[PASTOR MICHAEL NOVOTNY]
Is there such a place as
hell?
If God is the most
forgiving, patient, loving
and gracious, supernatural
being we could imagine,
how could a place like
that exist?
Pastor Mark Jeske is going
to open up the Bible and
study that very topic and
try to answer those very
questions next on Time of
Grace.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MARK
JESKE] You know, we live
in an age where people
think that they should be
free to make up their own
religion.
Just as they can assemble
their own morality and
their own ideas of good
and bad, right and wrong,
they should be able to
work out their own
personal philosophy of
what's going to happen
next, as if God is going
to allow you to decide for
him how he's going to end
everything and what may or
may not come next.
But that doesn't bother
the people of today's
world; they want control
over this process and
they'll get it any way
they can.
On the one extreme, you
have people like the
British philosopher
Bertrand Russell; a huge
figure in the 20th century
philosophy.
He was a very esteemed
mathematician and
professor and philosopher
in England between the
wars - First World and
Second World War - very,
very influential.
And he just came out and
said, "When I die, I will
rot.
My ego will cease to
exist." And when he said
ego, he doesn't mean, you
know, that foolish, vain
pride that we have like
when you're jerky proud
about something.
When he said, "My ego will
cease to exist," he meant
myself, what is me, my
thinking process, my
memory.
Some people think that in
balance they know they've
got plenty of sins but
every time you do a good
deed, it erases one of
your bad deeds.
So if you in your mind
think I'm generally a
better - I'm better than
I'm bad, like my good
stuff outweighs my bad
stuff.
Every time I do something
good, some of my debts
disappear.
You can talk yourself into
thinking that I pretty
much clean myself up to be
good enough for God.
Again, based on nothing
but their own guesswork.
Well today, you and I need
to do the hard work of
listening to God's
self-description of what
he is going to do.
And two things are going
to emerge.
His anger over sin is far
greater than you can
imagine.
As hard as you make your
brain work, you cannot
imagine the depths of his
rage over evil.
Everything will melt in
the heat, says the Bible.
But simultaneously, with a
God whose anger is greater
than your imagination can
possibly grasp, his mercy
and love for you is
greater than you can
possibly grasp and our
minds strive to grab onto
the concept of God's
gospel message, as well.
A love so great that he
gathered up all his rage
at evil and he slammed it
all into his Son on the
cross.
And in his hours of
crucifixion, the Lord
Jesus basically went to
hell for the human race
and absorbed it all in his
body like a human
lightening rod absorbing
the blasts of all.
God did that for his love
for you is that great.
Jesus submitted to that
because his love for you
is that great; a love you
cannot find between
people.
Our love for each other,
at its best, is kind of a
pale echo, a pale shadow,
of that immense love that
he has.
Now how do you reconcile
these things?
An anger greater than you
can grasp and a love
greater than you grasp?
You can't reconcile it;
you just - it's a paradox
- you just got to lay it
out there.
But don't water it down or
you will insult one or the
other.
I'd like to invite you to
consult two paragraphs
from the end of Revelation
20 with me today.
The middle parts of the
book of Revelation are
basically a movie of
violent images being shown
one after the other that
illustrate, in visible
terms, something that's
invisible.
You and I can't see
directly the struggle
between good and evil.
You can't see the angels
of God at work.
You can't see the demons
of hell doing their dirty
deeds.
You can't see the
collisions and fighting
going on between the
spirit forces and the
heavenly hosts.
We only can see the
results of it.
So the Scripture gives us
visual imagery to help get
that in our head.
And the middle chapters of
Revelation describe in
painful terms the
collision between good and
evil and the suffering
that the assaults of Satan
and his demons are causing
on the earth.
Here is the end game: It
may seem to you that the
devil really won his
conflict because he has
done so much damage,
caused so much pain, and
peeled off so many people
off of God's family.
You might think the
devil's getting away with
it.
You might think of him as
the king of hell; laughing
and cackling and enjoying
our misery and feeling
really good about all of
his evil and laughing
every time he is able to
poke God and peel off one
of his children or cause
one of the believers to
collapse in his or her
faith.
In fact, the devil, his
punishment is he's
prisoner of hell number
00001 and here's how I
know that for sure.
Would you look at this
with me?
I won't be able to comment
on everything in these two
paragraphs because this
imagery needs to be
unpacked a little bit but
it's talking about what is
going to happen near the
end of time.
The thousand years are the
age in which you're living
right now; it is the age
of war, the age of
conflict.
Satan, as this age is
nearing its end, is going
to be released from his
prison.
The only thing that keeps
the devil locked up and
under control is the
gospel, which keeps his
slimy, slippery, clawed
hands off of you.
They slide right off
through the gospel and he
can't have you because you
are bulletproof and
immortal with the gospel
and you slip out of his
hands.
But as the gospel of - and
the word of God - are not
proclaimed much anymore,
not believed much, that
just empowers Satan and
things are going to get
worse and worse and worse
as planet earth starts to
near the end of the
history that God will
allow.
Jesus himself, in fact,
told the disciples it's
going to get so bad right
before the end that it
might seem as though even
the chosen, the elect of
God, are going to be lost.
But then the end will
come, he said, so don't
panic; God's not going to
let that happen.
But it's going to look
like Satan's winning.
This talks about his
marshalling all of his
forces; the forces of hell
and forces on earth.
Forces of armies and
governments outside the
church and rot and
corruption from within;
that's the beast and the
false prophet in chapter
ten.
Those are images of
threats to the church, the
believers, from the
outside and the inside.
He borrowed two names from
Ezekiel 38 and 39; the
name of the symbolic
prince named Gog and the
symbolic lad called Magog.
Those just represent all
the places where attacks
on the believers will come
from.
But they're going to fail.
"Fire came down from
heaven and devoured them,"
before they could
overwhelm the church.
And then, Judgment Day
begins with judgment on
Satan.
"The devil," which is a
really nasty name.
Of all the names for the
evil one, that one's one
of the worst because it
comes from a Greek word
that means the accuser.
The one who's accusing
you, he's like ratting you
out.
First he tempts you to
sin, then he laughs at
you, and then he rats you
out and makes sure that
God smites you with every
bit of the punishment you
have coming.
So the accuser, "who
deceived them, was thrown
into the lake of burning
sulfur." The lake of
burning sulfur is a
metaphor for what?
[Audience: Hell].
Hell itself.
It's a metaphor for hell.
Can you imagine molten
burning, bubbling,
intensely hot lake and be
thrown in there?
You'd sizzle.
But can you imagine you're
only dying; you never
manage to die.
This is not a bug zapper
that is going to take you
out like this and then you
cease to exist.
Somehow, your body is
going to be made out of
asbestos and you're not
going to be killed; you're
just going to suffer.
That is how bad this is.
And Satan's suffering,
Scripture says, the smoke
of his torment will rise
forever and ever.
That's what the devil has
to look forward to!
And since his end is
certain and prophesied,
he's going to try and take
as many people with him as
he can and make them as
miserable as he is.
I don't think people in
our culture really respect
the idea of hell.
Marilyn Monroe once said
famously, "The phrase
'what the hell?'
is the most perfect phrase
in the English language
because you can use it on
any occasion." It covers
anything.
Just say - if you don't
know what to say - just
say, "What the hell?"
and people will think
you're smart.
You notice, isn't that
kind of a clever little
remark?
The word hell, instead of
striking fear into
people's hearts, has
instead become the gold
standard of excellence in
something.
So if I'm watching
football with you, let's
say we're sitting in the
stands watching a high
school football game and
there's a running back who
is just killing it, you
might lean over to me and
say, "Geez, Pastor Mark,
that young man there, he
is a hell of a running
back." Have you heard that
this week?
I believe in the last
seven days, I bet you
have.
Yeah, that guy, he's a
hell of a running back.
In other words, he's the
gold standard; he's
outstanding, he's
excellent.
So hell has become a jokey
word for something really
good.
Isn't that crazy?
That's a word that ought
to strike fear into
people's hearts.
Your stomach should turn
to jello and be queasy and
you might feel like
throwing up when you think
what it's really like.
Think of a vat, a lake, of
super hot, burning sulfur,
which is not only hot but
have you ever smelled
sulfur when it burns?
That stanks!
That's stanky; it smells
like rotting, moldy, eggs.
Blech.
So all of your senses are
going to be assaulted.
This is a miserable
experience and a God who
hates evil is going to put
this on people and put
people in that starting
with Satan, his demons,
and all his human helpers,
"The beast and the false
prophet." They'll be
thrown in there and "They
will be tormented day and
night forever and ever."
And all the people who
say, "Oh, God's a god of
mercy; he could never do
that to anybody." I'm
saying, that may give you
pleasure to invent that
idea in your mind but, in
fact, it is not reality.
This is the reality.
Don't water it down.
Don't argue with God.
Don't tell him he's
unreasonable.
Don't say you're
overreacting to a small
problem.
This is a reality and by
the time you and your
scientific friends can
investigate this and come
to rational conclusions,
it will be too late.
You've got to get it now.
Get it now.
This is what is coming.
There's more, though.
Fortunately, I don't have
to stop here.
"I also saw a great white
throne and him who was
seated on it.
Earth and sky fled from
his presence; there was no
place for them." I ponder
and pine over these
pictures of beautiful old
buildings in our city that
have burned down, have
been destroyed, and I feel
nostalgic for them; I feel
an ache that we lost some
architectural treasures.
What am I going to feel
like when everything is
dismantled?
Scripture says the earth
will melt in the fervent
heat.
Earth and sky will flee
from his presence.
You and I will witness the
physical destruction of
the physical universe.
Everything the hands of
man and woman have made
will be taken apart;
there's no place for them.
However, "I saw the dead,
great and small, standing
before the throne.
Books were opened.
Another book was opened,
which is the book of life.
The dead were judged
according to what they had
done as recorded in the
books.
The sea gave up the dead
that were in it." What a
surprise for Bertrand
Russell who thought that
he was simply going to
cease existing.
What a surprise that he
will still be alive and he
will have to face his
maker.
"Death and Hades gave up
the dead that were in
them." Hades is a Greek
word, which is used for
hell.
And sometimes, the Bible
translations will simply
use the Greek word but it
in fact means a place of
everlasting torment; it is
just another metaphor for
hell.
"Gave up the dead that
were in them, and each
person was judged," now
publicly, according to
what he or she had done.
Then death and Hades were
thrown into the lake of
fire." Now that, if you're
following me so far, that
sounds like a crazy
statement, doesn't it?
How can hell be thrown
into hell?
Doesn't that sound
peculiar?
The point is that these
things will no longer have
any fear or terror for the
believers for we will
finally be safe from all
risk, temptation, and
loss.
Only for believers is this
true.
For unbelievers who are
not connected to Jesus
Christ in faith, they will
experience death every
moment.
They will constantly be
dying; constantly be
suffering.
And hell will be a
constant reality.
Now here's the crazy
thing: I just said a few
minutes ago that on the
cross of Christ, God the
Father poured all his
anger over the human race
- not just some people;
but all people - poured it
into his Son and that
Jesus willingly accepted
that blame for things he
did not do and basically
went to hell for you and
for me.
Then why is there any hell
left over?
Remember that Scripture
gives us the paradox that
we are saved by grace,
which is universal and
inclusive of all humanity.
But we are saved by grace
through faith, which means
it's also simultaneously
exclusive; only for some.
Only for those who believe
it, who see their sin and
embrace and welcome their
Savior Jesus.
And there's a third
component that gives the
evidence; there's the
evidence of one's faith.
The Scripture challenges
you that real faith always
yields real works.
A faith that's real inside
will always become visible
in the way you talk and
act.
Always.
No exceptions.
So you can reason
backwards.
If you see deeds of love
and mercy and goodness
that God calls good and
loving and merciful, he
can go backwards and see
this came from faith.
So this is not
undercutting the idea that
we're saved by grace
through faith.
The good deeds that you do
and are remembered and
recorded and when God -
when you hear the voice of
Jesus on Judgment Day and
he's saying to you, "Well
done, good and faithful
servant," he sees and
remembers what you did.
But not only does the
blood of Jesus wash away
your sins, the blood of
Jesus also washes clean
your works.
I've got to tell you,
honestly, and I'm not
proud to say this, but if
you're honest with me,
you'd have to agree even
the good things I do are
stained and undercut by
self-interest.
I try to be nice to people
but I'm always pursuing an
angle.
If you're honest, don't
you always kind of look
for an angle, too?
Like what's in it for me?
I'm always trying to spin
stuff, "How can I make
this work for me?"
I've got to admit that.
I'm not proud.
I'm not bragging.
I wish I could say that
there's purity in what I
do but even the good
things I do are stained by
self-interest.
But the blood of Jesus
washes my works clean so
that through my faith in
Christ and through what he
did, God looks at me and
he sees a superhero stud
of a believer and when the
praises and approval are
washing over me, I'll be
so embarrassed, I'll think
God's talking about
somebody else.
And I'll look behind me in
line to see who he really
means but I'm standing
there all by myself and it
will dawn on me he means
me.
"Well done, good and
faithful servant.
You clothed me, you fed
me, you cared for me, and
you visited me.
How I love how you lived
for me," and I'm thinking,
"Holy smokes.
Who is he looking at?
I'm not that good." And
he'll say, "Yes, you are,"
because through the blood
of Jesus, your life has
been so cleaned up that
it's a sweet beautiful
offering to me and I love
it.
Welcome home, my son.
Come on in.
Come on into the party.
The fattened calf is on.
We're having a party and
you're the guest of honor
today and I'm going to
love it and so will you.
That's why there are
things recorded in books.
Frankly, God uses a
computer system; he
doesn't use books.
This is just a metaphor; a
book, you know, is pieces
of paper.
God's got this all totally
covered in his mind.
He has it all; all the
stuff is there.
How does your name get
written in that book?
And here's how; here is
how your name appears in
the book of life.
First of all, the letters
of your name are in red
because they were written
with blood; the blood of
Jesus.
Here's how your name
appears in that book: The
moment the Holy Spirit
succeeds in connecting the
electrodes in your head
and their actually is an
arch and faith takes the
place of unbelief in your
brain, your name appears
on the hotel register of
the hotel heaven.
What that means is you're
going to skate through the
judgment.
Through your faith in
Christ, you can be
fearless about the moment
when God comes for you.
And don't say, "Well, I've
got 50, 60, 70, 80 years
to go." Don't push it off
and never think about it.
Think about it!
Like what if today is the
day I get hit by a drunk
driver?
What if today is the day a
blood vessel blows up in
my brain and I never
regain consciousness?
What if today is the day
that I have a heart
attack, a fatal heart
attack, or the clogging
and blockage in my
arteries that I was
completely unaware of plug
up and I have a stroke
that wipes out my ability
to think anymore and I go
into a vegetative state.
If it's today, you may
live today with joy
without fear because
through Jesus, you have
been given immortality and
you have been given entry
into a world that is going
to be so good.
I'll tell you something I
am not going to be doing
in heaven and that's
looking at computer files
of old buildings in our
city that have been burned
down, wistfully and
nostalgically going,
"Awe." Looking at my nice
house that I like living
in, which is now dust and
ashes in the universe
meltdown and going, "Awe."
Not looking at all the
cool stuff I've acquired
all going to go down,
"Awe." I won't miss it and
you're not going to miss
your stuff either because
we will now have an
eternity to build new
lives where no longer will
we be troubled by crime,
abuse, or any kind of sin.
Best of all, we will never
again have to suffer
temptation that will give
us that sense of
self-hatred that we have
hurt someone else or hurt
our God.
You and I will be invited
to join in building a new
existence based on trust
and love and the love that
radiates to us from God we
will enjoy sharing with
each other and you will
enjoy life in peace
because all the things
that make you sad and
scared now are going to be
thrown into the lake of
burning sulfur, too.
Death and hell are going
in there, too.
I say all this stuff to
you for two powerful
reasons.
Reason number one is for
you, yourself, to take
seriously both God's
threats and his promises;
to respect his anger but
also to trust completely
and rest in Jesus' arms
and let him hold you.
Place your trust there.
Don't try to play games,
don't try to arrange your
own philosophy of life.
Let God tell you about his
reality and if you are
listening to the message
of his word, you don't
have to be scared.
Just let him hold you.
That gives you the freedom
to enjoy your life without
fear, to serve him with
the gifts you've been
given, to enjoy the people
around you, to tell the
truth, and to let him
bless you for it gives him
pleasure to see you happy.
But it also - the second
thing - is there's a lot
of confused people in our
world who don't get this
stuff.
You and I are part of
God's explaining team that
have to lay out this
message of what the world
is headed for so that
people will not be able to
say on the Day of
Judgment, "I didn't know;
nobody ever told me."
That's our job.
God has done his part but
he's given to you and to
me the task of being his
agents and tellers.
So get this stuff straight
in your head, believe
these clear words.
Don't argue with me; I'm
just the messenger.
God was telling you here
what's going to go down.
Just believe him and let
this be stuff to prepare
your heart but let God use
you as his agents to
prepare other people in
your life where you have
influence.
This is what's going down:
That the people whose
names are written in blood
in the hotel reservation
book for hotel heaven have
nothing to fear and in
fact, are going to skate
through God's court and
slide right into heaven
where Jesus himself will
be welcoming us.
This is good news for
God's people.
This is big work for God's
people and if you agree
with what I've been
telling you, then say,
"Amen." [Audience: Amen]
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MICHAEL
NOVOTNY] Just last night,
I was reading one of the
more challenging chapters
in the New Testament.
In Matthew 23, Jesus is
going off on his spiritual
and religious enemies; the
Pharisees and the teachers
of the law.
And he doesn't mince any
words - he calls them
hypocrites and blind
guides and snakes and a
brood of vipers.
At one point, Jesus
actually calls them sons
of hell who are leading
people away from God.
It's a reminder that Jesus
- who is so full of love -
believe not just in the
existence of heaven but
the existence of hell.
But do you know what Jesus
did at the very end of
that chapter?
He wept.
He wasn't happy that
anyone was going to hell;
he wasn't happy that these
people were rejecting him.
Instead, he wept and he
said how much he longed to
gather people together.
And when you think about
hell, I want you to think
about that the same way.
It is a real place where
people who don't want the
presence of God in their
life through Jesus Christ.
But it's a place that God
wants zero people to end
up in.
It's why he's reaching out
to you, it's why he's
reaching out through you,
because God so loved the
entire world that he gave
his one and only son that
whoever would believe in
him would not perish in
hell but have eternal life
with God.
I'll be back with you in a
moment to pray.
[PROMOTION]
Hi, I'm Bruce Becker.
I serve on the leadership
team here at Time of Grace
and was recently asked to
write a book on the
subject of Satan, the
devil.
I've entitled it, "Give
Satan the Credit He is
Due." It's time to take
Satan seriously.
I wrote this book because
you and I have a very real
and determined spiritual
adversary who wants to rob
us of our joy and cripple
our faith.
But as we begin to
understand who he really
is, his motivation and the
tactics he uses, we'll be
better equipped to resist
his attacks.
In this book, you'll learn
what it takes to overcome
him.
When you know Jesus as
Savior, he empowers you to
stand against Satan and to
dispel his lies with God's
timeless truths.
"Give Satan the Credit He
is Due," is our way of
thanking you for your
generous gift this month.
Call 800-661-3311, visit
timeofgrace.org, or text
TIME to 313131.
[PASTOR MICHAEL NOVOTNY] I
know we've been wrestling
with some really heavy
things today but that's
because eternity is real
and people matter.
And that's why I'm so
grateful for all the
support you give, all the
prayers that you pray, and
all the offerings that you
give to our ministry.
We're not just giving
people a little boost for
their otherwise good day;
we're giving people Jesus
who's the only way to the
Father.
And we'd love to help you
in return.
Is there any way that we
can pray for you?
Is there someone that you
love so much in this world
but doesn't love Jesus
just yet?
Let us know and we would
love to pray for them by
name; that God would reach
out to them and save them
by his Son, Jesus Christ.
Let's join our hearts and
let's pray.
Dear God, I know this is a
heavy word that we studied
today but I thank you so
much for your love.
I thank you that we don't
have to crawl ourselves
out of the pit of hell;
that you reached and loved
to rescue and to save us.
So for Jesus, God, we
thank you.
And for free forgiveness,
for a ticket to heaven,
that's by faith and not by
works, we thank you.
And we also pray, God, for
everyone on earth who
doesn't know you yet;
everyone who assumes that
they've lived a good
enough life without the
forgiveness and grace of
Jesus.
For all of our kids, our
significant others, our
parents, our brothers, our
sisters, our neighbors,
our co-workers, our
teammates, God, you love
every one of them more
than we ever could.
You weep over the thought
of them not being with you
for all eternity.
So God, give us passion.
Help us to be willing to
be uncomfortable; to share
the things that matter for
all eternity.
To call people back to
you; to tell them about
the amazing gift of your
son, Jesus.
God, we can't change
people.
We need your Holy Spirit
to change hearts, to save
people, to rescue them
from hell, and to bring
them to heaven.
And so, we pray all these
things only in the name of
our Savior Jesus Christ,
Amen.
With Time of Grace, I'm
Pastor Mike Novotny and
because of Jesus, eternal
life is possible.
In fact, it all starts
now.
[MUSIC]
[ANNOUNCER] The
preceding program was
sponsored by the friends
and partners of Time of
Grace.
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