Heartsick Over Hell

Bible Book: Luke 12 : 4-7

Subject: Hell; Judgment

Introduction

Dr. [R. W.] Dale (1829-1895), eminent preacher of Birmingham, England, often said that Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899) was the only person he knew who had the right to preach about hell. When someone asked him why, he replied, ‘Because Moody always preaches about it with tears in his voice.’”[1]

Joseph De Cross interviewed Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. De Cross posed the question, “Do you believe in hell, or heaven?” Asimov responded, “Great question Joseph. I don't believe in hell or the Afterlife. Heaven would be too boring for my kind of thinking. Can you imagine perfection in your eyes and not even able to blink with a doubt? The boredom of heaven would be worse...for me anyway!”[2]

In his play titled, Man and Superman, Nobel Prize winner, George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), has the Statue say the following to Ana, “Written over the gate here are the words ‘Leave every hope behind, ye who enter.’ Only think what a relief that is! For what is hope? A form of moral responsibility. Here there is no hope, and consequently no duty, no work, nothing to be gained by praying, nothing to be lost by doing what you like. Hell, in short, is a place where you have nothing to do but amuse yourself.”[3]

In a message titled, “No Hope of Happy Hour in Hell,” Dr. Billy Graham, writes, “It has been said the devil’s greatest work is to convince people Hell doesn’t exist. Some fool themselves by saying, ‘If there is a Hell, it will be a devil of a party.”[4] Dr. David R. Reagan shares, “I remember a few years ago when the 70th birthday party of Willie Nelson was televised nationally. At one point they showed a collection of video tributes to the famed Country singer. One of Willie’s well known friends laughed and said, ‘Happy birthday, Willie! I look forward to partying with you in Hell!’”[5]

Jesus had more to say about hell than He did about heaven. Interestingly, most preachers who claim to want to preach like Jesus don’t follow His pattern in this matter.

For example, Jesus said, “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” (Luke 12:4-7).

Jesus shared and explained the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 reads, “ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ . . . Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.’ He answered and said to them: ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!’”

Notice three things about hell.

I. Hell: the place of burning. Unquenchable Fire!

Hell is a prepared place. Jesus tells about “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41) and “everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46).

Oswald Chambers (1847-1917) explains, “(‘Hell’ has nothing whatever to do with man primarily.) Hell is a place of angelic condemnation. You will never find that God says hell was made for man. It is true that it is the only place for the man who rejects God’s salvation. Hell was the result of a distinct condemnation passed by God on celestial beings, and is as eternal as those celestial anarchists.”[6]

Isaiah 66:24 reads, “And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men
Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” Jesus used this image to describe hell.

Mark 9:42-48 reads, “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’ And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— where ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’ And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.” As I share in Don’t Miss the Revival!: “In this passage Jesus teaches: It is better to have less manual dexterity than to go to hell. Going to hell is worse than losing the use of one hand. It is better to have less physical mobility than to go to hell. Going to hell is worse than losing the use of one foot. It is better to have less visual acuity than to go to hell. Going to hell is worse than losing the use of one eye.”[7]

Luke 16:24 reads, “Then [the rich man, known as Dives] cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’”

II. Hell: the plurality of beliefs. Unholy Faith!

Remember the lyrics, “Faith of our fathers, holy faith.”[8] As there is holy faith there is unholy faith. James writes, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” (James 2:19) Matthew 8:28-29 reads, “When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, ‘What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?’” Everyone in hell will at least have this demonic faith but not saving faith. Demonic faith does not repent of sin and believe the gospel.

Ironically, there are some who tell us there are many ways that lead to heaven, when in fact, there are many ways that lead to hell. Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Every other way than Jesus Christ is a way to hell. But we must beware of another Jesus, another spirit, and another gospel. 2 Corinthians 11:1-4 reads, “Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly—and indeed you do bear with me. For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” Galatians 1:6-9 reads, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”

Dr. Elon Foster (1833-1898) shares the following: “Tostatus observes, that the mole opens his eyes in dying, which he always had shut while he lived. So it is with wicked men. Tell them that the wicked shall be turned into hell, it is but a mere scarecrow. He fears not God all his lifetime, till he approaches the judgment and then too soon he begins to feel what he could not be brought to believe.”[9] “[Infamous gambler, adulterer and duellist] Col. [Francis] Charteris [1675-1732], when dying, exclaimed in great remorse, ‘I would gladly give thirty thousand pounds to have it proved to my satisfaction that there is not such place as hell.’”[10]

In 1876, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) recounts, “. . . Whilst on board the Beagle I was quite orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by several of the officers . . . for quoting the Bible as an unanswerable authority on some point of morality. . . . But I had gradually come, by this time, [October 1836 to January 1839] to see that the Old Testament from its manifestly false history of the world, with the Tower of Babel, the rainbow as a sign, etc., etc., and from its attributing to God the feelings of a revengeful tyrant, was no more to be trusted than the sacred books of the Hindoos, or the beliefs of any barbarian. . . .

By further reflecting that the clearest evidence would be requisite to make any sane man believe in the miracles by which Christianity is supported,—that the more we know of the fixed laws of nature the more incredible do miracles become,—that the men at that time were ignorant and credulous to a degree almost incomprehensible by us,—that the Gospels cannot be proved to have been written simultaneously with the events,—that they differ in many important details, far too important as it seemed to me to be admitted as the usual inaccuracies of eye-witnesses;—by such reflections as these, which I give not as having the least novelty or value, but as they influenced me, I gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation. The fact that many false religions have spread over large portions of the earth like wild-fire had some weight with me. Beautiful as is the morality of the New Testament, it can hardly be denied that its perfection depends in part on the interpretation which we now put on metaphors and allegories.

But I was very unwilling to give up my belief . . . Thus disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no distress, and have never since doubted even for a single second that my conclusion was correct. I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my Father, Brother and almost all my best friends, will be everlastingly punished.

And this is a damnable doctrine.”[11]

I would like to say Charles Darwin renounced evolution and repented of sin and believed the gospel of Jesus Christ on his deathbed, but I find too much evidence contrariwise to make such a statement. Dr. Tommy Mitchell shares the rest of the story about this matter in his article titled, “Darwin’s Deathbed Conversion—a Legend?” Mitchell explains, apart from a story circulated by a Lady Hope published in the Watchman-Examiner, a national Baptist magazine, on August 19, 1915, there is no evidence that Darwin ever became a Christian. Darwin’s son Francis wrote in 1915 to James Howe: “He [Darwin] could not have become openly and enthusiastically Christian without the knowledge of my family, and no such change occurred.” In another letter dated May 28, 1918, Francis wrote: “Lady Hope’s account of my father’s views on religion is quite untrue. I have publicly accused her of falsehood, but I have not seen any reply.” In 1922 Darwin’s daughter, Henrietta, wrote: “I was present at his deathbed. Lady Hope was not present during his last illness, or any illness. . . . He never recanted any of his scientific views, either then or earlier.”[12]

1 Thessalonians 1:7b-10a reads, “. . . when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day. . . .”

III. Hell: the plight of billions. Unsaved Forever!

Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) writes, “In hell there is no hope. They have not even the hope of dying—the hope of being annihilated. They are forever, forever, forever, lost! On every chain in hell there is written ‘forever.’ In the fires there blazes out the word ‘forever.’ Up above their heads they read ‘forever.’ Their eyes are galled, and their hearts are pained, with the thought that it is ‘forever.’ Oh! if I could tell you to-night that hell would one day be burned out, and that those who were lost might be saved, there would be a jubilee in hell, at the very thought of it. But it cannot be: it is ‘forever’ they are ‘cast into utter darkness.’”[13]

Rev. Spurgeon also writes, “Our lost friends are lost forever; we recollect that there is no shadow of hope for them; when the iron gate of hell is once closed upon them, it shall never be unbarred again, to give them free exit; when once shut within those walls of sweltering flame which girdle the fiery gulf, there is not possibility of flight; we recollect that they have ‘forever’ stamped upon their chains, ‘forever’ carved in deep lines of despair upon their hearts. It is the hell of hell, that everything there lasts forever. Here, time wears away our griefs, and blunts the keen edge of our sorrow; but there time never mitigates the woe; hell grows more hellish, as eternity marches on with its mighty paces. The abyss become more dense and fiery—the sufferers grow more ghastly and wretched as years, if there be such sad variety in that fixed state, roll their everlasting rounds. Here the sympathy of loving kindred, in the midst of sickness or suffering, can alleviate our pain, but there, the tortured ghosts are sport for fiends, and the mutual upbraidings and reproaches of fellow-sinners give fresh stings of torment too dread to be endured. Here, too, when nature’s last palliative shall fail, to die may be a happy release; a man can count the weary hours till death shall give him no rest: but, oh! remember, there is no death in hell; death, which is a monster on earth, would be an angel in hell. If death could go there, all the damned would fall down and worship him; every tongue would sing, and every heart would praise, each cavern then would echo with a shout of triumph till all was still, and silent brood where terrors reigned. But no, the terrible reality is this—‘Their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.’”[14]

Dr. David R. Reagan shares, “Conan O'Brien, the popular late night TV host, wrote and performed a song mocking Hell. The song is so perverse that only parts can be quoted. . . . [O’Brien sang in part] “I can’t be saved, it’s too late for me. I’m going to H-E Double L when I D-I-E.”[15] Conan does not have to go to hell. Hell is a preventable plight. If someone tells you to go to hell, remember, you don’t have to go!

Conclusion

“Sometime ago, a man brought forward his strong argument against the Bible, declaring, ‘I am seventy years of age, and have never seen such a place as hell, after all that has been said about it.’ His little grandson, of about seven years of age, who was all the while listening, asked him, ‘Grandaddy, have you ever been dead yet?’”[16]

Dr. David Jeremiah writes, “On many occasions throughout my forty years of ministry, people have questioned me about the subject of God’s judgment. Often they say something like this: ‘My God would never send anybody to hell or punish someone for doing evil. My God is a God of love.’

I usually answer by telling them their God does not exist. There is a God to love and there is a God to fear, and He is one and the same!”[17] There is a world of difference between the god of human imagination and the God of divine revelation.

Dr. Vance Havner (1901-1986) recounted, “When I pastored a country church, a farmer didn't like the sermons I preached on hell. He said, ‘Preach about the meek and lowly Jesus.’ I said, ‘That's where I got my information about hell.’[18]” Jesus said, “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” (Luke 12:4-7). Are you ready to face Jesus Christ in the judgment? Make certain you have repented of sin and believed the gospel of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for forgiveness of sin and eternal life. If you are a believer, are you heartsick over hell?

[1]Holman Old Testament Commentary, gen. ed. Max Anders, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Fred M. Wood and Ross H. MacLaren, (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2006), 351.

[2]Joseph De Cross, “Isaac Asimov -- We did Find The Genius Behind The Man” Accessed: 04/23/15 http://lorddecross.hubpages.com/hub/Issac-Assimov-The-genius-behind-the-man .

[3]George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1903), Act III, 363.

[4]Billy Graham, The Reason of My Hope: Salvation “No Hope of Happy Hour in Hell” (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2013), 136.

[5]David R. Reagan, “Satan’s Story: Past, Present and Future,” Lamb & Lion Ministries, Accessed: 04/23/15 http://www.lamblion.com/articles/articles_doctrines8.php .

[6]Oswald Chambers, Biblical Psychology, (Cincinnati, OH: God’s Revivalist Office, 1914), 3. https://archive.org/details/biblicalpsycholo00cham .

[7]Franklin L. Kirksey, Don't Miss the Revival!: Messages for Revival and Spiritual Awakening from Isaiah (Bloomington, IN: CrossBooks, 2014), 459.

[8]Fredrick W. Faber, “Faith of our Fathers” (1849).

[9]Elon Foster, New Cyclopaedia of Prose Illustrations: Adapted to Christian Teaching #2953 “HELL, Rejecting”(New York, NY: W. C. Palmer, Jr., & Co., 1875), 346.

[10]Elon Foster, New Cyclopaedia of Prose Illustrations: Adapted to Christian Teaching #2945 “HELL, Existence of” (New York, NY: W. C. Palmer, Jr., & Co., 1875), 345.

[11]The Autobiography of Charles Darwin 1809-1882 With Original Omissions Restored Edited with Appendix and Notes by his Grand-daughter Nora Barlow (London: Collins, 1958), 86-87. Accessed: 04/25/15 http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F1497&pageseq=1 .

[12]Tommy Mitchell, “Darwin’s Deathbed Conversion—A Legend?” Answers in Genesis, Petersburg, KY, March 31, 2009; last featured August 17, 2010, Accessed: 04/25/15 https://answersingenesis.org/creationism/arguments-to-avoid/darwins-deathbed-conversion-a-legend/ .

[13]Elon Foster, New Cyclopaedia of Prose Illustrations: Adapted to Christian Teaching #2946 “HELL, forever” (New York, NY: W. C. Palmer, Jr., & Co., 1875), 345.

[14]Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Gems: Being Brilliant Passages from the Discourses of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon (New York, NY: Sheldon, Blakeman & Company, 1859), 160-161.

[15]David R. Reagan, “Satan’s Story: Past, Present and Future,” Lamb & Lion Ministries, Accessed: 04/23/15 http://www.lamblion.com/articles/articles_doctrines8.php .

[16]Elon Foster, New Cyclopaedia of Prose Illustrations: Adapted to Christian Teaching #2945 “HELL, Existence of” (New York, NY: W. C. Palmer, Jr., & Co., 1875), 345.

[17]David Jeremiah, What Are You Afraid Of? (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2013), 266.

Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort 30775 Jay Drive Spanish Fort, Alabama 36527

Author of Don’t Miss the Revival! Messages for Revival and Spiritual Awakening from Isaiah and

Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice [Both available on Amazon.com in hardcover, paperback and eBook]