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God’s Wrath and the Reality of Hell

Sunday, April 16, 2023
Pastor Jojo Ma

Weekly Bulletin | Worship Lyrics

Revelation 14:10-11

 

Charles Spurgeon: "Beloved, these are such weighty things that while I dwell upon them I feel far more inclined to sit down and weep than to stand up and speak to you."

Rev 14:10-11 10 [The wicked] 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.

I.          Jesus said that hell is a place of eternal suffering
II.        Jesus said that hell is a place of conscious suffering
III.       Jesus said that hell is a place of punitive suffering

CrossLife Statement of Faith, Section XXV. Last Things --- At death, human bodies return to dust but the spirits of the righteous in Christ go immediately to the Lord to rest in His presence until the resurrection, and the spirits of the unrighteous are reserved under darkness until the judgement. When Christ returns, all the dead, both the righteous and the unrighteous will be raised, as God has appointed a day, in which He will judge the world by Jesus Christ, when everyone will receive according to his deeds; the wicked will go into everlasting conscious punishment in hell; the righteous will go into everlasting life with Christ. The literal physical Second Coming of Christ, the physical resurrection of the righteous unto eternal life, and of the unrighteous unto eternal punishment in hell are essential truths of our faith.

I.         Jesus said that hell is a place of eternal suffering
Rev 14:10-11 10 [The wicked] 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.

Matt 25:41,46 Then He will say to those on His left, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”...And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

In Mark 9:48, Jesus says that hell is a place "where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched."

II.        Jesus said that hell is a place of conscious suffering
Rev 14:10-11 10 [The wicked] 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.

Matt 13:49-50 So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matt 25:30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Lk 16:19-28 19 There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.” 25 But Abraham said, “Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.” 27 And he said, “Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.”

III.      Jesus said that hell is a place of punitive suffering
Rev 14:10-11 10 [The wicked] 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.

This eternal judgment of unbelievers, of the unrepentant, is a demonstration of the absolute sovereignty of God's severity in judgment. God will make the wicked pay for their sins. God will inflict vengeance on them.

Professor G.K. Beale: "The smoke of their torment is a mixed metaphor, where smoke is figurative of an enduring memorial of God's punishment involving a real, ongoing, eternal, conscious torment."

2 Thes 1:6-9 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.

Professor Christopher Morgan: "Those in hell suffer intense and excruciating pain. This pain is emotional, spiritual, and physical…The fire produces the pain described as 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' (Matt 13:42). The intensity of the suffering seems to be according to the wickedness of the person's behavior (Rom 2:5-8). Hell is utterly fearful and dreadful (Heb 10:27-31). This punishment is depicted as 'coming misery', 'eating flesh with fire', and the 'day of slaughter' (Jam 5:1-5). Those in hell will feel the full force of God's fury and wrath and will be 'tormented' with fire (Rev 14:10). This suffering is best understood as endless since the 'smoke of their torment rises forever and ever' (Rev 14:11). This suffering is constant because it is said that those in hell 'will have no rest day or night' (Rev 14:11) and 'will be tormented day and night forever and ever' (Rev 20:10)."

How should we then live?
1.  Give thanks for your salvation

1 Thes 1:9-10 9...how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

2.  Grow your understanding of God's holiness

3.  Go and make disciples
Charles Spurgeon: "If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for."