Ezekiel 22:31
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This sermon was preached by Rev. Chris Roberts during the morning service on Sunday, March 28th, 2010
This week we continue on a trajectory begun last week when we talked about death. We stayed fairly focused on death itself, touching on general issues affecting believers and unbelievers and talking a little about the condition of believers after death but before the resurrection. But that left a lot unsaid about the eternal condition of believers and unbelievers. Today we will consider the eternal condition of unbelievers. In two weeks, after Easter, we will see more about the eternal condition of believers. Let us begin this morning with a brief word from Scripture on the judgment of God:
Ezekiel 22:31
I think it is fair to say that regarding both Heaven and Hell, we know far less than we should. It is true that the Bible leaves a lot shrouded in mystery, but one thing I’ve learned in my studies thus far is that the Bible teaches a lot more about Heaven and Hell than I once thought. The more I see, the more I think that we do not fear Hell enough nor desire Heaven enough.
For believers, knowledge of Hell serves four functions. First, it motivates our evangelism by setting before us the fate of those who die without Christ. The more we feel Hell’s flames, the greater our desire to keep friends and strangers out of the fire. Satan has won a great victory when he convinced us to stop talking about Hell. In so doing, he killed evangelistic fervor.
Second, knowledge of Hell gives us the assurance that one day justice will be done. In Romans 12:9 Paul tells us, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” It is good and right to desire justice and our knowledge of Hell and God’s judgment reminds us that justice will be done.
Third, knowledge of Hell helps us understand the seriousness of sin. You can judge the seriousness of an offense by the severity of the punishment. The punishment for sin is eternal, unending torment. We often treat sin as a minor, trifling thing but God sees it as worth the lake of fire. The better we understand Hell, the better we understand the offense of sin.
Fourth, knowledge of Hell stirs our rejoicing at the depths of God’s mercy to us. We deserve Hell. Picture yourself in the flames of the sun for all eternity. This is what your sins deserve but is what Christ has saved you from. If we do not understand the penalty we were saved from, we will not sufficiently praise the one who paid the price.
For unbelievers, knowledge of Hell serves just one function: a fierce warning that God will not tolerate sin but will deliver unending punishment of pain on all who do not obey him.
Many people today believe there is no eternal, conscious torment of sinners. Surely a loving God would never inflict such a penalty! At the most he would temporarily afflict the worst of sinners then would annihilate them so they cease to exist! The rest he would forgive and let into Heaven. Surely this is what a loving God would do!
But to you who argue in this way, you are the clay of Romans 9:20 that tries to tell the potter what to do. You have made yourself God’s judge, as though God could ever be judged by human standards. But you have ignored your sin. You have ignored the weight of your offense against God. You have ignored his holiness. God hates all wickedness. Thus we are told in Psalm 11:4-7: The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face. There are many today who think themselves wiser than God. They scoff at the idea of eternal judgment against sin. But the day is coming when Isaiah 33:14 the sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
“But oh!” you say, “That is the Old Testament God! I worship the God of Jesus!” Do you think them different? Has God’s judgment against sin changed now that Jesus has come? Jesus spoke more of judgment and the fires of Hell than anyone else. Consider his words in Matthew 13:41-42: The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Do you know what Jesus will say when you, having rejected him in life, stand before him in death? Matthew 25:41, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. This is the place of outer darkness, the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, where the fire is not quenched and the worm does not die (Matthew 25:30, Mark 9:47-48).
When God created the world, he wrote his law into all things. We were made to function according to his rules. Today, we do not like rules, but God’s rules remain. He has promised judgment on all who reject his rules, his law. Romans 2:9 tells us that there will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil. “But I’m not that bad!” you might say, “I’ve told some lies, I’ve stolen a candy bar, I’ve had a few fights, but I’ve never murdered anyone!” In James 2:10 we read that whoever keeps the whole law but fails on one point has become accountable for all of it. You can follow every one of God’s commands all your life then on your dying day tell one lie and you will be cast into judgment. But the truth is none of us is that good. All of us sin, and without Christ all we do is sin. You are a sinner and are even now what Ephesians 2:3 calls children of wrath. His judgment is not yet upon you but you already stand guilty. Only his grace keeps you from plummeting now into the fires of Hell.
But you already know these things. You have worked hard to convince yourself that you are in good standing before God but God’s truth still penetrates. You still have moments when you feel the weight of your sin and you know the reality of the justice that stands before you. You know if you were to die, you would face judgment and eternal punishment. But still you refuse to turn from your sin. You pursue food or sex or sports or alcohol or television or drugs or a million other distractions if only to keep you from feeling the flames licking your feet. Our world offers us many distractions but all the pleasures of the world do not change what is in store for you if you are not a child of God.
So you seek to challenge God. You say, “How can it be that God is just if he punishes me eternally for a sin that took only moments?” Let me give you three reasons why God is just to punish sin eternally.
First, remember who your sin is against. If a child strikes his sister, he is punished but not as much as when he strikes his mother. It is more serious to act against authority than against an equal. If I punch my neighbor, I spend a few days in jail. If I punch the president, I spend a few years in jail. The authority, worth, and value of God is infinitely higher than ours. To sin against the eternal God is to face an eternal penalty. It is not quite so much what we do as who we do it against: we have sinned against a holy God.
Second, the sinning of the sinner does not stop at judgment. Even if the punishment of individual sins was not eternal but limited to a certain number of years, sinners in Hell never stop sinning. Even if I were only sentenced to ten billion years in Hell for my sins in life, during those ten billion years I will have merited trillions more years because of new sins. In Hebrews 11:6 we are told that without faith it is impossible to please God. Also, Romans 14:23 says that whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. Sinners condemned to judgment do not suddenly become repentant or acting with faith. Obedient faith in Christ requires regeneration, being born again, and that is only available before death. There is no indication in Scripture that salvation or repentance are possible to those under judgment. Sinners in Hell want an end to their suffering. They want relief. They want paradise, or at least cessation. But they will never want God. They will never desire forgiveness or faith or a relationship with Christ. They will eternally continue in their rebellion and will eternally build up wrath against them.
Third, we are again reminded that God is judge and we are not. In Psalm 9:7-8 we read, But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. We do not see sin with the eyes of the perfectly holy, righteous God. We are limited, finite creatures and are in no position to judge sin. We are certainly not able to judge God. If God has determined that sin merits eternal punishment, we must accept his judgment knowing he is good and wise and perfect.
Let us not imagine that Hell thwarts the purposes of God. Some have read 2 Peter 3:9, that God is not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance and believe that Hell opposes God’s ultimate plans and purposes. “God WANTS me in Heaven!” they say, “and if he sent me to Hell he would for all eternity be missing my presence in Heaven. So he will not send anyone to Hell eternally.” Such people have not read Romans 9:21-23 where we see that even Hell and judgment fit within the plan of God: Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory… Sinner, make no mistake. Whether you yield to Christ or whether you die in your sin, you will ultimately bring glory to God.
Do not think of God as some lover pining after you as though he needs your love. I am afraid that in the church today we tend to treat God as though he needs us. Let’s make this clear: God does not need your love. God needs nothing from you. Only by his grace has he given you his love. You only exist because of his grace. And the only reason we are not in Hell this moment is because of his grace.
Let us turn our eyes now to that grace and the good news. God’s grace is real. His mercy has been extended. His love covers the earth. You sinners, as Jonathan Edwards has said, you hang even now over the fires of Hell, kept to this life only by a thin thread that threatens to snap at any moment. Only God’s grace keeps you out of Hell. And only God’s grace can make you eternally safe from Hell. The grace of God is found in his Son, Jesus Christ.
We mentioned earlier that God will punish all who do not obey his commands. The problem is that apart from Christ, none of us obey his commands. Apart from God’s mercy, every one of us would go to Hell.
It is fitting that we come to the subject of Hell on Palm Sunday. This is the day when we recognize Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. He entered Jerusalem knowing that in less than a week he would be crucified on the cross. The cross marked the final fulfillment of his earthly ministry. Jesus lived to fulfill all the righteous requirements of God’s law, and he died to pay for our disobedience. God will have justice for sin, but because of Jesus’ death, we have the possibility of forgiveness. At the cross, Jesus bore the punishment for our sins.
But how does that work? I am told that my sins deserve eternity in Hell. Jesus’ entire death, burial, and resurrection took place in three days and he somehow paid for not only my sins but the sins of everyone who would believe? How can what seems a comparably small sacrifice accomplish so much?
We earlier said that when we consider the cost of our sin we must consider the value of the One we sin against. Similarly, when we consider the price paid for us, we must consider the value of the One who made the payment. The infinite, eternal Son of God took on flesh, was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless, perfect life, and died on the cross for our sin. There is no limit to the sins his blood could cover. This is why I can look to the foulest sinner and tell him, “Jesus’ blood was sufficient for you.”
The offer of the gospel goes freely throughout the earth. Salvation has been made available to all. Everyone is called to come to Jesus, to repent and believe. No one in Hell has any excuse for being there. Romans 1:20 and 2:15 teach us that God wrote his commands onto the hearts of all people. We have no excuse for disobedience. And John 3:16 teaches that everyone is invited to come to Christ. We cannot claim salvation was not an option for us. The damned will forever make excuses as to why they cannot or should not have to yield to Christ, but there is no excuse. So today the offer goes out once more, the grace of God is given again. This is perhaps your last time to hear the gospel. Tomorrow God might end your life and you will join the legions of the damned in torment, waiting for the day of judgment when you will be cast eternally into the lake of fire. Do not let that day come for you, but cling now to Christ. You were created to live in relationship with God. The good life you seek is only found in God. And deliverance from the wrath of God is only found in Christ. So turn to Christ, confess his name, have faith in him, and live for him until he calls you home.
And Christians, we said at the beginning that the reality of Hell should stir evangelistic passion. Consider how much Christ sacrificed to bring people to himself. Out of his grace, he loves us. Out of his grace, he took on flesh and died for us. He did this to save us from Hell and bring us into relationship with him. How committed are you to tell others about this work of God? Are you more concerned with your comfort, your popularity than with the fact that those around you will spend eternity under judgment? Tell them about Christ.
