Psalm 90:11

Psalm 90:11 11 Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.

What is your concept of Hell? My guess it has been tainted by pop culture. You might have images of red devils with bifurcated tails and pitchforks running amok in the fire. Perhaps you have images of a never ending party because all of the fun people are there.Both of these images are lies – caricatures of the real thing to keep mankind from fearing it.

Perhaps you even have a biblical image of God pouring out His righteous anger for all eternity. What kind of punishment awaits those who die without accepting Christ as Savior? How bad a place is it? Whatever your image is – it falls short of the actual truth.

“Who knows the power of Your anger?”, Moses states in today’s verse. Moses saw firsthand some very direct displays of God’s wrath. He lived every day knowing that an entire generation was going to pass away because of their sin. Even after experiencing everything that he had, he still understood that he could never comprehend the full expression of God’s righteous anger. Look at this passage from Hebrews 10:

26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

We understand punishment for wrong doing. We have an expectation that the authorities will round up the bad guys and make them pay for what they have done. We experience indignation when this is not the case. Why then would we expect the Father to do any less?

Hell is a real place. It is a place where the Father pours out His righteous judgment upon those who deserve it for all eternity. Below you’ll see an outline of scripture references concerning Hell that I’ve pulled from the topical index of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. Take some time to check the references

Hell-the place of eternal torment
A. Described as:
   Everlasting fire.............Matt. 25:41
   Everlasting punishment.......Matt. 25:46
   Outer darkness...............Matt. 8:12
   Everlasting destruction......2 Thess. 1:9
   Lake of fire.................Rev. 19:20
B. Prepared for:
   Devil and his angels.........Matt. 25:41
   Wicked.......................Rev. 21:8
   Disobedient..................Rom. 2:8,9
   Fallen Angels................2 Pet. 2:4
   Beast and the false prophet..Rev. 19:20
   Worshippers of the beast.....Rev. 14:11
   Rejectors of the Gospel......Matt. 10:15
C.Punishment of, described as:
   Bodily.......................Matt. 5:29,30
   In the soul..................Matt. 10:28
   With degrees.................Matt. 23:14

I know I’ve given us a lot of verses to chew through today but I wanted to make sure that we bathe this topic in Scripture. I want to make sure that we walk away from today’s message with a clearer view of this place.

“For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath”, Moses also writes. While it is true that none of us can fully comprehend Hell it is also true that it’s reality fundamentally changes the Christian. We may not understand the pain and hopelessness of that place but we all should fully understand that it is a place we should be.

Why would I say that? Isn’t being Christian holding hands around a campfire and singing “I’ve got this Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy down in my heart!”?That too is a lie… We all “start” being a Christian by coming to the realization that we have sinned against a holy God. We come to the place where we know that we are unrighteous, dead things before Him and we are incapable of pulling ourselves from our graves. We put all our hope in Jesus accepting the fact that if He either can’t or won’t save us – we are lost. We then give Him the rest of our lives.

It is not a bad thing to fear God. Yes - He loves you more than you can comprehend. Yes – He desires an intimate relationship with you. Yes – He will pour more blessings into your life than you will know this side of heaven. But it is also true that He is completely holy. He does not wink at sin. He is angry with sinners every day. I think the combination of the truths of God’s attributes is why Paul tells us in Philippians to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”.

Hell is real. It is a place to be feared. It is a place to be avoided. Best news is – you don’t have to go there.

Repent from your sins before it’s too late. Accept Christ as Savior and Lord while you still have time. Remember that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God.