Mark 9:42-50 Pt.1
Due to a new sound system, we unfortunately were not able to record this, the first part of this sermon. But please take time to read the transcript.
No part of this transcript may be used without written permission. This is for personal use only.
The Unquenchable Fire
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.” - Mark 9:43-50
Introduction
Leonard Ravenhill used to tell the story of the hardened criminal, Charlie Peace. Charlie was a man who broke nearly every law in the book, and when caught, was sentenced to death. As they led him to his execution, a prison chaplain drowsily and apathetically read various passages of Scripture, to which Charlie listened intently, especially when the subject of hell came up. Charlie couldn’t believe the preacher could read of a bottomless pit, eternal fire, and the misery of the unrighteous without so much as a tremble in his voice or a tear in his eye. Charlie cut off the preacher, and said,
Sir, if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worth while living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that!
On another such occasion, a member of the British Royal Family, who has since passed, asked an Anglican minister if hell existed. The minister halfheartedly answered, “Ma’am, our Lord and His Apostles taught so, the Creeds affirm so, and the Church believes so.” The woman vehemently replied, “Why, then, in God’s Name, do you not tell us so?”
Our lives would look so different if we actually believed what we said we believed about hell! If we believed our sins merited eternal punishment, we would never sing of the amazing grace of God without tears, for how could a righteous God love and save wretches like us? Knowing the terror of the Lord, we would never cease to persuade men to repent and trust Christ (2 Corinthians 5:11). If we genuinely believed our unsaved friends and family members were headed for the undiluted wrath of God forever, we would never think it unkind, awkward, or out of place to tell them the gospel. We’d think twice about indulging a single temptation to sin, knowing the gratification of such temptations leads to banishment from the loving presence of God. We would walk in wisdom unknown to our crooked and perverse generation, because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).
Hell is shocking to the human sensibilities hardened in sin and unable to grasp the reality of what their crimes deserve. Hell is silenced by the progressive “Christian” who believes the most “Christ-like” thing to do is never to speak of the things Christ emphasized the most, such as eternal damnation. Hell is sinful to speak of in a generation who believes tolerance is the greatest virtue. This generation's queasiness when discussing hell reveals our low view of God, high view of man, and nonexistent view of sin in Biblical categories. If we rightly viewed God as Judge, we would understand He must condemn the wicked. If we recognized He is a Warrior, we wouldn’t cringe to learn He must conquer His enemies. If we hail Him as King, we would say “amen” as He banished rebels from His Kingdom.
Although the text before us is the only passage in Mark that extensively deals with hell, one can scarcely read the Gospel of Matthew without finding it on every page. It is incumbent on us to not only know what the Bible says about hell, but believe it in such a way that forces us to live accordingly. We’ll handle Mark 9:43-50 in two chapters; the focus here will be the misery of hell, and next will be the mortification of sin. My prayer is that as we examine the place, pain, and perpetuity of hell in this chapter, we will gain a Biblical understanding of eternal punishment, and seek to glorify God as we live in light of this reality.
The Place of Hell
Jesus said it is better to hack off a hand or foot, and gouge out an eye than to “go into hell.” Hell is a place where people go. Christ used the most common word to describe this place in the New Testament, the Greek geena taken from the Hebrew root, Valley of Hinnom; also called “Gehenna” in English. 2 Chronicles 28 tells of how evil King Ahaz led Israel into the Valley of Hinnom to sacrifice their children in the fires to Molech. In Jeremiah 7:32, the Lord named this place the Valley of Slaughter for the unspeakable acts of wickedness done there. Under King Josiah’s reformation, these horrendous acts of idolatrous bloodshed were ended, and the place was made the perpetual dump of Jerusalem. A fire was lit for the city’s trash that burned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As our Lord Jesus taught about hell, He used this as an illustration: just as the refuse of Israel is perpetually burned, so the Lord will cast the wicked into the unquenchable fires of damnation.
So many misconceptions exist about hell that it’s difficult to address them all. Blatant sinners have been known to sing of hell as a party with their friends. One man stood outside the Supreme Court awaiting their decision on whether or not his particular sin would be legal, and held a sign that read, “I Bet Hell Will be Fabulous!” Countless souls have considered hell without significant Biblical study and denied Christ, concluding, “A loving God could never burn people for eternity. That would make Him a pitiful boyfriend abusing his girlfriend because she didn’t love him back!” Whichever misconception of hell lies in the unbeliever’s mind, the old saying is true, “No one who goes to hell ever assumed they would actually get there.”
You need to get every cartoonist depiction of hell out of your mind, and start thinking in Biblical categories. So, Biblically, why did God make this place? The Apostle Paul describes it this way in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9,
…The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.
Hell was made for the glorification of God’s justice. The image painted here is not of sadistic torture at the hands of a petty god, or even a fiendish devil and his minions. Remember, the devil is “thrown” into damnation along with those whose names are not written in the book of life in Revelation 20:10-15; satan doesn’t carry out God’s justice on the wicked, he suffers it with them. Additionally, Paul says hell is not full separation from God, it is separation from every remnant of God’s love, mercy, and grace. Hell is the place where fullness of God’s righteous wrath is poured out against guilty sinners.
An Army chaplain once told his men that hell wasn’t real. The men quickly told him his services were no longer needed. “Why?” the chaplain asked. “Because,” said the men, “If hell isn’t real, then we have nothing to fear. But, if it is real then we don’t want an unbeliever like you leading us astray!” Jesus believed in and solemnly taught about hell as a real place. It is a place that is currently being filled, and will be full at the end of this age. No one goes to hell who does not deserve to be there, and you and I are at the top of the list for deserving candidates.
The Pain of Hell
You may have noticed a textual variant between the King James and most modern versions. The KJV repeats the phrase, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” three times in verses 44, 46, and 48. Although verses 44 and 46 are not included in most modern Bibles, all the original manuscripts include the statement in verse 48, so we know Jesus meant to include the statement. Here, Jesus was quoting from the Old Testament, when Isaiah ended his prophecy with a vision of the age to come,
And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh (Isaiah 66:23-24).
Here, Isaiah was clearly prophesying beyond the immediate happenings of his own day and pointing to the end of all things. The righteous will be gathered from every tribe and tongue to worship God, no doubt, singing, “Worthy is the lamb! For He has redeemed us by His blood!” (Revelation 5:9). Yet, from Zion, they can behold the suffering of the unrighteous dead. What feelings do you think this sight provokes in the redeemed? It wouldn’t cause them to boast of how they escaped that dread. To the contrary, it would be a perpetual reminder of what their fate would be had not God graciously rescued them from it.
The “worm” mentioned here is described by Matthew Henry to be “the reflections and reproaches of the sinner’s own conscience.” Just as maggots gnaw at the corpses of the slain, so will the guilt of the damned cleave to their tortured minds. The Proverbs speak of the man who refused to serve God and chose to indulge his sin, concluding with, “thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof” (Proverbs 5:11-12). The pain of hell isn’t merely physical misery, but mental agony; knowing you did wrong and there will never be anything you can do to make it right.
The “fire” is also described by Henry as “The wrath of God fastening upon a guilty and polluted conscience.” Deuteronomy 32:22 says, “Fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell.” Hebrews 12:29 says God is a “consuming fire.” Whether these be a spiritual metaphor or literal depiction, the reality remains the same: the pain of damnation is so beyond anything this world knows that the closest way to describe it is burning alive. Jesus described a man who went to hell in Luke 16:23-31. The flames placed this man in such torment that he said a single drop of water would have made his condition more bearable. If the flames of hell aren’t literal, it’s because they are inconceivably worse than anything we know on this earth.
In heaven, you will give glory to God for redeeming you from your own depravity, the devil, and damnation. In hell, you will experience an anguish you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemies. You will weep until your eyes run dry, wail until your voice breaks down, and gnash your teeth until nothing but dust remains; and then the pain will only intensify. Your lost friends and family might meet you in hell, but they will hate you with perfect hatred (you will be an abhorrence to all flesh). This is because hell is void of even the smallest traces of love or the simplest of life’s comforts. Your conscience will condemn you with the worst shame you’ve ever felt, and God’s grace will never be available to wash it away. You will find yourself perpetually drowning in guilt, and unable to get your head above the waters. The pain of hell will not only externally be more than you can bear, but internally more than you can endure. Yet, the pain will be poured out all the more.
The Perpetuity of Hell
This brings us to the most terrifying aspect of damnation. Why is it that the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched? We don’t need to get too philosophical here, speculating over dozens of different interpretations. The text is obvious. Worms die when the bodies they devour are fully picked clean. Fires go out when the fuel they feed on are completely consumed. In hell, the worm never dies because the bodies they feast upon are never devoured. In hell, the fire is never quenched because their human fuel is never consumed. There are myriads of roads leading into hell, but there’s not a single exit. Once in hell, always in hell. It is perpetual tormented punishment.
Many who rightly reject the Universalist claim that everyone will go to heaven have opted for the more intellectual view of Annihilation/Conditionalism. This is the belief that when a person goes to hell they are annihilated and cease to exist, the fire is eternal but not the person being punished. The argument usually stems from cherry picked Bible verses, and the emotional assertion that an eternal punishment for the wicked doesn’t align with the nature of our loving God. How is it that the crimes of temporal beings merit infinite misery? Briefly, let me give two answers.
First, a penalty is determined by the value of the person sinned against. When will God cease to be deserving of honor, love, obedience, and worship? Never. God has no beginning or end. Therefore, one sin merits eternal punishment, because even the smallest sin is committed against the eternally honorable, worthy, and good God.
Second, it’s wrong to assume unsaved people stop being sinners the moment they die. Let’s say the previous point wasn’t true, that crimes against an eternal God could be punished in an instant. Why do you assume people stop sinning the moment they get to hell? Revelation closes with this terrifying pronouncement: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” (Revelation 22:11). When we die, we are forever sealed in the condition we cultivated in this life. If a person is indwelt by the Spirit of God, repenting of sin and striving for holiness to love God more, they will be sealed in God’s righteousness forever. Once an unsaved sinner dies, they are sealed in their state of uncleanliness. Thus, they go on for all eternity hating God with nothing but His justice to encounter; and the more they experience God’s justice against their sin, the more they hate Him and merit further punishment.
I’ve heard numerous preachers say they wish revival would come to America in our generation as it did in the First Great Awakening (1730-1750). I share this desire, but we need to recognize that if God is going to move today we need to be willing to preach Biblically like men back then. This subject of an eternal hell for the wicked was a staple in the preaching of men like Johnathan Edwards, who God graciously used in mighty ways. In what is arguably the most famous sermon in American history, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards described the eternal nature of the damned’s suffering this way,
It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long forever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives us a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: for ‘who knows the power of God’s anger?’
If we could step outside time and into eternity for even a moment, all the things sinners strive to achieve would be exposed as the vanity they are. Sin is a crime of eternal severity, and righteousness is a gift of eternal reward. Live in light of this reality.
Conclusion
The question is still beckoned by the unbeliever, “How could a good God send people to hell?” The question ought to be asked, “How could God be good if He doesn’t send people to hell?” His goodness is what requires Him to punish evil, and our sin is evil. If He doesn’t punish the wicked, He isn’t good and He isn’t God. Additionally, I ask, how could God’s creation bearing His own image choose to so wickedly rebel against Him? We must get a loftier view of God and a lower view of ourselves. The problem is never on God’s end.
Let your mind linger here on God’s goodness for a moment; while God’s goodness demands your damnation, His goodness has also provided the way of escape. The gospel can be seen in a new light when placed against the bleak darkness of damnation. The cross shines brighter when placed amidst the backdrop of eternal punishment. A healthy fear of eternal wrath increases your gratitude for eternal grace. Christ didn’t sweat drops of blood in Gethsemane because He was afraid of the Roman whip, but because He knew He would have to drink the cup of God’s eternal wrath. To die in the place of sinners is to bear the full force of divine retribution, and that is what Jesus did in love for those who trust Him. Fall in faith upon Christ. You will find safety in the shadow of the cross.
