Hell Is Closer Than You Think

Hell Is Closer Than You Think

Text: (Jude verse 22)

22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Introduction:

1) Its a good thing that you read your Bible.

2) Its a greater thing that you believe your Bible.

3) After you have begun to strive to read your Bible all the way through, we need to work on believing our Bible all the way through.

4) John said in the book of I John that if we really believe the Lords commandments it will cause us to do something about it.

5) James teaches us that if we really have faith, it will most definitely be accompanied by works, or our believing is not faith at all. He said I will show you my faith by my works. Faith without works is dead.

6) Its good that you say you believe, but if your believing does not do anything to cause you to do anything about it, then your belief is not true faith. The devils themselves believe, but they refuse to act on what they know to be true. Their kind of belief does not save them.

7) The old time Christians used to refer to the kind of faith that changed a man and causes him to stop living for the Devil and start working for God Saving faith.

8) The sinner may believe what God’s Word says, but if he refuses to humble himself and repent, he will end up in the same Hell as the atheist, the unbeliever, and the most wicked vile sinner.

9) I am afraid that our churches are filled with believers, but only a handful of those who posses real saving faith.

10) The rich young man came to Jesus believing. He even said that he had followed the commandments since he was a child, but when Jesus told him to sell all that he had and follow Him, he walked away from the Lord without eternal life.

11) If your faith does not cause you to be faithful to God’s house, love the brethren, strive to be Holy, pray without ceasing, and have compassion on those around us, who we know are headed for a fiery Hell- where there is gnashing of teeth and screams of tormented souls, then your believing is not a saving faith, but one like the rich young ruler’s. You will also walk away without eternal life.

12) When it comes to believing what the Word of God says about Hell, if we sit by and let people go there all around us, then it proof positive that we don’t really believe there is a Hell.

13) James says that If we really believe that there is a Hell, we will act like a fireman and risking life and limb run into the very flames of Hell it’s self and rescue the perishing sinner and pull him to the safety of God’s bosom of grace.

14) The church of God is lazy, and has fell in a deep sleep from which it can not wake its self. It’s time preachers and godly men everywhere rise up and slap the church in the face with the Word of God, and awaken the sleepy-eyed lazy children who sit in God’s pews and refuse to work in the father fields.

I. Hell is closer than you think. (Luke 16:19-31)

19  There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

A. Billy Sunday used to say that if God were to suddenly rip back the veil that keeps us from seeing our own death, we would jump back with fright to think that our death is so close.

B. Jonathan Edwards, in his great sermon “Sinners in the hands of an angry God:”

1) Painted a frightening picture of men dangling from a spider web over the mouth of Hell, the flames of Hell l licking at the spider web.

2) Described men walking on a rotten tarp, in the dark, over Hell’s flames.

C. For the unsaved man, the only thing keeping you from dropping headlong into the flames of Hell is the mere whim of God. You are Helpless to keep yourself out of Hell.

Illustration:

1) Today death is covered up with hospitals and drugs. 2) I held my father’s head in my hands as he met the enemy Death. 3) He had told me his doctor had given him hope of another hospital.

Illustration: My grandfather told my father of an infidel’s horrible death

II. There will be no mercy in Hell. (Isaiah 38:18)

18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

A. What would not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day's opportunity to sit and hear the Gospel being preached and run down this isle and through themselves on the mercy of God!

B. Some say God is a God of love. He understands that I am just human. Evidently your God is not the God of the Bible. Consider this: (Ezek. 8:18)

"Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them"

C. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him, that it is said he will only "laugh and mock" (Prov. 1:25-31)

3 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. 24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: 30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

III. Hell is the final expression of God’s wrath against sin. (Is. 63:3)

A. In Hell God will expend all of His wrath on the wicked.

"I will tread them in mine anger, and will trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment"

(Is. 66:23, 24).

"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh"

(Revelation 14:9-11)

If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

B. The wrath of God upon those in Hell will be just a great as the mercy of God was to us here on this earth.

IV. Hell was created for the Devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

(Jude 6:6) Angles that kept not their first estate:

6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

(II Peter 2:4-6)

4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

(Matthew 8:28)

28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. 29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. 32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.

(Isaiah 14:9-15)

9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? 11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

*Immediately we see three facts about Hell…

A. Hell is beneath us. (Verse 9), (Matthew 12:48-40)

38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Amos 9:2)

2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven,

(Numbers 16:28-35)

28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. 29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. 30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. 31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: 32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. 33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. 34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.

35 And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

1. Its no secret where Hell is. Even the smallest child knows.

2. The center of the earth is about 4,000 miles from the surface of the earth.

3). Scientists tell us that the core of the heart is hotter than the surface of the sun.

4) The center of the earth has not gravity, thus a bottomless pit.

B. Hell is a bottomless pit. (Job 17:13)

13 If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. 14 I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister. 15 And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? 16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.

(Revelation 9)

1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. 7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. 10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. 16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. 19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. 20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

C. Hell has worms that don’t die. (Isaiah 14:9-11)

9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? 11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

D. Hell is a place of outer darkness. (Matthew 22:11-14)

11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

(Jude 3:11-13)

11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

E. Hell has chambers. (Proverbs 7:18)

27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

F. Hell has bars and gates.

(Matthew 16:18)

8 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

(Job 17:16)

16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.

G. Hell has other worldly creatures designed to torment its inhabitants. (Revelation 9)

H. Hell is constantly enlarging its self- Faults and earthquakes, volcanic activity. (Isaiah 5:14)

14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

(Romans 8:19-22)

19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

V. The torments of Hell. (Mark 9:43-49)

43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: 48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 49 For every one shall be salted with fire,

A. Fire.

B. Thirst.

C. Screaming and noshing of teeth.

B. Loneliness.

C. Worms.

D. No hope.

E. No death.

F. The stench.

G. No love.

H. The anger and cursing of the unsaved.

I. The memory.

J. The regrets.

K. The prayers.

VI. Who goes to Hell? Unbelievers.

A. All those who died in the flood. (Ezekiel 26:20-21)

20 When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living; 21 I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD.

B. All those who died with Pharaoh when God closed the Red Sea.

(Ezekiel 31:14)

for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit. 15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. 16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. 17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen. 18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

C. The angles that left their first estate. (Jude 6:5-7)

5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

D. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah.

7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

(II Peter 2:4-6)

4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

Note: God rained down fire and brimstone from heaven.

Brimstone. A bright yellow mineral usually found near active volcanoes. Large deposits of this substance are found in the Dead Sea region. Highly combustible, it burns with a very disagreeable odor.

The Hebrew and Greek words for “brimstone” denote divine fire (Gen. 19:24; Ezek. 38:22; Luke 17:29). Brimstone (burning stone) is often associated with fire (Rev. 9:17–18; 20:10; 21:8), and with barrenness and devastation (Deut. 29:23; Job 18:15). Brimstone was considered an agent of God’s judgment (Gen. 19:24).

VII. Parts of Hell are reserved for greater punishment. (James 3:1)

1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation

(II Peter 2:18)

21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

(Mark 12:38-40)

38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, 39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: 40 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.

VIII. Hell will be forever. (Revelation 14:10-11)

10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night,

What Does the Bible Say About Hell (Outline Only)

Text: (Jude verse 22)

22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Introduction:

1) Its a good thing that you read your Bible. 2) Its a greater thing that you believe your Bible.

I. Hell is closer than you think. (Luke 16:19-31)

A. Billy Sunday used to say that if God were to suddenly rip back the veil that keeps us from seeing our own death, we would jump back with fright to think that our death is so close. B. Jonathan Edwards, in his great sermon “Sinners in the hands of an angry God:” 1) Painted a frightening picture of men dangling from a spider web over the mouth of Hell, the flames of Hell l licking at the spider web. 2) Described men walking on a rotten tarp, in the dark, over Hell’s flames. C. For the unsaved man, the only thing keeping you from dropping headlong into the flames of Hell is the mere whim of God. You are Helpless to keep yourself out of Hell.

II. There will be no mercy in Hell. (Isaiah 38:18)

A. What would not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day's opportunity to sit and hear the Gospel being preached and run down this isle and through themselves on the mercy of God! B. Some say God is a God of love. He understands that I am just human. Evidently your God is not the God of the Bible. Consider this: (Ezek. 8:18) C. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him, that it is said he will only "laugh and mock" (Prov. 1:25-31)

III. Hell is the final expression of God’s wrath against sin. (Is. 63:3)

A. In Hell God will expend all of His wrath on the wicked.

B. The wrath of God upon those in Hell will be just a great as the mercy of God was to us here on this earth.

IV. Hell was created for the Devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)

A. Hell is beneath us.

1. Its no secret where Hell is. Even the smallest child knows.

2. The center of the earth is about 4,000 miles from the surface of the earth.

3). Scientists tell us that the core of the heart is hotter than the surface of the sun.

4) The center of the earth has not gravity, thus a bottomless pit.

B. Hell is a bottomless pit. (Job 17:13)

C. Hell has worms that don’t die. (Isaiah 14:9-11) D. Hell is a place of outer darkness. (Matthew 22:11-14) E. Hell has chambers. (Proverbs 7:18) F. Hell has bars and gates. G. Hell has other worldly creatures designed to torment its inhabitants. (Revelation 9) H. Hell is constantly enlarging its self- Faults and earthquakes, volcanic activity. (Isaiah 5:14)

V. The torments of Hell. (Mark 9:43-49)

A. Fire.

B. Thirst.

C. Screaming and noshing of teeth.

B. Loneliness.

C. Worms.

D. No hope.

E. No death.

F. The stench.

G. No love.

H. The anger and cursing of the unsaved.

I. The memory.

J. The regrets.

K. The prayers.

VI. Who goes to Hell? Unbelievers.

A. All those who died in the flood. (Ezekiel 26:20-21)

B. All those who died with Pharaoh when God closed the Red Sea.

C. The angles that left their first estate. (Jude 6:5-7)

D. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah.

VII. Parts of Hell are reserved for greater punishment. (James 3:1)

VIII. Hell will be forever.