Pastor Steve Hopkins delivers a sermon on the topic of hell, emphasizing its reality, fearfulness, torment, and eternal nature. He references various biblical passages to illustrate the concept of hell, noting that it is a place of unquenchable fire, shame, and everlasting contempt. Hopkins argues that hell is often avoided in modern sermons, particularly in American churches, due to a preference for more palatable topics. He stresses the importance of recognizing the brevity of human life and the inevitability of judgment. Hopkins discusses the symbolic language used in the Bible to describe hell, suggesting that the reality is more severe than the imagery. He refutes the idea of annihilationism and separation from God, claiming that the wicked in hell continue to exist and experience God's wrath without His mercies. The sermon concludes with a message of hope for believers, highlighting Jesus Christ's sacrificial role in satisfying God's justice and offering salvation to those who repent and have faith in Him.
Thanks for joining us at Burn a Bible Church. This week Pastor Hopkins will be giving his sermon on the topic of hell. So good morning. Turn with me in your Bibles if you would to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 25 and we're going to read a singular verse, verse 46, and then we're going to look at several passages of scripture this morning and going into the afternoon. So if you would stand with me for the reading of the Word of the Lord, Matthew chapter 25 in verse 46.
Let's read together the Word of the Lord. And These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal Let's pray father we Humble ourselves before you this morning And we ask God that you might do a mighty work once again through your spirit. And we ask, Lord, that you might cause your word to strike through many hearts. Lord God, as in the day of battle, that you might pierce God the hearts of unregenerate men, women, and children, unregenerate souls with the conviction of sin and of righteousness and of the judgment to come. And as you might be pleased to encourage also God, your people this morning, whom you have given eyes to see and ears to hear, for we ask it in Jesus' name.
Amen and amen. Let's be seated. I don't preach very many topical sermons, but I believe the Lord led me to go that route this morning and preach on a subject and a topic that is rarely broached in the pulpits of America today. Simply one word title for the sermon today, Hell. No doubt you've heard the word recently, maybe out of the mouth of some profane person, maybe out of the mouth of some character in a movie, used as an expletive or used as a curse word or maybe tossed around, you know, just like any other word used in our English language.
It is certainly tossed around in our American culture as any other word and used like any other word but it should not be. Hell is real, hell is fearful, hell is torment, and hell is eternal. If you haven't thought on hell recently, now would be a good time. Hell is real. Hell is fearful.
Hell is torment. And hell is eternal. Every person in this room in a very short period of time will be in either heaven or hell. Let me say that again. Every person in this room and every person who listens to this message in the future by way of recording or maybe on sermon audio will be in a very short time either in heaven or in hell.
Even the babies that are in this room, and we've got lots of precious little babies in this room, Unless they live an extraordinarily long life, will this time, next century, be either in heaven or hell? Someone did the calculations once and they found that since it's true that we find in 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 8 that a thousand years is as a day, and a day is as a thousand years with the Lord, that the span of your life before God is 20 minutes. When God looks at your life, He watches your life, it's just 20 minutes long, and then your life is over. Your life is completed. God is watching and your life is about 20 minutes long.
And we need to understand and remember that it is written in the scriptures, it is appointed unto every man once to die, and after that what? And after that the judgment. It is appointed under every man wants to die and after that the judgment. That is an appointment you'll keep. It is an appointment that you will keep.
There are many appointments that you make and you don't keep them. We make appointments all the time and we don't keep them. We break them, we're late for them, you won't be late for this one. There is a red X on a calendar in the future. It might be today, it might be tomorrow, it might be ten years from now, It might be a hundred years from now for some of the babies that are in here, but it is an appointment that you will keep.
It is appointed under every man, once to die, and after that, the judgment. Hell is real, hell is fearful, hell is torment, and hell is eternal. This is the message that I want to drive home today. If you don't believe that, just die without Christ and you'll find out that what I'm saying is very true. A lot of you know my background is heavy metal rock and roll, not heavy metal in the sense of gold and silver and iron but that's an old musical terminology I don't even I'm not even sure it's still around I guess it's still around what have you but I came out of the rock and roll environment.
Well, on July 27th, 1979, in the same year that I graduated from high school, an Australian rock band by the name of ACDC, by the way, which is street slang for bisexuality, released their sixth album, which was entitled after their smash hit single, Highway to Hell. Has anyone ever heard of it? Anyone ever heard of Highway to Hell? Yeah, you know, Walmart did a big promotion on it in the last couple of years on ACDC, glorified it to the max. Yeah, glorified it to the max.
Seven months after the album's release, the lead singer of ACDC and co-author of that hell-glorifying smash single would be in hell. Seven months later, after he began to sing this hell glorifying song, seven months later, he was in hell. Now, of course, barring some last minute in the middle of his drug overdose, you know, drug binge, drinking binge, last second conversion, you know, if that didn't happen, he ended up in hell. On February 19, 1980, after shooting up heroin and drinking himself into oblivion all night Bon Scott lead vocalist for ACDC choked to death on his own vomit at the age of 33. Bon Scott was no longer on the highway to hell, he was in hell.
And he's been there ever since. He's been there ever since. I pulled up the lyrics to the song last night out of curiosity. Multi-million dollar song, still selling millions of songs on various outlets today on the internet. And I was surprised to find that one of the lines in the song was actually accurate.
Even though Scott intended the lyric sarcastically and blasphemously, the line in the song addressed Satan by name, glorified him by name, and then said sarcastically, I'm on the way to the promised land. Hell is the promised land. It is the final abode promised by God to all those who die apart from God's Son Jesus Christ. So it is the promised land for the wicked. It is the promised land for all those who die apart from Christ.
Hell is real, hell is fearful, hell is torment, and hell is forever. It is eternal. But what exactly is hell? What is hell? Only God's Word can answer that question.
So if you want to take some notes or if you want to turn very quickly in your Bibles, you can turn to some passages. In Matthew chapter 3, In verse 12, hell is described as a place... In Matthew chapter 3, in verse 12, hell is described as a place of unquenchable fire. Unquenchable fire. In Matthew chapter 25, in verse 41, you'll have to turn very quickly if you'll keep up with me here, it is described as a place where the cursed, the cursed are sent and a place of, quote, eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." In Mark chapter 9 in verse 48, hell is described as a place where, quote, their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched, end quote.
In Daniel chapter 12 in verse 2, it is described as a place of shame and everlasting contempt. The rich man, known as divies in Luke chapter 16 and verse 24, describes it firsthand as, quote, torment in a flame, as torment in a flame. Second Thessalonians 1, 9 speaks of it as a place of punishment and of everlasting destruction. Revelation 14, 10 in verse 11 calls it a place where men are made to, quote, drink of the wine of the wrath of God poured out without mixture. That means undiluted, poured out without mixture, into the cup of God's indignation, where they are, quote, tormented with fire and brimstone, day and night, and the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever.
So hell is punishment, hell is torment, and hell is forever. Those who've read the New Testament know that that Jesus spoke more about hell than he did about heaven. How many knew that? Jesus speaks more about hell than he does about heaven. It's pretty serious business when Jesus speaks more about hell than he does about heaven.
It's a pretty serious business when Jesus speaks more about hell than he does about heaven. In fact, most of what we have on the topic of hell in the Bible comes from the lips of Jesus. You know, you have people that talk about, Oh, well, you know, we love the teachings of Jesus. We just don't like the Old Testament. Really?
Open up the teachings of Jesus on hell and let's hear what you think about that. These are the hard sayings of Christ. And yet there's almost universal silence from the pulpits of America on the topic. Why do you suppose? Why is it there is almost universal silence from the pulpits of America on the topic.
Why do you suppose? Why is it there is almost universal silence from the pulpits of America on the topic of hell? I think it goes back to the issue of Americanized Christianity versus, or as opposed to, biblical Christianity. If you're a pastor in America or anywhere for that matter and you don't preach through the scriptures that is expositionally from the pulpit, If you don't want to deal with a particular subject that's taught in Scripture, you just avoid the topic. If you don't work your way through a book of the Bible, say Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, which we just quoted from, you never get to those passages and you can just avoid the topic.
But if you work through the Scriptures expositionally, you have to deal with it. And most churches don't do that. Now, there's been much debate over the centuries, or at least most of the centuries, did I say that? As to whether Jesus and the Apostles were using language that was symbolic When they speak about hell for instance In the passage from Revelation are men actually drinking wine the wine of wrath Are they actually drinking the wine of wrath? Or is that symbolic language?
Or the passage in Matthew 22, 12 we read earlier, where a man is commanded to be cast into outer darkness, or the passage we read about hell being flaming fire. Is hell darkness, outer darkness, or is it a place that's bright with flaming fire? Or is Jesus using some types of symbolism? Is he using symbolism and sometimes he's using words that are not actually symbolism? Obviously, some of the language Jesus uses is symbolic.
No man is going to be drinking wine in hell, but he will be drinking down the wrath of God. He will be drinking down the wrath of God. On the other hand, the Bible clearly portrays physical pain in the bodies of those resurrected into damnation. There's going to be a resurrected body of some type. We don't know exactly how that's going to be, but there's going to be a resurrected body and that body is going to feel pain.
While at the same time there's going to be the conscious wrath and indignation of God that is going to be suffered in the souls of men. So we know that both actually are true. And I think, you know, if a sinner could choose the one over the other, he's not going to be able to, but if he could choose the one over the other, I think he would choose physical pain over the conscious divine wrath being poured out upon him. If he could choose rather to be thrown into, let's say, a lake that was burning with fire or to have the conscious Wrath of God being poured down upon him for all eternity, he would choose rather to be thrown into a lake that was burning with fire, a physical fire. I think the scripture teaches both.
R.C. Sproul once wrote, quote, if these images, speaking of the language Jesus uses to describe hell, are indeed symbols, then we must conclude that the reality is worse than the symbol suggests. And I think that's a good conclusion. Now another topic on hell. Some think hell is separation from God.
You have to bear with me on this one because it's widespread teaching in churches in America that hell is separation from God, okay? I want you to understand that the wicked could only hope that to be the case. Remember, the wicked flee from the presence of God. They've been doing that since the Garden of Eden. Mankind in the unregenerate state wants nothing more than to be separated from God.
That is the desire of the wicked, is to be separated from God. Paul Washer once said, quote, everybody wants to go to heaven, they just don't want God to be there when they get there, end quote. So true. Yet the wicked, those who hate God, those who do not want to be in the presence of God, those who do not want to even retain God in their knowledge, are never completely separated from the benefits of the presence of God on earth. Are you hanging with me?
On earth, men enjoy the common blessings of God to humanity and the common grace of God that all of God's creatures enjoy on earth, but not in hell. These benefits will be absent in hell They're gonna be absent in hell here on earth God causes it for instance to rain on the just and on the unjust but in hell The sinner only experiences the raining down of the wrath and indignation of God apart from any of his benefits and apart from any of his graces. Revelation chapter 1410 once again says, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation, and He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." Who's the lamb? Jesus. Yeah.
In the presence of the lamb. So throw out that notion that, well, it's not going to be in the presence of Jesus, he's going to be off somewhere else. No. This is punishment, wrath, and torment in the presence of Jesus, and it's forever and ever. And remember the psalmist David wrote in Psalm 139 verse 8, speaking of the on the presence of God, If I ascend up to heaven, thou art there, if I make my bed and shale in hell, behold what?
Thou art there. There is no place outside the presence of God. God is everywhere. God is present in heaven. God is present on earth.
And God is present in hell. The only separation is separation from his benefits and from his mercies. Which brings me to the issue of supposed annihilationism. How many have heard that doctrine? Seventh-day Adventistism or whatever they call it.
Some suggest hell is annihilation. The bodies and souls of men are completely destroyed in hell. Here again, the wicked could only hope so. They could only hope that in hell Their bodies and souls are only destroyed, extinguished, annihilated. They can only wish it to be so.
A hell that annihilates is a hell without pain and a hell that is not eternal. But all the scriptures we just read make it clear that hell is eternal torment. It's day and night and it's forever and it is forever. There are no exit signs. There are no exit doors in hell.
Hell is eternal. It is not annihilation. I want you just for a moment to imagine the worst thing you've ever suffered on earth. Just take a moment. Kind of close your eyes and imagine the worst pain you ever suffered on earth.
The worst thing you ever suffered on earth in your life thus far. Think about it. Hell cannot be compared to it. Can't be compared to it. Not an eternity of that can be compared to it.
And friends, listen to this. After the first 500 billion years of torment and suffering under the just wrath of God in hell, it will only be your first five minutes in hell. Only your first five minutes, if that's where you go. If that's your final abode, that it'll only be your first five minutes. 500 billion years of the worst suffering beyond anything you can imagine, beyond anything you've ever experienced, 500 billion years of it if there were years, and it's only your first five minutes in hell, and it'll never end.
Which is one reason why no true believer could ever wish hell on his worst enemy. You understand that? You hear people say, well you can just go to, you know, that was never, should never come out of the mouth of a true believer. You could never wish that on anyone. I don't care what they've done.
The worst possible imaginable thing they've done to your child. You could never wish that upon them. Now we pray the imprecatory, what are known as the imprecatory prayers of David, right? The imprecatory Psalms. What do we pray?
Psalm 10435, oh God, let the sinners be consumed out of the earth and let the wicked be no more. Psalm 10435, let the sinners be consumed out of the earth and let the wicked be no more. I prayed that this past week when I was listening to the Psalms. Let it be God, but we don't pray that they'll be recipients of the destruction of hell for all eternity. Could never wish that upon anyone.
No, we pray for the salvation of their souls. No, that the wicked be destroyed out of the earth, but let their souls be saved, God. We could never wish that upon anyone. We want the eternal salvation of every soul. That's what it means to love your neighbor as yourself.
That's what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. It's an interesting thing about those who go to heaven and those who go to hell. You ever thought about this? Those who are on their way to heaven go to heaven saying, I don't deserve this. Those who are on their way to hell go to hell saying, I don't deserve this.
You ever notice that? In my time on the street, street preaching, I've noticed that over and over and over again. People who are on their way to hell, they don't think they deserve to be. They deserve hell. They just don't think they deserve it.
None of us who truly believe think we deserve heaven. We all know we deserve hell. Same is true in the opposite of those who end up in hell they go to hell thinking they don't really deserve it in hell the fist is lifted up to heaven I don't buy into and I want you to just consider this as an alternative to again to what maybe you have been taught growing up, because I know some of the things I was taught growing up. I don't buy into the narrative that Diabes, clothed in purple, you know, Lazarus laid at his gate, that he goes to hell and is repenting in hell. I don't buy it.
Don't buy it. Some think he does, I don't. I don't think there's any repentance in hell. I don't think he's concerned about his brothers. I don't think he's repenting and having this great, compassionate, you know, love for others in hell.
I don't think that's the case. I think when Diabeus says to Abraham, send Lazarus back from the dead to my brothers and they will listen, that that's like saying it's God's fault. Just just hang with me for a second if God would just do more if God just sent people back from the place of torment or from the grave To others if you just send them back from the dead everyone would repent and no one would go to the place of torment. Just send him back. If you just send him back, then my brothers will listen and they'll repent.
But if you don't, they won't. In fact, you could infer from that, if someone had been sent back to me, I wouldn't be here. No, I don't buy it. Jesus raises another Lazarus from the dead, remember? And he raises that Lazarus from dead.
Little over a week later, the Jews have Jesus who raised him from the dead on a Roman cross and they're trying to kill that Lazarus a second time. No, I don't buy it. Jesus himself raised from the dead three days later and they didn't believe. And I'm going to end kind of a lengthy end here talking about this topic of what are people doing in hell because it kind of ties into this. I started off talking about Bon Scott, the rock star guy from ACDC, and his blasphemous hit single, Highway to Hell, and how after seven months of singing his blasphemies all over the world, he died and went to hell and has been there ever since.
And I want to end with a question, and it kind of dovetails on what I've just been saying about divies dressed in purple and what his state of mind was and what he was doing in hell. Was he repenting? Was he just so concerned about others and all he wanted to do in hell is just bring others to salvation? I don't think so. So what is my question?
What is he doing there now? What is Von Scott doing now in hell? You think he's repenting? You think the people are in hell repenting? This really is a question you need to ask because it really matters.
Do you think he's being purged? Think of that word for a minute in Roman Catholic doctrine. Do you think he's being purged of his sins? Do you think he's regretting his sins and being purified? Do you think the people in hell are being purged and purified of their sins?
Do you think they're growing better in hell? I don't think so. I said a moment ago, from my reading of scripture, I don't think anyone repents in hell. I don't think people get better in hell. I don't think hell is a place of gradual purging or purification.
And I'll tell you why. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 13 and we're going to end by reading verses 36 through 42 and then I'll have some commentary here. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 13 and We'll begin with verse 36. I'll give you all a moment to turn there Matthew chapter 13 Begin with verse 36 follow along with me Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house and his disciples came unto him saying Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man.
The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are the angels, as therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire.
So shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." The Bible presents hell as a place not only of wailing, in pain, in torment, but also a place of the gnashing of teeth. There are several passages that talk about this in the New Testament. If we allow the Scriptures to interpret themselves, which is the proper biblical hermeneutic or way of interpreting the Scriptures, then we must conclude that the gnashing of teeth is something the wicked do against the righteous and against God. If anything, the wicked grow more wicked in hell and incur more wrath as they gnash their teeth against him in the flames of hell and under the judgment of God in hell." Look at Psalm 37-12.
Turn to Psalm 37-12 as I make my case from Scripture. Here's what the wicked do. The wicked plot against the righteous and gnashes at him with his teeth. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes at him with his teeth. Look at Lamentations chapter 2 and verse 16.
Lamentations 2 and verse 16. All your enemies, that's talking about God, all your enemies God have opened their mouths wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth." We're not talking about gnashing teeth for pain. We're talking about gnashing teeth out of hatred for God. We're talking about gnashing teeth out of just despising God and hating God.
Look at Acts chapter 7 verse 54. Acts chapter 7 verse 54. This is at the stoning of Stephen. Stephen's just preached this famous sermon full of truth. The Jews hate him.
They hate the truth that he's just brought out. They want him dead They're about to throw rocks at him until they crush him underneath a load of rocks They're about to stone him to death And at the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7 54 it says this now when they heard this that is the the righteous preaching of Stephen they were cut to the quick. What does that mean? Their hearts were cut. They were convicted that the things that he was saying were absolutely true, and then they did what?
They began gnashing their teeth at him. The wicked gnash their teeth against God in hell. They aren't reformed in hell. They aren't purged of their sins in hell, as if there were some kind of, as if hell were some kind of purgatory, and they aren't purified in hell. If anything, they grow worse in hell.
If anything, they grow worse in hell. If anything, they grow worse in hell. But I just wanted to hopefully put to death a couple of what I believe are misconceptions about hell and what goes on in hell. Hell is not a place of repentance. It's not a place where people become compassionate about people that are on earth that are still here and just wish they could come back and just reform the whole world and preach the gospel and all this sort of thing.
No, they're there gnashing their teeth at God, they're gnashing their teeth at Christ, They hate God, they're growing more wicked, and they're incurring more wrath every single moment that they are in hell. And the just wrath of God is increasing against them. The good news for believers, as we close, is that Jesus suffered the wrath of God in the place of his people. Amen? The good news is that Jesus paid the penalty for all the eternities of the hells of his people in our place on that cross 2, 000 years ago.
Imagine that, an infinite sacrifice, infinitely acceptable to God, that could pay the penalty, as we said last week to Telestai, paid in full, accomplished at the cross for all of the sin debt of his people and satisfy the wrath and the justice of God for all the eternities of all the hells of all his people that we would have endured and he has satisfies it all in three hours on the cross Jesus drank the cup of the wrath and indignation of God do his people on that cross to the last drop. The favor of God is all that's left you if you're in Christ. Isn't that good news? That's good news. Jesus was forsaken that we would not be forsaken.
He was crushed under the wrath of God on that cross that we might not be crushed under the wrath of God for all eternity in a place called hell. Jesus dealt with the justice of God in the place of his people on that cross 2, 000 years ago, when he suffered and died in our place. Remember, God doesn't pass over any sins. You know that? Look at me.
God punishes all sin. Every sin that you've ever committed will be punished. Did you know that? Either in you or in the substitute God provided for you in His Son. Every sin will be punished.
He punishes all sin. He has punished or will punish them all. One way or another, all sin will be dealt with, either in the sinner or in the substitute God provided in His Son. God punished His Son in the place of His people. In the words of John Gill, quote, our sins were laid on him and the wrath of God came upon him for them, end quote.
Jesus satisfied the justice of God and the wrath of God to the full in the place of all those who repent and believe on his name. On that cross, a double transfer took place. Our sins were imputed to Jesus' account, and His righteousness was transferred to our account. That's the good news. The moments you repent and believe, the moment you put your trust in Jesus alone, alone, capital A-L-O-N-E, for your salvation.
The moments you put your trust in Jesus alone for your salvation, for your right standing before God, you're declared just in the sight of God and your sins are put away as far as the east is from the west. Jesus having made peace with God for you by the blood of his cross. That's what it means to be saved. Jesus was crucified dead and buried and rose again the third day for our justification and all for his glory, all for the glory of God. Do you believe that?
I hope you do. Let's pray. Father, we do thank you for this time in your word. I pray, Lord, that you have struck through many hearts on this day. Pray Lord that you have brought unregenerate souls to saving faith.
I pray that you have encouraged your people, oh God, and I pray that you've been glorified in this time. Lord, now be with us as we Go forward and examine ourselves and eat of that bread and drink of that cup of the Lord's table, showing that Jesus died for us. It's in His holy name we pray these things. Amen. Amen.