On Maundy Thursday, I’m going to be preaching on the wrath of God, and that has me thinking about who needs to hear about hell.
I’m not sure that the message of the reality of eternal punishment is all that effective to scare the unconverted into faith in Christ. It’s real, certainly, and it is the logical result of the rejection of the gospel, for sure. But I’m not sure conversion born of fear itself holds much promise for a lifetime of discipleship. It is the love of God that draws.
No, those who urgently need to reflect on the reality of the wrath of God are Christians. And we need to hear it not that we might fear for ourselves, but fear for those we love. Knowledge of the wrath of God will feed our urgency like nothing else.
We do not need to tell the unconverted they are going to hell. They probably know that already.
We need to tell ourselves that they are.