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Introduction: According to II
Peter 3:10, the earth will one day come to a surprising
and sudden end. The frightening issue however is not the way the
earth is going to end, but what is going to happen after the end.
According to Hebrews
9:27, we will all face judgment. On that day, one of two
things will happen to us, we will either go to heaven (I
Peter 1:3-5) or we will go to hell (Matthew
25:41; II Peter 2:4). For me, this is what makes all that
we know about the end so important. I have sinned and fallen short
of God’s glory (Romans
3:23). I deserve to go to hell (Ezekiel
18:20; Romans 6:23). I have earned that. But, I do not
want to go there. Please, allow me to tell you why I do not want
to go to hell. I am sure many already share this feeling, but if
you do not, please allow my message to affect you. Discussion: I. I do not want to go to hell, because in hell I would be separated from the presence of God. A.
According to
II
Thessalonians 1:9, on the day Christ returns to be
glorified in and marveled at by His saints, those who have not
obeyed Christ’s gospel will “suffer the punishment of eternal
destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory
of his might.” In hell, I would be completely cut off from
God’s power and glory. B.
Consider the
import of this. We often talk about coming into God’s presence
or being away from God’s presence. We do not mean that
absolutely. We make that statement simply to say that someone is
either in the will of God or not. In the absolute sense, they are
still in the presence of God and, in fact, participate in the
power of God and in many of His blessings. In the sermon on
Mar’s Hill, Paul declared that it is by God’s power that we
(all of us, whether Christian or otherwise) live, move and have
our very being (Acts
17:28). The fact that a person lives demonstrates they are
not separate from God’s power. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
declared God caused the sun to rise and the rain to fall even on
the wicked and the unjust (Matthew
5:45). Whether people are Christians or not, as long as
they are still in this world, they participate in the power and
glory of God, even if they do not recognize it. C.
But, after
the Day of Judgment, those who have not obeyed Christ’s gospel
will not enjoy even a smattering of God’s power, glory or
blessing. There will be no light, there will be no life, there
will be no moving. I can hardly imagine what it would be like to
be completely cut off from God. What comes to my mind as I
envision this is suffocation. Can you imagine awaking to find
yourself completely unable to breathe? You know there is oxygen
somewhere, but you can’t see how to get there, neither can you
move to get to it. The terror that strikes into your heart. The
panic that screams in your mind, “I need to breathe.” And yet
nothing in the universe seems concerned about you. Amplify that
infinitely and hell is worse. I don’t want to go there. II.
I do not
want to go to hell, because in hell I would face absolute torment. A.
Matthew
25:46
says those who did not serve God will go into everlasting
punishment. This same word is used in I
John 4:18 and is translated “torment” in the KJV. When
we think about punishment for crime, we think about prison. And we
all have differing views of prison life. But this is not just
being locked in a cell. This is being tormented. In Matthew
25:41, the picture of hell is that of unquenchable fire. I
understand that those in hell will not have physical bodies. I
understand that spiritual bodies probably aren’t affected by
physical fire. I believe the point of Jesus’ statement is to
drive home the issue of torment. Just as we would be in torment if
we were in a fire, so will our spiritual body be in torment in
hell. B.
Consider the
picture of the rich man in torment in Luke
16:19-31. I understand that this passage does not give us
a picture of hell. But rather is a picture of torment in Hades,
the “waiting place” for those who die before the judgment day,
as sinners await eternal sentencing of hell. If what we read about
in this chapter is simply the holding place for the spirits of the
unresurrected dead, how much worse must the place of final torment
be? Read the cries and pleas of the rich man in Luke
16:24; 27-28. See the agony that pleads for a moment’s
respite, the briefest relief and the smallest comfort. C.
I can’t
imagine such anguish. What comes to my mind as I envision this
torment and agony is the “reheat chamber” at the Nucor Steel
plant back home in Blytheville, AR. When in high school, I worked
for D&L Refrigeration. We had the contract for the steel
mill’s refrigeration and air conditioning work. One day, we were
working near the “reheat chamber”. This chamber is used to
heat up already cast pieces of steel I-beams. After the steel was
cast in its I-beam shape, it was in short, extremely thick
sections. If those who were casting the steel produced the I-beams
quicker than those who were stretching them into their final
length and thickness, the metal would cool and need to be reheated
in order to be stretched. Thus, the “reheat chamber”. I saw
this chamber in action. I was more than 100 feet away from the
chamber and inside a cinder block building, behind a 2½-inch
solid core metal door with a Plexiglas window. When the chamber
opened and I saw the blue-greenish white flames come shooting out,
I could feel the heat even from where I was. I could not imagine
being in that flame, feeling the torment and agony, and not being
allowed to die. And hell is worse. I don’t want to go there. III.
I do not
want to go to hell, because my stay in hell would be eternal. A.
Perhaps hell
would not be so bad if it were momentary. If it were, as some
today suggest, simply a moment of painful destruction and then
oblivion, I probably wouldn’t be so afraid to endure it. But
that is not the picture the Bible presents. B.
In Matthew
18:8; 25:41 and Jude 7, the punishment is described
as eternal fire. Some suggest, the fire is eternal but our stay
there will not be. However, Matthew
25:46 says the wicked will endure eternal punishment or
torment, not a moment in an everlasting fire that vaporizes our
very existence. The fire lasts forever and our presence in the
fire is also everlasting. C.
Whenever I
am running (which hasn’t been in a while now), after a short
while, perhaps 30 seconds, I am gasping for air, my side is
cramping, my legs are hurting and my entire body is screaming at
me. But I typically endure to the end because I know there is
going to be an end. This very minor torment and agony will be over
soon. But the agony and torment of hell will never be over. In
hell, I will never be able to look at my stopwatch and say, “OK,
only five more minutes.” The terror and agony we have already
described will last forever, without relief, rest or respite. I do
not want to go there. IV.
I do not
want to go to hell, because hell would be worse for me than if I
had never believed. A.
II Peter 2:20-22
frightens me. Because this passage claims that everything we have
just described about hell and eternal punishment is less than what
you and I will receive. You see, those passages describe hell
mostly for those who never obey the gospel. But most of us here
have obeyed the gospel and escaped the defilement of the world. If
we turn from Christ now, our latter state will be worse than if we
had never believed to begin with. B.
I know
preachers have tried to argue their way out of these verses. They
try to nullify them by saying this passage only means that our
knowledge will torment us forever whereas the others don’t have
that knowledge, as if this statement means it really won’t be
worse for us. Brethren, I don’t care what it is that makes the
punishment and torment worse, these passages say it will be worse
for us. This doesn’t mean hell is a “walk in the park” for
those who never heard or never believed. It simply means it will
be worse for me. So now, I really don’t want to go there. Conclusion: I remember giving a young lady a tract. When she and I got together to study, she remarked that she felt some aspects of the tract were trying to frighten people into obeying. And she thought that was a bad thing. I want to be honest with you. I am trying to frighten you. I hope I scare the daylights out of you. Jesus said we ought to be afraid in Matthew 10:28. Fear is not the only motivator and in our next lesson, I will explain why I want to go to heaven. But I hope I have instilled in you the greatest of all fears. Because, when you really fear going to hell, then all the other issues that could ever come up will be overcome because we will be working together to stay out of hell and not take any chances on ending up there. Please, remember, if you have not obeyed the gospel or if you are not continuing to grow faithfully in Christ, your entrance into hell will be sudden and unexpected. Are you ready for that day?
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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