WHAT THE HELL!

What the hell!

People have this attitude about hell: A kind of “whatever” approach; yawn; “A loving God sending people off into a tormenting eternity? C’mon, get real!” etc. Have you noticed that? “What the hell – I’ll take my chances!” they say.

But there are no chances in hell.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been caught for something. Maybe cheating in an exam; called into the headmaster’s office, or the boss’s office; or called to a fist-fight or gang-fight; called by the Receiver of Revenue; or even caught by the police; called to appear in court.

I have.

All of the above – and some!

Friends ask you in the midst of it all, “Are you alright?”, because they can see that the blood has drained from your face, you’ve gone grey in the gills, and you look like death warmed up! But you play brave, and thru your quivering lip you incoherently utter, “I’m fine. What the hell!”, while your nonchalant, sweaty palm slips awkwardly off its support like a drunk fool, defying your “cool” masquerade, and your heart thumps like a deafening rapper in your chest!

But if the truth be told, you’re not fine - YOU’RE DEAD SCARED!

And isn’t it funny - these are all human conditions, man-on-man stuff, and yet the dread-anticipation makes us break out into a cold sweat.

Can you imagine what it is going to be like to appear before God? Jesus said, "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul (man-on man); but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (God-on-man)” (Matthew 10:28)

Nice!

The Bible says, “... it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb 9:27), and then in 2 Corinthians 5:10 it says, ^“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”, and Heb 10:31 intensifies the heart-thumping rap with, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”!

“TERRIFYING”? You thought you were nervous before with the man-on-man deal, but God-on-man is more than “sweaty palms” or “butterflies”! John records his encounter with Jesus in Heaven as, When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man...” (Revelation 1:17)

“What the hell – I’ll take my chances!”, you say. Go ahead, “dead man” – take your chances.

What if you are right, and there is no God, no eternity, and all the dumb Christians have believed a fairy tale? Well, I’ve lost nothing by being a Christian. But, what if I’m right, and there is a God, and there is eternity? Then you’ve lost absolutely everything, including your soul for eternity! It’s pay-back time! There’s going to be hell to pay! Wanna gamble? Play a little bit of spiritual Russian Roulette for the rush? Not even the dumbest dude on the planet would gamble with those odds! That’s why the Bible says, “Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”” (Psalm 14:1)

You will die. We all die. You have got to “fire-proof” your soul. This is how you do it: the Bible says,

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (John 3:16-19)

One day, “as sure as hell”, you are going to know your eternal state:

Scripture says, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done...¹⁵ And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire... 21:8 ⁸ But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 20:11-12, 21:8)

You can’t say, “What the hell” about Hell.

I hope this article scares the hell out of you!

Keep preaching, Saint!

WWJD?

Well, He is the Word - there's no doubt that He would preach. And Preach He did:

Mark 1:38-39
³⁸ He said* to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may PREACH there also; for that is what I came for." ³⁹ And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.

Luke 4:18
¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor . He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives , And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed

Christ's purpose was to preach.

What did the 12 do?

Mark 3:14-15
¹⁴ And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have authority to cast out the demons.

What should You and I do?

Mark 16:15-17
¹⁵ And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues.

Acts 1:8
⁸ but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

The Holy Spirit's primary purpose for His anointing is to empower you and I to preach Christ to the lost.

It is incredible to see how miracles follow the preaching of the Word. They don't seem to follow our barbeques, braais or events.

It is equally true that persecution follows the preaching of the Word: "affliction or persecution arises because of the word" Mark 4:17. So, if we want to avoid persecution, we should not preach the Word. Preach other things, like benevolence and environmentalism and crime, etc, but don't preach Christ if you want to be loved by everybody.

Every Christian has a single priority responsibility, i.e. to preach Christ, every breathing moment of our short lives. Anyone, Muslims, Hindus, celebs, et al can care for orphans, feed the hungry, fight for a cause, go green - it's commendable, but not eternal. But only Christians can preach Christ! Christ as the only way to heaven, Christ as God, Saviour, Forgiver, and giver of eternal life. All things were made by Him and for Him and thru Him. Every person on the planet has their breath from Christ alone. What are you doing with yours?

Preach Christ, or play games.

STAY YOUR COURSE TO THE END OF YOUR LIFE

"STAY YOUR COURSE TO THE END OF YOUR LIFE.

Your work and your life must go off the stage together. Persisting to the end will be the burr under your saddle - the thorn in your flesh - when the road ahead seems endless and your soul begs an early discharge. It weighs down every other difficulty of your calling. We have known many who have joined the army of Christ and liked being a soldier for a battle or two, but have soon had enough and ended up deserting. They impulsively enlist for Christian duties, are easily persuaded to take up a profession of religion, and are just as easily persuaded to lay it down...This persevering is hard work! Taking up the cross daily, praying always, watching night and day and never laying aside our armour to indulge ourselves, sends many sorrowful away from Christ. Yet this is your calling: to make the Christian faith your daily work, without any vacation from one end of the year to the other." (William Gurnall - The Christian in Complete Armour)