When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.   Matthew 25:31-33

While I was preparing the sermon for this Memorial Day weekend, I looked up the word "memorial" in the dictionary.  It is described as; that which preserves the memory of something.  Memorials are statues of great events that have taken place in the past.  They are all around us.  I found many memorials recorded in the Bible.  I took the time to write some of them down.

?         The Passover Meal was to remind the Israelites of the Egyptian bondage. Moses said, “When you take of the Passover feast, it will remind you of being in bondage.”

?         The twelve stones the Priest laid on the far side of the Jordan River just as the Israelites were on the brink of tainted land.  Do you remember that Scripture describes the Jordan River as “raging?”   It was out of its banks and the Children of Israel could not cross.  God spoke to the Priest, “Tell them, 'Put your foot into the water.'”   When they put their foot into the water, it would be stopped and they could cross over to dry land.  After they crossed the river, the Priest took twelve stones and made an altar (memorial) to remind people who passed that way that God did a super natural work that day.  That shrine would remind people how powerful God is.

?         The Lord’s Supper is to remind New Testament Believers that Jesus died on the cross and to look ahead for His return.  When we take of the Communion, some believe that the Cross-is a Memorial to Jesus’ selfless sacrifice for humankind.

?         The empty tomb is there to remind us Jesus is not dead, but lives forevermore.

?         We can even say the New Birth is a memorial. It reminds us God is still on the throne and still in the “saving business.” 

These are memorials of good things, but I want to talk about a memorial that will not be looked upon with fond memories today.  It is one that no one will lay flowers at this shrine, no one will remember this memorial because it is a very painful memorial yet, it is something we must be reminded of.  It is Hell. You ask, “How can Hell be considered a memorial?”  Look at what Hell is…Hell is a place for fallen souls.  Those that died without accomplishing their life’s purpose of receiving salvation.

Hell is a very real place.  It should remind the living as the old saying goes; “Life is short, Eternity is not, Heaven is sweet and Hell is hot!”   

My sermon tonight is “Why I believe in a burning, fiery Hell.”  Some people will say, “Preacher, you shouldn’t preach about Hell.”  Your words might fall on tender ears.

I believe every Church should be reminded of the seriousness of Hell.  Although, we are headed for Heaven with our name written in the “Lamb’s Book of Life.” we must be reminded of the seriousness of that awful place. To understand Hell, you must understand the text. 

?         In the Book of Psalms, the word Hell is used many times but it does not always mean the same thing.  Psalms 16-10.…For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  In this verse, David is expressing confidence that God is not going to leave him in the place of the dead…the grave. The same goes for you and me.  God is not going to leave us in the grave.   The word "hell" in Psalms means the grave…not the place of eternal torment.

?         In Matthew 10:28 Jesus is speaking, “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.”   The word Hell is used in the Old Testament to refer to the grave, but it is used in the New Testament as a place of everlasting punishment.” Once you have cross the borderline there is no coming back.  In Matthew the word "Hell" is eternal punishment.

?         11 Peter 2-4: For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment:

The word "Hell" in 2-4 means the deepest pits of Hell. It is for a deeper degree of punishment.  Now, this is a Bro. JR thought, but is my  opinion that God has a special place for those who teach a false prophecy to purposely fill their pockets with money while leading others down a road of false teachings.

Sad to say, some organizations teach Hell is not real because a loving God would not send someone into a burning Hell.   However, truthfully, God does not send us there…we make that choice for ourselves when we refuse to accept God.

You cannot accept Heaven and reject Hell.  Both are real places.

As a young man, I thought I had it all worked out---live however you want to when you are young, then when you become old you can get ready for Heaven.  Folks, I am smart enough today to know, it don’t work that way.  We have no control on how many more sunrises we will see.  I am glad at the age of thirty-one, I said “Yes” to God.

Matthew 25: 33: And He shall set the sheep on his right side; but the goats on the left.

Every one that dies is not going to Heaven.   The sheep represent those who will be rewarded for their life of faith, while the goats represent those who didn’t follow the Shepherd’s voice.

God didn’t prepare Hell for us, rather it was prepared for the Devil and his angels, but because those who didn’t receive Christ are trespassing, with no way out.

Tomorrow you will go lay flowers on your loved ones grave and go home to sit down with a cool glass of lemonade.  Those in Hell will not have the opportunity to have that cool drink and they cannot come back.   God help us all to get a heavy burden for those who are lost.

From the Pulpit pf Pastor Jr Fields
May 27, 2007

Sermon edited by Mary King

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