BITS and PIECES
A random collection of news and views
compiled by Frank McClelland for the
Toronto Free Presbyterian Church.
254th Edition – August 3, 2025
UNPLEASANT SUBJECTS
In recent weeks we have reported on several deaths of family and friends. As noted at the time, death is not a pleasant subject but is a reality that we must all face. Another unpleasant reality that must be faced is eternal punishment – Hell. I recall something my late brother said many years ago, which I never forgot.
We were in an apprentice’s club playing a game of billiards with two young men. They were not Christians. One of them started to use the word ‘hell’ frequently for every shot he hit. My brother looked him in the eye and said, “Young man, if you believed in a burning, fiery, hell, as I do, you would not use the word so lightly.”
Nobody spoke and there was not another swear word heard. And that young man would never forget the lesson he learned. It is a pity that many others, with the same habit, would not learn the lesson too.
HELL IS AN AWFUL REALITY
Historically, most Christian churches accept the existence of hell. The Westminster Confession, used by our church, states that the wicked “shall be cast into eternal torments and punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” [33:2].
The rule of logic demands law and punishment. “It is impossible either to found or administer a government in heaven or earth unless the power to punish is conceded” [W.G.T. Shedd. “The Doctrine of Eternal Punishment].
The smooth running of society depends on law and order, and those who break the law are punished. The jails of this world are filled with those who will not play life by the rules. Even little children who play sports must abide by its rules or pay a penalty.
Shedd points out that “hell is not a penitentiary, but a righteous retribution, pure and simple.” In other words, it is not a reform school but a punishment for sin. And sin is a breaking of God’s law.
WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT HELL?
The strongest argument for the existence and punishment of Hell is given by the highest Authority of all – Jesus Christ. No-one speaks more about Hell than the One who is the epitome of love. Here are some of the things He said.
“Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels [Matthew 25:41].
In the parable of the tares and wheat He speaks of the ungodly, “Cast (them) into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” [Matthew 13:42].
“These (the unrighteous) shall go away into everlasting punishment” [Matthew 25:26].
Jesus, who is love personified, makes it plain that the fire is everlasting and so is the punishment. The language of Christ is very clear and, unless words have lost their meaning, describes in fearful detail the fate of lost souls. Hell, unfortunately, is a reality and the highest Authority reveals it to be so.
Little wonder then that Dante Alighieri, the celebrated 13th century Italian poet, describing from Hell to Heaven, penned these awful words of Hell, “All hope abandon ye who enter here”
THE HOPE OF THE LOST
There seems to be no hope for the lost according to this verse; “there shall in no wise enter into it (heaven) any thing that defileth” [Revelation 21:27]. But look at the last last line, none will be in heaven but“they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life”
That means there is a God-written book. There is also the possibility of having your name written in that book, and thus escaping Hell. As the hymn says, “how can it be?” How can I be saved from everlasting punishment? Jesus is in Heaven – He knows where it is. He knows how to get you there. The good news of the Gospel is that Hell-deserving sinners can be saved.
Listen to one of the best-known verses in the Bible. It has the answer: [John 3:16]
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”
