Tony Evans - What is Hell

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hell, but not for you. It was for the devil
and evangel and don't to hell. You gotta decide that.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
A lot of people think hell's a party place. But
if you buy into that idea, doctor Tony Evan says,
you'll regret it for eternity.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
The worst part of hell is being able to see
heaven and not go in.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
This is the Alternative with doctor Tony Evans, author, speaker,
senior pastor of oak Cliffe Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas,
and President of the Urban Alternative. A lot of people
don't mind being uncertain about heaven as long as they
can convince themselves there's no hell. But that's not what
the Bible teaches. Let's join doctor Evans today as he

(00:40):
provides the Biblical answer to the question what is hell.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Our series is the afterlife glimpses of Heaven and Hell.
We have talked about heaven, and I hope that by
now you have had a sense the glimpse, because the
Bible doesn't give us all the details, but a glimpse

(01:04):
of the glory that awaits the believer who has placed
their eternal confidence in Jesus Christ for life. But it
is incumbent upon me to talk about the other side.
We want to look at a glimpse of hell. Now
there are two reasons why we need to do this.

(01:28):
For the Christian, you need to know what God saved
you from. For the non Christian, you need to know
why you need God to save you from it. Now
most people live in a state of denial about Hell.

(01:51):
While seventy six percent of Americans believe in Heaven, only
six percent bleed in hell. At the thought of Hell.
People have developed what we might call coping mechanisms ways
to try to deal with it. Some people cope by

(02:15):
simply skipping it. They prefer not to deal with it,
and so they pretend like it either does not exist
or could not exist. They treated much like death. I'd
rather not think about it, and so they try to

(02:36):
cope by ignoring it. Some people try to deal with
it through a belief in annihilation. You just go to
the grave and you're annihilated. That is, you don't exist anymore,
you cease to exist. Others take a different route and

(02:58):
hold to a universal list perspective that some way, somehow
God's gonna fix it so everybody will be saved. At
the heart of all of this is a viewpoint that
says that if God does exist, and if God is

(03:19):
a God of love, then there cannot be a place
called hell. Some would go so far as to say,
enlightened man today cannot take seriously the thought of hell.
And then there's the whole question of if there is

(03:40):
a hell, what is it like, how bad is it?
And on and on and on and on and on. Well,
let me say this at the outset. We must allow
God to speak for himself. He does not need us
to speak for him. And you and I as we

(04:02):
approach this most serious subject, must understand that your reason
about this subject must be made subject to God's revelation,
that how you feel about it must be subjected to
what God says about it, because no amount of dismissing

(04:26):
it removes it from the Bible. People want to pick
and choose the parts of God they like and ignore
the parts that they do not like or cannot understand.
Let's start off with a basic definition to the question

(04:47):
what is hell. Hell is the place of eternal exile
where the ungodly experience God's just retribution against sin. Hell
is the place of eternal exile where the ungodly experience

(05:12):
God's just retribution against sin Matthew, Chapter twenty five, verse
forty one. Then he will say to those who are
on his left, depart from me, accursed ones, into the
eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and

(05:35):
his angels, verse forty six. And these will go away
into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Now
I want to point out two things. The discussion of
eternal fire is number one in the Bible. It's in

(06:00):
the book. I did not bring that from some extra
biblical material. I just read those verses from the Bible.
Not only did I read those verses from the Bible,
they were words stated by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Therefore,

(06:25):
if hell is not real, then the Bible is not trustworthy.
And if hell is not real, Jesus is not trustworthy.
Since the Bible and Jesus just talked about it. Jesus
said more about hell than he said about heaven. He

(06:46):
says more about hell than he says about love. If
I can't trust him when he talks about hell, then
how do I know I can trust him when he
talks about heaven. If I can't believe him when he
talks about the bad stuff, then why should I place
my confidence in him when he talks about the good stuff.

(07:11):
And please note in verse forty six he says some
will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous to
eternal life. The Greek word for eternal is the same word.
So it's not like Heaven is good eternal life and
hell is something different in terms of its eternality. It's

(07:37):
the same concept. If heaven lasts forever, Hell lasts forever.
If Hell does not last forever, then how do I
know how long heaven lasts? Says it's the same eternal.
In fact, the Bible says God is eternal. If Hell

(07:59):
comes to an end, then Heaven is likely to come
to an end, which also means God is likely to
come to an end. For eternal is used of all freight.
So there's more at stake in this discussion than simply
ignoring a subject. It is that this subject carries the

(08:20):
same weight as its flip side, heaven. Jesus also stated
that this place is to be avoided at all costs.
He turned back to chapter eighteen of Matthew. He says,
in verse eight, and if your hand or your foot

(08:43):
causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it
from you, because it is better for you to enter
life crippled or lay than having two hands or two
feet to be cast into eternal fire. If your eye
causes you to pluck it out and throw it from you,

(09:04):
it is better for you to into life with one
eye than having two eyes to be cast into the
fiery hell. And it doesn't sound like a place you
want to hang out. Jesus is saying here that Hell
is to be avoided at all costs. The dangers of

(09:25):
being lured by sin into Hell are very real. If
there is something you choose to do, your hand, somewhere
you choose to go, your foot, something you choose to
look at, your eye, if it becomes an avenue to
lead you to Hell, get rid of it, because it
is better to be infirmed on earth than to be

(09:49):
lost for eternity in hell. The reason I know that
hell is real in addition to the fact that the
Bible says it, and Jesus says it, and of course
the Apostles say it too. But the reason I know
it is real is because death is real, and death

(10:10):
exists because of sin. If there were no sin, there
would be no death. The fact that there is death
is the natural result of sin. All death is is
the temporal reality of the presence of sin. Hell is
the eternal reality of the presence of sin, and it
is called the second death. The reality of death that

(10:33):
we don't like to think about means the reality of
hell that we also don't like to think about, and
yet not thinking about it doesn't get rid of it.
If you are ignoring today the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
Jesus is saying you need major surgery. If what you
like to look at, what you like to touch, where
your feet like to go are keeping you from Jesus Christ.

(10:57):
Today you need major sir, we pluck it. I'll cut
it all rather than confront this place called hell.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
Doctor Evans will return with more of today's message in
just a moment. Don't go away.

Speaker 4 (11:13):
Are you hungry for more of God, more of his truth,
more of his power, and more of His wisdom applied
in your life, then you need to connect with the
community of passionate believers who are growing in God's Word
through the Tony Evans Training Center with exclusive video and
audio teaching from doctor Tony Evans. This interactive online steady
experience allows you to explore theology, BIB, local history, and

(11:36):
real life application of the Kingdom Agenda anytime, anywhere. Visit
Tonyevans Training dot org to get started today. That's Tonyevans'
Training dot Org.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
Tony's current series is quickly coming to an end, and
you'll want to dig deeper into all he's taught by
getting the entire collection called The Afterlife. Glimpses of Heaven
and Hell Us five messages will show you why popular
portrayals of what happens after we die are often more
imagination than revelation. Get the truth by asking for the

(12:10):
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Holding onto Faith when Life Breaks your Heart. This powerful
book explores both the shared experiences and individual viewpoints of

(12:32):
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way through the unsettling experience of losing eight loved ones
in less than two years time. Through their honest and
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times and ultimately to experience God's peace through your own
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(12:54):
make the arrangements to receive these resources at Tonyevans dot
org or reach out to our two twenty four hour
resource center by calling one eight hundred eight hundred thirty
two twenty two. I'll repeat that contact information in just
a bit. But right now, let's get back to our message.
Here's doctor Evans.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
The residence of Hell. Secondly, who lives there? Who goes there?
Chapter twenty five, Verse forty one tells us Hell was
prepared for the Devil and his angels. Satan and his
angels are there because a long time ago they made

(13:35):
a choice to live life independently of God. You remember
the story, is it? You're twenty eight? I was there
fourteen when Satan said, I rebel against the most hyh God.
I'm gonna be my own master, captain of my own ship,

(13:56):
master of my own faith, and he will not rule
over me. Now this is a very important verse because
it tells you why Hell was created. It was never
created with human beings in mind. It was created, it says,
for the devil and his messengers, and the reason it

(14:17):
was created was because of their choice. But they're not
the only ones in Hell. People are in Hell, but
people only go to Hell, which wasn't prepared for people
because they make the same choice. You do not go

(14:43):
to Hell by chance. You go to Hell by choice.
Everybody who goes to Hell chose to go there. Now.
I hear the antennas going up right now, and I
hear you saying, I don't know anybody who would choose

(15:05):
to go to Hell. But the decision to go to
Hell is built into the rejection of God. In other words,
to reject God is to decide to go to Hell.
So you don't have to say I want to go

(15:26):
to Hell. All you have to say is I don't
want you. Hell is the answer to the sinner's prayer.
God told us to pray Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Hell

(15:47):
is God answering the sinner's prayer because he says Thy
will be done. God is saying, if you don't want me,
that's fine, But no, only don't get me, you don't
get my stuff. Hell is not getting God nor getting

(16:08):
his stuff. It is eternal alienation in other words, from
the goodness of God. Because there is alienation from God,
men go to heaven buy choice. For example, in Revelation
chapter fourteen, verses nine through eleven, it says, when the
beast and the false prophet are cast in the hell,

(16:29):
the ungodly are cast in there with them who chose
to receive the number of the beast. In other words,
they made a choice. They chose Satan. And when you
choose Satan, God says, I will be done. You love
him that much, live with him forever. A man one

(16:52):
day was on an airplane and he asked a preacher, Preacher,
do you believe in hell? Preacher said, well yes, he said,
I can't believe that. Why And the preacher's answer, though simple,
was profound. Man was created uniquely significant because he was

(17:17):
created in the image of God. Because man is significant,
so are his choices. If there were no Hell, then
you would not be significant. But you were created an
eternal being in the image of God, and that makes
you real significant as well as your choices. We have

(17:40):
a law in Texas where when you reach the age
of twelve years old, if the parents are battling over you,
you can have a say, so in which parent you
go live with the mother or the Father. God and
the devil both want you to live with them, and
they can't get along, and they're gonna have two different houses.

(18:04):
And God is beckoning you come live with me, and
the devil is beckoning, you know, come live with me.
At the age of accountability, you can choose which parent
you want, but whichever one you choose, you get to
live with forever. The Bible declares in Revelation twenty one
A and twenty two fifteen that while Hell was prepared

(18:28):
for Satan and his angels, the wicked go there too
by choice. Now I know the complaint. I don't believe
God would send people of hell. Two answers. Why he
doesn't send them? They choose to go, and neutral people
don't go. Sinners go. It's not this glob of people.

(18:49):
It's sinners who go to Hell, not people generically. Now
it leads to a third point, why Hell? What's the
reason for it? Look at Romans one for the wrath
Verse eighteen of God is revealed from Heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

(19:15):
See at the core of this issue of hell is
the character of God. God has two sides, not one.
Roman If eleven twenty two says God is both kind
and severe. He's both. Never focus on the love of
God so that you miss his righteousness or justice. Yes,

(19:40):
God is love, but God is also holy. God is
too pure to even look at evil. Rebecca one thirteen
says in the Book of Nahem, chapter one, he talks
about the justice of God and that God must respond
to sin. He cannot be skip over it. He could

(20:03):
not let the devil sin and skip it. He cannot
let you sin and skip it because his nature won't
allow it. That's why we have a legal system. It's
a way of responding to evil, and it must be
so because we're in the image of God. So God's
wrath is his righteous retribution against sin. God has positive

(20:27):
wrath and negative wrath, or let me think it again,
passive wrath and active wrath. That's basically how I would
say it. In Romans one, here's how he says it.
Because men reject God verse twenty one. When they knew God,
they did not honor him as God verse twenty four.
Therefore God gave them over to the lust of their hearts,

(20:49):
he says in verse twenty six. For this reason, God
gave them over to degrading passions, he says in verse
twenty eight. And just as they did not see fit
to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to
a depraved mind. We'll call this passive wrath. In other words,
this isn't where God just comes and pounces on you.

(21:11):
He just gets out of the way and doesn't block
evil from me. If he gives you over, he doesn't
protect you anymore. He gets out of the way so
that Satan can have free reign. But then there's God's
active wrath, and you get a little bit of that
in verse five of chapter two. But because of your

(21:31):
stubbornness and unrepenting heart, you are storing of wrath for yourself.
In the day of wrath and the revelation of the
righteous judgment of God with sinons, there's always the problem
with God. And there's nobody in here that doesn't send
daily daily, either in thought, word or deed daily. And

(21:57):
because God is even worse than us when it comes
to perfection, he can't even look at sin. It's judgment
is eternal. Given the fact that we are in the
image of God and have been created eternal creatures. Hebrews
ten thirty one says, it is a terrible thing to
fall into the hands of the living God. It's a

(22:20):
terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Everybody wants to get you, get your goose side. Everybody
wants to hold hands and rock back and forth in
all of these great meetings and says, let's love each other.
Let's make the world a better place. There is another side. Yeah,

(22:41):
it's not a popular side. It's not the side I
like preaching about. It's not the side I like talking about.
But what kind of firemen would I be if I
didn't warn you about fire? What kind of pleasment would
I be if I didn't warn you about criminals? What
kind of doctor would I be if I didn't want
you about disease? What kind of pastor would I be?

(23:03):
If I didn't warn people about hell? I would not
be doing due diligence. It doesn't take a rocket scientist
to see that when God moves in active wrath, it's devastating.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
Doctor Tony Evans with a sobering look today at the
question what is hell now? A reminder quickly that all
five messages in Tony's current series, The Afterlife Glimpses of
Heaven and Hell, are available on CD or digital download,
along with a companion learning guide for your personal or
group study. And if you reach out to us and

(23:40):
make a donation toward the ministry in the next few days,
we'll say thanks by sending you both the Afterlife audio
collection and study guide, along with a special bonus, a
copy of the Evans family's powerful book Divine Disruption, Holding
onto Faith when life breaks your heart. This special resource
bundle is only available for a few more days, so

(24:01):
contact us right away online visit Tonyevans dot org to
make the arrangements, or by phone call us at one
eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two, where one
of our friendly resource specialists will be happy to assist
with your request. The number again one eight hundred eight
hundred three two two two. On Monday, doctor Evans will

(24:23):
continue today's discussion as he paints a clear and sobering
picture of what hell is and isn't, and explains why
people make a deliberate choice to wind up there. The
Alternative with doctor Tony Evans.

Speaker 3 (24:37):
Is brought to you by the Urban Alternative, and

Speaker 2 (24:39):
It's made possible by the generous contribution some listeners like you.