Where do we go when we die Part 2: Infernal Realities

Once upon a time there was a shrewd business, and when I say “shrewd” I mean he was a crook, who used his skills to make a lot of money. However, like us all, he grew old and eventually there came a day when his doctor told him he didn’t have much longer to live and suggested that he take some time to get his affairs in order. So the businessman goes to his wife and says, “Dearest … I have taken half of all we own, sold it, and put the cash in a trunk on the roof.”

Fearing for her husband’s sanity the wife replies “Why did you do that?”

“Honey, I don’t have much longer to live. Soon I will be in heaven. It took me a lifetime to build up my fortune and I don’t want to have to start from scratch so I am putting half of all I have in cash in a trunk so when I die I can just grab it on my way up.”

It wasn’t too long after this conversation that the businessman died and true to his wishes he died at home. Shortly after the funeral, when everyone went home, his wife and children got a ladder and went to the roof to see if the trunk and the money was gone. After climbing the ladder and seeing that the truck and the money remained on the roof the wife turns to her son and says “I told him that if he wanted to take it with him where he was going he should have put the trunk in the basement.”  

Today we are continuing on in our series “Where do you go when you die?” Last week we said that our world and our lives are made up of more than just physical realities, there are spiritual realities too. We said that this realities are that God made you to love you; you were made to last forever;  God has prepared two eternal places – heaven and hell;  we get to choose where you’ll spend eternity; and we have a lifetime to make this choice … but no longer. These are the spiritual realities that will shape the course of our lives in this world and the next.

Today we are going to talk about one of the two eternal places where we can go. Today we are going to talk about hell. Specifically we will talk about: Why does hell exist?  What is it like? 

First, Why does hell exist?

There are two fundamental reasons why hell exists: 

            The first is because sin and evil exist; and
            Second, because our God is a Holy and Just God. 

There are some people that want to deny the existence of evil.  They think that actually the world is full of people and we’re basically good; that human beings are fundamentally by nature unselfish, always kind, always good, and always thinking about others.  However, I just can’t reconcile that way of thinking whenever I read the newspaper, listen to the radio or watch the news on T.V. When we read about the marathon bombing in Boston, or 9-11, or some politician abusing the public trust to line his pocket, or the latest murder, or child molestation we know the world is filled with evil of all kinds of shapes and sizes. Indeed, it’s all around us.

The Bible is full of stories telling us of people who have lived amazingly good lives who have blessed many, and people who have done horrendous evil. It tells us that we are capable of being incredibly selfish or incredibly selfless. It all depends on how we choose to act and behave.

I say it depends on “how we choose to behave” because God gave us a free will.  That is our greatest gift.  It is also our worst curse because we don’t always make wise choices.  God gave us this ability to choose right or wrong, good or bad, evil or righteousness – He gives us this choice because we’re created in His image.  He gave us the free will – we often choose the wrong thing.  As a result people get hurt – intentionally and unintentionally. Free will makes evil possible since it's the power to do otherwise.  If you're free to love God you're also free to hate him.  If you're free to praise God, you're also free to blaspheme him.  Why did God do that?  Because He wants us to choose to love Him.  He wants us to choose to do right. God wants you to become godly -- taking on his values, attitudes and character. As the Bible says in Ephesian’s 4 "take on an entirely new way of life -- a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you" How you act and behave on this world is your choice and your choices will develop your character. We can choose to live towards Heaven and develop a godly character or not. The trouble is, that leaves us living in a world where some people Don’t live towards Heaven, where evil exists and where some people seek to perpetrate evil against us … Hitler, Stalin, Bin Laden, the tyrant boss, the abusive husband, the school yard bully, etc.  

That begs the question, if God is all-good, he would defeat evil. If God is all-powerful, he could defeat evil.

How can a good and just God defeat evil and still allow everyone to freely choose their destiny so freedom is preserved. A good and just God can defeat evil and still allows everyone to be free and they choose which way they want to go by one day separating good from evil. Heaven and Hell.

You know what bothers good people - evil. You know what bothers evil people - good.

I used to work at Cameron’s Lumber Yard when I was growing up. You know what bothered me? The evil people swearing, cursing, telling filthy stories, blowing their smoke in my face, trying to steal from the company. You know what bothered them? Me. Reading my bible, praying, stopping them form stealing from the company, and just not joining them in their behavior.

There's a solution to that. In eternity there's going to be a smoking section and a non-smoking section. You can guess which is which. Separating evil from good forever.
The Bible says that in terms of the sheep and the goats, the good fish and the bad fish. Separating good from evil, by quarantining evil forever.

You know what we do with contagious diseases? We quarantine the people. You know what we do with people who are violent criminals? We quarantine them from society. We have programmes to rehabilitate them but we put them in a separate place.

There has to be a hell or there's no solution to the problem of evil. As long as somebody wants to do evil and as long as evil disrupts good people then there has to be a place where it's separated.

Think of it. Heaven is a place where they'll be no more evil to frustrate good people. Nobody swearing, nobody cursing, nobody doing anything evil to me. Praising God forever.

Hell is the place where there is no more good to frustrate evil people. Where the hounds of heaven stop barking. And where when the last scroll of time is rolled up and the last candle is extinguished, people will forever be in exactly the place where they chose to be.

2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “We will all stand before Christ to be judged.  We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or the evil that we have done in our bodies.”  Why does hell exist?  Because sin and evil exist and because God is holy and just.

The Bible says this in 2 Thessalonians 1 “God will do that is right.  God is a righteous God.  and He will bring suffering on those who make you suffer.  And He’ll give relief to you who suffer as well.  He will do this when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven to punish those who reject God who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus.  They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord.”

Notice the last phrase – “separated from the presence of the Lord.”  That’s the number one characteristic of hell.  Separated from the presence of the Lord.  When I was a young lad my best friend’s mother used to tell me all the time “There is no hell down below, hell is right here on earth. We are living in hell right now.” When I got older I discovered that a lot of people had that same opinion, but that is incorrect. You see, here on earth, even when I reject God, He shows me grace.  I can be going out here totally ignoring God and I get all kinds of gifts from God because everything you have in your life is a gift from God.  The air you breathe – that’s a gift from God.  The water you drink – that’s a gift from God.  Your heart beating – that’s a gift from God.  Everything you have in your life is a gift of God’s grace.  So even people who don’t know the Lord experience God’s grace every single day of their life.  Life itself is a gift from God.  Everything you have on this planet is because of God’s grace.  People don’t realize how bad “separated from the presence of the Lord” is because we have the Lord’s presence here. 

What is hell like? 

It’s really hard to explain because we don’t have the human experience to explain it.  It’s kind of like trying to explain the Internet to an ant.  If you had never eaten or seen a piece of pizza how would you explain it?  So it’s really kind of hard. 

But what is hell like? 

The Bible describes it as a place of torment.  In fact, Matthew 8 “In darkness they will cry out and grit their teeth in pain.  I can’t tell what it looks like. I don’t know if there are lakes of fire or anything like that. I don’t preach on it because I don’t know, but I can tell you what it will be like.

1 Corinthians 16:22 “If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be separated from God- and lost forever.” That means I am totally apart from God’s love, totally apart from God’s grace.  Total separation from God. 

What is hell like?  Think about this.  If it’s total separation from God, then it will be the exact opposite of everything God is.  We know that “God is love.”  That is His nature.  God is love.  What would it be to live without God completely?  It means no love. 

The Bible says, “There is no fear in love.  Perfect love casts out all fear.”  The opposite of love is fear.  You know what it means to live without love in your life?  It means you’re scared to death all the time.  That’s hell.  It means you’re lonely all the time.  That’s hell. 

Jeremiah 29:11-12 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God is hope and has a glorious  future planned for you. People have survived wars, illnesses, natural catastrophes, draughts, depressions because of hope. Hell is a place where there is no hope for a better tomorrow. Maybe that’s why it is always depicted as a place of torture and anguish, because there is no hope there.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hell is a place where there is no grace, no forgiveness, where there is no help.

This is what hell is all about. It’s the total separation from God and everybody else. Where there is no love, there is no light, there are no friends, there is no mercy, there is no hope for a better tomorrow, there is no forgiveness. There is only darkness, despair, loneliness, and fear.

Will Satan be in charge there? No. Satan’s not in hell right now.  You may not know that.  The Bible says he’s on earth.  It is going to be a place of punishment for him too.

My friends this is awfully hard stuff to hear, but if you are feeling fearful about all of this just remember that verse from Jeremiah For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  God had a plan, we now have hope, and God has provided us with a glorious future which I will sum up in 2 simple words, Christmas and Easter. If Jesus hadn’t come at Christmas, and if He hadn’t died on the cross and then come back to life three days later on Easter we wouldn’t be having this discussion.  We would all be hopeless but God came up with a plan. 

Colossians 2:21-22 says “At one time you were separated from God.  You were His enemies in your minds, and the evil things you did were against God.  But now God has made you His friends again.  He did this through Christ’s death in the body when He died on the cross so that He might bring you into God’s presence.  [What’s God’s presence?  Heaven.  And when He brings you in how are you going to be?  It says…] as people who are holy, with no wrong, nothing of which God can judge you.”  He said I’m going to wipe the slate clean. This is the etch-a-sketch verse of the Bible.  You make all the mess, turn up and shake it and it comes up clean and pure again.  He said that’s what I’m going to do in your life.

My friends, the Good News of the Gospel is that the place we spoke about today does not have to be the place where we end up. We can freely choose to go to Heaven and that is what we will be talking about next week.