End of Days Pt.18 What s Going On? June 22, 2014 What the Bible Says About Hell Luke 16 & Revelation 20 Today I am going to talk with you About Hell The Truth is 1. we don t hear a lot and we don t talk a lot about Hell 2. It s just not a very popular subject 3. There are a lot of things I d rather be preaching about other than Hell 4. I must deal with the subject of Hell because the scripture deals with it 5. Hell is one of those topics that we d rather - ignore - Play like it doesn t exist - Call it by some another name Many Refer to Hell as a. The place down below b. The place down there We can call it what we want to call it but the Bible calls it Hell Illustration kind of like the little boy who was walking his dog one day - A man went up to him and said, Son how many legs does your dog have? - He said, well mister my dog has 4 legs - The man said, well now son if you were to call his tail a leg then how many legs does your dog have? - If you call his tail a leg than he would have 5 legs - The man said, Son it doesn t matter what you call his tail your dog only has 4 legs You know we can call hell whatever we want to call Hell - You can play like it doesn t exist - You can play like it is antiquated - You can play like it s Old Time Religion - But the Bible says there really is a place called Hell 1. There really is a place Called Hell Two Greek words need to know something about a. First word Hades - Means the place unbelievers go immediately after they die - Appears 11 times in the New Testament - One of those times is in Luke 16:19 - Read Luke 16:19- NIV says hell translated wrong should be Hades Understand that Hades is not Hell - Think of Hades as a holding tank just like in jails - It s like a waiting room area - It s not pleasant though because Rich man is miserable in flames
- It s not a good place but it s not hell - Unbelievers are sentenced to Hell after the Judgment - But, the final Judgment hasn t taken place yet - So that means on Sunday June 22 nd at 11:10 no one is in Hell right now - But there are millions of people in this holding tank known as Hades - Where they are waiting to be sentenced to Hell b. Second word Gehenna - Appears 12 times in the New Testament - Means Hell - Hades is the holding tank that s where people who are unbelievers that have died are right now - Gehenna is the final resting place for unbelievers known as Hell - Interestingly in Bible times Gehenna was a place in the southern part of Jerusalem where the people would dump their trash you & I would say it is the city dump (1) They would keep a constant fire going in Gehenna in order to burn the trash That was coming in from the city (2) Around the clock 24 hrs/day this fire would burn (3) This Valley of Gehenna was on fire - we ll look at a passage of scripture in a moment that talks about in Hell (Gehenna) the worm dyeth not and the flame is not quenched - that s exactly how it was in this garbage dump there were all kinds of Rodents all kinds of worms it was pretty nasty So Hades is the holding tank.gehenna is the final place of rest for unbelievers Write this verse down Mark 9: 43-44 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched 44 where Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched. Let s be Clear to this point Two Places 1. Hades place unbelievers go immediately after they die - It s a holding tank until the final judgment 2. Gehenna.which is Hell Go to Revelation 20:13-15 - This is talking about the Final Judgment The Great White Throne Judgment - We talked briefly about this last week - They will be judged according to their works there will be degrees of punishment I hell The point of this I want you to see There really is a place called Hell
2. Hell was not created for human beings Hell was created for satan and his angels. Matthew 25:41 41 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: a. The only reason that people will go to hell is because people have made the same fatal mistake Satan made - People have Chosen to live their lives without Jesus b. People don t belong in hell - Sometime you ll hear people joke about going to hell - they ll say at least in hell I ll have a lot of friends - We re going to party in hell c. Listen hell is not a place anybody should want to go to 3. You Don t Want to Go to Hell a. I don t enjoy preaching about Hell, but in order to understand the Good News you must know what the Bad news is Bad News really is place called Hell b. Bad News is a lot of people will go to hell c. The only reason people will go to hell is they make the same fatal mistake that Satan made.people in Hell have Chosen to live their lives without Jesus. E.V. Hill. I Don t Want To Go to Hell Five Reason You Don t Want to Go to Hell Matthew 25 1. Hell is Dark.vs. 30 a. I don t like dark places b. Hell is a place of Outer Darkness 2. Hell is Loud.vs. 30 a. There will be weeping 3. Hell will be a painful place vs. 30 a. There will be gnashing of teeth b. Luke 16.and in torment rich man looked up 4. Hell is a lonely place vs. 41 a. The worst thing about hell is that Jesus is not there b. I ve been saved now for 51 yrs. - There s not been one moment now since the day I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart that I ve been without Him in my life. - But in Hell there are going to be billions that will be without Jesus forever (1) There is no prayer there (2) There is the absence of GRACE (3) There s the Absence of MERCY (4) There s the Absence of COMFORT Can you imagine to hear those words Depart From Me
You say you re just trying to scare everybody c. Some people say pastor it s not right to try to scare people out of going to hell.why not -teach children not to touch a hot stove -teach children not to walk out in front of a moving car d. Some say... Fear is no reason to get saved - let me tell you this.there is no bad reason to get saved Hebrews 11 Noah moved with fear built an ark 5. Hell is Final.Luke 16:26.rich man & lazarus a. When a person lives in hell it is forever & ever & ever b. Hard to imagine because we now live under Grace c. We live in a day of Mercy the Church Age d. We live in a day where Jesus says Whosoever will may come, and be saved e. Some of you can come be saved today f. But in Hell there are no 2 nd chances and no escape from hell 4. You don t Have to Go to Hell here s the Good News a. On the Cross Jesus had made it possible for you to go to heaven 2 Cor 5:18-19 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. b. The Gospel of Jesus Christ makes sense C. But you say - I m not good enough to go to heaven - I don t want to go to hell but I ve committed too many sins God won t forgive me for all that. - I can t pay for these sins - I m afraid I can t conquer death The Good News is you don t have to go to hell Illustration I heard a story 1. Group of men and their boys went deer hunting 2. Grass was brown & dry 3. They were in a flat area and could see for miles 4. Way off they noticed there was a fire that had blazed up 5. Scared them to death 6. As they kept watching that fire it got larger & larger bigger & bigger 7. Soon it got out of control and they began wondering what they were going to do they were several miles from their trucks
5. How Can I Come to Jesus 8. There was no where they could go no water to jump in 9. So one man said I know what to do - he took a match and lit a fire in the grass where they were - fire sprung up and burned a patch about 30 x 30 and then it burned out - Then he had everyone stand in the burnt out area - He said the fire can t come where the fire s already been 10. Do you know why you can t go to hell? - Because the Fire of God s Judgment can t go where it has already been - It s been on jesus and if you re in Him it can t get on you - Jesus took your place