Hell is Real
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Introduction:
If you have your Bible, let me invite you to open with me to the book of Mark chapter 9.
If you do not have a copy of God’s word just slip up your hand and one of our church members will be glad to bring you one.
We will begin reading in Mark 9:42-50 here in just a moment.
Before we turn there, however, I feel the need to offer a disclaimer, or perhaps a warning.
It is our practice here at St. Rose Community Church to work through books of the Bible systematically one passage at a time.
This practice helps us in several ways.
It helps us not to skip over things in the Bible.
It helps us to maintain a Spirit of humility as we submit ourselves under what God has said no matter what he has said.
We want to be informed by, and led by, God’s words about himself, and not our own feelings or opinions.
We know ourselves…
We know that we don’t naturally want to hear all of what God has to say.
By our nature, we actually would like to either ignore or perhaps twist some of what God has to say.
We want to mold him into our image, rather than conform to his.
This morning we come to a text in Scripture that is not necessarily difficult to understand… but it is difficult to accept.
This morning we find very clearly taught the reality of hell.
It is teaching that we do not necessarily like.
It is a teaching that we are not comfortable with.
But it is a teaching that is absolutely paramount to our understanding of the Gospel.
The consequences of ignoring this doctrine that we study today are eternal.
In fact, without a proper understanding of today’s text, we will let our friends and family perish forever.
We will not be very thankful for our own salvation.
We will treat sin lightly.
We will both self destruct and allow the most beloved in our life to continue down the path of destruction.
We are tempted to diminish, overlook, and underplay sin and hell at the expense of our own lives and of those we love.
so lets read this morning with a Spirit of humility, and lets ask God to help us to see clearly big eternal realities.
42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Lets Pray
Last Sunday, we studied a conversation between John and Jesus.
In that conversation, John told Jesus that he actually tried to stop another follower of Jesus from casting out a demonic Spirit.
We saw that his motivations were not necessarily pure.
Because of his pride, he likely left this individual a little confused.
Could you imagine if John, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, came and tried to stop you from doing ministry in the name of Jesus with little to no explanation?
John’s pride had consequences not only for himself, but for this new and learning follower of Jesus.
Its unclear whether Mark makes a thematic jump here to record a related teaching of Jesus, or whether this is the same moment of teaching.
Regardless, the connection is clear.
Sinning in such a way that causes others to sin or stumble is very serious.
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
Truth #1 Causing Someone Else’s Sin is a Serious Offense
Truth #1 Causing Someone Else’s Sin is a Serious Offense
Jesus has absolutely been gracious and forgiving to all who come to him in faith and repentance…, but that does not mean that Jesus is indifferent or tolerant of sin.
The language he uses in this section is meant to be shocking.
A millstone is a massive wheel-like bolder used to crush grain so heavy that only strong burden bearing animals could role it…
To have a millstone hung around your neck and then thrown into the sea would mean a very quick trip to the bottom of the ocean.
Listen to how one commentator puts it.
Mark 9:42 (Mark (NIGTC)): To be the cause of another’s spiritual shipwreck is so serious an offence that a quick drowning would be preferable to the fate it deserves;
Jesus’ words here are meant to shock us into self-analysis.
How could we possibly be the cause of someone else’s sin against a Holy God…
How could our actions cause someone else to stumble and falter spiritually?
What would this look like in our lives?
The text doesn’t get more specific, but the applications are plentiful.
How could we be guilty of such an accusation?
Allow me to provide just three examples of what this would look like…
We are guilty of this when we provoke others to sin with us
By provoke, I mean you actually invite others to sin along with you.
You provoke others to sin every time you engage in sexual activity outside of the context of marriage.
Young man or young woman, when you seduce or participate in sexual acts with your significant other outside of marriage, outside of the will of God… you are not expressing your love for that person… you are expressing your hatred of them.
You are showing them that you care more about your physical fix and your selfish pleasure then you care about their soul and their spiritual condition before a Holy God.
We provoke others to sin when we are impatient and quarrelsome in such a way that invites them to join you.
We provoke others to sin when we act out in anger and we are looking for a response.
We are wanting the other to act in a sinful way so we can be justified in all the things we want to say to them.
We provoke others to sin when we invite them to join us in what we are doing because it makes us feel better about our own sin.
Sin loves company.
But not only are we guilty of this when we provoke others to sin with us. ..
We are guilty of this when we set the example with our own sin
Whether you like it or not, if you claim to be a Christian you are a representative of all that that title stands for.
Those around you who are closest to you, and even those who are only observing you from a distance are making judgments about what they believe about Jesus and his worthiness by how you value him with your own life decisions.
You may not like this because you want to believe yourself to be totally independent.
You want to say things like, “I don’t care about what other people think”.
You may want to believe that your decisions don’t have consequences.
But its a lie.
Your actions effect those around you either positively or negatively.
Whether you want to be or not, the very fact that you are a baptized believer in Jesus makes you a representative of Jesus and his church.
And people will plunge themselves into further self-destruction because of your example…
....or they will be drawn into the goodness of Jesus and into spiritual growth because of your example.
The closeness of your walk with Jesus or lack there of will affect more people then just you this week.
No one exists in a vacuum … and according to Jesus a quick drowning would be better than to lead others away from the Lord Jesus with your actions.
We are guilty of this when we provoke others to sin with us
We are guilty of this when we set the example with our own sin
and finally
We are guilty of this when we ignore or even celebrate someone’s sin.
The society we live in is shaping our view of morality whether we want to admit it or not.
The chief moral code of today is tolerance no matter the cost.
In fact, the culture around us no longer just demands our tolerance.
They demand our celebration of self-destruction.
The unforgivable sin, is to believe that a particular action is sin.… and it is seen as an unloving thing to disagree with someone else’s decision to self-destruct.
This is the case with all decisions and all relationships, but it is especially the case with our loved ones who are pursuing sexual sin.
No matter what the culture around you says…. It is not hatred to warn someone you love of the seriousness of their sinful decisions.
It is not hatred to believe and warn that someone’s drug addiction is destroying them.
It is not hatred to believe and warn that someone’s belief in a false God is destroying them.
It is not hatred to believe and warn that someone’s abandonment of the church is destroying them.
It is not hatred to believe and warn that homosexuality is contrary to God’s design and has real consequences in this life and the next.
It is hatred, however, to look the other way or to even celebrate the decisions of loved ones who are plunging themselves further and further into sin which God so avidly warns against.
Don’t buy the lie that says the best way to love someone is to celebrate their own self-destruction.
There is a way to lovingly, and respectfully, and consistently be present in someone’s life while maintaining a firm and clear conviction that their life decisions are contrary to the will of God and are spiritually dangerous To their own souls.
And it is spiritually dangerous I think of proportions that we often refuse to accept.
Sin is not something to be played with.
Listen as Jesus expounds.
43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
There are several truths to be deduced here.
Truth #2 Hell is Real
Truth #2 Hell is Real
Do you believe that?
Everything about our culture wants to erase this doctrine from Christianity.
Everyone in our culture wants to ignore this teaching of Jesus.
We are not a church that preaches hell fire and brimstone every week in an effort to scare people into believing a certain way or making some kind of decision.
But these are the very clear words of Jesus.
These are the words of the divine Son of God who came to earth to reveal the one true God to the world.
And Jesus‘ description of hell is undeniably scary.
The word itself, “hell”, is the Greek word “Gehenna”
Gehenna was a valley to the southwest of Jerusalem where previously in Israel’s history, evil kings had used it as the sight of human sacrifice to false Gods.
In 2 Kings, King Josiah outlawed the human sacrifices and he turned the valley into a trash dump for the city of Jerusalem where trash could be dumped and burned.
The cite served as a proper analogy to the hell that Jesus was about to describe.
Three things become very clear from Jesus’ description of hell:
Hell is Terrible
Hell is Eternal
Hell is the Consequence for Sin
It is a place where the fire is not quenched.
In other words, it is a place of perpetual burning…
and it apparently is a place where people will be thrown.…
Even as I wrote that sentence in Honey Douxe cafe on Tuesday…. I wrote it while fighting tears.
It is a frightening reality.
It is a reality that I do not want to accept.… but I cannot define truth by what I want to be true.
There are a lot of things in this world that I do not want to be true.., but my own desire for something to be false does not make it false.
The God of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is very clearly a holy, righteous, perfect God who demands obedience, faith, and allegiance to him alone as creator of the Universe.
He created every one of the billions of atoms of matter which make up the fullness of the universe.
He created humanity to be his special people, to enjoy his creation, and praise him forever.
His humanity rebelled against their own creator despite his warning that there would be unimaginable consequences.
God hates sin.
and God promises to punish sin eternally in a place that is only described as unquenchable fire, never-ending torment, and total darkness.
And he has made one way of salvation.
There is one message of good news.
The very thing Jesus came for, was to take upon himself the fullness of God’s wrath.
Jesus was born in a manger, lived a perfect life, and he pursued the cross of crucifixion for this reason - to take all an eternal hell had to offer in himself on the cross.
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
He drank the full cup of God’s wrath for sin…so that sinners like you and me would not have to pay this price for our own sin….
All the punishment for our sin was experienced by him on the cross… And all we have to do his repent and trust in him as our Lord and Savior.
If hell is not really what our sin deserves… then the cross was not necessary… and the gospel message is not that good.
Hell is real. It is the rightful and just punishment for rebellion against an eternal God.
And Its why Jesus came as God in the flesh to take the rightful punishment on himself for our sake.
Those who choose to pursue a life of sin rather than follow Jesus… they choose hell.
And Jesus says with crystal clarity… such a decision is utterly foolish.
Lets read the text again
43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
Truth #3 Sin isn’t Worth It
Truth #3 Sin isn’t Worth It
Do you understand what Jesus is saying?
He is not advocating for self-mutilation as a means for us to be sanctified.
No one heard his teaching and thought that he was teaching to literally cut off hands, and feet, and pluck out eyes any time they were tempted.
If that were the case the disciples would have had a hard time getting the gospel to the ends of the earth because no disciple would have had hands, feet, or eyes.
That’s not the point.
The point is that any sin which you cling to rather than submitting to and following Jesus is outrageously not worth it.
Jesus says… it would actually be better to cut off your hands and be crippled throughout your entire life then to cling to a particular sin Rather than follow Jesus.
It would be better to amputate your leg and be lame in this life then to choose sin over Christ.
It would be better to pluck out your eye And continue through this life blinded then to choose sin over Christ.
Sin, therefore, is not a laughing matter.
It is not something to be ignored or taken lightly.
It is not something to be played with.
Sin lies to you.
It tells you that it leads to life and life more abundantly…, but it leads to death and death eternally.
It is a liar, a deceiver, and a destroyer… and as such it should be warred against with all your energy and attention.
There is application here both for the non-Christian and the Christian.
To the non-Christian… if there is some sort of lifestyle, or some sort of independence, or some sort of thing that you are clinging to rather than turning to Jesus in faith and repentance…. The plea is simple…
Let go of that sin!!!
Run from it like its a murderer.
It is lying to you… do whatever it takes to turn from it.…, whether it is a relationship, or its money, or its drugs, or its your own stinking pride or selfishness…
It is not leading you to life… let go of it even if it hurts so you can cling to Jesus.
Are you really going to go to hell because your afraid of what others will think if you go all in with Jesus?
There is a better way.
Listen to the repetition three times
vs. 43 “Its better for you to enter life”
vs. 44 “Its better for you to enter life”
v. 47 “Its better for you to enter the kingdom of God”
God is not a cosmic fun sucker trying to get you to pursue a life where there is no joy…
He is love.
He is grace.
He is forgiveness.
He is the fountain from which every good thing flows…
and he very clearly urges you to turn away from your sin and to turn toward Jesus in faith for the forgiveness of your sins and the beginning of a new life which extends into eternity.
Salvation is not based upon your performance…, but it is based on your surrender.
Saving faith is not simply intellectual acknowledgment of a historical person living, dying, and rising again.
Saving faith is a faith that believes that Jesus is both Savior and Lord… His way is better…
Saving faith is a faith that is only recognizable in the person who fights their sin and follows Jesus.
And that leads us to the application for the person who says they are a Christian?
Do you fight your sin?
Or are you at home with it?
Do you see your sin the same way Jesus describes sin here in this text?
Do you see your sin as the most important problem in your life or do you see everybody else’s sin as the most important problem in your life?
Its our temptation to read this text and automatically assume that Jesus is speaking to sexual sin here.
And its true… he definitely includes sexual sin.
Sexual sin destroys the soul and has more consequences then we can even comprehend.
But we must not limit this text to matters of sexual sin.
In fact, the primary sins that Jesus has addressed in the gospel of Mark thus far are
- hypocrisy,
- pride,
- selfishness,
- faithlessness…,
- and even apathy toward others.
Do you wage war against these less tangible sins with the same intensity that Jesus demands in this text?
Don’t deceive yourself into thinking that if your not an adulterer, liar, or murderer that you don‘t have sin to wage war against.
Jesus has not mentioned any of these sins thus far in the whole gospel.
He has given more attention to sins of the heart that are more generally accepted as not that bad…
In fact, the only thing he explicitly mentioned in this paragraph is the pursuit of unity among Christian brothers and sisters.
Christians are to be different from those who tamper with sin.
Christian community is supposed to operate differently then any other community because of what salvation really means for us.
49 For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Truth #4 Salvation is a Surrender to Sanctification That Displays the Glory of God
Truth #4 Salvation is a Surrender to Sanctification That Displays the Glory of God
In verse 49, Mark shifts to a different analogy.
Until now, fire has only been in reference to hell’s unquenchable flame for those who choose sin rather than Jesus...
but now Mark turns to quote the words of Jesus that describe the Christian as a whole sacrifice to the Lord.
Salt and fire were requirements for the whole burnt offering of worship in the Old Testament....
This offering was a gift that would be totally consumed and given to the Lord.
And here Mark points to the wholeness and the fullness of dedication that we as Christ followers are to give ourselves to Jesus.
We will all be salted with fire… We will all be tried and tested and purified as we give ourselves fully to Jesus.
And that purifying will be recognizable.
It ill be like Salt that flavors and preserves… It will be desirable and it will influence those around us.
I think you have to read verse 50 as the opposite of verse 42.
Verse 42 is about effecting other’s negatively.
42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
But verse 50 is about effecting other’s positively
50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Our sanctification will be like salt which adds the flavor of peace to community life.
Christians are called to be different and to live differently, so that others will not stumble and go to hell, but rather surrender to Jesus and join us in heaven.
We are not to be people who cause others to sin!
We are to be salty with the flavor of our Savior so that others will find forgiveness And peace in our communities of faith.
Mark seems to be mashing together here another teaching of Jesus known most famously in the sermon on the mount.
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
By using the language of saltiness, Jesus communicates to us that we Christians have a purpose.
We have a mission.
We surrender our lives to Jesus.
He shapes us and molds us in such a way that it draws others into the peace of God.
#1 Causing Someone Else‘s Sin is a Serious Offense
#2 Hell is Real
#3 Sin Isn’t Worth It
#4 Salvation is a Surrender to Sanctification that Displays the Glory of God
So what do we do with all this?
What should this doctrine of sin and hell provoke in us?
How should we respond?
Allow me to leave you with a few takeaways:
#1 Fight Sin for What it Is
#1 Fight Sin for What it Is
I think all of us want to pretend that our sin is not that big of a problem.
We fight our own sin in kind of sissy, tolerant, lazy ways…
We fight our sin like its a funny bad habit such has biting our finger nails. I mean I try to stop, but its not that big of a deal.
Jesus, doesn’t talk like that.
The Bible doesn’t talk like that.
Rather the Bible uses wartime language to describe the spiritual turmoil within and without.
It describes sin as a slave master that kills, not a bad habit that annoys.
May we fight sin for what it is.… a cancer that kills from the inside out
#2 Cherish the Cross
#2 Cherish the Cross
To be a Christian, you must believe that you deserve hell.… but that God loved you so much… he took that punishment on himself at the cross.
That truth should create your joy.
It should humble you.
It should increase your thanksgiving.
It should fuel your worship.
It should be the central to everything you are and everything you do.
A real and true grasp of the severity and the reality of an eternal hell of perpetual burning, everlasting torment, and incomparable darkness should make these words all the sweeter….
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
#3 Share the Message of the Cross
#3 Share the Message of the Cross
Your loved ones do not need to learn to simply be better.
They do not need to simply stop sinning.
They do not need you to approve of their every decision.
They need forgiveness from all the sin they have already committed and will continue to commit.
They need to understand the cross of Christ Jesus, and they need to bank their lives on it.
Stop sharing the news of a general God who generally loves them as long as they aren’t that bad.
That crossless, christless, message doesn’t save anyone… it only provides a false assurance and leads to a rude eternal awakening of how badly they actually needed the cross Of Christ.
We are going to sing two songs this morning in response to this morning’s message and during that time… I want you to write down or type in your phone the names of people in your own life who need to believe upon Jesus…
And we are going to have a time of corporate prayer for those names just before the offering is taken this morning.
We are going to pray that God would help us to share the message of the cross.
Lets Pray
Pastoral Prayer:
Lord, we do not want to be followers of Christ who cause other people to turn away from you.
Lord, help us to fight our sin for what it is and to invite others into what is better.
It is better to enter life eternal
It is better to enter the Kingdom of God
Lord, help us to live Salty lives… lives that influence others and point others to the God who saved us. May our lives, and our conversations, and our priorities, and our dispositions have a different flavor to them then the rest of the world.
Make us a witness Oh God to the names that have already been written down and prayed for in this room.
Help us to be bold in our sharing of the message of Jesus.
And we pray for these names.
We pray for the lost in our community and in our families who do not understand how much better following the Lord really is.
We pray that you would work a miracle in their lives.
We pray that the seed of the word of God that comes from our mouth would fall on good soil that will produce thirty fold, and sixtyfold, and hundredfold.
We pray that the lost in our lives and this community would have ears to hear The good news of Jesus.
We pray for the lost in this room… that you would reveal yourself to them so mightily that they could not simply return to things as normal after this sermon this morning.
Help them to see why you have brought them here this morning, and how you want to not only save them but use them to spread the message of salvation in this community.
Now to you who are able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to you be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever, and ever. Amen.