Dr. Mike Murphy
September 8, 2024
His response set me back. His wife had recently passed after suffering for years with health problems. .I talked with him, trying to comfort him and offer him more than just my condolences. He talked to me about how his wife had suffered and hurt, he told me that his family took comfort in the fact she would no longer suffer from the problems that had haunted her. He then spoke words to me that shocked me, alarming me., Telling me, wherever she now was, she was better off.
Wherever. Wherever is a closed door, a door we have not yet seen behind. A door that opens into more than one path. Paths that take us into completely different directions. But paths we have already chosen before we open that door, and face that wherever.
But that wherever does not come to us blindly. We have been given a glimpse of that wherever our whole life. A glimpse of where each path leads, and what awaits at the end of each path. Each day, the Lord tells us all we need to know about what awaits us behind that door, and He gives us a road map of each of those paths. We do not walk through that door blindly, we walk into that wherever knowing exactly what is at the end of each path.
Today, we watch as many try to ignore both paths. Many try to deny all the Lord tells us awaits behind that door. They emphasize and teach that you can enter that door and just sit comfortably on the fence, not having to worry about which path you have chosen. Telling all to not concerned about what awaits for them in "wherever". But in doing this, they purposely overlook each word that God has given us. Each word telling us, that on the day we open that door, there will be no fence to sit on.
It was once said, “How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man.” Who do you think spoke these words? A famous minister, or a noted Christian speaker? Neither! These words were spoken by a man who spent much of his life ignoring what God has told us about Heaven and Hell. A man who tried to sit on that fence. But a man who God reached with the truth about where his life was leading, and the reality of what he faced in eternity. These words were spoken by Johnny Cash. A “Romans 7” man, who spent much of his life in the chasm of which he spoke, knowing the realities that Heaven and Hell both offer.
Heaven and Hell are real. Hell has become a controversial issue that few wish to discuss. Many, even those in the Church, find it hard to accept the reality of Hell. They cannot see how a loving God could ever punish a single person for rejecting Him and His Word. They seek to redefine Hell, some claiming it is just a temporary state. Others denying its’ very existence, claiming it was created only in the minds of men, nothing more than an abstract idea in order to try to control mankind. But in doing so, all ignore the words and warning that Christ gave us(Revelation 22:19).
In recent polls, only thirty percent of Americans now believe in an actual and literal Hell. And if that poll may surprise you, the same polls tell us that only half of all who call themselves pastors believe in a literal Hell. Hell is becoming a concept that the world not only ignores, but is no longer being taught between the walls of our churches.
So exactly what does God tell us about Hell? Hell is a subject that many today feel uncomfortable talking about. They had much rather avoid the subject, than to have to face the reality of what Hell brings. Stories and movies paint Hell as a cartoon place. From the writings of Dante’s Inferno to movies like Constantine, Friday the 13th, and even Fantasia, fantasy images of Hell are presented to us. But the Bible paints us a vivid picture of Hell without the fantasy. A picture of Hell that shows us the absence of God.
Hell is a real and actual place. It is not a place of unconsciousness, or a place that is just temporary. The Bible makes it clear that it is a permanent place of torment. While Christ walked this earth, He spoke more about Hell than He did about Heaven, spending much of His time warning people of the realities that Hell would bring. If Hell was not real, or just a temporary place, then why would Christ spend so much time warning us about it? It is only because Hell is real, an eternal and conscious choice, that Christ so vehemently warned us about the realities of Hell.
One hundred and sixty-seven times the Bible tells us and warns us about Hell. Of all the stories the Bible tells us of Hell, no story of Hell is more popular than one we all know, the story of Lazarus and the wealthy man(Luke 16:19-31). Lazarus was a man who was poor, but used all he had to serve the Lord. The wealthy man, lived his life only for himself. As both die, the wealthy man goes to Hell, while Lazarus goes to be with God in Paradise. While in Hell, the wealthy man looks up and sees Lazarus with Abraham. He pleads with Abraham, begging him for mercy because for the torment he finds himself in. Asking Abraham to send Lazarus to just dip his finger in the water and place it on his tongue, to cool him from the agony of the flames. But Abraham refuses, reminding him that a chasm so vast that no one can cross separates them.. The wealthy man then ask Abraham if he would send Lazarus to his father’s house to warn his five brothers of the horrors of the place he finds himself in. Abraham again refuses, telling the wealthy man that if they will not listen to God’s Word, and those who bring that Word, they would not listen to anyone who was sent.
Many hear this story and say it is nothing more than a parable, proclaiming it is just a fable trying to teach us a point. But if it is just a parable, then why does it do something that Christ did not do in any other parable? Christ gives us an actual name, the name of an actual person, something He never does in another parable. This is more than a story Christ is giving us, it is history. A real event, involving real people, that actually happened.
But let us play devil's advocate for a second, and say it is just a parable. Christ spoke parables to us so He could teach us something, in ways that made it easy for us to understand. So what is this parable teaching us? If Hell was just make believe, and there was nothing after death, then Christ was using this parable to teach us a lie. If the fires of Hell were not real, and the consequences and decisions of our life do not lead to either Heaven or Hell, then the parable that Christ was speaking would lead to false doctrine. Christ gave us this story to show us just how real Heaven and Hell are. To remind us, that although we have the free will to choose or to reject Christ, there is still consequences we will face for that choice.
Hell is real. God’s Word makes it clear that Hell is a place prepared for Satan and his followers, but is also a place we will find ourselves in if we reject Christ(Matthew 25:41). The reality is, we all deserve Hell for our sin(Romans 6:23). Each day, we condemn ourselves to Hell because of our rebellion against the Lord(Romans 3:10, Romans 5:12). But God’s love for us is stronger than His desire to punish us. God is righteous, and just in all His actions. But in that justice, we see His mercy, and the love He has for us. So He sent Christ so that we could overcome what we deserved, so we could have a way out from what we have brought on ourselves(John 3:16). So we could spend forever in the presence of that love, not an eternity in the torment of our deserved rebellion.
So many will ask, who is going to Heaven, and who is going to Hell? Six verses of God’s Word answers that question better than I ever could. The first verse, most of us know by heart. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” But the next five verses, explain the power that is held in the words of this verse. John 3:17-21, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
Hell is a choice, our own choice. Those who live for self, not for God. Those who reject Christ, refusing all that He offers. The above verses make it clear and very simple, Hell is a destiny for those who do not believe in the name of Jesus, and who do not accept Christ as their Savior. The minute we stop living for ourselves, and start living for Christ with all of our mind, our heart, and our soul, Hell becomes a destination that no longer exists on our personal GPS.
The Lord has no greater desire than for every one of us to spend eternity with Him(2 Peter 3:9). Although He desires for all of us to be with Him, He knows better than anyone how He made us, the free will He gave each of us. A free will that allows each of us to choose to follow Him, or to reject Him. But a free will that does not come without consequences, the consequences of Hell. We can choose to trust what Jesus’ did to pay for our sins, or we can freely choose to pay for our own sins. “Thy will be done” is a statement we will all hear before the end. Either us saying it to God as we give our life to Him. Or God speaking it to us as we live our eternity separate from Him.
Hell is a place without a fence. A place we can enter freely. A place we can freely choose to spend our eternity. A place where the wealthy man in the story of Lazarus, knew he has placed himself. A place as real as the breath you now breathe. A place where each will confess the justness of the Lord(Psalm 76:10). A place of torment and regret. A place where our sorrows will haunt us forever.
Hell is a place no man can ignore, and no minister can preach around. A place each page of the Bible screams at us to teach the truth of. A place where ignoring takes us beyond ignorance, landing us right into the middle of foolishness. Each word of God’s Word proclaims and warns us, there is no fence to sit on between Heaven and Hell.
Praying your eternity will never see a single sorrow or regret. 