From Clochr Valley in County Tyrone we present Let the Bible Speak. It's good to have you join us as Gospel Minister the Reverend Peter McIntyre is here to let the Bible speak and preach Christ in all his fullness. This afternoon I would like to read some verses to you from Revelation chapter 20, reading from verse 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. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. We know that God will bless the reading of his word to our hearts. Last week we thought about hell, the darkness of hell. It's a place of utter and total darkness and this darkness represents the absence of God's mercy, of God's grace, the absence of hope. It is a total contrast with heaven. a place of light, a place of holiness, a place of happiness. Hell is a place of sorrow. I want to continue in this vein and look at this subject of hell again. This is actually the endless punishment inflicted by God upon unrepentant sinners. There are some words here that are most unpalatable. The idea of endless punishment. 13 Willand Crescent, Five Mile Town, County Tyrone, BT75OQL. That's, let the Bible speak. Reverend Peter McIntyre, 13 Willand Crescent, Five Mile Town, County Tyrone, BT75OQL. You may hear Mr McIntyre preach each Lord's Day here in the Flocker Valley Free Presbyterian Church at 11.30am and 7pm. For further information you may phone us at 028 8952 1611. 028 8952 1611. We assure you of a very warm welcome at all the services and look forward to having you visit with us. Thank you for listening today. May the Lord richly bless you, and don't forget to tune in on this same station at the same time next week, when once again we turn to the Scriptures and let the Bible speak. There is the word Shul, there is the word Hades and there is the word Gehenna. So let's think about these words. First of all, let's think about the word Shul. What we know about Old Testament believers is that they believed that everyone was going to Shul. But the righteous would be delivered from that place and the unrighteous would be sent forever to that place. The Hebrew people in the Old Testament didn't have the same clear analysis or insight into hell and the judgment as we have in the New Testament because the teaching of God is progressive. But they did believe There was an afterlife. And very often the word shul is actually translated, the grave. So what did the Hebrews understand by the word shul? Well, they understand this, that there would be a moment of death. There would be a moment when life would end, when we would enter this new existence. This existence that is described as shul, or the grave. King Hezekiah, for example, said in Isaiah 38 verse 10, I shall go to the gates of the grave. And one day we're all going to go up to the very gates of the grave itself. We're all on that journey. And the Hebrews believed that God's people would be delivered from the power of Sheol. What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah. the deliverance from Sheol, something that the righteous could expect and anticipate. So the Jews believed in an afterlife. They believed that this life would come to an end, but there would be an existence beyond that. Whatever the limitations of their understanding, they got this very carefully. And they believed, and this is crucial, that in shul there would be everlasting punishment. For example, the wicked would spend their days in wealth and in a moment go down to the grave. Job 21.13, just think upon that. living for pleasure, living for wealth, living for this world, no thought of eternity, spending their days in wealth, and in a moment it's all gone. They go down to shoal. Job again said in Job 24, 19, drought and heat consume the snow waters, so doth the grief of those that have sinned. For the unrepentant sinner they would melt away, suffer and shoal, just as the snow would melt in the summer months. The wicked shall be turned into hell, all nations to forget God, Psalm 9, 17. So there is a judgement. And the New Testament says it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment. And if you don't know Christ as your Saviour, you're in a collision course with the very judgment of God himself. This is what Shoal would teach us. But the New Testament saints believed Psalm 41, 15, that God would redeem my soul from the power of the grave or from the power of Sheol. And that's beautiful. Redemption. Redemption. Only Christ can redeem us. Only the blood of Christ can redeem us. We're in the darkness of this life, facing the grave, facing eternity, facing hell. But when you know Christ as Saviour, you're redeemed. You're set free. And we know In this New Testament age, the Apostle Paul said, absent from the body, present with the Lord. As soon as the Christian dies, present with Christ forever and ever. So that's the word Sheol. Let's move on to the word Hades. In many respects, the word Hades is the Greek equivalent of Sheol. So the Jews in the Old Testament, in the Hebrew language, they represented the afterlife as Sheol. But in the New Testament, the afterlife is represented as Hades. Hades occurs 10 times in the New Testament. On each occasion, it's translated hell. The New Testament saints understood this quite clearly, that there would be hell for those that are not saved. after death. One of the clearest references is the story of the rich man and Lazarus and Christ himself told this story. As soon as the rich man died, he lifted up his eyes and hades and hell, he was tormented. The Christian, as soon as death comes, present with the Lord. Person's not a Christian as soon as death comes. It's hell. Now Christ expanded on this theme over and over throughout his ministry. For example, in Matthew 11, 23 and 24, he contrasted heaven and hell. So these two places are opposites, heaven and hell. Heaven on the one hand, hell on the other. Where are you going? Where are you bound? You're going to one of two places. There's no in-between place. There's no second chance. There's no second opportunity. Once death comes, that's it. Heaven or hell. What will it be for you? But let's think about the third word. So we looked at Sheol. It has reference to the afterlife. Looked at Hades. It has reference to the punishment that the sinner receives in the day of judgment. We've looked at Hades, which is reference to the judgement the sinner receives after he or she dies. Now let's consider Gehenna, the third word. Gehenna is another Greek word with Hebrew roots. It is by far the most terrifying word of the three, because if there's one thing Gehenna represents it is this, fire. The idea of Gehenna goes right back to the year 750 BC. King Ahaz was the king of Judah. He incorporated some of the most revolting pagan practices into the lives of God's people. He even had his own children sacrificed by fire in a devilish ritual. These human sacrifices were carried out just beyond the city wall of Jerusalem in the valley of Ben-Hinnom. Ahaz's son Hezekiah abolished such rituals. led the nation into a revival, but Hezekiah's son Manasseh restored the human sacrifices and the valley of Ben-Hinnom was once again witnessing this grotesque activity. Josiah followed Manasseh, he was enabled by God to destroy the pagan practices that had devastated his people. As a result of his reforms, the valley of Ben-Hinnom was used no more for human sacrifices, instead it became the public rubbish dump where the filth of Jerusalem was poured. And from that day forward, the valley of Ben Hanom became a rubbish tip. And a fire constantly burned in this place to get rid of the filth. The fire was never extinguished in the valley of Ben Hanom. The worms never stopped eating. The Greek translation of Ben Hanom was Gehenna. And the English translation of Gehenna, with its images of suffering, guilt, punishment, filth and burning, is hell. And as the Lord spoke to the people in Jerusalem, the smoke of the fire was rising from the valley of Hinnom, or the valley of Ben Hinnom, and you could catch just the waft of the terrible fire, and all the excrement that was being burned continually. The Lord would look at the people and He would say, If thy right hand offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into Gehenna, or hell, everlasting fire. Don't fear them that kill the body. but are not able to kill the soul. Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna, in hell. The worm doesn't die, the fire is not quenched, just as the fire of Gehenna didn't go out, burned continually, so the fire of hell never ceases to burn. Gehenna is the word which highlights that there will be a final end for sinners. beyond the judgment day, in the lake that burns with fire. To ignore the reality of hell is to ignore the clear teachings of Jesus. If you believe in Christmas, the baby that was born in Bethlehem, if you believe in Easter, the cross on which Jesus was crucified, if you believe in the resurrection that Christ rose again, if you believe in all of that, you've got to believe in hell. If you believe in heaven, you've got to believe in hell. If you believe there's a God, you've got to believe in hell. because this is part of God's teaching for us, because it reveals our future. To treat hell in a trivial way is the utter height of folly and stupidity. It is like making fun of a major disaster where many people died. To be apathetic where hell is concerned is to trifle with your own precious soul. Oh dear friend, in the words of John the Baptist, you've got to flee from the wrath to come. Will you not come and take Christ as your Saviour today? Be prepared for Judgement Day, so that you can be redeemed from the very power of hell itself. For after all, Christ went to that cross, he took our darkness, he took our pain, he took our suffering. The fire burned his very soul as he died for us. Put your faith in him. and you too can escape the damnation of hell. I thank you so much for listening. you've been listening to Let the Bible Speak if we can be of any further spiritual help or if you would like to receive some free gospel literature we invite you to write to us our mailing address is Let the Bible Speak Rev. Peter McIntyre 13 Willand Crescent, Five Mile Town, County Tyrone BT75OQL that's Let the Bible Speak Rev. Peter McIntyre Thirteen, Willand, Crescent, Five Mile Town, County Tyrone, BT75, OQL. You may hear Mr. McIntyre preach each Lord's Day here in Clocker Valley Free Presbyterian Church at 11.30am and 7pm. For further information you may phone us at 028 8952 1611. 028 8952 1611. We assure you of a very warm welcome at all the services and look forward to having you visit with us. Thank you for listening today, may the Lord richly bless you, and don't forget to tune in on this same station at the same time next week, when once again we turn to the scriptures and let the Bible speak.