CRCF””5/31/09
Questions of the Heart #5
Introduction””Clark Pinnock, a Canadian theologian who still calls himself an evangelical, wrote,
“I was led to question the traditional belief in everlasting conscious torment because of moral revulsion and broader theological considerations, not first of all on scriptural grounds. It just does not make any sense to say that a God of love will torture people forever for sins done in the context of a finite life. . . . It’s time for evangelicals to come out and say that the biblical and morally appropriate doctrine of hell is annihilation, not everlasting torment.” (Clark Pinnock and Delwin Brown, Theological Crossfire: An Evangelical/Liberal Dialogue [Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1990], pp. 226-227)
Dorothy Sayers, who died in 1957, speaks a necessary antidote to this kind of abandonment of truth.
There seems to be a kind of conspiracy, especially among middle-aged writers of vaguely liberal tendency, to forget, or to conceal, where the doctrine of Hell comes from. One finds frequent references to the “cruel and abominable mediaeval doctrine of hell,” or “the childish and grotesque mediaeval imagery of physical fire and worms.” . . .
But the case is quite otherwise; let us face the facts. The doctrine of hell is not ” mediaeval”: it is Christ’s. It is not a device of “mediaeval priestcraft” for frightening people into giving money to the church: it is Christ’s deliberate judgment on sin. The imagery of the undying worm and the unquenchable fire derives, not from “mediaeval superstition,” but originally from the Prophet Isaiah, and it was Christ who emphatically used it. . . . It confronts us in the oldest and least “edited” of the gospels: it is explicit in many of the most familiar parables and implicit in many more: it bulks far larger in the teaching than one realizes, until one reads the Evangelists [gospels] through instead of picking out the most comfortable texts: one cannot get rid of it without tearing the New Testament to tatters. We cannot repudiate Hell without altogether repudiating Christ. (Dorothy Sayers, A Matter of Eternity, ed. Rosamond Kent Sprague [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1973], p. 86)
Hell. No one should enjoy the subject. And yet, Jesus Christ found it necessary to speak of often. So, how can we do any less?
Piper: “It is a profound and dreadful reality. To speak of it lightly, or not to speak of it at all, or to speak of it in a way that changes suffering into feeling nothing, simply proves that we do not grasp its horror. I know of no one who has overstated the terrors of hell. We can scarcely surpass the horrid images Jesus used. “Weeping and gnashing of teeth,”4 “their worm shall not die” (Mark 9:48); “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12; Mark 9:43); “eternal fire” (Matthew 25:41); “the hell of fire” (Matthew 18:9); “eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46); “anguish in the flame” (Luke 16:24). The point of all these is that we are meant to shudder. We are meant to tremble and feel dread. We are meant to recoil from the reality.”
Revelation 14:11 is probably the most graphic New Testament statement of the eternal suffering of the unrepentant. “The smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day or night.”
“Is there a physical hell right now?”
As we seek to Biblically answer this very specific question, we really need to see 4 truths about hell, all of which go together to give us our answer:
1. Hell is where the only experience of God is His everlasting wrath.
R.C. Sproul gives a masterful response to this common explanation:
“It is common to say that hell is the absence of God. Such statements are motivated in large part by the dread of even contemplating what hell is like. We try often to soften that blow and find a euphimism to skirt around it.
We need to realize that those who are in hell desire nothing more than the absence of God. They didn”™t want to be in God”™s presence during their earthly lives, and they certainly don”™t want Him near when they”™re in hell. The worst thing about hell is the presence of God there.
When we use the imagery of the Old Testament in an attempt to understand the forsakenness of the lost, we are not speaking of the idea of the departure of God or the absence of God in the sense that He ceases to be omnipresent. Rather, it”™s a way of describing the withdrawal of God in terms of His redemptive blessing. It is the absence of the light of His countenance. It is the presence of the frown of His countenance. It is the absence of the blessedness of His unveiled glory that is a delight to the souls of those who love Him, but it is the presence of the darkness of judgment. Hell reflects the presence of God in His mode of judgment, in His exercise of wrath, and that”™s what everyone would like to escape.” R. C. Sproul, The Truth of the Cross (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2007), pp. 157-158.
Why does God have to punish sin? And why does He have to punish sin eternally with unending suffering?
We sang the answer earlier””the holiness of God. God”™s own infinitely holy and undefiled character necessitate that He punish sin, and that He punish it eternally.
Isaiah 6:1-5””“In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Hovering around him were mighty seraphim, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with the remaining two they flew. In a great chorus they sang, ”˜Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”™ The glorious singing shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke. Then I said, ”˜My destruction is sealed, for I am a sinful man and a member of a sinful race. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!”™”
Romans 3:12, 23””“All have turned away from God; all have gone wrong. No one does good, not even one . . . For all have sinned; all fall short of God”™s glorious standard.”
Romans 2:5b-9””“For there is going to come a day of judgment when God, the just judge of all the world, will judge al people according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who persist in doing what is good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and practice evil deeds. There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on sinning . . . .”
Romans 6:23””“For the wages of sin is death . . . .”
2 Thessalonians 1:9””“They will be punished with everlasting destruction, forever separated from the Lord and His glorious power”.
Matthew 23:33””“Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?”
Because of the holiness of God, we ALL deserve the eternal punishment of Hell””and, apart from trusting Jesus Christ, we WILL bust Hell wide open!
Revelation 14:9-10””“Then a third angel followed them, shouting, ”˜Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or the hand must drink the wine of God”™s wrath. It is poured out undiluted into God”™s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb.”
Hell is where the only experience of God is His everlasting wrath.
2. In Christ, God has made every effort to keep mankind from Hell.
John 3:16-19, 36””“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God. Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil . . . And all who believe in God”™s Son have eternal life. Those who don”™t obey the Son will never experience eternal life, but the wrath of God remains upon them.”
Romans 5:6-8””“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
Piper: “The Bible assumes that it is a just and righteous recompense to all who sin. And for that to be true, how infinitely valuable and worthy must be the glory of God that sin belittles and scorns! In other words the horror of hell is an echo of the infinite worth of God’s glory.
And if the death of Christ can justly deliver millions of people from deserved eternal torment, how infinite must have been the torment of the Son of God when he took our place.
So the justice of hell stands as an everlasting witness to the infinite greatness of the glory of God, and the infinite greatness of the suffering and righteous of Christ to redeem all who repent and believe in him. Hell is an echo of the glory of God.”
Anything less than the Biblical truth of eternal punishment for those who reject Jesus Christ belittles, not only our sin, but also the infinitely high price paid with the life of God”™s own Son to redeem mankind from sin!
In Christ, God has made every effort to keep mankind from Hell.
3. A Christ-rejecter will be separated from God completely and eternally the moment his/her body dies.
Luke 16:19-26””“Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed and who lived each day in luxury. At his door lay a diseased beggar named Lazarus. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man”™s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. Finally, the beggar died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Lazarus in the far distance with Abraham. 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, because I am in anguish in these flames.”™ But Abraham said to him, ”˜Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. Anyone who wanted to cross over to you from here is stopped at its edge, and no one there can cross over to us.”™”
Is hell a physical place right now?
What is clear is that hell is a real place right now! What is clear is that we are to conceive of what happens to a Christ-rejecter at death in terms of suffering that includes all of our senses. It is true that all of our bodies””Christ-followers and Christ-rejecters remain in the grave until the resurrection.
Acts 24:15””“I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.”
So, it seems that right now hell is a place of torment for the souls of unbelievers until the resurrection of the dead when it will become physical””and we”™ll talk more about that later.
Matthew 5:29-30””“So if your eye””even if it is your good eye””causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your hand””even if it is your stronger hand””causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9””“ . . . 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. They will be punished with everlasting destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power . . . .”
A Christ-rejecter will be separated from God completely and eternally the moment his/her body dies.
4. Christ-rejecters will be eternally tormented in the lake of fire.
Daniel 12:2””“Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Matthew 25:41, 46””“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!”™ . . . And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
John 5:28-29””“Don”™t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God”™s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to eternal life and those who have continued in evil will rise to judgment.”
Jude 6-7, 13””“And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the day of judgment. And don”™t forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with sexual immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and are a warning of the eternal fire that will punish all who are evil . . . They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the dirty foam of their shameful deeds. They are wandering stars, heading for everlasting gloom and darkness.”
Revelation 14:17-20””“After that, another angel came from the Temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel, who has power to destroy the world with fire, shouted to the angel with the sickle, ”˜Use your sickle now to gather the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are fully ripe for judgment.”™ So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God”™s wrath. And the grapes were trodden in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress in a stream about 180 miles long and as high as a horse”™s bridle.”
Revelation 20:7-15””“When the thousand years end, Satan will be let out of his prison. He will go out to deceive the nations from every corner of the earth, which are called Gog and Magog. He will gather them together for battle””a mighty host, as numberless as sand along the shore. And I saw them a they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God”™s people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them. Then the Devil, who betrayed them, was thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and I saw the one who was sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. 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 the things written in the books, according to what they had done. The sea gave up the dead in it, and death and the grave gave up the dead in them. They were all judged according to their deeds. And death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death””the lake of fire. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Christ-rejecters will be eternally tormented in the lake of fire.
Conclusion””
Piper: “The fear of hell is a good and useful thing. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear. Fear him who, after he has killed has the power to cast into hell” (Luke 12:4-5). In other words, fear the judgment of God.”
But remember Isaiah”™s encounter with God? Well, listen to the rest of it:
Isaiah 6:6-7””“Then one of the seraphim flew over to the altar, and he picked up a burning coal with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, ”˜See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”™”
As we saw earlier, God took the initiative to rescue us from ourselves, from our sin and from His own judgment that we fully deserved. He sent His Son to pay the price for our sins so that we can be justly forgiven.
Romans 3:25-26””“For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God”™s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times. And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.”
Piper: “Don’t let the fear of hell be your only motive for wanting heaven. Instead, come to the living waters of God’s love and truth and goodness and wisdom and power and justice and grace and glory. Taste and see that the Lord is good. His steadfast love is better than life. Let the fearful insufficiency of hell drive you to the all-sufficiency of God.”