Episode Transcript
All right, if you take God's precious word, we'll be in Proverbs chapter 15, verse 11 tonight.
Proverbs 15 verse 11.
The title of the message tonight is A Place Called Hell.
A Place Called Hell.
Our text tonight is both very enlightening.
And not only in Bible doctrine, but also Bible instruction.
And it's teaching verse by verse as we do.
We don't cherry-pick Bible verses on any topic.
And we certainly don't cherry-pick Bible verses on hell so we can preach on hell one Sunday morning and try to get people.
To be scared or make a profession of faith in Christ or something like that.
But when we do come to any subject in the Bible, When we come to the subject of hell, as we have tonight, then we're going to enthusiastically teach on it.
Just like we would any topic in God's word.
And my job as a pastor is not to make you afraid of the truth.
My job is to make you know and understand it so you can obey it and so it can change your life.
A former pastor of mine was helping his son-in-law one day.
I think I've shared it with you.
He was helping them cut a tree down one day, and when the tree started falling, they could hear the sound of the cracking of that tree, and it was falling prematurely.
And when it started following, my former pastor started running to escape the crashing down of that tree.
The problem was he was running in the wrong direction.
He ran in the direction the tree was falling.
That tree crushed him and killed him.
Fear, which is what a lot of preachers use when they preach on hell.
Fear may cause a person's feet to run from danger, but wisdom will cause them to run in the right direction.
A lot of people have been afraid, started running to escape hell and have run right into it because they never ran into Jesus.
So, we're not trying to be sensational tonight.
We're not going to do that.
But we are going to be faithful, faithful to teach God's word to God's people.
Specifically tonight about the topic, if you'll look in your text now, of hell.
There's our first word, hell.
And hell should be a subject taught In every home, by every family, and in every church, by every pastor.
Hell is an essential doctrine.
It is literally a matter of life and death, eternal life and death.
So you can't really prepare your children for life if you don't prepare them for eternal life.
You can't prepare your children to die if you don't warn them about everlasting death.
So hell is an essential doctrine.
If you don't cover it with your kids, you're not doing essential parenting, and I would not be doing essential pastoring.
And because it is so essential, it is a doctrine that Satan attacks.
It is a doctrine that Satan uses the world to To confuse that subject in people's minds.
And so, because that hell is the subject of hell, is frequently overlooked and it's almost universally misunderstood.
As Satan does with most words, to lessen their impact upon the human conscience, hell has been adopted by the world.
As a word of passion in vulgarity.
Just like the word Jesus has been, right?
The word God has been, the word damned has been.
All these are biblical words.
But they're misused.
Someone's used the word hell, which says, oh, that's vulgar.
Someone used the word damned, oh, he's cursing.
It's very sad that we've gotten to that point.
But hell is not expressive language.
Hell is a reality that every person must face.
If you're taking notes tonight, And look in your Bible and you see the word hell, take you a pen or pencil and draw a line from the word hell out to the margin of your Bible.
And in the margin of your Bible, write the word Sheol, S H E O L.
S H E O L Sheol.
So sheol is the Hebrew word that's translated hell in this passage and in many other passages in the Old Testament.
So we're looking at the subject of hell, understand so there won't be any confusion, there are basically three words you're going to run into.
When you're studying the subject of hell, the biblical doctrine of hell.
Number one, which I believe is the most important word, that's the word sheol.
That's the actual word in your Bible before it was translated hell.
It's the word Moses used.
So Sheol is the Hebrew word the Bible uses.
Number two, Hades, H-A-D-E-S.
Hades is the Greek word.
That's used to describe the underworld.
So sheol in the Hebrew, Hades in the Greek, and then of course there's hell, which is the English Translation of this word Sheol or Hades, also used to describe the underworld.
Now, the Greek and English words, from what I can tell, they originated from pagan religions.
And then eventually they were adopted, you know, how words are, words used, become. the words that are adopted by the culture, regardless of how they originated.
But Hades and Hell, you can tie them back to Roman and Greek gods that ruled the underworld.
And so they're used to describe the underworld, but the false understanding, pagan understanding behind them, you can't You can adopt that as well.
But the Hebrew word sheol is what we're looking at tonight, and it's what we're going to get our best insight into this place called hell or this Circumstance called hell because it's not based on a false God.
It is based on Bible truth.
Now, when we're looking here at this word hell or sheol, when you think of the word hell, you must think of sheol now from now on.
Because we want God's revelation of this place, hell, to be what comes to mind when we hear the word hell.
When we think of Sheol, which we're going to learn about tonight, it's going to give us the understanding of hell, not what we grew up with.
Not what we've heard throughout our lives that's been gathered from the world, but what we learn from Scripture.
Now, when you have Sheol in the margin of your Bible, make a parentheses.
Open your parentheses up.
Write the word inquire.
I-N.
Q U I R E and then close your parentheses.
So put the word inquire in parentheses.
Next to the word sheol.
The word sheol is based on a root word that means to inquire.
And what does the word inquire mean?
To ask, right?
To ask.
Now, if you.
Where to look the root word up, again it would say to inquire, but when you're thinking of asking We're just going to have to do a word study tonight.
When you're thinking of asking or inquiring, we have to understand that asking does not just mean asking inquisitively.
In other words, to get an answer.
Brother Shepherd, is that a new shirt you have on tonight?
That would be asking inquisitively.
But it also means to ask authoritatively. authoritatively.
Now, if you're taking notes, you may not have room in your margin and you may not want to write this much down in your margin.
But write the word require down.
It's the same suffix, just has two letter difference in the prefix.
You got enquire, you got require.
But you're both choiring, right?
So the choir is the ask part.
The re to require means you're asking again and again and again.
You're requiring.
When you're inquiring, you're asking into a particular subject.
You're inquiring.
You're asking to get the inside scoop, like the National In Choir, right?
When we're looking at rechoir, you're asking Then you're asking again, and you're asking again, you're requiring.
What does that mean?
You don't take no for an answer.
So to require is to ask authoritatively.
Okay?
Make sense?
It would be the same as if I was a judge and I were to say, if I were to say Natalie, would you come up here and approach the bench, please?
And if she said, No, Your Honor, Bailiff, would you please bring Natalie up to the bench, please?
You know, she's going to come.
That's asking.
Authoritatively.
That's requiring.
Okay?
So understand that that is the idea behind the word sheol.
But Sheol is not to ask in the sense of inquisitively.
Sheol is to ask in the sense of authoritatively.
It's a requirement.
Okay?
So we have to understand that tonight.
When the Jews Left Egypt.
Do you remember what the Jews did?
Before they left Egypt, they took something with them.
That did not belong to them.
Can anyone remember what they took with them?
Jewelry from whom?
From the Gentiles.
Yep, that's right.
Very good, Hannah.
Very good.
So when the Jews left Egypt they It said they borrowed.
The word borrow there isn't the way we would use borrow today.
When we think of borrow today, we think we're going to pay it back later.
That's not the way it was there.
So it says they borrowed from the Egyptians their gold, their silver, their jewelry, and they took it with them.
The Bible says they spoiled the Egyptians.
Which means they took it as a matter of conquering them.
It was like a spoil of war.
Their God whooped the Egyptian God, and so they took their stuff.
When the Bible says they borrowed that from the Egyptians, that word borrow is the root word for Sheol.
They basically held it from them.
They shall it from them.
You see?
So they asked.
For the jewelry authoritatively.
Make sense?
It was a requirement, and they took it from them.
In fact, in one place, it says they will give you what you require of them.
There's that word require.
All right, that's in our King James Translation.
And so understand that now when you think of the word hell, you're going to be thinking of Sheol.
You're going to be thinking of a requirement.
They shaoled, they shawled that root word, they shawled that jewelry from them and they took possession of it authoritatively.
And this is the basis for the word sheol.
And thus, it must be our understanding of the English word hell. is when God requires not a person's jewelry, but a person's soul.
It's when he authoritatively, as the Jews, took the jewelry from the possession of the Egyptians into their custody.
It's when God takes the soul from the possession of a man, from the possession of a woman.
From their custody into his custody.
Make sense?
It is literally a custodial arrest of the human soul.
That's what Sheol is.
A custodial arrest of the human soul shoal is when God requires a person's soul to be remanded to his custody for legal judgment.
Write this down in your notes, your margin.
Luke chapter 12, verse 16 and 20.
Watch how beautifully God's Old and New Testament match up.
This will make so much more sense to you now.
Luke 12:16 through 20.
It says, And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully, and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do?
Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits.
I've got so much food, I don't have a place to put it.
And he said, verse 18: This will I do.
I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
Watch now.
And I will say to my soul.
Now, Jesus used these words on purpose.
I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up.
For many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Who was in control of the soul at that time?
The rich man was.
Who was possessing his soul at that time?
The rich man was.
And the rich man had the wrong assumption that he would be able to continue to possess his soul in a state of earthly comfort For many years to come.
So now watch what happens next, though.
Verse 20, but God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be, say the word with me, required.
You see that?
Required of thee.
It's going to be sheoled of you.
Make sense?
I'm about to say, oh, your soul.
Your soul is going to be required of you.
Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?
I'm about to authoritatively require your soul into my custody.
And out of your earthly body into my hand.
That is the meaning of Sheol.
Sheol is essentially the arrest and incarceration of the damned.
That's what it is.
Sheol is not the opposite of heaven.
It's not.
Sheol is not the devil's headquarters.
There is simply no basis for that belief whatsoever.
I saw an old cartoon the other day. an adult cartoon.
Not a film, you know, but you know, a little strip, like cartoon strip.
And it had these people who went to hell.
And they were in their pajamas.
They just woke up.
And it was time to start their day in hell.
Then one of them was a newbie.
He had just arrived in hell, and he was at the coffee pot, and he was getting him some coffee to wake up that morning, and the coffee was cold.
He goes, Man, they thought of everything.
In other words, this is hell.
The coffee's cold.
And people think it's funny.
And it showed a devil with a bull whip.
Some other devils, and they're forcing the people to go spend their time in the fire for the day.
That's not how it works.
Hell is not the devil's headquarters.
Hell is the custody of Almighty God when God requires the soul from the the fleshly creature he made, and he requires that soul from them and remands it into his custody.
That Sheol.
And that custody has to be held somewhere.
And so Sheol is not just a requirement, it's a location.
You say someone got arrested.
Well, they get arrested, but that's not just taking them into custody, but there's a place called jail.
In the same way, if you get arrested by God and your soul is required of you, there's a place called hell.
That's just how it works.
But many of our cartoons over there, they show the devil ruling over hell and his demons, tormenting people who go there.
And people have the idea that the devil is the prison warden and the demons are his guards.
And that's wrong.
Justice is not administered by an unjust devil.
Rather, Sheol results in the destruction of the soul that God requires.
So God requires the soul from the creature he made, and that requirement results in the destruction of that soul.
The Bible says, look back in your text, the Bible says, hell and what?
Hell and destruction.
You see how the two go hand in hand.
You have hell, you have destruction.
You cannot have destruction without hell.
You cannot have hell without experiencing destruction.
The Hebrew word translated destruction means to perish.
Are you making a connection with the New Testament now?
That word in the Hebrew means to perish.
Sheol, the requirement of the soul, and perishing.
The requirement of the soul and perishing.
So, when we're looking here at this word destruction.
It means to perish, and it's based on a root word that means to wander away and become lost.
Hell and wandering away, becoming lost, resulting in that person perishing.
To wander away and become lost when Christians use the word, that person is lost.
It's not just something we make up.
It's a truth the Bible teaches.
When we talk about going astray or wandering away from God, it's a truth. the Bible teaches.
Destruction means to perish.
It's based on a root word that means to wander away and become lost.
Why does the Bible link the idea of perishing to wandering away?
Why does the Bible link those two ideas together?
Because it all boils down to what people wander away from.
Now this evening we saw this terrible video.
Was it Tibet?
Where was that at, where that flood was?
Nepal.
Now, if there's that incredible Breaking of those floodwaters like that upon a city.
That was terrible.
Now, had someone wandered away from that city That wouldn't before that happened, that would not have been a bad thing.
So it matters what are you wandering away from?
In this case, the person wanders away from God.
So think about that.
If you wander away from water, You will die of thirst.
If you wander away from food, you will die of hunger.
If you wander away from shelter, you will die of hypothermia.
If you wander away from God, you will die of sin.
To wander away.
That thirst is the separation of man from water.
Sin is the separation of man from God Jesus Is referred to in the scripture as the bread of life.
Jesus is referred to in scripture As the water of life, Jesus is God.
If you wander away from God, you've wandered away from water.
You're going to die of.
Spiritual thirst.
If you wander away from God, you've wandered away from your food.
You're going to die of spiritual hunger.
It's people who wander away and become lost.
And thus they perish.
They become lost in their ideologies.
They become lost in their unbelief.
They become lost in their rejection of God.
And they cannot find their way to life.
It's hidden from their eyes.
So those who wander away from Him wander away from life itself.
And Solomon said, Hell and destruction, look back in your text, are before the Lord.
Hell and destruction are before the Lord, which means they are before his eyes.
God shall forever behold his righteous judgment upon the damned.
I love how all this comes full circle.
Hell, the physical custody and requirement of the soul into God's possession for judgment, legal judgment.
Destruction, the separation of man from God, resulting in him perishing.
Remember, that's what the root word's based on.
And then Jesus, the bread of life, the water of life, which man needs, who wandered away, he'll die of thirst, he'll die of hunger.
If God does not get him back to the water and bread of man's eternal life.
And that's why Jesus said, God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish.
Destruction should not experience destruction, but have everlasting life.
They'll get that bread.
They'll get that water.
By coming to him.
And so, those who do not, hell and destruction are forever before God's eyes.
So, there is a reasoning here.
How much more than, Solomon says, if we look back in text, hell and destruction are before the Lord, how much more than, Solomon said, the hearts of the children of men.
How does this work?
Why is this a how much more?
How much more then means the one being true causes the other Also, to be true.
Remember how we discussed Sunday morning the cardinal numbers and the ordinal numbers, and the word cardinal means prime. means the the head number because you can't have an ordinal number without a cardinal number so if if the if the if the one how much more the other it's the same way here The one being true causes the other also to be true.
If the verdict guilty, if the verdict, when we're thinking of Sheol, God is not going to incarcerate an innocent person.
God is not going to damn and cause to be experienced destruction guiltless people.
If the verdict is before God's eyes, then how much more the evidence?
What is the evidence?
Where is the evidence that calls that verdict?
Jesus said, Is out of the heart of man comes all these sins.
So if the verdict is before God's eyes, how much more the evidence that's in the heart?
If the sentence of Sheol is before God's eyes, then how much more the verdict?
If hell and destruction are before God's eyes, then how much more the hearts of the children of men?
How else can he Seize and require their souls and commit them to judgment unless he first is able to see their wicked heart.
With which they either wander away from God or flee to Him for refuge.
Psalm 7, 9 says, O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end.
But establish the just, for the righteous God trieth the hearts in the reins.
Now, the reins, you're talking about the inward parts.
So God sees forever before the eyes of God are the people sentenced to hell.
How much more then are there hearts of men?
Because before God can require someone's soul, And send them to destruction, or before God can deliver someone's soul and bring them into everlasting peace and union with Him, He has to be able to try the inside of man.
As God told Samuel, God looks upon the heart, not the outward part of man, as man does.
So, the enlightening part of all this As we close, is that now we understand what Sheol is, what hell is.
The instructive part of all of this is to understand.
That God has His eyes on our hearts all the time.
And there's a lot of times I'll catch myself And I'm displeased with the thoughts in my heart.
And that scripture will come to my mind, and I'll pray, Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
Keep your heart clean, keep it pure.
And thank God that you're one, if the Holy Spirit has called you to come to believe on Jesus as your Savior.
And I believe He has for those who are here.
And if not, if some have not, I pray there will be.
And thank God that you're not one that wandered away, but one that came home.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word.
We thank you, Father, for the power Of your judgment.
And we learn tonight that you, Father God, have the power to inquire for the soul of every man.
And the power to require that soul at any time of your choosing.
And Father, I thank you that you have given us the power.
Through Jesus to believe on him who died for us and have the power of God into salvation.
That we wander not away and be destroyed in our unbelief.
Thank you for all you've done and all you'll do.
In Jesus' precious name, and let our thoughts and words of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord.
Amen.
