Word of Salvation – May 2011
The Lake Of Fire, Rev. John Haverland
(Sermon 4 in a series on texts related to the Heidelberg Catechism)
Text: Rev 20:11-15 (read verses 7-15)
Heidelberg Catechism LD 4
Readings: Luke 16:19-31, 2 Thessalonians 1
Theme: The nature and reality of the final judgement and punishment
Purpose: To impress on us the sobering reality of a final judgement and eternal punishment of unbelievers, but also the assurance of believers in having their name in the book of life.
One of the benefits of following the sequence of the catechism for preaching is that it forces us to deal with subjects that we might otherwise choose to leave alone, such as the doctrine of hell. Most of us would rather not reflect much on this subject. Most of us would not ask the pastor or an elder to preach on the eternal punishment of the unbeliever as a subject that is of great interest to us.
Knowing our own reluctance to think about hell, it may not be a surprise to hear that many in the church today don’t believe in a place called hell. Many are saying that a God of love would not cause people to suffer for all eternity; instead, they believe, he will annihilate them – that will be their punishment.
The Christian writer John Blanchard illustrated the loss of this doctrine when he described how he visited an older minister who had a lot of books. Blanchard asked him if he could borrow a book on hell. The minister looked through his shelves and said; “I had a book on hell once, but I lost it.” Blanchard says; this is what has happened to the doctrine of hell – the church has lost it. To recover this doctrine he has written a book called; “Whatever Happened to Hell?”
The Bible has a lot to say about this place of punishment. Surprisingly, most of that can be found in the gospels, because Jesus spoke more about hell than anyone else. He was acutely aware of God’s justice and his mercy. He knew that God is “terribly angry” about human sin. Jesus himself experienced that wrath of God against sin and endured the agony and torment of hell for his people.
The catechism clearly summarises the teaching of the Bible in this matter in Q & A 11: “God is certainly merciful, but he is also just. His justice demands that sin, committed against his supreme majesty, be punished with the supreme penalty – eternal punishment of body and soul.”
One day, when Christ returns, all people who have ever lived will appear before the judgement throne of God; unbelievers will be sent away to the terror of eternal punishment while believers will be ushered into the joy of eternal life.
All this is clearly taught in this passage we have just read. There is much that we do not know about the future but the main outline of events is very clear and is described here in plain and solemn terms.
1. It is clear that there will be A FINAL JUDGEMENT
One day each one of us will be judged by God.
Verse 11 describes God the Father sitting on His throne. This is the consistent emphasis of Revelation – God the Father is on his throne as the Sovereign Judge over all heaven and earth.
This is a “great white throne”. That this throne is “great” describes the majesty and greatness of God and the magnitude of the judgement.
That it is “white” pictures the purity, holiness and righteousness of God. God’s name is called ‘holy’ more than all the other descriptions of God taken together. He is holy, pure, set apart from sin and sinners. It is only when we grasp the full extent of God’s holiness that we will realise the necessity of the judgement and hell. God must deal with sin because it is an offence against his majesty and holiness.
This passage also teaches us that all of us will be judged. In verse 12 we read that John saw “the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.”
This means that everyone will appear before the Lord; all the dead of all ages; the righteous and the unrighteous, rich and poor, adults and children, the high and low.
This is also emphasised in verse 13a; “The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them.” Hades is the equivalent of the Old Testament word Sheol, which is the place where the spirit goes when a person dies. Everyone will be raised to face judgement – from wherever they fell, wherever they were buried, wherever their bodies lie; no one will be missed.
Every one of us will be judged. No one will escape. No one can hide from the presence of the Lord.
This is what verse 11 teaches when it says; “Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.” There will be nowhere to go, nothing to hide behind, and nowhere to escape. So Paul wrote in Romans 14:10 – “We will all stand before God’s judgement seat.”
This is a sobering thought as we face the future. “It is appointed for a man to die once and then to face the judgement” (Hebrews 9:27). Every one of us needs to be ready for that day.
As we consider this we must realise that we will be judged according to our works. Verse 12: “The books were opened…. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” It is as though there is a record of all we have done – our words, actions and deeds – every event in our lives. We will be judged according to how we have lived.
This is a repeated theme in the Bible:
Matthew 16:27; “The Son of man will reward each person according to what he has done.”
Revelation 2:23; “I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”
I Corinthians 3:11-15; “The fire will test the quality of each man’s work.”
The parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 recalls our deeds of love to our brothers and sisters in Christ as the basis for God’s judgement – visiting those in prison, feeding the hungry, inviting in the stranger, clothing the naked.
This does not mean that we are saved by our works; rather that true faith will produce works.
We need to hear the words of Jesus and then put them into practice. (Matt 7:24)
Faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26)
The judgement will test the reality of our faith as seen in our works; our deeds will be the proof of what we have done with our lives.
That final day of judgement will be a declaration of God’s judgement, not an investigation.
The final judgement will not be a trial. There will be no witnesses or lawyers or prosecution or defence. There will be no pleas and no jury. This is because the sovereign God is the Judge. He knows everything anyway and he is all wise and just and righteous.
The judgement will not decide who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, because that is already in place.
When a believer dies his soul goes directly to be with God in heaven, as Jesus promised the criminal on the cross.
But when an unbeliever dies his soul goes directly to the punishment of hell. “The Lord knows how to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgement while continuing their punishment.” (2 Pet 2:9).
So the final judgement will be the declaration of God’s mercy and justice.
2. After the judgement those whose names are not in the book of life are cast into THE LAKE OF FIRE. This is a description of hell.
In verse 14 the lake of fire is also described as “the second death”. The first death is physical death; the second death is eternal death, which is hell. Jesus warned us that we should “be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” (Matthew 10:28).
There are two dangers people face when they think about hell.
One is to soften the subject, to downplay what Bible says and to explain it away. This is a trend in current evangelicalism. It’s not surprising that people want to do this because the doctrine of hell is so terrifying and sobering. This is one danger.
The other is to embellish the Bible’s teachings with our own imagination. This was often done in Medieval times but occasionally you come across it today.
Both of these are wrong. We must not take away from what the Bible says, nor must we add to it. Rather we need to stick to the biblical descriptions.
According to the Bible who will be there?
One unbeliever said; “all the interesting people will be in hell.” Others claim that they want to go to hell because all their mates will be there!
But the company in hell won’t be all that attractive. In verse 10 we are told that the beast, the false prophet and the devil will be there. And all those whose names are not written in the book of life will be there. Chapter 21:8 describes some of them; “…the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death.”
God will cast into hell all who do not repent of sin and believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour; all who have chosen to suppress the revelation God gives of himself in creation and in His word; all who have chosen to go their own way, to live their own life, and to make their own decisions without any reference to God.
CS Lewis has written that there are only two kinds of people in the end:
Those who say to God, “Your will be done” (that is, the believers), and those to whom God says, “Your will be done” (that is, the unbelievers). All that are in hell chose to be there. Ultimately God will give people what they want. The damned are in one sense, successful rebels to the end.” (C S Lewis).
What will hell be like?
In our modern day language we use a number of idioms that include the word hell: “Go to hell”; “It hurts like hell”; “a hell of a place”; “There will be hell to pay”.
Malcolm Muggeridge described Calcutta, with its millions in appalling slums, as “the closest place to hell on earth”. Yet nothing on earth can compare to the terror of hell.
Its horror is symbolised in the Bible with the picture of fire. It is a symbol of God’s wrath. The symbolic language should not diminish the horror or pain of hell. The reality will be more terrifying than the symbol.
It is a place of punishment not correction. The current philosophy on prisons sees them as corrective institutions that aim at rehabilitating the prisoners. But hell is not a rehabilitation centre. Rather, the unbelievers will receive their just punishment for their sin.
And that will not be as a result of a sudden outburst of God’s anger, but rather it will be the inevitable conclusion of God’s settled wrath against sin. One of the worst features of hell will be that people will be separated from goodness and love and mercy of God.
This horror will go on forever. The Bible does not teach that unbelievers will be destroyed or annihilated at the judgement. Rather it teaches the “eternal punishment of body and soul” (HC Q 11).
It is no wonder that Christians want to minimise this doctrine. It is a terrible and sobering subject. Hell seems “Too bad to be true?”
Yet it is the plain teaching of the Bible.
It is a sober and terrible warning to turn to God and live for him.
It is a great incentive to spread the good news of faith in Jesus so that those who believe in Jesus may have their names recorded in the book of life.
3. So let’s close by considering this BOOK OF LIFE.
This book is mentioned a number of times in the Bible (by various people including Moses, Daniel and Jesus as well as by John in the book of Revelation).
A teacher in a school will have a class roll which is a record of the names of all the pupils in the class.
The Book of Life is the roll of the citizens of the kingdom of Christ, the roll of God’s chosen people, of the saints who have been redeemed, sanctified and forgiven in Christ!
Those whose names are written in this book will be saved on the basis of what Christ has done.
There will also be a judgement according to works to determine levels of reward, but our place in heaven will be on the basis of what Jesus has done for us.
If we were judged on what we have done or failed to do no one could stand because all our righteousness is as filthy rags.
But if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ then you are judged on his work, not yours;
judged on His righteousness, not on your own;
judged on what he has done, not on what you have done.
The judgement and hell are terrifying realities. It is not surprising that many choose not to believe in them.
But if you believe in Jesus you need not fear what is to come.
You can rejoice that your names are written in the Book of Life and you can look forward to an eternity with the triune God in the glory and beauty of heaven.
Amen.