The True Tragedy of Hell
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Introduction
Introduction
When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.
And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.
Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.
This may not seem like a sermon that would typically spring from this passage, but in these verses I see the True Tragedy of Hell.
This may not seem like a sermon that would typically spring from this passage, but in these verses I see the True Tragedy of Hell.
The Force of Rejection
This may not seem like a sermon that would typically spring from this passage, but in these verses I see the True Tragedy of Hell.
The Fortitude of the Redeemer
This may not seem like a sermon that would typically spring from this passage, but in these verses I see the True Tragedy of Hell.
This morning, we are going to discover three aspects of this passage that reveal how tragic Hell really is:
The Finality of Regret
The Force of Rejection
The Fortitude of the Redeemer
The true tragedy of hell is this — everyone that ends up there does so as a result of their own choices, and in direct opposition to the heart of Christ.
More simply — everyone that goes to hell, didn’t have to, they choose to.
The Finality of Regret
The Finality of Regret
Too Little, Too Late
Too Little, Too Late
King James Version Chapter 27
Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.
Statement: When Judas saw the consequences of his actions, he immediately regretted those actions.
Statement: The bummer about regret is that it only comes after the mistake has been made, and the consequences begin to be realized.
Biblical Examples of Regret:
Cain — once he was made a fugitive and an outcast
Noah’s Neighbors — once the rain was falling and the ark was sealed
Lot — once his sons-in-law and wife were destroyed and his grandsons were also his sons
Saul — once his kingdom was promised to fail
Jonah — once his running away led to him being a living lunch for a fish
Statement: They say hindsight is 20/20 — well regret is hindsight in a hurricane.
ILLUSTRATION:
ILLUSTRATION:
On Easter Sunday, 2013, the southbound side of I-77 near the North Carolina-Virginia border was closed for hours following a massive chain of accidents. Police later reported that seventeen different collisions involved ninety-five cars and trucks. The wrecks left three people dead and more than two dozen injured, many of them seriously. The cause of the accidents was people driving into a thick fog that descended over the Interstate that Sunday afternoon. A police spokesman said, “Visibility at the time this accident occurred was down to about one hundred feet or less.”
As people continued to drive blindly forward, they could not see the danger that was just ahead until it was too late. Prudence reminds us to be on guard for danger—not just in the present but in the future as well. Because of the way our minds work, we often tend to discount what may happen in the future simply because it hasn’t happened yet.
“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.”—
Statement: It’s far better to live a life full of restraint than a life full of regret.
Statement: Judas had the best preacher that ever preached, and still ran headlong in hell. What’s your excuse?
(Too Little, Too Late)
Too Low to Keep Living
Too Low to Keep Living
King James Version Chapter 27
5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. 6
ILLUSTRATION:
1001 Illustrations that Connect Illustration 646: The Zeigarnik Effect
Failures take on a life of their own because the brain remembers incomplete tasks or failures longer than success or completed activity. That is called the “Zeigarnik effect.” When a project or a thought is completed, the brain places it in a special memory. The brain no longer gives the project priority or active working status, and bits and pieces of the achieved situation begin to decay.
But failures have no closure. The brain continues to spin the memory, trying to come up with ways to fix the mess and move it from active to inactive status.
—Perry Buffington, “Forgive or Forget,” Universal Press Syndicate (August 29, 1999)
Statement: You can choose your company, you can choose your conduct, you can choose your cravings, but you can’t choose your consequences.
Statement: David said the guilt and shame of his sin was more than he could take.
King James Version Psalm 38
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger;
Neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head:
As an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
Statement: Could the struggles you’ve been having, could the pain, and depression, and anxiety, and all of that, could it be that you are not resting in Jesus Christ?
King James Version Chapter 11
Matthew 11:28
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Statement: Do you know the freedom that Jesus gives us from guilt and shame? Do you know the joy that living for Him brings? Do you know a life of purpose, and fulfillment, and hope, that can only be found in Jesus Christ our Lord? You can!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
King James Version Chapter 1
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope
Jn 10:10
King James Version Chapter 10
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Statement: You may get to the end of yourself, you may have taken all that you can take, and you may have more pain than you can bear, but Jesus bears all burdens, heals all hurts, forgives every failure, and saves any sinner!
(Too little, too late)
(Too low too keep living)
Too Loved to be Lost
Too Loved to be Lost
Statement: Despite all that Judas did, it was not Jesus’ desire that he die in his sin. There was a better way available for Judas then misery and shame.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Statement: The time to accept God’s gift of salvation is today, right here, right now. You’re not guaranteed another minute.
ILLUSTRATION: D.L. Moody’s Regret
ILLUSTRATION: D.L. Moody’s Regret
10,000 Sermon Illustrations The Biggest Blunder
The Biggest Blunder
D.L. Moody called it the biggest blunder of his life. It happened n October 8, 1871, during a preaching series in Farwell Hall, Chicago. His text was “What then shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ.” At the conclusion of the sermon Moody said he would give the people one week to make up their minds about Jesus. He then turned to Ira Sankey for a solo, and Sankey sand “Today the Saviour Calls.” But by the third verse Sankey’s voice was drowned out by the noise outside the hall. The great Chicago fire had begun, and the flames were even then sweeping toward the Hall. The clanging of the fire bells and the noise of the engines made it impossible to continue the meeting. In the years that followed, Moody wished that he had called for an immediate decision for Christ.
The Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, W. Wiersbe, p. 198
Statement: If you die without Christ, you do so in spite of God’s will, not because of it. He loves you too much to want to lose you.
(The Finality of Regret)
The Force of Rejection
The Force of Rejection
Statement: It is in these verses that we see just how powerful the choice to reject Christ really is.
Beyond Reasoning
Beyond Reasoning
Statement: No matter Pilate’s pleas, no matter how many times Jesus’ innocence was proven, these men were completely beyond reasoning.
Beyond Rationality
Beyond Rationality
Statement: In their hatred of Christ, they set a murderer free.
Beyond Restraint
Beyond Restraint
Statement: They had completely given themselves up, they were now an angry mob, murderous, hateful, angry for no logical reason at all, but their hatred of Jesus Christ.
Statement: The sin nature is powerful in us, there is no limit to what a human being will do when he’s bent on rejecting Jesus Christ. We see it every day in the news. We see it increasing more and more in the world around us — the farther our culture runs from God, the more awful people become.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
King James Version Chapter 1
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Statement: Not only is sin a slippery slope, but oftentimes the sinner is running headlong down it, with no desire to stop.
(The Finality of Regret)
(The Force of Rejection)
The Fortitude of the Redeemer
The Fortitude of the Redeemer
Statement: There is only one force in the universe powerful enough to keep sinners from ending up in hell — and that’s the love of Jesus Christ.
No Resistance
No Resistance
He went willingly
He never fought back
He never threatened
He never resisted at all
No Rebuttal
No Rebuttal
He did not defend Himself
He did not call anyone out
He did not reveal the lies
No Retaliation
No Retaliation
He spoke no curses
He delivered no judgements
He spoke no warnings
No Rescue
No Rescue
There was no heavenly army
There was no sword of His mouth
There was no resounding judgment
But there will be!
He is despised and rejected of men;
A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
And we hid as it were our faces from him;
He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs,
And carried our sorrows:
Yet we did esteem him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities:
The chastisement of our peace was upon him;
And with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned every one to his own way;
And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
Yet he opened not his mouth:
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,
So he openeth not his mouth.
Statement: Jesus Christ did all of this, to offer you the alternative to hell — and far better than an alternative, He offers complete forgiveness from sin, and eternal life in heaven.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
There is a judgment coming…that’s for certain. The Jesus who did not resist, rebut, retaliate, or rescue Himself will judge all mankind one day:
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Do you know Him as your redeemer? And if you do, are you living a life free of regret, a life lived pursuing Christ, by His Spirit, and according to His will?
If you don’t know Him as your redeemer, then you will stand before Him as your judge, and on that day, there will be no bargaining, no do-overs, no second-chances, just eternal consequences — in hell. All the while, knowing full well, that you sat in this building on this day, and heard that there is an alternative, offered by a God who loves you too much to want to lose you.
Statement: The true tragedy of hell is not that it exists, or that people go there. The true tragedy is that no one has to — they choose to.
What’s your choice? Are you sure you’ve settled that once and for all? Does your life show any evidence of it? Now’s the time to get your affairs in order, while you still have the chance.
ILLUSTRATION:
There is an old story of a king and his clown or “jester” who sometimes said very foolish things. One day the jester had said something so foolish that the king handing him a staff, said to him: “Take this, and keep it till you find a bigger fool than yourself.”
“Some years later, the king lay on his deathbed. His courtiers were called: his family and his servants also stood round his bedside. The king, addressing them, said, “I am about to leave you. I am going on a very long journey and I shall not return again to this place: so I have called you all to say goodbye.”
Then his jester stepped forward and addressing the king said “Your Majesty, may I ask a question? When you have journeyed abroad visiting your people or paying diplomatic visits to other courts your heralds and servants have always gone before you, making preparations for you. May I ask what preparations, your Majesty has made for this long journey that he is about to take?”
“Alas!” replied the king, “I have made no preparations.”
“Then,” said the jester, “Take this staff with you, for now I have found a bigger fool than myself.”
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
On that quickly approaching day, will you see Him as your judge, or as your Saviour? If you walk out of this place without knowing for certain, then your the fool.
INVITATION