Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Westgate family.
Y' all ready to worship with us?
[00:00:15] Speaker C: I think you are.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: Would you guys stand and join us as we sing about a good God?
When I'm in the roughest water.
I won't go under, I won't drown.
And when I'm bend over my head I know that you won't let me down.
When I'm broken and down to nothing.
I know that you are always up to something good.
I know that you are always up to something good.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: You make a way whatever it takes.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: There's nothing your love won't endure.
I know that you are always up to something good.
Even through the deepest valley you go before me you are here.
Though I know you'll never leave me. Your love surrounds me. I won't fear.
And when I'm broken and down the
[00:01:58] Speaker A: mountain,
[00:02:01] Speaker B: I know that you are always up to something good.
I know that you are always up to something good.
Yes, he is.
You'll make a way whatever it takes. There's nothing your love won't endure.
I know that you are always up to something good.
Through the darkest night you are on my side.
You are always faithful. Through my fear and doubt you will leave me out.
I know you are always able.
Through the darkest night you are on my side.
You are always faithful. Through my fear and doubt you will leave me out.
I know you are always faithful.
You are faithful.
I know that you are always up to something good.
I know that you are always up to something good.
You'll make a way whatever it takes. There's nothing you love holding do.
I know that you are always up to something good.
[00:03:53] Speaker A: You'll make a way whatever it takes.
[00:03:57] Speaker B: There's nothing your love won't endure.
I know that you are always up to something good.
[00:04:17] Speaker D: Amen.
[00:04:17] Speaker C: Amen.
[00:04:22] Speaker B: We serve a God doing great things today still.
[00:04:24] Speaker C: Amen.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: Give him the glory.
[00:04:52] Speaker A: Come, let us worship our king.
Come, let us bow at his feet.
He has done great things.
See what our savior has done.
See how his love overcomes.
He has done great things.
He has done great things.
O hero of heaven, you conquered the grave. You free every captain and break every chain. O God, you have done great things. We dance in your freedom, awake and alive. Oh, Jesus, our savior, your name lifted high. O God, you have done great things.
You've been faithful through every storm you'll be faithful forever more.
You have done great things.
And I know you will do it again.
For your promise promises. Yes and amen.
You will do great things.
God, you do great things.
Oh, hero of heaven, you Conquer the grave? You free every captain and break every chain? Oh God, you have done great things? We dance in your freedom? Awake and alive?
Oh, Jesus, our savior, your name lifted high? O God, you have done great things?
Hallelujah, God above it all, Hallelujah. God, unshakable?
Hallelujah, you have done great things?
Yes, hallelujah. God above it all, hallelujah?
God, unshakable?
Hallelujah, you have done great things?
You've done great things?
Oh, hero of heaven, you conquered the grave? You free every captive and break every chain? Oh God, you have done great things? We dance in your freedom? Awaken alive? Oh Jesus, our savior, your name lifted high? Oh, God, you have done great things?
You have done great things?
Oh God, you do great things.
[00:08:44] Speaker E: Our God is great, isn't he? He has done so many great things and he is so worthy of our praise.
You may have a seat. Welcome. For those of you who are members, those of you who are regular attenders, those of you who are new, and those of you where it's your very first time, we're glad you're here. And for those of you who are new, we would love to connect with you on a deeper level, and if you would like that too, there is a connection card in the pew right in front of you, and you can fill that out and bring it to our guest services and they can get you connected. There's also another way. It's on the Westgate Chapel app, and that's another way for you to fill out the connection card. If you like to fill out sermon notes and then be able to reference them later in your quiet time. Those are always available on the tables when you come into any of the entrances, as well as our wonderful ushers always have those for you as well.
We only have one announcement this week, but it is a good one because
[00:09:36] Speaker A: it is baptism Sunday.
Woo.
[00:09:42] Speaker E: Yes. Like on espn, you know, when they do that and the football.
[00:09:45] Speaker A: Woo.
[00:09:46] Speaker D: Woo.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: Woo.
[00:09:46] Speaker D: Woo.
[00:09:46] Speaker C: Woo.
[00:09:47] Speaker E: Kind of just envisioned that for us. My husband's ESPN is definitely having an influence on me. Anyways, for those of you who've been here, you know that. But it's such a fun celebration. And for those of you who have not been here for it, I hope you can come next week because it's an opportunity for us to see new lives changed, see this external expression of a new creation that's happened because people have given their life to Jesus. And it's so fun to hear everybody's story. And it's different. And ultimately it's God's story, right? That we get to be a part of and we get to celebrate together. So I hope you can make it and be there for that.
Before we continue with our praise and worship. Please rise and greet one another in love.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: Love,
[00:10:50] Speaker D: I can define your mystery.
And nothing that I've ever seen even comes close to your glory.
Creation displays how great you are.
Mountains and oceans and infinite stars. And nothing that I've ever seen even comes close to your glory.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: You are powerful, you are great. And the frame of the universe bows at your name.
You are majesty, you are God. And the praise of 10,000 is still not enough.
[00:11:41] Speaker B: You are glorious.
[00:11:51] Speaker D: The sin are saved and your life begin.
And pride melts away to a new heart again.
Still nothing that I've ever seen even comes close to you glory.
[00:12:08] Speaker A: Oh, I've seen death hushed away at
[00:12:12] Speaker D: the sound of your voice.
[00:12:14] Speaker A: The broken and fallen rise up and rejoice.
Still nothing that I've ever seen even come comes close to your glory.
You are powerful, you are great. In the frame of the universe bows at your name.
You are majesty, you are good. And the praise of 10,000 is still not enough. You are glorious.
[00:12:57] Speaker D: I've seen so much, but still there's more.
And I've hurt so much.
But still there's more.
And you've done so much.
[00:13:21] Speaker A: I thank you.
You are Glori. Yes,
[00:13:30] Speaker D: I've seen so much.
[00:13:35] Speaker A: But still there's more.
And I've heard so much.
But still there's more.
And you've done so much.
I thank you Lord.
You are glorious.
You are glorious.
You are powerful, you are great. And the frame of the universe bows at your name.
You are majesty, you are God. And the praise of 10,000 is still not enough.
You are powerful, you are great. And the frame of the universe bows at your name.
You are, you are God.
And the praise of 10,000 is still not enough. You are glorious.
Yes, you are glorious.
You are glorious.
You are glorious.
Sam.
[00:15:29] Speaker B: Lost without hope and no place to begin.
Your love made a way to let mercy come in.
When death was arrested and my life began.
Ash was redeemed, only beauty remains.
My orphaned heart was given a name, yes it was.
My morning grew quiet, my feet rose to dance.
When death was arrested, my life began.
Oh, your grace so free washes over
[00:16:36] Speaker A: me.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: You have made me new. Now life begins with you.
Release from my chains, I'm a prisoner no more.
My shame was faithfully born.
He canceled my death and he called me his friend.
[00:17:09] Speaker A: Oh,
[00:17:13] Speaker B: when death was arrested, my life began.
O your grace.
[00:17:23] Speaker A: So
[00:17:26] Speaker B: washes over
[00:17:29] Speaker A: me.
You have made me new.
[00:17:33] Speaker B: Now life begins with you.
It's your endless love pouring down on us.
You have made us new. Now life begin is with you.
Oh yes he does.
Our Savior displayed on the criminal's cross.
Darkness rejoiced as though heaven had lost.
But then Jesus arose without freedom in heaven.
[00:18:30] Speaker A: That's when death wonder rest in my life began.
That's when death was arrested, my life began.
[00:18:46] Speaker B: Oh, your grace so great washes over
[00:18:55] Speaker A: me.
[00:18:56] Speaker B: You have made me you.
[00:18:59] Speaker A: Now life begins with you.
It's your endless love pouring down on us.
You have made us new. Now life begins with you.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: Oh, we're free, free forever. We're free.
Come join the song of all the redeemed. Yes, we're free.
Free forever.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: Amen.
When death was arrested, my life began.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: Oh, we're free, free forever. We're free.
Come join the song of all the redeemed. Yes, we're free, free forever again.
[00:19:59] Speaker A: When death in my life began.
[00:20:04] Speaker B: When death was arrested in my life.
That's when death was arrested and my life be.
Amen.
[00:20:24] Speaker C: Amen. God is good. Amen. Yes, you may be seated.
Let's go to prayer together.
God, thank you, thank you for the truth that we can shout at the top of our lungs to you this morning of how you, through your son Jesus Christ took sin and death and conquered them through his death and his resurrection.
Giving us, Father, the hope of eternal life with you.
But even more, Father, saving us from eternal separation from you and punishment.
Father, the gift that you have given us is beyond compare.
As we dive into your word this morning, Father, we will look at the hardest part of scripture for many people to comprehend of eternal punishment and separation from you.
And Father, as we move into that, I pray God in a very unique way you would open up our eyes wherever we are at in our relationship with you. This morning I pray that your Holy Spirit would have freedom to move in this room to open up our eyes to see not just punishment, but to see your love and to see it so clearly that God, we can't help but give all of our hearts and all of our lives to you.
Father, we are here because of your love for us. We worship you with all that we are pray that you would receive glory from us today, Father, as we turn our hearts towards the giving of our tithes and our offerings. This is our act of worship again this week. Father, we confess to you our trust in you. Whether we give in the offering buckets or the receptacles in the back. Or if we give online, Father, we just declare that we trust in you. But even more, we want to be a part of the work that you're doing to take the good news of your son Jesus to this world. So receive those gifts as our worship. Multiply them. God for your purposes, provide for us as a church, Father, according to your desires.
And Lord, we just declare in you our ultimate trust. We love you. It's in Jesus name that we pray Amen as we take our morning offering. If you're new with us today, we've got our offering buckets here on the center aisle. We're just going to pass those out to the sides. They're in the corners up in the balcony. You can pass those in. And we'll just take our morning offering as an act of worship here for a few moments before we jump into the message together.
[00:23:01] Speaker A: SAM.
[00:23:32] Speaker C: Well, again, if we have not had the opportunity to meet, my name is Rob Zimmerman, lead pastor here at Westgate. And as we dive into our message this morning, if you have not been with us, we have been in a series that is entitled Eternity Talking about the Truth About Heaven and Hell. And within this series, what we've been doing is exploring what the Bible teaches about things like death and eternity, heaven and hell, with the purpose of understanding how eternity and the idea of eternity as we see in the Bible points us toward the incredible hope that we have in Jesus. And as I mentioned, I believe last week, as the preaching team gathered together and we kind of talked about this idea of this series, one of the reasons that I was so excited when it was suggested is because it reminded of one of the coolest ministry experiences I think I have ever had in ministry.
A number of years ago, 25 years ago, which when I found that number this morning, I went, oh, 25 years, 25 years ago, I was sitting at my desk in California as a young youth pastor, and I got a phone call from a teacher from one of the local high schools. And she called me and she introduced herself, said, hi, my name is so and so. I'm at Los Alamito and I teach in the thanatology classes at the school. I'm like, great, what's thanatology?
And so she explained that to me, the study of death. And as we continued that phone call, she said to me, she said, hey, what I'm doing all semester long is bringing in different pastors or different people from different faiths and asking them to share about their faith's understanding of what happens when you do.
And would you like to come and share with my classes. I've got two class periods, and I would love to have you share. And I thought to myself, self, you get to go share the gospel in a public school, and you're not gonna get kicked out. I love that idea. So I said, yes really quick and began my preparations. And I will tell you, it was such an awesome experience. When I arrived, the teacher explained to me that. She said, you know, most the kids that are in my classes, they come from either a irreligious background, so they don't have any religion at all that they specifically follow. Some are specifically atheists, Others there are a handful of Christians, but a smattering of other beliefs as well. And so she just wanted to kind of give me the groundwork. And in the first class period that I got to share, she specifically pointed out, there is one kid in this class that is a Christian. So I've got about 30 kids sitting in front of me getting to listen to me share about the Christian view of death and the gospel. So exciting. And so I began, and you'll find that as I share this with you, that a lot of the material that we've been going through in this series is exactly what I taught 25 years ago with these students.
And as we began, I started them at the very beginning because I thought, I've got to. Before I talk about death, I've got to help them to understand, as Christians, how we see the world. And so I said, you know, here's the deal. The Bible teaches us that God created the heavens and the earth and everything in the world. And he created it perfect. He created it to glorify himself. And he created not only everything in the world, but he created man and woman, and man and woman lived in this world in a perfect relationship with God, where God was providing for their every need, and he gave them dominion over the earth and over the Garden of Eden. But he said, there's only one thing I don't want you to do, which is to eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. And yet, as we all know, the story goes, I shared with them that, you know, Satan, in the form of a serpent, came and deceived Eve and Adam into taking the fruit from that tree and eating it. And explained how sin and rebellion against God came into the world. And because of that, death also came with it as a consequence of sin. And with that, in explaining that, then I moved on to talk about what happens when you die. And from a Christian perspective, that the physical body dies, that the soul departs, and that the Bible teaches that the soul goes one of two places. It either goes directly to the presence of God. And I spent time kind of unpacking and talking with them about what the Bible says about heaven and what that will be like. But then I got to the heart that the Bible also says that for those who don't put their faith in Jesus and believe in God, that they will spend eternity separated from him in eternal punishment. And that when you die, you go directly to eternal punishment. And I spent time talking about hell and talking about how the Bible speaks about it and what terms it uses. And I can remember that as I was talking about it, the room was dead silent.
And it wasn't because the kids were sleeping.
They were riveted as they listened to this teaching of the Bible. And when I was done, I gave an opportunity for kids to raise their hands and to ask questions. In the very back of the room, there was one student that raised his hand and he just simply said, I get what you're saying, but can you please explain to me? I have never understood how could a loving God. You claim that God is loving. How could he send people to a place like that if he's loving?
And you literally could have heard a pin drop in the room as I sat there in that class.
It was a poignant moment.
And this morning, this morning, as we wrap up our series together, we're actually going to work toward answering that question together.
It's one of the most controversial aspects of the Christian faith, the teaching about hell and eternal punishment.
But I would tell you this morning that if understood rightly, it is actually what drives us toward Jesus. Not out of fear, but out of his love.
And so this morning, we're going to take time together to talk about the truth about hell. If you have your sermon notes, I'd invite you to pull those out. Follow along with me this morning. There are going to be a number of passages you can flip in your Bibles or on your phones. They'll also be on the screen for you. But before we jump into completely the truth about what the Bible teaches about hell, I want us to recap what the Bible teaches about eternity and a little bit of where we have been to catch us all up to speed if some haven't been with us.
What we've seen in previous weeks is this letter A.
The Bible teaches that the soul of believers goes immediately into the presence of God.
There's no waiting period, no purgatory. The Bible doesn't support that idea at all. There's no soul sleep that takes place where your body takes a little nap till Jesus returns. There's no lines at the gate of heaven waiting to check your name with Peter, okay?
You get directly into the very presence of God. For those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ.
And as I shared over the last couple of weeks together, it is best to take scripture and do what we call a direct reading of the text. You see all throughout Scripture, this idea that the soul of believers at death goes into the presence of God is all over it. You just have to read it plainly. Anytime you have to try to insert something from a passage or read it into a passage or out of a passage, it's a little bit more dangerous. And there are too many direct passages in Scripture about this.
It also teaches us when we read the Bible, number one, that heaven is a place, not a state of mind.
It's not an internal experience of peace or love or joy. It's not another level of consciousness that we have to arrive to. The Bible describes heaven as actual place.
And number two, the way it describes it is that heaven is a place, as we talked about last week, of great beauty and also incredible joy.
The description of the beauty of heaven is really beyond anything we can imagine, as the Bible talks about where we will spend eternity with God when the new heavens and the new earth are created, the new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, and God reigns with his people. People. It's described as a place of streets of gold. It's described as these incredibly high and long walls, this new Jerusalem, that are made of all different precious stone or metals or jewels. It's like one of. It's something that our minds cannot even fathom. But even more, the description that is given of heaven is this is. It is a place of no more tears, of no more sorrow, of no more pain, of no more sickness, of no more sin, and no more death. And I want you to think about the comparison, if you will. I mean, does that not sound incredible?
Compare it, though, to the world that we live in today. Put it on the scale and think about what sounds better in this world today. What do we experience? Hatred, grudges, injustice, wars, natural disasters, broken relationships, or no more time? Tears or sorrow or pain or sickness or sin or death.
Who would not want to be in heaven? Who would not want to have the experience of all that God has prepared for us?
And yet, as incredible as it sounds, number three, what we read in Scripture is the best part, is that we will dwell with God is that it's not about what we will receive for ourselves in streets of gold or mansions we may live in, or even just the perfection of it all. It's the fact that we will dwell with God.
In other words, everything that was broken in the Garden of Eden because of sin that caused all of humanity to be separated from God will be completely restored back to the intended relationship. The life of futility that we've been living trying to find our greatest fulfillment in things of this world that never give us what we're looking for, that always, always seem to fail. We will once again be reunited in that perfect relationship where God Himself provides all that we need and we experience what we were meant to have from the very beginning. God will make everything right and we will dwell with Him.
This is the beauty of what Scripture teaches about the destination of those who die in Christ, that they will go immediately to the presence of God.
And yet the Bible teaches Letter B that the soul of unbelievers will go directly to eternal punishment.
A Place of Separation as we continue, we've talked about a couple of things over the last few weeks when it comes to the unbiblical views of this eternal separation or of hell.
And I want to remind you of what that we've talked about. Letter A One of the unbiblical views of hell that has caught steam in our culture is the annihilationism view. Again, this view says that for those who don't put their faith in Jesus, yes, they will go to hell, to this place of eternal punishment and separation, but that they'll eventually burn up in its fires and they will just simply cease to exist. In other words, it teaches that punishment is not eternal.
Now, the problem with this view is that Matthew 25:46, which is just listed there for you, says clearly when Jesus is speaking about the separation during the judgment at the end of time of those who have faith in Jesus and those who don't, he says of those who have not put their faith in Jesus, they will go away to eternal punishment, but righteous go to eternal life. In other words, Jesus teaches very clearly that we will spend either eternity in heaven with God or eternity in punishment. Thus, the annihilationism view is not supported by Scripture. There's another viewpoint like it. Letter B the universalism view. And it goes just a little bit further. The idea of universalism teaches that one day A, everybody will be saved. And so it's the idea that yes, people may go to hell, but they're not going to just cease to exist. But one day, God, because of his great love, will save everyone. Everyone will be saved. So punishment again is only temporary. It's not eternal. Here's the problem with both of these views. Both of them have a difficulty reconciling eternal punishment with God's love.
It has a hard time seeing how a loving God could affect this punishment. But what does Scripture say? Revelation chapter 20, verses 10 and 15 clearly say this, that the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown.
This is after God's judgment has been rendered in and he takes Satan, he throws him into the lake of fire, and it says they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever.
And verse 15 says, Anyone whose name was not found written in the Lamb's book of life would be thrown also into the lake of fire.
You see, the Bible teaches the idea of eternal separation and eternal punishment that is unending.
Another unbiblical view that people will hold to letter C is what's called a metaphorical view. The metaphorical view is basically that hell is merely a description of suffering, despair, or grief that we experience in this life. It's not a literal future. Now, I've heard people say, man, this world is so bad and this life is so bad, it feels like. Like we're in hell. But the truth is, the Bible does not support that. The Bible tells us that hell is a literal place, not a metaphor. If you look at Jesus own words and remember that if in all of the Scriptures, Jesus himself is the one that taught about hell and what it was more often than anybody else. And in Mark 9, 43, 48, listen to how he describes hell.
He says, if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands and to go into hell where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell where the worms that eat them do not die and the fire is not quenched. All throughout the New Testament, Jesus always speaks of hell as a future place of eternal separation and punishment where fire does not go out. It's a horrific experience.
And so what else then does the Bible teach us about. About this place?
Let's think about it together.
What does the Bible teach about hell?
Our culture, when it talks about hell, oftentimes will minimize its idea.
A number of years ago, number of years ago, before Rochelle and I had moved here, we went on a cruise together. One of our first cruises as a married couple. I think two years after we had gotten married, we went to the Cayman Islands. Anybody here ever been to the Cayman Islands? A couple of people. It was a fantastic time. We swam with stingrays, or at least I swam with stingrays. Rochelle swam on my back the whole time. But as you come into the Cayman Islands, this is a sign that you'll see there is a city that is there that is called Hell. So it says, welcome to Hell. Hell's only post office. And as we were there, I was marveling. I think they call it hell because of all the limestone outcroppings that are there. It kind of looks, I guess, has an idea that it looks like hell. I mean, such a weird thing to put in a place that looks like paradise. But anyway, as we were there, I figured, like I did in most places I went, if I've gone, I might as well buy the T shirt. And so I went and got this shirt that you see on the screen. I've been to hell and back. Hell, Grand Cayman. The interesting thing about this T shirt is that Rochelle looked at. At me like, what are you doing?
And so I thought, well, I mean, I've been to the Cayman Islands. This is a funny shirt. I'm gonna throw it on. And I wore it home on the airplane. And so we get in the airplane, we fly, and our layover was in St. Louis. And I remember walking together through the airport. And as we're walking, I feel this hand grab the back of my shoulder. And I look, and there's this gentleman. He says, hey, how are you? And he introduced himself and he said, I'm a pastor. Did you know that hell is a real place?
And if you have a few minutes, could we talk? And of course, you can only imagine the look on Rochelle's face.
I mean, literally just like, embarrassed and shameful. I'm not with him, right? And so, you know, I kind of turn and I look at him, and I get that young, coy smile on my face. I'm like, I'm a pastor, too.
Let's talk about about it. You should have seen the look on his face, because I knew, like, the next day, I was his sermon illustration in church, right?
For sure, we laugh.
But there's a reality that I learned and that I continue to learn.
Our culture makes light of hell.
We turn it into cartoons, we turn it into jokes.
I have to apologize to you because I was making a joke last week just flippantly about Satan and our service.
And one of the things that becomes very easy in our culture is that we make light of something that is real.
And when we do, we lessen the severity of what Scripture talks about.
You see, the Bible describes hell this way. Letter A. Hell is literal, it is conscious, and it is an eternal place.
Hell is literal, it is conscious, and it is an eternal place.
It's not a figment of your imagination.
It is a place where you will be in full experience of where you are, of the pain and the fact that you will never escape.
In Luke 16:23 through 24, we shared this passage last week. It's a passage of the rich man and Lazarus where Jesus is talking with his disciples about. About how this rich man dies and goes to a place of eternal punishment.
And Lazarus, who is this poor beggar, goes up to the presence of God.
And as they are separated, there's this thing that ensues that shows this conscious awareness of hell and its suffering.
And it says, Jesus says, in Hades, where this rich man was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. And he called out, father Abraham, have pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue because I am in agony in this fire. You see, as Jesus even describes hell in this way to his disciples, it's this understanding that it is a literal, real place where you are fully conscious of what is happening and it is eternal. It goes on and on forever. The Bible letter B also describes as a place of literal torment and divine judgment.
You know, our culture for years has tried to capture the teaching of the Bible when it comes to what hell is like. We try to picture what we see in the Bible.
And you might see pictures like these next three. They're just going to kind of scroll through, but pictures of art where people have tried to draw a picture in our mind of what the Bible describes and what it might possibly look like or be like, but it can't even come close. The Bible describes a lake of fire and brimstone, unquenchable, everlasting fire.
It describes it as a place of outer darkness. Even more a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And I want you to think about that phrase alone.
The idea of weeping is entirely intense emotional suffering, a thing of grief, regret, Despair. And it's tied to the realization of something that is lost.
And the idea of gnashing or gnashing of teeth. This idea of gnashing is rage and anguish. It's torment, it's extreme distress or pain. When you put these two together, the weeping of gnashing and teeth, in Scripture, it is not just poetically language. It is meant to communicate intense, conscious suffering.
Hebrews 10:26, 27. The writer says, if we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sin is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
The Bible describes hell as literal and conscious, eternal place, a place of literal torment and divine judgment. Letter C. It is also described as the place that is reserved for unrepentant sinners, for those who have not put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the the cross.
He came to die and to pay the penalty for our sin. And if we reject him.
The Bible teaches that hell is reserved for those who are unrepentant of their sin and who reject God and Jesus.
Revelation 21:8 says, but the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars, they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death, but even more, even worse, letter D is that hell brings eternal separation from God's presence.
You know, we talked about the fact last week that the best thing about heaven is that it is the place where God will dwell with his people.
And the reverse is that the worst thing about hell is that there is no one to rescue you.
Hell is final.
It is a difficult, difficult truth that the Bible teaches.
Matthew 25, verse 41.
Again, speaking of the time where God will separate those who believe and those who don't. At the judgment, it says, he will say to those on his left, depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire that is prepared for the devil and his angels. Complete separation.
It's heavy.
And I want this morning, the heavy of what the Bible teaches about hell to sit on our hearts.
I will be honest with you.
There are churches all across this world that will not teach what the Bible teaches about Hell.
They will do everything they can to either soften it or just not to talk about it out of fear that it will push people away from God or that it's not popular.
My friends, the truth is, is that this is exactly what the Bible teaches is the destination for those who reject God, and it's where they will go to eternal punishment when they die. We cannot ignore what the Bible teaches.
And I know that it is an inconvenient and a truth that is very difficult for many people. And it is the very thing that causes even nonbody believers to look at us and to say, well, how then could a loving God send people to hell?
You sit there and you tell me that God is loving and yet that is what he's going to do.
And that's the tension that I sat in in that classroom with oh students when you could hear a pin drop, is they waited for me to answer this question that they all had in their hearts and their minds.
So here's how I answered that question for them.
This is a illustration that the night before that first talk that I believe that the Lord gave me to try to help them to understand his love.
I want you to think about this.
What if you went home to today and you built yourself a whole bunch of robots?
Let's say that you had this grand idea that I'm going to make these robots. And, you know, it's going to be this incredible thing that I create and that I make. And I am going to use them to do all the things that I possibly can. And I'm going to give them kind of a mind of their own. I'm going to let them make decisions that seems a lot more real, by the way, 25 years later in the world of AI but, you know, I'm gonna make them, and this is gonna be great.
And then you decide that, you know, hey, I'm gonna go on vacation. And while I'm gone, I'm gonna set them about the work of taking care of my home and everything that's in it. And so they're like, literally sitting there cleaning the windows and vacuuming the floor and doing the dishes and watering the plants and taking care of everything that you have given them the authority to care for. But then one day they decide to turn on you while you're gone. And they turn on you. What do they do? They start punching holes in the wall. They start burning the house down. They start destroying everything that you can possibly think of and that you have. And then you return home from your trip only to find what? That the whole house has been destroyed? And you're sitting there looking at this mess, thinking to yourself, what in the world have I done? What a mess. And I want to ask you this question.
What would you do with Your creation of robots, in this moment, seeing what they had done, I know exactly what you would do. You would burn them down and melt them down into nothing.
Right?
It's our understanding in this world of justice, you would think to yourself, look at the mistake I've made. This horrible mess. I'm just gonna wipe it all away and start over.
The Bible says that in spite of our sin, God loved us so much that he sent his Son into the world to die on a cross to pay the penalty for our sin so that we could be made right. Right with God and reign with him forever.
The kids in that room fully expected that. The illustration that I was giving them was that, yeah, you see, you would melt those robots down. You would destroy them. And they fully expected that the answer for me was going to be that. Yeah. So that's why God sends people to hell, because they screw up and it's not what he wanted.
But never in their life had they truly understood the message of the gospel, that when God looked at his broken creation, rather than doing that, his heart was filled with compassion and love.
And rather than destroying, he tried and has tried desperately to make a way for us to be made right with Him.
He gave everything for us.
That is how a loving God sends people to a place of eternal punishment when they reject the greatest act of love that this world has ever seen.
At the end of the class when the bell rang, I kid you not.
Every single kid came to the front and wanted to ask more questions. And the teacher's like, you gotta go. You gotta get to class. And yet they were so hungry to know and to learn more. Because for the first time, I think they really began to understand the truth of the gospel, that God has done everything to restore us to Him.
I want you to think about that question that was asked.
How could a loving God send people to hell?
Letter A.
This question assumes that we're in a state.
It assumes that we've done nothing wrong or that we're good enough, that there should be no punishment.
But what does the Bible say In Romans, chapter 3, verses 10 through 12?
As it is written, there is no one who is 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 worshiped.
There is no one who does good, not even one.
The question of how a loving God could send people to hell assumes that we are innocent or at least that we are good enough, that we're not deserving. The Bible says no. All sin separates us from God Letter B. This question also assumes that love overrides justice.
It assumes that God is one dimension dimensional. It's the idea that if God is love, then that's all he can be. And that's actually really convenient for our world and the world that we live in to try to define God that way. If God is love, then he can't possibly be anything else. But here's the problem with that. The problem with that is it causes people to assume that God doesn't care about sin. Go ahead, do whatever you want, it's all good. I love you.
It also causes people to believe that he won't punish sin.
And there's a problem with this because what the Bible teaches is that God is not one dimensional, just like we are not one dimensional.
While God is great in his love. The Bible also teaches us that God is holy and that God is just.
And that it's God's holiness, which means that he is perfect, that he is set apart from any sin, and that he, he cannot be even combined with any sin.
And because of sin that has come into the world because of our rebellion against God, it demands his holiness, demands that there is a punishment, and that punishment is death and eternal separation.
And his holiness demands his justice, that sin not go unpunished. Look at what this passage says in Exodus 34, 6, 7. It says he passed in front of Moses prophecy, proclaiming the Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God.
He is slow to anger. He's abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. And yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.
You see, the writers of Scripture from the Old Testament to the New understood this about the character of God, that His holiness demanded that justice be done and that sin be punished. But even in the midst of that of God's love, he has been desperately throughout history, from the beginning of sin in the Garden of Eden to today and this very second, he has been making a way so that people could be forgiven of their sin and be put in a right relationship with Him. And in that we see the patience and love of God.
This question assumes that love overrides justice. But God is not one dimensional.
This question letter C also assumes that God doesn't care about humanity.
And yet when we understand the truth of the Gospel, that God in his great love for us, sent His Son into the world to die on a cross to pay the penalty for our sin, we understand so much about how much he loves and cares for, for us John 3, 16, 17 the most famous passages in all of Scripture. For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world would be saved through Him.
This question assumes that God does not care. Scripture says he's done everything he can to show us how much he cares and how much he loves us. Letter D this question also assumes that we have no choice in the matter.
It assumes that we don't have a choice.
This is just God's willy nilly way of dealing with people he doesn't like.
But if you follow those most famous passages in scripture, in verses 18 and 19 it says whoever believes in him is not convinced.
Whoever does not believe in Jesus stands condemned already because they have not believed. In the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict.
Light has come into the world, but people love darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil. God has not, never, has, never will force Himself upon us.
What the Bible teaches us is that we have a choice of whether or not we will choose to give our hearts and our lives to Jesus and receive that gift of eternal life and salvation that he has given through his blood that was shed on the cross.
Thus, when we understand the truth of all that God has done for us. Letter E How could a loving God send people to hell?
Hell is a place that is reserved for the those who fully reject God.
And the greatest act of love that this world has ever seen and ever received God's desire is that all the Scripture says would come to salvation, to faith in Jesus Christ.
The Scriptures tell us this truth for 2 Thessalonians, verse 1 through 8. It says though, that he will punish those who do not know God and do not obey. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is heavy teaching and yet it shows us the depth of God's love for us.
And so I want us to wrestle as we close this morning with what are the implications then of the biblical view of hell?
How does this impact our lives?
Letter A if our hearts are never moved with deep sorrow when we contemplate this doctrine, then there is a serious deficiency in our spiritual and our emotional sensibilities.
When we talk about eternal punishment and hell, it should bring to us deep sorrow.
Not a flippant idea or something that we just joke about, but it should bring sorrow.
I remember when this truth became so clear to me at one point. In my life, I've shared with you that years ago, 2004, I took a group of students for the first time to Cambodia. And while we were there, we met a young lady by the name of Liap. You'll see a picture of her here on the screen.
Leip was a young woman. We were in Cambodia, a country that where it is largely Buddhist. Very few followers of Jesus at that time. And we were there as a part of an English camp ministry through the local church, looking for opportunities to share Jesus with people. And Liep is someone that me and my students got to know super well. She gravitated towards our group, spent a lot of time with us. We were able to share Jesus with her.
And honestly, she was super interested in learning about who God was and who Jesus was. She was constantly asking questions, even to the point that, like, at the end of the week, our entire group was praying fervently. But we felt like she was so close. She was so close to making that decision. And the day before we left, we went to where you see here, this is the royal palace where the king resides in Cambodia. And we were there doing a tour together. And we walked up to this one room, and I believe it was called the Silver Palace. And as you walk in, there was this massive golden Buddha statue that was, like, from the ground level, probably as high as our balcony.
And there it was, sitting in the middle of the room. And my students and I watched Leah walk up, kneel down in front of the statue and begin to worship.
And our hearts broke.
We thought she was so close.
And here she is worshiping this image made by human hands.
And I think for one of the very first times in my life, the gravity of the realization of this person that we were growing to know and to love and to care for is that she would one day spend eternity separated from. From God in a place of eternal punishment. And I watched as some of my students, off to the side, watched her bow down in worship, and they began to weep.
They thought she was close.
But the realization of where she would be and what would happen, this person that we loved, was so heavy on us. Even as we boarded a plane the very next day to fly home, this heaviness sat on us.
And I'd ask that question, does that heaviness sit on you when you consider the truth of what scripture teaches about eternal punishment?
Now, the beauty of this story, Two years later, we went back and this is what we got to experience.
Leah had. Yeah, praise God.
Other people had come and continued to tell her about God and about all that Jesus had done for her and. Right. I'm kidding. I kid you not. We planned this trip. We were not in communication necessarily with her. Three weeks before we left, I got an email from her sitting at my desk telling me that she had accepted Jesus and that she was getting baptized the very week we were going to be there.
And I'm telling you, my heart just overflowed with joy. I shared it with myself, students. We jumped a couple of students and I jumped on motos to drive to this like random pool to hotel to see her getting baptized and the joy that filled our hearts because we know that one day Leah is going to be with us in heaven forever.
Today that girl, she is sharing Jesus with everybody she can get her hands on. Her and her husband are actively working within the local church. It is beautiful, but church do our hearts grieve just as hard as they celebrate when we recognize that people who don't know Jesus will spend eternity separated from him?
In just a few weeks from today, I will be traveling with two elders from our church and another family to a country in Central Asia.
It's a place where there are 10.8 million people in this country that we will go to and only 3,000 Christians.
That is less than 0.1%.
It is illegal to openly share Jesus with others in this country.
And even as I think about going to this country, I experience deep sorrow as I contemplate the eternal reality that I will be surrounded in a country by people every single day in crowds. That every single one of them will spend eternity separated from God if they don't hear about Jesus.
And every single day we are placed around people in our own lives that don't know the Lord.
Does deep sorrow fill your heart when you contemplate this doctrine and truth about hell?
The people will spend eternity separated if our hearts don't break over this reality.
Something is wrong.
Letter B.
Another reality of this implication of this view is that we should only celebrate the justice of God and the punishment of evil when we meditate on the eternal punishment that is given to Satan and to his demons.
Does anybody here love a good celebration? Anybody? Any? OSU fans celebrate wildly when you win the national championship, right? Right. Any of you Michigan fans celebrate when you sweep OSU four years in a row and win a national championship? Yeah, I know you people, right? Listen to y' all fighting. I love it. I can stir you up easily. In 2002, when my angels won the World Series, like the only time in my life they'll ever win the World Series. I'll tell you. I was by myself in my house when that final pitch happened and they caught the ball. Darren Erstadt caught that ball in right field. I was hooting and hollering, jumping up and down, running around the house like a crazy man, shouting my head off, and then the next moment dropping to my knees, crying because I knew I would never experience it again. Like it was incredible. But I want to tell you something.
As much as we will celebrate so many different things in this life, I am going to celebrate wildly. When I watch Satan and his demons cast into the lake of fire, I cannot wait for the day of his demise.
After all that he has done to wreak havoc in our world and in our lives, finally he will receive what he is due.
However, Letter C We take no delight in the idea of eternal punishment for those who still have a choice.
I fear that there are times in the church and in our own lives where sin creeps up into our hearts hearts and we think, I can't wait until those people get theirs.
We see people who don't know God as the enemy, who live evil lives, even persecuting us.
We see them as the enemy and not those who are desperately in need and we will pray for or celebrate their demise rather than their salvation.
But what I see is the example that is set for us by Jesus in Scripture is that he stood over Jerusalem and he looked at a city that would reject Him. It says that his heart was filled with compassion, that he desperately wanted these people to know Him. I read in Scripture that even after he was nailed to the cross, being hung on a tree and crucified by his own creation, what does Jesus say?
Father forgive them because they don't know what they're doing.
How could we possibly long for the demise of anybody that is alive today that does not know Jesus, no matter how evil or despicable they are?
Because what God has planted in our hearts, if we will listen carefully, is that our hearts should be filled with the same compassion and same love of Jesus that we look at those who still have a choice and we are passionate about sharing the good News of Jesus with them and praying for their salvation.
Letter D Our knowledge of hell must move us to intentionally sharing God's love with those who don't know Him.
Pastor David Platt tells a story of when he was in college and one day he had to give a speech in his speech class and during the speech he used it as an opportunity to share the gospel with the room he shared the gospel that everyone has sin, that sin separates us from God, and that when we put our faith in God, he saves us from our sin.
And we will spend eternity with him in heaven. Heaven.
And when he finished, there was a young lady that was at the back of her room who raised her hand and with anger in her voice, looked at him and said, do you mean to tell me that if I don't accept Jesus, I'm going to hell?
With much trepidation, David said these words.
Yes, if you don't put your faith in Jesus, the Bible teaches.
That you will spend eternity separated from God.
Not only will you spend eternity from him, you will spend it in eternal punishment.
And after the class, the young lady came and found David and looked at him and said, that is the absolute most arrogant and hateful thing that you could ever say to someone.
And she continued to argue with him.
David Platt says that as he looked back later and reflected on what she was saying to him, he found that he actually agreed with her.
Telling someone that they would spend eternity in hell is one of the most hateful and arrogant things that you could ever say unless it's true.
Because if it is true, the most arrogant and hateful thing you could ever do is to keep it to yourself.
How hateful do you have to be to know that someone can be saved from sin and eternal death and punishment and never say anything to them at all?
Church My hope and my desire is that as we dive into this and have an understanding of what scripture teaches about the eternal destiny of those who've rejected God, is that it would fill our heart hearts with such compassion
[01:11:42] Speaker A: that
[01:11:42] Speaker C: it would overwhelm us and make us sad about their eternal destiny to such a point that we can't help but want to go and to share the good news of Jesus with those that he has put in our circle. And not a hateful message of hey, you're gonna go to hell, but a loving message full of truth of this is a reality. But God loves you and he has made a way for salvation.
Would you pray and ask God to build that heart and that spirit within you?
There's one final point, because I recognize that there are people in this room that have never put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
And I share this with you today.
Not so that you are fearful of hell, but so that your eyes are open to the extreme love of God who has provided a way for your salvation.
And I want you to understand letter E. This truth.
Tomorrow is not promised.
You are not promised another day. Anything at any moment could take your life. Whether it's your health, someone else, a car accident, or the return of Christ. Tomorrow is not promised.
And your eternal destiny will be determined when this life is over. So will you choose to say yes to Jesus today?
Would you pray with me?
Father, I thank you for our opportunity to dig into your word, to understand the truth that you have put there for us.
And the truth of eternal punishment is heavy and it is difficult.
But it is secret, God, by the fact that you have loved us so much, that while your holiness and justice demands punishment for sin, that you sent your son Jesus to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our rebellion against you.
That if we put our faith in him, we could receive this gift of eternal life.
And Father, I pray that today you would bring people in this room to that place of surrendering their heart to you.
Maybe you're here this morning and you have been wrestling with your faith. Do I believe in God?
Do I want to follow Him?
And maybe today is the day that you've come to that recognition of finally understanding, understanding the depth of God's love for you and the depth of your need for him because of your sin.
And if you would like to make that decision today to say yes, I want to say yes to Jesus.
I believe in him. I want to choose to follow him. I want the gift of eternal life that he gives. I would just invite you where you are in the quietness of your heart to pray this prayer.
God, today I confess to you that I know I am a sinner and that I have rebelled against you.
And yet I thank you, God, for the way in which you have shown the depth of your love for me.
Today I declare that I believe in you, God, and I believe in your son, Jesus Christ.
I believe that he died on a cross and rose to new life to pay the penalty for my sins so that I could be reconciled to you.
Today I declare that I choose to follow you, God. Would you forgive me of my sin?
Would you come into my life?
I choose to follow you.
Thank you for the gift of salvation that you give to me.
While our heads are all still bowed and our eyes are closed. I just want to say if you prayed that prayer this morning.
The Bible tells us that your faith and belief in Jesus, your choosing to follow him, is what brings salvation, eternal life. And as our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, I think. I think one of the best things that we can do is to solidify that, to make that mark and to declare, yes, I've made that decision. And so I'm just going to ask, while everyone's head is bowed and eyes are closed, if you made that decision today, if you prayed that prayer, would you just quietly where you are, slip up your hand? I will be looking around the room and just declare with that hand today, I have decided to follow Jesus. Thank you, Lord.
Praise you, Jesus.
You can put your hand down.
I want to invite you as we close our service today, if you prayed that prayer, there are two things I would love for you to do. There's a small card in the pew in front of you that says, I said yes to Jesus today.
I would love you to just put your name on it, ask for your name and an email address. And at the close of the service, you can either drop it in the giving things in the back, but I'd encourage you to come to the front where our prayer team is. There will be a lot of people that are coming up for prayer for all different sorts of things. You don't have to feel singled out, but I would love for you just to hand that card to him and share that you made that decision. We want to celebrate that with you. But even more, we want to give you a Bible today that you can take with you and some materials that will help you as you continue to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ. We want to celebrate that with you today, the church family as well. My prayer for you, if you have already placed your faith in Jesus, is that this truth about eternal punishment would be something that sits heavy on your heart, that it becomes a real reality and that it pushes you to have an even greater passion for sharing the good news of Jesus with others. And so, Lord, through your Holy Spirit, would you move in our hearts today.
And God, would you help us to see with spiritual eyes the people that you are putting around us every day that don't know you?
And would you burden our hearts so heavy with the truth of what the Bible teaches about eternal punishment that we can't help but share with others of the good news of your son and how you have changed our lives and all that you mean to them?
We love you, Jesus, and we worship you together. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Would you stand and let's worship together?
[01:18:53] Speaker A: Good.
[01:18:54] Speaker D: I almost can't believe.
Far beyond what hearts could ever dream, the God who said the galaxies in motion would descend to give his life for me.
[01:19:17] Speaker A: For what? What could make perfection bleed for sinners?
[01:19:24] Speaker D: What leads a king to pay so
[01:19:27] Speaker A: great a cost all my life my
[01:19:33] Speaker D: heart will Sing the answer only the love of God
[01:19:44] Speaker A: Singing oh, how great is the love of God he paid our debt on that rugged cross for all our days we will sing our Savior's praise How great is the love of God.
[01:20:13] Speaker D: It's so kind it leads us to repentance and it's so great the darkness has to flee
[01:20:26] Speaker A: Hallelujah it cleared my
[01:20:29] Speaker D: guilty sentence For I was bound but
[01:20:35] Speaker A: and now I stand near for what could break the chains of any prison what force could rob the power from
[01:20:49] Speaker D: the grave what would trade my rags for heaven's riches?
[01:21:00] Speaker A: The love of God singing oh, how great is the love of God he paid our death on that rugged cross for all our days we will sing our Savior's praise Our praise is the love of God.
[01:21:34] Speaker D: And though I try My mind can't comprehend it it's so hard Too marvelous for words
[01:21:47] Speaker A: I could sing a million
[01:21:50] Speaker D: songs about and barely scratch the surface
[01:21:57] Speaker A: of your earth this all my life the banner I'll be waving My anthem Cry no matter what may come and when I rise to walk the streets of heaven
[01:22:20] Speaker D: I'll still be singing this
[01:22:23] Speaker A: song for everything that you've done how great the love of God.
We know how great is the love of God we paid our death on that rugged cross for all our days we will sing our Savior's praise How great is the love of God Singing oh, how great is the love of God he paid our dead on that wicked cross for all our days we will sing our Savior's praise.
How great is the love of God how great is the love of God
[01:23:48] Speaker D: thank you, Jesus.
[01:23:54] Speaker C: Amen.
He's good, is he not? He is so good, God. God has demonstrated his love for us and that while we were still sinners, he died for us.
Thank you, Jesus, for the gift that you've given us through your death and your resurrection, that we could find new life in you. Today as we close our service, our prayer team is here at the front, and they would love the opportunity to pray with you no matter what needs you may have today. They just love the opportunity to minister to this body week in and week out in. So we'd invite you to come as the service closes as well. If you made that decision today to put your faith in Jesus for the very first time, take that step, just come forward, let them know. A whole lot of people, you know, people will be coming up to talk with them, but they would love to give you that Bible as a special gift from us to help you as you take this journey with Christ and then church as we close today, you go out into a world.
May God give you spiritual eyes to see those who need Him.
May he burden your heart with their eternal destiny and may it impassion you to share the good news that you have found through Jesus to His glory. God bless you. We look forward to worshiping with you next Sunday.
[01:26:32] Speaker A: It.
