A lot of people don't like talking about sin or hell.

Today on Truth For Life, we'll find out how we rob the gospel of its power when we ignore the reality of sin.

We're listening to a message from the Encore 2023 series. A message titled Sin is Sirius, Hell is Real.

And Alistair Begg is teaching from Mark chapter 9, looking at verses 42 through 48.

And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell where the fire never goes out.

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?

Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with each other. Amen.

The mention of hell, of course, is immediately tied to the passage that we've just read.

And in this passage we discover Jesus telling his listeners that sin is serious and hell is real.

And the gravity which attaches to the words of Jesus is more than matched by the levity which characterizes our contemporary culture's view of such ideas.

I was just in New York a couple of weeks ago in the mornings. I went for coffee at a particular place where I like to meet a man that I've known for some years.

He lives in a trailer park where his name is Stanley and he told me with great mirth that his favorite thing in the morning was seeing if he could be the first amongst all of his acquaintances to tell somebody to go to hell.

And that is their early morning greeting and if you can be the first and I think you get a free coffee or whatever it might be.

And I said to him, Stanley, I don't think you know what you're saying. And I'm here to tell you Stanley, you should go to heaven.

And he said, well, I don't know about going to heaven. Well, he's really representative of the majority view, isn't he?

But the fact that an approach is taken or a view is held by a majority doesn't mean that it is true.

And in fact, the notion serves to reinforce what Jesus says in Matthew 7, enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many.

In other words, the population is filling it up for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few.

Now, the fact that most people believe something doesn't make it true. And there is, we must confess an understandable reaction to the whole notion of hell.

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