Beauchamp Vick

I believe the Bible. When God say’s “fire”, I believe He means fire. When we says “Hell”, I believe He means Hell. When he speaks of everlasting punishment, I believe He means just that.

There is a Hell. The Bible says so, and all laws of logic demand it. Our only source of information concerning Hell is in the Word of God. No one who has experienced its torments has ever come back to describe it to us, for “there is a great gulf fixed”.

Hell is no figment of the imagination nor a relic of priestcraft nor a myth of a bygone age, Hell, rather, is a stark, awful reality, a literal place concerning which Christ warned us with such words as:

A place of torment (Luke 16:28);

A place of darkness (Matt. 8:12);

A place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12);

A place where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:43,44);

A place where the smoke of their torment ascendeth up day and night forever and ever (Rev. 14:11).

Therefore, if I am to be true to you, true to God who called me, and true to His Word, I must warn you to flee the wrath of God to come.

It is man’s hatred of the idea of Hell and future punishment that produces most of these present day, Devilinspired heresies that were born in Hell and spewed out of the bottomless abyss to deceive men and women who do not know their Bibles. These heresies and these false teachers seek to lull men to sleep with a sense of false security.

Hell is not a very pleasant subject to discuss. People don’t like to hear or think about it. Nevertheless, those of us who are Christians, who believe this old Book of God, those of us who know the truth and who realize that every soul without Christ is seperated from Hell by only one heartbeat, are too often so selfish, so self-centered and selfsatisfied, so engrossed in our own little affairs, so busy having a good time or so busy making money, that we do not lift a hand to keep souls from spending eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone.

In the New Testament there are 27 books-264 chapters. Some 234 times God speaks of a place of judgement and eternal punishment. If I were trveling along life’s road and within 27 miles I should see 234 signboards warning me,“This road leads to destruction’’, I for sure would turn around and get on another road.

There is more said in the Bible about Hell than about Heaven. If there is no Hell, the Bible is not God’s word. if there is no Hell, then Jesus Christ is not the son of God upon whose word we may implicitly rely. Therefore, my friends, I urge you today to dismiss all preconceived notions from your minds and listen to what the Word of God says.

In Psalm 9:17 we read: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

Isaiah 14:9:“Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming.”

Mathew 25:41,46: "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

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.’’

What do you think those words describe? A Sunday school picnic? A nice little pink tea party? No. Oh, but somebody says that these words are not to be accepted and interpreted literally; these words are figurative.

My friends, if they are figurative, then what do you think they are a figure of? A figure of some slight unpleasantness? If these words are figurative , then the reality must be much worse than the figure.

Nevertheless, if words means anything at all, they are to be accepted at full face value; and the son of God, who could not lie and who would not deceive us, spoke those words. Therefore, let God be true and every man a liar.

Listen again to the words of our Lord in Mark 9:43-48: “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

“Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

“And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

“Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.

“And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: “Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.”

Listen again to the solemn Word of God as found in II Thessalonians 1:7- 9: “ And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

“In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that Know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

“Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”

Revealation 14:10,11: “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, Which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

“And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”

Revelation 20:15: “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Revelation 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.”

Yes, there is a Hell. The Bible describes it. Christ, who cannot lie, told us about it, and let Him be true and every man who contradicts the son of God, a liar.

PLACE OF SEPARATION NECESSARY

At the outset of this message, I stated that all laws of logic demand that there should be a Hell. In this life we separate law violators from law-abiding citizens for the safety and protection of those who obey the law. And if today the doors of our jails and penitentiaries should be thrown open and all the criminals incarcerated therein should be released upon human society, your life and your property would not be safe. And so man has found that it is absolutely necessary to have a place of seperation of the law violators from the law-abiding citizens. Hell is the penitentiary of Heaven, where those who spurn God’s law, reject God’s Son and obey not the Gosplel are separated eternally from those who walk in God’s way.

In this life we separate the insane from the sane for the safety, protection and well - being of those who are sane. And if today the doors of our insane asylums should be thrown open and all of those who are mentally unbalanced should be released upon human society, your life would not be safe. Therefore for the protection of those who are in their right minds , we have a place of separation for the insane from the sane.

Hell is the insane asylum of Heaven, where those who are spiritually insane are separated eternally from those who have heeded the Scripture: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).

Oh, but you say, “What is spiritual insanity?” Preferring to go on bearing your own load of sins when our lord offers to bear those sins for you, when you know that if you bear your own sins they will one day press you down and down to the very mudsills of an everlasting Hell. Yet you spurn the offer of the Lord Christ who says: “come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart ;and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”-Matt. 11:28-30.

Yes, when you prefer to go on in your own sins and suffer the eternal consequences thereof; when you choose to spend eternity in unspeakable anguish in Hell when you could forever live in Heaven, that is spiritual insanity.

In this life we separate the dead from the living. Although it breaks our heart when our loved ones falls asleep, we must bury them. We cannot keep their bodies with us else our homes would soon become so unpleasant and so unhealthy that it would not be safe nor pleasant for the living. Therefore, for the well being and safety and protection of the living, we have a place of separation of the dead from the living.

Hell is the graveyard of Heaven, where those dead in trespasses and in sins are seperated forever from those who are alive in Christ Jesus.

Oh, but some man would say, “I don’t see how a God of love could cast people into Hell.”

My friends, God is a God of love and- of the themes that men have known,

One supremly stands alone: Through the ages it is shown- Tis His wonderful wonderful love.

God’s love is higher than the highest heaven, deeper than the deepest sea, broad as the universe, as unending as eternity . But with God’s love there is also a side of His wrath and of His judgment against sins. God is also a just and a holy God; therefore such a God cannot treat sin and righteousness alike. A just and a holy God cannot treat obedience and disobedience alike. A just and holy God cannot treat a Christrejecting sinner and a saved person alike, and He does not do so. He is a God of love, but He also says, ‘I will not keep My anger forever’(Ps. 103:9).

In proverbs 1:24-26 we read these words:“Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

“But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: “I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.” My friends, it is terrible to think of the God of love coming to the place where He will laugh at your calamities and mock when your fear cometh.

Reading on in verses 27-31: “When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

“Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: "For that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD:" "they would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof."

"Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices".

Yes God is a God of love, but you can spurn His love and reject His mercies so long that patience will cease to be a virture. And if you will not hear God when He speaks to you in the language of love, then you WILL hear Him when He speaks in the language of judgment.

"God is a God of love, but here in is His love manifested: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have ever lasting life."

"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" John 3:16,17. God's love has provided a way of escape from Hell. If you will not take that way of escape, then you can't blame God.

In the Physical realm, God has provided food; but if you will not take that way of escape, then you can't blame God.

In Luke, Chapter 16 you will find that the rich man awakened to the start realities of an eternal Hell too late: "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments". He saw his own danger too late. He became concerned about the salvation of his brothers too late. "There was a certain rich man...." Oh, someone says," "That is the introduction of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus." I deny that this is a parable. A parable is an illustration. Sometimes our Lord did speak in parables but when he did, He often introduced them with such words as this, "The kingdom of heaven is likened unto..." Here, this is no parable. Jesus was giving us an account a, record, of the life and death and afterlife of a certain specific individual.

Let's examine Luke 16 in detail. Here we find several great, basic fundamental truths which God is trying to impress upon us. The first truth is.

DEATH IS NOT ANNIHILATION

In fact, you cannot annihilate anything. "Oh," someone says, "I can take a piece of wood, and I can get rid of it. I can annihilate it." No, you can take the wood and burn it, but if you carefully preserve all the ashes and all the gases you would find they weigh exactly the same as the original piece of wood: You have not gotten rid of anything; you have not annihilated anything; you have only changed its form.

So death itself is not annihilation, and the soul of man cannot be annihilated. That soul will live forever in conscious bliss with God or else in conscious anguish and woe in the regions of the damned.

"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day."-Vs.19.

But, my friends, that fine purple raiment did not hide the sins of the rich man from the all - seeing eye of God. "And there was a certain begger named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

"And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs come and licked his sores"- Vss. 20, 21.

In fact as far as the record tells us, the only doctor who attended Lazarus in his dying hours was the dogs who licked his sores.

"And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was burried; "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments."- Vs. 22, 23.

Now, my friends, here is another lesson which God seems to emphasize.