As I put together today’sepisode, I remembered how, many years ago, I was going out with a group to talkto people in the neighbourhood about Christ. The leader of our group asked usspecifically, not to mention anything about hell or judgement, as we approachedpeople to preach to them, so as not to make them uncomfortable and you know, jeopardizeour mission. He asked us to just invite them to church. But then, I noticedthat even in church, one could go years and years, without hearing anythingrelated to eternal judgement. Now I’m sure you’re wondering, well who cares? Thetopic of hell is not a particularly cheery one anyway! And yes, I agree.
But not talking about it isproblematic on at least two levels. Firstly because, at everychurch service, there is a mixed multitude, consisting of many who do not knowChrist, and are headed for hell, by default. And secondly, there are people whonow teach that Jesus is too loving to condemn anyone to hell for eternity, andthat all of mankind will somehow be saved in the end, whether or not theyrejected Christ in their lifetimes. This teaching is called Universalism, and interestingly,those who preach it try to use the bible to prove it,taking scripture in isolation and out of context, in an attempt to force it to meanwhat they want. For example, Universalists use as one of their proof texts, 1Tim2:4,which says that it is God’s desire for all men to be saved. They emphasize thewords ALL MEN, as proof that all will be saved, yet totally ignore the numerous portions ofscripture that declare that all who reject Jesus, enter into eternaldamnation.
The scarypart though, is that many are believing this narration that both those who rejectChrist and those who accept Him will be in heaven in the end; many who sit inchurches where little or no mention is made about this.
Jesustook a different approach to this topic. He talked often about hell andjudgement. Remember the parable of separating the chaff from wheat? (Mat 3:12and Mat 13:30), separating the goats from sheep? (Mat 25:31-46), and separatingthe bad fish from the good ones (Mat 13:47-50). Jesus thought it was importantto repeatedly mention the eternal consequences of rejecting His message. Infact, theologians say that He talked about hell and judgement, more than anyoneelse in the bible. He wasn’t worried that his teachings about hell would scarepeople away from believing in Him.
Jesus spoke of hell, but Healso spoke of the Kingdom of heaven and if we believe his words about heaven,then we certainly should believe his words about hell. If universalism is true,then it means Jesus sacrifice on the cross was of no use. It means in His manysermons and parables on eternal condemnation, He lied or exaggerated; and as itis said in Rom 3:4, let God alone be true though every man be a liar.
It is my prayer that God willgive Christian leaders, the sincerity and boldness to preach the whole counselof God. May God grant us understanding on Christ’s teachings about eternaljudgement, so that they never fill us with fear, but only the joy of what wehave been saved from, if we are in Him. For all the precious souls who havebought into the lie that a life without Christ will still somehow lead toparadise, may God’s word bring light and deliverance to them, in Jesus name Ipray, amen.