Have you heard any old-fashioned hell-fire preaching recently? It is said that Aimee Macpherson, the Canadian Pentecostalist evangelist once rode into her Angelus Temple on a motor-bike dressed as a traffic policeman – down the aisle, up on to the platform, where she jumped off, held up her hand and cried out, ‘Stop, you’re heading to hell!’ It is doubtful whether any of us have ever seen or heard anything quite as dramatic as that, but nevertheless the message is an essential element in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have to warn of the wrath to come, yet sometimes preaching about hell gets divorced from judgment and that is unfortunate. It is judgment that links sin and hell; it is on the basis of judgment that condemnation takes place. It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Preaching judgment involves at least these seven features.
Preaching judgment brings people face to face with the living God. Everyone has to appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10); everyone will have to give an account to him before whom all things are naked and open (Hebrew 4:13). To preach this makes people aware that they will have to stand before a holy and righteous Judge. ‘But isn’t God a God of love?’ someone may ask. Yes, he is, but that is not a comforting thought for any who have spurned his love and rejected the Son whom the Father gave in his love. Rather it is calculated to make people cry out with those on the day of Pentecost, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Preaching judgment makes people examine themselves. Those who are going to have an interview prepare beforehand. They think about the questions they are likely to be asked, and how they can make the best impression on those who will interview them; a great deal can hang on an interview. If someone becomes convinced that after death they are destined for an interview with God, it will concentrate the mind; how much more will hang on that? Most people do not want to have to examine their lives very closely; most people excuse themselves and feel that they are at least as good as most others. It is easy, also, to take in other people, but God knows the sober truth about everyone, and that is a sobering thought.
Preaching judgment exposes sin. God, we are told, will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ (Romans 2:16). The hidden things, the forgotten things, will all be brought out into the open, For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops (Luke 12:2). Everyone has his guilty secrets, but God knows them all. The judgment will take account of every act, of every word – even idle words (Matthew 12:36) – and the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
Preaching judgment activates the conscience. There is little conviction of sin in these days; consciences seem to be hardened and resistant to penetration. But the law has been written in the hearts of all (Romans 2:15), and conscience is still there though it is overlaid by the carelessness of the modern age and the encrustations which the media have deposited in the mind. To be confronted by the judgment of God who sees and knows everything is certainly calculated to make people consider their ways. We must remember, too, that in all this the work of the Holy Spirit must not be overlooked and it is his ministry to convince the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (John16:8).
Preaching judgment shows the inadequacy of trying to justify oneself. If God is going to judge and if everything is taken into account then it is perfectly evident that everyone will fall short (see Romans 3:23). It is obvious that no one is good enough for him. We may feel that our lives are good enough to get along all right in this life, but quite clearly we are utterly unsuited to living in a realm of perfect righteousness and there is nothing we can do to alter the situation. Our best efforts at self reformation only lead to frustration and despair. As we are, we are simply not good enough for God or for heaven.
Preaching judgment demonstrates the inevitability of hell. This follows necessarily. If sinful people are judged with perfect justice then they have to be punished for their sins and they will go to a place of punishment rather than a place for the righteous and good. Judas, we are told, went to his own place (Acts 1:25), that is to say, to the place which fitted with his actions, the place to which he deserved to go. Judgment determines our destiny for eternity. It is fair, impartial, takes all the facts into consideration, but for those who are condemned the only possibility is hell.
Preaching judgment leads inevitably to preaching about Jesus Christ. How can anyone who stands at the judgment seat of a holy God be justified? In the words of Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? There is only one way, but there is one way! This is what the gospel is all about: free justification through Jesus Christ. Because he lived a life of perfect obedience and died bearing the punishment due to sin everyone who believes in him is justified by [God’s] grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:24,26). There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
So preaching judgment is not a negative thing. It is part of true gospel preaching and leads to opening up the way of salvation through Jesus Christ. The grace and mercy of Jesus Christ shines out in the light of judgment. How amazing that through him and what he did sinners like us can stand unafraid and unashamed before God at the last day. In Jesus Christ, through faith in him, God has already justified us. Declared us free from all charges because Jesus paid for them in full. Declared us righteous and unblameable before him because the perfect righteousness of Jesus has become ours. Here is good news to proclaim.
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