We must be willing to talk about the wrath of God and the justice of God.One of the things I enjoy least about preaching is being vivid and direct about the wrath of God and eternal hell. Honest, any time I warn people that some will spend eternity in torment, with no hope of escape, I am wiped out on Sunday afternoon.
I agree with Randy Alcorn who wrote,
“If I had a choice, that is if Scripture were not so clear and conclusive, I would certainly not believe in Hell. Trust me when I say I do not want to believe in it. But if I make what I want -or what others want-the basis of my beliefs, then I am a follower of myself and my culture, not a follower of Christ. In The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis writes of Hell, ‘There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason.” (Heaven, page 26).
Pastors and Christian friends – – as difficult as it is, we must be willing to warn people about hell. Apart from saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his work on the Cross, even those who our culture considers good, will roast for all eternity – – they will suffer without ever having one second of reprieve or hope of escape. As Edwards said, “they will wear out the sun and the moon” and be no closer to the end.
But, for those who know Christ, there is no condemnation. Because he himself bore in his body our sins so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By his wounds we have been healed.
