Hell & Final Judgement
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Sunday School | Heaven is More Than We Imagined
Pastor Dean Deguara
Big Idea: The Christian’s hope isn’t merely that we go to heaven, but that God will dwell forever with His redeemed people in a restored creation.
What has God actually revealed to us through Scripture about heaven?
The Bible’s future promises weren’t written to help us win arguments; they were written to help us keep going.
JESUS PROMISED HEAVEN
John 14:1-6 (NKJV)
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:2-3 (NKJV)
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Heaven is a Place
1 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV)
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
The certainty of heaven doesn’t rest on our ability to imagine it. It rests on Jesus’ ability to keep His promise.
THE CHRISTIAN’S HOPE IS BIGGER THAN DEATH
Philippians 1:21-23 (NKJV)
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
The greatest gift God can ever give us is Himself.
2 Corinthians 5:1-8 (NKJV)
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:20–26 (NKJV)
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
Christianity isn’t built on the immortality of the soul. It’s built on the resurrection of the body.
God’s plan has never simply been to rescue people from creation. His plan has always been to redeem creation itself.
GOD IS MAKING ALL THINGS NEW
Romans 8:18-25 (NLT)
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
God doesn’t scrap creation; He restores it.
Revelation 21:1–2 (NKJV)
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:3-4 (NKJV)
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
God has always been making a way to dwell with His people.
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Okay.
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We appreciate it.
God is going to move in a mighty way.
We're in this series.
We're simply calling Sunday School, and throughout this series, we've been tackling subjects that many of us heard growing up in church, if you grew up in church.
And for some of you, we're tackling subjects that you're hearing explained for the very first time.
And one of our goals is not just to simply answer difficult questions, but to become students of the word.
Come on, students of scripture.
We wanna engage scripture, but not only engage scripture, we wanna be equipped to do the works of the ministry.
So when people ask us questions, we have, come on, a reason for the hope that lies within us.
And healthy faith isn't afraid of hard questions because how many know God's word is strong enough to bear the weight?
And today we come probably to a really difficult topic, but I'm so glad it's in the light of the new heavens and new earth because today we're gonna talk about hell and judgment.
How many know that's like not a light topic?
All right, and so, but it's so important that we understand this teaching.
And today we're gonna wrestle with one of the hardest questions that people will ask believers, and it's this.
How can a loving God send people to hell?
And for many of us, that question isn't just an intellectual obstacle, it's deeply personal.
You see, some of us, we know people who've walked away from Christianity because they couldn't reconcile God of love with God's judgment.
Others grew up being terrified, come on, whenever hell was mentioned or preached.
And many sincere Christians would struggle to explain what the Bible actually teaches about the topic of hell if you were asked tomorrow.
And I think hell is one of the most misunderstood doctrines in all of scripture.
Not because the Bible is unclear, but because we've heard so much about it that oftentimes we assume we already know all that the Bible teaches.
I can still picture where I was in high school.
I was sitting upstairs in the Career Center of American High in Fremont, California.
I was a senior in high school, and like a lot of teenagers, I thought I had plenty of time to figure out God later.
But when my friend Kevin got radically saved during the summer before our senior year, he was kind of a John the Baptist on our campus.
And he found me up, he actually cornered me up in that career center.
And he started talking to me about eternity.
And he started talking about hell.
And he actually quoted the scripture.
And this is the scripture that I clearly remember that he quoted.
He said this, you don't want to go to a place where
"'where the worm does not die "'and the fire is not quenched.'"
Come on, I didn't need much convincing.
How many know about that?
You don't need much convincing.
I don't remember anything else Kevin said that day, but I remember the weight of that sentence.
And it was the first time, as I look back, I realize Jesus was trying to wake me up even as a 17-year-old in high school.
How could a loving God send people to hell?
Wherever you're at, I'm glad you're here today because we're going to open up God's word and let scripture speak for itself.
And here's what may surprise you.
The person who spoke more about hell than anyone else in the Bible was Jesus.
Jesus.
The one who welcomed children and let them sit on his lap.
The one who forgave the woman caught in adultery.
The one who ate with tax collectors and sinners.
The one who healed the sick, touched the leper, wept at the tomb of Lazarus.
That same Jesus spoke more about hell and final judgment than anyone in scripture.
And that's where we're going to begin our lesson today.
How many of you ready to go to Sunday school?
Yes.
That's where we're going to begin our lesson today.
And the first point is this.
Love warns us.
Everybody say, love warns us.
Jesus didn't avoid talking about hell, and neither should we.
If Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father, then we can't separate his compassion from his warnings.
Amen.
His warnings were never contrary to his love.
They're actually an expression of his love.
And one of the reasons why there's so much confusion about hell is there, in our English Bibles, four different...
Biblical words are used and they're only translated into hell.
So there's four different words for hell in scripture.
And I'm just going to mention those real quick.
This is actually more for me.
I'm kind of a word nerd, right?
And this is more for me.
You'll hear words like Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, which is the word Jesus spoke about when he warned people about hell and final judgment.
and then Tartarus, which is only mentioned once.
All four words allude to what our English translations only translate as hell.
Jesus chose the word Gehenna very intentionally.
Every Jewish listener in Jesus' day would have associated it with one of the darkest place in Israel's history, the Valley of Hinnom.
It was just outside of Jerusalem.
This place was marked by rebellion, idolatry, judgment.
It was actually a place where they sacrificed their own children.
And Jesus took that familiar image and used it to warn about God's final judgment.
not to satisfy people's curiosity about the afterlife, but to call them to repentance while there was still time.
When we read through the gospels, which we're going to take a moment and do, Jesus repeatedly speaks about this topic of hell.
Let's let scripture do the teaching this morning.
I'm not going to take time to read everything that Jesus said, but I will give you the addresses.
Matthew 5, 22, 29 to 30.
It says this.
Jesus says, but I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.
How many know Jesus took it to the next level?
And whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council.
But whoever says, you fool, shall be in danger of hellfire.
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you.
For it's more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell."
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you.
For it is more profitable to you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Now, I don't know about you, but that seems pretty extreme.
Anybody with me?
Like, pluck your eye out and cut off your hand?
Amen.
But listen, Jesus is teaching, he's using this, he's being extreme because how many know hell is extreme?
And this is what I believe Jesus was simply saying.
He was saying, I'd rather cut off what's causing me to sin than to be cut off from the presence of God for eternity.
Amen.
And we'll see this throughout Jesus' mentioning of hell in scripture.
In Matthew 10, verse 28, he tells his disciples to fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
In Matthew 18, 9, he warns, it's similar to Matthew 5, he warns that it's better to lose something precious than to persist in sin and face judgment.
In Matthew 23, verses 15 and verse 33, he warns
He confronts religious leaders.
Come on, how many know we need to fear God as well?
He confronts religious leaders and asks how they expect to escape the judgment of hell.
And then you can find more mentioning, more of Jesus' teaching on hell in Mark 9, verse 43, 45, 47.
In Luke 12, verse five.
What I want you to walk away with is this.
Jesus did not avoid the subject or the topic of hell and neither should we.
Why did Jesus speak about hell so often?
Because warnings are not the absence of love.
Come on, they are one of love's highest expressions.
Now imagine with me, you're walking,
on a hiking trail with your family, the sun is out, the kids are laughing, everything feels peaceful, but as you come around the bend, your stomach drops because you notice the bridge ahead is gone, the boards are broken, the ropes are hanging, and just beyond the trees, you see another family, and they're backing up to the bridge, which they don't know it's fell.
They're backing up, taking selfies.
Come on, how many of you know sometimes we need to put the cameras away?
Come on.
They don't know the bridge has collapsed, they're laughing, they're only a few steps away.
In that moment, church, love does not whisper, love warns.
Love wouldn't quietly wish them well.
Hey, guys.
Love wouldn't say, I don't want to offend them.
Love would raise its voice.
Love would wave its arms.
Love would warn them before it's too late.
The warning wouldn't contradict love.
The warning would be love.
And that's exactly what Jesus was doing.
Every warning that he gave was an invitation to repentance.
Come on, has God ever did this to you?
Hey!
Every warning was another opportunity to turn towards life.
You see, church, our culture often says, if you love me, you'll never tell me I'm wrong.
Jesus shows us something different.
Love tells the truth.
Come on, how many are you thankful for people in your life that tell you the truth?
I'm thankful for my friend, Kevin Forehand, who now attends this church.
Listen, when he got radically saved, he didn't shrink back from telling me the truth.
Love warns of danger.
Love points people towards eternal life.
And if we preach only God's love and never his warnings, how many know we're not presenting the whole gospel?
And if we preach only judgment and never his compassion, we're not presenting the whole gospel either.
And at real life church, we want to hold both together because that's exactly what Jesus did.
And how many know he was full of grace and he was full of truth?
Jesus warned us about hell because he wanted people to avoid it.
Everybody say love warns.
Warning does not compete with God's love.
It actually flows from God's love.
Why did Jesus warn people about hell over and over again?
I believe it was because he was revealing something much deeper about his justice, his holiness, and his desire to rescue humanity.
Now at this point, and I don't have time to dive deep into this topic, but
It's worth acknowledging that Christians have wrestled with what the Bible teaches about the nature of hell.
And there are several legitimate views and ongoing debates.
I mean, I found there are think takes on hell.
There are people that's all.
They built ministries around hell.
I don't know about you, but I want to stay as far away from hell as I can.
Amen.
But there's all these groups that grow.
I mean, theological debates.
And so I just want to mention so that you know there are some other views on this topic.
And then I'm going to just share quickly what we believe.
But some believe the law simply...
go to hell and they're punished and then they cease to exist after judgment.
A view often called, and again, this is a legitimate view and argument and debate, conditional immortality and annihilationism.
They're both very related closely.
There's also, and I wanna warn you about this, a false teaching known as Christian universalism that teaches ultimately, even if you go to hell,
everyone's gonna be saved.
Again, that's a false teaching called Christian universalism.
Here at Real Life, we believe scripture teaches that hell is a real place of conscious, eternal separation from God for those who reject Christ.
And just so you know the theological term, it is eternal conscious torment.
Now, we don't take joy in eternal conscious torment.
Doesn't that sound bad?
Regardless of where you land on every detail of judgment, the larger point remains unchanged.
Jesus reportedly warned people of hell and to flee from it.
His warnings were an expression of his love and he wanted people to respond while there was still time.
If you get nothing else from the message today, please get this.
Hell was not created for humanity.
God's desire is to save.
Yet his justice will finally deal with evil.
And I want us to look at one of the most overlooked verses in the Bible on this topic and discover it as we dive in the second point.
The first point is love warns us.
Everybody say love warns us.
Love.
The second is love must judge us.
Hell was never God's desire for humanity's destiny.
Let's think about that question when you're asked, how can a loving God send people to hell?
Before we answer that question, notice something that Jesus says in Matthew 25 verse 41.
It says this, then he will say to those on his left, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Jesus never said hell was created for people.
He said the eternal fire was prepared for the devil and his angels.
We'll say demons.
Think about that.
Hell was not prepared for people.
But for the enemy, people have heard for years, people go to hell, but many have never noticed hell wasn't prepared for people.
Hell was not created for humanity, I'm gonna say it again.
God's desire is to save, yet his justice will finally deal with evil.
Now through this Sunday School message series, we've begun to understand, we've begun to understand
The story of God throughout scripture.
Last week I introduced that to you, that the Bible is not 66 separate books that don't connect in any form or fashion.
It's actually 66 books with one story, come on, of redemption threaded throughout.
Three people think so, but...
And if you take one thing from this message series, it should be the ability to see the story of God throughout the entirety of Scripture.
And once you see the storyline, we can say, as the Apostle Paul said throughout the Corinthians and his teachings and the epistles, he said this, we know.
Everybody say, we know.
We know.
We can be confident about good doctrine.
We can be confident about what scripture says about hard topics.
We know, everybody say we know.
We know from the very beginning God's desire for humanity was never separation, it was fellowship.
And when you open the first pages to Genesis, you don't find a God trying to keep people away.
Church, we understand because we know.
Everybody say, we know.
We know the scriptures and that we know.
Because we know the scriptures, we know humanity was created in the image of God, created to know him, created to worship him, created to enjoy his presence forever.
Church, hell was never God's desire for humanity's destiny.
Humanity was created for fellowship with God, not separation from God.
So if you want to know, listen, what God wanted for humanity, don't start with hell.
Start with Eden.
Start with the garden.
Start before sin corrupted what God created.
In fact, Peter tells us something about God's heart in 2 Peter 3, 9.
He says this, the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise.
He is patient with you.
How many thankful for God's patience with you?
He's not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
This verse expresses God's heart for you and I. God is patient, God is merciful, God is gracious, and God is giving opportunity
after opportunity for people to repent and receive his grace I'm so glad because when Kevin first spoke to me about hell when I was up that was the beginning of my senior year and I'm so glad that he didn't get discouraged and give up on me because I didn't surrender to Christ until April of my senior year how many know God will give you opportunity after opportunity after opportunity so thankful that he pursues us
So if that's true, why does hell exist?
Because love, as I mentioned last week, never forces relationship.
God created us with the capacity to love him and the capacity to reject him.
God didn't create robots.
You remember my pop lock last week.
You guys remember that?
Remember, love that is forced isn't love, it's control.
And throughout scripture, God continually reaches towards us.
He reaches towards humanity.
And church, this is what breaks my heart and this is what I'm asking God to break our hearts with.
Some people picture God standing at the gates of heaven looking for reasons to keep people out.
And some people even look at the church the same way.
They'll say things like, Pastor Dean, if I walked into your church, the roof would fall in.
That's not the God of Scripture.
Amen.
The God of scripture walks through a garden, even in their rebellion, and he's calling out, Adam, Eve, where are you?
What happened?
Where are you?
He sends prophets throughout the Old Testament to a rebellious nation in idolatry.
He pursues wandering sheep.
How many thankful that he leaves the 99 to go seek the one?
Amen.
He runs in Luke chapter 15.
He runs to embrace the prodigal who has spoiled all of his inheritance.
And he finally sends his only begotten son that whosoever believeth him, come on, will receive eternal life.
That's the God who says he doesn't want anyone to perish.
And the entire story of the Bible is the story of a God pursuing people, not a God looking for reasons to condemn them.
Church, God's desire is to pursue you, not to punish you.
Get that in your spirit.
John 3, 16, we quote it all the time.
John 3, 17 says, for God did not send his own son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
This is what we talked about.
This is why when you're talking about hell, you've gotta understand the new heavens and the new earth.
Come on, you've gotta know what the finish line looks like.
Okay, I'm gonna keep teaching.
Hell doesn't reveal how eager God is to punish.
It reveals how serious our sin really is.
You see, sometimes we talk about hell and we make it sound like hell is the biggest problem.
Hell is not the biggest problem.
Sin is the biggest problem.
Hell, listen, hell is the consequence of sin.
of a rebellion that has been destroying God's good creation since Genesis chapter 3.
Every broken relationship, every act of violence, every lie, every addiction, every abuse, every injustice traces its roots back to Genesis 3.
How can a loving God send people to hell?
One of the things that I've learned and that I want you to learn is that sometimes the best way to answer a question is with another question.
You see this in Jesus' life and his ministry all the time.
The Pharisees would ask him a question and he would ask him a question and leave them speechless.
Come on, how do we know we shouldn't be speechless?
Come on, we can just ask another better question, amen?
How can a loving God send people to hell without
But maybe let's think about asking another question.
What kind of God would never deal with evil?
What kind of God would never judge the things that destroy the people he loves?
Would that God actually be loving?
And when we ask questions like that, we begin to see God's justice is a part of God's love.
And sometimes people have a hard time reconciling the two as though God's love and God's justice are in conflict.
The Bible never presents God one or the other.
He is both.
God doesn't have to choose between being loving and being just because he's perfectly both.
In fact, his justice protects everything his love values.
Think about it with me for a second.
If God never judged evil, if he never judged wickedness, if he never judged sin, what would the world look like?
If God never judged evil, there would never be justice for abused children.
There would never be justice for victims of genocide like I mentioned last week in Nigeria.
There would never be justice for every lie, every act of oppression, come on, every unrepentant act of cruelty.
If God simply overlooked evil, he would not be acting in love.
Church, we have to understand that love doesn't pretend evil doesn't exist.
Love confronts what destroys the people it loves.
That's why God's justice isn't the opposite of his love.
It's one of the ways his love protects what is good.
The reason why, listen, we all cry out for justice whenever we see evil is because we bear the image of a just God.
We bear the image of a God who is justice.
Our longing for justice reflects his perfect justice.
So it may be that we've been asking the wrong question.
Instead of asking how can a loving God send people to hell, perhaps reflecting on last week's message on heaven, we should ask how can God make all things new without first making all things right?
Can you just throw the storyline up for a moment, Elizabeth, if you could, just for a moment?
Remember the storyline of God.
Listen, we talked about it.
Death entered the world, right?
If we die, if we die before the ultimate promise of a new heaven, a new earth, right?
To be absent from the bodies, to be present from the Lord, but most, we talked about most believers stop right here, come on, with fire insurance.
Come on, getting in by the hair of your chinny-chin-chin, right?
But there's so much more.
Even if you die before the new heaven and new earth, there's still more.
Come on, there's still more, right?
Jesus will return again.
There's a lot of different eschatology, but this is the storyline for a lot of views.
And listen, here is where, come on, sin gets dealt with, evil gets dealt with.
This is where judgment happens and evil is done away for good.
If this right here doesn't happen, this never happens.
Listen, you can't have a place where there's no more crying.
Come on, no more pain.
Come on, if you haven't dealt with evil once and for all.
Come on, he is a just God.
Are you guys still with me?
From Genesis to Revelation, God's plan isn't merely to forgive sin.
His plan is to defeat sin.
Come on, to remove evil, to destroy death, to establish a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells.
If sin were so serious, how many know the cross wouldn't have been necessary?
The fact that the Son of God willingly bore our judgment tells us two things at once.
Our sin was far worse than we imagined, and God's love was far greater than we deserved.
Church, from the beginning, God's heart has always been to bring people into his presence, not push them away.
And I'm going to ask the worship team to come as we head into our third point.
And may I just say, it's hotter than Hades in here.
I'm just saying.
It's hot up here.
I don't know about where you're sitting, but it's hot up here on this stage.
But anyway.
So love warns us.
Love judges us.
And love saves us.
As we close, I want to look at the question again.
I know I've been asking it throughout.
How can a loving God...
Send people to hell.
Again, I'm equipping you for the works of the ministry.
God is gonna bring some of you people this week, maybe with that same question, maybe with that same debate, and how many know you're gonna have an answer?
Or you're gonna have another question to ask back to them, amen?
How can a loving God send people to hell?
The Bible's answer isn't that God stops being loving.
The Bible's answer is that God is perfectly loving and perfectly just.
And one day, every one of us is going to stand before God.
The Bible presents judgment for each and every one of us as a certainty, not a maybe, a certainty.
John writes in Revelation 20 that he saw a great white throne.
Look at Revelation 20, 11 through 15.
I'm gonna take time to read it all.
There's a lot that I'm not gonna be able to impact, but I wanna read it anyway.
Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away.
And there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened.
And another book was opened, which was the book of life.
And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books.
How many know God's taking notes?
Come on, somebody.
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them.
And they were judged, each one according to his works.
Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, and anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Books are open.
The dead were judged according to what they had done.
Nothing's hidden.
Nothing's forgotten.
Nothing's overlooked.
How many know in that moment, there will be no bribery?
Come on.
There will be no corruption.
There will be no prejudice.
There will be no mistakes.
There will be no appeals.
We've all seen stories where someone gets away with evil because the evidence was hidden.
The
witness was intimidated or the judge was corrupt or the case was mishandled.
And something inside of us, if you're like me, says that's not right.
And Revelation 20 tells us there is a courtroom where nothing is lost, nothing is hidden, and no one is powerful enough to manipulate the judge.
The final note that I want to give you is this, the judge of all the earth will do what is right.
And for some people, that thought is absolutely terrifying.
And for others, it's incredibly comforting.
Because every injustice that was never made right will finally be made right.
Every tear that God's seen you cry in private, every prayer that seemed unanswered, every act of evil that escaped an earthly courtroom will stand before God's courtroom.
Amen.
Church, that's good news because it means evil does not get the final word.
God's justice, come on, gets the final word.
And here's the question.
If we've all sinned, if we've all fallen short, who can stand before a holy God?
And the answer is none of us can.
Not by our own goodness, not by our church attendance, not by our generosity, not by comparing ourselves with somebody else.
If the standard is perfection, how many know every one of us needs mercy and grace?
And that's exactly why Jesus came.
Church, listen, the judge stepped down from the bench and he entered into our world.
He took on flesh.
He lived the life we could never live.
He died the death we deserved.
And at the cross,
Justice wasn't ignored.
Justice was satisfied.
And God didn't sweep sin under the rug.
He dealt with it.
Jesus bore the judgment so that those who trust in him would never bear condemnation.
That's why Paul, who was facing trial in Rome, he said in Romans 8, 1, Therefore there is no condemnation for those...
Those who are in Christ Jesus.
What was Paul saying?
He said, you may kill my body.
Listen, but you can't kill my soul.
You can't kill my spirit.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Our condemnation has already fallen on Jesus.
And the cross is where God's justice and God's love embrace us.
The cross tells us two things at the same time.
Sin is far worse than we ever imagined, but God's love is far greater than we ever dreamed.
Church, how can a loving God send people to hell?
The better question is this.
How could a holy and loving God remove evil, keep his promises, make all things new, and still offer mercy to sinners like you and I?
The answer is Jesus.
Everybody say Jesus.
Jesus.
Church, hear my heart.
We don't preach about hell because we're fascinated with judgment.
We tell others about hell because we're captivated by the love of God who warns us before judgment comes.
Come on, we don't talk about hell to frighten people.
We share Christ because he's the only hope for people.
We don't talk about hell because we want to fill it.
We share Jesus because we want to empty it.
Come on, how many know the old evangelist Reinhard Bonnke said, man, we want to plunder hell and populate heaven.
Maybe today you've spent years running from God.
Maybe you're carrying shame.
Maybe you believed you're too far gone.
But can I just tell you something, church?
Jesus is here through the power of the Holy Spirit extending the same mercy, the same grace.
Come on.
That same mercy, that same grace is still available today.
The judge is also our savior.
And today, maybe he's calling you home with every head bowed and every eye closed.
Maybe today you say, Pastor Dean, I want to give my life to Christ.
I don't even want hell to be a question.
I want people to know that I'm heaven bound, that I'm going to make it to the finish line, the new heavens, the new earth.
Today, I'm ready to turn from my sin and trust in Christ.
And if that's you, would you just simply just slip up your hand and say, Pastor Dean, will you pray?
Will you include me in the salvation prayer today?
Thank you so much.
Is there anybody else?
You'd say, yes.
Two over here.
Anybody else?
Yes.
In the back.
Anybody else?
Yes.
Thank you for being bold.
Come on.
How many know eternity's at stake right now?
Is there anybody else?
Maybe you're wanting to raise your hand, but you haven't yet.
On the count of three.
One, two, three.
Anybody else?
Praise God.
Thank you for being bold for those of you that lifted your hand.
And if you didn't raise your hand and wanted to, you can pray this prayer as well on the screen.
There's a prayer, and I want us to pray with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our might, that Jesus is gonna rescue us from our sin.
Can we pray this on the count of three?
One, two, three.
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness.
I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead.
Right now, I turn from my sins and invite you to come into my heart and life.
I want to trust and follow you from this day forward.
I confess you as my personal Lord and Savior.
Thank you for saving me.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Can we give God praise for those that... Praise the Lord.
I'm going to keep this.
Listen, if you prayed that prayer, we believe that you got born again.
My friends are in the back there.
We've got a Bible we will put in your hands as well as some next steps that you can take and we can take with you in this new journey.
Will you stand with me, church?
Because I want just a second invitation and it's this.
How many know our heart needs to break with what breaks God's heart?
And maybe, listen, some of us need to repent today.
Maybe some of us have been silent when we should have spoken up.
Maybe some of us have avoided hard conversations because we didn't want it to be uncomfortable.
Maybe some of us have treated lost people more like enemies, come on, than friends.
Maybe some of us have spoken the truth, but not always in love.
And if you would like God just to renew, come on, your heart for lost people, family members, friends, come on, neighbors, will you just lift up your hands?
I wanna pray a prayer over you all over this building.
We thank you, God, for what you're doing.
God, I pray that you would forgive us for the times that we've been silent.
God, when we've been called to speak.
God, forgive us for the times that we spoke in truth without love.
And Father, I pray that today you would give your heart to us for people who are far from you.
God, help us to warn and not scorn.
Help us to speak with courage, humility, and compassion.
And open doors for...
God, for the gospel to be preached, conversations to be had, and give us boldness to tell the truth with love.
Father, we thank you, God, and we praise you in Jesus' mighty name.
And everybody said, amen.
Can we give God praise?
Come on.
Listen.
If you need prayer in any area of your life, we want to pray with you.
Our prayer ministers are here to agree with you in any area.
Please, don't delay.
Don't leave without prayer if you need it.
Church, we love you.
God bless you.
VBS this week, be praying for us.
God's going to move.
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How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?
Few questions stop a conversation faster than this one. It has caused people to walk away from faith, kept others from ever approaching it, and left sincere believers fumbling for words. Yet it is one of the most important questions anyone can ask. Rather than avoiding it, we should open the scriptures and let them speak.
What we find there might surprise us.
The Teacher Who Warned the Most
When most people think about hell, they picture fire-and-brimstone preachers, angry and theatrical, using fear as a tool of manipulation. What the Bible actually shows us is something far more unexpected. The person who spoke more about hell than anyone else in all of scripture was Jesus himself.
The same Jesus who welcomed children onto his lap. The same Jesus who forgave the woman caught in adultery, who ate with tax collectors and sinners, who healed the sick, touched lepers, and wept at the tomb of a friend. That Jesus spoke about hell and final judgment more than any prophet, apostle, or preacher in the entire biblical record.
In Matthew 5, he warns that it is better to lose something precious than to persist in sin and face eternal separation from God. In Matthew 10, he tells his disciples to fear the one who can destroy both soul and body. In Matthew 23, he confronts religious leaders who assumed their position protected them from judgment. These were not the words of someone who enjoyed the subject. They were the words of someone who desperately wanted people to avoid it.
Jesus chose the word Gehenna when he spoke about hell, a word every Jewish listener would have immediately recognized. It referred to the Valley of Hinnom, just outside Jerusalem, a place historically associated with idolatry, rebellion, and darkness. Jesus used that familiar, sobering image not to satisfy curiosity about the afterlife but to call people toward repentance while there was still time.
Here is the truth that changes everything: warnings are not the absence of love. They are one of love's highest expressions.
Imagine walking a hiking trail with your family on a beautiful day, only to come around a bend and discover a collapsed bridge. Just beyond the trees, another family is backing toward that same bridge, laughing, taking photos, completely unaware of the danger. In that moment, love does not stay quiet. Love does not whisper politely. Love raises its voice, waves its arms, and warns them before it is too late. The warning is not a contradiction of love. The warning is love.
That is exactly what Jesus was doing every time he spoke about judgment. Every warning was an invitation. Every hard word was another opportunity to turn toward life.
Hell Was Never Prepared for You
One of the most overlooked verses in all of scripture on this subject is found in Matthew 25, verse 41, where Jesus describes the final judgment and says that the eternal fire was prepared for the devil and his angels. Not for people. For the enemy and his forces.
Hell was not God's design for humanity. From the very first pages of Genesis, God's desire was fellowship, not separation. Humanity was created in the image of God, created to know him, to worship him, to enjoy his presence forever. Eden, not judgment, is where God's original intention for humanity is revealed.
The Apostle Peter confirms this in his second letter, chapter 3, verse 9, writing that God is patient and does not want anyone to perish but wants everyone to come to repentance. That patience is not weakness. It is mercy extended over and over again to people who need time to turn around.
So if God's desire was never to send people to hell, why does it exist at all?
Because a truly loving God cannot ignore evil. Think about what a world without divine justice would actually look like. There would be no justice for abused children. No justice for victims of genocide. No accounting for every act of cruelty, every lie, every act of oppression that escaped earthly courts. If God simply overlooked evil, he would not be acting in love. He would be abandoning the very people his love values.
Our deep longing for justice when we witness evil is not a contradiction of love. It is a reflection of the image of a just God stamped on every human heart. Justice and love are not in conflict in God's character. His justice protects everything his love values.
Perhaps the better question is not how a loving God could allow hell, but how a loving God could make all things new without first making all things right.
The Judge Who Became the Savior
Revelation 20 describes a great white throne judgment where the dead, small and great, stand before God and the books are opened. Nothing is hidden. Nothing is forgotten. No bribery, no corruption, no appeals, no mistakes. Every injustice that escaped an earthly courtroom will stand before a perfect judge.
For some, that is terrifying. For others, it is the most comforting thought imaginable.
But here is the question that cuts to the heart of it all: if we have all sinned and fallen short, who can stand before a holy God? Not one of us, on our own merit. Not by church attendance, not by generosity, not by comparing ourselves favorably to someone else. If the standard is perfection, every single person needs mercy.
And that is precisely why Jesus came.
The judge stepped down from the bench and entered our world. He took on flesh, lived the life we could never live, and died the death we deserved. At the cross, justice was not ignored. It was satisfied. God did not sweep sin under the rug. He dealt with it fully, in the body of his Son.
That is why Paul, writing from a Roman prison in Romans 8, verse 1, declares with confidence that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The condemnation has already fallen. It fell on Jesus.
The cross tells us two things simultaneously. Sin is far worse than we ever imagined. And God's love is far greater than we ever deserved.
A Love That Pursues
The entire story of scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, is not the story of a God looking for reasons to keep people out. It is the story of a God relentlessly pursuing people who keep running away. He walks through a garden calling out to those hiding in shame. He sends prophet after prophet to a rebellious nation. He leaves ninety-nine sheep to search for the one that is lost. He runs down the road to embrace a son who wasted everything.
And he sends his only Son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
We do not talk about hell because we are fascinated with judgment. We talk about it because we are captivated by a love that warns us before it is too late. The same God who will one day judge all things is today extending mercy, grace, and an open invitation to come home.
That invitation is still open.