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February 23, 2022 2:00 am
Hell is an eternal and biblical reality, but it's become relegated to modern myth. In the message "The Truth about Hell" from the series 20/20, Skip gives you the scriptural scoop on this eternal place.
This teaching is from the series Pastor Skip's Top 40.
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What you need to know is the Bible does not describe how about what if something far worse than Helen, are you also need to know that your Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ absolutely believe in him and he spoke on it a lot.
Many people don't want to believe that hell exists and they think everyone will end up in a good place. One continue our countdown of Skip's top 40 messages on the connect with Skip hi to YouTube channel in the number three spot Skip's message. The truth about health student with the Bible has to say about hell to invite you to be a part of the forgettable journey to Israel viewing for an incredible time as we travel throughout Israel and experience the culture that is so unique to that country will start on the Mediterranean Sea and head north. Seeing places like Caesarea and Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River will spend several days in and around Jerusalem and see the temple mount Calvary, the garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of olives and much more. This remarkable itinerary is made richer with times of worship, Bible study, and lots of fellowship. Now I've been to Israel and number of times over the years and I can honestly say that visiting the places where the events of the Scriptures unfolded where Jesus lived taught and healed.
It just never gets old. I can't wait to see you start planning and saving Israel with skip-formation, inspiration, cruises.com/see a that's inspiration cruises.com/see ABQ where in Matthew chapter 25 as we dive into her study with Skip Heitzig pew forum survey indicates 87% of Americans believe in God pretty high.
It goes down a little bit after that though 74% of Americans say they believe in heaven and only 59% say they believe in hell know why that really interests me is because all of those topics have the same source material becomes a God or heaven or hell all come from this book so you got a lot of people believing in God you last believing in heaven, but a whole lot less believing in hell a Rob Bell who is a name some of you may be familiar with. He was sort about rockstar in evangelical circles years ago a young upstart pastor in Michigan. I wrote books that got a lot of airplay velvet Elvis is one of them. I think his first book. Another book love wins.
He has since his start taken a very liberal approach to truth as so as to deny even biblical truth, but he was asked in an interview, a very simple and forthright question. Is there a hell.
Here's his answer. I actually think there is a hell because we see hell every day. He described hell is greed, injustice, rape, abuse we see hell on earth all around us all the time we actually see lots of people choosing hell with the oppression we see tyranny. We see dictators using their power to eliminate opposition literally. In other words, Rob Bella St. gathers a hell but not an eternal hell or just hell on earth is when bad people do bad things to her. A whole lot of people that tell what you need to know is the Bible does not describe hell.
That way, but if something far worse than hell on earth. You also need to know that your Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ absolutely believe in hell, and he spoke on it a lot in one of the places that he spoke on it is Matthew 25 to begin reading in verse 31, when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all his holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
He will set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on his left, then the King will say to those on his right hand, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. If you would go down to verse 41 that he will also say to those on the left hand apart from me you curse into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger, you did not take me and make it you did not clothe me sick and in prison and you did not visit me then it will also answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked, or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you, then he will answer them, saying, assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me in these will go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
I wanted this tell you some preliminary stuff. Some people see what I just read as an event called the judgment of the nations eschatological way they see this as an event taking place in the future were God judges nations after the tribulation.
Based on how they treated the nation of Israel during the tribulation.
To determine their admission into the kingdom age or not. That's one way to interpret other people see this as a general description of judgment for all saved and all unsaved. I am not here to unravel that. I just want really want to focus on this topic so I just wanted to get that out there. I really want to focus on verse 41, where it says he will say to those on the left, depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Now the illustration that our Lord uses is an illustration they would've understood the shepherd separating sheep and goats in the Middle East. Even to this very day you can see this happening.
You will see shepherds on hillsides. They have a flock that is mixed. Some sheep and some goats with her walking together but then the shepherd will separate the sheep from the goats at two very important times during the day grazing time sleeping time and that is because sheep and goats have very different temperaments.
Sheep are docile, sometimes clueless is sort of kind of meander around, wander around.
Goats are are sort of impervious to things their aggressive their rambunctious bill know they'll charge things that sheep would not do that. So when it comes to feeding. It's not good to keep them together when they eat is not good to keep them together when they arrest they don't rest well together.
So the shepherd will separate the sheep from the goats – the background of this. What I like to do is kind of zeroing in on these verses, but mostly verse 41, I want to share five facts about hell in the first is that hell is an actual place the actual place you see Jesus in this section is speaking of an actual event that will take place in the future. Verse 31, when the Son of Man comes in his glory.
Now here's a simple question. Is Jesus going to come literally yes he is.
He said that on a number of occasions. So did all the apostles.
So were dealing with a literal event in the future and then in that same context. He speaks about eternal punishment and eternal kingdom of your to do a quick search of the word hell in an English Bible like the new King James version that I speak from, you find that the word hell in English shows up 32 times in the Bible. 32 times, but all of the references about health throughout the Bible, totaling 162 times and sometimes they're just sort of plain in-your-face upfront like Psalm 917. The wicked shall be turned to hell, and the nations. All the nations that forget God. Pretty straight up or Daniel chapter 12 were Daniel predicts a time that is coming the worst time ever in history called the tribulation. And afterwards he writes. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
But by far the majority of all the biblical teaching we have on hell comes from the Lord Jesus Christ more than anybody else. Jesus spoke on hell. In fact, Jesus spoke on hell more than Jesus spoke on heaven.
It is estimated if you look at Matthew Mark Luke and John, all the times he refers to it 70×70 times Jesus spoke about or referred to health and in in the kind of language that nobody can like Jan at you going to yell whatever is the kind of language that strikes terror, or it should into every heart. He spoke about hell is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
He spoke of hell is a place where the fire is not quenched. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke of hell is a place with a worm never dies. He spoke of. It is outer outer darkness place where one is tormented by flames and past memories, and he spoke of it as a place where there is a great golf that is fixed between hell and paradise. Jesus in Matthew 10 verse 28, said do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. This is Jesus, man of love. Now here's my question. If we cease to exist after we die. That's it.
Because living we die we cease to exist and why did he spend so much time warning people about and and and if you think was not very loving.
I contend it's the most loving thing you can do if you know there's a hell and you don't warn people that that's not loving.
If there is a hell and you warn people of it that's loving and you warn people a lot of CS Lewis wrote in his book the problem of pain these words, there is no doctrine, which I would more willingly removed from Christianity than this. If it lay in my power, but it has the full support of Scripture and especially of our Lord's own words, it is always been held by Christendom and it has the support of reason." See if there is no hell in the Bible is a book of myths. If there is no hell, then Jesus was just a misguided soul. If there is no hell than the crucifixion was pointless.
There's no significance in trying to save us from what if there is no hell, then you should send as much as you possibly can, is not sin is fun right is is all about you getting pleasure in this life sucking it like an orange dry every drop of enjoyment. You can, but if there are consequences for deeds and beliefs, we should receive the warning hell is an actual place and there are several words the New Testament uses to describe what is the word Hades I Hades. The Greek word, Hades is the equivalent of an Old Testament Hebrew word she all which simply means that the grave is spoken about a couple of different ways. Sometimes refers to the just the grave in the ground where bodies are buried. Sometimes refers to life after the grave, the soul's existence after death is one word, Hades. Another word is the word Gehenna is used 12 times, mostly by the Lord Jesus did you know that Gehenna originally referred to a Valley outside of Jerusalem, the southwest corner of Jerusalem has a Valley.
To this day, a ravine called – you know the valley of the son of Hannum and in ancient days it was a garbage dump to your garbage. There's always a fire going on bodies of criminals were in car port replace their burned up their bodies of animals taken from the city that died. So the city would be defiled, thrown into hell Gehenna in the eighth century BC it was the place where under King Ahaz and King Manasseh. People offered their children as sacrifices to pagan gods and because of that detestable, horrible, smelly learning place. It became a metaphor for an eternal place of punishment. Hell, 1/3 word that is used as the work Tartarus's only use once in the New Testament.
Second Peter chapter 2 is a place for bound fallen Angels awaiting final judgment. The fourth term is the lake of fire's Revelation 19 and 20 lake of fire is name of a place of eternal torment.
You might call it the final hell. The Bible calls it the second death so so hell is an actual place, there's a second fact, I want you to notice and that is hell is an intentional place where anybody that is God created hell for a very specific reason.
Verse 41, he will say to those on the left hand depart from me, you curse into the everlasting fire.
Here it is prepared for the devil and his angels, God did not create hell as a place to punish people originally it became that eventually but it was not created that way originally notice the work prepared for the devil and his angels. Compare that with verse 34 the King will say to those on the right.
Come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. That's what God prepared the people heaven. Jesus said to his disciples. I am going to prepare a place for you.
So heaven is prepared for people hell is prepared for the devil and his angels. However, there's something about God, you need to know God is pro-choice when it comes to salvation when it comes to salvation.
God lets people choose where they want to go and if they don't want anything to do with God. I want nothing to do with God because I can force you to be in heaven where he is all the time to let you and respect your choice. GK Chesterton wrote hell is God's great complement to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human choice person went up to God and said God would use send me to hell and lock me in forever. God said no I will not send you there. But if you choose to go there. I could never lock you out so it is an intentional place. Originally created for the devil and his angels, but here even in our text. There are some people that that Jesus is the judgment says you're going there.I want to turn with me to Revelation chapter 20. It's a book we been looking at the last few weeks and there is an unmistakable future event that you need to see couple of Revelation chapter 20 verse 10. Here's a really good part I love this verse. The devil verse 10, the devil, who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone are the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Can I get a hallelujah on that site yeah finally gets what's coming to him. So that's what Jesus meant when he said, is prepared for the devil and his angels were the no matter what Hollywood says Satan does not rule. Hell, that's the idea that they always prefer here's the devil he's like the chief tormentor of hell no he is not.
He is the chief victim of hell he gets thrown in there and he is tormented day and night, but it doesn't end there. Unfortunately, verse 11 continues and says, then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away.
There was found no place for them and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life and the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. Verse 14 then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. This is called the great white throne judgment. It is the judgment by God of all unbelievers all unbelievers. It is a courtroom scene but is very different than an earthly court because here in Revelation 20. There's no debate about guilt. There is a prosecution but no defense. There will be a judge but no jury, there will be a sentence but no appeal and there is a punishment, but no parole and something you need to know it will be fair will be fair I know it will be fair because verse 12 says books were opened.
So the idea behind that is a full inventory of a person's life is kept books work world not know exactly what's in the books, perhaps a record of every thought, every word, every deed Jesus did say you remember that every idle word men speak they will give an account for in the day of judgment.
Another book may be a record of all the times that person had an opportunity to give their life to Christ every time they heard the gospel but refuses never the time to Montrose.
It is never the time you were that a church number that that opportunity and the and that all is recorded. Perhaps one thing for sure there's there's only one person behind the bench. This is not a committee he is and voted in or out. There's only one person who is the judge one person presiding over this judgment and is the only one qualified to preside over this judgment is qualified because he alone has certain attributes that nobody else has attributes we have covered in the series on Dr. one of the attributes is the attribute of omniscience. God knows everything.
That means he knows every thought, reaction, every motive of every single person. Also, he has the attribute of alumni presence is everywhere present in the totality of his being, which means God alone is the best eyewitness of every single event in history. So he will be the judge. Buddha will not be the judge.
Krishna will not be the judge.
Mohammed will not be the judge.
God alone is the judge so hell is an actual place. It is an intentional place, there's 1/3 fact and it gets worse before it gets better. Hell is a painful place back to our text, and in Matthew 25. You'll notice in verse 31 the word fire. 41. The word fire everlasting fire.
You'll also notice in verse 46 the word punishment. You have a couple descriptive words, the talk about what that experience will be like buyer doesn't sound fun punishment is itself a sense painful to me. You know that I've had people laugh at me when I bring up the idea of hell, especially in relationship to them. The help I'm looking forward to hell. I've had people tell me that I'm looking forward don't always answer because all my friends are to be okay.
You need new friends, but it's no good reason for you to go as negative and all my friends are to be now and working a party ever heard that all the fun is hell dumb, bad, bad idea got that idea.
Revelation 14 describes it as they will drink of the line of God's fury, which is been poured out full strength into the cup of his wrath. And it says it will be tormented and there is no rest day or night.
It is only a party to you. This elegant party want to go to that Skip Heitzig 63 message on our top 40 messages count. It's from the series 2025. The full message and more strategic and watch him teach live twice a week to.com/Calvary PV right now we want to share about a recent that will help you grow stronger in your faith. There's a top 10 list for just about everything. What about a top 10 list they can actually impact your faith Skip my six top 10 messages will really make a mark is a symbol from what most people don't know about heaven. Somebody once said they're very good be at least three surprises in heaven. First of all, who's there that you thought would never make it. Second, who's not fair that you were sure would make it in the number three. The fact that you yourself are there by God's grace. You Skip teach on heaven, hell, in the end times and topics like the Holy Spirit. True happiness you give $35 today will also send you reload love Lenny height six book about the founding of the ministry that's been helping children victim Terry for nearly 2 decades visit connectwithskip.com to give today to get Skip's top 10 messages on Sunday. Plus your copy of reload. Love Lenny height 819 to 18.
Tune in tomorrow.
Skip Heitzig pictures and other top 40 message and explores the problem of anxiety and how you can find peace for your soul through the truths of Scripture. So if you just think that you're dangling in some inexplicable universe with no line, no reason, no design, no plan, no God, so all we are fortuitous occurrences of accidental certain by chance very lonely place to make Skip presentation of connection communication to God's unchanging truth