skip to main |
skip to sidebar
"If we understood Hell even the slightest bit, none of us would ever say, 'Go to Hell.' It's far too easy to go to Hell. It requires no change of course, no navigational adjustments. We were born with our autopilot set toward Hell. It is nothing to take lightly — Hell is the single greatest tragedy in the universe." [Randy Alcorn, Heaven.]
It has been statements like that that have caused me to contemplate the reality of hell far more in recent months. Few people like to think of death in general, and fewer still are willing to give serious consideration of hell's realities. And when most people do, they think of it in unreal terms, as Ted Turner did several years ago when he said, "Heaven is perfect. Who wants to go to a place that's perfect? Boring, boring. [In hell] we'll have a chance to make things better because hell is supposed to be a mess."
Is that really a possibility? What will hell be like?
- In Hell (Alcorn suggests capitalizing Heaven and Hell as one would any proper noun, since they are literal places), the restraining influence of God the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and believers will be fully removed, resulting in a fullness of sin. All sin will be "fully mature," so that there will be no rest from it. All sin in all its forms (think of any sin and it will apply — anger, fear, hatred, anxiousness, selfishness) will be unrelenting and unceasing and never abated.
- In Hell, there will be the complete absence of anything good. The capacity to perform even the simplest act of kindness is a result of the common grace of God. Such grace from God will not exist in Hell, so there will be no ability to perform even the tiniest modicum of goodness. There will be no friendship (only hatred), no fellowship (only selfishness), no peace (only anger), and no comfort (only unrest and regret).
- In Hell, there will be eternal (i.e., they will always know it) knowledge of the reality of God and Heaven. It seems possible that not only will there be an understanding that God and Heaven exist, but that in some measure and form, it will even be able to be seen (cf. Lk. 16:22ff). Yet they will never be able to cross over from Hell to Heaven. Which leads to my last observation…
- In Hell, there will be no opportunities to ever change a decision made on earth. They are eternally condemned. (Think on that for a time.) In Hell, there will be full awareness of guilt, full awareness of sin, full awareness that Christ was rejected, full submission to Christ, with no opportunity to ever repent. I've made more than one decision that I've regretted. But none with the same kind of eternal implication. This will be the great anguish and horror of hell.
Hell is and will be a terror which we have no scale to measure. And people we know and love have gone, are going, and will go there. Which means two things for parents (which is what this sermon was about):
- We must train our children to have a compassion for those who are lost that spills over into clear gospel articulations to the lost. May the training of our children produce in them grief and sadness for those who are unregenerate and headed for Hell, rather than haughty criticism.
- We must train our children to exist in the world (be influencers for Christ in the world), while at the same time maintaining hearts that are separate from and unstained by the philosophy of the world.
Hell is terrible and eternal. Train your children to understand its deadliness. And train them also to have compassion for those who are going there.
In preparation for Sunday's sermon, I came across this statement by Derek Kidner about the Biblical reality of what sexual sin is. [All the references are from Proverbs.]
…sexual sin is presented in the darkest colours. It is a squandering of powers that were designed for the founding of a true family that should be one’s own, and close-knit, and divinely blessed (5:9-23). It is an exchange of true intimacy for its parody (5:19, 20), a parting with one’s honour (5:9, 6:33) and liberty (23:27, 28). It is to throw away one’s best years (5:9, 11) and possibly one’s last possessions (29:3; 6:26…). It is to court physical danger and social disgrace (6:26, 32-35); and this is not all. Those who think to explore life this way are flirting with death. It is no mere detour from the best path but, in the fullest sense, a dead-end: ‘for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the shades; none who go to her come back nor do they regain the paths of life’ (2:18, 19, RSV). To change the figure, it is a sin which sears the sinner inescapably: ‘Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?’ (see 6:27-29, 33b).
This is a sobering reminder — another of the kinds of truths that must be our meditation and preoccupation of our hearts as we battle against temptation in its many forms.
"To the physician," writes, Chuck Swindoll, "it's merely a two-ounce slab of mucous membrane…But the tongue is as volatile as it is vital…[It is ] verbal cyanide. A lethal, relentless, flaming missile which assaults with hellish power, blistering and destroying at will."
This is the testimony of many Scriptures — Jesus, James, and Proverbs speak significantly about the danger of the tongue.
Yet the tongue is also beneficial, for by it we encourage, exhort, comfort, and train in righteousness.
So, because the tongue is both a help and a hindrance in communication, we are wise to be careful who has our ear — who we listen to for counsel and instruction, and we are wise to be diligent in truthfulness.
Be wise in who you heed as a counselor is an admonition repeated several times in Proverbs:
- A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (18:24)
- Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy. (27:6)
- Oil and perfume make the heart glad, So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend. Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend, And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away. (27:9-10)
We do well to remember that these words were spoken by Solomon to his son(s) — they were his warning about both the kind and quantity of friends and confidants his son should select. He should select friends that are spiritually perceptive enough to be able to see through the veneer of his life and rebuke and exhort him to righteousness. These friends should not be men who would only affirm what he wants to hear. And he and they should have a reciprocally faithful relationship to each other — the friendship is not easily lost!
Given the pointed way that Solomon addresses his son, we must also recognize the validity and wisdom in being proactive in helping our children select their friends — helping them choose friends that will stimulate them in godly ways and not ungodly relationships. I am reminded of the wise words of E. V. Hill when he spoke of his children's friends and dating relationships: "Some of these relationships need to be broken up!" Solomon would agree.
But not only should children be wise in how they select as friends, but they should also be scrupulous in truthfulness. Truthfulness is important because lies and deceit are an abomination to God [the following list is expanded from a list by Gordon Lewis in Focal Point (Summer, 1995)]:
John Piper summarizes the importance of truth well in his book, God's Passion for His Glory:
"To love God passionately is to love truth passionately. Being God-centered in life means being truth-driven in ministry. What is not true is not of God. What is false is anti-God. Indifference to the truth is indifference to the mind of God.…Our concern with truth is simply an echo of our concern with God. And all this is rooted in God's concern with God, or God's passion for the glory of God."
So as you shepherd your children, lead them to choose friends who will speak godly truth to them, and train them to speak godly truth to others. It is, after all, for the glory of God.
Several years ago, basketball player Charles Barkley created no small amount of controversy when he said,
"I am not paid to be a role model. I am paid to wreak havoc on a basketball court. Parents should be role models. Just because I can dunk a basketball, that doesn't mean I should raise your kids…"
He is wrong on the first part of his statement — whether he, or any other person in public view, is willing to acknowledge it or not, he is a role model. But his second premise is absolutely correct — parents should be role models.
This is why Solomon says to his son, "A righteous man who walks in his integrity — How blessed are his sons after him" (Prov. 20:7). A son who has a father who lives a life of integrity and authentic Biblical faith is blessed indeed, for he has someone worthy of following. He reaps the blessing and joy of having a godly father who shepherds and nurtures him (instead of a cruel father who antagonizes him and provokes him to anger), and he reaps God's blessing as he learns to live his own life of righteousness.
This is not the only encouragement to live an exemplary life — a life worthy of imitation. For instance, it is remarkable how often Paul and the other New Testament writers say, "Follow me." (E.g., see 1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1; Eph. 5:1; Phil. 3:17; 4:9; Col. 1:3-4, 7; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:14; 2 Thess. 3:7, 9; 2 Tim. 3:14-15; Heb. 6:12; 13:7; 3 John 11.) The calling of these verses emphasize that it is possible to live a life worth emulating (God only calls and requires of a believer that which He also equips him to do), and that it is also the calling of the believer to live an exemplary life (one of the words that is often used in these passages is the word group from which we get our word, "mimic").
Paul, as a spiritual father to various churches and individuals was unafraid to say, "Follow me. You can imitate my faith. You should imitate my faith as much as I am following Christ." And this is essentially what Jesus called Peter to do in Jn. 21 when He told Peter to “shepherd my sheep.” With that statement, he means, "lead my sheep in such a way that they will follow you to me.”
This is the calling of every parent — to live in such a way that our faith is worthy of imitation and to intentionally put our children in situations so that they can see a vibrant faith in us and that they are stimulated to love and good deeds. As you consider your relationship with your children (both infant and adult) or those who are your spiritual children, or those who just happen to watch your life, are you living in such a way that anything you do is worthy of imitation?
