Is Your Name Known In Hell?

-Bill Petite

Being a Christian is more than going to Church once or twice a week. Being a Christian involves working for Jesus and contributing to the building of His kingdom. It involves serving others and doing some things others don't want to do. Who cleans the bathrooms at the Church building? Who does the cleaning or takes out the trash? Who takes care of the landscape and the lawn or who removes the snow and cleans up after a storm? Well, unless you attend a super mega-church that contracts this stuff out, those attendees who volunteer do all this. In my opinion, a mega-church who contracts this stuff out is neglecting an opportunity for some to serve but that is a topic for another time. Being a Christian means working in God's service; we teach/preach, teach Sunday School, counsel, evangelize, plant churches, serve in the mission field, serve in music/worship ministry, work in para-church organizations and so much more. When we were saved, there was a burning in our hearts to serve Jesus and tell others about Him. But, for some, a time comes when that flame becomes a flicker and the desire to be involved in His work has weakened. We must be careful not to allow this to take over our Christian lives. If and when it might happen to a Christian, it is a slow process, not an overnight thing. The Christian who has moved a certain distance from Jesus doesn't wake up one morning and decide he/she will slow down in this work or move away from this work or loose their desire to serve God. It is very subtle and it happens to many Christians and most of the time, if not all the time, something else has moved in and crowded the desire to do the work for Jesus and it begins to play a bigger role in the life of a Christian than Jesus. The work which had been done is now a thing of the past and instead of taking three steps forward for Jesus and being knocked back one by the enemy, the Christian is now taking one step forward for Jesus and being knocked back two! This is loosing ground, operating in the red and slowly the person is moved farther away. This is one example of how a Christian becomes absolutely harmless to the enemy. This Christian, who once was a ball of fire in the Lord's work, is now barely a spark. The enemy laughs because he knows there is no threat concerning this person. This Christian isn't telling anyone about Jesus anymore, there is no steps forward for Jesus anymore and there is no threat whatsoever to the enemy! This once on fire Christian is no longer known in hell as a threat to the enemy's tactics against the Church.
If you are a Christian, is your name known in Hell? When I was a very new Christian, I was always told the people who the devil worries about are the big name pastors and evangelists like Billy and Franklin Graham, Greg Laurie, James McDonald, John Piper and many others. But I believe that any Christian who is doing a sincere, devoted and committed work for Jesus is known by the enemy. A Christian doesn't have to be a big name mega-church pastor or a world renown evangelist to make the target list of the enemy. I believe we are going to meet people in heaven who did so much more work for Jesus than the biggest name Christian we have ever heard of. There are Christians, today, doing such a mighty work for Jesus and causing so much damage to the enemy. We will never know these people until we meet them in heaven and then it won't matter who was the most popular Christian worker. This world has had somewhat of an affect on the Church causing some to be made celebrities and placed in the spot light or on platforms. This is a man thing (not speaking about gender), a need to be important, in the light or being a celebrity. Jesus gave us the best example; serve the people and move on to the next work. Don't hang around for the award ceremony. There are plenty more people who need the spiritual healing of the Lord. We should never allow ourselves to believe we are not receiving our due after we have completed a work for Jesus. Just move on to the next project He has for us!
When we do this, and continue to share our testimony, witness to the unsaved, teach Bible studies, Sunday sermons or whatever He has for us, we are making a name for ourselves in hell! Check out the follow Bible passage from Acts:

 A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!”  Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?”  Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.  Acts 19:13-16  NLT*

These guys thought they could simply use the name Jesus and the evil spirit would obey. But they were like a guy going to a shootout without ammo in his gun. The evil spirit did not fear these guys, they did not have the Holy Spirit residing within them or didn't have Jesus with them. They were nothing but weak human beings and the demon had nothing to fear! But, what did he tell them? He knew Jesus and Paul; both Jesus and Paul were known in Hell! Of course Jesus is known in hell, He is God. Paul was known in hell for the work he was doing for Jesus and in the name of Jesus. When Paul and any other Spirit filled Christian went to work, they were/are able to accomplish the task because Jesus was/is with them. They are known by the demons of Hell! Don't be fooled by believing the work you are doing for Jesus is just some minor thing or something so small that it is not that important! If all you have done in the previous 10 minutes is mention Jesus to someone, you have done a mighty work against the enemy!
Here is what the enemy loves: He loves Christians who are dormant, stale and never say anything to others concerning Jesus and His Church. You might be wondering how that could be. Well, the sad truth is there are many Christians today who never talk about Jesus; they are saved, go to Church once or twice a week but never really have grown spiritually and don't have any desire to share Jesus with anyone. That's one example but there is another and he really loves this one. It is the person who thinks they are saved and they go through all the motions. They attend Church (probably a more toned down version, not too Spiritually healthy), they get involved in activities and possibly even hold board positions. They never tell anyone about Jesus because they don't really know Him or have a relationship with Him. They will talk about the Church they attend but never in a Spiritual sense. They might even invite someone to attend their Church but it is always the Church that is emphasized and never Jesus. Satan loves these people because they are trapped by the thinking of themselves as Christians when they are nothing more than someone who attends a Church service every week. They never do anything to further the building of the kingdom. If they attempted to ever drive out a demon, it would have the same results as the seven sons of Sceva. Their names are not known in Hell for any work for Jesus; they names would only be known as soon to be residents. That sounds harsh but the fact is if a person dies without knowing Jesus as Lord and savior, Hell is their final destination and the Bible is full of warnings about this.

 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.  On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’  Matt 7:21-23

Another passage which paints a better picture of this is Matthew 25:31-46. It actually portrays the situations I mentioned above concerning people who only think they are saved but are not. Satan will never bother these people because they are right where he wants them to be. They will never do any work which might prove to be harmful to his agenda. And if they ever did, it is possible they might receive the same treatment as the seven sons of Sceva. F.B. Meyer had a humorous thought concerning these people or the seven sons of Sceva.

"When the sons of Sceva started on the demon, he turned on them and said, 'You little dwarfs, you Lilliputians (a very small person), who are you? I have never heard about you before; your name has never been talked about down in Hell. No one knows you, nor about you....." He goes on to say, "Yes, and there is a question that was put to me today: Does anyone know of me down in Hell? Do the devils know about us? Are they frightened by us? Or do they turn upon us?"  -Bible Believers Commentary, William MacDonald, p. 1644

Is your name known in Hell? Are you a Christian who is doing the work of God and causing misery for the enemy? Or, are you someone who really doesn't care about the work of God or maybe you don't even want to hear about Jesus. He's not in your life and that fact doesn't matter to you. If so, you will never be a threat to Satan because you are right where he wants you. He will never bother you in any way and risk moving you close to salvation. If you are a Christian who is not doing a work for Jesus, you too will never be a threat to the enemy. Your salvation is the biggest thorn in his side but not a threat. Here is some advice, get to work. Start doing anything which will help build the kingdom. Tell others about Jesus, share you testimony and what He has done for us. Get started and see what a blessing it is to be a part of His work. If you are someone who just believes you are saved but you have never accepted Jesus as your savior, start a relationship with Him now. Don't delay any longer. Ask Him to forgive you for your sin and acknowledge Him as Lord of your life. You will be a new creation in Him, a new life and will have that desire to start working for Him and have your name known in Hell as one who is a hazard to the work of the enemy!

*All scripture reference is NLT