The Good and Sobering News of Hell
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 6 viewsHell. Judgement. Death. Accountability. These are uncomfortable topics. How should we think about them? What does this passage say about them? Do you know they can actually encourage us as we view them from God's perspective? In this passage, God shows us why the reality of hell is good news and a challenge to all of us.
Notes
Transcript
One of the most famous scenes from the Wizard of Oz is when Dorothy, Scarecrow and the Tinman are entering the forest, and they are hear of:
Lions and tigers and bears (oh my!)
Lions and tigers and bears (oh my!)
it keeps building....
say it with me...
and what they find out is…not to spoil the story—they meet a lion. terrifying at first, but finding out it wasn’t so bad as they thought.
Now, today’s sermon…I hope will be like that and not like that.
why?
Hell. Judgement. accountability (oh my!)
These are uncomfortable topics.
and I hope as we unpack the passage, it will be actually much better news than we thought (like the Wizard of Oz)
and I also hope unlike the Wizard of Oz seen it will also be more sobering than we thought.
Hell is both good news...
and sobering news...
it’s both good...
and sobering...
Now the reason I bring up these themes of hell and God’s judgment is not b/c I am picking on anyone. Certainly, Christians get a bad reputation for this—but because God gives John the Apostle a vision of the—this is part of what happens when God fully sets up his kingdom.
Please turn to Rev. 20:7.
Last week we were in the first 6 verses of Revelation—talking about the 1000 year reign of Christ, aka the Millennium. God gives John a vision of binding Satan for a 1000 years and reigning through Christ and His people. It is a debated passage—some think we are currently in the Millennium, others say it is future. regardless of what you think...
this is what happens next…after that 1000 year, Millennial reign...
(please stand)
Revelation 20:7–15 (NIV)
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison
8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog— (that’s an OT reference from the book of Ezekiel to represent Israel’s enemies) and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.
9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into (what…) the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
this passage and Revelation 21-22—pictures 2 final realities for us:
either heaven (the new heaven and new earth) or...
the lake of burning sulfur (vs. 10), and the lake of fire (vs. 14-15)
We will focus on the 2nd reality of hell. Why is hell good news and sobering news?
because the devil, the beast, and the false prophet will be punished there (and all demons) (vs. 10) look at verse 10 again
10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
I mentioned the Wizard of Oz earlier—at the end—they meet the great and terrible OZ! but not to spoil the ending again—the curtain is pulled back, and they see what is really going on—it’s just a show.
in Revelation—we see the curtain is pulled back often. that behind what we think is reality, there is something else going on.
one of those realities is unseen realm. That not only did the early Christians and us have persecutors, but there are spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
if you go back earlier in the chapter—Revelation uses a lot of titles to describe Satan:
2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
he is like a dragon—powerful, and terrible - sinking his spiritual teeth and claws into us
is the ancient serpent—who lied and deceived Adam and Eve, “Did God really say?” God is holding out on you.” still deceiving and tempting today
He is the devil—meaning diabolos—the one who slanders us—before God and especially in our hearts, making us think we are not really saved or covered under the blood of the Lamb
and satan also means adversary or enemy. He is a real enemy—our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.
we saw earlier in Revelation 12 that he was kicked out of heaven. I believe that that happened when Jesus died, was resurrected, and ascended—he brought the kingdom of heaven!
and he is hell bent on our destruction—through persecution, through false teaching, and accusation, lies, and deception.
but we overcome him now by the blood of the Lamb.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”
the Christian life is not always easy—we have to constantly put on that identity of who we are in Christ and whose we are. that our sins are truly paid for. it is finished, and we walk in that—we go and spread the good news in enemy territory—and it’s not easy—i regularly hear from many of you that you feel, sense, and know Satan’s attacks FIRSTHAND. especially when you decide to start living for Jesus—and you decide to live on mission—Satan sends his flaming arrows at you.
but the good news is Satan is initially defeated on the cross!—he knows his time is short
and one day he and his cronies will all be put into the lake of fire—hell.
This IS GOOD NEWS! it motivates us to resist him…to stand firm in the faith—to know he doesn’t have the last Word. Jesus did and Jesus does. Hell is good news for this reason.
because that is where all of God’s enemies will be judged (vs. 13-15)
we see a couple more enemies…here—those who rebel against God in this life...
and death itself
13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
we see 2 enemies—let me tackle death first.
and there are 2 kinds of death...
there is physical death…where our hearts stop beating and lungs stop breathing and brain waves cease — and Scripture says that one day that death will be thrown in the lake of fire…and Hades—that’s the Greek word for the place of the dead. (called Sheol in the OT)…one day death itself and disorder and chaos will be thrown into the lake of fire…never to die again.
b/c Jesus Christ lived, died on the cross for our sins, and rose triumphantly—he is the one who will bring this about. there will be no more death.
death acc. to Scripture is such an enemy—we weren’t made to die.
but to live in life itself—God Himself who is life.
but God warned them when they eat of the tree, they will die.
the first death is physical death b/c of our sins—our hearts stop beating, our lungs stop breathing…our brains waves cease...
I was doing some research on death—and stats show that 100% of people die. we don’t like it will happen to us— “It happens to others...” but the day is coming unless Jesus returns first.
and I have watched people die firsthand in the hospital. I have seen loved ones say goodbye to their loved one in the casket—our family recently did for a relative…it is painful. death is an enemy. we grieve...
but one day…b/c Jesus is the resurrected Lord…He will throw death itself into the lake of fire.
and there is a worse death—the 2nd death - that Scripture describes here…and that takes me to my 3rd point. the first 2 were good news…this is too…but it is sobering news…hell is both good news and sobering....
because it is what we escape from in Christ or experience firsthand without Christ.
remember—this what written to a suffering church…John the apostle and the early church needed reminded to keep going.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.
10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
that was one of the cries of the early church—when will you judge your enemies—who are killing us, beheading us?
11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
that may seem like a discouraging answer—but—one day—Jesus says he will defeat fully and finally all our enemies.
now, I mentioned it in a former sermon—I don’t think we delight in our enemies going to hell. Jesus says in his sermon on the mount—love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
no—we pray for them. we pray for justice—and we don’t get even with our enemies—we take them off our hook and put them on God’s hook—that enables us to forgive them and love them in the long run....knowing that God will one day set everything right....
this passage is encourage that God will bring his final justice—against all the enemies—Satan, death itself, persecutors of the church...
but...
perhaps the biggest challenge from this passage—the sobering news for us—and those who don’t know Christ is that—not only will all experience the 1st physical death...
but the 2nd death is eternity in the lake of fire…life without Christ....FOREVER
the Bible says so much about hell…Jesus talked about it quite a bit. Jesus called it:
an unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43 “43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.”
outer darkness (Matthew 25:30 “30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
weeping and gnashing of teeth
a place of anguish Luke 16:24 “24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’”
eternal punishment Matthew 25:46 “46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.””
that’s only Jesus’ words!! The Apostle Paul says more.
earlier in Revelation 14:11
11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
these are terrible and vivid descriptions of the lake of fire or hell!!!
some may push back and say this is merely “symbolic...” it is possible that these are symbols used to describe it…and hell is not literally that way…but I would still say that symbols point to actual truth. to call hell fire—means if it is a symbol—it is pointing to a reality much worse...
some might also push back—and say why would God allow this? are people really that bad? Yes, I can understand for the devil and his angels, and the beast and false prophet…but me? there are way worse people than me—murderers, dictators, those who cause war—like Hitler or Putin. They deserve it. not me.
am I or people really that bad? for lying, or cheating, or disobeying my parents...that we deserve this reality—the 2nd death. FOREVER?
this is hard for us to understand and accept UNLESS the Spirit of God moves through His Word. hang with me...
and this will make no sense to you and me UNLESS we see that God is BIG and we as human beings—creatures are small.
think of what sin is....think of who God is....
one theologian (John Piper) reminds us from God’s Word that often we think of sin in relation to what we do to others…we hurt people, we harm people, we gossip and slander people…we lie to them....we kill others. and that is sin. but not because it is done only to human beings…but primarily because it offends our holy and perfect God who made us.
God is always the most offended party!
the essence of sin is this — Romans 1:22-23
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
God made us to know him, love him, glorify Him, make much of Him—enjoy Him—love Him with our heart soul mind and strength.
and we say “no thanks...”
we pursue created things rather than the creature.
God is in infinite being—infinitely valuable, infinitely beautiful—immortal—and we pursue finite things instead—created things—money, sex, and power.
the essence of our sin is exchanging God for those things…and it is treason. and since God is of infinite worth and value—and honor—the result is an infinite punishment.
one pastor (Piper says it like this): This will make no sense where God is small and man is big. It will only make sense where people see God as great, as he really is, and see man, see ourselves, and see our outrageous God-belittling self-centeredness for what they are.
Piper quote “The reason hell is so terrible is because God is so great that despising him is so evil that it deserves this terrible punishment.”
whenever I think about hell it is sobering—it is a wake-up call.
this is sobering news...
that is why I entitled the Good and Sobering News of Hell!
It is a wake-up call…if I live my life without Christ…I will spend eternity in this lake of fire—away from Christ.
but there is good news…and this will take us into communion...
the good news of this—is that if we have truly trusted in Jesus, surrendered our lives to him, if he is our treasure—then we will experience the new heaven and new earth in the next chapters.
in fact, one of the good things of a passage like this—is that it should show us what we are saved FROM!
Heaven looks even better against the backdrop of hell!
and if you are here and say Pastor Rick---the lake of fire is my destiny—how do I avoid it?
now—I believe that when it comes to knowing God—and experience his salvation—we have 2 motivations...
one is this—we don’t want to go there—and that is legit---hell is part of what we are saved FROM!
and as we run from hell—we also run TO God! He is ultimately what we are saved FOR. hell cannot be the only motivation to experience and know God—God must be it too!
Listen carefully...
I want to answer this by thinking about communion/the Lord’s Supper.
If you need communion elements—let us know. raise your hand.
communion is open to anyone who is a believer in Jesus.
God gave the church 2 ordinances—one is baptism. we will celebrate that at the end of August—at the Liechtly Lake Lot—so if you want to get baptized—think of that date—or if you can’t wait—we can schedule you anytime with our portable tank.
and the other is communion.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
sin is incredibly offensive to God and we forget that.
our sin deserves death—both physical death and spiritual death. that’s what we deserve b/c God is so glorious and we rejected Him.
but the good news is that God gave us a way to be forgiven, set free, put right with Him, to avoid that lake of fire and spend eternity with Him.
God sent His Son Jesus into our world—to live perfectly—He never sinned. and to die—taking on himself the judgment we deserve when he died on the cross. Jesus said this is my body which is FOR you. the bread reminds us that Jesus literally died on the cross. He experienced the suffering and punishment which we deserved in our place—the wages of sin is death. Jesus took it—though we didn’t deserve it.
and His blood was shed—symbolized in the cup. in the OT God required people to give animal sacrifices through priests at a temple—blood sacrifices showing us that sin is serious, and something must pay in our place. well, Jesus, Scripture says, his blood is better than the blood of bulls and goats. He is the infinite God who became man, the God man. His blood, the perfect lamb, truly atones for our sin.
Jesus experienced a hell on the cross—when He cried out my god my god why have you forsaken me!
the reality of hell makes Jesus’ sacrifice more glorious and beautiful that He would go through that FOR ME…FOR YOU…
so if we believe and receive this reality-that Jesus did this for us. that we are sinners. we deserve wrath but Jesus took it in our place. we cannot do it or earn it. and trust Him by faith—
this eating and drinking reminds us that we need Jesus…just like we need food and drink.
and we believe by faith—that he lived, died, rose…and we surrender—the word is covenant—God covenants, makes a contract with us by the blood of Christ and we surrender to that new way of life—with Jesus as our King. We choose Him over created things.
Jesus says...
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
you see—either Jesus pays for our sins on the cross
—or we will at the final judgment—when we are judged according to the books. to what we have done.
we are either recorded in the books—found guilty
or if we place our trust in Jesus—we are in the book of life—His death paid for us so we could have life.
either we are judged by our works…
or Christ’s works
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
I want to give you a chance to begin this journey. my goal in speaking about hell is not to scare anyone…but Scripture is honest
5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
I also know some of us have sensitive consciences—the goal is not to scare anyone into praying a certain prayer....
but some of you have been living your way for too long—and are ready to live God’s way.
You can pray something like this (repeat after me)
“Father, I have sinned against you, and I am sorry. I confess it to you that I deserve death. Please forgive me. I am trusting in Jesus alone to save me—his life, his death on the cross, and resurrection. I surrender everything to you. Please be my Savior and King. In Jesus’ name.”
if that’s you—would you just open your eyes for a moment and look at me.
I also want to give you a chance if you are a believer to reflect
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.