Illus: We get the picture of a herd of wild horses, kicking their heels up, just running and having a time. However, when they get to a certain place, a cowboy rushes from the rear of the herd to the front and turns the herd in the direction he wants them to go.
God said, the wicked shall be “...turned into hell...” Who will be turned? THOSE WHO FORGET GOD! The devil’s crowd is kicking up their heels, but there is coming a day when they are going to wish they had never forgotten God.
One thing we can say about America is that it seems the majority of the people are trying to forget God.
- The wicked ACLU, every year, files lawsuits against schools or cities when they display Nativity scenes in public.
- The wicked people want to take the teachings of God out of our schools.
This makes no sense! They say it is all right to teach little Johnny that he came from a baboon, but it is not all right to teach him God created him.
Wicked men want to remove “In God we trust” from our coins because it offends them. So selfish they are, refusing to even recognize the existence of One who loves them so He paid the ultimate sacrifice for them!
The mainstream of America fits into Psalm 9:17, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
They prefer the name of God not be mentioned unless it is in a negative way. It is not that they do not want to hear the word “hell.” It is that they have relegated it to a slang word. They wish to forget that it is a place where wicked people will spend eternity!
We all know people who use the word “hell” frequently in their conversations. It is ironic that sinners use “hell” frequently, but the place is seldom mentioned in many churches who claim to be Bible-preaching churches.
Cult’s shun the mention of “hell,” that is, unless they want to mock the teaching of hell from the scriptures. For example...
Illus: The cult leader, Ted Armstrong, made mockery of those who believe in hell. In cartoon form he showed a man being placed into a wheel barrow being pushed over a cliff and dumped into a burning valley below that was supposed to represent hell. Then he faced the television camera, laughing, saying, “Now you do not believe that a loving God would do that to anyone, do you?”
But, in spite of the scoffers, in spite of those who no longer preach what God’s Word says about hell, God’s Word still stands! God warned, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
I would like to show you at least THREE reasons why we must believe there is a hell.
I. WE MUST BELIEVE THERE IS A HELL BECAUSE THE SCRIPTURES DECLARE IT.
The Word of God says, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
The Bible teaches the reality of hell!
- The Old Testament mentions it at least 31 times.
- The New Testament mentions it at least 22 times.
That is at least 53 times hell is mentioned in the Bible.
Jesus frequently spoke about hell. I know liberals would have you believe He only preached that God is love, and promoted social programs, like feeding the poor. But, the fact is, He frequently preached on hell.
For example, in
-Matthew 10,
-Mark 9 and
-Luke 16, the Lord spoke quite a bit about hell. In the book of Matthew alone He mentioned that dreadful place called hell 12 times.
In fact, if you examine scripture closely you will find He had more to say about hell than He did about heaven.
In Mark 9:33-48 we read, “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: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 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: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 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: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
Notice, five times the Lord spoke of hell as being a place, “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
Illus: As you already know, sometimes youngsters can do some cruel things. On one occasion two lads had a little fire going. Then they found a caterpillar and had an idea. Wonder what caterpillars do when they get hot? They put him over the fire. All at once that little caterpillar’s legs were going in all directions trying to get him away from that hot fire. Then the boys put the caterpillar down in the fire. Shortly his squirming ceased.
This is what the Lord said it will be like for the man who dies in his sins. He will squirm and squirm like that worm in the fire, but there will be a big difference. The man will not die. The Bible mentions that hell is a place, “Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.”
We all should believe in a literal burning hell BECAUSE THE SCRIPTURE DECLARES IT! Secondly...
II. WE MUST BELIEVE THERE IS A HELL BECAUSE SIN REQUIRES IT.”
Illus: One chaplain to the troops on an American ship was asked by the soldiers, “Do you believe in hell?” He answered, “No!” Upon hearing his answer, the troops put in a request that he resign. They recognized enough about spiritual matters to know if there was no hell, then no chaplain was needed, and if there was, then they needed to be taught the truth about it.
People who want to do away with hell need to understand they must first do away with sin. As long as sin abounds it requires a hell. That is, as long as man remains a free moral agent, able to choose to sin or choose to live a godly life, there must be a destiny.
Those who would rebel against God, who hate and despise what is righteous, must have a place to dwell for eternity. Because every person is an eternal being, each is going to spend eternity either IN HEAVEN OR HELL! These are the only two places God has created that are available to accommodate mankind for eternity.
You may ask, “Preacher, why doesn’t God just allow everyone to go to heaven?” Because, if God allowed everyone to go to heaven, the ungodly would be miserable there, and would make it miserable for everyone else.
Sinners do not feel comfortable around righteous people. Their lives are so full of sin, they have no time, or interest in God or His Church.
Illus: They remind me of the two little boys that were playing in the yard and it got dark so they went to the front porch where the light was on. A big frog also moved up under the light. They noticed that every time a bug flew near the frog he would reach out with his long tongue and swallow him. The little boys decided they would play a trick on the frog. They had been shooting a BB gun and they had a couple of packs of BBs. They rolled one in the frog’s direction and the frog thought it was a bug and he snatched it and swallowed it. They thought this was funny so they rolled more BBs his way. Before they knew it, that frog had consumed almost two packs of BBs. In fact, he was so bloated with BBs that his hopper no longer worked. He could barely crawl. Also, the boys had no more BBs to feed him so they tried another experiment. they grabbed that frog by his back legs and held him upside down and shook him and guess what? all those BBs came pouring out. Now the boys had a supply to tempt the frog again. To their delight the frog had not learned his lesson. They began rolling the BBs in front of the frog again and again he swallowed the two packs.
The point is, that old frog got so full of BBs that he could not hold another one. That is the way many people are with sin. Their lives are so filled with sin they have absolutely no room in their lives for God! There are some people who are so full of sin I believe they would be tied to a post and whipped rather than go into God’s house where people are worshipping Him.
Wickedness is a part of their character and they would never be happy or content or joyful in a place like heaven.
We believe there is a hell BECAUSE THE SCRIPTURE DECLARES IT and BECAUSE SIN REQUIRES IT. Also...
III WE MUST BELIEVE THERE IS A HELL BECAUSE JUSTICE DEMANDS IT.
Some people say you can not equate God’s justice with the reality of hell. That is, how can a loving God send anyone to hell.
Let me say this, if you die and go to hell, God is NOT the one responsible for your going there!
Illus: When a criminal commits a crime and the Judge sentences him it is NOT THE JUDGE that is responsible for his needing to be punished. The criminal has done a deed that requires punishment!
The Lord Jesus will ultimately pass the death sentence on the sinner, but it is the SINNER who SENDS HIMSELF to a hell God initially prepared only for the devil and the devil’s angels. When the sinner chose to continue in sin, in spite of all Christ did to rescue him from it, then he chose to spend eternity in hell.
The Bible says, John 3:17-18, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is CONDEMNED ALREADY, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” God said the man who chooses sin above righteousness, Satan above Christ, is condemned already and unless he repents and accepts Christ as Savior, it is only a matter of time before HELL WILL BE HIS ETERNAL HOME!
God makes it clear in His Word that hell was prepared for the devil and the devil’s angels. The problem with God’s justice has nothing to do with hell, but, in reality, has everything to do with heaven. That is, mankind says, “How can a just God allow anyone to go to hell.” What he should be asking is, “How could a just God allow a sorry, good for nothing sinner, like you and I, into heaven?”
What is so precious is that God would allow His Son to die on Calvary and pay the price for our sins and allow us to go to heaven!
Listen, in hell a man will get justice. “Preacher, I thought everyone in hell would get the same punishment.” You may think that if you like, but there are scriptures that teach that is not so. Every sinner goes to the same hell, but the punishment is not the same.
For example, when it comes to our STANDING BEFORE GOD as sinners, there is no such thing as a big or little sin. He sees us clothed in His Son’s righteousness, and He all who ARE NOT CLOTHED IN THE LORD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL STAND BEFORE HIM CONDEMNED TO A DEVIL’S HELL.
However, when it comes TO PUNISHMENT every sinner will get what he deserves according to his deeds, no more and no less.
Look at Rev. 20:11-12. We read, “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” In verse 12 we see, “And I saw the dead, small and great...” Who are these “small and great”? He is not talking about social standing because we know the dead are all equal. When He talks about “small and great” dead, he is talking about those who have committed SMALL SINS and those who have committed GREAT SINS, few sins and many sins, etc.
Look again at verse 12. We read, “...and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” The fact is that God keeps records of everything lost people do implies God is going to judge each individual based on what he did. In other words, if the judgment is going to be the same for everyone in hell, why would God keep records of his deeds.
You may ask, “Preacher, if all lost men are in a burning hell would they not all be suffering the same punishment?” Not necessarily.
Illus: When the three Hebrew children were thrown into the fire the fire was so hot it killed the guards who placed them in it and it burned the bands off their hands, yet the three Hebrew children were not burned. They did not even have the smell of smoke on their garments.
God is able to control the fires of hell so that a man like Hitler will squirm in anguish on the floor, while another who rejected Christ, but did do such horrible deeds, will not be in such extreme anguish. God has that power, He will judge according to each man’s deeds.
Conclusion/Summary: Those of you who do not know Christ as Savior should come now and accept Him. Not one of you here, if you knew the torments of hell, would ever choose to go there! Yet, all who reject Christ will, in that final judgment, be sentenced to eternal residence in the torments of hell.
I. WE MUST BELIEVE THERE IS A HELL
BECAUSE THE SCRIPTURES DECLARE IT!
II. WE MUST BELIEVE THERE IS A HELL
BECAUSE SIN REQUIRES IT!
III. WE MUST BELIEVE THERE IS A HELL
BECAUSE JUSTICE DEMANDS IT.
