Hell on SermonAudio

Sermon on Judges 16:1-22

1. What Is the Significance of Caesarea Philippi? 1.1. Its Water Flows Down from Mount Hermon. 1.2. What Does the Pseudepigraphal Book of Enoch Tell us? 1.3. Two New Testament Books Appear to Confirm This. 1.4. There Were Pagan Temples There, Related to the Greek God Pan. 1.5. The Greeks Were Terribly Cruel to the Jews. 2. It Is at This Outpost of Hell, that the Lord Jesus Elicits the Great Confession. 2.1. There Is Natural Revelation. 2.2. There Is Special Revelation. 3. Peter Is Petros (Πέτρος), and Christ Is Petra (Πέτρα). 3.1. The Church Is Built on Christ and His Apostles and Prophets. 3.2. Believers Have the Power to Bind and Loose. 3.3. The Church Is not a Building; it Is God's People. 3.4. The Gates of Hell Are on the Defensive; God's People Must Be on the Offensive. 3.5. We Must Pray. 3.6. We Must Serve Others. 3.7. Peter Could Be a Satan.

The sermon examines the narrative of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 to emphasize the reality of eternal judgment and the finality of death. It argues that earthly wealth and status offer no protection against divine accountability, contrasting the rich man's self-centered life with his desperate, too-late plea for mercy. The preacher asserts that hell is a real place of torment where repentance is impossible, serving as a sobering warning to those who ignore spiritual truth. By highlighting the unbridgeable gulf between salvation and condemnation, the message urges immediate faith in Christ before one's appointed time ends. Ultimately, it presents the rich man's request as a final appeal for listeners to heed Scripture while there is still opportunity.

Job seeks to reflect upon death as the Last Journey. He recalls the Certainty of this Last Journey, "I shall go …" It will come to all. He reminds us of the Proximity of this Last Journey, "when a few years have finished." It may be nearer than we think. He comments on the Individuality of this Journey – we go alone. Yet one can go "through" with us, the Shepherd, Psalm 23:4. Job calls upon us to reflect upon the Destiny in our Last Journey – where are we going? Is it heaven or hell? Lastly we must recall the Finality of the Last Journey for there is no coming back or further opportunity. But the wonder is that the Lord Jesus came into the world to pay the price for us that we could go to be forever with Him.

Whence came you, and what would you have? He answered, I have eat and drank in the presence of the King, and he has taught in our streets. Then they asked him for his certificate, that they might go in and show it to the King; so he fumbled in his bosom for one, and found none. Then said they, Have you none? But the man answered never a word. So they told the King, but he would not come down to see him, but commanded the two Shining Ones that conducted Christian and Hopeful to the City, to go out and take Ignorance, and bind him hand and foot, and have him away. Then they took him up, and carried him through the air to the door that I saw in the side of the hill, and put him in there. Then I saw that there was a way to hell, even from the gates of heaven, as well as from the City of Destruction.

What do those who are entering life do? Mark 9:43–50 looks forward to the hearing of God's Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord's Day. In these eight verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that those who are entering life are in the business of putting sin to death. The devotional examines Mark 9:43-50 to explain the dual nature of God's fire as both purifying for believers and condemning for the unsaved. It emphasizes that mortifying sin is not a means to earn salvation but evidence of genuine faith and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Pastor clarifies that hell involves eternal conscious punishment, described through imagery of unquenchable fire and an undying worm, representing inner agony. True sanctification is presented as a work completed by Christ, assuring believers of their ultimate glorification despite present struggles. The message calls listeners to rely on the Spirit's power to fight sin and rest in the certainty of God's preserving grace.

This sermon explores Leviticus 16, detailing the Day of Atonement rituals as a comprehensive typology of Jesus Christ's work of salvation. It emphasizes that atonement is not achieved by a single act but requires the fulfillment of multiple symbolic elements, including the shedding of blood, the removal of sin via the scapegoat, and the resurrection. The speaker argues that Christ's suffering extended beyond the cross to include the descent into hell, mirroring the disposal of the sin offering outside the camp, while the incense represents the prayers of the saints ascending to God. By connecting these Old Testament practices to Hebrews 9, the message highlights that Christ alone entered the heavenly holy place to secure eternal redemption, freeing believers from the debt of sin and establishing a new covenant based on faith rather than works.

The sermon emphasizes the absolute finality of one's eternal destination, asserting that there are no changes in either heaven or hell after death. Drawing primarily from Psalm 86 and supporting texts like Revelation 20-22 and 1 Corinthians 15, it argues that all spiritual transformation must occur during earthly life. The preacher warns that the state of a person's soul at death is fixed forever, with no hope for recovery in hell or further growth in heaven. This reality serves as an urgent call to salvation for the unsaved and a challenge for believers to pursue holiness while they still have time. The central message urges immediate action to be conformed to the image of Christ before the opportunity passes.