Getting Past The Sympathy Card

Introduction

The love of God is greater far than tongue or kin can ever tell it goes beyond the highest heart and reaches to hope itself the guilty temperature than the terror God gave its heart to meet reconciled and fart and prominent O love of God and rich and pure than truth it shall forevermore into saints and angels when horrible shall pass away and earthly growth and kingdom fall with me to hear refuse to pray on rock and hill and mountain tall close those shores shall fill into straw redeeming grace to Adam pray the saints and angels all love of God and rich and pure how many strong it shall forevermore into the saints and could we within the ocean failed and where the sky of fortune day were every stall on earth as well and every man’s right to write beloved with raining host and drive.

Contain the whole strength from God.

It shall forever enjoy the saints and song. Allah Jared. Your Bible, do you have it?

I like that. Making sure everybody was with him on those songs. And so if you have your Bible, we’re going to be looking first tonight at a passage in Isaiah that may be rather familiar. Isaiah 55 will be there in just a moment. Welcome to everyone and our center section of visitors. And we welcome all of you. And our folks are moving around. You’re all sitting in different places tonight. This is very odd. But it’s good to see you were talking about some spiritual realities that people ignore this morning, the existence of God, the reigning King, Jesus Christ, even our souls. The two ultimate spiritual realities that have to do with man’s eternal destination. If I can get it to work here tonight, heaven and hell.

No one who properly understands these two spiritual destinies would have one ounce of joy over the prospect of any soul being lost. Not one ounce of joy over that. But still, as we talk about hell tonight, the horrifying nature of the thought has caused many to reevaluate and change their beliefs. Some reject the reality of hell altogether because it is unfathomable to their minds. It is inconceivable, it is unconscionable that a loving God that we just sang about could send someone to a place of torment forever and ever. And so because it just seems impossible or inconceivable to our minds, it just must not be so. We must be careful not to reason upon that basis. As the passage in Isaiah 55, verses 8 and 9 suggests, my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your thoughts.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways to your ways and my thoughts to your thoughts. That being the case, while it seems unpleasant to our minds, and may even seem to be a contradiction to the love of God, as some would say.

This spiritual reality and ultimate destiny of men who will be lost. And so while our minds may struggle to embrace it, that does not mean that it’s not so, that it does not fit with the character of God. In Romans chapter 11, this would be further emphasized by this text in Romans chapter 11 and verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. And look at this. How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways. I can’t begin to understand everything that God is about and the things that he does and the things that he decides and the wisdom that emanates from him. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became his counselor? Or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again.

For from him and through him and to him are all things, to him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Others, so unconscionable to the human mind, will not suggest that hell as a place is not real, but the soul that is destined to such a horrible place will not remain there forever. They believe in the doctrine of annihilation. That the soul that is lost is ultimately consumed and does not live forever. And again, they don’t see how a loving God could torment people eternally. But the annihilationists must be asked, does hell’s torment occur at all? And for how long? And if it does torment in some duration, arguments about God’s cruelty still remain unsolved. Do they not? Neither of these views are biblical. And I want to talk to you tonight about getting past the sympathy card.

1. Jesus Not Greatly Concerned How People Might View God

Because that’s really what these views are about. We sympathize or empathize with someone who might be in this lost condition, and we want to try to find some way around it, try to find some way that this is not true, especially if someone that we have cared about in this life. But you know, Jesus did not seem greatly concerned about how people might view God when he taught on this subject. In Matthew chapter 25 and verse 46, he says, simply, in a lengthy judgment text where he is encouraging a righteous response. And I like what someone said about this text about the king is going to ask things or say things. I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink.

I was a stranger and you invited me in. These are the righteous. And if you’ve done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you’ve done it unto me. And he said, This is going to be on the test. And I like that way of this is going to be on the test. And if you’ve not done these things, neither have you done them unto me. And this results in this judgment that he talks about in verse 46 when he says, and these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. If we’re concerned about the prospect of eternal torment, and well we should be, then we need to be about the business of being righteous, because it is the righteous who received everlasting life, not everlasting torment.

And again, Jesus did not seem overly concerned about how people might view God when he tells the story in Luke 16 about the rich man and Lazarus. Of course, Lazarus was righteous. The unnamed rich man could not have cared less about the fortunes of Lazarus in this world. As he fared sumptuously every day, and the poor man, Lazarus, was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. But in verse 23, in this realm of departed spirits, Hades, the rich man lifted up his eyes, being in torment. And this is Jesus’ story. And he saw Abraham far away in Lazarus in his bosom, and he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue.

For I am in agony in this place. Another preacher reported that a Jehovah’s Witness said to him, The doctrine of eternal torment is a wicked defamation of Jehovah. It is a foul stain upon his lovable name. The foul stain, I would suggest to you, issues from those who deny God’s truth.

This seems to be the rightful punishment. Earlier in the context of Matthew chapter 25, in regard to the devil and his angels, it says, then he will also say to those on his left, Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels in Revelation. In Revelation chapter 20 and verse 10. Again, punishment fit for the crime in Revelation chapter 20 and verse 10. The devil who deceived was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. If the sympathy card is played for the persistent sinner, why is it not also played for the devil and his angels?

2. Fear Is a Powerful Motivator

Who will be tormented forever and ever away from the presence of God? And so instead of trying to play the sympathy card, would we not be behoved then to try to rescue the sinner from this eternal destiny? Well, this morning we asked why people aren’t asking the question, what must I do to be saved? Perhaps another reason why folks are not asking the question, what must I do to be saved, is because they’ve ruled out the prospect of hell. I mean, if there’s no concern about an eternal destiny of this sort. Fire. Tormented forever and ever without end. Then perhaps you might find less motivation to really seek the answers for one’s life and soul. If hell is ruled out, why not just live however you want to live?

Why sign on to the sacrifices and diligence of Christianity if there is no real fear of eternal punishment? After all, we’re just very busy. As I said this morning, people aren’t asking the question because they are just too busy. Now, somebody might say, I think there are greater motivators that ought to be present in our decision to serve the Lord. And I agree with that. I think love is the highest motivation. God loved me, reciprocate that love. We love because he first loved us. 1 John chapter 4. I believe individuals ought to respond out of gratitude. Thanksgiving, a higher motivation to be sure for our dedicated service to Jesus Christ and our loyalty in his cause. But I want to further suggest to you tonight that fear is a powerful motivator as well.

And Jesus is motivating people in these passages, Luke chapter 16, about having an inordinate affection for this world and its stuff. And he is generating hopefully fear in his audience to not have such a worldly focus and a materialistic focus because of what could result eternally. And in Matthew 25, he is doing the same.

Obedience to the gospel, people responding as a result of the preaching because the flames of hell are not flicking at their feet.

Whenever I preach on this subject, individuals inevitably say, I don’t hear sermons about hell anymore. Perhaps that’s part of the problem. Perhaps we’re not generating in people a healthy respect and fear for the possible eternal residence with the devil and his angels. The justification for preaching this sermon, I think, is found in the example of Felix in Acts 24. Felix was being taught by the Apostle Paul. Three things. He was discussing righteousness, verse 25, self-control, and judgment to come. Paul was speaking to Felix about faith in Christ Jesus. Righteousness, that is, we need to live right, that we need to restrain ourselves and exercise self-control in regard to immoral conduct. Righteousness, self-control, and judgment to come, and we all know what the response of Felix was, right?

He put him off. Go your way. When I have a convenient time, I will call for you. And what else do we read in the response of Felix? He trembled. Now, what was it in Paul’s preaching that made Felix tremble? It was the prospect of eternal punishment that we’ve read about in these passages. The truth is also fundamental. This truth is also fundamental in motivating our evangelism. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things done in our body, whether those things be good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10, and then verse 11, when Paul says, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.

Why, Paul, do we go about the business of trying to persuade people to live righteously to be faithful servants of Jesus Christ? Because we know the terror of the Lord. Do you know that? Do you know the terror of the Lord against unrighteousness and ungodliness? It should make you tremble. The thought of it. The Hebrew writer is not writing to unbelievers in Hebrews chapter 10. He’s writing to believers. And he’s talking to them about going on sinning willfully after receiving a knowledge of the truth. And he says, something very dire is the result. There remains no more sacrifice for sins. And then he says, in one of the more compelling passages, how much severer punishment. Okay, severer punishment. Let those two words sink in. How much severer punishment do you think he will receive?

3. Just How Bad Is Hell

Who has considered unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and trampled under foot the Son of God? And then in verse 31, he says, It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Sobering. Is it not? Just how bad is hell. Hell is worse than living without a hand, a foot, or an eye. Now, could I have any volunteers? How many of us would like to live without any of those? Just one. We have two of each. Would you give up one? You can make it with one. What would you want to? Would you really say that’s an ideal existence? To have only one hand or one eye or one foot. And yet, hell is worse than living our lives with just one.

Having to cut off one of each. To preserve our souls. That’s the point of Mark chapter 9. That tells us how bad hell is. In Mark chapter 9 and verse 42, Jesus again says these words. Again, if we’re going to, if we’re going to eradicate the doctrine of hell from the New Testament, then we’re going to have to throw out the book of Hebrews, and we’re going to have to throw out Paul and 2 Corinthians. And so Paul can’t be reliable. So there goes 13 books right there. And we’ll have to throw out Jesus, since he said more about hell than any other New Testament writer. So we’re going to have to throw out the four gospel narratives. What kind of a New Testament does that leave?

We’ve got to throw out the book of Revelation, too. And the book of Jude talks about snatching people out of the fire. Now we’re down to just a two or three books, and we can probably find something in those. I can’t off the top of my head right now, but we can probably find something in those that we just have to throw out the whole new testament if we remove the doctrine of hell. What does Jesus say? Don’t be the source of someone else’s stumbling. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believes to stumble. It would be better for him, and I’m coming back to this in a minute, if with a heavy millstone hung around his neck he had been cast into the sea.

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than having your two hands to go into hell into the unquenchable fire where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. Doesn’t sound like annihilation there to me. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than having your two feet to be cast into hell where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

What is Jesus saying in Mark chapter 9? Obviously. The eye and the hand and the foot are avenues that the devil will use in temptation to get us to sin. True. All sin originates in our hearts. And that’s where we must deal with the problem of sin. That’s the point that Jesus makes in the Sermon on the Mount when he says the man who has committed lust in his heart has committed adultery already. He’s not saying that lust and adultery are exactly the same sins, but they both originate from the heart, and we need to do our work in regard to righteousness in the way that we think, in our affections, in our heart. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life.

But the problems of lust and greed are a problem that are often associated with the eye, the gateway to the mind, because of what we see. These lusts are cultivated. Hands and feet. Because of our minds penchant to go in the wrong direction at times to satisfy certain cravings and desires, we will go to places and we will do things with our hands and feet. That will indicate transgression in our hearts. And so we sing to the little kids, oh, be careful, little hands, what you do. Oh, be careful little feet where you go. Because these things will participate in our acts of sin. So again, I want to say to you, we need to fear the place where the existence is worse than existing without an eye, hand, or foot.

We need to fear that place. And consider Jesus’ warning, I said I was going to come back to verse 42. He says something similar in Luke 17 about causing others to stumble. It’s inevitable that stumbling blocks should come, but woe to him through whom they come. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve said many times about these passages the prospect of a millstone being tied around my neck and me being tossed into the sea, in which I would plummet straight to the bottom and drown. You know, I really don’t have a desire to be an anchor.

And that’s what this passage is talking about. That’s better, Jesus says, than causing someone to stumble. In Mark chapter 9. This millstone situation, just okay, it’s going to take your physical life, but worse than that is the eternal torment of the soul. And so what point is Jesus making in Mark the ninth chapter? Well, he’s saying, you better take the subject of sin seriously. And take measures at all costs to avoid. He is speaking hyperbolically.

Because if you cut off a hand, you’ve still got one, and you can still get in trouble and sin with one hand, or even without your hands. But what he’s saying is, you’ve got to take some extreme measures to deal with the problem of sin. This is catastrophic. And there’s no word good enough, Stephen. There’s not a word we can choose out of the English language that is that is strong enough and horrible enough to describe being lost forever. Eternal torment. And perhaps folks aren’t responding to the message of the gospel because there is very little fear of that place and the prospect of going there. Hebrew writer said, you better not persist in sin. Or that’s what you’ve got to look forward to. Now, Jesus didn’t say that dealing with the problem of sin was going to be a piece of cake.

It’s going to require some real effort to overcome. But we better get about the business. And that’s why we are to confess our faults one to another and pray for one another that you might be healed. You need to look for divine assistance for sure, but you may need to look to a brother for some assistance to deal with that problem of sin. Not necessarily going to be easy to deal with it. But by God’s help and with your brother’s help, you can.

4. Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do Right

Solomon notices in Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 29. Sin enters the Garden of Eden, Genesis chapter 3, and then for thousands of years he prepares just the right circumstances to allow himself, his own son, to leave the ivory palaces, come into the world of woe to suffer rejection and die on the cross for the sins of every low down no good sinner who didn’t deserve it, including me. And he goes through all of that only to be rejected and ignored by most. How can we live in this world and breathe his oxygen and air? In him we live and move and have our very being, and never give him any consideration whatsoever. The great judge has expectations. And God did not concern himself with sinner sympathizers, and about how all this sounds to their justice and fairness.

Didn’t seem greatly concerned about that. And I will take you to this text. You see, here’s how the faithful respond to this. The prospect of judgment. God says, I’ve got to go speak to my servant Abraham about what I’m going to do at Sodom and Gomorrah. And so then that intercession unfolds. If there are 50 righteous souls, will you save the city? All the way down to 10. There’s not ten righteous souls. Lot and ultimately just his two daughters escape the judgment. His wife for a very brief time, but she became a pillar of self. So, just the three. But do you remember how Abraham responds before this intercession begins? He says in verse 25, shall not the judge of all the earth do right. That was his confidence in God.

Now, whatever’s going to happen in Sodom and Gomorrah in the next little bit, and God will ultimately destroy that city with fire and brimstone, as we read about it in chapter 19. Shall not the God of all the earth do justly or do right? Certainly he will. Whatever God decides, it’s going to be right and it’s going to be just. There’s another passage that I like in this regard in the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32, verses 3 and 4, the song of Moses, for I proclaim the name of the Lord and ascribe greatness to our God, the rock. I like that. I just got I got an exclamation point after that in my Bible. It says, the rock. I like that. His work is perfect.

For all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.

Now there are folks who face the prospect of judgment who die that I hold out very little hope for their eternal destiny. There are others who were believers in Christ who have obeyed the gospel, and I have a great deal of hope about their eternal prospects. But there are all kinds of situations and circumstances, and I don’t have to judge anybody because, first of all, I’m not God. He knows the hearts of people. The Lord searches and knows the heart. Emphasize over and over again in scripture. I don’t know that. So I take solace in this. While I may not have much comfort about a lot of folks who die and their eternal prospects, I have always been comforted in these verses. I know that God will have been fair.

That he will have been just. And whether it’s my grandmother or my beloved spouse or a child, God is going to be fair. And I comfort myself in that. But the fact is, there is a broad gate and a broad way that leads to destruction, and many are going in thereat. The majority of people are going to be lost. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around that. I don’t like that, as I said in the beginning. I don’t like it at all. But that’s the reality of it. Jesus says.

Remember what the rich man wanted to do in Luke 16? He didn’t even ask for himself. Let me go back and tell my brothers not to come to this place. He said, send Lazarus. Now again, this is Jesus’ story. But he’s saying, send Lazarus, send him back. Tell my brothers, don’t come here. Fix what needs fixing in your life. Give to God what is due him. But what did Abraham say in that discussion? They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. I have said so many times, if the rich young ruler could come and preach here tonight, would it be a more powerful sermon than I could deliver? If the rich young ruler could come back and say, you know, when I walked away from Jesus after I’d asked that great question, what shall I do that I might inherit eternal life?

5. His Expectations Are Not Unreasonable

If I had that to do all over again, would make a totally different decision. Whatever I left for wasn’t worth it. If somebody could come back from hell now, Adolf Hitler, assuming, again, assuming I hold out little hope for him. Assuming that’s where God will send it. If even he could come back here, do you think he would say, Don’t go there. Whatever you do, don’t go there. But you know, that’s not going to happen. That doesn’t ever happen. Because what would Jesus say? They have the New Testament. Listen to it. And that’s where we’ve looked at all of these passages about this subject tonight. His expectations are not unreasonable. He’s not asking us to do the impossible or to jump through hoops that no man can attain.

In Matthew 25, he’s saying, serve somebody. You see somebody in need. You see your brother down and out. Do something to assist him. Make his life better. And if you’ve done it to him, you’ve done it to me. That’s what I’m looking for. A servant’s mind. That’s the mind that was in Jesus Christ. Be a servant of others. Help other people along. Don’t be a discouragement. Don’t be a stumbling block, as we read in those other passages. Promote goodness in people’s lives. Because that’s what Jesus did. He’s not asking for the impossible. He’s asking for our effort to serve him and be loyal to him. A faithful response is reasonable. Present your body as a living sacrifice, Romans chapter 12 and verse 1, which is your reasonable service.

He’s just asking us to do what is reasonable, considering what he has done for us. And I need to pray. I need to pray for mercy. In 2 Timothy chapter 1, when he mentions Onociphorus and all the good that he did and how he’d refreshed Paul while he was in chains. He said, May the Lord grant him and his house mercy on that day. We’re all going to need that. Let’s pray that as many as possible will receive mercy, that particularly our brothers and sisters in Christ will receive mercy. Let’s pray about mercy. That he who began a good work in us will complete it at the day of Christ. And let us persist. Let us persist, not in willful sin, but let us persist in righteous conduct.

I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded, Paul says, that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Have you committed your soul and life to him? Have you made that commitment, as Paul did? That’s how he had the assurance that he speaks of in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 12. As we quoted this morning in Jude 20 and 21, keep yourselves in the love of God. Build yourselves up in the most holy faith, considering the fact that all of these things are going to be dissolved and destroyed. What kind of persons, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.

2 Peter 3, verses 10 through 12. He’s going to come as a theme in the night.

Conclusion

But as I see the wicked world around me, I keep asking myself.

Do you ever think that there’s going to be some great awakening in the world and that a lot of people are going to come to the Lord and they’re just going to be, you know, knocking the doors now to get into this place? I don’t think so. Now I don’t know. But it just seems like we are getting progressively worse in every society of the world. I don’t know any society in the world that’s getting better and moving toward righteousness. Do you? What happened here in the 1700s? I don’t see that ever happening again. How much longer is this going to go on? I don’t know. Only the Lord knows that day, Matthew 24, verse 36. It could be hundreds of years from now, a thousand years from now.

Thousand years is one day. I don’t know, but I keep looking at this and the number of people that are lost, and that growing number, and I think we better be ready.

We better be ready. Careless soul. Why will you linger? Wandering from the fold of God. Hear you not the invitation. Oh, prepare to meet thy God. Careless soul, O careless soul, oh heed the warning. Heed the warning. Your life will soon be gone. Oh, how sad. To face the judgment. Unprepared.

Well, if the flames of hell have been licking at our feet tonight, we should be about the business of making preparation. If not, oh careless soul, careless. To have this opportunity to hear Jesus’ words to come and to receive his salvation. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. Why would you put that on? Let’s stand and sing together.