Let's open again where we were to Luke 16. We're right in the middle, for those of you that are just joining us or missed last week, we're right in the middle of a prophetic series. for this reason only god can tell the future only god knows and can tell the future and god has prophesied what is going to happen in the future and i call this series what's next now specifically we're looking at what's next for every single individual on this planet the next prophetic event for each one of us barring the coming in the clouds of the Lord Jesus Christ, His coming to take us to heaven. If that doesn't occur, the next event for all of us is death. What is death? When our body wears out and this vehicle we've traveled in through life stops traveling and our spirit is released and we go into the presence of the Lord. And that's what Luke 16 is all about. For some of you, maybe you've never noticed from verses 19 on, last week I went through that entire section showing what it says. But this morning I'd like to go back through to talk about the most horrible doctrine in the Bible, okay? The least desirable, the hardest to talk about, the worst of all teachings of God's Word. And that is the fact that God Himself, and more importantly, God the Son, talks more about hell than He does about heaven. And I want to take this opportunity this morning to talk about what some theologians call that hideous doctrine of hell. This morning, I want to remind you of the reality of eternal hell for those, Jesus said, did not believe upon him. The amazing thing about hell is how seldom we ever hear about it. Now, not here last week and this week, but that's unusual. In fact, I recently spoke at one of the largest Christian universities in the world, and the president came to me afterward and said, we're going to replay that sermon. I spoke in chapel. He said, we're going to replay that sermon on our radio station about once a month. He said, that is the first time in the history of this institution a chapel speaker has ever spent the entire chapel service talking about hell. And I did hell, the first chapel, and the second chapel, heaven. And he said, no one ever did that before. And I thought, how interesting. Because Jesus spoke more of hell than heaven. But we speak more of heaven than what? Hell. Yes. Jesus warned of hell from the start to the end of his ministry. In fact, I'm going to take you through briefly this morning the entire Gospel by Matthew, all 28 chapters. You're going to find from chapter 3 all the way through to 26, what is Jesus' common theme. More than anything else, he talks about eternal judgment. Jesus preached about the horrors awaiting the unsaved lost ones. He did it in public. He did it in private. He did it with saints. He did it with sinners. Jesus speaks much of it. We speak little, seldom of it. It was almost 20 years ago when I began an intense study through the Bible, every verse, as I read through the Scriptures and looked for every occurrence of this doctrine of the eternal punishment of the lost. And as I was studying, I collected a lot of material. Let me just give you a summary. In fact, someone wrote, over 20 years ago, a summary of all of the verses. If you just synthesized them, blended them together, and put them in a flowing passage, this is what it would sound like. And I want to share it with you this morning. That hideous doctrine of hell is fading. How often have you thought of it in the past month, other than last Sunday and this morning? Does it make a difference in your concern for others as you witness? Is it a constant burden on your heart, the fate of those who reject Jesus Christ? Our Lord's Word on the subject are unnerving. Look here in Luke 16 with me, and specifically in verse 24. Jesus tells us of a rich man who died and went to Hades. That's the abode of the unsaved dead between death and the final judgment. That is the place where all who reject Jesus Christ from the time of Adam and Eve through the time of the end of this planet, all of them go to the same place called Hades. And from the story that Jesus recounts, the actual account, and from a few other passages that could be linked together, we can infer what this place looks like. And that's what I'd like to do with you this morning. First, it's a place of great physical pain. The rich man's initial remarks conclude with his most pressing concern. Look at verse 24 of chapter 16. He says this, this is a living, immortal soul in the vestibule of the lake of fire. This is not hell proper. The Bible describes hell proper in the last book of the Bible. It's called Gehenna. Jesus talked about that too. This place is the waiting room for that. Before the final judgment, Hades is the abode of the dead. This man was there. What does he say in verse 24? I am in agony in this flame, he says. We don't make much of that. We should make much of that. We should let that sink in, what he said. We've all experienced pain to some degree. We can know it makes a mockery of all our goals and desires. If you're in pain, you don't want to eat, you don't want to sleep, you don't want to do anything. You just shut down when you're in intense pain. Yet we don't seem to know pain as a little hint of hell. a little foretaste of what will befall those who do not know Christ. Pain is a grim reminder every day of what through Christ alone we can be spared from. It's a great reminder. God does not leave us with simply the mute fact of hell's physical pain. He tells us how real people will respond to that pain. And our Lord wasn't being overly grotesque as He said this. He is literally warning. And He's simply telling us the truth. In fact, if you want to go back to Luke 13 and verse 28, He repeats this concept in Luke 13. In verse 28, he says, first of all, there'll be weeping. In verse 28 of Luke 13. Weeping. Think about that concept in hell. Weeping is not something we get a grip on. It's something that grips us when you hear someone weeping. Recall how you were affected the last time you heard someone weep. Remember how you were moved with compassion? You wanted to protect and restore that person? The Lord wants us to know and consider what an upsetting experience is for a person who's in hell. It says that they, verse 28, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Verse 27 ends with, for those who never stop practicing iniquity. Weeping. Another response will be wailing. And we're going to get there momentarily. In Matthew 13 it says that, verse 42, while weeping attracts our sympathy, wailing frightens and offends us. It is the pitiable ball of a soul that's seeking escape, a person who's experienced hurt that's beyond repair. In hell, it's eternally unrepairable, so they wail. They weep because of their pain. They wail because of their hopelessness. It's amazing. Wailing is a sound that has gone grotesque because we conclude we can't live with it, the pain, anymore. A third response is right there in Luke 13, 28, that gnashing of the teeth. Why was Jesus telling us that. Perhaps because of the anger or frustration of the person, it may be a defense against crying out. It might be an intense pause when one is too weary to cry any longer. But Jesus says they will be gnashing, grinding their teeth together in this place, in between the weeping and the wailing. Hell has two other aspects we rarely consider. They're curious as well as frightening. On Earth, we take for granted two physical properties that keep us physically, mentally, and emotionally stable. The first is light. Most of us don't really enjoy walking around in the dark. I mean, it's a fun game, you know, blind man's bluff, and it's kind of fun for a moment, but darkness is not pleasant on the long haul. The other is a fixed surface. Most of us, it's fun to go in a funhouse where you're not sure and you feel like things are moving, but for most of life, we like a fixed surface, an unmoving ground or floor, and we like the lights on. Now think about how hell is described, because oddly, these two dependables of life will not accommodate people in hell. There is the absence of light and the absence of a fixed surface. Hell is a place of darkness, Matthew 8, 12. Imagine the person who has just entered hell, be it your neighbor, your relative, your co-worker, or a friend. After the initial roar of physical pain passes by them and blasts them, they spend the first moments wailing and gnashing their teeth. But after a season, they grow accustomed to the pain. Not because it's more tolerable, but their capacity for experiencing it has enlarged and now they comprehend it. But they're not consumed by it. Though they hurt, they're now able to begin thinking. And instinctively, they begin to look about them. But as they look, all they perceive is blackness all around them. Pain, thinking, but blackness all around them. In our past life, we learned that if we look long enough, a glow of light would somewhere yield definition to our surroundings. So this individual blinks and strains to focus his eyes, but their efforts yield only more blackness. They turn, they strain, they look in another direction, they wait, but they see nothing but unyielding black ink. It's so dark it clings to them. It smothers them. It oppresses them. Realizing that the darkness is not going to give way, they nervously begin to feel around for something solid to get their bearing. They reach out for a wall, for a rock, for a tree, for a chair. They stretch their leg to feel the ground, and yet they touch nothing. The Bible says that hell is a bottomless pit, Revelation 20 tells us. However, the new occupant is slow to learn. In growing panic, they kick their feet, they wave their arms, they stretch, they lunge, but they find nothing. After more feverish tries, they pause from exhaustion. There they are, suspended in black. Suddenly, screaming, kicking, twisting, lunging again until they're too exhausted to move. Hanging there alone with pain, unable to touch a solid object or see a solitary thing, our friend begins to weep. They sob, they choke through the darkness, they become weak, and then those sobs are lost in just the roar around them of hell. As time passes, they begin to do what the rich man did. They again start to think. Their first thoughts are of hope. You see, this person still thinks as he did on earth, when he kept himself alive with hope. When things got bad, he always found hope for a way out. When he felt pain, he took medicine. Right? When we were hungry, we found food. When we lost love, there was more love to be found somewhere, somehow. That's how life on earth always is. So, he casts about in his mind for a plan to apply to the hope building in his chest. Of course, now he thinks of Jesus, the God of love. That's right. I remember now, Jesus can get me out of this. I heard about him, somewhere, sometime. He cries with a surge, Jesus, Jesus, you were right after all. Now, please get me out of this. You were right. His words go off into the darkness. So he thinks maybe he didn't cry enough. And so he cries again, after waiting and breathing hard with desperation, and screams again, Jesus, I believe. I believe now. Save me from this. But the darkness just smothers his words. And what's amazing is this sinner is not unique. Because all over, everyone in hell is now a believer. Everyone believes now. And when they're weary of appeals, they do what exactly anyone would do. They assess their situation. They attempt to adapt to it. And then, finally, for this lost sinner, it hits him. The worst part. What the Bible repeats most often. That this blackness, this darkness, this bottomlessness, this vengeance of eternal fire, lasts forever. forever. If you believe that God exists forever, if you believe that Jesus died to give everlasting life, then the very same terminology of forever of God and of endless life for believers is the exact same term Jesus uses every time he talks about hell. And so our friend As he thinks of forever, his mind begins to labor in the blackness until he aches. Forever, he whispers in wonder. The idea deepens, widens, and towers over him. The awful truth spreads before him like an endless, overlapping cloud. Forever, When I put 10,000 centuries of time here, I will not have accomplished one thing, he thinks. I will not have one second less to spend here. As we see in Luke 16, when the rich man pleaded for a drop of water, so too this new occupant entertains a similar ambition. In life, he learned that even bad things could be tolerated if one could find the temporary relief. Perhaps even in hell, he thinks, if he could rest from one moment to the next, perhaps Perhaps it would be more tolerable. He learns though, as Revelation 14 tells us, that the smoke of his torment will go up forever and ever, and that he will have no rest day or night. That's what the Bible says. Think about what that means, no rest day or night. Thoughts of this happening to people we know, people that are just like us, is too terrifying to entertain for very long. That's why we don't talk about it. That's why it's not a popular thing. That's why at that Christian college, they said in the lifetime of that institution, no one had ever subjected the student body to an entire 40-minute chapel like I'm doing to you this morning. I think that's tragic. The idea of allowing someone to endure such torture for eternity violates the sensibilities of even the most severe judge among us. We as humans can't entertain that thought. But our thoughts of hell will never be so unmanageable as its reality. That's worse than our thoughts. We must take the doctrine of hell seriously and make sure we are practically affected by it. A hard look at hell should alter your estimation of sin. For hell is the byproduct of a life that is lived and ends in its sin. Jesus warned of dying with sin in you and on you and me. We can actually learn by comparison to hate sin as God hates it. We must need to realize that in God's eyes and in His actual plan, sin always deserves eternal punishment in hell. As the reality of hell violates and offends us, so sin violates and offends God so much that He has decreed an infinite price for sin. Well, as hell revolts us to the point of hatred of it, so God finds sin so revolting. The comparison is not perfect, but it gives us a start. Another truth, the truth of hell should encourage our witness. Can we ever hear the sigh of weariness? Can we ever have a moment of doubt, feel pain without being reminded of that place for individuals who know not Christ? In all honesty, we can't see any unbeliever watching his petty human activities, realizing what he has in store for him, and not be moved with compassion. When you see people endlessly pursuing their sin with no stop, shouldn't that draw the compassion of our hearts to say, I want to tell you again of where you're headed. I want to warn you again, as Jesus did, of what God says is the net result of sin. Well, it should encourage us to witness in word and in deed that hideous doctrine may grip our souls with a dark terror and make us weep, but let us be sure it also prompts us to a holy compassion. Because more than heaven, Christ spoke of hell. More than love, Christ spoke of eternal destruction. More than the church to come, Jesus warned of God's wrath and judgment and hell to come. So let's back up to Matthew chapter 3 now. And we're going to stay in the book of Matthew until we're done and see if we can actually cover the whole book. Matthew 3, first book of the New Testament. As you're turning there, in the time it takes me to finish this sentence, 30 human beings awoke in eternity because they died on earth. It took me 10 seconds to say that. And in that time, since I said it until just now, 30 individuals have awakened, and I would presume a great majority of them finding themselves suspended in black and feeling that blast of hell. Every hour, 6,464 people die, 155,131 per day, 56 million a year, and 108 since I started this sentence a minute ago. I believe that we must pause and reflect on the destination of all those travelers from earth because Jesus did. And I'm going to show you 42 times just in Matthew. 42 times in 28 chapters. Jesus talks about this. He preached about hell at the height of his popularity. And if you look at Matthew, you find Jesus gives the most complete warning in all of God's Word about the eternal horrors of hell. Now basically, if I was to summarize Matthew, Jesus explains that life has two entrance gates, the broad and the narrow. And Jesus says that there are two roads that lead from those gates. The wide and the small. And Jesus also says there's two destinations at the end of those roads. Destruction and life. I mean, he kind of sorts out life to be very simple. Two different directions. Two different destinations. Two groups of travelers, the many and the few. Two lifestyles, the sayers and the doers. Two inevitable ends, being thrown into the fire and entering the kingdom of heaven. And then, after he tells that sermon, we call the Sermon on the Mount, that was a summary of that sermon, he warns everyone to flee, to avoid at all costs, to do whatever it takes to not end up in that lake of fire. We should note his words, for he would know about this. Jesus created the measureless universe. He calls the numberless stars, each by name. He has numbered each of the hairs on our head. He knows the number of the days of our lives. He knows the words that we're going to have to someday account to him for. And so because of that, he's qualified to speak. And when Jesus does, he warns us of hell, and he does so over 40 times. Look at chapter 3, and I'm going to just give you a running commentary. And if you want to, maybe note these, or star them in your Bibles, or jot the reference down, or actually underline the words of his warning, it will help you remember. Because If we mark these in our Bible, it will help us because hell is being lost by our generation as a true doctrine. Just in this generation, one of the great British Bible expositors, John R. W. Stott, I have all of his books. At the conclusion of his life, he said he can't believe in that doctrine anymore. It's too hideous, he said. So he believes in annihilationism. That the dead are dropped in that lake of fire and they just kind of, like a bug on one of those bug killers that's in your yard in the summer where they are attracted by that blue light and they hit the electrified coil and they go, and that's annihilationism. The problem with annihilationism is it's in direct conflict with Jesus Christ. Let's start with Matthew 3, verse 7. This is what John the Baptist, Christ's forerunner, said about him, which is amazing that Jesus affirmed and enlarged on. He says in verse 7, John the Baptist, when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Brutivipers, who warned you, listen, to flee from the wrath to come. Slip down into verse 10. Even now the axe is being laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and what? Thrown into the fire. Verse 12, talking about Christ, his winnowing fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But look at this. But He, that's the coming Christ, will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Now that's Jesus' introduction. He's baptized, you know, right at the end of chapter 3 and starts His ministry. So what does He say? Well, turn over with me now, cross page to Matthew 5, and we're going to start in verse 22. Matthew 5, 22. Jesus speaking, but I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the counsel. But whoever says, you fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. I recently heard a taped message of a very popular national speaker. And he said very, very profoundly, I mean he's an effective communicator, he looked right into the camera and he paused and you could see his mouth moving to speak. It was a very dramatic moment and he said, Jesus did not preach judgment, he preached love. I thought of verse 22. This is one of his most well attended sermons. There were probably 30 plus thousand people hearing this. One of the largest groups Jesus ever spoke to. And he says, you're in danger of hell fire. Zip down to verse 29. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell. It's very, very loving to warn someone of the blackness of darkness and the vengeance of eternal fire in a bottomless pit. Look at verse 30, he continues, into fire. Look at chapter 7. Same sermon, same idea. Verse 13. Jesus says this in Matthew 7 and verse 13. Enter by the narrow gate. Remember I told you two entrance gates, two roads, two destinations? Here's that. Enter by the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way, here it is, that leads to destruction. He's real negative, isn't he? And there are many who go in by it. Verse 19, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. You notice that Jesus says, it's not what you say, it's what you do in your life. It's not whether you have said the right things, it's whether or not you bear the fruit. Now remember, we spent a while back, I went through every time Jesus described salvation in all four Gospels, it took us about eight months. Then I went through every time Jesus talked about fruit, and that took us six months. to go through. And he summarizes it right here. And he says, every tree, verse 19, that does not bear good fruit is thrown into the fire. Therefore, verse 20, by their fruits you will know them. Verse 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. but he who does the will of my Father in heaven." Now this is the saddest verse I think in the Bible, verse 22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord. So they know who he is. They recognize him. They even say his ineffable name of being the Lord God of the universe. So they seem to have a personal knowledge of him and recognition. Have we not prophesied in your name? We have spoken forth about you. Have we not cast out demons in your name? So they seem to be able to do Christian ministry and done many wonders in your name. And verse 23, and I will declare to them, yes, that's all true. I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. I never knew you. Depart from me. You see, salvation is not based on whether or not we did great things, said great things. It's whether or not God did something inside of us. That's what the gospel's all about. When the gospel takes root in a heart, it brings forth fruit. Empty profession just brings forth knowledge. No change. Keep going to chapter 8, because I want to get through all 42 of these. Verse 12, Jesus continues, Matthew 8 and verse 12, He's telling more of this horror. He says, but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. Here he's saying it. It's a place of inky black, impenetrable darkness. You know, people are very uncomfortable in the dark. A while back when we were driving across the country to speak at another college in a chapel, we stopped at Carlsbad Caverns. And when we were there, they flipped the lights out. They always love to do that. And they flipped every light out. And we were, I don't know how many stories below ground. We were sitting by a big chasm where you could hear this deep underground waterfall kind of off in the distance. They made us all sit on these benches. And they told us to sit tight. And the ranger hit the light. I'll tell you what, after about two seconds, you could hear the uncomfortable moving in those benches and coughs and whispers and kids going, mama, mama, are you there, mama? I mean, they had to turn the light back on quick. People don't like darkness. Jesus says in verse 12, outer darkness, impenetrable blackness of darkness, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Keep going down to verse 28. And when he had come to the other side of the country, of the Gergesenes, there met him two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs, so exceedingly fierce that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, verse 29, and says, What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God? Look at this. Now here's a testimony from the other side. This is from a non-human. This is from non-physical. This is from a non-temporal person living on this earth. This is from a demon. an immortal intelligence, a living spirit that has phenomenal powers, that are thousands of years old, that can travel through walls, that have been in the presence of God, that have been on this earth all the way through since creation. Okay? Look what this demon says. Have you come here to torment us before the time? You see, those demons know what humans fail to know, that there is a time coming, and a torment coming, and a judgment inescapable coming. But for the demons, there is no hope. there is no opportunity for salvation they chose to go in the rebellion with the devil and to deny god and go against him but we are the ones that the angels look at in wonder because we have the son of god who became a son of man so that the sons of men could become sons of god and they're in wonder at the plan of salvation and they say we know who you are you're the judge Are you going to torment us? Look at verse 15 of chapter 10. Two chapters over. Matthew 10 and verse 15. And I'm going to talk faster now. Someone asked me last night, they said, what does the advent of amplification and microphones do? I said, you can talk faster and longer, okay? In the old days, when there was no microphone, you had to bellow and wait for it to get to him, and then it took longer. So I'm going to talk faster and longer to get this in. Verse 15 of chapter 10 of Matthew. Assuredly, I say unto you, Jesus said, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for this city. So what Jesus is saying there is even in hell there are levels of tolerability. For those who have grown up under the gospel, hearing it, seeing it lived out in front of them, having it printed before them, it will be infinitely more horrible and excruciating to have that much awareness of how much you knew of God and never embraced Him than for the person who is in hell, not because they rejected Jesus Christ, but because they're a sinner. Remember, no one goes to hell because they didn't hear about Jesus. Everyone goes to hell because they're a sinner. We're all born sinners. And we demonstrate that by how we live. Nobody taught me how to sin. I didn't have any wicked little kids, you know, in the bassinet at the hospital that influenced me to be wicked. I was wicked by choice. by my nature. And so I am guilty before God for my sin. And so Jesus said it's going to be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, that's a.k.a. land of homosexuality and bestiality and sinful, grotesque licentiousness, which is what they were characterized by. It'll be more tolerable for those than for the people who had the light of the gospel upon them. continuing look at verse twenty eight and do not fear those who kill the body but can not kill the soul but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell now if you ever want to hear the annihilationist position it's right there destroy okay so that what they say is on the bug killer annihilated. But you know what, that one verse can't outweigh all the verses that say everlasting torment, everlasting death, suffering the everlasting vengeance of eternal fire. And so that's, if you want to know where the annihilation has come from, they say that not just the body but the endless existence are both destroyed. But what he's saying is that it is the eternal destruction. It's that the destruction takes forever. So thus it never ends. Okay, let's go to chapter 11. We're making progress. We're almost halfway through the book. Look at verse 22. Jesus says the same thing again. It will be more tolerable in Matthew 11, 22, for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted, verse 23, to heaven, you will be brought down to Hades, to the place of fire. You will be brought down there. For the mighty works that were done in you had been done in Sodom. Sodom would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, verse 24, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you, Capernaum. Why? Because Jesus lived there. That was his hometown. his ministry headquarters. He lived there for his earthly three and a half year ministry and those people lived with God and rejected Him. They lived with the miracles of heaven around them. And they said, that's great, but we don't care. We want our sin more than you. And he says, beware. Look at chapter 12, the next chapter, verse 32. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, Matthew 12 and verse 32, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. See, hell is all about unforgiven sins. Unatoned for sins. Uncleansed away sin. Unpaid for sins. I can't pay for my sins. One person can pay for my sins. Only a perfect, spotless, divine person could have the capacity to pay for my sins. And that's why Jesus took my sins on himself. And that's the only hope I have. The older I get, the more worn out the car I live in, this body that transports me around gets, the more precious the fact of Jesus saying, I loved you and loosed you from your sins. In my own body I took your sins. I took your guilt. I bore them. on the cross. That's why the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses me from all unrighteousness. He says, wow, watch out, they won't be forgiven in the age to come. Look at verse 36, same chapter, chapter 12. But I say unto you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. Before this casting in, see no one goes to hell, everyone is cast into hell. This initial place, Hades, people go there. But Hades is going to be emptied momentarily for the judgment. And that's what Jesus keeps talking about. And every individual on this planet that's ever lived is going to stand before God. And the books are going to be opened. And God is going to remind them of every single sin they ever committed. In thought, in word, in deed, in intention, in action, everything. Everyone is going to be reminded them. And then at the end it says in Revelation 20, and whoever's name was not found written in the book of life was cast. an angel they will stand before God speechless and they will stand there and I believe that they will say that God is just and right to send them because even in hell God is going to get praise because they're going to see an infinitely holy God and they're going to see their infinitely costly sin laid out And then they're going to be cast, it says, into the lake of fire. And that's what he was talking about, giving a count in the day of judgment. Look at verse 41 of chapter 12. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And indeed, a greater than Jonah is here. So there seems to be, even in this judgment time, there's going to be confessions from those who are redeemed that they repented and that these who go to hell did not. So God will even have a witness there. Keep going to verse 42. It says the Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment. Jesus talking about this judgment with this generation. Condemn it for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and indeed a greater than Solomon Jesus is here. Look at chapter 13 verse 30. Across the page, Jesus gets even more graphic in his description. He says, let both grow together until the harvest. That's the false and the true, the non-fruit-bearers and the fruit-bearers. Let them both grow up together. He's talking about the church, basically, where within every church there are those people who appear to be Christians who talk and act at times like that. right next to the people who really are. And it's hard sometimes to sort them out. It's like wheat and tares. They're growing up in the same field. So he says, don't clear out the church. There will always be believers and unbelievers. There will always be the ones who are faking it. But let them go together. But then he says, at the time of the harvest, I'll say to the reapers, first gather together the tares, bind them in bundles to burn them. but gather the wheat into my barn." Verse 40, therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. Verse 42, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. Now note of what he says, there will be wailing, gnashing of teeth. Verse 48, which, when it was full, they drew it ashore, and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away." Do you notice all of Jesus' stories are so distinct? Good and bad. Evil and righteous. Fruit-bearing and non-fruit-bearing. Fire. Heaven. I mean, there's no middle ground here. We don't have kind of making it and, you know, either you make it or you don't. Threw the bad away. Look at verse 49. So it will be at the end of the age, angels will come and separate the wicked from among the just, verse 50, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Hastening on, there are some in verse, in chapter 15, there's some in verse 16, or chapter 16, but look at chapter 18. Jesus says this in Matthew 18 verse 8 if your hand or foot causes you to sin Cut it off and be let it be cast from you It is better for you Matthew 18 8 to enter into life lame or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the everlasting fire. Verse 9 of chapter 18, if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, cast it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Down to verse 34, same chapter, Jesus told a bunch of parables and stories, and they don't have very good endings. Verse 34, his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due. And he's talking here about the agony in life of having bitterness and anger. And what it is is a picture of the, you know how people say, well, I have my hell here. You ever heard someone say that? You know, it's just like hearing fingernails on a blackboard. When someone says that it's hell to live here, I think, you know, on the blackboard, if you only knew what you were saying. This is such a small glimmer. Pain that we feel now, emotional duress and depression and the bitterness of having the growing anger over sin that we don't deal with in our life is just a foretaste of the horrors, the torturers of life are just a foretaste of the horrors of hell. Look at chapter 21, Jesus continues in verse 41. Another story he tells, and this is the ending to the story in Matthew 21, 41. And they said to him, he will destroy those wicked men miserably. Continuing down to verse 44, whoever falls in this stone will be broken. On whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder. Speaking again of the intensity of the eternal judgment. Chapter 22 in verse 7, the next chapter over, another story. When he heard about it, he was furious. He sent out his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. Again, a picture of what judgment will be like. Verse 13, And then the king said to the servants, now he continues this idea in 22.13, The king said to his servant, Bind him hand and foot, take him away, cast him into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now chapter 23, many allusions in 23. Verse 14, it says you'll receive greater condemnation. Verse 15, you're a son of hell. You make them more of a son of hell. But look at verse 33 of chapter 23. Serpents, brood of vipers. How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Chapter 24, verse 51. Next chapter over, which we've been studying. We're going to go back to this evening, looking at the signs of the end. Look what it says in chapter 24, verse 51. And we'll cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. Now look at this. there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." That weeping and gnashing of teeth, the weeping because of the pain, the gnashing of the teeth and wailing because of the inescapableness of that punishment. Matthew 25, this is the last chapter Jesus describes hell in. Verse 30, Cast the unprofitable servant Matthew 25 30 into the outer darkness. It's almost like we're getting you know, have we heard this enough? Has he said it enough times to catch our attention? There will be what in verse 30 weeping and gnashing of teeth and here's Christ's last words about hell verse 41 of chapter 25 Then he will also say to those on his left hand. I This is a judgment. Jesus sitting on the throne. His final judge. Those on his left hand. Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Hell was not made for humans. God did not plan and want to deliver the lost to the place of everlasting judgment. He is not willing that any should perish. Tie that with John 3.16, that they should not perish but have everlasting life. God does not want you to go to the place of verse 41, the everlasting fire. It was prepared for the devil and his angels. But look at verse 46. But these, the cursed, those who practice iniquity, those who reject, who refuse to believe, who refuse to repent, verse 46, these will go away into everlasting punishment. but the righteous into, same word, everlasting life. If you think that your life in heaven is going to be endless, then you better remember this morning that the death of those in hell will also be endless. Jesus' last words, depart from me you cursed, verse 41, go away now into everlasting punishment. Jesus spoke of the horrors of hell. And Jesus said that the reason that they go to hell in Matthew is because they did not receive the word. What happens when we receive the Word? Why did the rich man go to hell? Because he never let the Word of God change him. It never pierced his heart. When God's Word is received, our lives change. Our self-centeredness dies. Our self-indulgence begins to be disciplined away. Our self-sacrifice begins to be pursued. Compassion, kindness, and caring take root and grow. So what's the good news? Well, Jesus says, I died for sinners. And all who receive me have their sins removed. Past, present, future. Have you received Jesus Christ? Have your sins been removed? If they haven't been, and you get out here on Sheridan and some wacko runs the red light on 61st and you're instantly killed, would you open your eyes and find blackness of darkness? And would you begin to experience eternal vengeance of fire? Let's bow before the Lord in prayer. I thank you that this morning, every one of us who know you, Lord Jesus, are quietly rejoicing in our hearts saying, God forgave my sins in Jesus' name. And I've been born again in Jesus' name. And my only hope of coming to you is Jesus' name. I pray for anyone in this room who is trusting in anything but Jesus Christ alone, who lived the perfect life, who died the perfect death, who took my sins upon himself and bore them away as far as the east is from the west. And who says, come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. That's what you offer today to all who come to you. I pray, Lord Jesus, that you would convict through your spirit everyone here who is still holding on to their sins. And may they be willing to turn to you and receive your free gift because to as many as receive you, to them you give the right to become your children that are cleansed, that are forgiven, that are assured of endless life. I pray that the hideous doctrine of hell would change how we live, how we witness, and how we look upon sin. In the name of Jesus, we pray. And all God's people said, Amen.