THE REALITY OF HELL !

By: Pastor Mike Stahl

January 14,2010


"Save some , O Christians ! By all means , save some . From yonder flames and outer darkness , and the weeping , wailing , and gnashing of teeth , seek to save some ! Let this , as in the case of the apostle , be your great , ruling object in life , that by all means you might save some." (CHARLES SPURGEON ) .

Brothers and Sisters , today I want to to you about the REALITY of HELL !

Hell is an unthinkable place for our loved ones - or for ANYONE ! We can't make it go away (though some militant atheists THINK THEY can ) , but we Christians , should do everything we can to point sinners to the Savior , who ALONE can save them from going there .

The existence of hell and the surety of the judgment are not the claims of fallible man . The Bible is the source of the claim , and it is utterly infallible . When someone becomes a Christian , he is admitting that he was in the wrong , and that God is justified in His declarations that we have sinned against Him . However , let's surmise for a moment that there is no Judgment Day and no hell . That would mean that the Bible is a huge hoax , in which more than forty authors collaborated (over a period of 1,500 years ) to produce a document revealing God's character as "just." They portrayed Him as a righteous judge , who warned that He would eventually punish murderers , rapists , liars , thieves , adulterers , etc . Each of those writers (who professes to be godly ) therefore bore false witness , transgressing the very Commandments they claimed were true . It would mean that Jesus Christ was a liar , and that all the claims He made about the reality of judgment were therefore false . It would also mean that He gave His life in vain , as did multitudes of martyrs who have given their lives for the cause of Christ . In addition , if there is no ultimate justice , then the Creator of all things is unjust - He sees murder and rape and couldn't care less , making Him worse than a corrupt human judge who refuses to bring criminals to justice.

Here's the good news , though , if there is no hell : You won't know a thingafter you die . It will be the end . No heaven , no hell . Just nothing . You won't even realize that it's good news .

Here's the bad news though , if the Bible is RIGHT , and there IS ETERNAL justice : You will find yourself standing before the judgment throne of a Holy God . Think of it . A Holy and PERFECT Creator has seen your thought-life and every secret sin you have ever committed . You have a multitude of sins , and God must by nature carry out justice . Ask Him to remind you of the sins of your youth . Ask Him to bring to remembrance your secret sexual sins , the lies , the gossip , and other idle words . YOU may have forgotten your past sins , but God hasn't ! Hell will be your dessert ( exactly what you deserve ) , and you will have no one to blame but YOURSELF ! This is the claim of the Bible . If you don't believe it , it is STILL true ! It will STILL happen !

Yet , there is good news - incredibly good news . We deserve judgment , but God offers us MERCY through the cross . HE paid our fine so that we could leave the courtroom . HE destroyed the power of the grave for all who obey Him . Simply obey the Gospel AND LIVE ! By doing that you will find out for yourself that the Gospel is indeed the "gospel truth." Jesus said that if you obey Him , you will know the truth , and the truth will make you free . "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." ( John 8:31-32 ) . Get on your knees TODAY , confess and forsake (turn from) your sins . Tell God you are truly sorry , then trust the Savior as you would trust yourself to a parachute . Then you will find yourself in a terrible dilemma . You will know for certain that hell is a reality . When you get up the courage to warn people you care about , they will smile passively and say , "Could you be wrong in your claims about Judgment Day and the existence of hell ?"

Now some who are enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season will brush off thoughts of God's eternal justice by joking , "I don't mind going to hell . All my friends will be there." Obviously , those who flippantly say such things don't believe in the biblical concept of hell . They are like a slow-witted criminal who thinks that the electric chair is a place to put up his feet for a while and relax . Their understanding of the nature of God is erroneous , so it may be wise to speak for a few moments about the reasonableness of hell . Explain that the Bible tells us that God will punish murderers and rapists , and the place of punishment - the "prison" God will send them to - is a place called "hell." However , God is so good , He will also punish thieves , liars , adulterers , fornicators , and blasphemers . He will even punish those who DESIRED to murder and rape but never took the opportunity . He warns that if we hate someone , we commit murder in our ownhearts . If we lust , we commit adultery in the heart , etc . ALL are sins that will send us to hell !

C.S. Lewis summed up all the terrors of hell when he said , " There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than the doctrine of hell , if it lay in my power .But it has the full support of Scripture and especially , of our LORD's own words ; it has always been held by the Christian Church , and it has the support of reason."

Brothers and Sisters , we , as Christians , need to take the time to tell people of the REALITY of hell and its biblical description . Some sinners like to picture hell as a fun , hedonistic , pleasure-filled place where they can engage in all the sensual sins that are forbidden here . Others accept that hell is a place of punishment , but believe that the punishment is to be annihilated - to cease conscious existence . Because they can't conceive that a loving God would punish people in eternal torment , they believe hell is just a metaphor for the grave . If they are correct , then a man like Adolf Hitler , who was responsible for the death of millions , is being "punished" merely with eternal sleep . His fate is simply to return to the non-existent state he was in before he was born , where he doesn't even know that he is being punished .

While it is true that God IS love , as John tells us in 1 John 4:8 , "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love " , He is also just (Nehemiah 9:32-33 ; 2 Thessalonians 1:6 ) and eternal (Psalm 90:2 ; 1 Timothy 1:17 ) . God will therefore punish the evil doer ; "And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible" (Isaiah 13:11 ) , and this punishment will be ETERNAL ! It will also be conscious ! Scripture tells us of the rich man who found himself in hell (Luke 16:19-31 ) . He was conscious and able to feel pain , to thirst , and to experience remorse . He wasn't asleep in the grave ; he was in a place of "torment ! "

We tend to forget what pain is like when we don't have it . Can you imagine how terrible it would be to be in agony , with NO HOPE of relief ? Many human beings go insane if they are merely isolated for a long time from other people . Imagine how terrible it would be if God simply withdrew all the things we hold so dear - friendship , love , color , light , peace , joy , laughter . Hell isn't just a place with an absence of God's blessings ; it is punishment for sin. It is LITERAL TORMENT - FOREVER ! That's why the Bible warns that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God . The fate of the unsaved is described with such fearful words as the following :

- "shame and everlasting contempt " ( Daniel 12:2 )

- "everlasting punishment" ( Matthew 25:46 )

- "weeping and gnashing of teeth" ( Matthew 24:51 )

- "fire unquenchable" ( Luke 3:17 )

- "indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish " ( Romans 2:8-9 )

- "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thess. 1:9 )

- " eternal fire. . the blackness of darkness for ever" ( Jude 7,13 )

Revelation 14:10-11 tells us the FINAL , ETERNAL destiny of the sinner : "he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone . . . the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night."

Scripture is quite clear : hell is a REAL place ! It is NOT mere unconsciousness ! It is NOT temporal ! It is ETERNAL TORMENT ! If hell is a place of knowing nothing or a reference to the grave into which we go at death , Jesus' statements about hell make no sense . He said that if your hand , foot , or eye causes you to sin , it would be better to remove it than to "go into hell , into the fire that shall NEVER be quenched : where their worm dies not , and the fire is NOT quenched " (Mark 9:43-48 ) . Jesus spoke MORE of hell than of heaven and spent much time warning people not to go there . After all , if people just stopped existing , why warn them ? It doesn't make sense . If hell were temporal , they'd get out in a little while . But because it is ETERNAL and CONSCIOUS , we must do everything we can to warn them .

However , a sinner won't see that hell is his ETERNAL destiny unless he is convinced by the Law that he has sinned against God . He may consider hell a fit place for others , but not for himself . That's why we must not hesitate to open up the Law and show that each individual is personally responsible for his sin , and that God's wrath abides on him because of it .

So , my friends - I say again - as Christians , let's do all we can to warn our loved ones about the REALITY of hell ! Then our job as Christians is done . The rest is up to them . But at least WE will be able to stand before God with a clear conscience .

Until next time , "The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."  ( Numbers 6:24-26 ) .

Yours in Christ ;
Pastor Mike