What About Hell? Series

Introduction

Joke on the church newssheet is said: ….

“At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be ‘What is Hell?’ Come early and listen to our choir practice.”

We arrive at the final week of our series, …

And I’ve changed this series as we’ve gone along. We have talked about life after death earlier; and I know that some wanted some help on another big question. Honestly, I was hedging it. So no more hedging . . .

We all ask big questions about life, death, suffering — and today, we finish with one of the most uncomfortable questions: What about hell?

I’m not avoiding it,

I’m not here to scare people.

But we need to be honest, especially if we believe in a God who is both loving and just.

So today, we’ll try to answer three things:

1. What does the Bible actually say about hell?

2. How can a loving God allow it?

3. Where’s the hope in all of this?

1. What Does the Bible Actually Say About Hell?

Let’s be honest: for many people, the word hell brings up all sorts of images —

fire, pitchforks, demons, eternal torment. But is that really what the Bible teaches?

To understand hell properly, we need to look at how Jesus and the early Christians spoke about it.

a. Jesus Took Hell Seriously

Jesus talked about hell more than anyone else in the New Testament.

He did so, Not to frighten people into religion, but to wake them up.

He spoke with urgency, not anger.

He warned people out of love — the way you'd shout a warning to someone walking toward the edge of a cliff.

Let me make a statement that I hope makes a clear understanding of heaven and hell.

HEAVEN is wherever God reigns.

HELL is wherever God doesn’t reign.

That’s it. That applies to all eternity. It also applies to life .. right … now.

Don’t think about pearly gates or some Firey underworld.

HEAVEN is wherever God reigns.

HELL is wherever God doesn’t reign.

When Christ died on the cross, God’s son was in a place that God wasn’t “Why have you abandoned me?”

Jesus loved giving imagery to tell a truth. A picture tells a 1000 words.

Jesus painted pictures to help us understand a truth all through His life.

And he did the same to describe what separation from God looks like:

• “Outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12) – a place of isolation and regret.

• “Weeping and gnashing of teeth” – a phrase used often by Jesus (e.g. Matthew 13:42) to describe deep sorrow and frustration.

• “Gehenna” (e.g. Matthew 5:22) – a word Jesus used that referred to a real valley outside Jerusalem where rubbish was burned. It became a symbol of destruction and judgment. He was not saying Hell was just outside Jerusalem (although right now, it may seem like it.)

These images are not meant to give us a detailed map of hell, but to shock us into seeing that separation from God is not what we were made for.

b. Hell Is Ultimately About Separation

Perhaps the clearest description comes from 2 Thessalonians 1:9:

“They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”

If heaven is “everlasting LIFE”, then Hell is “everlasting DEATH” There is only TWO OPTIONS

The experience of hell is not so much about flames — it’s about separation.

Separation from God’s love, peace, joy, and presence.

It’s the end result of a life that keeps saying, “I don’t want You, God.”

c. The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

In Luke 16:19–31, Jesus tells a powerful parable.

A rich man lives in luxury and ignores a poor man, Lazarus, suffering at his gate.

After death, their situations are reversed: Lazarus is comforted, and the rich man is in torment.

Now, this isn’t a literal place — it's a imagery Jesus tells to reveal spiritual truth.

The real issue isn’t wealth, but hardness of heart.

The rich man had every chance to change, to care, to respond to God — but he never did.

This rich man still doesn’t change in the story.

• He doesn't ask to be with God.

• He doesn’t say sorry.

• He only wants relief and for Lazarus to serve him.

? His heart remains closed.

That’s the tragedy of hell.

Not that God shuts people out, but

that people persistently shut Him out.

d. Hell Is the Consequence of Real Choices

Why were we created?

For relationship with God.

but our Heavenly Father never forces the relationship - He says, “I’m here if you WANT me. I offer you so much, and I will FREELY GIVE IT – should you choose to accept it.