Who Goes to Hell?

“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”

Isaiah 45:22

If asked about their personal desire to go to hell, most people would say they would not want to go. They may not want to go to heaven, but certainly they do not want to go to hell! We must therefore ask the question: Who goes to hell?

To pose this question raises several others: Is there a hell? Is there a heaven? Who goes to heaven? We have answers to these questions from none other than the architect of heaven and hell himself, Jesus Christ. According to Jesus, hell is prepared for the devil, his angels, and all who follow the devil; heaven is prepared for those who trust and follow Jesus Christ.

The Reality of Hell

Though all deserve to go to hell, and no one deserves to go to heaven, those who go to hell do so because of the choices they make while living on earth. Those who refuse to receive Jesus Christ, who is the way to heaven, are embracing the terrible, eternal destiny of hell.

Jesus declared, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light.” And not only do such people choose darkness, but they delight in it. Paul says Jesus Christ “will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” They perish because they refuse to love the truth and be saved.

According to Professor J. I. Packer, hell, or Gehenna, is an essential Christian doctrine. It is the final abode of those consigned to eternal punishment at the last judgment. Jesus spoke of it as a place of darkness and weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hell is the consequence of God’s wrath upon the ungodly-a place of fire, agony, and unending punishment.

The Scripture does not teach that sinners are annihilated nor does it say that there is a second chance to get out of hell after death. In fact, people will be fully conscious in hell and will be plagued by the memory that it was their own decision that sentenced them to hell.

The description of hell in the Scriptures could be symbolic, but only because the reality of hell is unimaginable; it is greater than what symbols could convey. Jesus spoke about hell more than anybody else in the Bible. He did so that we might embrace the grace revealed in him and go to heaven, the place of unending happiness in God’s presence.

Salvation for a Look

In Isaiah 45:22 God reveals the way to heaven to all people: “Look to me and be saved.” This exhortation has brought about the salvation of many a lost sinner. For example, on a Sunday morning in January, 1850, a sixteen year old boy attended a Sabbath service in a Primitive Methodist church in England. Because of the very heavy snow that day, the pastor could not come to preach. So a lay preacher spoke a few words from this text which instantly transformed the young man. The preacher said, “Christ is speaking from Gethsemane and from the cross. He is speaking to all of us, asking us merely to look in order to possess eternal salvation. A child can look. A fool can look. The rich can look. The poor can look. It is not a difficult thing.” The preacher continued, “There is no other way to heaven. There is no other way for pardon of all sins.” Then he looked directly at the young man and said, “You miserable young man, won’t you look at Jesus and be saved? Look now!”

At that instant, the teenager trusted in Christ crucified and was saved. He went home through the snow, yet, as he described it, he went home having been washed whiter than snow by the blood of Jesus Christ. That young man was the famous Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Let us, then, take a closer look at this text: “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other.” There are seven points I want to make.

1. The Divine Command: “Look!”

First, this is an imperative, a divine command: “Look!” or “Turn!” In Hebrew it means “to look in a different direction by turning.” If we are not true Christians, we will depend on the wisdom of the world and trust in the idols of the world: religion, politics, education, riches, beauty, science, philosophy, family, and our own DNA. We will rely on ourselves, not on God. But the Bible says of such people, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).

We must turn around and look in a different direction before we can possess salvation. Paul speaks about how the Thessalonians “turned from to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead-Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). We too must turn away from all idols, serve the true and living God, and wait for his coming. This is a universal command. God commands all people everywhere to repent.

2. Look to Whom?

Second, he says, “Look to me” or, “Turn to me.” To whom are we to look? We are to fix our eyes on Yahweh, the Lord Almighty, Creator of all things, visible and invisible, who is not a part of creation but transcends it.

Paganism refuses to acknowledge a God who stands outside of the cosmos. But the God of the Bible is the infinite, personal, self-existing, self-sufficient Creator of the ends of the earth who sustains all creation and directs it to his own predetermined goal. Because he is transcendent, he can deliver his people from anything in creation. No wonder Paul tells us in Romans 8 that nothing in all creation “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 39).

This Lord of the Scriptures has clearly revealed himself to us: “I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45:19). God did this for our benefit so that we might go to heaven, not hell.

Look to the God of History

In verse 21 God challenges all peoples and gods of this world to prove their claim that they are also God by telling them to demonstrate one crucial ability: “Declare what is to be, present it-let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past?” God is saying, in essence, “Put your heads together, consult each other, if you cannot handle it individually, and do this one thing, if you can: prophesy what is going to happen in the future and bring it to pass in history.”

The truth is, no creature can do this. Only the Lord can pass this test. He who is the “I AM THAT I AM;” the God who entered into a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to save his people; the one who proclaimed to Moses, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation” – this God alone is the Lord of history.

God alone directs history, for he alone can control creation. He alone is able to declare the end from the beginning, as Isaiah 41:4 tells us, “Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning?” One hundred and fifty years before the Persian king Cyrus even existed, the Lord revealed that Cyrus would accomplish his sovereign purpose for Israel through him. So we read about Cyrus in Isaiah 41:2, 44:28, 45:1 and 45:13. God called him by name to his service before he even gave him being. He called him to set the exiles free and to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. And after Cyrus was born, he did exactly what God wanted him to do. God controlled his every move.

Isaiah 45:4 states, “I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me.” Cyrus was a pagan, yet he did exactly what God wanted him to do. Verses 5-6 continue, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.”

We are told five times in this chapter (vv. 5, 6, 18, 21 and 22) that this Lord alone is God and there is no other. There is no other Creator, Savior, King, or Judge. God alone is the Lord of history.

Look to the God Who Saves

Isaiah 44:24-25 says it is the Lord “who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers.” What does this mean? That all other gods are lies, all other religions are false, and all other ways of salvation are delusions.

Isaiah constantly mocks false gods and those who believe in them. In Isaiah 45:20 he challenges the idolaters: “Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.” Notice, these people were carrying their gods when it should be the other way around! But this is a serious matter. It is not enough to get goose bumps when you go to temples or beat on your breast and call upon your god five times a day. The question is, can your gods save you from hell and the wrath of the true and living God? The answer is no. “All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together. But Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting” (Isaiah 45:16-17). Yahweh alone is the God who saves.

The latter part of verse 24 speaks of “all who have raged against him.” What rage, what enmity, what rebellion people manifest against the true and living God! Suppressing the truth in their wickedness, they rage against the Creator God, who controls all affairs of his creation, as children rage against parents and false believers rage against preachers of the true gospel. But Isaiah says, “All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.” Notice, no one is able to get away from God. All have to come to him and be dealt with.

Look to the Lord Jesus Christ

In Isaiah 45:23 God gives another compelling reason why we should look to him: “By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked.” God himself has made a decree that will be completely fulfilled: “Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.” Ultimately, every person in the universe must fully surrender to God.

This passage is cited in Philippians 2, where Paul identifies the LORD of the Old Testament as Jesus Christ: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (vv. 9-10).

Now we understand this great oath and decree of the Lord that will not be revoked refers to Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, ascended and reigning. And we are told what is the necessary confession for salvation: “Jesus Christ is Lord.” So “look to me” in Isaiah 45 means “look to Jesus Christ.” The Philippian jailer asked the question, “What must I do to be saved?” The answer came, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.”

In verse 21 God is described as “a righteous God and a Savior.” In him alone is the righteousness and strength that we need. Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification. Verse 25 states, “In him alone the descendants of Israel will be found righteous.” There is no other way the wicked people of this world can be justified apart from Jesus Christ.

We must look to the right person to be saved. This idea is already found in Numbers 21 where the rebellious, murmuring Israelites were bitten by fiery serpents and were dying. God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it up so that anyone who looked to it could be healed. When Jesus Christ came, he declared, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). Everyone who looks to the crucified Christ in faith will be saved. God’s justice is satisfied by Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross, so Paul declares God is “just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

In Matthew 11:28 Jesus invites all who are “weary and heavy-laden” by idolatry, wickedness, and sin to come to him, “and I will give you rest.” No one else can save us, heal us, and give us rest by lifting the weight of the infinite sin from our shoulders.

3. How Much Salvation?

What does God mean when he says we will “be saved”? The Hebrew verb is an imperative in the passive voice. In other words, we do not save ourselves-God saves us when we trust in him. He will do so instantly, as soon as we look. It is a divine promise.

How much salvation is it? We will receive full pardon of sin and make us a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come. PGM We may worry about falling away, but in God’s salvation, he will keep us from falling. We may say, “God demands perfection. How can I be perfect?” But God will make us perfect and eventually give us new, resurrection bodies. His salvation is total.

God’s salvation enables us to rejoice in the midst of tribulations and to say when the moment of death comes, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” It is a salvation that will cause us to utter, “Neither death nor life shall be able to separate us from the love of God.”

4. Salvation For Sinners

We find divine encouragement in this verse. This universal invitation is extended to all idol worshipers who deserve God’s eternal wrath. God has the right to destroy us, but, amazingly, he invites us to salvation. It is a divine promise from God, who cannot lie.

We find the same promise in Isaiah 1:18: “‘Come, now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'” Isaiah 55:6-7 tells us, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”

Recall God’s words in Isaiah 45:19: “I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.'” No! That is not what he said, but rather: “Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock, and the door shall be opened to you.” Our God does not speak in vain.

5. Look Now!

When should we look? Today, when God is speaking. The Scripture warns, “Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart as in the day of rebellion.” As Spurgeon says, there is no scripture that directs us to believe in Jesus tomorrow. Procrastination is fatal.

The book of Acts speaks of a governor named Felix, who invited Paul to preach to him in a private audience. Paul spoke of three things: righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come. Felix trembled at these words, but he did not repent then. He told Paul, “Go away; I will call you at a more convenient time.” But that time never came.

The present is all we have. The past is gone forever and the future may not come. And even if there is a future for us, God may not speak to us as he is now. Besides, death is lurking; we can die at any moment. So Paul says, “Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.”

6. No Alternative

There is no alternative way of salvation. God has taken an oath that there will be universal submission to him. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. Those who surrender to him now, freely and voluntarily, will be saved and on their way to heaven. But what about others? They will come too, as Isaiah said: “All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.” They will be forced to bow their knees and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. But then they will be sent to hell. There are no exceptions.

7. Eternal Salvation

Isaiah 45:17 gives us more understanding of this salvation God is offering us through Jesus Christ: “But Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation.” Let me say it again: If anyone is going to be saved, it will be by the Lord, and this verse tells us it will be “an everlasting salvation.” In Hebrew it is plural: “salvation of eternities.” Our salvation will last forever; we will not lose it. So Isaiah says, “You will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting.”

Christ accomplished eternal redemption for us on the cross. If he saves you, he saves you forever and ever. That is why Paul could say that neither death nor life nor anything else in all creation is able to separate us from this salvation. This amazing salvation is ours merely for a look upon Jesus!

The Unspeakable Joy of Salvation

What is the effect of this salvation? It is stated in the last verse of Isaiah 45: “But in the Lord all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult.” Those who are saved will rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

In Acts 3 we read about a man lame from birth who was placed every day at the Gate Beautiful of the temple. One day Peter and John came through the gate and he asked them for a copper coin. Peter and John looked at him and said, “Look at us!” They were saying, in essence: “Look to us, for we are representing Jesus Christ.” The man fixed his eyes on Peter, who told him, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Immediately the lame man got up and began to walk and leap and praise God.

Walking and leaping and praising God is what we will do when God gives us his salvation, and we will do so throughout our lives. Nothing can deter us from this rejoicing in this great salvation of eternities.

Look to Jesus and Be Saved

God is asking us to look to his crucified and risen Son to be saved. Therefore, I urge you to consider the person and work of Jesus Christ. Who is he? He is God/man, the one who knew no sin, yet became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. He is the one who invites all rebels to trust in him and be instantly saved. He is the King before whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord.

Who are we? We are sinners, rebels, and idolaters, deserving of divine wrath. But today King Jesus speaks to us in grace, saying, “Come to me, look to me, and turn to me, every sinner, and be saved.”

God told the prophet Ezekiel, “Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?'” (Ezekiel 33:11).

This is your moment; tomorrow is not yours. Maybe you neglected his word before, but in God’s mercy you are hearing it again. I urge you to turn from the broad way of autonomy that leads to hell and destruction and turn to the narrow way of heaven and eternal life. I set before you today life and death: choose life, that you may go to heaven.

If the Holy Spirit is speaking to you in any manner, I exhort you to look to him and be healed. If you are a backslider, get back to him; if you are careless, begin living a careful life from this day forward. If you are engaged in sin, stop sinning, and call upon the Lord. He will help you, save you, and heal you. In him is all the righteousness and strength you need to live a Christian life.

The devil will do his best to keep you from trusting in the only Savior. He comes to steal and kill and destroy. He wants you to go to hell with him, and the vast majority of people in the world will. So I urge you not depend on feelings but use your mind to understand who is calling and what he has done for you. Do not worry about whether you are an elect or predestinated; Receive the good news of Jesus Christ and turn to him in saving faith. He who believes is an elect and he is predestinated. Look to him: He will freely pardon and grant you his salvation. Amen.