Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

Hey, podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast.

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Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day. This Bible teaching program on today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 3

When we formulate our ideas about heaven and hell, do we want to trust the words of those who have never traveled outside this world? Or do we trust the words of the only one, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has seen life from the other side of the grave?

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know one of the most common concerns about Christianity: how could a loving God send good people to hell? On the surface, it's a convincing question.

But today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shows that all of us are worthy of eternal judgment. Gratefully, Jesus has provided a solution.

Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message: Dr. Jeffress.

Speaker 2

Thanks David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Today I'm going to address one of the most common and pressing questions of our times. The question is, why would God send people to hell? It's not only a common question, it's a fair question. And in a moment, I'm going to provide a biblical response.

But first, over the last few days, you've heard my invitation to new Pathway partners. Our goal has been to add at least 50 new members to this vital team of supporters. And this is the final day for me to extend this invitation. Please get in touch with Pathway to Victory by going to ptv.org; we would love to welcome you to the family.

Plus, whether you give a one-time gift or you become a Pathway partner, I'm going to say thanks by sending a copy of my exclusive coffee table book called The Power of the Cross. In my book, I'll guide you on a pictorial journey tracing the footsteps of Jesus over the most important seven days of his ministry. The Holy Week starts on Palm Sunday and culminates on Easter morning. This is the last day to request my book, The Power of the Cross. So be sure to contact Pathway to Victory today.

Thank you for your generosity. Your gift will be used by God to lead someone into the gates of heaven. As you likely know, I'm not one to mince words when someone's eternal home is at stake. And so today, I'm going to tackle an unsavory but necessary subject. I titled today's message: Why God Sends Good People to Hell.

Speaker 3

The pit is prepared. The fire is made ready. The furnace is now hot, ready to receive them. The flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is wet and held over them, and the pit has opened her mouth under them. O sinner, consider the fearful danger you are in. So warned the Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards in his classic sermon, *Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God*. Those of you who have studied literature know that when Edwards delivered that message, he did so without the usual sweat and bombast that characterized evangelists in later years. Instead, Edwards simply read the words of his sermon from a manuscript, flipping over page after page after page. And yet his colorful description of hell sent his audience into convulsions of weeping and repentance.

Today, if such a sermon were preached in most churches, it would send members out the door looking for a more seeker-sensitive congregation to join. The fact is, it's not politically correct to talk about the reality of hell. And truthfully, it's never been that politically correct. People have always resisted the idea of an eternal place of torment for those who die without Christ. In the last century, the great atheist Colonel Robert Ingersoll railed against the concept of hell. He said the idea of hell was born of revenge and brutality on the one side and cowardice on the other. "I have no respect for any human being who believes in it. I dislike this doctrine. I hate it, I despise it. I defy this doctrine. This doctrine of hell is infamous beyond all power to express."

The renowned philosopher Bertrand Russell not only rejected Christianity in general, but he rejected Jesus Christ in particular, mainly because of what Christ taught about hell. Russell said, and I quote, "There is one very serious defect to my mind in Jesus' moral character, and that is that he believed in hell. I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment." How's that for pride? Bertrand Russell was saying, you know, this guy Jesus, he was a pretty good guy, except he had this one flaw in his character. He believed in hell. I can't believe anybody like that. Too bad Jesus was not as humane as I was. That's pride.

Even among theologians who do believe in hell, there is a serious revision going on about their ideas about hell. Many people are trying to turn down the temperature of hell, if you will. For example, a few years ago, Pope John Paul II announced that hell is not a punishment imposed externally by God, but is instead a person's own choice to be separated from God. And the thought of hell should not create anxiety or despair in people, but instead it is a necessary and healthy reminder of freedom. Indeed, more and more theologians are emphasizing that hell is a place where there is an absence from God more than a place of eternal suffering.

Jeffrey Sheeler, writing in *US News & World Report*, summarizes the rethinking that's going on about hell. "Jonathan Edwards would scarcely recognize the hell of today. After decades of near obscurity, the netherworld has taken on a new image, more of a deep funk than a pit of fire, suggesting that hell may not be so hot after all." Whether we eradicate the idea of hell altogether or simply try to make it a little more comfortable, are we correct in doing so?

I mentioned just a moment ago the atheist Robert Ingersoll, who traveled the country lecturing on the absurdity of hell, how no intelligent person could ever really believe in hell. How idiotic it was to believe that God would send people to hell. After a particularly fiery lecture against the idea of hell, a drunk came up to Robert Ingersoll after the lecture and said, "Colonel Ingersoll, I really appreciate what you had to say about hell. I agree with you. But, Colonel Ingersoll, I hope you know what you're talking about because I'm banking on you." Are we correct to bank on the ideas of atheists like Robert Ingersoll or Bertrand Russell or even liberal theologians? Or is there somebody more reliable who can tell us what really happens to an unbeliever after he dies?

Today we're going to look at the words of the only reliable guide I know of who can tell us with absolute certainty what happens to those who die without Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ himself. You know, one has to at least credit Bertrand Russell with his honesty in understanding that if you reject the idea of hell, you have to reject Jesus Christ himself. You see, of the 1,380 verses in the Bible that are attributed to the Lord Jesus himself, 13% of those verses deal with the subject of hell. In fact, if you add up those verses, you will discover that Jesus spoke more often about hell than he did about heaven. To reject what Jesus says about hell is to reject Jesus himself.

In Luke chapter 16, Jesus gives the most descriptive passage anywhere in the New Testament about the reality of hell. Look at it with me in Luke 16:19. This is a story of two very different men who lived two very different lives and experienced two very different destinies. Luke 16:19 says, "Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every day. And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were fallen from the rich man's table. Besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores."

Now it came about that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. That's where God is, where Christ is, the presence of the Lord. And the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, the rich man lifted up his eyes being in torment, and he saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And the rich man cried out and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame."

Now, what I want you to see from this passage are three things that Jesus told us about hell. First of all, hell is an actual location. Write it down. Hell is an actual location. Now, in the New Testament, there are three Greek words that are all translated hell. In your English Bible, the first word is the word Tartaros. The second word that is used in the New Testament to describe hell, or translated hell, is the word Gehenna. This is the word Jesus used most frequently to talk about hell. It's used 11 times in the New Testament, many times. It's also translated the lake of fire. And then the third word that is used is the word Hades. And that's the word we find here in Luke 16.

Now, I say that to say we are going to use the words Hades and hell or Gehenna interchangeably because Jesus taught that both are places of eternal torment. First of all, hell is an actual place. Secondly, Jesus taught that hell is a place of horrendous suffering. It is a place of horrendous suffering. Notice in verse 24, the rich man begs Abraham for mercy. "Have mercy for me, for I am in agony in this flame." In Mark chapter 9, verse 48, Jesus taught that hell was a place where the worm never died and the fire was never quenched. In Matthew 22, verse 13, he talked about hell as being a place of intense loneliness and sorrow where there will be continual weeping and gnashing of teeth. We all agree that hell is going to be a place of suffering. Jesus taught that.

But are we to believe that in hell there is a literal furnace burning a literal fire, consuming the literal flesh of people day and night, forever and ever? Actually, even among conservative theologians, there's some difference of opinion on this. For example, Martin Luther and John Calvin both believed in the reality of hell. But they believed when Jesus was talking about fire, he was using fire symbolically of the torment that awaited unbelievers. In more recent times, great theologians like Francis Schaeffer and J.I. Packer have said that this fire that Jesus is talking about is a symbolic fire.

But what I want you to understand is this. If indeed Jesus is speaking symbolically when he speaks about the fire of hell, we should take no comfort in that. What Jesus is saying is the reality is so horrible of the physical pain you will suffer there, there are no human words to describe it. The closest I can get to describing what hell will be like would be like having your flesh on fire day and night, forever and ever. Make no mistake, Jesus clearly taught hell is a place of horrendous suffering.

Thirdly, Jesus taught that hell is a place of suffering forever. It's a place of suffering forever. Today, a growing number of Christians have embraced what is called annihilationism to describe what happens to non-Christians when they die. Simply put, annihilationism is the idea that when a non-Christian dies, he stands before God in judgment. God judges him and then destroys him; that is, he ceases to exist. A Christian lives forever in heaven. A non-Christian is judged and then destroyed, the reasoning goes. How could a loving, righteous God take any delight in tormenting and torturing unbelievers forever and ever and ever? You just can't reconcile that with a loving God, they say.

Or certainly the idea of destroying, annihilating unbelievers takes a little bit of a sting out of hell. Perhaps it means that if you're a non-Christian and you happen to be wrong, as bad as it's going to be that you're going to miss heaven, at least you're going to be put out of your misery. If what these people are teaching is true, and perhaps even if you're a Christian and you have a non-Christian friend or family member who dies, as terrible as that's going to be, that you're not going to be with them forever, at least you could take some comfort in the fact that God destroys them. But is that what the Bible teaches?

Does the Bible teach that an unbeliever is judged and then destroyed? Again, go back to Matthew 25:46. When Jesus is describing the eternal destiny of the saved and the unsaved, he says, "And these," talking about unbelievers, "will go away into what kind of punishment? Eternal punishment. But the righteous will enter into eternal life." It's interesting when you look in the book of Revelation at the word *aionos*, which is translated forever and ever and ever. The same word in Revelation 22, verse 5 that is used to describe heaven forever and ever and ever is also used in Revelation 20, verse 15, and Revelation 20, verse 10 to describe the fate of unbelievers. They are tormented day and night, forever and ever.

I want to show you something very interesting in the Bible. Turn over to Revelation 19 for just a moment. Revelation 19:20. The setting for this verse is the second coming of Jesus. The battle of Armageddon has been concluded. Christ has returned. We have returned along with him. And notice the first thing that Christ does when he returns to earth. Verse 20, Revelation 19 says, "And the beast, that is the antichrist, was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone."

Okay, this is when Christ returns. Then, Revelation 20. The first verses describe Christ setting up his kingdom for 1,000 years on the earth. Satan, the third part of the Satanic trinity, is bound for those thousand years while Christ reigns. And then Satan is loosed for a little while. And then after the final rebellion, verse 10, notice what happens. God calls it quits. It's now time to bring an end to all of this rebellion. And what does he do? Verse 10 says, "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also."

Now think about this. The beast and the false prophet had been thrown into that lake a thousand years before this. A thousand years had elapsed. Had they been destroyed in the lake of fire, John would have said they were cast into the fire of lake and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet were. But instead, it says, "where they are," a thousand years after being cast into the lake of fire, the beast and the false prophet are still alive. They burn there forever. And then notice verse 15. "And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." They suffer day and night forever and ever and ever. Hell is a place of suffering forever.

I want you to notice something else in these verses. Notice in verse 20 of chapter 19, the beast and the false prophet were thrown into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. Fire, brimstone. You go to verse 10 of chapter 20, and the devil was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. And then verse 15, the lake of fire. How many people do you know who say, "I don't want to go to a church that preaches hell fire. I don't want that kind of a church." When somebody says, "I don't want to hear a message, a hell, fire and brimstone message," I want you to think about just how stupid that is.

I want you to imagine, for example, going to a water safety class, but telling the instructor, "Now, I don't want to hear anything about drowning. You can teach me all you want to about water safety, but don't you dare mention drowning." Or what about saying, "I want to go to the doctor, but I don't want to go to a doctor who ever mentions cancer or heart disease. I want to go to a doctor who's positive." Any church, any pastor who does not talk about not just the possibility but the reality of hell, fire and brimstone, that pastor, that church are being derelict in their duties.

And ladies and gentlemen, I'm glad to be known as a church that tells the truth about what happens to those who die without Jesus Christ. Listen to me. Just like God said, "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked," we take no pleasure in telling people that hell is real, that it's an actual place, that it's a place of suffering, horrendous suffering, that it is a place of suffering forever. The reason we tell people this truth is because we love people and we want to help them escape. Not just the possibility, the inevitability of what happens to those who die without Christ.

When it comes to formulating what we really believe about hell, should we trust the words of atheists like Bertrand Russell and Robert Ingersoll or even liberal theologians, or should we trust the words of Jesus Christ? I want you to imagine for a moment that you're planning a trip to London, England, this March. You've never been to England before, so you're musing to a friend, "Gee, I wonder what I ought to pack for my trip to London. I wonder what the temperature is like there in March." And your friend speaks with great confidence and says, "Oh, it's just like it is here in Dallas, Texas, in March. It's moderate and it's dry."

Now, your friend speaks with great authority. The only problem is your friend has never traveled outside the city limits of Dallas, Texas. So you take that into consideration. You go over to Nordstrom's, the department store, and you're talking to a clerk, and you notice that that clerk has a thick British accent. And in talking with the clerk, you discover that she grew up in London. You mention that you're going there and want to prepare accordingly. You had talked to your friend, and your friend said that it's moderate and dry in March. And the clerk laughs and says, "Oh, no, it's not in March in London. It's wet and it is freezing cold."

Now, whose opinion are you going to trust? One who's never been there or one who's been there? When we formulate our ideas about heaven, do we want to trust the words of those who have never traveled outside this world, or do we trust the words of the only one, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has seen life from the other side of the grave?

Speaker 2

Well, I know for certain that when we focus on the place called heaven that our Heavenly Father is preparing on our behalf, it shapes our entire outlook on life. For that reason and more, I want you to reach out today to become one of our pathway partners. When you join this team of monthly supporters, you empower us to tell others the truth about heaven and hell. In this respect, you're like a missionary.

Today is the last day I'll mention our goal to reach at least 50 new pathway partners. And when you take this step, I'm going to say thanks by sending you my coffee table book called the Power of the Cross. This book includes my favorite photos and images from the Holy Land. Each one tells an important story about the final seven days in the life of Christ. Best of all, your role as a pathway partner truly makes a difference.

Not long ago, I received a note from a listener named Leah. She wrote, "Pastor Jeffress, it's because of you that my daddy finally saw that he couldn't be good enough on his own to get to heaven. He was lying in a hospital bed a month before he died, and your words opened a conversation between us. We prayed together, and my dad prayed to receive Jesus Christ as his savior. Thank you. Because through you, a major prayer was answered. My dad is with Jesus now." Isn't that great?

Friends, look. Every day that passes, all of us are one day closer to the return of Jesus Christ. So let's be watching and waiting, and let's give generously so that others will hear the liberating truth about heaven and how to get there.

Speaker 1

David thanks Dr. Jeffress. It's easy to sign up as a Pathway Partner when you go online to ptv.org and when you give your first monthly gift or when you give a generous one-time gift. You'll receive with our thanks a copy of the Power of the Cross. It's a beautifully illustrated coffee table style book that you can display in your home for years to come.

When you respond today, we'll also include a helpful brochure called Three Days that Changed the World. To request your copy of these resources, call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. When your gift is $75 or more, we'll also send you the CD and DVD teaching set titled Live from Eight Powerful Messages by Dr. Jeffress from the Holy Land. Join Dr. Jeffress as he describes the Biblical events that took place at each featured location.

Today, though, is the last day we'll mention these resources, so get in touch with us right away. One more time, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org. You could write to us. Here's the address: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. Again, that's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins wishing you a great weekend. Then join us next week when Dr. Jeffress begins a study in the Book of Acts called Experiencing the Power of the Holy Spirit that starts Monday here on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible.

One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes.

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