Hell (Part 2)
Introduction
This is the second part of our topic about this controversial as well as fearful place. It is real and it will the final abode of all who reject Christ as well as Satan and his demons. If one goes to hell, it is his choice.
I. Is Hell forever?
A. Yes, hell is man’s eternal separation from God – II Thessalonians 1:9 – These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
B. This judgment, which will come quickly and unexpectedly, and it is irreversible – I Thessalonians 5:3b – …then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape
C. In hell, men will suffer eternal torment. And they will not be able to change their condition or reduce their agony – Rich man and Lazarus
D. Matthew 25:46 – And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
E. Revelation 14:11 – And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.
F. The true essence of hell is eternal separation from the presence of God.
II. What is Hell Going to Be Like? Or What Is Someone Going To Experience In Hell?
A. A place of punishment – Matthew 25:46 – And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
B. A place of fire – Jude 1:7 – As Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
C. A place darkness – Jude 1:13 – Raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
D. A place of torment – Revelation 20:10 – The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
E. A place of consciousness – Luke 16:23 – And being in torments in Hell, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
F. A place of thirst – Luke 16:24 – Then 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.’
G. A place of weeping and gnashing of teeth – Matthew 25:30 – And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
H. Hell is a place of immeasurable loss!
1. Lose pleasures of this life, pleasures of sin, etc.
2. Lose fellowship with God.
3. Lose fellowship with loved ones here and hereafter.
I. All hope will be lost, even the hope of dying. For the worm doesn’t die and you won’t die either.
J. No “rest day nor night forever and ever” – Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
III. Why Do We Need To Know About Hell?
A. The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ. That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power of God that holds you up. – Jonathan Edwards
B. We should have a legitimate concern for the fate of the lost which motivates us to warn men of the wrath of God to come – II Corinthians 5:20 – Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
C. Hell – a four letter profane or curse word now, but the most significant word of all to the lost which they must seriously know and learn
1. Consider Hell as you witness.
2. It might put a little fire into your witnessing.
D. Why do we need to know about Hell?
1. Because there is a world of people that is in the fast lane, speeding toward Hell.
2. Our mission from God is that we are to warn people of the impending judgment.
3. To win them for Christ.
4. Not everyone is going to accept Christ. They are going to make wrong choices, but if we warn them, we have given them the chance to accept Him and bypass the judgment of Hell to come.
IV. Present Teachings about Hell
A. Jehovah’s Witness- Hell is the grave
B. Mormons – no literal burning Hell
C. Pope John Paul II – “Hell should be seen not as a fiery underworld but as the state of those who freely and definitely separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy.
D. Bill Bright did not mention Hell in Campus Crusades’ “Four Spiritual Laws”. (This according to my research years back is the most popular gospel tract!)
E. Rosicrucian’s, an occult philosophy, declares that “the ‘eternal damnation’ of those who are not ‘saved’ does not mean destruction nor endless torture,” and that “the Christian religion did not originally contain any dogmas about Hell.”
F. Christian Science, founded by spiritist Mary Baker Eddy, teaches that “there is no death.” They believe that “heaven and hell are states of thought, not places. People experience their own heaven or hell right here on earth.”
G. New Age cult leader Sun Myung Moon of The Unification Church believes that “God will not desert any person eternally. By some means…they will be restored.”
V. Traditional vs. Biblical views of Hell
1. Man dwells with the devil — Man is alone (Lk. 13:26)
2. Bodies will suffer mild discomfort — Bodies will suffer from burning sulphur and consumptions by worms (Mk. 9:47-48, Rev.21:8)
3. At least my friends will be there — Yes but you will not see them
4.Satan is the tormentor over all in Hell — Satan in torment with those tormented (Rev. 20:10)
5. A place of solid earth— A lake of suffering( Rev. 20:10
6. People alone suffer there —Demons as well as people suffer(2 Pet. 2:4)
7. Satan rules with a pitchfork—Satan thrown into hell w/out any emblems of dominion (Rev. 20:10)
VI. The Spirits in Prison of 1 Pet. 18-20 (one of the most problematic NT passage)
A. The problem verse: 1 Peter 3:18-20 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
B. What kind of proclamation would Christ make to Spirits in prison?
1. Explanation: Kerusso (Gk) a term for declaring an edict or declaring an announcement, is not the word for declaring the gospel, so we can infer that Jesus is not witnessing to the wicked spirits.
2. After Christ died and His body was placed in the grave His spirit descended into the bowels of the earth to Hades. There He proclaimed His victory over death, over sin, and over the power of Satan. This proclamation caused the demons to realize that their work had been in vain, and that all their attempts to sabotage our salvation through the cross was nullified.
V. Conclusion:
It has been said that a preacher’s job is to make the comfortable uncomfortable and to comfort the uncomfortable. No topic can better accomplish this than to put the part of the unbeliever in the perfect plan of God. You, my friend, may feel confident that you will never experience the agony of hell–and be totally shocked to find yourself there for all eternity. There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death Proverbs 16:25. The only “way” which is right and which delivers one from eternal torment is the Lord Jesus Christ: Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by Me. John 14:6. Will you come? Won’t you come and be saved from the eternal judgment of Hell?
