A. Many of you have had the opportunity to travel on airplanes far more than me, but I question whether any enjoy it more than I do.
1. I’m like a kid in the candy store when I am on a plane - I’m fascinated with everything, from the notion of flight, to the view from 30,000 ft.
2. One of the interesting rituals that takes place at the beginning of every flight is the presentation of the safety information by the flight attendant.
3. He or she stands at the front of the plane and holds up a seat belt and an oxygen mask as the prerecorded voice gives the instructions on how to use them.
4. Then he or she points to the emergency exits.
5. But something very strange occurs during this pre-flight ritual - no one pays attention.
B. I wonder what would happen if the attendant used more drastic means to communicate the warnings.
1. What if she took a gasoline-drenched doll and set it on fire?
2. What if the in-flight screen projected images of passengers racing to exit a blazing plane?
3. What if she marched up and down the aisle, yanking away magazines, tablets and cellphones, demanding that the passengers listen for their own safety and good?
4. What if she said: “You folks better listen up. One mishap and this plane becomes a flaming mausoleum. What I am telling you just might save your life!”?
5. As you can guess, she would probably lose her job, but she’d make her point.
6. And, in the end, she’d be doing the passengers a favor.
C. Our Savior has done something similar for us.
1. He was motivated more by love than duty and love always cautions those they love.
2. Jesus said: “An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” (Jn. 5:29)
a. With those words, Jesus clarified that there is only one of two destinies that await each person after death: eternal life in heaven or eternal condemnation in hell.
3. Look with me at Jesus’ words of caution in Matthew 24:38-39: “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”
D. The parallels between the flood of Noah and the return of Christ are many.
1. A message of judgment was proclaimed then and it is still proclaimed today.
2. People didn’t listen then and they refuse to listen today.
3. Noah was sent to save the faithful and Christ was sent to do the same.
4. Noah built a safe place out of wood and Jesus made a safe place with a wooden cross.
5. Those who believed hid in the ark and those who believe today are hidden in Christ.
6. A flood of water came then and a flood of fire will come next.
7. The first flood was irreversible and so is the second.
8. Once the door is shut - it is shut forever.
9. There was screaming on the day of the flood and there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” on the day of judgment (Mt 25:30).
10. Regarding the lost, the Bible says, “And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night…” (Re 14:11)
E. This is serious business, isn’t it?
1. Hell is a serious topic. A topic many would rather avoid.
2. Maybe you agree with the sentiments of C.S. Lewis, “There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than hell, if it lay in my power…I would pay any price to be able to say truthfully; ‘All will be saved.’ ” (Quoted by Larry Dixon in, “The Other Side of the Good News”)
3. But not only is that not possible, it is not suitable.
4. In the end, our thoughts and opinions about hell don’t matter, rather all that matters is what God has revealed about hell in the Bible.
F. Believe it or not, hell serves a very important purpose.
1. As much as we might resist the idea, the absence of hell is even worse than its presence.
2. To remove hell from the Bible is to remove, at the same time, any notion of a just God and a trustworthy revelation.
3. If there is no hell, then God is not just.
a. If there is no punishment of sin, then heaven is apathetic toward sin.
b. If there is no hell, then God is blind toward the victims of sin and has turned his back on those who pray for relief.
c. If there is no wrath toward evil, then God is not love, for love hates that which is evil.
4. And to say there is no hell is to say that God is a liar and his Scripture is untrue.
a. The Bible repeatedly and strongly affirms the dualistic outcome of history.
b. Some will be saved, and some will be lost.
5. Look at Daniel 12:2, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”
6. Paul agreed: “To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger” (Ro 2:7-8)
G. People today object to this truth by pointing to the love-nature of Jesus.
1. They might try to protest saying that the idea of hell is an OT idea, but they are wrong.
2. The OT is comparatively silent on the topic.
3. It is from the NT that we receive the bulk of our teaching about hell.
4. And guess who was the primary teacher? That’s right, it’s Jesus.
5. No one spoke of eternal punishment more often or more clearly than Jesus himself.
6. Consider these facts:
a. 13% of the teachings of Christ are about God’s eternal judgment and hell.
b. More than half of His parables relate to God’s eternal judgment of sinners.
c. Of the 12 times the word gehenna (the strongest biblical word for hell) appears in Scripture, there is only one time in which Jesus was not the speaker.
7. So, no one spoke of hell more than Jesus did.
a. For example, in one of our favorite verses about conversion, Jesus said: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mk 16:16).
b. And in the most famous of all of Jesus’ statements, He said: “For God so love the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).
c. The opposite side of salvation is condemnation – God would prefer that no one would perish, but many will.
I. Hell, my friends, is a very real and important part of the plan of God.
1. We cannot and should not ignore the biblical teaching and warnings about hell.
2. To cut them out of our thinking or theology is to do so at the expense of a just God and a reliable revelation.
3. The presence of hell serves a powerful purpose both presently and eternally.
J. Today, hell functions somewhat like the proverbial, “dad’s workshop.”
1. When I was a child and got in trouble, I often received a spanking.
2. Mom sometimes used one of those thin wooden paddles that came with an elastic string and ball.
a. It was a child’s toy and Mom or Gramma would give them to us as gifts.
b. But the elastic string would break within minutes of use, and they would be transformed from a child’s toy to a disciplinary tool.
3. My biological father, on the other hand, used a belt, when necessary.
4. All Mom or Dad had to say was, “Go to your room and I will be there in a minute,” and we knew what was to befall us.”
5. Fortunately, I learned at an early age that obedience was far better than disobedience.
6. I mention this to explain the impact that “the workshop” had on my behavior.
7. You see, my parents loved me, and I knew it.
8. There were times when their love and approval was all I needed to keep me in the right.
9. However, there were a few times when the temptation was so strong and the rebellion was so fierce that the thought of their love and approval was not enough, rather it was the thought of their anger and disappointment and the fear of punishment that kept me in the right.
10. When love didn’t compel me, fear was right there to keep me in check.
K. I hope the application is obvious.
1. Our heavenly father loves His children. He really does.
2. Most of the time, that love will be enough to make us follow Him., but there will be times when it won’t.
3. There will be times when the lure of lust, the magnet of greed, or the promise of power will be so strong that we are ready to reject the love of God and disobey God’s commands.
4. In those moments, the Holy Spirit may mention “God’s workshop.”
a. He may whisper, remember: “whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Gal 6:7).
5. And the reminder that there is a place of punishment may be just what we need to correct our behavior and keep us on track.
L. But just what is hell like?
1. Jesus is the only eyewitness of hell who has walked the earth.
2. One of the stories that Jesus told gives us a glimpse into the horrors of hell - it is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
3. The story begins at an expensive house in an exclusive neighborhood.
a. The man who owns the house is extravagant.
b. He wears the finest clothes and he eats the best of the best every day.
c. Botanical gardens sprawl within his gates and gold and china sparkle upon his table.
d. Do you get the picture? Jesus said that he lives in luxury every day.
4. But outside his gate sits a beggar by the name of Lazarus.
a. His body is covered with sores, skin drapes from his bones.
b. Someone too kind to ignore him, yet too powerless to help him has laid him at the gate of the rich man.
c. In those days the wealthy didn’t use napkins after a meal; they would wipe their fingers and hands on chucks of bread and then discard it.
d. Lazarus was hoping to receive the crumbs from this discarded bread.
5. So, you can clearly see the contrast.
a. A nameless baron basks in luxury while a named beggar lies in misery.
b. Between them there is a tall gate.
c. Inside a person feasts while outside a person starves and from above a just God renders a verdict.
d. Scene one’s curtain of death falls upon both of them.
e. And as the stage lights are turned up on scene two, we gasp at the reversal of destiny.
6. The beggar who had nothing but God, now has everything while the wealthy man, who had everything but God, now has nothing.
a. The pain of Lazarus has ended, but the pain of the rich man has just begun.
7. If the story ended here, we would be stunned, but the story goes on.
a. Jesus now escorts us to the edge of hell and reveals its horrors.
b. The rich man is in relentless torment.
c. Five verses make four references to his pain:
1. “In hell, where he was in torment” (vs 23).
2. “I am in agony in this fire” (vs 24).
3. “Now Lazarus is comforted here and you re in agony” (vs 25).
4. “I, the rich man, have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment” (vs 28).
M. Perhaps the last phrase is the most telling. The rich man defines his new home as a “place of torment.”
1. Every fiber of his being is tortured.
2. Hell might be tolerable if its citizens were lobotomized, but such is not the case.
3. The citizens are awake. They ask questions. They speak. The plead. The one who had never begged is now begging.
4. Of all the horrors of hell, the worst must be the knowledge that the suffering will never cease.
5. Jesus described it as “eternal punishment.” (Mt 25:46).
6. The same adjective used to describe the length of heavenly life is used to describe the duration of punishment: it is eternal.
N. We would love to believe that sinners will be given a second chance.
1. Maybe a few months or milleniums of purgatory would do, and then all would be saved.
2. But as attractive as that sounds, the Bible simply does not teach that.
3. In Jesus’ story, Abraham says, “Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.” (vs 26).
4. There will be no missionary journeys to hell and there will be no holiday excursions to heaven.
O. This is a hard teaching, and it gives rise to a hard question: How could a loving God send people to hell?
1. This is a common question that reveals a couple of misconceptions.
2. First, God does not send people to hell, rather He simply honors their choice.
a. Hell is the ultimate expression of God’s high regard for the dignity of man.
b. God has never forced us to choose Him, even when that means we would choose hell.
c. As C.S. Lewis stated: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘Thy will be done.’ All who are in hell choose it.”
3. So, we see that God does not “send” people to hell, nor does he send “people” to hell.
a. The word people is neutral, implying innocence.
b. Nowhere does the Scriptures teach that innocent people are condemned.
c. People do not go to hell. Sinners do. The rebellious do. The self-centered do.
d. So, God doesn’t send people to hell, he simply honors the choice of sinners.
P. Jesus’ story concludes with a surprising twist - the rich man suddenly possessed an evangelistic fervor.
1. He said, “I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.”
2. The one who never knew God now prays for missionaries.
3. Isn’t it remarkable how that one step into hell changes a person’s priorities.
4. Those who know the horrors of hell would do whatever it takes to keep others from going there.
5. Jesus understood such and stated, “If you hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut if off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.” (Mt 18:8)
Q. This story is, without a doubt, the most disturbing story Jesus ever told.
1. It’s packed with words such as torment, pain, and suffering.
2. It teaches concepts that are tough to come to grips with; like conscious punishment and permanent banishment.
3. But it also teaches a vital truth which is easily overlooked - the unimaginable love of God.
4. Where do we see the love of God in all this?
5. The one who spoke of punishment, hell and misery, went there for you and for me.
6. Never forget that while on the cross, Jesus became sin.
a. Jesus became the very object that God hates and the very object God punishes.
7. Paul stated that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).
a. When a person leads a life of sin, then they earn an eternity of suffering.
8. God punishes sin, even when the sin is laid on his own son.
a. That is exactly what occurred on the cross.
b. “The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Is 53:6).
9. And because God did that, Jesus “took our suffering on him and felt our pain for us” (Is 53:4).
a. What the rich man felt, Jesus felt.
b. What we saw as we stared into the pit of hell today in this parable, Jesus experienced…the pain, the anguish, the isolation, the loneliness.
c. No wonder he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mk 15:34).
10. Like the rich man, Jesus knew hell, but unlike the rich man, Jesus didn’t stay there.
R. I believe that heaven and hell are real, but I believe that many of the Biblical descriptions of heaven and hell are symbolic.
1. What God is trying to tell us in the images of heaven and hell are simply that heaven is beautiful and wonderful and is a place you will want to be, and hell is ugly and horrible and it is a place you won’t want to be.
2. Heaven is far better than what we can imagine and hell is far worse than we can imagine.
S. Several hundred years ago the French philosopher Pascal put forth his famous wager regarding the Christian faith.
1. It’s an imaginary conversation between a Christian and a non-believer.
2. It goes like this: Suppose that atheism is right and Christianity is wrong. In the end, I have lost nothing by believing in Christ since my faith gives me hope and comfort in this life and the atheist has gained nothing because he believes that death ends all. But suppose that Christianity is right and atheism is wrong. Who wins and who loses? The Christian wins everything because he goes to heaven. The atheist loses everything because he goes to hell.
3. As Christians, if we are wrong, then we lose nothing at all, but if we are right, we go to heaven.
4. But those who reject Christ run a terrible risk that hell is real because if it is, that’s where they are going.
T. On one occasion the famous skeptic Robert Ingersoll spoke on why he didn’t believe in hell and why no intelligent person could believe such mythology.
1. Mr. Ingersoll was a most convincing speaker and after he was finished, he was met by a drunk who asked him one question: “Bob, are you sure? I’m depending on you.”
2. Each person listening to me today must make an intelligent and informed decision about heaven and hell.
3. If what I have said is true, then you must do whatever it takes to make sure you go to heaven and you must make sure at all costs that you do not go to hell.
U. And here is the great news: No one has to go to hell.
1. God has provided an escape from condemnation and punishment.
2. That way is Jesus Himself, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn. 14:6)
3. God’s way of escape will do a person no good if they don’t avail themselves of it.
4. If anyone ignores and rejects Jesus, then there is no hope for them.
5. God doesn’t have a “Plan B” for those who reject His Son.
6. What must a person do to go to heaven? They must believe in Jesus and be baptized into Him.
7. What must a person do to go to hell? Nothing at all – just continue to be in sin and remain outside of Christ.
8. Do nothing and be lost. Trust Christ and be saved.
V. So, how should each of us respond to this sermon?
1. If you have committed your life to Christ and have not been baptized into Christ, then this message should cause you to rejoice – you have been rescued from hell.
a. While we rejoice in our own salvation and our escape from hell, the reality of hell should cause us to redouble our efforts to reach those who aren’t in Christ.
b. To understand hell is to pray more earnestly and to serve more diligently and to evangelize more boldly.
c. Ours is the highest stake mission of them all - eternal life and eternal death is on the line.
2. If you have not committed yourself to Christ and been baptized into Christ, then I pray that you will heed the warnings of Scripture and get ready for eternity.
a. This “plane” won’t fly forever. Pay attention to the flight attendant.
b. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “Death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.”
c. Please hear the warnings and prepare for the future.
d. God is not kidding…It’s gonna rain!...Get on the ark…Get into Christ...Judgment day is coming!
e. Are you ready?
Resources:
When Christ Comes, Max Lucado, Thomas Nelson, 1999.
Playing with Fire: Can We Still Believe in Hell? Ray Pritchard
