By Lamont H. Fuchs, Ed.D.
(excerpt from “Preacher Spurs”, Christian Faith Publishing, Meadville, Pa., 2022)
Reference Scripture: Mark 9:42-48, Matthew 13:36-43, Luke 16:19-31
Preachers do not preach much about Hell these days. To most folks, it is unpopular. Most folks do not care to sit in a pew on Sunday morning and listen about a place they are fairly sure they are not going to.
That did not stop Jesus from teaching and preaching it. Jesus spoke of Hell more often than he referenced Heaven. But many people in our society today do not believe in either of those locations.
There is a plethora of theories about life after death. Most people only know of a few, but the fact is man has always contemplated the afterlife, and some influential men have created their own religions and philosophies about death and where our Spirit goes. What is this life spirit we feel while looking out from a bag of flesh we all know will cease to be alive someday? God made us wonder that way. He made us seek Him while He seeks us because He loved us first.
We know that people and even entire groups of people and nations do not believe that Nazis killed millions of Jews in Germany and Poland before and during World War II. Just because they do not believe it does not mean it did not happen. We have evidence of it, and those proofs do not matter to one who does not believe.
But believing in Hell or Heaven is different. Where is our evidence? I cannot show you either one. Not literally, anyway – not the real ones.
So much about being a Christian is faith and belief. There is no way I can convince or talk to someone about the salvation of Christ if they do not believe in the Bible or a higher power. They might understand. They might even agree to some historical evidence. But if they reject the Bible – God’s Word, then all I can do is tell them about it and let the Spirit convict them.
I worked in Saudi Arabia for seven months with heathen Americans and monotheistic Islamist Saudis. My job was in curriculum development – creating training and education for the Saudi military. In a meeting discussing strict regulations concerning curriculum development and how to develop military courseware, I heard people stating that they wanted to use one part of the regulation but did not want to use the other parts because they disagreed with the process. I told them that they could not cherry-pick what they wanted and disregard the rest regarding regulatory requirements. The ex-military personnel understood the phrase and concept very well. I found myself explaining the term ‘cherry-picking’ to the Saudi people in the room. They were astounded that I related it to my Bible because they could easily correlate the same concept to their Koran. You cannot choose to believe what you like and disregard what you do not like. Very much like the law, it is either the law or not. Those who wink at the law get no respect from me. Man’s law is ignored all the time – so is God’s. Ignoring man’s law can make your life hell on earth. Ignoring or rejecting God’s laws will make hell eternal.
Heaven is a place, and so is Hell. If you do not believe me, let us consult with God’s word and those words of Jesus written in red for many of your Bibles. See, I love God’s word, and I have read it many times. I love the prophets, and I love the writing of the disciples, and I believe what the Bible says and all its lessons and stories. For my reasons, I mostly enjoy hearing quotes from Jesus. I do not need anyone to tell me what they think He said or what they heard He said, we have direct excerpts of what He said. I pay more attention to the words directly from my Lord. My first Bible, given to me after my baptism, had Christ’s words printed in red. His words stood out from the other text, and in my mind, they still do. I like that Bible and I still have it.
I have three main pieces of scripture I want to call to your attention. Most of you have read these before and might even have some memorized. I want to take the three in a specific order.
Mark 9:42-48 talks about the consequences of iniquity and the lengths we should go to prevent ending up in Hell.
Matthew 13:36-43 is an explanation of a parable for the apostles to understand and for Christians to take heed of. Disobedience will land us in Hell.
Luke 16:19-31 shares the story of an unnamed rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. The verses talk about the separation of Heaven and Hell, and the finality of those destinations.
Break it down.
You are going to serve someone. Who do you want it to be?
“Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Romans 6:16
I will leave you with that. Who do you believe?
