Part Two, 'Setting our Sights on Heaven', Conclusion

How to wrap-up this book club series? I’ve decided to conclude by citing three quotes, one from Wolfe, one from Baxter and one from the writer of Hebrews.

Chapter 11, ‘If It’s Sunday, It Must Be Heaven’

This chapter was a complement to the sermon series on Ephesians we have just finished at church. Probably the quote that most reverberated with me was the challenge which Wolfe gave at the end of the chapter,

Remember, the church’s worship on earth is a foretaste, not the full taste. Do not harbour unfair and unrealistic expectations. Heaven is there. You just have to learn to see it and make the most of it. So will you open your eyes and learn to see it? Anyone can see the dross. That takes no spiritual acumen. That serves as no sign of Christian maturity. Blessed is the man who has learned to see the gold. Blessed is the man whose eyes behold heaven. Christian, you have come to the assembly. Do you behold it? May it be so. (p. 164)

Anyone can see the dross.

The following chapter looks at how we stop looking to heaven because we don’t want to think about hell. Needless to say this chapter covers the ground that we went through with Laura in our April book club.

Chapter 13, ‘Wayfaring Strangers’

In the last chapter of the book Wolfe goes back to the key verses he examined in Part One, drawing together the various threads of the book he then draws the reader to Hebrews 11,

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (verses 13-16)

After having gone for a walk through the Botanical Gardens and sitting by the harbour at lunchtime on Friday with clichéd blue skies above and dark blue water below overlooking the Opera House, I marvelled with my companion at the privilege of living in Sydney.

Sydney is not the city that the people of faith in Hebrews 11 long for.

Because beneath the blue skies of Sydney lies sickness, suffering, sin and death. The nip of cold wind that blows over the water reminds me of this.

In his conclusion Wolfe quotes Baxter from The Saints’ Everlasting Rest (so I will too!),

And when thou hast, in obedience to God, tried this work, got acquainted with it, and kept a guard on thy thoughts till they are accustomed to obey, thou wilt then find thyself in the suburbs of heaven, and that there is, indeed, a sweetness in the work and way of God, and that the life of Christianity is a life of joy. (p. 194)

It is a powerful reminder that we look towards the city of God (Revelation 21), and we long for it, and while it seems so very far away we are not so very separate from it. As Christians we are in its very suburbs if indeed, we set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:2).

In reflecting on this book it may not have deepened my insights about the last days and heaven, but it has challenged me pastorally to consider why I don’t focus on heaven and, more importantly, helped me to do so. In meditating more on heaven I can already see the way it is shaping me, in living my life now, in light of what is to come.

Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven- Part 4

After several chapters looking at the doctrine of hell and related issues, our book finishes with an appendix, written by Tim Keller, on preaching these difficult and unpopular truths, and a brief conclusion that summarises the whole book. However, the appendix in itself, I think, brings the content of the rest of the book to a head in a helpful, tangible way.

Appendix: Preaching Hell in a Tolerant Age Timothy Keller

Keller’s goal in this paper is to help us - as we commit to faithful submission to God’s authority and revealed truth about hell – move forward in sharing this with others, and particularly people who are not Christians.

His advice and modelling of different ways to faithfully preach the whole gospel, including the truth about hell, demonstrates persistence in faithfulness to God’s word above the demands of our hearers as we share it. While his suggestions are insightful, trying to meet people where they particularly are at, and avoid that cringe-worthy caricature of ‘fire-and-brimstone’ preaching, Keller still insists that the power of God to save and change lives is the whole of the gospel, and we miss out on its riches if we skimp over any bit, including the truth about hell and the judgment of God. It certainly has made me pause to reflect whether I put confidence in the truths of God, or instead hold out the words people want to hear; what they claim will soothe, comfort and heal, the message of the ‘good life’, which in truth brings no life at all.

Are there points where I hesitate?

Are there truths Jesus taught, and died for, that you wouldn’t share with your loved ones?

There is a weighty challenge here! But, as with the rest of this book, we are not to be driven by guilt and fear, but rather compassion, and confident in God’s grace. If you feel weak, hesitant, intimidated – don’t stop there! But knowing the only one who could Himself actually provide our way out of the judgment we deserve has indeed done so, let us look to Him for strength, and trust that the Lord will bring about his purposes if we will just be faithful to his gospel.

Reflecting on this book as a whole, I think there are a couple of difficult things about it. Firstly, in tackling such a big, and deep topic, it feels brief – almost too brief, to really even open up the issues at stake properly, let alone bring clear answers. A lot of the time I thought there could be further evidence provided to support an argument, etc. This is helpful though in that it pushes us to go to the text of the Bible and wrestle with it ourselves (and now with a helpful framework to tackle it!). Secondly, there is always a bit of disconnect when different authors pen different parts of one book – I was often curious how they would respond to each other’s main area of focus, and where agreement or tension would lie.

Nonetheless, it is a great starting point if you’re someone who feels the difficulty of confronting the idea of hell with a non-believer, or if you are trying to figure out with your Christian friends/church family/home group/ Bible study just what exactly God has to say about it all. Let it spur you on to think, investigate and read further about the gospel – and share what you find!

Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven?- Part 3

As we move closer to the end of Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven? this week we will look at chapters 4 & 5, trying to understand how the idea of hell relates to other key Christian doctrines, and then a closer examination of universalism.

Three Perspectives on Hell Robert A. Peterson

Moving from the previous chapters, which gave an overview of biblical material about hell, Peterson’s chapter wants to help us understand how this doctrine actually relates to other key ideas that inform the Christian faith. Firstly, he considers the Christian understanding of the triune God. A common issue that can skew our understanding of hell is to see God the Father as Judge, Jesus as our merciful Saviour, and not really consider, or know, what the Holy Spirit has to do with it. However, it is far truer, in light of what Scripture actually says, to remember that God the Father appoints Christ as Judge as well as Saviour, and that the Holy Spirit also works to bring people to know the truth about their sin and good and evil in this world.

Secondly, he tackles a very big question in just a couple of pages: divine sovereignty and human freedom. Going to two common biblical examples, Joseph’s betrayal and abandonment by his brothers, and the betrayal of Christ leading to his crucifixion. In each of these cases the Bible is clear that the people involved did wrong and were genuinely culpable for that. However, God was working and achieved good, fruitful, and blessed outcomes nonetheless. What Peterson asserts is that while we may not feel we understand the ‘how’ of this truth, it does not negate the clarity in Scripture that it is true all the same. This becomes significant because it is in light of the true responsibility humans bear for their free choices that God is a just judge.

Lastly, Peterson examines hell in relation to an understanding of things that have already and are yet to be fulfilled with regard to teaching of the ‘last things’. Through Scripture there is definitely an emphasis on what is to come at the end of all things, with Christ’s return, yet we also see the reality of judgment working out in the present, as we deal with life in a world broken by human rebellion.

Does Everyone Go to Heaven? J. I. Packer

The book’s fifth chapter is its most lengthy as Packer specifically addresses universalism: what he sees as one of the dominant contemporary threats to the truth about hell. Christian universalism is the belief that “every human being will finally come to enjoy everlasting salvation.” Packer tries to unpack and refute some of the arguments for universalism, and concludes that it falls far short of anything scripture truly teaches. He also highlights some serious problems that the claims of universalism raise, and tries to expose some of the factors that gave rise to this view and make it attractive.

Packer lays out the problems that we find in a universalist worldview as Christians. Firstly, there is insufficient evidence from Scripture to support this position, and so to hold it we make ourselves more able to determine the best and most loving way for the world, than the God who made it. It cannot account for just how serious, and deadly, a problem sin really is. It also makes the call to evangelism somewhat optional, or certainly less urgent, and thus if the church is to entertain this idea, or let it shape an understanding of Christian mission, we risk doing a severe and dangerous disservice to the communities, and the world, God has placed us in.

Universalism raises some sensitive questions for us in 21^st century Australia. Multiculturalism and pluralism are a breeding ground for these ideas, as we struggle to come to terms with the exclusive and definite claims of the uniqueness of Christ. It is a moment where our trust in the truth, authority and goodness of God’s Word and his ways can really be stretched. It’s a worthwhile thing to be aware of, and discuss, and to encourage one another to cling to the God we know as he has revealed himself through Jesus Christ, whom we see in the Scriptures. Though we must confront the hard truths of just how serious our need is to be saved from sin and death, we can rejoice to know that the only One who can provide that salvation has indeed done so, even at great cost to himself. Let us keep encouraging one another with the hope found in Christ alone, and may God strengthen us to share this hope with others around us.

In the final post we’re going to hear from Tim Keller about communicating these truths into our cultural context – hopefully confronting some of the very real and difficult challenges we face in seeking to faithfully share the gospel.

Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven?-Part 2

After the first section of Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven? we were left with a strong exhortation not to be influenced away from Scripture’s teaching about hell by cultural trends and false teaching, but had yet to meet the book’s thesis about what Scripture actually does say on the matter.

The next two chapters deal with exactly that, and so we will deal with them as a section together to see how they help develop our thinking.

What Jesus Said About Hell Robert W. Yarbrough

This second chapter is concerned to return to the words of Jesus on the topic of hell, and so brings us to the gospels. Yarbrough starts by briefly raising the important issue of whether or not we can trust that the gospels reliably bring us Jesus’ words on any subject, let alone hell, and unfortunately this is only a very brief point. However, in raising the question it does reiterate that it’s important our focus is on knowing God’s word about this weighty topic.

Yarbrough tries to make the content of the four gospels approachable by examining it through 9 ‘vantage points’, primarily Jesus’ teaching in the gospels, echoes of Jesus’ teaching in the New Testament and the Old Testament foundation of Jesus’ teaching.

These are all just bite-sized examinations of their area, but there are some points that grab our attention for how frequently they recur. Notably, Jesus repeatedly does talk about eternal realities: both eternal life, and eternal suffering or judgment. He also uses a lot of graphic and visceral images of physical experiences of suffering in connection with eternity for those who are enemies of God, and God’s people.

As Jesus speaks about hell, it is often at a moment of offering warning and consolation to his hearers. At times, he is warning of the very real cost of rejecting God, especially as his followers were bound to face persecution or suffering that might make that tempting. He also warns his opponents of the danger of their opposition to him, and pulls no punches about the nature of the reality that awaits them. It is in this that the truth of judgment is also a consolation: God as the righteous judge who brings about justice is centrally connected to Jesus’ teaching about hell.


Three Pictures of Hell Christopher W. Morgan

In this third chapter Morgan begins with a summary of each of the contributors to the New Testament. In its brevity it is unable to do much justice to the actual texts and so it is worthwhile taking the time to put the book down and go to the passages to consider his summaries and how well they might represent New Testament teaching. However, these summaries allow Morgan to move to his next section, which I think is one of the most helpful and interesting parts of the book so far.

Morgan identifies three predominant pictures of hell throughout the New Testament (ranging through the letters, but I think also in close connection with the gospels). They are:

• Hell as punishment: always justly deserved, involving suffering, is consciously experienced, and eternal. One of the striking things reading these references in our cultural context is how one facet of the justice of God is retributive, which has become an increasingly unpopular idea in our society (at least in the abstract – perhaps the water is a little more murky when we find ourselves as the wronged party of injustices?).

• Hell as destruction: associated with words like death and perishing, and the opposite of ideas of true life. This picture does most sharply raise the issue of whether or not hell means an eternal experience of punishment or hell as the failure to enjoy eternal life, after ceasing to exist. Morgan asserts it is not that existence comes to an end, but the destruction that refers to loss of purposefulness, goodness and functionality, drawing on appropriate readings of destruction in that way elsewhere in Scripture. This seems like it is not quite as easy to determine as Morgan makes it look, but once again the pithy-ness of this little book forces frustrating limitations upon itself – it just doesn’t take the time to go too deep.

• Hell as banishment: the picture that emphasises what a person misses out on in rejecting God and is often expressed in terms of rejection, separation or exclusion. Morgan suggests that often evangelicals might be tempted to lean too heavily on this picture alone when talking about hell, as it can seem less confronting and frightening.

In conclusion, he exhorts followers of Jesus to hold all three pictures together, as they all come from Scripture, and can even exist right alongside each other in explanations and warnings about hell. Furthermore, to neglect one is to skew God’s word about hell, because when we know these pictures in complement to one another we are able to deepen our understanding of God as a just judge, of the truth of sin in the world and in our lives, the cost and the purpose of atonement won for us by Jesus, and just how good the salvation offered freely to us is.

I particularly think this last section is worthy of reflection and consideration. Firstly, in doing the hard work of reading through the New Testament writings to be persuaded of his three-picture framework. Secondly, to reflect on our response to these pictures: are there any we find particularly difficult to understand, or perhaps more frankly, just hard to swallow? If we neglect or avoid one particular element of teaching on hell, in what ways might we be impoverished in our knowledge of God and ourselves? Finally, perhaps there are some things we need to re-examine in our understanding of the gospel, and as we find the word of God to challenge our thinking, ask God to help us comprehend those things that feel beyond us.

Certainly I was reminded of the great magnitude of the gift of salvation as I read through this summary of the New Testament teaching, and renewed in thankfulness for what I deserve, yet have been spared, by the grace of the Lord Jesus. Praise be to Him!

Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven? – Part 1

There are some things people say that just make us cringe, right? The awkward moments we would do just anything to avoid. What about with regards to the Christian faith? Something we’d really rather not have to deal with, or confront head-on?

There have been recent discussions amongst Christians bringing to the fore again that four-letter word it’s not polite to say in mixed company – hell. It’s a sensitive topic; a bit taboo; not the sort of thing we’re eager to be asked about by those investigating the claims of Jesus; not something we’re keen to remind one another about as Christians.

Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven? is a book that’s been offered into the discussion trying to expose the issues at stake and make clear what truth God reveals about hell in the Bible. It seeks to answer its titular question in five main parts:
• tracing the understanding of hell through modern history
• returning to the words of Jesus concerning hell
• considering the pictures of hell in the rest of the New Testament (outside of the Gospels)
• examining the idea of hell in light of other key Christian doctrines
• confronting the claim of universalism (the idea that everyone will be saved)
Each of these come in the form of short chapters by different contributors.

Is Hell For Real? R. Albert Mohler Jr.

The book’s opening chapter seeks to give an overview of how Christians have responded to, handled and taught the idea of hell in the modern world. Going back far prior to this time though, we see that as early as 6th Century AD theologians started putting forward teaching subverting the beliefs held by the Christian church from the beginning. Nonetheless, Mohler attributes the significant worldview changes brought on in the Western World during the Renaissance and Enlightenment for a growing confidence to deny the reality of an eternal hell. As Enlightenment scepticism grew, cultural trends carved an even easier path for believers and non-believers alike to reject the claims of the gospel on their lives and concerning the world around them.

Moving forward in time, Mohler argues that the Victorian era in the 19th century, whilst often “sentimentalised for its Christian vitality”, actually saw growing rejection of the truths of God’s word concerning hell in some quarters. Even whilst denying it’s reality, some religious and social leaders appreciated the value of the teaching in restraining social decay and thus were disinclined to throw it out altogether.

Considering the 20th century, the Bible’s words on hell came under threat against the backdrop of growing globalisation and relativism that rose up in the face of exposure to a plurality of religions and worldviews. A supposed animosity between ‘religion’ and ‘science’ also further undermined some Christians’ confidence to find truth about the world we see, as well as unseen realities, in scripture.

As we come to the 21st century, many Christian teachers continue striving to preach and teach the gospel in its fullness according to God’s word. At the same time, questions continue to be raised as to the scriptural truths about hell – in part or in whole. Disagreements arise even between evangelicals about exactly what is at stake for the future of people who reject Christ.

Whilst Mohler’s discussion of these movements through time is extremely brief (this really is a very basic introduction to the topic), there are a couple of striking factors that run as common threads over time. Firstly, the way our cultural surroundings shape our worldview can be deep and profound – sometimes affecting us in ways we are unaware of. The way Christians have grappled with the question of hell has been distinctly shaped by their culture – and sometimes this can be dangerous. The call to discernment is crucial to heed: we need a self-awareness about how the community we find ourselves in shapes the way we understand ideas, and how that may help or hinder us as we seek to submit to God’s words about his world.

Secondly, our response to one area of doctrine reflects our response to God himself and his work in the world. We are again in a dangerous position if we try to compartmentalise claims of the gospel such that we can pick and choose as we please. This puts the challenge to us not to avoid the question of hell itself, or to avoid the truths God has revealed in answer to that question. Also, we must remember to have the discussion in its proper place- starting with who God himself is.

After this first chapter in Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven? we are yet to see a concrete sketch of what the Bible actually says about hell, and the interplay between this idea and other gospel truths. Hopefully there will be greater clarity as these are addressed in the next chapters.

We’ll have to keep reading!

About our contributor:

Laura Southam is thankful for the way God has made a world with meaning and beauty in words, language and stories; and she loves sharing in that with others – makes sense that bookclubs are one of her favourite things! (she is currently a part of four!) Amidst reading whatever she can get her hands on, she is currently working her way through first year studying at Moore College. After spending the last 8 years studying/ministering/working at Sydney University, she's enjoying finally living in Newtown. She's also part of the church family at Campbelltown Baptist Church.