Wednesday, August 10, 2011

What Jesus Said about Being Good Enough - Anger, Lust, Marriage, Divorce, Part 8 of 34

TEXT: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny" (Matthew 5:21-26).

IDEA: Hell means that God takes our choices seriously.

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that they will become what they choose to be.

Have you ever taken your children for an outing to a city dump? What could you learn there?

Jesus talked about Gehenna, the garbage dump of Jerusalem, as hell.

I. What might we learn from that picture?

Hell is the garbage dump of the universe.

Hell is a place where nothing has any relation to anything else.

II. Hell is the state where men and women are beyond the reach of God.

According to the Jews, the Valley of Hinnom was the one place on earth that could not be redeemed from idolatry, a place that God Himself could not change.

Theologians say that hell is "eternal separation from God." On the map of the universe, therefore, there is Gehenna, a dark forbidding place where even the love of God does not reach.

III. Hell is not the doctrine that God abandons men and women. It is the doctrine that men and women have abandoned God.

God never ceases to love us. Yet God never forces us to trust Him, to love Him, to obey Him.

G. K. Chesterton wrote, "Hell is God's great compliment to the reality of freedom, and the dignity of human choice."

You are responsible for your choices. That's what the doctrine of hell tells us. If freedom means anything at all, it means the freedom to throw yourself away, the freedom, if you so decide, to be forever lost.

"If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go to hell" (Matthew 5:30).

This is oriental exaggeration to shock us that the choices that lead us away from Christ are terrifying because ultimately they can make us indifferent to God's love and grace.

CONCLUSION:

What you do with Jesus, therefore, is not a "religious question." If His claims are true, it is the ultimate question. Choose wisely. Ahead is the Holy City, but outside its walls is the Valley of Hinnom.