10/29/2022
Hell Sermon
Purpose: Describe the seriousness of Hell
(Use symbolic language for its horrors and illustrations)
1. Gehenna, the Worm, unending flames, salted with fire
Mark 9:42“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. 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“ ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 Everyone will be salted with fire.”
The word hell in Hebrew means Gehenna, and is the same word for Ben-Hinnom, which in the OT was a place that means.... "Valley of the Son of Hinnom."
The Israelites would go into this valley outside of the Holy City of Jerusalem and would burn trash and filth and through babies into a furnace as sacrifices to false gods, like the Baal’s and Molech.
Source for Hell and Ben Hinnom/Gehenna.
https://www.chesterchurchofchrist.org/.../the-imagery.../
It was where God destroyed them (for this sin) and had their rotting corpses laying on the ground for this evil. Where maggots ate their flesh.
God prophesied through Jeremiah that they would receive punishment in this valley for their sins...
A. Jeremiah 7: 31” They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.
32 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 33 Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 34 I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.”
B. This is a dim reflection of Hell. This is the physical place Jesus references when mentioning how bad the spiritual afterlife will be...
The OT says Hell is where we will spiritually die, as those who lost their lives in Ben Hinnom.
Isaiah 66:24“And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”
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2. Deepest darkness forever
Jude 1:13 “They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.”
(Reference Egyptian plague/Deepest darkness covered the land).
Exodus 10:21 "Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that CAN BE FELT.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days.
Illustration: Have you ever been in a cave so dark you can feel it?
He will have no light, not the golden light from the sun by day, or the silver light of the moon and stars by night. It will be like that cave. It will be unending...
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3. Evil Creatures as your company for all time.
The company of Satan and devils and the worst of the worst, of evil people.
Matthew 25:41“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."
A. Evil people: the rapiest, the murderers, the witches, the depraved, the vilest people will spend time with you and I, if we are lost in that dark place for eternity.
God will separate us like sheep and goats.
Matthew 25: 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 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.”
Will you be one of the goats?
B. Even the fallen angels, the demons, will be unleashed into that hellscape.
Jude 1:6 “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.”
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3. Hell will have a lake of fire AND brimstone. Those who go there will be separated from God, from His love/light/forsaken for all eternity.
A. Judgment is coming...
Revelation 20:11 “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
B. You have to do more than just believe...
Revelation 21:8 “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
This passage says we will face the second death. That of being alienated from the author of Life. We will be separated from our Creator, from the source of hope, and light, for all time. Our souls will never see or feel His presence again. We will be severed spiritually from Him.
What is brimstone? It is a liquid sticky fire. It can be in the form of lava. http://www.biblicalscholarship.com/whatisbrimstone.htm
Think of a hot lava pit and you are in it. But that substance is like honey covering you, burning you up, consuming you. But you never die.
C. If we are not saved, we will be outside of God’s city...
Revelation 21:27 “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.”
We will instead be...In the Abyss where the smoke rises forever
Revelation 9:2 “When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.”
A short statement that S***m and Gomorrah had fire and sulfur rain down on them (Genesis 19:24) and smoke rose from there like a great furnace (Genesis 19:28).
These cities are an archetype sign of the coming hell.
Jude 1:7 “In a similar way, S***m and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”
D. If we are faithless to God's Word, we will find ourselves...Weeping and gnashing our teeth/Mutilated/cut to pieces.
Matthew 24:45“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
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Conclusion and Salvation invitation
Jesus says He’s coming!
Rev 22: 12“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 14“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. (Acts 22:16/1 Peter 3:21) 15 Outside are the dogs, (The Valley of Ben Hinnom was right outside of Jerusalem, outside of the Heavenly Jerusalem is where the lost will be)......"those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
If we overcome the Enemy and follow God's Word, we will find, peace, hope, and a relationship with our Lord and have...eternities reward. Heaven is worth the wait. Let us strive to spiritually seek His home.
Revelation 2:7 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God."
