Sermon
What Ever Happened To Hell?
September 23-24, 2000
Pastor Donald Sheley

Now let's take our Bibles as well as our notes from the bulletin, and today we have arrived at one more phrase in our study of the greatest text of the Bible we believe. If you're using the red pew Bible it's page 715. It's John 3:16 if you're using your personal Bible. The text is simply this, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now in our study we have studied the God of love, the love of God, we've talked about the giving of Himself at Calvary, and last Lord's Day we talked about this whole biblical teaching on the subject of what it means to believe. It means to trust in, to cling to, to rely upon Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Savior. Now today we come to a phrase that has slipped across our tongues over the years, and sometimes we have failed to catch the importance of it. But the words are these, shall not perish. The Lord willing, next Sunday we will talk about the last phrase in this verse, but have everlasting life, but today I want to talk to you about the subject of eternal judgment and eternal punishment.

Before we go to our notes I'd like to make some opening comments. First of all, eternal redemption and eternal punishment are closely related. Most persons have no problem accepting and believing that there is a heaven. In fact, in a recent Gallup poll most Americans believe that they're going to go to heaven. Very few anticipate going to hell. In that survey it was learned that 9 out of every 10 Americans have never doubted the existence of God. That's interesting, isn't it? Ninety percent of Americans would not question to the fact that God exists, but in that survey it was also learned that 8 out of 10 Americans believe they will face God someday in some kind of judgment. That is interesting. I ask the question, then if judgment day is believed in by 80 percent of most Americans, why is it that there is such an absence in the fear of God and a concern for judgment's day? Could it not be that the love of God has been so overly emphasized that His justice has been forgotten? If we lose sight of the fact that the wicked deserve punishment, then redemption is utterly pointless and nonexistent. If there's nothing to escape from, if the notion of such a judgment is optional, if there's no imminent danger for those to do not walk with God, then where is the value and the worth of the Gospel of Christ and His kingdom? What's the difference between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light? If there's nothing to be saved from, then why the agonies of Calvary? If we do not believe in a hell we cannot have any appreciation for the cross, because it was there at the cross that the penalty was paid that gives us the gift of eternal life. Thus, sin is a terribly real death. It's an incredible offense toward God, and the kindness of God cannot gloss over our rebellion and our disobedience. Justice has to be done. God is not only benevolent but He is also just.

And today I want to discuss with you a subject that is not frequently visited in most pulpits, even in Evangelicalism. I want to lay down some premises. I guarantee you I cannot answer all the questions that relate to this subject, but I want to lay down some specifics that you will never forget. First of all, when we talk of eternal judgment or eternal punishment it's imperative that we know what Jesus had to say about the subject. Jesus is truth and what He said we have no reason to question. So I'd like you to quickly turn to meet with me to page 4 in our notes. We'll get back to some of the other notes in a moment or two. But down at the bottom of the page I write, if you look at the words of God, you will see why the church has consistently made the same interpretation of them. And I'm previously speaking of the church's long held position that the Bible is true when it says there will be a judgment for sin. After every Scripture has been examined, every orthodox creed considered well, and the opinions of orthodox theologians taken into account. You say, stop right there Pastor. Who brought in this orthodox thing? Some people when you hear the word orthodox you think of a denomination. But when a preacher uses it in the theological sense when we say something is very orthodox, we're saying something is very scriptural and it's been something the church has believed in for centuries. We believe in heaven. That's orthodox teaching. We believe that sin will have its day of judgment. That's heart truth right down at the core of our faith. So I'm saying that when you examine the Scriptures, when you go back to the ancient creeds that have declared our faith as Christians one issue stands out as far more basic than all others combined: what did Jesus say? It's not what Pastor Sheley has to say on this morning or what preachers have said in the past, but if I'm going to talk about eternal judgment then it's imperative I understand what Jesus had to say.

I'm at page 5. Nothing any human could write to explain Jesus' words could be as clear and as powerful as His own. Now lay your notes aside, get your Bible, and I want you to join with me in Matthew chapter 25, and in your pew Bible that's the beginning there of the Gospels and I didn't write to page down. Matthew 25 and I'm going to start reading at verse 31. Now remember the next few verses are going to be the words of Jesus. This is what He said. Okay? Matthew 25:31, when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats; and He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will also say to those on His right hand, come, you blessed of My Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You, or when did we see You sick or in prison and come to You? And the King will answer and say to them, assuredly I say to you inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to Me. Then He will also say to those on the left hand, "Depart from Me, ye accursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me no food. I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me. Then they will also answer Him saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison and did not minister to You? Then He will answer them saying, assuredly I say to you inasmuch as you did it not unto the least of these, you did not do it to Me. And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."

Now lay your Bible on your lap and let's quickly go back to our notes. The next verse we've selected is Mark chapter 9 verse 43, "That if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, then having two feet, to be cast into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and fire is not quenched." Matthew 10, "And do not fear those who kill the body, but are able to kill the soul; the rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 13, remember, this is what Jesus said. Matthew 13; "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire, in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 7: "Many will say to Me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness!" Matthew 23, to the hypocrites Jesus said, "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape the sentence of hell? Matthew 13: "So it will be at the end of the age; the angels shall come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." The words of Jesus. John 5:28, "Do not marvel at this: for the hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds, to a resurrection of life, those who committed evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment."

Now Jesus had more to say about hell than any other speaker or writer in the Bible. If He was mistaken in what He said, and He wasn't, then the almighty, eternal, and everlasting God was mistaken. Next line. There is no other Christianity than that which Jesus Christ established. And His Christianity clearly, distinctly, emphatically and even threateningly speaks of a very real hell. Let's take our Bibles again and go to about the last page in the book of Revelation. Remember, what were trying to find out is not what man thinks, but what does the Bible say about our subject. Revelation chapter 20 and in your red pew Bible it's page 833, if you'd like to turn there. Now John, remember, is catching visions of the last events of human history before God wraps everything up on this planet, and here's what John sees. Look at verse 11, Revelation 20, Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away. And there was found no place for them. John in this vision sees that great cataclysmic convulsion at the end of time when all the elements disappear and the only people present is God, and you and me. Look at what he says. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which are written in the Book. Now that's a fascinating thought, that God Almighty keeps record of all the things that pertain to you and me in life. Six billion plus souls, it must be a fantastic computer, but He keeps record, He keeps books. Every idle word, Jesus said.

Let's go on. John sees the sea give up its dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead that were in them. What John is really seeing is in that great convulsive moment all the people that have perished in the seas, and the great tragedies of water, people who have been burned up in fires, everything, people who have been put in their graves, called Hades, in that moment, and I don't know how God's going to do it, He's going to give us all back ourselves as a body to stand before Him in judgment. Here's what John sees, and they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. So John is saying that in heaven there is a record of all of our deeds, and there is a record, there is one book in which the names of all who put their trust in Jesus Christ are written down. And when you and I arrive on that eternal day, and just as sure as we sit in this church Sunday afternoon on a fall Sunday, we're all going to stand there someday, and if our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life He will say to us, enter thou into the joys of the Lord. But if your name is missing, you'll spend eternity in hell. For whoever's names were not found written in the Book, John says, perished.

Now I'm not here today to try to do anything with the subject of hell. Some would make the effort to try to argue away the literalness of hell, I'm not. If Jesus said it, why try to twist His words? He says the rich man died, Luke 16, Lazarus died, Lazarus went to heaven, was in the bosom of Abraham, and He says the rich man died and went to hell. And when he was in hell he cries out and says, have that Lazarus go dip his finger in some water because I'm in torment. So Jesus implies in all of His teachings that there is conscious punishment in hell. I'm not going to be so arrogant as to tell Jesus He didn't know what He meant. He made it very clear. And I don't want to deal with the issue of those who believe that the word forever isn't forever. But let me tell you, when you study the Greek text of the New Testament the word aion which is the Greek word for forever, is always translated the same. And if you translate it in English vocabulary, it would be unto the ages, unto the ages, unto the ages, unto the ages, unto the ages, unto the ages, unto the ages, unto the ages, unto the ages, unto the ages. We say forever unto the ages, unto the ages. It never gives any indication of a limitation. It's always heaven is forever, and judgment is forever. You can't cut the timeframe down because the Scriptures won't let you do it, and yet there are those that would like to say, it really, forever doesn't mean what it means. The preachers have tried to air-condition hell, and we've made it not such a bad place after all. But I want to deal with what I believe in answer to the question for our sermon today. Whatever happened to hell? Why is it that we don't hear the subject hardly any more? You go back and pickup ancient preaching text.

I can go back to 1754 and old Jonathan Edwards was the great preacher there in Boston in New England, and he was known, and has been known, as the most massive mind, the greatest intellect that America has ever produced; Jonathan Edwards. And Jonathan Edwards not only had this massive intellect that he had this passion for God and for His word, and it says that when old John stood in his pulpit to preach he had poor eyesight and he always read his sermons and his sermon was always up here in his face. But when he preached he preached under such tremendous anointing, and one day he preached on a sermon entitled "Sinners in the hands of an angry God", Hebrews passage. And it says that when the power of God was in that place people were hanging onto their pews because they were afraid they were slipping into the jaws of hell. You say, well, people were much dumber 200 years ago. We're too smart for that today. No we're not. He was one of the greatest intellects history has ever produced in America, and he believed the Bible meant just exactly what it says.

You go to the writings of old Charles Spurgeon. Charles Spurgeon was the man who had that golden voice. He could stand in an auditorium of 6,000 people and everybody could hear every whisper he made without the use of a microphone. They said he had an eloquent, gorgeous voice, but he had a mammoth heart for God and when he preached, people flocked to the altar because he never lessened the temperature of hell, and he never tried to argue it away. You say, Pastor, then why is it that in our day so little is said on the subject? And I'm going to give you 4 reasons. They're not in your notes and you might want to write them down. But I'm going to give you an historical sketch of why we are where we are in Evangelicalism and in preaching today. Four reasons that have made hell an uncomfortable subject if not a forgotten subject today. Number 1, the rise in humanistic thought. Now I'll come back to these and discuss them in just a moment. Secondly, the doctrine of Universalism. Number 3, higher criticism. And number 4, the secularization of public education. Now let me go back because I'm going to paint you an historical picture where you'll be able then now to understand where we are in our world of thought. If you go back to the times of Christ and you begin to survey the writings of man up until around the 15th century, in the middle of the 16th century, you'll always find something very unique. God was always at the center and He was in charge of the universe, and man was always secondary. That was for 1,500 years. God was the God of the universe. Then came the age of enlightenment known as the Renaissance in which a twist started taking place in teaching where man became the center of the universe and God was pushed out of the picture. And you can take most of the writings today, or for the last 300 years, and you'll find that there's an underlying theme; man is number one and God has been displaced.

In their teachings the humanist philosophy did not totally replace God, it displaced Him. In humanism, man moves up and in while God drops down and out. So now I'm painting this as a universal picture. For the first 1,500 years God was at the center of the universe, man was secondary. God got pushed out and man took over as the God of the universe. That's humanistic, human man-centered. Now secondly, then came the teachings of Universalism. You say what's Universalism? It simply teaches that everybody, ultimately, is going to be saved, even the devil. And you say, well where do they get that? Well they don't use any biblical Scriptures whatsoever it's simply two assumptions that come from the imaginations of man, because you see now man is number one. And here are the two assumptions; assumption one, God's love is so perfectly good and so perfectly sovereign that there's no way He could suffer the defeat of allowing any of His wonderful creatures ever to be punished for sin. You don't want to hurt man now because he's in charge, and God is so good He wouldn't want to hurt all of us wonderful creatures. Secondly, and this is the fascinating one. The assumption of the Universalist is this, that man has a free will and that if man stands at a crossroad with only two options: one leading to heaven, and the other leading to eternal punishment, he doesn't really have a free will at all. He's given two options and that isn't free will. If free will is totally free will, you don't give him options he can make any choice he wants to. He can throw those options out and say, I just don't believe in God at all, and I don't believe in hell. So in that the Universalist believes in the supremacy of the will of man, the will of man would never choose to go to hell and therefore it doesn't exist, because everybody is going to be saved and everybody ultimately is going to go to heaven.

I had a man who sat right here at the last service. He said, you know Pastor, we left our other church because we were taught Universalism. Why be concerned about the heathen and the unbelievers, we're all going to be saved anyway? Thirdly, and this is higher criticism. About 200 years ago in the scholastic centers in Europe and mostly in the theological centers there came this teaching of what was known as higher criticism. And Rudolph Boltman was one of the ones who carried the torch and he was the theologian that says the Bible is made up of bits and pieces, and you know, over time this little bit was thrown in and this little piece was thrown in, somebody had this story, and somebody had this legend, and somebody had this myth, and finally, it all got together and now we got a Bible. But because we don't know what really were the words of Jesus, and we really don't know if we know the historical Jesus at all, we'll decide what's right and what's wrong in the Bible. And man perched himself on the pinnacle of making the decision and higher criticism says the human beings mind, we've advanced so far we can shred the Bible and tear it out, and throw this away and throw that way, and that is what today is taught as liberalism and it fills the seminaries across this nation. The man has been put, because supposedly of his intellect, you see, we push God off the thrown, man got on, man's mind is so great that if man decides that Bible, those words aren't true and those aren't truly the words of Jesus, he just throws them out. And that's why in many of the pulpits today very little emphasis is used, very little emphasis given, to the preaching of the Bible. Sad.

Now I come to the last one. The secularization of public education. Back in the early 30s, '40s there was a man whose name was John Stuart Mills. He was a philosophical rationalist. You say, what's that? Well I'll tell you in just a minute. He became the Godfather of public education and in his philosophical rationalization he just simply said man's reason surpasses anything else, and if it doesn't pass human reason it doesn't exist. Human reasoning capacity becomes the God. So if, and a rationalist doesn't want event to think that there's anybody higher than he is, so this whole matter of God - throw Him out! And that's exactly what we've done in our public schools. God's got thrown out and we threw His book out the window, and now we've raised four generations of absolute pagans and heathens from our public school sector. Now listen, this is interesting, because here is the dilemma of the preacher. In a congregation he has got a congregation of people whose minds have been twisted, bent, and gnarled in this rationalistic thinking from the public school sector. And they come to the church and if the preacher says something that doesn't meet with their rational minds, they just distort it and, I mean, they just reject it. And so what you have is you have, what I preach to today, and I'm not I'm just telling you what I preached to, it's different than what - I could say something 50 years ago when I started in the ministry and they'd believe me. Now I've got this process that I've got to go through to get through the minds of those of the congregation whose minds have been bent and twisted in the universities and the colleges trying to show them the absolute truth and proved it. And it's a different kind of preaching today than it was 30 years ago. And that's why some pastors say, look at, if I get up and preach the truth I've got a congregation, and boards made up, and they'll vote may out, and so they feel the insecurity of their position so they say, why fight them? So the new trend is this, let's go into seeker-sensitive mode and let's not say anything that offends anybody. Not even the sinner! And I say I want to the sinner to be uncomfortable when he comes here because the message of the cross is always an offense, and if it isn't, it isn't the gospel. The sinner should not feel comfortable. He should feel the sense of his sin in the presence of godly people and in the preaching of the Word. So it has made a new world for the preacher because now he wrestles with all of these philosophies and all of this teaching, and somehow I've got to push this one aside and push this one aside and get down to the rock bed and say, folks, here's what the Bible really says. Whether you believe it or whether you don't, because your disbelief doesn't change reality. It doesn't.

Now let me show you what else happens. As you take the subject of hell. Well let me put this point in. There's another matter that really, really gets close to me and that is in the last 30 to 35 years there has been a teaching now that has invaded into evangelical Bible colleges and seminaries, and it's called the teachings of annihilationism. I talk about it in page 3 of our notes. You say, what is it Pastor? Well, it's this, you know forever isn't forever because what's going to happen, God's going to judge the sinners just for a short time and then He'll annihilate their soul and they'll be just scattered to eternity. They won't exist anymore. So why worry? I mean if God's just going to slap your wrist and then annihilate your soul and eternity doesn't last forever, why worry about it? You know I remember as a little guy my daddy say, now son, if you do this, this will be the punishment. And I'd always sit and say well if the punishment's only going to last for this long, and I'm only going to be grounded for a week, and I can have this much fun doing this, I'll take and do this and because the judgment isn't really too severe. Do you see my point? Now when you move that concept across and say God's judgment is only for a certain time and then God annihilates the soul and you have no more judgment, then why is hell to be feared? And it's called annihilationism. And I'll tell you, these names might be familiar to you, but I'll give you just one - John W. R. Stott the great Anglican preacher, great theologian, Clark Penick. I can go right down the line. These are men who evangelicals looked to because they teach in evangelical schools the preachers who will stand in the pulpit. And today they are telling their students don't preach hell with an eternity. God's going to annihilate the souls and it doesn't last forever. Do you see where we are? What ever happened to hell? I've told you. Now here's what happens in the church. First of all, if hell isn't such a bad place after all and judgment isn't going to be too severe, then holiness gets brushed aside. Because if I have nothing to fear, why be holy? And holiness is a subject almost as absent from the pulpit today as hell. And you've got Christians, or they say they're Christians, they sit in a church, they'll go out week after week they'll commit the same sin they know that they're going to go to hell if they do it, they know that if they go out and fornication they're going to go to hell, but in that hell's going to be such a short time, why not just enjoy myself and then let God annihilate me at the end of the line. Do you see the thinking? If hell doesn't exist and God's judgment isn't severe, then have my fun! And what it does it lessens the passion and the love for righteousness and godliness within the Christian's heart and within the church, and sin is tolerated almost without saying a word.

Secondly, if people aren't going to spend eternity in the judgments, why be so anxious to pray for their soul for salvation? And it wipes out evangelism in the church. How long has been since we've spent a night weeping over somebody who lives next door or someone in our family who's going to go to hell if they don't come to Jesus Christ? But if hell isn't as bad as all the Christian say it is, why be so concerned about the souls of lost people? Do you see what it does? I come back to where I started. If the gospel is appreciated and preached then we have to realize that Jesus died on that cross to save men from going to hell, and if hell isn't for real then why worry about the law? Do you see what it does? Do you see what an important subject it is? There is a heaven to gain and there is a hell to shun.

I often think when I sit in my office and I say, God, if I stand beside that judgment bar while my congregation passes, made it never be that someone on that eternal day can point their finger and say, Pastor Sheley you didn't warn me, you didn't warn me. You didn't tell me that there's a hell, and then I would hear the words of the Eternal Judge to hear Him say, depart from me to everlasting judgment. May that never happen. And I think of preachers who have stood in the pulpit who have never warned their congregations. I'm going to stand there and watch them go into eternal judgment forever because they weren't true to God's word. I cannot explain it all, all I can say is you're going to spend eternity in one of two places; either heaven or hell. You'll be in heaven because you put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you'll be in hell because you rejected Him as your Lord and Savior. My prayer is that every one of us know beyond the shadow of a doubt that our name is written in the Book of Life. So that when you arrive at the judgment bar of eternity God will look down at that book and say, David, there's your name. Ernie, there's your name. David, there's your name. And we'll hear those wonderful words, enter thou into the joy of the Lord. That is going to be the most glorious moment of time and eternity.

Let's pray. Lord Jesus, there is much that we really don't understand but we can understand the obvious and Your words are very obvious. We're not here to argue with You dear Jesus. We're not here to diminish any of the truths of Scripture, we're just here to try to grasp their meaning and apply those meanings to our lives. And my prayer, Lord Jesus, is that every one in this congregation will arrive in heaven and be welcomed into Your eternal presence forever. With every head bowed and every eye closed, you say Pastor, the subject today has me thinking and because the Bible is so clear that if my name is not written in heaven I'll miss heaven for all of eternity, today I want to make sure that my name is written in heaven and I want to declare my faith in Jesus Christ, and I want to turn my life over to Jesus today, because when life is finished here I want to spend eternity in heaven, now with every eye closed you raise your hand to God and as you're raising your hand you're just simply saying by that raised hand, God, I want my name there in the Lamb's Book of Life. I don't want to miss, never dear God do I want to spend eternity apart from You. I want to spend it forever in Your presence. And God looks down on this scene today and He knows your heart, and if this is the first day you've decided for Jesus Christ, may God's spirit fill you and dwell within you and may you know for sure that you're a child of God. He knows our hearts. He knows our lives. He died to save us so that we can spend eternity forever in His presence. Jesus we thank you. Many of us have raised our hands and from the depths of our being we mean it. We don't want to miss heaven. We want to be forever with You, Lord Jesus. We thank you for the marvelous gift of life eternal and the gift of heaven. Thank you for Your word today dear Jesus, and everybody said, amen. God bless you.