What drove me to write the original post was the anger I felt after having watched an episode of one of my favorite TV shows. A show titled “BULL.” It was at the end of this particular episode when the title character, Bull, had just won his case in court defending a Catholic priest and they were talking on the steps of the courthouse. At one point the priest remarks to Bull “You know you’re going to hell, right?” To which Bull responds glibly with “Yep, already got my suite booked.”
Now that in and of itself is tragic enough but what followed next compounded that tragedy and really exploded my anger. The priest then just smiled and laughed. He laughed! The character is a man who professes to believe in God, yet he finds another man’s frivolous attitude toward Hell to be “funny!”
Now of course this is all make-believe and Hollywood. It’s just a TV show so we shouldn’t take it seriously right?
No.
This type of attitude is not only prevalent in our society today but it is considered mainstream and if you are a Christian, a true Christian this kind of attitude should make you very angry. Not the kind of angry that we are instructed to not let the sun go down on (Eph. 4:26) which is instructions concerning conflict between two Christians. No, the anger I’m referring to is the kind that makes you hurt in the pit of your stomach for the offender. It’s an anger that makes you hurt so much you let the offender know that Hell is a place of constant pain and sorrow. Hell is NOT where he wants to be, it is NOT where he wants to end up.
Hell is not a resort you check into folks! Hell is NOT an eternity of concerts with Jimmy Hendricks, Jim Morrison and Kirk Cobain! And it most certainly is not a place where beautiful sexy models swarm all over you. Hell is a place of eternal torment! Let that sink in for a moment… the torment will never let up, it will never end! Never! Ever!
Now as a young man I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s and I remember hearing many a Hell-fire and Brimstone sermon from the pulpit. If you grew up in the church then chances are you remember those types of sermons. At some point the pendulum swung and in the church today we rarely hear that type of sermon. I understand the concept behind preaching love, after all that is what Christ preached.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us there is a time and place for everything and I believe there is a time for preaching and teaching love just as there is a time for preaching and teaching “Hell-fire and Brimstone”, as the gospel of Luke indicates in chapter 12:5 -
“I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.”
Indeed, Solomon tells us in Eccl. 12:13-14 that we are to
“13b…Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. 14. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
In a sermon I heard at the Mebane Street congregation in Burlington several years ago, Brother Bartrung of West Virginia was visiting and delivered a wonderful sermon. He spoke of growing up in the church and hearing sermons on Hell and how frightening it was but he also pointed out something I totally agree with. When you grew up in the church hearing those kinds of sermons you likely started off your Christian life as a result of a fear of Hell. But as you learn and mature as a Christian that fear takes a backseat as your Christianity develops respect and love for Christ and God. You start out wanting to go to Heaven because you are afraid of Hell but you develop and grow to a point where you want to go to Heaven because of your respect and love of Christ Jesus and Jehovah God.
I don’t know about you but I hope you are like me in that hearing people talk about Hell like it’s no big deal, like it’s something you have to deal with for a week or two and you’re done… that hearing people talk that way about Hell makes you sick to the stomach. It should make you sick to your core when people joke about it being the place they want to go because that’s where all the rock stars are! Are you serious?!!!
In my written piece on Facebook I asked rhetorically, “Do these people not have a brain? Do they just think they can flitter through life and slide on into heaven when they die?
You see, if you believe in Heaven and Hell then you believe in the Bible and what God has said in the Bible. And what God has said, what he has told us in his words of the Bible is that Hell is a very real place of torment. He has told us it is everlasting, eternal, unending, without reprieve. Mark 9:43-48 describes Hell as a place of “the unquenchable fire.”
Further we know as Christians that Hell means those who are lost will suffer eternal separation from God (Matthew 25:41, Revelation 21:27; 22:15. That separation is what is called the “second death” in Revelation 2:11 and 20:14
The only option - the ONLY option - is Heaven, a place of joy, happiness, love, peace and praise to God. Heaven does have something in common with Hell however. Like Hell, Heaven is eternal, it is everlasting, it is unending. It is unending joy, unending peace, unending happiness and unending praise to God.
Think about that for a moment. Let that sink in. On the one hand we can choose to spend an eternity of unending torment. Torment that never ceases. Torment that never pauses. Matthew 13:49-50 says Hell is a place where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Back in 2007 when I had my first back surgery I spent three whole months waiting on surgery. During those three months the agony was so severe I never once slept more than 15 minutes at a single time. I moaned and groaned, gritted my teeth and cried constantly. I couldn’t sit, I couldn’t stand up, I couldn’t lay down in any position, there was no relief. And when I say it was agony… I assure you it was the most tormenting agony I have ever experienced in my entire 63 years of life. There eventually came a time when I was all too close to making it all go away. I’m not proud of that. But the fear of Hell, the fear of knowing in my heart that the agony in Hell would not only be worse but never ceasing, that fear kept me alive. Today I only have to think about that agony and pain I endured for three whole months to be reminded of the torment those who are lost will have to endure. And I had it easy compared to what those who are lost will experience. My agony lasted a very long three months – but it did end. The agony of the lost will not end, it will endure forever.
Let me relate another anecdote to you.
My best friend named Eddie, Eddie Carter… we have been lifelong friends since we were roommates at Freed-Hardeman way back in 1980. Eddie and I were talking on the phone one day when our call was interrupted and he said he’d call me back. About ten minutes later the phone rang and it was him and he had a very somber attitude. I asked what was wrong and he shared some very sad news he had just received.
It seems there was this family at his congregation who had been for a while backsliding their way away from God and away from the church, their daughter had never been baptized and had totally quit attending worship a good while previous to this incident. In addition, her family had actually quit attending altogether just a few weeks before hand. My friend’s news was she had just been murdered. This young lady, not even 17 years old, never having made the commitment to God she very well knew she needed to make and now there is no more time for her. Now she is gone. Now she faces an eternity of torment. THAT is a sobering thought.
Today’s society tries to revolt against the very idea of Hell, they try to deny the reality of it in many ways. Some just plain out say it doesn’t exist, others try to replace it with frivolous concepts such as re-incarnation or even worse they try to make it sound like a fun place. To relegate Hell to such non-sensical ideas is to belittle the terribleness of sin as well as the justice of God.
It is easy for us to say Hell is real because we believe in the Bible. I would say there are at least three characteristics of God which justifies our belief in Hell.
1st – God cannot lie. Titus 1:2 says:
“in hope of eternal life, which God, WHO NEVER LIES promised before the ages began”
The Greek word here for “cannot lie” is “apseudes” and in all the Bible it only appears here. The word refers to a lie, a conscious and intentional falsehood, or anything that is not what it seems to be (that is, something which is deceitful). Therefore, the adjective apseudes indicates that God is incapable of telling a lie, relating an intentional falsehood, or stating something that is not as it seems to be. We can be sure that if God said it – he meant it! If God said it, it is absolutely true.
2nd – God is just. In Romans 3:26 we find a passage describing the Righteousness of God.
“It (meaning God’s righteousness) was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
When the Bible states God is "just" it is stating that God will never deviate from His promises. There is perfect agreement between His nature and His actions. God cannot do something against His nature. This is the righteousness of God. We can have absolute trust in the upcoming fulfillment of any promise God has made.
3rd – God hates sin. Psalm 5:4-6 we read
"For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man."
And in Proverbs 6:16-19 it further clarifies by saying
"These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren."
In these two passages we see another part of God's nature: There are things He hates. Not only are there things He hates, He hates all workers of iniquity, which means immoral or grossly unfair behavior! He loathes and abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful! These aren't things, these are people! David tells us that God hates people who work iniquity, who are immoral and those who are bloodthirsty and deceitful. Their fate will be to dwell apart from Him, not stand in His sight, and to be destroyed!
Just as surely as God is love, He is also a God who cannot lie, whose actions are in perfect accord with His promises, and He is a God who hates sin. The only way God would not send a man to hell for eternal punishment would be if He never promised to do so, or if He promised not to do so. But we know he promised the opposite. If we find in the scriptures promises made by God to send one to hell, then we know absolutely that hell exists and that God will send men there. And in truth it is not God’s decision to send men there – it is an who makes that decision by turning away from God.
Or we can choose to spend an eternity with God and our brothers and sisters in Christ’s joy and happiness. I love the verses in Hebrews 12:22-24 which tells us who will be in Heaven with us:
“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant…”
Yes, God has told us of both Heaven and Hell. He has even blessed us with the directions on how to get to Heaven. He has said you have to do certain things to go to Heaven. What he DIDN’T say is “you just have to be good” to get into heaven. He DID say you have to hear and believe His word. You have to confess before man that Jesus is his only son and to repent of your sins and be immersed in water and THEN you still have to live your life in a right way, HIS way. You can’t just go to church on Sunday and then on Monday tell raunchy jokes at work, or let your tongue be loose with vile and vulgar words or be mean or hateful throughout the week. You have to love others, even our enemies
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44).
Love your enemies. Wow, that is so hard to do isn’t it? I had been in the church all my life. I grew up in the church. I have heard this scripture thousands of times in my life, but it wasn’t until about ten years ago when this verse really came home to me. It really sunk in. I remember thinking “how in the world could I ever love someone who actually hates me or wants to see tragedy befall me, or they want to see me fail? I thought about that long and hard. I truly believe to love those who despise you is one of the hardest things we as humans have to do as Christians. But you know what… when you try, actually mentally try to love those who you might call an enemy and keep trying to love them, it gets easier.
We should not want any human, any soul to be bound for Hell, even more so we should be actively working to deter our friends, our family and even our enemies from taking that way that leads to everlasting torment. That is how we show our enemies love.
We have to live the way HE wants us to live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Your entire life on this earth.
Where we go when we depart this life is really the only choice of consequence we have to make in this life.
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