What Does it Mean to “Perish”?
Luke 13:3,5; 19:10
For the last three weeks we’ve been taking a look at the blessed doctrine of salvation. It has certainly not been an exhaustive study. To do that would involve much more than four sermons. IN fact it would be a cover-to-cover in-depth analysis of virtually every word in the Bible.
I have instead, given a thumbnail sketch of three primary aspects of salvation. What It Means to Repent, What it Means to be Born Again, and What It Means to Believe. All of that is found in the story of Jesus conversation with a man named Nicodemus who came to visit with Christ about eternal life.
There is another thought introduced by Jesus in those verses, and I want us to spend some time with it today. It is the thought of “perishing” or being condemned”. It is one of those words, much like “believe” that we throw out there without giving much thought to its depth.
In Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus, He said that, “whoever believes in Him would not perish.” He then goes on to say in John 3:17 that Jesus came into the world, not to “condemn” but to save. So these two terms are linked together by Jesus Himself. Perish and condemned.
I would suggest to you that those are some of the most terrible and frightening words in the Bible. There is nothing about the words that bring any cheer or comfort. These are words that are disturbing. They make us cringe.
They are even more disturbing when we understand their spiritual significance. To help us see that significance, please turn with me to Luke 13. Twice in this chapter, Jesus said that if a person was not saved they would "perish."
Now there is another word used in the Bible to describe this condition and that is the word “lost”. In the very familiar story of the conversion of Zaccheus, found in Luke 19, Jesus said He had come to seek and save that which was “lost”.
So from John 3 and Luke 13 and Luke 19, we can put all that together and discover that the word's “condemned” and "perish" and "lost" are the same words. They describe the condition and state of a person before they are saved.
Now as wonderful as it is to be a child of God, we will never fully appreciate that until we begin to see what it means to be lost. When you fully understand what it means to be lost, then you will greater appreciate your salvation.
And I am convinced that any study of the doctrine of salvation that is worthwhile, must include a look at what it means to be lost. So let's think for a little while about being lost.
First, think with me about:
1. A Truth That Is Undeniable
As I said earlier, the words “condemned” in John 3 and "perish" in Luke 13:3 and 5 are the same word translated "lost" in Luke 19:10.
When the word was used in a physical sense it carries the idea of something being destroyed.
For example, in Matthew 5:29 the word was used to speak of an eye being plucked out. In Matthew 7:25 the word is used to speak of drowning. In Matthew 9:1 the word is used of wineskins that burst. In Matthew 2:13 the word is used to speak of the act of murder.
In each of these cases there is something being destroyed. The eye is plucked out and is destroyed or perishes in the process. When the wineskins burst, they are rendered useless, thus destroyed. Whether life is lost by drowning or murder, there is the destruction of life. In these acts of destruction there is something that perishes; something is lost.
When the Bible speaks of being a person being lost it is declaring that a person is perishing. It is not so much a physical process of perishing. Take the eye that is plucked out. That eye, once separated from the body, will begin a process of decomposing. The same is true for the body when there is death. The body will go through a state of decomposing and go back to the dust from whence it came.
When the Bible speaks of being lost or perishing it is talking about a spiritual condition. It is not the body that is lost or perishing. It is the soul. But unlike the body, the soul will never die. It lives on and on in a lost condition.
What is the lost condition the Bible is speaking of? It is a condition whereby one is spiritual dead and will ultimately spend an eternity in hell.
When the Bible says that unless we repent we will perish, when Jesus said, Those who do not believe are condemned already, they are simply saying that unless a person is saved they will ultimately spend eternity in hell. When the Bible says that a unsaved person is lost, it is saying that they will spend eternity in hell.
Now I realize the subject of hell is not a popular subject. I can preach on hell and someone always walks up to me and says, "It has been a long time since I heard a sermon on hell." There is not much preaching on hell anymore. It is a subject that is taboo in many churches and pulpits.
It seems everyone wants to talk about the light and splendor of heaven and nobody wants to talk about the darkness and suffering of hell. We are told that God is too kind to send anyone to hell. The scoffers, liberals, and agnostics hurl their arguments against the Bible's teaching of hell.
One author said, "I see the doctrine of hell as probably the major stumbling-block to the return of a de-Christianized world to Christ. The doctrine of eternal damnation, more than any other teaching of the church, produces atheism. If you examine closely all the big name atheists--like Feuerback and Nietzsche--it is this teaching more than any other that offended them and turned them away. Out of these famous atheists came all the movements that have caused so much hell here and now. If God is to practice what He preaches, then it makes it hard to believe in eternal damnation."
Another said, "Hell-fire is the riot of imaginative genius."
Still another said, "If the Bible teaches everlasting punishment, so much worse for the Bible, because we cannot believe it; you may quote texts and have behind the texts the very finest scholarship to justify certain interpretations, but it is no good. We are no longer slaves of a book nor blind devotees of a creed; we believe in love and in evolution."
J.M. Dawson said, "The old idea about hell has faded out and pastors of cultured churches refuse to revive."
You could say that hell is under attack in our day and time. It is considered an outdated and uncultured subject. It is not seeker-friendly. Yet, regardless of the agnostics, liberals, and Church experts may say about the matter, I will declare to you upon the authority of the unchanging Word of God, there is a place called hell , and those who are lost without Christ, those who are condemned, those who are perishing will spend eternity there.
The Bible says there is a hell and that makes it final, and if it makes me uncultured to believe and preach there is a hell, then I confess I am uncultured. It doesn't matter to me what the "big name atheists" say about the matter. It is not what they say that matters. It is what God says that matters and HE SAYS THERE IS A HELL.
The Bible has more to say about hell than it does heaven. For every statement about heaven, there are at least 10 about hell. God says there is a hell. Jesus says there is a hell. The Bible says there is a hell. As far as I am concerned--CASE CLOSED.
On one occasion Robert Ingersoll the agnostic, announced that he was going to give a lecture on hell. He stated that he would prove conclusively that hell was a wild dream of some scheming theologians who invented it to terry people. As he began his lecture, a man stood up and said, "Make it strong, Bob. There are a lot of fellows depending on you. If you are wrong, we are all lost. So be sure you prove it clear and plain."
But Mr. Ingersoll was wrong. All people who have never been saved are lost. To be lost is to be condemned, and to be condemned is to perish. To perish is to spend an eternity in hell.
Understanding that, let me say a word about hell itself:
What is hell like? There are no words to describe the awfulness of hell. It is beyond my ability to describe how awful hell is. The Bible gives us the following descriptions:
Revelation 20:15 speaks of hell as a lake of fire.
Isaiah 33:14 speaks of hell as a devouring fire
Revelation 20:1 speaks of hell as a bottomless pit.
Matthew 13:41-42 speaks of hell as a furnace of fire.
Luke 16:23 speaks of hell as a place of torments.
Revelation 22:10-11 speaks of hell as a place of filthiness.
Revelation 14:11 speaks of hell as a place where the inhabitants have no rest.
Matthew 25:46 speaks of hell as a place of everlasting punishment.
Jude 13 speaks of hell as a place of eternal darkness and blackness.
Revelation 16:10 speaks of hell as a place where they gnaw their tongue for the pain they experience.
Revelation 19:20 speaks of hell as a place where people are cast alive.
Revelation 14:11 speaks of hell as a place where the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and forever.
Revelation 14:10 speaks of hell as a place where they drink the wine of the wrath of God.
Revelation 21:8 speaks of hell as a place where there are murderers, liars, fearful, and abominable.
Someone has written:
Hell! The prison house of despair,
Here are some things that won't be there:
No flowers will bloom on the banks of hell,
No beauties of nature we love so well;
No comforts of home, music and song,
No friendship of joy will be found in the throng,
No children to brighten the long, weary night;
No love or peace, nor ray of light;
No blood-washed soul with face beaming bright,
No loving smile in that region of night;
No mercy, no pity, pardon or grace,
No water; O God, what a terrible place!
The pangs of the lost no human can tell,
Not one moment's ease, there is no rest in hell!
Hell, the prison house of despair,
Here are some things that will be there:
Fire and brimstone are there, we know,
For God in His Word hath told us so;
Memory, remorse, suffering and pain,
Weeping and wailing, but all in vain;
Blasphemers, swearers, haters of God,
Christ-rejecters, while on earth trod;
Murderers, gamblers, drunkards, and liars
Will all have their place in the lake of fire;
The filthy, the vile, the cruel and mean,
What a horrible mob in Hell will be seen!
Yes, more than humans on earth can tell,
Are the torments and woes of eternal hell!
What we do know tells us that hell is an awful place. Even then, it is beyond my ability to describe its awfulness.
Furthermore, the Bible teaches that once a person is in hell there is no escape. There are no exits to hell. There are no backdoors that one can slip out. Hell is eternal!
I think of Alcatraz, perhaps the most famous prison in the world. It has been called "The Rock," "Uncle Sam's Devil's Island" and "Hellcatraz." For almost 30 years (1934-1963) it housed some of America's worst criminals. Surrounded by the cold waters and currents of the San Francisco Bay, escape was virtually impossible. Of the 1,535 prisoners it housed, only 36 tried to escape. Of those 36, 7 were shot, 2 drowned, 5 were lost, and the rest captured. The only exception was John and Clarence Anglin and Frank Morris. They were never found or heard from again. No one is certain whether they actually escaped or not.
But when you talk about hell, there is definitely no escape. It is possible that the Anglin brothers and Morris escaped from Hellcatraz.
But this I will say: If they were not saved, they died and went to hell. They may have been able to escape from Hellcatraz but they will never be able to escape from Hell. No one will ever be able to escape from hell. Hell is for eternity!
Lastly, let me say that going to hell is:
II. A Tragedy That Is Avoidable
I think of a story that I once read about a senate sessions. Vice President Calvin Coolidge was presiding over the Senate. Two senators got into a shouting match at each other. One of them shouted, "You go straight to hell!" The offended senator turned to Coolidge and complained. Coolidge looked up from the book he had been leafing through and said, "Well, I have been looking through the rule book and it says you don't have to go."
Let me say today that no one has to go to hell. That is the good news of our great salvation. There is not one person in hell that had to go and there is not one under the sound of my voice that has to go. That is one of the reasons salvation is a "so great salvation." No one has to perish. No one has to be lost.
Let me remind you that salvation is determined by one's acceptance of Christ
Walter Wilson wrote: "Millions are spent on paint to keep wood from perishing. Millions are spent on medicine to keep the body from perishing. Millions are spent on sprays and chemicals to keep plants from perishing. Millions are spent on locks to keep our valuables from perishing.
Millions are spent on life insurance to keep families from perishing. Millions are spent on monuments to prevent our memories from perishing. Millions are spent on dams, revetments, and sea walls to prevent the land from perishing. Millions are spent on caskets and containers to prevent the corpses from perishing. Millions are spent on life boats and life preservers to keep passengers from perishing. Millions are spent on weather proofing to prevent merchandise from perishing. But God gave His Son to keep you from perishing."
Jesus died so that we who are condemned would not have to be lost. He shed His blood that we would not have to perish. When a person comes to Jesus and accepts Him as their Savior they can say, "I once was lost!"
Salvation is determined by one’s acceptance of Christ. But there is a companion truth:
Condemnation is Determined by One's Rejection of Christ
The only thing that will send you to hell is rejecting Jesus Christ as your Savior. Tragically and sadly, thousands go to hell every day. The tragedy is they did not have to go. Jesus died that they might be saved. However, because they did not accept Christ as their Savior, they were lost and perished.
How about you?
