By Rev Bill Woods
Luke 16:24 — The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’
Psalm 9:17 — The wicked will go down to the grave. This is the fate of all the nations who ignore God.
I was 17 and had just been hired and was on my first day at the Jones and Scott Asphalt Company in Walla Walla, Washington.
The Foreman instructed me to haul several loads of “cold patch” asphalt over to a distant area of the “yard” and dump them there. He was stock piling the “cold patch” for temporary fixes in pot holes the cold wet winter had created.
Nobody warned me there’d been a change and I was no longer hauling cold patch but “hot” asphalt was being loaded onto my truck. It was to be delivered to the newly built Pancake House for a parking lot. It was a urgent to deliver it to the job site while it was still over 450 degrees. It wouldn’t set-up as pavement if it was allowed to cool down.
Not being informed of the change, I assumed I was to continue taking the asphalt to where I’d been dumping it all morning so I dutifully drove to the other side of the “yard” and dumped this new load of asphalt with the other loads. One of the workers yelled at me I shouldn’t have dumped this load it was for a job.
I decided to ask the Foreman where I was to take it because I didn’t want to mess up. The Foreman saw me get out of the truck and walk towards him and he went wild. Wild-eyed, face blood-red, teeth snarling, saliva and tobacco spewing from his mouth, steam coming from his collar he got in my face shrieking “What in Hell do you want?”
He proceeded to raise certain questions concerning my ancestry and about my mother and demanded I go to the office and pick up my pink slip immediately. (This was a surprise. I was wearing jeans — I didn’t think I needed a slip!)
One of the other workers interceded for me and pointed out nobody had bothered to tell me what was expected — nobody had warned me the asphalt had changed — and it was my first day!………..
Finally, the foul-mouthed Foreman cooled somewhat, but never became civil in his attitude toward me. I was allowed to stay on the job…….I tried to be more alert to what was going on……
I’ve remembered that experience all these years. I’ve often played that scene over in my mind remembering his question, “WHAT IN HELL DO YOU WANT?”
I don’t have to think too long about that question to come up with an answer: “THERE’S NOTHING IN HELL I WANT!”
People joke about Hell. They treat the idea of Hell as if it were of no consequence…………
Most preachers won’t preach about Hell in this generation. They’re worried they might upset someone’s psyche or make them uncomfortable. They don’t want to scare anyone away from their church and lose that financial support! Talking about Hell is negative! — Preachers should always be positive and always “Preach Love!”
I consider it love to warn sinners of the dangers of Hell! It doesn’t sound very loving to me to let someone be lost for Eternity when they could be saved from that horrible consequence.
When I lived in Cheyenne, I was in my back yard when I looked up and saw the neighbor’s kitchen was on fire.
- I ran around to his front door and about knocked it down in an effort to warn him his house was on fire.
- I didn’t waste time finding out about his family or what kind of a day he was having.
- I didn’t compliment him on his beautiful garden hoping he would be pleased!
- I warned him that his house was on fire and he’d better take action right away!
I can’t justify tickling your ears while I know your lost and on the way to Hell!
If I have a fatal disease and go to the doctor, I don’t want him to tell me I’m the picture of health so he doesn’t upset me. I want the truth! Especially if something can be done about it!
I’ve been told my sermons should emphasize what a Good God we serve — after all, would a loving God send you to Hell?
No, but He’ll let you go there if that’s your choice. You’re free to make that decision because you’re a Free-moral Agent. That means you can choose where you want to be for Eternity. “Smoking or Non-smoking!”
Yes, God wants you in Heaven. He wants you there even more than you want to be there, but He won’t force you repent and get ready to go there. He’s done everything He can to get you there — HE’LL NOT FORCE YOUR WILL! It’s your choice, but understand God will not let sin enter His Heaven.
Revelation 20:11-15
11 And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide.
12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds.
14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death.
15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 21:8
8 “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Hell is real! Hell isn’t a joking matter — YOU DON’T WANT TO GO THERE!
Hell is so real to Jesus that He was willing to suffer, bleed, and die to keep you from spending eternity there…………He willingly suffered the very flames of Hell to provide for your Salvation.
Psalm 16:10 — For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.
Usually someone says, “Oh that’s Old Testament stuff. We live under the New Testament and God’s Grace has changed the rules.”
OH REALLY!? Check out some New Testament Scriptures:
Matthew 25:41—Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.
Matthew 25:46 — And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.
SOUNDS LIKE WE’D DO WELL TO PAY ATTENTION HERE!
Acts 2:27 — For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
7 And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels,
8 in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.
9 They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power.
Jude 1:7— And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment.
This by no means exhausts the scripture references about Hell in the New Testament. Hell is real and is not just an Old Testament threat.
Hell isn’t only referred to in God’s inspired Holy Word — it’s noted in the Apostle’s Creed too.
In order for Jesus to make full Atonement for our sins, He had to experience the horrors of Hell. He had to experience everything a non-repentant sinner faces in order to win our Salvation as our substitute.
The Apostle’s Creed:
1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into Hell:
5. The third day he rose again from the dead:
6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit:
9. I believe in the Church universal: the communion of saints:
10. The forgiveness of sins:
11. The resurrection of the body,
12. And the life everlasting. Amen.
We’ve sanitized Christ’s Atonement until many think when He cried from the Cross “It is Finished!” He’d completed the full sacrifice for our sins.
No! His physical suffering had ended — His body was dead, but His physical death didn’t finish the anguish of His Spirit. Again, He had to experience everything a sinner must experience before the Atonement was fully satisfied.
Hell is a lost topic in churches we’ve been lulled into thinking “It’s just a state of mind.” “It’s how people remember you when you’re gone.” “It’s not really so bad–all your friends will be there–you’ll be in good company.” “I’ll spend so much time shaking hands with my friends I won’t even notice the flames.” Chortle, chortle, snort, laugh!
That’s not what Jesus said, Mark 9:43-49
43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands.
45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet.
47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
48 ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’
49 “For everyone will be tested with fire.
Charles Spurgeon wrote: “There is a real fire in Hell, as truly as you have a real body–a fire exactly like that which we have on this earth, except this: It will not consume you though it will torture you. You have seen asbestos lying amid red hot coals, but not consumed. So your body will be prepared by God in such a way that it will burn forever without being consumed. With your nerves laid raw by searing flame, yet never desensitized for all its raging fury, and the acrid smoke of the sulfurous fumes searing your lungs and choking your breath, you will cry out for the mercy of death, but it shall never, never, no never come.”
The reason the body won’t be destroyed in Hell is because it’s the same kind of glorified body given to the Saints in Heaven. (The same kind of body Christ has after the Resurrection.) What guarantees Heaven will be so glorious will make Hell horrendous because the glorified body will be indestructible.
Philippians 3:20-21
20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
1 John 3:2-3
2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
The Bible teaches there will be two general resurrections.
The first for the Saints of God bound for Eternity with Christ in Heaven:
Revelation 20:4-5
4 Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.)
The second resurrection will come 1000 years later and will include those who didn’t serve God and who are bound for Eternity in Hell (not greeting friends):
Revelation 20:14
11 And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide.
12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds.
14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death.
15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Both Saints and Sinners will receive glorified bodies.
Remember, what will make Heaven so enjoyable for Christ’s saints will make Hell so horrible for sinners…….
It all sounds terrible! How tragic that anyone might end in Hell! Hell wasn’t made for humans, but for Satan and his fallen angels. If you end up there, you’ll go as an intruder. You’ll go there in spite of all Christ has done to keep you from ending there.
2 Peter 3:9 — The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
Remember, You have a choice.
There are 2 rivers flowing past you — River of Life — River of Death. You can choose the River of Death and Hell or you can choose the River of Life and Heaven. . WHY CHOOSE DEATH?
Some say, “I don’t plan to choose death. When the time’s right, I’ll choose Life.” – You choose by not choosing! Like putting off cashing in Lottery ticket.
Charles Swindoll said, “The safest road to Hell is the gradual one–the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts……….The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather (for the devil).”
It’s been noted that if a bird is taken from a migratory flock (duck or goose) and if it is caged during the migratory season it will nearly kill itself flapping and beating its wings against the bars of the cage in a desperate attempt to get loose. When the migratory season passes the bird loses the drive to join the migrating flocks. The cage door may be left open and the bird makes no attempt to get out. Even throwing the bird into the air does no good — it’s lost all desire to migrate.
That happens to a human soul. Put off repenting too long and the desire to find God’s forgiveness vanishes. How terrible!
Resisting the Holy Spirit’s invitation to accept Christ’s plan of Salvation will harden the heart. The longer a person rejects the tug of the Spirit, the easier it will be to deny God and the harder it will be to sense God working in your life.
There’ll come a day when you won’t feel God’s conviction for sin anymore. That’s what old-time evangelists called, “CROSSING THE DEADLINE. That’s what Pharaoh did when Moses was working with him in Exodus. Don’t harden your heart!
In the late 1800’s a ship called the “Central America” was in bad trouble, she’d sprung a leak and was going down. She hoisted a signal of distress. Another ship came close to her and its captain asked, through a megaphone, “What’s wrong?” “We’re in bad repair and are going down, but wait till morning when we have light.”
The captain on the rescue ship said, “Let me take your passengers on board now.” “Wait until morning,” the message came back. Once more the captain called, “You’d better let me take your passengers on board now.” Again the reply through the megaphone, “Wait until morning.”
An hour and half later the lights were gone, there was no sound heard–the ship and all on board had gone down in the fathomless abyss.
Listen, if you don’t know Christ don’t say, “Wait until morning.” Hear God’s voice today (now) and accept His Invitation to escape Hell and come to Heaven.
WHAT IN HELL DO YOU WANT?–There’s nothing there for you!
In Dante’s The Inferno, these words are inscribed over the gates of Hell: “Only those elements time cannot wear were made before me, and beyond time I stand. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”
Christians ought to join with hymn writer, Edward Mote in proclaiming:
MY HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS THAN JESUS BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS. I DARE NOT TRUST THE SWEETEST FRAME, BUT WHOLLY LEAN ON JESUS’ NAME. ON CHRIST, THE SOLID ROCK, I STAND; ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND. ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND.
What are you standing on today?
WHAT IN HELL DO YOU WANT? THERE’S NOTHING THERE FOR YOU!
PODCAST WHAT IN HELL DO YOU WANT?
https://www.buzzsprout.com/824359/7566421
Like this:
Like Loading...