Sermon Series: Misconceptions About Christianity 

It's Judgmental 

Matthew 13:36-43 

CBC Bishop, October 12, 2003

In a nutshell: Christianity isn't judgmental, it's a choice between heaven and hell for eternity.

I. Introduction

A. Lincoln and Cartwright story

One of my heroes from history is Abraham Lincoln. In 1846, he ran for the Congressional seat from the state of Illinois against a man by the name of Peter Cartwright. Cartwright, was a big strong man who was also a circuit-riding Methodist preacher. He was known throughout Illinois for his fiery and powerful sermons. For 65 years he rode a circuit of churches throughout the southern part of Illinois.

Well, during the 1846 Congressional campaign, some of Cartwright's followers accused Lincoln of being an "infidel"-in other words a non-believer. So, in response, Lincoln decided to meet Cartwright on his own ground and attend one of his evangelistic rallies.

At the end of the meeting, Cartwright said, "All who desire to lead a new life and give their hearts to God and go to heaven, please stand." And several men, women and children stood.

Then Cartwright said, "All who do not wish to go to Hell, please stand." And everyone else in the audience stood up-except Lincoln.

Then Cartwright said in his gravest voice, "I see that many responded to my first invitation, and everyone else responded to my second invitation…except you, Mr. Lincoln. Can I ask, 'where are you going?'

And at that, Lincoln rose slowly from his seat and said, "I'm going to Congress." And he did-he won the election. (Adopted from "The Untold Story of Christianity & The Civil War," Christian History, no. 33.)

B. Church doesn't always talk about it

Now, in the church today, we often talk about morals, and holiness and righteousness, and even how to have a full and abundant life-these are all good and Biblical things to address. But when it comes right down to it, we don't talk much about heaven, and almost nothing about hell, like Lincoln's opponent, Rev. Cartwright did..

But when you think about it, as Christians, that's what we should be doing. We are supposed to be people of another kingdom. We're supposed to be rooted in eternity, rather than just what our lives are about right now.

But when we start talking about heaven and hell and eternity, a lot of people in the Owens Valley and around our country think that we Christians are being JUDGMENTAL! That's because most people's understanding of Hell doesn't jive with their understanding about a loving and merciful God-they can't conceive of a loving God who would send someone to Hell.

Bertrand Russell, the atheist, used to say, "There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ's moral character, and that is that he believed in hell. I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment." And Russell's not alone. I would dare say that most of the people you and I know, feel the same way.

If you have your Bibles, I'd like you to turn to…

Matthew 13:36-43 36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." 37 He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 "As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

C. Transition

This morning, I want to consider this notion that Christianity is judgmental, and in the process try and answer several questions that you and people you know probably have about the subjects of Hell and God's justice. So, let's dig in…

II. Questions People Have about Hell and God's Justice

A. What is Hell Like?

Probably the number one question that most people have about spiritual issues concerning Hell and God's Justice is: What is Hell like?

To answer that in the simplest terms I can, I'd say that, Hell is separation from God. It means that for all eternity we will live apart from God-and since God is good and God is love, and He is the ultimate source of goodness and love, it means that people in Hell live apart from all that's good and all that's love. -Those in Hell will be banished from the presence of the most wonderful and loving being in all the universe-Jehovah God. -They will also be excluded from everything of value and beauty, and anything that ultimately matters. -They will live in a crowd of people, but be terribly alone. -They will be plagued by desire and know nothing of fulfillment. -Hell is living forever in the presence of shame, regret, anguish and failure. Never again will a person experience a meaningful relationship or know anything of love.

Jesus described Hell in the passage I read for you as a…

Matthew 13:42 …fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

He also said in another place in the gospels…

Mark 9:47-48 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where "'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'

It's pretty obvious from these two descriptions that Hell was something Jesus wanted people to avoid at all costs. It is full of fire.

But the kind of fire Jesus spoke of isn't the kind of fire we normally think of. That's because He's speaking metaphorically. If it were an actual fire, the people in Hell would be burned up, and that would be the end of that. But instead, He's speaking of the reality of existing apart from God-probably in the most graphic terms the human language could express.

Think about this, we sometime use phrases like, "a burning desire," or "a burning shame". Those phrases refer to a deep yearning for relief deep down inside the core of our being. And that's the fire Jesus is referring to-a deep yearning with no relief. The suffering that's produced by guilt, unforgiven sin and the shame that comes when sin is revealed, is worse than a literal flame-because there's no end to it.

-If you have ever experienced deep, personal, moral failure…then you have a small inking of what Hell is going to feel like. -Or if you have ever lost something of great value, then you know something of what Hell is going to feels like. -Or if you have suffered from great feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, you know something of what Hell feels like. -Or if you have felt the searing pain of personal rejection or the loss of significant relationship, then you know something of what Hell is going to feel like. "The worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."

-Hell is living with the eternal pain of what could have been. - It's living with the eternal suffering of knowing what you should have done, but weren't willing to do. -Hell is the eternal torture of knowing that you spent your life on things which had no lasting value.

And the consequences are that you're separated from the God of all good, love and comfort forever. Isaiah the prophet asks,

Isaiah 33:14 "Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?"

Friends, that's what Hell is like.

B. Is Hell forever?

A second question people often ask about Hell is: Is Hell forever?

The short answer is yes! Think about this…once you are born, you're going to live forever. We were created to be immortal beings. We have a part of us…the soul that will go on living once this body of clay crumbles. So, the question is, where will you live forever? And the answer is, that's all up to you.

You see, you can live in the presence of God forever, or you can live away from the presence of God forever. It's an issue of choices. The reality is that the choices we make in this world right now, are going to have eternal consequences. The theologian,, Dallas Willard, said, "I am now leading a life that will last forever."

Illustration: When I was in college I had a roommate who was part of an evangelism team that went down to Chicago's Skid Row, every weekend. He and his team would go and talk to people in bus stations and on the street. They would go into some of the bars and flop houses that were located in that area. (If you didn't know, a flop house is, it's a place where alcoholics go to sleep off their drunk. At that time, they were charged $1.00 per night to sleep in these small smelly, filthy rooms filled with metal bunk beds, many of which didn't even have mattresses.)

My roommate told me a story of one night, when he went to talk to some of the men in a flop house. During his time there, he met a man named Frank. My roommate began talking with Frank about a relationship with Jesus Christ. Frank was open to what my roommate was saying. He wanted a new life. My roommate took him to church the next day, and afterwards asked him how long it had been since he had been home. Frank told him it had been a long time. He had a wife and children. My roommate asked him if he wanted to go home and Frank said he did.

So they got in my roommate's car and drove to his house. My roommate later told me that he was expecting Frank's home to be in a rundown part of town, but it was actually a very nice home in the suburbs.

When his wife answered the door she was a very attractive and pleasant woman. My roommate explained that he had been talking with her husband, Frank and that he wanted to turn his life around. Would she take him back? And she said, "Of course." And welcomed him back into the home. After that, my roommate drove off back to school.

But the next weekend Frank was back in the flop house again. His wife wanted him home. His children wanted him home. He wanted to be home. But the choices he had made over time would not allow him to stay home. He was now incapable of being where he belonged. As hellish as his existence was, he kept choosing it over his beautiful family and home.

Some people choose to live in Hell here on earth. -They could choose to live life so differently. -They could stop making the choices that are destroying them. -It would spare them so much pain and suffering. But they can't

I know people that I wish I could make their choices for them or even control them-just to help them avoid the hell they're creating for themselves. But they continue to make the wrong choices.

Well, if that's true here and now, why would we think eternity will be any different? The doors of heaven are open. The possibility of real life in heaven is available to anyone. But the bondage of sin is so great, and so powerful, that some people cannot seem to break lose.

What was true of the angels who gave up their position in heaven to become demons and followers of the devil, is also true of human beings:

Jude 6 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home-these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

Jesus described the final judgment by saying,

Matthew 25:46 46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Look at that verse for a second. Do you see that the word "eternal" is used to describe both eternal life and eternal punishment? God will not force anyone to go to heaven-either now or in the future. But their choices are forever choices.

C. How can a loving God send people to Hell?

A third question that people have about Hell and God's justice is, How can a loving God send people to Hell? This question probably reflects the attitude of most of the people who think Christianity is judgmental.

I want to be very clear here. In the truest sense, God does not send anyone to Hell-people send themselves to Hell.

You see, God gives us this wonderful thing called free will. We are free to choose how we will live here in the now. . . and there in the future. A loving and good God will let you do anything you want to do. -He will not force you to allow Him to be the leader of your life. -He will not coerce you into making the right decisions. -He will not forgive you when you don't want His forgiveness. You are a free moral agent. That means you are responsible for the direction and the quality of your life, both now and for eternity.

The great English writer, G. K. Chesterton wrote that, "Hell is God's great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human choice."

Friends, God honors our choices and will not force us to choose Him. He will allow us to stay away from Him for all eternity. God didn't create Hell in the beginning. The earth was created as a paradise. Hell is the place that was prepared for the devil and his angels

Matthew 25:41 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Illustration: When the founding fathers of our country went about the task of creating the United States of America, they didn't do it by first creating jails. In fact, they would have preferred to have a society without jails. But jails became necessary, because it was important to keep dangerous and evil people separated from the rest of society.

In the same way, God is going to protect His own. In heaven, God keeps watch over His own, like is says in…

Revelation 22:15 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

And that leads us to a fourth question about hell and God's Justice…

D. Why doesn't God just force everyone to go to heaven?

Why doesn't God just force everyone to go to heaven? Professor J. P. Moreland, who teaches at Talbot Seminary in Pasadena, answers that question like this: "If God has given people free will, then there's no guarantee that everybody's going to choose to cooperate with him. The option of forcing everyone to go to heaven is immoral, because it's dehumanizing; it strips them of the dignity of making their own decision; it denies them their freedom of choice; and it treats them as a means to an end."

Friends, God hates Hell! He wants everyone to go to Heaven. That is His will…

John 6:40 40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

And the Bible describes God's heart like this…

2 Peter 3:9 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Why doesn't God force Heaven on us? Very simply, He loves us too much to take away our free wills; and He thinks too much of us to make us a means to His end.

III. Conclusion

Friends, the problem is not that Christianity is judgmental. That's not the case at all. The problem is that human beings have a choice! God or Self! And most people choose self, because most people don't want to surrender to anyone-even the loving Jehovah God.

Illustration: I remember when our daughter was three or four years old, and on a particular day she was having a contest of wills with Diane over something that Diane wanted her to wear, and Jori wanted to wear something else. It was really a matter of who was going to be in charge at that moment. (If you're a parent, you know what I'm talking about.) We'll after several attempts to reason with Jori and use logic, Diane finally asked, "Jori, who's the mommy here?" And without hesitation, Jori, with a twinkle in her eye, pointed to herself and said, "I am!"

Friends, that's indicative of the whole human race! Captured in that scenario between my wife and my daughter is the contest of wills that continually goes on between the Ruler of the universe and those who desire to be the ruler of the universe.

In essence God looks us in the face and says, "Now just who is God here?" And without hesitation, so many people (and maybe you're one of them) defiantly point to ourselves, and say, "I am!"

It's is the story of the Garden of Eden all over again. Satan tempted Adam and Eve, telling them that they could be like God. They could be in charge of their world. They didn't have to surrender to God, they could exercise their own wills. They could have their own way.

And that's what happened-God allowed them to have their way-completely apart from His original plan for them. Now, friends, that's not judgmental…, that's love-even though it breaks God's heart.

The great writer, C. S. Lewis wrote the words I put on the front of your worship folders this morning: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell, choose the latter."

Christianity isn't judgmental, it's your choice. And God says to you this morning…

Deuteronomy 30:19 19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

Amen. Gospel plan and sinner's prayer Jesus I know I am a sinner and I need your forgiveness. I believe that when you died on the cross and rose from the dead, You did those things for me. I accept the exchange of my sin for your righteousness. And from this day on, I want to follow you as the leader of my life.