Hell 101 - Psa 9:17
September 11, 2022
why is it important to talk about The End… illustrate with songs from my youth…
AC/DC - ain’t nothin’ I’d rather do… party time… friends gonna be there too… look at me… I’m on the way to the promised land… don’t stop me… I’m on the highway to hell…
Billy Joel - they say there’s a heaven for those who wait… some say its better, but I say it ain’t… rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints… sinners are much more fun…
catchy, but don’t create doctrine from music or movies… Pew Research indicates 58% of Americans believe in hell… 34% don’t… 8% not sure… Resonate Research says only 8% of churches preach regularly on hell… 43% regularly preach on heaven… much nicer message… less chance to offend people… pray…
It is honest to admit that there is much room for difference of opinion here. Only fools and madmen are positive in their interpretations of the Apocalypse Hell. —Pastor Joe Ganahl
etp says Jesus talked more about hell than heaven… is that true… about 1900 verses contain His words in Gospels… about 60 (3%) deal directly or indirectly with hell… however, 192 (10%) deal with heaven, eternal life, or coming kingdom…
majority of other 87% were about life and relationships… Jesus let us know hell is real… but wasn’t obsessed with it… we shouldn’t be either… His goal was that we would know His Father… fear of hell doesn’t save you, knowing Jesus does…
Matt 11:27… “no one knows the Father… except those the Son reveals Him to…”
John 1:18… “only the Son has seen God… and He has revealed the Father to us…”
Col 1:15… “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God…”
Heb 1:1-3… “the Son is the exact representation of the Father…”
google hell and get 1.1 billion results… used specifically 54 times in KJV (Sheol, Gehenna, Hades, Tartarus)… please understand, hell is a very, very real place…
Psa 9:17… “wicked shall return to hell… and all nations that forget God…”
Matt 10:28… “fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell…”
Matt 13:42… “thrown into fiery furnace… will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…”
Matt 25:40… “worthless servant… into outer darkness… weeping and gnashing of teeth…”
Mark 9:43… “better maimed… than 2 hands and go to hell… unquenchable fire…”
can we determine location… heaven is always up… hell is always down…
Psa 55:15… “let them go down to hell… for evil is in their house and heart…”
Isa 14:15… “you shall be brought down to Sheol… to lowest depths of the Pit…”
Isa 38:18… “those who go down into the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness…”
Eph 4:9… “He also descended into the lower parts of the earth…”
2Pet 2:4… “did not spare angels… cast them down to hell… chains of darkness…”
most people believe in heaven (73%)… most believe they’re going there (75%)… of those who believe in hell… most believe they aren’t going there…
can get more info on hell from true story… certain means real people…
Luke 10… “certain lawyer… certain man… certain priest… certain Samaritan…”
Luke 15… “a certain man had two sons…”
Acts 5… “certain man named Ananias… brought a certain part of proceeds…”
Acts 16… “certain disciple… certain Jewish woman… certain slave…”
tis… certain, certain one…
before Jesus… hell divided into two compartments… gulf/divide between the two… upper regions were for those in covenant with God until Jesus came to set captives free… lower regions were for wicked and those who rejected God…
Luke 16:19-31… “certain rich man feasting every day… certain beggar lying at his gate… beggar died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s side… rich man died and was buried… and being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham with Lazarus at his side… have mercy on me, send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame… Abraham said, Lazarus is now comforted here while you are in agony, besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us… send Lazarus to warn my brothers so they won’t come to this place of torment… won’t listen…”
People in Hell are fully Conscious and Aware
what do we see about hell from this passage… senses do not stop in hell… this is real pain, real suffering, real torment, real distress… not imagined or symbolic… worst torment will not be fire… but total absence of God… knowing one decision would have changed your location for all eternity… that is torment…
Prov 5:12… “at end of life, you will say… how I hated discipline… if only I had not ignored all the warnings… why didn’t I listen or pay attention… I’m in ruin…”
Luke 16:24… “I am tormented in this flame… I am in agony…”
odynao… cause intense pain; be in anguish, tormented; cause torment, distress, sorrow…
Once in Hell, can’t cross over to Heaven
once you’re dead, you’re dead… that’s it… some religions say you spend time in purgatory/limbo/barzakh/yamapuri… spend time paying for sins… or others pray you out… not biblical… thousands of chances to accept Jesus… while you’re alive…
Rom 1:18-21… “what can be known about God is obvious… because God has shown it to them… His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen since creation… as a result, people are without excuse… for they knew God…”
Heb 9:27… “it is appointed for people to die once… and then judgment…”
two resurrections… believers will go to heaven… unbelievers will be judged… God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell… not for you… for devil and fallen angels…
Matt 25:31-46… “depart from Me… into eternal fire… prepared for devil and demons…”
1Thess 4… “Christians who have died, rise from graves… those alive caught up in clouds…”
1Tim 2:4… “God wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth…”
Rev 20:11-15… “great white throne… those not written in book of life… thrown into fire…”
message not for believers… salvation is secure… if you’re not, this is for you…
Isa 51:6… “My salvation will last forever… My righteousness will never end…”
John 10:28… “I give them eternal life… no one will snatch them out of My hand…”
Rom 6; 11… “gift of God is eternal life… God’s gracious gifts are irrevocable…”
what if I’m wrong… no heaven or hell… then my life has been better for following biblical principles… if I’m right… most important message of your life… eternity is too long to make wrong decision… get born again… start new life… pray…
John 3… “no one can enter Kingdom unless born again… God so loved world… anyone who believes has eternal life… anyone who rejects does not…”