When Should A Preacher Not Preach About Hell?

WHEN SHOULD A PREACHER NOT PREACH ABOUT HELL?

INTRODUCTION

A There was a time when hell-fire-and-brimstone preaching dominated the pulpit. "Sinners in the Hands of

an Angry God," is a classic sermon of 35 pages, was preached by Jonathan Edwards in Northampton,

Massachusetts on July 8, 1741. It was a sermon to the unconverted--not the unconverted on the

street, but those in the pew. Edwards was not preaching to struggling believers, but to the unconverted

who had been admitted to membership based on "moral uprightness," without any profession

of faith in Christ. The following quotation gives the flavor of the sermon.

"The God that holds you over the Pit of Hell, much as one holds a Spider, or some loathsome Insect,

over the Fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his Wrath towards you burns like Fire; he looks

upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the Fire; he is of purer Eyes than to bear to

have you in his Sight; you are ten thousand Times so abominable in his Eyes as the most hateful

venomous Serpent is in ours.

B. Edward's sermon would not go over too well in this postmodern, real­-good-feel-good day of preaching.

1. In the KJV hell is used10 times, not counting the duplicates in the Synoptic Gospels, with Jesus using

it 8 of those 10.

2. However, that one word does not tell the whole story, because the words judge, judgment, condemn,

and condemnation are used a combined total of 163 times.

D. So, we raise the question: When should preachesr not preach on hell, judgment, and condemnation?

I. WHEN THEY DELIGHT IN PASSING JUDGMENT, EVEN GOD’S JUDGMENT

A. The primary role of the O.T. prophets was to utter the judgments of God against Israel. Failing to do so

brought guilt upon oneself( Ezek 3:17-18).

B. The prophets took no more delight in announcing doom than did God (Ezek 33:10-11; Jer 8:21- 9:1))

C. When Jesus pronounced the final judgment against the nation, he wept (Lk 19:41-44).

II. WHEN THEY SELECTIVELY CONDEMN SIN AND SINNERS

A. Which one of the following sins does God hate most? (Gal 5:19-21; Prov 6:16-19)

B. Not all sin should be crime and that some sins have greater consequences for the individual and society

is not denied; however, a preacher cannot selectively condemn some sins, while winking at

others.

III. WHEN THEY USURP GOD’S JUDGMENT

C. There are some things about which we may draw inferences and bind those inferences on our own

conscience. However, we have no jurisdiction in such inferences and cannot bind them on the

conscience of others. Regarding drinking wine and eating meat, Paul warned: "Why do you pass

judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the

judgment seat of God; for it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every

tongue shall confess[to God]." So then each of us will give an account of himself to God (Rom 14:10-12)

D. The writer of Hebrews, warns: "For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again,

"The Lord will judge his people"(Heb 10:30).

IV. WHEN THEY BEAR ONLY BAD NEWS

A. Whatever criticisms one may have of Edwards‘ rhetoric, he closed by saying, "And now you have an

extraordinary Opportunity, a Day wherein Christ has flung the Door of Mercy wide open, and stands in

the Door calling and crying with a loud Voice to poor Sinners.

B. We must preach the good news, as did Jesus:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty

those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor (Lk 4:18-19).

CONCLUSION

A. Jesus said that after his death and ascension he would send the Holy Spirit, whom he called the Helper, and

"he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment" (John 16:8).

1. The Holy Spirit did this through the inspired preachers, apostles, evangelists, prophets, and teachers.

2. All who would preach the inspired word of God, must handle it aright, which will include convicting

hearers of sin, righteousness, and judgment to come.

3. However, every preacher must speak only as the oracles of God, with love in his heart and tears in his

eyes for the lost.

B. Hell is real and eternity certain, but if your heart is broken by sin or you are held captive to a bad habit from

which you want to be set free, come, for there is a balm in Gilead.