Christian Striver

Why Preach on Hell?

Some great words here from John Piper on why pastors should preach about Hell.  This is from a sermon entitled Final Judgment: Eternal Life Vs. Wrath and Fury (Romans 1:28-2:11), preached on August 31, 1980 at Bethlehem Baptist Church. Piper said this:

But some would ask another question first, namely, why talk about judgment? What good does it do? Doesn’t it just make life dismal and cast a shadow across the bright field of God’s love? My answer is three-fold.

1) I preach about judgment because it is so prominent in Scripture, and I am accountable as a pastor-teacher to unfold the whole counsel of God.

“And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet. Truly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.” - Mt. 10:14,15

“God has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” - Acts 17:31

“It is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment.” - Hebrews 9:27

“If we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.” - Hebrews 10:26,27

I do not see how any pastor could neglect this theme in Scripture with a clear conscience.

The second reason I preach on this theme is that for some people the fear of judgment may be the only motivation to consider trusting Christ as Savior. Now, to be sure, there are better reasons to come to God than to escape hell. But if fear is the only thing that will shake a person loose from his bondage to sin and cause him to consider Christ, then, for love’s sake, so be it. There are better reasons for a child to obey his daddy than the fear of a spanking. But if that fear is the only thing that will keep him out of the street, then, for love’s sake, so be it. I am not as hesitant as some to let people feel fear, for I have ringing in my ears the words of Jesus:

“Do not fear those who can kill the body and afterwords have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who after He has killed has authority to cast into Hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him.” - Luke 12:4,5

The third reason I preach on judgment is that it reveals part of God’s character and so helps us love Him for who He is. If hearing about God’s judgment makes it harder for us to love God, then probably the God we love is a figment of our imagination and not the real and true God. If we would love the true God we must know the true God. There is something wrong with our faith if we cannot sing praises to God not only as our loving Father but also as the righteous Judge of all the earth.

For these three reasons, then, I consider it essential to preach from a text whose theme is the judgment of God.