Proverbs 15:11 states, “Hell and destruction are before the Lord: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?”
As a teenager, I heard an illustration in a sermon that I still remember. A carload of boys pulled into a filling station to get some gas. They were in a hilarious mood—maybe had a little to drink. The attendant asked them where they were going. “Five miles down the road to Hell,” one answered. There was a dangerous curve five miles down that road from the lone country gas station. You may have guessed—they didn’t make the curve and were all killed. Today we are losing many of our children to drugs, alcohol, and other wrong choices. As parents, it breaks our hearts when we see our kids making wrong choices and heading toward Hell.
In our text, Solomon notes that God also sees Hell and destruction ahead for these children and knows the real problem is in their hearts. Hell is very real. The boys in the illustration made a joke of it. There are many jokes about Hell, but it is not a joke to God. It is ever “before the Lord.” The many who are marching into it must break His heart. The children of men are no doubt beyond the age of accountability. The many unborn children who die from abortion, even though God sees their heartbeat, are not cast into Hell (my opinion). The Scripture says little about this. Isaiah 7:16 states, “For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.”
However, all are born with the sin nature. Psalm 51:5 says, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; in sin did my mother conceive me.” We then have the many who have never heard about Jesus. Will they go to Hell? We send missionaries to them so they won’t.
All things considered, there is a Hell to shun and a Heaven to gain. Jesus warned of Hell in Luke 16 where He talked about the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man died and went to Hell. He was tormented in flames and begged for mercy. When he realized he couldn’t get out, he thought about his five brothers who were also headed for Hell. He wanted Lazarus to rise from the dead and go warn them. Abraham said that they would not believe “though one rose from the dead.” (V.31).
Parents are brokenhearted when they see their child headed for Hell. The may feel they are to blame. We do have responsibility as parents, but finally the child must choose right or wrong for himself. God Himself allows them to choose their path, yet pleads with the hell-bound heart.
Jude gives some good advice in verses 20-23, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keeping yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”
From these great verses, and a visit to a city mission, Fanny J. Crosby penned the hymn, “Rescue the Perishing.” It was at this visit that she helped a young man get right with God, so that he would be able to see his mother again in Heaven. In this powerful hymn, she points out many ways we can have a part in reaching out to the poor wanderer. She ends with this hope: “Jesus is merciful: Jesus will save.” After all, they are His children even more than our children!
