new

HELL

Dr. W. Herschel Ford, 1969

Luke 16:19-31

We have come to a time when few people believe in a literal Hell. Yet it is still in the Bible, and it is still true because the Word of God is true. Men change their ideas but God's truth is always the same. The great Eternal God tells us that there is an eternal Hell for all those who reject Christ and live without God. Preaching on hell has diminished. We hear many light, fluffy sermons about peace, goodness, brotherhood, and the social gospel, but some congregations never hear hell even mentioned.

When Dr. Ramsay Pollard was pastor of the Broadway Baptist Church in Knoxville, one of his young people brought a boy from an Episcopal home to church one night. When the boy reached home after the service, his father asked him how he liked the sermon. "I liked it pretty good," said the boy, "but the preacher used a bad word right there in the pulpit. He used the word 'hell' over and over again." That boy had never heard the word used except in a bad sense. Yes, preaching about hell has cooled off, but hell is as hot as ever. The Bible that tells us of a wonderful heaven also tells us of an awful hell. God created hell just as sure as he created heaven. One is just as real, just as necessary, just as lasting as the other.

Reasons for Preaching on Hell

1. We must preach on hell because it's in the Bible. Do you want you preacher to preach his own ideas or the Word of God. You will reply, "Let him preach God's Word." Therefore he must preach the whole counsel of God. He must preach about heaven and delight in it. He must preach about hell even though he dislikes to do so. The preacher has not been called to tell what he believes, or what his church thinks, or what someone writes in a magazine. He must preach what God says. We know what God says is true. We know that there is a hell. We know that we must warn men to escape the "wrath to come".

So, let today's preacher preach on hell. But let him preach it in love. A great teacher once said, "Young men, you should preach on hell but let it be with a broken heart and tears in your eyes." We must tell men about the everlasting home of the doomed, but we must [sorrow?] over those who are condemned. And we must tell them of a loving Saviour whose death makes it possible for them to avoid hell.

2. We must preach on hell to awaken Christians. People all around us are going to hell. They are getting closer to the flames everyday. But we are asleep; we dont' realize what peril they are in. It may be someone very near and dear to you. If I can get you to see their lost condition and how hell is waiting for them, maybe you'll start praying and working for their salvation.

General Booth of the Salvation Army was speaking to a graduating class in the Army's training school. These young people had been there several years, learning how to work for God and win souls. The general said, "Young men, if I could have had my way, I would never have had you here for these years of training. But I would have put you in hell for 24 hours. I would have allowed you to feel the pains and pangs of the damned, to hear the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. I would have caused you to see how they suffer forever. Then I would have sent you out into the world to warn men to flee from the wrath to come." General Booth was right. If we really knew what hell was like, nothing could stop us from urging men to come to Christ. So we must preach on hell, hoping that people will get concerned for their friends and loved ones who are going there.

3. We must preach on hell to warn sinners. It's an awful thing to remember that you could be in hell in another minute. No doctor can guarantee you of even one minute of life. David said, "there is but a step between me and death." (I Sam. 20:3) I have looked out into my congregation and seen someone in good health, well and strong, and before another Sunday they had gone to be with the Lord. It could happen to you; it could happen to me. What if you are not ready? What if Christ is not your Saviour? This means that you would be doomed forever.

Some people had no use for the Gospel. They hated preachers and laughed at Bible truth. Now they are in hell. Let's talk to one of them for a minute.

"Did you intend to come to hell?"

"No," he answers, "I meant all along to become a Christian and get ready for death. But I waited too long. Death slipped up on me and the next thing I knew I was in hell."

"Were you a wicked man? Were you a drunkard, or a thief, or a murderer or adulterer?"

"Oh no," he answers, "I lived a pretty good life, but I left out the main thing. I left Christ out of my life."

So today we have to preach on hell to warn men. Look all around you, lost sinner. People are dying every day. Your hour is coming. I want you to realize the seriousness of it and come to Christ. This is the only way you can escape hell.

The Certainty of Hell

Today many learned men deny the existence of hell. We have come to a time when we talk glibly about the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God. We imply that everybody loves everybody else and that all men are saved. We think of God as a great big beneficient Santa Claus, smiling down upon all. But God is not the father of all. He is the Creator of all, but not the Father of all. He becomes our father only when we come to Christ. Jesus said in John 8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil...." He was thinking of lost people. John 1:12 tells us that "as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God....." These are the ones who can claim God as Father. They are saved, and they'll never go to hell. But remember this, you are not a child of God until you come unto Him through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

A preacher preached a sermon on hell and a woman asked him if he had any children. He replied that he did. "Do you love them?" she asked. "Oh yes," the preacher answered. "Well," the woman said, "what would you think of a father who could save his children from suffering and refused to do it?" "I would say that he was a tyrant and a monster," the preacher said. "That's what you're making God out to be. God would be a monster if He sent his children to hell instead of delivering them by his power." "But lady," the preacher responded, "you're making one mistake. God doesn't have any children in hell and he never will have. The people in hell are the devil's children. All of God's children are in heaven or on the way there. God has a home for His children and the devil has a home for his."

He was right. God is the Father only of those who believe in Jesus Christ....who have been born again. Too many people are presuming on the goodness of God as an excuse for sin. They say, "Let us live as we please. God is too good to punish us." One day they are going to have a rude awakening.

The Bible, God's inerrant Word, tell us that there is both a heaven and a hell. If we receive one and reject the other, we are reflecting upon the truth of God's Word. But we are not left to depend upon the opinions and speculations of men. We must rest upon the infallible truth of the infallible Bible.

You may deny the fact of hell, but that does not change the fact that it exists. Fire burns, whether you choose to believe that it does or not...poison kills, whether you believe it will or not. The world is round, whether you believe it or not....and hell is a reality whether you believe it or not. And if you reject the offer Christ is making today, you will go to hell, whether you believe you will or not.

Now listen to Jesus. He knew the truth about hell. He said that a certain rich man died and went down to hell, and was in torment. He said that the man cried out, "I am tormented in these flames." He said that the man was anxious for his brothers to repent, so that they would not come to that "place of torment."

If a man breaks the laws of the land, what else is there to do but punish him? He is put in prison or sentenced to death. And if men rebel and sin against God and trample his son under foot, what else is God to do but put them in the prison called Hell? Man must exact his penalty for a broken law and so must God.

Suppose that a train carrying 500 passengers was coming down the track and that you and I were 20 miles ahead of the train. And suppose that we found that a trestle over a mighty river had fallen in. As I think of the train approaching, I say, "I must warn them and save their lives." But you say, "I wouldn 't do that, it might scare the passengers. Some of them would faint. Be nice to them and don't disturb them." And the train rushes on to tragedy and the passengers are killed.

Have I done the right thing? Have I been prompted by love? No. If I loved people, I would warn them. And if I love lost souls, I must hold up my Bible and say, "This is God's Word. It tells us that there is a hell for those who reject Christ. Come to him and be saved from such an awful fate."

So I say to you, not out of my own wisdom but on the strength of God's Word, that there is a hell as surely as there is a heaven. And men who reject Christ go to hell as surely as those who accept him go to heaven.

The Bible's Description of Hell

Look for a minute at the biblical expression which describe hell. It is called a Lake of Fire - a bottomless pit - a horrible tempest - a devouring fire - a place of sorrows - a place of weeping and wailing - a place of torments - everlasting destruction - a place of outer darkness - a place where men have no rest - a place where men are tormented with fire and brimstone - a place where the fire is not quenched.

1. It is a place of separation from God. We couldn't exist here a second if we were cut off from God. But think of being in hell, cut off from Him forever. We can pray here; we can call on His name. But prayers will not help in hell, for men will be forever separated from God.

2. It is a place of unsatisfied desires. When we have desires here, we can usually satisfy them in some measure. If a man desires money, there are many ways to get it. If he wants liquor, he can get it. If he wants to satisfy his fleshly nature, he can do it. But in hell, he will be burning up with these desires, and there will be no way to satisfy them. The rich man in hell wanted water, but there was no way to get it. So man, with all of this cravings, will suffer in hell with unsatisfied desires.

3. It is a place of vilest companionship. The worst people, the meanest, cruelest, filthiest people will be there. Let me tell you something that will add to the horrors of hell for some people. They live clean lives, they are cultured and refined, they are good citizens, they are nice to their family and friends. But they reject Jesus Christ. One day they will be cast into hell, to live the rest of eternity with liars, adulterers, murderers, drunkards, homosexuals, and the vilest of creatures. This will be an awful thing for them and will last forever. They can never die and leave these people, and they can't get up and move away.

4. It is a place of hopelessness. Hope is the mainspring that keeps us going down here. When we are sick, we hope to get well. When we are poor, we hope things will get better. When we are unhappy, we hope soon to find happiness. When we have an unpleasant job, we hope to get a better one. But there is no hope in hell. There you just suffer and live in hopeless despair. Over the doors of an ancient prison were these words: "Abandon hope all ye that enter herein." That is nothing compared to hell. There is not one second of hope there. When you are cast into hell, it is forever.

5. It is a place of suffering. I don't think I need to dwell on that. Every Bible description of hell denotes suffering - intense, everlasting suffering. I know a woman who is now suffering greatly. She knows she is going to die soon, so she says, "It will soon be over." No one can ever say that in hell. There suffering there never ends.

6. It is a place of memory. When men are haunted by a bitter memory here, they can commit suicide. But you can't do that in hell; you must live on; you must remember. Your memory will be like 10,000 mirrors around you, recalling all the sins and follies of your life. You will remember how you sold your eternal soul for the pleasures of this world. You will remember every sermon and every song you ever heard, every invitation to salvation, every wooing of the Holy Spirit. You will remember how your mother prayed for you and your friends and family sought to win you to Christ. You will remember how you held back from any decision for Christ. As you remember all these things, this memory will be hell in itself. Oh, to be shut up in hell with memory always fresh.

You will remember that instead of suffering in hell, you could have been enjoying the happiness and bliss of heaven. You will remember the easy terms upon which you could have been saved. If it had been impossible for you to repent and trust Christ, this would have made the agony easier. But you will remember that you could have had eternal life for the asking, and you turned it down. You will remember how cheaply you sold out to Satan, and how you exchanged the joys of heaven for the sorrows of hell.

On this earth you sometimes blame Christians for your own sins. You say that they are a bunch of hypocrites. Then you turn your back on God and continue in your sin. You blame everybody else for you unsaved condition while you're here, but in hell you'll remember that you're the guilty one. Remember now that the issue is between you and God and no one else. You must account to Him for yourself and not for the hypocrites. It will be no one's fault but your own if you deliberately seal your own doom.

It isn't easy to go to hell. Before you get there you must climb over the church, the Bible, gospel sermons, your conscience, your better judgment, the Holy Spirit, and all the providences of God. Then finally you must climb over Calvary and trample Jesus Christ under foot. In hell, you'll remember that you did all of this.

When Does Hell Begin?

It begins at the end of a Christless life. If you go through life without Christ, your soul enters into conscious suffering when you die. I am not saying that you enter into the full measure of suffering at that time. This must wait until all the records are in. Then at the Great White Throne judgment, all the sinner's works will be judged, and the degree of punishment will be determined. Oh, man without Christ, you don't know how close you are to hell. It may be that before midnight your heart will stop beating and you'll go out to begin an eternity of suffering and anguish.

What do you have to look forward to if Christ is not your Saviour? At best, you have only a few more years in this world with its pleasures, its troubles and sorrows. Then comes a death without hope and nothing beyond but everlasting doom. How different is the outlook of a Christian! Just a little while longer here, then the door opens and he enters into the joy of his Lord and a glorious heaven. Oh, friend, what folly to go on without Christ and miss heaven.

How Can We Escape Hell?

You can never escape it through the good works of the flesh. You may do many things to gain the favor of God. You may join a church, be baptized, give your money, help people, live a good life. But these things will not save you. Salvation is an inner thing, a thing of the heart. The Bible plainly tells us that if we believe on Jesus Christ, the doors of hell will be forever closed to us.

You were condemned to die. But God's son could not be satisfied to see you die and go down to hell. He said, "Father, I'll pay the price for him. I'll suffer the pangs of death in his place. I'll satisfy the demands of the law on him." So he went to the cross and paid in full the measure for all of our sins. Now if we accept that payment, our sins are forgiven, we are saved, we become the children of God and heirs of heaven.

Your sins may have been as black as the pit, or you may have lived a good moral life. It doesn't matter - there is mercy for you with the Lord. He was bruised for your iniquities and wounded for your transgressions. He stands today with open arms saying, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.”

END

The year 2016 was a year of major shifts in politics, and the beginning of the end of the old order. The United Kingdom left the European Union, prompting the Netherlands and France to petition for their own exits. Against all odds, Donald Trump won the Republican nomination and then the presidency. He was unfortunate enough to have to deal with another recession - this time Chinese in origin - within a hundred days of his implementing extreme tariffs against Chinese goods. The beleaguered Chinese Communist Party decided to put the blame on the Americans, escalating tensions in the South China Sea, on the Korean Peninsula, and even against Russia. This policy proved unwise, as Trump was unwilling to back down and responded to provocation with more provocation. Before long, events escalated out of control, and by late 2017 the world was at war.

Russia and America joined forces against China, while the Americans turned a blind eye to the Polish-Russian invasion of Ukraine and the annexation of Belarus. Russo-American forces made great advances in China, but the desperate Chinese government retaliated by using its nuclear arsenal. The Russians and Americans responded with overwhelming force. Only a few Chinese missiles hit their targets, most of which were against foreign armies on Chinese soil, while the Americans and Russians devastated China in return (although the exchange remained limited). In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia - already abandoned by the Trump government - invaded Syria and Iraq to prevent the Russians and Iranians from gaining total hegemony. The Saudis were roundly defeated.

The global economy collapsed in the aftermath. The American government temporarily lost control as they scrambled to reorganize in Philadelphia. Trump's controversial and disastrous policies were widely unpopular; the nuclear attack on America was icing on the cake. State governments declared that they would not follow Trump any longer, Texas and California chief among them. With much of the American military destroyed in China, the federal government relied on loyal militias, some of which had their own agenda and used the civil war to carve out their own states. The federals secured the South against the neo-Confederates, but lost Texas to evangelicals, the West and New England to libertarian militias, and the Northwest to once-loyal white supremacist militias who saw Trump as too soft on the "racial question." Trump himself did away with the old government and, as his most ardent supporters wanted, proclaimed himself Emperor of the American Empire. In Russia, Putin did the same.

NATO and the European Union collapsed, and civil wars broke out across the European continent. Britain closed itself from the world, while nationalist and far-right organizations saw weakness in continental governments and began an armed uprising. The far left and Islamist groups retaliated, officially on behalf of the government, but fighting the government and one another just as often. Russia, seeing an opportunity to expand their influence, backed these groups and attempted to conquer the old Warsaw Pact. However, they were rebuffed by the Visegrad alliance, which became a close-knit alliance in the face of Russian invasion. The Russians were thrown out of Eastern Europe, while European nationalists secured their victory by using nuclear weapons they claimed to have acquired from old NATO bases (some evidence points to Russian involvement). In the wake of their victory, the nationalists exercised brutal reprisals against their enemies, real and perceived.

The Chinese Communist Party did not survive World War III. Years of warlordism followed the nuclear attack, as did starvation and disease. The Chinese population plummeted. However, the gender imbalance in the country continued despite the deaths of many young men in the war, and indeed got worse after the strikes against Chinese cities. Uniting many desperate, angry young men was the idea of a new, patriarchal Chinese empire, where they could form the ruling class and thus could pick as many women as they could. Influenced by the Western "manosphere," this movement became popular among many young men, thus allowing it to overpower its opponents and claim power. The Chinese also invaded their neighbors, explicitly to take their women; while successful in Mongolia and Korea, the Chinese were defeated in Vietnam, putting an end to their expansion and forcing the Chinese to lick their wounds and rebuild.

By 2042, the world has stabilized. The Russians and Indians are the most powerful societies on Earth, although the standard is not very high. The fighting in Europe and Asia has died down definitively, and the new orders are going strong. Most countries focus on rebuilding, particularly those devastated by WWIII. Poverty is widespread, protectionism is commonplace and global trade has collapsed, and much of the African and Asian continents are suffering from a wave of famine. Technology has stagnated since the 2020s, and few advancements have been made since; the American Empire is reinvestigating the EM drive, but little progress has been made. However, the Japanese have been successful at alternative reproduction, but the technology is taking a while to catch on elsewhere.

New religious movements have become popular, particularly the Cult of Kek and the Redpill Church. The Cult of Kek, arising out of an online meme, believes that through the use of "meme magic" - the constant repetition of something online - the ancient Egyptian god Kek will alter reality to suit their needs. The Cult has become popular simply because the events of the 21st century - known as "The Happening" among the Cult's members - were almost exactly what people online "memed" into existence, thus proving the religion correct. The Cult of Kek has many sects and forms, but most are loyal to the current alt-right new order and seek to further it.

The Redpill Church is one that arose out of certain portions of the online "Manosphere," and gained widespread acceptance in the aftermath of WWIII, particularly after the rise of the Chinese Empire. Teaching that women are biologically "hypergamous" - that is, almost parasitic upon men - the Redpill Church seeks to facilitate the final destruction of "gynocentric" society. This is facilitated through teaching by Redpill monks, who travel the world to preach the message. As with all religions, the Redpill Church is divided. Some sects believe that their goal is to enforce the current "patriarchy," while others believe that even the rise of the traditionalist regimes in the wake of WWIII is not enough, and others still want to do away with the need for women entirely through the use of artificial wombs.

Russia was not hit hard during WWIII, and while Putin has died, his image lives on as the father of the new Russian century. Tsarina Yekaterina, purported to be Vladimir Putin's daughter, holds the throne, but she has elected to be more of a figurehead and allow the oligarchs to run the country. Nonetheless, Russian authoritarianism has returned in full, based on a strange mix of Imperial and Soviet patriotism. Stalin is now a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, now Russia's state religion. The Islamic minorities remain noisy, but given the sheer brutality of the Third Chechen War, they are wise enough not to start any violence against the government.

America remains shattered, and there are no signs that this will change. Emperor Donald I has perished, and his son, Donald II, has taken the throne, and there are those in the Empire who worry about the future of the monarchy if Donald II does not live up to his father's legacy. Given the major territorial losses suffered during the Second American Civil War, the Trump monarchy's greatest achievement - the Great Wall of America - does not exist within the Empire. The Empire, modeling itself off Rome, is a rather unpleasant absolute monarchy, where any opinion that dissents from the Trumpist line is punishable by imprisonment. The Lion Guard, ironically referred to as the "Trumpstaffel" by its detractors and its supporters, acts as a "private" enforcer of the regime.

Texas remains a democracy, although the only choices are "fundamentalist Christian" and "slightly less fundamentalist Christian." Formed by the evangelical factions of the Republican Party - opposed to Trump even before the civil war - Texas considers itself a shining city on a hill, the last bastion of true Americanism. It does maintain the Great Wall, but it has built walls of its own on its borders with the Empire. The Governor of Texas is all-powerful, with the legislature doing everything he wants. Christianity is the state religion, although Texas is protective of Jews, and atheism and Islam are banned outright.

The libertarian states on the continent - the Pacific States and New England - have formed a defensive alliance. Although starting out as a rag-tag group of states, the necessity of defending themselves from hostile neighbors have vastly increased the size of government, particularly the military. Both governments are now dominated by their militaries, which are the descendants of various militia groups, and are unfriendly to anti-libertarian political expression. However, both states do remain tolerant of foreign cultures - so long as they keep to themselves and participate in the economy - and while they discourage "statism," freedom of expression is still protected. A vast majority of the population is poor, and receive no aid whatsoever from the government.

In the Pacific Northwest, a white nationalist state has established itself. Originally supported by the Federal government, the Northwest Republic broke off and promptly expelled all non-whites and any whites who objected. Due to the major destruction the war and the purges caused to the rich coastal cities, and the pariah status the Northwest Republic has, it is an impoverished state, although it maintains a large military to remain a threat. Modeling itself somewhat off the Third Reich, the Northwest Republic is a single-party state with a single "President" at the top, and is closed off to all non-whites.

In Europe, nationalism reigns supreme, but in varying degrees of intensity. The United Kingdom remains a democracy, albeit an "emergency" one with a UKIP-Tory coalition in perpetual rule. The United Kingdom has taken a policy of "splendid isolation" with regard to the continent, and has expelled portions of its population that the government deemed "dangerous," but there are still some Eastern European and Middle Eastern communities on Great Britain (of course, they are thoroughly Anglicized). The European Brotherhood takes the position of pan-European nationhood, albeit one that respects the different cultures in Europe. The EB is practically a French empire, with a presidential dictatorship. The EB models itself off Rome, but local rights are respected - so long as the localities are European. Christianity is encouraged by the state, Islam is banned, and non-Europeans have been expelled from the country. The EB and the UK, while aligned, do have major differences of opinion on the question of the continued British occupation of northern France. In the East, the Visegrad Union promotes traditional European culture as a counterpoint to the current Russian regime. The Union is heavily Catholic, and even the current Pope is a conservative Pole.

The Nordic Union has taken a different track: the Nordics reject Christianity as a foreign religion, and have turned back to the worship of the Aesir. Believing themselves to be the successors of the old Norse, the Nordics are ashamed of their multicultural past (although they direct most of this at Sweden), and try to make themselves "suffer" to atone for it. This includes the belief in radical self-improvement as a vector for racial improvement as a whole; Nordic education involves a lot of reading esoteric works from men like Julius Evola, and a major focus on physical fitness. Then, there is the Fourth Reich, an openly neo-Nazi state that seeks to conquer Europe and exterminate the Jews. Already, the Reich has crushed all opposition within its borders, and only its isolation and relative weakness prevents it from waging a war of conquest.

Iran was the big winner in the Middle East, successfully defeating the Islamic State, the Kurds and the Saudis, and establishing friendly regimes in Iraq and Syria. Iran remains a Shia theocracy, and is attempting to impose this form of government on secular Iraq and Syria. However, their Russian allies caution them against inflaming religious tensions and possibly sparking another war in the region.

Military regimes returned in Egypt and North Africa after the recession of the Islamist tide. These brutal dictatorships make the Gaddafi regime seem humanitarian in comparison. They extremely anti-Islamic and have attacked mosques suspected of harboring members of the Muslim Brotherhood and other anti-government organizations. The most powerful regime among them is Egypt, which has made a somewhat successful attempt at securing hegemony over the region. The Egyptians have their eyes set on the rest of the Middle East, not out of expansionist desire, but because of what is going on in Arabia.

After the fall of the Islamic State, many of its fighters flooded into Saudi Arabia. The Saudi military, already hammered hard by Iranian and Russian forces, proved incapable of stopping them; indeed, many Saudi units defected. The Saudi monarchy was overthrown, as were the other Gulf monarchies, and a caliphate established to replace them. Ironically, little has changed in Saudi Arabia since the rise of the Islamic Federation, apart from the destruction of "Western" influence in cities such as Dubai, the destruction of "idolatrous artifacts" in Mecca and Medina, and the stricter enforcement of preexisting Islamic law.

South Africa has been placed under white rule, mostly by Europeans fleeing the chaos of the EU. The ANC government collapsed in the wake of WWIII, allowing the Europeans to take control of the cities, ironically with the aid of Russia. Apartheid has come back in full force, as the South African government believes that blacks are inherently incapable of governance. The remnants of the ANC disagree violently, and the South Africans are currently waging a brutal bush war against them.

The Chinese Empire is still licking its wounds. Draconian laws, akin to those of the Qin, have been scaled back by the most recent set of reforms, after the Chinese government realized that it may cause a revolt. The gender disparity is less of a problem now, although the Chinese still resort to imported sex bots and concubines to keep the powerful and the enforcers of the regime happy. The Chinese have done away with any child policy, seeing that as a vector for disaster, and now the Chinese population is booming. It has now exceeded pre-war levels, and now the issue is the lack of food, territory, and the continuing lack of women. The Chinese look outward for expansion, but have run out of easy targets.

India was a big winner in WWIII, indeed becoming a superpower by the 2030s. This did come at a cost: the famine of the 2020s hit hard, particularly India's poorest, but the fall of China allowed India to restructure its economy among more modern lines. It did so through Chinese-style modernization, and now India is the workshop of the world. India is still suffering from problems, such as the pollution, but now India is extending its influence into Africa with one mission: to take in more resources.