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Christ in Hell Part 2 of 9
By Bro. Cheek | October 4, 2007
Table of contents for Christ in Hell
Christ in Hell
Part Two
Does Hell Exist?
By Pastor Robert L. Cheek Jr.
Victory Baptist Church
To a person that believes the Bible, such a question seems ridiculous. There are some who cannot answer this question with certainty because they have determined that God’s Word does not mean what it says. Therefore, they do not believe in the existence of a literal, burning hell. Many Christians that used to believe in hell now find reason to question its existence. Several denominations teach against the existence of hell. Most of the cults deny hell, but the Bible is very clear about the existence of hell. If we believe the Bible, we must believe in the existence of hell. If heaven is real, hell must be. Without hell there can be no heaven.
The word hell occurs 54 times in the Bible; 29 times in the O.T., 25 times in the New Testament. The first time it appears is Deuteronomy 32:22. God is angry with His children in that chapter because they have made Him jealous by worshiping other gods. In His anger He speaks of kindling a fire.
Deuteronomy 32:21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
Deuteronomy 32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
This passage not only shows us there is a place called hell, but it also shows us that hell is associated with fire and judgement. Let’s consider some other O.T. verses that show hell is a real place.
Psalms 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
Psalms 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
Psalms 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Isaiah 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
These O.T. verses and many others certainly prove the existence of hell. It is not a figment of someone’s imagination. Hell is not what we make it to be. Hell is not in our minds. It is a literal place.
The N.T. also teaches that hell is a real place. Some call the story of the rich man and Lazarus a parable in order to deny the literal existence of hell. That story is not a parable. A parable is a fictitious story used to illustrate a truth. The prodigal son is an example of a parable. The father and two sons in that story never existed. But the rich man and Lazarus did exist. Their story is true. We know this because Jesus never gave a person’s name when He taught a parable. Since He mentions Lazarus by name we know this story is real. Jesus could have given a parable about hell if He wanted to, but He chose to use real people. I believe He did that because of the reality of hell. It is not a parable, but a real place. Christ, therefore, used real people to teach about it.
Luke 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
The rich man died and lifted up his eyes in a place called hell. Lazarus died and was taken to a place called Abraham’s bosom. Both places are as real as the men that went there. Here are some other N.T. verses that clearly teach the existence of hell:
Matthew 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Matthew 18:9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
Matthew 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
If hell does not exist, why would Christ give so many warnings about it? The greatest source of evidence and proof for the existence of hell is none other than Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus preached on hell more than He preached on heaven. It makes no sense to warn people about a place that is not a reality; neither does it make sense to preach about heaven if that is not a real place. Hell must exist. In fact, the Lord made an interesting statement about hell in Luke’s Gospel.
Luke 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Those that deny the existence of hell are really questioning the integrity of Jesus Christ. In Luke 12:5, notice that Christ gave the existence of hell as a reason to fear God. Why would Christ use a fictitious place as a reason to fear God? He would not have done that. There is no reason to fear an imaginary place. Christ was not the only person in the N.T. that preached and taught about hell. John, the writer of the last book of the Bible, wrote about hell.
Revelation 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Peter, the apostle who preached thousands into the family of God, preached about hell.
Acts 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
James the Lord’s brother also taught about hell.
James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Some might argue the existence of hell by stating that the great Apostle Paul never taught about hell. This is true. Paul never uses the word hell in any book he wrote. But this is not an oversight or reason to deny hell. Paul was the apostle to the church. He was the apostle to the gentiles. The blessing to glean from this fact is that Christians will never go to hell. Our apostle never mentions hell directly. That is a testimony of eternal security. Praise God, Christians will never go to hell. It is certainly not a reason to deny hell. Paul is not greater than Jesus Christ, and Christ clearly taught about it.
Hell is certainly a real place. To deny hell is to deny much of the Bible. The Bible mentions hell in 17 books. To deny hell is to deny these 17 books. To deny these 17 books is to deny the writers of these books. The writers of these books also wrote 12 other Bible books. Therefore, to deny hell one must discard 29 books of the Bible. In other words, Forty-four percent of the Bible is untrustworthy if hell is not a real place. That’s almost half of the Word of God. In our next chapter, we will consider the location of hell. If hell is a real place, it must be somewhere. The Bible clearly shows us where it is.
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