722 Highway 84 West PO Box 2454 Collins, Mississippi 39428 601-765-0029 ajmpc@bellsouth.net |
January 2004
Purpose Statement: Many of you have looked at the title of this article and may have said to yourself - why is he writing on hell? I'm a Christian. Most of the people who read the Methodist Protestant Faith are Christians. We're not going to hell so why an article on it? Though it may sound strange, YOU are not my target audience. My goal in this article is to make known to fellow Christians the reality of hell. I want to immerse you into the heart of hell. I want you to see , hear, feel, smell, taste hell through the eyes of someone who is there. It is said that when the great evangelist of the Great Awakening during the early 1700's, Jonathan Edwards, preached on hell in his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" people who were there testified that they could feel the flames of hell licking about them in the pews where they sat. I'm not guaranteeing that you will have a similar testimony regarding my article but I honestly hope and pray you do. Why? By experiencing the reality of hell, I'm praying that it will give you and I who are believers a sense of urgency to share salvation with these who are now/today walking the broad road that leads to the gates of hell. Jesus spoke of hell regularly in the Gospels. The most well known teaching Jesus did related to hell is found in Luke 16 starting with verse 19. Read: Luke 16:19-22 Jesus spoke of hell regularly in the Gospels. The most well known teaching Jesus did related to hell is found in Luke 16 starting with verse 19. I. Background There was this rich guy. He wore the finest clothes, ate the finest foods, drank the most expensive wine. He lived in a huge house. He had dozens of servants who came running at the snap of his fingers. Whatever he desired, he brought. Moreover, this rich man had an ego to match the size of his band account. He had contempt for those who were his lesser, particularly beggars. He loathed beggars. They were always asking his for stuff - food, money... There was this one beggar he really despised. His name was Lazarus. The rich man really detested Lazarus because he would park himself right in front of the rich man's gate daily begging for food. Everyday, the rich man would have to walk past him. Everyday he had to look at the disgusting heap sitting there. Everyday the rich man had to see the running sores and smell the stench emanating from Lazarus' body. Everyday he had to hear Lazarus' pitiful cries for food. Everyday the rich man ignored him. He showed no compassion whatsoever for Lazarus. Oftentimes, the rich man would be at the dinner table enjoying a feast with his five brothers and he would look outside and see Lazarus at the front gate starting back at him, pleading for just the crumbs on the table. The rich man would tell his brothers "Watch this..." and he'd brush the crumbs off the table onto the floor and look at Lazarus sitting there salivating, pleading for the crumbs and they would all have a good laugh. Stray dogs showed more mercy for Lazarus than the rich man. They would lick his sores giving him some relief from the pain. One night, poor Lazarus died. The angels came for Lazarus and carried him away to Abraham's side, a place of great honor and respect. More importantly, no more hunger, no more sores, no more stench, no more begging. Now, that same night, the rich man saw his brothers off... "See you tomorrow!" Took a look around at his home, his wealth and said to himself, "It's good to be me!" Got into beg and closed his eyes in sleep. That night, death came for the rich man also. When the rich man next opened his eyes, he wasn't in his bed in his nice big house ... where was he? ... read the first two words Luke 16:23. "In hell ... " Imagine, one moment life is good; big house, big bank account, the finest clothes, great family ... the next moment you are in hell. II. Description of hell - What was it like for the rich man in hell? Read verses 23-31 A. In hell, what does the rich man feel? Torment v. 24 - Rich man was in agony. Why?
The torment the rich man is feeling is not just physical in nature. As we'll see next, the rich man is also experiencing emotional and spiritual torment as well. B. In hell, what does the rich man see?
C. In hell, what does the rich man hear? Sounds of weeping and wailing from his own mouth and I suspect the mouths of millions of others in hell with him. Matthew 13:42 - Jesus describes hell as a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Imagine being in hell and hearing the cries of millions in agony. The shrieks, the wailing, the uncontrollable weeping, the cries for mercy/relief. Hear the cries of the rich man: 1) Read vs. 24 - Cry for mercy for himself. 2) Read vs. 27 and 28 - Cry for salvation for his brothers. If it wasn't so tragic, it would almost be funny, the rich man had now become a beggar. Were the rich man's requests answered? No. See Abraham's response to the rich man's request in Luke 16:25-26; 29-31. D. In hell, prayers go unanswered. In hell, no amount of praying by you can save you. No amount of praying by friends, relatives, priests, or preachers can save you. Today in hell there are people screaming, begging, pleading to God for mercy, for relief from the agony. Pleading to God to warn family and friends about hell. Praying for the salvation of their family and friends. Perhaps praying that God will convince Christians to share salvation with their lost friends and family members. Thing is, the prayers of those in hell go unanswered. Why? See next point. E. In hell, there is no grace. In Dante's Inferno, Dante saw a sign over the gates of hell. The last sentence on the sign read - "Abandon all hope ye who enter here!" No truer words were ever written regarding hell. Listen closely ... At the gates of hell, grace ends. And where there is no grace, there is no mercy. This is only judgment. There is no hope of escape. No amount of praying by you can save you. God does not hear the prayers of those in hell. No amount of praying by friends, relatives, priests and preachers in the land of the living can save you. No angels or any other heavenly beings can save you. In the story of the rich man, Father Abraham could not cross the gulf separating heaven and hell. Neither could Lazarus. As much as they may have wanted to, they could not. In hell, the opportunity for salvation is past. It's too late...too late F. In hell, there is separation from God. F. In hell, there is separation from God. Read verse 26. Top me, that is the true hell. Not the torment/agony from the fires and the worms. The true hell is being separated from our Creator, our Savior, our Lord. Never knowing His glory, never knowing His love, never knowing His peace, never being in His presence. G. In hell, you remember. See verse 25: Remember what? What do people in hell remember? Abraham told the rich man to remember his life on earth, how he enjoyed good things and Lazarus bad things. The rich man remembered how he had mistreated Lazarus. How he despised Lazarus. How he denied Lazarus food and comfort from his pain. "If I could only live my life again. If I had only listened to Moses and the Prophets. If, if, if..." Then the rich man remembers his brothers. Fear gripped his heart. He realized that they would soon join him in his torment. Remembering missed opportunities for salvation to the torments of hell. Remembering loved ones who are headed to hells adds to the torment. III. Does God take pleasure in the lost going to hell? No. Read Ezekiel 33:11; Matt. 23:37; John 3:16-17; 11 Peter 3:9 - God went to great lengths to save people from the torment of hell. But, God is not going to force a person to accept salvation from hell. It's an individual's choice. Know this! If one rejects God's sacrifice - if one is not covered in the blood of His son - know that you will experience His wrath unfettered in hell. Matt. 10:28 - "fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Heb. 10:31 - "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Don't believe me? Ask the rich man. CONCLUSION Traditional purpose for sermons on hell is to frighten people to salvation. Not my goal. This article is aimed at Christians. It is to give Christians a sense of urgency to reach out to the lost and bring them to salvation so that the lost can avoid hell. As a child, I remember a painting with this scene. There was a road that led to this huge chasm. Fire coming out of the chasm. The road was full of people headed for this fiery chasm. And they were falling into this chasm. The road was full of people headed for this fiery chasm. And they were falling into the chasm. Beside the road leading to this fiery chasm, there was a church. There were people in the church standing with hymn books open. They were completely oblivious to what was happening right outside their door. At times, I wonder if the Church today is like that church in the painting. Why? A) Is it because of fear? Are we afraid to witness to friends, family, or strangers because we are afraid to? Afraid they will think we are weird, reject us, call us Jesus Freaks or holy-rollers? B) Is it because we are content? We are content with our salvation. We are content sitting in our comfortable pews, singing our traditional hymns, and getting our weekly dose of preaching. That's all I want to do. I'm happy with that. C) Is it because the Church has become insular/cliquish? We only care about what goes on within our four walls, within our church family, within our denomination. All the while , people right outside our church doors, in our community, in our town/city walking the broad road to destruction and we say and do nothing to save them. "They are outsiders, they act different, they look different, they are alcoholics, they are divorcees, they have had an abortion, they are not the kind of people we want in OUR church." Whatever the reason is why we are not reaching out to the lost, whether it is fear, contentment, cliquish attitude, we have got to get over it. I guarantee you, if the rich man could escape hell for 24 hours, he would be a witnessing madman. Everyday millions of Christians come into contact with millions more who are lost. Family members, coworkers, friends, waitresses, gas station attendants, teachers, doctors, dentists, poor, sick, elderly. . . When they die, look at the points above, that is where they are going and what they will experience UNLESS Christians tell them the good news of salvation. Read Rom. 10: 13-14 “FOR WHOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Christian, everyday you come in contact with people who are on the broad road that leads to destruction. You know where the road ends: the gates of hell, and many are entering it everyday. That knowledge - the reality of hell - should be enough motivation for you who are a believer to share Christ. Personally, I don't want anyone in hell remembering their life on earth and saying "I knew Greg. He was a Christian. Why didn't he say something to me? Why didn't he tell me about Jesus?"
Belize Missions 2003 Dear Supporters, It has been well said: “If you merely work, and have no vision, you are a drudge; if you have vision, and don’t work, you are a dreamer”. But if you have a vision, and work towards making that vision a reality - then you're a missionary - wherever you are, at home or abroad." Missionary work and vision are inseparable. Great missionaries were great "seers" into the future. Since coming to Belize the Lord in all His mercy has revealed to me the importance of a vision and the importance of carrying that vision to fruition. Most of you know that I became active in Belize ministry as a coordinator through the Medical Team started back in 1997. The task of short-term missions helped me to prepare for what God had planned for my future. Even that dream is still making an impact as opportunities for medical ministry continue to call medical volunteers to Belize. Little did I know back then I would be on this end of things! Now that I am more than a short-term volunteer I must quickly admit that I have struggled with conference work, school administration, and other mission responsibilities associated with the position here. It has been overwhelming, but through all of this I believe God has used this enormous weight to clearly cast what I see in the future of Belize. My first vision and prayer for our Belize Conference was:Institutional maturity - to spread the load of decision making through real governmental authority. This prayer was partly answered as a new Belize Conference President was elected at the 2003 Annual Conference. Rev. Claudio Leal accepted the responsibility to become the first Belizean president to lead the conference. I was very proud that at this conference all of our churches were represented as the leaders took on the governmental task of church leadership. Pastoral responsibility - to spread the load of clerical responsibility through basic ministry activities. This prayer was answered as eight pastors were awarded licenses at our 2003 conference. Since August these pastors, under the direction of the conference, have baptized approx. 20 new converts. Congregational commitment - to spread the work of the church through tithing, discipleship, and worship. This prayer is for a much longer period of time however, many churches are stepping up for the challenge and commitment of the work of the church. For instance, we have set a "Membership Day" event for all of our churches to increase the awareness of belonging and identity within the church body. "Members" are taking more of a share of the responsibility of the local church. There have been other victories also: In 2002 I had set Hattieville church as my priority for prayer. The church has gone through many disappointments in the past but there were faithful people still praying for leadership that would not leave the church. I will admit that I had much concern for their future. After working with two other pastors it seemed the church would be closed again. Then, the Lord called a pastor from Sand Hill Village to the task. Donovan Grinage went to Hattieville with a serious commitment to grow Faith church to a thriving congregation. He started in August with a small group in a rotted building. In fact, they had to tear out the ceiling to have service the first Sunday morning. During VBS week we had to cut cardboard boxes to stuff in any open holes that would allow pigeons to roost overnight. Yet, in spite of these hardships the ministry of the church has included funerals, baptism, and revivals for Hattieville Village. God blessed Donovan's commitment and by November they had their first Sunday night service. They are growing with a vision to remodel the parsonage building into classrooms! I am also excited about our partnership with the Independent Methodist Church and the Congregational Methodist Church. The Independent Methodist's have supported our work here for many years. Now the Congregational Church have missionaries Santiago and Candace Shol in Belize. Arriving here in January Santiago, Candace, James, and Stephen have been a blessing to our churches here. They came right in to help in any way possible and our people now recognize them as fellow laborers in Christ Together, we look to the future of Belize sharing the vision and mission of God's call. The future of Belize is a challenging one. As supporters you have invested in that future. It will take vision plus hard work to accomplish the task. We have an aggressive mission ahead of us. It will take fresh leadership to meet the demands of the future. Young new leaders such as Glenford Davis of Sand Hill and Juan Moguel of San Lazaro are willing to take on the battle for Christ. Hattieville church is willing to make a fresh start with a new pastor and a renewed commitment to grow. They will need spiritual and financial support to accomplish the great - task ahead of them. To that end I am making the focus of our mission work to assist, train, and equip them for ministry. You as supporters are an implicated part of that work. Thank you for your prayers and support of God's work in Belize. Prayer concerns for the new year:
May
God richly bless you, |
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