Heb 2:1-4 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. 
	We are in the process of considering the Biblical doctrines of Heaven and Hell. We are using, as our framework of consideration, the messages and writing of Pastor Ted Donnelly, with his expressed permission. Last week, we began by looking at the intrinsic importance of studying this doctrine based on four aspects. 
First, it is important because of the weight of Biblical teaching concerning it. Second, it is important because of the content with its immense consequences for millions of people each year. Third, it is vital because it affects every one of us in our homes, our places of work, and our neighborhoods, everyplace we interact with people. Fourthly, it is vital because it can be escaped. It is not inevitable. There is a way out, but only one way out and that is through faith in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. There is no salvation, no escape except through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These are the intrinsic aspects of why it is so important to study this doctrine of Hell.
	This morning, let us consider the fact that it is urgent to study the Biblical doctrine of Hell because of the Pervasiveness of Unbelief in Hell. This doctrine is not popular nor universally accepted and is even on the brink of being denied into extinction. As a result, it needs to be taught and understood and applied into the heart of the church, with the prayer that our collective hearts would become fully attuned and in line with the very heart of God. 
Dr. Donnelly refers to three levels of unbelief. The first is that of popular mockery. We have just ended a period of time within our country in which hell, with all its imagined minions and torments have been celebrated. It is not taken seriously in the main stream of human thought and consideration. It is the subject of grotesque imagination and marketing for the sale of products. It is seen as something to be laughed at and those serious to take it as real are ridiculed as fools and as buffoons. It is merely the object of derision and exclamation to emphasize contempt or disgust. There is no value associated with it in the minds of the lost, other than to swear by it and to laughingly threaten punishment of some sort. It is mocked in word, in advertising, in discussion, in the media, and in the hearts of the lost. 
The second level of unbelief is that in which hell is rejected by those who do give it very thoughtful consideration. To quote Donnelly, To them, the idea of hell is morally disgusting and they are genuinely offended by it. They regard it as a primitive superstition, a crude bogey-man used by a tyrannical church to terrify and manipulate its gullible adherents. There are very many in our circle of associates to whom the very idea of hell is awful and contemptible. These are people who are very thoughtful and deep thinkers, but are lost in their sin and trespass and unable to truly see because they are spiritually dead. They will not accept, nor will they even consider that hell could actually exist as a place of eternal torment and condemnation. It goes against the very fabric of their self-understanding and principles because it presents a picture of such enormous horror, that it is not possible for their minds to acknowledge or comprehend hell in this fashion. 
The third level of unbelief is that from within the church itself. There are those theologians and scholars who refuse to acknowledge that which has been taught from the very beginning. They are turning from orthodox teaching to new concepts of annihilationism or conditional immorality. This is the easier to digest concept that only those loved of God will live forever and the rest of fallen humanity will, at some point, simply cease to exist. They will pass into nothingness rather than be eternally punished for their impenitent wickedness. 
There are others, in this vein of denial, who teach a post-modern evangelism, the misguided concept that after death there will be another opportunity to repent. As well, there are the current teachings of inclusivism, that God will accept those who have been faithful to the tenets of other religions, following the light as they have received it. As well, there are those, within the church who teach the Biblical doctrine of hell, but in such a watered-down fashion, that it is denied, ignored, or treated as an embarrassing family secret, not to be mentioned in public. 
The doctrine of hell is an urgent and vital doctrine that is under attack from without and within the church itself. It has been thrust into the front of the battle between the truth of God and the lies of this age. It is mocked, it is assaulted, it is argued against, and it is denied. Yet, it is the very truth that we must proclaim, because in so doing we are telling our children and our grandchildren of the need of salvation through Jesus Christ. We are not trying to scare and to control, we are trying to point out the only way of salvation from such a horrible, eternal reality into which we want no one to enter. We are fighting the battle for the very salvation of this world, as we are given light and guidance through the active ministry of the Holy Spirit. We stand in the Truth of God, for the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
This then brings us to the most significant reason to study and to know what the Bible teaches us about hell. It is the fact that unbelief is a symptom of a far deeper problem as well as a sin. A symptom is an indication of a far, more serious situation or illness. In this case, unbelief is a symptom of humanity’s greatest evil, self-centeredness. We become the center of the entire universe and consider everything in terms as to how it affects us and our part in it. 
It began with Satan, as we read in Isa 14:12-14 "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! "But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' It was the temptation in the garden. Gen 3:4+5 And the serpent said to the woman, "You surely shall not die! "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." This self-centeredness, this man-centeredness is so pervasive that none of us are untouched by it. It is at the very root of every objection to hell, whether in the church or outside the church. 
There are three evidences of this spirit of humanism, which is another name for this sinful world-view. As we briefly look at each, we will also consider how the doctrine of hell stands firmly and unmoved in opposition to this defiling disease of human nature.
The first evidence is that it is a man-centered view of man himself. The highest consideration and value in our society is human well-being. People must find themselves and be happy. Our society is built on the principle that man must be happy and that we need to do everything we can to achieve that happiness. Hell rips apart the very fabric of humanism and says that millions upon millions of people are going to be eternally suffering and in direst misery without any hope. They will not be happy, but rightfully damned for eternity after eternity after eternity. People are not going to be happy, they are going to be suffering and wailing in pain and torment, unable to have any relief, ever. There is no happiness is hell, so this humanistic spirit sets emotional arguments and optimistic fantasy against the truth of eternal damnation. 
The second evidence is that fact that this age’s view of sin is man-centered. What does this world call sin? The best general answer is something that hurts another. We should do our best not to harm or cause injury or distress to someone else, however indiscriminately this definition may be applied. Euthanasia, killing someone who is disabled, too elderly, too costly, or too sickly to look after as well as killing unborn children who might be inconvenient may not fall under this definition, depending on the circumstances. However, the general thought within society is that we should not kill, should not steal, should not lie, should not use violence, should not abuse children or spouses are the normal thoughts of sin. Adultery is, as well, frowned upon, while not as rigidly as in previous generations. 
However, apply the standard that we have been given by God in His Word, for sin, to not have any other god before Him, to worship Him with all our heart, to not use His name in vain, to keep the Sabbath holy, these have no concern within the heart of the unbeliever, and sadly within the heart of some Christians. This is not seen as sin because it does not meet the litmus test of the general question that is always asked, what harm am I doing? Who am I hurting? Even drug and alcohol abuse falls into this camp of if it is not hurting anyone else, what is the problem? 
The problem is that there is no sense of sin against God. Man-centeredness sees only man and man’s interaction with man. God doesn’t matter in this world view of what is called sin. God and sin against God has no impact on this world’s view of human welfare and therefore doesn’t count in the conscience of society.
	Utterly and forcefully against this lie stands the doctrine of hell and it smashes it into dust. To quote Donnelly, Hell tells us that there is an awesome, holy God in whose eyes we are dreadfully guilty. This doctrine informs us that sin is so serious, so damnable in God’s eyes, that is must be punished by an eternity of suffering. It lifts human wrongdoing to an entirely different plane and puts it in the context of accountability and judgment and everlasting consequences. Sin is not, first and foremost, hurting our fellow-humans. “Sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4) and the broken law is God’s. People do not want to hear about hell because it tells them that sin is more serious and more terrible than they ever wanted to imagine…Hell emphasizes that our sin has an eternal dimension as an affront to the Almighty.
The third and worst evidence of the sinful nature of humanism is the man-centered view of God. Our society is systematically undermining any of the values of respect, admiration, purity, nobility, unselfishness, and heroes. What sells are not the stories of the heroic endeavor, but the fallen ness of those once admired. The tabloids pedal the trash about people, they tear down and dig up the garbage, and if not enough garbage is exposed, it is created. We no longer want people to look up at; we want them on our level, flawed and every bit as dirty as are we. This is because the world hates the Hero, the Supreme Being, God. There is a dread of His holiness and goodness standing over us in judgment. 
The God of today, if He exists at all, is for the benefit of man. He is for the purpose of meeting our needs and making us happy. We call Him, when we need Him and then dismiss Him when we are satisfied for the time being. Quoting Donnelly, Even in the evangelical churches the impression is too often given that God exists to make us happy, to solve our problems, to answer our prayers, to heal our sicknesses, to improve our marriages, to help us to keep to a diet. We are guilty of simply using God to make our lives better on this earth, and that is the foulest abuse of our relationship with God. We treat God as if He is simply our heavenly bell hop, and tip Him with words of praise spoken in a token prayer of gratitude.
What audacity and impudence infests our thoughts and hearts as we so lowly and slovenly consider the Almighty God of all creation. The doctrine of hell presents us with the indisputable fact that He is an awesome God Who is overwhelming in His anger, irresistible in His power, terrifying in His justice. A Mighty Sovereign, who holds the earth between His fingers like a pinch of dust. Dan 4:35 "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?' Hell speaks to us of the God Who is in control, doing with us as He pleases, the God Whom we cannot ignore or marginalize or manipulate. 
Hell brings us face to face with God. It tests our belief in Him. It shows us God in His holiness and His majesty because until we see God in this manner, we can never truly grasp the full truth of hell and its purpose in the mind of God. Hell shows us ourselves in the plan and purpose of God, how little and insignificant we are, and how glorious and loving and holy and just and merciful and righteous He is. Understanding hell in the reality of the correct knowledge of God will find us joining the chorus as recorded in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Rev 11:15-18 And the seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever." And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, "We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast begun to reign. "And the nations were enraged, and Thy wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy bond-servants the prophets and to the saints and to those who fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth." 
And Rev 15:3+4, And they sang the song of Moses the bond-servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy; For all the nations will come and worship before Thee, For Thy righteous acts have been revealed." So be it! 
For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. Amen

This morning’s benediction is Ps 134 Behold, bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord, Who serve by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the sanctuary, And bless the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth.  Amen.