LOVE WINS

LOVE WINS                                                                                             Restoration Fellowship

Romans 9:3                                                                                                              March 6, 2016

CONNECT: Listening to a preacher's story: Did Jesus ever tell anyone to ’go to hell’?

TENSION: Have you ever uttered those words? I have. In moments of anger or pain that epithet may come rolling out. You may not have said it, but I’m sure some have thought it!

What a horrible thing to say. Wishing eternal damnation on someone, even if they deserved it.

SOLUTION: There is a verse in the NT that has always bothered me…

Romans 9:1–3 (NKJV) I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, ²that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. ³For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,

I thought, “I don’t now if I have loved anyone that much!” Then I put it in the context of my wife, my children and grandchildren. Of course I would give my life for them. Why? I love them.

INSTRUCTION: Paul lived with constant sorrow because he knew that those he loved were cursed! The Greek word is anathema, marked off and devoted to separation and destruction!

Listen to what Jesus said:

Matthew 8:12 (NKJV) But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Matthew 10:28 (NKJV) And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

There it is: Jesus talking about hell! In fact, He talked about hell more than anyone else in the NT. He talked three times more about hell than heaven! Listen to some more that Jesus said:

Mark 9:43–48 (NKJV) If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—⁴⁴where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ ⁴⁵And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—⁴⁶where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ ⁴⁷And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire—⁴⁸where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

Matthew 13:41–43 (NKJV) The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, ⁴²and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Matthew 13:49–51 (NKJV) So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, ⁵⁰and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” ⁵¹Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

Jesus’s “Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus” has some sobering thoughts about hell.

Luke 16:19–31 (NKJV) “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. ²⁰But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, ²¹desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. ²²So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴“Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ ²⁵But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. ²⁶And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ ²⁷“Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ²⁸for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”

I wish it wasn’t so, but hell is real.

1.     It is a place of torment.

a.     Weeping, gnashing

b.     Flames, fire

c.     Worm dies not

d.     Few, many stripes

2.     It is a place of separation.

a.     God is there (Psalm 139)

b.     No chance of relationship

c.     No fellowship

3.     It is an eternal place.

a.     No exit

b.     No end

None of us wants anyone to go there.  Paul was willing to give his eternal destiny for Israel.

Truth is, Paul could not be cursed for someone else. I cannot be cursed for my loved ones.

INSPIRATION: The wonderful news is that Christ has taken the curse for us! The sad news is that so many reject His gift. Israel did, even with all the advantages they had. They were chosen nationally, but they had to choose personally. We may be called by God, but we still have to choose; we still have to decide for ourselves what to do with Jesus!

VIDEO “You Can Go to Hell”

This video points out some wonderful truths...

1.     Hell was not created for man.

Matthew 25:41 (NKJV) “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

2 Peter 2:4 (NKJV) For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

2.     God does not want anyone to go there.

2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

God wants everybody saved. Love wins! God has done it all. We just receive.

VIDEO "How Love Wins"

ACTION STEPS: As we approach Easter, let’s remember Jesus died so that people do not have to go to hell!

John 3:16–17 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

The Gospel is often presented for what it gives today, but it is really about eternity!

Do I want the lost saved? Oh I say I do, but when was the last time I wept over a lost person? That is the issue! I really don’t love the lost. Either that, or I don’t take the Bible seriously! Now, I am not pointing any fingers this morning; I have been searching my own heart!

I realize my heart is cold toward the lost. I need a touch. I need God to come and break my heart for those who don’t know Him. They are going to hell and I act like I don’t even care!

1 Corinthians 1:21 (NKJV) For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.

We have set a goal to reach 100 people during this Easter season. To accomplish this, I must have, we must have, a fresh revelation of eternity. We cannot manufacture it; we must cry out to God for our own hearts before we can cry out to God for others.

HASHTAG: #Lovewins