A Place No One Wants To Go

A PLACE NO ONE WANTS TO GO

Mark 9:43-48

There are many places in this world that I would like to go to. I would love to go to USA to visit my friends. My brother offered me to visit him in the USA 3 years ago and he will shoulder all my expenses but I missed this opportunity because the embassy denied my application. But still I love to go to USA of course. I am sure you have a list of your own. But there are also some places that I do not want to go. I don’t care anything about going to Lebanon and North Korea because of the war.

Well, there is one place where no one wants to go and that place is the subject of Christ’s teaching in these verses. The place no one want to go is Hell! Some people may indicate that they would like to go there, but when it comes right down to it, no one wants to go to Hell! Yet, Hell is a place to which everyone is headed! That is, until they meet Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

The Lord Jesus has something to say about that horrible place called Hell. What He has to say needs to be heard by everyone in this room today. In fact, what He has to say about Hell needs to be heard by the whole world! Jesus wants us to know that Hell is real; that Hell is terrible beyond all description and that no one ever has to go there! You may be headed to that place to which no one wants to go, but it is my duty today to tell you that you do not have to go there! Let’s see what Jesus has to say about Hell and about how to avoid going there. I want to preach today about A Place No One Wants To Go! THE HELL!!!

I. HELL IS AN ACTUAL PLACE

Jesus speaks about Hell in the New Testament as though He actually believes that Hell is real! In fact, Jesus only spoke about Heaven once, while He spoke of Hell 11 times.

A. Hell’s Reality - In our modern day, many have rejected the notion of Hell altogether.

In religious circles, Hell is made light of as well. Another recent survey found that 35% of Baptists; 54% of Presbyterians; 58% of Methodists; and 60% of Episcopalians do not believe in a literal Hell. 71% of those attending the 8 leading seminaries in the United States do not believe in either Heaven or Hell. Well so much for man’s views on the subject. What does the Word of God say about the reality of Hell?

The Bible is clear, God’s Word teaches us that there is a literal place called Hell, Psa. 9:17; Luke 12:5; Luke 16:19-31! You can either believe the clear Word of God, or you can believe the lies of Satan. I say, “Let God be true but every man a liar!” (Rom. 3:4)

B. Hell’s Residents - If Hell is real, and it is, then who will be there? Jesus tells us very plainly why Hell was created. It was designed as a place of eternal punishment for Satan and his demonic followers, Matt. 25:41. And, we know that at the end of the Tribulation Period, Satan, along with the Antichrist and the False Prophet will be cast into Hell, Rev. 20:10. But, there are others in Hell! Jude speaks of certain angels “which kept not their first estate” as being in Hell, Jude 6.

Is Hell then just a place for spiritual beings who have rebelled against God? No! In Matthew 25:41, Jesus sends a group of people away into Hell! In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells us the story of a rich man who died and went to Hell. The Bible is clear about who will be in Hell. Psalm 9:17 tells us that the “wicked will be turned into Hell”. The bottom line is this: everyone who rejects God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ will go to Hell, John 8:24; 2 Thes. 1:9-10.

What this means is that anyone who has not trusted Jesus Christ by faith is headed to Hell. Religious people, moral people, decent people, friends, relatives, family members, anyone who is not saved is surely headed for the destruction and torment of Hell!

It is not that they will be lost someday, the fact is, they are lost this day, Eph. 2:1-3; 12, and the wrath of God already dwells on them, John 3:18, 36. They already have their ticket to Hell and the only thing that will save them is coming to Christ for salvation, John 3:16!

The sad fact is, there may be several in this very room who are headed to that awful place. So, if you have never been saved, you are one of those who will populate Hell!