Hell

Matthew 25:31–46 ESV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “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. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Revelation 20:7–15 ESV

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Scripture: Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:7-15

Sermon Title: Hell

As you just heard me say to the boys and girls and can see on the screen, we’re looking at the topic of hell today. I’m guessing fire is probably the image most of us associate with it. We’re going to look at where that comes from and what we can know about hell, who is going there, why it exists, and what it matters for believers. This is a heavy matter; we shouldn’t take it lightly or make jokes about it. As wonderful and appealing as heaven is for believers, hell is appropriately scary and we as Christians should set the tone for what it is about.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s interesting, to say the least, to look at how hell has been acknowledged and used in different aspects of culture. I’ve never read “The Divine Comedy,” written by Dante back in the early 1300s, but I know of the first part, which is entitled “The Inferno.” This literary work gave way to an understanding of nine circles of hell. From what I understand, what sins you committed designates what circle a person goes to. In that book, hell is connected to how a person lives and punishment in regard to that.

Much more recently, coming out of the late 1970s and early 80s, culture was influenced with songs like “Highway to Hell” and “Hell’s Bells” by the band AC/DC. As I grew up in the 90s and into the 2000s, those were on the classic rock radio stations and different athletes or teams incorporated them into their stadium music. I’ll admit I find them catchy. If you like rock music from that era, the powerful guitar sounds and the heavy bells, these songs musically are great—but then you actually listen to or look at the lyrics.

I found different interpretations, but a straightforward reading of the lyrics is enough to make the point. “Highway to Hell” talks about “Living easy, lovin’ free…Ain’t nothin’ I’d rather do. Goin’ down, party time, my friends are gonna be there too.” “Hey Satan, payin’ my dues. Playing in a rocking band. Hey mama, look at me. I’m on my way to the promised land.” He’s not talking about Israel or heaven, because the chorus bears the repeated, “I’m on the highway to hell.” “Hell’s Bells” talks about how “If you’re into evil, you’re a friend of mine,” and “…If good’s on the left, then I’m sticking to the right.” “Hell’s bells, Satan’s comin’ to get you. Hell’s bells, he’s ringing them now. Those hell’s bells, the temperature’s high.” These songs highlight a clear connection of Satan and evil, and if your life is committed to that, then you’re going to hell, you’re going to a hot place. Yet they don’t mind because they’ll be there with all their friends. It really can’t be that bad.

Hell has also been used for decades attached to different words or in phrases. Some of that began in California in the 1970s, but you can find it all over the place today. Maybe we even find ourselves using different phrases that use the word. It’s not just connected to bad or negative or wicked things, but hell more and more gets attached to the word “good,” or it’s used in phrases to describe someone who’s very attractive. As much as I love to say that words have meaning; when people say these things, I don’t think there’s any sense or recognition of what that actually implies.

In the dominant culture today, whether people believe that hell is real or not, that people will go there for a time or forever or not at all, whether they think all the goody-goodies end up in heaven while the disobedient get to party in hell or we bring it back to faith and the saving work of Jesus Christ, hell is recognized and holds meaning in the broader culture.

We begin, then, this morning by asking the question: what is it? What is hell? What I’m speaking of is that hell is a real place, based on biblical teaching, and it is a place of eternal punishment. Where does that come from? There are four key words that we should be aware of. One word that shows up 65 times in the Old Testament is the word “Sheol.” Quite often that’s translated as the grave or death—when someone speaks of dying, they’re going down to Sheol. A unique translation, though, is in Deuteronomy 32. That chapter contains a song of Moses, and in verse 22 we find, “‘For a fire has been kindled by my wrath, one that burns to the realm of death below…’” Sheol is translated “the realm of death,” which has an underworld understanding to it.

Moving over to the New Testament and Greek words, “Hades,” is used 10 times in the New Testament. We heard two of those occurrences in Revelation 20 verses 13 and 14, where Hades was paired with death. Several times in the New Testament, it has an understanding similar to Sheol, being about death, the grave, or even the underworld. That is why, when the Hebrew Old Testament was translated to Greek, Hades was often if not always the word used for Sheol.

What do either of these words have to do with hell? Well, Hades is occasionally translated in the New Testament as “hell.” In Matthew 16:18, the NIV records Jesus as saying, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” The ESV, the old KJV, and others, however, translate Hades there as “hell.” Another place is in Luke 16, we find a parable about a rich man and Lazarus. The rich man is desiring Abraham to send Lazarus to help him and to send him back to his family to warn them. What’s he warning them of? This rich man is said in verse 23 to be in Hades, which the NIV translates as “‘in hell, where he was in torment.’” In verse 24, Jesus says this man is “‘in agony in this fire.’” To fill in the rest of the picture, verse 26, Abraham is telling the man, “‘…Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’” Heaven and hell are separated, there are not bridges between them.

Another word in the New Testament is Gehenna, which is used 12 times, all of which in our version of the NIV, are translated as hell. In Matthew 5, the person who says, “‘“You fool!” will be in danger of the fire of hell.’” A few verses later, Jesus said it’d be better to lose a part of one’s body rather than “‘your whole body to be thrown into hell.’” In Mark 9:43, Jesus gives a similar command so that one does not go to “‘hell, where the fire never goes out,’” and verse 48 there says, “‘where “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”’” What was Gehenna and what’s with all the fire? Gehenna was another name for the Hinnom Valley, a ravine just off the temple mount, and my dictionary called it “a place of trash fires and perpetually burning rubbish.” Jesus wasn’t talking about people literally burning in the garbage dump, but he used that location, which his audience knew of, to figuratively speak of what eternity holds for the wicked.

The last word, which only shows up once is, “Tartaroo.” It’s used exclusively in 2 Peter 2 verse 4. The NIV reads, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment…” and goes on to list other acts of God’s judgment until verse 9, “if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.”

As we look at what Scripture says through these words and verses, we don’t know what exactly happens between our last breath and judgment day other than that we are physically dead. There does seem to be some sort of prejudgment, whether our souls are alive and conscious so to speak, but believers are already being separated from unbelievers. But then a Judgment Day will come. As we read in Revelation 20, those whose names are not in the book of life, who have not been atoned for and saved by Jesus, they will be thrown into a lake of fire, where there is tormenting “day and night for ever and ever.” The Bible does not teach us that this is a temporary place for refinement, which everyone will one day be saved from, or that it’s a party with all the wicked people. No, given that fire seems to be a consistent image through so many of these passages, it seems likely that there will be fire in hell. Even if there’s not, there will be pain and agony and eternal punishment for a lack of faith and repentance from one’s sins.

Let’s move onto our second point, which is who is in charge? This may come as a bit of a surprise—it’s God. God is in charge of hell. One of the answers we don’t necessarily find in Scripture is when hell or the “lake of fire” was created, but it’s appropriate to assume that it is created. The first time we hear about the lake is Revelation 19:20, when the beast and false prophet “were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” They’re in that lake, Satan we heard is in the lake as of Revelation 20:10, and then those not in the book of life are thrown in as well—“[It] is the second death.” There’s no coming back from it.

Satan or some other demon or fallen angel is not in charge of hell. When we get to that point in the future, the devil’s limited power to corrupt and scheme and lie will be finished. He will no longer rule with what he’s currently allowed to have. He is done. This is important to recognize because the devil is not causing the punishment of whoever ends up in hell; he is a co-heir, a co-inheritor, with them in eternal punishment.

How can that be? If we look to Matthew 10, this is when Jesus sent off his disciples to minister. They were to preach, heal, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and drive out demons. They were enabled by Jesus and his heavenly Father to do incredible things for the kingdom of God. But they were also warned about hatred and persecution. Yet Jesus told them, “‘Do not be afraid of them…Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell…Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.’”

           How does one end up in hell? The Belgic Confession deals with that in Article 37. It lays out how Christ will return, the resurrection of the dead will happen, and then the final judgment is happening. We find this, “…All people will give account of all the idle words they have spoken, which the world regards as only playing games. And then the secrets and hypocrisies of all people will be publicly uncovered in the sight of all. Therefore, with good reason the thought of this judgment is horrible and dreadful to wicked and evil people. But it is very pleasant and a great comfort to the righteous and elect…They will see the terrible vengeance that God will bring on the evil ones who tyrannized, oppressed, and tormented them in this world. The evil ones will be convicted by the witness of their own consciences, and shall be made immortal—but only to be tormented in ‘the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”

Our next series is going to be looking at the psalms, some of which are very dark and bleak. We’re going to wrestle with how God can seem not just to take away his mercy, but how he can punish—and do so in a seemingly merciless way. Maybe we’re wondering, isn’t an eternity of judgment too long? Isn’t there a point when God will be satisfied? Or perhaps, why doesn’t Christ’s grace go to everyone? Parts of those questions, we likely will never have answers for. But God is sovereign over all of his creation, even hell. We can trust that his purposes are holy and righteous. Even when we can’t make sense of his ways, that doesn’t mean they aren’t good.

           Now to our final point: What good does it do to know about the judgment to hell? As I said at the beginning, this is a heavy topic, a serious matter. Hell is not something to joke about or ignore. What purpose does hearing about it serve to any or all people? One purpose or good that it can accomplish is conviction to truth. You and I are unable to scare people into heaven or scare people into faith. We cannot change others by telling them, “If you don’t change, look how bad your eternity will be.” Yet God may use a message like this or someone reading about hell in the Bible or hearing some other lesson, like Arthur Stace did, as a medium to convict them.

John Calvin wrote about “the lot of the reprobate,” and I think his words are beneficial for both nonbelievers and believers alike. “Now, because no description can deal adequately with the gravity of God’s vengeance against the wicked, their torments and tortures are figuratively expressed to us by physical things, that is, by darkness, weeping, and gnashing of teeth, unquenchable fire, an undying worm gnawing at the heart. By such expressions the Holy Spirit certainly intended to confound all our senses with dread…As by such details we should be enabled in some degree to conceive the lot of the wicked, so we ought especially to fix our thoughts upon this: how wretched it is to be cut off from all fellowship with God. And not that only but so to feel his sovereign power against you that you cannot escape being pressed by it.”

If you are feeling bad or down right now because of the dread of hell and an eternity of that, you should. Referencing another theologian, Thomas Oden writes, “If such metaphors sicken the stomach, that is their intended purpose—to spur to repentance, faith, and holiness. If the rhetoric comforted the hearer, it would not fulfill its intended function.” Any dread, any fear, any conviction ought to drive us to our Savior. If we’re hoping that someone listening to us talk about hell would be changed, it’s for those reasons—that the Holy Spirit would draw them to repent, to believe, and because of that to live a new purified life, preparing for the kingdom to come. Our goal is not simply that people would be genuinely afraid of hell or of what God says he will do.

           While the immediate impact of hearing about hell should not be comfort, comfort should follow our conviction. What I mean by that is in hearing about the reality and gravity of hell, all of us should be reminded that we deserve that. If the wages of sin is death, then we should bear the eternal punishment. We should expect to experience that dread in reality. Yet it’s by grace, Christ chose to love us. By grace, he adopted us as his own. By grace he blessed us with the new inheritance of salvation, an inheritance won for us, and gifted to us. We didn’t and we don’t deserve any of it; we deserved hell. What abundant comfort and joy that should fill us with if by faith we consider ourselves alive in Christ and made new in him. As we look to the future, we can know that we have been set free from hell, and we have nothing to fear. Amen.