2 CORINTHIANS 5哥林多后书5章
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
12 For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.
13 For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Many preachers especially in the United states are called Hell fire preachers, because they speak often and sometimes loudly on the subject of Hell.
Jesus actually speaks more on hell than he does on heaven and WE MUST confront the sinner, with this reality.
But, how does it affect the Christian, is this doctrine of any relevance to the believer in today’s digital age?
When I was saved, my dear brother Victor Jack spoke on hell, I was confronted with that awful reality, ten years later, I was at the Bradford City stadium fire, where 56 people were killed, I escaped unto the pitch with many others.
As I stood facing the searing heat and seeing the flames, the heat and flames were overbearing, all the air was sucked out of the atmosphere, I wondered ‘ maybe this is what hell is like”.
If it is my brothers and sisters, and let me tell you, it is a million times worse, we should use it as a deep motivation in our Christian lives.
William booth, the great soldier for Christ and founder of the salvation army said this:
Most Christians would like to send their recruits to Bible college for five years. I would like to send them to hell for five minutes. That would do more than anything else to prepare them for a lifetime of compassionate ministry.
Hell is the least favourite doctrine of the devil and to be honest of most Christians, please tell us of the glories of heaven. The devil indeed hates to be reminded, where he is going after all.
Why is this doctrine, so important in today’s age?
Why does it need to be preached and proclaimed from every pulpit in the land?
Because it gives us a balanced view of God
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men
We hear so much today on the love of God, and this of course needs to be preached, but every coin and every banknote has two sides.. right. Both sides have the same value,, amen. One side does not have more value than the other.
Many Christians, see God only as a God of Love, He couldn’t possibly send good people to Hell,, could he? Well yes he can and he will, the qualifications for exiting the road to hell and taking the road to heaven are laid out in John 3:1-16, Acts 16:31, Acts 2:37-42 and Romans 10:9-14.
Because it reminds us of where we have come from
Psalm 40:1-4 and Ephesians 2 tell us of our state before we came to Christ, we were once on the slippery slope to hell, without a chance of rescue, before Christ rescued us, we stood no chance, but Christ pulled us literally out of the fire.
Because it reminds us how much it cost God to save us, and it makes Calvary such a special place
When we think of where we were and where we are now, surely it reminds us, that something supernatural was done to rescue us from the slippery slope that leads to Hell. Because of Calvary, the curse has been removed from us, we are free from the condemnation and curse, that was hanging over our heads, the axe was about to fall and suddenly, we heard stop the execution. We have been rescued, every time, we look at Calvary, we can say, this is the place, I have been rescued from.
What a place is Calvary
There was the curse removed
It was here that I was set free
Because Christ died for me
Because now we have a thankful heart
Pilgrim in Pilgrim’s progress had a heavy burden and a heavy heart until he came to the hill that led to the cross, where his burden fell off. Knowing the extent of the reality of Hell, gives us a thankful heart for all that God has done for us.
Surely, this is a theme of praise for us, we have been rescued from the fire of hell, plucked out by the saviour.
Because it puts all our service into perspective
What is our main purpose in life?
Some of us, think it is to go to meetings and learn, receive etc, but it is not.
In Jude, it says this:
22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
William booth, in his sermon called A vision of the lost tells of a great rock, which is Christ, around it is the sea, with millions drowning on it, some of the people on the rock are engaged in rescuing the poor people in the sea by any means possible, some indeed are jumping into the sea, but and this is something he couldn’t understand, most of them are doing nothing.
It’s estimated that in America less than 5% of Christians regularly share their faith, we need to make Jesus main concern our main concern.
We say we obey him, but how many people have you rescued or helped rescue?
Well, I give to missionary organisations.. NO EXCUSE
Well I cant speak well enough.. NO EXCUSE
Well I cant speak the language NO EXCUSE
好吧，我会向传教组织捐款……无需任何借口
Ezekiel 3 says that God will require the blood of that person, when you keep your mouth shut. It’s time to shut up gossiping and playing at Christianity.
I so admire my friend David in America, he is Chinese, but he goes and is going ON mission trips, soon, he will go to Mexico. He is eager to rescue people, are you?
Because it give us a compassion and concern for the lost