Chapell on Hell, Part 2

"If we are afraid that talk of hell will 'turn off' people interested in the gospel, then we need to reconsider the message of the one who made that gospel available. Jesus, who was more concerned with building the Kingdom than any other person who ever walked the earth, preached more about hell than any other person in the Bible. Why? Because, as harsh as it sounds, we need to be reminded of the realities of hell. We need these realities branded on our hearts and burning in our consciences, or inevitably we will become preoccupied with personal peace and prosperity while those we know and love are floundering on the brink of God's eternal wrath. Hell, rightly understood and rightly talked about, builds the Kingdom of God. May our Lord grant us the courage to speak this difficult truth with love to those who need to hear it, and may he work through even our weakest efforts to bring many souls to the knowledge of his saving love-and away from the brink of hell."-Bryan Chapell, The Wonder of It All

Chapell on Hell, Part 1

Here is another passage on the subject of hell (see the 3/15, 3/28, 4/2 entries). These comments come from Bryan Chapell, president of Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO. I had the opportunity to meet Bryan at this year's Gospel Coalition Conference in Chicago. He is an alumni of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, having completed the graduate program in Speech Communications. It's always great to meet a fellow Saluki. This excerpt is from his book The Wonder of It All. Bryan writes: "I was once asked to speak about church growth at a conference. So I spoke about hell. The preachers at the conference thought I was kidding. Maybe it is hard not to think so. In today's world, the mention of hell-indeed, the very notion of it-embarrasses some of us and hurts others. It seems there could hardly be a less winsome topic, and yet, if we want to grow with the spiritual vitality that God intends, we must not neglect the grace implicit in Jesus' clear warning of the eternal consequences of sin. I will not try to prove here that there is a hell. Jesus himself says that there is...That certain knowledge ought to give us intense concern for the final disposition of those whose lives touch ours. Yet the potential destination of our unsaved friends, co-workers, and family members rarely burdens our hearts. We seldom go to great effort, or any effort at all, to introduce those we know to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. And if we do exert ourselves in this regard, it is often only to prove ourselves to others, to endear ourselves to God, or to build our church's numbers rather than out of any real desire to save souls from hell. There is something corrupt in our faith if the prospect of souls in hell concerns us little."

He is Risen!

"The resurrection of our divine Lord from the dead is the cornerstone of Christian doctrine. Perhaps I might more accurately call it the keystone of the arch of Christianity, for if that fact could be disproved, the whole fabric of the gospel would fall to the ground...The silver thread of resurrection runs through all the blessings, from regeneration onward to our eternal glory, and binds them together."-C.H. Spurgeon

Persuaded by the Cross

I hope that today, Good Friday, will serve as a time of serious reflection and soul-searching for you and your family. Apart from the eternal declaration of Christ that "It is finished", we would have no hope. But we have hope! God loves us! He loves us so much, in fact, that he gave Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins. The cross is God's greatest demonstration of his love for us as sinners. Sinclair Ferguson writes, "The cross is the heart of the gospel; it makes the gospel good news. Christ died for us; He has stood in our place before God's judgment seat; He has borne our sins. God has done something on the cross which we could never do for ourselves. But God does something to us as well as for us through the cross. He persuades us that he loves us." It is my prayer that this persuasion would settle into the depths of our minds and hearts.

Lryics of Faith/Celebrating Easter

"I'm forgiven because you were forsaken/I'm accepted, You were condemned/I'm alive and well, Your Spirit lives within me because You died and rose again"/Chorus: "Amazing love, how can it be that you my King would die for me?/Amazing love, I know it's true;/It's my joy to honor you, in all I do I honor you."-You Are My King, Billy Foote, 1999

The Love of the Father

"But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him."( Luke 15:20) Most people recognize the importance of the father in Jesus' parable teaching about the prodigal. But the greatest emphasis is often placed on the story's title character, the rebellious son. Unfortunately, the prodigal is made to be the hinge of the story, the central point of understanding what Jesus is saying. The father should be our focus. He owes the wayward son nothing. He has every right to look away, go into his house, close and lock the door, and refuse all contact with his son. He has every right to forever banish him from the family. But he doesn't! As Erwin Lutzer notes in his book After You've Blown It, the phrase "a long way off" is the same word as "a distant country" in the original Greek text. Lutzer writes, "The father's eyes are searching the whole landscape, longing for a sign of his son's return." The father demonstrates a heart of love, grace, mercy, and compassion not only for the youngest, but for both of his sons. He willingly extends the hands of his tender heart to them. Our Father has done the same for us through Jesus. Our personal stories should not be told with the emphasis on us. They should be told with every word pointing to the incredible love of our Father. That was the intention of Jesus. It should be ours as well.

Spurgeon on Hell

Today we will hear from another voice of the Christian past commenting on the realities of Hell (see 3/15, 3/28 for further explanation). Here are the words of Charles Spurgeon, commenting and observing in his pointed style: "Do not begin telling me that there is a metaphorical fire in hell. Who worries about that? If a man were to threaten to give me a metaphorical blow on the head, I should worry very little about it. He would be welcome to give me as many as he pleased. And what do the wicked say? 'We do not worry about metaphorical fires.' But they are real, sir, yes, as real as yourself...Some have staggered over the doctrine of eternal punishment because they could not see how that it could be consistent with God's goodness. I have only one question concerning that: Does God reveal it in the scriptures? Then I believe it, and leave to him the vindication of his own consistency. If we do not see it to be so, it will be nonetheless so because we are blind."