Paul reminds us that the carnal mind is at war with God and eventually will lead us to death. The spiritual mind experiences life and peace. Hell, it would seem, has fallen on rather lean times. It used to be that the vast majority of Christians, regardless of denominational affiliation, believed that Hell was a real place where the wicked and the impenitent go when they died. The very thought of the pains and torments of Hell was enough to scare sinners straight. It used to be that ministers of the Gospel would preach on the horrors of Hell to persuade reprobates to repentance. But not anymore. Most American mainline and so-called Evangelical churches stopped preaching about Hell years ago. Most mainline ministers stopped believing in Hell years before that. Hell made people uncomfortable. Hell was too “old-fashioned.” The topic of Hell was bad for the bottom line—attendance and income. Hell damaged people’s self-esteem. We have neatly wall- papered over Hell to the detriment and peril of our souls. I can assure you, the Devil believes in a Hell. That’s why he is working so tirelessly in our world before he is dumped there. The demons Jesus exorcised from people believed in Hell and pleaded with Him not to send them there. Jesus certainly believed in a Hell. The top three topics our Lord spent most of His time speaking about in His earthly teaching ministry were money and material possessions, Hell, and the Kingdom of Heaven. And the Master’s words about Hell are sober, dire, and serious. His constant admonition to His hearers was this: Do whatever you must to avoid Hell.
You may not believe in hell, you may think that it is just a state of mind, but as the old revival preacher said to the skeptic,
“You not believing in Hell don’t lower the temperature there one degree.”
Special thanks to the youth drama team for helping in this series of messages to bring to life the reality that hell exists.
