H E Double Hockey Sticks
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Hello everyone! I’m so happy and blessed to be up here talking with you all.
So today we are going to be talking about a subject that isn’t talked about much in church. A topic that I don’t think we often like to think about. Today the topic that God laid on my heart for the last 3 weeks or so is the topic of hell.
Prompt to put up title graphic.
Which lead me to lovingly name this sermon H E Double Hockey Sticks.
To me most of my life hell was just a word. A word that if my mother heard me say I would get a prompt angry look and reminder to say nice things and not talk to my brother like that.
Though I remember this one time when I was 11 or 12 years old. I was taking voice lessons. I loved singing, still do as many of you know. Well I remember for my first song that I was going to learn for my upcoming recital was the song “Being Alive” from the musical Company. In this song there is a line in the second verse, “To put you through hell” I remember my mental reaction to saying it for the first time! It was such a rush! I was saying a “naughty” word. I thought it was awesome! My mom…not so much.
When we are kid we don’t really understand what hell means. Though the more I think about it, I don’t think most people really know what hell is. If I am honest with you I think that does a disservice to God.
I think do to our fear and misunderstanding of the topic of hell we have actually watered down what hell is, why it matters, and how it should effect us.
We are often quick to say that Jesus saves. Which is good and true. Jesus did save us. But from what? What are we actually saved from? That is what we are going to be discussing today.
BIG IDEA: We need to understand what Jesus has saved us from.
Main Points
Main Points
What is it?
What is it?
The theological definition given by Wayne Grudem is in his gigantic book “Systematic Theology” is this:
A place of eternal conscious punishment for the wicked.
Lets break that down some. First we need to understand what the original intention of hell was when God made it.
Originally created for the devil and his angels
Originally created for the devil and his angels
We see this idea shared in Mt. 25:41
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
You see God original intention for hell was for Satan and his fallen angels to be there. It is a place that those beings that spat in the face of God and his perfection are sent to be eternally separated from Him.
It is place that these demons themselves fear as we see in the story of Jesus exercising demons in Luke 8:30-31
Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
Hell was in it’s conceptual state not a place that we were supposed to experience. It was created for the evil, supernatural forces, not humans. No in fact God created us perfect, without sin. However, when Adam and Eve choose to sin all the way back in the book of Genesis, at the beginning of time, they could no longer enter into heaven. They had welcomed evil into themselves, where it had originally not existed, as God intended. They knowingly rejected God and his commands, much how we do to this day.
This rejection of God is now what hell has become. . .
Hell is the consequence for rejecting God
Hell is the consequence for rejecting God
We find Jesus telling a parable about this very concept in Mt. 13 closing out the parable in Mt. 13:40-42
“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
When we sin, or violate the law or standard set forth by God, we reject Him and the creation he originally made. Sin is an inherently selfish desire that all of us have to an extent within us. We crave to sin because when we sin it is usually done because it feels good or it’s convenient. Sin is a perversion of God’s original creation. Sin is seeking ourselves, instead of God. Rom 2:8 says
But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
It is this very sin that separates us from God.
Isaiah 59:2–3 (NIV)
But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
It is because of our sin that based solely on our actions we cannot get into heaven. That if we go only based on what we can do as people, we all deserve hell. We are all imperfect sinners.
Of course, the question that I always have had when thinking about hell is what is it like?
What’s it like?
What’s it like?
Some think that hell is like a big party because all the “fun” people are there.
Some people think about it as a land of fire, burning and torturing all that are there.
* PUNCH THIS: Some people think of it as their in-laws house.
Well let’s take a look at how the Bible describes it
How the Bible Describes it
How the Bible Describes it
Sheol
This word is the most common usage of hell in the OT. It is used 34 times. Though the actual origins of the word are lost to history though the best theory is that it refers to a desolate land, literally meaning “no-land” A place of eternal nothingness.
Hades
This is the most common Greek NT word for hell. It is the word that was most often used to translate the word Sheol to Greek. Literally describing burning, separation/loneliness, thirst, falling, stench, etc.
Gehenna
This is used 12 times in the NT and it has a bit of interesting history. The term most likely in reference to a real place called the Valley of Hinnom. This valley was used back in OT times as a human sacrificing location for the pagan god Molech. That was until Josiah reigned in Israel and he turned it into a big landfill, literally they dumped trash there. Then during Jesus’s time they were burning the garbage there was well. Jesus used this as a metaphor what hell is like, a metaphor that would be easily understandable to the people of Jesus’ time.
Lake of Fire
A term used in Rev 20:15 this could be literal or metaphorical, either way, doesn’t sound exactly like a great tourist destination.
What does that mean for us?
What does that mean for us?
In the most basic understanding of what hell is, is far more terrifying in a cosmic kind of way. It is a place completely devoid of God and his goodness. 2 Thess 1:8-10a
2 Thessalonians 1:8–10 (NIV)
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.
It is a type of torment that is almost not possible to comprehend to our human minds. Think about everything good that you experience, including the good feelings you get from sinning, gone. A place where there is no joy, and no relief. A place where terror replaces goodness. A places that God doesn’t look.
Hell is more than just a place filled with fire. It is a place with no respite or calm, just the sound of weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
Transition: But like I teach the students, you always have to ask so what? Why does this matter?
Why does it matter?
Why does it matter?
It shows the perfect judgement of God.
It shows the perfect judgement of God.
Roma 2:5-11 says
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 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. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.
God doesn’t play favorites. The existence of hell shows the perfect judgement of God. God sees us here on earth as He always has. For a long time it was if you didn’t completely fulfill the law then you couldn’t enter heaven. But now, with the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus all God wants to know is 2 things from your time on Earth, did you know Christ and did you follow Him? It doesn’t matter if your black, white, man, woman, republican, democrat. Did you know Christ and did you follow Him?
God is the ultimate fair judge. God is an all-knowing, all-powerful being that can see everything you have done, are doing or will do in any fashion. God judges according to your heart. God is perfect in his judgement and fairness.
Transition: Though the thing that we need to understand about God is . . .
God doesn’t send us to hell.
God doesn’t send us to hell.
Rom 3:10-12 says
Romans 3:10–12 (NIV)
As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
You see this is the part that people often characterize about God. “How can a merciful God send someone to hell?”
God doesn’t send us to hell, we send ourselves. When we choose sin over God we are telling God that He is not good enough for us. That we want his creation but not the Creator. That we want the endorphins rushing through us but not the God of the universe. We want to fruits of His labor but not Him.
When we die and move on it isn’t God sending us to hell but instead the accountability for OUR actions catching up with us. None are righteous.
Transition: Though it is through the vary concept of the choice of good or evil that. . .
It shows us God’s love.
It shows us God’s love.
God Gave us choice
God Gave us choice
God isn’t some kind of evil dictator or puppeteer over us. He isn’t a movie director shouting orders to force us into what He wants. God is patient and God gives us freedom.
Gen2:16-17 describes this idea . . .
And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Yes the punishment that God laid out was severe, however, if He gave no choice at all He would be considered a tyrant. A being that suppresses freedom rather than encouraging it. God wants us to have choice, and we love that, until we are held accountable for our actions. Freedom doesn’t erase accountability.
Transition: However, God knew that all of us would fall short of this bar. God used sin and hell to shows His love because . . .
He knew we needed a Savior
He knew we needed a Savior
God knew the pain and agony that awaited for us on the other side of this life. He knew the torment that sin brought into this word and it’s through that desperation that he knew that it was necessary to send the very Saviour we needed.
Suffering was not God’s original intention for us, on earth or otherwise. We see in 1 Thess 5:9
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God sent his one and only Son so that we don’t have to experience that eternity of misery that we rightly deserve.
Transition: But how should that affect us? There are 3 ways that I believe this understanding of what hell is and why it matters should affect the way that we live our lives on this earth.
How should it affect us?
How should it affect us?
Affect our understanding of Christ!
Affect our understanding of Christ!
When we read Rom 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our understanding of hell truly should shift how we view Jesus here. We deserve to go to hell. That is what we as sinful human beings deserve. That is what we get for our sins.
Yet God in his mercy and in his grace was willing to send his one and Only Son to die on a cross so that we can have communion with him. So what we once broke all the way back in the beginning of time could be resolved. So that the pain and agony that we ask for by our actions could be circumvented because of what Christ did on that day in Calvary.
Jesus died and saved us from WHAT? From eternal damnation in a place that we were never originally made to go to. Jesus saved us from where we put ourselves. It should affect how we view him
The mission of Jesus was a clear one we find in John 3:16-18
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
In many ways Christ saved us from ourselves because we were incapable of defeating sin ourselves. We opened a door that only the a perfect God could close. Through Christ and his sacrificed we were saved not just from sin but the torment and death that we rightfully deserve!
Affect how we do ministry!
Affect how we do ministry!
Our understanding of hell should fundamentally impact the way that we go about serving. The way we go about sharing the good news of Christ would shift if we understood exactly what Christ saved us from!
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
If we understood more about hell, like we do now, we should be motivated to tell people about who Christ is.
Why is this so important? We are running on a clock. Eventually Christ is coming back and when that happens, it’s over. The doors will close. We have right now to play a part in the salvation of people in this world from a terrible place that most don’t fully understand.
I don’t tell you this to scare you, but to motivate you! Now I must preface I am not telling you to go stand on a street corner and tell people if they don’t convert they are going to burn in hell. That doesn’t help and is not a way to convert people. You build relationship with people. You meet people where they are at and help them practically.
Jesus didn’t come here in fear, but in love and assistance. He was there to pick up the lost and save the world through the love of His creation. We need to show that same love to people.
It is only Christ who can save. We get to play a part as an ambassador for Christ. What kind of ambassador do you want to be?
Affect how we love Jesus!
Affect how we love Jesus!
Jesus possess authority over hell!
Jesus possess authority over hell!
Jesus gave us everything He had. He gave his life over for us after living a perfect life. The best part, in doing so he posses authority over hell!
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Jesus and his church are bigger than anything the enemy can throw. Bigger than death. Bigger than hell! Christ cannot be overcome by anything that Satan can throw at us or at Him. Satan thought he won on that day Jesus was hanging there bloodied on the cross for you and for me and even in Satan’s supposed victory Christ overcame! Christ had the upperhand.
Rev 1:17-18 says
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Christ holds the keys! We don’t have to be afraid of Satan or his domain because we have the victory through Jesus Christ.
He loved you enough to make the ultimate sacrifice.
He loved you enough to make the ultimate sacrifice.
In the end it should affect how we love Jesus because without His wherewithal to give up his body and blood for you and me there wouldn’t be victory. There would be no reason to celebrate. We wouldn’t be sitting here.
But God saw you. He sees your struggle, He sees your fears, He sees your future. God has so much more than you can imagine prepared for you and it all started with a carpenter! A man that people thought meant nothing, a man that most people wouldn’t have thought twice about. It started with Christ.
God saw where eternity was heading for us as a human race, as His creation. He sent His one and only Son to make it right. Not because we deserved it but because He loves you that much.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Hell is an uncomfortable topic. It’s a scary thing. The one thing that we need to remember is that Christ is bigger than it all.
Invite worship team and prayer team
We’re gonna take some time to worship here. To worship with a better understanding of what exactly He saved us from.
Before we do that, if you are sitting there and you have never accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior you can! The Bible is clear in Rom 10:9-13
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
You are not to broken for God. You are not to small for God. You are not a mistake. You are important and valued and God loved you enough to send His one and only Son for you. To die a brutal death for crimes he never commited all so that you could have salvation from sin and hell and have communication with Him. There will be people up here to pray for you in a moment.
If you already believe and you just want time to praise God, the altars are open. If you need prayer, we are here for you. As I finish out I want to read some of my favorite Scripture one more time John 3:16-18
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.