1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:04,740 Well, folks, you’ll understand that the task that I have before me today is the most 2 00:00:04,740 –> 00:00:08,740 difficult one that is given to any preacher. 3 00:00:08,740 –> 00:00:14,040 We’ve been looking at the inside story of future life, death, resurrection, judgment, 4 00:00:14,040 –> 00:00:18,540 and as we come towards the end of the series we’re looking this week at the subject of 5 00:00:18,540 –> 00:00:23,260 hell and next week, I can’t wait for that to come, the subject of heaven. 6 00:00:23,260 –> 00:00:26,600 I look forward to that so much. 7 00:00:26,719 –> 00:00:35,099 Every person who has ever lived will personally experience either heaven or hell. 8 00:00:35,099 –> 00:00:39,000 Nobody will experience both. 9 00:00:39,000 –> 00:00:41,040 All will experience one or the other. 10 00:00:41,040 –> 00:00:47,360 You will experience heaven or you will experience hell, and that is true for every person you 11 00:00:47,360 –> 00:00:50,959 know and meet. 12 00:00:50,959 –> 00:00:56,200 All of us therefore need to hear about hell, either as a warning with regards to where 13 00:00:56,299 –> 00:01:03,299 you are heading or else as an appreciation of what it is that you have been saved from. 14 00:01:05,019 –> 00:01:10,279 I believe in hell because I cannot escape the clarity with which our Lord Jesus Christ 15 00:01:10,279 –> 00:01:12,220 spoke about it. 16 00:01:12,220 –> 00:01:16,720 Hell was not the invention of sick medieval minds. 17 00:01:16,720 –> 00:01:18,379 If it was, we could dismiss it. 18 00:01:18,379 –> 00:01:23,760 And you know, folks, that many, many, many churches are dismissing it today and not holding 19 00:01:23,860 –> 00:01:27,300 to this truth that Jesus clearly spoke about. 20 00:01:27,300 –> 00:01:31,559 But the inescapable fact is that the clearest teaching in all of the Bible on this subject 21 00:01:31,559 –> 00:01:36,239 does not come from the Old Testament or from the book of Revelation, the clearest and most 22 00:01:36,239 –> 00:01:43,500 frequent teaching on this subject comes directly from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ. 23 00:01:43,500 –> 00:01:47,000 And Jesus defines truth for me. 24 00:01:47,000 –> 00:01:50,779 I hope he does for you, he said, I am the truth. 25 00:01:50,779 –> 00:01:58,180 And I take him for truth in relation to heaven and therefore I must take him for truth in 26 00:01:58,180 –> 00:02:01,980 relation to hell. 27 00:02:01,980 –> 00:02:05,459 As a church we believe in hell. 28 00:02:05,459 –> 00:02:09,940 If you are a member of this church, you will have expressed your agreement at some point 29 00:02:09,940 –> 00:02:14,740 to the statement of faith that describes the great doctrines of the Christian faith that 30 00:02:14,740 –> 00:02:20,759 we hold in common as a congregation and to which we bear witness in the world. 31 00:02:20,759 –> 00:02:24,039 And in that statement of faith, if you’re going into the membership class and coming 32 00:02:24,039 –> 00:02:27,479 in as a new member of the church, you’ll have an opportunity to review this. 33 00:02:27,479 –> 00:02:32,580 You’ll be asked if this is something that you too are able to uphold and to agree with 34 00:02:32,580 –> 00:02:34,160 and to believe. 35 00:02:34,160 –> 00:02:35,160 And we say this. 36 00:02:35,160 –> 00:02:42,279 That we believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world assigning the unbeliever 37 00:02:42,679 –> 00:02:51,220 condemnation and eternal conscious punishment, and the believer to eternal blessedness and 38 00:02:51,220 –> 00:02:56,160 joy with our Lord, the statement of faith of our church, we bear witness to these truths 39 00:02:56,160 –> 00:03:02,759 because we find them in the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. 40 00:03:02,759 –> 00:03:10,800 Now, we need sometimes to just stop and say, do I really believe in heaven? 41 00:03:10,800 –> 00:03:15,600 So I really believe in hell. 42 00:03:15,600 –> 00:03:18,940 We’re not thinking about these things all the time, folks. 43 00:03:18,940 –> 00:03:21,800 But we are thinking about them today. 44 00:03:21,800 –> 00:03:27,320 And we need to be thinking about them sometimes because they are eternal in their scope, and 45 00:03:27,320 –> 00:03:31,199 nothing carries greater weight, therefore, than this. 46 00:03:31,199 –> 00:03:36,919 Now, I have set myself a discipline for today, and I have asked the Lord for his help in 47 00:03:36,960 –> 00:03:38,360 this regard. 48 00:03:38,360 –> 00:03:45,779 And that discipline is to be measured in everything that I say to you from the pulpit today. 49 00:03:45,779 –> 00:03:51,940 My aim is very simply to show you and to explain as best I can what our Lord Jesus says in 50 00:03:51,940 –> 00:03:52,940 relation to hell. 51 00:03:52,940 –> 00:03:57,559 I want you to see his words and to hear what your Lord says. 52 00:03:57,559 –> 00:04:03,279 Second, I want to attempt an answer to two of the most difficult questions, questions 53 00:04:03,320 –> 00:04:08,100 that I have asked and that some of you have asked of me at different times. 54 00:04:08,100 –> 00:04:11,139 One is, why is it that hell has to be forever? 55 00:04:11,139 –> 00:04:13,699 That’s a huge question. 56 00:04:13,699 –> 00:04:19,160 And another is how could a Christian possibly be happy in heaven if he or she knows that 57 00:04:19,160 –> 00:04:21,239 they have a loved one who is in hell? 58 00:04:21,239 –> 00:04:26,399 That’s one of the biggest questions I think any Christian faces and you will have asked 59 00:04:26,399 –> 00:04:28,480 that question as I have. 60 00:04:28,600 –> 00:04:34,380 And then I want to point you to Jesus Christ, as we try to do every week here, to point 61 00:04:34,380 –> 00:04:39,940 you to Him as the one who endured hell on the cross, so that you should never know from 62 00:04:39,940 –> 00:04:43,239 experience what it is like. 63 00:04:43,239 –> 00:04:49,519 Now, having said this, however careful, however measured the statement of this truth, there 64 00:04:49,519 –> 00:04:52,880 is no way in which we can avoid its horror. 65 00:04:53,200 –> 00:04:55,279 Dr. Jim Packer says, 66 00:04:55,279 –> 00:05:05,040 The New Testament teaching about hell is meant to appall us and to strike us dumb with horror, 67 00:05:05,040 –> 00:05:11,480 assuring us that as heaven will be better than anyone could dream, so hell will be worse 68 00:05:11,480 –> 00:05:15,559 than anyone could conceive. 69 00:05:15,559 –> 00:05:18,839 But we need to hear this truth. 70 00:05:18,839 –> 00:05:23,279 I know that some people, and this is increasingly the case in our culture and the culture always 71 00:05:23,279 –> 00:05:26,839 seeps in somehow to the church, so you hear it around the church a lot as well. 72 00:05:26,839 –> 00:05:31,000 There are people who will say the only thing that should ever be heard or spoken of in 73 00:05:31,000 –> 00:05:33,279 church is love. 74 00:05:33,279 –> 00:05:34,480 Love is all we need. 75 00:05:34,480 –> 00:05:39,079 That was the Beatles, not the Bible by the way. 76 00:05:39,079 –> 00:05:42,640 But you know maybe you said that, maybe you thought that. 77 00:05:42,640 –> 00:05:48,640 Well, people who are greatly loved sometimes do terrible, terrible things. 78 00:05:48,640 –> 00:05:50,779 You know that. 79 00:05:50,779 –> 00:05:56,480 And so the Bible gives to us a broader range of what we need to hear. 80 00:05:56,480 –> 00:06:04,359 That’s why Paul says on one occasion, knowing the fear of the Lord we seek to persuade others. 81 00:06:04,359 –> 00:06:08,440 So there’s a place for that in the life of a Christian believer. 82 00:06:08,440 –> 00:06:16,720 I’m just going to take it as foundational and obvious that every word that my Lord Jesus 83 00:06:17,079 –> 00:06:20,179 spoke is a word that I need to hear. 84 00:06:20,179 –> 00:06:21,220 Would you agree with that? 85 00:06:21,220 –> 00:06:23,859 There are no redundant words of Jesus. 86 00:06:23,859 –> 00:06:29,200 There are no words of Jesus that are not for us and so on this occasion I draw your attention 87 00:06:29,200 –> 00:06:34,399 to these most difficult and yet most important words of Jesus. 88 00:06:34,399 –> 00:06:39,700 Now there are really three strands to the teaching of Jesus in relation to hell. 89 00:06:39,700 –> 00:06:42,339 Let me give them to you and then we’ll look at each. 90 00:06:42,339 –> 00:06:45,679 Hell is a place of punishment, that’s number one. 91 00:06:45,679 –> 00:06:49,160 Hell is a place of destruction, that’s number two. 92 00:06:49,160 –> 00:06:53,579 And hell is a place of exclusion, that is number three. 93 00:06:53,579 –> 00:06:55,339 Let’s begin here. 94 00:06:55,339 –> 00:06:58,220 Hell is a place of punishment. 95 00:06:58,220 –> 00:07:00,720 Matthew chapter 25 and verse 46. 96 00:07:00,720 –> 00:07:04,260 We looked at this scripture already last week. 97 00:07:04,260 –> 00:07:10,359 Our Lord speaks of the day of judgment and then He says these will go away into eternal 98 00:07:10,380 –> 00:07:13,079 punishment. 99 00:07:13,079 –> 00:07:16,839 But the righteous into eternal life. 100 00:07:16,839 –> 00:07:24,880 So I’m simply drawing your attention now to this fact that Jesus speaks about punishment. 101 00:07:24,880 –> 00:07:29,660 Now there will be some people today who will say, well I don’t believe in punishment, I 102 00:07:29,660 –> 00:07:32,339 only believe in correction. 103 00:07:32,339 –> 00:07:38,359 Well, if you say that, I can only say to you that at this point you have a disagreement 104 00:07:38,359 –> 00:07:40,339 with Jesus. 105 00:07:40,339 –> 00:07:42,739 Because Jesus speaks about punishment. 106 00:07:42,739 –> 00:07:48,480 And not only about punishment, he speaks about punishment that is eternal. 107 00:07:48,480 –> 00:07:53,239 That’s what my Lord said. 108 00:07:53,239 –> 00:08:00,880 Now God is just, and that means that he never punishes in an arbitrary kind of way. 109 00:08:00,880 –> 00:08:05,480 And so the words of Jesus that were read to us in Mark Chapter 9 are very important. 110 00:08:05,480 –> 00:08:07,859 Look at verse 42 there. 111 00:08:07,859 –> 00:08:15,380 Jesus says if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be 112 00:08:15,380 –> 00:08:20,980 better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 113 00:08:20,980 –> 00:08:26,359 And you say, why would it be better for this person who has committed this sin to have 114 00:08:26,359 –> 00:08:30,839 been thrown into the sea earlier with a great millstone around his neck? 115 00:08:30,839 –> 00:08:32,900 You see what Jesus is saying? 116 00:08:32,900 –> 00:08:36,460 He’s saying terrible things are done in this world. 117 00:08:36,700 –> 00:08:43,359 Especially to children and a large part of it is never brought to justice here. 118 00:08:43,359 –> 00:08:47,599 But Jesus is saying you need to know that God will bring it to justice, nobody hurts 119 00:08:47,599 –> 00:08:50,039 a child and gets away with it. 120 00:08:50,039 –> 00:08:57,940 Now he says understand this, it would be better for the person who sinned against the child 121 00:08:57,940 –> 00:09:02,020 to have died before he or she did that. 122 00:09:02,200 –> 00:09:06,760 You say well I understand it would have been better for the child if the person who had 123 00:09:06,760 –> 00:09:12,020 perpetrated this thing had died first, but how is it better for the person who perpetrated 124 00:09:12,020 –> 00:09:14,760 the act to have died first. 125 00:09:14,760 –> 00:09:22,580 Here’s what Jesus is saying, the punishment experienced by a person in hell will be a 126 00:09:22,580 –> 00:09:29,520 direct reflection of the particular sins that they have committed. 127 00:09:29,619 –> 00:09:34,080 The person in hell will be punished for sins they did not commit, and if the person Jesus 128 00:09:34,080 –> 00:09:40,119 is speaking about had been drowned in the sea before he or she had offended against 129 00:09:40,119 –> 00:09:46,000 this child, it would be better for him because that person would have one less sin to deal 130 00:09:46,000 –> 00:09:49,000 with in hell. 131 00:09:49,000 –> 00:09:57,000 And a person in hell, friends, would give anything to have one less sin to deal with. 132 00:09:57,200 –> 00:10:00,380 You see that makes us sit up and take notice. 133 00:10:00,380 –> 00:10:07,380 Jesus is talking about real punishment for real sins that are named, that are dated and 134 00:10:07,440 –> 00:10:10,940 that are remembered by God. 135 00:10:10,940 –> 00:10:15,400 That’s why the Bible says on the last day the books are opened. 136 00:10:15,400 –> 00:10:21,320 And people are judged according to what they have done. 137 00:10:21,320 –> 00:10:23,479 So hell is a place of punishment. 138 00:10:23,479 –> 00:10:26,219 You have the word of Jesus for that. 139 00:10:26,219 –> 00:10:32,559 Now, the punishment, and we’re still in Mark and Chapter Nine, according to Jesus, comes 140 00:10:32,559 –> 00:10:34,359 in two ways. 141 00:10:34,359 –> 00:10:41,280 First, in verse 48 Jesus says, Their worm does not die. 142 00:10:41,280 –> 00:10:44,880 Now, notice it’s not THE worm. 143 00:10:44,880 –> 00:10:48,539 It’s THEIR worm. 144 00:10:48,559 –> 00:10:55,580 In other words, Jesus is talking about something that is unique and special to every individual 145 00:10:55,580 –> 00:10:59,900 in hell, THEIR worm that’s personal, you see. 146 00:10:59,900 –> 00:11:01,820 Now, what does a worm do? 147 00:11:01,820 –> 00:11:04,340 A worm eats away at the inside. 148 00:11:04,340 –> 00:11:13,539 And that which eats away at the inside of a person is conscience. 149 00:11:13,539 –> 00:11:18,380 It does not always do that in this world, because so often it is suppressed. 150 00:11:18,380 –> 00:11:23,760 But what our Lord is teaching us here is that conscience will be fully activated in hell, 151 00:11:23,760 –> 00:11:28,000 that a person in hell will live with the full knowledge of what they have done. 152 00:11:28,000 –> 00:11:32,979 And Jesus says, THEIR worm, it’s personal because it’s the full knowledge of what they 153 00:11:32,979 –> 00:11:36,320 have done and unique to each individual. 154 00:11:36,320 –> 00:11:41,080 THEIR worm does not die. 155 00:11:41,080 –> 00:11:43,679 It never diminishes. 156 00:11:43,679 –> 00:11:46,479 And it never ends. 157 00:11:46,559 –> 00:11:50,440 And then Jesus says, THEE fire is not quenched. 158 00:11:50,440 –> 00:11:55,700 So while their worm is particular to each individual in hell because it’s a direct 159 00:11:55,700 –> 00:12:01,500 reflection of their full knowledge of all that each individual there has done, THEEE 160 00:12:01,500 –> 00:12:07,619 fire is general to all and reminds us, of course, that the Bible often says, our God 161 00:12:07,619 –> 00:12:09,760 is a consuming fire. 162 00:12:09,760 –> 00:12:15,559 A person in hell lives under the judgment of God who is the consuming fire forever. 163 00:12:15,640 –> 00:12:26,400 In other words, just as the presence of God will be heaven to some, the presence of God 164 00:12:26,400 –> 00:12:29,859 will be hell to others. 165 00:12:29,859 –> 00:12:36,200 If you have come to love the Lord with your heart and to be a worshipper of Him, then 166 00:12:36,200 –> 00:12:40,039 He will be heaven to you. 167 00:12:40,039 –> 00:12:46,039 And if you live your life resisting and pushing away the God who made you, then for all eternity 168 00:12:46,039 –> 00:12:49,659 that God will be hell to you. 169 00:12:49,659 –> 00:12:52,340 The fire is not quenched. 170 00:12:52,340 –> 00:13:00,080 So hell is a place of punishment and that is the first strand in the teaching of Jesus. 171 00:13:00,080 –> 00:13:04,359 Just as we will see that heaven is spoken of in a number of ways in order to give us 172 00:13:04,419 –> 00:13:11,159 a full picture of the truth, so we find today that there is more that Jesus says about hell. 173 00:13:11,159 –> 00:13:15,159 And so secondly, hell is a place of destruction. 174 00:13:15,159 –> 00:13:16,419 It’s a place of destruction. 175 00:13:16,419 –> 00:13:20,140 Again, I’m quoting simply the words of Jesus. 176 00:13:20,140 –> 00:13:22,679 Matthew 10, 28. 177 00:13:22,679 –> 00:13:30,099 Our Lord says, do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. 178 00:13:30,099 –> 00:13:32,059 Rather, fear Him. 179 00:13:32,059 –> 00:13:41,859 Jesus said this, fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 180 00:13:41,859 –> 00:13:45,719 Now, this leads to a very important question. 181 00:13:45,719 –> 00:13:49,760 What is meant by the word destroy? 182 00:13:49,760 –> 00:13:53,859 And you will know that some Christians have suggested that if the body and the soul are 183 00:13:53,859 –> 00:13:59,919 destroyed in hell, could this mean that the body and soul of a person ceases to exist 184 00:13:59,940 –> 00:14:00,940 in hell? 185 00:14:00,940 –> 00:14:05,659 That in some way, hell as it were burns itself out, after a period of time, that the punishment 186 00:14:05,659 –> 00:14:11,020 will come to an end, and it will end at the point where the body and the soul are destroyed? 187 00:14:11,020 –> 00:14:17,260 You will have heard that suggested, and you need to know as someone who upholds the teaching 188 00:14:17,260 –> 00:14:23,119 of Jesus, how you can answer questions along these lines when they come to you. 189 00:14:23,119 –> 00:14:29,539 The same question is raised from the best known verse in all of the Bible, John 3 16, 190 00:14:29,539 –> 00:14:36,239 you can say it with me, for God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, 191 00:14:36,239 –> 00:14:40,260 that whoever believes in Him should not perish. 192 00:14:40,260 –> 00:14:45,159 Now, what is the meaning of the word perish? 193 00:14:45,159 –> 00:14:51,719 Some are asking this question, does this mean that in some way the soul or the body goes 194 00:14:51,719 –> 00:14:56,559 out of existence, is that what the word perish means? 195 00:14:56,559 –> 00:15:01,700 So this is a very important question, do the words destroy or perish mean that the body 196 00:15:01,700 –> 00:15:08,159 and soul at some point may cease to exist in hell, and the answer I’m going to give 197 00:15:08,159 –> 00:15:12,619 to you to that question is, no, it does not mean that. 198 00:15:12,619 –> 00:15:17,940 Doug Moo, great theologian – who for many years taught just up the road here at Trinity 199 00:15:17,940 –> 00:15:24,760 Seminary – Doug Moo points out that the word destruction in the bible often refers 200 00:15:24,760 –> 00:15:32,059 to the situation of a person or an object that has lost the essence of its nature and 201 00:15:32,059 –> 00:15:33,059 function. 202 00:15:33,059 –> 00:15:38,859 What he means by that is simply, here’s something or someone that is no longer in 203 00:15:38,859 –> 00:15:44,559 a position to do what it or they were made to do. 204 00:15:44,559 –> 00:15:48,979 And he gives a number of examples and I think this will make his point clear to you. 205 00:15:48,979 –> 00:15:53,539 Do you remember when Jesus spoke about the wine and the wine skins? 206 00:15:53,599 –> 00:15:58,739 And he said, you don’t put new wine in old wine skins. 207 00:15:58,760 –> 00:16:03,539 Because if you do, if you do put new wine in old wine skins, the wine will be spilled 208 00:16:03,539 –> 00:16:09,520 and the skins will be destroyed. 209 00:16:09,520 –> 00:16:11,640 Now think about it, what’s he saying? 210 00:16:11,640 –> 00:16:17,760 He does not mean that the old wine skin ceases to exist, he’s saying that the old wine 211 00:16:17,760 –> 00:16:22,820 skin, because it bursts and now has holes in it, it is no longer able to fulfill the 212 00:16:22,859 –> 00:16:26,599 function for which it was made, which is to hold wine. 213 00:16:26,599 –> 00:16:30,460 It’s useless, it cannot fulfill the function for which it was made. 214 00:16:30,460 –> 00:16:31,599 It’s destroyed. 215 00:16:31,599 –> 00:16:36,619 And that’s exactly the same word that Jesus is using in Matthew’s gospel when he says 216 00:16:36,619 –> 00:16:41,320 that fear him who can destroy the soul and the body in hell. 217 00:16:41,320 –> 00:16:43,919 You say, well that’s one example, I’ve got more coming. 218 00:16:43,919 –> 00:16:49,820 Do you remember the story about the woman who poured ointment over Jesus? 219 00:16:49,820 –> 00:16:54,679 And someone said why was the ointment wasted? 220 00:16:54,679 –> 00:17:00,799 The word wasted is exactly the same word that Jesus uses here for destroyed, the destroying 221 00:17:00,799 –> 00:17:02,700 of the soul and the body. 222 00:17:02,700 –> 00:17:06,780 It means the same thing, wasted, in the sense that it cannot fulfil the very function for 223 00:17:06,780 –> 00:17:07,780 which it was made. 224 00:17:07,780 –> 00:17:12,140 At least that was the opinion of the person who said that, and that’s what this word 225 00:17:12,140 –> 00:17:13,140 means. 226 00:17:13,140 –> 00:17:16,359 Destroyed, no longer able to fulfil its function. 227 00:17:16,359 –> 00:17:18,939 Wasted, no longer able to do what it was meant to do. 228 00:17:18,979 –> 00:17:21,800 You remember the story of the lost coin? 229 00:17:21,800 –> 00:17:26,280 A woman, Luke 15, she loses a coin and Jesus tells this story. 230 00:17:26,280 –> 00:17:30,380 She finds it, and then she says to her friends and neighbours, rejoice with me for I have 231 00:17:30,380 –> 00:17:34,579 found the coin that I had lost. 232 00:17:34,579 –> 00:17:38,900 And the word that Jesus uses for lost there is exactly the same as the word that he used 233 00:17:38,900 –> 00:17:41,339 for destroy the soul and the body being destroyed. 234 00:17:41,339 –> 00:17:44,000 See, it’s what that we saying. 235 00:17:44,000 –> 00:17:46,540 It can’t fulfil its function. 236 00:17:46,540 –> 00:17:50,319 What use is a coin that has value because you’re able to buy things with it? 237 00:17:50,319 –> 00:17:53,040 But when it’s lost, it’s no use to you. 238 00:17:53,040 –> 00:17:57,459 You can’t buy stuff in the shops with a lost coin and so this woman rejoices when she finds 239 00:17:57,459 –> 00:18:06,640 it because now it can be restored to its usefulness before it was lost, destroyed, lost, wasted. 240 00:18:06,640 –> 00:18:09,959 It’s the same word. 241 00:18:09,959 –> 00:18:16,219 When Peter speaks in second Peter chapter 3 and verse 6 about the flood and he says 242 00:18:16,219 –> 00:18:25,180 this, the world that then existed was deluged with water and it perished. 243 00:18:25,180 –> 00:18:27,780 So there’s your perish word here. 244 00:18:27,780 –> 00:18:32,579 Second Peter chapter 3 into 2, it perished and that’s the same word that Jesus used for 245 00:18:32,579 –> 00:18:35,680 the soul and the body being destroyed in hell. 246 00:18:35,680 –> 00:18:36,680 Perished. 247 00:18:36,680 –> 00:18:38,699 It should not perish. 248 00:18:38,699 –> 00:18:39,699 But think about it. 249 00:18:39,699 –> 00:18:46,040 Peter is not saying at the time of the flood that the planet ceased to exist. 250 00:18:46,040 –> 00:18:49,839 What he’s saying is simply that the planet couldn’t fulfill its normal function of sustaining 251 00:18:49,839 –> 00:18:57,640 life until the waters in the grace and the mercy of God subsided. 252 00:18:57,640 –> 00:18:58,640 So here’s the point. 253 00:18:58,640 –> 00:19:04,640 Wine skins with holes, ointment that’s said to be wasted, a coin that was said to be lost, 254 00:19:04,640 –> 00:19:11,479 a world that perished in the flood, none of these things ceased to exist, what all of 255 00:19:11,640 –> 00:19:17,540 them have in common was that they were no longer in the position to fulfil the function 256 00:19:17,540 –> 00:19:20,939 for which they were made. 257 00:19:20,939 –> 00:19:28,500 So for a soul or for a body to be destroyed does not mean that a person will cease to 258 00:19:28,500 –> 00:19:38,020 exist, it means that the person cannot fulfil the function for which a human being was created. 259 00:19:38,060 –> 00:19:41,760 That’s the tragic loss of hell. 260 00:19:41,760 –> 00:19:48,140 William still says the awful thing about hell is the knowing, burning, searing agony of 261 00:19:48,140 –> 00:19:52,180 its unfulfillment. 262 00:19:52,180 –> 00:20:03,400 Life in that living death will be one huge aching void because a person who lives for 263 00:20:03,760 –> 00:20:07,640 himself ultimately cannot satisfy himself. 264 00:20:07,640 –> 00:20:10,479 Cannot. 265 00:20:10,479 –> 00:20:13,640 So it’s a place of punishment, second, it’s a place of destruction. 266 00:20:13,640 –> 00:20:14,839 Here’s the third thing. 267 00:20:14,839 –> 00:20:21,439 From the teaching of Jesus it is a place of exclusion, now again Matthew chapter 25, our 268 00:20:21,439 –> 00:20:28,180 Lord will say to those on his left and these are the words of Jesus, depart from me, you 269 00:20:28,880 –> 00:20:35,880 cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, what an awful statement 270 00:20:36,660 –> 00:20:38,900 that is. 271 00:20:38,900 –> 00:20:42,660 To hear Jesus say depart from me. 272 00:20:42,660 –> 00:20:48,819 Now this is the language of Jesus and while punishment and destruction obviously speak 273 00:20:48,819 –> 00:20:55,819 of what a person suffers, this language of exclusion, depart from me, speaks of what 274 00:20:55,900 –> 00:20:58,819 a person misses. 275 00:20:58,819 –> 00:21:05,260 So Jesus tells the story, you remember, about the wedding banquet and how people were invited 276 00:21:05,260 –> 00:21:09,160 and called to come and to be guest at the banquet. 277 00:21:09,160 –> 00:21:13,619 And when everyone was gathered in and the banquet began, there’s the lights and there’s 278 00:21:13,619 –> 00:21:17,199 the music and there’s the joy and there’s the feasting. 279 00:21:17,199 –> 00:21:27,979 And then Jesus said, but outside, outside there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing 280 00:21:27,979 –> 00:21:28,979 of teeth. 281 00:21:28,979 –> 00:21:30,380 That’s what Jesus said. 282 00:21:30,380 –> 00:21:33,260 Those who refuse the invitation. 283 00:21:33,260 –> 00:21:36,439 And they’re now outside. 284 00:21:36,439 –> 00:21:40,459 And the book of Revelation, the very end of the Bible, the last chapter of the Bible 285 00:21:40,459 –> 00:21:41,459 same thing. 286 00:21:41,459 –> 00:21:46,780 It pictures the great city and all its light and all its joy and all its happiness and 287 00:21:46,839 –> 00:21:48,579 the presence of God there. 288 00:21:48,579 –> 00:21:52,219 And then it says, and outside, outside. 289 00:21:52,219 –> 00:22:03,280 And then describes those who miss out on what to the redeemed, this pure joy and pure glory. 290 00:22:03,280 –> 00:22:14,500 Now friends, as terrible as the doctrine of hell is, we should be very, very thankful 291 00:22:14,500 –> 00:22:19,579 that hell will always be outside of heaven. 292 00:22:19,579 –> 00:22:26,979 You think what one sin in Adam, through the blood stream of the human race, has done by 293 00:22:26,979 –> 00:22:29,540 way of bringing absolute devastation to our world. 294 00:22:29,540 –> 00:22:37,260 You think of all the evil and all the slaughter and all the violence and all the pain that 295 00:22:37,260 –> 00:22:42,020 has plagued the history of this world. 296 00:22:42,020 –> 00:22:48,020 God had his gracious reason for allowing one sin to come into the world and for his ordering 297 00:22:48,020 –> 00:22:49,180 of the history of the world. 298 00:22:49,180 –> 00:22:57,420 It is through this that he has revealed his glory, his mercy, in the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, 299 00:22:57,420 –> 00:23:01,959 the glory of the Lamb will be forever and forever and forever. 300 00:23:01,959 –> 00:23:08,500 But you can be sure, and at this point you should be glad, that hell will always be outside 301 00:23:08,859 –> 00:23:10,099 of heaven. 302 00:23:10,099 –> 00:23:16,579 That not one sin or even the possibility of sin will ever enter in there. 303 00:23:16,579 –> 00:23:25,699 William still says this, hell he says will be a completely isolated and insulated realm 304 00:23:25,699 –> 00:23:34,540 for the absolute containment of all evil when it is eventually finally banished from God’s 305 00:23:34,540 –> 00:23:36,020 kingdom. 306 00:23:36,800 –> 00:23:44,540 It will be outside heaven forever, because in the new heaven and in the new earth sin 307 00:23:44,540 –> 00:23:48,939 will be no more. 308 00:23:48,939 –> 00:23:51,979 That’s the promise of God. 309 00:23:51,979 –> 00:23:57,459 Now three strands to the teaching of Jesus on the subject of hell. 310 00:23:57,459 –> 00:24:01,459 You will not find anything clearer anywhere in the Bible. 311 00:24:01,459 –> 00:24:03,819 I wanted you to hear it from the lips of Jesus. 312 00:24:04,439 –> 00:24:07,300 Your Lord and I hope your Savior. 313 00:24:07,319 –> 00:24:12,439 There is one verse in the New Testament in which the apostle Paul brings all three strands 314 00:24:12,439 –> 00:24:18,439 of the teaching of Jesus together in one place and it’s worth noting for that reason, and 315 00:24:18,439 –> 00:24:24,400 that is 2 Thessalonians 1, where the apostle drawing together everything that the Lord 316 00:24:24,400 –> 00:24:31,420 Jesus said under the inspiration of the Spirit said, they will suffer the punishment — there’s 317 00:24:31,479 –> 00:24:38,479 the first — of eternal destruction — there’s the second — away from the presence of the 318 00:24:38,479 –> 00:24:44,540 Lord — there’s the third — and from the glory of his might. 319 00:24:44,819 –> 00:24:51,839 That’s the Bible’s teaching and especially the teaching of Jesus about hell. 320 00:24:51,839 –> 00:24:58,339 Now, folks in the time that remains, I want us to consider two questions that you must 321 00:24:58,400 –> 00:25:03,060 have thought about, that I’ve thought about, many times and it’s important for us to engage 322 00:25:03,060 –> 00:25:04,780 with them. 323 00:25:04,780 –> 00:25:08,599 The first is, why does hell have to be forever? 324 00:25:08,599 –> 00:25:10,900 You must have thought about this. 325 00:25:10,900 –> 00:25:16,439 Is it not reasonable that the punishment, the destruction and the exclusion — is it 326 00:25:16,439 –> 00:25:21,780 not reasonable that this should last for a time but then at some point, surely, it would 327 00:25:21,780 –> 00:25:23,699 come to an end? 328 00:25:24,280 –> 00:25:28,319 Why does hell have to be forever? 329 00:25:28,319 –> 00:25:34,020 And there are many things that could be said, but let me say this one thing for you to consider. 330 00:25:34,020 –> 00:25:41,760 Hell goes on forever because sinners never stop sinning. 331 00:25:41,760 –> 00:25:47,380 Hell goes on forever because sinners never stop sinning. 332 00:25:47,560 –> 00:25:56,160 You find this in the book of Revelation, that on as the judgment comes, sinners hate God 333 00:25:56,160 –> 00:26:00,420 even more than they did before. 334 00:26:00,420 –> 00:26:05,140 Revelation 16 and verse 10, people nod their tongues in anguish and they curse the God 335 00:26:05,140 –> 00:26:12,800 of heaven for their pains and for their sours, and they did not repent of their deeds. 336 00:26:13,099 –> 00:26:17,400 The sinner cannot change his heart. 337 00:26:17,400 –> 00:26:22,199 The sinner cannot bring himself to love God. 338 00:26:22,199 –> 00:26:27,060 Nobody will be repenting in hell. 339 00:26:27,060 –> 00:26:33,380 The heart of the sinner does not grow softer in hell, or kinder. 340 00:26:33,380 –> 00:26:37,819 If you think that the end of sin for the sinner is the end of this life, you have really 341 00:26:37,819 –> 00:26:42,140 not thought very deeply about the subject of sin itself. 342 00:26:42,619 –> 00:26:50,420 In hell the sinner is directly in the company of the devil and his angels, Jesus says. 343 00:26:52,160 –> 00:26:57,660 And in that company sin will sink more deeply into the sinner, and the sinner will sink 344 00:26:57,660 –> 00:27:01,400 more deeply into sin. 345 00:27:01,400 –> 00:27:08,140 And any remnants of compassion or care for other people that were there going in, will 346 00:27:08,140 –> 00:27:14,500 get less and less and less as sin does its ongoing work of making a person more, and 347 00:27:14,500 –> 00:27:18,060 more, and more, and more absorbed with themselves. 348 00:27:20,020 –> 00:27:23,680 Hell goes on forever because sinners never stop hating. 349 00:27:23,680 –> 00:27:29,420 They hate God more, and more, and more, and never, never, never less. 350 00:27:31,160 –> 00:27:33,680 That’s why sin is such a frightening, deadly disease. 351 00:27:33,680 –> 00:27:35,380 That’s why we need a Savior. 352 00:27:36,260 –> 00:27:38,459 It’s why you need a Savior. 353 00:27:39,219 –> 00:27:42,219 My friend, you need a Savior. 354 00:27:42,219 –> 00:27:45,339 You can’t change yourself. 355 00:27:45,339 –> 00:27:50,979 You need someone to save you, or you’ll be a person who goes on resisting and pushing 356 00:27:50,979 –> 00:27:55,959 God away not only for your life now, but for eternity. 357 00:27:56,939 –> 00:27:58,060 It’s hell. 358 00:27:59,060 –> 00:28:02,260 Bishop Ryle says. 359 00:28:02,260 –> 00:28:07,140 Most men hope to go to heaven when they die, but few, it may be feared, have taken the 360 00:28:07,140 –> 00:28:10,939 trouble to consider whether they would enjoy heaven if they got there. 361 00:28:10,939 –> 00:28:14,420 Heaven is, he says, essentially a holy place. 362 00:28:14,420 –> 00:28:17,979 It’s inhabitants are all holy and its occupations are all holy. 363 00:28:17,979 –> 00:28:23,579 What he asks, could an unsanctified man do in heaven if by chance he got there? 364 00:28:24,579 –> 00:28:28,760 John Owen the great theologian from an earlier century says with the most 365 00:28:28,760 –> 00:28:32,900 powerful entrenchment of language, he says, there’s no greater folly no greater 366 00:28:32,900 –> 00:28:40,400 deception out in the world than this. That an unholy person can enjoy heaven 367 00:28:40,400 –> 00:28:45,800 because the very joy of heaven is that the God is the blessing of heaven. 368 00:28:45,800 –> 00:28:52,040 And Owen makes this point, he says unholy persons cannot enjoy God nor would God 369 00:28:52,079 –> 00:28:58,099 be a reward to them. That’s actually a very revealing question. Would you think 370 00:28:58,099 –> 00:29:03,420 that God is a reward to you? Would you think that just to be in the presence of 371 00:29:03,420 –> 00:29:11,920 God would be the greatest joy to you? Or does that not sound like much to you? 372 00:29:11,920 –> 00:29:17,800 That’s telling a great deal about where you are, isn’t it? So here’s the tragedy 373 00:29:18,260 –> 00:29:27,579 folks that the sinner could not be happy in heaven and cannot be happy in hell. 374 00:29:27,579 –> 00:29:31,500 This is the tragedy of sin. It is a complete and utter dead end. It leaves 375 00:29:31,500 –> 00:29:36,260 the sinner with no place to go. Of course the sinner would want to be out of hell 376 00:29:36,260 –> 00:29:42,300 but not to be in heaven because that’s where God is who he hates and has 377 00:29:42,479 –> 00:29:46,380 Zhao has lived all his life. And the Bible says, 378 00:29:46,380 –> 00:29:52,680 As the tree falls soso shall it lie Lincoln draws attention 379 00:29:52,680 –> 00:29:56,760 to the words of Jesus about gnashing of teeth. isn’t that an awful expression? 380 00:29:56,760 –> 00:30:04,000 Gnashing of teeth. And what is gnashing of teeth lies? 381 00:30:04,000 –> 00:30:07,900 There’s a resentment that’s going on and here’s what he says. In hell people are 382 00:30:08,140 –> 00:30:14,959 so sick of having to gnash their teeth at God. There’s no repentance 383 00:30:14,959 –> 00:30:20,819 there. There is no one saying I wish I were with you God. 384 00:30:20,819 –> 00:30:25,680 There is no one in hell who wants to be in heaven. That’s the dead end. 385 00:30:25,680 –> 00:30:30,160 You see. I cannot be happy in hell and I could not be happy in heaven. 386 00:30:30,160 –> 00:30:35,660 What an awful place to be. So, Doctor Jim Packer says, 387 00:30:35,660 –> 00:30:39,160 Let us be clear and honestly about the doctrine of eternal punishment. 388 00:30:39,160 –> 00:30:42,660 It is in essence the case of God, respecting our choice and 389 00:30:42,660 –> 00:30:47,479 continuing to us throughout eternity. The spiritual condition 390 00:30:47,479 –> 00:30:54,260 which we chose to be in while on earth. Are you resisting God today? 391 00:30:54,260 –> 00:30:58,839 Your prayer today should not deliver me from hell, 392 00:30:58,839 –> 00:31:04,000 your prayer should be, Oh God, cleanse me, 393 00:31:04,000 –> 00:31:09,000 change my heart. Save me from this will 394 00:31:09,000 –> 00:31:14,540 that always resists you, always resists you. 395 00:31:14,540 –> 00:31:18,900 I can’t change myself. I need a savior! 396 00:31:18,900 –> 00:31:21,800 Oh God, make me a new creation in Jesus Christ. 397 00:31:21,800 –> 00:31:27,260 You need a savior. God will be the heaven of some 398 00:31:27,260 –> 00:31:31,040 and the hell of others. 399 00:31:32,040 –> 00:31:36,579 Last question, and you must have asked this question. 400 00:31:36,579 –> 00:31:40,739 If you are a Christian, how can a person be happy in heaven 401 00:31:40,739 –> 00:31:43,560 if they have loved ones who are in hell? 402 00:31:43,560 –> 00:31:46,560 That’s surely one of the hardest questions that can be asked. 403 00:31:46,560 –> 00:31:51,099 I cannot give you a complete answer to that question, 404 00:31:51,099 –> 00:31:53,760 but let me just point to three things 405 00:31:53,760 –> 00:31:55,540 that I personally have found helpful. 406 00:31:55,540 –> 00:32:00,239 They may just be useful to you in perhaps moving you forward 407 00:32:00,380 –> 00:32:01,900 in a way that will be helpful 408 00:32:01,900 –> 00:32:04,680 in your own walk with the Lord. 409 00:32:04,680 –> 00:32:07,839 The first thing is the clear promise of Scripture, 410 00:32:07,839 –> 00:32:09,579 in twice in the book of Revelation, 411 00:32:09,579 –> 00:32:13,719 that God will wipe away all tears from your eyes. 412 00:32:13,719 –> 00:32:14,819 Let’s give weight to that. 413 00:32:14,819 –> 00:32:18,300 God will wipe away all tears 414 00:32:18,300 –> 00:32:21,619 from your eyes, Christian. 415 00:32:23,099 –> 00:32:24,959 People sometimes cry in my office. 416 00:32:24,959 –> 00:32:26,640 I hope it’s nothing to do with me. 417 00:32:28,300 –> 00:32:30,160 But if they do, I have a box of tissues 418 00:32:30,319 –> 00:32:31,900 and I hand them a tissue. 419 00:32:31,900 –> 00:32:33,760 I hand them a tissue. 420 00:32:33,760 –> 00:32:36,420 This is much more intimate. 421 00:32:36,420 –> 00:32:40,099 God himself will wipe tears from your eyes. 422 00:32:40,099 –> 00:32:42,760 Who do you know that you would feel comfortable 423 00:32:42,760 –> 00:32:44,160 being that close to? 424 00:32:44,160 –> 00:32:46,140 How close do you have to be to a person 425 00:32:46,140 –> 00:32:48,939 to wipe the tears out of their eyes? 426 00:32:48,939 –> 00:32:51,439 And you will b that close to God 427 00:32:51,439 –> 00:32:53,420 and you will not be afraid. 428 00:32:54,819 –> 00:32:58,680 And when He wipes tears out of your eyes, 429 00:32:59,239 –> 00:33:03,180 these tears will never, never, never, never return 430 00:33:04,040 –> 00:33:05,520 and that’s His promise 431 00:33:05,520 –> 00:33:07,359 and you have to give weight to that. 432 00:33:09,219 –> 00:33:10,800 Second thing I’ve found that’s helpful, 433 00:33:10,800 –> 00:33:13,680 I found in a little book by Robert Morris on, 434 00:33:13,680 –> 00:33:17,199 sorry, Morris Roberts on the subject of heaven 435 00:33:17,199 –> 00:33:20,640 and in facing this question 436 00:33:20,640 –> 00:33:23,560 he points to the garden of Gethsemane 437 00:33:23,560 –> 00:33:25,920 and the relevance of Gethsemane, of course, 438 00:33:25,920 –> 00:33:28,260 is that was a situation in which Jesus 439 00:33:28,780 –> 00:33:31,160 was faced with something that seemed so awful, 440 00:33:31,160 –> 00:33:34,079 so, so horrendous and it actually involved hell itself 441 00:33:34,079 –> 00:33:36,380 because he was going to go into all that hell meant 442 00:33:36,380 –> 00:33:38,800 on the cross and you remember in his humanity 443 00:33:38,800 –> 00:33:40,819 he recoiled from it. 444 00:33:40,819 –> 00:33:44,459 It would be possible let this cup pass from me. 445 00:33:44,459 –> 00:33:46,180 You felt something like you may feel 446 00:33:46,180 –> 00:33:47,699 as you think about this question 447 00:33:47,699 –> 00:33:51,380 in relation to someone you know or love. 448 00:33:53,079 –> 00:33:54,859 But, Morris Roberts points this out. 449 00:33:54,859 –> 00:33:56,660 He says that there in the garden 450 00:33:56,699 –> 00:34:00,500 and in the agony of that that none of us can fully imagine, 451 00:34:00,500 –> 00:34:03,920 our Lord Jesus was able to say nevertheless 452 00:34:03,920 –> 00:34:07,660 not my will but yours be done. 453 00:34:07,660 –> 00:34:10,500 And then he just adds this sentence in heaven 454 00:34:10,500 –> 00:34:12,699 the redeemed will be like Christ. 455 00:34:13,600 –> 00:34:15,979 In heaven the redeemed will be like Christ. 456 00:34:16,840 –> 00:34:18,580 Here’s your savior and just try and think 457 00:34:18,580 –> 00:34:19,820 of what this was for him. 458 00:34:19,820 –> 00:34:22,439 Here’s something he completely recoils from 459 00:34:22,500 –> 00:34:25,419 and yet he was able say here on the earth 460 00:34:26,520 –> 00:34:28,679 nevertheless not my will but yours be done. 461 00:34:28,679 –> 00:34:33,199 You may not be there now but in the presence of Jesus 462 00:34:33,199 –> 00:34:36,899 you will be like Him, you will be like Him. 463 00:34:38,439 –> 00:34:40,060 And that takes me to the last thing 464 00:34:40,060 –> 00:34:42,800 and I found it in the teaching of Doctor R.C. Sproul 465 00:34:42,800 –> 00:34:44,679 and I think it’s very helpful. 466 00:34:44,679 –> 00:34:46,419 He points out that the real problem 467 00:34:46,419 –> 00:34:48,919 that we’re dealing with here is that we don’t 468 00:34:48,919 –> 00:34:51,100 fully know yet what sin is 469 00:34:51,260 –> 00:34:54,500 and we don’t fully know yet what God’s holiness is 470 00:34:54,500 –> 00:34:56,340 and we don’t even fully know yet 471 00:34:56,340 –> 00:34:59,580 what we ourselves will be, what glorification is. 472 00:34:59,580 –> 00:35:01,699 We are now the children of God, John says, 473 00:35:01,699 –> 00:35:05,419 but what we will be has not yet been revealed. 474 00:35:05,419 –> 00:35:07,179 When we see him we’ll be like him 475 00:35:07,179 –> 00:35:10,260 but we don’t yet all that, that involves. 476 00:35:10,260 –> 00:35:11,679 And so we are peering through 477 00:35:11,679 –> 00:35:13,479 a glass darkly as it says 478 00:35:13,479 –> 00:35:16,020 in 1 Corinthians in chapter 13. 479 00:35:17,820 –> 00:35:20,659 Sproul used an illustration in the light of this. 480 00:35:21,600 –> 00:35:24,500 When he was teaching a seminary class 481 00:35:24,500 –> 00:35:27,939 he would ask that a student would come forward 482 00:35:27,939 –> 00:35:30,500 and stand in front of the class 483 00:35:30,500 –> 00:35:32,780 to represent the Lord Jesus Christ 484 00:35:32,780 –> 00:35:34,939 and he would stand at one side of the room. 485 00:35:35,820 –> 00:35:37,979 Then Sproul would ask for a second student 486 00:35:37,979 –> 00:35:42,219 to come forward and to represent Adolf Hitler 487 00:35:42,219 –> 00:35:46,659 and the second student stood at the other side of the room. 488 00:35:47,540 –> 00:35:50,179 Then Sproul would say, now I want a third student 489 00:35:50,179 –> 00:35:54,239 to come forward and to represent the Apostle Paul 490 00:35:54,239 –> 00:35:57,219 and he would say that apart from Jesus, 491 00:35:57,219 –> 00:35:59,899 Paul was probably the holiest man ever 492 00:35:59,899 –> 00:36:02,239 to have walked the Earth. 493 00:36:02,239 –> 00:36:03,760 So as the student comes forward 494 00:36:03,760 –> 00:36:05,280 to represent the Apostle Paul, 495 00:36:05,280 –> 00:36:07,739 the question is, where on this continuum 496 00:36:07,739 –> 00:36:11,580 should that student representing the Apostle Paul stand? 497 00:36:11,580 –> 00:36:15,580 Answer, very close to Hitler. 498 00:36:17,260 –> 00:36:19,459 Can you do a double-take on that? 499 00:36:19,620 –> 00:36:22,620 Very close to Hitler. 500 00:36:24,379 –> 00:36:26,100 See, our first thought is that, 501 00:36:26,100 –> 00:36:28,379 see as we see it in this world, 502 00:36:28,379 –> 00:36:29,939 we say, from our perspective, 503 00:36:29,939 –> 00:36:31,699 we say well there’s such a huge difference 504 00:36:31,699 –> 00:36:34,540 between Hitler and Paul 505 00:36:34,540 –> 00:36:37,919 that surely Paul must be very close to Jesus. 506 00:36:39,860 –> 00:36:42,979 But Sproul’s point was simply this. 507 00:36:42,979 –> 00:36:46,600 The difference between Hitler and Paul on the one hand 508 00:36:46,600 –> 00:36:51,600 and Jesus on the other is so great a chasm 509 00:36:52,179 –> 00:36:55,239 that the difference between Hitler and Paul 510 00:36:55,239 –> 00:36:57,439 is rendered negligible. 511 00:36:58,860 –> 00:37:03,080 Now says Sproul, when you are glorified, 512 00:37:03,080 –> 00:37:04,179 where will you be? 513 00:37:05,739 –> 00:37:08,719 Very close to Jesus. 514 00:37:10,139 –> 00:37:12,899 And what that means is that there will be a huge gulf 515 00:37:12,899 –> 00:37:17,699 between you and all of unredeemed humanity. 516 00:37:18,780 –> 00:37:21,679 Sproul draws this conclusion and I quote, 517 00:37:21,679 –> 00:37:25,179 because we are so Hitleresque, 518 00:37:25,179 –> 00:37:27,800 that’s a very striking description of sin, isn’t it? 519 00:37:27,800 –> 00:37:29,419 A two on that one. 520 00:37:29,419 –> 00:37:30,399 That’s what he says. 521 00:37:30,399 –> 00:37:33,340 Because we are so Hitleresque, 522 00:37:33,340 –> 00:37:35,620 we can relate to monstrous sinners 523 00:37:35,620 –> 00:37:38,739 more than we relate to Jesus Christ. 524 00:37:38,739 –> 00:37:41,919 That’s why we find the doctrine of hell repugnant, 525 00:37:43,300 –> 00:37:45,760 that’s why we feel sorry for Uzziah 526 00:37:45,760 –> 00:37:47,699 when he’s killed for touching the ark, 527 00:37:47,699 –> 00:37:50,340 that’s why we feel sorry for Eren’s sons 528 00:37:50,340 –> 00:37:52,879 who were struck down for playing at worship. 529 00:37:53,820 –> 00:37:56,820 But the day will come when our passion 530 00:37:56,820 –> 00:37:59,419 and our identification with the glory of God 531 00:37:59,419 –> 00:38:03,179 will be so great that our sympathies will be with God 532 00:38:03,179 –> 00:38:07,540 and not with our fellow creatures who belittle his glory. 533 00:38:07,540 –> 00:38:09,979 We are not there now, 534 00:38:10,500 –> 00:38:15,040 but in our glorification we shall be. 535 00:38:16,620 –> 00:38:20,340 So my very last word to you this morning is simply this, 536 00:38:20,340 –> 00:38:24,820 the Lord Jesus Christ endured hell on the cross 537 00:38:24,820 –> 00:38:29,179 so that you would never know what it is like. 538 00:38:29,179 –> 00:38:30,040 What is hell? 539 00:38:30,040 –> 00:38:33,580 It is punishment, it is destruction, it is exclusion. 540 00:38:33,580 –> 00:38:35,179 What happened at the cross? 541 00:38:35,179 –> 00:38:38,340 The punishment that brought us peace was upon him. 542 00:38:39,120 –> 00:38:41,899 He entered into the destruction of death, 543 00:38:41,899 –> 00:38:44,459 his soul separated from his body. 544 00:38:46,100 –> 00:38:48,100 And in the darkness he was shut out, 545 00:38:48,100 –> 00:38:51,719 excluded from the love of his own eternal father 546 00:38:51,719 –> 00:38:53,979 so that out of that darkness, he cries on the cross, 547 00:38:53,979 –> 00:38:57,020 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 548 00:38:58,459 –> 00:39:01,419 Jesus endured everything that hell is on the cross 549 00:39:01,419 –> 00:39:03,419 so that you would never know what it is like. 550 00:39:03,419 –> 00:39:05,540 He took the punishment, friend, 551 00:39:05,540 –> 00:39:09,620 so that in him, there would be no condemnation for you. 552 00:39:09,620 –> 00:39:12,199 He endured the destruction of the second death 553 00:39:12,199 –> 00:39:15,540 so that in him, you could be raised to new life. 554 00:39:17,000 –> 00:39:20,340 He was cut off from the father there on the cross 555 00:39:20,340 –> 00:39:23,479 so that in him, you could be reconciled 556 00:39:23,479 –> 00:39:26,739 to the father forever and forever. 557 00:39:26,739 –> 00:39:30,620 And so surely for anyone who hears this message today 558 00:39:30,620 –> 00:39:34,360 and does not yet know, trust, follow Jesus Christ. 559 00:39:34,360 –> 00:39:38,159 Today you must say, surely I need this Jesus 560 00:39:38,159 –> 00:39:40,479 and he must be mine, I must come to him today. 561 00:39:41,560 –> 00:39:43,239 And for everyone who is in Christ, 562 00:39:43,239 –> 00:39:45,320 surely you will be saying with me, 563 00:39:45,320 –> 00:39:50,320 thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. 564 00:39:52,419 –> 00:39:53,439 Let’s pray together. 565 00:39:56,139 –> 00:39:58,860 We bow before you, our father. 566 00:39:58,860 –> 00:40:00,520 And before what you have told us 567 00:40:00,520 –> 00:40:04,179 through your son about eternity. 568 00:40:05,520 –> 00:40:09,360 Let us now come to worship. 569 00:40:11,360 –> 00:40:13,840 Let us now pursue holiness. 570 00:40:15,600 –> 00:40:18,399 Let us now walk with Christ 571 00:40:18,399 –> 00:40:20,639 all the days of our lives. 572 00:40:21,939 –> 00:40:25,840 Through Jesus Christ, our Lord in whose name we pray 573 00:40:25,840 –> 00:40:27,919 and everyone said, amen.