Part 18 - Understanding Hell
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Introduction: (2:08.40-2:11.45 3 Minutes)
For eighteen weeks now, we have been learning about this amazing book called the “Revelation.” We have learned so much about good, evil, the coming of Messiah, the judgment of the future Babylon, the role of Israel, the body of the Messiah but today’s teaching well it is uncomfortable to say the least.
Usually, in a sermon, I would take the first few minutes to tell a heart warming story, or make you laugh or give you some statistic meant to grab you and pull you into what the text is going to say. But, when talking about the biblical teaching that God is a judge and a judge who consigns people to hell there is no real heartwarming way to introduce this. There is no real comparison on earth to it, the worst of human prisons in the worst of places are better than this place called hell.
Further, there are a number of concerns about this teaching, but basically I think the understandable objection goes like this.
The person says, How can you possibly reconcile the concept of judgment and hell with the idea of a loving God? Judgment and hell … loving God. They just don’t go together.”
What do we say about that? I’ll tell you, one of the things I have said over the years … Because I’m a minister, people ask me, “What do you believe about hell?” One of the things I say is, “Well, one thing I believe is probably the biblical imagery of hellfire is metaphorical.” The people go, “Phew!”
Then I always say, “It’s metaphorical for something probably infinitely worse than fire.” They go, “Huh?” I’d like to argue that the biblical understanding of hell is crucial, that something is infinitely worse than fire. That something is crucial for understanding your own heart, for living at peace in the world, and for knowing the love of God. Realistically, I probably will one get through the first point today and I may come back to point two and three next week.
Understanding what the Bible says about how God is a judge and a judge who consigns people to hell is crucial for understanding your own heart, and so I want to take the time to develop this teaching with you. I know what I am saying seems counter-intuitive. Hell is for those people not for us but trust me it will help you understand your own heart better. Remember, Revelation was written to the seven congregations in Asia Minor. Grab you copy of the Scriptures and say it with me.
Ha-foke-bah
Ha-foke-bah
De-Cola-bah
Ha-foke-bah
Ha-foke-bah
Mashiach-bah
Scripture Reading: 2 Minutes
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a great chain.
He seized the dragon—the ancient serpent, who is the devil and satan—and bound him for a thousand years.
He also threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed. After these things, he must be released for a short while.
Then I saw thrones, and people sat upon them—those to whom authority to judge was given. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Yeshua and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image, nor had they received his mark on their forehead or on their hand. And they came to life and reigned with the Messiah for a thousand years.
The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
How fortunate and holy is the one who has a share in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no authority, but they shall be kohanim of God and the Messiah, and they shall reign with Him for a thousand years.
When the thousand years has ended, satan shall be released from his prison,
and he shall come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for the battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea.
And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the kedoshim and the beloved city—but fire fell from heaven and consumed them.
And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they shall be tortured day and night forever and ever.
Then I saw a great white throne, and the One seated on it. The earth and heaven fled from His presence, but no place was found for them.
And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne. The books were opened, and another book was opened—the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their deeds.
The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Sheol gave up the dead in them. Then they were each judged, each one of them, according to their deeds.
Then death and Sheol were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.
And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
4Then I saw thrones, and people sat upon them—those to whom authority to judge was given. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Yeshua and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image, nor had they received his mark on their forehead or on their hand. And they came to life and reigned with the Messiah for a thousand years.
5The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6How fortunate and holy is the one who has a share in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no authority, but they shall be kohanim of God and the Messiah, and they shall reign with Him for a thousand years.
7When the thousand years has ended, satan shall be released from his prison, 8and he shall come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for the battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea. 9And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the kedoshim and the beloved city—but fire fell from heaven and consumed them.
10And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they shall be tortured day and night forever and ever.
11Then I saw a great white throne, and the One seated on it. The earth and heaven fled from His presence, but no place was found for them. 12And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne. The books were opened, and another book was opened—the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their deeds. 13The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Sheol gave up the dead in them. Then they were each judged, each one of them, according to their deeds.
14Then death and Sheol were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
For Understanding Your Own Heart
For Understanding Your Own Heart
And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne. The books were opened, and another book was opened—the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their deeds. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Sheol gave up the dead in them. Then they were each judged, each one of them, according to their deeds. -
(7.0 Minutes)
This grand scene is all about books and what is found written in those books. One book is a roster book containing names, it is called the book of Life. That is it’s abbreviated name because it’s longer name is the book of life of the lamb who was slain (; ). The name says it all. The only way you get into the book of life is by association with the wrath absorbing Messiah Yeshua.
The beast that you saw was, and is not, and yet is about to rise up from the abyss and head for destruction. Those who dwell on the earth—whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world—will be astonished when they see the beast, because he was and is not and is to come.
All who dwell on the earth shall worship him—everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain.
This book is also said to have been pre-written before a single person was ever born (). They were predestined for life. Now I know predestination sounds scary, but it is not. Let me give you an illustration to help you understand.
God had it set up so that when I was about 17-18 I met a missionary on furlough named Paul while I was out selling drugs and high on the front porch of a church. That night God intended that Michael the mohawk drug-dealing and using scumbag met a man who knew the wrath absorbing Messiah Jesus. God orchestrated that event, and the next one, and the next one so that I could know boast that I found God, the opposite is true, He found me! Before I ever loved Him, he first loved me. He knew my name, and He has always known my name.
Being found in the Book of life is being found by Grace: “For by Grace you have been Saved through Faith and this is not of yourself but it is the gift of God” (). Those in the Book of life are those who partake in what is called the first resurrection.
How fortunate and holy is the one who has a share in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no authority, but they shall be kohanim of God and the Messiah, and they shall reign with Him for a thousand years.
Those in the first resurrection are the believers from all of history not just the last two thousand year. Remember, says that the Old Testament saints reach perfection with us because they also were saved by grace through faith in the revealed will of God. Abraham will be there, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David, the Prophets of old, countless myriads from the Jewish nation, and countless Gentiles like Ruth, Uriah the Hittite, Namaan the Syrian General, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus the Great, and the Queen of Sheva. They are part of that great roll call of faith, that roster in the book of Life.
because God had provided something better for us, so that only with us would they reach perfection.
Those in the Book of Life are not self-righteous they are made righteous. Abraham will be there and he will stand up and say “My righteousness, I have none! My righteousness came through faith!” Moses will be there, he wrote of the book of life, and he will say, “I struck the rock, I have no righteousness, my righteousness will come by faith.” David will be there and sing the great song אַשְׁרֵי אָדָם לֹא יַחְשֹׁב יהוה לוֹ עָוֹן ashrei adam lo yach’shov Adonai lo avon, “Blessed is the person the Lord does not count sin against him” (). And Abraham will respond, “because of faith God counts righteousness towards us (; ). Those in the Book of Life are not self-righteous they are made righteous.
They are not perfect people they are forgiven people. Paul says in that Eudia and Syntyce, who were some kind of disagreement with one another, yet, they were written in the “book of life” along with himself and his other co-workers.
I urge Euodia and Syntyche to be in harmony in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, true companion, to help these women—they labored side by side with me in spreading the Good News, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
then make my joy complete by being of the same mind, having the same love, united in spirit, with one purpose.
Do nothing out of selfishness or conceit, but with humility consider others as more important than yourselves,
This was a common Hebrew idea that God kept a roster of the community of the righteous and it was common in the Greek world to keep a register of citizens and when a citizen would die they would expunge, wipe his or name off the register. God never wipes the name of a citizen off of his register. We know this because he said in Matthew and Luke when on sheep goes astray, and leaves the flock, he leaves the 99 and finds him, puts him on his shoulders, that is a forceful return, and brings him back to the flock.
This picture takes grace with absolute seriousness. Those who are part of the first resurrection and spared the “second death” are saved only by God’s grace—not by their deeds but by God’s. There is a paradox here for us of works and grace, a paradox not unfamiliar in the Pauline tradition (; ). We are ultimately responsible for what we do, for it has eternal consequences—we are judged at Messiah’s bema, not the white throne, by our works. God is ultimately responsible for our salvation, it is his deed that saves, not ours—we are saved by grace but we will be held accountable for our lives.
They don’t do kind things to get noticed but because it is the right thing to do. Remember, Yeshua’s teaching about the sheep and the goats. When Yeshua says they fed, visited, and clothed him they had no idea what he was talking about. He said, as you did it to one of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.
Those in the book of life are not perfect because they are in it, or better. They have died to sin with Messiah, they have been buried with him in baptism, risen again with him in new life. They are the forgiven, the justified, and the glorified.
(24 Minutes)
But, there are other books than the Book of Life.
Then I saw a great white throne, and the One seated on it…The books were opened, and another book was opened—the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their deeds. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Sheol gave up the dead in them. Then they were each judged, each one of them, according to their deeds. -
This is the great white throne judgment not the Bema judgment of believers. That happens at the first resurrection. This image is of the great judgment of all people outside of grace.
It’s an individual judgment. Each person, on their own, faces judgment before God for their choices. The final judgment has three phases—the verdict, the sentencing, and the penalty.
The verdict is determined simply by confirming that the accused is not, in fact, listed in the book of life. The person’s name is not found on the community register, the Book of Life.
, The books were opened, and another book was opened—the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their deeds. And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Then I saw a great white throne, and the One seated on it. The earth and heaven fled from His presence, but no place was found for them.
And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The first order of business is to establish the guilt or not-guiltiness of the crime. What is the crime under consideration? Believing in God who saves by grace through faith. The passage sounds like there might be some people who could be found at this point in the book of life after the first resurrection. Kind of like, God says, “Oh, I forgot that Henry was one of my children, bring him over her and put him on this side of the aisle.” No, the passage is simply saying, “God consigns a person to hell because they are not found in the book of life of the lamb that was slain.”
There is no arguing for innocence, for trying your best, because all are guilty and fall short of the glory of God. Are you part of the universal blood bought community of the Lamb of God, “Yes or No.”
Having determined the guilt, the next step is the sentencing, which will be based strictly on the deeds of the accused. The court will bring forth the records, one-by-one, each act, each choice will be thoroughly sifted through.
Then they were each judged, each one of them, according to their deeds.
The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Sheol gave up the dead in them. Then they were each judged, each one of them, according to their deeds.
The implication is that those who acted more wickedly will receive a greater degree of punishment than others. How this actually works out is up to God. We can imagine that much like a modern court each person will be dealt with fairly, we can expect that something like “victim impact statements” will be read.
Finally, having determined guilt as well as just sentencing, the Judge assigns the penalty—they will be thrown into the “lake of fire,” which John calls “the second death.”
And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Why do those in the book of life not face the sentencing and the penalty? Because the verdict was not against them but for them. They were found not having a righteousness of their won but the righteousness of the Messiah. They cannot be condemned because He was condemned, they do not face wrath because he absorbed their wrath in His body, they do not take punishment because he was pierced for our transgression, the are not crushed because he was bruised for our iniquities and by His stripes we are healed, saved, forever redeemed, in the Book of Life.
I want us to think deep about this. See, for many years, philosophers have talked about what they call the summum bonum, the highest good of your life. What is your highest good? What is the thing you really live for? What is the thing that is your ultimate value? What is that which gives meaning to your life? What is it that gives you a sense of who you are?
When the dead appear before the utterly Holy One I think the court will ask these questions to determine sentencing:
· What was your highest good?
· What was the thing you really live for?
· What was the thing that is your ultimate value?
· What was that which gave meaning to your life?
· What was it that gave you a sense of who you are?
We know they will not answer “I was most satisfied by a life giving glory to God” because if they had been they would have seen their need for the Savior, the would have been in the book of Life.
We know a little bit about what their answer will be when we look at the way they are described in
But for the cowardly and faithless and detestable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars—their lot is in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. -
John lists various kinds of sinners among those who will deserve judgment. By introducing the list of sins with “cowards” and concluding it with “liars,” he shows that these vices primarily indicate failures of so-called believers facing the threat or reality of persecution.
δέ (“but”) contrasts the cowardly with those who conquer from the previous passage, so that the cowardly are those who have been professing Christians. They are those in the visible community of faith who have “turned back in the holy war” with the world and have not demonstrated courageous faith in the battle against the beast.
This vice list has no apparent rhyme or meaning to it until you understand that for each one of these vices there is a counter positive trait associated with the radical believers of the book of Revelation:
· Cowards people who love the comforts of this world – there are conquerors (cf. ; ; )
· Faithless those who start but give up when it gets hard – they just don’t quit, they are full of faith (; : ).
· Detestable those who pollute their lives with evil but call it good – these are dedicated and have come out of the lifestyle of Babylon ()
· Sexually Immoral those who love a little side action – those who are strong with self-control
· Sorcerers those who manipulate others through drugs – those who stand on the word of God ()
· Idolaters – versus loyal God followers
· All Liars is not talking about people who tell stupid petty lies this is a word that points to something different in Revelation. The catalog of sins concludes with “all liars” (ψευδής), which likely points to a focus on those whose Christian profession is betrayed by compromising behavior or false doctrine.
The word has been used in 2:2 of people who lie because they “call themselves apostles” when they really are not. The cognate verb was used in 3:9 of ethnic Jews who lie by claiming that they are God’s true people even though they reject Christ. ψευδής appears elsewhere in the NT only in , where it refers to false witnesses against Stephen. Likewise, ψεύστης (“liar”) in 1 John is used of church members whose behavior or doctrine contradicts their profession of faith (, ; ; ).
What was their highest good, what were they living for, what had ultimate value, what gave meaning to life and a sense of who you are? Some would say “Comfort,” others would say “Ease of life” still others would say “fitting in” and others “pleasure” and others “being in control’ and others “feeling spiritually superior” (that is what false doctrine does).
Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish philosopher, wrote a book called Fear and Trembling. It’s pretty much the only book I’ve read of his that I can understand actually. I really have understood it. In the book he wrestles with what gives real meaning to life. He knows that the traditional answers are the Bible, the Ten Commandments, Family, or national laws, or social laws but he wonders if those can really give ultimate meaning to life. The reason is “Mt. Moriah.”
He says if ultimate value, meaning, and purpose come from Moses Law, Family Law, National Law or Social Law then Abraham would have never made it to Mt. Moriah. The Law condemns him of child sacrifice, Sarah condemns him for not consulting with her about the religious murder of their only son, national law would have put him in prison or death for murdering their only son, social law would have condemned him for concealing from his servants the true nature of their adventure to Moriah. All of these things would have made him a coward, faithless, detestable, sexually immoral, idolator, and liar (in the sense of false teaching).
Here is the thing, Kierkegaard is right, Moriah shows you if God is of ultimate value in your life. Moriah shows you if you are most satisfied with God and God alone. The Cross showed all the world that Yeshua was satisfied with God and God alone, “Not my will, by yours be done.” And Yeshua, calls each and everyone of His disciples to a cross , “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me!”
Then Yeshua was saying to everyone, “If anyone wants to follow Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross every day, and follow Me.
Moriah is in front of you! If you can’t get to Moriah you can’t get past this White Throne.
What Kierkegaard is saying is this. If you take a good thing and make it an ultimate thing, if you look at anything in this life and say, “If I have that, Sarah’s approval, then I have importance and value, but if I don’t have that, then I’m nothing, I’m not going to Moriah …”
If you look at money, career, your talents, your looks, if you look at a relationship, if you look at your parents, if you look at your children, if you look at power, approval, comfort, control, if you look at any of these things and make them more fundamental to your significance and security than the love and glory of God, then though you may believe in the God of the Bible, you may pray to the God of the Bible, you may obey the laws of the God of the Bible, but your faith, the justification of your life, the roots of your identity, what you really worship, in other words, is not God, and will not take you to Moriah and it will not get you in the Book of Life.
So wait, “Are you talking about us or them?” Both. I told you when we started this study in the Book of Revelation that it was written not just for them but it is written for us. Send this letter to the seven Churches in Asia Minor.
All eight of the vices associated with the wicked dead are also found in five out of the seven congregations in Asia Minor.
John is saying something to each and every person who reads this letter. What gives your life ultimate meaning now will be the basis for future pleasure or punishment.
The idea is simply that a record of everyone’s deeds is kept by God and all through life we are writing our own destiny; it is not so much that God judges us as that we write our own judgment.
That starts in your heart a spiritual cosmic fire.
That’s what the metaphor for fire is about. You say, “What are you talking about ‘starts a fire’?” All right. We know a lot about the devastation of addiction. We know about the inward and outward devastation that addiction wreaks. It consists of things like this.
disintegration
isolation
denial
First of all, there’s the disintegration that happens in addiction because, as addiction proceeds, you need more and more of the addictive substance to get less and less of the kick, of the high, of the satisfaction. So you need more and more of the substance and you do everything to get it to get less and less and less of the satisfaction. That leads to disintegration.
Another part of addiction is isolation. You have to lie. You have to defend yourself. Of course, you are always blaming everyone else. You’re always blaming everything else for the problems. You say, “Nobody understands me. Everybody is against me.” Of course, that’s all part of denial.
There’s denial, an inability increasingly to see what’s really happening, getting more and more and more out of touch with reality. Ah yes, you know. In fact, everybody probably in this room says, “I know. Of course I know firsthand or secondhand, at the most thirdhand, the devastation of those poor people who get addicted to substances.”
10 Minutes
Everybody is going to live forever somewhere. I believe that because the Bible says so but also because the The Iron Giant said so. I would suggest you watch it because it’s maybe the best animated movie I’ve ever seen. If you watch The Iron Giant, there’s one place where the Iron Giant says, “Souls don’t die.” Souls can’t die. Of course, if he is right … That’s what the Bible says, that the soul after death goes on forever. Your personal consciousness goes on forever.
If the Iron Giant is right “you live forever” and Kierkegaard is right too, that is every single person (religious or irreligious, moral or immoral) is addicted to something, as it were, grounding your very identity, taking your very self from something besides God that can never give you the satisfaction you hope it will give you. If I am going to live forever what does this mean?
Now there are a good many things which would not be worth bothering about if I were going to live only 70 years, but which I had better bother about very seriously if I am going to live forever.
Perhaps my bad temper or my jealousy is gradually getting worse—so gradually that the increase in 70 years will not be very noticeable. But it might be absolute hell in a million years: in fact, if the Bible is true, hell is the precisely correct technical term for what it would be.
Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others … but you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself, going on forever like a machine. It’s not a question of God ‘sending’ us to hell. In each of us there is something growing up which will of itself be hell unless it is nailed to the cross.
It is Fire. You watch a log in the fire. It’s falling apart. It’s one thing to love a career, but if you build your identity on a career and something is going wrong in your career, you’re not just wounded and hurt (which you should be); you’re devastated. You feel worthless. You want to throw yourself off a bridge.
It is Disintegration. It’s okay to love somebody or to just want to be loved, but if you build your entire identity on that and there’s a problem in your relational life, you won’t just be hurt and wounded like you should be, but you’ll be devastated.
It is Isolation. You’ll want to eventually throw yourself off a bridge. Your good things enslave you. They’re starting to disintegrate you. They’re starting to isolate you so when something gets in the way of them, instead of just being afraid, you’re paralyzed. Instead of just being angry, you’re implacably bitter. Instead of being despondent, you endlessly hate yourself, forever and ever. This is the fire. Do you not see it in yourself? Do you not see where it’s going?
Most of all, It is a denial. The denial. C.S. Lewis is constantly saying, whenever he depicts hell, the doors of hell are locked from the inside not the outside. That’s the whole idea behind hell, because more and more you would say, “Well, this isn’t very good.” People in the middle of addictions feel like that. “This isn’t very good, but I can’t imagine being somewhere else. Nobody understands. It’s not as bad as you say. I can really handle it.” That’s hell, and that’s hell! It’s hell, and it’s hell.
Summary: Hell is just the destination for a freely chosen identity based on something else besides God going on forever which you already are living in. Disintegrating, disintegrating, disintegrating. Refusing to admit what it is. See?
People read revelation and see an angry God who dispassionately throws people into hell. You know, he sort of throws them into this pit and all the while they are banging to get out, climbing up the sides, saying, “Please, no! Let me out!”
Have you ever read the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus? Do you realize the rich man never asks to get out of the torment of hell? He only asks to be refreshed in hell. Do you remember in hell he even says that God did not give him enough information in his lifetime so please send someone to talk to his brothers.
In Revelation God is saying, “No, it’s too late now. You wrote your won future.” C.S. Lewis puts it like this. He says, “In the long run the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of hell, is itself a question: ‘What are you asking God to do?’ To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start …? But he has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what he does.” That’s what hell is.
There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no hell.” Let me also say just as a kind of application of this point (I told you it was the longest one) that understanding the nature of hell has been incredibly important to me personally.
Seeing myself (and you, by the way) as a spiritual addict apart from the intervening grace of God (all addicts) is crucial to knowing how to deal with what’s going on in your life. You have to see the seriousness of it. You have to see the seriousness. I mean, what you really do as a Follower of Jesus most of your life is you watch the fire start to come up, and then you blow. That’s basically it.
You say, “I have to deal with that.” You can deal with it with the gospel. You deal with it with grace, but it’s constantly coming back up again. It’s awfully helpful to know what that is, what that’s made of, what will extinguish it. Who are you really? Do you have a core identity, a name based in what God has done for you in Jesus, what God thinks of you in Jesus, based in being a child of the King, based in the mission of getting to the new heavens and new earth?
The one who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But for the cowardly and faithless and detestable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars—their lot is in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Rev 21:7
Do you have a fundamental core identity that’s there no matter what the circumstances, no matter what happens? No matter what happens, you know who you are. There’s a stability. Do you have that, or are you just a businessman? Are you just a businesswoman? Are you just an artist? Are you just a mother? Are you just a father? Are you willing to look as deep into yourself as this doctrine is calling you to look? So without the doctrine of hell, you can’t really understand (I don’t think) your own heart.
Pray