THE GREATEST QUESTION OF LIFE
TEXT: Mark 8:36-37
Mark 8:36-37 KJV For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? [37] Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
I. INTRODUCTION—THE MOST FOOLISH IMPLICATION OF ALL
-Over the last several years there have been a lot of books written about heaven. Some of those books have even become movies. It has pushed the idea of heaven to the forefront of American society and people are thinking about heaven.
-But with all of these books and movies there seems to be an alarming implication—everyone will be saved and no one will be lost and go to hell.
• Is this really true?
• Is this what the Bible teaches?
• Is this what Jesus taught?
• Is this the idea that the apostles understood that Jesus said?
• Are all people really going to be saved in the end no matter what they did or how they lived their lives on this earth?
-I believe this is one of the most foolish implications that has ever been put before our society.
II. WHAT EVENTS ARE CONFIRMED BY THE BIBLE?
-If that idea that all will be saved no matter what, then there are some very serious doctrines in Scripture that from the beginning to the end of the Bible will have to come to nothing.
• The Rapture
• The Judgment Seat of Christ
• The Great White Throne of Judgement
• The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
• The Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ
• The Tribulation
• The Antichrist
-All of these are solid biblical doctrines. Many of them have their origin in the Old Testament and then they are magnified in the New Testament. All of these doctrines are ones that the church in ages past have held dear to them.
• Matthew 24-25—The Olivet Discourse
• Daniel 7-12—A picture of the Last Days and how it will unfold
• 1 Corinthians 15—The Resurrection
• 1 Thessalonians 4—The Rapture
• 2 Thessalonians 2—The Antichrist
• Revelation 1-22—The grand portrait of the finale of the battle between God and evil
-All of these matters are clearly defined by the Bible. But because our society and even the church has such a low level knowledge of Scripture, these great doctrines and events that are noted throughout Scripture, many people are largely unfamiliar to them.
-Far too many have the idea that the Bible is a book that you reach in a pull a verse from here and another one from there to serve as a bit of hope in times of difficulty and trouble. When your approach to the Bible is like that it is about like trying to read a novel, a biography, or a textbook with a page here and a page there. If you are preparing for a test in that way, you can be assured you will fail that test.
-Of all of the great doctrines of Scripture that has been lost in the mix is the one concerning the doctrine of hell. It has especially taking a beating in the last 40 years as the humanistic ideas have prevailed in our world. Men who are so-called intellectuals cannot really lower themselves to think that a loving God would send men to hell.
-The famous poet, T. S. Eliot wrote a poem that goes like this:
What is hell? Hell is oneself.
Hell is alone, the other figures in it
Merely projections.
There is nothing to escape from,
And nothing to escape to.
One is always alone.
-Sadly many of our time would like to believe that idea that hell is simply being alone.
III. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HELL
A. How It Disappeared
-What led us to the place to think that one of the main subjects the Lord was constantly warning men about doesn’t matter or isn’t true?
-Some of it is the choking and stifling madness of materialism of our times. It is that which demands that I get everything I can and stuff may hands and my soul and my life with things that are going to rust, that moths will eat, and that thieves can break in and steal from me.
-Another way that hell begin to backslide in our thinking was the literal obsession that exalts youth and fitness. Do this and stay young. . . Eat this and be healthy. . . Read this for advice on how to train your body. . . All of this comes at great neglect to the soul. The body very well may be healthy but it is the soul that has become anemic, sickly, septic, and shocked to such a degree that it is withering away.
-Have you ever been to a funeral and heard a preacher say these words?
We are here today in memory of John Doe. John is survived by his wife, his children, and his grandchildren. Friends, I want you to know that John has died and went to hell!
-You have never heard that. Obviously there are very few preachers who would even want to say that, the reality is that there will be far more who are lost than there will be who will be saved. In fact, the majority of Americans would never even believe it if a preacher would say it and much less accept that.
-But give consideration to this thought for a moment. Think about John with me.
• He never showed any real interest in God
• He loved his job and the money it brought in
• He loved his material possessions and spent a lot of time taking care of them
• He could not tell you anything about Scripture
• He did not know how to pray
• He rarely went to church (which is the bride of Christ)
• He spent a lot of leisure time drinking and being immersed with worldly things
• His speech was filled with immoral innuendos
• If he did not mock Christians, he held them at arm’s length and thought they were overboard with their ideas
-But the huge majority of people would portray him as sitting in heaven. They take comfort in thinking that he is kidding around with the Apostles and that he and God are having a big time laughing about what took place on the earth.
-They say things like, “He is in a better place now!” or “His pain is over now!” or “He is looking down on us now!” What foolishness for men to even begin to entertain such an idea in their heads.
-What causes people to think that kind of thing about John Doe?
• When he was a kid, he went to Sunday School.
• He had a little experience of sorts at a youth camp one time back in the day.
• He was an obedient kid to his mother.
• He gave to the United Way every year or he occasionally volunteered to cook BBQ for the rescue squad.
-But he spent rest of life pursuing everything but God and somehow he slides into heaven.
B. Quotes On the Disappearance of Hell
David Lodge—Souls and Bodies—At some point in the nineteen-sixties, Hell disappeared. No one could say for certain when this happened. First it was there, then it wasn’t. Different people became aware of the disappearance of Hell at different times. Some realized they had been living for years as though Hell did not exist, without having consciously registered its disappearance. Others realized that they had been behaving, out of habit, as though Hell were still there, though in fact they had ceased to believe in its existence long ago. . . On the whole the disappearance of Hell was a great relief, though it brought new problems.
F. W. Robertson—The famous preacher of Brighton in the 1890s—My congregation has learned to smile at the idea of an eternal Hell. For in a bodily awful intolerable torture we believe no longer.
-Those are just a few of the historical evidences that men who were preachers adjusted their views on hell. It moved forward with common American preachers in our day. . . Harry Emerson Fosdick who influenced Norman Vincent Peale who influenced Robert Schuller who influenced Joel Osteen. All of these men became proponents of the idea that there either would not be a hell or that in the end all men would be saved.
C. The Appeal of Scripture
-Our greatest appeal needs to be drawn from the Bible. It matters not what men think or believe but rather what does the Word of God have to say about these matters.
Matthew 25:31-32 KJV When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: [32] And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Matthew 25:41 KJV Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Matthew 25:46 KJV And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Mark 9:43-48 KJV And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: [44] Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. [45] And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: [46] Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. [47] And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: [48] Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Luke 16:22-23 KJV And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; [23] And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Matthew 13:41-42 KJV The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; [42] And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Luke 12:46 KJV The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
Matthew 13:49-50 KJV So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, [50] And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
-These are just a few of a multitude of Scriptures. In fact, there is a way to study the Bible called Systematic Theology and there are some books that have been written about Hell that broken down systematically as to what the Bible has to say about Hell covers hundreds of pages. However, we don’t like to read that kind of material. It is easier to read inspirational books if we even read at all than to dig into a systematic theology book. We can think that kind of material is just for pastors and preachers when nothing could be further from the truth.
-When a preacher starts preaching about Hell, there is a tendency to dismiss him as a crank, a little unbalanced. In fact there was a 16th Century Italian preacher who had this to say about Hell and I have a feeling that he would be looked at by many modern church-goers as mad:
Fire, fire! That is the recompense for your perversity, you hardened sinners. Fire, fire, the fires of hell! Fire in your eyes, fire in your mouth, fire in your guts, fire in your throat, fire in your nostrils, fire inside and fire outside, fire beneath and fire above, fire in every part. Ah, miserable folk! You will be like rags burning in the middle of this fire.
-Jonathon Edwards said it in this way:
Consider that if you once get into hell, you’ll never get out. IF you should unexpectedly one of these days drop in there; [there] will be no remedy. They that go there return no more. Consider how dreadful it will be to suffer such an extremity forever. It is dreadful beyond expression to suffer it half an hour. O the misery, the tribulation and anguish that is endured.
-There is no way for me to overestimate to you the horror that Hell will bring in eternity. It will be a million times worse than what I could even think or describe to you.
-In light of that, we should never allow our relationship with the Lord and with His church to be something that is just a secondary and passing matter in our lives. Furthermore, it out to drive us to reach our family and our friends because all of us have an appointment with death that is coming far more rapidly to us than we are willing to even imagine.
IV. CONCLUSION—ELIE WEISEL AND HIS BOOK “NIGHT”
-One the most troubling stories I have ever read comes from the book “Night” written by Elie Weisel, the great Jewish writer who described the Holocaust.
• Where have you been this week?
• What things have you done that have been displeasing to the Lord?
• What words have poured from your mouth?
• What sinful things have your thoughts dwelt on?
• What fellowship with darkness have you had this week?
• What private sins are you hiding?
-Our only hope is to move to the foot of the Cross and cry out in repentance for salvation!
Philip Harrelson
June 1, 2015
