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The Gospel: There was the Cup. Hell was in It

There was a giant cup of God’s wrath with enough in it for all his people. And Christ drank it all. There’s not a drop left.

There was a gun with enough ammunition to take out all of us. He took every bullet. There’s not one left. The clip is empty.

There was a whip with enough throngs to touch us all. He took the whip until it wore out and broke. It disintegrated against his back.

There was the cup; hell was in it; the Savior drank it—not a sip, and then a pause; not a draught, and then a ceasing; but He drained it till there is not a dreg left for any of His people! The great ten-thronged whip of the law was worn out upon His back; there is no lash left with which to smite one for whom Jesus died! The great bombardment of God’s justice has exhausted all its ammunition; there is nothing left to be hurled against a child of God!

-from Charles Spurgeon’s sermon, It is Finished

 

For People Who Have Been There

Steve Brown quotes J’s former pastor:

My friend Lea Clower says that religion is for people who want to stay out of hell, and Christianity is for people who have been there.

-Steve Brown, Approaching God: Accepting the Invitation to Stand in the Presence of God, p. 85

Of course the good news of this, as his been said by others many times, is that this life is the closest to hell the Christian will ever face (and the closest to heaven the non-believer will ever experience).

Does the statement need defending? Maybe.

C.S. Lewis describes hell as a “ruthless, sleepless, unsmiling concentration upon self.” In another places, he says, “We must picture Hell as a state where everyone is perpetually concerned about his own dignity and advancement, where every has a grievance, and where everyone lives the deadly serious passions of envy, self-importance, and resentment.” If you’ve tasted those things in your own life, you’ve tasted some of the poison that makes hell what it is. You’ve touched the edge of the flame. And it’s when you realize that that’s what it is – poison, flame – you’re just on the cusp of being ready to escape.

How do you escape? Realize that there’s already somebody there to whom you can scream for help. (See the previous post for an explanation on that one).

 

Depart from Me

In The Great Divorce, Lewis has those famous lines: ‘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 it.’

Long before Lewis penned those words, Ralph Venning (1621-1673) wrote,

What is sin but a departure from God? And what is the doom of sinners but departure from God? It is as if God should say to them, You liked departing while you lived; now depart from me. You would none of me while you lived; now I will none of you or yours.

-Ralph Venning, The Sinfulness of Sin, p. 71

 

Reconstruction or Destruction? Working for Good and Ready to Run

Pray for your city and seek its welfare, but remember that the God who inspired Jeremiah 29 also inspired chapters 50 and 51. Be wise in how you relate to culture:

  • Jeremiah 29:7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
  • Jeremiah 51:6 “Flee from the midst of Babylon; let every one save his life! Be not cut off in her punishment, for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance, the repayment he is rendering her.”

Work for gospel good, but don’t get too comfortable. Christ, the true Passover, is not only a Lamb, but a Judge. And so be prepared like the children of Israel:

  • Exodus 12:11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover.

And when it’s time to ‘flee from the midst,’ ‘remember Lot’s wife’ (Luke 17:32). Jesus said that, remember?

I sometimes wonder if those who bandy Jeremiah 29:7 about have read the rest of the book. But, then again, there are those ‘hellfire and brimstone’ sorts who have perhaps never noticed that verse at all. The Bible is balanced, always balanced. Let us live accordingly. Working for good and ready to run.

Judge Not

I envision a lost man standing before Jesus Christ at the final judgment, having a strong sense of the fate that awaits. He cries out, ‘Judge not Jesus! You said it yourself! I read it in red!’

I then imagine that Jesus goes on to explain to the man that he has misinterpreted Jesus’ words: ‘Did you not also read that you are to remove the log from your own eye so that you can see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s? I have no log in my eye. My eye is clear, and I see you as you are. I judge accordingly, and my judgment is true and right.’

In my imagination, Jesus continues, ‘Did you not read that I told my disciples not to cast pearls before the swine? Did I not mean that they had to be able to judge a swine when they saw one? Clearly you do not understand my words.’

To which the man replies: ‘Judge not Jesus! You said it yourself! I read it in red, you hypocrite!’

And he goes to hell, continuing to justify himself for eternity, still thinking that Jesus is the judgmental one.