How Can Ye Escape the Damnation of Hell
Partial sermon: FULL PDF HERE
Matthew 23:33
Matthew 23 is one of the least preached passages in the New Testament. It would be classified as “hate literature” by the media today.
This was the last public sermon Jesus preached before He was arrested and delivered up to be crucified. The setting is the Temple in Jerusalem (21:23 cf. 24:1).
This scathing sermon is filled with warnings of judgment, woes upon hypocrisy, and dripping with sarcasm. Nothing like this would ever be preached in Joel Osteen’s church. READ MATTHEW 23.
It is no wonder that after Jesus finishes this sermon, the Pharisees plot to kill Him (26:1-4).
It is fitting that the last message Jesus preached on earth would be climaxed with an admonition about hell (v. 33). Strong language similar to the preaching of John the Baptist (Mt. 3:7).
I. The PREACHING on hell.
Not much preaching on hell today.
A. The PREACHER—Most of what we know about hell, we learn from the teaching of Jesus. He preached more about hell than He did heaven! Jesus was a “hell-fire and damnation” preacher.
•Mt. 5:22–…in danger of hell fire. (from Sermon on the Mount)
•Mt. 5:29–…thy whole body should be cast into hell…
•Mt. 16:18–…the gates of hell…
•Mt. 23:15–…the child of hell…
•Mt. 23:33–…how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
•Mk. 9:43–…go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
•Luke 10:15–…shalt be thrust down to hell.
B. The PLAINNESS — Jesus was a straight talker. He didn’t mince words or beat-around-the-bush when it came to preaching the truth—He told it like it is! Modernistic churches try to make Christianity palatable by presenting Jesus as a softy, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, and effeminate.
II. The PLACE of hell.
A. The FACT of it’s existence. There is a literal burning hell. Jesus would not warn people to escape from a place that did not exist.
- Hell is not the grave. There are degrees of damnation in hell (v. 14). But there are no degrees of death or the grave.
- Hell is not annihilation. The word “damnation” speaks of hell being a place of great punishment for evil.
The word translated “damnation” is the Greek word “krisis.” Our English word “crisis” comes from this same word. A person who goes to hell, will find themselves in the most terrifying crisis ever—A crisis of eternal torment.
B. The FIRE that is literal.
Matt 13:49-50— “…the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire…”
Matthew 25.41, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”
Revelation 20:15— …whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 14:10-11— “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone… And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…”
Partial sermon: FULL PDF HERE
