Hell: The Asbestos Fire - [Mark 9:43]

Well tonight we want to look at the topic of hell. How many people saw the show on Friday night?

The 2020 special on hell one whole hour on I think it's ABC talked about the doctrine of hell and they had

Marilyn Manson on there talking about hell Which was interesting he said

I don't think I want to go to heaven because none of my friends would be there and I thought well at least

That is a true statement They had people on like Carlton Pearson who was a who is a charismatic pastor in Tulsa He had 6 ,000 people in his congregation

He then found out through his own thinking of Scripture that the Bible really isn't inspired word for word

It's just generally God's Word and God could never send someone to hell and so he announced to the church There's no longer a real hell and thankfully 5 ,700 charismatics left the church and he's stuck with 300 who don't believe in hell

There are people on there who was talking about purgatory and the one Catholic priest said, you know Purgatory is not hell, but it's not heaven and it's a place that there will be suffering and it's a place where you'll have to Have your sins atoned for and then they did have one of the man who said some right things about hell

And so as I thought about it, I thought we need to revisit this topic again What about hell?

We live in a place where the most famous sermon outside the Bible ever preached on hell was preached just over Where not just in Enfield, Connecticut, but also

North Hampton We want to look at this because this is a topic that when you discuss hell it motivates you

It's a topic that when you discuss it biblically, you just don't kind of look as a bystander

You don't kind of sit there and hold up a card and kind of judge the doctrine it moves you it motivates you

It's emotionally stirring it is gripping and it makes you like I said this morning want to be evangelistic

It gives you a gratitude in your heart that you're not going it makes you think you know matter no matter what

I Have to believe what Scripture says and I will put Scripture over my own emotions

Because I must do it because Scripture teaches hell even though I could never believe it if it wasn't in the

Bible And so it's a good doctrine To look at and it's biblical

Sadly hardly anyone believes in hell anymore and I found a list Mary Baker Eddie of Christian Science said heaven and hell are states of thought not places

People experience their own heaven or hell right here on earth Edgar Cayce the

New Age Prophet said the destiny of the soul and all of creation is to become one with the

Creator Nobody ever goes down Sung young moon. God will not desert any person eternally

Joseph Smith of Mormonism the false doctrine that the punishment to be visited upon erring souls is endless is but a dogma of unauthorized and erring

Sectarians at once unscriptural unreasonable and revolting

Jehovah's Witnesses Charles Taze Russell said the teaching about a fiery hell can rightly be designating as designated as a teaching of demons,

I have all kinds of other people saying things just a few others the Theosophical Society we positively refuse to accept the belief in eternal reward our eternal punishment

Clark Pinnock cuts to the chase and says how can Christians possibly project the deity of such cruelty and Vindictiveness whose ways include inflicting everlasting torture upon his creatures.

However sinful they have may have been Surely a God who would do such a thing is more nearly like Satan than like God And he went on to say

That everlasting torment is in tower Tolerable from a moral point of view because it makes

God into a bloodthirsty monster who maintains an everlasting Auschwitz for victims whom he does not even allow to die and The list goes on and on and on So much so that we trivialize the word hell

I can go to the grocery store to Hannaford's grocery store and go to the cheese section.

And what do you see? You know what? It's called George Patton's called hell on wheels when there's havoc all hell breaks loose and Sadly even reported in John MacArthur's ashamed of the gospel book seminary students surveyed 46 said to preach hell to unbelievers is poor taste

One out of ten Evangelicals say that they believe the concept of sin is outmoded and when sin gets outmoded

So does hell become outmoded? So why don't we take our

Bibles and open to the gospel of Mark and see what the Bible itself says about hell matter of fact

Let's see what loving Jesus Christ Love incarnate as it were says about this doctrine.

We want to make sure that we understand what hell Is based on scripture,

I think it's fair to say that if you believe anything about hell that's not in the Bible It's not the right view of hell.

Yes If you believe anything more or less about any doctrine in the Bible It's not the right thing and we just want to repent and change our minds and think about it

Correctly as you're turning to mark 10 Let me give you a true and false question true or false the teaching of hell in a local church assembly is profitable for Christians Is it profitable why is it profitable anybody have a verse to back that up?

How could it be profitable to teach about hell? 2nd

Timothy chapter 3 Paul writes to Timothy the pastor and he says you've got one toolkit and that toolkits the

Bible here It happened to be the Old Testament and he said everything in there is profitable to teach the people you will be edified and matured if you learn about hell

I could Flip it around and say if your pastor doesn't preach on hell

He thinks it's not profitable and therefore he stands over scripture JC Ryle said there's no mercy in keeping back from men the subject of hell

Fearful and tremendous as it is it ought to be pressed on all as one of the great truths of Christianity If I meet you at some place at the store and say pop quiz

How you doing at stop -and -shop give me the five greatest truths of Christianity would you say hell

Mark chapter 9 is a chapter That is in the book of Mark the go -gospel a fast action oriented gospel a gospel that has two out of every three verses start with the word and Now if I submit that book to the publishers at day one with two out of three verses a word

Sentences that start with and they're gonna send it back But here Jesus is on the go and he has a divine mission and the whole book as it were is

Jesus setting his face Towards Jerusalem for this great substitutionary death

And there's all kinds of talk in John chapter 9 if you look at even your own titles in Mark chapter 9 it begins with the transfiguration

Jesus then talks in verse 30 about his death and resurrection as he often Reiterates to the disciples even though they don't seem to get it that he's going to have to die

The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men verse 31 He has to be killed, but he will rise 32 says they didn't understand him

And then we move down to verse 38 for our connecting passage for tonight

John said to him mark 938 teacher We saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to hinder him because he was not following us

He's not official. He's unauthorized This person is not of the group.

He's not of the twelve. He's not a part of this group He's not hanging around with us and he's doing this work and we're the official representatives.

He's not one of us He's one of them and and they don't tolerate that well at all But Jesus said to him that's right

No, do not hinder him for there's no one who shall perform a miracle in my name Be able soon after to speak evil of me for he who's not against us is for us

For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ.

Truly I say to you He shall not lose his reward and then we move to verse 42 tied in directly with verse 41 and we move to this theme and Whoever causes one of these little ones and Jesus could be referring to the future verses or he might even be referring back to these

Little ones who are doing the work of the kingdom the unauthorized ones quote -unquote

Whoever causes one of these little ones Who believe we're not talking about little children.

We're talking about Christians to stumble It would be better for him with the heavy millstone would to be hung around his neck and that he had been cast into the sea

Now, let's just thought talk about that picture before we talk in in terms of hell Jesus is saying it's better for someone to have a

Millstone tied around their neck and thrown into not just a little wading pool But the deepest sea now there are all kinds of these millstones and this millstone happens to be a huge millstone

That only a donkey can turn matter of fact in the Greek. This is not called a millstone here in Mark 9

It's called a what? It's called a donkey millstone now the text doesn't say that but the

Greek text says it it's a large millstone literally a donkey millstone and So you can imagine somebody to cause someone to stumble would be such a bad thing that you take the millstone

That's got a circle in the middle. It's got a hole in the middle that you tie somebody to that and Take them out in the middle and drown them

This is radical. Just picture that this picture This Gentile form of execution and Jesus goes on to talk about how obedience needs to be so drastic with this very radical kind of language

And if your hand causes you to stumble, I mean Jesus has their attention with the millstone thing, but even more now cut it off These are all discipleship demands reinforced

It's better for you to enter life crippled than to have your two hands and then to go to into hell into the unquenchable

Fire is this a literal verse?

943 origin thought it was I Don't know if I'd like to be named this but there's a

Scottish preacher and his name was AJ gossip who would ever have a last name gossip and he talked about a theology student that went crazy and took a razor and cut off his hand and Gossip shows up and the little and the young man was laughing handless

Shouting out I did right I can now look Jesus in the face Is that what he's talking about here it can't be because in chapter 7 of Mark He said what comes out of the heart of man is what defiles right?

But he's saying you radically need to deal with your sin You would cut off your foot if it was gangrenous.

Yeah gang grinness Don't treat sin casually

Sometimes I watch kids play patty -cake And they kind of do the whole clapping thing, you know, the little girl thing that they do

Maybe some boys do it. They shouldn't but the girl clapping thing She's saying don't pamper sin.

Don't pet it. Don't coax it. Don't play patty cake with it deal with it Shadow boxing won't do

Hendrickson said he said temptation should be flung aside immediately and decisively dilly -dallying deadly halfway measures work havoc surgery must be radical

Get rid of it. Why what's the text say? It's better To have your hand cut off then for you to enter life.

Let me just read the verse. It's better for me to say that It's better for you to enter life crippled than having your two hands to go into hell into the unquenchable fire

How unloving for Jesus to bring up hell now, here's how the show started on Friday night it was very dark and the man who was doing the

TV news broadcast was standing talking about Jesus and how there was a place where the fire would die not and the worm would always be alive and Jesus used a valley in Jerusalem.

That was a dump heap. That was a trash heap that was on fire a lot and he used that as a picture for hell and Then the camera expands back and the lights go on and the man is standing in the

Valley of Hinnom in Jerusalem and he said well as you see there's no more fire and there's no more smoke and there's no more refuse

But what's Jesus doing? He's using hell Gehenna As something that's horrible and he gives them a picture that they would understand so they would realize the horribleness of hell

And so the Valley of Hinnom who could tell me what would go on in the Valley of Hinnom back in the

Bible days? Anyone probably some of you know Barry That's right.

That was a place that they would burn children alive children would be sacrificed to the pagan god

Moloch what else would happen there at the trash dump anything else? I mean, that's bad enough.

That's the worst thing Yes, Pat Yes, they would burn all kinds of refuse and excrement and all kinds of animal carcasses when

I was a kid We used to go to the to the dump and that's where we would practice with the 22 shooting rats and I could just Smell that dump.

I mean, why would your father take you to the dump to shoot? I don't know all the worm infested garbage and the smell

It is a horrible place. That was a real place, but the reality was pointing to these spiritual truth of The real place called hell

We turn over to Matthew for a moment and I want to just give you a quick little jet tour of Jesus teaching about hell if you believe

Jesus is God you will believe in hell because he talked about it out of the 12 times in the

New Testament Go to Matthew 5 out of the 12 times in the New Testament 11 times. It's Jesus talking about Gehenna hell

And I just want you to get an idea just as an overview of what Jesus said in this kind of rapid -fire breeze by in Matthew Matthew 5

Verse 22, by the way as I read these things if you don't want to believe in hell That's between you and God But just don't call yourself a a

Christian and if you go to a group and say well You know what? I'm gonna be in your group and we're

Christians, but we don't believe in hell as my old pastor would say Well, if you want to be in that group, that's up to you but just don't call yourself a

Christian the names already taken and Christians believe what Jesus said and here's what Jesus said 522

Same thing you say you fool at the end shall be guilty enough to go into what fiery hell

Chapter 5 verse 29 and 30 look at the very end of the verses there then for your whole body to go into hell

Matthew chapter 8 skipping down three chapters Matthew 8 12 But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness in that place.

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Chapter 10 verse 28. I mean, this is just a gospel

I've never heard it called this but it just came to my mind Matthew the gospel of hell. That's what it could be called

So often mentioned Matthew 10 28 and do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul

But rather fear him who's able to destroy both soul and body where? inhale Let's just look at a couple more.

There are many but let's look at Matthew 13 41 Matthew 13 41 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 will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. I think it is a fair statement to say that Jesus taught hell.

Yes Peter taught hell John taught hell Paul taught about hell

And if we go back to Mark chapter 9 verse 43, it's very interesting that he talked about this fire.

That's in hell It's a fire that shall never be what? Quenched the unquenchable fire

What do they put up in old buildings to retard fire that now we have found to be carcinogenic

Asbestos who could tell me what asbestos means? If you put an a in front of a word

It negates the word. So if something's typical and you put an a in front and alpha alpha privative

It makes it no longer typical but atypical If you put an a in front of asbestos, what do you think you get?

here's something that can be quenched and you put an a in front of asbestos and it becomes a asbestos and you get something that is unquenchable and that's the word here ta

Asbestos it cannot be quenched. So I've got a question for you is hell eternal. I Mean, I'm just preaching to the choir

Sunday night, you know, it's We affirm that It is eternal

Thomas Watson said in hell the wicked will always be dying, but never dead

Look down to verse 48 of the same chapter. We'll get there in a second where the worm does not die It's unquenchable

Revelation says it's day and night forever and ever wherever you go in scripture. You see words like this associated with hell eternal everlasting forever forever and ever

If hell is eternal So too is heaven eternal.

I should be said the other way if heavens eternal that hell must be eternal Salvation Hebrews 5 says is eternal

John 6 life is eternal Hebrews 9 redemption is eternal the inheritance of the

Saints Hebrews 9 is eternal and Therefore the same word we use with hell it is eternal

It starts making your mind be boggled and with Spurgeon I say they are forever forever forever lost

On every chain in hell there is written the word forever in the fires there blaze out the word forever and I almost want to laugh, but I shouldn't laugh you should preach about hell with a tear in your eye, but Richard Baxter with No smile or Cheshire cat grin said of unbelievers

They were want to think sermons and prayers long how long then will they think these endless torment and we need to skip?

944 because It comes later, it's not in the best manuscripts 945 if your foot caused you to stumble cut it off Jesus said it's better for you to enter life lame than having your two feet to be cast into hell there

He says it again and then verse 47 if your eye causes you to stumble Cast it out.

It's better for you to enter the kingdom one -eyed. That's what the word means one -eyed mono op

Thalman Wycliffe weirdly translates this Google eyed It's better for you to go to to heaven with one

I Google eyed then having two eyes to be cast into hell matter of fact this first right here is what people said to Tyndale's translation they said you know what we can't have a

Bible like this with Tyndale's vernacular and street language because people are gonna be Plucking out their eyes all over the

Kings And now we come to the verse that I want to spend some time at tonight verse 48

Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched if you don't

Think this is a gross verse then. I don't know if you know gross We have a trash can and it's a waste management trash can a green can and they come every week

But when I first moved into the house They didn't come every week and they didn't come every week because I was cheap and wanted to pay for only every two weeks to Because we didn't have enough trash and I would just smash it down and compact it you get eight big 40 ounce 40 gallon deals

And I thought well why pay double if they just come every other week so I'd put stuff in there and The thing about it is in the summertime when the hot heat starts hitting that trash can you kind of get a little odor?

coming out and You know after a while that kind of cheap plastic top gets a little crooked

And it's easy for things to fly in there Like flies and you never forget that smell and that look when you open up the trash can you accidentally kind of rip one of the trash bags that's in there and you

Accidentally rip it and you see inside this big thing of meat and you go. I think the meats kind of moving

Kind of like that white cartilage on the chicken or something, but wait a second. It's not moving. It's Full maggots

And you just I don't know what's grosser than a maggot I'd rather have a tick on me or a leech than a bunch of maggots.

You know good thing We're not back in the old days where if you have some kind of infection. What do you do? Well the flies land on you you let them lay eggs in you because you want the maggots to eat out all the horrible

Infection and once you see clear blood red then get rid of the maggots, and you just start going

You know, what am I gonna do? Jesus doesn't go well, you know, what word should I pick?

Oh, I picked worm, but I should probably shouldn't know because it's a little too gross. He picked it on purpose

Right out of Isaiah is where he picked it. Matter of fact, here's this nine Gross worm that is supposed to take people and startle them and shake them deal with sin.

You don't want to go to hell This point some people think that the fire is the external

Pain source and the worm is the internal pain source in hell

Let's turn to Acts chapter 12 and let me kind of play off this worm bit a little and This is one of those chapters that when you're a kid and you go to church and you go

You know, some of these sermons are kind of boring and all that you young kids tonight You're never gonna forget this sermon you pay attention right now you young boys and girls

You're gonna read this and you're gonna go. Hello And every time you see a maggot,

I want you to think of Acts chapter 12. All right, ready? This is the maggot chapter Acts chapter 12.

Let's get the context. There is a point in a tie -in to Mark 9 But Acts chapter 12

The context is given to us by the writer Luke Now about that time here the king laid hands on some who belong to the church in order to mistreat them

And he had James. Can you imagine the brother of John put to death with the sword? And he saw that this pleased the

Jews He proceeded to arrest Peter also Now it was during the days of unleavened bread.

So that's the time frame. That's what's happening. Skip down to verse 20 Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre acts 1220 and Sidon and with one accord

They came to him and having one over blast us the king Chamberlain They were asking for peace.

Maybe they're doing it with money because their country was fed by the king's country On the appointed day

Herod having put on his royal apparel took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them and The people kept crying out the voice of a god and not a man

The voice of a god and not a man the voice of a god and not a man and boy

It was just this great thing. And what happened? Simultaneously, it says and immediately an angel of the

Lord struck him because he did not give glory to God And he was eaten by worms and died

PS the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied. Can you imagine what was going on here?

What does the text say there he was eaten by what There you go.

You see you are not gonna forget it Now Josephus the Jewish historian at the time gives some really good insight

It's not Bible, but it's good insight historically. He said this feast was occasioned by Herod's patron saint

Roman Emperor Claudius And so they went to the amphitheater built by Agrippa's father and Josephus says this quote

Herod put on a garment made wholly of silver Can you imagine a whole garment made of silver and of a contexture truly?

Wonderful and came into the theater early in the morning at which time the silver of his garment being

Illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun's rays upon it Shown out after a surprising manner here comes

Herod here comes the light Here comes the voice of a God and not a man just the brilliant of fulgent glory of Herod Josephus said

Herod did neither rebuke them nor reject their impious flattery You know, sometimes the angels in Revelation.

Hey get up buddy. I'm just a created being don't worship me and God said you're not giving me the glory you're taking it and he kills him

By worm now, let's go back to Mark chapter 9 to talk about these same kind of worms

What kind of worms were these? Now the Greek doesn't say maggots.

The Greek says it's a skolax. It's a special kind of worms What what are your favorite worms?

Do you have any favorite worms? I? Have very gross stories about tapeworms and dogs, but I will not repeat them from this pulpit

But I will say That this skolax worm is a tapeworm according to Dr.

Gene Sloat Morton in the science in the Bible book published by Moody in 1978

It says regarding Acts with Herod and then directly implied into mark

The phrase eaten of worms in Greek is skola Cobra toss the root word skolax means a specific head structure of a tapeworm

Since the word skolax plural skola sees is applied to the head of tapeworms

Herod's death was almost certainly due to the rupture of a cyst formed by a tapeworm

So the tapeworm is eating Herod on the inside and it becomes a big cyst it ruptures There are several kinds of tapeworms, but the one that's most common found in sheep growing countries is the dog tape a kinococcus granulosis

Have that with milk in the morning The heaviest infection doctor says come from areas where sheep and cattle are raised

Sheep and cattle serve as intermediate hosts for the parasite the dog eats the infected meat

Then the man gets the eggs from the dog usually by fecal contamination of hair The disease is characterized by the formation of cysts generally on the right lobe of the liver

They may extend down into the abdominal cavity the rupture of such a cyst may released as many as two million scoliosis

Boys and girls two million tapeworms in your gullet the developing worms inside the sister skulls

Called scoliosis because the anterior region Constitutes the major part of the development of the stage when the cyst ruptures the entrance of cellular debris

Along with the scoliosis cause sudden death The use of the word skolex is not limited in this reference about Herod the term also appears in mark 944 where the literal translation of the phrase would read where their skoleth dieth not

The usage is very interesting because the tapeworm keeps propagating itself

Each section of the worm is a self -contained unit which has both male and female parts the posterior part matures and forms hundreds of worm eggs the word skolex in this text portrays a biological description of the permanence which the text demands for comparison the worm never dies

Because the worms male and female and it just keeps reproducing and reproducing and reproducing

Josephus said of Herod he lingered on for five days in terrible pain and then

John MacArthur said Herod's crime for which he was executed was that he did not give

God the glory The very crime for which all the unregenerate who reject

God will be condemned Now when I hear about that worm thing,

I think to myself that is gross that is horrible It's supposed to be

Calvin said for there can be no doubt but that by modes of expression the Holy Spirit intended to confound all our faculties

With horror when you read about hell, you should be horrified One man said it's revolting.

It's supposed to be The Bible also describes hell as punishment

Hebrews 10 torment revelation 14 lake of fire revelation

Destruction Matthew chapter 7 second death revelation 20 outer darkness

Matthew 8 Weeping and gnashing of teeth Matthew 13 that we saw true or false congregation

In hell there will be common grace What is common grace

Well, I can describe it with Jesus's Word God causes his son to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous

And so God gives benefit to people that aren't his children. Yes Rain and pleasure and food and mercy and goodness and patience

None of that in hell Here's another question. We could talk about hell in hell is

God's presence there Is God's presence in hell, I thought hell was being away from the presence of God Let's turn to Revelation chapter 14 because I believe what

Jonathan Edwards teaches About Revelation 14 would be true that God will be the hell of the one and the heaven of the other what makes hell hell

God is there certainly not with his mercy and kindness and grace and long -suffering but with his naked righteousness

Revelation chapter 14 without looking at context. I'll just read the verse He will also drink of the wine of the wrath of God and certainly this could be in a different time but still would apply which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the

Holy Angels and in the presence of the Land, I believe hell is hell because God is there

God is I'm in a present It's not as if God is everywhere in the entire universe and beyond except somehow in hell

That is why Bernard Russell in his ridiculous book Why I'm not a

Christian said I do not feel that any person who is really profoundly human can believe in everlasting

Punishment I must say that I think all this doctrine that hellfire is a punishment for sin is really a doctrine of Cruelty I have another question for you about hell.

Are there degrees of punishment in hell? Anyone Are there degrees of punishment in hell?

well it all depends on what your view of the Atonement is because if you believe that Jesus died for each and every person if Jesus died for Judas and Hitler and all the others.

I don't know who who do we know that's in hell for sure I would say

Judas we think is in hell for sure. Yes, who else would we know is in hell for sure? Pardon me

Saddam Hussein. Yeah, maybe at the very end though something happened. We're not sure maybe a Jeffrey Dahmer like epiphany

I would I would pardon me Pharaoh yeah, it seems like he would be it seems like Herod would be in hell.

Yes with all the worm business It seems like Goliath would probably would think he'd be in hell.

I Think Goliath would probably be a good choice if you had to guess Jezebel maybe

Call me strange, but I think Jezebel probably would be there But at least we know Judas for sure is there and in Goliath And so if you believe

Jesus died for each and every person who was ever born including Judas For what sin does

God judge Judas and the answer for those kind of folks that would believe that is they would say for the sin of unbelief

No other sin, but just the sin of unbelief and that would be one sin And so everybody who's in this hell

Jesus died for all their sins but he didn't die for the sin of unbelief and so if you believe that Jesus died for each and every person you've kind of Got a problem because you would not believe there'd be degrees in hell.

You might say I believe there's degrees in hell But logically you can't get there, but if you believe

Differently, I think you'll find why don't we turn to Hebrews chapter 10 verse 29? The Bible does not with many verses but a few give us an inkling that there are degrees of punishment

Not only does the Bible but also our own biblical logic we could use as well But let's just look up Hebrews 10 just for a moment and we will see that there's not just punishment but there can be more severe punishment and Hebrews chapter 10 verse 29 gives us an idea where the writer maybe

Paul Says how much severe punishment do you think he will deserve? Who has trampled under the foot the

Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was Sanctified and has insulted the

Spirit of grace Vengeance is mine. I will repay the Lord will judge his people

It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of living God. So there's punishment, but is there a worse punishment?

Yes, severe punishment. I Could read to you Matthew chapter 11 verse 24 and hearken the words of Jesus that would give us more insight into this very idea of increased punishment for sin and that would be

Let's see Matthew 11 24 Nevertheless, I say to you that it would be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you

So we would believe and we would teach at the church that there are degrees of punishment Would you agree with this statement?

We're really gonna have to push it here. I don't mean time. I mean our thinking Would you agree with this statement from Jonathan Edwards The longer sinners live the more wrath they accumulate

The longer sinners live the more wrath they accumulate

Every sin that has sinned against a holy God will be punished. Yes, I Could push it this way if you want to be provocative in preaching

True or false God never forgives sin. Well, you're like well, of course

But so why would you say that in a one way God never forgives sin? He always punishes sin.

He does forgive Sinners though, doesn't he? He always judges sin either on his son or on people in hell

But you say but pastor sometimes it says Jesus forgives sin. So I have to confess that's true

But as people earn more sin, they deserve more punishment After all if someone kills one person or 500 or are they going to be accountable for more?

Yes That is why Jonathan Edwards said sinners in hell would give anything to turn the clock back and have committed even one less sin

So here's my question if people live

Longer and longer and longer and heap up more and more sin

Shouldn't that give us some gravity in our souls to say those sweet little old ladies who are kind But who are not born again will suffer much more than those who are died at 21 years old and we better Plead with them and beg them to believe the gospel

John Blanchard said in a book that you should all get called whatever happened to hell. You need to read this book

He said if a sinner is to remain unconverted the sooner he dies the better Otherwise every further sin he commits will make things that much worse for him in eternity

It's frightening to think of Now we don't kill sinners, you know, if you don't believe by 20, we're gonna kill you

Well, that would be stupid because they could end up believing. Yes is Hell good news at all

What's the good news? Could there be good news about hell? Could anybody think here? Is there anything that's good news about hell?

Anyone is there any good news about hell? I mean everything in the

Bible could be considered good news. I guess yes Scott Okay, great.

Yes. Is there another hand back here? God never compromises with sin does he?

Hell is a stark reality of that very fact Now what about people here?

I wonder if somebody here is not born again Could it be we'd have a people of people that come on a

Sunday night service that would not be born again You know what Spurgeon would say to you

He would say that you are Hanging over the mouth of hell by a solitary plank and that plank is rotten and Jonathan Edwards would say to you

That every natural man that hears of hell flatters himself that he shall escape it Everybody's got some kind of way out

But I want to tell you that if you're not born again, unless you believe you are going because I want to be a faithful preacher

Seth Reese said I wouldn't pay a nickel to a preacher who did not preach on hell enough to keep my children afraid of going

There we played sinners in the hands of an angry

God through the speakers on Edwards Anniversary death or whatever and there was a kid in my study afterwards bawling his eyes out saying

I'm gonna go to hell And I said and you need to cry out and ask

God to save you and deliver you One person told me, you know, my kid acts up But every time you talk about hell from the pulpit, they're good for the next few weeks

Friends hell is true Don't believe this second -chance view that you know, there's a second chance for me later.

That's a lie Do not believe in universalism Everybody gets there do not believe in annihilation ism

But you just kind of cease to exist like some animal the wicked wish that that were the case

Do not believe in stupid objections Like a loving God would not send people to a horrible hell if someone ever says that to you

What would you say a loving God would never send anybody to hell? What would you say? We don't that's right

My response is you're exactly right a loving God would never send anyone to hell But the

God of the Bible is not just full of love He has righteousness and goodness and holiness and your

God of love is a god of your own imagination because he doesn't exist God's wrath da

Carson said is not some kind of Game we play with what if you what if somebody said this to you hell is too severe of a punishment for man's sin

I mean after all it's it's it's Committed Temporally and now

God was some kind of ogre like revenge fashion has to punish eternally for a sin committed in time

How could that be? Right? What would you say? Gladman good.

It's an it's a sin that has infinite proportion because it's against an infinite God. That's exactly right

Friends, I want to make sure everyone here is afraid enough to hell of hell to flee to the cross

How foolish would it be to be like British actor Robert Morley who when he died He said

I want you to give me some credit cards to be buried with me I could buy things later or it just even gets more nonsensical with ML Evans of Chester said

You know bury me with a fire extinguisher in case there's fire in hell or the man, sir

David Wilcox of Cambridge. He said I want to be buried with a pair of earplugs because I can't stand heavenly singing

If they're gonna be out of tune at least if they could say something like Maurice Godbold said

Bury me with a crowbar in case the affair proved premature. That's a little bit better We at this church believe in hell and we believe in hell because for only one reason

I could never believe it unless it was Clearly taught in Scripture and it is and God says our souls are eternal

We will never die and our souls are either going to be perfected by the righteousness of Christ and we will spend eternity in heaven with God or Our souls will not be perfected, but they will be sinful and God will be too pure to look upon any evil

My challenge to you this week is pick three people that you know, you might be married to them

You might have them as children or parents three people that you know, and I want you to pray that God would save them

Comma and that God would give you enough boldness that you would be the instrument of Proclaiming the truth that would save them three people

I've been invited across the street tomorrow night By our neighbors and they said oh, you know what you're you're you're in town by yourself

And why don't you come over for dinner? We'd love to have you come over for dinner. I Said I'd love to but the two lesbian ladies across the street have invited me over for dinner

Here comes the pastor. I don't want to walk in and go Have you ever heard of a

Skolex? I mean But I want to tell them the truth

She said oh, I've driven my church before and seen a bunch of people I didn't want to come in because you might convert me and I've already been a

Catholic for many years And I looked at her and I said Catholics aren't Christians She looked at me like what?

some Catholics can be Christians, but not because of what the Pope teaches because the Pope teaches a false gospel and If you don't believe me

Then you should listen to what the Pope said this week as he damned you all and said if you believe in something besides the

Roman Catholic Church, you're not going to heaven from the Pope's mouth this week So pick three people that you know, and would you pray for their souls?

God saves people through prayer and through preaching but then have enough boldness to say I don't have the heart

I don't want to offend. I'm a people pleaser My neighbors are gonna be mad at me and God just give me the courage to speak for you.

I Want to be bold? I want to be courageous Jonathan Edwards said imagine yourself to be cast into a fiery oven or into a great furnace where your pain would be as much greater

Than that occasion by accidentally touching a coal of fire as heat is greater

Imagine also that your body were to lie there for a quarter of an hour all the while full of quick sense

What a horror would you feel at the entrance of such a furnace? after how long would that quarter of an hour seem to you and After you had endured it for one minute.

How overbearing would it be to you to think that you had to endure it for another 14 minutes? But what would be the effect on your soul if you knew that you must lie there and during the torment to the full of 24 hours

How much vastly greater still if you knew you had to endure it for a thousand years Oh Then would your heart sink if you thought if you knew that you must bear it forever and ever that there would be no end that after millions of millions of ages your torment would be no nearer to an end than it ever was and that you never never

Would be delivered if you were not a true Christian your torment in hell will be immensely greater than this illustration represents

How then will the heart of a poor creature sink under it? How utterly in? Expressible and inconceivable must the sinking of the soul be in such a case

Whoever you are whether young or old little or great if you are in a Christless unconverted state

There is the wrath to which you are condemned waiting for you. This is the wrath that abides on you

This is the hell over which you hang and into which you are ready to drop every day and every night

You may effectually escape these dreadful and awful torments be entreated to flee and embrace him who came into the world

For the very end of saving sinners from those torments and who has paid the whole debt due you are exposed to eternal punishment

But there's a Savior provided who is able and who freely offers to save you from that punishment

Justice is fully satisfied in Christ all who believe are accepted and justified in him

Therefore believe in him come to him commit your souls to him to be saved by him in him

You will be safe from the eternal torments of hell Nor is all that but through him you shall inherit inconceivable blessedness and glory

Which will be of eternal duration with the torments of hell For as at the last day the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment

So shall the righteous are those who trust in Christ go into eternal life

Now with me, please Lord I rejoice in the fact that you have saved this group of people tonight for the most part

And as horrible as hell must be so on the converse the beauties of heaven must be wonderful If the utter agony of hell is true and it must be because your son has talked about it

So to the eternal bliss of heaven It's wonderful and we anticipate that Lord, I pray for my conversation tonight with the ladies that you would give me an opportunity to be bold and not a man or a woman pleaser

Should help me proclaim the riches of Christ Jesus your son and how he forgives all kinds of sinners and Lord, I pray for each of these congregational members that a that they would be born again

And if you would not let one go tonight without that eternal Conviction in their soul that they must be right with you and that they would call upon the name of the

Lord and be saved Trust in Christ life and death and resurrection is their only hope And Lord for the family members of each of these

I know some have husbands and wives and children and parents and maybe

Ex -spouses who all need to know the Lord and I pray that Tonight would be the night that you would give us a renewed zeal to pray for them and to evangelize them and to just tell them the richest found in Christ Jesus Lord we look back and we admire people like Jonathan Edwards and father.