-Transcript-
Thank you for joining me today. Today, we’re going to answer the question is Hell a real place? Is hell real place? Oh, what a popular thing to talk about, what a popular thing to study. Not a lot of people want to do that, do they? They don’t want to talk about hell, they want to think about hell. They want to say, hell is nothing more than just having the lights off. So, to speak. Just just being in a blackness. But look, the Bible has a lot to say on hell. In fact, there’s more to say on hell than we can even discuss here in this few minutes that we have. So, I’m going to dive right in and get to what I can here. And hopefully, I can make a Biblical case, a Bible-based case for the idea, that hell, truly is a real place. Let’s start in Hebrews 10:26-31″ For if we sin willfully after that, we have received the knowledge of the truth, their remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking for of judgement and fiery in the nation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses law, died, without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much soar upon punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who have trodden underfoot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he had, he was sanctified and unholy thing and have done despite unto the Spirit that’s capital S of Grace for we know Him, That hath said, Vengeous belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord”. And again, the Lord shall judge His people verse 31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. So, Hebrews 10 26-31 Lays out this idea that uh people are living sinfully against the Lord in rebellion and that nullifies, what Jesus Christ did on the cross. Now once we’re saved, we’re always saved, we’re not saved by works, but I’m speaking here to the lost person, that is not saved and that understands that they are not living as they should live, and the Lord is convicted of them. The Lord has showed Him through His creation and through His messengers that Jesus Christ died for their sins. They reject that gift that free gift of Salvation. They say, no, I don’t want it. And then, the writer here in Hebrews, reminds us that he that had despised Moses law, that despised the Mosaic laws. Those old laws, uh, the laws that we read about in the Old Testament, they were killed or died under two or three witnesses as in those laws were so complex and and if you had broken the law that you were to be put to death and there were so many different ways that man could break them. In fact, no, man could keep the law. That was the point of the law to show that no, man could live without sin that they all fall short. Uh, and then it reminds us here in Hebrews 10 as it goes on to 29, 30 and 31. If the Old Testament law which came of God, we know that came of God, remember, God, literally wrote it on the stone there. God gave those Commandments gave the law to Moses. And what the writer is saying, is, think about this, if the same God that gave that law to those, uh, Jewish people in the Old Testament. If that law was that strict, for those, that didn’t follow it, and they broke one little rule that they would be stoned at they’d be killed. Can you imagine what that same? God is going to do that vengeance is going to come from that same God, to those that reject, the free gift of salvation to those that play games with God, to those that ridicule and rebell against God. And that’s why it ends here in verse 31, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. You know, I think part of fearing the Lord is understanding that we are not our own that we are bought with a price that we have a responsibility is saved Christians to recognize. There is a heaven and there is a hell, and we can’t water that down, just because it might make people uncomfortable. It may not make, uh, it popular. I preach about Helen Church and we don’t have a big church. I don’t know if that’s coincidence or not, but I’m still going to preach it. I’ve got to preach it because, you know what verse 31 tells me, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. And so, one day, I mean, number one, we’re all in his hands but one day, we will be and we will meet God face to face, Amen. And those that are saved those that are believers. As I understand it, we will be at the reward seat. Basically, the beam of seat will be rewarded and we will not face wrath, because we accept that Jesus Christ, the saviour. But those that rejected, that free gift, those are the ones. I believe this a scripture is referencing those that have played games, those that have rebelled those, that have blasphemed God, those that have mocked the Lord. Hey, the Bible says, the Lord is not mock. Amen. He will have his pound of Flesh. He will have his judgement. And his judgement is so much more fearful and so, much more powerful than anything we can imagine. And part of that judgement, I believe is a real hell, and I get that belief from God’s word. It’s not my opinion. It’s not something I saw in a movie, not something, I read and some other book, it’s from the Bible. Let’s start with who has the power to cast into hell Luke 12:5, “but I will forewarn you, whom ye shall fear. Fear Him, which after he hath killed. Hath power to cast into hell, yay. I say unto you fear Him“. So,Luke 12: 5 is referencing a verse that’s found in multiple gospels, that basically says fear. The one don’t fear the one that can kill you, right? Don’t fear, man, if the man’s got a gun and can kill you, don’t fear that one fear, the one that has the power to cast you into hell. Okay. And so, what we see is, who has the power to cast into this real, hell that’s God. Now what God say, I’m going to cast someone in to something, where it’s, like the lights going off or it’s all black. Where there’s just no existence. What God say that that I, you know, fear me because I can cast you off into a meditative sleep. No, of course, not. The Lord is killing us. This in multiple gospels, He’s telling us this because He wants us to understand there is a real hell Mark 9:43, “and if they 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. The fire that never shall be quenched.” Now, if there is no hell, how could there be a fire that is never quenched. If that is symbolic, what is that symbolic of a fire? That’s never quenched. A fire that never goes out to me that tells me there is a literal hell that there’s no way to to question that that the fire will burn for an eternity and so on now, You may say brother, Clark, God is love, He loves us so much. A loving God would not send people to hell, that’s often what you hear. And I would say this, two fold. Number one, God is love. And number two, He is perfect and holy and a perfect and holy God will enact perfect and holy judgement. And so that same, loving God, as Hebrews 10:26-31 mentions had a very strict law in the Old Testament that led to death for many. And you, you want to get into this, you can start looking at what the oh, man. What during the crossing the Red Sea. During those in the wilderness that trek there trying to go to the promised land and all of the people that had to die in order for the Jews to be able to even enter the promised land die from unbelief, die from having mixed relations die from worshipping false gods, die from asking for quail and go on and on, read that and say what is the character of God? The character of God is that He’s fully Holy And so that He realises we are not holy. That’s why a loving God gives us a path to enter His Heaven and avoid the wrath of hell. And that path is only by the blood of Jesus Christ. Which we talked about recently on this program it is the blood, it is by the blood that we are saved. And when we accept Jesus Christ, as Lord and Saviour, and we accept that blood atonement. That’s that Bible word, atonement. The idea that there’s a payment, a propitiation a full payment for a debt ascend debt that we cannot pay that Jesus Christ, died on the cross for our sins. When we accept that free gift of Salvation, we are saved from this hell. And so again, a loving God. What did a loving God do to save mankind? That loving God said here, my only begotten, my beloved Son, the one that was there. The Holy Trinity, the one that was that there at the beginning. I’m going to send Him into the Earth. I’m going to let him be of no good report. I’m going to let Him be humiliated. I’m going to let Him be abused and let Him let Him be uh just killed in. No way that’s ever been done before the worst way. Ever, in terms of the brutal death of drinking of that sin cup of being abused of, being of being, just mocked and ridiculed of being everything under the sun, dealing with all kinds of problems. I’m going to let Him endure that and and I’m going to go ahead and let Him bleed out slowly on that cross. And I’m going to let Him die on that cross-up bloody death on that cross to save humanity. That God is definitely a god that has a unique unique way. You know, the Bible says that His ways are not our ways. Amen. Now, Jesus died. He was buried, he was in the grave three days and then God, miraculously resurrected Him from the grave. That is the proof. That Resurrection is the proof that that truly is the Holy One of God, the Christ, the spotted Lamb without blemish, that died for our sins. And when He was resurrected and He walked the Earth, 40 days and 40 nights, He was seen by over 500. The Bible tells us then we know that that truly is God and is of God and it is the only way for us to be saved is to believe in Jesus Christ, finished work on the cross. And so that God is, yes, He is a god of love and this God shows us love through Himself through the most brutal, death of all mankind. I read on online that that to uh the the word excruciating which you know if you describe being an excruciating pain that’s like a 10 out of 10, the word excruciating actually comes out of the world of crucifying and so it is just an excruciating death, that our God endured for us so that we could be saved. And then when we reject that excruciating death, when we reject that free gift of Salvation, when we don’t believe when we harden our hearts, come on now when we do those things, our fate is what, our fate is help not because of that, loving God, but because of our choice Revelation, 14:11 “and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever. And they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast in his image and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name“. Now, Revelation 14 11 is referring to Uh, hell the smoke in the torment forever and ever, no, rest day or night and and dealing with those in the tribulation period, it took the mark of the beast and so forth, but I believe this is describing a real hell, this idea of having no rest day or night? Well, how can you say that hell, is nothing more than just being dead and just Blackness, how can you say that that to me? Sounds kind of, like rest and, and this here it says no rest day or night, you know, someone dies, you say rest in peace. Hey, but uh, they’re not resting in peace if they didn’t know and accept the Lord, Jesus Christ. As their Saviour, Because once saved always saved but if you reject that gift then you have been saved and guess where you end up you end up in hell and there’s many more scriptures on this in the Bible. I encourage you don’t take my word for it. Yet in the Bible research, get a concordance or go online. Look at scriptures on hell and there are many verses that go deep into what and even parables that Jesus told about how that go into the fact that hell truly is a real place. And you’re saying, oh, does God, really need to scare people into salvation? Well, I don’t know. The Bible says that we’re a stiff-necked people that the Jews were stiff neck people, that we today, Believers, I believe, uh, even those, uh, that there are backslide or those that have not believed yet. They’re also stiff neck or stubborn. The Bible calls us sheep like dumb sheep. Well, what do we need? Sometimes, we need a big ice bucket over our head. Sometimes we need a cold shower, sometimes we need some loud preaching. Sometimes, we need to understand the consequences of the decisions that we make, you know, if I were to take a car and drive it, A traffic and just close my eyes and start driving around blindly. You know, I need to be aware. What’s going to happen? I will crash that car and so at the same time, God’s saying, you’re going to live your life blindly be aware that, that hell awaits you. So open up your eyes, realize that you are blind and then open up your eyes and realize that there is a path to Salvation from a loving God, that does not want you to go to hell, you know, the Bible says, but the Lord doesn’t want any to perish, but that all to come to a repentance, what is that? That’s that saving knowledge, that something needs to change in you. And the way it changes is only by accepting Jesus Christ, as your lord and Saviour specifically what He did on the cross. And we see that in the book Corinthians:15:1-4. If I remember correctly, we must go to the gospel. Understand that the gospel for the belief, for those that in this church age to become a Believer is to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. And that is the way we avoid this, very real hell. Now, if we want to just go ahead and say, we’ll believe what we’ll believe and we’ll figure it out later. Then it’ll be too late. And that’s why the Lord is sent creatures like me to tell you. The hell is real, and that you need to get right with God before it’s eternally too late. And the only way to get right with God, it’s not through works, it’s not through money, it’s not through pedigree. The only way to get right with God, is by accepting Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord. Now, I hope this was helpful today, it’s a big topic and a little message. And that’s why I encourage you to go ahead and get in God’s word, research, research it more understand the truth of His word, that there is a real hell, hell is a real place. And it is the home of those that reject Jesus as Saviour.