Erasing Hell - Hell? Yeah It's Real

Who in the house believes in miracles?

I know that you should because we've experienced some in the life of our church.

And I uh this morning has have been spending some extra time in prayer this morning over the events of last night with Israel and Iran and our country, and I've spent some extra time this morning praying for our leaders because as Christians we're called to pray for our leaders no matter who's in office.

Somebody say amen.

And so something I don't really talk about a lot is the fact that I've been to Israel two times.

I've been to two different borders of Syria.

I've spent time in Turkey.

I've uh traveled and seen, and as I think about what the scripture tells us in Psalms 122 to pray for the peace of Israel, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Uh I'm reminded of the fact that in Jerusalem, there's three sections to that city.

There is a Jewish part of Jerusalem now, there is an Arab and Muslim part of that city, there's also a Christian part of that city.

And so for us as believers, we need to be praying for peace, don't we?

We need to be praying for peace.

We need to be praying for peace and this conflict and peace in Iran, because I don't know if you know this or not, but Iran is now one of the fastest growing underground churches in all of the world next to China, as people are coming to faith in Jesus through visions and dreams and people who are sharing the gospel.

And so we have brothers and sisters who are in our military who need our prayers, and we have brothers and sisters in Christ who need our prayers, don't they, Church?

And so I spent some extra time in prayer as I was preparing today for this message that already is a heavy message, as we're in our Racing Hell series, and I think about the intensity of the physical realities that are happening, but also knowing the fact that the spiritual reality, there's always more than meets the eye, isn't there, church?

There's always more that's going on.

Things are being informed by the spiritual world.

And our world today is desperate to convince us that there's not a spiritual battle being waged.

That the devil's sin in hell is not real, that it's just this scary fairy tale that's made to control the masses.

Social media telling us is filled with people who just want us to just believe in ourselves, like that's gonna be enough.

They use Jesus as a mascot of whatever their ideology is or lifestyle, that Jesus is just a nice guy and that a nice guy would never allow anyone to go to hell.

This is an attempt to censor Christ and to erase eternity, to erase hell.

And so I want to, before I get into this message today, I'd like for us to all pray.

So if you bow your head with me now, God, as we open your word, Father, we pray, God, that you would teach us.

God, we pray, Lord, today, Father, that you would remind us of the spiritual realities that are happening.

That Father, we, Lord, want to pray for peace.

God, we also want to pray for spiritual peace.

That God, the people that we know in our life, that God, the spiritual battle that is being waged, that God, people would come to know you as Savior.

In the intensity of the spiritual battles that are being waged in our city and others, Father, we pray right now, God, that you would equip us from your word.

God, we want to learn from your word.

We want you to teach us.

We want you, God, to equip us.

We want you, Holy Spirit, to comfort us.

Father, I pray, God, right now, as this room would be filled with grace and truth that comes from your gospel.

We thank you, Father.

We praise you in the strong name of Jesus.

Everybody said, Amen.

Well, if I've not met you before, I'm Forrest, lead pastor here at Multiply.

I'm grateful that you are in the house.

If you're new with us, welcome.

You jumped into a series called Erasing Hell.

The title of my message today is Hell.

Yeah, it's real.

And I think about uh a movie that came out just a few years ago that was with Tom Hanks and talked about the Apollo 13 mission that happened in 1970.

See, during the Apollo 13 mission, there was system failures that caused for the mission to go off course.

They weren't able to complete the mission, but instead the mission changed to a mission of just them being able to get home.

And in light of the system failures that happened, the astronauts had to make these critical course corrections using nothing but just the small window and manual controls.

They had to keep Earth perfectly centered in the window while they were firing the thrusters and just a few degrees off and they would have missed home completely.

They would have missed home forever.

The same is true in eternity.

That you don't just get to drift and expect to land in the right place.

That if you just are just a few degrees off, if truth just gets distorted, even just a little, if Jesus gets replaced, if eternity gets ignored, then you missed the destination that you were created for.

We have to keep heaven and Christ in our window so we are able to stay aligned with the one who's trying to bring us home.

See the importance of getting eternity right is really the chief aim of this life here on earth.

And I have labored over these messages as I've been thinking about and studying and reading about the realities of heaven and the realities of hell, and I've felt sad, and sometimes I felt depressed just thinking about the reality of hell.

And I wonder, I wonder if today that if just being just a small degree off in our understanding of eternity could lead us to a destination that we were never meant to reach.

See, the enemy, the enemy, Satan, his language is lies.

His native tongue is lies and deception.

And there's a deception that's going on, that eternity that it doesn't matter, it's not something to think about, hell isn't real, that a loving God will never judge, even though he's the perfect judge.

And if we are not attuned to the realities of heaven and hell in our life, we are going to lose out on the urgency of eternity, a heaven-filled life, and having a soul that ultimately is prepared for a final judgment.

See, the point of Jesus talking about hell wasn't just to scare us, but to save us.

And Jesus talked more about hell than he did heaven.

And we're gonna look at a few passages of scripture today, some long passages where Jesus is talking about heaven and hell.

And he's talking about the realities, and he's talking about this to his followers and what's gonna happen to those when they take their final breath and what eternity will be.

And he's talking to them in Matthew chapter 25, which is one of the passages that we left off last week.

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

And if you didn't hear last week's message, I'd love for you to go to our website and listen to last week to catch up.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells them plainly what hell was created for.

Starting in verse 41, as Jesus is talking about the separation of those who go to heaven and hell, the sheep and the goats, he says, and then he will curse those to his left.

Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Verse 42.

For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat.

I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink.

I was a stranger and you did not invite me in.

I needed clothes and you did not clothe me.

I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.

They also will answer, Lord, when do we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you?

And he will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you do not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me, then they will go away to eternal punishment.

But the righteous to eternal life.

How did Jesus talk about hell?

That's what I want to kind of deep dive in today.

Because I want you to be equipped with not just my opinions, but what Jesus actually said.

So as you think about the realities of heaven and hell, I want you to be equipped with God's word and what Jesus had to say and what terminology and what words Jesus used to describe hell.

Our passage last week, Jesus uses the Greek word gehenna to talk about hell, which is this image of a final judgment.

He uses this word Gehenna a number of times.

Matthew 5, 22, and Matthew 10, 28, and 233, and Mark 9, 11 times Jesus uses this term Gehenna.

Well, what in the world does it actually mean?

Well, Gehenna, it refers to the valley of Henam.

This is this ravine south of Jerusalem.

And in the Old Testament, we see that this valley is a site of child sacrifice to the false god Moloch.

This is a place of death.

This is a place that in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 7.33 says that it's the valley of slaughter.

It's a place where there is deep evil and destruction.

And in Jesus' day, as he uses this term Gehenna, what people are thinking about is this as the symbol of divine judgment and destruction.

Jesus also uses the term outer darkness, a place of separation and despair in Matthew 8.22.

Jesus says that they'll be cast out into the outer darkness where there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth, this symbol of a separation of God.

So we have this imagery of this place of evil in Gehenna, and this place of separation from God in the outer darkness.

In the same way that darkness is the absence of light, we see this outer darkness that this is a place that is absent of the light and life of Christ.

Jesus also uses the Greek term Hades, which was in Greek and in Hebrew thought was this place of the dead.

And in the Jewish understanding of Hades is this place that there was this dividing place outside of God's presence where Jesus is describing this as this place of wicked death and this place of a uh eternal torment.

And we're gonna look at a passage where Jesus talks about Hades.

Jesus also uses the terminology eternal fire or eternal punishment that we just read.

A fiery furnace.

He uses the term unquenchable fire as a as a uh symbol of eternal torment.

Throwing those will be thrown into the fiery furnace.

It speaks of this eternal, irreversible destruction and pain.

Jesus says it's where the worm never dies, where there's shame and eternal decay.

And Jesus is quoting from the Old Testament, and he's helping to use all these different images to help describe what hell is going to be like.

Are y'all getting the picture?

So when somebody says to you, well, Jesus never said the word hell, well, no duh, Jesus didn't speak English.

That's an English word.

He used all of these Greek terms to talk about this place, this place of eternal fire.

And I I struggle as we even just talk about this because I don't want anybody to go to hell.

I don't even want to preach about hell, but Jesus did.

Jesus did.

So here we are right now, talking about it, not because any of us want to, but because Jesus talked about it.

Are you hearing me?

And it's a struggle, I know, for all of us as we think about someone who that we love who may be facing this eternal separation from God, but ignoring it's not gonna erase it.

Instead, you need to make sure that for your life that you don't go where you weren't made to go.

Jesus started out as we the first thing we read that that hell was created for Satan and his demons.

Hell was not created for humans.

We were meant to be in right relationship with God.

But because of eternal rebellion and evil of Satan's demons, they have been cast out into this outer darkness, into this lake of fire, into this eternal hell.

And Jesus does not want any of us to go there.

That's why he came 2,000 years ago and died on the cross for you and me so that we wouldn't go there.

Instead, we would be with him for eternity in heaven.

You were not made to go to hell.

You were made to be in right relationship with God.

And so when people try to tell you, oh, well, Jesus didn't talk about hell, you know that that's not the case.

You know that you're being lied to.

You know that this is a misrepresentation.

You know that they're just trying to knock you off just a few degrees so that you will get lost.

I don't know about you, I've been lost a time or two.

Anybody ever put a location in your GPS and you put the address in, but somehow you just end up at the wrong destination anyway?

Boy, isn't that frustrating.

It just didn't recalculate in time.

We have to make sure as believers, we're constantly making sure that we're recalculating, that we're keeping home in the window, that we have eternity in mind, that we have the truth of the gospel and the truth of Jesus Christ right in front of our face so that we don't get lost.

I I keep seeing these videos from this one, uh I don't know if he's a preacher guy or something on social media, but it's kind of a man on the street interview.

And in different places like in Florida and Houston, he just goes up to people and he says, Do you believe in Jesus Christ?

He's got a myriad of these videos where he's just out in public places and asking people, Do you believe in Jesus Christ?

And about half of the people that he asks, about half of them say, Yes, but about half of them say, No, I don't want to talk about it.

Some even laugh.

And every time I watch those videos, something inside of me, it just is just so filled with pain as we as I see someone openly reject, do you believe in Jesus?

And it is a scoffing laugh and a smirk?

No, as they walk about their business and continue to walk on without knowing the truth.

And every time I see it, I think about our passage from last week where Jesus says that if you will acknowledge me before men, then I will acknowledge you before my father in heaven.

But if you deny me before men, then then Jesus is also in the position where he's having to then deny you before the Father in heaven as well, and then that you are going to be eternally separated when the judgment comes.

And when I see these videos, I just can't get them out of my head.

And it makes me just it makes me just check my heart to make sure that we as a church are not becoming a holy huddle.

All internal.

Just about everybody who's here right now in the seats.

That's why last night or two nights ago at Longest Day of Play, there was a bunch of folks, they handed out like 400 popsicles.

How about that?

Kids love that.

But not just that, they also, a bunch of those popsicles came with the invitation to come to church and conversations because we don't just want to be this holy huddle.

And we're tempted at times to get into this mindset of just thinking, well, I follow Jesus.

Like I'm good.

That's all that's important.

That's that's all I need to do.

And Jesus is telling us look for those who are hungry, who are thirsty, who are in need.

And we are the ones who are tasked with and allowed to be a part of the mission of bringing heaven to earth.

And so we have to live like you're already home right now.

We need to be the ones that are a part of the kingdom that is here, but not yet.

If heaven is our eternal home, then it should shape how you live right now.

A second big idea.

Live like you're already home.

But it's easy for us to stick our hand in the sand.

Even you've heard it before.

Well, this world just go into hell in a handbasket.

Well, yeah, if we don't do anything about it.

We're the ones who are called to the least of these.

Jesus says, as you're serving the least of these, you're serving me.

Jesus allows us to be a part of his redeeming restoration.

That it would be in Frankfurt as it is in heaven.

That we be get to get to be the ones to carry heaven with us.

And Jesus can do whatever it is that he wants.

I told you just a few minutes ago that right now Iran is one of the fastest-growing underground churches.

That Jesus, there's all these stories of Jesus coming to people in Iran in dreams and giving their lives to Christ.

It reminds me of a number of years ago when I was in Turkey in 2015, and I met a man who was uh a uh a shop owner, and we went to see him, and we were in his shop, and he told us in a country that's 99% Muslim that before he owned his shop, he worked in a factory.

And one day, as he was working on some electric in the factory, he was actually electrocuted and he was out for a number of minutes.

And while he was unconscious, Jesus, Isa, came to him in this vision to tell him that he was the Son of God and this man gave his life to Christ.

And as we sat in the shop, we were sitting in the shop that for the last 14 years they had been running an underground church.

Out of his storefront, sharing their faith very carefully, because he knew that if people would find out that he and their their crew was meeting as a Christian church, that the community would starve his family to death because of the hatred of Christians.

Jesus, he can appear to anybody any way he wants to.

And we're tempted to think, well, you know what, Forrest, like heaven and hell, but doesn't it just like all work out in the end?

There's nothing in the scripture that gives us an indication that you get a second, third, fourth chance to come to Christ after you die.

That's the reality.

The reality is that here on earth, right now, we're the ones that get to carry the name of Jesus to those that are leased and lost, that are needing to know the truth about Christ, even within our own families.

Jesus gives another story of heaven and hell as this illustration of the spiritual realm, and there's a lesson within it of how we should act here on earth.

He gives this story about a rich man in Lazarus.

This is in Luke chapter 16, verse 19, and following.

Luke 16:19

There was a rich man who was dressed in perfect, in purple and fine linen, and lived in luxury every day.

At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table.

Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

The time came when the beggar died, and the angels carried him to Abraham's side.

The rich man also died and was buried.

In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side, and he called to him, Father Abraham, have pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip a tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.

But Abraham replied, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things while Lazarus received bad things, and now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.

And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.

He answered, Then I beg you, Father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers.

Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.

Abraham replied, They have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them.

No, Father Abraham, he said, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.

Verse 31.

He said to him, If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.

Even this rich man in Hades in hell cared about his brothers, but he could not go to warn them.

It can feel so hopeless watching someone ignore eternity here on this side of heaven.

But God has made you into a signal of his love and his rescue.

That's why we, as followers of Jesus and those who are hearing about Jesus, need to turn now to Christ and then tell them our actions should be evidence of the fact that we follow Jesus and seeing others come to know him as well.

We are not saved by good works, but we're saved for good works.

That if we have a real faith, then it should produce real fruit.

That repentance isn't just this moment, it's the direction in which we are following after God.

Every single day we're laying down our lives and we're repenting to follow Christ so that other people can see your good works and praise your Father in heaven so that you can be someone who carries both truth and grace.

So you can be one that light Christ is a warning symbol.

Love warns.

And there's at some point somebody who'll say to you, Well, why in the world would loving God send innocent people to hell?

But we know as followers of Jesus that there's a flaw in that question.

Because no one is innocent.

The Bible says that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

What I'm saying is that the house is already on fire.

And instead of Jesus pushing us toward it, Jesus is the one who is running into it to pull us out.

Everybody loves to quote John 3.16, but they forget the next verse.

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.

Verse 17 for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Jesus didn't come to threaten us, he came to rescue us from a condition that we're already in.

And God has been so patient with us, patiently waiting for more and more people to be saved and to come to knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter says it so plainly in 2 Peter 3:9.

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.

Listen to this, listen.

Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

There are more believers in Christ on the planet today than there have been in all of human history.

God is waiting, allowing more people to come to faith in him, but he's not waiting forever.

One day Jesus is coming back.

And we don't know what it's gonna be.

But we know that as believers, we should be the ones that are proclaiming his name so that every nation will hear about the word of God and will be able to understand that they need Christ as their savior?

Imagine if you lived like eternity mattered and someone else's eternity was changed because of you.

What could that look like?

Could it look like you praying for someone literally today or tonight?

Maybe it's a confession of the apathy that's in your heart about the realities of heaven and hell.

Maybe that means for you that this week you need to actually open your mouth and share your faith with somebody this week or invite them to church.

And God's patiently waiting.

Maybe you're in the room today and you're hearing about the realities of hell, but can I tell you that we have the hope of heaven as well?

That while hell is real, the hope of heaven is realer.

That we have a God who loved us so much that he died for each one of us on the cross, taking our sin and our debt and our blame on his back so that he could rescue us from an eternity separated from him.

That might be somebody in the room today.

Today is the day of your salvation.

Today is the day for you to give your life to Christ.

Romans tells us that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

You know what the Greek means in that means everybody who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Call on Christ, confess with your mouth, believe in your heart.

And let's, as a church, help others find Him as well.

Let me pray for us.

God, I pray right now, all across the room, every person who claims to be a follower of Jesus, that they be equipped with your words, with the realities, Father, of eternity.

And God, there's so many things in our life that try to distract us and knock us off course and try to get us to care about all these things that are gonna fade away.

But Father, I pray, God, that we would be a people that wouldn't just be looking inwardly, but instead, Father, that we would have our eyes open for those who need to be rescued.

So, Father, right now, I pray for everyone who follows Jesus right now that God, you would put something, someone on their heart and their mind right now.

God, I pray that you would bring that person's face to mind.

That God, today they would begin to pray for them if they haven't already.

That today, God, you would show them and you would lead them to be bold in the opportunity to speak to them this very week.

And Father, I pray right now, all across this room, anybody who's in this room who's not received you as Savior, that today would be the day of their salvation.

That they would pray to you, Jesus, save me.

I confess that you are Lord, and I believe in my heart that you are raised from the dead and that you are alive.

Forgive me, cleanse me, wash me so that I can be in heaven with you one day.

I give you my life as you gave yours for mine.

Thank you for saving me.

Head bowed, eyes closed, you're in the room today, and you prayed to receive Christ as your savior.

I want to you for you to make a sign before heaven, before God, and allow me to pray for you.

And what I want you to do is at the count of three, I want you to raise your hand up.

If you prayed, receive Christ today as your savior.

Ready?

One, two, three.

Anyone in the house?

Receive Christ, hold it high, Father.

We pray, God, that this would be a place where you are rescuing people from sin, death in the grave.

Father, I pray, God, that you would help us, Lord, to be a church that loves so well that people see you, Jesus, your light and your life through us.

So, Father, make us into those people.

Make us into those followers, make us into those that have heaven on our lips, Father.

And that your kingdom come, your will be done in Frankfurt as it is in heaven.

We love you, we praise you in the strong name of Jesus.

Everybody said, Amen.

Church, stand to your feet now as we worship, as we sing.