Hell And The Gospel Series

“A Four-Letter Word and the Gospel” or “Hell and the Gospel”

Matt. 18:1-9, 25:29-46

Recently someone told me that I talk too much about sin. IF I am guilty of that accusation, I can justify my actions: SIN is the reason for millions of people spending their eternities in HELL.

Listen to these verses from Matthew 18:1-9: 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven ?" 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted (change or turn around, repent from your pride) and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to STUMBLE (sin), it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (To STUMBLE is to Skandalizo: root word is “skandalon” the movable stick or trigger of a trap, a trap stick, a trap, snare, any impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble, fall, OR SIN.)

7 "Woe to the world because of its STUMBLING blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! 8 "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 "If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell (Ge-en-na.)”

“If we’re going to preach the whole counsel of God from His Word, we must preach on hell. After all, it was Jesus Christ who spoke about Hell more than any other man in the Bible. A pastor who had a small country church was approached by a farmer who didn’t like his sermons on hell. The farmer said, “Preach about the meek and lowly Jesus.” The pastor answered, “That’s where I got my information about hell.” (R. Larry Moyer, “Four Dangerous Ways to Preach About Hell”)

(Jesus Teaches Hell)

My intention for reading Matthew 18:1-9 is to make the point that since Jesus teaches and preaches the doctrine of Hell, so should we! In Matthew 25 Jesus refers to this place of Hell: 29 “For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

In verse 33 “He (Jesus when He comes the second time as Judge) will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 "Then the King (Jesus) will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. (You did NOT EARN it; God in Christ prepared it for you. The demonstration of a grateful life to me was this:) 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did NOT do for me.' 46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."