January 12, 2025 - How to Escape the Consequences of a Broken World - Pastor Paul Vallee

On Tuesday, Shelley Kozakevich’s daughter, Kelly, was about to land in Los Angeles, unaware of the inferno engulfing the city. The Pilot explained that there were incredible winds ahead and that they needed to brace for a rough landing, so she texted her mother for prayer. Later, after landing, she texted back. ‘I’m coming back to evil. As I looked out the window being tossed around, the ground below was a fiery ‘hell.’ What a powerful image of devastation. We have adopted the word into our vocabulary to speak of the worst kind of situation. Yet, as to believing that such a place of existence is real, most people are living as if it doesn’t exist. What is even more tragic is that even many people who profess faith in Christ deny the very existence of hell, a place of judgment for the devil, the fallen angels, and the ungodly. If there is no hell, we can dismiss the idea of eternal punishment or any accountability for the wrongs committed in this life. There is no sense of justice to come. Yet, as Harry Buis points out: “It should be noted that in the New Testament, Gehenna [which is translated Hell in our English bibles] is used only in the synoptics [first three gospels] except for an occurrence in James (3:6) and that in these synoptic references, the word was used only by Jesus Christ. In other words, the knowledge of hell comes almost exclusively from the teachings of Christ, who spoke emphatically on the subject on a number of occasions.”   Jesus warns us in the Sermon on the Mount against avoiding this place of judgment. He speaks of the danger of the fire of hell (Mt. 5:22) and warns against the danger of sinning to the point of saying, “If our right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell (Mt. 5:30).” It is obvious that Jesus not only believed in hell but came to die in order for us not to end up there.   As I was reflecting on our text, it impacted me how much judgment is a fundamental theme of the Bible, but we rarely talk about it. Yet, it should motivate us to avoid it and encourage us to share with others so that they, too, can avoid or escape the consequences of a broken world.   This Sunday, we will turn to the book of Jeremiah, which we left off in chapter 38, 18 months ago, in my series on this book of the Bible and begin to examine the rest of the story.