Pastor Rob Elka's sermon from last year (WORD-FOR-WORD)
"What About Hell?"
an open air sermon in Jackson Park last summer
Public Evening Gospel Concerts at 7 pm Sunday evenings all summer
My topic tonight will not leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy. On the contrary it is very sobering. Twenty first century people often shy away from acknowledging the reality of Hell. In the West, belief in a literal Hell is at an all time low. A recent survey suggests that for every person who thinks he is going to Hell, there are 120 who believe they’re going to Heaven. This optimism stands in stark contrast to Christ’s words in Matthew 7:13-14: “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. 14 But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.”
What would keep us out of Heaven is universal: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin separates us from a relationship with God. God is holy and cannot allow sin into His presence. Because we are sinners, we are not entitled to enter God’s presence. We cannot enter Heaven as we are no matter how good we think we might be.
Heaven is not our default destination. No one goes there automatically. Unless our sin problem is resolved, the only place we will go is our true default destination … Hell. The Bible teaches that both Heaven and Hell are very real places and that each of us will eventually spend eternity in one of them. We dare not “wait and see” when it comes to what’s on the other side of death. We shouldn’t cross our fingers and hope that our names are written in the Book of Life. We can know, we should know, before we die. And because we may die at any time, we need to know now—not next month or next year. It is of paramount importance to make sure you are going to Heaven.
Hell: Heaven’s Awful Alternative
Hell will be inhabited by people who haven’t received God’s gift of salvation in Christ. After Christ returns, there will be a resurrection of believers for eternal life in Heaven and a resurrection of unbelievers for eternal existence in Hell. Hell is described as a place of utter misery in the Scriptures, a place of conscious punishment for sins, with no hope of relief.
The reality of Hell should break our hearts and take us to our knees and to the doors of those without Christ. Today, however, Hell has become “the H word,” seldom named and rarely talked about. It’s common to deny or ignore the clear teaching of Scripture about Hell. However, Hell is real and we are not free to re-invent, revise or change biblical truths and Christian doctrines for mere accommodation. We must not evaluate truth based on what is popular, preferred or politically correct. We must evaluate truth based on God’s word. If we deny Hell because we find the notion unbearable and undesirable, then why not drop any other part of Christianity that’s unbearable or undesirable? Recognition of what the Bible teaches about Hell actually bespeaks a high view of Christ. Denial of Hell is, in a way, reflective of a low view of Christ’s death on Calvary’s cross. Charles Spurgeon said, “Think lightly of Hell, and you will think lightly of the cross. Think little of the sufferings of lost souls, and you will soon think little of the Saviour who delivers them.” Satan has obvious motives for fueling our denial of eternal punishment: He wants unbelievers to reject Christ without fear; he wants Christians to be unmotivated to share Christ; and he wants God to receive less glory for the radical nature of Christ’s work on the cross.
What Did Jesus Say About Hell?
Some consider Hell to be the invention of wild-eyed preachers obsessed with wrath. They argue that Christians should take the higher road of Christ’s love. Nevertheless, Jesus had more to say about Hell than anyone. He refers to it as a literal place and describes it in graphic terms—including raging fires and the worm that doesn’t die. Christ says the unsaved “will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”. In His story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus taught that in Hell, the wicked suffer terribly, are fully conscious, retain their desires and memories and reasoning, long for relief, cannot be comforted, cannot leave their torment, and are without hope. The Saviour could not have painted a more bleak or graphic picture.
With regards to the duration of Hell Jesus said, “They will go away to eternal punishment but the righteous to eternal life. In the same sentence Jesus uses the same word to describe the duration of both Heaven and Hell, “eternal”.
Is It Unloving To Speak Of Hell?
The most basic truth is that there are only two possible destinations after death: Heaven and Hell. Each is just as real and just as eternal as the other. Unless and until we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we’re headed for Hell. The most loving thing we can do for our friends and our family is to warn them about the road that leads to destruction and to tell them about the road that leads to life.
It’s far too easy to go to Hell. It requires no change of course, no navigational adjustments. We were born with our autopilot set toward Hell. God loves us enough to tell us the truth—there are two eternal destinations, not one, and we must choose the right path if we are to go to Heaven. All roads do not lead to Heaven. Only one does: Jesus Christ. He said, “No one comes to the Father except through me”. All other roads lead to Hell.
Earth: The In-Between World
Hell will be agonizingly dull, small, and insignificant, without company, purpose, or accomplishment. Hell and its occupants will exist in utter inactivity and insignificance, an eternal non-life of regret. Scripture says those who die without Jesus, “…will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power”. Hell will be the absence of all good, the absence of God. Hell will have no community, fellowship, or friendship.
Earth is an in-between world touched by both Heaven and Hell. Earth leads directly into Heaven or into Hell, affording a choice between the two. The best of life on Earth is a glimpse of Heaven; the worst of life is a glimpse of Hell. For Christians, this present life is the closest they will come to Hell. For unbelievers, it is the closest they will come to Heaven.
The reality of the choice that lies before us in this life is both wonderful and awful. Given the reality of our two possible destinations, shouldn’t we be willing to pay any price to avoid Hell and go to Heaven? And yet, the price has already been paid. “You were bought at a price”. The price paid was exorbitant—the shed blood of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
Consider the wonder of it: God determined that He would rather go to Hell on our behalf than live in Heaven without us. He so much wants us not to go to Hell that He paid a horrible price on the cross so that we wouldn’t have to. As it stands, however, apart from Christ, our eternal future will be spent in Hell.
Jesus asks a haunting question in Mark 8:36-37: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” The price has been paid. But, still, we must choose. Like any gift, forgiveness can be offered, but it isn’t ours until we choose to receive it. A convicted criminal can be offered a pardon, but if he or she rejects the pardon, it’s not valid. A pardon must be accepted. Similarly, Christ offers each of us the gift of forgiveness and eternal life—but just because the offer is made doesn’t make it ours. To have it, we must choose to accept it.
I close with this true story. A professional singer was asked to sing at the wedding of a wealthy man. The reception was to be held on the top two floors of Seattle’s Columbia Tower, the Northwest’s tallest skyscraper. She and her husband were excited about attending. At the reception, waiters in tuxedos offered luscious hors d’oeuvres and exotic beverages. The bride and groom approached a beautiful glass and brass staircase that led to the top floor. Someone ceremoniously cut a satin ribbon draped across the bottom of the stairs. They announced the wedding feast was about to begin. Bride and groom ascended the stairs, followed by their guests.
At the top of the stairs, a maitre d’ with a bound book greeted the guests outside the doors. “May I have your name please?” The singer and her husband complied only to find out their names were not on the list. “There must be some mistake, I’m the singer. I sang for this wedding!” she cried. The gentleman answered, “It doesn’t matter who you are or what you did. Without your name in the book you cannot attend the banquet. He motioned to the waiter and said, “Show these people to the service elevator, please.”
They followed the waiter past beautifully decorated tables laden with shrimp, whole smoked salmon, and magnificent carved ice sculptures. Adjacent to the banquet area, an orchestra was preparing to perform, the musicians all dressed in dazzling white tuxedos. The waiter led them to the service elevator, ushered them in, and pushed G for the parking garage. After locating their car and driving several miles in silence, the husband put his hand on his wife’s arm. “Sweetheart, what happened?” “When the invitation arrived, I was busy, I never bothered to RSVP. Besides, I was the singer. Surely I could go to the reception without returning the RSVP!”
She started to weep—not only because she had missed the most lavish banquet she’d ever been invited to, but also because she suddenly had a small taste of what it will be like someday for people as they stand before Christ and find their names not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Throughout the ages, countless people have been too busy to respond to Christ’s invitation to His wedding banquet. Many assume that the good they’ve done—perhaps attending church, being baptized, singing in the choir, or helping the needy—will be enough to gain entry to Heaven. But people who do not respond to Christ’s invitation to forgive their sins are people whose names aren’t written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. To be denied entrance into Heaven’s wedding banquet will not just mean going down the service elevator to the garage. It will mean being cast outside into Hell, forever.
In that day, no explanation or excuse will count. All that will matter is whether our names are written in the book. If they’re not, we’ll be turned away. Have you said yes to Christ’s invitation to join Him at the wedding feast and spend eternity with Him in His house? If so, you have reason to rejoice—Heaven’s gates will be open to you. If you have been putting off your response, your RSVP, or if you presume that you can enter Heaven without responding to Christ’s invitation, one day you will deeply regret it.
