The title of today's message, Hell Fire, Mark 9, 42 through 50. And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, where there worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire, where there worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good. But if the salt hath lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another." Most people today believe that hell is not a real place. But if it is, They don't believe that they will go there. Most professing Christians today have probably never heard a sermon on hell. Oh, they've heard hell mentioned. And they've used it in their own profanity. But they have probably never heard a sermon on hell. This certainly condemns the preachers who claim to be preaching the whole counsel of God. because hell is certainly a significant part of the whole counsel of God. In an interview on the radio show White Horse Inn, the preacher Robert Shuler said, quote, I believe in hell, but I don't know what happens there. I don't take it literally that there is a fire that never stops burning, unquote. In this message, I want to point out three things the Lord Jesus reveals about hell. First of all, the words of the Lord Jesus here reveal the fact that there really is a hell. Hell is an unpopular subject in today's religious world. It is ridiculed by liberals and emergent church types and it is ignored by evangelicals. But the Lord Jesus referred to hell many times during His ministry. He had more to say about hell than any other biblical writer or speaker. As a matter of fact, He had more to say about hell than He had to say about heaven. Three times in our text, the Lord Jesus uses the word hell. And in doing so, he speaks of it as a place. He speaks of going into hell and being cast into hell, which obviously requires that it be a place. In Luke 16, 28, the Lord Jesus calls hell, quote, a place of torment, unquote. In Luke 10, 15, the Lord speaks of hell as a place, and thou, Capernaum, which are exalted to heaven shall be thrust down to hell. Jesus Christ is the creator and the judge of this universe. So He knows what He's talking about. According to the Lord Jesus, there really is a place called hell. He spoke of hell often. And He has never retracted what He said. Hell may disappear from modern religion, but it will never disappear from its real existence because it is revealed in the Word of God. Hell is one of the great truths of God's Word. A second thing the Lord Jesus says about hell in this text, is that there really is fire in hell. The Lord Jesus says so. In verse 47, the Lord uses the term hellfire. And seven times in our text, the Lord speaks of the fire in hell. Let's look at some other places where the Lord speaks of fire in hell. Turn to Matthew 5.22. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 22. The Lord Jesus refers to hellfire here. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother Rekha shall be in danger of the counsel. But whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. Now look at Matthew 13, verses 40 through 42, and then verse 50. Matthew 13, 40 through 42, and then 50. Here, the Lord Jesus refers to hell as a furnace of fire. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Now look at verse 50 in this same chapter. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Turn next to Matthew 25 and verse 41. Matthew 25, 41. Here the Lord is speaking of the judgment when He refers to the fire of hell. Matthew 25, 41. Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Not only the Lord Jesus Christ, but all of God's Word says there is fire in hell. Look at Isaiah 33, 14. Yes, the Old Testament refers to hell as well as the New. Isaiah 33 and verse 14. Isaiah 33 and verse 14. The sinners in Zion are afraid. Fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? Five times the book of Revelation refers to hell as a lake of fire. Look at Revelation chapter 20. We refer to this in Sunday school this morning. Revelation chapter 20 verses 10 and 15 give us two examples of how Revelation refers to hell as the lake of fire. Revelation 20 verse 10 and then verse 15. Verse 10, And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Now look at verse 15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 14, 11 says the fire in hell puts off smoke. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever. Yes, God's Word has clearly spoken about hell fire. This fire in hell is fire of a special nature. Now, I hear people say, oh, this isn't really fire, it's something worse than that. Fire is just the best thing that could be used to describe it. Well, I don't know about that. I do know, I think the answer to that is that the fire of hell is fire of a special nature. That is, it is a supernatural flame that both burns and at the same time it's dark. In Matthew 22, 13, the Lord Jesus speaks of hell as outer darkness. And Jude 13 speaks of it as the blackness of darkness. Now, in order to get a better understanding of the nature of the fire in hell, I believe it will be helpful to compare the fire in hell with the fire on this earth. And as we do, we'll see that it's a supernatural fire, but it's fire nevertheless. First of all, fire on this earth is kindled by men. But the fire in hell is kindled by God. It was made by Him. Second, the fire on this earth was created by God for the good and the comfort of His creatures. Have you ever thought about how dismal life would be without fire? God gave us that gift for our good and our comfort. But the fires of hell are kindled for the purpose of tormenting God's enemies. a radically different purpose. Thirdly, fire on this earth has light as well as heat, while the fire of hell involves utter darkness. Terrible fire, hard to conceive that one is burning and yet it's dark. Fourthly, fire on this earth needs some kind of combustible fuel to keep it going, but the fire of hell needs no such fuel. People in hell are burning and burning and burning eternally and yet are never consumed. Fifth, earthly fires consume everything that's placed in it. Hell fire burns but never consumes those who experience it. Sixth, there are several ways to extinguish fire on this earth. You can remove its fuel source. You can put water on it, or you can throw dirt on it, or you can starve it of oxygen in some other way. A time or two in the past, we've had a grease fire in our kitchen, and Lindy just puts a cloth or a lid on the skillet. It's gone. It's starved of oxygen. There are several ways to extinguish fire on this earth, but the fire of hell can never be extinguished. Five times in our text, the Lord Jesus says, The fires of hell shall never be put out. For example, in verse 43, the Lord speaks of, quote, the fire that never shall be quenched. The fact that this is stated five times assures us of its truth and it calls our close attention to it and it impresses it upon our minds. I'm When I hear people say, well, this isn't literal fire, I'm made to think about that catchy saying that people use, what part of literal fire do you not understand? What part of fire in hell do you not understand? This fire of hell never shall be quenched. I was reading an old preacher. I like to read preachers from a hundred years ago. and on back because they had much more picturesque language than we have today. But one preacher said that a thousand Niagara's pouring into it can never quench the flames of hell. Verses 45 and 50 of our text speak of being salted with fire. What does that mean? Well, salt is a preservative. We don't understand this like my grandparents' generation did. But out there in Oklahoma when people lived in sod houses and later in log houses, they had no refrigeration and most of them had no creek running across their property. And so they would put their meat in a place and they would rub it down with salt and put it in a cool place, the coolest shade they could find. And that kept the meat from spoiling, and it'd last all winter that way. To be salted with fire is to be preserved in fire, so as not to be consumed by it, not to be annihilated by it. And this fire in hell is eternal. It never shall be quenched, the Lord says in verse 43 of our text. In Matthew 25, 41, the Lord Jesus says that hell is a place of everlasting fire. Let me read Matthew 25, 41 to you. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Think about it. In hell, the flesh of sinners will be roasted in fire. If the fire and torments of hell are eternal, then what will it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet lose his own soul, as the Lord Jesus asks in Mark 8, 36 and 37. And a seventh comparison between fire on earth and fire in hell is this. If a fire here burns our houses, there are ways that we can escape the fire. You know, if you live on the second floor, you might buy one of these apartment house fire escapes. It's a rope ladder with some steps in it. You roll it out the window and get out. Or if this building caught fire, run for the exit. Go out. There's all kinds of ways to escape. a fire on earth. But it is utterly impossible for one in hell to escape its fire. The person in hell is bound by chains of darkness, as II Peter 2, verse 4 said. There is absolutely no escape from the fire of hell. There is no hope of deliverance, no place of rest, and no change in environment. Hell fire is eternal. Now look again at Matthew 25, 41, if you will. Matthew 25, 41. And the context here involves a courtroom scene. Matthew 25, 41. And in this courtroom, we're told what the sentence of the judge will be. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Listen, my friends, this is not poetic language. This is the language of the courtroom. Judges do not use figurative language in pronouncing sentence, they are clear in letting the guilty know what his sentence is. And thus, the fire in hell is real fire. Supernatural, yes. Different from what we know, yes. But real fire that burns nevertheless. The Lord Jesus has never even hinted that this fire is figurative. It takes real fire to burn up the heavens and the earth at the end. The scripture says that's going to happen. And it takes real fire to burn sinners in hell. If there is no fire in hell, then, my friends, God's Word has brought a great deception on us. This is the fire in which you, my sinner friend, must burn and fry and bake and broil for all eternity. I urge you this morning to ask yourself the question of Isaiah 33, 14. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? In other words, who can tolerate this? Who can survive this? And this is a rhetorical question, the obvious answer to which is no one. A third thing. The Lord Jesus tells us about hell in this text is why people go to hell. It's very important for every one of us to know that this morning. Why people go to hell. Many people say that people go to hell because they have not trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior or they have rejected Christ. They might put it like that. But listen, God's Word says that people go to hell for what they have done, not for what they have not done or and could not do. According to the Word of God, people go to hell for only one reason. It is because of sin. Verse 44 of our text has reference to Isaiah 66, 24. And it speaks of those who had sinned against the Lord. Let me read Isaiah 66, 24. As I said, verse 44 is an allusion to this. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me. For their worms shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched. And they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. So people go to hell. because of sin. Have you ever sinned? Romans 6.23 says, The wages of sin is death. And that's eternal death, including hell. Ezekiel 18.4 says, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Again, spiritual death, including hell. James 1.15 says that sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. It is important to understand here that sin does not exist apart from sinners. You know, it's quite common for people in the religious world to separate sin from the sinner. The holy God does hate sinning, such as killing and lying and lusting, but this hatred of His for these things alludes to the perpetrators of these sins. Revelation 21.8 says that it is sin that sends people to hell. Let's turn to this scripture. Revelation 21.8, very near the end of God's Word. Revelation chapter 21 and verse 8 tells us that it is sin that sends people to hell. Revelation 21.8, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." What is hell? Hell is the receptacle of the souls of the ungodly and the wicked when they die. Our Lord makes clear in our text that it is sin that sends people to hell. When he says in verses 43 through 47, he speaks there of cutting off body parts. Ever wonder what he meant by this? Look at verse 43 of our text. And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched." Verse 45 says the same about the foot. And verse 47 says the same about the eye. Now what does this mean? Our body parts are ready instruments of sin. You know, with the hand we take the drink. Our bodily senses are the conduits through which our greatest temptations reach us. I hope you've read The Holy War by John Bunyan. He talks there about the city of Mansoul being conquered by Diabolus, and he is able to get in and conquer it through the sense gates, the eye gate, the ear gate, the nose gate, and so forth. Our body parts are ready instruments of sin. Our bodily senses are conduits through which our greatest temptations reach us. Some sins, someone has said, are right arm sins. Think about it. Sins that are dear to us, sins that are a part of ourselves, sins that we think are necessary for us to get on in this world. You got any sins like that? Some people break God's fourth commandment about the Sabbath because they think, well, I have to work on Sunday to make a living. That's a right arm sin. Some think that they have to lie about their products that they sell or about their taxes or other things in order to get along in this world. Drinkers hang on to their sin by saying, well, I'll get it under control, but I won't quit it. Drug abuse, fornication, gambling, these are sins of hand and foot and eye. But Revelation 21 says, the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Refusing to get rid of these sins will most certainly take a person to hell. The Lord Jesus says here that cutting off one hand is better far than entering hell with both hands. You must cut off these members because hell lies ahead if you don't. My friend, I urge you with the Lord Jesus Christ this morning, deal with that sin. Deal with it drastically. Deal with it once and for all. Cut it off. Repent of that sin. Turn from that sin once and for all. It is better to part with what is very dear to us than to be taken to hell because of it, the Lord says. Things that are dear to us must be gotten rid of if they keep us from Christ, whatever pain that may cause us. In these verses, The Lord Jesus speaks of the need for giving up anything that stands between us and the salvation of our souls. You may have to get out of the business you're in if you hope to be saved, because that business is contrary to the revealed will of God. You know, I remember one time a fellow that drove a beer truck told me, I've been saved. You think I ought to quit driving a beer truck? I said, I sure do. You must forsake all. And this is very difficult. You know, the Bible doesn't apologize for it. It's very difficult. It recognizes that. But the difficulty of forsaking all is nothing compared to going to hell forever. Are your sinful pleasures at all worth the risk of the fires of hell? Are they? then turn from your sins and turn to Jesus Christ as Savior from sin and from hell. Salvation is deliverance from sin, from its guilt, from its punishment, and from its power. All of those things are involved. No one can have that salvation and yet continue in sin. You can't do it. No man is a saved man who hangs on to any known sin. I hope these words about hell make you more afraid of sin than you've ever been before, because sin takes sinners to hell. If there had been no sin, there would have been no hell. Hell is God's wrath against sin. God's anger and wrath are often connected with fire in the scriptures. Let's look at an example here, Isaiah 66 and verse 15. Isaiah 66 and verse 15 is an example of how God's wrath and anger are often connected with fire in the scriptures. For behold, the Lord will come with fire. and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." Now look at Psalm 21 and verse 9. Psalm 21 and verse 9. David is speaking to God here in Psalm 21. And he says, Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger. The Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. God says in Ezekiel 21, 31, And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath. and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men and skillful to destroy." The penalty for sin is future. This hell is the penalty for sin and it's future because it is called in 1 Thessalonians 1 10, the wrath to come. Someone has said that heaven reveals God as love while hell reveals God as wrath. They're not two gods. Those are two aspects of God's character. God's wrath will not fall on sin in the abstract. He's not going to send drunkenness to hell. Sin does not exist apart from sinners. Think about it. God's wrath is going to fall on sinners. Psalm 90 and verse 11 asks God Who knoweth the power of thine anger? The answer is, only those in hell really know it. We dare not take lightly what brings God's wrath upon us, my friends. The fire of hell demonstrates the strict and severe justice of God in relation to sin. Sinners must certainly pay for all their sins. Now we hear every day of the judge who slaps some sinner on the wrist. I heard about a man this week that had, I think he had five DWI arrests. And he got another one and they let him off. God's not that kind of a judge. God will make sure that sinners will certainly pay for all of their sins. Why? Because God is a holy God. And a holy God will not and cannot acquit the wicked. Nahum 1 and verse 3 says, the Lord will not at all acquit the wicked. God is just. The fire of hell is the sinner's just desert for all his sin. Because of God's justice, Matthew 25, 41 says that he will someday say to sinners, depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire. Hebrews 2 and verse 2 says that every transgression and disobedience shall receive a just recompense of reward. Why is that? Because God is just. He is a God of justice. He is a holy God. Hell is God's punishment for sin. In conclusion then, this is what the whole message is pointed to. should this message on hellfire cause us to do. The fact of hellfire should cause us to do several very important things. First of all, it should cause us to gain a realistic biblical perspective of the horrors of this place. As we have seen, there really is a hell. This hell is a place of eternal fire. Hell is therefore an unspeakably terrible place. The joys and happiness of the saved in heaven exceed all the thoughts of men. We can't even conceive of it. And so do the torments of hell. People today laugh and make jokes about this awful place when they are in reality just a heartbeat away from entering this place and weeping and gnashing their teeth forever. Second, the fact of hell should cause us to fear the God who sends sinners to this awful place. The Lord Jesus says in Matthew 10, 28, Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him who, God, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Proverbs 9.10 says something very significant in this aspect, in this respect. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When sinners die, then they will immediately find out what a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God. as Hebrews 10.31 says. Unsaved sinner here today, I hope these facts about hell make you tremble in fear. Fear of God, fear of His wrath, fear of going to hell. Thirdly, the fact of hell should cause us to preach the reality of hell to sinners. This is not being done today. If God's preachers could get a realistic view of hell, it would revolutionize their preaching. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5.11, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Brother, that gave Paul a motivation for preaching the gospel. The Lord Jesus has repeatedly warned men of hell. So should we. Jude 23 tells us, And others, save with fear, pulling them out of the fire. God has sent preachers to this world to warn of the wrath to come, to warn of the damnation of hell, to warn of the burning of this fire. And those who refuse to hear his preachers will surely feel this fire. False teachers today I think one of the marks, I don't think this was brought out in our conference, but one of the marks of false teachers and their false religions today is that they do not warn their hearers about sin and its eternal punishment in the flames of hell. Those doctrines are absent from their gospels. J.C. Ryle said this, it is not possible to say too much about Christ. It is possible to say too little about hell. Jonathan Edwards, I hope you can read some of his sermons in your lifetime. Jonathan Edwards majored on hell in his preaching. I have a list of about 30 some odd sermons he preached on hell. He majored on hell and God used him mightily in bringing about that monumental revival that we now call the Great Awakening. It is time for all honest preachers to declare this truth about guilty sinners. The wrath of God abides on them, as the Lord Jesus says in John 3.36. We need to pray that God will raise up preachers who make no apologies for what God's Word says about sin and about hell, but will boldly proclaim what it says. The message of God's preachers must be, flee the wrath to come before it's too late. Fourthly, most importantly, the fact of hell should cause sinners to flee to Jesus Christ for salvation. Listen, my unsaved friend, there is a Savior. There is a Savior. who freely saves sinners from this awful punishment of hell. This one and only Savior is Jesus Christ. All the wrath of God against the sins of His people was poured out on Christ when He went to the cross. Have you ever thought about what Christ was experiencing when He was hanging there dying on the cross? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this earth as a man. And he perfectly lived up to God's law in behalf of his people. He took all of our sins upon himself and he became our substitute before the just and holy God. And God poured out his great wrath against our sins on Jesus Christ, the substitute. In having God's wrath poured out on him at the cross, the Lord Jesus suffered every last bit of the hell that every last one of His sinful people deserved. And thus He appeased God's holy wrath and He satisfied God's strict justice for us. Have you ever thought of the fact that Jesus Christ experienced every bit of the hell that sinners deserve for their sins? His death on the cross and His separation from God was the exact equivalent of all the hell, of all the elect, of all of the ages. This Savior has thus delivered us from the wrath to come, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1.10. Christ's suffering of the penalty for sin is accepted by the Father and all who trust in Christ are justified and accepted in Him. There is mercy today. for anyone who asks for it in the name of Jesus Christ. There is unlimited mercy in Christ for all who believe in Him. You say, well, I'm just too much of a sinner. He'd never forgive me. I've got to go to hell. Listen, there's no limit to God's mercy in saving sinners. The miseries of hell are revealed in God's Word to stir us up to our duty to repent of our sins and believe on Jesus Christ as our Savior. Believe in Him today. In Him you will be safe from the eternal fires of hell. Come to Him who came into this world for the very purpose of saving sinners from the flames of hell. Lost sinner, I want to close with a with a hymn verse that I found. And I hope that you will say with this hymn writer today in this verse, Father of mercies who on high thus dwell, by Christ's blood save me from the lowest hell. Let us pray. Our Father, we're thankful that there is a Savior from sin and from hell in Jesus Christ. We're grateful that there is unlimited mercy in Jesus Christ for those who will trust in Him. Father, today we pray for those present who've never trusted in Him and publicly professed their faith in Him. We pray that today the power of the Holy Spirit would use this message from Your Word to convince them of their sins and of their deserving of hell and then to convince them to trust in Christ and to repent of their sins. Father, we pray that Jesus Christ would be glorified throughout all eternity as a result of this message today in the salvation of sinners. We pray in Jesus Christ's holy name, Amen.