In John 3:18 Christ brings out the somber fact that all who are not surrendered to Him are already condemned. God wants no one to go to Hell, so He has made provision in Christ that we do not have to go there.

Along with showing The Way to avoid {1} damnation, the Word of God gives us plenty of warning to avoid that horrible end. One such warning, but with a very positive note, is found in Proverbs 15:24 which states, "The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from Hell beneath."

 

I preached on that verse in the summer of 2013, and the following is the outline for the message with comments for the Internet. For this message, I felt like starting with the latter portion of the verse first and working backwards with it, then presenting the first part last as a way to encourage all to get on The Way of Life, the evacuation route from Hell.

 

I. Realm Of Entrapment 24f-d

 

. . .

beneath.

 

Sadly, most people do not know the meaning of John 3:18: “He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Oftentimes some who are well-off without much care think everything is fine and, provided they do enough good works, they will make it to heaven. But the reality is even the best of life on earth is still below the standards of God. As a result, the principle of Psalm 9:15 is activated: "The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken."

 

Another aspect of "below" is that much of the world has convinced itself that we are mere animals. We can thank some of our scientists and educators for that. But hear now Romans 1:22-24, "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves."

 

How low can they go? Revelation 2:24 speaks of the depths of satan {3}. There are all sorts of sins which seem pleasurable but are binding that many get themselves into. The devil himself is the angel of the bottomless pit (Revelation 9:11): "And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon (Destruction), but in the Greek tongue has his name Apollyon (Destroyer)."

 

As you see with the help of the Online Bible {4} I have given you the meaning of the names of Abaddon and Apollyon. Truly destruction does come about by the Destroyer. One might die "well" with fame, friendship and fortune, but if they have not surrendered to Christ they meet destruction in the next life.

 

. . . Hell . . .

 

Many of the unsaved do not mind being fooled and fooling others. Some think when they die they cease to exist {5}. Others think everyone "goes to heaven." Some are fooled into thinking there is no Hell or, if there is, it is not too bad of a place to go to.

 

"Sheol" is the Hebrew word used here and translated as Hell. While it can mean grave, just looking at this verse common sense would dictate it clearly shows something more than the grave. After all, unless the rapture of the Church occurs shall we all not physically die one day and our bodies somehow returned to soil? No one escapes that right now.

 

Some say we have Hell on earth now. Looking in the Holy Bible at the various verses about Hell I would say that is not the case. And the current trend of some preachers and teachers using phrases like “they went through Hell” when people have gone through problems really irritates me. Whatever problems and torments we have now are just a minute taste of what awaits us for eternity if we are not surrendered to Christ.

 

Hell will be eventually cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:14). But even before then, those that go to Hell no longer have any hope of reconciliation with God. Some claim they cannot believe in a God that would have people tormented forever. The fact is, He really does not want to, but once they have sealed their own course at death there is no return. They could have avoided Hell by surrendering to His loving remedy found only in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

 

. . . that he may depart from . . .

 

Again, the devil dupes some with a "charmed" life. They have few problems, worries and enemies, but until they surrender to Christ they remain condemned. All need to realize that they are on what Christ called the way that is broad which leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13). Certainly one needs to escape from this realm of darkness that spirals downward to Hell, and God, in His gracious mercy, has made provision for such an escape.

 

II. Rise Above It 24a-c

 

The way of life . . .

 

There is a far better place to be right now, the Way of Life. Carefully notice that there are two words in that phrase that are found in John 14:6, viz., Way and Life, and that is the Truth!

 

Keep in mind the ancient languages may have a number of words with different shades of meaning, and the Holy Spirit directed the human writers which word to use. When this phrase was translated into Greek for the Septuagint the translators used "zoe" and not "bios" for life. Visit the link below {6} to see the distinction between these two words. Zoe matches the thought of the Hebrew word originally used which in part means vigorous, vital energy {7}.

 

Christ desires to be anyone's vigorous, vital energy. Christ rose above the sinfulness of the world, having said "no" to every type of temptation and "yes" to the entire will of the Father. He is the Way, the escape route from Hell.

 

When one truly surrenders to Christ and makes Him King of their life they are crucified with Him (Galatians 2:20) and raised to newness of life in Him. Therefore, as it is written in Colossians 3:1-2, "If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."

 

. . . is above . . .

 

While the Authorized Version has ". . . is above . . .", it is rendered in the New King James as ". . . winds upward . . .", similar to the thought in the Jewish Publication Society's presentation as ". . . goeth upward . . .". The true disciple is called to defy the spiritual gravity of earth that would pull them back down into sin, the realm of entrapment. In fact, we in our own strength cannot escape that pull to rise to the level of where God wants us to be.

 

. . . for the wise,

 

Those that are on The Way are described as the wise. There are eight Hebrew {8} words that may be translated as wise. Strong {9} gives the following definitions for the Hebrew word, saw-kal’, chosen by the Holy Spirit for this verse:

 

This word was chosen by the Holy Spirit over khaw-kawm’ which can mean the wisdom one has was acquired by them. Note that saw-kal' can represent a condition that might not have been acquired by the action of the individual (be prudent, have insight, have comprehension, etc.).

 

Saw-kal is the same word the Holy Spirit used in Daniel 12:10 – "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." When someone is truly redeemed, they certainly have more understanding than all the worldly wise put together.

 

Saw-kal occurs earlier in Daniel 12 verse 3: "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." That is the high calling of every true Christian.

 

If you have not surrendered to Christ, or if you have but have turned away from Him, I strongly encourage you to give in to Him now and escape the realm of entrapment that you might rise to newness of life in Christ.

 

Notes:

 

{1} For a brief Biblical insight into predestination please read The Choice of being Damned or not to be Damned at https://www.freewebs.com/macinta/B/obsidian002.html .

 

{2} A link for that message may be found here: http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/audioM.html#M258 .

 

{3} Being a former satanist who now serves Almighty God I prefer not to capitalize that name since, when I was a satanist, I refused to capitalize God. Experts Column, the online publisher of this article, gives me the freedom not to capitalize.

 

{4} The OnLine Bible is a program that you download to your computer. It is available in North America at http://onlinebible.net/ and elsewhere at http://www.onlinebible.org/ .

 

{5} Please read, You Still Exist After Death at http://thesureword.expertscolumn.com/article/you-still-exist-after-death .

 

{6) Go here http://www.sapphirestreams.com/I/Gk00.html#ZoeBios for a chart comparing zoe and bios.

 

{7} Wilson, William: Wilson's Old Testament Word Studies (MacDonald Publishing Company, McLean, VA) p251

 

{8} Ibid. p. 485

 

{9} From an electronic version of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong incorporated in the Online Bible program, and so throughout the article whenever the ancient language is referred to and no other authority is cited.

 

This article was in the form of a sermon (message) outline with comments. You should be able to hear the actual message (sermon) by selecting a link at http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/audioM.html#M258 .

 

Unless otherwise noted all Holy Scripture is from the 1769 Authorized Version with the spelling of some words updated for our time in addition to changing LORD to YHWH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates.

 

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