AUGUST 28, 2025 ~ FROM A PASTOR'S HEART

AUGUST 28 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: LUKE 13:22-33

How much do we believe in a hell? I remember reading a sermon by John R. Rice called, "If Every Christian Could Spend Five Minutes In Hell." His point was the reality of hell would move Christians to share the Gospel, because we would not want anyone to go there. Jesus spoke of hell, quite a lot actually. He called it "a place where the fire is never quenched and the worm never dies." A place of extreme torment and not just for a moment but for eternity. He told us it is a place of great darkness, a place of total separation from God.

Humans go to hell because their sin has separated them from God and because they have rejected the only hope of knowing forgiveness that is faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Most non-biblical cults deny there is a hell. They either teach universalism, or annihilation of the soul. Both of these teachings are not biblical, yet they are gaining acceptance even in many traditionally biblical churches. Rob Bell wrote a book called, "Love Wins," in which he denies hell and pretty much teaches all will make it to heaven. To many, the thought of eternal hell is too much for their senses to bear, so they have moved to the belief that a loving God would not send anyone to such a place, so non-believers just cease to exist. What they cannot see is that it was not God who left us, but we who left Him...and even in that He has given His Son in order that we might know forgiveness and spend eternity with Him.

Mankind is condemned in their sin and headed to an eternal hell, without hope, but God sent His Son to give us that eternal hope. Jesus came because of our sin...He suffered and died in our place so that we would not have to suffer eternal hell. Hell is real, Jesus is the only way to eternal life, we are the ones God has called to share this message with the world. We must care enough to share...people's eternity depends on it.

Please share your thoughts.