Brothers, We Must Feel the Truth of Hell
Sunday, March 6, 2011 at 1:34PM From John Piper's Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry
I must feel the truth of hell–that it exists and is terrible and horrible beyond imaginings forever and ever. “These will go away into eternal punishment” (Matt. 25:46). Even if I try to make the “lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15) or the “fiery furnace” (Matt. 13:42) a symbol, I am confronted with the terrifying thought that symbols are not overstatements but understatements of reality. Jesus did not choose these pictures to tell us that hell is easer than burning.
...If I do not believe in my heart these awful truths – believe them so that they are real in my feelings – then the blessed love of God in Christ will scarcely shine at all. The sweetness of the air of redemption will be hardly detectable. The infinite marvel of my new life will be commonplace. the wonder that to me, a child of hell, all things are given for an inheritance will not strike me speechless with trembling humility and lowly gratitude. The whole affair of salvation will seem ho-hum, and my entrance into paradise will seem as a matter of course. When the heart no longer feels the truth of hell, the gospel passes from good news to simply news. The intensity of joy is blunted and the heart-spring of love is dried up.
Reader Comments (2)
wow, good reminded in a culture denying this (even Christians)....I agree..just as i could not grasp the good news of Easter until I reflected strongly and hardly on the death of Jesus Christ, we can not grasp the gospel of God until we think about hell. The other scary thing about denying hell because "God wouldn't ever send anyone to a bad place", is that our faith becomes rooted in good things happening to us, as soon as something bad on earth happens, we're through with God. Yet Jesus is the light of the world and light shines brighter in darkness and on this earth there are many trials.I LOVE LOVE LOVE the symbolism thing. not because it's happy,but because it is sooo true!
When you think about it telling someone to go to hell is a terrible thing to say.