Eternity: Heaven and Hell INTRODUCTION What do Americans think about life after death? See if you can guess the results of a national Gallup poll and a Newsweek poll (circa 1988) How many Americans believe in some kind of afterlife? How many Americans believe in heaven? Percentage who think they have a good chance of getting there How many Americans believe in hell? Percentage who think they have a good chance of getting there Why are there fewer people who believe in hell than in heaven? What do you make of nearly all who believe in heaven, also believing they re likely to be there? What s behind so few people thinking there s a good chance they ll end up in hell? Let s take a look at some statements about the afterlife, and comment on them: I do not fear hell because I cannot fathom it. I do not seek heaven because it offers no image that I can grasp. Bernard Loomer, Dean of Theology, University of Chicago 1. How would you characterize Dean Loomer s beliefs about the afterlife? What, for him, is the final criterion? What does that tell us about him? The type of religion that looks to a realm other than the world about us for criteria of the good life is not a religion in man s interest. Those who aid in the furthering of that religion, whether they recognize what it implies or not, are making such contribution as they can toward man s intellectual and moral defeat. Max Otto, Professor of Theology, University of Wisconsin. 2. Put Otto s statement into your own words. Of what does he say your pastor is guilty? What does Otto say is the goal for religion? Religion is a crutch for weak people. Jesse Ventura, former Governor of Minnesota 3. What leads people like Jesse to make statements like this? But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. the Apostle John, 20:31 4. What misconceptions about religion do John s words address?
Growing in Faith Eternity: Heaven and Hell Page 2 Take a look at the picture above. What misconceptions about hell does it portray? Let s start out by finding out who will be in hell. Read Matthew 25: 31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (NIV) 1. What s the difference between the sheep and the goats? What s the only thing we can do that would land us in hell? 2. How does Jesus describe hell in these verses? (5 things) Luke 16:22ff. "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, `Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' 25 "But Abraham replied, `Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' Mark 9:43-48 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off...it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where "`their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' (NIV) 3. How does the Bible describe hell?
Growing in Faith Eternity: Heaven and Hell Page 3 Will some people receive worse punishment in hell than others? Look at these passages to answer the question. Luke 12:47-48 47 "That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (NIV) Matthew 11:16-24 20 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21 "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you." (NIV) 4. So, will some receive worse punishment? What is the reason for their harsher sentence? How are Jesus words counterintuitive? For Discussion Why do think that all talk of hell has almost disappeared in the big church bodies? As Martin Marty remarked: Hell has disappeared and no one noticed. Agree or Disagree? Talk about hell just frightens people. Jesus didn t operate that way! He was gentle and loving and kind! Agree or Disagree? Once we discovered we could create hell on Earth, it became silly to talk about it in a literal sense. Ten years ago, Pope John Paul II redefined hell for the world s Catholics. He said that hell isn t a place, but a state, a person s state of being, in which a person suffers from the deprivation of God. Why do you think he chose that definition? How does that definition differ from what the Bible teaches about hell? The Adventists and the Jehovah s Witnesses teach annihilationism which says that there is no hell, but rather God will just destroy or annihilate the unbelievers on the Last Day. What makes that makes that unbiblical teaching appealing to people? The first guy to write it down was a man named Moses Mendlessohn. Back in the 1700s, he wrote that the concept of eternal punishment is inconsistent with God s mercy. Since then, that idea has been touted by people all across the world. Today a popular version of it might be: God is a God of love! How could he ever punish people in hell? Comment on that thought. How do we reconcile the concept of hell, and the concept of God s love? Agree or Disagree? To deny hell makes a mockery of the cross.
Growing in Faith Eternity: Heaven and Hell Page 4 PURGATORY What is purgatory? Why do they call it purgatory? Where is purgatory taught? The guilt is remitted to every penitent sinner, but there remains a debt of temporal punishment to be discharged in this world or in the next in purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of heaven is opened to him. (Canon and Decrees of the Council of Trent, Session VI, Canon XXX) How does the concept of purgatory disagree with what the Bible tells us about salvation? HEAVEN It s not a desert. It doesn t have a lot of land. It s not hilly. It s not ugly. It s not small. You can t control it. You can t see all of it. That s not a very good description of an ocean, is it? You can t describe the majesty, the vastness, the amazing nature of the ocean by describing what it is not. But yet so often, that s how God describes heaven to us. No pain, no death, no crying, no sin. That can t begin to describe the glory that awaits us. Let s take a look at a number of passages, and ask ourselves what they teach us about heaven 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV) Matthew 25:34 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. (NIV) Revelation 19:9 9 Then the angel said to me, "Write: `Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'" And he added, "These are the true words of God." (NIV) Luke 22:30 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (NIV) John 14:2 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. (NIV) Look at John s extended description of heaven in Rev 21. Remember that he is painting a picture for us that is filled with symbolism. Notice his use of the number 12 (the Church) the number 10 (completeness) What do each of these pictures tell us about heaven? Revelation 21:10-27 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Growing in Faith Eternity: Heaven and Hell Page 5 15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. (NIV) Let s take a look at what we ll be doing in heaven Matthew 22:30 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. (NIV) Revelation 7:14-17 14 I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16 Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (NIV) Revelation 21:4 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (NIV) 1 Corinthians 13:9-12 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (NIV) What else might we be doing up there? The ever-popular question will there be animals in heaven, since they don t have a soul like us? Romans 8:21 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. (NIV) Revelation 21:1 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. (NIV)
Growing in Faith Eternity: Heaven and Hell Page 6 Isaiah 65:25 25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD. (NIV) How does belief in heaven have a practical influence on how I live my life? Colossians 3:2-3 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (NIV) 1 Peter 2:9 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (NIV) James 1:12 12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. (NIV) Respond to the following statements: I ve seen enough people die to know that there is a difference between a Christian dying and anyone else. Christians are so heavenly minded that they re no earthly good. Hope in a heaven inhibits us from enjoying or caring about earthly life. DISCUSSION Will we know everything in heaven? Will everyone be equal in heaven? Will we be sad about people who aren t there with us? Will we recognize our loved ones in heaven? What will be the relationship between angels, humans, and animals in heaven?