Preaching
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2. Why do we hear preachers speak of hell so rarely? |
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Because
many preachers do not believe that hell is real, and some of those who
believe that hell is real don’t think that it is a place so much awful!! Why
then should they warn sinners of a place which is not real or of a place
where people don’t suffer so much after death? Furthermore, ‘It’s time to
stop frightening people with this fire, which burns continually in hell! It’s
time to stop saying to sinners that in hell the souls of the sinners are
enveloped by the flames of fire and gnash their teeth and weep!’ some say. ‘This
is a kind of preaching which was good during the Middle Ages!’, and
furthermore, ‘God has called us to preach the Gospel and not hell to the
lost!’ they continue. |
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No, I
don’t think at all that we need to stop telling sinners solemnly that if they
refuse to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ they will go to
hell after death, where they will weep and gnash their teeth because of the
awful sufferings caused by the fire which burns in it; because the rejection
of the Gospel, as well as the acceptance of it, carries eternal consequences
for individuals. If he who accepts the Gospel receives eternal life and when
he dies he will go to heaven to enjoy plenty of peace and joy, it is evident
that he who rejects the Gospel must head for an awful and terrible afterlife,
where pains and sufferings are much more severe than the pains and the
sufferings a human being may suffer in this world. That’s why, concerning the
destiny of sinners, Jesus taught that where sinners go after death there is
weeping and gnashing of teeth. |
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However,
these words of Jesus frighten sinners and today even many who believe that
hell is real prefer not to quote them lest they frighten people. But these
believers have forgotten that the Gospel has saved us not only from sin but
also from perdition or the fire of hell, therefore it is a right thing to
proclaim that those who reject the Gospel will not escape the fire of hell. |