Eternity’s Night (Mark 9:42-50)
I conducted my first funeral at just 22. A man had a massive heart attack and fell over dead, and the family needed a minister. The man’s sister was a member where I was the youth minister, and she asked me to conduct the funeral.
I never met this man. He never darkened the doors of the church, and I learned that he never obeyed the gospel or wanted anything to do with our Lord or his church.
I visited the family a couple days before the funeral to get some sort of idea of who this man was. After I walked in the house, this man’s mother came up the hallway screaming at the top of her lungs, “My baby’s in hell. My baby’s in hell. My baby’s in hell.” And on and on came her wails.
Have you attended a funeral where the deceased died outside of Christ, and you knew what eternity awaited? How many of your family members you love so dearly are headed to hell? How many of your close friends are headed to an eternal torment?
In this morning’s text, Jesus taught: “Hell is eternity’s night.”
Scripture (Mark 9:42-50)
verse 42:
“Little ones” likely refers to new Christians or to those weak in the faith. If someone causes a little one to sin, he would be better off having a millstone tied to his neck and being cast into the sea. The Romans threw people into the sea as capital punishment. The millstone of which Jesus spoke was so large that donkeys had to move it; if such a weight were placed around your neck and you were thrown into the sea, you would drown. It’s better, Jesus said, for someone to die than to lead someone else into sin.
verse 43:
If your hand causes you to sin, it would be better to cut it off than to go to hell where there is unquenchable fire. In verses 43-47, Jesus spoke about cutting off your hand, your foot, and your eye. People will tell you that Jesus exaggerated. That’s true, but let me tell you something: If you go to hell because your hand keeps doing what it shouldn’t or your foot keeps going where it shouldn’t or your eye keeps seeing what it shouldn’t: From the fires of torment, you will pray unto Almighty God to come back to this earth and cut it off!
The Greek term for hell—“Gehenna”—refers to the garbage dump which was just outside Jerusalem where flames constantly consumed the city’s waste.
verse 45:
It’s better to go through life lame than to enter hell.
verses 47-48:
It’s better to enter God’s kingdom half blind than to be thrown into hell. In hell “the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” A host of worms lived in the garbage on the outskirts of Jerusalem’s garbage dump. Again, our Lord compares eternal hell to a trash heap. Think about it—just as we throw out garbage and it’s taken to a dump, those who go to hell have thrown away their lives.
Application
“Hell is eternity’s night.” How should you live because “Hell is eternity’s night?”
One: Ponder
Solomon told his son: “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure” (Prov 4:26). Please Ponder the path of your feet from hell.
Get off by yourself and Ponder yourself in hell. Remember the worst pain you’ve experienced and multiply it a thousand times over. Feel the flames. Hear your screams. Remember all the times you almost walked with Jesus. Feel your teeth gnash. See the blur in your eyes from your constant weeping.
Avoid eternity’s night: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mk 8:36). Avoiding hell is the most important thing in this world, and that starts with pondering what hell is like.
Two: Prune
Jesus told you to Prune: “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out.” You must Prune—cut out—whatever in your life causes you to sin.
Sin leads to hell: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” (1 Cor 6:9). If you do not live a righteous life, you will spend an eternity in night.
What leads you to sin? Get rid of it. You must do whatever it takes to avoid sin. Die to sin: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col 3:5).
What do you need to Prune from your life?
Three: Pluck
You must Pluck people from the flames of hell: “Have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh” (Jude 22-23). “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (Js 5:19-20).
Whom will you Pluck from the flames of eternity’s night? Our “Soul-Saving Sunday” approaches. Identify at least five people whom you can invite. Spend this week praying for them. Spend this week praying for the courage to invite. Remind yourself of the importance of plucking each of those souls from eternity’s night. Think about seeing those friends and loved ones cast into the lake of fire because you did nothing.
Eternity’s night is coming for millions. Whom will you Pluck from the flames of hell?
Are you yourself headed for eternity’s night? Do you need to contact the blood of Jesus the Christ to Pluck you from eternity’s night?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.