THE REALITY OF HELL
By Neal Pollard
INTRODUCTION
A. Imagine For A Moment
That We Could Engage In Time Travel. Let’s Say We Travel Back To Medieval
Europe. We Walk Up To The Average Peasant, A Farmer Under The Thumb Of Both The
Landlord & The Catholic Priest In His District. He Is Highly Superstitious, Will
Never See A Doctor, If He Did He Would Be Subjected To Woeful Superstition &
Actually Harmful Treatments. He Lives In An Open-Air Hovel W/His Wife & A Large
Number Of Children. They Have Little Agricultural Knowledge, May Have No
Transportation Aside From Their Own Two Feet, Are Probably Starving To Death
W/Rotten Teeth & Poor Immune Systems, & May Well Die Of Smallpox, The Plague, Or
Influenza. Their World Is Small. Educational Opportunities Are Non-Existent.
Their Religious Leaders Horribly Corrupted. You Tell Them You Are From A
Different Time-2001. You Tell Him You’re An Average Citizen In A Place Called
America. You Own A 2-Story House & Two Automobiles (Which You Describe Function
& Operation Of). You Are Relatively Free, Have The Rite To Vote & The Freedom To
Worship How You Choose. You Tell Him About Your HMO Plan, Your Retirement Plan,
The Advancements In Technology & Medicine. You Tell Him People Can Travel Across
The Ocean In A Thing Called An Airplane, 100-300 People At A Time, Covering 600
MPH, & That From That Far Off Place Called America You Could Reach Him By It In
Only 10-12 Hours. You Have A Dentist, A Chiropracter, An Accountant, A Doctor,
Insurance Agents, & A Web Site, Yet Your Only An Average, Middle-Class Citizen.
1. No matter how much detail & explanation you give, this poor man couldn’t visualize or conceptualize your lifestyle in 21st Century America. It would seem a big fantasy to him.
B. Human Beings Are Restricted By Time, Experience, The Body, Knowledge & Ability
1. Our sense of possibility & even plausibility are naturally effected by such things
C. That’s Why Some Things God Reveals To Us Challenge Us To Think Beyond Our Restrictions
1. Job 42:3-God’s knowledge & power
are things too wonderful for us
2. Ps 139:6-David called God’s omniscience too wonderful for him
3. Jer 32:17,27-Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven & the earth by
thy great power & stretched out arm, & there is nothing too hard for thee.
Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
4. 1 Jn 3:20-God is greater than our heart
D. One Of The Things That Challenge Our Limitations Is The Concept Of Hell
1. For this reason, most everyone in
the world & even a great many in the church deny its existence as a place where
God will eternally punishment all who resist the will of God
2. But hell is real & is spoken of in a very literal sense & God warns us to
avoid this awful place
E. Considering This Very Sober Subject, We Observe...
I. REASONS WHY
PEOPLE DENY THE REALITY OF HELL
A. It’s Irreconcilable
W/Man’s Suppositions
1. Man doesn’t believe that a good God
would really punish people for a never-ending eternity
2. Man doesn’t think that 10 or 20 or even 60 or 70 yrs of willful rebellion on
earth merits eternal punishment in hell
3. Man doesn’t think that God will condemn him for just doing what’s natural &
what everyone else is doing so long as he is basically a good person
4. Man doesn’t think that he will really have to answer to God for how he lived
in this life
B. It’s Incompatible W/Man’s Society
1. We live in a place & time where too
many have gotten their morals mixed up (Is 5:20)
2. Often, man is rewarded or admired for sin & laughed to scorn for being moral
& righteous
3. Our society is filled w/materialism & sensuality, things that have to do
w/the body
a. Little, if anything, is said generally about spiritual & eternal things out in the world
4.Man bristles at having his actions or words deemed sinful or wrong
C. It’s Irritating To Man’s Sensitivies
1. Man doesn’t like the idea of burning in a fire, endless pain & suffering, biting & being bitten, wallowing in non-stop regret & profound sorrow & being in a place devoid of love & comfort
a. The thot of perpetually, continuously being punished in an unbroken sentence for his misdeeds is unsettling
II. EVIDENCE
FOR THE REALITY OF HELL
A. Despite Man’s Protests
To The Contrary, Hell Is Real
1. Teaching about it is contained in the same book, sometimes in the same Bible context, as heaven
B. The Awfulness Of Sin
1. It cost man fellowship & paradise
(Rom 5:12-By 1 man sin entered into the world, & death by sin; & so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned:
2. Sin is so terrible that God destroyed nearly 100% of the world’s population
because of it
a. Gen 6:5-7-& God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, & that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 & it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, & it grieved him at his heart. 7 & the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, & beast, & the creeping thing, & the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
3. Sin is so ugly to God that He once dstryd all the cities in the valley surrounding Dead Sea
a. Gen 18:21-The cry of Sodom and
Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grievous
b. Consequently (19:24-the LORD rained upon Sodom & upon Gomorrah brimstone &
fire from the LORD out of heaven;
4. Sin’s characteristics reveal how awful it is–
a. It disgraces us (Pr 14:34)--It can
rob us of our dignity, health & freedom
b. It enslaves us (Jn 8:34)--Sin owns you, dictates your thots & acts unless you
break free
c. It kills (Rom 6:23)--It’s spiritual suicide; the payment for sinning is
separation from God
d. It aligns us w/Satan (1 Jn 3:8-He that committeth sin is of the devil
5. Sin is so horrible to God (Hab 1:13-He cannot tolerate it
a. It’s opposed to His nature & purpose & desire in every way!
C. The Price Paid For Sin (He 9:28-Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;
1. This means Jesus took our
punishment
2. The word "bear" in relation to sins is used in the same sense in Num 14:33,
when the Israelites’ children would bear (or suffer for) their unfaithfulness
for 40 yrs.
3. But remember that Jesus only, of every person who ever lived, was perfectly
sinless
4. Each particle of spit that hit Him, each insult hurled at Him, each drop of
blood violently drawn from Him from reeds & thorns & whips & nails, every
bruise, & each sensation of pain was because of our sins
5. Christ could’ve been euthenized or poisoned or killed in just about any other
way, but the plan of God led to the cross. Why? This is one way He teaches us
the seriousness of dying lost
D. The Seriousness Of Disobedience
1. Rm 5:19-By one man’s disobedience
many were made sinners,
2. Col 3:6-The wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
3. God has reserved flaming fire to avenge men’s disobedience (2 Th 1:7)
4. 1 Pt 4:17-18-For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of
God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not
the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the
ungodly and the sinner appear?
a. God doesn’t want you to pass litely
over those questions; they’re important
b. What shall be the end for the disobedient? Where shall they appear? This is
sobering!
E. The Plain Bible Teaching On The Subject
1. Hell is a place of fire (Mt 5:22-Whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire
a. It is not a fire like we know on
this earth; this fire is unquenchable (Mk 9:43-48)
b. It’s a specially prepared fire for spirit beings (Mt 25:41)
2. Hell is a place of worms (Mk 9:44)--As the fire in never quenched, so the worms never die
a. Jesus gives us a material
illustration for a spiritual situation
b. The mention of worms (or better maggots) seems figurative rather than
literal, as worms don’t literally frequent fires, but it illustrates that their
presence is due to the decay of spiritual death & that their job is never done
illustrates that man will have an inconsumable body
1)1 Co 15:42-So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
3. Hell is a place of punishment
a. The lost do not belong in Heaven
b. Christ has a place of punishment, restlessness & torment reserved for them
(Rev 14:10-11)
4. Hell is a place of eternity
a. NT shows it to be a place of
eternal punishment (Mt 25:46), eternal damnation (Mk 3: 29, everlasting
destruction (2 Th 1:9), everlasting chains (Jude 6), & eternal fire (Jude 7)
b. The very name eternity suggest what cannot ever end or be destroyed
F. What Society Thinks Can Influence Us, & Society Cannot Reconcile Jesus W/Judgment
1. They certainly cannot equate a
Jesus of love w/a never-ending punishment in Hell
2. But we can never forget that while Jesus did teach about love & concern for
others, he also taught much about hell as a place for those who rejected Him &
He warned about it because of His love for us
III. WHO WILL
INHABIT HELL
A. Those Who Did Not Reach
Out To Others In Need (Mt 25:40-46-& the King shall answer & say unto them,
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of
these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41 Then shall he say also unto them
on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for
the devil & his angels: 42 For I was an hungered, & ye gave me no meat: I was
thirsty, & ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, & ye took me not in: naked,
& ye clothed me not: sick, & in prison, & ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they
also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, & did not minister unto thee? 45 Then
shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not
to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 & these shall go away into
everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
B. Those Whose Lives Were Patterned After The World (Js 4:4)
1. Rev 14:9-11-& the third angel
followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast & his
image, & receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10The same shall
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into
the cup of his indignation; & he shall be tormented with fire & brimstone in the
presence of the holy angels, & in the presence of the Lamb: 11 & the smoke of
their torment ascendeth up for ever & ever: & they have no rest day nor night,
who worship the beast & his image, & whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
2. Rev 21:8-But the fearful, & unbelieving, & the abominable, & murderers, &
whoremongers, & sorcerers, & idolaters, & all liars, shall have their part in
the lake which burneth with fire & brimstone: which is the second death.
C. Those Who Did Not Obey The Gospel (2 Th 1:7-10-& to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, & that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, & from the glory of his power; 10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, & to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
1. Mk 16:16; There’s no bargaining or equivocating about this
D. Those Who
Refuse To Give Up Willful Sin (Mt 5:29-30-& if thy right eye offend thee, pluck
it out, & cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy
members should perish, & not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 &
if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, & cast it from thee: for it is
profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, & not that thy whole
body should be cast into hell.
E. Those Who Teach False Doctrine (2 Pt 2:1-3-But there were false prophets also
among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily
shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, &
bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 & many shall follow their pernicious
ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 & through
covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose
judgment now of a long time lingereth not, & their damnation slumbereth not.
1. God places a spiritual curse on those who either add to or take away from His word (Re 22)
F. Those Who Take
Pleasure In Wickedness (2 Th 2:11-12-& for this reason God will send upon them a
deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, 12 in order that
they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in
wickedness.
G. This Should Cause All Of Us, Christian & Non-Christian, To Soberly Examine
Ourselves (2 Co 13:5)
CONCLUSION
A. Thinking About Hell Is
Unpleasant; Preaching About Hell Is Unpopular; Denying The Reality Of Hell Is
Unwise; The Suffering In Hell Will Be Unending & Unbearable; But Going To Hell
Is Unnecessary
B. Milton Was Sometimes Off The Mark About Hell, As He Was On Other Subjects
1. But listen to his harrowing description of hell in Paradise Lost–
a. A dungeon horrible on all sides round as one great furnace flam’d yet from those flames, No light, but rather darkness visible, serv’d only to discover sites of woe, Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace & rest can never dwell, hope never comes That comes to all, but torture w/o end.
C. Hell Is Real, But God Wants No One To Go There–The Cross Is Proof Positive
1. Those who go there go despite His amazing grace & all efforts He’s made to help us avoid it
D. Hell Is Real. Thus, We Must Get Prepared & Stay Prepared To Meet Our Lord In Judgment
1. A tourist toured an exquisite
garden in an estate in Italy. He asked the caretaker, "How long have you worked
here?" "25 yrs." "How often has the owner been to the estate?" "4 times." "When
was the last time he came?" "12 yrs ago." "I suppose he writes often." "Never."
"If the owner never comes, writes or makes contact w/you why do you keep the
garden so faithfully? You act as tho you’re expecting him tomorrow." "Not
tomorrow sir. Today."
2. How many of us have that same attitude about the 2nd coming of
Christ?
a. Are you confident enuf to say like
John (Re 22:20-Even so, come, LJ
b. Lk 12:40-Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of Man cometh at an hour
when ye think not