October 14th, 2013
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:
Hell is real.
I have had a burden for some days to write about hell, but have been reluctant. Especially, yesterday, a Sunday, I did not want to dwell on such an ugly topic — but it is one that Christians must face.
Yesterday our Pastor spoke powerfully about devils and demonic influence and I was encouraged to get on with thoughts about hell. We are blessed to have a deeply principled Pastor who never shrinks from telling us what we need hear and not just what we would like to hear!
Here’s a funny thing. It’s not a big difference, but more Americans believe in heaven than believe in hell. I checked. According to major research published by the Pew Research organization in 2008, “Most Americans (74%) believe in life after death, with an equal number saying they believe in the existence of heaven as a place where people who have led good lives are eternally rewarded. … Belief in hell, where people who have led bad lives and die without repenting are eternally punished, is less common than is belief in life after death or heaven, with about six-in-ten Americans (59%) expressing belief in hell. In every religious tradition, including all the Christian traditions, belief in hell is at least slightly less prevalent than belief in heaven.”
I’ve been wondering about why that is. I’ve come up with a couple of reasons. First, it seems to me that we’re much better at believing in things we want than things we don’t want. We’re also really good at taking good things now, and hoping there’ll be a way to wriggle out of the consequences later. Second, I think the basis of belief has shifted. We used to take things on faith — if the Bible, or the Church, said a thing was so that was that. Over the past century or two “science” took over. Belief was based on experience. More recently we have entered a “post-modern” era, in which belief often seems to be a matter of personal preference — and a lot of people prefer NOT to believe in hell! And sadly, a lot of pastors seem to prefer not put them straight.
Here’s the thing though. Hell is real. The verse at the head of this devotion is one of several references by Jesus to this place of eternal punishment. He wasn’t kidding.
The Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Analytics does a fine job of describing what hell is like:
If by some odd chance you’re not quite convinced about hell, wise up. You owe it to yourself and anyone you might witness to.
Hell is real. Believe it!