The Reality of An Eternal Hell

Transcript

GRM 1069
2/05/2012
The Reality of an Eternal Hell
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh


We're talking about the judgments of Scripture and we come to what is the last judgment of Scripture. I'd like you to put up the chart, if you would. It's to remind you of where we are. The coming of Christ and His death and resurrection here, then we have what is called the church age climaxed with the Rapture of the church. This is a chart on the resurrections but the judgments of Scripture are associated with the resurrections of Scripture. So we can fit the judgments in where the resurrections are. Here when the church is removed from the earth to meet the Lord in the air, the bema seat of Christ where believers are judged for the rewards they will receive. This is not a judgment to determine whether you're going to heaven or hell, but this is a judgment to determine the rewards that will be given for faithfulness of service to Jesus Christ. That's followed by seven years of tribulation, the 70th week of Daniel, which is divided into two 3½ -year segments. Then you have the Second Coming of Christ to earth. There is the resurrection of Old Testament saints here and they are judged for their rewards. Only believers resurrected here from the Old Testament. So all believers except the church age here. The church was resurrected here, all those before the beginning of the church in Acts 2 and going back to Adam and Eve are resurrected here and those who became believers during this seven-year period. So you have Old Testament saints and tribulation saints resurrected and judged here. Being believers they are going to be rewarded for their faithfulness.

Also at this time there is a judgment that doesn't involve a resurrection, we talked about in our previous study, that is the judgment of those who became believers through this seven-year period but survived. The tribulation saints would have been resurrected, those who were martyred. But there are those who became believers who survived through this time, there are those who lived during this time who are alive and there is a judgment here to sort out living believers from living unbelievers. And you have the judgment of Israel that we talked about and the judgment of the nations. And unbelievers who lived through here will be killed at this point, executed. Believers will go into the thousand-year millennium. After the thousand-year millennium, we'll talk about that in a minute, there will be a resurrection here. That includes all unbelievers from this point all the way back to Adam and Eve. So this covers all time.

This is truly the last judgment of Scripture. We talk about the last judgment, it occurs at the end of the millennium. Turn in your Bibles to Revelation 20. We'll be looking at a variety of verses in our time together today. Now if you remember the book of Revelation unfolds chronologically. So that helps as you read Revelation if you keep in mind chapter 1 deals with John's day, the things which were in John's time. Then you have the church age in chapters 2-3, then you have the heavenly scene in chapters 4-5 and you see the church having been resurrected and represented in heaven with the 24 elders. We talked about that. Then the book of Revelation from chapters 6-19 are all involved in covering this seven-year period, which climaxes in chapter 19 with the return of Christ to earth. And in Revelation 19:11, I saw heaven open and a white horse. Christ comes, you have Armageddon where the armies that have assembled at Armageddon are destroyed by the Lord at His Second Coming. Then you are told in verse 20, and the beast was seized and with him the false prophet. These two individuals, saw them in Revelation 13, the beast is the political leader, the false Messiah. The false prophet is the counterpart to the Holy Spirit as the beast was the counterfeit Messiah, the false counterpart to the Messiah, Christ. The false prophet, they have been the key individuals during that seven-year period.

The beast was seized and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast, those who worshiped his image. Now note this, should have it underlined in your Bible. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burned with brimstone. That is hell. From what we know in Scripture these are the first two individuals sentenced and consigned to hell. The devil is not in hell, not yet in hell at this point. But these two individuals are condemned to hell and cast into hell. You'll note, they were thrown alive into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. It's like a lake of fire, burning. The rest were killed with the sword at the hands of Christ. So it doesn't say they were cast into hell, sentenced to hell at this point.

Then in Revelation 20 you have the thousand-year kingdom of Christ, called the millennium, Latin for a thousand years. This is the only place in the Bible we are told that there will be a thousand years and a break off before we continue on into eternity. The Old Testament talked about an eternal kingdom, but it never revealed that the first phase of that eternal kingdom would be a thousand years. Six times in these opening seven verses we're told it's a thousand years, thousand years, thousand years. Some people say it's the only time it is said to be a thousand years, so it's probably not a thousand years. Well it is the only place we are told about the thousand years, but God tells us six times in these verses it's a thousand years. So there is no reason not to accept that it's a thousand years.

What happens? We are told, and we're not going to go into the details on the kingdom, we'll talk about that at a future study, but we are told that an angel comes down from heaven having the key to the abyss, verse 1. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years. I can't believe this but I read some people who say, we know this isn't literal because you can't bind Satan because he's not a physical being. If God can create spirit beings, do you think He can create a chain that could bind a spirit being?

He threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over so he would not deceive the nations any longer. Satan is confined to the abyss. And with him evidently the demonic beings who follow him, because there is no deception of the nations any longer. And we know that the devil and his demons are involved in that. In the book of Daniel we read about a demonic being who had power at that time over nations. So during this thousand years Satan and the demonic hosts are confined in the abyss. That's not hell, it's evidently a place of suffering and torment. Earlier in Revelation there were demonic beings who came out of the abyss, and it's a place of smoke and so on. So it is a confining place for demonic beings, but it is not hell. Just like Hades is a place of confinement for human beings when they die and are unbelievers. But it is not hell. We'll talk about that in a moment.

He's going to be confined for a thousand years. And when the thousand years are completed, verse 7, Satan will be released from his prison to come out and deceive the nations. And he goes to the four corners of the world And there is a host like the sand of the seashore that join in following Satan. These are human beings on the earth. They come up to surround the city Jerusalem to attempt to dethrone the king, Christ. And judgment, fire comes down from heaven and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire.

Now what happens here, to keep things going. The church is raptured here, all believers are removed. But as the gospel is made known during this seven-year period people are saved. Those who are saved and survive to here go into the Millennium, into this kingdom in their physical bodies and they have children. But just to let me summarize it for you, we'll talk more about it in a future study, in this kingdom the devil is not present, the demons are not present. So he is not creating deception in the world. Furthermore, the curse has been lifted from creation so there is no pain, no suffering, no cancer, no pain in childbirth. And so you have a population explosion here. But only believers go into the kingdom, but every baby born is born a descendant of Adam, is a sinner, has to grow up and place their faith in the Messiah who is ruling in Jerusalem, who has paid the penalty for sin by His death on the cross. Now what you have after a thousand years of living in a perfect environment with a perfect king, no Satan to deceive them, no environment, no poverty, environmental factors. After a thousand years of that kind of lifestyle, there are a number, we are told, like the sand of the seashore that would rather have Satan as their king than Christ, which reveals that the problem is the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things. I can't blame my sin on the devil, I can't blame my sin on the environmental conditions, the poverty in which I was raised, the injustices that have been inflicted upon me or anything because this has been perfect. The desert will blossom like the rose or the crocus. It's a time of the perfect rule of Christ.

And those people who rebel at the end of the thousand years, verse 10, the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. So this is where the devil and his followers, the fallen angels, the demons will be cast into hell. Matthew 25, we'll see that later, we are told, Christ told us that hell was prepared, created for the devil and his angels. And so now they are cast into hell. And you'll note here, the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also. They were cast into there a thousand years earlier, and they are still there. At the end of Revelation 19:20, these two, the beast and the false prophet, were thrown alive. That's why it is emphasized, they were thrown alive. They continue to be alive in the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.

Now Satan is cast into hell and you will see they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. What the Bible says about hell is clear, and it is a terrible place. It is awful beyond imagination, just like heaven is wonderful and glorious beyond what we can conceive with these finite minds. But we believe in the reality of the glory of heaven because God has said so. So I believe in the reality of an eternal hell with the torment and suffering not because I can conceive of that in my finite mind, but because God says so. This is crucial.

It used to be that one of the marks of being a Bible-believing Christian, what are called evangelicals, was a belief in a literal heaven and a belief in a literal hell. But the concept of punishment, judgment has become more odious to the world. You know, we don't want to punish people, we want to reform them; we don't want to send them to prison, we want to send them to a penitentiary where the penance can be worked out, in effect. And we saw an issue recently where a political figure pardoned some of those who were in prison, including some murderers. And some of the relatives of the murdered were upset, and so on. They didn't think that they should be set free. The view was everybody deserves a second chance. This sort of thinking of our society, and sometimes they try to tie it to verses. We believe in forgiveness.

What has happened in the evangelical world is there is a movement that continues to grow of those within evangelicalism who claim to be Bible-believing Christians who say we no longer believe in an eternal hell. We believe that the hell that the Bible talks about is ____________________ but then people just cease to exist, they are annihilated, their punishment will be they don't exist anymore. John R. Stott promoted this. Phil LaPue, some of you have used his commentary on Hebrews. On it goes. Clark Pennick.

What happens is there is no good biblical reason for this as J. R. Packer refers to it, it is sentimentalism. And Stott refers to this. The concept of an eternal hell is just too awful for me to believe it. And somehow we become more merciful than God and we have more compassion than God has, so there can't be a real hell. And you see what we do, we begin to redo our theology on the basis of our feelings. There is no doubt hell is an awful place. It is a place worse than we can conceive of with our finite minds. Just like I say heaven is a place more wonderful than we can conceive of with these finite minds. But it is a reality. Churches who still claim that they believe in hell just stop talking about it. Why? It is unacceptable in our society, people don't want to come to a God who is so terrible. So we present a God who is your psychotherapist. He's going to make your life better, He's going to make your marriage better, you're going to have more joy and happiness. You're going to enjoy life more. There is a peace that God brings to a life when you come to trust in Him and receive His salvation to be sure. There is a joy, but let me tell you, your life may get worse. Paul's physical life got a lot worse after he trusted Christ. Your marriage may come apart because your spouse may not like the fact you became a believer. You may trust Christ and are so thrilled, and six months later you get a cancer diagnosis from your physician. And it's not a cancer that God is going to cure, you may die from it. We want to present God as the great therapist. You know, we want people to come and trust Christ just because He'll do all these good things for you. Do you know why you ought to come and place your faith in Christ and do it today? If you don't you'll go to hell. We're talking about God's salvation. That salvation is from the penalty and consequences of sin, which is an eternal hell.

You'll note God says at the end of verse 10, they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. There is no stronger way to speak of eternity. Into the ages of the ages. That's the way God talks about us having eternal life and dwelling in His presence. In the ages of the ages. Can I conceive of that? Some of you have talked to me when we talk about these subjects, I just can't imagine what we're going to do in heaven for a hundred billion years. But you know what I can't imagine? That God is not going to get bored with us after a hundred billion years. That was fine, but after a hundred billion years I think I've rewarded them enough and I think I'm ready for something else and some other company, so let's just annihilate them. I mean, that's good enough. A hundred billion years isn't forever, but it's a long time for people who only lived 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years, something like that. Do you think that's the kind of eternal life God gives us? No. We need to be careful we don't just write off Scripture because we're not comfortable with it, or the world around is not comfortable. Or they think if we talk about a God who would sentence people to hell, that's an awful God. I don't like the God of the Old Testament, He was a God of judgment, but the God of the New Testament is a God of love. I remind you, we are in the New Testament. There is only one God. As you are aware, Jesus spoke more about hell than He did heaven. People say, no, I believe Jesus talked about love. Why do you believe what He said about love was true, what He said about eternal life was true, when you don't believe what He said about judgment? In hell they were punished forever and ever.

That brings us to the last judgment of Scripture—the Great White Throne judgment. It gets its name by verse 11, then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away. There is no place, there is no escaping here. This is the last judgment of Scripture, it is the judgment of which every unbeliever who has ever lived will appear.

I saw the dead, the great and the small standing before the throne. The books were opened. And those books here. Another book was opened which was the book of life. So the book of life is here and then there is another set of books. The dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds, their works. Now this is a judgment based upon works. Every judgment of Scripture is based upon works. But no one in Scripture will be saved by their works, no one who has lived. This judgment was on the basis of our works, that we would be rewarded as believers in Christ for what we have done. This judgment was on works. We looked at the judgment of the nations, they were judged on the basis of how they treated the Jews during that seven-year period leading up to the Second Coming of Christ. It revealed their character and there are degrees in the judgment as we'll see here in a moment. That's why the books are here.

The sea gave up the dead which were in it, death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them. They were judged every one according to their deeds, their works. Everyone. This could take a long time. I don't try to sort out God's problems for Him. I believe the eternal God can judge everyone individually in whatever amount of time He wants to give to that. Don't ask me with this puny mind to know how that all will be, but I know about these things because God tells me. Whether I could work it out and say, how long would it take to judge how many billion people. No problem, no problem at all for God.

Note here, doesn't matter where you died, you experience resurrection at this point. When I say you, I mean unbelievers. There are only unbelievers here. Death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them. Everyone who had died, everyone whose soul was in Hades now is called out because unbelievers who die go to Hades upon death. We'll look at that in a moment. So these are the unbelieving, that would also include any who had been judged here at that rebellion against Christ and killed in verse 9, with fire coming down from heaven and devoured them. Now the dead and Hades, the inhabitants of Hades.

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. Everyone at the Great White Throne judgment is going to hell, everyone at the Great White Throne judgment is going to hell. There are no believers at the Great White Throne judgment. That's why we have it labeled here, a resurrection of unbelievers. It is a judgment of unbelievers. There are only unbelievers being judged at this judgment.

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. This is final separation from God. There are some who say, it says second death. What is death? You stop existing, therefore this occurs when they cease to exist. No. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but we were walking around. But we were separated from God. We'll see a verse in a moment, this is final separation from God, the lake of fire, the second death. Everyone who had died and was resurrected at this judgment, everyone who has been called back from Hades is thrown into the lake of fire. They are judged on the basis of their works. There will be degrees of hell, but it all will be hell. There will be rewards for us in the glorious presence of God, but it all will be the glory of heaven. There will be degrees of suffering in hell, we'll see that in some other passages.

The lake of fire. You'll note here, verse 15 important. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. So the book of life is here, referred to in Revelation 13 and 17. This is the book that Revelation 17 tells us contains the names of all true believers, names written there from the foundation of the world. So you see they are not going to get into heaven on the basis of what is written in the book of their works, that will determine their judgment. Just like the judgment of the church here was not to determine who was going to heaven, but the rewards we would get as God's people. Here is the degree. We know degrees of punishment, some people are sentenced to prison for 20 years, some people 50 years and so on. These are all going to hell and they're going to hell for eternity, but there will be degrees of punishment. Again, we'll look at that in a moment. The basis is, is your name in the book of life. That's the issue. Have you come to trust in the salvation that God has provided.

Let's go to Luke 16, we're going to look at a number of verses. In all of our judgments we've looked at three things involved—the time of the judgment, the time of the judgment here is after the first thousand years of the eternal kingdom; the subjects of the judgment are unbelievers, all unbelievers from all time; and the result of the judgment is sentencing to eternal hell. Those three are the important parts of this judgment. This is the account of the rich man and Lazarus. Picking up in verse 19. There was a rich man, he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor. A poor man named Lazarus lay at his gate, longing to be fed. Drawing a contrast of what a splendid life you can have in this physical life and what a wretched, miserable life. But what really matters is what kind of life you have after this physical life.

The poor man died, verse 22, was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. So you note what has happened here. Immediately upon death you were in one of two places. Abraham's bosom, for the Jews this would be the place where Abraham is, the father of the Jewish race. Father Abraham. So this poor man who had nothing but wretchedness in this life now has the joy of being where Abraham is.

The rich man who had so much, could enjoy so much in life, he dies. His body is buried and in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. You'll note the connection here. He died, he was buried, in Hades he lifted up his eyes. Upon death you are one of two places—either in the place of blessing, or in the place of suffering. For unbelievers that is Hades. The rich man saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus so that he may dip his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this place.

Notice what he says in verse 23, he is in torment. The end of verse 24, he is in agony in this place. One of the clear statements of Scripture, that the suffering in Hades and hell. The difference in Hades and hell is time, like being in jail awaiting sentencing to prison. What's the difference? You are in jail, you are in a small cell, confined. They take you out of jail, you stand before the judge and he sentences you to prison. You go to prison. What do you do? You have a small cell, you are confined in that space. What's the difference? Time. The finality of the one. The one was temporary, awaiting the permanent. That's the distinction between Hades and hell. The kind of suffering is the same, but the final sorting of it out awaits the final judgment. It's agony, it's torment, it's fire. You say, his body is in the grave, how can a spirit suffer? Well the God who made these physical bodies, they can suffer, can't they? The God who made spirit beings like angels, is the devil going to be able to suffer in the fires of hell? Or has God put himself in a box? Oh, I made him a spirit being, I forgot, spirit beings can't be tormented by flame. Well the God who created physical bodies that can be tormented by flame, you can be sure He can create a flame that torments spiritual bodies as well.

The point being here, verse 26, besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed. Those who wish to come from here to you will not be able and none may cross over from there to us. The point being, death seals and settles your destiny. There is no going back and forth. I am relieved to hear that. Will I blow it and stumble? When I get into eternity, I'm doing so well and a million years in it, I sin and get kicked out and end up in hell? No. I'm encouraged to know there is no going, changing state. Those who were in Paradise with Abraham can't go to Hades in the fires of torment. Those in the fires of torment cannot leave, there is no second chance.

So the rich man says, Father Abraham, verse 27, send to my father's house, send Lazarus back from the dead and have them tell my five brothers, in order that he may warn them so that they may not come to this place of torment. You ought to underline that. Some say, I don't think God would torment people. Well, I believe what Jesus tells me about what it is like after death. I don't know, He does. The place of torment.

Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets. He said, no, if someone comes back from the dead they will hear them. Then you have the statement of verse 31, if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead. Jesus rose from the dead, that doesn't mean all the people in your neighborhood and the people you work with and the people who go to a variety of churches or places of worship believe in Jesus Christ and salvation in Him. You won't believe the Word of God, there is nothing that will convince you.

So this accounts tells us something. Following death, immediately you are in a place of blessing or a place of torment. The place of torment is a place of agony, a place of fire, a place of suffering. This man would ask, verse 24, if he would only come and dip his finger in water and touch my tongue, what a relief it would be. But that can't happen. So it is a place of torment.

Back up to Matthew 8, and we'll just break into the account here, verse 11. Jesus speaking, I say to you that many will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. So He's talking about events that will take place here in the kingdom, that thousand-year period. But the sons of the kingdom, Jews, many of them will be cast into outer darkness. So we've seen in Revelation 19-20, hell is a place of fire, brimstone, a lake of fire. It is a place of torment, a place of agony. Now we're told it is a place of outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, the grinding of the teeth in terrible pain and suffering. Weeping. It's a place of outer darkness, closed out there in darkness. People say, I'm going to hell but all my friends may be there. Well you may be right on both accounts, you may be going to hell and all your friends may be there with you. But there will be no fellowship, there will not be that personal interaction. Hell is a place of outer darkness, a place where you can't see your hand in front of your face, as we would say.

Come over to Matthew 25. We looked at this in our previous study, the judgment of the nations and the sorting out here of who will go into the kingdom. And those who were kept from going into the kingdom and executed here are those who are ultimately going to be sentenced to hell. They would go to Hades but then their final sentencing will be to hell. So verse 41, then He will say to those on His left, depart from Me accursed ones into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. Eternal fire.

Look up in verse 30 where in a previous parable He talked about those going to be sentenced to hell. Verse 30, throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Eternal fire, outer darkness, weeping, gnashing of teeth. Verse 46, the contrast. These will go away into eternal punishment, the righteous into eternal life. Eternal punishment, eternal life. What do you believe eternal life is? Life with no end. What do you think eternal punishment is? Punishment with no end. We pick and choose Scripture—I choose to believe in the love of God and heaven, I choose not to believe in the wrath of God and in hell. I feel better. We play childhood fantasy games with something which is of eternal significance. Don't be deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. I mean, judgment, hell is serious. We trivialize the gospel and the marvelous salvation that God has provided. We understand the seriousness of this. Christ died and was raised from the dead so we would not have to go to an eternal hell, not so that I could have a better physical life or a happier life. This is far more serious than that. We're talking about where an individual will spend eternity. And hell is a more awful place than anybody really knows. God has told us—outer darkness, the isolation.

Come over to 2 Peter 2, then we have to come back to the gospels again. Talking about false teachers in verse 17. These are springs without water, mists driven by a storm, these false teachers. Springs without water, they promise something they don't give. Mists driven by a storm. Note this, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved. The blackness of darkness, we have it translated black darkness, but literally the blackness of darkness. This is as black as black can be, as dark as dark can be. You know what's it like when you go into a room and there is no light. And you hold your hand up, I can't see my hand in front of my face. You say, it's pitch black. This is what hell is.

One time I read an account of a fireman who had been in a fire, a kind of asbestos. But he said the thing that struck him was the blackness of it. Surrounded by it you would think it would be light. He said it was just the opposite.

Hell, that's black darkness in burning fire. That isolation, the awfulness of being cut off from everyone in the blackness of darkness in the fire of hell. It's no wonder people say, I don't believe that. I don't even like to think about it, I don't like to talk about it. I don't want to go to church and hear about hell. I heard a man who said, people have enough problems in their lives without going to church and hearing about hell. People have so many problems in their lives, they need to come to church and hear about hell. People say, I have had hell in this life. You haven't had anything in this life. The hell that God has prepared, to experience His wrath is something we can hardly conceive of.

Turn to the book of Jude. It says the same thing as 2 Peter does, but we're so close, we'll pick it up here. Jude, still talking about these false teachers who lead people astray. Verse 13, they are wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam. Usually Sunday morning I turn on the news to see if something major has happened in the world. You know, Israel has gone to war or some great catastrophe is happening, just so I don't come to church and somebody will say, have you seen the news? And I say, no, what happened? But I'm amazed when I turn it on and they are arguing over the pros and cons of abortion and people promoting it. You know, our government, the leaders of our government not ashamed to stand up and say it's time to allow for homosexual marriage. We don't even have the common sense to acknowledge that marriage is between a man and a woman. I mean, these kinds of things. I think of that when I read verse 13, they are casting up their own shame like foam. It's like the waves of the sea when they churn. If you've been to the seashore and you have the waves coming in hard like in a storm and they churn everything up and the debris and the stuff that was on the bottom is all churned up. That's what sinners are doing.

They are those, note verse 13, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. Forever, forever. The blackness of darkness, the burning fires that torment with pain and suffering beyond imagination. That if somebody just had a wet finger and would touch my tongue, it would feel so good. But it will never happen. If I could only talk to someone, if I could only . . . But I'm in black darkness and there is no day, there is no night, there is no relief.

Come over to Revelation 14. During this seven-year period those who don't become believers in Jesus Christ will join in worshiping a false Christ, a false deliverer. This person, those who don't become believers, who worship the beast, verse 10, he will also drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger. One of the most awesome verses in all the Bible on judgment. They will drink of the wine of the wrath of God. And it is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger. It is not diluted, as they might in those days dilute wine with some water to make it go further and so on. There is no mercy mixed in. The God if infinite love is also the God of infinite wrath. Even as believers we decide not to think about this and pretty soon our salvation becomes less amazing to us and we're down and pretty soon we're wondering why we have trouble, why we have difficulty, why we have physical affliction, why we lose our job, why this . . . Wait a minute, God didn't send His Son to die to save us from difficulty in this present physical life. He sent His Son to die so that He might deliver us from an eternal hell and having to experience the full brunt of His wrath. The world today is under the judgment of God to be sure, but it is experiencing nothing like the full brunt of the wrath of an infinite God.

There are some who say it wouldn't be fair for God to sentence people to an eternal hell for a finite sin. It's out of balance. I mean, it's one thing if I get a ticket for going 4 miles over the speed limit, it's another thing if I'm sentenced to be executed for going 4 miles over the speed limit. Those kinds of comparison. But you understand, what really makes sin so serious, it is committed against an infinite God. What did David say after his sin? Against You and You only have I sinned. This is the seriousness of sin. People think nothing of flaunting their sin, of promoting their sin. This is serious business. If we as believers don't take God's Word seriously, where does it end. We cease to be lights in the world, we cover the light with a bushel.

He will drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. The devil will not rule in hell, he will be in outer darkness, the blackness of darkness, suffering perhaps the worst of the punishment in hell because he had the greatest light. We'll see that in just a moment.

Verse 11, the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. The smoke of their torment, doesn't mean they cease to exist, that is smoke from their being tormented is going up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night. How clear does God have to be? You don't understand forever and ever, the ages of the ages? What I mean is there is no rest, no relief day or night. It is endless. That's hell.

Come back to Luke 12:4. He's talking about coming judgment and He says in verse 4, Christ speaking. I say to you my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear the one who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. You know people think they have come to an enlightened stage. We have preachers and religious leaders. I read about a religious leader who said we believe that hell lasts 1,000 years, one year and that's the end of it. That's what you teach? We ought to fear the one. We don't want to talk about fearing God, we talk about God being a God of love. But God is a God to be feared. You are on your way to an eternal hell. That's the message we bring to the unbeliever. He is a God to be feared. That's what Jesus said, fear Him. He has the power to cast you body and soul into the eternal fires of a hell, in the blackness of darkness forever. Fear Him.

Come to Luke 12 :47, we have to break in here because of time. Here a master gives his slave responsibility, comes back and evaluates what they have done. The slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or acted in accord with his will will receive many lashes. The one who did not know it and committed deeds worthy of flogging will receive few. And from everyone who has been given much, much will be required; to whom they entrusted much, they will ask much more. The principle established here. That's why all the judgments are on the basis of works. Those who knew what Christ told them to do and didn't do it, they will receive a greater punishment than those who didn't know, didn't hear.

Come back to Matthew 11. Same principle, degrees of punishment. Verse 20, then he began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done because they did not repent. Those cities where Jesus traveled during His earthly ministry, He taught, He performed miracles. They had full exposure to Him and who He was. Woe to you Chorazin. Woe to you Bethsaida. For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you Capernaum will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades. For if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. Sodom and Gomorrah, as the Jews reflected on that what more cities deserving of the full wrath of God than Sodom and Gomorrah. But when it comes to the Great White Throne, these cities, Capernaum, will get a greater judgment, a more severe judgment than Sodom and Gomorrah. Now think about that. The cities where Jesus was, they didn't have the fullness of the completed revelation. Now we have the revelation of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ. People sit and hear it week after week after week and don't believe it. They will bear a greater responsibility. People say, what about the heathen who never hear, people who never hear the gospel? They are going to an eternal hell, suffering beyond measure. But not suffering as great as those who have heard the gospel and not believed.

You know we as God's people have to be serious about this. I am appalled that there are people who claim to be Bible-believing Christians who say, I just believe the unbeliever gets annihilated. So now we have a Christ who came and died so that people wouldn't have to cease existing. That's not what the Bible tells me, it tells me there is coming destruction, it tells me there is coming judgment, it tells me there is an eternal hell. And we share the gospel with people, we ought to be clear. Jesus Christ came and suffered and died on the cross because you need a Savior, you need to know you are on the way to an eternal hell. Oh, I don't believe in that. Well, that's what Jesus said is true, that's what God says is true. So whether you believe it or not, it's a decision you make. But you ought to understand the seriousness of your choice. Some day you will stand before the throne of God and experience a full and severe judgment because you have refused to believe in the salvation that a gracious, merciful God has provided. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth. Why hasn't this judgment yet occurred? Because He is patient, giving men and women a chance to hear and believe the gospel.

We ought to be clear with this gospel. What are you being saved from? Why did Christ die? Why is He saving you? Do you know about hell? I want to tell people He died so you would not have to suffer the torments and agony of hell forever. What a contrast between an eternal hell and an eternal heaven, eternal glory and eternal suffering. This is the salvation we have in Jesus Christ, these are the issues that are at stake. Eternal destiny. We first must be settled on the clarity of what God has said in His Word and then present it with clarity for a world that has no hope apart from the Savior that God has provided.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your clarity, the beauty of your Word. Lord, it is hard for our minds to grasp matters of such eternal importance. Eternity in the glory of your presence, eternity to enjoy the wonder of who you are and all that you have prepared for those who love you, the contrast with the awfulness of an eternal hell, the suffering and torment in eternal darkness with no relief forever and ever. Lord, we believe it because you have spoken, you have graciously revealed the seriousness of the issues. May we as your people be very clear and very bold as we speak with others the greatness of the salvation Jesus Christ has provided and the urgency for people to seize this day of salvation and believe in Jesus Christ. We pray in His name, amen.