SAVED … FROM WHAT … TO WHAT - Part Two (The Tragedy of Hell)

John 3:16 ”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Picking up now on Pastor JJ’s “Reality Check” Sermon on being saved … from what, to what. Hell is the complete absence of the presence of God. 13% of Jesus’ teachings were on Hell. Why was it so important to Jesus? Because He didn't want any of us to go there. Two-thirds (2/3) of Jesus’ parables were on eternal judgment. Let us make no mistake, this is a topic that is very important to God. The tragedy of Hell is completely real, and one that we cannot continue to ignore. There are people in the world whose life direction is pointed directly to the gates of Hell. We, as a community of faith and ambassadors for the kingdom of God, cannot continue to take it lightly.

Psalm 9:16-17 “The Lord is known by the judgment He executes; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

What is Hell, but a physical place, for eternal punishment of body and soul in ever-lasting agony and suffering. Jesus said in Matthew 22:13  “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” This is a serious subject, not to be flippantly talked about. Where is Hell? Some may say that they think that we are in Hell now, but we neither are in a world absent of God nor separated from God’s presence. This side of Heaven and Hell, both Satan and God exist. We can still seek and know God. With that said, we have to realize that it can get worse than this. Our worse day on earth will not compare with the best day in Hell. Hell is a real place (topos) outside the boundaries of Heaven. Outside of everything that is “good”, everything that we were created for, and everything that has purpose. Hell knows nothing of anything that is “good” at all, because it is the complete absence of God’s presence. The kingdom of Heaven is a place where God’s dwells; where His presence exists. Hell represents a place where there is no God at all, because His presence does not exist that. Good cannot exist there.

Matthew 25:46 “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Hell is also outside the realm of conclusion. Can you imagine a punishment that never ends? And Hell is outside the realm of conclusion, meaning that it goes on forever. Can you imagine a punishment that never ends. Max Lucado writes: “Destroy. Perish. Don’t such words imply and end to suffering? I wish that I could say they do. There is no point on which I’d more gladly be wrong than the eternal duration of hell.” Revelation 14:11 tells us:  “And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night.” The sentence will never conclude. It will just continue to happen. There is no parole, just eternal torment without end, so Hell is the absence of hope. No hope that it will get ant better and no hope for rescue. It would be easier to preach that love conquers everything. Some say that nobody s going to Hell, but then what to you do with Jesus’ words? What do you do with the reality of holy Scripture? Do we ignore them and pretend that they don’t exist? Sadly, many do. That is not reality! Jesus refused to minimalize this topic. It was so important that we realize the depth of Hell that it causes us to act. Do we want our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to live without hope, without goodness and in eternal agony for their sins? It’s that serious!  So Jesus talks to us about it.

Psalm 81:15 “Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their

punishment would last forever.”

I shall pick up again from Pastor’s Sermon from here on the next post.

In Christ, Brain