JESUS…Fire and Brimstone Preacher
In the midst of preaching a very fiery and accusatory sermon to the Pharisees, Scribes and multitude, Jesus said this, “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” Luke 12:4,5
We don’t hear very much about hell in the church today, yet Jesus spoke of hell often — more than He spoke of heaven in the New Testament — 28 times. And His “sermons” were more energetic and descriptive than those of any preacher on earth! He knew exactly what hell was like…..He created hell…..for the devil and his angels. He did not create it for human beings, but became a man, suffered, died was buried, rose from the dead, and ascended back to heaven, to save us from hell, and so He could enjoy being with if us forever! His great Love for humans caused him to strenuously warn us of this place! He wants us to join Him in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, rather than to be cast in the eternal fire.
Listen to the fire and fervor with which He warns us:
“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.’ And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—where ‘THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.’ And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire—where ‘THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. (Mark 9:43 – 48)’ These are words we do not hear these days in our churches….very seldom….yet only a fool would not do whatever was necessary to avoid spending FOREVER in this Lake of Fire, which does not consume, and even the worms feeding on flesh are not destroyed. It is the absolute LOVE of JESUS, the Son of God, that He came to earth one Christmas day, to SAVE us from our sins, and from this hell, and to promise to take us to Him, for all eternity, to heaven instead. He himself suffered, died, spent 3 days and nights in hell paying the price, then ROSE FROM the DEAD, so that we could be free to spend eternity with HIM, by repenting from our sins, and giving ourselves totally to Him! There is no other way to get to heaven. (see John 14:6) and, in John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”