Hell

Intro

I spoke this morning about the assurance of salvation, that Christ is the mediator of a better covenant that allows us to draw near with full assurance to the throne of grace.

We’ve discussed over the course of this month regarding the the day of the Lord, about resurrection, about judgement, and even about Heaven.

But tonight we have the opportunity to speak about a place that it has become unpopular to speak about even from the pulpit, because, well because quite simply it’s not a place we care to think about.

Yet the unfortunate truth is that Hell will receive the larger share of souls come judgement day.

Jesus said

Matthew 7:13–14 ESV

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matt 7:

So church although those of us who belong to Christ hold a blessed assurance of our salvation, we must be aware of the truth of Hell.

Tonight we are going to look at a few scriptures that tell us what Hell is, who it is for, and why it matters to Christians.

What Hell Is

To begin I think it’s important to understand the terminology that has often led to confusion regarding Hell.

Not Hades - Though there is a component of torment there. seems to indicate that there in Hades there is both a place of torment and a place of Paradise separated by a large chasm.

But Hell is mostly referred to as Gehenna in the Greek which is a

Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) 1147 γέεννα

a Hellenized transliteration of the Hebrew, “Hinnom Valley.” A ravine just SSW of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. A place of trash fires and perpetually burning rubbish, hence the figurative extension of a place of eternal punishment (Mt 5:22, 29; 10:28; 23:15, 33; Mk 9:43; Lk 12:5; Jas 3:6)

And this place obviously left an impression on Jewish thinking and the way that it’s fires never seemed to go out is likened to the eternal nature of the punishment of Hell.

And this place obviously left an impression on Jewish thinking and the way that it’s fires never seemed to go out is likened to the eternal nature of the punishment of Hell.

Now there is a doctrine being put out there today of the idea that Hell is not a place of eternal punishment, but is instead a place where souls are simply destroyed.

But scripture seems pretty clear that Hell is an Eternal Place and Jesus in multiple places calls Hell a place of ETERNAL consequence.

Jesus in multiple places calls Hell a place of ETERNAL consequence.

Matthew 18:8 ESV

8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.

and again in Jesus alludes to a reference in

Mark 9:48 ESV

48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

Isaiah 66:24 ESV

24 “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

A place of darkness and a place of torment - meaning a place without God

Matthew 8:12 ESV

12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

We also see in scripture that Hell was not created for us, meaning mankind, but instead appears to have been prepared for the devil and his angels.

Matthew 25:41 ESV

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Matt 25:

Who Will Be there?

The Expected:

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 ESV

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Revelation 21:8 ESV

8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Revelation 21:8

The Unexpected:

Many outlined in Jesus Parables:

Those of little faith (Son’s of the kingdom) centurian begging for his servant.

Those at the wedding without a wedding garment (Many are called, few are chosen)

Wicked Servants () - “My master is delayed” Cut him up and place him with the hypocrites.

Worthless servants () - 5,2,1 Talents

The truth is that there will be many that end up in Hell. Of course those who have rejected God, those who murder, steal, cheat, lie, and are just generally terrible people, but there will also be people there that by the world’s standards were great people.

People that never cheated on their spouses, people that never murdered, people that loved their families and their kids, but they just never made time for Christ. They never saw their need for a savior and therefore ignored the teachings of Christ. And since Scripture tells that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (), even “Good” people need the blood of Christ.

And that’s why Hell should matter to us as Christians

Hell Should Matter, Because People Are Heading there in Droves

Brothers and sisters, even if we ourselves have the blessed assurance of salvation through Christ, we must know about Hell because People are heading there in droves.

We live in a Post-Truth era, in a time where most people seem to believe that all truth is subjective, that you can make your own truth, and that if we don’t want to believe it, we can just wish Hell away, but that’s just simply not the case.

We need to study about Hell because HELL is REAL!

And many of our closest friends, coworkers, and relatives are diving headfirst into it without so much as a peep of warning from us who know about it.

But when we’re reminded of the terribleness of Hell,

where the worm never dies and the flame never subsides,

where there is nothing but gnashing of teeth, and pain, and tears, and misery, and torment, and suffering, and anguish without end.

Where there is no presence of God which means an everlasting darkness without hope, without love, without joy, without peace.

Brothers and sisters when we know that we not only don’t want ourselves to end up there, we don’t want anyone that we know to end up there,

And when we understand that it ought to shake us out of our contentment should it not? If we took that seriously would we not want to turn off the TV, get up off the couch and take the good news of the gospel out to our friends and neighbors?

Church we have a lot of work to do. And Satan knows that if he can make us forget about Hell, then he will have more with him there on that day of judgement.

Let’s get to work doing that which Jude encouraged his fellow christians to do all those years ago in

Jude 22–23 ESV

22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

Luke 12:4-5

Luke 12:4–5 ESV

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!