Hell, ever heard about it?
by
Jed Greenough
The title of this lesson seems a bit odd or simple, but really, I would like you to think about the question.
If you are under a certain age you may only be casually aware of the fact that Hell exists and if you are over a certain age you probably were more familiar with Hell but that awareness has faded with time.
To me the fact that so little is said about Hell from the pulpit is I think unconscionable and why, in part, some of these scriptures apply:
1 Timothy 5:24
24 The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them.
2 Timothy 4:3
3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
James 3:1
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
I have often used the first scripture from 1st Timothy because I think it is a clear example of what can result from a false or incomplete teacher. Picture in your mind the false teacher and maybe their sins are apparent to you but what is not as apparent are all the sins committed by their students who trail behind these teachers.
Not too many people want to hear bad news and Hell is about as bad as it gets, so 2nd Timothy’s scripture certainly applies.
And finally, not teaching everything that should have been taught will certainly result in much harsh judgment, as mentioned in James 3, descending upon these false and incomplete teachers.
Put yourself in the place of the man standing in the pulpit and think about the heavy burden that they have put upon themselves.
They, like everyone else, have to answer to someone. Now obviously they have to answer to God, but I am talking about earthly authority here. These preachers of the word have to keep their congregations and boards happy and that doesn’t seem to include much room for many sermons about Hell.
But if these preachers are aware of the scriptures we started out with, then they must know that they are playing with fire (no pun intended).
What is the answer? It might be that some that preach will read this and it will bounce around and stick to some grey matter and some change will result. Or again, it might be that some of you will read this and speak to your preachers.
I am not really sure what responsibility lies directly with the congregation with regard to the action that they must take, but I know that it seems to matter to very few. Do you think that this means that we are very near the end?
Just to remind you, this blog is called Work of the Gospel and gospel means good news as most know but if there is good news there has to be the bad as well. It’s this bad news that we aren’t hearing and the good cannot carry the same meaning without it! How are people really able to make a choice if they aren’t hearing fully about both? Once, people of all ages in our western world knew both but now they are no different then the so called “heathen” who have never heard of either, so I really have to question what kind of conversions are going on out there anymore.
Just a minute ago I said maybe some of you will speak to your preachers and that kept bringing to my mind that most or all of you will not. Does that bother you at all?
I think like a lot of things pertaining to our faith, we assume things, we take on things that are taught to us, things dealing with heaven, hell, the resurrection, how we are to live as Christians. Naturally, I am getting at the fact that we shouldn’t just assume or absorb anything when it is of such staggering importance, as is our salvation, without thorough understanding.
There is a plethora of information about Hell out there and most of it is probably not worth much because we have to wade through the teaching of opinion. So in order to deal with Hell in our short format, let’s simply look at just some of what Jesus had to say in the synoptic gospel that dealt with it.
Matthew 25:41-46
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. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Mark 9:42-48
42 “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God
Luke 3:8-9
8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
There are many such examples from the scriptures that we can draw from and as usual many will read the same scriptures and draw different conclusions but most will see the terrible destination that is Hell.
One descriptor that stands out over and over as it replays in my mind is “weeping and gnashing”. If I do a concordance search of the NIV I will see this in the following scriptures:
But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.
To me it is hard to comprehend eternal suffering in the physical sense, but I can imagine the horrors of being set outside, thrown out, away from God and His Christ forever.
Think about the time that Jesus had while He was here and go back and read what He felt was most important to share. Those that preach the word should go through the scriptures and take notes whether literal or mental to remind them just what His message entailed. There were certainly things that would lead to happy living that preachers use as patterns for sermons that make us feel good but there were many more that told us also of the consequences of following the patterns of the evil one, things that we should fear because the end result was Hell.
Let’s not oversimplify Christ’s message. There is much too much that isn’t being heard today that we must hear, that Christ wanted us to hear, and that those who do not have Him as their savior must hear. We must not over simplify His message and leave out important parts of what need to be taught, both the good news and the bad.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
