In 1829 a Philadelphia man named George Wilson robbed the U.S. mail, killing someone in the process.  Wilson was arrested, brought to trial, found guilty, and sentenced to death by hanging.  Some friends intervened in his behalf and were finally able to obtain a presidential pardon for him from then president Andrew Jackson.  When George Wilson was told about the pardon he refused to accept it!  The Sheriff was unwilling to hang Wilson with a presidential pardon, so he contacted the president about the prisoner's unwillingness to accept the pardon and to give him instructions about what he should do, execute him or not? The perplexed president turned to the United States Supreme Court to decide the case. Chief Justice Marshall ruled that a pardon is a piece of paper, the value of which depends on its acceptance by the person who it is given to.  If the person chose to refuse it then it is no longer really a pardon!  Therefore, the Supreme Court ruled that the pardon had to be accepted or the penalty still stood!  George Wilson therefore was hanged, refusing the very pardon that could have set him free!  This is the same thing about salvation through Jesus, it must be accepted to be valid, though Jesus has paid the price, we must accept it or the wrath of God will be ours. It is through the cross, and only through the cross that we can be saved from sin and its consequence of a terrible eternal separation from God. Don’t refuse God’s pardon!

A well-known scholar by the name of Ole Hallesby gave an evening talk for a whole week on a national radio station of Norway. One evening he said: "You may drop off to sleep peacefully in your bed tonight but wake up in hell tomorrow morning. It is my duty to warn you."

These words set a storm of protests. A journalist on Oslo's largest daily newspaper wrote an editorial along these lines: "We are no longer in the Middle Ages! It is totally inadmissible that a modern invention such as the radio should be used to spread nonsense of this sort." When an important newspaper publishes an article like this, all the the smaller papers follow suit. Soon the whole press was repeating: "We are no longer in the Middle Ages. How can a scholar in our day possibly talk about hell!"

The controversy was hot. Finally, Radio Oslo had to ask Professor Hallesby to clarify his position. He came back to the microphone again, and this is what he said:" I have to clarify my statements. Well, all right! Here you have it: You may drop off to sleep peacefully in your bed tonight but wake up in hell tomorrow morning. It is my duty to warn you." That was the last straw. Then all the bishops of Norway were questioned: "Does hell exist or not?" Even foreign famous news magazines like Der Spiegel took up in the debate and published a lengthy article entitled "The quarrel over hell in Norway."

Did Jesus ever say anything about hell? Yes, Jesus did talk about the reality of hell — in fact, He talked about it more than any other person in the Bible. He warned, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). But Jesus didn’t talk about hell just to scare us. He talked about it instead because He wanted us to know that God has provided a way of escape! Listen: God doesn’t want you to be separated from Him forever. Don’t gamble with your soul, and don’t turn your back on Jesus. Instead, by faith turn to Christ and commit your life to Him. He alone gives us hope — hope for today, and hope for eternity.