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THE PASSION OF THE CHRISTLESS

INTRODUCTION

We have been looking for the past two weeks at the word “passion.” From a Scriptural standpoint, the word means “suffering.”

We looked first at “The Passion Of The Christ” in which our Saviour gave himself willingly to suffer for our sins.

Last week we looked at “The Passion Of The Christian” where Christ calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.

This week we want to look at “The Passion of The Christless.” The Bible says that those who die without Christ will suffer for ever in a place called Hell.

I have in my hands a device that is unpleasant and annoying to listen to. It is called a "smoke alarm."

Listen to it (Push the test button for a period of time). Now wouldn't you agree it is unpleasant and even a bit annoying.

Whenever it goes off it tends to disrupt our lives and send us into a panic of sorts. I remember being awakened out of a dead sleep by our smoke alarm when we lived in Tennessee. It was a time when the heat kicked on for the first time in the season. It was a false alarm because the heater was burning off some dust or whatever out of the system, but I had no way of knowing that. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep anymore that night because of the adrenaline rush!

I also remember when I worked in an office on the 30^th floor of the Stouffer Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, when a fire alarm went off. By the time I had gone down 30 flights of stairs, I was almost in coronary arrest along with all of my co-workers! Why did we heed the fire alarm, because their was potential danger!

More than being annoying and unpleasant smoke alarms and fire alarms can save our lives as they warn us that there is smoke and/or fire that could be dangerously deadly to us.

When the subject of "HELL" makes it way into the conversation it can be unpleasant and even annoying for many people to even think about.

If hell is real–and it is–we as Christians ought to be "smoke alarms" going off to tell others of the impending danger.

Hell is not my favorite subject to preach on, but it is necessary from time to time.

We cannot change the reality of something that is true just because we don’t like it.

Truth is reality and truth is unchanging.

God isn’t interested in our opinion of eternal punishment this morning. But he does want us to be informed of its reality for those who die without Christ.

I.         WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT HELL?

Back during my teenage years, song writer John Lennon expressed some thoughts toward heaven and hell in his song, "Imagine" to which he states, "Imagine there's no heaven … It's easy if you try … No hell below us … Above us only sky. Imagine all the people … Living for today."

It seems to me there are a lot of people doing just that–living for "today" with no thought of what happens after this life. They live in an imaginary world where there is no hell.

The existence of hell has been and continues to be questioned, doubted, and denied as its reality is argued over. The truth is that mankind does not want to believe in a literal hell.

This popular opinion is not based upon Scripture but rather it rests upon human reasoning that asks the question, "How could a loving God ever send anybody to an eternal hell?"

God is portrayed in the Bible as a "loving" God. John 3:16 declares Him to be so. It says "for God so loved the world." However, if we believe in a loving God, then we must read on and consider the whole truth, "that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

            As we glory in God's great love for us and Jesus’ Passion for us, we must ask …

            Why did God have to send His only Son?

            Why is man in danger of perishing?

            Why is God offering everlasting life?

The truth is that man sinned against God and in judgment of our sin, God sent His only begotten Son to bear the penalty for our sin, that all men might be able to receive the gift of salvation and have eternal life with and through Him.

As God is a loving God we must also understand that He is a "just" God who must judge and punish sin.

The fact that God sent His Son to die for man, speaks that God did not, cannot, and will not overlook man's sin. He is a just God!

Understand though that God being a loving God does not cancel the truth that He is also a God of justice. Also, understand that God being a just God does not cancel the truth that He is also a God who loves. Both of these are true–God is just and God is love!

So where do we go for answers about the “Hell” question? We dare not trust in some reasoning of a man or men. Nor should we trust in our own reasoning for that matter.

We must go to the place that is our Final Authority–The Word of God to get our answers about this place called hell! So what does the Bible say about hell? Remember that what God says about hell matters most!

            A.        THE BIBLE SAYS THAT HELL IS A PLACE OF FIRE.

                        1.         The Bible Calls It The Lake Of Fire. (Revelation 20:14-15) 

Revelation 21:8--“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

                        2.         The Bible Calls It Unquenchable Fire. (5 times in 6 verses here)

Mark 9:43-48–“And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 45And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 47And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: 48Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”

                        3.         The Bible Calls It Everlasting Fire.

Matthew 18:8–“Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.”

                        4.         The Bible Calls It A Tormenting Flame.

In Luke 16:24, the rich man who died and went to hell said, “I am tormented in this flame.”

                        The Bible Says That Hell Is A Place Of Fire.

            B.        The Bible Says That Hell Is A Place Of Wailing.

Matthew 13:41-42 "The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

“wailing” = “to express grief, mourning or weeping with audible cries; loud cries of sorrow; deep expression of sorrow; cries of grief.”

Just imagine, if you will, being in a place where billions upon billions of lost souls wail throughout eternity!

            C.        The Bible Says That Hell Is A Place Of Darkness.

                        In Matthew 25:30 it is pictured as a place of “outer darkness.”

It is a place of darkness because God is the source of all light and He will not be there! Hell involves separation from God!

                        The Bible Says That Hell Is A Place Of Fire.

                        The Bible Says That Hell Is A Place Of Wailing.

                        The Bible Says That Hell Is A Place Of Darkness.

            D.        The Bible Says That Hell Is A Place Of Torment.

Revelation 20:10–“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

Luke 16:24–“And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

Within the words of these Scriptures there is nothing in the language that would indicate that hell is not real or that hell is just temporary, or that hell is only figurative.

If the words spoken with regard to hell cannot be taken literal, then how can we take the words regarding heaven or many other truths of Scripture as being literal?

The denial of hell is a reflection on God. It is a renouncement of the cross. It is a refuting of God’s Word.

I believe the question that ought to be asked is not "Why would a loving God send anyone to such a place as hell?", but rather, "How can a Christian who says he loves God and man not tell others about such a horrible eternity that awaits those who do not believe in Jesus Christ?"

            So we see what the Bible says about the place called Hell.

II.       WHO DOES THE BIBLE SAY IS GOING TO HELL?

The expression "Go to hell!" is all too often heard spewing out of the mouth of people in this day and time in which we live.

C.S. Lewis says, "Surely we do not mean we want that person to go to the place of eternal punishment when someone tells another to go to hell."

He has also said, "There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this (hell) … if it lay in my power I would pay any price to be able to say truthfully: All will be saved."

But, dear friend, all will not be saved. So, what does the Bible say about who will occupy hell?

            A.        The Bible Says That The Devil And His Angels Will Enter Hell.

Hell is a prepared place for the devil and his angels.

Just as heaven is prepared for those who believe (according to John 14:2), so hell is a prepared place for those who do not believe in the Son of God.

Matthew 25:41–“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”

            B.        The Bible Says That The Wicked Will Enter Hell.

Psalms 9:17–“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

And such were all of us before we came to Christ! But, praise be unto God, we are washed, we are sanctified, we are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God!

            C.        The Bible Says That The Unbelieving Will Enter Hell. (Revelation 21:7)

John 3:36 "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

Hell is as real as the life you and I are living today!

As sure as the Bible declares hell to be an eternal reality, so it declares how a person can escape such a destiny.

Romans 6:23–“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Romans 10:9-10–“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:13–“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The truth is that God does not send anyone to hell. All who enter hell enter by their own choosing as they remain in their sin and neglect the escape that has been made available through the salvation that is in Christ Jesus.

            So we’ve seen what the Bible says about hell, and who the Bible says will go to hell. . .

III.      WHO DOES THE BIBLE SAY SHOULD WARN THE LOST OF HELL AND TELL THEM THE WAY TO ESCAPE IT?

Ezekiel 3:17-19–“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.”

Romans 1:14–“I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.”

Matthew 28:19-20–“19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

            Let me give you a hypothetical situation:

You are driving down the road. It is late at night. You come upon a row of houses and you see that they are imminently threatened by an approaching fire. It appears that the occupants inside are not aware of the approaching fire, in fact, it appears that they are fast asleep. There is a way for them to escape and there is time for them to escape from the fire. What would be the decent thing to do? What would be the right thing for you to do?

            Here are some options:

            1.         You could deny the reality of the fire or their danger of the fire and keep driving.

Research from Barna Associates shows that only 31 percent of adults see Hell as "a place of physical torment where people may be sent." (CBN: Hell's Decline, November 14, 2002)

If a person does not believe in hell, then there is no reason to warn others about it or to share the Gospel (which is the way to escape) with them.

                        But as we have seen, the Bible says hell is real!

            2.         You could keep driving because you reason that they were too stupid to build their houses in the path of a fire and so they deserve to burn with their houses.

Now understand that each of us were in our sin and in the path of hell fire at one time and someone cared enough for us to wake us up and share that information with us and to show us the way of escape.

            3.         You could keep on driving and hope that somebody else comes by in time to stop and tell them that there is a fire and show them the way to escape.

After all, you have a very busy schedule–there are places to go and people to see and things to do. You couldn’t possibly find the time to stop and tell them about the fire! You might miss your favorite T.V. show!

Never mind that you are the one that God allowed to come into their path at such a time as this.

            4.         You keep on driving because you’ve got to think about yourself.

After all, what if the people get mad because you wake them up? And then there could also be dangers you don’t even know about. What if they have a dog or what if you step in a hole in their yard or trip over a child’s bicycle while trying to save these people. One of them might even pull a gun on you!

                        Why you could get hurt yourself trying to save these folks!

            5.         You keep on driving because you are afraid you might offend these folks by telling them their house is about to be engulfed in flames. 

                        Some say the message (truth) of hell is offensive to modern man.

R.C. Sproul says, "if we try to take out the offense that is already there, then we're offending God, and we're offending Christ, and we're not proclaiming the whole counsel of God."

            6.         You could stop and warn these folks of the impending danger and show them the way to escape.

            Which one of these things would be the right thing to do? Only the last one!

Conclusion

There are four reasons why Hell isn't being talked about:

1.         The Popularity Of Sin.

            Matthew 24:12–“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”

2.         The Love Of The World.

1 John 2:15–“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

3.         The Despising Of God's Law.

Proverbs 28:4–“They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.”

4.         The Lack Of The Fear of God.

Psalms 36:1–“The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.”

We who are people of the hope of eternal life in Christ need to be willing to tell others that in hell there is no hope:

            No hope of relief.

            No hope of release.

            No hope of rest.

The thought of hell and anyone going there ought to break our hearts and cause us to mourn over those who are in danger of its eternal fire.

Someone spoke jokingly to D. L. Moody about the suffering of the wicked in hell. Moody did not laugh about it. Rather he said, "You might at least speak of that with tears in your eyes."

Hell is not a joking matter. Hell is real. What are we going to do about it?

If the smoke/fire alarm does not go off … what good is it?

We need to sound the alarm as we go in this world!

We need to give to missions so that missionaries can sound the alarm across the world!

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NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!