WARNING! HELL IS REAL!
What is truly pitiful is that this is not exclusive to the
secular community. It is
also being found in the religious community.
Far too many so-called churches have softened their teachings on
accountability to God and reverence toward His word.
Their messages lack the warnings of repentance from sin and the
inevitable doom that awaits those who do not fully obey God and remain
faithful to Him (2 Thess. 1: 8-10).
Total and sacrificial obedience is treated as an option rather
than the standard upon which we will be judged (John 5:26-29).
As a result, some of these churches are growing so rapidly that
they cannot contain their numbers in their present structures, so they
build “bigger and better barns” (cf. Lk. 12:16-21) But for many who
attend such institutions, they are simply “playing church” and are under
the delusion that everything is fine.
They continue to live their lives in ignorance, which we are told
is no longer an excuse (Acts 17:30-31).
However, I cannot help but wonder what part the leaders of a
congregation will have because they have failed to proclaim the “whole
counsel of God” (Acts 20:20-21, 26-27, 2 Cor. 5:10-11).
I shudder at the thought of what will happen to me if I fail to
warn you when you are in sin and I know about it (James 3:1, cf. Ezek.
3:16-21, etc.). BUT sadly,
even among our brethren in churches of Christ, there are some who have
chosen to take a less offensive path for sake of peace and (artificial)
growth. They avoid subjects
that will cause some to leave because they do not want to repent.
One subject that I am fearful is being ignored or down-played in
many congregations is the reality of hell.
There are even those who have determined that hell, as we have
taught it in scriptures for centuries, is not real.
Others have softened the list of those who are doomed to that
place unless they change (i.e. repent).
Well, I am here to warn you that HELL IS REAL!
It is just as real today as it was when Jesus was upon this
earth. He had more to say
about the subject than any other person we read of in scripture.
And His warnings were strong and hard to misinterpret.
Among the warnings of Jesus about this place we read, “If
your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for
it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for
your whole body to be cast into hell.
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it
from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members
perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” (Matt
5:29-30).
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell. “ (Matt 10:28-29);
“Serpents, brood of vipers! How
can you escape the condemnation of hell?” (Matt 23:33);
“The Son of Man will send
out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that
offend, and those who practice lawlessness,
and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be
wailing and gnashing of teeth.
(Matt 13:41-43); "Then
He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed,
into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:”
(Matt 25:41); “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous
into eternal life."( Matt 25:46)
But Jesus was not alone in such warnings.
Paul warned us in passages such as Romans 2:5-9 we read, “But
in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are
treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of
the righteous judgment of God, 6 who "will render to each one according
to his deeds": eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing
good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are
self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness —
indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew
first and also of the Greek; “
In 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10 we read that the Lord will be, “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on
those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall
be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of His power.”
Even Peter issued the following
warning , “For if, after they have
escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome,
the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.
For it would have been better for them not to have known the way
of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy
commandment delivered to them.” 2 Peter 2:20-21.
While this text does not mention hell by name, it describes a
place of eternal torments which is the consequence of falling away (i.e.
If hell is not real, how is one worse off than before he obeyed
the gospel?).
In Revelation where we read scenes of judgment we find the
following, “The devil, who
deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the
beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and
night forever and ever.” (Rev 20:10) and “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.” (Rev 20:14-15)
And “But
the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake
which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
(Rev. 21:8)
Friends, these passages and others clearly point to the existence
of a place of eternal torments after this life.
That place is prepared for the
devil and his angels, but it will be FILLED with those who refuse to
obey the gospel and refuse to live lives of repentance and service to
God. And just because many
so-called preachers choose to ignore this subject and others attempt to
explain it away, does not change the reality we find in the scriptures.
IT doesn’t change the reality of hell anymore than ignoring your
doctor’s warning about a tumor will make it go away.
If you have a tumor you need to get it treated.
If you are headed to hell, you need to get it taken care of.
And there is only ONE way to do that: study God’s word and do
what it says (Matt. 7:21-23), ALL OF IT!
Friends, are you fearful of your eternal destiny?
Think about it!