Intro: These verses deal with the return of Christ in wrath to judge the sin of the world. And he is coming. He will recompense unto men their evil deeds resulting in everlasting torment for the unbelieving, and it will be everlasting joy for the redeemed of God. God help us to understand that there is a real hell where real people are going!

I am truly thankful for many things, but the thing I am most thankful for is that I am not lost; I will not burn in hell under the wrath of god for all eternity! God has no pleasure in the death of the lost man today! It is not his will that any should perish, but most men are going to hell.

I.          THE CERTAINTY OF HELL: there is to be no doubt about hell! It is referred to more than heaven is referred to. It is a certain place. We find the word hell used many times in scripture...

            In the Old Testament it is Sheol... it is referred to 65 times in the Old Testament. It is the place of the wicked... it is described as deep, dark, with bars, a place you go down to!

            In the New Testament we have several words for hell. One of these is Hades... it is a prison, with gates, and bars, and locks. It a place of eternal separation.

            Gehenna, in most of its occurrences in the Greek New Testament, designates the place of the lost (Matt 23:33). The fearful nature of their condition there is described: (Matt 8:12, 13:42, 22:13, 25:30). Outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Luke 16:24)- Tormented in the flame!

II.        THE CROWD GOING TO HELL: Lu 13:3, 5 “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

            Mark 16:16, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
John 3:18, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
1 John 5:10, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.”
Rev. 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

A.        The Rebel: the abominable... (whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters) the sinner who shamefully indulges in perversions

B.        The Religious: the unbelieving... they have attended church, but will not trust the Savior!

C.        The Repeat Procrastinator: the fearful... feared to get saved. Afraid to give up the world and what it offers. They say not now, maybe latter, next week, when I’m older, when my wife or husband gets right. God warned you! But you said I'll get oil in my lamp later!

D.        The Righteous... Self-Righteous: all liars... Professing but not Possessing. Baptist but not Born Again! Church members but not Christians. Do not be confused. I've heard many a testimony where the testifier stated I was not satisfied with my salvation, my soul's condition, with my forgiveness but! I was afraid of what someone would think; I'm a SS teacher, a deacon, a preacher’s wife, so pride will take this crowd to Hell!

III.       THE CHARACTER OF HELL: What is it like? v. 24.

A.        Place of Pain: Their worm shall not die.

B.        Place of Punishment: neither shall the fire be quenched

IV.       THE CROSS THAT SAVES FROM HELL: John 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For god so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For god sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” Notice it is the cross or the curse! It's not a matter of 50 choices... it's a matter of accepting Christ, God's only begotten Son, or rejecting him to go to Hell! Jesus became our curse for us on the tree to save people like you and me from Hell! Oh, How He Suffered For Us To Be Redeemed! How He Suffered For ME!

*They pulled a bag over his head and beat him indiscriminately. His teeth were beaten from their sockets. Is 52:14, “His visage was so marred more than any man.”

*He faced Pilate’s whipping post. Smith’s Bible Dictionary said that it was common for a man to have his intestines hanging out of his body after this beating with the cat of nine tails!

*They laid an old rugged cross on his back, he walked a bloody mile up Calvary’s hill, and Every time he took a step he looked through time to see the people who could be saved from hell.

*He reached the apex of Calvary’s Hill, and by the eye of faith I see him lay down his sinless hand as a tall Roman soldier took hold of it to fasten it to the cross with a long rusty Roman spike, and he drove it through his hands and his crossed feet. Every time the hammer would strike, my friend would call out to me in agony, “I’ll drink the cup of wrath to keep him out of Hell.”

*I see the shadow of the cross as they raise it up in the air. I hear the thud as it landed in the hole prepared for it. I see as his body comes completely out of joint and he pulls up painfully for breath. When I hoped that he would pull up no more, and death, it seemed, would have been a blessing, he gasped for another breath and said to me, “I’ll suffer the wrath of God today, so you can be free from it!” “I’m doing this to keep you out of HELL.”

*By faith I see his sinless blood drain from the old rugged cross as the spear is pierced in his side. It streamed to where I was and later to the throne where it is deposited forevermore. There it forgives my sins day after day!

*Three days I see his lifeless body in a borrowed tomb, and on the Easter morn, by the eye of faith I see him arise and say to me, “Sinner, you don’t have to go to Hell.” “Because I live, ye can live also!”

Conclusion: There is a terrible place called hell. And most people are going to hell. But nobody wants to go to hell, and nobody has to go to hell. But Jesus is the only escape from the eternal wrath of God in Hell. Would you trust him to save you from your sins today? Would you repent of what you have done and the person you have been and believe him to change you forever?