When this happens, they are placed on the “Endangered Species” list so that they will not become extinct. Once they are placed on this list, everything that is imaginable is done to preserve them.
This is good, because if they were not placed on this list, soon these birds, fish, insects and animals would no longer exist.
Humor: But if there was only one “Fire Ant” living, I would love to wipe it from the face of the earth.
We all know the importance of the “Endangered Species” list. There are also certain scriptures that should be placed on the “endangered” list. One of them is the teaching about Hell.
The teaching about Hell today is something that we very seldom hear preached on anymore in some churches. You can attend these churches for years and you will never hear a sermon on Hell. Never! Never!
Listen, if:
• HELL IS REAL - (and it is)
• HELL IS HOT - (and it is)
• HELL IS EVERLASTING - (and it is)
It is something that people need to hear about.
What are some people teaching about Hell these days?
• The Jehovah Witnesses teach Hell is the grave.
• The Mormons teach there is no literal burning Hell.
• In 1999, Pope John Paul II said, “Hell should be seen not as a fiery underworld but as the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy."
• The Seventh Day Adventists teach Hell is not literal.
• Hell is not mentioned in Campus Crusade’s (Bill Bright) tract “Four Spiritual Laws.”
Without apology, I want to go on record stating that I believe in a literal burning Hell. I believe, along with every Bible preacher in the land, that the Lord Jesus came to save mankind from his sins, but if a person chooses to reject the price He paid for their sins, the Bible teaches they will spend eternity in this terrible place the Bible calls Hell.
When we die, the Bible makes it clear that our eternal home will be in Heaven or Hell.
Illus: A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human, because even though it was a very large mammal, its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
• Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
• The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah."
• The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to Hell?" The little girl replied, "Then you ask him".
WHY HAS HELL BECOME A FORGOTTEN TOPIC TO PREACH ON THESE DAYS? Because when the goal of many churches becomes numbers, you soon start to compromise God’s Word to reach those numbers.
Illus: The L.A. Times ran an article on June 19, 2002 entitled, “Hold The Fire And Brimstone”, which illustrates how preaching on Hell is at an all time low in American churches.
Illus: In some of the modern day church growth books, they often have interviews with the pastors of these “mega” churches. Almost invariably, the pastors of some of these fast growing churches will tell you in their preaching, they never break a sweat, and they seldom (if ever) mention the “H” word.
The goal for every church should be to preach the whole counsel of God’s Word, so lost mankind might know how to escape this terrible place.
• The reason the Lord Jesus came to die for our sins is because there is a real, hot, everlasting Hell.
• It is because He loves us that he was crucified, spit upon, humiliated and pierced to keep us from this dreadful place called Hell.
For a preacher not to preach on Hell, is playing down the great price Jesus paid for our sins.
Illus: William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, had tremendous insight in this matter about Hell when he was alive. He said, “The day will come when they will preach heaven without preaching Hell.”
THAT DAY HAS ARRIVED!
Illus: Robert Schuller, Pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, made it clear on the "Hour of Power", that he stopped preaching on the subject of Hell 40 years ago.
He said, "I don't ever want people to become Christians to escape Hell." Schuller said, “Why threaten people with God's stick when dangling a carrot is enough to close the deal?”
But listen, something that Dr. Schuller seems to fail to understand is this; he can not be a Bible preacher and not preach on Hell.
Let me share with you why I believe it is important for every Bible-preaching minister to preach on Hell.
I. THE BIBLE TEACHES THERE IS A HELL
Again, I want to state that I believe in a literal, everlasting, burning Hell. While I preach on this horrific subject, I have asked the Lord to help me preach it with passion.
Illus: As I preach on Hell, I do not want to be like one of the two pastors who was preaching at a church that was in need of a pastor.
• One of the candidates who came preached on Hell
• The other candidate also preached on Hell
When the members of the church were called upon to vote, they voted for the second candidate. When they were asked why, the answer was, "The first one spoke as if he were glad that people were going to Hell, while the second seemed sorry for it."
Every Bible-preaching minister has to preach on Hell, not because they enjoy preaching on it, but because from cover to cover, the Bible teaches about a literal burning Hell.
I certainly do not want to see anyone go to this dreadful place. NO ONE! But the Bible teaches HELL IS REAL, HELL IS EVERLASTING, and HELL IS HOT!
Look at some of the Scriptures that teach this:
• Deut. 32:22 – “a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto THE LOWEST HELL…”
• Job 11:8 – “It is as high as heaven … DEEPER THAN HELL;”
• Ps. 9:17– “The wicked shall be TURNED INTO HELL, and all the nations that forget God.”
• Ps. 55:15 – “…let them go down quick INTO HELL…”
• Prov. 9:18 – “… her guests are in THE DEPTHS OF HELL.”
• Ezek. 31:16 – “… I cast him DOWN TO HELL with them that descend into the pit…”
• James 3:6 – “… set on fire of Hell.”
• 2 Pet. 2:4 – “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to Hell…”
• Rev. 20:13 – “… death and Hell delivered up the dead which were in them ...”
• Rev. 20:14 – “And death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”
The Scriptures not only tell us there is a Hell, but also tell us a great deal about it.
• HELL IS DOWN
• HELL IS DEEP
• HELL HAS LEVELS
• HELL IS HOT
• HELL IS EVERLASTING
• HELL IS PAINFUL
The Bible teaches a literal burning Hell. Even though many today no longer are preaching it, the WORD OF GOD STILL TEACHES IT!
We believe in Hell because THE BIBLE TEACHES THERE IS A HELL. Also, we believe in Hell because …
II. THE LORD JESUS TEACHES THERE IS A HELL
This may shock some of you, but did you know that Jesus preached more about Hell than He did about heaven?
He did not do this because He was negative, but He did this because He knew that HELL IS REAL, HOT, AND EVERLASTING!
Look at these references to Hell:
• Matthew 5:22 – “… in danger of Hell fire.”
• Matthew 5:29 – “… thy whole body should be cast into Hell.”
• Matthew 10:28 – “…fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.”
• Matthew 16:18 – “… the gates of Hell…”
• Matthew 23:15 – “… the child of Hell …”
• Matthew 23:33 – “… how can ye escape the damnation of Hell?”
• Mark 9:43 – “… go into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:”
• Luke 10:15 – “… thrust down to Hell.”
Perhaps the clearest teaching about Hell came from Jesus, where He spoke of the Rich Man in Hell.
Luke 16:19-31, “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 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; And in Hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
We believe in Hell because THE BIBLE TEACHES THERE IS A HELL, THE LORD JESUS TEACHES THERE IS A HELL, and…
III. LOGIC REQUIRES THERE IS A HELL
The logic of JUSTICE tells me there must be a Hell.
• We have prisons for the law breakers of this country
• We have graveyards for the dead so their bodies won’t infect the living
• We have cesspools for human waste
• We have dumps and dumpsters for the debris in this nation
• We have junk yards for all the wrecked cars
• We have nuclear waste dumps because we know this stuff has to be disposed of in a careful manner
And God has a place for the garbage of this universe.
Look at Rev. 21:27, “There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
That’s logical:
• Would you haul garbage into your house?
• Would you allow nuclear waste to be brought into your home?
Why then would you expect God to bring the decaying, rotting refuse of the universe into His beloved city?
People say, “But, preacher. God is love! He would never send a soul to Hell.” That is absolutely correct, God never has and never will send a soul to Hell.
But many fail to understand that we are different from any creatures on this earth. We are FREE MORAL AGENTS with the capacity to make decisions. And based on the fact that we have that capacity, WE DETERMINE where we are going to spend eternity - HEAVEN OR HELL!
The Lord Jesus has already done everything He can do to keep you from this place, but if you insist on going there - SO BE IT, YOU HAVE MADE YOUR CHOICE and on the judgment day you are going to have to live with that decision.
A God of love would never send one of His children to Hell! That’s right! Hell was never prepared for mortals.
Matthew 25:41, “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.”
All mortals are “Free Moral Agents”, and if we choose to go to Hell, God is not going to force us to do otherwise.
Conclusion:
Illus: A drunk staggered up to a New York policeman, asking for directions to a tavern called “Hell’s Gate.”
The officer said, “See the cross on that steeple over there? That’s the steeple of Calvary Church. Just keep going past Calvary and you come to ‘Hell’s Gate.’”
Yes, that’s right. Just keep going the way you are going – walk past Calvary and you’ll also arrive at “Hell’s Gate!”( -Al Hughes)
Illus: One day while walking down the street, a highly successful woman executive was tragically hit by a bus and died. Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter himself.
"Welcome to Heaven," said St. Peter. "Before you get settled in though, it seems we have a problem. You see, strangely enough, we've never once had an executive make it this far and we're not really sure what to do with you."
"No problem, just let me in." said the woman.
"Well, I'd like to, but I have higher orders. What we're going to do is let you have a day in Hell and a day in Heaven and then you can choose which ever one you want to spend an eternity in."
"Actually, I think I've made up my mind...I prefer to stay in Heaven", said the woman.
"Sorry, but we have rules..." And with that St. Peter put the executive in an elevator and it went down-down-down to Hell. The doors opened and she found herself stepping out onto the putting green of a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club and standing in front of her were all her friends - fellow executives that she had worked with and they were all dressed in evening gowns and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times. They played an excellent round of golf and at night went to the country club where she enjoyed an excellent steak and lobster dinner.
She met the Devil who seemed to be a really nice guy, and she had a great time telling jokes and dancing. She was having such a good time that before she knew it, it was time to leave. Everybody shook her hand and waved good-bye as she got on the elevator. The elevator went up-up-up and opened back up at the Pearly Gates and found St. Peter waiting for her.
"Now it's time to spend a day in heaven," he said. So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing. She had a great time and before she knew it her 24 hours were up and St. Peter came and got her.
"So, you've spent a day in Hell and you've spent a day in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity," he said. The woman paused for a second and then replied, "Well, I never thought I'd say this, I mean, Heaven has been really great and all, but I think I had a better time in Hell."
So St. Peter escorted her to the elevator and again she went down-down-down, back to Hell. When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends were dressed in rags and were picking up the garbage and putting it in sacks. The Devil came up to her and put his arm around her.
"I don't understand," stammered the woman, "yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a country club and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time. Now all there is a wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable."
The Devil looked at her and smiled. "Yesterday we were recruiting you; today, you have been recruited!"
Whatever happened to Hell? Nothing happened to it, Hell still exists:
• It is still real
• It is still hot
• It is still everlasting
• It is still the eternal home of those who reject Christ as their Savior
Many do not want to talk about it, nor do they want you to talk to them about it. BUT THAT DOES NOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT THIS PLACE IS REAL!
Illus: Tryon Edwards said it right many years ago, “Hell is truth seen too late.” (Tryon Edwards (1809-1894)
I. THE BIBLE TEACHES THERE IS A HELL
II. THE LORD JESUS TEACHES THERE IS A HELL
III. LOGIC REQUIRES THERE IS A HELL
