Do you believe in Hell?

Introduction

Good morning today we are continuing our series asking 6 dangerous questions. These questions are meant to challenge your your faith, your commitment, your world view, and your next decisions concerning your walk with the Lord. This journey of faith we call Christianity has 3 faces to it. The first one is the legitimate genuine person who has tasted salvation that comes only through Faith in Jesus Christ living everyday striving to be more like their master. The 2nd face is what I like to call the “fake it till you make it crowd” these are the folks who been going to church forever maybe even grown up in church, they put on a good mask on Sundays and for the most part seem like Christians. However they are fakers who never really committed their lives to Christ and Saturday looks a lot different than Sunday in their lives. They figure they can fake it till they make it, their belief is they will make a commitment at the last possible moment. Their lives are falling apart and they just cannot figure it out. They want the benefits of the Christian life but wont commit to Christ. Then you have the wolves, in sheep clothing they seek to destroy the goodness of a congregation. The 6 dangerous questions will seek to cause you to truly evaluate what face are you wearing are you wearing a mask of deception? These questions as you can tell will pull no punches.

They will make you face some issues that are uncomfortable at times. But look around the world, folks we really dont have time to play games. God has given us a short time on this earth, too short to be listening to weak watered down 15 min sermonetts that just make us feel good. God is not intent on making you feel good, he is intent on making you Holy, for that is the only standard that matters when we leave this earth. You wanna feel good listen to Bob Marley 3 little birds… I personally wanna make sure I get right with God i don’t care if my feelings get hurt.

The first two questions I hoped cleared somethings up for you.

who is Jesus?

Do you believe in Heaven

Jonathan Edwards in his famous Sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” wrote this

Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock.

Today our question is Do you believe in Hell?

Our text today is the Book of Jude, lets turn there

Last week we kind of started our message with some common myths about heaven. I like to go through a small list of some misconceptions about Hell today. Before I go through this though the biggest reason there are so many false beliefs about these topics is quite simple, People don't read their bible. I tell my kids all the time you must read to succeed .

The old Testament doesn't speak about hell - It sure does it just uses different words since it was written in a different language than the New Testament

Hell is not an eternal - it is a place of punishment but then they either get right with God(time served) or are just annihilated Matt 25:46 “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.””

Hell is merely just a separation from God - this is false as well. Hell is not a separation of God, but rather the unrestrained, unhindered, unbridaling of God’s wrath and judgment upon those who rejected His Grace and Love. Yes the separation exists that is the separation from God’s Love

Hell is one big party for the non religious and all my friends - Going down party time, my friends are gonna be there too… ACDC highway to hell. your friends will most likely be where you end up, however it wont be no party

The Devil and his demons are in charge - No again they will be there Hell was made for them and torment but Hell is God’s house and His wrath the devil will taste just like anyone who chooses Hell.

Choosing Hell is an eternal decision- Thats crazy why would anyone choose Hell? They choose hell all the time, their lifestyle decisions, behaviors, attitudes, they would rather choose things that make them feel like they are in charge of their own life, feelings, and beliefs. When you reject the Bible you reject God, when you reject Jesus Christ and His Gospel you choose hell

Biblical Principles about Hell

Jesus taught the existence of Hell - Matt 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” MK 9:43-44 “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.” In fact Jesus taught more about Hell than He did about Heaven. Matt 25:41 ““Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

The Bible teaches there is a hell - The Bible as a whole teaches us that there are eternal consequences to our decisions for those who decide to respond to God’s Love or those who choose to be separated from God’;s love. God does not force His love on anyone. So in a sense when a person chooses Hell over God’s Love they are getting just what they asked for. However they really don’t know what they are getting. Can a person who hates God and curses Him everyday really curse God because they choose Hell as if they were not given the warning time and time again? I feel bad that some of my loved ones choose Hell but God gave them Just what they asked for.

God’s sovereignty demands a hell - Unless there is no hell there is no final victory over evil. The condemnation of Satan and the wicked to hell is that ultimate conquest of sin

The Cross of Christ implies hell - Why the cross unless there is a hell? if there is no hell to shun, then the cross is a sham. Christ’s death is robbed of its eternal significance unless there is an eternal separation from God from which people need to be delivered

Do you Believe in Hell? What is hell?

The concept of hell is the place of eternal damnation and punishment, separation from God and His goodness, And the fullness of His mercy for the wicked removed and the Full wrath of His righteous Judgment replaced.

1. Hell was not made for man - Matt 25:40-41 “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.” But we read that humanity because of the sin they followed they same trajectory as Satan and his angels the unrepentant now are destined to Hell. God and His mercy is reaching out willing and wanting to save you from this eternal damnation.

2. What is the eternal punishment - The bible tells us many places this is not where you want to be. Fire Matt 18:9 “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.” , Matt 25:44-46 “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.”” , Isa 1:31 “And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them.” , Isa 33:14-16 “The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.” Isa 66:24 ““And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.””

3. Hell is avoidable - 2 Pet 3:8-10 “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”

John 3:16-18 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Implications

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

If God’s loving invitation does not motivate us to share the Good news with people, what about the bad news? Mercy mixed with fear, Good news mixed with warning, we must warn them to flee from the wrath to come.

If we believe in Hell

Increased urgency - Hudson Taylor thought about the reality of hell often and it fueled his zeal for bringing the Gospel to the people of China who never heard it before.

Increased compassion and prayer - God given compassion and love changes the way we look at the unrepentant around us. Romans 9:1-3 “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”

Our focus should be missionary and targeted - When we wake in the morning our thoughts shouldn’t be ughh I got to do such and such at work… but should be Lord show me today who needs the gospel and be saved from hell today. If we believe in Hell then we feel great remorse and sorrow about those who do know Jesus Christ.

Application

We need to ask the question Do I believe in Hell? our answer will determine our next course of action.

We need to pray fervently

understand our view of Hell impacts our worldview. If we ignore the biblical teaching about eternal fate outside of Christ, we can live quietly, complacently, surrounded by nice people who will never ruffle feathers, about God’s judgment and the penalty of sin. But if hell is a reality we need to let that sink in and change our hearts, If I cannot understand or don't wanna understand the biblical reality of hell, I never understood the gospel, I never understood the severity of the words “Christ died for my sins”