by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Mark 9:42-48<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. Generally people prefer to think upon pleasant things, so when talking to people about the\nneed to become a Christian, we put emphasis on reaching heaven.\n
A. People focus on the love of God – Romans 5:8<\/p>\n
1. But they don’t want to think about the other side of God – Romans 11:22<\/p>\n 2. In fact, a number of denominations deny the concept of hell and eternal\npunishment\n B. “Episcopalians do not believe in a physical heaven or hell; these are “states of\nbeing.” The departed in whom there is some possibility of goodness are prepared\nfor full enjoyment of God by such cleansing and purifying as they may require–in\na way, this resembles the idea of “purgatory.” But Episcopalians do not use the\nterm in the official teaching because they feel that it is often associated with crude\nideas of payment and penalty and the like.” [W. Norman Pittenger, Religions in\nAmerica<\/i>, p.73]\n C. “The doctrine of a burning hell where the wicked are tortured eternally after death\ncannot be true, mainly for four reasons: (1) It is wholly unscriptural, (2) it is\nunreasonable, (3) it is contrary to God’s love, (4) it is repugnant to justice.” [Let\nGod be True<\/i>, Watchtower Society, Second Edition, p. 99]\n D. What is most fascinating is that the ones who argue the hardest against hell are the\natheists and former believers in Christianity. To them talking about hell is just a\nscare tactic, as if being afraid of something is not a good motivator.\n
II. Is hell unscriptural?<\/p>\n A. There is a problem with the old King James Version. It used the terms “hades”\nand “hell” interchangeably. As a result, many people get confused ideas regarding\nabout the nature of hell.\n
1. But what we are talking about is a place of eternal punishment.<\/p>\n
2. Does the Bible teach such a thing?<\/p>\n
B. Some sample passages:<\/p>\n
1. Matthew 25:41-46<\/p>\n a. Notice that two places are described. The wicked are sent to eternal\npunishment in a place with eternal fire and the righteous to a place\nof eternal life.\n
b. If heaven exists, then hell must also exist<\/p>\n
2. Mark 9:43-48<\/p>\n a. Notice the terms of eternity: “their worm dies not” and “the fire\nthat shall never be quenched”\n b. It also implies that the body never decays since their worm does\nnot die.\n c. The word translated “hell” is gehenna<\/i>, which literally means the\nvalley of Hinnom.\n (1) Jesus alludes to Josiah’s defilement of the valley of\nHinnom – II Kings 23:10\n (2) Some try to explain away hell by saying gehenna <\/i>was only\na reference to the city dump.\n (a) “No remains, such as thick layers of ashes or\ncharred bones, have been found in the Valley of\nHinnom to indicate the existence of an ancient city\ndump where refuse was incinerated.” [John J.\nRousseau, Jesus and His World: An Archaeological\nand Cultural Dictionary<\/i>, p. 145].\n (b) “Some commentators endeavor to make this third\npunishment a temporal one, and assert that fires\nwere kept burning in the valley of Hinnom, and that\nas an extreme punishment the bodies of criminals\nwere cast into those fires. But there is not the\nslightest authentic evidence that any fire was kept\nburning there; nor is there any evidence at all that\ncasting a criminal into the fire was ever employed\nby the Jews as a punishment. It was the fire of\nidolatrous worship in the offering of human\nsacrifice which had given the valley its bad name.\nThis caused it to be associated in the mind of the\nJews with sin and suffering, and led to the\napplication of its name, in the Greek form of it, to\nthe place of final and eternal punishment. When the\nconception of such a place as hell was formed, it\nwas necessary to give it a name, and there was no\nword in the Jewish language more appropriate for\nthe purpose than the name of this hideous valley.”\n[J. W. McGarvey, The Fourfold Gospel<\/i>].\n (c) Basically, people argue that the dump must be there\nin order to explain their view of Jesus’ statement.\nThe logic is backwards and unsupportable.\n (d) Even if such a dump existed, Jesus wasn’t referring\nto it because he refers to it as eternal. Since we can’t\nfind traces of it, then the dump’s fires and worms\nobviously came to an end, if it ever existed in the\nfirst place.\n
3. Revelation 20:10<\/p>\n
a. Again, there are terms of eternity: “tormented for ever and ever”<\/p>\n
b. The same term is used for God’s existence – Revelation 4:9<\/p>\n
c. And of the saints reigning in heaven – Revelation 22:5<\/p>\n
4. Revelation 21:8<\/p>\n
a. A place of fiery punishment<\/p>\n
C. So the contention that it is unscriptural, that is not mentioned in the Bible, is false.<\/p>\n
III. Is hell unreasonable?<\/p>\n A. “Imperfect man does not torture even a mad dog, but kills it. And yet the\nclergymen attribute to God, who is love, the wicked crime of torturing human\ncreatures merely because they had the misfortune to be born sinners.”\n[Watchtower Society, Let God be True<\/i>,” p. 98].\n B. Man’s problem is that he doesn’t accept the gravity of his crime. The murder in\nprison thinks he doesn’t deserve to be there and that his time is too long.\n
1. How serious is the crime of sin? – Hebrews 10:26-31<\/p>\n
2. Sin deserves death – Romans 6:23<\/p>\n
3. But man has been created in the image of God. His spirit is eternal.<\/p>\n C. But because man claims that it doesn’t make sense to him, does it follow that it is\ntruly unreasonable? – Isaiah 55:8-9\n 1. As an example, atheists claim that the scheme of redemption is\nunreasonable.\n 2. “The whole scheme of redemption is foolishness to me. Because our\nparents and forefathers disobeyed God, he would not be on good terms\nwith us until his son was nailed on a cross. This is not reasonable.”\n[Oliphant – Smith Debate, p. 61]\n
3. I Corinthians 1:18-21<\/p>\n
IV. Is hell contrary to God’s love?<\/p>\n
A. Man tends to shape God in his image – Psalm 50:21<\/p>\n
B. God is love, but He is also just – Romans 11:22<\/p>\n C. The need for punishment doesn’t show a lack of love on God’s part, but a lack of\nlove on the wicked’s part – John 14:23-24\n
1. God doesn’t want any to perish – II Peter 3:9<\/p>\n
2. But man must repent or perish – Luke 13:3<\/p>\n
3. There isn’t a reason from God’s view to remain in sin – Ezekiel 18:21-23<\/p>\n D. Rather than eternal torment, what is argued is that God must mean permanent\ndestruction\n 1. “Since God destroys soul and body in Gehenna, this is conclusive proof\nthat Gehenna, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, is a picture or symbol of\ncomplete annihilation, and not of eternal torment.” [Watchtower Society,\nLet God be True<\/i>, p. 97]\n
2. The verse referred to is Matthew 10:28.<\/p>\n
a. The Greek word is apollumi<\/i>, It means destruction or ruin.<\/p>\n
3. Another favored verse is II Thessalonians 1:9<\/p>\n
a. The Greek word is olethros<\/i>. It means prolonged destruction, ruin.<\/p>\n 4. “Apoleia<\/i>, used in conjunction with apollunai <\/i>(apollumi<\/i>) and olethros<\/i>, has\nthe double idea of (1) “loss, to be lost, to disappear, destruction,” and (2)\n“corruption, destruction, death, ruin.” Apoleia<\/i> is so rich in meaning that it\nwould be impossible to convey its definition in a single English word or\nexpression. … But the fact that perdition<\/i> can be understood as\n“destruction” and “ruin” does not imply that it involves the annihilation or\ndestruction of the personality. When Jesus said that no one fills old\nwineskins with new wine because it will cause the skins to burst (apoleia<\/i>),\nthe idea is that they would break, be ripped. In a similar way men can also\nbe destroyed and corrupted without being totally obliterated. That which is\nesteemed worthy, beautiful, and mighty is lost. What remains is corrupt,\nreduced to a pitiful caricature of the original, and it falls short of that\nwhich it was destined to become.” [Complete Biblical Library<\/i>]\n
5. How is it used in regards to hell?<\/p>\n
a. Matthew 25:46 – everlasting punishment<\/p>\n
b. Romans 2:8-9 – tribulation and anguish<\/p>\n
c. Revelation 14:11 – torment without rest<\/p>\n d. That which does not exist cannot be tormented, punished, or have\nanguish.\n
V. Is hell unjust?<\/p>\n A. Justice is the idea of a fair and impartial reward or punishment as a person\ndeserves.\n B. When the Watchtower Society says hell is unjust, they are saying eternal\npunishment is wrong because it is contradictory or inconsistent to the quality of\nbeing righteous or impartial.\n
C. God argues that His way is just – Ezekiel 18:25-32<\/p>\n
D. God fairly bases His judgment on our deeds – Romans 2:2-11<\/p>\n
E. It is only the inmates who are saying the penalty isn’t fair.<\/p>\n
F. If hell is unjust, then heaven is too good for us as well.<\/p>\nVI. No one has to go to hell. God doesn’t want anyone in hell. But justice demands that a fair\npunishment be given for the heinous crime of sin.\n
A. The solution is to caste off the fetters of sin<\/p>\n
B. Ezekiel 18:30-32<\/p>\n
\n
Based on a lesson by David J. Riggs<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Mark 9:42-48 I. Generally people prefer to think upon pleasant things, so when talking to people about the need to become a Christian, we put emphasis on reaching heaven. A. People focus on the love of God – Romans 5:8 1. But they don’t want to think about the other side of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[373,355],"class_list":["post-62225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-hell","tag-jehovahs-witnesses"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12626,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-a-loving-god-send-me-to-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":62225,"position":0},"title":"How Could a Loving God Send Me to Hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tanner Campbell The very thought of Hell is terrifying. Such a thought is an intense provoker for many to repent of their sins and revere the word of the Lord. However, others think little of Hell. For example, you may have heard someone say something like \"how could a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25034,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/of-course-god-sends-people-to-hell-but-hell-doesnt-exist\/","url_meta":{"origin":62225,"position":1},"title":"Of course God sends people to hell, but hell doesn’t exist!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Your article that God does not send people to hell falls way short of giving any real and meaningful answer.\u00a0 True, people have a choice to some extent and God will not force Himself on anyone, but it most\u00a0certainly\u00a0says in the Scriptures that no one can come to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31003,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-is-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":62225,"position":2},"title":"Where is hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you tell me what the Bible says about hell? Is it in the earth or is it a spiritual place like heaven? Can we find hell on earth? Is there an opening in the earth? People say that there is hell in the earth. Is that biblical? Answer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26776,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-dont-preach-on-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":62225,"position":3},"title":"If I Don’t Preach on Hell","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Corinthians 9:16-23 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It won\u2019t take you long to find out that the topic of Hell is not popular among the denominations of the world \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses declare that it doesn\u2019t exist. Nor do the Episcopals, Methodists, and some Baptists want to discuss\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47934,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/with-all-the-sexual-sins-in-the-world-there-must-be-a-lot-of-people-in-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":62225,"position":4},"title":"With all the sexual sins in the world, there must be a lot of people in hell","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I think there are many people who are sinners nowadays, since more and more people do not marry or are no longer virgins before marriage, and many people have sex with several people in their life. There are also more and more children born out of wedlock. Does\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40422,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-problem-of-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":62225,"position":5},"title":"The Problem of Hell","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer via\u00a0Mind Your Faith The problem of hell is, in some ways, another facet of the problem of evil. Hell is eternal separation from God and all that is good and blessed. 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