New Age vs. The Gospel: The View of Hell

New Age vs. The Gospel: The View of Hell

In Numbers 23, Numbers 23 and verse number 19, we drew from this 19th verse for our Scripture text this morning. So let's return there. Numbers 23, verse number 19, it's coming from, we might say, an unlikely source, but it's kind of like Job's friends. Even though they may not have been wise, they still spoke truth, didn't they? They said things that were true. And we see here in verse number 19, God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? We have taken the last several messages. And it has been a burden on my heart to present this contrast between New Age teachings that have infiltrated, in many ways, churches. And just the thinking of, even thinking of professing Christians, and perhaps even genuine Christians, it could influence our thinking if we're not careful that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that our New Age teachings. Of course, the best way to know the counterfeit is to know the genuine Word of God, and thereby prove all things. Try the Spirit, see whether they be of God. And that is certainly what God has exhorted us to do in His Word. But this morning, I want to speak to you from God's Word on this question of, is hell is hell is hell real? Is hell real?

God means what He says, as indicated in this verse, and He says what He means. He doesn't just give us certain scriptures to take up space in the Bible. You know, just because, well, some sort of vanity piece of furniture, you know, that might be put in a room to fill a corner. That's not how God, God puts everything in there for a reason, and we must count on Him. Count God's words to be true in all of those words, or if in any point He is lying to us, how can we trust the rest of them to be true? Well, we know that He doesn't lie. God cannot lie and will not lie.

But we, I've noticed that as men, if it's true that God doesn't change and God means what He says and says what He means, as humans, we change. We have a tendency to change, and we have a tendency to change with whatever is the most convenient thing to go with at the moment. That's our natural tendency, isn't it? You know, certainly politicians, we can point our fingers at them and say, you know, they follow the polls. Whatever the polls are saying, that's what their new position is, right? They are now a staunch advocate and defender or whatever of what seems to be popular at the moment, and they change like the wind many times. But I think we're very quick to point our fingers at politicians, and yet not to realize that this is the human condition apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, is that we tend to be that way in our own sinful thinking apart from God. That is how we will be and would be.

But, the go with the flow, whatever is the popular thing, but Christ has established His church with the intent that His people would be grounded upon His truth. The church is the pillar and the ground of truth. It is His truth, not our truth. We hear a lot about, and I mentioned this just last week, my truth on last Sunday evening. The view of my truth has taken over this understanding of absolute truth from God. It's all relative to your particular situation. You can't impose any truth on me that it might be true for you, but it's not for me. And that's very much a new age thinking that has infiltrated and even in churches.

But Christ's desire for His church is that we might be nourished up in the words of faith. That we might be established in the doctrine. We might be rooted and grounded, settled. We might be established in the Word. And then that being fully equipped, throughly furnished unto all good works, that we would live out that faith in obedient and good works in our daily lives. Whether it be in our relationships with our family, with our brethren in the church, with those that we've rubbed shoulders with in this world, that we would shine as lights. That we would show forth the praises of the One who's called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Not doing what's right in our own eyes and leaning to our own understanding, but in all of our ways acknowledging Him and confessing Him before men and not being ashamed of His words in this wicked and adulterous generation. That's His purpose for us.

And He has given gifts, as we've seen in Ephesians chapter 4. If you look there with me in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 14, He's given these gifts to the church to help us toward that end. Not to not, no one can walk our Christian walk for us. We must individually walk with the Lord, but as we are together in the body, God has appointed preachers and teachers of the Word of God to establish and to help and strengthen our faith. In Ephesians chapter 4, verse 14, we are told that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine. Well, that's how we have tended to be without the Lord, right? We'd be no, even as, even as newborn babes in Christ, that we don't stay in that state and get tossed around by every wind of doctrine. But, and it says here, by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But, speaking the truth in love, it says here, we may grow up into Him in all things, which is, which is the head, even Christ. So as we, as we are taught, as we are meditating upon, as we are growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we are then, as it tells us here in verse 15, to speak. To speak. In fact, I thought as we were singing the hymns today, we are speaking to one another. Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Yes, we sing to the Lord. But there is an aspect to which we are also, we are also to be speaking one to another.

Some of these hymns are hymns of exhortation. Some of these hymns are hymns of reminders of what God has done for us and we, as we sing corporately, and of course it extends beyond just the singing out of the hymnal, but as we interact with one another, that we are to exhort one another daily, the scripture says. And what is the purpose of all of that? It's part of our growth in Christ. That we are to speak the truth in love, that we may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. So God's intention is that His Word, by the powerful working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, would result in Christ being formed in our thinking, that it would result in our Christ being seen in our words, heard in our words, and seen in our living as we interact one with another. Not that we would think the way we used to think. Not that we would be swayed the way we used to be swayed. Not that we would easily be drawn after this and drawn after that. There is a point in which we can memorize these verses and still not actually be hiding them in our hearts, but we are to hide God's Word in our heart that we might not sin against Him. We are to hide God's Word in our hearts. We're to meditate therein day and night and to delight in that Word. And so that we might be able to speak it with our brothers, with those who are without Christ. We might walk in wisdom toward those even that are without. Redeeming the time, as we've said today.

But we've seen so far that the New Age has affected the winds of doctrine in the churches many times that are affected by this New Age thought, even if it's in parts. Even if it's in to some degree it's been affecting the way those who name the name of Christ, are talking and thinking about Christ and thinking about the Christian life. In the New Age we've seen that certainly God is viewed as more of a collective force, I should say, a personal force and He speaks and manifests Himself through collective rather than through a singular word that has been revealed from Heaven. That is to be absolute and applicable to all who are , who have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Man is viewed as having God-like potential and powers and that we just have to awaken to that reality and that potential and live our best life now. Open up to the reality of all the potential that there is really within ourselves. Jesus is merely viewed as a spirit guide but not as a Savior from sin. He's a help, a spiritual guide for us, but not a Savior from sin and one upon whom we are to depend and submit ourselves and ultimately to be stewards of His grace. That's not the image that's presented in New Age teachings.

Word of faith theology has arisen out of, and there's a direct link and I'll share a little bit of that, but there's a direct link to the New Age teachings in the Word of Faith movement where, you know, you speak your existence into reality. You don't accept a certain existence that God has appointed you. You create your own reality. You create your own existence. Your own environment, so to speak. Your own path. Instead of submitting to God's will, it's this idea that we create our reality with our own words.

I want to give you a little bit, I know I'm going to speak, but I think this, on the matter of hell here, but I think this is absolutely important that I say a couple of things about this to lead to that. In a 2000 book, 2012 book entitled The Physics of Heaven, co-authored by Judy Franklin, Ellen Davis, and Bill Johnson wrote a chapter in that book. These are prominent, charismatic individuals. Not that I would know that unless I looked it up because I don't really follow these people, but evidently they are and have been. But Ellen Davis says in The Physics of Heaven, I decided to examine the New Age texts to see if I could find what they had discovered that we had lost. Be careful when you read anything that says we've lost something and we need to rediscover it. We have lost anything, it's just we've neglected it. It's right here. It's not been lost. And she says, I began to wonder if the New Age had merely uncovered some truths that the church had neglected.

There's another man, Jonathan Welton, that writes, contributes in this book, and he says, I have found throughout the Scripture at least 75 examples of things that the New Age has counterfeited, such as having a spirit guide, trances, meditation, aura, and he goes on and gives a long list of stuff that somehow now we're to reclaim those things. That sounds so good, doesn't it? It sounds so spiritual. It doesn't really sound good, but it can sound deceptive. It can be very deceptive because, you know, there are some things, yes, the devil has hijacked those things. It's true. But these things were never accepted. In the Word of God, this is adding to the Word of God, some of these things they're saying, making these great leaps and stretches to try to say that Christianity needs to reclaim these lost things. It's interesting that we see absolute truth being pushed to the back burner many times, and yet truth being relative, and yet we emphasize now we need to discover these other things.

It reminds me of the serpent in the garden. I know one evening two Sundays ago, we preached on this matter of the serpent in the garden, and how he said, Yea, hath God said? Yea, hath God said? And one of the one of the I've just been hearing things not even looking at the new age, but just hear, you hear something here, and you hear something over there, and one of the things I've been hearing is people apologizing for hell. People, evangelical leaders, sort of being apologetic about hell. Let me make it clear. We should not, like our Lord, be desirous or willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That's very clear. But it's not our responsibility, it is not not only is it not our responsibility, we have no place apologizing for something that God has made very crystal clear in his word or being ashamed of it. When we look at what J.I.

Packer had to say about hell, and he was the well-known evangelical leader, he kind of had some influence even on fundamentalism in the earlier, that's not the early days of fundamentalism, but back in the later part of the 1900s, he was a senior editor of Christianity Today. He said that hell, he does not believe in the essence of hell, he says he does not believe that the essence of hell is, quote, grotesque bodily discomfort, but is rather, quote, an inner misery of helpless remorse. In April of 2000, and I got these particular quotes I picked up from Brother David Cloud, he had written an article on this. In April of 2000, he, a commission of the Evangelical Alliance of Britain, published a report titled The Nature of Hell, which states that evangelicals have agreed to disagree about the doctrine of hell. It admits the, quote, conditional immortality, I'm sorry, that, quote, conditional immortality is a significant minority evangelical view.

In other words, hell is not eternal. Claiming that the debate on hell, quote, the debate on hell should be regarded as a secondary rather than a primary issue for evangelical theology, end quote. Of course, maybe you've heard of the more of the emerging church figure that's more far out there, Rob Bell, who in 2011 in his book, Love Wins, said preaching on eternal hell is misguided and toxic and a, quote, cheap view of God and, quote, lethal. So, what I'm getting at with this is I think we can see how the culture has and popular opinion has an effect on people's view of theology, doesn't it? Certainly, there is a component where yes, just because we count God to be true in what He says and we're going to get to that here about hell doesn't mean we should not also be compassionate. In fact, it should be because we believe there is a literal hell that we should have a greater compassion for lost souls around us.

We should be compassionate upon souls that are lost in sin. Tim Keller, probably you've heard of him. Some of you have heard of him, I'm sure. He's an influential American Presbyterian pastor and author. He says, fire disintegrates. Even in this life, we can see the kind of soul disintegration that self-centeredness creates. You see, they're creating this picture of sort of like a hell of your own making sort of idea. We know selfishness and self-absorption pierces, or leads to piercing bitterness, nauseating envy, paralyzing anxiety, paranoid thoughts. Hell then is the trajectory of a soul living a self-absorbed, self-centered life going on and on forever. I would submit that that's terrible hermeneutics at the very least to equate the clear teaching of scripture on hell as some sort of inward side, cotic prison of our own making. Scripture's very clear. Scripture's very clear on the subject of hell.

Let's turn together, if you will, to Matthew 10, 28 as we're turning there. As we're turning there, we read, there's too much to say in this message about hell, but just to summarize, Matthew 5, 22 speaks of hell fire. Matthew 3, 12 speaks of unquenchable fire. I mentioned in the Sunday school hour the other week in Jude verse 13, it's referred to as the blackness of darkness forever. We read of outer darkness. This blackness of darkness and yet fire unquenchable. There's some of the things we've already read today are really heretical statements because they're directly contradicting God's word. We can't just sort of wave a wand and say, oh, I don't want that, I don't want to see that verse, I don't want to see those things. No, we must justify God and all of his sayings.

In Matthew 10, 28, Matthew 10, 28 says, and fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. A child who just started reading Bible stories not that long ago understands. A child can understand that hell is a place of torment for those who reject Jesus Christ. It's so simple to understand we shouldn't even have to be saying these things. We shouldn't even have to be talking about this matter, and yet it is the truth. It is the truth. Both of these passages, well, in Matthew 10, 28 here, this is the translation of the word Gehenna for hell. It speaks here and it's tied into even the idea of the Valley of Hinnom where there was this burning, trash dump, smoldering, perpetually outside on what was the southwest side of Jerusalem where it was burning and smoldering.

And this is the type of destruction here that the Lord says, fear him which is able to destroy both body, soul, and body in hell. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, let's turn there together. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse number 8. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse number 8. It says, 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. The word in the Greek here for destruction is the word that means, well, it means that. Destruction or ruining. A ruining or destruction. If you take a light bulb and you drop it on the floor, it destroys that bulb. It can no longer function. It is done. It's destroyed.

You know, there are the new age, we talk about that certainly, but the we said Hinduism and Buddhism are very much influencing the teachings of the new age. But you also have Seventh-day Adventists. We've seen this a number of years ago when we went through the study on the religions, different religions and cults. Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormons. We have the Restored and Worldwide Church of God, that's basically British Israelism. You have those, the people that were associated with that, that's what it's called now. We have all of these different cults and groups that do not believe in a literal hell or one that is forever. What are we rediscovering? What do we have to gain from this shift? It's very clear what's motivating this shift in evangelical. And it may not be a majority yet, but it's a growing minority of people that are at least uncomfortable.

Not just people, teachers coming out of seminaries that are uncomfortable. Especially this younger generation of evangelicals is uncomfortable with the idea of hell. Well, that's the point. We're supposed to be uncomfortable with the idea of hell. Because it's eternal separation from the presence of God. Just as, you know, I think the Lord, for the sun coming up in the morning, if there is not light and heat, there's going to be cold and darkness. Well, this is going to be heat and darkness. We read of in the scripture, this is going to be eternal brimstone and fire, separated from the presence of God. We read of gnashing of teeth. We read of gnashing of teeth apart from God's presence. In Revelation 20, verse 10, it says there, in Revelation 20, verse 10, and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever, forever and ever.

Well, the scripture tells us that it would be better if thy hand offend thee, cut it off. If thy eye offend thee, pluck it out, than that you would have what is it the Lord said there that having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. The scripture is just replete with references to the nature, the fire, the eternal duration, the everlasting duration of that. I think one of the most powerful passages is Matthew 25, if you'll turn there with me, Matthew 25, verse number 46. Matthew 25, verse number 46. One of the clearest passages that we will see on this matter. Not that the others aren't clear, but Matthew 25, verse 46, says, and these, speaking of the goats on the left hand, shall go away into everlasting punishment.

Those that have rejected the Lord and have not done his bidding, these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. I understand that both the word everlasting and the words eternal, Ionios in the Greek, are the words for just that, for just that, they're everlasting, eternal, without end. If we say that hell is not eternal and that the doctrine of annihilation is a reality, the teaching of annihilation can be squared with scripture, then what we're saying is that eternal life is not really eternal. Eternal life is quasi-eternal. It's not really eternal. And then that also leads us to the understanding that God is not eternal. We start tearing down a lot of things when we want to accommodate certain sentiments, certain sensitivities to things.

I don't understand everything that is to be understood about the Bible. None of us do. I don't understand. Some have said God, but a loving God, would never send someone to an eternal hell for sins of a lifetime. Well, the argument has been made. When you pull a trigger and if someone pulls a trigger and shoots someone and kills their life and takes their life in a split second, they spend their entire life in prison for something they did in one second of time. Although the premeditation may have been for days, weeks, months, years. Also, it must be said who against whom has the offense been made of the rejection of Jesus Christ? He is the eternal God. He is the eternal God and how can you be separated temporarily from an eternal God? How can you be received a temporary punishment, a temporary separation? From one who is eternal in nature.

Now, that being said, let's look at those passages. Look with me in Romans 16 if you will. Verse 26. Romans 16 and verse number 26. And Romans 16 verse 26 says, but now in verse number 26 let's go back in verse number 25 to gain the context here. Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery that which was kept secret since the world began. But now is made manifest by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandments of the everlasting God. I'm sorry, according to the commandment of the everlasting God made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. Here we have that same word that was used in Matthew 25 verse 46 where we read there that the righteous will go into life eternal and the wicked to everlasting punishment. This is the same word in the Greek for God. The everlasting God. The everlasting God. He is the alpha and the omega. He is the beginning and the end. But he has no beginning. He is the source, the creator of all that does have its genesis and will eternal souls will live on forever but we were not there in the beginning before he formed the worlds. He was and he is. So we cannot we must not take away from that. Hebrews 9 14 uses the same word when it's referring to the eternal spirit. The eternal spirit there in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 14.

I was thinking of the words to that hymn we sing. O Zion haste. O Zion haste thy mission high fulfilling to tell all the world that God is light. That he who made the nations all nations is not willing one soul should perish lost in shades of night. Publish glad tidings tidings of peace tidings of Jesus redemption and release. It goes on to say behold how many thousands still are lying bound in the darksome prison house of sin with none to tell them of the saviors dying or of the life. He died for them to win. The eternal nature and severe nature of hell should not be reason for us to just go I'm glad I'm born again. We should say thank God I'm born again but it should be more than just a ticket to escape from hell. No. If we believe the love that God had to us and the love that he has to all men even those who have not believed on him it should be a if we are if our heart is right with God I should have a burning desire to see men told the truth told the truth not it doesn't do any good. I know Sister Donna was talking about Jeremy said well I'm going to be honest with you mom it's not pleasant you know when talking about the surgery that he went through that she had to go through afterwards is so and so was not pleasant. This is going to be painful.

Well that's the truth. You know we can sugar coat things and make it sound like something that it's not but when we do that are we not taking on ourselves a very dangerous thing? Are we not toying with people's souls when we tell a comfortable lie or we even question? Question and become like the serpent saying has God really said that? Has God really said that? Yes he has. It's not our place to come up with our own truth or try to work it out and do these do these you know all these what's the word I'm looking for these different odd contortions that we get into to try to make something fit. No. It's just plain the plain truth of God's word is that God has said that the Gentile world is without excuse. Romans 1. Without excuse. John 1. Light is coming to the world. Men. It didn't say the Jews. It said men love darkness rather than light. How will they hear without a preacher? Yes. But God has given light to every man that cometh into the world. The secrets of hearts will be revealed on judgment day. Conscience will be laid bare. There will be nowhere to hide from God on that day of judgment. We do well. We do well to be broken over souls that are not only going to eternal punishment in the lake lake of fire but that will be separated from a loving God. For eternity.

If they do not repent. It is not our responsibility or our ability to do anything to save the soul. But it is our responsibility as we said at the beginning at the outset of this message to speak the truth. Not only among ourselves but to those that are without. It is our responsibility to contend earnestly for the faith. Which was once delivered to the saints. Not to take upon ourselves something that is not our right. To change something. To make it say something it doesn't say. It is our responsibility before God and we will as those that are dependent upon him, submitted to him and stewards of his to faithfully hold these truths to be true in a world that is quickly throwing things away. I can see sometimes people that have been harmed personally by those who spoke truth. They want to just get rid of everything that had to do with truth. Because they were hurt. You can't do that. It's not a man or a woman, an individual, a ministry doesn't have ownership of the truth. It's God's truth. And what's true is true and what's false is false. And so we must be careful that we don't just, we don't follow the crowd but we believe what the Lord says. And I believe if we live long enough we'll probably see this thing become the majority that reject a literal eternal hell.

We're fast on our way there now. In the view of, in the popular belief. View. But what do we read at the outset? God is not a man. God is not a man that he should lie. Neither the son of man that he should repent. God did not create hell for ultimately in the beginning for men. The scripture says it's for the devil and his angels is what it says. But at the same time God is not in a position that he needs to repent of what he said and what he's done. He's not in a position that he needs to repent of what he's said and what he's done. He knows exactly what he's doing. And he hath he said and he shall not do it? That's a characteristic of men isn't it? To say something and then not do it. That's not a characteristic of God. What God says is what he needs. And what he says he's going he is going to do it. He is going to bring it to pass whether or not it is popular. Whether or not men like it. Jesus was put on a cross. Because men didn't like what he had to say. Because men did not you know as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God but many did not receive him. Many rejected him. But to reject an eternal God will bring upon men, man an eternal consequence. To reject the eternal God will bring upon man an eternal consequence.

We need to be like Matthew. Matthew Sister Donna was reading about when Matthew was called by the Lord Jesus to follow him. She shared with me this week about that and the meal that he the feast that he called at his own home. And the Lord Jesus attended that feast. And why did he have that feast? He wanted people to know the Savior he knew now. He wanted others even though they might have been publicans and sinners. He wanted them to know the Lord. What did the woman at the well do when she when she had that encounter with the Lord after she came to know him? Well she went back to the town and she told everyone else come see a man that told me all that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? This is the truth. We need men and women of conviction of God's truth that are willing to tell the truth no matter how well or poorly it's received by this world that we live in. Wishy-washy every wind of doctrine. That's the characteristic of the times in which we're living. God help us because I know that without him we that is that's how we'll be. We'll just be wishy and we'll be all over the place. But may God help us to stand firm upon his word even though that may not be the popular position. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father thank you for these moments we've had in your word today. Help us Lord. Help us to be true to you. Help us to buy the truth. Help us to sell it not. This is a bigger this is about more than just the literality of hell. This is a this is an example of something that represents many things on which it is easy to shift around in order to accommodate in order to appease in order to make the gospel more palatable in order to make it more seeker friendly but in so doing we have destroyed the gospel. In so doing we have perverted the truth. And what do we even have to offer if we've done that? Lord thank you. Thank you that you're the same yesterday, today and forever and there's no shadow of turning with thee. We know it's of thy mercies thy compassions that we're not consumed. We thank you Lord that you've allowed us to look into your word today. Help us to have a greater love and appreciation for the truth of your word and to to live by it to walk in the light of it as we go even this day as we go out and about. Help us not to apologize for it. Help us not to be ashamed of it. Paul made it clear I'm not ashamed of the gospel. May we not be either. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.