, in (NLT).

This is a parable, or a story Jesus told, to serve as a teaching point for the people.

The story is about two men who died, one was a rich man, who never cared about the consequences of his life, and the other was a man named Lazarus, who was a poor beggar.

Lazarus goes to heaven, while the rich man goes to hell.

23 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.’

25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’

29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’

”

So you can see, this man is not at a party—instead he is in anguish, in pain.