A couple of weeks ago we began to consider the reality of hell—specifically, that hell is a place of eternal conscious punishment for the wicked. Those of us who have been in the church for any length of time won’t find that shocking or troubling. And perhaps that is…shocking and troubling. Certainly, hell is the perfectly reasonable response of God to the sin of man. We shouldn’t be shocked or troubled by it for that reason. Rather, we should be shocked and troubled because we all know so many people who are going to go there!
The nature and certainty of hell as the destination of the lost should influence us in at least four ways.
- Compassion.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:36–38)
While we know that Jesus Himself is the one who will come as the judge of the wicked on the last day, He is repeatedly depicted as singular in His compassion toward the lost throughout the Gospels. Here that compassion moves Him to call His disciples to act—immediately, to pray, and shortly, to go out. It may be helpful to recall that no one in the New Testament said more to warn others about hell than did Jesus.
We would do well to follow Him in showing compassion for the lost in light of the reality of hell. We should consider that as surely as we are breathing, many around us will enter eternal judgment on the last day if they do not repent and trust in Christ. Let us have compassion on them by opening our mouths.
2. Urgency.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:13–17)
Here the apostle chides the one who presumes what he will do tomorrow. Many of us are quite careful in this regard, sprinkling our speech with "Lord-willing’s" lest we be guilty of violating the principle. Yet, how many of us violate this passage as a way of life when it comes to sharing the gospel with our hell-bound neighbors, friends, co-workers, and family? Day after day, by our closed mouths we assume that tomorrow is another day. It may not be. Maybe not for us, maybe not for them.
Paul wrote these words urging others to repent: “Behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2b). Perhaps, we need to preach the same words to ourselves, the evangelists.
3. Clarity.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. (Colossians 4:2–4)
Given the nature of the gospel and the reality of the penalty of sin, there is one fitting way to speak about these things—with clarity. Let us consider again the subject matter. Everyone is born estranged from the Creator God because of their rebellion against Him. The just penalty for their mutiny is eternal conscious punishment in a place called hell. Some of the most fearful language ever recorded has been dedicated to describing this place. Yet, these are the details on which we tend to go fuzzy or altogether silent when talking about eternal things with the lost around us.
Remember Jesus wasn’t vague. He was clear. He was also quite clear about the answer (Matt 16:24; John 14:6).
4. Persistent.
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. (2 Corinthians 5:11a)
If we believe that hell is real and we care about the people around us, we’ll not be content to tell them once or twice about the gospel. We’ll do it over and over and over. That’s the significance of the word “persuade” in 2 Corinthians 5:11. Paul and his ministry companions did not merely tell people the gospel; they kept after them, seeking to persuade them. Once again, that kind of communication fits with the nature of the content.
The illustration is trite, but it works. If a neighbor’s house was on fire, what would you do? Almost everyone would have the compassion to tell them. Only the most callous among us would care so little as to say nothing.
Virtually everyone would tell them with great urgency. There would be no waiting until your YouTube video was over or your iPad needed to be charged. No, you’d drop what you were doing and run to tell them!
Everyone would be clear in communicating the danger. There would be no ambiguity: “You know, there are reasons people need fire insurance. Well, if you ever want to talk about fire insurance, you know where to find me.” Nope. “You’re house is on fire!”
And everyone would persist until that neighbor saw the danger and acted appropriately. We would get others involved if necessary. Getting other neighbors, calling the first responders, dragging them out of the house, whatever. We would NOT simply give them one message, leave them in their house, and go back home.
So why don’t we respond with compassion, urgency, clarity, and persistence as it pertains to the coming judgment? There could be a number of reasons. I suppose we just don’t think about how real and certain it is. We can’t see it or feel it so it doesn’t seem imminent.
But we must believe the Scriptures. And believing, we must act!
Who will you talk to today?
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