From The Pee Dee Baptist Association—Featured this week is Dr. Dick Alderman
Millions of people are going to Hell. Millions are already there. There is no reason for anyone to go to Hell. Yet, there are some people who ought to go to Hell just for a quick visit. Such as preachers who do not preach God’s Word but only sermonettes for Christianettes. Preachers who are afraid to warn people about their sin for fear of losing their jobs ought to visit Hell. Preachers who tickle theears of their congregations who demand not to be disturbed ought to go to Hell. Preachers who dodge the fundamentals of God’s Word about sin and salvation, who do not preach the blood of Jesus and His personal return, who are not concerned about the lost souls of billions around the world ought to visit Hell.
Sunday School teachers who do not prepare themselves in the Word to teach about life and death, and truth and heresy, Heaven and Hell, repentance and forgiveness, and Jesus only as the Way to Heaven ought to visit Hell for just a moment. And Christians who never witness to anyone about faith in Christ, who never confront people with their sin, who never stand and defend the Word of God, who never pray and give to missionaries to lead heathen people to Christ, who do not come faithfully to Church need to be in Hell for just a minute.
In Luke 16 the rich man was not concerned about Hell until he went there. He was not concerned about his five brothers going there until he landed in it. Suddenly Hell made a preacher and a missionary out of him. He begged Abraham to “send Lazarus to my father’s house to testify to my fivebrothers, lest they also come to this place of torment” (verses 27-28.)
Some choose not to believe in Hell. If Hell isn’t real then why did Jesus die? If everybody is going to Heaven anyway, then why did Jesus shed His blood? If there is no need for us to be saved from something eternally awful beyond our help, then why did God Himself become a man to die by crucifixion? If there is no Hell, and if people are not going there, how is it that Jesus “died for us” as the Bible says? Why do we need His death? What does it accomplish if Hell is not real? Hell is real. In Matthew 25:41, 46 the Bible uses the same word “eternal” to describe both Heaven and Hell. If Hell isn’t real, then Heaven isn’t either; and we do not need to be saved from anything. Luke 16:25 teaches that Hell is a place of tormented memory. Abraham told the rich man to remember the wasted opportunities he had to be saved. Every sin that shuts you out of Heaven will be remembered over and over in Hell. Every sermon you heard, every
word someone said to you about being saved will be a recurring nightmare in Hell.
The Bible says in Hell “their worm dieth not,” referring to conscience. Conscience can only be relieved by honest confession to the Lord and repentance from our sin. This will not be possible in Hell.
There is no comfort from the millions who are there in their own misery. There is no love in hell, no one to care for you. It is “outer darkness,” the Bible says. God is absent from Hell; and Jesus, the Light of the world, is missing from Hell. The atmosphere of Hell is darkness, loneliness, depression, and despair.
In Hell, no love; in Heaven, no rejection. In Hell, no light; in Heaven, no darkness. In Hell, no joy; in Heaven, no sorrow. In Hell, no peace; in Heaven, no fear. In Hell, no friends; in Heaven, no loneliness. In Hell, no provision; in Heaven, no lack. In Hell, no hope; in Heaven, no despair. In Hell, no Savior; in Heaven, Jesus. The choice is yours. Not to choose is to choose Hell. Repent of your sin and surrender to Jesus, and close Hell forever.
