Ignite GCCC 11-29-11 “The Bad Place”

Question: Do our sins determine the level of Hell, pain, and suffering that we will endure? Can we be released from Hell once we have paid for our sins?

Does Our Sin Determine the Level of Suffering We Experience in Hell?

            This is a popular belief held by many people in varying religions. We watch movies that make statements about the “worst of the worst” going to the darkest place in hell, but is that a real picture of what hell is like?

            With this view hell would seem to hold a little less fear. If I haven’t been that bad a person, hell shouldn’t be that bad a place for me. However, scripture does not say anything to that effect. Hell is indeed the same terrible and horrendous experience for everyone who goes there.

            What we need to understand is that hell wasn’t meant for humans in the first place. God had created it for the devil and those other eternal beings that turned against Him.

Matt 25:41 ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

            You have probably heard the statement, “Why would a loving God send anyone to hell?” Here is your answer. God never intended for any of us to experience the horrors of hell. God created a perfect world with perfect beings that had perfect unity with God. Sin entered in and destroyed that environment and that relationship.

            That is the entire reason for Jesus Christ being sent in the first place. Jesus’ sacrifice not only gives restoration to the original relationship that we were all supposed to have with God, it also saves us from having to pay for our own sins in hell.

            Sin is the sickness that seals everyone’s fate to go to hell. Jesus never states that there is a hell that is deeper and darker than other portions of it. Think about it this way, Satan, who used to be an angelic being at God’s side, with all of his strength and power, will not be using a pitchfork to poke and prod people in hell. He will be in such utter anguish that messing with anyone else there would be the last thing on his mind.

Is Hell is Eternal?

*Matt 25:46 ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

            It is incredibly important that we understand the unchanging and utter completeness of Hell. In our society we relish the idea of being free to get what we want now and we can push judgment off to a later time. That mindset has also bled into beliefs about hell.

            It amazes me to see how many people make ungrounded and unbiblical assumptions about the punishment for sin in hell. A lot of religions make it almost impossible to go to hell.

For example the Catholic view of hell is similar to what scripture states with the exception that they believe in purgatory. If you had at least been religious during your life you will enter a final cleansing time of punishment instead of hell itself.

Purgatory (In Latin means "to make clean, to purify”) is a place or condition of temporary punishment for those who, departing this life in God's grace, are, not entirely free from sin, or have not fully paid the punishment due to their transgressions. (www.newadvent.org/cathen/12575a.htm)

            There is temporary punishment for those under God’s grace? Does that sound Biblical to you? “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 8:1

            Let’s take a quick look at what Mormon’s believe about hell. “Currently hell in spirit prison is a holding tank for the souls of the wicked. Here they remain until the end of the millennium when they will be resurrected and judged. Those with crimes not including murder or apostasy will be allowed entrance into the telestial (A specific level of heaven) kingdom, which is the lowest of the kingdoms of glory. Those who failed to prove themselves worthy of a telestial reward will return again to outer darkness, this time for eternity.” (www.mrm.org/heaven-and-hell)

            Why would they call it “outer darkness”? “The confusion lies in how the LDS (Mormon) Church defines hell. Widtsoe qualified his remark by saying, "The gospel of Jesus Christ has no hell in the old proverbial sense." Smith clarified his comment by adding, "We do not believe that hell is a place where the wicked are being burned forever." (www.mrm.org/heaven-and-hell)

            Mormon’s and Catholic’s both claim to believe in the truth of scripture. Most of them would actually claim to be Christians. This shows the great danger of not knowing the Bible and what it clearly states:

Rev 20:15 “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Matt 18:9 “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.”

The idea that a person would escape hell based on the good or bad things they have done in life is completely unscriptural. The only way to escape the eternal judgment of hell is to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. Being put through suffering does not “cleanse” that person in any way. Jesus is the only way to freedom and life.

The Bible teaches of 2 places, heaven and hell. Even the idea of a “holding cell” for those waiting to be judged is not anywhere in scripture.

When you die you are ushered immediately into either eternal life in heaven, or eternal death in hell. Acts 7:55 says that when Stephen was being stoned (The first Christian martyr) he saw Jesus at the right hand of God while looking up to heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:8 says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, not in some spiritual no man’s land awaiting judgment.

Can I be Released from Hell after I Have Paid for My Sin?

A person who “Pays” for the sin done in their life, undergoes the eternal punishment for it. The second death is in fact your punishment for having rejected Christ and there is no end to your payment. Romans 6:23 clearly states that the wages of sin (The reward for sin) is death. Thinking that you will be released after the punishment is kind of like being led to your execution because of your crimes, but being assured that after your punishment you will be free to go. You will be dead. There is no more “free to go” after being executed.

There is an added issue to this idea of being freed once you have “paid” for your sin. Let’s pretend for a second that you could actually be freed from your sentence of 1,000 years in hell for such and such a crime. The issue is that the righteous that are taken to heaven are made to be like Christ. Sin is no longer an issue for them. People in hell are not removed from their sinful nature. People in hell are quite capable of continued sin. They would never be set free simply based on the fact that they will continue to sin in hell!

Escaping hell is impossible as Jesus stated through a parable in Luke 16:19-31; “And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.”

2 The 1:9 “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”

Rev 14:11 “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night,”

The Bottom Line

            There are many books that talk of hell’s torments, there are people who have had nightmares of what hell will be like, there are even artistic renderings of what it would look like. But no matter how vivid these things make it out to be, nothing man could ever dream up could scratch the surface of how incredibly horrific hell will be.

            You need to make sure that you do not put off a decision to follow Christ. We are not guaranteed anything in this life. You do not know when your life will be taken from you. As we have seen you will immediately be taken to one of two places. Spend time now making sure that you will be with God and not separated from Him for all of eternity.

Ignite Party This Friday Cancelled!

Heads up! The Ignite party for this Friday is being rescheduled. There are a significant amount of students from GCCC that cannot make it so we are rescheduling for next year.

 

Ignite Bible Study “Being O.K. with Jesus” 11-22-11

            What is the sign where Jesus lets you know everything is ok and that He is showing you the way? How do we know that we are truly saved? Are there specific things that we can look for in our lives that let us know God is in control?

            Yes, there are ways to know for sure that you are a Christian and that God is in control of your life. The first is just simply making sure that you believe what you say you believe.

Salvation

*Romans 8:1-2

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

            If there is no longer condemnation, or punishment, for everyone who is “in” Christ, then we need to make sure that we are really in Christ. But how does a person go about doing that exactly?

            Let’s start with understanding how to receive salvation. I know a lot of you already understand this premise, but it is pivotal before we can understand if we are truly saved.

*Romans 3:23-26

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

            Ok, now in English. Everyone has sinned and cannot be in God’s presence. We are justified, “saved” or made right with God, because of His grace and only by receiving it as a gift in faith from God through Jesus Christ. How does that work? Verse 25 explains it. God put Jesus Christ in our place to receive the full punishment for our sin. Sin requires blood as a payment.

Forbearance: Refraining from enforcing something. God does not force us to pay for our own sins because of our faith in Jesus Christ. All of this to say that if you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior He is just to forgive us our sins.

*1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

In effect, believing in Jesus Christ, confessing our sins, and asking Him to save us gives us eternal life through Him. There is no other way to be right with God.

Making Your Salvation Sure

Now that we have covered how to come to Christ for salvation, how do you make sure that you are really saved?

*Colossians 2:6-7

^“6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

            Walk in Him. What? I can’t really “walk” in somebody. That idea is just strange. Ok, I get that. Let’s break it down. What does it mean to walk in someone’s steps? It means to follow after them. It means to do what they do.

            Let me ask you this, If you were imitating everything that Christ did, how different would your life be today? Why aren’t you? Our very name means “little Christ”. The idea of being rooted into Christ is really what we are going for isn’t it? That sounds pretty secure. So how do we make sure that we are rooted?

            Being rooted has a lot of different implications. You have met the unstoppable force (God) and now are the immovable object (A Christian). Someone who is rooted in Christ will be growing in their relationship with Him. Becoming a Christian isn’t a onetime prayer and then you are good to go the rest of your life. It is a process of making God the actual Lord of your life.

            Are you doing everything you can to follow after Christ in every situation? When your boyfriend pressures you for sex? When you are confronted with drugs? When you have the opportunity to cheat?

            The way you make sure that you are “in” Christ is a daily task. Do you have remorse for your sin? Are you really repenting and turning away from it? Are you seeing fruit in your life from what God is doing? If not, I would question if you really have given your life to Him.

*2 Peter 1:5–11

^“5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. ¹¹ For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

            If you are missing these qualities in your life, you need to make some adjustments. Does that mean that we will automatically be a perfect person? No. We have work to do and God continues to work in our lives on a daily basis, but we need to make sure that we are being attentive to His leadership and make the changes that He wants us to make.

*Galatians 5:22-24

            “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

            You know that Christ is in control when you see yourself begin to exhibit these qualities.

"Impact" Session 2, November 16, 2011

Bottom Line: When we are impacted with God’s truth, wherever it is found, we are changed.

*Acts 17:22–28

²² So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. ²³ For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, ²⁵ nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. ²⁶ And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷ that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸ for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

       Tonight we are looking at the difference between basic religion and being Christlike.

       What does religion look like? We carry out certain duties. We HAVE to do this thing or that thing. We HAVE to pray. We HAVE to gather together.

What is the impact that religion has on people? It strives to make you a good person a lot of times by human standards. (Vs 22) Have you ever met someone who simply believes in just “being a good person”? It is interesting because you can find some really “good” people morally that have no relationship with God whatsoever. They are sometimes even more moral than Christians! I have met many people who are on a “better” path in life. They are the people who strive to be good and friendly to everyone. Who think that stealing is wrong and that we should be the best we can in our societies.

A lot of times religion has just that affect on people. You can become a good catholic by not doing too much bad stuff. Most of the time bad stuff is just what your conscience “feels” is bad. You can become a good Mormon by not drinking coffee. You can be a good Muslim by praying 5 times a day.

        Do you see what religion is about? It is about being good and following rules. Is that a bad thing? Not at all! Paul was able to see this in the Athenians and was able to point them in a direction that gave doing these things purpose. Your actions change, when you are religious.

What is the impact that Christ has on people? There are a lot of similarities aren’t there? You still need to pray. You still need to gather together. You still need to avoid sin. What is the significant change then? Are we any different from a “good” person? Example: Let’s think about it this way: If I tell you to go clean up these classrooms, you would probably do it just because I said so... maybe. But if I told you to go clean up these classrooms because the family that just lost their home was going to be living here for a while, do you think that would change your attitude in doing what I asked you to do?

There are a few reasons we are different from just being “good people”.

The first reason is that we have been redeemed by God’s grace because of our faith in Him. We are sinners in need of a savior, just as much as sinner that is a good person needs a savior.

The second reason is that we should have a complete change of our thought life. The way you see a situation should be completely different once you have been touched by God. Our lives should be centered on serving Christ. When you encounter a decision to sin, your question isn’t “How can I do this and become a bad person?”, but it should be, “How can I honor God in this situation?”

A good person looks for recognition for the good things he does. A Christian points the good things he does back to Christ, giving God the glory.

            Look at how this next verse ties in to what we are talking about:

(Vs 23) The men of Athens worshiped what they did not understand. They were trying to worship God, but they didn’t know who He was in order to worship Him correctly.

People know right from wrong. They may not claim to know it because they don’t want to be held accountable to it, but they know it just the same. People know that they should worship, but they don’t know what they should worship.

Let me give you another example. Have you ever seen the Coexist bumper sticker? How many of you think this is a good thing? We should coexist with others. We should accept each other’s differences and live in harmony. Tell me what this bumper sticker is really saying. “We are all the same, we don’t need to get hung up on petty issues like doctrine or theology.”

That sounds good until you realize what God says about doctrine. You not only need to know what do worship, or better yet, who to worship, but you need to know why you worship it.

John 1:12 “To all who did receive HIM, He gave the right to be children of God…” Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

On a side note, here is the thing that gets me. The very sticker that is meant to bring about harmony is actually an attack on Christianity. Why? Because we are the ones that say Christ is the ONLY way to God the Father. Even though the explanation points out that Islam is in it to destroy every one of these other views and that Christianity is not a threat to any of the others. Christianity is the only one capable of coexisting with these other religions at the same time of pointing them to Christ. Isn’t that wild?

Paul proclaims Christ to the men at Athens because they were worshiping everything. Not understanding that they were supposed to worship only God. They knew there was something that they needed to worship, they just didn’t know what it was.

*Acts 24-27

        ^24 “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, ²⁵ nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. ²⁶ And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷ that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,”

        God is in the details. He gives life, and everything needed for it. He determines where we live, what our circumstances are, and He continually reaches out to us. He wants us to find Him. To be impacted by His presence.

        This ties in to what we talked about last week. We will not experience God unless we are seeking after Him, unless we are putting ourselves in a position to be impacted by Him.

        I want you to realize that we don’t have some kind of magical solution for life. We are not good people because of what we do, we are good people because of who Christ is in us. You have probably heard the phrase “It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship.” That is very true. We have to have our relationship with God because otherwise being a good person makes no sense. Spending time in church makes no sense. Praying makes no sense. I am not religious, I’m a Christian. How is that going to impact your week? How are you going to allow God to impact others through you?

Collide Series Starting Tonight

What takes place when something smashes into something else? Change. A lot of times we look at collision as being a negative thing, but there are positives collisions that cause good change. We are going to be looking at what collisions have shaped our lives and how we should continue to allow God to collide with us on a daily basis. We need change to happen so that we can grow in our relationship with God. Join us Wednesday nights at "Ignite" (First Baptist Church of Fairborn youth wing) at 6:00pm. See you there!

Church Newsletter Article for Dec 2011

            Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” - Matthew 9:37–38

            Pastor Ron has preached many impacting sermons about revival recently. Joe Veal blessed us during the week of revival with several powerful messages about the gospel and the power of God. But are we hungry for it?

            Jesus says in this verse that there are scores of people who are ready to hear the gospel and respond, but that there are not enough laborers. There are not enough people willing to go into those fields.

            In my mind I imagine African’s toiling over the ground in Africa. Even old men still faithfully go into the field and break their backs, gain blisters on their hands, and sweat over their plants until there is a harvest. But what is gained? Life! They are able to feed themselves and their families. Then they go back out and start the process again.

            We need to stop looking at outreach and evangelism as a byproduct of revival and start realizing that revival doesn’t happen unless God’s people start taking His commands seriously. We need to stop looking at the fields of people here in Fairborn and saying that the hard work of outreach is not worth it.

            The youth group is going to get serious about sharing their faith. Will you?