John Piper on Hell (and more)

John Piper wrote a brief piece last week addressing how willingly people go to Hell. It was a good piece - a reminder that Hell isn't just a not-nice place - it is worse than the worst thing we could imagine, and no one will want to be there.

Here are a couple of excerpts:

...when a person chooses against God and, therefore, de facto chooses hell—or when he jokes about preferring hell with his friends over heaven with boring religious people—he does not know what he is doing. What he rejects is not the real heaven (nobody will be boring in heaven), and what he “wants” is not the real hell, but the tolerable hell of his imagination.

...What sinners want is not hell but sin. That hell is the inevitable consequence of unforgiven sin does not make the consequence desirable. It is not what people want—certainly not what they “most want.” Wanting sin is no more equal to wanting hell than wanting chocolate is equal to wanting obesity. Or wanting cigarettes is equal to wanting cancer.

Helpful reminder for believers of the absolute necessity and urgency of preaching the Gospel to those who are perishing. Those who, Jesus said, are condemned already (John 3:18).

Also in the John Piper vein, the audiobook for Desiring God is available at Christian Audio for free this month. Several of his other audiobooks are on sale for $5 each through Nov. 21. Here's the link for all this good stuff.