Matthew 13:40-43 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

I would venture to say that these verses have been preached on very little in the past 50 years, at least. A couple of days ago I was reading something by William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, in which he was essentially prophesying dangers that would come to the Church. One of those was the disappearance of preaching about hell, and that has certainly happened. The problem is, just as grace doesn’t seem so amazing until we understand how much we need it, in the same way descriptions of heaven don’t seem so marvelous to most people until they understand the alternative! The NIV blunts the impact of this passage by saying “everything that causes sin,” whereas the Japanese says, “everyone who causes sin.” That is only logical, because God’s kingdom doesn’t consist of things, but of people. We have a cartoon image of hell, with horned devils checking thermostats and stuff like that, when the Bible is far more graphic. Being “thrown into a blazing furnace” doesn’t sound nice at all! The simple fact of the matter is, in our weakness we don’t respond sufficiently to future rewards, so we need the real threat of future punishment as well. It’s like little children. Regardless of what some people say these days, spanking and the like is essential for raising them properly. God isn’t “out to get us,” any more than parents hate the children they discipline. Quite the contrary, as the Bible points out. (Hebrews 12:4-6) Hell is the natural consequence of sin, and God wants us to know that to give us more impetus to accept His offer of salvation.

Frankly, I’ve not been much of a “hellfire and brimstone” preacher myself. I need to preach on hell more often! I have shied away from using fear as a motivation for salvation, yet the Bible does not. We are indeed to fear the eternal consequences of rebellion against God, and seek to serve Him in all gratitude and obedience. This could well be a key to why some who have joined the church have failed to repent of their sin – which is another thing William Booth warned about! I need to help people understand just what it means that “The wages of sin are death,” (Romans 6:23) so that they will have more impetus to leave their sin in genuine repentance, rather than just being cosmetic about it all.

Father, thank You for Your grace toward me. Thank You that You never leave me as I am, but keep prodding me to grow as You know I need to. Help me preach Your Word without fear of offending, because the Gospel is indeed “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,” (1 Corinthians 1:23) so that as many as will may be saved, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!