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Hell (August 4, 2013)

Traditionally Christians have held that Hell is real – that any man and woman who does not trust Christ goes there – and in hell they suffer conscious torment day and night forever and ever without end – without any second chances. I want to suggest that any Christian with an ounce of compassion has to struggle mightily with the doctrine of hell. If you have never struggled with the idea of someone suffering forever – either you are calloused beyond belief or you have never really thought seriously about hell. I confess – I have struggled with the notion of hell. I have struggled greatly. I am not the only one. Almost every Christian I have read has struggled with hell. Robert Murray McCheyne and Andrew Bonar ministered in nearby Scottish parishes in the first part of the nineteenth century. They were powerful preachers and men of real integrity. It was their habit to meet on Monday mornings for fellowship and to discuss their Sunday services. On one occasion McCheyne asked Bonar what he had preached on the previous Sunday. Bonar commented that he had preached on Psalm 9:17, “The wicked shall be turned into hell.” McCheyne, on hearing the awful text asked “Were you able to do it with tenderness?” I trust that I preach this awful subject tonight with the degree of tenderness it warrants. Hell has to make your heart break.

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It is said that George Whitefield could not even mention hell without tears. Why is hell so awful to even preach on? Because you think of real men and women suffering forever. I have known people in churches who have struggled with sin and faith and life to the point I am unsure of their salvation – most likely some will turn out to not be saved. As well there are people I love who have died very clearly apart from Christ. I think of these people – real people – not just hypothetical people – I see their faces – they are people I know and love – and know they will suffer the agonies of hell – day and night – forever – without end – without hope. At the same time I think of me – equally sinful – equally undeserving – but in Paradise, heaven, forever – because God chose me and gave me faith to believe. I admit – I struggle with this. My human notions of fairness and justice and love are challenged. Atheists have seen the Christian doctrine of hell as a weak point in our armour. William C. Easttom described his objection this way:

God says, “Do what you wish, but make the wrong choice and you will be tortured for eternity in hell.” That … would be akin to a man telling his girlfriend, do what you wish, but if you choose to leave me, I will track you down and blow your brains out. When a man says this we call him a psychopath and cry out for his imprisonment/execution. When God says the same we call him “loving” and build churches in his honor.1

I trust a Christian would never contemplate using such terms of God – but Christian thinkers have nonetheless struggled with hell and what it says about God. Some parts of me want to agree with these words of Clark Pinnock:

Let me say … that I consider the concept of hell as endless torment in body and mind an outrageous doctrine, a theological and moral enormity, a bad doctrine of the tradition which needs to be changed. How can Christians possibly project a deity of such cruelty and vindictiveness whose ways include inflicting everlasting torture upon his creatures, however sinful they may have been? Surely a God who would do such a thing is more nearly like Satan than like God, at least by any ordinary moral standards, and by the gospel itself?… Does the one who told us to love our enemies intend to wreak vengeance on his own enemies for all eternity? As H. Küng appropriately asks, “What would we think of a human being who satisfied his thirst for revenge so implacably and insatiably?” … [E]verlasting torment is intolerable from a moral point of view because it makes God into a bloodthirsty monster who maintains an everlasting Auschwitz for victims whom he does not even allow to die.2

1 William C. Easttom II, quoted in Gary Poole, How Could God Allow Suffering and Evil? (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 59. 2 Pinnock, “The Destruction of the Finally Impenitent,” 246–47, 253.

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But then I find myself leaning even more heavily towards this comment by John Stott, a great teacher who himself struggled mightily with the traditional doctrine of hell:

I find the concept [of eternal conscious punishment in hell] intolerable and do not understand how people can live with it without either cauterising their feelings or cracking under the strain.

However, to his credit he went on:

But our emotions are a fluctuating, unreliable guide to truth and must not be exalted to the place of supreme authority in determining it. As a committed

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Evangelical, my question must be—and is—not what does my heart tell me, but what does God’s word say?3

Stott did examine the Bible and at least for a time – came to a different view of hell than the traditional view. But at least he tried to find his view in Scripture. While I disagree with Stott’s final conclusions regarding hell – I agree with him on this point. From the limited, unreliable viewpoint of man – it is a mighty struggle to see how hell can be acceptable. I don’t want hell to be true – it seems too extreme. But as a Christian committed to the truth of the Word of God – when I studied the Scriptures – and I challenge you to be Bereans and do so – I cannot get around the fact that the traditional teaching on hell is what the Bible advocates. And so I dug deeper. I tried to grasp hell from God’s perspective instead of mine. As I reflected on the glory of God and tried to understand hell from the perspective of an infinite, holy God not the perspective of a sinful, finite man – I still struggled with hell – but I have come to have some understanding of why the traditional doctrine of hell is how it must be. I think I will have to wait until eternity to understand hell in its fullness – but in the meantime I have gained some limited understanding. While there are arguments from the Bible against hell as eternal, conscious torment – the truth is that I have looked at these and find them very weak. I think the reason so many Christians abandon this view of hell is that from man’s limited, fallen perspective – it seems outrageous, unfair and at odds with a God of love and grace. Basically that is not how they would run the universe. As a sinful man – a selfish man – a man who sees everything through the lens of humanity – if I were running the universe – I would save everyone – or at least save them after a time of punishment – or give them a second chance after death. But my task is not to run the universe. My task is to give assent to the One whose ways are above ours and see what He has said about how a holy, just, perfect God runs His universe. Jesus spoke far more about hell than He did about heaven. Some of the most graphic language about hell comes from the lips of Jesus. So if we want to argue against hell – we have to argue against the explicit teaching of Jesus. Tonight, I want to share a few thoughts about these things. Like heaven last week – I feel that one sermon is barely enough to even scratch the surface of the Bible’s teaching on hell.

3 Edwards and Stott, Essentials, 314–15.

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So I will limit myself to commenting on three things that might help us get our heads around hell.

Passages that teach hell is eternal, conscious torment. Arguments against hell as eternal, conscious torment. Why hell must be eternal, conscious torment.

Let me begin by sharing a few of the passages that have led most Christians in history to view hell as a real place of eternal, conscious torment. There are many – but let me share four very clear ones. Revelation 14:9–11:

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And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

In Revelation every man and woman ever born ends up in one of two groups. Those with the mark of the Lamb or the mark of the Beast. Those who have the mark of the beast will face the wrath of the Lamb. This cup of wrath is poured out full strength. In biblical days – wine was commonly cut by water. The wine of the Middle East was very alcoholic – 10-15% alcohol. The grapes there had a large sugar concentration which led to more alcohol. So it was cut with water – 3 parts water 1 part wine up to 10 parts water 1 part wine. Uncut wine is strong drink. Only drunkards drank uncut wine. Most people drank their wine diluted down to 2 or 3%. But God does not dilute His wrath. It is poured out full strength. The point is that as horrific as the judgments in the book of Revelation are – these judgments in history are diluted wrath. The final judgment is horrific beyond imagining. Those not in the Lamb will be tormented with fire and brimstone.

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This is drawn from the language of Sodom and Gomorrah. Much of the language of hell is symbolic. I say this because you often get conflicting images.

Fire in one passage darkness in another. Burning up but worms not dying.

I do not believe we are meant to take these images literally – they are there to betray a deeper reality. The burning of fire is one the worst pains. Darkness indicates the separation from the grace of God – a huge punishment. These images clearly indicate conscious pain and suffering. But there is a difference between earthly suffering and eternal suffering. Those in hell are said to be tormented with fire and sulphur. What is the point we are to grasp? As a doctor – I have seen burns victims. The agony is unbelievable. But let me tell you about the pain of burns here on earth. One of two things happens. Death ends the pain or recovery ends the pain. For some, the pain reaches the point where they simply pass out. But whether they stay conscious or not – once the flame is taken away and treatment begins – there are days and weeks and months of terrible pain – but it gradually subsides. The scars last for life, but finally – the pain ends. Or – for some they die in absolute agony – and in this way – their pain ends. But hell is different. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night. What this verse asks us to imagine is that in some sense hell is akin to your body covered with third degree burns – pain beyond anything you can imagine – but this time, the flame is never removed, the pain never subsides, you cannot pass out, you cannot die. This image is so horrible – I can fully understand why so many want to find a way to say – it can’t be like this. Every time I think of someone I know in hell – it just breaks me up. But this passage is clear in its intent. Now consider Revelation 20:10&15:

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The devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. … And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The picture here is not hard to discern. At the final judgment – the second death – the devil, Satan, is thrown into the lake of fire. There joining him will be all of those beasts and false prophets of history. And there they will be tormented day and night – forever and ever. While we tend to think of Satan as deserving the very worst hell has to offer – and we don’t have much sympathy for him – crucially, verse 15 seems to indicate that those not found in the Lamb’s book of life share Satan’s fate – they will be tormented day and night – forever and ever. Again a clear presentation of hell as eternal, conscious torment. 2 Thessalonians 1:9:

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They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.

The punishment is eternal. And very similar is Matthew 25:46 – the passage Jesus gives on the judgment of the sheep and goats:

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

Notice the fate of the lost and the righteous are contrasted – eternal punishment and eternal life.

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If you want to argue that the punishment ends – you have to argue that heavenly life ends. And don’t miss the context – in verse 41 Jesus had told us:

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’

The goats – the lost – those not in Christ – end up in the eternal fire with the devil. These passages appear clear – hell is a real place of eternal, conscious torment. However, I am the first to admit that there is much about hell that we don’t know. For example there are many passages that appear to teach there are degrees of punishment in hell. Just as there are rewards in heaven based on works and revealed light – so there are punishments in hell based on works and revealed light. Luke 12:47–48 is talking about the final judgment and says:

And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

And Matthew 11:20–24:

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

So in summary – the Bible seems to very clearly teach that hell is eternal, conscious torment – but there do seem to be in some way degrees of punishment in hell – based on works and revealed light.

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However, some have put forth arguments against hell as eternal, conscious torment. They want to argue from the Bible that all is not as straight forward as it might seem at first. They propose that hell as traditionally described is too dreadful. How could a God of love, the God who loved us enough to send Christ to this world ever let one of His creations – someone made in His image – suffer so? There are two main counter views to the traditional notion of hell.

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The first is universalism – the idea that everyone finally goes to heaven. Universalism comes in many shapes and sizes. Some say everyone gets to heaven – and it is only the rewards in heaven that vary not the destination. Some say everyone goes to heaven as soon as they die, others say that after death there will be chances to repent. A little time in purgatory and even Charles Manson will repent and trust Jesus. Popular Christian writers such as Rob Bell advocate universalism. Listen to his words:

At the heart of this perspective is the belief that, given enough time, everybody will turn to God and find themselves in the joy and peace of God’s presence. The love of God will melt every hard heart, and even the most “depraved sinners” will eventually give up their resistance and turn to God.4

Finally, some way or another – all are saved. Probably the most common view of ‘Christian’ universalism has a hell-like place – a purgatory – but it is only temporary so that eventually everyone makes it to heaven. The length of the punishment and the severity of the punishment depend on your works and revealed light. So a mass rapist is there a long time – the kind old grandma is there a short time – but both finally get to heaven. Hell is just a temporary place. This is a complex argument – but in short they turn to passages like Philippians 2:9-11 – at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow – to say – finally every knee bows – all become Christians. But I would say that simply means finally all will acknowledge Jesus is the King. Or they look at 1 Corinthians 15:22 – in Christ all will be made alive. They say this means all are finally saved. But the key is not the all – it is the term – in Christ – all in Christ – all the saved will live. As far as passages that teach there is a second chance – a chance to repent after death – there are none. This hasn’t stopped them postulating that there must be a chance after death. I maintain that no passage even hints at this. In contrast – there are passages that clearly indicate no second chances. Luke 13:25–28:

When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to

4 Bell, Rob. Love Wins. New York: HarperOne, 2011, 107.

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say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.

That is pretty clear – no second chances. Hebrews 9:27 is also clear:

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. To show you in detail why universalism is wrong would take an entire sermon but let me simply say there are so many passages that speak of mankind being divided – sheep and goats – mark of the Lamb and mark of the Beast – righteous and unrighteous. Two paths, two gates, two destinies. And these passages speak of this as an eternal division. As we saw above – hell is not pictured as temporary – the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever – their punishment is eternal. There is no hint that finally there is only one destiny for all men. Universalism totally changes the gospel. The gospel would become this:

If you want to go straight to heaven – trust Jesus – if you are happy to detour through hell – enjoy this world – but you will make it one day. Either way – know that the path to heaven is simply to die.

So universalism is one attempt to lessen the horror of the doctrine of hell. But more popular is a view called annihilationism – sometimes called conditional immortality.

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This view argues that while the redeemed go to heaven for all eternity if you are not redeemed either:

• When you die – that is it. You simply cease to exist. Or much more commonly:

• When you die – you are punished commensurate with your sins – and then you cease to exist.

Hell basically becomes a form of purgatory – but it does not eventually lead to heaven but to annihilation. Those who are not Christians are punished for a time proportional to their sins – Hitler is punished for a long time – the nice bus driver for a short time – and then when the punishment fits their crimes – they are annihilated – they cease to exist. Annihilation as soon as the unrighteous die is really only found in the cults because there are so many passages that talk about punishment of some form in hell. Anyone with even a passing adherence to the Bible has to acknowledge that. So among evangelicals – this idea of punishment for a time and then annihilation is the one they usually hold to. Some very prominent evangelical leaders have adopted this view. Phillip Hughes, John Wenham and at least at times John Stott are among the growing number. There are many arguments – man is mortal and needs to be made immortal – hell is too savage for a God of grace. Because of time, let me give you what are probably their main arguments.

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First, they argue about the definitions of some key terms. For example the words – destroy and destruction. They argue these words mean to cease to exist – so to be destroyed in hell is to be punished till you cease to exist. However this is only one possible meaning of destroy – the lost coin and ruined wineskin are examples of things that are said to be ‘destroyed’ but they did not cease to exist. Lost or ruined without being destroyed is a very common meaning of this word. There is also the word for eternal – aion. They argue this can simply mean an age – not eternity. But this is the word can definitely mean eternal. It is used of eternal life. Matthew 25:46:

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

The punishment and the life are both eternal. Second, they argue that the symbolism of fire points to annihilationism. Fire consumes and destroys. The want us to think of a lump of wood burned till it is gone and argue that is what Scripture is indicating. The imagery of fire is meant to convey something is consumed. But none of the passages link fire with consuming but instead with punishing. The fire imagery is of pain not being destroyed bit by bit over time. We get passages that speak of fire that is not quenched and their worm does not die (Mark 9:47-48). The worm is not consumed – so why would we be meant to think in these of a fire that consumes and goes out? – that is not the image. And as we saw in Matthew 25 – the fire is eternal just as the reward believer’s get is eternal. Third, they argue first that annihilation is an eternal punishment. If the lost are finally annihilated they are eternally separated from Christ and the glories of heaven. This is punishment – and it lasts forever – so it fits the passages. But again no passage speaks of ceasing to exist – but of continuing to be punished. Fourth, some ask, how could heaven be heaven – knowing that your loved ones are in eternal hell? – or that God’s sovereignty did not extend to all the universe because there are still unrepentant sinners in hell? I would say that it is hard to know exactly what will think in heaven – but I suspect that we will see hell as showing the full glory of God and proving the extent of His sovereignty. If this extraordinarily brief summary is not enough for you on this subject, Don Carson has a great discussion refuting annihilationism in his book – The Gagging Of God.

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Let me now talk briefly about why hell has to be eternal, conscious torment. Humanly – I wish it were not so. But as I have thought about God and tried to see sin from His viewpoint – it seems to me it must be this way. Let me give you four reasons.

Sin continues Men and women do not stop sinning in hell.

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Their sin is ongoing. Revelation pictures those in hell as still intractably opposed to God. They aren’t on their knees repenting – they are cursing God and sinning. While there are passages like Luke 13:25–28 that indicate men and women want out of hell – passages like Revelation 22:11 indicate that they are still intractable in their rebellion to God:

Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy.

There is no grace in hell. You remove grace and the sin continues. They remain sinful, unrepentant and immoral. Hell is not filled with those who now love the Lamb and want to repent of their ways. There is no Holy Spirit in hell to lead men to repentance. If those in hell never cease to sin, why should they ever cease to suffer?

Sin cannot be atoned Even if their sinning ceased, the punishment of eternity cannot wash away the sins accumulated in life. What can wash away my sin? – nothing but the blood of Jesus. Hebrews 10:26–27:

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

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If we reject the blood of Christ – there is no other sacrifice for sins.

Not the labours of my hands Can fulfil Thy law’s demands; Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for sin could not atone; Thou must save and Thou alone.

Can a million years of works atone for even one sin? No. We are not saved by works but by grace. Only the blood of Christ can atone for sin. If I sin – I have sinned against Almighty God. Can jail, or lashes, or tears, or penance, or restitution atone for that sin? No – nothing I can do wash that sin away. If men rejected the one avenue of escape here – there is nothing after death that can save them. Their sin is never expunged – so the punishment has to last forever. If their sins have not been fully paid for in hell, on what grounds does justice permit them to be annihilated?

God is infinitely glorious Jonathan Edwards had this to say about the necessity of hell in light of the glory of God:

The crime of one being despising and casting contempt on another is proportionately more or less heinous, as he was under greater or lesser obligations to obey him. And therefore if there be any being that we are under

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infinite obligation to love, and honour, and obey, the contrary towards him must be infinitely faulty. Our obligation to love, honour and obey any being is in proportion to his loveliness, honourableness and authority ... But God is a being infinitely lovely, because He hath infinite excellence and beauty ... So sin against God, being a violation of infinite obligations must be a crime infinitely heinous, and so deserving infinite punishment ... The eternity of the punishment of ungodly men renders it infinite ... and therefore renders it no more than proportionable to the heinousness of what they are guilty of.5

Let me see if I can explain that. The greater the worth of someone you sin against – the greater the punishment. If you throw an egg at me – the police will say – sorry about that but we have murders to track down. Throw an egg at Campbell Newman and you may well go to jail. Throw an egg at Barack Obama and you may be shot there and then or at least you will be hunted down and punished very severely. So a sin against an infinite being deserves an infinite punishment. Hell seems unfair to us because we fail to grasp how infinitely glorious God is and how infinitely terrible any sin against Him is. We think of hell in terms of a sin against a person – not a sin against an all glorious perfect infinite God. We must be careful in making emotional appeals to what we, finite humans, consider just punishment for our sins against God. Hell has to be eternal, conscious punishment because of how glorious God is.

5 “The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners,” The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 1, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1995 orig. 1834), p. 669.

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The cross is infinitely costly If hell were not eternal – would God send His beloved Son to die to save those who could pay for their own sins in purgatory and finally get to heaven? It took an infinite sacrifice – the sacrifice of an infinite being – to save us from hell. That is how terrible hell is – that to save us – cost God his Son. By denying the eternity of hell, we minimise Christ’s sacrifice. Whether I like it or not. Whether I think it is fair or not. Whether I can understand it or not. If you place any credence of the words of Jesus – God Himself – Hell is real. But here is the wonder – though I thoroughly deserve hell – though you deserve hell – though we all deserve hell – richly and thoroughly deserve hell – God in His glory and love has given us a way out. God is love. God does desire for us to escape hell. And the cost to Him was enormous – it cost Him His Son – Christ. Because hell is real – we have to make our calling and election sure. Make sure you are saved. Because hell is real – we have to tell the world about the way of escape God Himself has provided. If you are here tonight and you don’t know Christ – I beg you to accept this offer of escape because I know that hell is real.

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You may not like the concept of hell. You may wonder why preach on it. Because it is real and it may lead you to consider the sacrifice of Christ – the way of escape. It is folly to reject the warnings of Jesus or to dumb them down. If you knew a friend was driving to Darwin but their fast route would take them into the middle of the desert on an impassable road that would lead to their death – is it unloving to tell them of the danger? For the same reason, we must not believe that it’s unloving to speak the truth about hell. The most basic truth is that there are only two possible destinations after death: heaven and hell. Each is just as real and just as eternal as the other. Unless we trust in the death of Christ to pay for our sins, we’re headed for hell. The most loving thing we can do for our friends and our family is to warn them about the road that leads to destruction and tell them about the road that leads to life. In 2 Corinthians 5:20–6:2 Paul says this:

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

May we heed the warning of Jesus and accept His sacrifice to avoid the path that leads to destruction.