Ten Questions You Always Wanted To Ask God: #1 ‘God if you’re so loving how could you send people to hell?’
Andover Baptist Church: September 9th, 2012
Sunday Evening
A. Introduction to the series
1. There are a handful of questions that non-Christians use as a smoke screen to ‘deflate the tire’, so to speak,
of Christian’s witnessing
2. These questions often do catch the Christian off guard and send them spiraling for an answer while the
challenger smugly enjoys the show
3. The fact is, we should have answers for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15)
4. And as a Christian that believes in the truthfulness of the Bible and in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I don’t
fear the truth
5. This series is a response to this need for preparedness
6. So…question #1: ‘God if you’re so loving how could you send people to hell?’
B. Popular variations of the question
1.
2.
3.
4.
How could an all loving God send people to hell?
Doesn’t it seem barbaric to torture people for eternity?
Isn’t God just a cosmic bully who punishes people arbitrarily?
I’m a Jehovah’s Witness, and we not only believe that hell is unbiblical but cruel. That is why we
believe in soul sleep.
5. How about the innocent people that have never heard the Gospel?
C. Before we attempt to delve into any of those let’s see what the Bible actually teaches about hell (hope you have your
Bible’s handy)
1. First off the Bible in no uncertain terms tells us that we should avoid hell
Proverbs 15:24 (NET) "The path of life is upward for the wise person, to keep him from going downward to Sheol"
[euphemism for hell].
2. Secondly you don’t want others to go there and should warn them about the consequences of rejecting the
call of God in their lives
Proverbs 23:14 (NET) "If you strike him with the rod, you will deliver him from death."
Jude 23 (NET) "save others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy on others, coupled with a fear of God, hating
even the clothes stained by the flesh."
3. Its description in the Bible
a. It’s a place of torment
Luke 16:23 (NET) “And in hell, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at
his side.”
Matthew 13:42 (NET) “They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 10:28 (NET) “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the
one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
b. It’s described as a place of fire
Revelation 14:10 (NET) “that person will also drink of the wine of God’s anger that has been mixed undiluted
in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the
Lamb.”
Isaiah 33:14 (NET) “Sinners are afraid in Zion; panic grips the godless. They say, ‘Who among us can coexist
with destructive fire? Who among us can coexist with unquenchable fire?”
Isaiah 30:33 (NET) “For the burial place is already prepared; it has been made deep and wide for the king.
The firewood is piled high on it. The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone, will ignite it.”
c. It’s never ending
Matthew 25:41–46 (NET) “41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the
eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to
eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest,
naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they too will answer,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not give you
whatever you needed?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did not do it for one of the
least of these, you did not do it for me.’ 46 And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous into
eternal life.”
2 Thessalonians 1:9 (NET) “They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of
the Lord and from the glory of his strength”
4. Who goes there?
a. The devil, the fallen angels and his cronies
Matthew 25:41 (NET) “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal
fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!"
Jude 6 (NET) “You also know that the angels who did not keep within their proper domain but abandoned
their own place of residence, he has kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment of the
great Day.”
2 Peter 2:4 (NET) “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and locked them
up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment,”
Revelation 20:10 (NET) “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where
the beast and the false prophet are too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever”
Revelation 19:20 (NET) “Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed
the signs on his behalf—signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who
worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur.”
b. The wicked
Psalm 9:17 (NET) “The wicked are turned back and sent to Sheol; this is the destiny of all the nations that
ignore God”
Revelation 20:15 (NET) “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown
into the lake of fire.”
D. What the world thinks about hell reveals their beliefs
1. It says what they believe about God
a. God, if He exists, is obviously unfair, unjust and cruel.
b. God is not morally capable to make such decisions
c. If there was a God ‘soul sleep’ (i.e. destroying someone) would be better than endless torture
2. It says what they believe about mankind
a. People do not deserve such punishment.
b. People are fundamentally good
c. People are innocent
3. Truth is not dictated by public opinion, as much as we would like things to be one way does not mean
that is the way they actually are
E. What is at stake?
1. The holiness, righteousness and goodness of God (God allows sin to go unpunished and truly is not
good)
2. The doctrine of eternal punishment, i.e. hell (No reason to seek God)
3. The doctrine of eternal rewards, i.e. in Heaven (No reason to strive)
4. The trustworthiness of the Bible (It lies and can't be trusted)
5. The trustworthiness of Christ (He lies and can't be trusted)
6. The freewill of man (If we all go to heaven, we have no choice the matter or our choices don't matter)
7. The atonement by Christ (pointless if no one pays for sin)
8. The church (as one said, 'if there is no fires there is no need for a fire department' and we are
deceived)
F. How do we respond?
1. God is holy, righteous, just and loving
a. God is a holy God (1 Peter 1:16)
b. Meaning that He cannot over look evil
c. And when He judges sin He does so righteously (cf. Gen 18:25; Ps. 7:9; Ps 145:17)
d. God would truly be unholy, unrighteous, unjust and unloving only if He allowed evil to go
unpunished
e. Hell is not so much an absence from God, but being in the presence of His wrath and
displeasure (J. I. Packer)
f. God's love is evident even in His punishment of sin (Ps. 145:17)
g. God would prefer that people come to faith in Him and that no one would go to hell (cf. 1 Tim
2:4; 2 Peter 3:9)
h. God has given us an escape plan (John 3:16)
i. Those who come to Christ forgiveness, regardless of the depravity of their sin, are forgiven
j. For God to send people to heaven against their free will would make Him unloving, like a
cosmic rapist who forces Himself on those who have spurned Him
k. Who are we to tell an all knowing, all powerful sovering God what to do?
2. Man is not good
a. First off no one is good (Romans 3:23)
b. In and of ourselves, no one seeks God (Romans 3:11)
c. The penalty for this is death (Romans 6:23)
d. God rewards people for the work that they do (Romans 2:6-12)
3. Man is without excuse and choose hell for themselves
a. Romans 1:18-32
b. People willfully reject the witness of God (cf. John 3:19)
c. Freewill dictates that there must be a choice between following God or not following God
d. For those who have not heard the Gospel, they have willfully chosen a life contrary to God,
they have disobeyed the General revelation…..grace is a free gift that is undeserved, no one
deserves it
e. People are not thrown into hell against their will but because they have chosen it
4. Soul Sleep is unbiblical and unloving
a. The Bible clearly spells out that eternity will be a conscious existence (as we have already
seen)
b. Existence is better than non existence, God is even merciful in that He allows those who sin
against Him to exist, destroying one's soul would be truly horrible and an unloving act
F. Final Statement: Hell is contrary to the love of God, but it not He but those who have chosen it over His
love. In His love God had given us a freewill, a beautiful gift in which the sovereign God has allowed us
freedom to chose or reject Him. Our rejection of Him pains God, who in the supreme act of love paid the price
His righteousness, and holiness required by His Son going to the cross.