Hell is not a very popular subject these days. Not that it ever was, but this generation generally assumes that if you are a “nice person” you will go to heaven when you die. We also know that it is currently not politically correct to promote Jesus Christ as the only Savior. Exposing another religion’s falsehoods is now frowned upon by our government. So if you say, for example, that Muslims are lost and going to hell unless they receive Jesus as Savior, you may not be invited to any government National Day of Prayer functions. Just ask Franklin Graham who dared tell the truth about Jesus. Underlying all this political correctness is the belief that it doesn’t really matter what you believe about the afterlife because so many assume that heaven is just a nice place to mention even though there is no afterlife and hell is also nonexistent. Sometimes I think that there are enough Christians who also would prefer it that way rather than “insult their pagan friends. But Jesus was all about accountability to the Father in heaven and he made it clear that his mission was to make atonement for our sins because we all were in jeopardy of experiencing the wrath of God.
In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19f), our Lord makes it clear that heaven and hell are real. In this parable Jesus legitimates what was believed by the Pharisees as compared with the Sadducees that the wicked are confined to a place of suffering and the righteous find rest in a heavenly place. “Heaven” (called Abraham’s bosom) was separated from hell and there was no way at all whereby those in hell (or Hades) could attain access to the abode of the righteous (verse 26 in our text). Also there is some scriptural evidence that “Paradise,” the abode of the righteous, was transferred to Heaven or the very presence of God after Jesus’ resurrection (Ephesians 4:8-10). In the Book of Revelation we are left with no doubts that the righteous who have passed on are with the Lord in Heaven (e.g. see chapters 4 and 5). Later in Revelation we read about hell being cast into the “Lake of Fire” (20:14) where all the unbelieving fearful, abominable, murderers, whore mongers, sorcerers, and idolators shall be for ever and ever (Rev. 21:8). This is called the second death (Rev. 20:14 KJV) Just being in the company of satan (Rev. 20:10), demons and the aforementioned will be hell enough let alone the fiery conditions.
All this means that we better get it right. What we believe about God and Jesus Christ as well as what the true faith is all about is not so much about parlor games and idle gossip, but it is about where we will spend eternity. We better take seriously what Paul says in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ (KJV). Also in Acts 4:12 NKJV, it is crystal clear: “Nor is there salvation in any other (and that includes Islam, parenthesis my own), for there is no other name (just Jesus, parenthesis my own) under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Saved from what? The answer is hell and the “Lake Of Fire.” Jesus went through a lot of trouble to rescue us from a life of meaninglessness and eternal damnation and it “will be harmful to our health” if we don’t take this very seriously.
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