I've learned the hard way to take accommodation guides and travel brochures with a degree of scepticism. When we were living in Sydney we wanted to holiday in one of Queensland's famous tourist destinations. Looking at the brochures it seemed a reasonable option to stay on the mainland, enjoy the coast there, and take a few day trips out to the tropical islands. The photos in the brochures had beautiful blue sea, sunshine and so on.
However, when we arrived, we found the brochures didn't tell us everything. For starters there's no beach. The coastline there is like a harbour, no sand, just dark silt, with a very long tide line. And at low tide (when we arrived), the smell was incredible! With no beach or water to enjoy, there wasn't much else to do. And the humidity, even in mid April, was incredible. Added to that our unit had a not so quiet road right outside, an air conditioner that made plenty of noise without any cool air, a ceiling fan with a loud squeak, and a colony of ants that nested in our breakfast cereal overnight. None of this was in the brochures!
I guess if we'd had that extra information, there's no way we would have gone there.
Not that I want to liken places like this to hell, but it strikes me that a lot of people don't treat hell as a place to be avoided at all costs for much the same reasons that we took this holiday. Either poor information, or even misinformation.
There's no shortage of movies with an inane picture of hell. Like Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, where hell is somewhere you can get your way out of if you're smart enough. Then there are the comics and pictures of devils in red suits with pitch forks, who'd fear a place like that? Many people either don't believe in hell or just don't fear it.
I don't want to over-emphasise hell, but we do need a proper understanding of it. It's part of the gospel message, we can't omit it! And it helps see how great heaven is and how big God's love is that can get us there.
There's a lot that could be said about hell. So to keep it brief, I want to limit this picture of hell to one passage, 2 Thessalonians 1.
As far as the Bible's concerned, the worst crime in the world is not murder, or rape, or torture, or whatever else our newspapers are filled with. The worst crime a human can commit is to live life their own way without God, to live as though God wasn't the Creator, Owner and Ruler of all things and all people. Paul describes it like this, in 2 Thessalonians 1:8,
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Here are the people who will be in hell. i) They "do not know God". This could be translated, "will not know God". It's a wilful choice to cut God out of the picture. And it's not just a vague notion of 'god' that Paul means. He adds, ii) They "do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." They are people who will not submit to Jesus as the Lord: Creator, Owner, Ruler of all.
This is the most serious crime a creature can commit (and we've all committed it!)
These few verses give us a glimpse of hell, and it's important for us to take stock from it.
There are three perspectives to this 'glimpse of hell' that Paul gives us here. The first is, that hell is punishment.
Verse 8 again,
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
In our Western society, the idea of punishment is quite out of fashion. We have 'corrective services' rather than 'retributive justice' departments to look after criminals. Not that integrating criminals back into society isn't important, but the notion of punishment for crime is minimised. In some circles, hell is thought of in this sense, where it is for refining sinners. "Purgatory" is an invention that suggests there is a place between hell and heaven where the last remnants of sin can be purged out to make us fit for heaven. None of this is in the Bible. And all of it fails to take us as humans seriously. As though we're not really accountable for our actions.
But hell is in one sense good news for humanity. It means that God takes us seriously and holds us accountable for our actions, not like some dog that does what it pleases and no one cares because it's just a dog, controlled by its nature. The word "punish" in verse 8 means "to deal vengeance". It's about God repaying in kind, us getting what we deserve. Hell is punishment for not knowing God and not obeying the gospel of the Lord Jesus.
Secondly, hell is everlasting destruction.
Verse 9,
They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power
This is not destruction that takes a very, very, very long time, and then annihilation. The word means "coming to nothing", it implies that our true state of being apart from God will be forcefully brought home to us, forever! Jesus spoke of hell with the metaphor of "weeping and gnashing of teeth." Not that hell will be a place of regrets. The gnashing of teeth implies perpetual anger and hatred - ultimately towards God, and possibly self-pity, blaming of others etc. Whatever expression the rejection of God and the gospel of Jesus took in this life will carry on in hell, forever. It will forever be impressed upon the person that they have come to nothing because they have rejected their Lord.
What we've chosen now, God gives us forever, He gives rebels what they ask for. Hell is everlasting destruction.
The third element in this glimpse of hell is that hell is being shut out of God's presence.
Verse 9 again,
They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power
Someone who doesn't believe in God might say this is no big deal.
Try to imagine two men living under a totalitarian regime.1 Secret police burst into their homes, arrest them, and say, "You're going to gaol and will be tortured for the rest of you life, and you won't see anyone you know again." The first man is a loner, without friends or family. He is terrified at the thought of goal and torture for the rest of his life. The second man is married, with three small children and many good friends. He's also terrified at the thought of gaol and torture, but what he finds unbearable is the prospect of never seeing his wife, his children, or any of his friends ever again. He's going to be shut out of their presence, and that will be far worse than the imprisonment itself.
This is what Paul is saying hell will be like. In this life we are all, to an extent, in the presence of God. The Bible tells us that all good things come from God (James 1:17), fun, laughter, light, time with friends, good food - anything good in life is from God. Heaven is all of those things in complete fullness, it's the full life, perfectly, because we'll be directly in God's presence. In hell, people will be shut out of God's presence. That means the absolute absence of anything good ... forever. This is an unbearable prospect.
Just think of the old deep sea divers who wore the large diving suits and helmets, with long air hoses going up to a boat where someone operated a pump to get the air to them. Imagine a diver who thought he was too restricted by this hose, so cut through it. Sure, he might momentarily seem to have greater freedom and flexibility, but the fact is he'll have a few minutes before death. He's severed the source of his life, and by definition, there's no life left for him. If we reject God, the source of all life, by definition we're left with death, let alone what God will do to us for our rejection of him.
Hell is separation from God's presence.
Now there's one question that probably arises in the face of all this. Is it fair?
Is it fair that God could send anyone to such a place? There are two possible answers to this question, and they depend on how serious we think sin is.
If sin is not serious, then let's get one thing straight, God is evil. To punish someone in such a way for a minor thing is evil and infinitely unjust.
But if the Bible is true, and God is good, and just, then "eternal punishment" shows that sin must be an infinitely serious offence. There is no greater crime a creature can commit than to not know God and not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus.
That's just a glimpse of hell. But it's enough to show it's a place to be avoided at all costs.
We all deserve to go there because we've all committed the world's most serious crime.
Do we want to go there? The good news is, no one needs to. It's possible to "obey the gospel", to recognise that Jesus is Lord and that he's paid the price our offence deserves. Paul was writing this letter to people who had accepted this. He says in verse 10,
on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marvelled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
Hell is a place to be feared. And fear of hell is a valid reason for someone to become a Christian, to call out to God and ask for forgiveness. But no one stays a Christian out of fear of hell. Imagine the party of a lifetime. All your friends are there, the best food, the best music and entertainment. Everything you could imagine. The night is young and you're full of energy. Now imagine there are gangs out in the streets and if you went home now you might get mugged by them. The fear of those gangs is not what keeps you at the party! Being a Christian is what we were made for, knowing God and obeying the gospel of Jesus. It's the life we were created for.
Which life do you want for yourself? Knowing God and submitting to Jesus as Lord, the full life. Or rejecting Jesus' Lordship, under God's wrath and facing hell?
you might like to read some of the following:
Luke 16:19-31 The Rich Man and Lazarus. Note that; i) The rich man does not repent in hell; ii) Hell is a place of torment, not annihilation; iii) there is no passage possible from hell to heaven.
Matt 25:31-46 The Sheep and the Goats. Note that "eternal punishment" is the alternative to "eternal life". The destination is determined by one's response to Jesus (as expressed in one's response to his people).
Matt 10:21-28 Hatred of Jesus is given as the cause of the Father 'destroying both body and soul in hell.'
Matt 13:24-30 & 36-43 For end-time judgement, only two destinations, hell not annihilation.
Matt 18:8 Where "life" is contrasted with "eternal fire"
John 3:16, 18-20, 35; 5:24 Where receiving eternal life and pardon from God's wrath is based on one's response to Jesus.
A Fresh Start, by John Chapman Chapter 10
Know the Truth A Handbook of Christian Belief, by Bruce Milne. IVP pp173-176.
A tape of this sermon is available from St. Alban's School of Ministry (Contact Us).
© Copyright Gordon Killow 1999
A sermon preached at St. Alban's 6.30 church on October 24 1999