The Terror of Hell
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· 42 viewsHell is real; Hell id biblical; Hell is to be feared.
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The Terror of Hell (William C. Nichols; modified by me). In the wake of Halloween, 11/1/2020.
(Mission Emphasis in November – Christmas/Thanksgiving for the needy)
I have preached on Why I Believe in Hell. Today I will preach on why you should.
Hell is a real place. Hell, aka The Valley of Hinnom, a place for burning refuge in the NT, and a place of sacrificing to foreign gods in the OT.
The Doctrine of Hell is possibly the most neglected doctrine in all of Scripture. Yet the Bible tells us, “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments…” Luke 16:23.
If there is a place of torment to be avoided, somebody ought to be preaching on it.
Why don’t we? Well because most Pastors are trying to lead a flock in the way of sanctification. Not seeking to avoid Hell, but rather to live a life of righteousness.
It’s not the Saints that need to hear about Hell as much as it is the lost.
Nonetheless, Jesus has much to say about Hell READ Mark 9:38-50
It’s important that you understand there are many that do not believe Hell is an actual place, though clearly Jesus does.
The natural man resists the notion of Hell because they love their own sin and the thought of a Holy God judging their sin is unappealing. Otherwise they might have to consider giving up their sins.
Even religious leaders are rejecting the idea of Hell, The Pope, and head Cardinal just to mention two. (From a 2001 article). Suggesting that Hell is what a man perceives it to be in his mind.
The true believers in the word of God must stand against any attempt to rid the world of Hell. The only positive side of Halloween is that people get a glimpse of darkness, death, and hell. Hell will be full of the walking dead, demons, witches, and other scary beings.
Christians need to be pointing that out to them. We must sound the trumpet!
“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.” Ezekiel 33:6
Why should we be concerned with preaching Hell? I’ll give you 4.
1. It awakens the conscience
2. It deters sin. When the reality of Hell in on our minds, we tend to sin less.
3. It may awaken the non-believer Christian as well as the lost.
4. It is profitable to both the godly and the ungodly in that it serves as a reminder of an eternal destiny.
If Jesus spoke more about hell than anyone else in the Bible, then Why Don’t Men Believe in Hell? Because it’s only a picture on the wall; a picture in their mind at best. The reason for that is because they don’t hear about it enough. Preachers don’t teach and preach about it enough, and people don’t sit around and talk about it.
We must study what the Scripture say. WHY? Because only the Spirit of God can present the terror of Hell to our hearts in such a way as to cause us to believe.
We would do well to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to set the reality of Hell before us.
That should be enough of an introduction.
I’d like to look at The Necessity of Hell, followed by A Description of Hell, as well as The Eternity of Hell.
The Necessity of Hell
1. Let’s consider the Great Evil in Sin and the Holiness of God
a. First, our perception of sin is all wrong = it’s just a little sin, a little white lie, a sip of wine, innocent flirting, justifiable murder, every man doing what is right in his own eyes. When in fact all sin is a direct and purposeful disobedience toward GOD coupled with a lack of faith or understanding of WHO GOD IS. The Bible says, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28. We are talking about GOD here!
b. Sin is a great evil against GOD, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:” Jeremiah 17:9
c. If only we could comprehend the holiness of God, we could see the depravity of our sin. Absolute holiness cannot tolerate the least sin. “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:” Habakkuk 1:13.
d. God’s holiness and Sin’s wickedness are polar opposites.
e. One drop of poison in a 500-gallon tank and none of you would drink from it.
2. God’s infinite Nature – God is infinite, He has always been, and He will always be. It is your nature to sin, it is His nature to be. He’s that infinite. HE alone is the creator of all thing. When we sin, we sin against Him. All sin is punishable by Him. After all, HE alone is God. He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega.
3. God’s Divine Justice – Romans 12:19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Even one sin against God calls for God’s judgment or justice against it. God is holy and righteous and in judging the sins of mankind in a righteous manner (we would say fare) HE will glorify Himself by showing Himself to be just. HE MUST, He is God, and as God He must judge sin in a most righteous way.
a. The Bible is clear, “It is appointed unto man once to die, then the judgment.”
A Description of Hell, according to the Bible
1. Hell is like a furnace: Matthew 13:47-50 “And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
a. You may recall – And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Daniel 3:23
2. Hell is like a Lake of fire – Revelation 19:20 “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” Hell, already a place of torment, will be cast into a lake of fire.
3. Hell is a place of darkness – Matthew 22:13 “Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The rising smoke from the lake of fire will make it a place of darkness.
4. Hell is compared to Tophet in Isaiah 30:33 “For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.”
a. Tophet was where idolatrous Jews sacrificed their children to the god Molech. Yes, they cast their babies into the fire, worshipping a false god. (Perhaps this is more humane that abortion.)
5. Hell is a bottomless pit, Best description. “And he [the 5th angel] opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.” Revelation 9:2. (This is the 5th angel, according to 9:1)
a. “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” Revelation 1:18 This is Jesus.
The Eternity of Hell
The concept of eternity can be difficult to grasp. For a moment we think we understand the length of eternity only to then realize suddenly there is no length to eternity. We hope to comprehend it in regard to Heaven but, When we apply eternity to Hell, Hell becomes so frightening we choose to dismiss it. This is why and how people (skeptics) have introduced the doctrine of annihilation.
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Revelation 20:19. Did you catch it? “For ever and ever.”
That’s the definition of eternity. Could the Spirit of God make it any clearer than that? This is the same expression used to tell us of the eternal existence of God. “And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,” Revelation 4:9.
No one that believes is GOD has any trouble believing that God will live and be on the throne for ever and ever so, why doubt the eternity of Hell? The same expression is given for both.
W. C. Nichols offer this in consideration of the eternity of Hell:
“We can conceive but a little of the matter; but to help your conception, imagine yourself to be cast into a fiery oven, or a great furnace where your pain would be as much greater than that occasioned by accidentally touching a coal of fire, as the heat is greater. Imagine also that your body were to lie there for a quarter of an hour, full of fire, and all the while full of quick sense; what horror would you feel at the entrance of such a furnace! and how long would that quarter of an hour seem to you! And after you had endured it for one minute, how overbearing would it be to you to think that you had to endure the other fourteen! But what would be the effect on your soul, if you knew you must lie there enduring that torment to the full for twenty-four hours ... for a whole year ... for a thousand years! Oh, then, how would your hearts sink, if you knew, that you must bear it forever and ever! that there would be no end! That after millions of millions of ages, your torment would be no nearer to an end, and that you never, never should be delivered! But your torment in hell will be immensely greater than this illustration represents."
Christ, describing the Great Day of Judgment said, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Matthew 25:46. We believe there is an eternal heaven and yet many refuse to believe there is an eternal Hell. Looke closely at this verse. “Everlasting punishment” & “life eternal” both use the same Greek word – aionios [Strong’s G#166] to describe the length of time.
Does anyone believe they will get to heaven and then one day die – aka cease to exist?
(It also flies in the face of the dichotomy of life, which God created. If there’s a heaven then there’s a hell).
Application of Believers and Unbelievers
“If you are living in known disobedience to the word of God and are unconcerned about it, you have no right to assume you are going to heaven.” (Nichols). “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?” 1 Corinthians 6:9. No, but they will inherit the kingdom of Hell.
We are called to repentance. We are called to live a holy life. For those who do not like to retain God in their knowledge, HE will turn you over to a reprobate mind. (Romans 1:28) Though perhaps He already has.
· “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:22-23.
Many today are living on the edge – the edge of hell, a bottomless pit, a fiery furnace, aka – lake of fire, clueless to the FACT that they are in danger of falling headlong into the fiery eternity. It is better to view Hell today and be moved from it than to spend an eternity being tormented by it.
But Hell is not the real enemy here. SIN IS! Sin gave birth to Hell and it is sin that will send you there. For the lust filled pleasure of this world many will spend eternity in Hell. Are you one of them?
If we truly believe in an eternal Hell why are we not warning people, begging and pleading with people to come to Jesus.?
Why do we not spend more time on our knees praying for the lost?
C
We still need preachers who preach that Hell is still hot, Heaven is still real, Sin is still wrong, the Bible is still the word of God, and that Jesus is still the only way of salvation.
Check:
· Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
· Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Used)
· Matthew 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
· Matthew 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
· Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
· Luke 16:19-31 – The rich man and Lazarus story, spoken by Jesus. (Used)
· 1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
· 2 Peter 2:4-5 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;