The Necessity of Preaching on Hell

"But I warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes I tell you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:5)

Hell seems to be rarely discussed in churches these days. It’s about as taboo as discussing gluttony at a Southern Baptist deacon meeting at Golden Corral. For whatever reason, most evangelical preachers are nervous to talk about hell. Maybe it’s because “God is love” is as deep as the theology is going to get. Maybe it’s because people don't believe an all-loving God would ever throw people into hell. After all, people are basically good and hell is only reserved for the really, really, bad people, like Hitler, or Stalin. Also, if preachers talk about how everyone who does not believe in Jesus will be burning in a lake of fire forever and ever, it just might cause people to be uncomfortable and leave the church; which will make giving go down and the church could no longer afford the Jumbotron screen for the stage. 

But God is holy. He is so holy that you have to say it thrice before you start to grasp the gravitas of that statement. Isaiah stood before a holy holy holy God and Isaiah trembled. He didn’t dance. He didn’t sing. He pleaded for his life. ‘Woe is me” (Isa 6:5)!

God is holy. His own holiness demands that sinners be damned to hell. A good God cannot allow for a single sinner to get away without punishment and that punishment is death (Rom 6:23). God is just (Ps 89:14). God will be glorified in both the redemption of the elect and the destruction of the reprobate (Rev 19:1-6).

It’s necessary to speak of hell because Jesus speaks of hell. Most of the descriptions that we find about hell come from Jesus’ preaching. He warned of its unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43). He warned of its conscience torment (Luke 16:24). He warned us of the gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28). Jesus made it very clear anyone not in Christ will suffer death (John 5:24). 

It’s necessary to speak of hell because it warns of the judgment to come. There is a reason why the message is called “Good News” and “Salvation!” The good news is that sinners are rescued from the wrath of God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. 

Too many preachers talk of inserting Jesus into your life in order to rescue your marriage or to have a happy home. But these preachers never talk about the cause of the failing marriage or the dysfunctional family—sin! Yes, repent of the sin that is in your life so that by the grace of God you can fix your marriage, but more importantly so you can escape the wrath to come! 

We must speak of hell so we remember why we send missionaries to foreign lands. The flames of hell heat the engine of true gospel preaching. If the preacher begins to neglect the reality of hell, the preacher will lose his fervor, his holy conviction. Hell, death, and eternity are before him as he pleads for souls to submit to the grace of the Alpha and Omega. The preacher can feel the heat. He can hear the screams. He can see the fire. He can smell the brimstone. He can taste the anguish.