Luke 16: 19-31
Sermon: The reality of Hell
Most preachers do not like giving sermons on hell,
preferring to use terms such as “lost eternity”.
Most pastors don't want to be regarded as a "fire and brimstone" preacher,
yet we do no one a favour by avoiding this unpleasant subject.
Our discomfort won't change the facts.
According to Jesus, the Son of God and the ultimate Christian teacher,
Hell is a reality.
In my Concordance, there is only one reference to Hell in the OT,
It is Job 31 v.12
“If I commit adultery, such wickedness should be punished by death.
It would be like a destructive, hellish fire, consuming everything I have,”
But, there are 21 references to Hell in the NT:
14 by Jesus; 9 in Matthew’s Gospel, 3 in Mark and 2 in Luke.
1 in Acts 8:20.
4 from St Paul: 2 in Galatians, 1 in Philippians
and 1 in 2nd Thessalonians 2 v.3.
There is one from James in chapter 3 verse 6
and 1 from Peter in his 2nd letter, chapter 2 verse 4.
As we all know, there are a wide range of opinions about what Hell is:
everything from "the big barbecue below" to "a state of mind".
I read something about US marines during the war with North Korea.
They wore T-shirts which announced,
"When I die I'm going straight to Heaven because I've served my time in Hell".
A Jew is supposed to have said this about Nazi Germany in the late 1930's:
"This isn't Hell, but you can see it from here."
I admit I've chuckled at those depicting hell,
like the one where a devil asks new arrivals, "Smoking or Non-smoking?"
But the truth is that Hell is no laughing matter;
it is a place too horrible to imagine,
and making jokes about it is probably our way
of suppressing horrible thoughts concerning the place.
In our Post-modernist society the use of the word Hell has been softened
by its becoming either a form of profane and casual speech,
or a four-letter metaphor for tough situations.
When people talk about "Neighbours from Hell"
or "Holidays from Hell" or say things like "My job is Hell"
or “That interview was Hell”
they are diminishing and trivializing the seriousness and reality
of the place that Jesus spoke much about and said was real
and a place of everlasting fire and torment.
The Biblical word "Hell" refers to a specific location southwest of Jerusalem
known as Gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnon,
where pagans used to sacrifice children as burnt offerings to the idol Molech.
It later became the city dump, a place to burn refuse.
This location turned into a geographical metaphor for the place of punishment after death.
Anne and I went there during our honeymoon.
If anyone wants to know what people do there, the answer is have picnics,
but the real Hell, the Hell that awaits unsaved sinners, will be no picnic.
Jesus spoke at least 14 times about Hell,
obviously not because he wanted anyone to end up there,
but to warn them, so they would not end up there.
He described it as a place of "outer darkness"
where people will "weep and gnash their teeth",
and a place of "unquenchable fire",
and the sad thing about Hell apart from the fire and pain
is that those there will endure permanent exclusion
from the presence and love of God.
The Apostle Paul also warned unbelievers, in 2nd Thessalonians 1:8-10.
saying "they will be punished with everlasting destruction
and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power"
if they did not repent and come to God on His terms.
Although he never used the word Hell,
the prophet Daniel described the fate of those whose names
were not written in God’s book
as suffering eternal disgrace, shame and everlasting contempt" (12:2).
When confronted with mention of afterlife punishment,
some people sidestep the issue by claiming they're "already in Hell".
Those who claim Hell is Afghanistan, or an earthquake, tsunami or tornado scene
or the streets of Glasgow at night or living with a bully
are, in a way, correct because our fallen world
is very different from how God intended things to be when He created it,
but no matter how Hellish this life and this world may be for some,
it is nothing compared to the Hell that awaits anyone who has rejected God.
When confronted with talk of Hell some people claim,
"I'd rather be where my friends are."
Well, their friends might be there,
but this will not reduce the intensity of their suffering
for having rejected Christ and died unforgiven.
Although Christians are by God’s grace,
we must beware of sounding smug concerning Hell.
There is no one we should want to see in the place God created for the devil,
no matter how sick or evil or downright nasty they have been.
Rather than rejoice in the fate that awaits them,
Spurgeon said we should weep for our enemies and those who persecute us,
and pray that they will repent and come to faith
and be our brothers and sisters and fellow saints in glory.
Those who reject the notion of hell possess a false view of God,
a view that wrongly claims He would never condemn anyone,
but if God is holy and just there must be a hell for those who exercise their free will and refuse to repent or believe.
Some people, such as Jehovah's Witnesses exercise wishful thinking,
and think that unbelievers, unrepentant sinners, will be annihilated,
they'll cease to exist, and thus be relieved from everlasting torment.
Maybe the FIRE that burns forever, but not the SOULS, I hope so.
Most of us will be familiar with the case of Simon Weston,
the sailor who was badly burned when his ship was set on fire by Argentinians
during the Falklands War.
Burns cause horrible injuries,
but the reality of hell will be greater and more horrible
that anything Simon Weston experienced.
Over the years I have seen a lot of religious literature.
I remember one Gospel tract in particular.
The title in bold letters read: "HOW TO GET TO HELL".
I opened the tract and inside it was blank!
The message was: no preparation is necessary to qualify for Hell.
Do nothing!
Because of our sinful human condition,
none of us are worthy to merit salvation.
Hell is the destination we all deserve, because as Paul put it in Romans 3:23,
"all have sinned and fall short of God's moral standards".
Because all humankind are lost, the mission of Jesus
was to save people from the effects of their sinful condition, our human nature,
so Heaven is the destination for those who could never deserve it,
but receive it through their reliance on God’s mercy.
Jesus said the path leading to destruction is wide and easy to walk.
The essence of sinfulness is living independent of God,
therefore Hell is the place where people who have lived without God in this life
will find themselves completely without God's presence in the next.
Someone wrote: Sin is a lifetime of saying to God, "leave me alone."
Hell is God finally saying, "Alright, you have your wish."
To qualify for Hell requires nothing more or less than self-will, self-trust,
self-reliance and self-exaltation.
Someone also wrote: Whereas Heaven is made up of "whosoever will",
Hell is a place of "whosoever won't".
In a way, it is not really God who sends people to Hell,
people send themselves to Hell by rejecting God’s offer of forgiveness.
God has given us life and free will.
We have so many years and so many opportunities to come to Him
and be forgiven.
We cannot be neutral, we either accept the life Jesus offers or we refuse it.
We either embrace Jesus or turn our backs on Him,
go to heaven or go to hell.
There is no third way or alternative destination.
Before appearing at God’s judgement seat,
we must be washed in the cleansing blood of Christ
and be clothed in His righteousness.
If we do this, our names will be written indelibly in the Lamb’s Book of Life
and we will never have to fear Hell.
The Christian is assured of passage from death to eternal life
through the merits of Jesus Christ,
God-the-Son, who paid the price of our sin upon the Cross, for our behalf.
Some people try to the possibility of going to Hell
by claiming they only want what they DESERVE, when they die,
but as Christians we say please God do NOT give me what I deserve,
give me mercy, give me forgiveness, give me grace.
So, should we mention Hell when sharing our faith with unbelievers?
I believe the answer is: Mention, yes; but dwell on and go on and on about, no.
We need to tell people that there are terrible eternal consequences
for those who reject Christ,
but we also need to communicate that God’s will is that every one
receives His grace and forgiveness,
and the assurance of eternal life with God and the angels and saints in Paradise.
Our tone should be positive, stressing the Good News of the Gospel
that "whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13).
God says in Ezekiel 18:32 "I take no pleasure in the death of anyone.
Repent and live".
The Apostle Peter states, "God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
but everyone to come to repentance" (II Pet 3:9).
The challenge for us is the same that the famous American evangelist
Charles Hadden Spurgeon urged his congregation with:
"If Hell must be filled,
let it not possess one soul that was unprayed for, or unwarned."
In closing, we thank God for providing so great a salvation;
for freeing even the worst sinner from the power and penalty of sin.
May He grant us DAILY an appreciation of what we have been saved from,
and what we have been saved for,
and let us thank Jesus for taking away the fear of the Hell we deserve
and promising us a future we could never deserve,
Amen, and the peace of God ............
