Hell: When the worst is yet to come
2 Thess. 1:3-12
Sermon Introduction
Preaching grace!
Preaching Christ!
Preaching hell. (PG13 – or R for intense emotional themes.)
The fact that the loving and wise Savior has more to say about hell than any other individual in the Bible is certainly thought provoking.
Harry Buis, The Doctrine of Eternal Punishment, p. 33
Text
2 Thessalonians 1:3-12 (ESV)
Prop: Hell is the
inescapable eternal reality for those who refuse to flee to the mercy and grace
of the gospel.
1.
Inescapable
Reality
2 Thessalonians 1:5-12
(ESV)
5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be
considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers
it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to
grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is
revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire,
inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey
the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They
will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10
when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be
marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was
believed. 11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may
make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every
work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord
Galatians 6:7 (ESV)
7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that
will he also reap.
Romans 2:5-9 (ESV)
5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up
wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be
revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7
to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and
immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are
self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be
wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every
human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,
Romans 2:12 (ESV)
12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without
the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
· He is Sovereign
· He is Just
· We must all stand before the Judgement Seat!
2 Corinthians 5:10 (ESV)
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so
that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether
good or evil.
· We will all receive justice!
·
1.1.
Just
2 Thessalonians 1:5-12
(ESV)
5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be
considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6
since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who
afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well
as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8
in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on
those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will
suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the
Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day
to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have
believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11 To this end
we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may
fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so
that the name of our Lord
1.1.1.
John 3:18-21 (ESV)
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is
condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of
God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people
loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For
everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light,
lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the
light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in
God.
Psalm 51:3-5 (ESV)
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother
conceive me.
· Your job isn’t to judge others – it is to examine your own heart.
· Is this true for you?
· Use the standard to measure.
CALIBRATION WITH THE STANDARD. WEIGHTS
ULTIMATELY JESUS –THE LAW – GOLDEN RULE conversation AT STARBUCKS.
Letting someone in . Lusting after someone else’s wife.
Contrast to JESUS!
1.1.2. Offense against an infinitely glorious and holy One.
Our obligation to love, honour, and obey any being, is in proportion to his loveliness, honourableness, and authority; for that is the very meaning of the words. When we say any one is very lovely, it is the same as to say, that he is one very much to be loved. Or if we say such a one is more honourable than another, the meaning of the words is, that he is one that we are more obliged to honour. If we say any one has great authority over us, it is the same as to say, that he has great right to our subjection and obedience.
But God is a being infinitely lovely, because he has infinite excellency and beauty. To have infinite excellency and beauty, is the same thing as to have infinite loveliness. He is a being of infinite greatness, majesty, and glory; and therefore he is infinitely honourable. He is infinitely exalted above the greatest rulers of the earth, and highest angels in heaven; and therefore he is infinitely more honourable than they. His authority over us is infinite; and the ground of his right to our obedience is infinitely strong; for he is infinitely worthy to be obeyed himself, and we have an absolute, universal, and infinite dependence upon him.
Jonathan Edwards, The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners
Romans 12:2 (ESV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect.
1.1.3. Graded
Matthew 11:20-22 (ESV)
20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty
works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you,
Chorazin! Woe to you,
What is very clear, therefore, is that men will be judged on the basis of the light they had, and not on the basis of a revelation they did not receive. Those who had many privivelges will have the greater responsibility; those who had fewer privileges will have less responsibility. There will therefore be “gradations’ in the suffereings of the lost. Jesus indicates this in Luke 12:47-48….
Hoekema, TBaTF, 260
Luke 12:47-48 (ESV)
47 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. 48 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.
1.1.4. Common objections to hell
The most destructive myth of twentieth-century American religion is…that there is no wrath in God. Nothing promotes godlessness more than that myth.7
Sproul
The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions.
Author: A. W. Tozer
My dad the judge paying my speeding ticket.
How believing in hell saved me!
1.2.
Bad
2 Thessalonians 1:5-12
(ESV)
5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be
considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6
since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who
afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well
as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8
in flaming fire, inflicting
vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel
of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal
destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to
be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was
believed. 11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may
make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every
work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord
Hebrews 10:28-31 (ESV)
28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on
the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse
punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son
of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified,
and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said,
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
31 It is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God.
This is serious!
Ever realize you are in serious trouble? Not just messed up but really blew it? In a way that can’t be fixed and may mark you.
A story of my failure..
1.2.1. Fire
Revelation 21:8 (ESV)
8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for
murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that
burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Matthew 13:41-42 (ESV)
41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of
his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mark 9:47-48 (ESV)
47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for
you to enter the
1.2.2.
Isaiah 51:7-8 (ESV)
7 “Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose
heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their
revilings. 8 For the moth
will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but
my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.”
Isaiah 66:22-24 (ESV)
22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall
remain before me, says the Lord,
so shall your offspring and your name remain. 23 From new moon to
new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before
me, declares the Lord. 24 “And
they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled
against me. For their worm shall not
die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all
flesh.”
Mark 9:48 (ESV)
48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
1.2.3. Darkness
2 Peter 2:17 (ESV)
17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has
been reserved.
Jude 13 (ESV)
13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame;
wandering stars, for whom the gloom of
utter darkness has been reserved forever.
Matthew 8:10-12 (ESV)
10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed
him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in
Matthew 25:30 (ESV)
30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.’
1.2.4. Isolation
2 Thessalonians 1:5-12
(ESV)
9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from
the glory
of his might,
1.2.5. Weeping and gnashing of teeth
Matthew 8:12 (ESV)
12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer
darkness. In that place there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 13:42 (ESV).Matthew 22:13 (ESV)Matthew 24:51 (ESV)Matthew 25:30 (ESV)Luke 13:28 (ESV)
1.2.6. Body and soul suffering.
Matthew 10:28 (ESV)
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Luke 12:5 (ESV)
5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has
killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
The New Testament views hell (Gehenna, as Jesus calls it, the place of incineration, Matt. 5:22; 18:9) as the final abode of those consigned to eternal punishment at the Last Judgment (Matt. 25:41-46; Rev. 20:11-15). It is thought of as a place of fire and darkness jude 7,13), of weeping and grinding of teeth (Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30), of destruction (2 Thess. 1:7-9; 2 Pet 3:7; 1 Thess. 5:3), and of torment (Rev. 20:10; Luke 16:23) -- in other words, of total distress and misery. If, as it seems, these terms are symbolic rather than literal (fire and darkness would be mutually exclusive in literal terms), we may he sure that the reality, which is beyond our imagining, exceeds the symbol in dreadfulness. New Testament teaching about hell is meant to appall us and strike us dumb with horror, assuring us that, as heaven will be better than we could dream, so hell will be worse than we can conceive. Such are the issues of eternity, which need now to be realistically faced.
J.I. Packer
Chris W. and CCC presentation on hell leading him to Christ.
2.
Eternal Reality
2 Thessalonians 1:5-12
(ESV)
5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be
considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6
since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who
afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well
as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8
in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on
those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction,
away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when
he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among
all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11 To
this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his
calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his
power, 12 so that the name of our Lord
Matthew 25:46 (ESV)
46 And these will go away into
eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Revelation 14:9-11 (ESV)
9 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, 10 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. 11 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.”
I find the concept intolerable and do not understand how people can live with it without either cauterizing their feelings or cracking under the strain.
John Stott, Essentials, 314
Despite the sincerity of their motives, one wonders more than a little to what extent the growing popularity of various forms of annihilationism and conditional immortality are a reflection of this age of pluralism. It is getting harder and harder to be faithful to the "hard lines" of Scripture. And in this way, evangelicalism itself may contribute to the gagging of God by silencing the severity of his warnings and by minimizing the awfulness of the punishment that justly awaits those untouched by his redeeming grace.
D. A. Carson, Gagging of God
Opponents of the doctrine of eternal punishment often say that the word apollymi when used in the New Testament of the fate of the wicked means to annihilate or blot out of existence..
Apollymi in the New Testament, however, never means annihilation when it is applied to other things than man’s eternal destiny.
Hoekema. The Bible and the Future, p. 269
If however the word aionios means without end when applied to the future blessedness of believers, it must follow, unless clear evidence is given to the contrary, that this word also means without end when used to describe the future punishment of the lost.
Hoekema, The Bible and the Future, p. 270
It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For "who knows the power of God's anger?"
How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old!
Jonathan Edwards ,Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
3.
Flee to the mercy
and grace of the gospel.
2 Thessalonians 1:5-12
(ESV)
5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be
considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6
since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who
afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well
as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8
in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of
our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal
destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his
might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints,
and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you
was believed. 11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God
may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and
every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord
Matthew 26:37-39 (ESV)
37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began
to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is
very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And
going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if
it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as
you will.”
Luke 22:44 (ESV)
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat
became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Mark 10:45 (ESV)
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and
to give his life as a ransom for many.”
“I hope I haven’t done anything so bad that Jesus had to die for me.”
EC quote
Warned yet going on – story from my life.
Car going over Mianus River Bridge in June 1983 in CT.
Some
motorists barely escaped a tragic death with the collapse of the
Oh my brothers and sisters in Christ, if sinners will be dammed, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies
and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay, and not madly destroy themselves.
If hell must be filed, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon
An example of how to do this winsomely.
With my buddy– understand his world, understand his philosophy, enter into it, communicate love and respect, win him as a friend, speak of grace amidst law, speak of Christ, invite to investigate.
2 Peter 3:8-9 (ESV)
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one
day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The
Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient
toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach
repentance.
1 Timothy 2:3 (ESV)
3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
Ezekiel 33:11 (ESV)
11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure
in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live;
turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of
Israel?
Not God’s will!
God is patient
We must be patient
We must persist.
We must remember.
Hell is the inescapable
eternal reality for those who refuse to flee to the mercy and grace of the
gospel.
4.
Conclusion Applications
We shall speak about hell with reluctance, with grief, perhaps with tears – but speak about it we must. ….. For our missionary enterprise, the doctrine of hell should spur us on to greater zeal and urgency.
Hoekema, p. 273