Hell

Text: Matthew 25:41-46; Revelation 20:10-15

Series: Restoration Sermons

Date:

Speaker: Ed Rangel

Location: Waupaca Church of Christ

Bible Version: NASB 1995

Sermon Type: Expository

Learning Objectives

By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:

1. Name the biblical terms Scripture uses for the final place of punishment.
2. Affirm the reality of conscious life after death and the resurrection as its biblical foundation.
3. Understand that hell was not originally designed for human beings — and that it is entered by human choice.
4. Recognize that the eternity of hell and the eternity of heaven stand or fall together in the same text.
5. Answer the three most common objections to the doctrine of eternal punishment with biblical evidence.

Thesis

Hell is real, eternal, and the self-chosen destination of those who reject God — prepared originally for the devil and his angels, but entered by all who join his work; the same word that promises eternal life promises eternal punishment.

Burden

"It is well to tell the sick of a physician; the poor of riches; the dying of life; the lost of a Savior; and the impenitent of hell." The opening line is exactly right. This is not a subject a preacher enjoys. But silence on hell is not kindness — it is the cruelest form of negligence. Jesus talked about hell more than any other speaker in the New Testament. He did not do it to frighten people into mechanical compliance; He did it because He could see where some of them were headed, and He loved them too much to stay quiet. The preacher who avoids this subject is not more compassionate than Jesus — he is less.

Introduction

The Bible presents two eternal destinations: heaven for the righteous, hell for the wicked. The doctrine of hell is inseparable from the doctrine of heaven — they are described in the same passage (Matt. 25:46) with the same word (aiōnios, eternal). A person who accepts the eternal life of the righteous cannot, without inconsistency, reject the eternal punishment of the wicked. The outline treats hell in six movements: its biblical names, the reality of life after death, its original purpose, its eternal duration, its consistency with God's nature, and the three main objections answered.

I. Biblical Names for Hell

A. Scripture uses several terms for the final state of the wicked. Each illuminates a different dimension of the reality.

B. Torment (Rev. 20:10).

1. "The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone... and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."
2. The word (basanismos) is active — not unconscious cessation but conscious experience of punishment.

C. Eternal punishment (Matt. 25:46).

1. "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
2. The same word (aiōnios) modifies both "punishment" and "life." Both are eternal in exactly the same sense. You cannot retain the eternal duration of heaven while dropping the eternal duration of hell — the grammar does not allow it.

D. Lake of fire (Rev. 20:14).

1. "Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire."
2. This is the final state after the resurrection and judgment — the definitive form of eternal punishment.

E. Outer darkness (Matt. 8:12).

1. "The sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
2. "Outer darkness" implies exclusion from the light of God's presence — the opposite of the glory of the heavenly state.

II. There Is Life After Death

A. The doctrine of hell depends on the survival of the soul and the resurrection — and Scripture is clear on both.

1. God is immortal (1 Tim. 1:17). He made man in His image (Gen. 1:27). That image includes the capacity for immortal existence — the soul does not simply dissolve at death.
2. "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" (Heb. 9:27) — death is not the end of the story; it is the prelude to judgment.

B. The resurrection is the biblical foundation for both heaven and hell.

1. "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28-29).
2. There are two resurrections in this verse — not a single general one leading to one destination. One resurrection leads to life; the other to judgment.
3. To deny that there is conscious life after death — on either side of the judgment — is to contradict the plain statement of Jesus.

III. The Original Purpose of Hell

A. Hell was not prepared for human beings.

1. "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels'" (Matt. 25:41).
2. The original design of eternal fire was for the devil and his rebellious angels. Man was not its intended occupant.

B. Human beings enter hell by joining the devil's work.

1. When a person refuses to repent, chooses sin over righteousness, and dies in unbelief, he has aligned himself with the one for whom the fire was prepared.
2. The destination follows the allegiance. A person does not accidentally end up in hell; he chooses the trajectory that leads there.

C. This is one of the most sobering truths in Scripture.

1. Hell is not an arbitrary assignment. It is the consistent end of a chosen direction.
2. God does not want any to perish (2 Pet. 3:9) — the fire was never designed for human beings. But He will not override the will of those who choose against Him.

IV. Hell Is Eternal

A. The eternity of hell is stated repeatedly and with force in the New Testament.

1. "These will go away into eternal punishment" (Matt. 25:46).
2. "Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:48) — three times in three verses; the repetition is emphasis.
3. "The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night" (Rev. 14:11).
4. Jude 7: Sodom and Gomorrah "serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire."
5. Rev. 19:3: "Her smoke rises up forever and ever."

B. The crucial comparison: Matt. 25:46.

1. "Eternal punishment" and "eternal life" — same word, same sentence, same speaker.
2. If eternal life means endless life, eternal punishment means endless punishment. The grammar requires both or neither.
3. A person who argues that the punishment is temporary while the life is endless has not given a reason from the text — he has imposed a preference on it.

V. Hell Is Not Contrary to the Nature of God

A. The most common objection is that a loving God could not send people to an eternal hell. This objection misunderstands both love and law.

1. Law is necessary for any ordered society. Without the certain punishment of violations, law becomes suggestion.
2. God is not only love — He is also holy, just, and righteous. "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31).
3. A judge who refuses to punish wrongdoing is not merciful — he is unjust. God's holiness demands that sin be answered.

B. God's love and God's justice are not in conflict.

1. The cross demonstrates this: God's justice required that sin be punished; God's love provided a substitute. The cross is where love and justice meet.
2. For those who refuse the substitute — who reject the One who bore the punishment in their place — the justice remains.

C. Sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4).

1. It is not merely a regrettable mistake; it is active rebellion against the authority of God.
2. Rebellion against infinite authority carries infinite consequence. The severity of the punishment corresponds to the nature of what is offended.

VI. Three Objections Answered

A. Universalism: "God is too good to send anyone to hell; all will eventually be saved."

1. This is based on a partial reading of God's character — His love without His justice.
2. Jesus never taught universalism. He consistently described two destinations and warned urgently about the one on the left.
3. God's goodness led Him to provide a Savior. It does not compel Him to override the will of those who reject that Savior.

B. Annihilationism: "Hell is not eternal; the wicked are simply destroyed."

1. This contradicts the survival of the soul and the testimony of the resurrection.
2. If the wicked are annihilated, the word aiōnios (eternal) in Matt. 25:46 applies to the life of the righteous but not to the punishment of the wicked — which is not what the text says.
3. Annihilation also contradicts Rev. 14:11 and 20:10, which describe ongoing, conscious torment, not cessation.

C. Second probation: "The wicked get another chance after death."

1. "It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" (Heb. 9:27). One death, then judgment — no intermediate second-chance probation.
2. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:26): "A great chasm has been fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us." The chasm is fixed. The probation is now.

Application

The practical application of this sermon is urgency. If hell is real, eternal, and entered by a freely chosen path, then the most important question in any life is: am I on the path that leads there? Not whether I am a good person by comparison to others — the standard is not other people but the holiness of God. And the offer is open: there is a Savior, there is a cross, there is a baptism for the remission of sins, and there is time — right now — to turn. Do not leave this building on the same trajectory you came in on if that trajectory leads away from God.

Conclusion

Hell is real. Its names in Scripture — torment, eternal punishment, lake of fire, outer darkness — are not symbolic comfort-words; they are descriptions of an actual eternal state. It was not designed for human beings, but human beings enter it by joining the allegiance of the one for whom it was prepared. It is eternal because "eternal punishment" and "eternal life" stand or fall together in the same text. It is consistent with God's nature because God is not only loving but holy and just. Universalism, annihilationism, and second probation are theories designed to avoid it; the text does not support them. The Savior is available. The door is open. Come now.

Invitation

The invitation could not be more urgent. If you have never obeyed the gospel — never been washed in the blood of Christ, never been baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38) — there is a path that leads away from the outer darkness. It runs through the cross. Hear the word. Believe. Repent. Confess. Be baptized. Do not delay. If you are a Christian who has grown cold or drifted toward the world, come back to the God who does not want any to perish. Come as we sing.

Word Study

Scripture Interlock Table

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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 72. Doctrinal audit: core framework; hell is real, eternal, and entered by human choice; eternality of hell established from same aiōnios in Matt. 25:46 — the argument is exegetical, not merely traditional; three objections (universalism, annihilationism, second probation) named and answered from specific texts; no softening language; Christ as Savior and the full obedient response (Acts 2:38) named in invitation. OCR fix: Boles cited "Luke 16:1-13" in the introduction but the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is Luke 16:19-31 — corrected. Primary text supplied (Matt. 25:41-46; Rev. 20:10-15) since Boles's outline had no stated text. Raw split extracted from source PDF page 72.

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